Destined to be Yours

Chapter 70: True Loneliness

"The darkness is hungry..." Marik said as he was facing Mai on the opposite end of the dueling arena.

Akia had joined up with her friends and was now watching in absolute fear of what was to come next.

"Woman, I'm going to sacrifice you to the darkness," Marik stated. His voice was menacing and send shivers down Akia's spine.

"The fourth match will now begin," Isono announced.

The two contestants activated their duel disks and started the duel. Mai summoned Dunames Valkyrie (1800/1050) in attack position and ended her turn. Marik summons his Revival Jam (1500/500) and uses the spell card Jam Breeding Machine to produce Slime Tokens.

"Mai!" Yugi, who was taken over by the Spirit of the Puzzle, called out.

"Mai-san, you can do this!" Shizuka cheered.

"Beat Marik!" Jounouchi added.

Mai frowned. "Why did you all come here? I thought I told you I can fight by myself."

"We know that! You'll win regardless of what we do. But we're friends, so cheering you on is only natural, ain't it?" Jounouchi replied.

"Do whatever you want," the woman scoffed.

Anzu then pointed out to Yugi the monster that Marik had summoned. When he saw it, he knew what strategy he was planning to use, since he had dueled against it before. Just as he was about to warn Mai, she refused any help, saying that she didn't need anyone's help and that she would do this on her own.

The duel went on with Mai scoring a big lead by destroying Marik's Slime Token and Masked Beast Des Gardius, bringing his Life Points down to 2550. However, due to his latter monster's effect, he took control of her Dunames Valkyrie after she had destroyed his Masked Beast Des Gardius. The whole time during the duel, Marik had a smirk on his face, unperturbed by all of Mai's moves.

"What's with this guy? He's up there acting all carefree," Jounouchi remarked, "Mai! Don't let your guard down!"

"Shut up!" Mai snapped back, "you're pissing me off!"

"Mai-san, please listen to-" Akia started to try and warn her.

"I don't want to hear anything more, especially from you!" Mai interrupted her.

Marik had his same smirk on while he was coming up with an idea to break down his opponent in front of all of her friends. He took out his Millennium Rod and pointed it at Mai.

"It is time we end this petty little farce..." Marik stated, "woman, I plan to sacrifice you. That's enough of a warm up."

"Warm up?!" Mai retorted.

"He isn't...!" The pharaoh exclaimed.

Akia gasped in horror, knowing what was about to happen.

"Now, let the Dark Game begin!"  Marik announced.

Dark clouds enveloped the area, isolating the game from outside interference.

"Dragon Maiden!" The voice that Akia had heard during her duel with Rishid sounded once more. Just as before, only her and Bakura could hear it. The red-eyed girl clutched her head, trying to keep the voice out.

"Akia...!" The Spirit of the Ring whispered to her and held her by her shoulders.

"Only in this realm do I have direct access to you. I, the Ruler of Darkness, and you, the Priestess of Darkness, reunited once more." Akia's body shook in fear as the voice got clearer and more menacing. The Spirit of the Ring, on the other hand, was feeling a sense of familiarity with the voice. Seeing the state that Akia was in, however, he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly to comfort her as much as he could.