In the central elevator, Yugi and Bakura were silent. When they reached the roof of the blimp, Isono motioned for the two Duelists to get on the dueling platform that expanded from the floor and informed them of what it was, "now, this is the Aerial Duel Arena."
Yugi took a few steps forward and paused at the sight of the arena. It was out in the open, at the highest point of the blimp.
"We're dueling here?" The Spirit of the Puzzle inquired.
Bakura went and took his spot on the red arrow, and Yugi positioned himself on the opposite side, standing on the blue arrow. The arena then started elevating even higher and came to a stop. everyone else had also arrived, standing below the arena, on the side of it, having a full view of the event that would be unfolding above.
"This is the Areal Duel Arena?" Jounouchi asked.
"It's freezing!" Shizuka shuddered from the cold.
"We're expected to fight in this freezing wind?" Mai questioned.
"Anything to make it as dramatic as possible I guess? I just hope my skirt won't fly up when I'm up there..." Akia shared her worry.
"I'll cover the guys' view if that happens," Anzu reassured her friend.
"I'm counting on you, Anzu," Akia gave her a thumbs up.
The Kaiba brothers were standing at the other side, at the same elevation as the duel arena.
"The Battle Ship is now flying at an altitude of a thousand meters. The air will feel like blades cutting into your bodies, adding even tougher conditions for the Duelists. This will test each participant's endurance!" The young CEO explained.
Some were in support of the idea.
"This is really exciting!" Honda exclaimed.
"Yeah! There's a reason why this is called the Finals!" Otogi cheered.
Others, not so much.
"That Kaiba. Always taking things too far," Jounouchi complained.
"Is he a masochist or something? Because he'll be going through that pain himself too..." Akia added.
The other Yugi stared at Bakura who was acting a bit differently than before.
"How about you reveal your true identity? You're not Bakura," Yugi called him out.
The one possessing Bakura grinned.
"You're the dark personality residing within the Millennium Ring," the Spirit of the Puzzle denounced him.
A bright light shone on Bakura's chest and the Millennium Ring appeared, attached to his neck.
"The Millennium Ring?!" Anzu exclaimed.
"That idiot! He's wearing that thing again?!" Jounouchi yelled out.
"That's impossible! I definitely threw that Ring away... How could it have returned to Bakura?" Honda questioned.
"The Ring's Spirit is bound to Ryou's... No matter how much he wishes to be rid of it, it always finds its way back to him." Akia said in a shaky voice, fearing for Bakura's life. She feared that he might not ever return, since it had been so long since he was in control of his own body.
"You knew about this? Since when?!" Jounouchi asked his friend.
"He..." Akia barely started explaining before Marik, not wanting Akia to say anything that might jeopardize his plan, interjected into the conversation. "Hey, what do you guys mean? What's a "Millennium Ring"?"
Akia glared at Marik, but nobody saw it.
"That's right, Namu-kun, you don't know anything about this, do you?" Anzu replied.
"Me either!" Mai added.
"Ever since Bakura received the Millennium Item from his father in Egypt, he's been controlled by a dark spirit. That's the Millennium Ring," Jounouchi explained.
"Then this dark spirit has taken control of Bakura-kun? I can't believe it," Marik kept up the act.
"I couldn't believe it at first, either," Anzu said in support.
"I've got a bad feeling about this Duel," Jounouchi stated.
"Big brother..." Shizuka worriedly called for her brother.
Akia sighed loudly, sick of Marik's charade. She wondered why she was holding back on telling everyone the truth. If it wasn't for Ishizu's warning, she would've already done it by now.
"Yugi, I haven't fought you in a Duel since that Dark game back in Duelist Kingdom," Yami Bakura declared.
"What's your goal here? Are you after my Millennium Puzzle?" The pharaoh inquired.
"Who knows?" The Dark Spirit still had the same grin on his face. "Yugi! I've entered this tournament for one reason and that is your God Card!"
"My God Card?!" The other Yugi exclaimed.
"You shouldn't even question it. If you want to conquer the gaming world, it's only natural you'd enter the ultimate tournament and earn the title of "Duel King"," Yami Bakura gave his reasoning.
Both Yugi and Akia knew that that was not the only reason. The Spirit of the Ring knew that they wouldn't believe his reason, but he decided against trying to explain further. He just needed to fulfill his deal with Marik to acquire all the Millennium Items and obtain the Power of Darkness. He needed both Yugi and Akia alive for that to happen.
The part of Marik that was inside Bakura chuckled as he telepathically communicated that he would take over and finish off Yugi if the Spirit of the Ring would be close to losing. Having none of it, however, the Dark Spirit told him to back off and that he would finish off Yugi himself, mocking Marik for losing to Yugi a few times before already.
"Round One of the Finals will now begin! Duel!" Isono announced.
The Life Points counters on each Duelist's side went up to 4000 points.
"Yugi! Don't lose!" Honda yelled out.
"Return Bakura-kun to normal!" Anzu added.
Bakura went first. He drew a card and summoned Possessed Painting (1200/1500) in attack position. With that, he ended his turn. The Puzzle's Spirit felt like Bakura was trying to lure him to attack, since it was a fairly weak monster, with no protection. It was now Yugi's turn. He drew a card. He then Normal Summoned Illusion Beast Gazelle (1500/1200) in attack position. Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts attacked and destroyed Possessed Painting, bringing Bakura's Life Points down to 3700. The other Yugi then set a card. Yami Bakura did the same thing two turns in a row, summoning weak Fiend-type monsters that Yugi took down easily. His Life Points were now all the way down to 450.
Everyone was finding this whole situation strange and creepy. Bakura was not putting up much resistance, but he seemed to still be in control somehow. As soon as Yugi ended his turn, the Spirit of the Ring let out an eerie laugh and his Ring started shining once more. "Yugi! You've fallen right into my trap!"
"What?!" The pharaoh exclaimed.
"My turn, draw!" Dark Bakura said and he then removed the three monsters that Yugi had defeated from play, special summoning Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in attack position. He then set two cards and ended his turn. It was yet another unexpected move from everyone else's perspective. The Spirit of the Ring's monster could've easily defeated any of Yugi's monsters had he just attacked. He was, in fact, baiting Yugi to attack him once more.
Yami Yugi drew his next card. He then tribute summoned Black Magician Girl (2000/1700) by sacrificing Illusion Beast Gazelle in order to attack position. He then activated his face-down Magic Formula and equipped it to his Magician increasing her attack 500 points. The other Yugi then attacked and destroyed Dark Necrofear dropping Bakura's Life Points down to 150.
"Way to go, Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered.
"Wait... Why is Bakura still laughing?" Honda mentioned.
The Spirit of the Ring had Yugi exactly where he wanted him. "I thank you for defeating my Dark Necrofear, Yugi. Now that Dark Necrofear was sent to the Graveyard, I can activate Field Magic Dark Sanctuary!"
"Field Magic...?!" The Spirit of the Puzzle repeated in question.
All around them, the hologram of the Field Magic enveloped the entire arena in an orangish dark dimension. Eyes and mouths, and even eyes within mouths, were opening all over the new dark sky as Dark Bakura was laughing evilly.
Jounouchi held his sister close, both spooked by what was happening. "I'm scared, Shizuka!"
"Big brother!" Shizuka called back out to her brother.
Everyone else was also a bit unsettled. Akia didn't sense any Dark Game at play, however, so she relaxed a little. The last thing she wanted was for either Yugi or the real Bakura to get hurt.
"Yugi... You just triggered the most terrifying switch of my Occult Combo!" The Spirit of the Ring exclaimed.
The Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary then appeared and equipped itself to one of Yugi's monsters. The latter then used Gamma the Magnet Warrior to attack directly, not knowing about that it was that monster that was possessed. The attack was negated and the other Yugi took damage equal to half the ATK of Gamma The Magnet Warrior, dropping his life points to 3250. To everyone's surprise, the Spirit of the Ring's Life Points increased by the damage that Yugi took, bringing his Life Points up to 900. The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary then randomly equipped itself to another of Yugi's monsters.
Dark Bakura drew a card on his turn. He then activated his face-down card Ouija Board. During each of Yugi's End Phases, Ouija Board would activate the Message of Death from Bakura's hand or Deck until it spelled out the word DEATH. The first letter, D, appeared right after his Ouija Board card was activated. When the Spirit of the Ring would activate all five Spirit Messages in the correct order, he would automatically win the Duel. Bakura then activated The Dark Door. Because of that both players could only attack with one monster during their respective Battle Phases. The Dark Spirit then set one card and Normal Summoned Earthbound Spirit (500/2000) in Defence Position. The Ring's Spirit then sacrificed it to keep Dark Sanctuary on the field.
It was Yugi's turn. He drew Kuriboh (300/200) and summoned it in defence position. He then used Black Magician Girl to attack Bakura directly, but, since she was equipped with the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary, the attack is negated and Yugi loses 1250 Life Points, which are absorbed by Bakura, bringing their Life Points to 2000 and 2150 respectively. The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary then randomly equipped itself to another one of Yugi's monsters. At the end of Yugi's turn, the second letter, E, showed up on the field.
"This isn't looking good..." Akia voiced her concern for her brother along with all her other friends. She glanced at Marik and noticed a little smirk on his face. That just made her blood boil, seeing him standing there, getting away with lying to everyone in this way. She made up her mind to at least tell Yugi about it after his duel.
Bakura drew his next card and summoned Sangan (1000/600) in Attack Position. He then sacrificed Sangan to keep Dark Sanctuary on the field. Sangan's effect then activated, allowing the Spirit of the Ring to add a monster with 1500 or less ATK from his deck to his hand.
It was now Yugi's turn. He drew a card from his deck and set a card in defence position. He then used Gamma The Magnet Warrior to attack Bakura directly, but the latter activated his face-down Dark Spirit of the Silent to negate the attack and force Black Magician Girl to attack directly instead. Since Black Magician Girl was equipped with the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary, the attack was negated, making Yugi's Life Points drop to 750 and Bakura's to rise to 3400. Once more, the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary randomly equipped itself to one of Yugi's monsters. When Yugi ended his turn, the third letter, A, of the death message appeared.
Bakura's next turn was similar to his last. He summoned a monster that he then sacrificed to keep his field spell active. "Look at you, still standing at the brink of death. In just two turns, I'll see the distorted look of fear on your face. Turn end!" The Spirit of the Puzzle smirked.
"You sure have gotten full of yourself. But don't you think you'd be safer keeping that ego of yours in check?" The pharaoh rebuked him.
"What'd you just say?" Yami Bakura said in indignation.
"Bakura... In my next two turns, I will crush your occult combo!" After hearing Yugi's confident retort, his friends all felt hope fill them once more.
"So you finally figured out how to strike back, Yugi!" Mai exclaimed.
"See, look at that! I knew Yugi'd find a way out of this," Jounouchi fist-bumped the air.
Akia still felt concerned. Would this bring Ryou back? That was a big question in her mind.
Yugi drew his next card. He then activated his face-down Collected Power to equip all equip cards on the field to Kuriboh, which included the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary. The other Yugi then activated Exile of the Wicked destroy Kuriboh, destroying the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary along with it. Yami Yugi then activated his other face-down, Monster Reborn to revive Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in Attack Position and under his control. Since Dark Necrofear was now on the field, Dark Sanctuary is subsequently destroyed. Yugi used Dark Necrofear to attack Bakura directly cutting his Life Points down to 1200. When Yugi ended his turn, Bakura activated Spirit Message T due to the effect of Ouija Board.
Bakura drew his next card. He summoned Jowgen the Spiritualist (200/1300) in attack position. The Spirit of the Ring then activated the effect of his monster, which made him discard one random card in his hand to destroy all special summoned monsters on the field. Since Dark Necrofear was special summoned by Yugi, it got destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, which in turn allowed Yami Bakura to reactivate Dark Sanctuary.
"Aaah... This creepy field came back again..." Jounouchi shuddered.
"Keep it together! This is no time to get scared. If this keeps up, Yugi will lose in one turn," Mai stated.
"Yugi-san..." Shizuka called out in worry.
"Yugi!" Anzu exclaimed.
"No! I'll believe in Yugi until the end!" Jounouchi retorted.
"That's right! Yugi will win this!" Akia agreed.
Bakura had the biggest most confident grin on his face. "There's no way to stop my occult combo! Next turn, the final letter will appear and you will lose, Yugi! Die with the declaration of DEATH!" He then sacrificed his monster to keep Dark Sanctuary on the field. Yami Bakura then set a card and ended his turn. "Let me tell you this, Yugi. You can't see it but the Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary has once again returned to roaming your field."
Yugi frowned, thinking of a way out of this situation.
"So you finally understand, Yugi? You have a literal zero percent chance of winning!" Yami Bakura laughed.
"It's true that Yugi has no chance of winning this..." Otogi declared.
"Otogi! You're still saying this?!" Honda snapped back.
"Honda, I get your sentiment, but Otogi is right. Bakura's combo is perfect and Yugi know that more than any of us," Mai retorted.
Shizuka turned to her brother, still not fully familiar with the game. "Is that true, big brother?"
"I believe in Yugi! A true Duelist doesn't give up hope until the very end," Jounouchi answered.
Akia smiled at Jounouchi's faith in her brother. "Exactly. And there might be a way out of this." At Akia's comment, her friends were curious but also saw a glimmer of hope and started cheering for Yugi.
"Yugi! Go for it!" Anzu cheered.
"Don't you dare lose, Yugi!" Honda followed suit.
Marik, amused by the scene, watched the conclusion of the duel, not really caring too much about the outcome either way.
Yugi knew what Akia was talking about. He knew there was one card in his deck that could make the impossible possible. Kaiba was also in anticipation of Yugi playing the only card that would defeat Bakura.
"I bet everything I have as a duelist on this draw! Card draw!" As soon as Yugi drew the card, the sky got covered in clouds and lightning struck.
Akia felt her whole body shiver. "This... is the God Card!"
"I sacrifice Black Magician Girl, Magnet Warrior Gamma, and Big Shield Gardna, totalling three offerings! The advent of Osiris!" The pharaoh called forth.
A beam of light shot upwards, dispersing Bakura's field spell and materializing into The Sky Dragon of Osiris. The Spirit of the Ring looked agitated at the reveal. "Osiris?!"
Everyone was staring in awe at the materialized God Card.
"W-What...?" Shizuka stuttered.
"Amazing!" Honda exclaimed.
"That's... Osiris?!" Mai asked in astonishment.
"Yugi's God Card...!" Jounouchi yelled out.
"It looks... too real." Akia observed and that fact was disturbing her. She didn't know what damage it might do to Bakura's already weakened body.
"Brace yourself, Bakura!" The Spirit of the Puzzle cautioned his opponent.
Marik started communicating telepathically with Bakura and mocked him for letting this situation occur. Osiris' attack was set at 3000 points, since Yugi was holding three cards in his hand. It was more than enough to take Bakura out, who only had 1200 Life Points left. Even the Dark Spirit of the Sanctuary was not able to possess the God Card. Bakura had no way of winning or doing anything to survive that turn.
"I win this duel, Bakura!" The pharaoh stated with confidence.
"Yeah! Let's go, Yugi! Turn Bakura back to normal with a shot from God!" Jounouchi cheered.
"Here I go, Bakura!" The other Yugi exclaimed.
"It's over..." The Spirit of the Ring sighed in defeat.
But Marik had another plan in mind. "What now...? I've still got one trick up my sleeve."
"What...?!" Yami Bakura exclaimed.
"Osiris the Sky Dragon, attack! Thunder-" Yugi stopped his attack as he felt his Puzzle resonate. Rishid walked ahead, still masquerading as Marik, brandishing a fake Millennium Rod.
"He's...!" The pharaoh exclaimed.
Everyone's attention shifted to the unwelcome arrival of the newcomer.
"Marik! What the hell are you doing here?!" Jounouchi was about to launch himself at the one he thought was Marik but Honda and Otogi held him back.
"Jounouchi-kun!" The latter called out to him.
"Calm down! Jounouchi!" Honda yelled at his friend.
"Let me go!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
Akia turned to the real Marik and frowned at him. He smiled innocently, getting even more on her nerves.
"Interrupting other people's duels...! There's no way we'll let this slide!" Mokuba told him off.
Seto frowned at Rishid, also believing he was Marik.
"You bastard!" The Spirit of the Puzzle rebuked him.
"Listen carefully, Yugi. That boy is being controlled by my Millennium Rod, and has now become my puppet," Rishid kept up his act as Marik.
"What do you mean? Bakura's already being controlled by the Dark Spirit of the Ring," the other Yugi inquired.
"Correct. That boy is being controlled by two people. I'll show you proof... I'll release his real personality this very moment," Rishid acted as he was told by Marik.
"What?!" Yugi exclaimed.
The Evil Spirit of the Ring was just as confused as to what Marik was planning. "What are you doing, you bastard?"
"If you wish to defeat Yugi, then you better do as I say. Hurry it up! Don't you want to win?" Marik taunted him.
The Ring's Spirit reluctantly did as Marik said, pining on the fact that he might win if he did that. As soon as he did, Bakura's real self resurfaced and fell to his knees while holding his injured arm. "I-It's hurts...! It hurts!"
"Ryou...!" Akia yelled out and was about to run to him, but Honda stopped her. "Akia, you can't! The duel is still going on!"
Bakura looked around, feeling extremely disoriented. "Yugi-kun, where am I?! Akia-chan...! Why am I here?! Why do I have this wound...?"
"As you can see, the boy is badly wounded... Yugi, it's true that an attack from that god will grant you victory, but the damage from the shock could very well take that boy's life," Rishid stated.
"What?!" The Spirit of the Puzzle exclaimed yet again.
"Are you willing to do that?" Rishid asked.
"You're using Bakura's life as a shield, Marik?!" The other Yugi inquired in disbelief.
"That's low, Marik!" Jounouchi shouted.
Rishid then turned around at Marik's prompt and left the arena. He felt pain in his heart from what he had just been ordered to do.
"It hurts... Yugi-kun...!" Bakura moaned in pain.
"Bakura...!" Yugi was about to run to Bakura, but Isono stopped him, saying he would be disqualified if he went to the opponent.
"Hurry and stop this duel!" Anzu demanded.
"If we don't get Bakura help quickly, he could die!" Honda yelled out.
Their concerns were ignored. Akia's gaze was fixated on Bakura. She had a last resort plan if all else failed.
"Now continue the duel, Mutou Yugi!" Isono said.
"Akia-chan..." Hearing the real Bakura calling her name, solidified her resolve. She would do anything she could to save him.
"Ryou, listen to me! I'm right here! I'll protect you!" She yelled out to him to calm him down. Marik frowned. He didn't know what she was planning and he didn't want whatever it was to affect his own plan.
"Why did you stop your attack?! Finish him off already, Yugi!" Kaiba egged Yugi on.
Isono then warned Yugi that if he did not attack within the next twenty seconds, he would be forfeiting the match. This got on Jounouchi's nerves who started berating Isono, who warned him that he would disqualify Jounouchi if the blonde didn't calm down. Otogi and Honda had to hold him back once more.
"Do it, Yugi!" The young CEO instigated.
"Yugi, attack him!" Everyone was shocked to hear Akia say that.
"What?!" The Spirit of the Puzzle questioned.
"What are you thinking?!" Anzu inquired in disbelief.
Yugi looked into Akia's eyes and saw that she was dead serious. He closed his own and decided to trust her.
The Evil Spirit of the Ring, seeing everything unfold, really didn't like where Marik's plan was going. "Your dirty tricks surpass even my occult deck. But still... Even I have ways I like to win and ways I hate to win! Stay out of this, Marik!"
"Osiris the Sky Dragon! Direct attack!" The pharaoh declared his final attack.
As soon as that happened, the Evil Spirit of the Ring took over Bakura's body once more, but that was not all. Akia had run up to the field and stood in front of Bakura, holding her Millennium Scale to shield them both from the shock.
"Akia...!" Yugi yelled out.
"Akia!" The Spirit of the Ring shouted.
It was however way too strong of an attack and she felt the full brunt of it, making her collapse to her knees, after yelling out in pain. She knew it looked way too real for a hologram. It was as if a small part of the actual god was sealed within that card. Bakura's Life Points went down to zero, but he couldn't care less as he held Akia in his arms, keeping her from fully collapsing.
"Akia!" Jounouchi called out to his friend.
"Akia-chan!" Mai was one of the first to run up to check up on Akia.
As the duel concluded, Yugi ran to his sister and the others joined him. Bakura was holding her tightly in his arms.
"Mm..." Her eyes opened shortly after, making everyone sigh in relief.
"You idiot! What were you thinking?! I had this!" The Spirit of the Ring reprimanded her.
"I couldn't let anything happen to Ryou..." She whispered. She then tried to get up with her brother's help. He had taken back control of his body when he saw his sister collapse.
"Don't scare me like that ever again..." Yugi said to his sister.
"Can't promise anything," Akia grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
"You crazy woman! What if you got seriously injured?!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"I know you like the guy, but think of yourself more!" Mai reproached.
"Akia-chan, are you hurting anywhere?" Anzu asked in concern.
"I didn't even see her run up there," Otogi stated.
"Yeah, I didn't even get a chance to stop her," Honda confirmed.
"That was so brave, Akia-san," Shizuka commended her.
"Don't encourage her, Shizuka!" Jounouchi retorted.
Akia looked at Bakura, still possessed by the Spirit of the Ring. His eyes softened and he sighed. "You're crazy... I'll go to my room to let this body rest." He whispered that last part to her, not wanting anyone else to hear him, inviting her to come see him later. Her heart skipped a beat in anticipation to be near Bakura once more.