Neos: 1200 LP
L.O.D.: 2700 LP
Neos' field: Summoned Skull
L.O.D.'s field: King Dragun and Luster Dragon #2
"I draw. I equip Summoned Skull with Axe of Despair and Archfiend's Staff of Despair. With Axe of Despair, my monster gains 1000 ATK points, and due to Staff's effect, I can make all your monsters lose attack equal to half of Summoned Skull's attack points," Neos explained.
Summoned Skull: 2500-3500 ATK
King Dragon and Luster Dragon #2: 2400-650 ATK
"Now Summoned Skull, attack King Dragun!" Neos ordered as Summoned Skull threw his ax at King Dragun, striking him in the chest and causing him to explode as Lord of Dragon's life points hit dissolved into shadows and Neos rushed up the stairs and saw Yusei and Jack dueling.
Gorz and Gilfer: 1300 LP
Yusei and Jack: 1000 LP
Yusei and Jack's field: Exploder Dragonwing, Shield Wing, and 1 face-down
"It's my move. I play the spell Ritual of the Masked Beast. I offer myself and Archfiend of Gilfer as tributes to summon The Masked Beast," Gorz said as both he and Gilfer vanished before being replaced by an even larger monster.
Level 8/Dark/Fiend
ATK 3200/DEF 1800
"And now I will attack your Exploder Dragonwing," Masked Beast said as he extended his hand in their direction and sent a wave of darkness towards Jack's monster, destroying it.
Yusei and Jack: 200 LP
"I end my turn," he conceded. "I draw, and I play the One for One spell card, so I send Speed Warrior from my hand to the GY to summon my Sonic Chick," Yusei declared.
Level 1/Earth/Winged Beast
ATK 300/DEF 300
"Attempting to build your defenses?" Masked Beast mocked. "Nope, just getting ready to attack. I summon the tuner monster Junk Synchron!" Yusei shouted.
Level 3/Dark/Warrior
ATK 1300/DEF 500
"And due to his special ability, when he's normal summoned, I can summon a level 2 or below monster from my graveyard, like my Speed Warrior," he continued.
Level 2/Wind/Warrior
ATTK 900/DEF 400
"So you've summoned a bunch of weaklings?" Masked Beast belittled. "Every monster has a use, no matter how weak. I tune my Shield Wing, Speed Warrior, and Sonic Chick with Junk Synchron in order to synchro summon Stardust Dragon!" Yusei shouted as he summoned his ace.
Level 8/Wind/Dragon
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
"He's still too weak to beat me," The Masked Beast pointed out. "Not for long. I play the Synchro Strike trap card! This card will give my Stardust Dragon 500 attack points for every monster I used in his synchro summon," Yusei explained as Stardust's attack points jumped up.
Stardust Dragon: 2500-4500 ATK
"Stardust, attack with Cosmic Flare and finish him off!" Yusei shouted as Stardust Dragon launched his attack and struck Masked Beast, sending him flying. Their opponent collapsed and dissolved into shadows, returning to the spirit world. The three of them continued on and caught up with Akiza in time to see the end of her duel.
Akiza: 300 LP
Archfiend General: 2400 LP
General's field: Pandemonium Watchbear
Akiza's field: Wall of Ivy
Archfiend General laughed and said "This duel is over." "I couldn't agree more. I summon Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode," Akiza declared.
Level 3/Dark/Warrior
ATK 1000/DEF 1000
"And due to his special ability, I can summon a level 4 or lower plant monster from my hand, so I summon my Dark Verger in attack mode," she explained.
Level 2/Earth/Plant
ATK 0/DEF 1000
"So you're gardening in the middle of a duel?" General mocked. "In a way yes, because that move has sown the seeds of your defeat. I tune Dark Verger and Wall of Ivy with Twilight Rose Knight in order to summon Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza shouted.
Level 7/Fire/Dragon
ATK 2400/DEF 1800
"Even if your dragon has more points than my monster, since he's in defense mode, I'll take no damage," General pointed out. "I activate Black Rose Dragon's special ability! By removing the Wall of Ivy in my graveyard from the game, your monster is forced into attack mode, and his attack points become 0!" Akiza explained as thorn covered veins grabbed Watchbear, forcing it into attack mode.
"Black Rose Dragon, attack!" she shouted as Black Rose Dragon breathed out a jet of purple flames, taking away the last of Archfiend General's life points. He dissolved and the four of them ran to catch up with the twins. They arrived and saw they were dueling Nightshroud, and they seemed to be winning.
"It's my move, I draw. I set a card face-down and activate Card of Demise, so now I draw until I have 5 cards in my hand," Nightshroud declared. "That's not good," Yusei commented. "I activate my set Dark Fusion, so I merge the Evil Heroes Reaper, Malicious Edge, and Earth Shaker in order to summon Evil HERO Supreme King," Nightshroud said.
Level 8/Dark/Fiend
ATK 3300/DEF 3000
"There it is. I hope the twins have what they need to do this," Jack said. "Now I play Evil HERO Spiritual Soldier in attack mode," Nightshroud stated.
Level 4/Earth/Fiend
ATK 1500/DEF 1600
"And now I shall activate the special ability of Evil HERO Supreme King. I sacrifice Spiritual Soldier in order to summon Evil HERO Dark Inferno from my extra deck," he continued.
Level 8/Dark/Fiend
ATK 2500/DEF 2100
"And due to her special ability, she gains 300 attack points for every monster in my grave that has Elemental HERO or Evil HERO in its name, for a total of 2100 points," Nightshroud explained.
Dark Inferno: 2500-4600 ATK
"Dark Inferno, attack Luna's Evil Token," he ordered. "I don't think so! I play the Staunch Defender trap card, so now you have to attack Power Tool Dragon!" Leo declared. Dark Inferno created a ball of black flames in her hand before throwing it at Power Tool Dragon.
Leo: 1600 LP
"I play Power Tool Dragon's special ability, so I send the Vicious Claw equipped to him to the graveyard to prevent his destruction," Leo explained. "Your resolve to protect your sibling is strong. Fortunately for you, since Evil HERO Supreme King used his effect this turn, he can't attack, so I end my turn," Nightshroud concluded. "It's my move, I draw," Leo declared. "And now Evil Blast's effect activates, so you take 500 points of damage," Nightshroud explained as a red aura enveloped Leo.
Leo: 1100 LP
"Feelings, such worthless things. Are you really going to throw your life away in a desperate attempt to protect your sibling?" the spirit questioned. "Absolutely. No matter what happens to me, I'll protect Luna with everything I've got! I won't let you or anyone else hurt her, or any of my friends! I activate Power Tool Dragon's special ability, so I can add a random equip spell from my deck to my hand," Leo declared as his deck was shuffled, a single card sticking out.
"Please, give me the card I need," Leo pleaded as he pulled out the card and looked at it. "I play the spell card Exchange! Now I can pick one other player, and we swap one card from our hands, and I choose Luna!" Leo said before he walked over to his sister and motioned for her to take the equip spell he got from Power Tool Dragon.
She took the card and Leo took one of her cards. "I place one card face-down and end my turn," Leo concluded. "I draw," Nightshroud began, but Leo quickly interrupted him. "And I play the trap Frozen Soul! Since you have at least 2000 more life points than me, you can't conduct your battle phase this turn!" he shouted.
"Futile struggling. I set a card and end my turn," the spirit conceded. "It's my move, I draw!" Luna shouted before she looked at the card and saw it was the last one she needed. "I play Double Spell. By discarding a spell from my hand, I can use a spell from my opponent's graveyard, so I discard Healing Wind to activate Dark Fusion from Nightshroud's grave!" Luna shouted.
"What?" Nightshroud asked in surprise. "Using the power of Dark Fusion, I merge the Evil Token on my field with the Evil HERO Galactic Ruler in my hand to summon Evil HERO Neos!" Luna declared.
Level 7/Dark/Fiend
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
"I should've known you had a hand in this Neos," Nightshroud said. "I serve Alex, and with their help, I'm going to bring him back!" Neos promised. "I play Spell Trade! Now I can add a spell from your deck to my hand, as long as I give you a spell from my deck that's the same kind as what I took from you," Luna explained as she began digging through her deck.
"I'm giving you my Ancient Forest, and I'm taking Supreme King's Castle! Now I equip Evil HERO Neos with Undead Lineage. Now when he attacks, he gains 500 attack points during that battle, and if he would be destroyed by an effect, I can send this card to my graveyard instead," she continued.
"Just what are you up to?" Nightshroud questioned. "This. I play the spell Cemetery Change! By paying 1000 life points, all monsters on the field are destroyed, and then I can switch all the cards in my graveyard with yours!" Luna shouted.
Luna: 1400 LP
"Except due to Supreme King's effect, he can't be destroyed by effects," Nightshroud explained. "But thanks to my equip card, neither will Neos," Luna pointed out while Leo reminded Nightshroud of Power Tool Dragon's effect. Dark Inferno was destroyed, and then the cards in Luna's and Nightshroud's graveyards flew out and into the other's grave.
"What good is all this going to do you?" Nightshroud asked. "A lot. I play the Supreme King's Castle field spell, so now I can fusion summon Evil Heroes without Dark Fusion," Luna explained. "What monster could you hope to summon?" Nightshroud inquired before he remembered the other blank card.
"Wait, the second card. But there's no way you could've completed it," Nightshroud denied. "Thanks to the sacrifices of Jinzo and his friends, it has been completed! I play Super Polymerization! I discard one card to fuse monsters from any player's field, so I fuse Neos and Supreme King in order to summon Evil HERO Supreme Neos!" Luna shouted as the two monsters floated towards each other.
Meanwhile, Alex's soul was responding to Luna's voice. "Luna?" he asked, recognizing his friend's voice. Back on the duel field, the monsters had just merged together to create the newest addition to the Evil Heroes.
Level 12/Dark/Fiend
ATK 4000/DEF 4000
A cloud of black smoke was expelled from Alex's body before taking shape into Nightshroud's true self as Alex fell to the floor. "Impossible!" the spirit shouted. "Evil HERO Supreme Neos gains 200 attack points for every Evil HERO in my grave, so with 8, he gains 1600 attack points," Luna explained.
Supreme Neos: 4000-5600 ATK
Alex raised up and saw Luna's across the room. "Luna? Is that you?" he asked. "Alex, you're back!" Luna shouted. "This duel isn't over yet," Nightshroud stated as he created tendrils of shadow that wrapped around Alex's arms and legs, forcing him to get back up.
"Let go of me!" Alex shouted. "As powerful as your monster is, he cannot defeat me," Nightshroud stated. "I activate Neos' special ability. By banishing an Evil HERO fusion monster from my grave, he gains the effects of that monster for this turn, so I banish Dark Inferno to give her effects to Neos, so he gains an additional 300 attack points for every Evil HERO in my grave," Luna explained.
Supreme Neos: 5600-7500 ATK
"Neos, destroy Nightshroud with Supreme Cosmic Burst!" Luna shouted. Neos brought his hands together in front of his chest, creating what looked like a small star contained in an energy sphere in his hand, before it burst, creating a mini version of the big bang before he launched it at Nightshroud. He forced Alex to raise his hand and press a button on his duel disk.
"I play the trap Mirror Force, so your monster is destroyed," Nightshroud said as a blast of energy shot from his trap, but was overwhelmed by Neos' attack. "What?!" he asked in surprise. "Supreme Neos isn't affected by the effects of other cards," Luna explained as the attack hit Nightshroud and he was enveloped in a blinding light.
His hold on Alex was released, but Alex got caught up in the explosion, and was sent flying across the room, but Neos rushed and caught him before he could hit the wall. The light from the explosion died down, and there was no trace of Nightshroud anywhere.
"Is he really gone?" Luna asked. "Yes. That attack seems to have expelled him from Alex completely," Neos informed. They turned their attention to Alex, who was unconscious in Neos' arms. His armor dissolved into shadows, falling off of Alex, leaving him in the clothes he was wearing when the Dark Signers attacked the Arcadia Movement.
That's when the castle started shaking. "What's happening?" Jack asked. "The castle is falling apart. It must've been sustained by Nightshroud's power. With him defeated, it's fading away," Neos explained. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" Yusei shouted.
They all made a break for it and managed to make it out before the castle collapsed. They sat on the ground, relieved everyone was alright. "Is Alex going to be okay?" Luna asked. Neos assured them Alex would be fine, but he would certainly have to rest for a while.
"What about all the people who were sent to the other world?" Leo asked. "They should be returning any moment now," Neos answered, and true to his word, yellow lights started falling from the sky, and when they landed, the people who had been sent to Nightshroud's world were returned.
"I guess now we're going to have a city-wide panic about the Dark Signers," Yusei pointed out. "Maybe not," Neos responded. "What do you mean Neos?" Akiza asked. "Most ordinary people don't remember anything to do with their visit to Nightshroud's world, or anything leading up to it. The people will most likely have forgotten about the whole ordeal, as well as Alex's message," Neos informed.
"That just leaves one more thing to take care of," Yusei said. "The Dark Signers," Akiza guessed. Two lights appeared in front of them, and when they faded, Atticus and Tanner were standing in front of them. They blinked a few times and saw Alex. Atticus rushed forward and took Alex from Neos, holding his nephew in his arms.
"Thank you all. For us to be back can only mean you defeated Nightshroud and saved Alex," he said. "It was our pleasure, Alex is a great friend of ours," Yusei responded. "We should get him to a hospital to be safe. It was a pretty intense duel, and even though his armor protected him, he may have still gotten badly hurt," Akiza suggested.
"Well, I'm afraid it's time I return to the spirit world, but tell Alex I'll always be there for him if he needs me," Neos said before he faded away, leaving his card behind. They all continued to the hospital, and once they were sure Alex was fine, they called a couple of cabs and Atticus rented a few hotel rooms for everyone, saying it was the least he could do to thank them for saving his nephew and him by extension.