Jack was riding his duel runner down the highway when he saw the Dark Signs surrounding the Arcadia Movement building. He turned in that direction and sped off. Meanwhile, Alex and Sayer's Shadow Duels were still going on.
Alex: 4000 LP
Misty: 3000 LP
"It's my turn. I play the spell Dark Fusion, so I combine my Evil Heroes Voltage and my Stone Guardian to bring out my Evil HERO Lightning Golem," Alex declared.
Level 6/Light/Fiend
ATK 2400/DEF 1500
"And now, since my Castle Gate is still active, I can draw 1 card," he continued. "Shame your Golem won't be able to destroy my monster," Misty mocked. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. Due to his special ability, once each turn, he can destroy any monster on the field," Alex explained.
"Say what?" Misty asked in shock. "Lightning Golem, destroy her monster with Voltic Ball!" Alex ordered before Lightning Golem launched a ball of electricity from his hand and vaporized Reptilianne Gorgon.
"I play the trap Destruction Retribution. Since you destroyed my monster by a card effect, you take damage equal to the amount of attack points the monster had when it was destroyed, and one of your monsters with attack less than or equal to that damage is destroyed," Misty explained as two beams of light shot from her trap, one hitting Inferno Wing and destroying her, while the other hit Alex, making him wince in pain.
Alex: 2500 LP
"Are you okay Alex?" Akiza asked, hoping he would pull through the duel in one piece. "I'm okay, but Misty won't be. With your monster gone, you're wide open. Lightning Golem, attack with Dark Lightning!" Alex shouted as Lightning Golem raised his hand and launched a black thunderbolt at Misty, taking away most of her life points.
Misty: 600 LP
"And due to your Colosseum card, I gain 300 life points," Alex reminded.
Alex: 2800 LP
"You know, you and Akiza are one and the same. You both only destroy everything around you. Neither of you care about anyone but yourselves," Misty ridiculed. "That's not true. Akiza is a good person!" Alex shouted in response. "Do either of you even care about the people you scared during the tournament? And you Alex. You went ballistic in your duel with the professor and left him in critical condition," Misty brought up.
"That wasn't my fault. I wasn't in control of myself," Alex replied. "Right, that alleged 'split personality' you developed called Alastor. Is that even true, or is it just you hiding behind a mask to hurt people without repercussions to yourself?" Misty asked. "I would never hurt someone like that. Alastor was born from my torment over the way people treated me when I first got my powers," Alex responded.
"But deep down you wanted to lash out at others, but you just kept quiet to protect your family's image until you snapped," Misty replied harshly. "N-no. That's not true," Alex said, although he seemed to be trying to convince himself more than Misty. "Is Misty right? Was Alastor even real, or just some persona I came up with to take my anger out on innocent people?" he asked himself.
"Don't listen to her Alex!" Akiza shouted, trying to snap him out of it. "But what if she's right? What if I've just been pretending to be someone else to make myself feel better about my outbursts?" Alex questioned. "Alex, I know it's not true. You are the kindest, most gentle person I've ever met. I know you could never do something like that to anyone, no matter what they did to you," Akiza assured.
"Thank you Akiza. You tried to make us think we've done nothing but cause harm to people, but you're taking your anger out on people who did nothing to you," Alex said as he turned to Misty. "You two can keep lying to yourselves thinking you're good people, but I know the truth, and once I beat you, I'll make you see it," Misty responded.
"I end my turn, it's your move Misty," Alex concluded, thinking he almost had the duel won. "I draw. And I play the spell Reptilianne Spawn. By banishing a Reptilianne monster in my graveyard, I can summon two Reptilianne tokens to my field," Misty explained as two small lizards appeared on her field.
Level 1/Earth/Reptile
ATK 0/DEF 0
"Two tokens? You're about to-" Alex began to say before Misty cut him off. "That's right, summon my Earthbound Immortal," she said, confirming Alex's fears. "Alex!" a voice shouted beneath them. Alex looked down at the lower floors and saw his parents. "Mom? Dad?" he asked, hoping he was just seeing things.
"Hang on Alex, we're coming!" Jaden shouted as he and Alexis ran to reach their son. "You need to run!" Alex tried to warn. "I'm afraid it's too late for them. I sacrifice both my tokens to summon Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua!" Misty declared. "Don't!" Alex begged, but it was too late.
A relic just like the one from when Kalin summoned his Earthbound Immortal appeared outside, before absorbing the souls of everyone nearby, including Alex's parents. He could only watch helplessly as his parents dissolved into light and flew outside to be absorbed by the artifact.
Alex fell to his knees and yelled out in anguish before he started crying. "Alex!" Akiza shouted as she began banging against the energy barrier, trying to reach him. Misty's Earthbound Immortal then emerged from its prison outside the building.
Level 10/Dark/Reptile
ATK 2800/DEF 1800
Meanwhile, things were going poorly for Sayer as well.
Sayer: 1800 LP
Carly: 4000 LP
"I draw," Sayer said as he started his turn. "If I don't turn this duel around, I'm done for. She said her field spell activates when we normal summon a monster, so if I special summon a monster, it'll stay on my field," he thought to himself as he pulled a card from his hand and played it in his spell and trap zone.
"I play the continuous spell Teleport. Once each turn, if I control no monsters but you do, I can pay 800 life points to special summon a psychic type monster from my hand, so I give up 800 life points to summon my Storm Caller," Sayer explained.
Level 6/Wind/Psychic
ATK 2300/DEF 2000
Sayer: 1000 LP
"So you figured out my field spell's weakness," Carly commended. "That's right, and now I play the Premature Burial equip spell. By paying 800 life points, I can bring a monster back from my graveyard and equip it with this card, so I'm bringing back my Magical Android," Sayer continued.
Level 5/Light/Psychic
ATK 2400/DEF 1700
Sayer: 200 LP
"Now Storm Caller, attack Fortune Lady Fire!" Sayer ordered. "I play the trap card Slip of Fortune. This will negate your attack and remove my monster from play until my next standby phase," Carly explained as her monster banished from the field. "But now that your monster's gone, you're wide open. Magical Android, attack directly!" Sayer shouted as Magical Android raised her staff and shot a ball of green energy at Carly.
Carly: 1600 LP
"Now I normal summon my Psychic Commander," he continued.
Level 3/Earth/Psychic
ATK 1400/DEF 800
"And now the effect of Future Vision activates, so he's removed from the game until your next turn, assuming you get another turn," Carly said as Sayer's monster vanished. "I end my turn, which means the effect of Magical Android activates, so since I control two psychic type monsters, I gain 1200 life points," Sayer explained as he was wrapped in a green aura.
Sayer: 1400 LP
"Alright, now our life points are about even. If I can survive Carly's next turn, I'll be able to summon my Thought Ruler Archfiend and win the duel," Sayer thought to himself. "It's the end of the line Sayer. I draw. And now my monsters return to my field, and since it's my standby phase, their levels each increase by one. And now I sacrifice my monsters in order to summon my most powerful monster!" Carly shouted. "What?" Sayer asked in surprise. "I summon Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu!" Carly shouted.
Level 10/Dark/Winged Beast
ATK 2500/DEF 2500
"But if you normal summon a monster, Future Vision will remove it from play until your next turn, so you won't be able to do anything with it," Sayer pointed out. "That's what you think. When Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu leaves the field, all your monsters are destroyed, and for every monster destroyed by this effect, you lose 800 life points," Carly explained.
"T-that can't be!" Sayer exclaimed in shock. "Aslla Piscu, send Sayer to the Netherworld!" Carly ordered. Sayer heard a screech and turned around to see the biggest monster he had ever seen in his entire life. Aslla Piscu rammed its beak into the building, setting off explosions on the floor where it struck, sending Sayer flying.
He crashed through the wall and fell through the building. Akiza watched as he fell and screamed out for him. "And now it's your turn Alex. Ccaryhua, attack Alex directly!" Misty ordered. Alex looked up to see Ccaryhua charging a black sphere of energy in its mouth.
"I failed. Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you, and now I'm going to lose. How could this happen? What did I do to deserve this?" Alex asked himself as things seemed to slow down around him. Ccaryhua's blast crashed into the building and sent Alex flying, but he barely managed to grab a hold of the railing.
"Alex, hang on! Grab my hand!" Akiza shouted. "Why? My parents are gone. I don't have anything left to live for," Alex said. "That's not true! You have me. I care about you Alex," Akiza argued. Alex looked up at her one last time. "Thank you for everything Akiza. Tell everyone I'm sorry, and I'll miss them, and tell Luna to take care of Yubel for me," Alex said as he tossed Akiza the box with Yubel's deck in it.
"Alex don't let go! Grab my hand, I can pull you up!" Akiza shouted. "You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. Goodbye Akiza," Alex said with tears streaming down his face. Akiza tried to grab him, but he let go and fell. She couldn't believe it, he was gone.
"While I'd love to finish you now, I'm afraid we'll have to finish this another time," Misty said before she vanished in a flash of light. The building started collapsing from the attacks from the Earthbound Immortals when Jack and Yusei showed up at the building. They drove their duel runners inside and called out for Akiza and Alex.
While they were searching, Jack found Carly's glasses, except they were cracked and slightly broken. They then heard Akiza calling out. They ran to her voice and found her lying among the fallen debris. "Akiza, are you okay?" Jack asked. "Where's Alex?" Yusei questioned, not seeing him anywhere.
"He's gone. He dueled a Dark Signer and lost. I tried to save him, but he fell off the railing," Akiza answered, crying. "It can't be," Yusei said in disbelief. "Come on, we have to leave before the building comes down on top of us!" Jack shouted as he put Akiza on his duel runner.
They floored their duel runners and managed to get out of the building before it collapsed. They managed to calm Akiza down enough for her to tell them what happened. Once she finished, Yusei and Jack couldn't believe what they heard. "It's no wonder Alex gave up after what he saw happen to his parents right in front of him," Yusei said.
"I know what it feels like to lose your parents," Akiza admitted. "What do you mean?" Jack asked. "I lost my parents when I was just a child, and I wasn't that much older than Alex was," Akiza admitted. "I'm sorry that happened to you," Yusei consoled. Once they finished talking, they decided to take Akiza to the hospital to make sure she was okay.
"The Dark Signers are gonna pay for everything they've done," Yusei resolved. "You've got that right. They're gonna regret the day they decided to mess with us and our friends," Jack agreed. "For Alex and everyone else whose lives have been ruined by the Dark Signers, we will defeat them," Akiza added. Little did they know that this wasn't the end of their young friend.