As Soshi waited for the final blow, he reflected back on all he'd let down. The Princess, his parents, the Royal Army, and ultimately, all of Plit. He shut his eyes tightly, tears trickling down his face, and mixing with the blood that stained his face and body. Soshi could feel the drops fall on his hands. This is how it would end. Him having failed everyone. What would his father think? He truly was a failure. Soshi convinced himself of that in his last remaining moments of life.
"ARRRRRRRGGGHH!" Koujin's scream was long, loud, and victorious as he thrust his sword into the Sky Yoshi's side with all his might. This was it, with the dragon vanquished, he would be closer to obtaining his goal of ruling Plit forever. A new era was about to begin, and with it would come utter chaos and destruction. The mere thought caused Koujin to relish every millisecond.
Koujin was deterred, however, by a large explosion from one of the walls. A sheet of crystalline mist was thrown into the air, catching the Ice Lord complely off guard. When the visibility improved, he saw an enormous ship jutting out into his dungeon, and at the helm was one very irate shark.
"You. You are the one who tortured me." Kaller began. "I have a score to settle with you."
Koujin gasped, a rare occurrence. "You survived? How!" he growled. " No matter, I have no time for you. I will finish this pitiful dragon first!" Koujin looked down at his original prey, who was no longer there. Koujin's sword struck nothing but the icy floor. Looking around, he found Soshi, leaning up against a pillar on the far side of the room, his gaze at the floor. "You pitiful fool. You don't know when to give up, do you?" Koujin scoffed. Soshi merely smirked, and wiped away the blood around his mouth.
"Like I told you, someone found a way to stop you." In reailty, Soshi was still feeling the effects of Koujin's assault, but he was putting on a show to try and intimidate Koujin. His hope was to somehow create a distraction until Kaller could do something, anything.
Kaller addressed the Ice Lord. "Are you going to stand there gawkin' or are ya gonna fight?"
This raised a chuckle from Koujin. "Fight me?" He said calmly. "You have no weapon, fool. Remember the Essence Emerald you were so kind to give me?" Koujin sheathed his sowrd and brought out the weapon.
Kaller grinned. "You mean…this one?" the shark pulled out the real weapon from his vest. "That one I "gave" you was a fake. That's just glass." Koujin's crew appeared behind him, but Koujin held out one fin to push them back. "No, I'll take him alone. You all 'ead on 'ome. I won't be returning." The others were hesitant. "THAT'S AN ORDER!" Quickly befuddled by their captain's command, the others nevertheless withdrew from sight and started to turn the ship slowly away. Kaller watched as his majestic ship sailed off into the dark horizon. He turned to the Ice Lord. "Now then, where were we?" Kaller fired a green star at Koujin, who promptly jumped in the air and hovered there, disposing of the fake weapon on the ground. "I shall take you down, Koujin. And I'll do it by my own 'and!"
"Even with that wand, you're powerless. I'll finish you and that dragon in one attack!" Immediately, Koujin summoned two slabs of ice to break away from the walls. The edges of the ice were magically sanded down into razor-sharp points. They took on the appearance of buzzsaw blades. Koujin chuckled. "Meet my ultimate weapons of destruction. Now, my Crystal Blades, attack!" At Koujin's discretion, the blades came to life, and sped towards Soshi and Kaller. The shark dove out of the way, but the Sky Yoshi was too exhausted to move. He watched as the blade grew ever closer. The Blade that went after Kaller made a perfect turnaround and headed straight for the shark once more. Kaller did not anticipate this and as the spinning blade connected vertically, it ground up the shark's flesh. Upon slamming Kaller into the opposite wall, the blade stopped, and he fell limp. Soshi knew Kaller was still alive, if barely. The shark's resilience was astounding. Soshi hoped so was his own, as the blade connected full force to Soshi, but the familiar blackout never came, the blade not aimed for his chest as Soshi had thought. It had instead merely pinned Soshi to the wall, keeping him fully conscious, staring at his captor.
"You…didn't kill me…?" Soshi asked weakly.
"Oh no, don't worry. I have every intention of doing that, however, there is something I'd like you to see first." Koujin laughed maliciously. "Since you have managed to evade death so far, out of the goodness of my heart I feel you've earned this right."
Soshi didn't say a word, but his thoughts were busy. "What is he talking about? What right?"
"Just think of it as a little parting gift." Koujin continued. A circular platform of ice broke and lowered from the ceiling, surrounded by a glass case. As it lowered, the platform slowly revealed the trapped figure inside. Soshi recognized who it was and it seemed to confirm all his fears.
"M…M-Mother." He managed to say.
"Soshi. No. Why are you here…Did he…?"
Words could not describe the mutual sorrow the mother and son shared. Each of them with tears in their eyes, faring for the life of the other, knowing that in the tiniest moment, Koujin could kill either or both of them. Their emotions ran circles around them, tearing their hearts and sanity apart. Although she was mere feet away from him, Soshi felt farther away from his mother than he ever had in his life. Even when his father told him she was dead, Soshi still felt close to her, but now, there was nothing.
"Did you enjoy this little reunion Soshi?" Koujin asked. Sosha looked with pure fear at Koujin.
Soshi didn't respond, his blank stare showing no emotion except inner sadness. There were no tears left, just crushing, unbearable sadness.
"Well, I can see you're at a loss for words." Koujin chuckled darkly. "I'm glad your mother could see you again, Soshi. Before her death!" Quickly, and unexpectedly, Koujin thrust his sword through the barrier and into Sosha's chest. His sword stuck out the other end, along with the geyser of blood it was coated with. Sosha's expression was frozen, locked into a state of perpetual fear, her eyes still open. Soshi felt a pain in his heart, though it was somewhat nulified by the expected cruelty of Koujin's act. He hung his head, his attention now diverted to the pain growing in his body. Koujin withdrew his sword with a sickening squish, quite pleased with himself. "Now do you see? You are truly alone in this world Soshi. You don't care about anyone, and they don't care about you. The only two filthy creatures who did are gone, forever. But don't worry. I'll make sure you're back together with them very soon. That's what you want isn't it?" Koujin drew this out as long as possible taking great delight in Soshi's pain and instability. Soshi once again believed every word Koujin said. He hadn't cared for anyone his entire life. It had always been him and him alone. Even his former enemy, Kaller, had tried to help, and paid a terrible price. Soshi couldn't think of one person he cared about who was still alive.
"Well, no sense in dragging this out any longer. Goodbye, Soshi." But as Koujin readied himself to kill the dragon, Soshi knew. The one person he cared about. Truly, genuinely cared about. His thoughts focused on that one person, and could feel energy seeping back into him. A white light enveloped him, the same he had experienced on Proarctica, when he first faced Koujin. Koujin's sword glanced off Soshi, and Soshi's pure channeled energy shattered the Crystal Blade that held him in place. He landed harshly on the ground, the resulting vibration knocking the Ice Lord down.
"What-what magic is this?" Koujin stuttered. Soshi snatched the Radiant Ruby back from Koujin immediately.
"This is no magic, Koujin." Soshi said the name disgustedly. "This is my true power. Fueled by the one person I care about. I have overridden your power, it is insignificant compared to mine." To demonstrate, Soshi pointed the wand at Koujin, channeling his energy into it. Koujin was paralyzed. He could only watch as a devastatingly large wall of flame rushed toward him, burning first his cloak, then his skin. He cried out in insurmountable pain, as Soshi continued the attack. It lasted only seconds, but when it finally stopped, Koujin lay charred, but not dead. Soshi had one last thing he had to say. "Koujin. The one person who I care about, the one person you will never understand how I feel about, the person I love," Soshi paused.
"…is Sergeant Rena Strobel."