It was the next day after Nightshroud's defeat, and Yusei and the others were visiting Alex in the hospital while Atticus looked after Jayla. Alex was still asleep, but the doctor assured them he was fine.
Luna: I hope Alex will wake up soon.
Yusei: I'm sure he'll be awake before we know it.
Akiza walked up next to Alex's bed and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Akiza: I can't believe how much Alex has had to endure in his life.
Jack: He definitely hasn't had it easy, that's for sure.
Suddenly, Alex's heart monitor started beeping loudly. They all looked at it and saw Alex's heart was racing, and he looked pained.
Akiza: Alex, wake up!
Alex opened his eyes and focused on Yusei and when he saw him, Alex became enraged.
Alex: Get away from me!
Yusei: Alex, what's wrong?
Alex: It's all your fault Yusei!
Yusei: What are you talking about Alex?
Alex: My parents are gone and it's all your fault! If you had never come into my life, I wouldn't have been dragged into this stupid fight with the Dark Signers and my parents would still be here!
Yusei tried to approach Alex to try and talk to him.
Yusei: Alex, you need to calm down.
Before Yusei could get any closer, Alex created a gust of wind and knocked Yusei back against the wall.
Alex: Just stay away from me! It's your fault my parents are gone! Because of you I'm all alone! I'll never forgive you Yusei!
Yusei: Alex, I'm your friend!
Alex: My friend? Ever since I met you my life has born torn apart. I was almost replaced by my masochistic alternate personality, barely survived two shadow duels, lost my parents, and became Nightshroud's puppet. And it all started the day I met you! You ruined my life!
Yusei: Alex we want to help you!
Alex: Why don't you just go away and leave me alone!
His powers created a whirlwind of shadows around him. Eventually it died down enough that he was visible again, and he was wearing his armor.
Yusei: No. Alastor is back.
Alex: Wrong.
He lifted his faceplate to reveal he was still in control.
Yusei: Alex I know you're in pain, but I want to help you!
Alex: I don't need your help! All I want is to make you pay for what you did to me! Face me in a duel Yusei!
Yusei: I don't have a choice. Fine, I accept this duel!
Yusei pulled out his deck and Alex made duel disks appear on their arms. They both inserted their decks and began their duel.
Both: Let's go!
Alex: 4000 LP
Yusei: 4000 LP
Alex: The first move is mine. I draw! And I play the spell Dark Fusion! I fuse Evil HERO Flare Mage and Evil HERO Stone Guardian to summon Evil HERO Infernal Sniper in defense mode!
Level 6/Fire/Fiend
ATK 2000/DEF 2500
Leo: That's not good for Yusei.
Alex: And now Flare Mage's effect activates, so since Sniper is level 6, you now take 600 points of damage! Flare Mage, hit Yusei with Firestorm Blast!
Flare Mage launched a volley of fireballs at Yusei, burning part of his jacket.
Yusei: 3400 LP
Alex: Now I activate Infernal Sniper's effect! Since she's in defense mode, she can deal 1000 points of direct damage to your life points. Strike Yusei with Shadow Bullet!
Infernal Sniper launched a sphere of black energy that knocked Yusei flat on his back.
Luna: Yusei!
Yusei: I'm alright.
Yusei: 2400 LP
Jack: Yusei's down to almost half his life points and it's only the first turn.
Alex: I end my turn. Get up Yusei. I won't be satisfied until I've returned the pain you've caused me tenfold!
Yusei: Alex, you're hurting more than I could possibly know right now, but in spite of what you're doing, I want to help you. I draw. First I activate the effect of Quickdraw Synchron from my hand. By sending a monster card from my hand to the graveyard, this card can be special summoned, so I send my Level Eater to the graveyard. Come on out, Quickdraw Synchron!
Level 5/Wind/Machine
ATK 700/DEF 1400
Yusei: And now I activate Level Eater's effect from my graveyard. By reducing the level of a level 5 or higher monster on my field by one, Level Eater can be revived. I'll reduce Quickdraw's level to 4 to summon back my Level Eater.
Level 1/Earth/Insect
ATK 600/DEF 0
Yusei: And now I normal summon Speed Warrior!
Level 2/Wind/Warrior
ATK 900/DEF 400
Yusei: And with him out, I tune level 1 Level Eater with level 4 Quickdraw Synchron in order to synchro summon Junk Warrior!
Level 5/Dark/Warrior
ATK 2300/DEF 1300
Yusei: And due to his special ability, when he's synchro summoned, he gains attack equal to the combined attack of all level 2 or lower monsters on my field, so since Speed Warrior is level 2, Junk Warrior gains 900 attack points.
Junk Warrior: 2300-3200 ATK
Yusei: Now Junk Warrior, attack Infernal Sniper with Scrap Fist!
Junk Warrior drove his fist into Infernal Sniper, destroying her.
Yusei: Now Speed Warrior attacks you directly, and due to his special ability, since he was normal summoned this turn, his original attack points double until the end of the battle phase.
Alex: 2200 LP
Leo: Alright, Yusei caught back up!
Alex: Why am I not surprised? It's only a matter of time before the people I call my friends all turn against me. Fine, if people only wanna see me as a monster, why not just act like one and give them a reason to?
Akiza: You're not a monster Alex!
Alex: Really? Because last time I checked good people aren't supposed to have a life like mine.
Yusei: Alex, I know you must feel like you're alone, but there are people who still care about you.
Alex: You're just trying to save yourself! It's your fault I'm alone Yusei! Now quit stalling and start dueling!
Yusei: I guess it'll take more than words to get through to you. I set a card face-down and end my turn.
Alex: I draw! And I play the spell Dark Recovery. Now I can add Dark Fusion and Flare Mage from my grave to my hand. And now I activate Dark Fusion again, and fuse Flare Mage and Sky Slash in order to summon my Inferno Wing!
Level 6/Fire/Fiend
ATK 2100/DEF 1200
Alex: Now Flare Mage, strike Yusei with Firestorm Blast!
She launched her attack at Yusei, knocking him onto his back again.
Leo & Luna: Yusei!
Yusei: I'm okay.
Yusei: 1800 LP
Alex: And next I equip Inferno Wing with the Eternal Evil spell card. Now, attack Junk Warrior with Inferno Blast! And don't forget, due to Eternal Evil's effect, she gains attack equal to half Junk Warrior's attack, for a total of 1600 more points.
Inferno Wing: 2100-3700 ATK
Yusei: 1300 LP
Yusei: My Junk Warrior.
Alex: Inferno Wing's effect activates. Now you take damage equal to Junk Warrior's original attack points, so you take 2300 points of damage!
Akiza: Oh no!
Alex: Inferno Wing, strike Yusei down with Inferno Wave!
Yusei: I play the trap Burst Synchro Summon! This card will make the damage from Inferno Wing's effect 0, and then I can summon a synchro monster from my extra deck with its effects negated, as long as its attack is equal to the damage I would've taken, so I summon Junk Archer!
Level 7/Earth/Machine
ATK 2300/DEF 2000
Alex: I end my turn.
Yusei: I draw. I activate Level Eater's effect, so I reduce the level of my Junk Archer by one to revive him from my graveyard in defense mode.
Alex: Trying to shore up your defenses? It won't make a difference.
Yusei: I'm not defending, I'm just setting up for my attack. From my hand I play the One for One spell card, so by sending my Shield Warrior to my grave, I can summon my Needle Soldier from my deck.
Level 1/Earth/Machine
ATK & DEF 100
Yusei: And now I play the Changer Synchron tuner monster!
Level 1/Earth/Machine
ATK & DEF 0
Yusei: And now I tune Junk Archer and Needle Soldier with Changer Synchron!
Leo: So that's six, plus one, and another one,
Luna: Which equals eight!
Yusei: I synchro summon Stardust Dragon!
Level 8/Wind/Dragon
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
Alex: So that's the legendary Stardust Dragon. I look forward to ripping him apart.
Yusei: We'll see if you get the chance. I activate Changer Synchron's effect. When he's sent to the graveyard for a synchro summon, I can change the battle mode of one your monsters, so I'll change your Inferno Wing to defense mode.
Inferno Wing: 1200 DEF
Yusei: Now Stardust, attack Inferno Wing with Cosmic Flare!
Alex: 900 LP
Alex: Why did I take damage?
Yusei: Due to Needle Soldier's effect, when a monster that uses him as synchro material attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between my monster's attack and your monster's defense is dealt to you as damage.
Alex: Due to Eternal Evil's effect, when the equipped monster is destroyed, it returns to my hand.
Yusei: I place 2 cards face-down and end my turn.
Alex: It's my turn, I draw.
Yusei: Alex, we don't have to continue this duel.
Alex: I won't stop, not until you've felt the same pain that I have!
Akiza: Alex, you don't have to do this! I know how you feel!
Alex: No you don't! My parents are gone! The only people in the whole world who made me feel loved and wanted, the only people who looked at me like I was a normal person and not some freak, and because of these stupid marks of yours, they're gone! And now I'll pay you back for my pain tenfold. And then I'll make the Dark Signers wish they'd never been born!
Yusei: Alex, you have to listen to me, getting revenge won't fix anything.
Alex: You have no right to give that speech Yusei. It was your desire for revenge against Jack that dragged me into this! If it wasn't for you, my parents would still be here!
Yusei: Alex, I'm sorry about what happened to your parents, really I am, but what you're doing isn't going to fix anything!
Alex: You think I don't know that? I know this won't bring my parents back, but if I can at least make the ones who took them from me suffer, then I don't care what I have to do or become to make it happen!
Yusei: Alex.
Alex: Now where were we? Oh right, it was my turn. I'm going to start by bringing down your Stardust Dragon, and once you lose, I think I'll take him for myself.
Yusei: I'm not going to let you take Stardust, Alex.
Alex: I know you'll try. I set a card face-down and play Card of Demise, so I draw until I have 5 cards in my hand. I activate Dark Fusion. I merge Evil HERO Malicious Edge and Evil HERO Earth Shaker to summon Evil HERO Malicious Fiend!
Level 8/Fire/Fiend
ATK 3500/DEF 2100
Jack: That's not good.
Alex: And it's about to get worse, I activate the equip spell Eternal Evil! Now once my monster attacks, this duel will be over!
Yusei: I play my face-down card, the counter trap Armor Break! This will card can negate the activation of an equip spell and destroy it.
Alex: Fine. Even without Eternal Evil, Malicious Fiend has more than enough attack to defeat your Stardust. Malicious Fiend, attack with Claw Shred!
Malicious Fiend launched blades from his arms, striking Stardust.
Yusei: I activate Shield Warrior's special ability from my graveyard! By banishing him, Stardust won't be destroyed by this battle!
Alex: You may have spared Stardust, but you still take damage.
Malicious Edge's claws passed Stardust and struck Yusei, one of them cutting his cheek as it flew past.
Akiza: Yusei!
Yusei: 300 LP
Jack: He's only got 300 life points left, one more attack like that and he's done for!
Alex: I end my turn. Make your move count Yusei, because judging by your life points, it just might be your last.
Yusei: It's my move. I draw! I change Stardust Dragon to defense mode.
Alex: Trying to save the few life points you have left?
Yusei: No, I just switched Stardust to defense so I could play this, the Prevention Star equip spell! So now your Malicious Fiend can't attack or change battle modes as long as I have Prevention Star out.
Alex: Fine, prolong this duel, just gives me more chances to make you suffer.
Yusei: I place a card face-down and end my turn.
Alex: I draw. First I play the Magical Stone Excavation spell. So by discarding two cards, I can add one spell from my grave to my hand, and I think I'll pick my Card of Demise. And now I'll play it, and draw 5 new cards.
Yusei: Again?
Alex: Now I play the Altar of Restoration spell card, so by banishing the top 2 cards of my deck, one card from my graveyard comes back to my hand, and I choose Dark Fusion, which I'll activate in order to fuse Malicious Fiend with Evil HERO Galactic Ruler in order to summon my Evil HERO Neos!
Level 7/Dark/Fiend
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
Luna: Oh no!
Alex: And due to his special ability, he gains 300 attack points for every Evil HERO in my grave, so with ten in my grave, he gains 3000 attack points.
Evil HERO Neos: 2500-5500 ATK
Jack: It has over 5000 attack points?!
Alex: You like star gazing Yusei? Well here's an attack I think you'll like. Neos! Destroy Stardust Dragon with Dark Cosmic Blast!
Neos launched a sphere of black energy at Stardust, destroying him.
Yusei: Stardust Dragon!
Alex: You'll see him again soon. I activate the Evil Rebirth spell card! With this card, if my Evil HERO destroys your monster in battle, I can summon that monster to my field, and it becomes a fiend type monster and is treated as an Evil HERO.
Yusei: What?
Alex: Let's give a warm welcome to Evil HERO Stardust Dragon!
Stardust revived onto Alex's field, but his color was different, like if you were looking at a picture with a negative filter effect.
Leo: I don't believe it, he turned Stardust against Yusei!
Alex: Be happy to be defeated by your dear friend Yusei. Stardust Dragon, attack Level Eater with Dark Cosmic Flare!
Luna: But since Level Eater is in defense mode, Yusei won't take any damage.
Alex: Not once I activate the effect of Evil HERO Shadow Piercer in my hand. If my Evil HERO attacks one of your monsters in defense mode, I can discard this card to give my monster the ability to deal piercing damage.
Akiza: But then Yusei will take 2500 damage and lose!
Alex: It's over!
Jack: Yusei!
Yusei: I play the trap Defense Draw! With it, I can draw one card and make the battle damage I'd receive 0!
Stardust's attack passed right through him.
Alex: Due to Neos' effect, since there's another Evil HERO in my grave, he gains another 300 attack points.
Evil HERO Neos: 5500-5800 ATK
Alex: Why won't you just give up already?!
Yusei: You should know I don't give up Alex. Especially on my friends.
Alex: You're not my friend. I don't have any friends. Who would want to be friends with a freak who's managed to hurt everyone who ever cared about him?
He brought his hand up to his face as he began crying.
Akiza: It's not true Alex!
Alex uncovered his face and saw that Akiza and Luna were pushing through the winds coming off him, trying to get closer to him.
Akiza: Alex, I may have only known you for a short time at the Arcadia Movement, but the boy I knew wasn't a monster. He was the kindest, most caring person I'd ever had the joy to meet. You care about others Alex. You made me feel loved, and I care about you.
Luna: Akiza's right. You're not a monster or a freak. You're our friend. We all care about you, and we won't stop caring about you. I love you Alex.
Yusei: They're right Alex. I know bad things have happened to you, but we're all here for you. Together we'll help you move forward, and we'll make things right.
Suddenly, everyone's marks glowed, and the symbol of the Crimson Dragon appeared on Yusei's back.
Yusei: What's going on?
He looked at his deck and the top card of it was glowing.
Yusei: It's my move, I draw!
When he drew his card, he could hear the roar of the Crimson Dragon.
Yusei: I summon the tuner monster Majestic Dragon!
Level 1/Light/Dragon
ATK & DEF 0
Yusei: And since I normal summoned a monster, I can special summon Turbo Booster!
Level 1/Earth/Machine
ATK & DEF 0
Yusei: Now I play the trap Synchro Material! This card lets me synchro summon using monsters from either of our fields, so I tune Stardust Dragon and Turbo Booster with Majestic Dragon in order to synchro summon Majestic Star Dragon!
Level 10/Wind/Dragon
ATK 3800/DEF 3000
Yusei: And now Majestic Star Dragon's effect activates. Once per turn, he can negate the effect of one monster you control and gain its effect until the end of this turn, so Neos' effect is cancelled out.
Evil HERO Neos: 5800-2500 ATK
It was then that Luna and Akiza reached Alex. They wrapped their arms around him and the wind stopped. His armor slowly dissolved, sinking down to the floor. Alex looked at Yusei with tears still in his eyes and nodded.
Yusei: Majestic Star Dragon, attack Evil HERO Neos and end the duel.
Yusei's monster charged an energy blast before launching it at Neos.
Alex: Yusei, thank you.
Alex: 0 LP
Winner: Yusei
Alex collapsed into Akiza's arms.
Akiza: Alex! Are you okay?
Alex: Yeah. It still hurts though, knowing that they're gone.
Akiza: I know it does. I'm right here for you, we all are.
Alex rested his head against her shoulder and just cried.
Akiza: I know, I know. Just let it out.
Alex stopped crying after a few minutes and pulled back.
Alex: Thank you. I guess I got really lucky meeting you after all.
Yusei: Alex, I can't begin to understand how you must feel, but just know we're all here for you. And I promise, the Dark Signers are gonna pay for everything they've done.
Hey everyone. So Majestic Star Dragon got to come out early. And something I think I need to make clear, the anime version of Synchro Material doesn't lock you out of your battle phase like the TCG version does, and Evil Rebirth only causes a monster to be treated as an Evil HERO, but doesn't actually change the monster's name. I hope everyone is enjoying the story and I'll see you all in the next chapter.