The day soon ended, and Shadow waited for Starlight by his locker. Much to his surprise, she actually showed up. "Oh."
"What? Is there something on my face?", Starlight asked.
"No. I...just didn't expect you to actually show up. Moving on, you ready to duel?" Starlight nodded.
"Yeah! I've got my duel disk and everything!"
"Then let's hit the duel park.", Shadow said with a smile. The two walked over to the duel park, and activated their duel disks. "Hope you're not expecting me to go easy on you!"
"I was about to say the same thing!", Starlight said with a smile.
Shadow: 8000
Starlight: 8000
"Ladies first!", Shadow called out.
"Alright then! I play Ancient Rules to special summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Then I'll set a card and end my turn!"
"My turn! I draw!" Shadow took a careful look at his cards. "This should work! I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down!" Starlight's trap, Champion's Vigilance, was destroyed! "Now to make my move! I play Trade-In to discard a level eight monster from my hand! Now I play Soul Charge! I pay 1000 life points per the amount of monsters I want to revive! Welcome back Clear Vice Dragon!" A dragon inside a crystal barrier revived on Shadow's field, but it had no attack points! "Now! Attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
"But your monster has no attack points!"
"Not for long! Clear Vice's effect activates! When she attacks an opponent's monster, she gains double that target's attack points! Clear Vice Stream!" Clear Vice Dragon fired a clear stream of energy! Destroying Blue-Eyes in a single blast! "I'll end my turn with two face-downs."
Shadow: 7000
Starlight: 5000
"Good thing your dragon's effect only activates when she attacks!" Starlight drew her next card. "Nice! I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick! Now I'll tribute him to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand! Attack Clear Vice Dragon! Inferno Fire Blast!" Clear Vice Dragon was incinerated by a gigantic fireball! "I end my turn!"
Shadow: 4600
Starlight: 5000
"I draw! I can special summon Schwarzschild Dragon from my hand since you control a monster with 2000 or more attack! But I'm not done yet! I summon Heliosphere Dragon! Now his effect activates! Since I've got a level eight monster dragon-type monster on my field, I can make his level become eight until the end of this turn! Now I overlay both of my monsters! Time for you to meet my monster partner!" Shadow's monsters opened up a swirling galaxy and turned into beams of light! They entered the galaxy, and a new monster emerged! "I xyz summon Number 46: Dragluon!" Starlight gazed in awe at Dragluon's majestic appearance. "Now for his effect! I'll detach an overlay unit to special summon a dragon-type monster from my hand! I'll bring out Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand! I'll attack your monster with Felgrand, and attack you directly with Dragluon! Celestial Dragon Breath!" Dragluon fired a beam of golden energy right into Starlight's life points while Felgrand destroyed Red-Eyes Black Dragon! "I end my turn."
Shadow: 4600
Starlight: 2600
"Not bad! You've managed to get me down to about a quarter of my life points!", Starlight said with a smile. "But now it's my turn! I draw! I'll set two cards and end my turn!"
"My move then!" Shadow drew his next card. "I play Trade-In to dis card a level eight monster in my hand to draw two new cards! Then I'll play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive the monster I discarded! White Night Dragon's back on my field! Then I'll attack you directly with Dragluon!"
"I don't think so! I activate my trap! Magic Cylinder! This prevents your attack and inflicts your monster's attack points as damage!" Dragluon's attack flew through one cylinder, and was sent right at his life points through the other cylinder!
"I guess I'll end my turn with a face-down."
Shadow: 1600
Starlight: 2600
"You've got an impressive bunch of monsters on your field. Time to see if I can fix that! I draw! I discard a card to activate Lightning Vortex! This wipes out all monsters you control!" A storm of lightning wiped out Shadow's field! "Then I summon Divine Dragon Ragnarok! Attack him directly!" Ragnarok charged at Shadow!
"Not so fast! I activate my trap! Oasis of Dragon Souls! I can target one monster in my graveyard and special summon it in defense mode! Welcome back Dragluon!" Dragluon leaped out of a small oasis pool and shielded Shadow with his wings! Ragnarok's attack bounced off of Dragluon's wings! Starlight winced as she took damage from the recoil due to Dragluon's high defense! "Good defense came make a good offense."
"Pretty good counter! I end my turn."
Shadow: 1600
Starlight: 1100
"My turn! I draw! I'll switch Dragluon back into attack mode! Attack her directly for game!" Dragluon launched a storm of feathers from his wings! Wiping out the last of Starlight's life points! "And that's game." Shadow noticed Starlight's frown. "Hey...don't be too upset. It's just a game. I used to lose a lot too. But my brothers helped me get better!" Starlight smiled at Shadow's kindness.
"Thanks. But, that's not why I'm upset. It's just that I can't get my cards to work off of each other. Plus, this was my first duel."
"Let's take a look at your deck." Shadow and Starlight looked through Starlight's deck. "Ah hah! There's your problem. You're pulling from too many card archetypes. But you're in luck! I know a card shop we can stop by to help you get your deck working like new!"
"Thanks for your offer. But I'm happy with my deck the way it is now. It was nice to duel you...?"
"Shadow. Shadow Thunder.", Shadow said with a smile. "It was nice dueling you too Starlight." Shadow then had an idea. "Hey...Starlight?"
"Yes?"
"You wanna....grab something at Sugar Cube Corner? That duel got me thirsty!"
"...Sure. I'd love to!"
"Great! I'll lead the way!" Shadow and Starlight walked over to Sugar Cube Corner. It wasn't until they'd reached the door that Shadow saw he was holding Starlight's hand! 'Maybe....this was a date after all. Holy God Cards! I just had my first date! On Valentine's Day!'