"Go, Thousand-Eyes Restrict! Attack his pathetic Monster and wipe out the rest of his Life Points!" Salem shouted as he pointed at Charcoal Impachi. Once again, Thousand-Eyes Restrict was covered in a black and blue aura, the hole in its body slightly expanding as it was preparing the finishing blow. Malcolm gave a little growl as he took a step back, looking at Thousand-Eyes Restrict, his eyes quickly darting to the two face-down cards he had placed before he looked back to the battlefield.

"And just like that… Dystopia the Despondent is mine once again."

"Not yet, it isn't." Malcolm growled. "You still have a long way to go if you want to get my Dystopia back from me, and I'm far from being beat. This duel isn't over."

"I'm afraid it is. Take another look. Your Charcoal Impachi can't protect your Life Points from this battle. Not while it's stuck in Attack Mode, thanks to my Spell Card."

"My Charcoal Impachi may not be able to protect my Life Points from that attack for the moment…" Malcolm began. "But in your overconfidence, you seem to have overlooked that I still have two face-down cards to activate. And now it's going to cost you big time."

One of the thugs gave a little scoff. "A noble thought, but it's already too late. Have you forgotten that our boss has already activated Forbidden Dress?" he asked.

"That thug is right." Carrie said with a sigh. "Thanks to that Spell card, whatever card that Malcolm would try to target or destroy Thousand-Eyes Restrict won't work until the end of the turn. And with an ATK of 4400, there won't be a next turn if this attack goes through."

"Then I suppose it's a good idea I'm not aiming for Thousand-Eyes Restrict, isn't it?" Malcolm questioned. "On the contrary, I have a card on the Field that I'm much more interested in taking out, and I have just the Trap Card that will allow me to do it! Before your attack goes off, I activate my Trap Card! Go, Dust Tornado!"

Salem gave a surprised growl and took a step back as he watched the Trap Card flip face-up, a powerful wind beginning to whip around the Field. "When this Trap Card is activated, I get to target one Spell or Trap card you control and destroy it." Malcolm explained with a smirk. "And last I recall, after a Monster is absorbed by your Thousand-Eyes Restrict, it's treated as an Equip Card, meaning that my Dystopia the Despondent is vulnerable to being destroyed by my Trap Card. Isn't that right?"

"You sneaky bastard. You would really destroy your own Dystopia the Despondent in order to keep yourself in this duel?" Salem asked.

"It's not something that I want to do, but it's better that my Dystopia be destroyed by my own hand than rotting in the belly of that freak of yours. Dust Tornado, destroy Dystopia the Despondent!"

The heavy winds formed into a dusty tornado that formed right behind Thousand-Eyes Restrict. As the tornado whipped around, a translucent apparition of Dystopia the Despondent appeared behind Thousand-Eyes Restrict before the tornado turned it into dust, and blew it away. As soon as both the projection of the Fiend Monster and Dust Tornado vanished, the blast that was forming in the hole in Thousand-Eyes Restrict's body, and the dark blue aura that had encased it, had disappeared as well. Without the power of Dystopia the Despondent to leech off of, Thousand-Eyes Restrict's once incredible 5000 ATK and DEF now dropped to their original values of 0.

"Heh. Looks like your precious Fusion Monster that was supposed to bring about my end isn't so tough without somebody to leech off of, is he?" Malcolm asked. "Perhaps you need a bit of a reminder of your own philosophy yourself."

Salem gave a snarl. "Without Dystopia the Despondent equipped to it, my Thousand-Eyes Restrict has absolutely no power!" he thought to himself. "And I've already declared an attack. Without a change on the Field, I can't call off my attack!"

"Charcoal Impachi! Counterattack!" Malcolm commanded. "Destroy his Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" With its Attack Points now higher than its opponent's Charcoal Impachi slowly lumbered forward toward the Fusion Monster and swung its heavy arms forward, bashing the Spellcaster with both of them. The Spellcaster was batted into the air from the attack, landing back on the ground and breaking into pieces after it hit the ground. Salem watched as the digits on his Life Point counter changed, showing that he now had 7900 Life Points.

"Alright! Malcolm did it!" Frederick cheered. "Now that Thousand-Eyes Restrict is off the Field, he doesn't have to worry about any more of his Monsters being absorbed, and can attack freely!"

Carrie gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. He actually managed to pull it off… I was really worried for a moment there."

"Hmmmm… not bad, Malcolm. You seem to have been able to use your cards to save you for a turn… but I just wonder. How long will you be able to make that last?" Salem asked, taking very little time to regain his composure. "After all, there's still so much duel to be had, and you're still quite a ways behind, even with my Thousand-Eyes Restrict now destroyed."

"You may still have a lot of Life Points left, but that doesn't matter, now that I've deduced the weakness of your Deck." Malcolm countered. "My Deck may be heavily reliant on getting my own Dystopia the Despondent out, but it looks like yours banks on that just as much as mine does. You said it yourself. Your Deck's main strategy is taking Dystopia the Despondent from me. Now that he's no longer on the Field, your Deck doesn't have very many ways of defeating me."

Salem simply chuckled in response. "You might be right… but even if you were, what about possible backup plans that I have for in case that doesn't happen?" he asked. "I have nothing more I can do for my turn. It's your move."

"Gladly. It's my move!" Malcolm shouted as he drew his card. He gave a nod of approval at what he saw as he held his Hand out to the Field. "First thing I'll be doing is activating my Trap Card, Graceful Revival!" The card that he had placed face-down with his Dust Tornado on his last turn flipped face-up. "This card works much like the Call of the Haunted you activated just a few turns ago. Only instead of Special Summoning any Monster from my Graveyard, mine has to be a Level 2 or lower Monster. But as you probably already guessed, I have no shortage of those in here."

He took a Monster out of his Graveyard and brought it back to his side of the Field. "With my Graceful Revival, I'll bring back my Bunilla from my Graveyard!" The familiar rabbit appeared back on the Field alongside Charcoal Impachi. "And before you ask, I'm not anywhere close to being done. Now, I'm going to activate my Spell Card, Triangle Power!"

A series of red triangles of energy descended from the sky, surrounding the feet of Charcoal Impachi and Bunilla. "Thanks to this powerful Spell Card, all Level 1 Normal Monsters I control gain an additional 2000 Attack and Defense Points until the End Phase of this turn!"

"A risky move if he only has two Monsters to work with…" Frederick thought out loud. "When Triangle Power is activated, any Level 1 Normal Monster he controls is destroyed during the End Phase, even if they didn't get a power boost from that card."

"Then Malcolm better make the most out of those two Monsters while he still has them." Carrie commented as the ATKs of Charcoal Impachi and Bunilla rose to 2100 and 2150 respectively.

"Alright, Bunilla and Charcoal Impachi! Attack Salem directly!" Infused with the power of Triangle Power, both Charcoal Impachi and Bunilla charged forward at the same time, hitting Salem quite hard, despite their usual weakness. Salem gave a groan of pain as he was knocked a few steps backwards from the attack, his Life Points now falling to a much more manageable 3650.

"So much for your massive Life Point Advantage, wouldn't you say?" Malcolm asked. "Now we're looking much more even in this duel."

"Perhaps… but at what cost is that coming at? You haven't forgotten about the downside to your Triangle Power, have you?" Salem questioned. "Once you End your turn, both of your Monsters will be destroyed, and you'll be left with nothing on the Field."

"Under normal circumstances, you would be right… but I have no intention of leaving them out on the Field long enough to be destroyed by Triangle Power's adverse effect. So on that note, since both of my Monsters are Level 1, I'll go ahead and overlay them for something else."

"Overlay?" Carrie questioned as she watched Malcolm take both of his Monsters and lay one of them on top of the other. "Malcolm has an XYZ Monster?!"

"It was one of the first cards I ever won off someone on campus." Malcolm explained as his Charcoal Impachi transformed into a sphere of scarlet, and Bunilla into a sphere of brown and floated into the air. "I've never really had a good opportunity to try this card out, mostly because I was too preoccupied with trying to get Dystopia out to use the materials… but what the heck? Since they're both going to be destroyed if they're not used, there's no time like the present."

Once both of the spheres had disappeared into the sky, Malcolm took out the Monster he was about to summon, and laid it down on top of the two overlaid Monsters. "Alright. Now it's time to give this Monster the proper chance it's deserved. I summon Number 63: Shamoji Soldier to my side of the Field in Defense Mode!"

The tiny XYZ Monster descended onto the battlefield from the sky, landing on its two feet with a bit of a crash. It sprang up into the air and took a knee, holding its two sticks in its hands in a defensive manner.

Salem stared at the new Monster in confusion for a few seconds before giving an amused chuckle. "Well, Mal… I'll certainly give you credit for using the XYZ Summoning to your advantage… but perhaps you could have chosen a more intimidating Monster?" he joked. "With 2000 Defense Points and not a single point of offense, it can barely do much of anything against me."

"Maybe not against you, but it sure does a lot for me." Malcolm responded. "With my two Level 1 Monsters being used to bring out my Shamoji Soldier, they're no longer on the Field, and won't be destroyed by my Triangle Power's effect. Not only that, but they've become Materials attached to my XYZ Monster, which I can now detach to activate its ability." He took Bunilla and put it back into his Graveyard. "Using my little friend's ability, at the start of your Standby Phase, both of us will get to draw an additional card from our Decks."

"A gift for both of us from you, now?" Salem asked with a chuckle. "Seems like both of us just can't help but share some generosity among ourselves. As you wish. I draw." He drew his next card and then drew another one. "And since we move onto my Standby Phase, I believe we both get an extra draw?" Malcolm nodded and drew another card for himself.

Salem gave a little hum as he looked at the cards in his Hand. "Ahhh. Seven cards to play with, so little time. Where to begin…?" He gave a little nod of approval as he took a card out of his Hand and played it in his Spell/Trap Zone. "I think this will be a good place to start. I activate the Spell Card, Spell Reproduction. In order to activate this Spell Card, I need to send two others in my Hand to the Graveyard. But for those two cards, I get to choose any Spell Card in my Graveyard, and return it to my Hand."

He took two cards that were in his Hand and slipped them into the Graveyard. "So say goodbye to Meteor of Destruction and Mind Control…" he started as he took a card back from his Graveyard and showed it to Malcolm. "And say hello again to my Different Dimension Capsule."

"You would get rid of a card for taking control of a Monster of mine?" Malcolm asked. "And here I thought you wanted to defeat me with the power of my own Monster."

"Mind Control is in here for more of discard fodder than anything. After all, even if I were to activate it and take control of your Dystopia, I'd have no way of using its power, now would I?" Salem gave a little hum as he played the card he just added to his Hand, the familiar capsule reappearing from the ground. "Of course, regardless of what it's there for, it's serving a much better purpose now, allowing me to play my Capsule a second time. Wouldn't you agree, Malcolm?"

He took another card out of his Deck and placed it into the capsule, letting it sink back into the earth once again. "You remember the drill. At the start of my second turn after activating this card, the card that I placed inside will be added to my Hand. And once that happens, I'll be all set to win this duel once again. Only this time, I'll be sure that you can't stop me."

"Hmph. We'll just see about that." Malcolm responded. "Now then. Are you done with your move?"

"Not quite. Before I end my turn, I'll be Summoning my Possessed Dark Soul to my side of the Field." Salem put the Monster onto the Field, the Fiend Monster appearing in Attack Mode. "Now, if I choose to Tribute this Monster, I'll be able to take control of all face-up Level 3 or lower Monsters you control. And with your Deck being filled with Level 1 Monsters, you better think carefully before you decide to summon them onto the Field."

"Hmph. Only a minor threat. That thing can't pose a threat to my Shamoji Soldier, nor any of the other Monsters I have in my Deck. So now, I think it's time I make my move." Malcolm said as he drew his card. "And since you don't seem to be able to do anything at the moment either, I'll simply end my turn after detaching the second Material on my Soldier, to allow us both to draw again during your Standby Phase."

"Trying to conserve your resources, are we?" Salem asked as he drew his next card and gave a smirk. "Very well then. We move onto my Standby Phase, which means that both of us get to draw, thanks to your Soldier's ability." Both of them drew an additional card, Salem nodding in approval of the draw he got. "And I think I'll be activating the card that I just drew thanks to your Monster's ability now. I activate the Spell Card, The Forceful Sentry!"

Malcolm gave a little growl. "Another banned card… I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, should I?"

"Rules were meant to be broken, Malcolm. Do whatever you have to do to get the job done, remember? That's the code of the Dark Alleyway of Nightmare, and the only way you'll ever be able to make it in these parts." Salem gestured Malcolm to come over. "You no doubt know how this card works. You have to reveal to me your Hand, and I get to choose one Monster in your Hand to shuffle back into your Deck."

Malcolm silently nodded as he walked over to Salem, stopping when he was only a couple of feet away from him. "Now… let's have a looksee, shall we?" Salem asked. Malcolm simply scoffed a bit as he held up the four cards in his Hand for Salem to see.

Salem gave a little interested hum at what he saw. Rush Recklessly, Tri-Wight, One Day of Peace, and Human-Wave Tactics. Not a single Monster in his Hand to speak of… he could shuffle Tri-Wight back into Malcolm's Hand, to keep him from summoning Dystopia… but then that wasn't much threat to him anyway if he couldn't summon any Monsters to begin with. There was also One Day of Peace… but he wouldn't imagine that that would help him out too much in the given situation. Rush Recklessly was no threat to him at all, which left virtually one choice for Salem.

"Go ahead and shuffle your Human-Wave Tactics back into your Deck." he instructed, to which Malcolm nodded, taking the Trap Card and shuffling it back into his Deck. Once he was done, he put his Deck back into his duel disk and walked back to his side. "Not a very good Hand at the moment, I suppose… but then again, it's made much worse with the fact that you can't spam your Monsters out now."

Malcolm gave a little amused smirk. "I suppose in hindsight, The Forceful Sentry is a perfect card for you, isn't it?" he asked, to which Salem's smile faded. "After all, it makes sense. You force people to give you what you want, and you take away from them with no care at all. Suits you pretty well, doesn't it?"

The silence that followed was near bone-chilling as the two of them stood there, glaring at each other strongly. Both of Salem's thugs looked at each other, feeling their boss's annoyance, and were anxious to hear what he had to say in response. Frederick and Carrie both took an apprehensive step back. They had a feeling that Malcolm should have been a little bit more careful with his words.

After nearly half a minute of neither side saying or doing anything, keeping their eyes on each other and waiting to see if the other would back off, Salem finally spoke again. The calmness that was usually in his voice was now replaced by irritation. "You might want to consider being a little more respectful to me, Mal… don't be forgetting who it was that took you in when you were all alone; who watched over you and raised you like you were his own son."

Malcolm scoffed, almost laughing at that last part. "'Like I was your son'? Forcing me into this criminal gang of yours. Making me hurt people that didn't deserve it, just so you could feed your own greed. You call that raising me like I was your son?"

"You should be grateful, you brat. I gave you shelter when anyone else in these parts would have used you as a bargaining chip, or a meat-shield at best. I gave you the food off my table, and taught you how to survive on your own, and this is the gratitude you show me? Standing here, defying me and acting like I never did anything for you."

"Everything you've ever done for me was just to get me in your little gang!" Malcolm shouted. "You only took me in because you saw an opportunity at getting a child of someone who knew these parts!"

Salem gave an annoyed growl, speaking louder and firmer this time. "I took you in because I made a promise to your parents that I would do so. I didn't have to keep it, you know. I could have just left you to wander outside of that car that day, only to find yourself in the crosshairs of some gunfight. Is that what you wanted?"

Malcolm's eyes went wide as he heard what Salem had said. "...What did you say?" he asked.

Salem raised his eyebrow for a moment before he looked down, realizing what it is he just said. "...Seems like I might have said a little too much…" he grumbled under his breath.

"...You… you made a promise to my parents…?" Malcolm questioned. "...That must mean… you talked to them some time after my father left me…" Malcolm's right hand balled into a fist, being clenched so tight that his entire hand began to shake. "You… did you have something to do with their disappearance?!"

Salem gave a sigh and shook his head. "...Malcolm, this was something that I didn't want to have to tell you… I cared for you a little too much to tell you the truth… but I suppose since I let the cat slip out of the bag…"

"My Mom! My Dad!" Malcolm demanded. "What did you do to them?!"

Salem looked back up to Malcolm with a sigh. "...Mal… I did nothing to your parents… I had nothing to do with their disappearance… because they never disappeared at all."

"'Never disappeared'...? Just what's that supposed to mean?! If they never disappeared, then how do you explain me never seeing them since that day?!"

"Oh, Mal. Can't you open your eyes and see? Your parents weren't killed or kidnapped, like you wanted to believe…" Salem started. "...They abandoned you… no… they sold you out."

Malcolm's entire body went cold upon hearing this, his hand starting to tremble and his vision somewhat blurry, just at the mere mention of what Salem had said. "...No… I don't believe you…" he said quietly before looking up and shouting again. "You're lying!"

Salem shook his head and spoke again. "You want to know what really happened that day? Why your Dad came all the way over in his car with you in it? Why they never came back for you?" he asked. "It's because of your father's business. He was a fine enough salesman, but a lousy businessman. He could almost never make good on his deals, and very rarely did he have the finances or stock in order to pay what he owed. I would know. I was one of his regular partners in business. He owed me so much at one point, I could open a legit business of my own with the money he owed."

Malcolm shook his head in denial. The only thing he could respond with, however, as a lump began to come up in his throat and his heart began to pound was, "No…"

This didn't stop Salem, however, who continued to tell his story. "I eventually got sick of banking on your old man's empty promises and dodging of payments. He had to pay me what he owed. So I took his wife, your mother, and held her hostage. I was the one who wrote that letter, telling your father that she would get it, if he didn't give me what he owed. He came over, and did his usual shit. Excuses and tall tales for years on end. But this time, I wasn't going to have it. I had a hostage, and he had no way of getting out of this one. Of course, he didn't have nearly enough to pay me. So in a desperate act to save his wife, he bartered the only thing of value he actually had."

"He… he doesn't mean…" Frederick asked as he and Carrie looked on and listened, horrified by the story that they were hearing.

"They never really cared about you at the end of the day, Mal. At least not at that moment. He made himself a choice when he came to me that day: his son or his wife. And he deemed your life at that moment to be nothing."

Salem gave a little nostalgic smirk as he went on. "At first, I didn't want to take that offer. Even for someone like me, that was just despicable. Trading your own child away to pay for your own mistakes… but I eventually decided to take a chance in that investment. I gave him back his wife, and you were left for me to find… and let me tell you something, Mal. You were ten times the partner your father ever was. You more than earned me back what he owed… it's just a shame that it had to be under such cruel conditions that our paths crossed."

"You're just trying to get in my head and distract me from the duel. It's not going to work!" Malcolm growled, though he didn't sound too sure of that himself. In fact, based on how he kept his eyes to the ground now, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than truly not believing what Salem said.

"What exactly do you think you would find if you were to go back to that old house of yours?" Salem asked. "You think that it's just going to be empty, with nobody having lived in it for years? Or perhaps a new family moving in, building a white picket fence as LIttle Timmy is drawing on the sidewalk with chalk?"

His goons seemed to chuckle a little bit at what Salem said, but stopped as the man gave them a fierce glare. He wasn't making any jokes this time. "Accept it, Mal. At the end of the day, you were nothing but a chip to your parents, to be thrown on the table and left to be collected by their opponents if they lost that bet. I even gave them an opportunity to win you back, telling them that if they could still earn what they owed and pay me back in the future, they could get you back. But they never came back to me. Never came by to check on you."

Salem began to speak a little louder now, to get the message loud and clear to Malcolm. "And believe me, I've seen them around in the Alleyways. They've been around quite a number of times with their business after that day. They never even brought up how you were doing whenever I was nearby. I wouldn't even be surprised if they don't remember you exist. You were sold out by them, Malcolm! They sold you as property!"

"No! I don't believe that!" Malcolm shouted as he clutched his head in his hands. "My parents… my parents would never do anything like that to me! It's not true!"

Salem was silent for a few seconds, not daring to say a word as he let Malcolm take in what he had heard. Malcolm was trying his best to deny what Salem had just said, writing it off as him just trying to distract him, but for some reason, he couldn't completely deny what was just said.

"...Do whatever you choose with that knowledge. Believe it, don't believe it… makes no difference to me. Doesn't change the fact that it happened." Salem took a card from his Hand and set it face-down. "Go on ahead and make your move, if you can."

Malcolm didn't make a response as he drew his next card. His mind was rushing with a hundred different thoughts at once. He wasn't really sure of what to make of what he had heard, and what feelings were swimming inside of him at that moment. Surely Salem was only lying, trying to get into Malcolm's head so he would make a mistake in the duel. No matter how many times he told himself that, however, the same question kept running into his head. What if Salem was telling the truth? What if Malcolm's parents really did abandon him that day?

Frederick immediately noticed Malcolm's troubled look, and how he wasn't making his move yet. "Malcolm! Don't listen to anything he tells you!" he called to him. "He's only trying to get your focus off the duel!"

"How would you know?" Malcolm asked sharply, without even looking to Frederick, surprising both him and Carrie. Sounded like Malcolm was starting to think more and more that Salem was telling him the truth.

Malcolm, meanwhile, decided to ask one more question before he moved on to make his move. "Before I completely crush you, tell me this… if what you say is true, and I'm not saying it is… but if it were, why did you not tell me this? Why keep it a secret from me?"

Salem paused for a moment himself before he spoke. "I thought about it plenty of times. A few times, I thought it would be the perfect motivator in showing you how alone we really are in this world… but every time I thought about it, I decided against it. Maybe I just didn't want you to know the hurtful truth until I thought you were ready… or maybe I worried that if you did know about it, you would be less willing to listen to me… I just didn't think you would ever be ready to learn the truth… but I suppose you know now, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Malcolm gave a little nod, still keeping quiet for a moment. "...I see… alright then… let's continue, shall we?" he asked as he put a Monster on the Field. "First things first, I'll be Normal Summoning my second Charcoal Impachi to the Field."

The Level 1 Monster appeared on the Field in Attack Position as Malcolm took a Spell Card from his Hand and put it on the duel disk. "Now I'm activating the Spell Card, Tri-Wight. With this Spell Card, I can Special Summon 3 Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from my Graveyard. Not that it matters what I choose to Summon, so I'll go ahead and Special Summon from my Graveyard my second Charcoal Impachi and two of my Bunillas."

"Why would he Special Summon so many Monsters?" Frederick asked. "His Dystopia is already in the Graveyard, so he can't use any of them, and now his Field is full of Monsters that Salem can take over with his Possessed Dark Soul's effect."

"That's not entirely true." Carrie corrected as she watched on. "Not many people know this, as most duelists haven't really gotten to the point of getting Mal's Dystopia into the Graveyard… but if Dystopia the Despondent is in the Graveyard, it can Special Summon itself by sending 4 Level 1 Monsters on the Field to the Graveyard, as if it were still in his Hand."

"Wait… if that's the case, then that means…"

"That means that my Dystopia is about to come back for a second round. And this time, he's not gonna be stopped!" Malcolm yelled. "I sent my four Level 1 Monsters to the Graveyard now!" He took all four of the Monsters on his side of the Field and slid all of them into the Graveyard, the strong wind from the first summoning blowing through the Alleyway once again. "Dystopia the Despondent rises to fight once more!"

From the ground, Dystopia the Despondent slowly began to rise up once again, as if it had never been sent to the Graveyard in the first place. "And guess what, Salem? With you only having 3650 Life Points remaining, your Possessed Dark Soul's 1200 ATK won't be able to save you from this next move of mine. Dystopia is staying right where he belongs! Dystopia, attack! Destroy his Possessed Dark Soul and the rest of his Life Points!"

Dystopia became encased in that familiar dark blue glow. Its piercing, glowing red eyes cut through the darkness as it glared at its attack target, and the one who controlled them, ready to strike and end this duel.

"Hold on just a moment, Mal. It's not too late for me to save myself." Salem said as he took his Trap Card and flipped it face-up. "I'm activating my Trap Card, Enchanted Javelin!"

From the just activated card, the Enchanted Javelin flew out towards Dystopia the Despondent, piercing his chest, yet not seeming to do any harm to the Monster. "What are you doing to my Dystopia?!" Malcolm demanded.

"Why, nothing, really. And that's the whole beauty of it. You see, I can only activate my Enchanted Javelin when you attempt to attack me. By targeting the attacking Monster, I gain Life points equal to that Monster's ATK before the battle goes through." Salem's Life Points rose to 8650 as he continued to explain. "And here's the best part. Since Enchanted Javelin targets your Monster, but doesn't directly affect it in any way, even if you were to use Dystopia's special ability, it wouldn't stop me from gaining those Life Points."

"So you had that to save yourself without risking me triggering my Dystopia's ability… fine. But that doesn't change the fact that my attack goes through, and 3800 of those Life Points you just gained are about to be lost again. Dystopia, continue your attack!"

The Enchanted Javelin disappeared from Dystopia the Despondent's chest, and his attack continued, a powerful blast coming to the Possessed Dark Soul and completely consuming it. The soul vanished from the power of the attack, but Salem was able to easily soak up the damage, leaving him with a respectable 4850 Life Points left.

"He almost got him that time, but Salem was prepared for it." Frederick gave a little nervous gulp. "This guy really was prepared for whatever Malcolm would try to do."

"That might be, but at the very least, Malcolm is in a very good spot now." Carrie crossed her arms as she went on talking, "Not only does he have his Dystopia the Despondent back on his side of the Field, but now, even if Salem does anything to take control of it again, he still has his XYZ Monster to defend his Life Points from a hit."

"That's not going to last him too much longer… I can guarantee that. Because now it's my move!" Salem drew his next card. He gave a little nod and looked to the ground as a familiar capsule slowly began to rise up once again. "Surely you didn't forget about my Different Dimension Capsule, have you?" he asked. "Now, the card that I put into it two turns ago gets added to my Hand."

Malcolm gave a little growl. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did indeed forget about that card being activated a couple of turns ago. "And let me guess. Now you're going to be using whatever card you just added to your Hand, am I right?" he assumed.

"Not quite. As much as I would love to crush you with this card right now, all the pieces aren't quite in play, yet." Salem took another card from his Hand and put it on a Monster Zone in face-down Defense Position. "Don't worry, though. We'll get to that soon enough. I end my turn with this face-down Monster.

Malcolm groaned a little bit. He didn't like it when Salem put a Monster face-down like that. With how he's been playing this whole duel, there was no telling just what that Monster could be, or what effects it may have, if any at all. "My draw!" Malcolm yelled as he drew his next card.

"Monster Reincarnation… I'm not in any desperate need for a card like this, but it may come in handy later on…" He thought to himself as he looked on the battlefield. With his Dystopia the Despondent on his side of the Field, he would only be able to attack with Dystopia anyway, so there wasn't much point in bringing back another Monster into his Hand. Even if Salem did manage to take care of, or take control of Dystopia again, Malcolm still had his Shamoji Soldier on the Field to protect him from a hit. There was only one real thing that Malcolm could do now.

"Dystopia the Despondent, attack his face-down Monster now!" he called out. Dystopia's eyes turned to the face-down Monster on Salem's field, the blue and black aura surrounding it once more as it prepared its attack. Before it released its blast, the Monster was flipped face-up, revealing it to be the Magician of Faith before Dystopia fired its blast, completely consuming Magician of Faith and destroying her with ease.

"Hmhmhm. Thank you, Malcolm. By destroying my Magician of Faith, you've just activated her special ability." Salem said. "When my Magician of Faith is flipped face-up, I'm allowed to add any Spell Card in my Graveyard back to my Hand. And I have just the card." A white glow shined over his Graveyard before Salem took the card he was looking for out, showing it to Malcolm. "And I'm adding just the Spell Card I need: Book of Taiyou."

"What? Book of Taiyou is the one he took?" Carrie asked. "Malcolm doesn't currently have any Monsters in face-down Defense Position, though, and even if he did, it wouldn't benefit Salem at all to flip them face-up… why would he take that card?"

"If he's taking his Book of Taiyou now, that can only mean one thing." Malcolm said as he looked at Carrie before looking back at Salem. "...It means that he's planning on using a Flip Monster, and he needs to flip it face-up immediately."

"Check out the big brains on Mal. You're a smart one, aren't you?" Salem joked with a smirk. "But then again, you were taught and raised by one of the best. Of course you would have some knowledge about this game, wouldn't you?"

Malcolm growled. "I'm done."

"In more ways than one. Because now it's my move!" Salem drew his next card and nodded in approval before taking a card in his Hand. "Now, it's time that I get to utilize the card that I added to my Hand with my Different Dimension Capsule. I set it face-down on the Field!" He put a Monster on the Field in face-down Defense Position. Malcolm had a feeling he was going to do that. That must have been the Flip Monster he was going to use Book of Taiyou on.

"Now with everything set up, I activate my Spell Card, Book of Taiyou! Would you care to hear what this card does again, or should I just cut to the chase?" The familiar orange book appeared in Salem's hands as he once again read from it, "Fire to warmth, day to light. Rise like the sun to stand and fight! Oh, how ironic that a Dark Monster should be flipped face-up from such words, don't you agree, Mal?"

The face-down Monster on Salem's side of the Field was flipped face-up for Malcolm to see. "Say hello to Dharc the Dark Charmer!"

"Not a Charmer Monster!" Malcolm exclaimed, his body going cold again as he saw the Monster that was just summoned.

"You better believe it. And I assume you don't need to be reminded of what they do?" he asked. "Now that Dharc has been flipped face-up, he allows me to take control of any DARK Monster on your side of the Field. And since you only have one to choose from…"

Dharc held his staff towards Dystopia the Despondent, a soft purple glow emanating from it that caught the Fiend's eyes. As it continued to stare into the light, its glowing red eyes soon died down, and became a hazy purple color as the Fiend slowly began to walk to Salem's side of the Field.

"Not again! My Dystopia the Despondent!"

Salem simply smirked in response. "You mean my Dystopia the Despondent, don't you?" he asked. "I've now taken back my Monster not once, but twice. And now I'll be crushing you with it. As soon as I punch through your little toy soldier, of course. Dystopia the Despondent, attack his Shamoji Soldier now!" Rather than Dystopia acting on its own, Dharc held its staff out towards the XYZ Monster, the staff glowing purple again to give the Fiend its command. Obediently, Dystopia turned its eyes to Shamoji Soldier, the dark blue aura encompassing it before it fired off its blast, completely destroying Shamoji Soldier.

"Seems like you've forgotten about my Supply Squad!" Malcolm yelled. "Now that you destroyed a Monster of mine again, I get to draw one card from my Deck!"

Salem simply smirked as he put one card in his Hand face-down in his Spell/Trap Zone, letting Malcolm draw his card. "As if that will save you. I end my turn."

Malcolm started his turn by drawing another card, looking at all of his options in his Hand. He was starting to get a bit too low on cards left in his Deck for his own comfort, considering that his Supply Squad was going to make him keep drawing cards every time a Monster of his was destroyed. But even then, he only had one Monster in his Hand. Though he had a possible way of dealing with this problem, it wasn't guaranteed, with that face-down card of Salem's.

"I'm going to Summon my Oppressed People!" Malcolm exclaimed as he played his Monster Card. "And now, I'm going to activate this Spell Card from my Hand! Rush Forward Recklessly! Until the End Phase of this turn, this Spell Card gives my Oppressed People an additional 700 Attack Point boost, raising their Attack Points to 1100."

Salem gave a little bit of an amused smirk. "Did you forget that I got to see what cards you had in your Hand when I activated The Forceful Sentry?" he asked. "I knew you were going to try something like that eventually, Mal. That's why I had this Spell Card of my own lying in wait." He took his face-down card and activated it. "It's called Enemy Controller. By targeting a Monster you control, such as your Oppressed People, I can use this card to change their battle position. I use it to flip your Oppressed People into Defense Mode."

Malcolm gave an irritated groan as he watched his Oppressed People switch into Defense Mode from the effect of Salem's card. "You just have an answer to everything, don't you?"

"I warned you. My Deck was specifically made to crush any of the strategies you would try to use." Salem said. "Since I know you have nothing left to do, I'll go ahead and make my move now." Malcolm simply growled a bit. Salem was indeed right. There was nothing more that he would be able to do this turn.

Salem drew his card and gave an indifferent shrug. "Nothing that will win me this duel this turn. Oh well. I guess I can at least make some good sport out of smacking what few Monsters you still have around." He pointed to the Oppressed People. "Dystopia the Despondent, attack him again!" Once more, Dharc held its staff up to give the command, and on command, Dystopia the Despondent attacked once more, obliterating the Oppressed People.

"Since my Oppressed People were destroyed, I get to draw one more card." Malcolm drew his card and looked at it, a groan escaping his throat as he began to think to himself. "You gotta be kidding me! The League of Uniform Nomenclature?! That card's not going to help me now!"

"Doesn't seem like your draw did you very much good, did it?" Salem asked with a smirk. "It's your turn now. I have nothing else I want to do."

Malcolm gulped and put his hand on his next card. He desperately prayed for something that he could use to save himself before drawing his next card. Human-Wave Tactics. Just like the League of Uniform Nomenclature, completely useless to him when he didn't have any Monsters in his Hand, especially when very few Monsters were left to summon in his Deck as it was. Almost his entire Hand was dead in this situation. There was only one card he could play to buy himself an extra turn.

"I activate the Spell Card, One Day of Peace!" Malcolm exclaimed as he played the card, though his voice didn't really sound as strong or confident as it usually did. "With this Spell Card, we both get to draw one card, and neither of us take any damage until the end of your next turn." Salem and Malcolm both drew their cards. Malcolm almost wanted to break down at what he saw. Another dead draw, but at least he would have an extra turn. "I… I end my turn."

Salem gave a little chuckle. "Now you're starting to understand just how much you need me. Only those that are strong on their own can wield such a creature as my Dystopia the Despondent. And you, Mal… you are not worthy of its power. You could have avoided this simply by joining me… but you had to have things your way. And now… you have nothing."

He drew his card and looked at it before smirking. "As for me… you're lucky that you had One Day of Peace to buy you that extra turn. Because the Spell Card that you allowed me to draw from it…" He played the Spell Card and allowed Malcolm to see it as it was activated. "Is none other than my Left Arm Offering."

Malcolm gave a nervous gulp. "I don't like where this is going…"

"You shouldn't. I can only activate my Left Arm Offering when I have at least two cards in my Hand. Luckily for me, I have four. Now, I can remove my entire Hand from play, in order to add any one Spell Card from my Deck to my Hand." Salem brought all of the cards he held together and put them to the side, where one of his goons quickly picked them up to get them carefully out of the way. "Banishing my entire Hand is quite a hefty cost, but it's worth it for getting such a powerful ability. Especially when the card that I'm adding to my Hand…"

He smirked and took a card out of his Deck and showed it to Malcolm before finishing. "Is the one card I need to end you on my next turn. The Equip Spell, Big Bang Shot."

"That's not good at all." Carrie said with a little nervous shudder. "If he equips that card to Dystopia the Despondent, not only will he gain 400 Attack Points, but he'll inflict piercing Battle Damage on Malcolm whenever he attacks a Defense Position Monster."

"Which means that even if you do play a Monster on your next turn, it won't change a thing. Your Deck has many high Defense Monsters, but none of them have any more than 2100 Defense Points, which means none of them will have enough to protect you from losing the rest of your 3000 Life Points." Salem smirked as he switched his Dharc to Defense Mode. "It's the perfect victory that I've been planning since you challenged me to this duel. Crushing you with the very card I gave you, and giving you absolutely no opportunities to escape."

Malcolm didn't say a word in response. No boasts or denials came from him this time. He simply just looked to the ground, a look of utter defeat and helplessness in his eyes, a look that Malcolm hadn't had in a long time; not since his parents had disappeared… or, as he supposed was the case now… abandoned him.

"You put up a good fight for what it's worth, Mal… I didn't expect you to be able to get past even my Thousand-Eyes Restrict… but you're too weak on your own to be able to wield the power of Dystopia the Despondent…it's over. Nothing you have in your Deck will be able to stop me on my next turn. Dystopia will wipe out what's left of your Life Points, and I will win this duel."

Malcolm gave a growl as he began to reach for his Deck to draw his next card. Before his fingers touched the card, however, his hand stopped in place. He looked back to the Field and saw the situation; his own Dystopia the Despondent turned against him one again, but this time, there didn't seem to be any hope of getting him back this time. He had no cards on his Field, and no cards in his Hand that would be able to save him. Even if he did draw a Monster now, there was nothing in his Deck that could protect him from Dystopia's attack once it was equipped with Big Bang Shot.

"...What would be the point of even drawing my next card?" he thought to himself, looking down to the ground. "I have nothing left that can save me from my own Monster… maybe Salem was right… maybe I was never strong enough to wield such a powerful Monster… maybe all the strength that I thought I had only came from him… now that he's taken away what he's given to me… what else do I have?"

Carrie and Frederick watched quietly in horror, neither of them saying a word at Malcolm's defeated look. They had never seen Malcolm lack such confidence in all the times they've seen him. It was haunting, to see someone like Malcolm be reduced to that point. Though at the same time, they really couldn't blame him in this situation. They knew just as well as he did what little chances he had now.

"...Salem really did give me everything that I have… the powerful Monster that I've used to crush everyone with… the lessons that I needed to make it on my own… a place to call home when my parents… sold me to him… he gave me all of that, and knew just how to take it all away… how could I even think I had a chance?" He began to slowly reach his whole hand over his Deck, ready to give the sign of surrendering. "I guess it's time to face reality… I was never strong enough on my own…"

Salem gave a little nod. At last, Malcolm was finally starting to see just how much Salem had really given him, and how he was really nothing without all of it. It was a shame it had to have gotten this far before he fully realized that, but it was just how things had to be. Now, it was time for Malcolm to surrender, and to finally return Salem's Dystopia the Despondent…

"Come on, Mal! Lighten up a little bit."

The voice came in his mind just before he put his hand down on his Deck. When he opened his eyes, he found that everything had seemingly disappeared. Salem, the Field, their audience… it was only him. The entire place was grayed out now, void of any color aside from varying shades of gray, black and white.

"Th… that voice…" Malcolm started as he turned around to look behind him. "Jason…?"

As his eyes looked behind him, he saw Jason standing right there, his body unaffected by the grayed out condition of the rest of his surroundings. Though his body seemed translucent, Malcolm just barely being able to see some of the stuff behind him. It was clearly just a part of Malcolm's imagination, though he did find some comfort in seeing Jason there, despite how he knew he really wasn't.

"You can't just give up now. Not after you came so far!" Jason said. "You're Mal the Monster, remember? One of the best duelists on the campus grounds. One who, before I dueled him, seemed unbeatable with his Dystopia the Despondent. One who would never surrender, especially not to some punk in the alleyways!"

Malcolm sighed and shook his head. "As much as I appreciate the words of encouragement… it's a bit late for them now. Salem gave me everything that made me that duelist… and now, he's taken them all away from me… my best card… my strategies… any hope that I have of defeating him…"

Jason, however, wouldn't have any of it, and shook his head. "Not everything. You didn't get everything from him, and he didn't take everything away from you. You still have 3000 Life Points left, and even if you only had 1 left, that's still enough to make a difference. But you won't be able to turn this around if you hang your head and give up. You have to keep trying!"

"Trying for what? To last as long as I can before he wipes the floor with me?" Malcolm asked with a shake of his head. "I don't want to give Dystopia back to him, but what else can I do? Look at the situation I'm in! He's taken my strongest card, and even if I do draw a Monster on my next turn, he has Big Bang Shot in his Hand, and can equip it to Dystopia on his next turn to inflict piercing battle damage to me. I don't have anything left I can do!"

There was silence between the two of them for what felt like an eternity to Malcolm. They just stood there, in silence, Jason standing and staring at Malcolm, who just kept his eyes to the ground in defeat.

"...Well… I suppose if that's the case… then I guess you're right. You really can't win." Jason turned around and crossed his arms with a sigh, looking away from Malcolm as he spoke. "Quite a shame, too… if you just had that one card, then you could easily turn this duel around… but just like you said when I gave it to you… you wouldn't put that thing in your Deck."

Malcolm looked up at Jason in surprise as he heard those words. The card that Jason had given him… he completely forgot about that. As those words rang in his head, that night of receiving that card playing in his head, he slowly began to look at his Deck, now staring at it silently.

After a few seconds of hearing silence, Jason turned around to look at Malcolm. Once he saw that Malcolm was looking at his Deck, he gave a big, proud smile. "You actually put that card in after all, didn't you?"

"It's in there…" Malcolm admitted with a sigh. "...But what good will it do me now? I only have the one copy in my Deck… the chances of drawing it here and now aren't in my favor…"

"Didn't you think that the odds were horribly against me when we first had our duel?" Jason asked. "Yet I was able to turn it around… because I never gave up. I continued to fight until my last Life Point in our duel… and now it's your time to do so as well. I told you this earlier. Salem may have given and taken back quite a number of things from you, but there's one thing he didn't give you, and one thing he can never take away."

Malcolm looked up at Jason. "...What do I have that he hasn't given me?" he asked.

To this, Jason smiled and put his hand on Malcolm's shoulder in reassurance. "...The bonds that you've built over these past few days… the friendships that you're too proud to admit to… and the card that's going to get your Dystopia back and win this duel."

Malcolm looked back down at his Deck. Even if he was just a part of his subconscious mind, Jason was right. There was one card that Malcolm had in his Deck that Salem wasn't aware of… something that he never saw…

"Now… allow me to tell you the exact same words I told Frederick when he was about to give up in a duel. Stop whinging like a little bitch... draw your next card…"

"And make! It! Happen!"

When Malcolm opened his eyes again, he was back in the duel, everything having returned to normal, and Jason being nowhere in sight. However, something in him had now changed. He tightened his hand into a fist, moving it away from his Deck. This surprised Salem as he looked into Malcolm's eyes. All of a sudden, there was a newfound determination in them. Any thoughts or signs of surrender were now gone from his mind.

"It's my turn!" Malcolm said as he put his fingers on his next card to draw it. He could almost feel Jason's hand right on top of his, ready to draw that card with him. It all came down to that last draw. It was time to see whether or not Jason was right. "I draw!"

When he drew his card, his heart initially sank. One for One. If he had any Monsters in his Hand, then he would have been able to bring out the card that he needed to turn this duel around. But the only cards he had in his Hand were a bunch of Spells and a couple of Traps. He took his gamble, and it didn't pay off, as now he didn't have the resources to bring out that card.

Unless…

As Malcolm looked through his Hand, he remembered that there was still one Spell Card in his Hand that he could play. As his eyes fell on it once again, suddenly, it all became clear to him. He still had a chance! And with Salem only having his two Monsters on the Field and Big Bang Shot in his Hand, this time, he knew there would be no stopping it!

"I activate… my Spell Card! Monster Reincarnation!" Malcolm shouted as he played the Spell Card he had drawn a couple of turns earlier. "Now, by discarding one card from my Hand, I can retrieve any Monster I want from my Graveyard back into my Hand. I discard the Human-Wave Tactics Trap Card, in order to add my Charcoal Impachi back to my Hand!"

"You really still insist on fighting me, even if your situation is all but hopeless?" Salem questioned. "Fine then. Go on ahead and try what you will. I know every card in your Deck, and I know you have nothing that can stop me now."

Malcolm shook his head and responded with, "You don't know every card in my Deck… and now, with my Charcoal Impachi back into my Hand, I can show you that right here, right now! I activate the Spell Card, One for One!"

Salem gave a little confused grunt as he watched and listened on. "Thanks to this Spell Card, I can Special Summon any Level 1 Monster from my Deck, as long as I get rid of a Monster on my Field or in my Hand to do so. And I have the perfect Monster in my Deck, well worth discarding my Charcoal Impachi in order to Summon."

He discarded the Monster he had just added with Monster Reincarnation back into the Graveyard. "This duel is over… and the end all starts with this Monster!" Malcolm gave a loud yell as he took a card out of his Deck and placed onto his Monster Zone. "I Special Summon Copycat from my Deck! Show yourself!"

Onto the Field, the Monster that Malcolm had just announced appeared. In the shape of a man whose face was hidden behind a hand mirror that he held up in front of there, completely masking whatever identity he had.

"Where did you get that card?!" Salem exclaimed in shock. "That wasn't one of the cards I gave you!"

"No, you didn't." Malcolm confirmed as Copycat stood on his Field. "This card was given to me by a friend, one who taught me that I don't have to fight all of my battles completely alone. A lesson that you never did give me."

"Copycat… of course! That was why Jason traded for that card!" Frederick exclaimed. Carrie looked at him questioningly, so he began to explain. "This last Friday, Jason and I were at the Duel Monsters Club, and Jason traded for a Copycat with a new friend of ours. He wasn't going to keep it for himself. He was giving it to Malcolm!"

"You're kidding me! Jason was the one who gave Malcolm that card?"

"And it's just the card that I need to win this duel. When my Copycat is Summoned, it copies the Attack and Defense Points of any Monster on your side of the Field. And I'll be copying the strength of Dystopia the Despondent, while you still have it in your control!" On the Copycat's hand mirror, the face of Dystopia the Despondent appeared, as Copycat's ATK and DEF immediately changed from 0 to 5000 in a heartbeat.

Salem gave a growl and took a step back. Now, all of a sudden, it was he who was having his entire plan fall apart. "This… this isn't possible!"

"Nothing is impossible, no matter how grave the situation looks. Now it's high time to take my Monster back!" Malcolm responded as he pointed at Dharc the Dark Charmer. "Now, Copycat! Destroy Dharc the Dark Charmer now!" The hand mirror began to glow slightly, and a familiar blast of black and blue was fired from the glass of it at the Charmer Monster. The Charmer shouted in pain as the blast hit its mark, completely obliterating it. Since it was moved to Defense Mode, however, Salem took no damage to his Life Points.

"Alright, he took care of the Charmer… but what about Dystopia the Despondent?" Frederick asked. "Salem still has him on his side of the Field, and now he and Copycat have equal ATK. If he attacks Copycat next turn, all he has to do is banish his Thousand-Eyes Idol or Thousand-Eyes Restrict from his Graveyard, and he'll still have Dystopia after the battle."

"No… he won't… Malcolm just won this battle!" Carrie exclaimed. "When a Monster is taken control of by the effect of a Charmer like Dharc the Dark Charmer, once the Charmer Monster is removed from the Field…"

"The Monster that was taken control of by its effect is freed from its spell!" Salem finished. As he said that, the purple hazy look in Dystopia's eyes slowly began to fade away. In just a few seconds, his eyes were back to the original harsh red glow that they were quite infamous for. After the eyes were back to normal, a low, earth rumbling growl was heard as the Fiend slowly began to turn his head towards Salem, slowly walking backwards until he was back on Malcolm's side of the Field.

"And now, my Dystopia is back on the Field. And in case you're not aware, since I just took back control of my Dystopia, and he's still in Attack Mode, I have one more attack to call out, and you don't have enough Life Points to be able to take it."

"But my strategies… all of my planning, to counter all of our strategies…" Salem started to say in disbelief. "...Could it really be that this friendship of yours has caught me off guard, and has overpowered my calculations?"

Malcolm gave a little growl. "Going after me, trying to take what's mine is one thing, Salem… but you don't get to threaten or attack any of these sorry chumps… they may be some of the most idiotic, annoying chumps I've ever met… but they're my idiotic, annoying chumps, and only I get to remind them as much!"

To this, Carrie smirked and crossed her arms. "Well, well. You get a load of that, Frederick?" she asked.

Frederick nodded with a smile. "He does think of us as friends… guess Jason was right after all."

"This duel is over, Salem!" Malcolm announced. "Go, Dystopia the Despondent! Attack Salem directly and end this duel!" Dystopia responded with a deep growl as his body was encased in that dark blue aura once more, only this time, it was a much harsher glow than usual, as if Dystopia's rage had been awakened after being taken control of earlier.

At first, Salem growled as he took a look at his situation, realizing that there was nothing he could do to stop this attack. All of his options had been exhausted now. As the attack was still being charged, however, Salem quickly began to regain his composure. With a little sigh, he stood up straight, his eyes looking straight at Dystopia, accepting his loss and quietly awaiting the oncoming attack.

Soon after, the blast was fired, completely encasing Salem into its power. Salem growled and groaned at the power of the blast until he was thrown back, spinning in the air a little bit and dragging across the ground a few inches after landing. Smoke rose from his body from where he was just hit, and he was now laying on his side, hissing from the pain as his Life Points finally fell to 0, signifying his defeat.

Malcolm looked to Dystopia and smiled a bit, nodding at him before the Monster, and the rest of the holograms on the Field, slowly disappeared. Malcolm walked over to where Salem now laid on the ground. "Game, set and match. This duel is over, Salem." Salem didn't say anything at first, remaining in place, as if he didn't hear Malcolm.

The first ones to react were the thugs who had been watching the duel as well, as they began to walk forward until they were right in front of Malcolm, being in between him and Salem. "You… you ungrateful little bastard. First you leave our boss after all he's done for you, and now you have the nerve to beat him?" the first one snarled.

The second one nodded in agreement and cracked his knuckles. "Seems like you've really forgotten your place, punk. Allow us to give you a reminder." Malcolm gave a little growl. He had just gotten through a tough duel, and now he was going to have to get into a scrap just to make it out of that alleyway.

"Don't lay a finger on him, you idiots." The command from Salem caught both of the thugs off guard. They looked over at Salem and watched as he was slowly standing up. Not wanting to get on his bad side, they both slowly stepped to the side, parting ways so Malcolm and Salem could look at each other.

"...Well… I don't like to admit it…" Salem started. "...But a duel is a duel, and you beat me fair and square… even if you had to have somebody else's help in order to beat me."

Malcolm thought about what to say for a few seconds before giving a sigh. "...Yes… I did need somebody's help in order to get through this… if I didn't have that card given to me, you would have won this duel for sure… but having the help of someone else doesn't make someone weaker, just because they weren't able to do something on their own."

Malcolm paused for a moment, taking some more time to think about what it was he wanted to say, what he wanted Salem to take away from his words. "...There are always going to be such events in life that someone can't do on their own. That's not because someone is weak. That's just how things are… but there are also many people out there who can help… who are willing to help… and I've learned that true strength doesn't come from foolish pride, and being too stubborn to see that… it comes from admitting you can't do everything on your own… it's about being able to ask for help when you need it."

Salem was silent himself before sighing and shaking his head. "...And… these people who you think want to help… who you get close to… what if they're only in it for their own gain?" he asked as he crossed his arms. "Everyone out there is just trying to get something done for themselves, not others… I would have thought that learning the truth about your parents would have taught you that lesson."

"There will always be people like that… no matter where you go or who you are, people like that will always be there... " Malcolm sighed and looked down. "...If what you told me about my parents is true… then they were, unfortunately, two of those people… who would happily drop someone if it benefited them in any way… in that same light, I don't need them… I've already got others who do care for me… who would stand up for me, even if it didn't benefit them in any way."

Malcolm took the Copycat card that was still on his duel disk and showed it to Salem. "Take a look, Salem… this card, the one that allowed me to defeat you… this was given to me by Jason, the one that you and your thugs attacked yesterday… he gave me this days before our rematch was supposed to happen. He had no logical reason to do so. If anything, giving me a card like this would actively hurt his chances at winning that rematch… but he gave it to me as a sign of our friendship… even if I didn't quite understand it back then…"

Salem looked at the Copycat card silently. A card given to Malcolm, not as a payment or a bribe, but as a token of friendship… something that Salem had always taught him would be impossible from anyone…

"...I'm not going to stand around and try to change your mind about everything… whatever happened to you that led you to your principles, I doubt I'll be able to persuade you to drop them…" Malcolm started as he put all of his cards back into his Deck. "...I just want you to understand that I've found my strength in a different way… it may not be yours… but it's the way that will work for me." He turned around and began to walk away, believing the conversation to be done.

"...Wait." Malcolm came to a stop as Salem said this, turning his head to look at Salem again. "...It… doesn't seem fair that you should have been given a card by that kid, and not give anything to him in return." He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Malcolm. "Here… maybe this will suffice."

Malcolm took the card and looked at it. At first, he was going to give it back, not seeing the hidden meaning Salem was putting into giving him the card. When he turned it around and saw what card it was, however, he decided against that, staring at it silently before looking back at Salem.

"...Maybe your way of finding strength isn't the way that I taught you… and I sure as Hell don't approve of it… but you found it for yourself… and maybe you're all the stronger for it." Salem gave a little bit of a smile. "...Maybe one day we'll run into each other again… not as enemies… but… well… you know."

Malcolm gave just a slight smile. He would have preferred it if Salem would have swallowed his pride just to say that one word, but he knew what he was saying. "...I would like that." he said.

Salem gave a nod and turned around, starting to walk deeper into the Dark Alleyway of Nightmare. "Come on, you two… time to get going. The duel's over." The two thugs looked at each other in surprise, but began to follow behind Salem quickly.

"So… he beat you… and he defied your teachings… and you're just going to let him go?" one of the thugs asked as they followed.

Salem gave a little sigh and closed his eyes. "...Malcolm has found his own way in life… found a good group of people for himself… it may not be what I taught him… but it's all I could have ever wanted for him being out on his own…"

The other thug gave a little nervous chuckle and began to twiddle his thumbs a bit in nervousness at what he was about to ask. "So… since Malcolm taught you about appreciating friends and all that… does that mean you'll treat us better now too?"

"Y-yeah. Maybe with a pay raise, or some cool cards of our own?"

Salem opened his eyes in response, his voice agitated as he answered them with, "Don't push your luck."

As he watched Salem and the other thugs walk away, Malcolm looked down at the card that he was given, staring at it for quite some time. The significance of having the card given to Jason… was it to signify something in Salem, or Malcolm…? Should he even tell him who it was that gave him the card…?

These thoughts were in Malcolm's mind as he turned around and headed for the exit from which he came from. "Let's get going… we're done here." he said to Carrie and Frederick as he walked past.

The ride back to the hospital, to let Jason know of what had happened, was just as silent as the others. But this time, it wasn't from nervousness or uncertainty. It was a silence as all three of them took in the emotions of what had just happened. Happiness, excitement, pride… all of them were in all three of them.

Once they were back at the hospital, the entire room was filled with an ecstatic feel. Malcolm was standing by the door, leaning against the wall, and Carrie sitting on a chair in the room while Malcolm was sitting on the hospital bed with Jason, recounting the entire thing to him.

"And then Dystopia fired a blast directly at him for the game! You should have seen him! He was going to the ground, all like, 'AAAAAAAAHH'!" Frederick jovily recalled to Jason. "He got completely hammered by that last blast from Dystopia! You should have seen it, man. It was awesome."

Jason gave a little chuckle. "I definitely would have, if I wasn't so well tied here." he said as he looked to Malcolm with a smile. "But I'm just really glad that you were able to win that duel… especially when it meant you actually put that card in your Deck after all."

Malcolm gave a little shrug, but smiled a bit as he spoke. "Well… I figured that it might be usable in my Deck, if I couldn't get Dystopia out on my Field in time… guess it also worked for when someone would attempt to take it from me."

"You were lucky to have had that card. If Jason wasn't such a pal, you would have easily lost that battle." Carrie commented before smirking a bit and shrugging. "But then… I suppose that Salem was lucky you insisted on taking him on yourself. If I had dueled him myself, I probably would have had him pissing himself in the first two turns."

Malcolm paused for a few seconds before snickering as he raised his eyebrow. "Pissing himself, huh?" he repeated. "Yeah. Sure. Maybe pissing himself in laughter at the cute cheerleader girls that are trying to be all threatening."

"Oh, screw you." Carrie responded with a little giggle, her words coming out more jokingly instead of hostile. This caused everyone else in the room to have a good laugh. It only took a couple of seconds before Carrie joined in as well.

As their laughter slowly died down, Jason just smiled as he took in the scene around him. While he certainly wished it could have been under much better circumstances, it was nice to see all four of them in the same place together again. In a way, while it may have caused him to be stuck in the hospital for a few days, Jason could at least say that the experience brought the four closer in a weird way.

After a few more seconds of silence, Carrie looked at the time. "Oh… well, we should probably let you rest before they kick us all out of here."

Frederick nodded. "Yeah. I guess we should. See you later, Jason. Can't wait until you're out of here." With that, the two of them walked out of the room, leaving only Jason and Malcolm in there.

After a few seconds of silence, Malcolm picked up a bag of fast food that was sitting beside his foot and brought it over to Jason. "Here… figured you probably wouldn't want to get stuck with nothing but hospital food, so I got you this on the way here."

Jason smiled as he took the bag and set it beside him on the bed. "Thanks, man… congratulations again on your win. Glad to see Dystopia gets to stay with you."

Malcolm gave a smile and a nod before looking back at the clock. "...Well… guess I should be going to…" he said as he started to make his way to the door. Before leaving, however, he looked over to Jason and said one more thing. "...Get better soon, Jason… you still owe me a rematch, after all."

Jason watched as Malcolm left, closing the door behind him. Once again, he was all alone in the hospital room. Though it was nice to have had his friends over, even if they weren't able to stay for very long.

With his stomach growling a little bit, he reached into the bag that Malcolm had left for him and began to feel around for what all was in there. It was going to be annoying to eat with only one of his arms able to be used, but he would be able to manage.

While feeling around in the bag, however, he felt something that he wouldn't have expected to be in there. It felt like a fold card of some sorts. When Jason grabbed it and lifted it out of the bag, it was just that. It seemed completely blank on the front, aside from the words, "From Mal" written in black sharpie.

Jason slowly opened the card to find a Duel Monsters card face-down, taped to the left side of the card with just one single piece of tape. Along with that, there was a single word written on the right side: "Thanks".

It took Jason about a minute to finally peel the tape off to get a look at the card, but when he flipped it over, he saw that it was a Change of Heart Spell Card.

He stared at the card silently for a second before smiling. Closing his eyes a little bit, he put the Change of Heart and the card that it came in to the night stand. He was glad everything was able to work out in the end. The only thing that was left for him to do was hang tight, and wait to be released from the hospital.

For the rest of the night, he just relaxed with his food and his laptop. For the moment, he could just take it easy, without so much as a care in the world.