And so…the countdown to the end begins…slowly but surely…*plays Darth Vader theme song*. I've decided to focus more on Luna's quest in the spirit world and spend less time on Leo and Demak's duel. Just some detail changes. Hope nobody minds (Although the Canon Nazis probably will anyways…) Now that I've warmed you all up, here's the next installment!

The sun did not dare show its face, but hid in the fog and clouds of that solemn morning. Everyone had gotten up, eaten, and made their final preparations to go and face the battle that awaited them. The children remaining at the house were taken care of by Blister, who watched over them with the vigilance of a guardian angel. All else were gathered at the road outside. Engines from automobiles and Duel Runners began firing and helmets were secured on anxious heads.

Sidney strapped the spare helmet Yusei had made in his spare time in the days leading after the ride she took with him after they had first met. Crow lent his spare to Midori, who felt dwarfed in the Runner, sitting behind Yusei. Laura gritted her teeth as she took her seat behind Etsuo. Leo and Luna strapped their seatbelts with Trudge; Akiza did the same as she sat next to Mina in her jeep.

Jack revved the engine of his runner to call everyone to attention.

"Alright, if anyone of you loses, you're going to answer to me, got it?"

Laura rolled her eyes.

"We'll be sure to do so if we're not taking a bubble bath in the Netherworld!" She yelled back at him. He huffed at her and then looked at Yusei.

"Well, since you seem to have taken the role of leader around here, why don't you make some big speech or something?" He asked with sarcasm. Yusei looked at everyone and inhaled deeply.

"Everyone, the Dark Signers are going to be tough to beat. There is a chance we may not all make it out today. But, please remember this…We're all friends and our bonds we'll keep us strong and give us a fighting chance."

Laura smiled approvingly. "Short and sweet, as it should be!"

Jack was the first one to take off, heading in the direction of the Hummingbird tower. Everyone then proceeded to go their separate ways. None of them were sure when they would meet up again if at all.

Trudge drove Leo and Luna towards the tower where Demak was waiting. Luna felt haunted by the fact her possessed her friend, Ancient Fairy Dragon. Would she be able to save her?

"Say, are any of you kids creeped out by any of this?"

Leo shoo his head, confidently boasting that he was fearless. However, a raven flew over his head and caused him to shriek. Luna peered at him sideways, unamused.

Leo defensively stared at her and assured her he was pretending to be afraid for her sake, but she knew her brother better than that. He indeed had a touch of fear in him.

The fog still lingered, blackening the road ahead. Luna looked onward with anticipation; but then a familiar voice rang in here ear, squeaking at her.

"Kuribon?" She whispered.

"What was that?" Trudge caught wind of her voice. Luna hesitated. The transparent figured of Kuribon appeared before her, thrashing about in a panic. She tried to comfort it, and was disturb when it told her of something terrible happening in the Spirit World.

"We need to act now…" She muttered.

"Seriously, who are you talking to back there?" Trudge grew nervous. Leo tried to assure him that nothing was going on and attempted to hush his sister.

"Listen, Mr. Trudge. My sister has the ability to talk to Duel Spirits ok?"

"That's just silly! I don't believe you. Now tell me what's going on!"

Suddenly, a cloud of light swirled around Luna and enveloped her. It minimized into a pillar and imploded. There was a loud shout, and when Leo could see through the light, his sister had vanished. Leo screamed at the top of his lungs and frantically searched the backseat for signs of his sister.

"She's gone! Luna's gone! That light must have taken her to the Spirit World!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Leo! She probably just fell out of the car or something…" Trudge stopped the car and jumped out. He called out for Luna and scanned the area. Leo also called out for her, even though he thought it would likely not help. He looked up at Trudge and thought of an idea.

"Why don't we split up and look for her? We can cover more ground!"

Trudge agreed readily, too panicked about losing one child that he didn't think about Leo going off by himself without someone to look after him. Leo hurried off while he walked along in a slightly different direction.

Leo looked anxiously around as he trotted down a winding path cut through heaps of debris and junk. He had taken his Duel Disk with him, and kept it tight to his chest, with his deck safely inserted inside.

Off in the distance, he saw a tower looming over like a dark beacon.

"Maybe if I go inside that tower…I can get a better view of the Satellite from the top. Then maybe I can prove to Trudge that she didn't just fall out of the car…"

It took a good fifteen minutes or so before he came within reach of the tower. As he gazed up at it, he noticed a figure resembling a monkey carved into the top.

"Wait, isn't that the mark of the Dark Signer Luna's going to duel? Maybe…she could've been taken here…but…" He climbed over a pile of sheet metal and was just a few feet away. He called for his sister once more. But, this time, he was replied to by a terrifying laughter from inside the tower.

"I've awaited Luna since the first crack of the sun. Now my patience has been rewarded…Prepare yourself, Signer!"

Purple flames rose from the ground and wrapped around the tower, into the shape of the Monkey Nazca Line. The man in black with yellow tinge emerged from the building, his bald face hidden from view. Only his darkened eyes were visible in the shadows. When he saw who it was outside, he hissed with disgust.

"You appear similar…but…You are not the Signer whom I was supposed to Duel! You do not bear her mark. Who are you?"
Leo slipped on his Duel Disk and activated it. He growled at the Dark Signer.

"It doesn't matter. But, what does matter is that I'm her brother and promised to protect her! …And it looks like you're going to have to deal with me, because my sister's not here right now."

"…What a shame. I had no intentions of involving myself in a squabble with an ordinary little boy. But if you insist on taking your sister's place…I'll be happy to collect your soul." His disk also engaged.

"My name is Demak, by the way. Not that it matter to you."

From far, Trudge came full circle and could see the duel starting from overhead. When he realized it was Leo fighting, he ran towards it. What was Leo thinking?

…

Luna fell from the air and landed in a patch of grass just outside of a small village. Kuribon awaited her patiently, wagging its tail. It peeped at her thankfully. She rubbed her head and blinked at the stone walls surrounding the village. She noticed the gates were wide open and decided she should go in. As she strolled into town, she realized not a soul was there.

But that wasn't the only strange thing occurring. Leaves seemed to float upward and reattach themselves to trees. Violet staffs with clock-hands and golden curves were scattered in the street, all standing erect. Luna felt a familiar dark energy being emitted from them.

"I think I saw these before when the Crimson Dragon called us here."

Kuribon's eyes darted around. It blinked and urged Luna to look behind her. When she turned around, a few small, cherubic faces hid behind brick walls. Luna thought them to be children and greeted them. But they slunk into the shadows without a word.

"What's going on? Why are they all hiding?"

A pair of scraggly voices could be heard from down the street. A hand came from behind Luna and pulled her behind a nearby wall.

"Hey!"

The person who pulled her back shushed her. She held her Kuribon tightly in her arms as two strange figures skulked passed them. They appear to look like tanned, malnourished chimps, clad in Romanized armor. Each carried with them a spear in their stick-like arms.

"Where'd she go to? I thought I saw a girl running around out here! We could've caught another one of those suckers for the Ape King!"

The monkey's companion whacked him over the head with his spear.

"You're the one who was too slow! Now it got away, you slacker!" It screeched.

"Hey! Don't pin this all on me!"

Luna's eyes widened. Somehow, those soldiers were looking for everybody to capture them. But who was this Ape King Zeman? Somehow, she felt they were connected to Demak, since his Dark Signer symbol was that of the monkey.

The two soldiers receded back from the other direction. Luna sighed with relief. Kuribon rested in his arms comfortably. It peeked around and peeped at someone standing next to them in the shadows.

"What do you think you're doing running around in the open like this? Do you want to get captured?" He hissed at her.

"I'm sorry. Can you please tell me what's going on?"

The stranger grabbed her arm and lifted up a nearby rock that led to an underground tunnel. Luna jumped in and took Kuribon in with her. The stranger then closed the rock over the tunnel before making his way down.

At the bottom, only a few torches lit the way under the winding streets of the town. Luna noticed there were a fair number of sealed rooms. The stranger tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, she realized he was just a boy about her age, with long dark hair and blue eyes. He wore an oversized, swirling violet hat and a large, dark colored tunic, with violet and blue armbands wrapping out from under his sleeves.

"You're lucky I grabbed you in time. I take it you're not from around here, huh?"

Luna shook her head no.

"You must be a human then. It explains why you've got all those Spirits with you in that deck of yours. Anyways, it explains why you're not affected by the Minus Curse…" He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Minus Curse?"

"Did you see those Needle-shaped staffs all over town? They're everywhere in the Spirit World now…The Ape King Zeman created them, and what they do is… they reverse everything, even to the point where time seems to go backwards…"

Luna perked up.

"So that's why fallen leaves were floating up to the trees?"

"That's right. It's also why I'm just a child. I may not look like it, but I'm probably old enough to be your Grandfather…It's made it harder for us to escape being captured by the soldiers…

But it wasn't always like this. Duel Spirit world is where the essence of Duel Monsters live. We all had our own abilities, but we all worked together and our world is generally very peaceful. But they showed up one day and attack the town, and everything has been chaos ever since."

Luna nodded.

"I'm Torunka by the way, and I'm a Dark Sage."

"My name is Luna. I think I was sent here to help." Luna showed Torunka the mark on her arm. He squinted at it intensely.

"So you're a Signer, then? That explains a lot. I guess I should be obliged to help you then. What do you say to that?"

Luna thanked him. Kuribon rustled around restlessly. He led her down the tunnel to a stairway. He motioned for her to follow him up. She walked after him, and Kuribon jumped out of her arms to bounce up the stairs.

…

Leo and Demak had each drawn their cards, and Leo was given the first move. Trudge was forced to stand on the outskirts of the duel, being black by the violet flames. Suddenly, he heard the roar of a Duel Runner from behind him.

Yusei approached him, with Midori trailing behind him.

"Yusei? What are you doing here? Weren't you and Midori heading to the Giant's tower?" He asked. Yusei explained that they were, but they saw the light of the mark of the Monkey. But, the mark on his arm did not glow, and he knew something was wrong. He sensed whoever was dueling Demak was not Luna. He guessed the other Signers might notice and come to a similar conclusion.

Trudge didn't really understand most of it. But, he replied by telling him about how Luna had disappeared from the car while he was driving and that Leo and he were out looking for her. He guessed she had fallen out. They looked down and he said to Yusei that Leo managed to find the Monkey's tower, and that he choose to challenge Demak in Luna's place.

"But, Mr. Trudge, didn't you say there was a bright light that came from behind you? I don't think Luna simply fell out of the car." Midori noted.

"Midori is right. My best guess is she's probably in the Spirit World." Yusei said.

"What? Don't tell me you believe in that Fairytale that they were talking to me about earlier. Am I the only one who doesn't have an overactive imagination?"

Each one of them looked back to the duel. Leo summoned his first monster, Deformer Magnen-U to the field in face-up defense position. His monster appeared to look like an overgrown magnet.

(Deformer Magnen-U is a level 3 monster with 800 attack and defense.)

"When my Magnen is on the field in defense mode, you can't select any of my other monsters as an attack target." He then ended his turn with a facedown card.

Demak eagerly took his first move, swiftly drawing his card. He leered up at the two spectators, with pensive expressions on their faces.

"This little pipsqueak is determined to defeat me in a duel, even though he is not a Signer. I doubt he can win, but I also doubt either of you can talk him out of it."

All they could hope for now was that Leo would manage to win the duel. Demak summoned the card he just drew. It looked like a grizzly humanoid in a red magicians cloak and cap. Demak declared it to be Magician's Ape.

(Magician's Ape is a level 3 Dark attributed Beast type with 800 attack and 1200 defense points.)

Demak's monster was in attack position. Leo was at first confident that he had a solid defense, and could create an even better one next round. But he did not anticipate Magician's Ape's special ability.

Demak then sent one card in his hand to the graveyard. He smirked.

"Once per turn, I can discard a card to gain control of one of your monsters. That magnet of yours is the only one, so I think I'll take that!"

An eerie light emitted from the Ape's staff, and attracted Leo's monster to his side of the field. Now that Leo was wide open, Demak declared a direct attack on Leo.

As Leo's life points dropped to 3200, he shrieked in agony from the pain. He fell briefly to his knees, confused.

"Surprised? In case you haven't learned yet, in a shadow duel, all the damage our monsters deal damages more than just your life points. It actually hurts you. Are you still sure you can defeat me? Or will you let me send your soul to the abyss in peace?"

Leo managed to get to his feet. In his mind, he had been made somewhat afraid. He had never experienced anything so tremendously painful before. But he wouldn't give up. He told himself that he would stay in the game for his sister.

"I'm not done just yet, Demak."

"Have it your way the, child!"

Yusei and Trudge called to him, expressing their concern. Leo assured them that he was alright for now. But he thought to himself that he might not be for too much longer. He wondered about his sister and whether she was safe. All he could hope was that she was better off than he was.

Well, this one was kind of short. But, we have to say that's an episode! Be sure to be back here for the next episode! Don't forget to review, but don't flame. If you do, you WILL BE BLOCKED! After a recent incident with one of my other fics, this rule has gone into effect. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Anyways, I appreciate the helpful and uplifting feedback given so far. As a side note, I want to apologize to the delays, but sadly, life happens. Until next time!!!