It seemed that it was all over for Subaru, Tsugumi and Hanna. There was no possible way they could avoid the lava, and if they would have jumped off the volcano, they would have fallen fifteen feet. Subaru closed his eyes and expected the worse, but then he felt a bright light shine above him and the rest. When he opened his eyes, he saw an enormous red and gold phoenix that was holding four long blades with its wings. The phoenix screeched loudly and absorbed the stream of lava in its own body.
"Looks like you guys need a little help." a voice came from the phoenix's shoulder.
Subaru looked up and for a moment saw a red haired teenager dressed in a red racer suit with yellow flames. The black haired chosen duelist's eyes widened as he grasped for breath and in the end mumbled:
"Rad? Is that you?"
"If you mean the ex-chosen fire duelist, no, I'm not him." the same figure responded.
When Subaru looked better, he saw that the one sitting on the phoenix's shoulder was actually a teen with brown hair long to his neck, wearing sunglasses, a grey cloak with the number 13 on it, a pair of jeans and who also had a sheath with a sword at the right side of his pants.
"Who are you?" Tsugumi asked in awe.
"The one who will help you guys." the strange figure replied and turned to the phoenix. "EP, that's enough."
The phoenix finished absorbing the lava and jumped off the volcano into the air. The phoenix then approached the trio with its back.
"Hop on, I'll take you to the top of the volcano if that's what you want." the brown haired teenager offered.
"And why should we accept the offer of a stranger?" Subaru asked skeptically.
"Well, I could always leave and let you guys do all that hard climbing." the stranger countered.
"He has a point there." Hanna noticed.
"Fine." Subaru sighed.
The three jumped onto the phoenix's back and the creature took off to the top of the volcano.
Meanwhile Kaizer and his two minions got out of the volcano's cave and were heading to its top.
"Where could that map piece be?" Kaizer asked frustrated. "We've searched every inch of that blasted cave!"
"Maybe someone stole it, la." Alwyn suggested.
"Nonsense, we are the only ones who know of the map and its purpose." Alien brought up.
"Alien is right. Maybe the map is hidden somewhere at the crater." Kaizer added and then spoke telepathically to Tabitha. "There's no other place where you could have hidden it."
"Hey, even I am prone to mistakes sometimes." Tabitha apologized.
Leona managed to reach the volcano's top and she let Shubham off her back. That was also when he finally woke up. The girl quickly handed his deck and said:
"Put it where it belongs and get up. Kaizer-sama should be here any minute now."
"Alright." Shubham replied and put his deck back in his pocket. "Say, Leona, do you think that there might be a way for Atsuto to defeat Kaizer's darkness?"
"Haha, not likely. Ever since I first met Kaizer I've sensed that he holds inside an enormous power, one even greater than mine. Atsuto is too weak to resist it forever, sooner or later he will be subjugated by the darkness."
As the phoenix was searing through the air towards the volcano's top, Tsugumi and Hanna were admiring the sights and Subaru was having a discussion with the creature's master.
"Alright, pal, enough with the mystery, just who exactly are you?" Subaru seriously spoke.
"My name is Blane Kaminaga." the boy said. "It is nice to meet you, Subaru Geki, the chosen darkness duelist."
"From the tone of your voice, I'm guessing you've done your homework regarding me."
"Not just you, Subaru, but the whole chosen duelist team, both past and present."
"Alright, now this is getting weird. Are you stalking us?"
"Haha, no, let's just say that I've always been there to protect you guys. At your final battles against Rezo and Tabitha, at your final battle against your own father Mutsuhito Geki, I was always there."
"And the reason you didn't intervene was because…?"
"Because I felt like you guys could handle the situation by yourselves. The only reason I've intervened in this moment is because that lava would've certainly killed you." Blane explained.
"So you are some kind of guardian angel." Subaru noted and Blane nodded to him. "Oh well, it's nice to know that we've got people we can count on."
Subaru's words brought a smile of satisfaction on Blane's face. Sure, Subaru couldn't see his eyes good because of the sunglasses, but he knew that deep down inside Blane was happy.
At the mountain's top, Kaizer, Alwyn and Alien had reunited with Leona and Shubham. But not long after the group got together again, Atsuto reached the peak as well. The duel hero got up, wiped the dust off his dark blue suit and then turned to the quintet of evildoers.
"Hahaha, I do so love the smell of evil in the morning! And by the looks of it, my brand new minion has arrived." Kaizer said.
"Kaizer!" Atsuto exclaimed, but then his eyes turned black once again and this time he couldn't resist it anymore.
"I've been expecting you, Atsuto, and on behalf of my minions I would like to welcome you aboard as a full time duelist."
Atsuto's only response was the glowing light coming from his right hand, symbolizing that he was intending to begin a kaijudo duel. All of Kaizer's minions, except for Leona, retreated behind their master.
"Kaizer-sama!"
"Relax, Leona, he won't harm us."
Atsuto tried to approach them, but the darkness inside his head began to torture him. Atsuto's feet began to shake and he grasped for air. At first Kaizer thought that Atsuto had been fully possessed, but his stubborn resistance proved the otherwise.
"Very clever, Atsuto, I must say, I almost bought into your little plan of deceit." Kaizer complimented.
"But the joke's on you, pal. Once one enters Kaizer's team, there is no turning back!" Leona added.
Kaizer walked to Atsuto who showed a small sign of fear. The duel hero tried to back down but he couldn't. Kaizer stretched his hand to him and a purple and blue beam came out of Atsuto's entire body. The body entered the armored duelist's hand and when it ceased being, a darkness and water card was lying in it.
"Perfect, I have my own Atsuto, Duel Hero Strategist card now." Kaizer said and made a purple sphere appear in front of him in which he placed the card. "This card will do excellent in this certain deck, hehehe."
Kaizer then turned around and walked away much to the confusion of everyone. Once he passed the blonde girl, he gave his orders:
"Alright, Leona, you'll be in charge up here. I'm off to find the map piece."
"Yes, Kaizer-sama!" Leona approved.
"Alwyn, Alien, you're coming with me!" Kaizer added and the mentioned minions followed him.
"And you're coming with us, Atsuto!" Leona said once Kaizer disappeared from the scene.
"You're Kaizer-sama's minion now!" Shubham added.
Atsuto's only response was a growl, but that soon faded as his eyes' color remained black. The duel hero calmed down and stood up straight, meaning that he had accepted the fate that Kaizer had gave him.
Suddenly, the red and golden phoenix appeared out of nowhere much to the trio's shock and blocked the sun's rays from falling on the volcano. Blane patted its head and then he jumped to the volcano's peak along with Subaru, Tsugumi and Hanna. Once they were face to face with the other three duelists, Subaru approached his friend and said:
"Atsuto, are you alright?"
The duel hero's response was an unexpected punch which threw Subaru back and had him land in Tsugumi's arms. Upon seeing this, Leona laughed evilly and exclaimed:
"Excellent! The change is complete and irreversible!"
Leona then took out her deck and rushed to the quartet while adding:
"Come and join us in battle, Atsuto!"
But once she got closer to them, she noticed Blane and got stunned. The brown haired teen had the same reaction as Leona once he saw her.
"It's you…" Leona murmured.
"Huh? L-Leona?" Blane barely spoke.
"Do you guys know each other?" Hanna asked upon noticing their interaction.
Before any of them could respond, Atsuto came between the two and blocked Leona's path with both his stretched arms.
"Atsuto, what's wrong?" Leona asked.
"I'll never be minion of Kaizer's!" Atsuto declared and took out his glowing deck. "Never!"
Blane, Hanna and the two chosen duelists backed down as two dueling tables rose from the volcano's rocks. Angered, Leona took out her deck and decided to face off Atsuto. Both players set their cards and with the shout of 'duel start!' their match began.
During that time, Kaizer and his two minions had finished searching for the map piece at the other side of the crater, still with no success. Then they decided to descend and check the other side of the volcano, but just as they set foot on the path, they saw that Tiger, Tamma and Luna were approaching them on that way.
"Oh great, not those guys again!" Kaizer complained to his minions and then he shouted to the trio. "Sorry, kids, but I am too busy to play games with you!"
"And you're about to get a lot busier!" Tiger replied and took out his deck while rushing to reach his enemies.
In the end there was no way for Kaizer, Alwyn and Alien to avoid the three chosen duelists, so they had to face them in duels in order to get rid of them.
At Atsuto's and Leona's duel, Atsuto was the one who began the game.
"I summon Jenny, the Suicide Doll and destroy it!" Atsuto said and made Leona discard Deepsea Dober.
"Tsh, I charge mana and end." Leona said and placed King Kere in her mana zone.
"I summon Time Tripper, Shadow of Stagnation!"
A fat white ghost with four arms and a huge mouth with sharp teeth in the place of its belly appeared behind Atsuto.
"Time Tripper makes Leona put all the cards in her mana zone tapped." Subaru noticed.
"Good one, Atsuto, this way you'll stall for more time!" Hanna commented.
"The problem is that from the looks in Leona's mana cards, she seems to run a blocker deck which will stall Atsuto's rush as well." Tsugumi remarked.
"Grr, I charge mana and end." Leona said with an angered voice while placing The Strong Spiral in her mana zone.
"I summon Fuuma Gorgonshack!" Atsuto said and made Leona even angrier.
"Now all spells cost 2 more to cast." Tsugumi said.
"That's it; Atsuto has blocked Leona's early game completely!" Subaru added.
"I've had enough of your games, Atsuto! I summon Hachaki!" Leona said and a white and golden robot appeared behind her.
"I summon Murian and destroy it. Then I draw a card." Atsuto said.
"Tsh, I charge mana and attack with Hachaki! Now with its effect I may put a blocker that costs 5 or less into the battle zone from my hand, so I put Perfect Madonna, Light Weapon into the battle zone! Hachaki, break his shield!"
"Not so fast, Leona! Ninja strike 4, I summon Genius Janit, of the Hidden Blade and send Hachaki back to your hand!"
A blue baby equipped with a mechanical armor appeared out of nowhere and stopped the robot's attack, then made it disappear, Hachaki's card going into Leona's hand.
"Grave Evolution, I evolve Jenny into Dorgedos, the Reaper Drake!" Atsuto said and the purple mechanical dragon creature appeared behind him and roared. "With Dorgedos' effect, Perfect Madonna won't be able to block this turn. Go, Time Tripper, Fuuma Gorgonshack and Dorgedos, break her shields!"
Leona watched how Atsuto's three creatures each took down one of her shields. However, she did not shield herself from the shield shards that would've hit her body. Instead she let the shards pass next to her, even if one hit her head. Once the attack was over, the shield shards united into three cards which went into her hand. A grin appeared on her face as she showed one of them to her opponent saying:
"Shield trigger, I cast Heaven's Gate and put Lord Reis, Spirit of Wisdom and Codename Orewaleo into the battle zone!"
"Oh no, big blockers!" Atsuto thought.
"Lord Reis lets me draw a card whenever I put a blocker in the battle zone, so I'll draw two cards. Now it's my turn, I summon Byoito, Holy Cyber Protector! Codename Orewaleo, destroy Dorgedos! Lord Reis, take down Fuuma Gorgonshack! Hachaki, attack Time Tripper and with its effect I also put Deepsea Dober into the battle zone!" Leona ordered and then she watched how her blockers took down each of Atsuto's creatures and let his battle zone empty, whereas hers was filled with blockers.
"Oh no, it looks like Atsuto is done for!" Subaru exclaimed.
"She got so many blockers out in just a few turns…" Tsugumi said impressed.
"What makes it worse is that Codename Orewaleo allows them all to attack and on Leona's next turn Atsuto will be done for." Hanna added with worry.
Atsuto drew his next card and was disappointed to see that it was Triple Revival Resurrection. He didn't have enough mana to cast it and what was worse was that he didn't have any shield triggers in his deck to protect him from Leona's attacks. That was it, he had lost. The duel hero lowered his head in shame and stared with anger at his dueling table. Leona arrogantly laughed at him and said:
"Hahaha, do you see now, Atsuto? This is true power, and if you want, I could teach you how to become as strong as me. All you have to do is to agree to join Kaizer-sama!"
"Never!" Atsuto shouted and ran from his dueling table towards the blonde girl.
Before Leona could react, Atsuto grabbed her arms tightly and pushed her towards the volcano's crater.
"Have you lost it?" Leona asked with fear.
"Leona, Atsuto, look out!" Shubham shouted and ran after the two.
"Oh no, they're heading towards the crater! If they fall into the lava, they're history!" Subaru exclaimed.
"We gotta help Atsuto!" Tsugumi added and the quartet rushed after them.
As Atsuto was pushing Leona towards the crater, they both felt the heat getting bigger and bigger. Once they reached the edge of the crater, Atsuto pushed Leona on the ground and forced her to look at the burning lava from the volcano.
"Do you see that? That's where you're going if you won't tell Kaizer to heal me!" Atsuto said.
"Fool, there's nothing to be done anymore! Look into your eyes, the darkness has taken over, you're fighting in vain!" Leona replied.
"There has to be a cure, I must fight becoming a minion of Kaizer's!"
"No, you are one of us now!"
Atsuto pushed Leona closer to the crater's edge to show that he was not kidding and that he would actually throw her into the lava. However, in her eyes Atsuto could see both fear and the anger of a predator who would strike if he let her go.
"I'd rather die than serve Kaizer! And if I will die, you're coming with me, Leona!" Atsuto declared and tightened his grip.
But what he didn't know was that behind him Shubham was approaching. And he was not alone. Shubham used his kaijudo energy and conjured up Skull Moon, the Enlightened - a giant horned skeletal warrior with four arms.
"No, it's over, Atsuto!" Shubham declared.
Shubham snapped his fingers and Skull Moon formed a purple energy ball with its four hands and tossed it upon Atsuto.
"No! EP, stop it!" Blane commanded.
The phoenix rushed at Skull Moon and attacked it, both creatures ending up fighting each other. However, it was too late. The energy ball had already been cast and it hit Atsuto heavily while also damaging the edge of the crater and causing it to crack quickly. The duel hero being hurt, he let go of the blonde girl and fell next to her. Leona quickly got up and ran towards Shubham while shouting:
"You saved me!"
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Shubham replied and stared with disgust at Atsuto. "Worthless do-gooder."
The two minions of Kaizer ran off to search for their master. Meanwhile the fight between the two creatures got interrupted when Skull Moon disappeared at the order of its master. Blane also saw that EP had been wounded by the creature and ordered it to disappear and return to his card. The creature did as it was told and it disappeared, all that was left being a fire card known as Eternal Phoenix, Phoenix of the Dragon Flame.
The edge of the crater began to crack even quicker and rocks out of it were falling into the lava. Yet Atsuto could not get up to save himself. Subaru tried to approach him but many cracks appeared with each step he was making next to the wounded duelist. The duel hero would have probably fallen into the lava before he would reach him.
"This is it, disappear from my heart, darkness…" Atsuto mumbled.
"Atsuto, you idiot, what are you doing? Get out of there!" Subaru shouted.
"I can't, Subaru, my wounds are too big."
"Come back, Atsuto!"
"Don't worry; I'll be back, as soon as the darkness disappears…"
The cracks began to intensify to the point where the rocks on which Atsuto was lying fell as well towards the lava. Right then Atsuto had a vision of Kaizer being surrounded by a black fog staring down upon him with his red eyes.
"A hero to the end, huh? Pathetic human." Kaizer said mockingly.
"I did it; I fought off your evil." Atsuto replied with a smile of happiness on his face.
The vision got torn apart until it disappeared and that was when Atsuto's eyes returned to their normal colors, the darkness inside him vanishing forever.
"Come back, Atsuto!" Subaru shouted once again after rushing to the edge.
"I've returned, Subaru. I have finally returned…" Atsuto said with the same smile on his face.
In the next moment, Duel Hero Atsuto disappeared in the pool of lava under the shocked stares of Subaru, Tsugumi, Hanna and Blane.
Leona and Shubham got reunited with Kaizer, Alwyn and Alien and told them what happened. Seeing that there was no way he could find the map piece that day, Kaizer interrupted the duels and retreated with his minions.
Later that day, the five chosen duelists along with Hanna and Blane returned to the UFO and the others found out the terrible news of Atsuto's death. In honor of their fallen friend, Subaru held a small speech while staring with saddened eyes at his Atsuto, Duel Hero Strategist card.
"Atsuto faced the biggest challenge he could've imagined. He almost became a minion of Kaizer's. But he fought the evil and won. It won't be the same without him, but I'm proud of what he did."