The Koke were handling the storm rather well. Their riders, however, weren't feeling as comfortable. The hot and violent wind was blowing at them, carrying grains of sand that scraped their skin. None of them dared talk, since it might lead to a mouthful of sand.
Suddenly, a monster emerged from the ground with tentacles preparing to attack the group.
"Watch out!" Yugi warned everyone.
The Kokes started panicking and running around wildly.
"This is not goooood!" Jounouchi yelled out.
They then regained control over their respective Koke.
"Alright, that's it! You're going down!" Jounouchi said and then drew a card from his deck, "Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Destroy that thing!"
Just as instructed, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon attacked the monster with his fireball. Not standing a chance against the dragon's attack power, the monster incinerated almost immediately. Akia was awed at seeing the Red-Eyes again. It was so majestic and beautiful. Even though she was happy that the card belonged to Jounouchi, she felt like it was a bit of a shame that it didn't belong to her instead.
"Let's get a move on," Mai announced.
"Look over there!" Mokuba pointed.
Now that the sandstorm dissipated, the group could see the temple not too far ahead.
"So the sandstorm was probably caused by that monster," Akia concluded.
"In any case, let's hurry to the temple," Yugi said.
With that said, they all headed to the temple. After a bit of a walking, they arrived in front of the majestic entrance. Mokuba then ran inside without waiting for anyone.
"Mokuba!" Akia called out to the boy.
"Damn it, he gets so worked up when it comes to Kaiba!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
Mai called back the Koke to their card and the group went after Mokuba up the stairs. They found him standing in front of a dark cave. The five of them ventured inside.
"This is kind of creepy," Mai shuddered.
"This must be the Cave of Death that that villager told me about..." Jounouchi said.
"We have no choice but to keep going," Yugi told his friends.
Everyone kept going until they reached a big wooden door.
"Let's open it," Jounouchi suggested.
Once they stepped inside, they all realized that it was the start of a maze.
"It can't be! A labyrinth field?!" The blond boy cried out.
The door behind them closed up, trapping them inside.
"The door...!" Akia exclaimed.
"Dammit, we're trapped!" Jounouchi remarked.
"What do we do now?!" Mai asked.
"There's got to be an exit to this labyrinth," Yugi concluded.
Right after what Yugi said, a female scream sounded from the depth of the labyrinth.
"What was that?" The blonde woman inquired.
"Someone's trapped in here!" Yugi exclaimed.
Jounouchi then barged through the group and ran into the maze. "We're on the way!"
"Hey, Jounouchi! Geez... He rushes so fast when he hears a girl scream! Even when he's got a real woman right here," the older woman called out to the clueless teen.
Akia smirked at Mai. "I know right?" The former said in a teasing voice. She could see that Mai was a bit jealous.
"We should hurry after Jounouchi before we lose-" A big explosion sound interrupted Yugi as a giant blue tank broke through a labyrinth wall and faced them.
"Aaah!" Akia screamed.
"What?!" Mai yelled out.
The monster's stats displayed as (2400/2400).
"Demonic Tank of the Labyrinth?! Run!" Yugi shouted out.
They all ran in the labyrinth, trying to escape from the monster. They reached an intersection where Jounouchi was still deciding on where to go.
"Jounouchi-kun! Run!" Yugi yelled to his friend.
Jounouchi looked at the monster chasing them and screamed. He then immediately ran to the left where everyone followed him. As they ran, another tank appeared in front of them. Jounouchi stood in front of Mai in a protective manner, "that bastard! I better get rid of it!"
They all soon realized that three tanks were blocking the three ways around them, trapping them in the middle.
"We're trapped...!" Mai worriedly exclaimed.
"Shit! Is this the end?!" Jounouchi said in a panicked voice.
"Don't give up yet!" Yugi confidently claimed.
"Yeah, I know but..." The blond teen retorted.
The three tanks prepared to attack. By the time they could get rid of one, the other two would've already launched their attack. The only way was to escape. Yugi pulled out a card from his deck, "Magical Silk Hat!"
A black hat enveloped them right before the attack. When the tanks shot their lasers, the hat got destroyed, revealing no one inside. Other hats had spawned in different locations in the labyrinth. Under one of them was the group. The hat dissolved, revealing everyone unharmed by the previous attack.
"Man, that saved us! Nice reflexes there, Yugi," Jounouchi complimented his friend and gave him a thumbs up.
The mechanical sound of the tanks rolling echoed in the halls.
"They're still following us?!" Mai shouted out.
"Which way should we go?" Mokuba asked.
A small flying ball of light approached them.
"That's...!" Akia called out.
"The fairy from before!" Yugi exclaimed.
It motioned for them to follow it.
"Does it mean it's trying to guide us out of here?" Jounouchi inquired.
"Let's check it out," Mai suggested.
They all started following the fairy around until they heard someone call it by its name, "Earu!"
Jounouchi, Yugi, Mai, Akia, and Mokuba stood wide-eyed at the person in front of them.
"...Mokuba? Why the heck are you dressed that way?" Jounouchi asked.
It was a person who looked exactly like Mokuba, but was wearing a dress.
"Idiot, I'm right over here," Mokuba stepped up next to Jounouchi.
"They look exactly the same... What was Kaiba thinking?" Akia sighed.
"Seriously..." Mai agreed.
Mokuba completely ignored them all and went up to Mokuba in the dress. "So the person screaming before was you?"
"A-And you guys are...?" The game sprite had a very feminine voice.
"Save the introductions for later. For now, do you know where the exit is?" Jounouchi questioned, eager to get out.
"I don't know..." She shook her head. Everyone sighed in exasperation.
"But Earu can help us," the Mokuba look-alike added.
Their expressions immediately lifted and they started following Earu around once more. After a bit of running around, they finally reached the exit of the labyrinth.
"Yes! We're out!" Jounouchi cheered.
Their celebration didn't last very long, though, since, right in front of them, a giant monster blocked the way.
"Shit! It's the Gate Guardian!" The blonde teen cursed.
"How do you know about it?!" Akia asked.
"Jounouchi and I fought it in the Duelist Kingdom!" Yugi answered her.
The stats of the Gate Guardian then appeared (3750/3400).
"We don't have a card that can beat that!" Mai yelled out.
"Just leave it to us! Let's go, Yugi!" Jounouchi replied.
Yugi nodded, knowing exactly what Jounouchi expected him to do.
"Red-Eye Black Dragon!" The blond teen called forth his monster.
"Demon Summon!" Yugi followed suit.
"Fusion! Come! Black Demon's Dragon (3200/2500)!" They both said together as the two monster cards fused into one powerful monster. A giant dragon with Demon Summon's bones and muscle came forth. Akia, Mokuba, and Mai stared in awe.
"So close! It's still not enough to stop that thing!" Mai exclaimed.
"We're not done yet! Dark Dragon-Type Claws! This spell gives it a 700 attack point boost (3900/2500)! Go! Meteor Flare!" Yugi retorted.
Black Demon's Dragon shot a fireball at the Gate Guardian and obliterated it.
"A-Amazing!" The female Mokuba stuttered, "thank you very much. How can I repay you?"
"Don't mention it," Jounouchi replied.
"Now let's get out of here," Yugi said.
The group then saw a bunch of lights far in the distance beyond the exit. There were also voices calling out "Meyari-sama." They assumed that was the name of the female Mokuba.
"Bara!" Meyari called out.
Bara, an old bubbly lady, was accompanied by a few guards and was smiling happily, "Meyari-sama! I'm so glad you're safe! Hm?" She looked at the five people behind Meyari, "and who might these people behind you be?"
"These people just saved my life," Meyari replied then she invited them to her castle so that they could rest and discuss some matters.