Kalin: I think it's time we quit sitting here and get to it.
Alex: Fine by me. The sooner I beat you, the sooner you're out of Roman's control.
Kalin: You're mistaken there. I'm not one of Roman's little puppets, I'm one of the ones pulling the strings. Unlike the one you had when you dueled Yusei, this mark is the real deal.
Alex: So you're actually a Dark Signer.
Meanwhile, Yusei and Crow had driven their duel runners to the top of a nearby hill so they could get a better look at the track Kalin made.
Yusei: It's in the same shape as his mark.
Crow: Yeah, but how do we get Alex out of it?
Yusei: That's the problem, we can't. That barrier won't drop until the duel ends, and for Alex's sake, I hope he's the winner.
Just then, Jack's helicopter arrived at the scene and landed next to Crow and Yusei.
Yusei & Crow: Jack?
Jack: Long time no see.
Kalin: So Jack is here too? Perfect. Now the four of us will be back together again.
Alex: How do you know them?
Kalin: That's a long story, and I'm afraid we're short on time, so I suggest you get ready to duel.
Alex: Fine. Just don't lose your head when I win.
Kalin: You've sure got some guts kid, you remind me of myself back when Yusei and I were friends.
Yusei: What happened to you Kalin?
Kalin: I bet you thought you'd never see me again Yusei. And to think, we used to be so close. And in case you've been wondering all these years, no, I haven't forgiven you for betraying me.
Yusei: You betrayed us when you took things too far.
Kalin: I didn't take things far enough, because of you and your weakness.
Yusei: I had no choice Kalin!
Alex: What are you talking about?
Jack: We all used to duel together in the Satellite. Kalin was one of our closest friends.
Alex: So what happened?
Kalin: Yusei stabbed me in the back is what happened!
Yusei: That's not what happened Kalin!
Kalin: I don't wanna hear your lies Yusei! I've had enough of this idle talk, it's time to duel!
Alex: Fine. Please lend me strength everyone.
Kalin: Well, looks like we're finally ready to get this duel started.
Alex: Let's do this.
Kalin: Go!
They both took off down the track, Kalin managing to take the first corner.
Both: Let's duel!
Alex: 4000 LP
Kalin: 4000 LP
Crow and Yusei pulled up the play by play of the duel on their duel runners.
Crow: Be careful Alex.
Yusei: I hope Alex has what it takes to win this.
Yubel: You must be careful Alex, he is an opponent unlike any you have faced before.
Alex: I know, I have to end this duel before he can play his Earthbound Immortal, or I may not stand a chance.
Kalin: I'll go first, and I play Infernity Beast.
Level 3/Dark/Beast
ATK 1600/DEF 1200
Kalin: Next I place 1 card face-down and end my turn. Now, why don't you show me those skills of yours?
Alex: If you insist. I draw.
Kalin SPC: 1
Alex SPC: 1
Alex: I play Hunter Dragon in attack mode.
Level 3/Dark/Dragon
ATK 1700/DEF 100
Alex: Now attack his Infernity Beast with Fang Strike!
Kalin: Not so fast Alex, I play the continuous trap Depth Amulet, so by discarding a card, your dragon's attack is cancelled.
Alex: So much for the direct approach. I'll place two face-downs and leave it at that.
Kalin: My move then.
Kalin SPC: 2
Alex SPC: 2
Kalin: I play Infernity Archfiend in attack mode.
Level 4/Dark/Fiend
ATK 1800/DEF 1200
Kalin: Now Infernity Archfiend, attack his Hunter Dragon!
His monster charged a ball of black energy before launching it at Hunter Dragon, destroying it.
Alex: 3900 LP
Kalin: Now Infernity Beast, attack Alex directly!
Infernity Beast turned and sprinted towards Alex, jumping into the air to attack him.
Yusei: Alex!
Crow: Look out!
Alex: I play my trap card, Defense Draw! With it, the damage from your monster's attack becomes 0, and I draw 1 card.
Infernity Beast became translucent and passed right through him.
Jack: Good move Alex, but you're gonna have to be great to win this.
Crow: That was a close one.
Yusei: Yeah, but it's gonna get closer. Kalin never did pull his punches.
Kalin: Hm, not bad dodging that one. I place a card face-down and end my turn. Show me what you've got Alex, I like surprises.
Alex: Be careful what you ask for. I draw.
Kalin SPC: 3
Alex SPC: 3
Alex: You know Kalin, I should really thank you for destroying my Hunter Dragon.
Kalin: And why is that?
Alex: Because you've set me up to use this next card. I summon Cyberdark Horn in attack mode.
Level 4/Dark/Machine
ATK & DEF 800
Kalin: What good is some 800 point runt gonna do ya?
Alex: I wouldn't count him out yet. I activate Cyberdark Horn's special ability. When he's normal summoned, he can equip a level 3 or lower dragon from my grave to himself, absorbing that monster's attack points.
Kalin: Say what?
Alex: I equip him with Hunter Dragon, giving him 1700 more attack points.
Cyberdark Horn: 800-2500 ATK
Alex: Now my Cyberdark Horn has more attack than your monsters.
Kalin: Except due to the effect of Depth Amulet, all I have to do is discard a card and your attack is negated.
Alex: Well as they say, nothing ventured nothing gained. Cyberdark Horn, attack Infernity Beast!
Kalin: You're so predictable. I discard a card to activate the effect of my Depth Amulet, so your attack is cancelled.
Carly: Why would Alex attack if he knew Kalin could stop him?
Jack: I think I see why. In order to stop Alex's attacks, Kalin has to keep throwing away his cards, which means there's less moves he can make.
Yusei: Right. If Alex can run Kalin's hand out, he'll have a much better shot at winning the duel.
Alex: I place one card face-down and end my turn.
Kalin: Then it's my turn, I draw.
Kalin SPC: 4
Alex SPC: 4
Kalin: I tribute Infernity Beast and Infernity Archfiend to summon Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand.
Level 10/Dark/Fiend
ATK & DEF 0
Alex: That can't be good.
Kalin: Oh it is good, just not for you. Due to my monster's special ability, I can now summon a level 2 or lower monster from my hand, so I play Infernity Dwarf.
Level 2/Dark/Warrior
ATK 800/DEF 500
Kalin: And now I dark tune Nightmare Hand with Infernity Dwarf in order to summon Hundred Eyes Dragon!
Level -8/Dark/Dragon
ATK 3000/DEF 2500
Kalin: Something you should know. When Hundred Eyes Dragon is on the field, he gains the effects of every dark attribute monster in my graveyard. So since he gains the effect of my Infernity Beast, if I have no cards in my hand, like right now, you can't activate any spells or traps when he attacks.
Alex: So you wanted your hand empty!
Kalin: That's right. Now Hundred Eyes Dragon, attack with Infinity Sight Stream!
Hundred Eyes Dragon launched a beam of purple energy at Cyberdark Horn, hitting Alex and making his duel runner spin out of control.
Alex: 3400 LP
Kalin: Hey Alex, is that some kind of new dance craze?
Alex managed to regain control of his duel runner and caught back up.
Kalin: I'm glad you're not out yet, this is the best duel I've had in years. I can't wait for you to satisfy me more.
Alex: Due to the effect of Cyberdark Horn, if he would be destroyed by battle, the monster he's equipped with is destroyed instead.
Kalin: I end my turn.
Alex: I draw.
Kalin SPC: 5
Alex SPC: 5
Alex: I tribute Cyberdark Horn to summon Armed Dragon LV 5 in attack mode.
Level 5/Wind/Dragon
ATK 2400/DEF 1700
Alex: And now I play Speed Spell - Half Seize. This cuts your dragon's attack in half for one turn and adds the attack he lost to my life points.
Hundred Eyes Dragon: 3000-1500 ATK
Alex: 4900 LP
Alex: Now Armed Dragon LV 5, attack!
His dragon gave a strong uppercut to Kalin's, but didn't destroy it.
Alex: Why wasn't your monster destroyed?
Kalin: It's due to the Infernity Guardian in my graveyard. Since Hundred Eyes Dragon gains his effect, he can't be destroyed by battle or card effects if I have no cards in my hand.
Kalin: 3100 LP
Alex: I end my turn.
Kalin: Due to the effect of my Depth Amulet, it's destroyed at the end of your 3rd turn after I activated it. I draw.
Kalin SPC: 6
Alex SPC: 6
Kalin: And I play Speed Spell - Power Baton. By sending a monster from my deck to the graveyard, Hundred Eyes Dragon gains all those monster's attack points for this turn. I choose my Infernity Destroyer, and he has 2300 attack points.
Hundred Eyes Dragon: 3000-5300 ATK
Alex: 5300 attack points?!
Kalin: Now attack with Infinity Sight Stream!
Alex: 2000 LP
Alex SPC: 4
Kalin: And now Hundred Eyes Dragon activates Infernity Destroyer's effect, so you take another 800 points of damage.
Alex: 1200 LP
Alex: I won't give up.
Kalin: You may want to rethink that, one more attack and you're finished. I end my turn.
Alex: I draw. Just what I needed to make a comeback.
Kalin SPC: 7
Alex SPC: 5
Alex: I play my face-down card, the trap Level Modulation. Now you draw 2 cards, and I get to bring back a LV monster from my graveyard.
Kalin: Why you little.
Alex: Now I summon Armed Dragon LV 5 back to the field.
Yusei: Way to go Alex.
Carly: Wait, I'm confused. Wouldn't giving Kalin more cards be a bad thing?
Jack: Normally yes, but since the monsters in Kalin's graveyard can only use their effects if Kalin's hand is empty, it was the perfect move.
Alex: I play Speed Spell - Level Up. By sending my Armed Dragon LV 5 to the grave, I can summon Armed Dragon LV 7.
Level 7/Wind/Dragon
ATK 2800/DEF 1000
Alex: And now I sacrifice Armed Dragon LV 7 to bring out Armed Dragon LV 10!
Level 10/Wind/Dragon
ATK 3000/DEF 2000
Crow: Now that's a powerful dragon!
Alex: And now I use his special ability. By discarding one card, all your face-up monsters are destroyed!
Kalin: Say what?
Alex: Destroy his monster with Sonic Roar!
His dragon let out a huge roar, unleashing a shockwave that ripped through Hundred Eyes Dragon.
Kalin: Due to the effect of Hundred Eyes Dragon, when it's destroyed, I can add 1 card from my deck to my hand.
Alex: I get the feeling that's a card I don't wanna face.
Kalin: No you don't, but you can't inflict enough damage to win this round.
Alex: Maybe not, but I can still reduce your life points to 100. Go Armed Dragon, attack with Dark Plasma Burst!
Armed Dragon charged a ball of black energy in its palm before launching it at Kalin.
Kalin: 100 LP
Kalin SPC: 4
Alex: I end my turn.
Kalin: It's my turn, but due to the effect of Power Baton, I don't get to draw this turn.
Kalin SPC: 5
Alex SPC: 6
Kalin: I play the trap Limit Impulse. By discarding 2 cards, I can summon two soul tokens.
Level 1/Dark/Fiend
ATK & DEF 0
Just then, numerous people in robes that looked like the Dark Signers' appeared outside the duel field.
Alex: What did you do to them?
Kalin: These people are going to become the sacrifice for this card.
Alex: What does that mean?
Kalin: I sacrifice both my tokens to summon Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!
An object that looked like a giant stone heart appeared above them. The people on the outside of the duel track cried out in pain before turning into purple orbs of light that flew to the relic. After absorbing all of them, it shattered and a beam of light sprung up from where it was. A giant monster with blue lines running through its body then appeared, overshadowing Alex's monster.
Alex: So this is an Earthbound Immortal?
Kalin: Yes. This is the monster that I'll use to force you to join us after you lose this duel!
Level 10/Dark/Fiend
ATK 3000/DEF 2500
Kalin: And now, attack his life points directly!
Alex: What?!
Kalin: When there's a field spell in play, such as Speed World, my Earthbound Immortal can attack you directly, and he's also not affected by your spells and traps.
Alex: I can't stop him, I'm gonna lose. Wait. I play a trap!
Kalin: Weren't you listening? I just said traps don't work on my monster.
Alex: Maybe, but they still work on mine. I play the trap Ring of Destruction! With it, I can destroy my Armed Dragon and deal us both damage equal to its attack points, which means this duel ends in a draw.
A metal collar attached itself to Armed Dragon's neck before exploding, sending Alex flying from the blast.
Alex: 0 LP
Kalin: 0 LP
Result: Draw
Alex lost control of his duel runner and crashed, rolling on the ground for a few yards before stopping. Kalin drove up next to him.
Kalin: Well, I'm impressed you managed to force a draw instead of losing. I may not be able to take you right now, but I'll be back. I'll see ya around Yusei. You might wanna tend to your little buddy here, he's in pretty rough shape. Hahahahahahaha!
Crow and Yusei drove down to Alex. Yusei got off his duel runner and ran up to him.
Yusei: Alex! Come on, hang in there!
Alex: I'm sorry, I couldn't beat him. Agh, my stomach.
Yusei looked at Alex's shirt and could see he was bleeding.
Jack: Yusei, get him in the helicopter! We can get him to the hospital!
Yusei: Right!
He picked Alex up and rushed him into the helicopter.
Yusei: Stay with us Alex.
Alex was starting to pass out from the pain. Mina pulled out a first aid kit and patched Alex up well enough that they could get him to the hospital.
Mina: Pilot, take us to the hospital now!
The pilot nodded and took off for the city, flying as fast as he could.
Alex: Yusei, I can't keep my eyes open.
Yusei: Hang in there Alex, you're gonna be okay.
Alex slipped unconscious and Yusei tried to shake him awake.
Yusei: Come on, wake up Alex!
Mina reached over and checked his pulse.
Mina: He's okay, he's just unconscious.
Yusei: Are you sure he'll be alright until we get to the hospital?
Mina: Yes. I may not be a nurse, but I do know a fair amount about first aid.
5 minutes later
The helicopter arrived arrived at the hospital and a group of people met them on the roof's helipad with a stretcher. They placed Alex on the stretcher and rushed him into the ER. Yusei, Jack, and Mina sat out in the waiting room, hoping Alex would be okay.
Yusei: How could I let this happen to him? I promised his father I'd keep him safe, and look what happened.
Jack put his hand on Yusei's shoulder.
Jack: It's not your fault Yusei. The Dark Signers are to blame for this.
Yusei: Thanks Jack.
Just then, Jaden, Alexis, Leo, and Luna burst through the door and ran up to Yusei.
Jaden: What happened?!
Yusei: Jaden, what are you doing here?
Jaden: Goodwin told me Alex was being taken to the hospital. What happened?
Yusei explained how he got separated from Alex and how he wound up in a shadow duel with a Dark Signer.
Jaden: So did Alex win?
Yusei: No, the duel ended in a draw, but he hurt himself pretty bad in the process.
Jaden: I see. I can't believe this happened.
Yusei: I'm so sorry Jaden. I promised you I'd keep Alex safe, and I failed.
Jadeen: It's alright, I don't blame you for what's happened. What's important right now is that Alex pulls through.
They all sat down, waiting for any news about Alex's condition.
Hey everyone. So Alex managed to tie. I decided that if a chapter is kind of short, that I'd upload another chapter to go with it, so here you go. I hope everyone is enjoying the new year, and I hope you all stay safe. I'll see you all around, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.