"You heartless bastard!" Rob and Maria yell in unison.

"Do not judge me so harshly," Hideyoshi replies, remaining calm. "I made sure she was captured quickly and painlessly; thanks to me, she was asleep the whole time."

"And remember, he's been corrupted by Aquila, as I was," Chika interjects.

"That won't stop me getting payback," Rob replies gruffly; he turns back to Hideyoshi. "If you have even the smallest shred of honour left in you, you will face me one-on-one. And you won't use your stolen fire powers."

"If that is what you wish, then it shall be," Hideyoshi agrees, stepping down from the dais. As he does so, the flames surrounding his body vanish; simultaneously, a wall of fire separates Rob from the others.

"Rob, no!" Maria cries out as the flames push her back. "Let us fight with you!"

"Sometimes you have to do things alone," Rob replies bluntly.

"As the old saying goes, 'Fortune favours the brave'," Hideyoshi adds. "Then again, there's another that states 'Bravery without intelligence is not bravery'. Which one applies more, I wonder?" he asks Rob.

"Neither," Rob answers deadpan. "He who fights for love needs not of bravery."

"Then it's the latter," Hideyoshi concludes, unsheathing the blade of his naginata.

"I look forward to making you eat those words," Rob replies defiantly, drawing his sai.

Hideyoshi charges, thrusting his naginata blade-first at Rob's abdomen; Rob deftly blocks the attack, deflecting the blade wide; taking advantage of the bat's momentum, Rob makes a thrust of his own; Hideyoshi raises the shaft of his weapon to deflect the attack. The two combatants pass each other and spin to face off once more; this time, Rob charges first. Dodging under a cutting sweep of the naginata, Rob slides under Hideyoshi; the bat leaps just out of range of the sai that would otherwise have gashed his legs. Rob stands just in time to catch the downward sweeping blade in his sai; bracing against Hideyoshi's strength, he pushes the blade up; pushing the advantage, he charges Hideyoshi, sai raised to stab; Hideyoshi is wise to the move, swinging the naginata round so the shaft swings up between Rob's legs; the hare blocks the swing again, but his charge is halted; Hideyoshi swings the naginata back again, aiming the blade for the centre of Rob's head; Rob sidesteps the swing; he then pins the blade to the ground, his sai sliding along the shaft until they hit the tsuba.

"You have real skill," Hideyoshi compliments, the battle paused in a temporary stalemate.

"You're not so bad yourself," Rob replies.

Without warning, Hideyoshi drops the naginata and charges; Rob, tipped off-balance, falls and rolls towards the charging bat; Hideyoshi leaps the roll, raking the claws on the tops of his wings across the hare; Rob in turn swipes the length of the bat's torso with the tips of his sai.

The two fighters stand and face each other again; Hideyoshi is bleeding freely from two long gashes down his torso, Rob from deep gashes in his left arm and abdomen. The hare quickly kicks the naginata out of reach; however, his injuries cause him to drop the sai in his left hand.

"Had enough?" Rob growls, stifling a wince as the torn flesh of his left arm refuses to co-operate.

"I'm just getting started," Hideyoshi replies through gritted teeth.

Hideyoshi charges once more; Rob braces for the impact, sai raised to impale the bat; Hideyoshi slides low at the last second, sweeping Rob's legs from under him; Rob lands heavily on his left flank, crying out in pain as his wounds twist and tear open a little more. Slowed by his injuries, Rob is unable to intercept Hideyoshi's next charge; the bat pins Rob to the floor.

"As I said, the latter," Hideyoshi smiles triumphantly as he taps into the fake Fire Crystal to heal his wounds.