It was the morning after Alex arrived at the Arcadia Movement, and he had just woken up and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. He got there and saw that Akiza was already in the kitchen and was fixing breakfast for them both.

Akiza: Good morning Alex. Did you sleep well last night?

Alex: Yeah. I slept a lot better than I did in the hospital.

Akiza: I'm glad. Are you hungry?

Alex: Very.

Akiza: Well, eat up, Sayer wants to see you later.

Alex: Alright.

Akiza then sat down and ate with him.

Alex: Thank you for fixing breakfast Akiza, it's great.

Akiza: I'm glad you like it Alex.

They finished eating and Alex got ready to meet with Sayer. Akiza handed him his deck and duel disk. She then started leading Alex to meet with Sayer. While on the way, Alex decided to start a conversation.

Alex: So how did you meet Sayer?

Akiza: It was a long time ago. I had lost my parents and was living on the street. Sayer found me and took me in, he's like family to me.

Alex: I'm sorry you had a bad childhood. I would've probably ended up in a similar spot if it wasn't for my parents. I hurt a lot of people before I learned to control my powers. I even sent my best friend to the hospital. He never talked to me again.

Akiza looked down at Alex and saw a tear run down the side of his face. She put her hand on his shoulder and bent down to look him in the face.

Akiza: And he was poorer for it. Alex, in the short time I've known you, I've realized you are one of the kindest people I've ever met, and you didn't deserve to be treated the way you did. And if it makes you feel better, if I had known you back then, I absolutely would've been your friend.

Alex stood there for a moment before he came forward and hugged her. Akiza was surprised for a moment before she returned the hug.

Alex: Thank you Akiza. It means a lot to hear you say that.

Akiza: You're welcome.

They separated after a minute and Akiza stood back up.

Alex: You know, I never had any siblings I could really talk to, but if I did, I'd want them to be like you.

Akiza: I never had any siblings either, but I would be happy to consider you my little brother.

Alex: I'd like that.

Akiza: Come on, let's not keep Sayer waiting.

Alex: Okay.

They continued walking and met up with Sayer at a duel arena. Alex looked at Sayer and saw he was wearing a duel disk.

Alex: Am I dueling Sayer?

Akiza: Yes. Don't worry, it's just a test to see how strong your powers are.

Alex: So all I have to do is duel?

Akiza: Right. I'll be watching from right up there if you get nervous.

Alex: Okay.

Sayer: Are you ready to duel Alex?

Alex: Y-yeah.

Sayer: Are you alright Alex?

Alex: I-I'm fine.

Sayer could tell Alex was lying and walked up to him.

Sayer: Are you still scared from your shadow duel?

Alex: Yeah. Akiza told me you have psychic powers like her. I guess I'm just worried about getting really hurt or worse.

Sayer: It's alright. I'm sure a shadow duel can't be an easy thing to go through, regardless of whether you won or lost. But I promise you'll be okay. I can suppress my powers so it'll just be holograms if that'll make you feel better, alright?

Alex: Okay.

Sayer: Okay then. I promise I won't use my powers, but for this test, you still need to use yours alright? You don't have to worry about hurting me, okay?

Alex nodded his head in response.

Sayer: Alright. Don't worry about winning, just do your best.

Alex: Alright.

Sayer: Let's begin.

Both: Let's duel.

Sayer: 4000 LP

Alex: 4000 LP

Sayer: I'll go first, and I play Krebons in attack mode.

Level 2/Dark/Psychic

ATK 1200/DEF 400

Sayer: I place one card face-down and equip Krebons with Telekinetic Charging Cell. I end my turn.

Alex: I draw. And I play the spell Fiendish Fusion. With it, I can summon an Evil HERO fusion monster by using monsters from my hand, my field, or my deck as material.

Sayer: Not a bad move.

Alex: I send my Evil HERO Flare Mage and my Evil HERO Sky Slash from my deck to the graveyard to summon my Evil HERO Inferno Wing.

Level 6/Fire/Fiend

ATK 2100/DEF 1200

Alex: And due to Flare Mage's effect, when she's used as material for an Evil HERO fusion, you take damage equal to 100 times the fusion's level, so since Inferno Wing is level 6, you take 600 points of damage.

Flare Mage appeared and launched a fireball at Sayer, leaving a burn mark on his suit.

Sayer: Guess I'm heading to the tailor after this duel.

Sayer: 3400 LP

Alex: Now I'll have my monster attack with Inferno Blast.

Inferno Wing charged a blue fireball before launching it at Krebons.

Sayer: I play Krebon's special ability. By giving up 800 life points, I can negate your attack. But thanks to my Telekinetic Charging Cell, I don't have to pay any life points.

A force field appeared in front of his monster, blocking the fireball.

Alex: I place one card face-down and end my turn.

Sayer: It's my turn, I draw. And I play the spell card Emergency Teleport. This will allow me to summon a level 3 or lower Psychic type monster from my hand or deck, and I choose my Risebell the Star Adjuster.

Level 3/Wind/Psychic

ATK & DEF 800

Sayer: And due to his special ability, when he's special summoned, I can raise the level of one monster by up to 3 until the end of this turn, so I'll raise Krebons' level by 3.

Krebons: level 2-5

Sayer: And now I tune Krebons with Risebell to synchro summon Thought Ruler Archfiend.

Level 8/Dark/Psychic

ATK 2700/DEF 2300

Sayer: And now I'll have my Thought Ruler attack your Inferno Wing.

Thought Ruler appeared in front of Inferno Wing and breathed out a cloud of darkness, scaring Alex who fell over in his terror.

Sayer: Alex, are you alright?

Alex: Yeah. I just got scared is all.

Alex: 3400 LP

Sayer: Well, I'm glad you're okay. Now, due to my Thought Ruler's special ability, when he destroys your monsters in battle, I gain life points equal to your monster's original attack points.

Alex: I play a continuous trap, Bad Reaction to Simochi. Now if you would gain life points because of a card effect, you take that much damage instead.

Sayer: 1300 LP

Sayer: Not bad, you knew my synchro monsters had effects to restore my life points, so you prepared a strategy to turn their effects against me.

Alex: Thanks.

Sayer: I set one card face-down and end my turn.

Alex: I draw. And I play the spell card Dark Fusion. I fuse my Evil HERO Voltage with my Evil HERO Stone Guardian to summon my Evil HERO Lightning Golem.

Level 6/Light/Fiend

ATK 2400/DEF 1500

Sayer: But I'm afraid he's not a match for my monster's attack points.

Alex: He doesn't need to be. Thanks to my Lightning Golem's special ability, he can destroy one monster on the field every turn.

Sayer: What?

Alex: Destroy Thought Ruler Archfiend with Voltic Ball!

Lightning Golem obliged and hurled a sphere of black electricity at Sayer's monster, destroying it.

Alex: With him gone, you're wide open. Attack Sayer directly.

Lightning Golem launched a bolt of black lightning at Sayer.

Sayer: I play the trap card Dimension Wall. This card can only be used when you declare an attack, and now you take the damage from this battle instead of me.

A portal appeared in front of Sayer and Lightning Golem's attack entered it before exiting another portal and hitting Alex.

Alex: 1000

Alex: I end my turn.

Sayer: I draw. And I play the spell Monster Reborn to bring back my Thought Ruler.

Alex: But if he destroys my Golem, his effect will activate, and since my Bad Reaction to Simochi is still active, you'll take 2400 points of damage.

Sayer: Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not attacking your Golem.

Alex: But with my Golem out, you can't attack me directly.

Sayer: Normally that would be the case, except I play the trap Battle Teleportation.

Alex: What's it do?

Sayer: It can only be used when I control exactly one psychic type monster, and it allows that monster to attack you directly this turn, but it becomes yours at the end of the battle phase.

Alex: But my life points are only 1000, if he attacks me directly then,

Sayer: I'm afraid you lose. Thought Ruler Archfiend, attack Alex directly.

Thought Ruler Archfiend appeared in front of Alex and breathed out a cloud of darkness again. Alex crossed him arms in front of his face and tried to protect himself, having forgotten Sayer wouldn't use his powers in the duel. The attack stopped and Alex realized he was fine.

Alex: 0 LP

Winner: Sayer

Sayer: Sorry if that scared you Alex. That was an excellent duel.

Alex: Thanks. I think I feel a little better about dueling after that.

Sayer: I'm glad. I have a couple things I want to give you.

Alex: What are they?

Sayer: The first one is this. It's a psychic type deck. It's got a lot of the cards I used in our duel, plus a lot of other strong cards.

Alex: Thank you.

Sayer: And here's the other.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal bracelet before handing it to Alex.

Alex: What's this for?

Alex: It's to help you with your powers. It will limit your access to them for now so we can build up your control. The metal clip Akiza serves the same purpose.

Alex slipped it on and could tell his powers seemed weaker than before.

Alex: Thank you. I think this will help a lot.

Sayer: You're welcome. You should rest for a bit. Akiza will lead you to the training area when you're ready.

Alex: Alright.

Akiza met him in the hallway and talked to him

Akiza: That was a good duel. You almost beat Sayer.

Alex: Has he not lost before?

Akiza: Not that I've ever seen.

Alex: Well, Sayer's the first to actually beat me in a duel in a while.

Akiza: Is that so?

Alex: Yeah, the last person to beat me was Yusei, though since I was under the control of the Dark Signers during that duel, I don't mind he won that one.

Akiza: Well, Sayer told me that he wanted you to rest for a bit.

Alex: Alright.

Hey everyone. If I'm being honest, I enjoy writing Sayer as a genuinely good person, and I hope you all enjoy getting to see him as one. Well, Alex has had his second official loss not counting his surrender during the Fortune Cup. And the first if you don't count his duel when he was possessed by the Dark Signers. I hope everyone is enjoying the series, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.