Destined to be Yours

Chapter 80: The Semi-Finals Begin

Akia joined back with her friends when her gondola descended. They all congratulated her, especially Jounouchi who was so hyped that she used his card.

"I got chills when you summoned Red-Eyes!" The blond young man exclaimed.

"Wasn't it the coolest thing ever?!" Akia matched her friend's enthusiasm. "When it materialized in front of me, I almost screamed from how excited I was!"

"Alright, calm down you two," Anzu giggled. "We need to get up so that we can cheer Yugi on."

The group of friends followed Mokuba who showed them the way up. When they arrived, Yugi and Seto were taking their spots on the dueling platform.

"The Duel between Kaiba and Mutou Yugi will now begin!" Isono announced.

"Let's go, Yugi!" Kaiba declared to his opponent. "My Obelisk or your Osiris! Now it's time for our gods to clash! For a battle of this magnitude, this dueling arena is hardly fitting. Therefore, I have prepared a battle stage worthy of our fated duel! Solid Vision System! Activate!" The young CEO pressed some buttons on his Duel Disk which moved the Solid Vision projectors in a position where they started projecting over the whole arena.

A Roman Coliseum materializes all around, leaving everyone in awe at the grandiose display.

"Kaiba is so extra, but this is impressive, nonetheless..." Akia whispered.

"This ultimate battle between us will be held in the Sky Coliseum!" Kaiba stated.

The holographic crowd then started cheering Kaiba's name over and over.

"What the...?!" Honda exclaimed.

"We can't let those hyper-realistic pictures win!" Akia told her friends. "Yugi! Yugi! Yugi!"

Her friends started cheering with her until the virtual crowd stopped.

"Yugi, after countless battles, we will finally decide once and for all who the winner is. We will fight like the Ancient Roman gladiators with their lives for pride and freedom!" Kaiba continued, unperturbed. "Now, draw your sword from the cards in your deck!"

The duel started and Yugi had the first turn. Marik had finally come up to spectate the show that was going on. When Akia heard him, she could not help but turn around to look at him. He gave her his usual evil grin that made her whole body shiver from fear. As Yugi and Kaiba were proceeding with their duel, Marik's Millennium Rod started reacting strangely, which alarmed him. It seemed to be responding to Kaiba, but the young Egyptian Man had no clue what was happening with it. He decided to withdraw from the arena, planning to expedite his plans to gain full control over his dominant personality by finding and killing Rishid once and for all.

The fragment of Marik's dominant personality that was still residing in Anzu took over. Seeing how his evil personality had left the arena so suddenly, he decided to follow him, knowing he was up to no good.

"Anzu? Where are you going?" Honda asked.

"I really need to go to the bathroom," Marik answered as Anzu, not bothering to give more details as he was in quite a hurry to catch up to his other self.

Akia knew that something was off. She knew that Anzu would never leave in the middle of Yugi's match like that without a proper explanation. She was also aware that Marik had left just before Anzu. The red-eyed girl decided to go after her friend, having the inkling that maybe she was possessed by Marik's dominant half at that moment. Before leaving, though, she told her friends, "I'm going to go make sure that Anzu is alright. We'll both be back soon."

"We'll catch you up on what happens while you're away," Jounouchi told Akia.

The black-haired girl quickly ran after Anzu who had already rode the elevator down. Akia hoped that she'd catch up in time.

The evil side of Marik was indeed on his way to the blimp. He had stopped at the entrance of the tower, looking at his Millennium Rod and wondering why it was still not responding to him properly. "Why did it respond to them...? I'm the Millennium Rod's master. Rod, respond to me!" When the Millennium Rod didn't react to him, Marik, in a frustrated fit, threw it on the ground. His dominant side then arrived just in time to pick it up.

"And you are...?" The dark side of Marik asked, not understanding why Anzu would be confronting him. "Something I can do for you, woman? That's not something I would recommend just picking up off the ground. Hand it over!" Before Marik could get to Anzu, his dominant personality used the Rod's powers to push him away. "Why is the Millennium Rod...?!" A confused Marik inquired before he realized who he was actually dealing with. "You...!" He then chuckled after getting over the initial shock. "I see. So you're telling me you left a piece of your memory behind within that woman?"

"I will no longer let you do as you please!" Marik said from within Anzu, walking closer to his other half, guiding him to the cliff behind him. "I will end this once and for all."

"Sure about that?" His dark personality replied. "You haven't gone and forgotten, have you? This body belongs to you as well."

"I know! But there is no other way to stop you than to kill it!"

"So you're willing to go that far? But you know, our dear sister is going to be very sad. And let's not even mention how devastated our little Akia would be. And don't forget Rishid... What do you think he will do when he finds out that he was not able to protect you?"

Marik's dominant side hesitated, thinking of all the people he would hurt again. That moment of hesitation, however, made his dark personality trick him and take back the Millennium Rod from his hand. "And that's why I say you're too soft!" Marik held Anzu's wrist, taking the Millennium Rod from her and throwing her on the ground. He then pointed the item at her. "How quickly can a situation change," he laughed.

"Get away from her!" Akia yelled out while running to the pair, Millennium Scale in hand.

"Akia...!" Marik's fragment within Anzu gasped as she stood in between them, pointing her Scale at Marik's Rod.

Anzu got up and Marik spoke through her. "Akia, please if you can, get rid of my body. It's the only way to stop him!"

Akia shook her head. "No. I won't let that happen. I can't lose you."

"Please... Forget about me. It's already too late. I heard the truth that my sister told everyone. The evil personality that I created is the one that killed my father. I'm nothing but a murderer," Marik's true personality said.

"It's not too late! We'll find a way...!" Akia felt the tears sting her eyes. She couldn't even turn to Anzu as she was trying to protect them from Marik's evil personality. The latter was just smirking while watching the events unfold.

"Find a way to get rid of him... I'm already lost..." The memory fragment then faded from within Anzu, making her lose consciousness.

"Hmph... I knew he wouldn't stand a chance with mere memory fragments. I can't wait for our duel, my dear. Only then will I finally break our destiny and forever be free of you. I've got a very special duel prepared just for us," Marik chuckled as he walked away.

Akia fell to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks. The red-eyed girl looked to Anzu's motionless body and quickly wiped her tears, knowing that she needed to help her friend. She went to Anzu and carried her, with great difficulty, on her back. She opted to go back up the tower since it was much closer than the blimp, where she would ask one of the guys to help her.

She rode the elevator to the top, sitting Anzu up against the elevator wall. When it reached the top, she quickly went to Honda who was the closest to the back, not wanting to alarm anyone else. She especially did not want to distract Yugi from his duel.

After dragging Honda to the elevator and explaining things to him, they both brought Anzu back to the blimp where they laid her in Akia's bed. Ishizu was in Akia's room at the same time.

The Egyptian woman asked what had happened and, when Akia filled her in, the two women hugged each other and let out a few tears. Marik was getting further and further away from them.

"I will get him back... I will..." The red-eyed girl sniffled. Ishizu nodded, hoping with every fibre of her being that her brother would indeed be saved.