Rare Hunter: "I draw!"

As soon as he got a glimpse of what the card was, he grinned widely. It was a pot of greed. He already had the right leg and right arm of Exodia in his hand. He had a chance to gather even more Exodia parts with Pot of Greed. Just as he was about to add it to his hand, Akia intervened.

"I activate my trap: Drop off!"

The rare hunter's eyes widened in surprise.

Rare Hunter: "What?!"

"I guess you probably know what it does then. But just for the sake of being fair, I'll explain it to everyone. This trap card takes effect once my opponent draws a card at the beginning of their turn. It then forces them to discard the card that they just drew. Which means your card that you looked so happy to draw is going to be removed from play."

Reluctantly, the rare hunter discarded his Pot of Greed which was immediately sent out of play thanks to Akia's Banisher of Radiance.

Rare Hunter: "I end my turn..."

He didn't have any monsters he could summon other than the parts of Exodia. However, he had already lost quite a few of them and he didn't want to risk losing any more. He knew that he was defenceless for the next turn, but he felt like it was the better option.

Akia let out a short sigh. She was safe for another turn. It was her turn now and she knew she had to make it count.

"I draw!"

She looked at her hand and found the new spell card that she had just recently added to her deck.

'This seems like the right time to use this.'

"I activate my spell card: Ante."

Marik, who had been watching the whole duel, smirked. He knew from the beginning that his rare hunter didn't stand a chance. He only wanted to use him to evaluate the pharaoh's skills. Now that Akia was the one battling him, he couldn't care less about the outcome, since his conflict was not with her. It was however, very amusing to watch. He was impressed by her and he found this duel quite entertaining.

The rare hunter on the other hand, was starting to panic. The spell card Ante required each player to present one card from their hand. The one who presents the card with the lower level has to discard that card into the graveyard and receives 1000 points of damage. Both the cards in his hand were Exodia parts, which each only had one star. If he discarded either of them, his whole strategy would be ruined, since he didn't have any more spares of them in his deck.

"What are you waiting for? You know the rules."

Akia was smiling smugly, noticing the visibly agitated demeanour of her opponent. The rare hunter frowned and, with visibly shaking hands, picked one of his Exodia cards and revealed it as Akia revealed her own card.

Akia revealed Gren Maju Da Eiza, being the only monster card in her hand. She admitted that she was taking a great risk, since her monster was only a level 3 monster, but she knew that there was an even bigger chance that her opponent only had Exodia cards in their hand.

According to the card's rules, it was Akia's win, forcing the rare hunter to discard his Exodia card, the right leg of Exodia and causing him to lose 1000 life points.

"I guess it's time to end this. I summon my Gren Maju Da Eiza(?/?). Thanks to its ability, my monster gains 400 ATK and DEF points for each of my cards that were removed from play."

Jounouchi: "There it is! Akia's signature strategy!"

Anzu: "How many of her cards were removed from play?"

Yugi: "Well... I didn't really keep track of the whole thing, but around ten I think."

Bakura: "It was exactly eleven cards."

Honda: "So that means... Her monster's attack and defence will go up to 4400!"

Akia sighed in boredom. This rare hunter didn't prove to be much of a challenge for her.

"Well this is pretty anticlimactic. You didn't even put up enough of a challenge for me to use a different strategy from my usual one. In any case, I guess I'll just attack your life points directly."

When Akia's Gren Maju Da Eiza attacked, the rare hunter's life points plummeted down to zero along with the man himself.

"Come on dude. No need to be so dramatic. Just get up already."

Akia and the other Yugi then walked up to the man who was now lying motionless on the floor. Yugi took some of the man's Exodia cards to look at them.

Yugi: "These cards... They're counterfeits!"

"I had a feeling... To be able to have three copies of every single Exodia part is almost impossible to achieve."

Yugi tore up the fake Exodia cards. Akia then took the Red Eyes Black Dragon back, as well as the puzzle card that her opponent had. The rare hunter's hand then twitched as he was starting to regain a bit of his consciousness.

Rare Hunter: "I... lost..."

Jounouchi and the others had come up to join Akia and Yugi. All of their attention was then directed at the rare hunter who had started talking.

Rare hunter: "My... ultimate deck..."

He then shot upwards while gasping in fear. He then held his head in his hands and screamed in pain. Alarmed by the sudden reaction, Akia and the others took a few steps away from the rare hunter.

"What's happening to him?!"

The rare hunter was wheezing in horror. His voice was overcome with pure terror.

Rare Hunter: "Help me! He's here... He's here... Help me!"

Jounouchi: "This guy's acting really weird!"

The man looked so scared that Akia was starting to really worry about him.

"H-Hey, calm down! Who's here? How can we help you?"

That's when the eye of Anubis appeared in a shining golden light on the rare hunter's forehead.

Rare Hunter: "He's coming...!"

'That symbol...! It's the eye of Anubis! The one that's on the millennium items!'

The man's irises started rolling back into his head, leaving only the whites of his eyes.

Rare Hunter: "Marik-sama...!"

His voice then choked out and his arms went limp as he had a completely vacant expression on his face.

Akia's eyes widened at the name that the rare hunter called out. So it was Marik who was behind this.

"Why...?"

The man then hunched forward.

Rare Hunter: "It's been a long time, Yugi."

His voice was completely different. Akia brought her hands to her mouth. By deduction, she knew that that voice belonged to Marik. The rare hunter then turned to Akia.

Rare Hunter: "Akia. The great duelist who defeated Pegasus."

"Marik...? Are you really Marik?"

Rare Hunter: "It seems you do remember. It's a shame that it doesn't matter anymore, though. You mean nothing to me. My business is not with you."

Those words cut deeper than Akia expected them to. Marik, the boy she had been waiting to see again for so long, just told her that he couldn't care less about her. The evil spirit of the ring, having taken over Bakura, witnessed the whole scene. He smirked internally, knowing that this could be his chance to make Akia hate Marik. Trying to keep his identity hidden, he put his hands on Akia's arms from behind to comfort her.

Marik, who saw that unfold, felt his blood boil. He didn't know why, though. It was his decision to distance himself from Akia, but he couldn't stand another man getting close to her. He shrugged the feeling off as best as he could and kept going.

Rare Hunter: "The man you just faced was the weakest of the rare hunters. Us Ghouls have much more strength than that."

Jounouchi was completely confused about the situation.

Jounouchi: "Hey... what's this guy talking about?"

Rare Hunter: "Whoops. I didn't mean to surprise you. The man speaking with you isn't the one before you. I'm in a place a bit further away. I've implanted a bit of my memory in him. So I can control him whenever I want."

Yugi: "Who are you, really?"

Rare Hunter: "Like you, I am chosen by the millennium items. I'm controlling everything he does with the power of my millennium rod.

Yugi: "Millennium rod?"

Yugi then remembered something that Ishizu had told him. She had warned him about an enemy appearing in front him. She had told him that that person also wielded a millennium item.

Rare Hunter: "In any case, I was merely introducing myself. I guess I don't really need to say more, since Akia seems to already have figured it out."

Yugi: "Marik! What are you Ghouls after?"

Rare Hunter: "To gather the three legendary god cards that have revived in this modern world."

Yugi: "God cards?"

Rare Hunter: "According to the Ancient Egyptians, three stone slabs were said to possess the power of darkness. Obelisk the great war god, Osiris the sky dragon, and the sun dragon Ra. The one to gather all three god cards and who takes the title of "Pharaoh" will be granted a power strong enough to control the world. We Ghouls have already obtained two of the god cards. The remaining one is in the hands of someone in this town. Yugi, the game has just started. A rare hunter with a god card is already lurking in your town. And if you meet him, Yugi, even with your skills, it'll be instant death."

Yugi: "We'll see about that. I'd never hand the title of "Pharaoh" or the power to rule the world to the likes of you. And even if the rare hunter holding a god card appears before me, I won't lose."

Marik chuckled.

Rare Hunter: "I'm looking forward to testing that theory."

Marik then knocked the rare hunter out using his millennium rod's power, causing him to fall to the ground.

Jounouchi: "He's out cold. The power to control people, huh? Just where the hell's this Marik bastard hiding, anyway?"

Akia, still feeling hurt from what Marik said, tried to pull herself together. She took the Red Eyes Black Dragon card and handed it to Jounouchi.

"Here's your card back, Jounouchi."

Jounouchi looked at it, but didn't take it from Akia.

Jounouchi: "Akia... Right now I can't take Red Eyes back. If I take that card now, I'll feel like I'm getting further from the True Duelist I'm trying to become."

"Jounouchi...?"

Jounouchi: "You and Yugi are the closest to what I consider a "True Duelist." When I was in Duelist Kingdom, I felt like I was fighting for something. But I think I lost that feeling... You guys always fight fairly, even against opponents who use cheap tricks. What I was missing was that duelist pride that you guys have. It's true that Red-Eyes means more to me than any other card in the world. He's been my fighting partner for a long time now. And that's why I can't take him back now. No, the way I am now, Red-Eyes wouldn't let me. So anyway, Akia, I'll leave that card to you for now. I'll use my time wizard as my rare card to bet. I want to become someone I can respect... a True Duelist. I'll become one in this battle city. Yugi, Akia... When the time comes and I become a True Duelist, please fight me."

The other Yugi smiled at his friend's resolve.

Yugi: "I understand."

Akia smiled as well, feeling happy about Jounouchi's feelings for Red-Eyes.

"I'll keep Red-Eyes for now, but... You'll have to take him back one day. I... I mean he wants to be back by your side, fighting alongside you."

Jounouchi nodded in determination.

Jounouchi: "Thank you... Both of you..."

"Alright! Enough about that, let's go duel!"

Yugi, Jounouchi, and Akia then went their separate ways. Honda had already left on his way to the hospital where Shizuka was staying. Bakura went off on his own to find out more about Marik's whereabouts. Anzu, realizing that she had just been left behind, started running after Yugi.

Anzu: "Wait for me!"