"All we've been doing in this place is running...! Running from monsters, running to the city, running to get out of the maze... And now running in this dark forest to get to the castle! Good thing this is all a game, or I would probably collapse from all this sprinting around." Yugi, Jounouchi, and Mai sighed. Akia had been complaining about this since they entered the forest surrounding the castle. They all somewhat agreed with her, but she kept going on and on about the same thing that they couldn't help but wanting her to shut up for a bit.
"Look at this!" Mai suddenly stopped running and pointed at an enormous tree ahead. The others also stopped to see what she was talking about. Three large cocoons could be seen attached to the tree.
"Cocoons of Evolution...!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"We can't let them hatch!" Mai retorted.
An army of insects then came out in front of them, between them and the cocoon tree.
"Ah! I've had it with all this! I use my Spell Card: Insecticide!" Akia yelled out. As soon as she used her card, a hand holding an insecticide can sprayed it on the Insect-type monsters that were instantly destroyed by it, "I'm already in enough of a bad mood..."
"Way to go, Akia!" Jounouchi applauded his friend.
The other Yugi nodded approvingly, "now we just need to destroy those cocoons."
The defence of the cocoons displayed 2000.
"I got nothing," Akia replied.
"My Red-Eyes can burn them good." After saying that, Jounouchi summoned the Red-Eyes and burned the cocoons.
"Well that takes care of this problem," Mai affirmed.
"Let's keep going," Yami Yugi told them.
After a short walk, they reached the huge entrance of the castle. Without hesitation, they went inside. They then noticed a part of the high ceiling starting to crack. Instinctively, they stepped back. A white beam then forced its way through the ceiling and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's head peeked through.
"Blue-Eyes!" Yugi exclaimed.
Mokuba and Kaiba then slid through and landed in front of the group.
"Kaiba! Mokuba!" The Spirit of the Puzzle called out to the two brothers.
"So you're safe! We were so worried!" Jounouchi told them.
"I don't need a loser dog to be worrying about me," Kaiba coldly retorted.
"What'd you say?!" The blond teen asked in annoyance.
"A little thanks won't hurt, you douchebag..." Akia mumbled.
"I see the annoying one is here too..." The young CEO sighed.
Akia frowned. She really couldn't stand the guy, but she was still glad he was safe.
"You've done well to make it this far," a voice sounded, as if talking through a speaker. A black hole then formed far off in front of the group.
Kaiba then turned towards it, "you failed to sacrifice me!"
"S-Seto! Why are you here...?!" A different voice said and sounded genuinely surprised.
"That means the legendary Five God Dragon can't be revived! This game is officially cleared!" Kaiba retorted.
Another voice chuckled, "we will not allow you to."
"That's correct!" The voices retorted as the scenery started to change.
"Those dirty old men...!" Akia said in between gritted teeth. The group then found themselves in a sci-fi looking stage.
"What...?!" Kaiba yelled out in disbelief.
"What the?!" Jounouchi uttered.
A black shadow then emerged in front of them and spawned a giant dragon with five heads. Each head was different. One was made out of water, one out of fire, another out of earth, a fourth out of wind, and the last looked as if it was made out of darkness.
"So this is... The legendary Five God Dragon?" Yami Yugi inquired.
"That's a cheap shot! The Five God Dragon shouldn't be revived!" Jounouchi called them out.
One of the voices chuckled, "a truly exceptional game always holds a surprise ending."
"I see..." Kaiba muttered.
"Fine then! We'll take you head on!" Yugi accepted the challenge.
"Battle!" Kaiba, Mai, Yugi, Jounouchi, and Akia said in unison. The stats of the Five God Dragon then got displayed (5000/4000).
"Here we go! The Three Harpie Sisters!" As soon as Mai summoned them, an electric current ran through the Harpies, pinning them to the ground, "what?!"
"Behold! The symbol at your feet!" Reacting to the voice that sounded from the Dragon's direction, everyone looked at what they were standing on. A picture of the Lord of Dragons then started to materialize.
"That's right. This is the Dragon's Sanctuary. Only those of the Dragon-type can fight here!" One voice said smugly.
Kaiba then chuckled and broke out into a full out triumphant laugh, "you dare to challenge me to a duel of dragons? I praise that optimism of yours!"
"Haha, good thing I included some emergency cards into my deck before coming here." Everyone's attention turned towards Akia as she declared. She then pulled out a card from her deck, "I never thought I'd ever need this card, but I brought it along since I didn't know what to expect in this weird game. Behold! I activate my trap card: DNA Surgery!"
"Brilliant!" The Puzzle's Spirit commended her.
"...Hmph," Kaiba interjected, not finding that card to be necessary, since he planned to win on his own.
"What does it do?" Jounouchi asked.
Akia smirked, "it changes the type of all the monsters on the field to whatever I want them to be. And since you guys said that only dragons can battle here, I choose the Dragon Type!"
"No way! Awesome!" The blond teen exclaimed.
"I-It can't be! What are the odds that one of you would even have that?!" The voices were starting to get a bit agitated, "no matter. They still are too powerless to defeat the Five God Dragon."
Due to Akia's trap, Mai's Harpies were freed from the binding. "Alright! Way to go, Akia-chan!" Mai exclaimed.
Kaiba then took out three cards, "come forth! My three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500)!"
"You're going all out. Now it's my turn! Red-Eyes (2400/2000)!" Jounouchi summoned his signature card.
"No harm in summoning another monster. Harpie's Pet Dragon (2000/2500)!" Mai called forth an additional monster.
Due to the three Harpie's on the field, Harpie's Pet Dragon gains an attack and defence boost (2900/3400).
"Black Magician (2500/2100)!" Yugi brought forth his trusted Magician.
"Everyone is summoning some powerful monsters. Well, I'll just go with the classic! Banisher of the Light (100/2000)!" Akia got her own monster out.
"Let's go!" Everyone except Mokuba and Akia attacked with their monsters in a joint attack. The Five God Dragon attacked as well, both attacks cancelling each other out.
"I-It withstood our attack...!" Jounouchi blurted incredulously.
One of the voices chuckled, "heh, there is one defenceless target here left to attack!"
"W-What? You don't mean...!" Kaiba realized in horror what they meant.
One of the heads prepared to attack as one of the male voices commanded, "disappear, Mokuba!"
"Mokuba!" Seto yelled out.
Jounouchi then reacted first, "MOKUBA!"
The Red-Eyes stood in the attack's way, shielding Mokuba and taking all the damage. Upon the Red-Eyes' destruction, Jounouchi's Life Points dropped to 0. He kneeled on the floor and grunted. Mai, Akia, and Yugi ran towards him. "Jounouchi!" "Jounouchi-kun!" "Jounouchi!" The three of them called out to their friend.
Jounouchi, with the last of his strength looked at them. "Guys... The rest... is up to you...!"
He then started to fade in the same way as Earu. Akia gasped and covered her mouth in horror. Mai dropped to her knees, devastated by what she saw, "Jounouchi...! Jounouchi!" Tears welled up in her eyes with sadness and frustration, "that's not fair! It's against the rules to directly attack the players!"
"Not fair?" The voices evilly laughed, "we make the rules here!"
"You scum...!" Kaiba insulted them.
Yugi then got up, "the legend of this world says that when the strongest warrior unites with the strongest dragon, they will be able to save the land."
"What are you implying?" Kaiba questioned.
"I ritual summon my Chaos Soldier! Become the legendary warrior!" Yami Yugi got out one of his strongest monsters.
Kaiba scoffed, "are you implying that you want us to work together? No chance. I don't need your help, Yugi."
"Kaiba!" Yugi yelled out to the difficult teen.
The voices sounded again, "then let's get rid of your Chaos Soldier."
"I won't let you! I'll be your opponent!" Mai retorted.
"The weak shall disappear!" The voices mocked. Mai's monsters went up against the Five God Dragon, but inevitably lost. This caused Mai's Life Points to also drop to zero.
"Mai-san!" Akia cried out.
"Mai!" Yugi called out.
Mai dropped to the ground and also disappeared. Akia felt anger well up inside of her, "if Kaiba won't help... Then I will be the one to destroy you."
Akia walked up in front of both Kaiba and Yugi.
"Akia! Don't be foolish!" Yugi tried to stop her.
"What do you think you can accomplish?" Kaiba questioned her rashness.
Akia took out a card from her deck. "Gren Maju Da Eiza," she quietly said as her key monster spawned. Its attack and defence displayed question marks.
"Hahahaha! You think that puny monster can stand in our way? It doesn't even have any attack or defence! Say goodbye, you foolish girl!" The voices mocked her as the Five God Dragon unleashed an attack on Akia's Gren Maju Da Eiza.
"Akia!" Yugi yelled out.
After the attack resolved and the smoke dissipated, Akia was still standing, both her and her monster unharmed.
"What...?!" The voices uttered in disbelief.
Kaiba, Mokuba, Yugi, and the Big Five were speechless. They didn't understand how Akia was still alright and with all of her Life Points still there. They then directed their gaze towards her Gren Maju Da Eiza.
"...Impossible!" Kaiba exclaimed.
"This...!" Yugi couldn't get the words out.
"15600 attack and defence?!" The voices shouted.
Indeed, the stats of Akia's Gren Maju Da Eiza displayed (15600/15600).
"How?!" The young CEO questioned.
Yugi's eyes then widened in realization. He turned his gaze towards Akia's Banisher of the Light, "I see! Your Banisher!"
"Our friends' sacrifices weren't in vain. Upon their destruction, all of their monsters along with them were removed from play because of my Banisher of the Light. You bastards made the mistake of neglecting my monster, since it seemed so much weaker than the others. This will be your downfall! I will avenge Mai and Jounouchi!" Akia yelled out.
"You..." One of the voices grumbled, "it doesn't matter, though. You still cannot defeat us."
Akia closed her eyes to compose herself. "I noticed. This whole fight..." She then opened her eyes and glared at the Five God Dragon. "I've been observing each and every move this whole fight. This Five God Dragon doesn't seem to be taking any damage. This last attack confirmed it. If it was a normal monster, it would've been immediately destroyed by my Gren Maju. But it wasn't. I saw the head that is made of fire absorb the whole attack." She then glanced at Yugi. She wanted him to realize what that meant.
"The different heads each represent an attribute," Yugi explained.
Akia nodded.
"Impressive... So you know that only a Light Monster can defeat our dragon. Too bad yours isn't," a voice scoffed.
"Not if I can help it! I activate the equip spell card: Scroll of Bewitchment! I'll equip it Akia's Gren Maju Da Eiza!" The Spirit of the Puzzle assisted Akia.
She gave him a thumbs up, "good thing you told me what cards you included in your deck before we got here."
"Heh. We really can't keep anything from each other," Yugi replied.
Akia glanced at the other Yugi. He really still did seem like her brother a bit, but more mature.
"This equip spell changes the attribute of the monster it's equipped to to whatever I want it to be. And I choose Light!" Yami Yugi explained.
"No...! It can't be...!" The voices yelled out.
Akia grinned. She saw their victory. Once she attacked, it would all be over, "Gren Maju Da Eiza! Destroy those pieces of trash!" With its attack, Akia let out all her anger towards the loss of her friends.
"No!" The voices screamed in disbelief as their once powerful monster disintegrated. The ground then started shaking and the four surviving members lost consciousness.
Akia opened her eyes and found herself staring at the blue sky. She slowly got up. Kaiba, Yugi, and Mokuba also came to their senses. When they did, they were greeted with the cheering of a crowd. Akia then suddenly took out one of her cards.
"Akia?" The Spirit of the Puzzle called out to her.
"I need to bring them back... This trap card will help," Akia whispered to him.
Yugi glanced at the card and understood her plan. It was the trap card Return from the Different Dimension. At the cost of half the Life Points of the user, they can summon as many monsters that were removed from play as possible. While she did that, Princess Meyari thanked them.
"Princess Meyari, we lost Earu... and two of our friends," Yugi told her.
"I know... It is time I revealed my true identity." Meyari said as she then transformed into the Mystical Elf. After incanting a spell, Earu was revived. "Unfortunately, I cannot bring back your friends since they are not in the graveyard..."
Akia's trap then took effect, cutting her Life Points in half and bringing back Jounouchi and Mai.
"Jounouchi! Mai!" Yugi and Akia exclaimed. Kaiba stood there, impressed by how unexpectedly smart Akia was. He kept dismissing her as a nuisance and an annoyance. However, he had to admit to himself that she really did help in saving them all. He would never admit it out loud, though.
After celebrating their victory, a portal to exit the game opened up to them. They all stepped through it, leaving the game world behind.
Back in the real world, the Big Five's goons were able to break through the door at the same moment Yugi and the others regained their consciousness.
"Yugi!" Anzu exclaimed.
"You guys are finally back!" Honda sighed in relief.
Kaiba then immediately went up to the one leading the henchmen, "you really thought you could get rid of me? You'll all be sorry."
Leaving the Kaiba brothers to their affairs, Yugi, Akia, Jounouchi, Mai, Honda, and Anzu went on their way home, while the twins filled everyone in on what happened.