Destined to be Yours

Chapter 82: A Duel Shrouded in Darkness Part 1

A little note so that you're not too confused: I have noticed that in the anime, they can summon monsters in face-up defence position, so I have done that in this duel as well. I know it's not the official rules, but we're in the anime universe here, so a lot more is permitted. Also, I have the whole duel scripted now, so it shouldn't take long for me to update :) Hope you guys enjoy, it was really hard to write!

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"Draw!" Marik started the first turn. "I'll summon Vampiric Leech (500/1200), Attack Mode! I'll attack you directly!"

"What...?!" Akia exclaimed before wincing at the sting of the attack. Since this was a Shadow Game, the attacks felt more real. As her Life Points went down to 3500, a part of her past self's arm started disappearing.

"But it's the first turn! He's not even allowed to do that!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"That's where you're wrong," Marik chuckled. "My Vampiric Leech's special ability allows it to attack from the first turn. I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn for now."

Akia clenched her teeth to calm herself. She reached for her deck and drew her card. As she was looking through her hand, she heard her past counterpart groan lightly. Akia turned her head towards the waking woman. "A-Are you alright?" She asked.

"My modern counterpart. I never thought we'd meet, let alone like this," the woman sighed then looked up to the opponent. "Let's work together to save him."

"Is there a way to do that?" Akia asked, hopeful.

"Yes, it may be possible with the Millennium Scale. I only ask that you hang on until the time is right," the mysterious look-alike replied.

Akia nodded and resumed with her turn, but before she could, Marik interrupted her. "Oh yeah, sorry to interrupt your little chat, but I activate my continuous spell card, Vengeful Bog Spirit. Now all Monsters need to wait one turn after being summoned to be able to attack."

"Stalling for time...?" Akia mumbled to herself. She then played her turn. "I set two cards facedown and activate Soul Absorption. This continuous Spell card grants me 500 Life Points every time a card is removed from play. I'll also summon my D.D. Survivor (1800/200), Attack Mode!" Since she couldn't attack the same turn that she summoned her monster, due to Marik's trap, Akia had no choice but to end her turn.

"Akia is starting her banishing strategy," Jounouchi stated.

"It's been seen quite often, though," Yugi added. "Marik would've probably prepared for it."

"This is nerve-wracking..." Otogi said.

Marik drew his next card. "This time it's my turn to interrupt," Akia interjected. "I activate my trap card, Macro Cosmos! Now any card that is sent to the Graveyard will be banished instead."

"Hm, you're not playing around," Marik scoffed. "Magic Card, activate! Bait Doll! This spell allows me to force the activation of one face-down Trap Card. If the timing of the activation of the Trap Card is incorrect, it will negate its effect and destroy it. Since you only have one facedown card, I will target that."

"Tsk..." Akia let out an annoyed sound. Her card was revealed to be Judgment of Anubis, and she hated to see it wasted on a decoy.

"Ah, Rishid's card," Marik stated. "So it will negate my card and destroy Vampiric Leech. Good thing we got that pesky card out of the way early on."

Just as the young Egyptian man stated, Judgment of Anubis destroyed the spell card Bait Doll, otherwise it would have been returned to Marik's deck due to its second effect. It also destroyed Vampiric Leech, giving Marik 250 points damage. The man then summoned Dark Jeroid, which brought the attack of D.D. Survivor down to 1000, due to its effect. Soul Absorption activated after each discarded card, bringing Akia's Life Points up to 5000 by the end of the turn. Marik's Life Points now stood at 3750.