Destined to be Yours

Chapter 26: Duel Against the Creator Part 1

After working on building Akia's new deck, the siblings took a deep breath.

"That should do it. Let's head back?" Yugi said.

Akia looked at her newly constructed deck. She then brought her gaze up to her brother's, "You go on ahead. I'll be right there."

Yugi nodded, knowing that she probably needed some time to mentally prepare herself. He gave her a last encouragement before leaving the room.

Now that she was alone, she took out her millennium scale. She pensively looked at it, wondering how she could possibly fight against Pegasus' millennium eye. If he saw what her strategy was, he'd undoubtedly defeat her. She couldn't afford to lose.

"Shadi... You would know, wouldn't you?" She said, hoping she would get an answer, "I know you're there, always watching. Can't you help me out? I really don't know how to handle the power of another millennium item..."

Then, in front of her, he appeared. She felt a smile form on her face.

"For some reason, I really can't ignore your plea for help," Shadi replied.

"I don't know how to thank you for answering me..." Akia expressed her gratitude.

"You wanted to know how to defeat another millennium item, did you not?" The mysterious man confirmed with her.

Akia nodded.

"The power of a millennium item depends mainly on the wielder's will and determination," Shadi started explaining. "Of course, an understanding of the items' powers is also essential. All millennium items have the ability to protect the wielder from the powers of other items. This, however, is possible if your spirit is stronger than the one you're facing."

Akia looked once more at her item. "Wait... So are you saying that I can protect my mind from Pegasus using my millennium scale? I just need to be mentally stronger than him and-" When she looked back up, Shadi was no longer there. "...And I'll defeat him..."

Akia clenched her hand around her millennium scale. There was a chance for her to win. Now that she knew that, she was filled with a renewed determination. She took a deep breath and headed for the dueling arena.

When she arrived there, she headed for her spot right away. At the other side of the dueling platform, Pegasus was already standing there, wearing his usual smirk. Yugi and the others were intently looking at them, feeling the tension.

"So, you finally showed up? We can now begin the final duel of this tournament, which will decide who the true Ruler of Games is," Pegasus said.

Both opponents took out their decks and put them on the dueling table. Akia also took out her millennium scale and set it on the side of the dueling table. Pegasus noticed what she did and wondered what she had planned. He felt a strange power emanating from it. He smirked, knowing that he could easily figure out what she was planning to do. However, as soon as he tried to probe into her mind, he could not get through. He was very shaken by this. How did she know that the millennium items could nullify each other's powers? Pegasus calmed himself down, knowing that he still had the upper hand. He had to win for the sake of his beloved.

"Let the duel begin! Ladies first?" Pegasus invited Akia to start.

"I'll get this over with," the girl replied and she then celebrated internally he'd small victory. "It worked! I feel the magical barrier protecting my mind. Judging by Pegasus' slight frown, he probably tried to read my mind, but couldn't. I'm going to win this. My chances just skyrocketed!"

They both drew five cards from their respective decks. Akia then drew one more card to start her turn. "I'll summon Magician's Valkyria (1600/1800) in attack mode. I'll then put a card facedown and end my turn."

"Without knowing what I'm planning, it'll make it easier for me to lay down effective traps. I just need to keep my focus on the millennium scale's power," the black-haired girl reassured herself.

Pegasus slightly frowned. He was still trying to get through the magical barrier, but to no avail. "I see that you're going straight to the point, this time. It's my turn to draw. Well then, allow me to activate my spell card Toon World! Now, all my monsters will be Toon monsters, isn't that simply precious?" Pegasus grinned widely while activating his favourite spell card. He wasn't about to take long detours either. Both Akia and him were set on getting this duel over with quickly.

"That card... He used it against Kaiba. If I remember correctly, Toon monsters are unaffected by normal attacks. I bet some traps won't work on them either. I have to tread carefully while dealing with them," Akia recalled.

"Let's not waste any time then. I summon Gemini Elf (1900/900)! Thanks to my Toon World, this monster becomes a Toon," Pegasus informed his opponent.

Knowing that most traps won't work on his Toon monsters, Pegasus declared an attack on Akia's monster, which had a lower attack.

"Sorry to tell you that, but I activate my trap card!" The red-eyed girl intercepted.

"Hmph, silly girl. Don't you know that most trap cards don't work on my Toon monsters?" Her opponent informed her with a haughty tone.

"Most, but not all. I activate Magician's Circle!" Akia said with confidence.

"Kuh..." He wasn't expecting that, and he cursed himself for being careless. He had a feeling he knew about what she was about to do with that card. That card allowed both of them to summon a Spellcaster monster card with 2000 or less attack from their deck, when a Spellcaster declared an attack, which he just did with his Toon Gemini Elf.

"I'm pretty sure you know everything about this game, so I'll skip the explanations," Akia told her opponent.

"Alright, you got me this time. I summon my Illusionist Faceless Mage (1200/2200) in defence position," Pegasus sighed in fake resignation.

"And I summon another Magician's Valkyria. Now, the amazing effect of this card is that when it's on the field, you cannot attack another Spellcaster-Type monster on my side of the field, except for Valkyria. Since I have two of them on the field, you cannot attack either of them, which means your Toon elf's attack failed."

"Wait... How does that work...?" Jounouchi inquired.

Mai sighed before starting to explain, "let me explain it to you in a simpler way. Magician's Valkyria is a Spellcaster-Type monster. While it is on the field, the opponent of the controller of that card cannot attack any other Spellcaster-Type except Valkyria. Now, if you have two Magician's Valkyria on the field, it means that the opponent cannot attack them, since one card's effect protects the other, and vice-versa. Get it now?"

Jounouchi stood there in silence for a moment before exclaiming, "oh! I get it now!"

"Good..." Mai let out, "you really strengthened Akia's deck didn't you, Yugi."

"To be honest, she's the one who came up with that strategy. Actually, she came up with most of the strategies. I just provided her with a different perspective and extra cards," Yugi specified.

"She's doing well," Bakura noted. The Spirit of the Ring was the only one who sensed what was going on. He knew that Akia was using her Millennium Item's power to protect herself from Pegasus' Millennium Eye. He never thought she would figure it out on her own. He even thought of telling her about it, but didn't have the time to talk to her alone before her match.

Yugi was also thinking how it was strange that Pegasus didn't see through that strategy, like he always did in his previous duels. However, unlike the Spirit of the Ring, he didn't know what was going on.

The group redirected their attention to the duel which was still going on.