It was a few days after Alex's duel with Sayer, and Yusei was working on repairing Alex's duel runner, which took a beating during his duel with Kalin. Meanwhile, Alex was still at the Arcadia Movement, and his control over his power was growing steadily with every passing day.
"Hyper Psychic Blaster, attack!" Alex shouted as his monster fired twin beams of energy from its cannons, dropping his opponent's life points to 0. Sayer had been watching the duel, and he was impressed. "He's doing quite well," he noted as he turned to the researcher in the room with him.
"Indeed sir. He is an exceptional duelist, and the amount of control he has over his power is growing every day," the researcher informed. The door to the duel field opened and Akiza entered and started talking to Alex before they left. "Sir, if I may ask, why did you have Alex stay with Akiza?" the researcher asked.
"Simple: They benefit from being around each other. They both know how it feels to be shunned for being different, and they make each other happy," Sayer responded. In the hallway, Alex and Akiza were continuing their conversation, and Akiza said she thought Alex had improved a lot since he arrived.
"Do you really think so?" Alex asked. "Absolutely. I'm so proud of you," Akiza responded without hesitation. During Alex's stay at the Arcadia Movement, Akiza had been like an older sister to him. "Akiza, Alex, it's good to see you both," Sayer said as he walked up to the two of them.
"Hi Sayer," Alex greeted. "You've come a long way since you've arrived Alex, I'm impressed," Sayer complimented. "So did you need something Sayer?" Akiza asked. "Yes. Alex, your parents called and they said they're coming to see you. They said they would be here in about ten minutes," Sayer informed.
"I can't wait to see them!" Alex exclaimed. The three of them started heading for the elevator before Sayer stopped. "Is something wrong?" Akiza asked. "I just need to take care of something. I'll see you both later," Sayer responded before he turned and left them, feeling something was amiss in his office.
Alex and Akiza got in the elevator and headed down to their floor to get ready for Alex's parents. Meanwhile, Sayer headed down the hallway towards his office. He arrived and found what he was looking for, or rather, who he was looking for, namely Carly Carmine, who had gotten into Sayer's office and stumbled upon his secret room.
"Well, it looks like we have an intruder," he said, drawing Carly's attention. "Sayer," Carly responded, trying to keep a level head. "And what would you be doing here?" Sayer asked, trying to sort out Carly's intentions. "I'm Carly Carmine, and I'm uncovering the truth behind your organization. I saw the file of the missing people. What did you do to them?" Carly asked.
"Those were a series of isolated incidents, all of them accidents," Sayer responded, his tone angered, though in truth, he was more angry with himself than Carly. Nevertheless, Carly started backing away from Sayer, terrified. "At first I thought you were working for Goodwin, but judging by the expression on your face, I'm guessing you're just a reporter who's gotten in over her head. Either way, I'll make you a deal," Sayer said as he walked to the side.
He picked up a spare duel disk he left lying in his office and threw it to Carly. "A duel?" she asked in confusion. "I'm a reasonable guy. If you can defeat me, you get to leave scot-free, but if you lose, you can still leave, but you won't tell anyone about what you've seen here. Do we have a deal?" Sayer asked.
Carly didn't see a better way out of the situation, so she agreed and put on the duel disk before slotting her deck into it. "Good luck, you'll need it," Sayer warned before they started the duel.
Sayer: 4000 LP
Carly: 4000 LP
"I'll go first, and I play Telekinetic Shocker in attack mode," Sayer declared.
Level 4/Dark/Psychic
ATK 1700/DEF 700
"I can't attack on the first turn of the duel, so I'll let you go," he conceded. "I draw. And I play Fortune Fairy Swee in attack mode," Carly declared.
Level 4/Water/Spellcaster
ATK 0/DEF 0
"Next I play the Unacceptable Result quick-play spell. With it, since I summoned a Fortune Fairy monster, I can summon another one from my hand, like my Fortune Fairy Chee, which I'm playing in attack mode," she explained.
Level 6/Earth/Spellcaster
ATK 0/DEF 0
"Now I play the spell Luck Loan. With it, I can summon a Fortune Fairy with a level lower than that of a Fortune Fairy on my field, so I play Fortune Fairy Hu," Carly continued as she summoned another monster.
Level 3/Wind/Spellcaster
ATK 0/DEF 0
"So you summoned three monsters with no attack or defense points? And here I was hoping for a real challenge," Sayer said, thinking this duel would be easy. "I'm not as weak as you think. I play the continuous spell Miracle Stone. Now my Fortune Fairies gain 1000 attack points for each of them I have on the field," Carly explained.
"I see, so since you have three monsters on the field, they each gain 3000 attack points, right?" Sayer asked. "That's right," Carly confirmed as her monsters grew in size along with their attack points. "Unfortunately, due to Miracle Stone's effect, they can't attack this turn, so I end my turn," Carly concluded. "I draw. And I summon Psychic Snail in attack mode," Sayer declared.
Level 4/Earth/Psychic
ATK 1900/DEF 1200
"Next I play Emergency Teleport. This will allow me to summon a level 3 or lower psychic type monster from my hand or deck, but if it's still on the field at the end of this turn, it's banished, so I summon the tuner monster Psychic Commander from my deck," he continued.
Level 3/Earth/Psychic
ATK 1400/DEF 800
"And now I play the Psychokinesis spell card. With it, since I control a psychic type monster, I can destroy any card on your field, but then I take 1000 points of damage, so your Miracle Stone is destroyed," Sayer explained as a blast of lightning shot from his spell and destroyed Carly's.
Sayer: 3000 LP
"Without Miracle Stone, my Fortune Fairies have no attack points," Carly said as her monsters returned to their original size. "Now Telekinetic Shocker attacks Fortune Fairy Chee," Sayer declared as Telekinetic Shocker rushed forward and punched Carly's monster, sending it flying backwards into the window, cracking it.
Carly: 2300 LP
"What happened? The window cracked!" Carly exclaimed, never having been in a duel with someone like Sayer before. "That's the power of a psychic duelist. Now Psychic Snail, attack her Fortune Fairy Swee," Sayer ordered before Psychic Snail fired a bolt of electricity from his antennae, sending Swee flying back, cracking the window further.
Carly: 400 LP
"I need to make sure the glass in my office is reinforced in case of future duels," Sayer thought to himself, noting that he didn't bother when building the Arcadia Movement because he never thought he'd end up dueling someone in his office. "Now Psychic Commander, attack," he ordered as Psychic Commander fired a blast from his cannon, knocking Carly's monster back, breaking the window.
Carly: 0 LP
Carly didn't know the window had broken and walked back from Sayer out of fear. Sayer saw she was about to fall and tried to warn her, yelling "Stop!" as he rushed forward in an attempt to grab her, but Carly got scared and stepped back again, except her foot wasn't touching anything but the air, causing her to lose her balance and fall out the window.
"No!" Sayer shouted, helpless to do anything to help Carly. As Carly was falling, her mind started racing. "This can't be happening. All I wanted was to expose the truth about Misty's brother and the other people who disappeared, and now I'm falling from a building. And the worst part is, I'll never get to see Jack again, or even tell him how I really feel," she thought as she plunged into a cloud of purple mist.
Sayer looked down in shock and horror. "This is all my fault. I can't believe this happened," he berated himself, wishing he could've saved Carly. Suddenly, the ground began to shake as lightning flashed in the sky. "What's going on?" he asked himself as purple flames started popping up in the streets.
The flames continued to spread, creating an exact copy of the Hummingbird Nazca Line that disappeared from South America earlier that week, and the Arcadia Movement lay right in the center of it. Once the earthquake stopped, Sayer walked to his desk and picked up his phone, dialing a number.
"Evacuate the building immediately," he ordered before someone walked into his office. "You need to get out of the building!" he warned, but the figure didn't move. "But I'm here to ask you for a rematch, Sayer," the person said in a familiar voice. "Wait, Carly? Is that you?" Sayer asked.
A bolt of lightning flashed behind him, revealing that it was in fact Carly. Sayer dropped his phone in disbelief and stared at the journalist. "Okay. You're having a nervous breakdown. It's the stress of your job and the guilt about what happened to Carly, it's gotten to you," he said to himself as he tried to rationalize what he was seeing.
"Stop talking. I'm not some stress-induced hallucination, I'm real," Carly responded. "But you fell. How could you have survived a fall from this high?" Sayer asked, not seeing how she could have when the hummingbird Dark Signer Mark appeared on Carly's arm. "They gave me a soft landing. It seems the Dark Signers are actively recruiting duelists to their cause, and unfortunately for you, they've chosen me," Carly answered.
"Carly, let's talk about this. What happened was an accident, and you can't believe how sorry I am," Sayer said as he tried to talk Carly down. "Don't you lie to me!" Carly shouted as she was enveloped in a purple light. When the light faded, Carly was wearing the robes of a Dark Signer, only hers had orange stripes on them.
"This is the beginning of the end for you," she said as she brandished her new duel disk. "You're really a Dark Signer," Sayer said in disbelief. "Prepare yourself for the shadows," Carly warned. "I guess I'm not getting out of this without a duel. Fine, I accept your challenge Carly," Sayer responded as he activated his duel disk.
Sayer: 4000 LP
Carly: 4000 LP
"I'll go first, and I summon the tuner monster Krebons in attack mode," Sayer declared.
Level 2/Dark/Psychic
ATK 1200/DEF 400
"I'll follow that up by playing Emergency Teleport. I'm sure you remember this card from our last duel. I'll use it to summon Mind Protector in defense mode," he continued.
Level 3/Light/Psychic
ATK 0/DEF 2200
"And now I tune level 2 Krebons with level 3 Mind Protector to synchro summon Magical Android," Sayer stated as he summoned a new monster.
Level 5/Light/Psychic
ATK 2400/DEF 1700
"And due to her special ability, during each of my end phases, I gain 600 life points for each of the psychic type monsters on my field. I end my turn, so since I control 1 psychic type monster, I gain 600 life points," he explained as his monster raised her staff, enveloping him in a green aura.
Sayer: 4600 LP
"Alright, that gives me a strong monster and some more life points. I'll have to wait and see how Carly responds," he thought to himself as he waited for Carly's next move. "It's my turn. I play the field spell Future Vision. And I'll follow that up by playing Fortune Lady Light in attack mode," Carly declared.
Level 1/Light/Spellcaster
ATK ?/DEF ?
"You see, this card's attack and defense are equal to her level times 200, and her level increases by 1 during each of my standby phases," the Dark Signer explained. "So your monster only has 200 attack points. It's no match for my Magical Android," Sayer pointed out.
"I'm not done yet. Next the effect of my Future Vision field spell activates. Whenever either of us normal summons a monster, that monster is removed from the game until our next standby phase," Carly explained as her monster vanished from the field. "But now your field is wide open for me to attack you directly," Sayer stated.
"Not for long. Due to the effect of Fortune Lady Light, when she leaves my field, I can summon a Fortune Lady monster from my deck, so I play Fortune Lady Fire in attack mode," Carly declared as she summoned a new monster.
Level 2/Fire/Spellcaster
ATK ?/DEF ?
"This card's attack and defense are also equal to her level times 200, so since she's a level 2, her attack and defense are each 400. And, I activate her special ability. When she's summoned by the effect of a Fortune Lady monster, I can destroy one of your monsters and deal you damage equal to that monster's attack points," she explained as Fortune Lady Fire launched a jet of flames at Magical Android, destroying her and sending Sayer flying against a wall.
Sayer: 2200 LP
"That attack was even more powerful than most of the duelists here," Sayer marveled. "Now you see the power of the shadows," Carly said as Sayer staggered to his feet. "Power of the shadows or not, I'll win this duel and knock some sense into you," he resolved.
"We'll see about that. Fortune Lady Fire, attack him directly!" Carly shouted as her monster launched another stream of flames from its scepter, knocking Sayer back against the wall again.
Sayer: 1800 LP
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Carly concluded. Meanwhile in another part of the building, Alex and Akiza were walking around looking for the other members. "Akiza, I'm getting worried," Alex confided. Akiza assured him the others were fine, but they were interrupted by a woman's voice saying "But you won't be for long."
Alex and Akiza turned in the direction of the voice and saw someone walking towards them. "Wait, aren't you Misty Tredwell?" Akiza asked, recognizing her as a famous model. "And you're Akiza Izinski, or would you prefer to be called "Black Rose"? Tell me, are you really a witch?" Misty asked.
Alex put himself between Misty and Akiza, defending her. "Leave Akiza alone! Just because she's different doesn't mean she's a witch or a monster!" he shouted. "If only you knew everything she's done, you wouldn't be defending her. I lost my brother because of her!" Misty yelled in anger.
"What are you talking about? I don't even know your brother," Akiza informed, not even aware Misty had a brother. "Enough lies. I want answers, and I want them now. He disappeared because of the Arcadia Movement, and I want him back," Misty declared. Akiza insisted that she didn't know about Misty's brother, but the model wouldn't listen and challenged Akiza to a duel.
"Leave Akiza alone and duel me," Alex demanded. "Fine by me. Roman wants me to get you back anyway," Misty responded. "Roman? Then you're a-" Alex began to say, not sure he even wanted to finish the thought. "Yes, I'm a Dark Signer," Misty said as she held up her arm, revealing a lizard mark before she was engulfed in a bright light, emerging wearing Dark Signer robes lined in green.
Another earthquake went off, and purple flames shot up outside, this time creating a lizard symbol overlapping with the hummingbird symbol. "If that shaking keeps up, the whole building may come down," Alex thought to himself as he tried to find his balance. "I sense fear in you. You doubt your ability to succeed," Misty stated.
"Alex, let me duel her," Akiza insisted, but Alex shook his head. "I have to do this. This is the only way I can get over my duel with Kalin," he responded as he slotted his deck into his duel disk. "Get ready guys, we're about to face a Dark Signer," he thought to himself as the duel started.
Alex: 4000 LP
Misty: 4000 LP
A ring of purple energy surrounded them, cutting Akiza off from Alex. "I'll go first. I play the continuous spell Supreme Castle Gate. This card gives me a few special privileges, one of which is activating the Supreme King's Castle field spell from my deck. Additionally, you can't stop me from fusion summoning my Evil Heroes, and when I succeed in fusion summoning one, I get to draw a card," Alex explained.
"Is that all?" Misty asked sarcastically. "Afraid not. I play the spell Dark Fusion. I combine the Evil Heroes Flare Mage and Sky Slash to summon my favorite monster, my Evil HERO Inferno Wing," Alex declared.
Level 6/Fire/Fiend
ATK 2100/DEF 1200
"Now the effects of Flare Mage and Castle Gate activate, so you take 600 points of damage and I draw 1 card," he continued as Flare Mage appeared and launched a fireball at Misty, pushing her back.
Misty: 3400 LP
"So you have the same powers as her," Misty snarled as she realized Alex could bring cards to life. "I end my turn," Alex declared. "I draw. And I activate the Savage Colosseum field spell. And I activate the continuous spell Field Barrier. Now neither of our field spells can be destroyed, but neither of us can activate a new field spell either," Misty explained.
"Thanks for the added protection," Alex responded. "I wouldn't be thanking me just yet. Especially now that I'm summoning Reptilianne Gorgon in attack mode," Misty declared.
Level 3/Dark/Reptile
ATK 1400/DEF 1400
"Next I play the equip spell Molting Escape. With it, my monster can't be destroyed in battle once each turn, and every time this effect is used, my monster gains an additional 100 attack points. Now, attack his Inferno Wing," Misty shouted as her monster leapt at Inferno Wing. "Inferno Wing, counterattack with Inferno Blast!" Alex ordered before his monster launched a blue fireball at Reptilianne Gorgon, repelling the attack.
Misty: 2700 LP
"Due to the effect of Molting Escape, Gorgon isn't destroyed, and she gains 100 more attack points," Misty reminded.
Gorgon: 1400-1500 ATK
"Why would she deal herself so much damage just to raise her monster's attack points by 100?" Alex asked himself. "One more thing. Due to my Gorgon's effect, your Inferno Wing's attack points become 0, and she can't change to defense mode," Misty explained as Inferno Wing turned to stone right in front of Alex.
Inferno Wing: 2100-0 ATK
"How dare you!" Alex shouted. "And now due to my field spell's effect, I gain 300 life points," Misty declared as her life points rose.
Misty: 3000 LP
"You can't defeat me Alex. And once I'm done with you, Akiza is next," she stated. "Misty, I don't know what happened to your brother, but I know that the Arcadia Movement wasn't responsible. It exists only to help people!" Akiza shouted, trying to talk Misty out of the duel.
"Cling to that desperate lie all you want, but I know the truth," Misty responded coldly. "Even if the Arcadia Movement had something to do with your brother's disappearance, you have no reason to be mad at Akiza for it," Alex pointed out.
"I'm going to enjoy the moment you lose this duel, just like your dear friend Sayer is about to lose his shadow duel," Misty informed. "Sayer's dueling a Dark Signer?" Alex asked. Misty didn't answer and just set a card, ending her turn.
To be continued...