Leo breathed heavily after the attack. No matter what he had said, he wasn't ready for real-life damage, and it was already taking its toll.

"Ready, boy?" Devack taunted. "It's your move."

Leo: 3200

Devack: 4000

"It's Leo's turn, but he doesn't look good," Yusei noticed.

Lise peered over his shoulder. "Who's this lion kid you guys keep talking about? Is it Simba? Jack should get king tips from him!" she giggled. Her head moved back and forth like she was in a drunken daze.

"He's a tough kid," Trudge said, ignoring Lise. "He can handle whatever Devack throws his way."

"Interesting! Did you hear your friends? They seem to believe that you can handle more punishment. Do you care to test that theory, Leo?" Devack simpered.

"Well, to be honest I hate tests," Leo said bluntly. "But if it means keeping my sister safe, then what's the first question? 'Cuz my deck's full of answers!" He drew his card. Though a cheat sheet might come in handy, cuz as long as Devack has Magician Ape on his field he can take control of any monster I summon! But maybe that's what I should let him do… "I summon my Morphtronic Magnen Bar in defense mode! And now I'll end my turn with a facedown!"

"It's my move, boy," Devack announced. "And I'll use Magician Ape's special ability. Now by sending one of my cards to the graveyard, your monster becomes my property. Morphtronic Magnen Bar, join the dark shadows!" the Dark Signer commanded as his ape's staff took control of the magnet.

"What's he doing? At this rate the guy's gonna take the kid's whole deck," Trudge grumbled.

"Alright! You fell for it!" Leo cheered. "Now you can't attack because your Magnen Bar is in defense mode!"

"Shame, I'm afraid it won't make a difference," Devack smirked. "I sacrifice your Magnen Bar in order to summon my Fighter Ape."

(Fighter Ape: Atk: 1900 Def: 1200)

"Since you're defenseless, Fighter Ape can attack you directly!"

"I play my facedown, Remake Puzzle!" Leo countered. "Now if I destroy a Morphtronic monster, even if you control it, your attack ends automatically. And there's more! Now I get to summon another Morphtronic monster from my graveyard to make up for the one I just sacrificed. And I choose Morphtronic Magnen Bar!"

"All you've done is prolong your misery, boy," Devack sounded bored and kind of amused. "You don't really think you'll win, do you? You can't defeat me, and then when I'm through with you, I'm coming after your sister next!"

Leo's face contorted with barely-contained rage at the threat. His fists clenched hard enough to make his knuckles lose color and he ground his teeth involuntarily. "Like hell you will…" he muttered.

Unbeknownst to him and the others, Luna was stuck in her own little problem in the Spirit World with a small wizard spirit named Torunka and an armored lion known as Regulus…

"Look, there must be a shadow duel there," Meena pointed out. The car was totally stopped and both she and Akiza were staring at the monkey geoglyph in the sky.

"You're right, Meena, but there's something different about this one. For some reason my dragon sign's not glowing."

Meena turned to Akiza. "Does that mean that Luna isn't dueling?"

"I'm not sure. But whatever's going on, whoever's dueling, has to win. Now keep driving; we don't want to keep Misty waiting."

"I summon Morphtronic Celfon to the field in attack mode!" The familiar cell phone-like monster appeared. "It's time for me to dial up some trouble! See, since my Celfon is in attack mode he randomly chooses a number between one and six. Whichever number he picks, I can draw that many cards, and if there's another Morphtronic in there I can summon him automatically!" The buttons flashed as Celfon dialed. "Three! All right!" Leo drew his cards. "Hope you've brought your ear buds. I summon Morphtronic Remoten!"

"That's quite entertaining," Devack said, only slightly amused by Leo's many puns.

"Yeah? This card is just getting started," Leo quipped. "I activate Level Mirroring. Now I get to choose a monster on your field and match his level to one of mine. In other words, Magnen Bar is now a level five! And with that power boost, it's time to get things rocking! I tune my Remoten with my Magnen Bar and Celfon to turn my Morphtronics into something new! I Synchro Summon my Power Tool Dragon!"

"All right! Now Leo's added some firepower to his side of the field," Trudge grinned. "I didn't think the kid had a combo like that in him."

Yusei smiled, but the smile was short lived.

Lise laughed weirdly again and poked his cheeks. She moved her fingers back and forth. "His face is squishy!" she squealed, moving to pinching instead of poking.

"Hey Lish, stop meshing wif my fash!" Yusei's voice came out strangely as he tried to keep her hands away from his cheeks.

Trudge just looked on in bewilderment and second-hand embarrassment for a minute before slowly turning back to the duel.

Devack laughed cruelly. "Is that the best you can do? That's no Signer dragon. That's a toy you should've left in your playroom. I hope your sister will be more of a challenge."

"Too bad you'll never find out!" Leo said. "First, I activate my dragon's special ability, which lets me add a random Equip Spell to my hand! And as luck would have it I get to use the power of Break Draw! So as soon as my Power Tool Dragon destroys one of your monsters, I get to draw another card. You might think my cards are no match for your dark deck, but I'm about to shed some light on the fact that my monster is the best beast around! Now attack Magician Ape!"

Leo: 3200

Devack: 2500

"Well that was quite the vanishing act, wasn't it? Now if you've got something else to say about the power of my dragon, go right ahead." Leo smirked as he drew a card.

Devack kept his head lowered.

"What's the matter? Dragon got your tongue?" Leo taunted, but deep in his gut, he felt something twinge with nervousness.

Devack chuckled. "You human beings, so narrow-minded. You had no idea that this battle is being waged in the Spirit World as well. I assume that's where your poor sister is right now, isn't she?"

"Leave Luna out of this! You're dueling me! Now draw your card and go!"

Devack smiled menacingly. "My pleasure. Though once you see what I have in mind, you'll wish you waited. Now meet your doom in the guise of my Dark Tuner monster Dark Ape!"

(Dark Ape: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)

Dark Ape looked like a little kid's poorly-drawn cardboard cutout project.

"But it's powerless," Trudge observed.

"He doesn't need power. He's a tuner. He won't stick around long enough to be considered a weakness." By now, Yusei had managed to get Lise to stop messing with his face for a minute.

"Behold," Devack said. "By using my Dark Wave spell, I can convert a monster's level into negative energy. Now you can witness the real purpose of my Dark Ape as I use it to combine forces with Fighter Ape!"

The Synchro Summon began as Devack chanted the words that preceded such summons: "When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals… a world without light! Come forth, Z-Man the Ape King!"

(Z-Man the Ape King: Atk: 2500 Def: 1800)

Z-Man was dressed in green and gold robes. He wore a small circlet type crown and regal blue cape to pull off the whole 'king' look. He also carried a Minus Staff.

"Good luck using any spells or traps. The strength of this king overrules all their powers!"

Leo gasped and then scowled. "So what? All I need is my dragon. He's got more attack points than your pathetic little monkey anyway!"

"Yeah, looks like Devack made a little error in judgment, eh, Yusei?" Trudge said confidently, nudging the boy.

"My only error has been not finishing you off sooner," the Dark Signer retorted. "But I'll rectify that right now. I play the field spell Closed Forest!"

"Not a field spell!" Leo said fearfully.

"Shit! Devack's got everything he needs to summon one of those Earthbound Immortals against Leo!" Yusei realized.

Leo panicked as nasty-looking trees erupted out of the earth, cutting him off from his friends—and what little light was left in the sky.