Akia ran up to the top of the blimp, hoping to still find Marik and Bakura alive and well. As she feared, when she reached the dueling ring, it was enveloped by a layer of darkness.
"Of course," Akia sighed, feeling the panic rise up within her. She took out her Millennium Scale from her backpack and used it to penetrate the darkness. The eye of Anubis lit up on her forehead and she transported herself inside the realm of the dark game that Marik and Bakura were partaking in.
Sensing a breach, both players looked towards the direction of the intrusion.
"Akia! I thought I told you to stay put!" The Spirit of the Ring reprimanded her.
The girl looked in his direction, noticing that most of his body was gone. She looked around and saw creatures of darkness floating around.
"They are eating his soul and body," the soft voice informed her.
"So... the more Life Points they lose, the more the creatures drag them into the darkness," Akia mumbled.
"Hey! Akia! Are you listening? Keep disobeying me and I won't be as lenient as I've been," the one possessing Bakura warned her.
"Stop talking to her like this! Who do you think you are?!" The fragment of the real Marik that was within Bakura's soul rebuked.
"Before you came along, she belonged to me! Don't think you can just waltz in and claim her," the Spirit of the Ring spat.
"I'm not claiming anyone! Akia's free to do what she wants to do! She's not anyone's possession!" The real Marik yelled back.
Marik's words warmed Akia's heart. More than anything she wanted him to come back and she knew that this duel was only going to make things worse, no matter the outcome.
"Trouble in paradise, I see," Marik's evil personality chuckled. "All of it over this girl. Then again, I do get the appeal. Once both of you are out of my way, she'll be at my mercy."
"In your dreams, you lunatic!" The Spirit of the Ring insulted the young Egyptian man.
Akia, at this point, couldn't care less about what they were saying. She just knew that this all needed to end.
"Please, everyone, stop this duel!" Akia yelled out.
"Why would you want it to stop? Are you worried I won't win?" The Ring's inhabitant inquired.
"If you win, then Marik will disappear. Both his dark personality and his real personality," the red-eyed girl started explaining, "but if Marik wins, then Ryou will be lost in the darkness along with a fragment of the real Marik. I don't want to lose anyone anymore. Please, don't go through with this...!"
"Akia..." The real Marik called out to her, "if I'm not defeated, more people will get hurt. Even if it means me disappearing, it's for the best..."
"No it's not!" Akia interrupted him, "have you ever thought about how I'd feel if you were gone? I finally found you again and now you're saying that it's better off if you just disappeared forever? I can't accept that... I won't accept it! I will go to the end of the world, to the innermost depths of darkness and I will drag you out of it!"
"Akia...!" The real Marik called out with a shaking voice, "I wish I had realized this earlier... All I want is to be with you! I don't want to disappear!"
"Hahaha quite the display you two have there," Marik's evil personality laughed, "it's too late to stop this, however. I'm about to end this in one turn."
Everyone's focus was brought back to the game.
"Playtime is over," the dark Marik continued, "I'm about to send you both to the World of Darkness! I activate the magic card from my hand, Resurrection of the Dead. Of course the one I will bring back to the field is the Winged Dragon of Ra!"
From the graveyard in Bakura's duel disk, flames burst out as the god card was special summoned to the field on Marik's side. Akia watched in horror, knowing she was powerless to stop them.
"But because it was not tribute summoned, its stats should be zero," the real Marik stated, "plus, Resurrection of the Dead will only affect it for one turn. If we can survive this turn, the god will disappear."
His other personality replied smugly, "we'll see about that... You don't understand the true power of Ra!" He then started reciting another Hieratic spell.
"What the hell? What is he doing?" Bakura inquired.
"I don't know. This is the first time I've heard this Hieratic text," the fragment of Marik replied.
Once he was done, Marik's evil personality's body started rapidly disappearing. "I'll tell you Ra's special ability..." he talked calmly with the same smirk on his face. "As written on the card in Hieratic text: "He who chants the third litany may keep one Life Point and transfer the remainder unto Ra's attack and defence points for one turn"!"
"The player's Life Points change into Ra's attack and defence points?!" Bakura exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's right. It's been a fun duel, Bakura," his opponent replied.
"No... Please don't do this..." Akia muttered under her breath.
The dark personality's body then fused with Ra, leaving only a fragment of it on the field as he laughed triumphantly, declaring the final attack of the duel.
"God Blaze Cannon!" Marik's evil personality yelled out and flames engulfed Bakura's side of the field. "Destroy every monster and kill the player! Now die my residual thoughts!"
"No! Marik! Ryou!" Akia yelled out as she heard the real Marik's scream of pain as he disappeared.
When the flames dissipated, Bakura was left there, smirking. "I'll let you win this time."
"Those are some brave words," Marik replied sarcastically.
"But remember this! I'll be resurrected in due time to kill you! I originated from the darkness anyway," the Spirit of the Ring stated while his body was disappearing, his laugh echoing in the darkness. The Millennium Ring then fell to the ground.
Before Marik could go and get it, Akia jumped up on the platform and grabbed it quickly.
"You...!" Marik took his Millennium Rod and tried to freeze her in place, but Akia had prepared herself for this and used her Millennium Scale to protect herself.
"I won't let you have this," the red-eyed girl confronted him, "this is all I have left of Ryou and I won't let you take it away. Believe me when I say that I will erase your existence and I will bring out your true personality back to the surface! I won't fall for your tricks anymore. You are not Marik, you will never be Marik!"
"Akia!" A voice called out to her from the entrance to the roof.
The red-eyed girl looked to the voice and called back, "Yugi!"
It was the Spirit of the Pharaoh more precisely. Akia ran to him so that Marik wouldn't be able to reach her.
"So you came here too, Yugi," Marik scoffed.
"Where did you send Bakura?" The pharaoh demanded to know.
"Who know? Nobody knows where those who lose the Dark Games are sent so how should I know," the Egyptian man chuckled. "Yugi! It'll be your turn very soon! You'll reunite with Bakura in the next world!"
Marik then left the are while laughing. Yugi walked Akia back to her room. As soon as she was there with just Ishizu, she broke down in tears while clutching the Millennium Ring. The Egyptian woman, seeing her in such a state, ran to Akia and hugged the girl, in an effort to comfort her.
"There, there..." Ishizu whispered soothingly.
They were then both interrupted by a knock on the door. Akia wiped her tears as much as she could while Ishizu went to get the door. When she opened it, the visitor revealed to be Anzu.
"You are..." Ishizu said.
"Anzu?" Akia sniffled.
"Sister... Akia..." Anzu whispered with a blank look on her face, "Rishid...!"
"Marik!" The two women called out.
"Save Rishid from that man!" Marik exclaimed.
Both Akia and Ishizu looked to each other and ran to where Rishid was being kept. In a team effort, they brought him back to Akia's room where they laid him on the bed, keeping him away from Marik's evil personality.
In Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, the fragment of the Spirit of the Ring that he had left there back when Keith Howard had smashed the Item, surfaced in a maze that was the inside of the pharaoh's soul.
"I can't believe the Parasite Mind I used a while back would come in handy now," the Spirit chuckled. "The Millennium Ring can seal fragments of one's soul into objects, and the Millennium Puzzle isn't an exception. The moment Marik's attack killed me, I suddenly woke up inside of here. It can't be helped. I'll sit and wait until the Millennium items are all gathered and begin my search for the Door of Truth which lies inside of here."
Marik's evil personality had gone to finish the job and kill Rishid, but, when he arrived in the man's room, it was empty. He frowned, "where the hell did he go?!"
Kaiba had been staying up trying to figure out a way to win against the Winged Dragon of Ra.
"Big brother, you're still up? The finals are tomorrow, you should get some rest," Mokuba told his brother.
"Yeah, I know," Seto softly answered.
The brothers then both got up and, on their way back to their room, Kaiba lingered in front of one of the windows. "The place we're headed for is the final battlefield, Alcatraz. Our stepfather, Gozaburo spent a fortune building that military island and I destroyed it and erected a duel tower on top of its ruins. Mokuba, I will win the final on Alcatraz island and be named the King of Games. Once that happens, I will finally obtain true victory and be free of his shadow!"
The young CEO then smirked, confident that he would prevail.
Unbeknownst to everyone, however, the finals were about to be delayed due to an unwelcome intrusion.