Destined to be Yours

Chapter 78: Breaking the Code

"This castle is way too big!" Akia whined. "Why is it that, in every virtual world I go to, it suddenly becomes a walking simulator? Can't we just teleport to the next level or something?"

Marik sighed in annoyance. He had been listening to her nonstop complaining for a while now and was close to reaching his limit.

Meanwhile, two duels were going on. Ouka Chikuzen, with his Deck Master Judge man, was dueling with Jounouchi. He had been cheating, but got called out by Noah who wanted to stop the duel. Jounouchi, on the other hand, wanted to keep going with Ouka if the latter promised to not cheat anymore. Yugi had reunited with Anzu, who had won her duel against Otaki Shuzo and his penguin deck, and both friends were watching the blond young man's duel. In a separate location, Ota Soichiro, and his Deck Master Robotic Knight, had set his eyes on Shizuka. Honda and Otogi had tried to convince him to let them take her place, but it ended up being all three of them against him.

Akia kept walking and trying to open the numerous doors in the never-ending corridors. Every time letting out an irritated groan since none of them would open. "This is driving me insane!"

"You're driving me insane!" Marik retorted, unable to hold in his frustration for much longer.

"Well excuse me for trying to find a way out! You've just been walking and following me around this whole time!" The red-eyed girl snapped back.

"You've been whining and complaining about everything without trying to just stop and think of a way out of this," the young man reprimanded her.

"Well, since you're so smart then, what do you suggest?" The girl huffed and asked sarcastically.

Without saying a word, Marik took out his Millennium Rod and went up to one of the doors. He then struck the knob a few times with the end of his Rod, breaking it off. The young man then kicked open the door, that easily swung open, revealing a long corridor, lit up with what looked like strips of bright white LED lights. Akia blinked a few times, shocked that she hadn't thought of this herself earlier. "If you were planning on doing this, why didn't you do it earlier?"

"I was wondering why I was ever attracted to such a bumbling idiot. The more I looked at you, the more repulsed I became, which, in the end, is best for me. That way, I'll actually be able to finally free myself of this destiny we share and get rid of you once and for all," Marik chuckled.

Akia frowned, feeling the sting of his words. She reminded herself that she was not in the presence of the real Marik. She was dealing with his evil split personality. The red-eyed girl knew that, once Marik was back to normal, he would never say those things to her, or at least she hoped. Without even glancing at the man, she walked past him and into the dark corridor. Seeing how obviously she was hurt by what he had said, Marik tried to brush off the small ball of guilt that was welling up in his stomach. He then followed behind her silently.

Having won his match, Jounouchi joined up with his two friends, Yugi and Anzu. The three of them wandered about for a little, ending up in a virtual version of the hangar where the blimp was stationed. It was where Jounouchi had been prior to his match, believing that he had made it out, only to be ambushed by Ouka Chikuzen before being challenged to a duel. It was also, coincidentally, where Shizuka, Honda, and Otogi were having their duel. Honda had lost his Deck Master, however, falling into a pit of lava underneath. Shizuka had seemingly lost all hope, but her brother was able to cheer her up, helping her gain back her confidence and use her Deck Master's ability, and defeating Ota Soichiro.

Akia suddenly stopped walking along the corridor. Marik almost bumped into her, due to her abrupt halt.

"What is it?" He asked.