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. "Good morning Alex. Did you sleep well last night?" she asked as Alex sat down at the table.
"Yeah. I slept a lot better than I did in the hospital," Alex informed. Akiza finished preparing the food and she and Alex ate, making light conversation as they did. Once they finished eating, Akiza helped Alex get ready to meet with Sayer. While on the way, Alex decided to start a conversation.
"So how did you meet Sayer?" he asked. "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," Akiza answered, remembering Sayer's kindness from back then.
"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," Alex informed, his tone rather sad.
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. "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," she assured.
Alex stood there for a moment before he came forward and hugged her. Akiza was surprised for a moment before she returned the hug. "Thank you Akiza. It means a lot to hear you say that," Alex said. They separated after a minute and Akiza stood back up. "You know, I never had any siblings I could really talk to, but if I did, I'd want them to be like you," Alex confided.
"I never had any siblings either, but I would be happy to consider you my little brother," Akiza replied with a smile. "I think I'd like that," Alex said in return. They continued walking and met up with Sayer at a duel arena. Alex looked at Sayer and saw he was wearing a duel disk.
"Am I dueling Sayer?" he asked. "Yes. Don't worry, it's just a test to see how strong your powers are," Akiza informed. "So all I have to do is duel?" Alex questioned. Akiza nodded and told him she'd be watching from the observation room above the duel field before leaving the room.
"Are you ready to duel Alex?" Sayer asked. "Y-yeah," Alex responded nervously. "Are you sure you're alright?" Sayer asked, seeing Alex was on edge. "I-I'm fine," Alex lied. Sayer right through Alex's lie and walked up to him. "Are you still scared from your shadow duel?" the psychic asked.
"Yeah. Akiza told me you have psychic powers like her. I guess I'm just worried about getting really hurt or worse," Alex admitted. "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?" Sayer offered.
"Okay," Alex responded, still feeling a bit uneasy. "Alright 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?" Sayer asked. Alex just nodded his head in response. "Alright. Don't worry about winning, just do your best," Sayer encouraged. He then went back to his side of the field and the two began dueling.
Sayer: 4000 LP
Alex: 4000 LP
"I'll go first, and I play Krebons in attack mode," Sayer declared.
Level 2/Dark/Psychic
ATK 1200/DEF 400
"I place one card face-down and equip Krebons with Telekinetic Charging Cell. I end my turn," he concluded. "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. 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," Alex declared as he summoned his favorite monster.
Level 6/Fire/Fiend
ATK 2100/DEF 1200
"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," he explained as Flare Mage appeared and launched a fireball at Sayer, leaving a burn mark on his suit. "Guess I'm heading to the tailor after this duel," Sayer said as he dusted off his suit.
Sayer: 3400 LP
"Now I'll have my monster attack with Inferno Blast," Alex ordered as Inferno Wing charged a blue fireball before launching it at Krebons. "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," Sayer explained as a force field appeared in front of his monster, blocking the fireball.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Alex concluded. "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," Sayer explained.
Level 3/Wind/Psychic
ATK 800/DEF 800
"And due to his special ability, when he's special summoned, I can raise the level of one of my monsters by up to 3 until the end of this turn, so I'll raise Krebons' level by 3," he continued.
Krebons: level 2-5
"And now I tune Krebons with Risebell to synchro summon Thought Ruler Archfiend," Sayer declared as he summoned his ace.
Level 8/Dark/Psychic
ATK 2700/DEF 2300
"And now I'll have my Thought Ruler attack your Inferno Wing," Sayer ordered. Thought Ruler appeared in front of Inferno Wing and breathed out a cloud of darkness, scaring Alex who fell over in his terror. "Alex, are you alright?" Sayer asked from across the field. "Yeah. I just got scared is all," Alex responded as his life points dropped.
Alex: 3400 LP
"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," Sayer explained as a green aura surrounded his body. "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," Alex explained as the aura surrounding Sayer turned red, causing the man a bit of pain.
Sayer: 1300 LP
"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. I set one card face-down and end my turn," Sayer concluded. "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," Alex declared.
Level 6/Light/Fiend
ATK 2400/DEF 1500
"But I'm afraid he's not a match for my monster's attack points," Sayer pointed out. "He doesn't need to be. Thanks to my Lightning Golem's special ability, he can destroy one monster on the field every turn. Destroy Thought Ruler Archfiend with Voltic Ball!" Alex shouted. Lightning Golem obliged and hurled a sphere of black electricity at Sayer's monster, destroying it.
"With him gone, you're wide open. Attack Sayer directly," Alex ordered as Lightning Golem launched a bolt of black lightning at 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," the psychic explained as a portal appeared in front of Sayer and Lightning Golem's attack entered it before exiting another portal and hitting Alex.
Alex: 1000
"I end my turn," Alex concluded. "I draw. And I play the spell Monster Reborn to bring back my Thought Ruler," Sayer declared as his ace was revived. "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," Alex pointed out.
"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not attacking your Golem. I play the trap Battle Teleportation," Sayer declared. "What's that do?" Alex asked. "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," Sayer explained.
"But my life points are only 1000, if he attacks me directly-" Alex began to say before Sayer finished the thought for him. "I'm afraid you lose. Thought Ruler Archfiend, attack Alex directly," he ordered. Thought Ruler Archfiend appeared in front of Alex and breathed out a cloud of darkness again.
Alex crossed his 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
"Sorry if that scared you Alex. That was an excellent duel," Sayer commended. "Thanks. I think I feel a little better about dueling after that," Alex admitted. "I'm glad. I have a couple things I want to give you. 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," Sayer said as he handed Alex a deck of cards.
"Thank you," Alex responded as he took the deck. "And here's the other," Sayer continued as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal bracelet before handing it to Alex. "What's this for?" Alex asked as he grabbed a hold of the armband. "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," Sayer explained.
Alex slipped it on and could tell his powers seemed weaker than before. "Thank you. I think this will help a lot," he said. "You're welcome. You should rest for a bit. Akiza will lead you to the training area when you're ready," Sayer informed. Akiza met Alex in the hallway and talked to him as they went back to their room.
"That was a good duel. You almost beat Sayer," she commended. "Has he not lost before?" Alex asked, to which Akiza responded she had never seen him lose to anyone before. "Well, Sayer told me that he wanted you to rest for a bit," Akiza said as they reached the elevator. "Sounds good to me," Alex responded as they stepped inside.