Alex woke up in a dark room lit by candles. He tried to move, but found that his ankles and wrists were bound with what looked like spider silk. "What in the world?" he asked as he pulled against his binds. "Ah, you're awake," a voice said in the darkness. Alex turned in the direction the voice came from as a dark skinned man wearing black robes lined in red walked into the light.
"Hello there, my name is Roman," the man said. "What do you want with me?" Alex asked, trying to piece together what happened and where he was. "To put it simply, I want you to join us," Roman answered. "And who is 'us'?" Alex asked. In response to his question, two other men wearing robes similar to Roman's, but with yellow and blue stripes instead of red, walked into the light.
"Who we are is of little concern. It's our goal that should interest you. To rebuild the world in our image," Roman informed. "And what does that mean?" Alex asked, growing more confused by the minute. "Man, does this kid ever stop asking questions?" the man in the blue robes asked, clearly growing annoyed.
"Be patient, Kalin. The boy deserves to know why we've brought him here," his compatriot in yellow responded. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Devack," Kalin responded. Roman seemed annoyed with the pair, but turned to face Alex again. "To answer your question, we will usher in an age of darkness that will last until the end of time," he spoke.
"So why do you want me?" Alex asked, although he was starting to get an idea. "You were born with the power of darkness inside of you, and it's a great power indeed," Roman responded, confirming Alex's suspicions. "I don't know what you're talking about," the young duelist lied, hoping he could throw them off.
"You cannot deceive us. We've watched your duels, and we know you hold the power of the Gentle Darkness," Roman confirmed. "That doesn't mean I'm going to help you. My friends are surely looking for me as we speak, as well as Sector Security, and when they find us, you're going to go to the facility for a long time," Alex warned.
"Except they're looking in the wrong place. We're not in the city, we're in the Satellite," Roman informed. "Even if we aren't in the city, I still have friends who can find me," Alex responded, although he was wondering why he hadn't been able to hear Yubel yet. She should've been able to find him by now.
"We're well aware of your spirit companions. Those threads holding you restrain your power, keeping them from detecting you or you from using your powers," Roman informed. "I still won't help you. My power is part of a balance between the light and dark. I won't use it to help you destroy the world," Alex refused.
"I'm afraid the choice isn't yours," Roman said smugly. Before Alex could say anything, he felt something bite him on the back of his neck. Moments after he was bitten, his mind clouded over, and he couldn't think properly. Then, a mark just like the one that appeared over him at the arena appeared on his arm as his eyes glazed over.
"Are you ready to help us Alex?" Roman asked, although he already knew the answer. Alex simply nodded in response to the question as the silk binding his arms and legs disintegrated, but he made no moves to get away, his mind under Roman's total control. "Good. I think it's time you paid a visit to your old friend Yusei," Roman said, eager to see how well Alex would do.
"Yes, Roman," Alex said listlessly. A few hours later at Blister's place, most everyone was asleep, except for Yusei, who was looking at the picture Yanagi had drawn earlier of the symbol of the Crimson Dragon. He turned and walked to the window, gazing out at the other buildings. Suddenly, his mark started glowing.
"My mark's never felt like this before. It feels like it's trying to warn me about something," he thought to himself before he looked down at the street and saw someone standing there wearing a cloak. But what really caught Yusei's attention was the glowing spider mark on the person's arm. Yusei rushed down to the street, but by the time he got there, the person was running off.
"Hey you!" he shouted before chasing the person to a parking garage, where they stopped running and turned to face him. Now that Yusei could get a better look at them, he realized this person must be a child given their height. "Who are you? And why do you have that mark on your arm?" Yusei asked, recognizing it as the mark from his vision at the Fortune Cup.
"If you wanna find out, you'll have to duel me," the person responded, although Yusei thought the person's voice sounded familiar. "Why am I not surprised? Alright then, if it's a duel you want, it's a duel you'll get," Yusei said as he activated his duel disk before they both shouted "Let's duel!"
?: 4000 LP
Yusei: 4000 LP
As soon as the duel started, a ring of purple energy surrounded the both of them. "What's going on?" Yusei asked. "I'm afraid neither of us can leave this ring until one of us wins the duel. I summon Blizzard Lizard in defense mode," his opponent declared.
Level 3/Water/Beast
ATK 600/DEF 1800
"I place 2 cards face-down and end my turn," he concluded. "It's my turn, I draw. And I play the spell card Tuning. Now I can add a tuner monster from my deck to my hand, as long as I get rid of cards from my deck equal to that monster's level. And since Junk Synchron is level 3, I send three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard. And now I play Junk Synchron in attack mode," Yusei said as he summoned his signature tuner monster.
Level 3/Dark/Warrior
ATK 1300/DEF 500
"Now I activate his special ability. When Junk Synchron is normal summoned, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard, as long as it's level 2 or lower, so I summon Speed Warrior in defense mode," he explained.
Level 2/Wind/Warrior
ATK 900/DEF 400
"And now I tune my monsters together in order to synchro summon Junk Warrior!"
Level 5/Dark/Warrior
ATK 2300/DEF 1300
"Now attack his monster with Scrap Fist!" Yusei shouted as Junk Warrior punched Blizzard Lizard, destroying it and sending a gust of wind that blew the hood off his opponent's head to reveal them to be- "Alex?" Yusei asked in surprise. Sure enough, his opponent was none other than his missing friend.
"Yes. I have been sent by the Dark Signers to destroy you," Alex responded blankly. "Alex, you have to snap out of it!" Yusei shouted, but Alex's expression didn't change. "Shout all you want, but this duel won't stop until I defeat you," Alex stated. "We'll see about that Alex," Yusei said.
"We will. I activate the effect of Blizzard Lizard, plus one of my face-down cards, the trap Broken Blocker. Now, since you destroyed my monster, not only do you take 300 points of damage, but I get to summon two more Blizzard Lizards from my deck," Alex explained as a gust of wind mixed with shards of ice blew in Yusei's direction, tearing small holes in his shirt.
Yusei: 3700
"Didn't see that coming. I can't underestimate Alex or I'm in trouble," Yusei thought to himself. "And now I play the trap Miracle's Wake, which will let me bring back the monster you destroyed," Alex explained as his first Blizzard Lizard returned to the field. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn," Yusei concluded as he waited to see what Alex did next. "I draw. And now I sacrifice two of my Blizzard Lizards to summon my Dark Tuner Catastrogue," Alex explained.
Level 8/Dark/Fiend
ATK 0/ DEF 0
"And now Catastrogue dark tunes with Blizzard Lizard. You see Yusei, unlike normal synchro summons, dark synchros subtract the level of the Dark Tuner from the other monster, creating a monster with a negative level. So, I summon the negative level 5 Frozen Fitzgerald!" Alex shouted as he summoned a monster that looked like it had been carved from solid ice.
Level -5/WATER/Fiend
ATK 2500/ DEF 2500
"Where did Alex get cards like this?" Yusei thought to himself before Alex pulled him from his thoughts. "Due to Catastrouge's effect, since he was used as material to summon a Dark Synchro monster, I can destroy any card on your field, and I choose your Junk Warrior," he explained as a purple beam of light came out of his graveyard, hitting Junk Warrior square in the chest, destroying him.
"My Junk Warrior!" Yusei exclaimed as his only monster was destroyed. "And now Frozen Fitzgerald attacks you directly!" Alex ordered as his monster launched a volley of ice shards at Yusei. "I play my face-down card!" Yusei shouted before he looked down and saw that his cards were covered in ice.
"What happened to my cards?" he asked. "It's Frozen Fitzgerald's special ability. When he attacks, you can't use any spells or traps until after the battle is over," Alex explained as the shards of ice struck Yusei, knocking him back against the energy ring.
Yusei: 1200
"Why are you doing this Alex?" Yusei asked as he picked himself up. "I'm simply doing as the Dark Signers have told me. Soon the light will be swallowed by the darkness," Alex answered. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I know that I'm going to beat some sense into you," Yusei responded.
"I end my turn," Alex declared, not doing anything else. "I draw. And I activate the trap Descending Lost Star. With it, I can bring Junk Warrior back from my graveyard, as long as I make his defense 0 and reduce his level by 1," Yusei explained as his monster reappeared and knelt down in front of him. "And now I sacrifice him to summon a monster with some more firepower: my Turret Warrior," he continued.
Level 5/Earth/Warrior
ATK 1200/DEF 2000
"I never took you for a comedian Yusei," Alex joked. "Well, let's see you laugh at this. Due to Turret Warrior's special ability, he gains attack points equal to Junk Warrior's attack points," Yusei explained as his monster powered up.
Turret Warrior: 1200-3500
"Turret Warrior, attack Frozen Fitzgerald!" Yusei shouted as his monster locked its cannons on Frozen Fitzgerald before it opened fire, destroying the monster in one shot.
Alex: 3000 LP
"Not bad Yusei, but I'll do you one better. Due to my monster's special ability, if he's destroyed in battle, he gets to come back to the field in defense mode. And that's not all: at the end of the battle phase, the monster that was responsible for his destruction gets destroyed," Alex explained as Frozen Fitzgerald reappeared and launched ice shards at Turret Warrior, destroying it. "I play the spell card One for One, so by sending a monster from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon a level 1 monster from my hand or deck, like my Sonic Chick," Yusei explained.
Level 1/Earth/Winged Beast
ATK 300/DEF 300
"I end my turn," he concluded. "Then it's my turn. I switch Frozen Fitzgerald to attack mode and equip him with the spell Drain Strike. Now if he attacks a monster in defense mode, half the difference between his attack and your monster's defense is dealt to you as damage, while the other half is added to my life points. Now, attack his Sonic Chick," Alex ordered as his monster fired a barrage of icicles at Sonic Chick.
Yusei: 100
Alex: 4100
"Due to Sonic Chick's effect, it can't be destroyed in battle with monsters that have 1900 or more attack points," Yusei explained. "Maybe, but you only have 100 life points, while I have more than when we started the duel. Just give up Yusei, you can't beat me," Alex responded.
"You should know I don't quit Alex. I didn't give up on you during the Fortune Cup, and I'm not going to give up on you now," Yusei replied. "Wait, the Fortune Cup? What's he talking about?" Alex thought to himself before the memory of Yusei saving him in the tournament flashed through his mind.
"That's right. Yusei's my friend, but then, why am I doing this?" Alex asked himself before a voice spoke in his mind, "It's your duty to defeat the Signer." "I... end my turn," Alex said, starting to feel unsure. "It's my move. I play the tuner monster Nitro Synchron," Yusei said as he summoned a monster that looked like a nitro canister with a face.
Level 2/Fire/Machine
ATK 300/DEF 100
"And now I play the trap card Give and Take. With it, I can summon a monster from my graveyard to your field in defense mode, and then I can add its level onto one of my monsters," Yusei explained. "What good will that do you?" Alex asked, wondering what Yusei was doing. "You're about to find out. I summon Max Warrior to your field, and then increase the level of Sonic Chick by 4, making it a level 5," Yusei explained.
Max Warrior
Level 4/Wind/Warrior
ATK 1800/DEF 800
"What are you up to?" Alex asked. "You're about to find out, I tune level 2 Nitro Synchron with level 5 Sonic Chick, in order to summon Nitro Warrior!" Yusei shouted.
Level 7/Fire/Warrior
ATK 2800/DEF 1800
"And due to Nitro Synchron's effect, since I used him to summon my Nitro Warrior, I can draw 1 card from my deck," Yusei explained. "Please let me draw the card I need," he thought to himself before he closed his eyes and drew his card before looking at it, smiling.
"I play the equip spell Junk Barrage. Now if my Nitro Warrior destroys one of your monsters in battle, you take damage equal to half your destroyed monster's attack points," Yusei explained. "So I'll take a little over 1500 damage. I'll still have life points, and due to Frozen Fitzgerald's effect, your Nitro Warrior will be destroyed at the end of the battle phase, and you'll lose," Alex pointed out.
"I wouldn't be so sure Alex," Yusei responded. "And why is that?" Alex asked. "Because due to Nitro Warrior's special ability, since I used a spell card this turn, he gets 1000 more attack points during his next battle," Yusei explained as a green aura surrounded Nitro Warrior.
Nitro Warrior: 2800-3800
"Now attack Frozen Fitzgerald with Dynamite Crunch!" Yusei shouted as Nitro Warrior wrapped his fist in green energy and delivered a punch to Frozen Fitzgerald, destroying it.
Alex: 2800 LP
"And due to Junk Barrage's effect, you now take damage equal to half of Frozen Fitzgerald's attack points," Yusei explained before a blast of energy shot from his spell at Alex.
Alex: 1550 LP
"That's still not enough to win Yusei. Now Frozen Fitzgerald will revive, and your Nitro Warrior will be destroyed as soon as your battle phase ends!" Alex shouted. "My battle phase isn't over yet. I activate Nitro Warrior's other special ability! Since he destroyed a monster in battle, one of your monsters is changed to attack mode, and he can then attack it, so Max Warrior is changed to attack mode," Yusei explained.
"But that means that-" Alex began to say before being cut off. "That I win. Nitro Warrior, attack!" Yusei shouted.
Alex: 550 LP
"And now Junk Barrage's effect activates, so you take another 900 points of damage," Yusei reminded.
Alex: 0 LP
Winner: Yusei
The ring of energy disappeared and Alex collapsed, but when he hit the ground, the mark on his arm disappeared. Yusei ran over to Alex and propped him up. "Alex, wake up," Yusei coaxed as Alex slowly opened his eyes. "Yusei, is that you? Where are we?" Alex asked, his head feeling heavy.
"You mean you don't remember our duel?" Yusei asked. "Our duel at the Fortune Cup?" Alex asked, having no recollection of the duel they just had. "No, we were dueling just a minute ago. Don't you remember?" Yusei asked. "No. What happened to me?" Alex asked, trying to piece what few memories he had together.
"You disappeared from the stadium yesterday. Everyone's been worried about you," Yusei reminded. "I can't remember much of anything," Alex informed as he brought his hand to the side of his head. "It's okay. Alex, let me look at the deck you have," Yusei requested.
Alex realized he had a duel disk on his arm and pulled out the deck that was in it and handed it to Yusei. As he handed it to Yusei, a purple mist seeped out of the deck, scaring them both a bit. After the mist disappeared, Yusei looked through the deck, but didn't find the Dark Tuner or the Dark Synchro Alex used.
"Alex, try and think. What do you remember?" Yusei asked. "A few small pieces. I woke up in a dark room, and a man named Roman started talking to me. He wanted me to join him, I refused, and then it felt like something bit me. After that, I don't remember anything," Alex informed.
Yusei noticed that Alex looked like he was about to pass out. "You alright Alex?" he asked. "I'm just really tired," was all Alex said in response. "Why don't you try and rest. Don't worry, I won't leave your side," Yusei promised. "Okay," Alex said before he closed his eyes and slipped from consciousness.
Yusei picked him up and began walking back to Blister's place. As he was walking, he started thinking about everything Alex told him. "Who is this Roman guy Alex told me about? Why did that mark suddenly disappear from Alex's arm, and why doesn't he remember anything? For now, I'd better get him to Blister's. I should call his parents and let them know I found him, and I should let Goodwin know about it so he can call off the search for him," he said to himself.
Meanwhile, back at the Dark Signer's lair, one of the legs on Roman's mark had returned. "It looks like the boy failed," Kalin pointed out. "Yes, it seems that Yusei is more skilled than we had thought," Devack responded. "Yes, but this was merely a test. While it is unfortunate we lost the boy, I am sure we will reclaim him with time," Roman said calmly.
The morning came and Yusei had gotten back to Blister's apartment and was still carrying Alex in his arms. "Where'd you go last night? I was worried about you," Tanner asked as Yusei walked in. "I found Alex last night," Yusei answered, gesturing to the sleeping child.
"Where'd you find him?" Tanner asked, relieved Alex was safe. "Actually, he found me. He was standing in the middle of the street last night, and lured me away so he could duel me," Yusei informed as he set Alex down on the couch in the room and pulled a blanket over him.
"Why'd he do that?" Tanner asked. "That's the thing, he doesn't remember. He was under the control of a group called the Dark Singers. When I beat him, he snapped out of it, but he couldn't remember what happened to him other than a few pieces," Yusei answered.
"So what now?" Tanner asked. "For now, we should let Alex rest and see if he can remember anything else when he wakes up. I'm gonna call his parents and let them know he's okay," Yusei responded. "Alright, I'll make sure everyone lets him sleep," Tanner promised. Yusei nodded before he picked up a phone and called Jaden.
"Hello?" Alexis' voice answered. "Alexis, it's me. I found Alex, and he's here resting. Don't worry, we're in a safe place, but I need to talk to Jaden," Yusei asked "Okay, I'll go get him," Alexis responded, relieved her son had been found. The line went quiet for a minute before Jaden picked up the phone.
"Yusei?" he asked. "Yeah, it's me," the Signer confirmed. "Have you really found Alex?" Jaden asked, hoping what Alexis told him was true. "Yeah, he's okay, but he's asleep right now. When I found him, he was being controlled by a group called the Dark Signers. When I beat him, he came to his senses, but he said he didn't remember much of what happened to him," Yusei informed.
"I see. Where are you now?" Jaden asked, wanting to be able to see his son. "I can't disclose the location over the phone, someone might be listening in on us. Just know that he's safe and I won't let him out of my sight. I'm going to call Goodwin and let him know we found him," Yusei informed.
"Okay, but be careful," Jaden advised before Yusei hung up and called Goodwin next. "Yusei, what do you need?" the man asked once he picked up. "Goodwin, we found Alex. He was under the control of a group called the Dark Signers, but he snapped out of it once he lost the duel. He doesn't remember much of what happened, but he said he remembers a man named Roman," Yusei told him.
"Where is Alex now?" the director asked. "He's here with me and my friends. He's not injured, but he's sleeping right now. I think it would be better to keep him here for now so that we can keep an eye on him and keep him away from the Dark Signers," Yusei informed.
"I understand. When Alex awakens, see if he remembers anything else that can help us determine the location of the Dark Signers," Goodwin requested. "Alright. I'll let you know if he remembers anything," Yusei agreed.