"Jounouchi, just choose an opponent already!" Akia urged the blond teen.
"No! I don't want to go for any shrimp out there! I want a real challenge! Something up to my level of skills!" Jounouchi stubbornly replied.
"Guys, you've been arguing for over an hour already, we could've done much more productive things in that time..." Anzu sighed in exasperation.
Akia had been pestering Jounouchi to just pick whoever was in front of him. His problem was that he was too proud to just take on some unknown Duelist. He wanted to go against someone who he felt was good enough to match. Akia on the other hand, thought that he should just go pick someone his own size, and not aim too big.
"Just make sure to stay in the Meadow area, since your monsters are mostly warriors and beasts," Yugi advised.
"Yeah, got it, Yugi," Jounouchi replied.
"Come on! Gimme your Star Chips and get lost!" A woman's voice sounded in the distance.
"That loud voice is..." Anzu muttered.
A voice that was highly annoying to Akia was heard nearby. The crew's attention was brought towards the noise, and, surely enough, it belonged to Kujaku Mai.
"...Kujaku Mai!" Anzu concluded.
She was laughing obnoxiously at how she defeated a Duelist and took all of his Star Chips. The Duelist looked pretty confused and angry.
"Tell me! How did you know what your set cards were without seeing them?!" He shouted out.
"That is... a secret," Mai winked at him while saying that sentence.
"That woman just can't stop flirting, can she..." Akia thought to herself.
To be completely honest, though, the black-haired girl was actually a bit jealous of Mai's innate self-confidence that just seemed to overshadow everyone else's. Kujaku Mai then loudly laughed, "haha! I'm getting so close to the prize!"
She then stopped, realizing that Yugi and the others were watching her.
"That woman already has four Star Chips!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"I could've done better..." Akia mumbled.
Kujaku Mai then directed her whole attention to Yugi, "Yugi-chan! How are the duels going?"
Akia gagged inwardly at how Mai addressed her brother. So now Mai was trying to flirt with her twin? That was just weird.
"N-Not bad," Yugi stuttered.
Akia took a glance at Anzu, and her whole face expression told her everything. Anzu was pissed. Very pissed. She didn't like that such an attractive woman was flirting with the guy that she had feelings for, even though she didn't really admit that she had feelings for Yugi. Mai then took her flirting a step further, and took Yugi's hand in hers, using it as an excuse to see his Star Chips.
"So you have three Star Chips, Yugi-chan?! Maybe we should duel?" Mai suggested.
Anzu looked downright on the verge of murdering Mai. Akia felt a little uncomfortable as well. She knew that Mai was doing all this only to get Yugi's Star Chips in the end.
"Yugi, beat this woman to a pulp," Anzu said and Yugi got surprised by her tone of voice. Anzu was usually a very nice person so hearing her say something like that threw everyone off.
"Okay, I decided who I should challenge to a duel now. My opponent will be..." Mai trailed. She then pointed at someone that nobody even thought she would point at, "Jounouchi-kun!"
"'Scuse me?! Huh? me?" Jounouchi reacted in confusion. He wasn't the only one who was surprised.
"Are you going to run away, boy?" Mai challenged him.
"Hah... I was hoping you'd ask!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"What? Why Jounouchi?" Akia asked Mai.
"I have my reasons, kid," the older woman replied.
"I'm not a kid!" The black-haired girl retorted.
"Don't get me wrong," Mai started explaining, "as a Duelist, it's only natural that I would want to fight Yugi-chan. But if I lose all my Star Chips, it's all over for me, right? I'll start by Dueling against opponents who look weak to earn Star Chips. Then, I will fight Yugi-chan after that."
"Well, that is smart," Akia mumbled.
"How can you say that to someone who was in the Best Eight?" Jounouchi snapped back.
"In the Local Championship Preliminaries..." Anzu specified.
Jounouchi's shoulders then slumped at his friend's remark.
"You can't win against this woman! You understand don't you? If you lose once it's all over," the brown-haired girl added. Anzu then looked at Yugi, "Yugi, accept the challenge instead of Jounouchi."
Jounouchi and Mai were already having a staring contest. It didn't seem like Jounouchi would just back out of this one.
"I think we should just let those two duel," Akia suggested, "Jounouchi looks dead serious about this."
"Jounouchi-kun, you just got to do it!" Yugi responded.
With the twins' encouragement, Jounouchi's smile returned, "I knew you guys wouldn't let me back down from this."
"Yugi! Akia!" Anzu reprimanded them.
"Jounouchi? Are you serious?" Honda asked his friend.
"I'm dead serious! If I run away from this, I'll regret it for the rest of my life! I'd remember you guys standing strong, and how I ran away like a coward," Jounouchi expressed how he felt.
Honda then looked down, "I see... I get it. Sorry, Jounouchi."
"But you better win, if you're going to do this!" Anzu told the blond teen.
"Alright, Jounouchi, let's have a competition. You take on Mai over here, and I'll look for an opponent elsewhere. The one who beats their opponent first, wins," Akia challenged her friend.
"What's the prize?" Jounouchi asked.
"Nothing, just the satisfaction of beating the other person," the red-eyed girl replied.
"You're on!" The motivated boy responded.
"Akia, you're going by yourself?" Yugi inquired with his sister.
"Yeah, there's no time to waste, Yugi. Jounouchi needs you to be there for him, so in the meantime, I'll get some Star Chips to get to our goal faster," she reasoned.
Yugi nodded at Akia's decision. The faster one of them got ten Star Chips, the faster they'd get to Pegasus' Castle.
"Alright... Who should I take on next?" Akia pondered as she started wondering around, thinking of what her next move should be.
She looked at the Field bonuses around. The only problem was that her deck was kind of all over the place. It didn't really focus on one kind or type of monster. In fact, her deck didn't depend that much on the monsters themselves. It was their effects that made it interesting for her. She already had a strategy that was starting to form in the construction of her deck. She just needed to find other cards that supported that strategy. However, she would have to do that after the end of this tournament.
As she was walking, Akia noticed two girls huddled around some guy. He looked like quite the handsome guy. He had silver hair, charming blue eyes, and a perfect physique.
Akia got a bit closer, out of curiosity. She then started overhearing their conversation.
"Oh, Seiji-sama! That's awful!" One of the girls, who had her red hair in a ponytail, exclaimed.
"And your mom won't be able to get better without the prize money... What can we do to help you?" The other, a girl with blue short hair, inquired.
"Oh girls, I wouldn't want to ask too much of you... I would be such a horrible person to make you feel obliged to help me!" The guy replied melodramatically.
"It's like I'm watching a soap opera or something... It's so obvious that guy's acting. Don't tell me those two girls are actually falling for it..."Akia thought to herself.
"Oh please! Just tell us! We'll do anything!" The blue-haired girl told him.
"Well, as you know," Seiji mused, "only those who have collected ten Star Chips will have a chance of winning the prize money and... So far, I only have the two star chips that I started with."
"You want mine? I'll give you both of mine!" The redhead offered.
"Mine too, I'll give both of them to you, Seiji-sama!" The other one followed suit.
"He's playing them so hard right now..." Akia wondered as she observed the scene that was unfolding in front of her.
Seiji then directed his attention towards Akia, who was there, listening and watching them. She realized how obvious she was.
"Why hello, beautiful lady," the one called Seiji used his most charming tone.
"Don't even try the crap you're doing to these girls. It won't work on me," Akia chuckled.
Seiji looked surprisingly and horrifyingly at Akia.
"What are you...?" He acted as though he didn't understand what she meant.
"How dare you say that to Seiji-sama!" The blue-haired girl reproached the red-eyed girl.
Akia sighed, "whatever, I'm out of here."
"No way! This won't go unpunished!" One of the girls, the tougher looking one with long red hair, stepped in front of Akia, blocking her way.
"You show her, Erika-chan!" The short-haired one cheered.
"Seiji-sama needs eight Star Chips to proceed to the castle. However, if both Tori-chan and me give him our Star Chips, he'll still be four short," Erika explained.
"What are you implying..." Akia asked, suspicious of their intentions.
"Isn't it obvious? You're going to give him your Star Chips as well!" The redhead declared.
"Who said I'd ever do that?!" The black-haired girl responded in disbelief.
"Of course, since you won't just quietly give them to him, I'll defeat and shame you in a duel to show you just how outclassed you are!" The unreasonable girl challenged.
"What's in it for me?" Akia questioned her.
"What do you mean?" Erika replied, not sure if she had heard her right.
"What if I win?" The confident teen reiterated.
Erika then burst in laughter, "that's a good one! As if you'd ever win against me. I was in the top ten in the National Championship! Tell you what, if you do win, you'll get all six of our Star Chips. If I win, Seiji-sama will get all six. Does that sound good enough for you?"
"Isn't this way too advantageous for me?" Akia commented.
"The bigger the reward, the worse you'll feel when you realize you can never reach it," Erika explained.
"H-Hey, you girls don't have to do this. It's alright, let's just forget about everything and..." Seiji stuttered, scared of the outcome.
"Don't worry, Seiji-sama. Erika's deck is amazing," Tori reassured him.
Akia, thinking about what she had to gain from this duel, smiled widely.
"Alright, I accept your challenge," she happily obliged.
"I see you aren't wasting your time around here, Akia," a familiar voice sounded from behind the red-eyed girl.
Akia turned around at where the voice came from. It was Bakura, still possessed by the Spirit of the Ring.
"Were you following me? Aren't you more interested in what Yugi's doing?" She asked him.
"I don't think there's really any time to talk right now," the white-haired boy countered.
"Yeah, quit your blabbering and let's duel!" Erika berated her opponent.
A Dueling platform then came out of the floor. Both Erika and Akia took their respective places, after Erika gathered all the Star Chips that were part of her side of the bargain. When the platforms went up to their places, Akia noticed that the field was completely covered in trees. It was all the Forest Field type. It was advantageous to insects, plants, beasts, and beast-warriors. Either Erika didn't notice what kind of field they were going to duel in, or she was actually smart enough to plan having a duel in a forest field to have the field bonus for her monsters.
"Oh my! A Forest Field! I hope your monsters don't mind all the greenery," Erika said sarcastically.
"You planned this, didn't you," Akia stated.
"You flatter me. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But who cares? Let's just get this duel over with. I draw!" The redhead chimed.
"So you already decided that you're going first? Fine by me," the red-eyed girl shrugged.
"The outcome will still be the same, either way. Get a load of this little baby! I summon Abyss Flower (750/400) in attack mode. I guess you were right, I did plan to have the duel in the forest area. My monster gets a 30% power up for both its attack and defence!" Erika played her move
The attack and defence of Abyss Flower kept going up until it was (975/520). Erika giggled at the power up and continued with her turn, "so now I'll put two cards facedown and I'll end my turn at that."
"Now it's my turn. I draw."
"Perfect, Ryu Kishin (1000/500) should be able to take care of that flower. The only things I'm concerned about are her facedown cards. Considering how low her Abyss Flower's attack is, I bet she has one of the traps as a backup plan. Right now, I have nothing in my hand that can take care of that trap. I'll just have to go for it this time," Akia thought to herself before proceeding with her turn, "I summon Ryu Kishin, in attack mode. I'll have it attack your Abyss Flower!"
Erika chuckled and grinned widely, "you're already falling for it! I activate my trap, Plant Food Chain! And guess what it does? It's an equip trap card that gives a 500 attack point boost to a plant monster. Of course, I choose Abyss Flower. So now its attack is more than enough to take care of your Ryu Kishin."
"1475 attack points... That's going to hurt," Akia mumbled. "And now her Abyss Flower is stronger... Got to get rid of that equip card," she concluded internally.
The Abyss Flower gobbled down Ryu Kishin, giving Akia a 475 point damage, bringing them down to 1525.
"And that's not all," Erika kept going, "I'm going to use my other trap card, Blossom Bombardment! When one of my plant monsters attacks and destroys one of your monsters, sending them to the graveyard, you lose life points equal to the attack of the destroyed monster! Since your Ryu Kishin had 1000 attack point, that brings your life points all the way down to 525! Almost there, aren't we?"
"You go get her, Erika-chan!" Tori cheered.
"Well... I guess she wasn't in the top ten for nothing. She is way better than I expected, that's for sure. I need to be way more careful from now on. I barely have any life points left," the black-haired girl pondered while gritting her teeth.
Akia looked over to Bakura, who was watching the duel, standing a little apart from Erika's supporters. She noticed that he was actually frowning a bit. Since it was now her turn, Akia drew her next card.
"Alright, this will have to come down to luck now, since I don't have any monsters on the field," Akia reflected on what to do.
"Are you done your pathetic turn yet?" Erika instigated her opponent.
"Almost," Akia replied, "I activate Arduous Choice! This card allows me to pick up the top two cards of my deck, and have you choose between the two. If the card you choose is a monster card, I get to special summon. If it isn't, both cards go straight to the graveyard."
"Humph! Not like there's anything that can help you," Erika huffed.
"So it shouldn't annoy you so much..." Akia stated.
"Just get it over with!"
"Alright, alright!"
Akia picked the top two cards from her deck. She took a good look at them before looking back at her opponent, keeping a blank face to not give away which was the card she really wanted to be picked. On the inside, however, she was excited for the outcome "alright! Banisher of the Light is one of them! The other one is Big Burn, a trap card. As long as she doesn't pick that one, I should be safe."
"So I just need to pick?" The redhead asked.
"That's right. Which one do you want to pick?" Akia questioned her opponent.
Erika hesitated for a while. It was unthinkable that one card would be able to turn the whole thing in Akia's favour. She kept telling herself that, but she was still a bit scared that it might actually turn the whole duel around.
"I'll... I'll pick..." She hesitated.
"Why are you hesitating so much? Are you actually getting scared?" Akia teased.
"You wish! I'll pick the left card."
"You're sure about that?"
"Y-Yeah! The left one!"
"Alright, left card it is," Akia said with a smile, "you made a great choice, Erika-chan."
Erika frowned at Akia's mocking tone. Akia then summoned her Banisher of the Light (100/2000) in defence position. Erika's eyes widened a bit.
"H-Hah...! So what? You have something to defend yourself for a bit. It won't change the outcome," Erika laughed in relief.
"We'll just see about that then, won't we. And, oh, by the way, Banisher of the Light's special ability makes that any card that is supposed to go to the graveyard, is removed from play instead," Akia explained.
"...Are you done?" Erika asked, getting impatient with her opponent.
"My turn, you mean? Not yet, actually. I still have one more card to activate from my hand." Akia took one of her spells and showed it to her opponent, "next, I'll activate Soul Release. With it, I can remove from play up to five cards in the graveyard. I'll remove my Ryu Kishin, Arduous Decision, and your Blossom Bombardment. This way, both our graveyards will be completely clean of any cards."
"What a useless move..." Erika sighed.
"Anyway, I'll put one card face down and I'll end my turn with that," Akia concluded.
"About time. I draw!" Erika smiled at the card she drew, "until I get a card to get rid of your pesky little monster, I'll just keep summoning more and more monsters! Say hello to Botanical Girl (1300/1100)! And of course, she gets the 30% field bonus for being a plant type card, so it goes up to (1690/1430). I guess I'll just end my turn with that. Let's see how you'll struggle through this one."
"Alright, I draw!" Akia started her next turn. She then looked at her hand and began devising a strategy, "Card Destruction... This will force both of us to discard all of the cards in our hand to the graveyard. Which means they will be removed from play instead, because of my Banisher of the Light. Looking at the situation right now, I only have the Banisher of the Light on my side of the field. No face-down cards. Erika has two monsters in attack position. No face-down cards on her side either. I have four cards in my hand, including the one I just drew, and she has three cards. My Life Points are all the way down to 525. Hers are still all there. I'll have to be extremely careful with my next moves. I believe I have three cards on my side that are removed from play. If I use Card Destruction... I just hope I'll draw the right cards after."
"I'll use Card Destruction," Akia started playing her move, "this forces both of us to discard the cards in our hand to the graveyard. Of course, that means that they will be removed from play. We then both draw the same number of cards that we discarded."
"Tch... None of the cards I had in my hand were that important anyway," Erika retorted.
"If you say so..." Akia chimed.
They both drew three cards from their deck. Akia drew Hand Destruction, Ryu-Kishin Powered (1600/1200), and Sakuretsu Armour. "I could either go safe, and put Sakuretsu Armour face-down, which will destroy one attacking monster. But then, she might get a card that will still get rid of my Banisher of the Light. The other option would be to use Hand Destruction which will force both of us to discard two of the cards we have in our hands, then draw two more cards. This could open up a chance for me... A very big chance..." Akia gathered.
"Are you done just staring blankly at your hand, some of us here have more important things to do than to wait around for you," Erika scoffed.
"No one asked you to wait," Akia commented, "you could just walk away if you wanted."
"And lose to a loser like you? No way!" The redhead yelled out.
Akia then subconsciously directed her gaze towards where she last saw Bakura, slightly hoping that he was still there. Sure enough, he still was there, staring at her, as if trying to silently give her support. She felt somehow reassured with him being there. She knew that she would be able to pull through this, and he seemed convinced of it too. She closed her eyes in determination. She knew what she had to do. She reopened her eyes, and smirked at her opponent.
"Have you gone crazy or something," Erika mocked her, "or are you happy that you're about to lose this?"
"On the contrary, I've already won this," Akia replied.
"Yeah, you're definitely crazy."
"I use Hand Destruction from my hand. Both of us will now have to discard two of our cards and draw two more from our deck."
"Another one of those? Aren't you tired of pulling the same useless moves?"
Akia ignored her and proceeded to discarding the cards in her hand. As soon as she drew the two top cards from her deck, her eyes widened. That was it. The last move. She had the card she was waiting for.
"This is it," Akia stated.
"Finally giving up?" Erika said with a smirk.
"Giving up now? I'd be stupid if I did that. I meant to say that this is it for you."
"Huh?"
Erika looked a bit shaken by Akia's confident tone.
"Ready? I summon, Gren Maju Da Eiza (?/?)!"
"What is that? It has no Attack or Defence power? Are you kidding me?" The redhead mocked.
"Remember my Banisher of the Light?" Akia asked her.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Remember its special ability?"
"Will you get to the damn point?"
"Well, my Gren Maju Da Eiza gain 400 Attack and Defence points for each of my cards that are removed from play."
Erika's face then turned pale.
"Do you know how many of my cards were removed from play up until now?" Akia kept asking with a haughty tone.
Erika couldn't even answer, and she just watched as Akia's monster's Attack and Defence started going up.
"That's right! I believe there are ten of them! Which means, my Gren Maju Da Eiza now has 4000 Attack and Defence points!" The red-headed girl laughed hysterically.
"Oh no! Erika-chan!" Tori yelled out.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Seiji sighed in defeat.
Akia's Gren Maju Da Eiza growled menacingly
"I guess you know what's next, right? I attack your monsters with my Gren Maju Da Eiza. Let the fire burn all of your plants!" At Akia's cue, Gren Maju Da Eiza breathed out fire, scorching everything in its way, including Erika's Life Points, which reached 0 in one attack. "That's what you get for underestimating me."
Erika just stood there in disbelief. The platforms they were standing on went down, and Akia grabbed her Star Chips, as well as those that Erika bid, and left the three people in shock. She now had a total of eight Star Chips. Bakura then followed her.
"I must say, that was impressive," The Spirit of the Ring commended her.
"Wasn't it...?!" Akia almost got swept up in her victory until she remembered who she was talking to, "I mean... why are you following me?"
"You interest me," he replied.
Akia blushed slightly at what Bakura said. A bunch of thoughts were going crazy through her mind, "wha-what does he mean by that?! Like... maybe... romant... NO! What am I thinking?! This is the Spirit of the Ring we're talking about here! He probably doesn't even know what feelings are! Other than the negative ones that is... He's just interested in my millennium scale anyway. Where do I even get those weird ideas..."
"A-Anyway, I just need two more Star Chips. I better go find Yugi and the others to tell them about it," she stuttered.
"On your own? You won't find them," the Dark Bakura stated.
"Do you mean to tell me that you have some kind of Yugi sensor or something?" Akia scoffed.
"Something like that. But not for Yugi, for Millennium Items."
Bakura then held up his millennium ring to a confused Akia, "this, here, will tell us exactly where to go."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"I don't know, I usually don't do anything for free."
"...What do you mean?" Akia asked him.
Bakura looked at her and smirked, "I mean, that I want you to do something for me, or at least, to answer a few questions."
"Fine... I'll do what I can."
"Glad to hear it. Let's first find a comfortable place to have a private conversation."
"It's not like it's crowded around here... there's barely anyone." Bakura ignored Akia's mumbling and proceeded to search for a place where they can sit and talk.
After an hour of walking around or so, Bakura finally found a place, deep in the forest, next to a small stream of water. He then sat down on one of the larger rocks around, and motioned for Akia to go sit next to him. She did as she was told, and a moment of silence went by as she noticed how close she was to Bakura. She felt a little knot in her stomach. Very similar to the one she felt around Jounouchi.
"U-Um... So what did you want to talk about?" Akia asked.
Bakura remained silent, looking blankly in front of him. He seemed to be in deep thought. Akia decided to wait for him to get things sorted out.
"Who are you?" He questioned her.
"Huh...?" Akia had prepared herself for anything, even a love confession, but she did not expect this question.
"You heard me."
"I did hear you, but I'm a bit confused by your question. Did you hit your head or something?"
Bakura grimaced. She didn't get it. She didn't get what he meant. Heck, he didn't even know what he was asking or what he was expecting her to answer. He knew who she was, but didn't at the same time.
Akia saw that he looked really troubled. She wanted to help, but she didn't know how.
"Well..." She started saying whatever came to mind, "I'm Mutou Akia. My brother is Mutou Yugi. I live with my mom and grandpa. My grandpa owns a game shop. My dad is always on excursions; he's an archaeologist. I rarely see him. He got his passion from grandpa, who also went on many excursions before. Now he can't, though, because of his back. The last excursion he went on was the one he took me to..."
"He took you somewhere? Isn't that dangerous?" The Spirit of the Ring inquired.
"He's actually interested in what I have to say? I thought he'd just say that I was an idiot for answering so blandly, and that it wasn't what he wanted to hear," Akia thought, flattered at how attentive he was.
"Well," she continued, "we went prepared. It wasn't his first time going on excursions. He's an expert when it comes to travelling and expeditions..."
Bakura just looked at her from the corner of his eyes. He was listening to her, interested in what she had to say. What she said was of no use to him, but he still listened.
"When we got there, a lot of strange things happened to me. We set camp among some of my grandpa's old friends. Since it was getting kind of boring, I decided to run off somewhere, promising grandpa that I wouldn't wander off too far."
"You still did, didn't you..." he chuckled in response.
Akia smiled mischievously at Bakura's comment, "well, I was just a kid, so I just ended up walking off somewhere. Then... I met someone called Shadi."
Akia paused for a bit. She was debating whether to tell Bakura the next details about the Millennium Items.
"What happened after?" He prodded
She noticed that he just genuinely wanted to know the rest of what she had to say.
"Besides... What the worst that could happen if I told him about it? Maybe it might even help him find out more about me and why he feels weird around me," she reasoned with herself.
"Well, Shadi had two Millennium Items with him," Akia explained.
Bakura's gaze lit up, and he started paying even more attention to Akia's words. Akia didn't notice the change, and kept going, "he came towards me, and told me his name after I asked him who he was. He then took his millennium item, which looked like an Ankh, and put it on my forehead. He then turned it. And then... I don't remember much... just a dark room... red eyes... Oh yeah! The Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
Bakura looked at her with confused eyes, "he gave you a Duel Monster card?"
"No, no, I saw the Red Eyes Black Dragon inside of my soul. He called it my soul chamber," she replied.
"Strange..."
"I know, right? And the Red Eyes Black Dragon is a Duel Monster card?"
"It is one of the most powerful dragon cards out there."
"I want to see it..."
"Good luck with that, it's pretty rare. Anyway, what happened next?"
"Oh! Yeah, then he said something about a past life. He said that I was apparently very important in my past life."
Bakura completely shifted position towards her, grabbing her by the shoulders. That was very close to what he was feeling. He thought that maybe that past life involved him too, and that that was probably why he felt strange about her.
"A past life? What else did he say about that?" The Spirit of the Ring questioned her further.
Akia looked at him with a flustered look, "h-he didn't say anything else. He said that I'll find out in the future..."
Bakura then let go of Akia with a sigh, "I thought it wouldn't be that easy... Go on. I'm actually interested in what happened after."
"Alright," she breathed, "so he then gave me the millennium scale. After that, he just took off, but I was getting way too confused about everything so I decided to follow him. I followed him until he reached the city, and found him talking to a boy and a girl."
Akia paused yet again, remembering the boy's face, and how she felt at the moment when she saw him. She still hoped that she would see him again someday.
"And there I thought that I completely got over the fact that I met him. He still feels very important to me. It just doesn't make sense, and it's kind of annoying that I'm still holding onto such a distant memory. I'll probably never see him again, so I should just get over him," Akia debated internally.
"Akia?" Bakura's voice snapped Akia out of her thoughts.
"Sorry... So, as I was saying, I followed Shadi and found him talking to a boy and a girl. Then... well... I felt really strongly about that boy. He told me his name."
Bakura's eyes narrowed. For some reason, he didn't like how she talked about that boy.
"What's his name?"
"...Marik."
Bakura felt a bit annoyed. Whoever this Marik was, he seemed to mean a lot to Akia. Bakura could hear it in her voice.
"Hey, the sun is starting to set. Shouldn't we go find Yugi and the others?" Akia asked.
"I guess. Let's say you still owe me one," the Spirit of the Ring replied.
"Alright, I'll try to make it up to you in the future."
They both got up and Bakura held his Millennium Ring in front of him. He started following the direction where his item was pointing at. Akia just quietly followed him.
After having walked for a few minutes, Bakura stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" Akia questioned.
"Just go in that direction and you'll find them," Yami Bakura answered.
"You're not coming with me?"
"Not for now, I'll catch up to you later."
"Alright..."
Akia then went to where Bakura told her to go. When she reached her friends, she found that there was quite a scene. There, in front of her, was Yugi, Anzu, and Honda. Mai was also there. They were looking up to where a dueling platform was spawned. There, stood Jounouchi, who was dueling Dinosaur Ryuuzaki. Jounouchi had two monsters that Akia recognized as the Barbarians. Jounouchi had just defeated one of Dinosaur Ryuuzaki's monsters.
"The two Barbarians powered each other up! Now there's a great chance!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Go, Jounouchi! Show that Dinosaur bastard the power of our friendship!" Honda cheered.
"Hey guys, did I miss anything?" Akia interjected.
Yugi then turned to Akia as soon as he heard her.
"Akia! You're here! Where were you?" He asked his sister.
"Oh, just duelled here and there. Well actually, I just duelled once. But I did get eight Star Chips in total out of that," she responded.
Yugi's mouth went agape, "that's great! Only two left for you to get to the castle!"
"Yup! So anyway, anything important happened while I was away?" Akia inquired.
"Well, a lot actually, I'll fill you in after the Duel," Yugi answered his sister.
Their attention then turned back to the Duel.
"Power of friendship was it? Bullshit! My ultimate card is still in my deck," Dinosaur Ryuuzaki mocked Jounouchi.
He then drew the top card of his deck, and grinned at what he drew, "alright! Here it is! My ultimate card!" He then set a monster card in attack position, "show yourself, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
At the mention of the monster's name, Akia froze in shock. Not only Akia, but even Mai exclaimed in surprise, "Red-Eyes...?!"
"Red-Eyes... Yugi... That monster is the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, isn't it?!" Akia exclaimed.
"Yeah... That's one rare card," her brother replied.
"Remember what I told you about my trip with grandpa?"
Yugi's eyes widened in realization, since he remembered what his sister had told him before, "that was the same monster you saw..."
"That's right. Why does someone like Dinosaur Ryuuzaki have this anyway?"
"That's not the issue right now..."
"What do you...?" Akia trailed as she directed her gaze back towards the duel. A majestic black dragon stood on Ryuuzaki's side of the field. It was exactly the same one that Akia had encountered when she was younger. Dinosaur Ryuuzaki looked all smug, since he just pulled out his trump card.
"It's very rare for someone to see this card. So, even if you lose, you can still feel honoured," Ryuuzaki cockily stated.
"It's the first time I've seen it... Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)! This one, just like the Blue-Eyes, is a legendary card," Yugi said.
"Ryuuzaki has a card like this?" Mai said in disbelief.
"I have traded almost all my cards for this super-rare card. I use the spell card, Dark Dragon Clan Claws and give it a power up!" Jounouchi's opponent exposed.
The attack of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon then went up 600 points, giving it a total of 3000 attack points, after which Ryuuzaki prompted an attack, "go, Red-Eyes! Dark Flame Bullet!"
The Red-Eyes then annihilated Jounouchi's Barbarians.
"Mine and Honda's Barbarians!" Jounouchi cried out.
"The strength of your friendship is so small," Ryuuzaki ridiculed him.
"Damn it!" Honda swore in frustration.
"This is getting out of hand... Jounouchi's Life Points are down to 235!" Akia called out.
Kujaku Mai smirked, "so you can do it when you want, servant!"
Akia looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Huh...? Servant? Ryuuzaki?"
"Yeah, long story..." Yugi sighed.
"Now then, Jounouchi... It's your turn!" Ryuuzaki proclaimed.
Jounouchi looked like he was about to give up. It was a very difficult situation, and he knew it better than anyone. He closed his eyes in defeat, "is this the end?"
"Jounouchi!" Honda shouted out to his friend.
Anzu then bent a little down to be at eye level with Yugi and Akia, considering she was four inches taller than them both, "guys... Is there any way for Jounouchi to win? If this keeps up, he will lose..."
"There is one..." Akia started.
"Don't say anything, Akia," Yugi interrupted his sister, "I promised Jounouchi I wouldn't give him any advice on this one. I'm sure if he saw you before the duel, he would've told you that too."
"Why doesn't he want any advice?" The red-eyed girl questioned.
"He wants to prove himself, to show everyone that he can win on his own, that he's a True Duelist," her brother explained.
"Well, as long as he plays the right cards, he can win it," Akia affirmed.
"Jounouchi! An amateur like you beating me is impossible!" Dinosaur Ryuuzaki kept mocking the blond teen.
"Jounouchi, don't give up!" Honda's voice seemed to snap Jounouchi out of it, "it's not like you to give up!"
"That's right, Jounouchi-kun!" Yugi supported Honda's statement.
"Go for it, there must be a way!" Anzu cheered her friend on.
"Believe in yourself, Jounouchi!" Honda yelled out.
"Keep going until the end, Jounouchi!" Akia rooted for him.
"Akia! You're here!" Jounouchi just seemed to notice now that Akia was back. His face lit up a bit at all the encouragements.
"Now show me what you got!" Akia encouraged him with a smiled.
Jounouchi nodded in determination and looked back at his opponent. He then drew the top card of his deck, and looked at it, surprised at what card it was. Ryuuzaki chuckled, not noticing Jounouchi's change of behaviour, "Jounouchi! There's no way for you to defeat me..."
"Now, servant! Finish him off quickly!" Mai kept yelling at Ryuuzaki to hurry up and win the duel.
He then seemed to realize something, "Jounouchi! In this duel, what do you think about the winner getting one of the opponent's rare cards?"
"Wait! That means... Red-Eyes...!" Akia internally exclaimed.
"If I win, I'll get your Time Magician... Okay?" Ryuuzaki declared.
"Time Magician?" Jounouchi asked.
"On the other hand, if I lose, I'll give you the Red-Eyes card."
"Jounouchi has to win! I'd feel much better if he's the one who has the Red-Eyes Black Dragon," Akia thought to herself.
"Hey! What are you doing? Don't joke around! Ryuuzaki! I don't agree with this kind of condition!" Mai argued.
"Heh! Shut up!" Ryuuzaki yelled at Mai.
"As my servant, you have to obey my orders!" Mai shouted back.
"I still don't get what this whole servant thing comes from..." Akia stated.
"Hehe..." Yugi chuckled lightly at his sister's apparent confusion.
"Who's your servant? You're annoying me! Be quiet!" Ryuuzaki howled at the blonde woman.
"That's no way to talk to a lady..." Akia's mutterings weren't heard by anyone. She didn't really want anyone to hear them either.
"Fine, Ryuuzaki! In this Duel, if I lose, I'll give you the Time Magician!" Jounouchi agreed to the deal.
"Now you better win this, Jounouchi!" Akia exclaimed internally.
Mai looked at Jounouchi, shocked that he agreed.
"All right!" Ryuuzaki celebrated.
"Jounouchi-kun?" Yugi questioned why he accepted such a deal.
"Yeah! You go, Jounouchi! Win the Red-Eyes, or you'll suffer my wrath!" Akia shouted out to her friend.
"Take it easy, Akia! You'll see what I'm made of!" He replied as he turned back to Ryuuzaki, "but before that happens... I'll use this card!"
Jounouchi flipped a card that was face-down on his side of the field.
"Time Magician!" Yugi cheered.
"What?!" Ryuuzaki exclaimed.
"He discovered it, didn't he?" Yugi said.
"His only chance to win this!" Akia continued.
"That idiot! He said too much!" Mai yelled out.
The Time Magician then appeared on the field, facing a roaring Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"But wait! The possibility to activate Time Magic is 1 in 2. It isn't you who decides for the Time Magician!" Ryuuzaki blurted.
"Time Roulette!" Jounouchi said and the roulette on the Time Magician's staff started turning.
"The roulette started to spin!" Anzu observed.
"If it is good, it's Time Magic, otherwise it'll self-destruct." Yugi informed.
"50/50 chance..." Akia added.
"Please! Hit the good one!" Honda pleaded.
The roulette started to slow down. The result was unpredictable. Everyone was on the edge of their toes.
"The pointer..." Anzu uttered.
"...is stopping," Mai whispered.
When it seemed like it would stop on a skull, meaning failure, it went and stopped on the Time Machine symbol.
"It worked!" Yugi shouted out.
All of Jounouchi's friends happily exclaimed in agreement with Yugi's statement. Ryuuzaki, on the other hand, looked horrified.
"Time Magic!" The Time Magician then repeated what Jounouchi said, while pointing his staff towards the Red-Eyes. A strong wind then blew and a bright light shone.
"What... What is happening?" Ryuuzaki questioned.
Both wind and light subsided and what was left shocked everyone.
"Yugi... That's..." Anzu couldn't get out the words.
"That is..." Neither could Mai.
Right in front of them, the Red-Eyes stood there. It didn't look normal anymore though. It had a greyish tint and looked as if it was made of rock particles, with cracks all over.
"What happened?" Ryuuzaki inquired, afraid to admit what he was seeing.
"Red-Eyes..." Akia whispered.
Akia didn't like seeing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in such a deteriorated shape. She knew it was just a hologram and that it was just a trading card, but it made her think too much of the Red-Eyes that was within her. The Red-Eyes then started cracking, and its head fell off its body, crumbling on the floor. The rest of its body then followed, leaving only a pile of rubble.
"In an instant, millions of years passed and the Red-Eyes became a fossil," Yugi explained.
Ryuuzaki's Life Points then went from 840 all the way down to 0.
"My Red-Eyes..." Ryuuzaki wailed the loss of his monster.
Jounouchi then sighed in relief, "Ryuuzaki! Give your Star Chips and Red-Eyes to me!"
"All right! Jounouchi-kun won!" Yugi cheered.
Jounouchi then went down from the platform, running towards his friends, "Honda!"
"Jounouchi!" Honda was also running towards Jounouchi.
"Honda!"
"Jounouchi!"
Jounouchi had his arms open for a hug when... "Ack...." ...Honda punched him in the face.
"What a good feeling!" Honda let out a satisfied sigh.
"Y-You came back just to punch me?!" Jounouchi exclaimed in disbelief.
"I still feel like I'm missing something here..." Akia mumbled.
"Haha, you did miss quite a lot, Akia," Yugi laughed.
"You really worried me... So this beating was obvious, wasn't it?" Honda justified himself.
Jounouchi and Honda bickered for a bit while Yugi started telling Akia what happened, "after you left, Jounouchi was able to win against Kujaku Mai using Time Magician and Baby Dragon. After that, I duelled against Kajiki Ryota, who used a water based Deck and I got his star chips after winning. Then, we ran into Mokuba, Kaiba's little brother who wanted to duel me, because he said that it was my fault that Kaiba disappeared. Finally, someone who claimed to be the ghost of Kaiba challenged me to a Duel. The other me was able to figure out that it was just someone who was sent by Industrial Illusions to disguise himself as Kaiba, to throw us off. The other me then managed to win the Duel, thanks to some help we received from the real Kaiba. And as for Ryuuzaki being Mai's "servant", well it's because Mai wanted to find someone who could defeat Jounouchi, so she decided to get Ryuuzaki to do it. She probably offered him something in exchange. Until now, I was able to get six Star Chips. Jounouchi has four after this win. Now, you tell me what happened with you!"
Akia told him that she was able to duel some girl who was in the top 10 of the same tournament Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki were in. She left out the part where she met with Bakura. She thought that he wouldn't really appreciate it if she said anything about him being there.
"And, because of that Duel, I was able to get eight Star Chips!" Akia finished explaining.
"You really got lucky with that one," Yugi chuckled.
"Yeah! But you know, I'm actually really glad that Jounouchi got the Red-Eyes Black Dragon."
"That monster means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
"You could say that."
The moon was out; it was the start of the first night.
"It's getting dark already," Yugi noted.
"And it seems there are no duelists on this side..." Honda observed.
"I think most people just want to sleep at night," Jounouchi commented before turning to his black-haired friend, "so Akia, you took forever to get to us. What happened to our bet?"
"I guess it's invalid since we don't really know who won first," Akia concluded.
"...Fine. I'm still pretty sure I won that. But seriously, you got lucky to be able to win six Star Chips in one Duel," Jounouchi told her.
"I wasn't lucky; she just underestimated me," Akia chuckled.
They all then found a place where they set camp for the night. They sat around in a circle, and started chatting about the events of the day.
"Hey, Jounouchi, can I see your Red-Eyes?" The red-eyed girl requested.
"Yeah, sure! I was meaning to show you my Grand Prize!" The blond boy replied as he took the card out, and handed it to Akia. She just kept staring at it in wonder. It was exactly the same monster. She was sure of it.
"Why did I have a Duel Monster inside of me? I don't get it... Did Pegasus just happen to invent a card that coincidentally looks the same and has the same name as the monster I saw in my soul? No, that doesn't make sense. There's something more to it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Red-Eyes is happy to be in Jounouchi's possession now, instead of that little rude weirdo Ryuuzaki," Akia concluded with a smile.
"Man, I'm hungry! Why do they just invite us to a tournament without any food? This is not a survival in the wild tournament!" Honda complained.
"I need food now!" Jounouchi whined.
Mai then approached without them noticing, "well, all of you are together this time, huh?"
"What? You again?" Jounouchi retorted.
She then took out a bar of chocolate and took a bite out of it. They all looked at her hungrily.
"You! Did you just come here to eat this in front of us?!" The blonde boy accused her.
"What about it, Jounouchi? Want to trade this chocolate for some of your Star Chips?" Mai suggested.
"Don't joke around! These Star Chips are my life!" Jounouchi argued.
"It's a joke! A joke! As a Duelist, I didn't feel that you would degrade to that level," the woman replied.
"Geez... This person really pisses me off," the boy grumbled.
"How about this? We'll have a truce for tonight. We're all tired, aren't we?" Mai offered.
"That's right. We've been duelling all day," Yugi affirmed.
"I can't trust her..." Jounouchi mumbled.
"Then I guess you don't mind not eating tonight," the woman said as she started turning around to leave.
"Don't mind him! Let's get to know each other, Mai-san!" Akia quickly interjected.
"I'm way too hungry. If eating means getting along with Mai, then so be it!" The black-haired girl thought.
After everyone welcomed her to stay, Mai sat down and took out all the food she was willing to share.
"Woah! That's a lot of food!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"Yeah, you came prepared!" Akia added.
"There's even a tent and survival equipment in there!" Yugi declared.
"You brought all this for yourself?" Anzu asked.
"A Duelist can only depend on himself. It's normal to come prepared. Cooking will be Anzu and Yugi's task. Honda and Jounouchi, go get some water. Akia, you'll help me set up the tent," Mai delegated.
Everyone went to do his task, following Mai's lead.
"I'll go get some wood," Yugi told his sister.
"You do that," Akia gave him a thumbs up.
The only three people that were left at the campsite were the three girls.
"So, you're Anzu-chan, and you're Akia-chan, right?" Mai inquired.
They both nodded at Mai.
"To be honest, she's not that bad. I mean, she's willing to share all her supplies with us," Akia justified to herself how she felt.
"We're going to go set up a shower over there, so you two can use it when the boys return with the water," Mai announced to them.
"Really?" Anzu exclaimed.
"You're a life-saver! I was starting to get all sweaty after all that forest humidity," Akia said with gratitude.
Both girls were overjoyed upon hearing that they will be able to wash up after such a long day.
"We have to understand each other between girls," the older woman replied.
Mai and Akia then started putting up the tent and taking care of installing the shower.
"You're pretty handy, aren't you?" The blonde woman pointed out.
"You think so? It's the first time I set up a tent," Akia confessed.
"Well, you're better than most." Mai then noticed that Akia had accumulated eight Star Chips, "we both have the same number of Star Chips, don't we?"
Akia looked at both her gauntlet and Mai's gauntlet.
"Pretty good. Now that I think about it, we never actually saw each other duel," the black-haired girl remarked.
"We'll both be in the finals anyway, won't we?" The blonde woman declared.
Akia grinned. Mai actually acknowledged that she was skilled enough to get to the finals.
"Yeah, let's both do our best for that to happen," the red-eyed girl replied.
They both kept chitchatting for a bit until Jounouchi came to interrupt them, "hey, we're back with your water!"
"Great, give it here and go help with the cooking," Mai told him.
"Fine..." Even though Jounouchi didn't seem like he liked being ordered around by Mai, he still did everything she told him to do.
"Who wants to shower first?" Mai asked as she looked at Akia and Anzu.
"Well, I don't mind going after," the black-haired girl suggested.
"Alright, then go ahead, Anzu-chan," the voluptuous woman said.
"Sure," Anzu replied and went inside the shower, and proceeded to take off her clothes.
"So, why are you girls hanging out together with those guys anyway?" Mai inquired.
"Well, for one, I'm Yugi's twin sister," Akia answered her.
"You are? No wonder you're so short," the blonde observed.
"Yeah, I get that a lot..." Yugi's twin sighed.
"Besides that, we are all best friends," Anzu explained.
"Best friends, huh..." Mai wondered if it was necessary to have best friends. She viewed it as a weakness, but then again she noticed how they were all so happy together. Yugi and Akia even seemed like they were strong duellists thanks to their friends' support. Mai even wondered if she would ever find this kind of happiness.
"Aaaaah!" Anzu screamed.
"Anzu?" Mai called out her name.
"What's wrong?!" Akia asked in an alarmed tone.
Mai rushed in the shower after hearing Anzu's scream.
"I think I heard something coming from the bushes behind here!" Anzu justified her agitation.
Mai went out at the back of the shower, and looked around. Akia followed her. It didn't seem like there was anyone around. The older woman still felt a bit uneasy about it, "I don't see anything."
"Me neither..." Akia confirmed.
A bunch of male voices that the girls recognized very well were getting closer.
"Something happened?" Honda asked
"Hey! Can we get in and see?" Jounouchi questioned.
Both Akia and Mai quickly got back to the front, noticing how Yugi was trying to hold the two slime balls back. Mai hit both of them on their heads, knocking them out, "no! Of course not!"
They then went back to the campfire.
"Alright, I'll wrap up here so that you two can get your turn in the shower," Anzu informed them.
Akia then went closer to Mai, and lowered her voice so that Anzu didn't hear what she had to say, "you sure there was nothing back there?"
"Yeah, pretty sure... Did you hear something too?" Mai replied.
"No, but I feel like we're being watched."
Both Mai and Akia were feeling uneasy now. Just then, Anzu got out of the shower. Yugi's twin then went in after her and finished up pretty quickly. Mai went in last, happy to finally be clean.
They all gathered around the campfire later, and started digging into the instant food that the boys had heated up.
"Man, I was starving!" Akia salivated.
"Nothing better than eating after a good day of Dueling!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"Mai-san has already eight Star Chips?" Yugi observed.
"Yeah. But eventually, we'll duel with each other, Yugi," Mai looked at him with a competitive fire in her eyes.
"Hey, we said we were going to forget about dueling for tonight at least," Anzu told them off.
"Now, we're together but tomorrow everyone will be enemies. That's what it is to be a Duelist," Mai commented and then got up, "thanks for the food... I need to go take some fresh air."
"Mai-san..." Akia uttered and thought to herself, "I don't know about going alone like that at night..."
"Geez... This woman isn't cute at all!" Jounouchi commented.
"Why would you want her to be cute...?" Akia replied and looked at him with an annoyed gaze.
"Well... uh... I don't know... I mean... Isn't it normal for girls to be cute...?" The blond scrambled to find the words.
"That idiot... He's probably attracted to her, and doesn't understand why he is. He probably doesn't even realize that he is attracted to her... Why her? She's like so out of my league!" Akia sighed inwardly.
A bit of time passed by, and Mai was still not back.
"Don't you guys think Mai-san has been gone for a bit too long?" Akia observed.
"Yeah... You're right," her brother agreed.
"Leave her be," Jounouchi said.
"But... Aaaaah!" A rustling in the bushes behind Anzu caused her to scream.
Akia, Jounouchi, and Honda dashed towards where the noise came from, while Yugi stood between Anzu and the bush, in a protective manner.
"Who is it? Show yourself!" Jounouchi called out.
A figure then started appearing from the bushes.
"...Ryou!" Akia yelled out in surprise.
"Dude! You got on board too?" Jounouchi asked, relaxing a bit.
"Ah... yes," Bakura answered.
Akia noticed that he was acting like the normal Bakura, and not like the Spirit of the Ring.
"Could he be back to normal? No... Something still feels off," she thought to herself.
"We didn't meet for all this time," Honda pointed out.
"Really? Well, now we have another supporter, so let's be grateful," Jounouchi stated and then turned towards Akia and gave her a teasing smile, "I know someone who's probably really happy that Bakura's here."
Akia glared at him. He was still so obviously oblivious to the fact that he was the one that was occupying her mind most of the time.
After catching up, they all sat back down around the fire, and talked about all the Duels that went on that day.
"What the heck? Everyone seems to have brought their cards here," Jounouchi observed.
"Yeah, I didn't know you had a deck of your own, Honda," Akia said to her friend.
"Oh, come on! My skills might surprise you," Honda retorted.
"What's your favourite card, Jounouchi-kun?" Bakura asked.
"Me? Of course it's got to be this one!" Jounouchi said as he took out the Flame Swordsman. He then got up and imitated the pose that the Flame Swordsman was in, "from now on, I am the Flame Swordsman!" He then took a swing with his invisible sword.
Honda then got up, and showed off the card that he liked the most, "I am this one! Commander!"
Akia and Anzu chuckled at how excited the guys were.
"How about you Anzu-chan? What's your favourite card?" Yugi asked.
Anzu looked through her deck and took out Saint Magician, "I think this one."
Bakura then turned to Yugi, "how about you, Yugi-kun?"
Yugi, without any hesitation, took out his Black Magician, "Black Magician, without a doubt."
"Hey, Akia still didn't tell us her favourite card!" Jounouchi said.
"Oh, me? Well... My favourite card is actually in your deck, Jounouchi," Akia confessed.
"Really? Which one is it?" The blond asked her.
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon," she replied with no hesitations.
"Well, that is a great choice, but you have to choose your favourite from your own deck," Jounouchi stated.
"What kind of rule is that?" Akia retorted.
"There must be a card that's your favourite in your deck, Akia," Yugi told his sister.
"Well, I love them all. But I got to say Different Dimension Warrior is at the top of my list," Akia revealed.
"Oh, that card that removes both itself and the monster it was battling with from the game right?" Her brother asked.
"That's right," Akia replied.
"I feel like I'm getting to know all of you under a different light," Anzu commented.
"Like grandpa said, all cards have a heart. Once the Duelist finds it, then the real Duel can begin. How about you, Bakura? Any card that you like?" Yugi asked.
Bakura smiled and took out a card from his deck, "well, mine is a bit different. It's a spell card."
"Change of Heart...?" Akia whispered.
"It says a lot about Bakura's situation with the Spirit of the Ring," the red-eyed girl thought.
"You like a weird card," Jounouchi said.
Bakura smirked, "Oh yeah, Yugi-kun... Why not duel with me? Of course, we won't bet any Star Chips."
"What's he up to? Why duel all of a sudden? He's definitely up to no good," Akia contemplated.
"Isn't that good, Yugi? Since we got on this island, we've only had serious duels," Jounouchi asserted.
"That's right. It'll be good to duel without pressure," Yugi agreed.
"How about you put your favourite cards in Yugi's deck?" Bakura suggested.
"That's a good idea!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Honda agreed.
"Count me out of that," Akia disagreed.
"Wait, what? Why? It'll be fun!" Jounouchi retorted.
"I don't want my card outside of my own deck," Akia gave an excuse.
"To be honest, it's a really fun idea, but I don't trust what Bakura is planning to do," she thought inwardly.
"Come on, Akia-chan! I'm putting my card in there, too. I think it'll be fun if we all did it. Yugi will have something of all of us in his deck," Anzu tried to reason with her friend.
"Forget it. I'm going to go look around for Mai-san. She's been gone for way too long. I'll be back as soon as I can," Akia replied as she got up. "This will allow me to find out what Bakura is really up to from behind the scenes, and get to Mai-san."
"Be careful out there," Bakura said to her.
Even though Akia was certain that this was the Evil Spirit of the Ring, she felt like he actually meant what he just said.
"...Thanks," she replied. She then left the group behind, and went to look in the direction where Mai headed earlier.
Akia looked around, and found no one. She was starting to get really worried, when she heard a scream.
"That was Mai-san!"
Akia ran towards where the scream came from. She ended up in front of a duel platform. She found Mai dueling a rather large man. He had two duel gloves with two rows of ten Star Chip slots, equalling a total of forty Star Chip slots.
"He's no normal contestant... He might not even be a contestant at all!" Akia then looked at the Life Points, and saw that Mai was about to lose with the next attack.
"Mai-san!" Akia called out.
When Mai heard Akia, she looked at her with a panicked gaze, "Akia-chan! Get me out of here!"
Akia then noticed that Mai's feet were cuffed to the platform. The final blow was thrown, and the platform came down. Akia ran towards Mai.
"Mai-san, what happened?"
The cuffs around Mai's feet were released and her knees gave out. Akia then tried to hold her up. She didn't notice that Mai's opponent was now heading towards them. He grabbed Mai's wrist and held her up.
"Let go of Mai-san, you bastard!" Akia yelled out at him.
"She lost to me. She has to give me all of her Star Chips!" The menacing man replied. He then took all of them and let Mai drop on the floor.
"Mai-san! You bet all of your Star Chips?" The red-eyed girl inquired.
"I... I had no choice... Panik threatened me," Mai replied with a shaking voice.
"Threatened you? I just made you panic a little. You're now disqualified, you little weakling," the one named Panik mocked her.
Akia helped Mai get up on her feet, and faced Panik, "she's not disqualified yet. I also have eight Star Chips. I'll duel you and both you and I will bet all eight."
"Hahaha! You're on, girly. My job is to eliminate as many contestants as I can, anyway," the man bellowed.
"Akia-chan, don't! He's dangerous!" Mai frantically warned her.
"Don't worry about me, Mai-san. I'll get your Star Chips back."
Akia took out her Millennium Scale. She knew something bad could happen around that man, and her only protection would be her Millennium Item.
"What's a puny little girl like you hope to accomplish? And what's with that scale? An oversized charm?" Panik ridiculed her and then burst out in mocking laughter.
"So it's a deal then. We'll both bet eight Star Chips. Until then, Mai-san's elimination is put on hold," Akia ignored his snide comments.
"Are you hoping to get her Star Chips back for her? You're way over your head, kid. I'm Panik, one of the top eliminators of this tournament! Pegasus hired me for my undisputed skills. Someone like you doesn't even stand a chance," the burly man informed them.
"Akia-chan, please don't do this! He's dangerous, you won't stand a chance," Mai kept trying to warn her.
"Don't underestimate me, Mai-san," Akia reassured her.
With that, Akia went to the Dueling platform, leaving Mai speechless at the confidence that her voice carried. Akia then looked at Panik, who still didn't get on the platform.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and let's get this over with," Akia said nonchalantly.
"Don't order me around, little girl, or you'll regret it," Panik threatened and then went to the opposite platform, and they were both brought up to the dueling area. As soon as Akia got on the platform, her feet got cuffed to it.
"What is that?" She asked.
"Haha! That's to make sure that you won't run away in fear, little girl!" Panik said in a loud voice.
"So he uses dirty tricks like that to psyche his opponents out. No wonder Mai looks so terrified. I'm pretty sure that's not the only dirty trick he's got up his sleeve," Akia pondered.
Mai looked at Akia in awe. She felt like a completely different person. The determination in her eyes was like none she'd ever seen before. She practically looked angry at Panik; like she'd crush him in any second, "it doesn't matter what dirty tricks you try to pull. I'll show you what happens when you mess with my friend."
Mai's eyes widened in surprise. Akia just called her a friend. She felt warm inside and a wave of happiness washed over her.
"Mai! Akia!" a familiar voice called out.
Mai turned around and saw Jounouchi heading towards her along with the rest of the group. She let out a sigh of relief at the sight of them.
"What happened?" Yugi asked.
"Panik dueled me and took all of my Star Chips... Then, Akia-chan challenged him to a Duel to get the Star Chips back. You have to do something! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into. He's very dangerous! He could seriously hurt her!" Mai explained, warning them about Akia's predicament.
When Jounouchi heard what Mai said, his eyes widened. He then ran towards the duel arena, "Akia! Get down from there!"
"I won't back away from a duel, especially against someone as cowardly as him. And also I'm kind of cuffed over here," Akia confessed.
"What?!" Her brother yelled out, concern clear on his face.
"What did you say?" Panik asked in a low menacing voice.
"You heard me," she replied to him.
"Oh you'll regret your words, you little bitch," Panik shouted out and then clicked on a button. Fire started shooting all around Akia.
"Akia-chan!" Mai cried out.
"Akia!" Jounouchi shouted.
"Akia-chan...!" Bakura, now back to normal, yelled out.
"Akia! Don't let yourself be phased by his tricks!" Yugi's voice was more authoritative than before. The Spirit of the Puzzle had taken over.
"Yugi! We have to do something to get her out of this duel!" Anzu told Yugi.
When the fire ceases, Akia was in the middle, unharmed and unfazed. Everyone wondered how she did not seem afraid at all.
"Well, I guess you have more guts than your looks suggest," Panik mocked her.
"Are you going to start the duel already?" Akia said, appearing unperturbed.
Mai, Bakura, and Yugi noticed that she was holding her golden scale tightly. She was afraid after all, but she tried not to show it.
"Alright, I draw!" Panik grinned, "I summon Castle of Dark Illusions (920/1930) in defence position. Because of the field bonus the parameters are changed! (1196/2509)"
The field on Panik's side became shrouded in darkness. Akia was no longer able to see anything on his side of the field.
"So that's your strategy..." Akia muttered.
"Not only will you not be able to see my cards, but you also won't be getting any of the field bonuses for your monsters. With that, I end my turn," Panik concluded.
"My turn, I draw!" Akia started her turn. Without saying a word, Akia places two cards face down and a monster in face down defence position.
"Let's both play blind then. I can't see your cards, and you can't see mine," she suggested.
"Heh, being on the defensive won't accomplish anything," Panik chuckled.
"Wouldn't you say? Let's see who's going to be the first one of us to take action," Akia said with a grin.
Panik frowned. He then drew and summoned a monster. No one could see what position it was in or what it even was. He ended his turn at that, without attacking.
"I knew you wouldn't attack. I draw. I summon Different Dimension Warrior (1200/1000) in attack mode. I'll end my turn at that," Akia declared.
"Isn't she being too reckless?" Jounouchi observed.
"That's what I was thinking... Unless..." Mai replied.
Unless Akia was trying to bait him to attack.
"That puny monster doesn't stand a chance against anything. What kind of crazy idea crossed your mind to do something that stupid?" Panik mocked her.
"I duel however I want to duel! It's your turn so get on with it!" Akia dismissed him once more.
"I told you not to order me around! Anyway, I draw," Panik was getting agitated. He summoned another monster and hesitated. He wanted to attack her, but he was worried about the two face downs that she set, which were probably traps.
"What's the matter? Get on with it already. Are you done your turn?" Akia egged him on.
"Not yet... I will... attack your Different Dimension Warrior!" Panik finally said after many hesitations.
One of his monsters came out of the shadows and its parameters appeared. It was Dark Chimera (1610/1460) and with the field bonus it was now (2093/1898). It would be a huge blow for Akia if it hit her. The Dark Chimera battled the Different Dimension Warrior and destroyed him. Akia didn't shield herself from his attack. Mai gasped at the blow that was dealt.
"I guess I worried for nothing, hahaha!" Panik clamored.
"Oh really?" The red-eyed girl retorted.
Akia's Life points did not going down, however. One of her trap cards was now face up.
"Hm. Don't underestimate her. She's even stronger than me sometimes," the Spirit of the Puzzle stated.
"I activate my trap card: Dimension Wall! With this card, any battle damage that I was intended to receive with this attack is received by my opponent instead. Say goodbye to 893 Life Points!"
Panik's Life Points then went down to 1107. Almost half of his Life Points were gone with just one blow.
"What?!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
"And that's not all! Thanks to my Different Dimension Warrior's special ability, if a monster engages in battle with him, it is dragged out of play along with him. So say goodbye to your Chimera!"
The Dark Chimera disappeared from the field through a black hole.
"No...! You'll pay for this," Panik said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, yeah, are you done already?" Akia instigated him.
Panik narrowed his eyes, looking at her menacingly, "I end my turn."
"Alright, let's end this already. I draw," Akia smiled mischievously, "I activate Pot of Greed from my hand, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck."
Akia drew two cards and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Akia..." Jounouchi looked and sounded extremely worried. Mai realized how much he cared for Akia. She also noticed Bakura who she had not met yet. He looked even more worried than Jounouchi.
"This is it! I summon Warrior of the Sun (2100/1400) in attack position!" Akia announced.
"Whoa!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"Such a powerful monster!" Anzu acclaimed.
"Where did she get that?" Mai inquired.
"This card was given to me by my grandpa. I will win against you and I will get him back! You're just a mere stepping stone in my way! Due to the Warrior of the Sun's shining radiance, darkness will no longer be! All your monsters will be exposed and the field bonus will not apply to dark monsters anymore," just as Akia said, a blinding light filled the arena and Panik's monster was exposed. The only monster apart from the Castle of Illusions is Barox (1380/1530) with his original parameters. The Castle of Illusions (920/1930) as well was back to its original attack and defence. They were both vulnerable to Akia's upcoming move, "To finish this up, I'll flip my defence position monster in face up attack position."
"Man-Eater Bug!" Bakura said the name of the monster.
"With its effect, I'll destroy your Castle of Illusions! Half of its attack will be subtracted from your Life Points, bringing them down to 647!" Akia continued.
"Gah!" Panik interjected.
"I'm not done, yet! I'll attack your Barox with my Warrior of the Sun! Due to Warrior of the Sun's special ability, it gains a 500 point boost to its attack when it battles a dark monster, during the battle damage, bringing its attack points up to 2600. This will be more than enough to wipe out your Life Points," the red-eyed girl triumphantly said.
Akia's monster attacked and wiped out the remainder of Panik's Life Points.
"Did she... just win?" Mai asked and blinked a few times.
"Panik didn't even touch her Life Points," Yugi observed.
"...Y-Yeah! Akia won! I knew it all along!" Jounouchi cheered.
"Alright now, take off those cuffs on my ankles and give me the Star Chips," Akia told her opponent.
"Grr... No way! You're not getting away! I'll roast you!" Panik shouted.
He started bringing his fist up, preparing to smash it down on the buttons.
"Oh no! We have to stop him! He'll kill her!" Mai yelled out.
Akia remained calm, however, "we had an agreement."
His fist stopped midway.
"You have breached our agreement, therefore, you will suffer the consequences," Akia's voice was cold.
"You will pay for your cowardly behaviour and for hurting my friend," she cursed him as her Millennium Scale started to glow and Panik fell to the ground, unconscious. Both platforms went down and the cuffs around Akia's ankles automatically opened up, freeing her. She then went straight to where Panik was and took all of the Star Chips he had in his gloves, which were a total of fifteen. She got back to Mai, and presented her with ten Star Chips, "here. There's extra."
Mai looked down, "you won them, Akia-chan. You should keep them. I don't want to feel like I owe you."
"But..." the black-haired girl interjected before Jounouchi barged in and took the Star Chips from her.
"If she doesn't want them, I'll take them, hehe," the blond boy said playfully.
"Hey! Give those back!" Mai ran after Jounouchi. He held his arm up high so that she couldn't reach the Star Chips. She then reached out for them, even though it was obvious that Jounouchi's hand was out of reach.
"I guess it doesn't bother me that much to see those two close like that. I was probably feeling attached to Jounouchi because of how destiny decided to have the Red Eyes Black Dragon come to his deck," Akia resigned inwardly.
Jounouchi then put the Star Chips into Mai's hand. She hesitated for a bit and lowered her arm.
"Finally, you took them. Make sure you don't lose them again, Akia went through a lot of trouble getting them," Jounouchi told her.
Akia smiled at how the two acted together.
"Alright, I'll take only eight of them. I want to earn the other two with my own strength," Mai stated and she gave two of the Star Chips back to Akia.
"It's whatever makes you feel better, Mai-san. Now I have ten Star Chips, and five remaining. Anyone want them?" Akia asked, looking at her friends.
"Yeah! Give them here. We'll take care of them, me and Yugi," Jounouchi replied.
Akia gave the Star Chips to him before announcing her next move, "alright guys, I'm going to head to the castle. I'll be waiting for you there."
"I'll come part of the way with you," Mai said to her.
Bakura then walked up to Akia with a caring smile on his face, "you were really amazing out there."
"Are you... back to normal?" Akia tentatively asked.
Yugi nodded at her, to confirm that Bakura was indeed back to his sweet normal self. Akia then took Bakura's hand and got away from her friends.
"What happened?"The black-haired girl inquired.
"Oh, you mean about the Spirit of the Ring?" Bakura replied.
"Yeah."
"Yugi and him had a Yami no Game. Since Yugi won, he banished the Spirit."
"He... did?"
"Why am I not happier about this? Ryou's back to normal and the Evil Spirit is gone! Am I actually missing that spirit? Did I care for him? But that's just wrong! All he ever did was evil, and he always plots to harm the people that are the closest to me," Akia tried to justify to herself.
"Akia-chan? Is everything alright?" Bakura asked.
"Ah... Yeah... I'm just glad you're back, Ryou."
Bakura smiled at her and, without warning, he pulled her into his arms. Akia felt the blood rush up to her cheeks, "R-Ryou...? Is everything alright?"
"I was... so scared that he might've hurt you. I'm glad you're alright."
Akia was blushing more than ever.
"I never realized just how good Ryou smells. Wait! What am I thinking? I should get out of this hug before anyone gets the wrong idea! But... would it be bad if people thought we were... No, no, no! I should focus on getting grandpa back. This will just complicate things. I'll deal with these feelings after we get grandpa," Akia thought to herself before she gently pushed Bakura away. Before there could be an awkward silence, Jounouchi came and put an arm around Bakura and Akia's shoulders.
"Hey lovebirds, just wanted to tell you that we're going back to the camp, so if you ever want to join, feel free to do that," Jounouchi told them.
"A-All right, I'm coming," Bakura answered.
"I'll come in a bit," Akia replied.
Jounouchi and Bakura left Akia alone. Mai then came to join her, "you were pretty great out there, by the way."
"I was, wasn't I? Hehe," the red-eyed girl acknowledged.
"Thanks..." Mai expressed her gratitude.
"Hm? Come on, it was only natural."
"Natural...?"
"Yeah, didn't I say that I consider you my friend? Friends help each other like that."
Mai looked at Akia with a surprised look on her face. She then smiled.
"Should we go join them? Or should we start heading to the castle?" Akia suggested.
"What do you think?" Mai replied.
"I think the faster we leave, the faster this whole thing will be over. Let's go get some actual beds to sleep on!" Akia cheered.
"Then let's get going," Mai agreed.