Leo: 3200 LP
Devack: 4000 LP
Devack's field: Magician Ape, Morpthronic Magnen.
Leo's field: Morphtronic Magnen Bar, two face-downs.
Devack: It's my move boy. And I shall activate Magician Ape's special ability. By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, your monster becomes my property.
Trudge: At this rate, Devack's gonna take Leo's entire deck.
Yusei: Not quite.
Leo: You walked right into my trap!
Devack: What are you talking about?
Leo: Due to Morphtronic Magnen Bar's special ability, since he's in defense mode, none of your monsters can attack, and since the monsters taken by Magician Ape's effect can't change battle modes, he's stuck in defense.
Trudge: Alright, good move Leo.
Devack: It hardly makes a difference. I sacrifice Magnen Bar to summon Fighter Ape in attack mode.
Level 5/Dark/Beast
ATK 1900/DEF 1200
Trudge: Well he sure threw a monkey wrench into things.
Devack: And since your defenseless, Fighter Ape can attack you directly!
Leo: I play the Remake Puzzle trap card! By destroying a Morphtronic monster on the field, even if it's on your side of the field, the battle phase is cancelled, and I get to bring back a Morphtronic with a lower level than the destroyed monster, so Magnen is destroyed and Magnen Bar is revived.
Devack: All you've done is prolong your misery boy. You don't really think you'll win do you? You can't defeat me. And when I'm done with you, I'm coming after your sister next.
Meanwhile, Mina had stopped her car.
Mina: Looks like the shadow duel is still going.
Akiza: Yeah, but something feels different about this one. My dragon sign's not glowing.
Jack had also stopped and noticed his mark wasn't glowing.
Jack: Luna is supposed to be dueling, but I can't feel our Signer connection. It's like she fell off the face of the Earth.
Back in the spirit world, the monkey soldiers had finished their search of the alley and didn't find Luna.
Monkey 1: Come on, she's gotta be around here somewhere.
Once they left, the stone Luna disappeared under lifted up and Luna and two spirits came out from under it.
?: Looks like we're safe now.
Luna: Thanks for saving me Jinzo.
Jinzo: Any day my lady.
Luna: How did you know I was in trouble?
Jinzo: Alex contacted me from your world and notified me you had entered the spirit world, and he requested I watch over you to ensure your safety.
Luna: Alex really does care about me.
Jinzo: Luna, I would like for you to meet an old friend of mine, Torunka, also known as Dark Sage.
Luna: He's a lot younger than on his card.
Jinzo: That is because of the Minus Curse.
Torunka: So is she the one from the legend?
Jinzo: I believe so.
Luna: Wait, what legend? And what's this Minus Curse you're talking about?
Jinzo: All in due time my lady, but for now we must find a safe place to hide. Once we have accomplished that, I shall answer any question you ask.
They found an abandoned house and ducked inside, closing the curtains on the window.
Luna: Okay, now what's going on? And what was the legend you were talking about?
Torunka: There's an old legend where a little girl, a Signer, appears and saves us all from a terrible evil.
Luna: So what is this terrible evil? And what's the Minus Curse you talked about?
Jinzo: I'm sure you've noticed things happening around town in reverse.
Luna: Yeah, balls bouncing up stairs and leaves rising up off the ground and back onto trees.
Jinzo: The Minus Curse rewinds time, causing things to happen in reverse. Torunka has also been affected by the curse, which is why he appears to be no more than a child, when in fact, he is far older than I.
Luna: It's not contagious is it?
Jinzo: You are safe my lady. This curse only affects duel spirits.
Torunka: Jinzo, why do you keep calling her "my lady"?
Jinzo: For she is the significant other of my lord Alex, the heir of the Supreme King.
Torunka: Wait, you're friends with the son of the Supreme King?!
Luna: Um yeah. Why?
Torunka: I assume this boy is the heir of the king's reincarnation?
Luna: Yeah. Is there a point to this?
Torunka: Luna, if the boy you know happens to be the reincarnation of the original Supreme King's son, you could be in great danger.
Luna: What?! There's no way Alex is dangerous!
Jinzo: Torunka what do you speak of?
Torunka: You don't know Jinzo? Well, you weren't around then, and only a select few know the story.
Luna: What story?
Torunka: The story of the Prince of the Netherworld.
Luna: Prince of the Netherworld?
Torunka began to tell the story while back at the duel, Leo was just starting his turn.
Leo: I draw. Sweet, I play Morphtronic Cellfon in attack mode!
Level 1/Earth/Machine
ATK & DEF 100
Leo: And now I play his special ability. Once a turn, a number is chosen at random from between one and six, and then I get to flip over that many cards from the top of my deck and summon a Morphtronic I find.
It stopped on three and Leo picked up his cards and looked at them.
Leo: Alright! I summon the tuner monster Morphtronic Remoten in attack mode!
Level 3/Earth/Machine
ATK 300/DEF 1200
Devack: That's quite entertaining.
Leo: Yeah well, let's see if you find this amusing. I play the spell Level Mirroring. With it, I can change the level of one monster on my field to be the same as one monster on yours until the end of this turn, so Magnen Bar's level is changed to be level 3, just like your Magician Ape.
Magnen Bar: Level 1-3
Leo: And with that done, I tune Magnen Bar and Cellfon with Remoten in order to summon Power Tool Dragon!
Level 7/Earth/Machine
ATK 2300/DEF 2500
Trudge: Alright, with a monster like that, Leo's got the edge in this duel!
Yusei: It's a good start, and I know it's only gonna get better.
Devack: Is that the best you can do? Because if so, yours is a future bathed in shadow.
Leo: We'll see about that. I activate Power Tool Dragon's special ability! Once each turn, I'm allowed to add a random equip spell from my deck to my hand. And lucky me, I got the Break Draw equip spell. By equipping it to my Power Tool Dragon, every time he destroys one of your monsters in battle, I get to draw a card, but this card is destroyed at the end of my 3rd turn after playing it. Now Power Tool Dragon, attack Magician Ape!
Power Tool Dragon rushed forward and brought his shovel claw down on Devack's monster, destroying it and dealing a lot of damage.
Devack: 2500 LP
Leo: Talk about a vanishing act. Anything else you'd like to say about my dragon?
Devack just stayed silent.
Leo: What, dragon got your tongue?
Devack: Joke all you want, but it's my turn now, and your dragon's about to meet his match. I draw. And I summon Dark Tuner Dark Ape.
Level 2/Dark/Beast
ATK & DEF 0
Devack: And now I play the Dark Wave spell card. This will allow me to treat my Fighter Ape's level as a negative number during this turn, which means I can tune him with my Dark Ape.
Yusei: Oh no!
Devack: The one born from the darkness, become the supreme ruler who shall lead all of creation into the negative world! Dark Synchro! Appear now, Zeman the Ape King!
Level -7/Earth/Beast
ATK 2500/DEF 1800
Devack: Due to Zeman's special ability, you can't activate any spells or traps when he attacks.
Leo: So what? I can beat you without them.
Devack: We shall see. Due to the effect of my Dark Ape, since I used him to summon Zeman, I can draw one card from my deck. I know play the Closed Forest field spell.
Leo: Not good.
Yusei: Now Devack has everything he needs to summon an Earthbound Immortal against Leo.
Back in the spirit world, Torunka had just finished telling them the story of the original Supreme King's son.
Luna: Did all that really happen?
Torunka: Yes. I may have been young at the time, but I was there, and I remember it very clearly.
Jinzo: The time for stories is over. Now we must focus on rescuing the Ancient Fairy Dragon from her prison.
Luna: So what do we do?
Jinzo: We must find Regulus. From what I've heard, we should find him in the forest, but we must approach with caution.
Luna: Why is that?
Jinzo: Ever since the soldiers have arrived, he's been acting strangely. Violent even, attacking anyone who draws near. But fear not my lady, for I swear I shall defend you.
Luna: Thank you Jinzo.
Jinzo: Think nothing of it. I swore an oath to Alex that I would protect you at all costs, and I intend to keep it.
The three of them then left the house and began to run towards the edge of town. Unfortunately they were spotted by one of the soldiers, and soon were being chased by many more.
Luna: They found us!
Torunka: Really, I hadn't noticed!
Jinzo: Remind me to reprimand you for speaking to my lady is such a brash tone later.
Luna: Keep running!
They then heard the sound of a duel runner approaching.
Luna: You have duel runners in this world?
Torunka: What's a duel runner?
Luna: So I'm guessing that's a no.
?: I play Hinotama!
A fireball came out of nowhere and struck the ground in front of the soldiers, causing them to run away in a panic. Suddenly, the duel runner they had heard jumped down a nearby stairwell and landed next to the three of them.
Jinzo: My lord!
Luna: Alex!
Alex: Looks like I got here just in time. Sorry I didn't get here sooner, but I wound up in the wrong dimension at first, and then I had a hard time tracking you down.
Luna: Well I'm glad you showed up when you did.
Torunka: So this is the son of the Supreme King? I hate to break up this little reunion, but they'll be back any minute!
Alex: Right. Luna, put this on and get behind me.
Torunka: Hey what about me?
Alex: Don't worry, I've got you and Jinzo covered. I play the Legendary Ebon Steed.
A black armored horse appeared out of the shadows and stood in front of Jinzo and Torunka.
Jinzo: Thank you my lord.
Torunka: A little help please?
Jinzo grabbed his wrist and pulled him up onto the back of the horse. Once he was on, Torunka wrapped his arms around Jinzo's waist.
Alex: Where to?
Luna: Towards the forest.
Alex: Okay, hang on tight.
Luna wrapped her arms around his waist before he drove off, Jinzo and Torunka following close behind. They made it out of town safely and stopped on a large hill.
Alex: You okay Luna?
Luna: I'm okay. That's the first time I've ridden on a duel runner before.
Alex: Well once this whole thing is over, maybe you and I can take a ride together sometime?
Luna: Are you asking me on a date?
Alex: Maybe.
Luna: Well, let's just make sure we save the world first.
She tried to stay calm, but internally she was freaking out that Alex asked her out on a date. She then remembered about Leo.
Luna: Alex, is Leo okay?
Alex: Why do you ask?
Luna: I thought I heard Leo dueling. He didn't take my place against Devack did he?
As much as Alex wanted to tell her Leo wasn't in danger, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.
Alex: He did take your place. Yusei and I drove to check on you, but when we got there, he was already dueling against Devack.
Luna: Oh no! We've gotta get back and help him!
Alex: Luna, you need to have faith him. He's a great duelist, and I know he can win.
Luna: You're right, I believe in him.
Alex: So where do we go from here?
Torunka: To the forest to meet with Regulus.
Alex: Alright, you ready Luna?
Luna: Ready when you are.
Alex: Then let's go.
After driving for a few minutes they arrived at the forest. The trees were too close together, so they proceeded on foot.
Luna: Regulus lives here?
Torunka: This forest used to be so beautiful.
Alex: I guess that was before Zeman got here and ruined everything.
Torunka: It's worse than that. With the forest withering and spirits being kidnapped, King Regulus went mad.
Luna brought her hands to her mouth.
Luna: Hey Regulus! We need you!
Torunka ran in front of her in a panic.
Torunka: Quiet! He's mad, not hard of hearing.
Luna: I know what I'm doing, after all, I have a kitten at home. Here kitty, kitty, kitty. I've got a nice treat for you.
Alex: Luna, somehow I don't think that's going to work how you think.
Jinzo: I'm afraid I must concur with Alex on this matter my lady.
Suddenly a white blur rushed by and landed on a nearby rock.
Luna: Um, hi.
The newcomer was a beaten up lion with slightly broken armor growling at them.
Torunka: He came for a treat alright.
Luna: And I think it's gonna be us.
Hey everyone. So I've finally been able to get back to normalcy and try to get some more chapters written. And before I get bombed with questions about this Netherworld Prince I mentioned, I won't be giving any information about it out outside of the story, so don't bother asking. In any case, I hope you all have a great day and are staying safe.