Destined to be Yours

Chapter 82: A Duel Shrouded in Darkness Part 1

"Marik...!" Akia gasped as a small part of his arm was eaten by the darkness. He was still unconscious. Her past self, on the other hand, recovered what she had lost, due to the regeneration of Akia's Life Points.

"Akia, you need stay strong!" Her past self told her. Akia steadied her breathing and nodded. She then drew her next card. She revealed it to be Hand Destruction, which she activated, making her and Marik's evil personality discard the two cards they were holding and draw two more from their deck. The discarded cards are banished, along with Hand Destruction, which totalled in five cards being removed from play. Akia's Life Points went up 2500 points in consequence, bringing them to 7500. She switched her D.D. Survivor to defence mode and set a card facedown.

"My turn, draw. Your Life Points keep on going up," Marik said sarcastically. "If only there was a way to stop it. Oh, that's right. I've prepared a special card for this. I'll use this spell card from my hand, Remove Trap! Just like its name implies, I get to destroy one face-up trap. I choose your Macro Cosmos. A piece of your puzzle has now been removed."

"Akia's Macro Cosmos!" Jounouchi exclaimed as the card got destroyed and sent to the graveyard.

"That's what I feared," Yugi stated. "Marik had come prepared for Akia's strategy."

Akia had a feeling this was going to happen, and that was why she had taken Rishid's card to protect her Macro Cosmos from being destroyed. It seemed like Marik was one step ahead of that.

"I'm not done," Marik added. "I sacrifice Jeroid to tribute summon Legendary Fiend (1500/1800)."

"Trap card, activate!" Akia interjected. "Torrential Tribute! When a monster is summoned to the field, all monsters on the field are destroyed."

Both Akia's D.D. Survivor and Marik's Legendary Fiend were destroyed and sent to the graveyard.

"I see you've still got some tricks going for you," Marik said. "Turn end."

"My turn. I draw!" Akia took her next card. Looking at it, she let out a small smile. "I summon Banisher of the Radiance (1600/0) in attack mode. This monster has the same effect as my Macro Cosmos. All cards sent to the graveyard will now be banished once more. With that I'll end my turn."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that they can't attack with a monster on the turn it's summoned..." Jounouchi commented.

"It definitely makes the duel take a lot more time..." Otogi complained.

"You're really sticking to that strategy," Marik muttered to himself as he drew his next card. "I'll use Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Discarding Pot of Greed caused Akia's Life Points to go up by another 500 points, bringing them to 8000. Marik sets card facedown and summons Juragedo (1700/1300) in attack position. "Turn end."

"Draw! I'll also use Pot of Greed to draw two more cards," Akia stated. Her Life Points went up another 500 points, bringing them up to 8500. She looked at her hand. She had nothing that she could use to protect her Banisher of the Radiance from Juragedo. "I'll summon Gren Maju Da Eiza (?/?) in attack position! Its stats are multiplied by the number of my banished cards. Since I have five cards as of now, they go up to 2000 attack and defence points! I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."

"I'll start my turn. Draw!" Marik stated. "I'll summon Drillago (1600/1100) in attack mode! I'll then use my equip spell card, Black Pendant to equip to my Drillago, giving it an extra 500 attack points!"

"I won't let you! I activate my facedown, Dark Bribe!" Akia countered. "Your spell card is negated and destroyed in exchange of you drawing a card." Her Life Points went up in consequence by 1000 points, due to the two banished cards, bringing it to a grand total of 9500.

"As expected from someone who bested Rishid in a battle of traps," Marik commended her. "I'll get rid of your Banisher of the Radiance for now. Juragedo! Attack her monster!"

The attack destroyed Banisher of the Radiance, sending it to the graveyard, and dealt 100 points of damage to Akia's Life Points, bringing them down to 9400. Since her Life Points were way above the starting 4000, her past self did not get harmed.

"Turn end," Marik concluded.

"My turn. Draw!" Akia played her turn. She set D.D. Warrior in facedown defence position. The girl looked at his facedown card and worried about whether or not she should attack. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere without facing Marik head-on, however. "I'll attack your Juragedo with Gren Maju Da Eiza!"

"Trap card, activate!" Marik intervene. "Mirror Force! Say goodbye to your monster!"

"That's one of her strongest monsters!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"It's like he's reading her every move..." Otogi muttered.

Akia frowned. She had a feeling it was a trap, but she knew that he could've gotten rid of her Gren Maju Da Eiza in some other way. She felt the need that she had to risk it. This whole duel was about taking risks. "I'll end my turn..."

"I draw!" Marik drew his next card. "Since we're both in need of replenishing our hand, I'll use my spell card, Card of Sanctity. This allows us to draw until we have six cards in our hand." Both drew five cards, since they only had one card in hand prior to the activation of Marik's spell. "I'll summon Swallowtail Spike Lizard (1900/700) in face-up defence position. This one has an interesting effect that I'm sure you'll enjoy finding out next turn. I'll attack your facedown monster with Drillago."

Akia smirked as he monster was revealed to be D.D. Warrior. "You've activated my monster's special effect! Any monster that engages in battle with my D.D. Warrior is removed from play along with it!"

Both monsters were banished, adding another 1000 points to Akia's Life Points, bringing them up to 10400.

"I still have one monster left, though, and you have nothing to protect you anymore," Marik replied. "Juragedo! Direct Attack!"

Akia let out a yelp of pain as the monster slashed her, bringing her Life Points down to 8700. Her scream seemed to have reached Marik's dominant personality, since he slowly started to open his eyes.

"Marik!" Akia called out to him as she saw him looking around. His eyes were then fixed on her.

"Akia..." He whispered, feeling very weak from his ordeal.

"Marik, stay with me! I promise I'll get you out of there!" The girl reassured him.

"Don't bother yourself with me," he replied weakly. "Please just win this and be safe. If you got hurt I... I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Akia took out her Millennium Scale and brought it close to her heart. "I promise you that I will find a way to save everyone. Trust me. The Scale knows this isn't a lie."

"Hahahaha, very touching. All of this is so touching," Marik's evil personality clapped sarcastically. "Don't forget, though. This fight is far from over. I will end my turn. Now, show me how you struggle."

Akia put down her Millennium Scale on the floor next to her and stared right at her opponent. "I'll start my turn, then. Draw!"