"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.
"These dark clouds..." Anzu observed.
"It's the same as when Akia fought Pegasus," Honda added.
At the mention of Akia, they all looked at her, finding her shaking in Bakura's arms.
"Akia!" The Spirit of the Puzzle called out to her.
"Don't worry, she's fine," the Spirit of the Ring reassured them, not wanting them to pay too much attention to what was happening, "she's just distraught that her friend is going through a Dark Game."
At the mention of Mai, Akia finally snapped out of her fear and took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She then got away from Bakura, at his dismay and looked straight at Marik.
"Stop this at once!" She said to him.
"Oh, such authority," Marik ridiculed her. "What do you think you can accomplish? You will also fall prey to the darkness as soon as I get to you."
"The darkness has no power over me. I am part of the darkness," Akia said, and then put her hand on her mouth, surprised by her words. It was as if another person had said these words through her.
Marik frowned, feeling a strong power emanating from her. It really did seem as though she was in control of the darkness as well, maybe even more than him. The Spirit of the Puzzle put his hand on Akia's shoulder.
"Akia, don't let it consume you, whatever it is that is trying to take over," he told her. He then looked at the blonde woman who was feeling very disoriented with everything that was happening, "Mai! This duel is dangerous, you cannot accept it. You have to surrender!"
"Yugi! Are you trying to insult me?!" Mai frowned at him, "once a duelist accepts a duel, if they show their enemy their back, a part of their heart dies! You should know that better than anybody else!"
"Mai-san, this is a completely different situation!" Akia retorted.
"Yugi! Akia! Jounouchi! I'll win this duel no matter what happens so that I can fight you guys next!" Mai exclaimed.
"Don't bother anymore, Yugi, Akia. No matter what we say to her, Mai won't stop," Jounouchi told his friends, "don't you dare lose, Mai..."
With that, Mai accepted the dark game, and Marik relished in anticipation of her suffering. The duel continued. The first monster that Mai summoned glowed in a strange purple light, causing everyone to question what was happening.
"Kujaku Mai, you can see this because you are participating in the Dark Game," Marik explained, "the light illuminating your monster, that light is the very light of your existence. Rather than me explaining it, you'll understand better if you see it for yourself. This is a game of dismay and fear and you will feel emotions beyond anything you've ever experienced in this duel!"
Mai looked at Marik and steadied her resolve. She was not about to be intimidated by him. She used her monster to attack her Dunames that was on Marik's side of the field, bringing his Life Points down to 2350.
Marik chuckled when she did. "Since Dunames was originally your monster, the effect of the darkness will activate on you."
"Effect of the darkness," Mai inquired.
"That's right," the madman answered, "every single monster on the field holds within a piece of human memory that belongs to either you or me. Of course, once that monster is destroyed, the very piece of memory within it shall disappear."
"But that's impossible!" Mai responded in disbelief.
"What is he even saying?" Jounouchi inquired.
A blank card then appeared on the field and started spinning.
"Let's see... Who's going to disappear from your memory first?" Marik chuckled.
The card then instantly stopped spinning and Anzu appeared in it.
"Anzu!" Mai gasped.
"She shall be the first to vanish from your memory," her opponent answered.
Mai then looked at Anzu, not believing that it could happen.
"Kujaku Mai, I have seen your biggest fears. The eye of my Millennium Rod allows me to know the truth behind one's desires. It's the most suitable way to get under your skin. I can see it. The vision of you crying out about how lonely you are. Kujaku Mai, your biggest fear is the loneliness of your friends disappearing right before your eyes," Marik said as he relished the growing fear in his prey's eyes.
"That's not possible!" Mai tried to deny it.
"Then try to think of her! That girl's face!" The young Egyptian man commanded.
As Mai tried to remember Anzu, her silhouette was covered by shadows. The woman clutched her head, feeling distraught. "I can't remember!"
"Now, woman, you've taken your first step towards true loneliness," Marik smirked.
Anzu had completely disappeared from Mai's sight. When she looked towards her friends, the girl she had forgotten had vanished, when, in reality, she was still standing there.
"Hey, Mai! What's wrong?!" Jounouchi called out, seeing the panic in her eyes.
"Mai!" Yugi yelled out as well.
"Please don't hurt Mai-san!" Akia begged.
"Heh," Marik chuckled, "this is only the beginning of the your suffering. Kujaku Mai, you shall suffer and despair before you die a miserable death. And that is why this is called a Dark Game."