Dinosaur King: The Fossil League

by HunterHQ

The Shadow War has ended and the threat of Arkosaurus neutralised. With the timeline finally reset and stabilised once and for all, it is a time of celebration for Saurus City with the revival of the Greatest Championship of all!

8. Cera vs Kaze

Chapter 8

Cera vs Kaze

As the sun rose the next morning it didn't take long for the hotel's many guests to stir and awake in anticipation for the day's set of battles. While many of them slept very well and peacefully thanks to the comforts of their 5 star accommodations, a handful of them sadly didn't share in said luxury for various reasons….examples being the A Team and Dr Z who had their share of complications that arose the night before. Thankfully a well balanced and high energy breakfast from the hotel's buffet lines was enough to perk everyone's fighting spirits and reenergise them to full. Said breakfast though was just an appetiser for their dose of excitement and action that awaited them today. Later after that their pickup bus arrived on time for them….though a handful of them, specifically the A Team, were still pigging out by the time it arrived and thus they had to be pulled away from their seats and dragged onto the bus much to their chagrin less they wanted to make everyone late and then insight Helga's wrath!

Upon arrival they were greeted by many excited and angsty fans as they were lead out of their bus, if it weren't for the security guards assigned to keep the onlookers off the VIP path and entrance, they'd have been swamped by all the rabid fans gathered. How lucky they were to not only be allowed as the first to enter Fossil Stadium, for their families to get the VIP seats now which were isolated from all the chaos. Such grateful thoughts ran through their heads as the guards thankfully were able to hold the crowds at bay, many of them whined unable to get an autograph or their personal favourite hero to look their way, though it was rather tempting for some of the D Team and Alpha Gang to slow down and pose for a few photos before being forced to continue on inside.

As they got to their seats above, the competitors in their corners below along with the captains, apart from Kaze, who were seated on the other side A few minutes after that it didn't take very long for cheers and applause to echo from the entrances around the arena as the seats became filled to the brim with spectators, even more than yesterday! Of course there were still several fans who were seated across the world those who were sadly unable to get tickets in time or afford to. Soon it wasn't long as everyone awaited patiently, excitedly or impatiently for the main event to begin, as the MC soon stood at his podium and announced out loud to the masses far and wide, "Ladies and gentlemen for far and wide thank you for gathering here today as we make it to the second round of the Fossil League!"

Cheers soon echoed through the arena with everyone fuelled by the fires of excitement and anticipation, including those participating as they took punched forward and cheered with energy themselves as they couldn't wait to get it on. Cera was too, to an extent but narrowed her eyes knowing the battle that was coming up first and the challenge that would await her, as she tensed up swallowing hard and forcing out a few beads of sweat to drip from her forehead, "Today we have quite the battle pairing first thing in the morning as a duel between master and student will soon go underway, will the student finally surpass her master or will she be once again schooled!?" As the MC made said announcement, Cera narrowed her eyes while a handful of her friends and family frowned or scowled at his insensitive comment.

"Tch! Was that really necessary?" Max clicked his tongue while Rex folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"That's just rude…."

"Yeah…." Zoe pouted in agreement.

On the other side, Blaze couldn't help but snicker despite his best or better yet poor effort to resist it, "Oooh….that's a burn if I ever heard one. Hehehe!" He joked but he only received a hard elbow to his side, "OW! Hey….." Blaze grumbled rubbing his sore side only to croak when he saw the murderous look on the Earth Captain's face!

"Knock it off or I'll beat you into the ground for that." Craig threatened him, not sharing Blaze's sense of humour as he looked ahead and gritted his teeth with hostility at the incoming match, "Cera better whoop that punching bag of hot air Kaze….before I get my hands on him…." He growled with hatred and disgust, tensing up his entire body as veins and muscles bulged around his limbs and face! It put off his comrades as they scooted away from him nervously, then again given Kaze represented everything Craig hated, taking shortcuts and earning money with dirty jobs, not to mention fighting rather dirty and sneaky too, it was no surprise he found it literally impossible to ever get along with him.

"First introducing the master of the ancient ninjutsu arts and hailing from a lineage of ninjas since the Sengoku era and being our captain of wind!" Before the MC could finish his announcement, a puff of smoke suddenly erupted before the stage of the field getting everyone's attention and throwing many of them for a loop!

"Whoa!"

"What the!?"

"AH!"

Cera narrowed her eyes knowing full well who it was, as the smoke dissipated and revealing himself from his entrance, armed to the teeth and battle ready as always, "I…Introducing! Kaze!" The MC stuttered surprised himself before picking things up again, "What a spectacular entrance! Just to be expected from a master ninja!"

"I've gotta admit, that was pretty cool." Max swallowed hard.

"Never thought I'd see ninjas again since back in Ancient Japan…." Zoe breathed in awe, "To think we'd see them again in the future….." She and the others were rather interested where they had gone since the feudal era and if they were still around in their time too.

The very sight of Kaze and his fearsome appearance caused many mixed emotions to erupt from the audience as they began laying eyes on him.

"That was awesome!"

"I wanna go to the ninja village and learn some moves too!"

"I hope I don't get booted off there, they'll eat me alive if I ever set foot in that crazy place…."

Despite the cheers and praises he was able to make out of the crowd, along with noticing the slight envy he was getting from the other captains, Kaze simply rolled his eyes as he blocked out said background noise from his ears as he stepped up on stage without responding to them or even acknowledging everyone else's existence.

It didn't take long for silence to soon settle in seeing he was giving back to the audience at all, "And he has….nothing to say….." The MC then muttered out awkwardly, finding Kaze's attitude a bit rude till he shot a piercing glare which made the MC turn pale and silenced him!

"Hmph! I'm a man of action, and actions speak louder than words." He scoffed uninterestedly, "Let's just cut the chitchat and get on with this already." He said as he stepped on the stage aiming to get this over with for he had better things to do. His attitude portrayed him even further as disagreeable and moody, yet despite being a lone wolf he had real dangerous skill to boot. Many of those present were aware of his achievements and actions during the war though so they knew he wasn't one to be messed with as they sweated or remained silent with fear at him.

At the Alpha gang's stands, Zander couldn't help but muse a little, "That guy's a bounty hunter right?" He asked before looking to Dr Z, "Makes me wonder how much your head would fetch Dr Z if someone were to put it up." His statement made Dr Z turn pale and sweat bullets before trying to stay out of sight as he hid behind the trio. As much as he liked ninjas he didn't consider the thought of being hunted down by one.

As Maia frowned along with the other parents worried and concerned for Cera, Lunensis narrowed his eyes remembering that only money and business tied Kaze together with the resistance, for Lunensis had paid a great deal for his services out of desperation with the last few funds he had remaining since the empire hit them hard. Only because there would be no profit in the ruin of their world did Kaze choose to stay around and yet since then he made no effort to bond with anyone while at the same time being hostile and aggressive to nearly anyone who dared approach him, apart from his devoted ninjas and dinosaurs whom he trained personally.

"Well Cera, this may be your greatest challenge yet, let's see how you do." Was all Lunensis could think about and wish his daughter luck as he remembered the harsh trials he had put her through, which he didn't approve of very well. Seeing him tense up made Maia put a hand on his palm to comfort him though it did little to ease his worries.

The aura Kaze gave off really put the audience on edge, even those who were big fans and admirers of him were stunned speechless by his presence up close and personal now. The Alpha Gang and Dr Z being most unnerved as they all were pale as ghosts as they each gulped down one by one, Dr Z having recalled this ninja also being a merciless mercenary for hire and bounty hunter, it was clear his role in the future of dinosaur society would mean the price on his head would be limitless! It was then he grabbed hold of his neck not wanting it to be taken off his head. A part of him began to rethink his initial impression of ninjas and even have some mild regret of what he put his deinonychus through in the past realising he turned them from lovable hatchlings to vicious assassins.

Rex narrowed eyes remembering his first impression of the wind captain when they met, how he was no nonsense, swift and precise. One wrong move and he could have been eliminated there due to his own carelessness that everyone in the future would be welcoming, if he employed the same kind of moves in a duel…."Kaze….I've seen only a couple of his skills first hand, who knows what other tricks he may have in store." He breathed narrowing his eyes hard, "He just may make winning that much more difficult." Realising Cera was right with them and seeing her tense at his words, he stuttered as Max and Zoe glared at him taking offence at his words, "Urk!"

"How can you say that Rex!?" Max yelled shaking his fist at him, "You couldn't be more wrong!"

"No way Cera and Erwin would ever lose to him! You saw how hard they worked to get this far!" Zoe followed backing up Max which made Rex scratch his cheek before lowering his head shamefully.

"Y…You're right guys, what was I thinking….." He told himself finding it unbelievable he'd doubt in one of the D Team's finest, given the battles they shared together and fought through she was no push over herself.

Still regardless of their encouragement, they could see Cera sweat and maintain her serious expression on her face as she locked eyes with her former sensei and they glared at one another rather fiercely. Her friends could feel the pressure in the air gradually squeezing at their hearts, finding themselves unable to move an inch. It took an immense amount of determination for them to break the mould as they spoke out, "Hey Cera," Rex asked getting her attention as she looked to her friends' way, "I take it that you and Kaze aren't exactly friends like you are with the other captains?"

In response, Cera gave the most obvious answer there was, as to be expected, "Sigh….unfortunately no….even after since the Shadow War ended we still have our differences…."

"Oh…." Was all Max could respond, seeing it was making her feel uncomfortable and yet he and the others were still deeply interested and wanted to understand more. Yet hesitated as they feared making Cera remember some bad memories from before, till deciding to move forward they had to do it, "If it's okay, you mind telling us…..what's up between the both of you?" Max then spoke before backtracking a little, "If you can't we understand." He added respectfully, awaiting her answer and preparing himself to accept whatever she would say next.

Cera tensed her fists and appeared as though she was fighting within herself as she gritted her teeth looking almost in pain, which worried her friends for a moment, before she overcame her struggle and then calming herself with a deep breath as she decided to get it off her chest, "Unlike with the rest of the other captains, Kaze was a newcomer to our inner circle of the Resistance when we first began in response to the Shadow War uprising." She said remembering the day their group welcomed him in, him being the last captain to complete their circle of elements, "While everyone else united together thanks to us being friends and us having bonds with one another and our dinosaurs….Kaze joined for his own personal reasons and nothing more." She added rather painfully and with a hint of disgust in her tone which her friends picked up on as they understood, "I'm sure you know this already but for a long time he had always been a bounty hunter or mercenary for hire."

"Yeah I remember hearing him say that…." Rex replied feeling unnerved and recalling how Kaze said he'd make a fine trophy too, how he wouldn't hesitate to take his head if someone puts up the bounty for it, "What I don't get is why he needed all that money though?" Rex then asked, "Not to mention why he'd do stoop to such rotten lows to get it?"

Cera gave it some thought, though bit wasn't much she could recollect given it was mainly based on rumours and how little Kaze was willing to share about his life nor did he give any hints at all making him hard to read, "From what I heard….it was to help support the very few people he actually cared for, given they lived so remote from the rest of the world and had little touch with the outside his options of getting support to help said close people were very limited." She explained best she knew, "He never shared us the full details though but that's all I know."

"I see…." Rex and the other members of the D Team began to get the picture as they thought about it harder, seeing that Kaze put himself as a gun for hire much like the ninjas of Ancient japan. Perhaps it was in their blood to be off service to others, but they also saw it most wasteful to abusing such great talent for selfish means.

"Even so….I can't imagine why Lunensis would include him in either." Zoe then stayed, "He doesn't sound anything like the kind of guy you'd want in your time Cera."

Cera nodded back at her, "I know what you mean….." She remembering Kaze seeing dinosaurs as means to an end, any bonds he had with his own were only master and apprentice and no more, no less. For said bond to never grow beyond that pained her though that was likely due to his own personal experiences, "But during those days we were really desperate and short handed, in need of allies, as they said beggars can't be choosers." She hissed through her teeth as it sickened her just thinking about those times they tried to move on from, "Plus, during the war something happened to his village causing them all to be nearly wiped out and to scatter to the winds…..Kaze being one of those that remained to keep up the fight, he joined the Resistance simply as because it was his best choice from his options available." She said.

"Even then he only wanted to see us as tools to aid him and nothing more, plus he never wanted to get close to any of us because of that….making him rather difficult to cooperate with given the lone wolf he was." Cera continued, "Needless to say….he was my strictest teacher of all, simply put he easily makes Craig look like a teddy bear in comparison. There were times he put me through the harshest regimes and not to mention the reality checks then….even now I still can't get them out of my head…." It was then her mind drifted back to said times as she recalled a rather traumatic experience he put her and several others through a long time ago.

(Flashback)

Years back during the worst days of the Shadow Wars, every day was like a living nightmare for the survivors and members of the resistance trying to make it through each day. Every night many were praying for their ordeals and suffering to end the moment they wake up the next morning back to the days of light and to be free again, only for said hopes to shatter as they reawaken to their nightmarish prison of their reality. One such member of the resistance who didn't give into to despair nor did he delude himself into believing things would get any better, instead used said hardship to harden and steel his very own resolve and determination. At a price though he became ruthless and almost apathetic to nearly every other member in the resistance, as well as to their very own cause. Seeing them as the only logical means of defeating their invaders and trying to get them to wake up and see reality.

Kaze, the captain of wind trained himself through various kinds of training regimes in order to heighten his ninjutsu abilities to peak levels, knowing every kind of technique from making shadow clones and vanishing into thin air, even replacing them with decoys. Even passing on similar skills to his own dinosaurs too, but knowing they won't be enough, always making sure to have a second blade in a manner of speaking in event he was stranded without dinosaurs. He too trained hard so he would rely on himself as said second blade, even resorting to pitting himself against dinosaurs themselves, having no qualms about it as enemy dinosaurs wouldn't hesitate to go for the kill. Because of that he even forced said beliefs and methods on anyone who was brave or foolish enough to join his division, which usually consisted of the naive and desperate.

He made sure to train to the extent where he could fight and defend himself effectively on his own without over reliance on dinosaurs, and thus trianed his own troops the same way to fight like him too as part of the Resistance's strategic division and special tactics group, ensuring they were all as prepared as he was. One particular day in his station, several trainees were already in combat practice against dinosaurs he raised personally for said purpose. One female trainee was forced to survive a timed assault by a trodden pair as they darted at her in pincer formations and she had to evade and fight them off with but her bare hands, as pounced on her and she was barely able to keep it from biting her face before throwing it off! A male trooper was running as fast as he could across a set of raised poles which were high above where the clouds passed as they hid a steep fall down below the poles, and he had to make it to the finish line while being pursued by a trio of red tapejara who were trying to knock him off! A pair of troopers were pitted against a pair of piatnzkysaurus, one of which sprayed venom at them as they were forced to evade it in time!

Kaze himself was supervising Cera, as she was covered in numerous scrapes and bruises over her face, while her uniform had several tears and even a few wounds dripping blood from them as she panted in exhaustion, gritting her teeth frustratedly as she raised a katana with her already weakened hands as a trio of red velociraptors surround her on all corners. She was already cornered badly, given her sentimentality and unwillingness to bring harm to innocent dinosaurs like them, nor could she bring herself to hurt shadow empire ones seeing they were but victims being controlled by evil masters….something which sadly, her sensei didn't care of in the slightest, as he yelled out at her in disgust and disappointment.

"Not good enough! You need to be stronger! Faster! More ruthless!" He scolded her as Cera felt his words pierce her heart like kunai, "In war anything goes, you won't always have the luxury to hide behind a dinosaur nor will your friends be there to bail you out every time! This is the reality! Those days of bonds and friendship are long gone!" He spat making her harden her glare at him, truly she felt her beliefs and hope challenged time and again through the war but this was taking the cake. Given they had lost so much already and gone were the golden age of their dinotopia, "You may hold onto the delusion that things will get better from here but that's merely a fantasy that will never come true, if anything it'll only get worse! It's time for you to go with the flow and accept that hope is a lie. Now drill it again!" Kaze then hissed gritting his teeth under his mask as he folded his arms and nodded at the 3 raptors as they snarled viciously as they readied themselves and rushed forward!

Cera narrowed her eyes as she parried their claws with her blade and then swiftly punched out at their chests or exposed weak points and only barely managing to repel them as they drew back and regrouped! Cera could see it in their eyes, Kaze having trained them to be vicious warriors they obeyed every command he made and like the other dinosaurs under his command failure was tolerated and they were all punished, in fact they all feared their master deeply but it was said fear that also made them respect him as well. And yet….she could also see it in his eyes, while he truly meant what he said she could also sense a part of him was partially regretful for his actions in the present, but he hardened his heart and steeled himself knowing it was time to go with the flow of things and move on. But it was that hope which spurred Cera to keep trying and to never give up on her principles and beliefs as she readied herself for another training drill as the velociraptors charged at her again and she swung out her blade in retaliation!

(Flashback End)

As soon as Cera ended her painful story, her friends couldn't help but cringe in pain or sigh with immense empathy for her friend and what she went through, clearly it wasn't just onslaughts from the Shadow Empire but even dissension amongst friends was what she was forced the endure through, "Ouch….And I thought the drills in the earth section were hardcore…." Max winced just thinking about it, if anything or anyone was worse than what Craig had to offer then that was a red light indicator.

"He made you all fight against actual dinosaurs!?" Zoe exclaimed covering her mouth in sheer shock, fighting dinosaurs with dinosaurs is one thing but to rely on nothing but weapons or your bare fists to do so was suicide! She knew recalling the times back in the ancient past they used dinosaurs to scare away human enemies but never considered for said positions to be reversed, given it would mean harming a dinosaur too.

Cera nodded with regret, "Yes….and before you say anything else if you look at it in his shoes he does have painful truth to his words." She responded calmly before sighing, "I suppose it's his way of wanting us all to be prepared so we don't become over reliant on dinosaurs….plus it was his way of caring since he didn't want any of us to end up like those in his village that weren't so lucky." Despite his cruel methods, she was somewhat grateful to him for teaching her advanced fighting techniques as well as to properly strategise beforehand, at the same time to mature and wise up when it was needed most.

Her friends then appeared rather conflicted upon hearing her reasoning, "I….guess?" Max scratched his cheek uneasily looking away, though despite there being truth that didn't make it easier to accept.

"For a guy who uses wind he sure knows how to go with he flow….a little too well…." Rex had to state, seeing Kaze was quick to move with the times but goes with the flow too well that he accepts things as they are without trying to turn things in a better direction.

"As long as I can remember he's always been a realist and not so big on ideals if he ever had any." Cera continued, "When it came to reality vs ideals, it almost never ends well for ideals. That's how he always believed." Not that she blames him since he always travelled and lived alone without any friends or close companions to him, thus making him unable to see hope or the good in others. Thinking about it she could see in a way he influenced her father negatively after she disappeared, which then drove him to make alpha dinosaurs that time too. "Way I saw it given the alliance my dad made with him when he brought him on board, he only saw that as business and no more. He always kept personal feelings and sentimentality out of his relationship with the rest of us too." She continued, "Then again I don't blame him, from what he told me once….there was a time he showed mercy when on the job trying to eliminate a certain target, but then said target tried to backstab him when he dropped his guard….would've succeeded too had Kaze not been the ninja he was." That immense skilled and prowess made him too valuable to lose.

"Kaze's also a skilled study, he knows a lot on pressure points and not just how to disable or deal more pain to an enemy, but eh even knows points that control certain body functions, since that day he worked on a point that suppressed his own empathy. To make sure he never showed any kind of weakness or vulnerability ever again." She said in a heavy tone which made her friends even more uneasy as their image of Cera's strictest teacher of all became all the more dark, "That enabled him to fine tune his skills and perfected them to a cutting edge, something he forced upon many of those under his division….many of which saw as no other alternative when they wanted to stand a fighting chance in the war and that created conflict for most of us then."

"Man….that's just….man….." Max coughed out unable to find any words to say while Rex and Zoe were still speechless and unable to respond at all. They knew Craig was tough but he had a smooth side to his rugged rocky exterior at least all with tough love, while Kaze on the other hand is all negative reinforcement with no love at all. How sorry they felt for what the people were put through in the Shadow War, which was worse than they had imagined and looking at themselves now were they considering how lucky they were.

Seeing how worried she made them, even seeing the discouragement in their eyes, she smiled and shook her head at them, "It's alright you guys, that's all in the past now." Cera responded assuringly, "As hard as it was and what he put us all through….." She choked a little remembering the times she was reminded of their destroyed world by him during his lessons, wanting said negative reinforcement to steel their resolve and yet, "I still refused to give up on hope. In fact I may have been the only student of his who refused to do so, deep down I always believed we could one day go back to the days of when Saurus City was made on the foundation of dinosaur and human coexistence." She continued sounding more at ease as tensions began to thin, "And that, was what also enabled the rest of the others in his division to do the same in time, I just had to continue persevering and never lose my drive to see that dream through just as much as the drive to win the war."

Her friends then eased up as she got to the good part of her story, "Eventually, despite his initial rejection….I just knew he was slowly coming around." She heard he did at least have a code of sportsmanship and honour once in his earlier days, only did the cruel world force his hand to throw away his honour in order to face reality and go with the flow, but now with the world turned in a another direction he may turn with it, "And now when I look at him, I think I see him back as the respectable and honourable ninja he once was."

"If you can call holding a really sharp blade and looking like a really scary hitman as respectable that is….." Max snickered trying to lighten the mood, which he managed to succeed in doing as the others chuckled in amusement with him.

"Ehehehe…."

"Hahaha…."

Their moment didn't last long though, as a loud stern voice yelled and interrupted them, "Hey Cera!"

"Ah!" They all looked up in surprise at being snapped out of their friendly conversation as they looked at the battle stage to see Kaze glaring at them impatiently.

"You dare keep me and everyone else waiting?" He growled, "If you and your friends are done playing catchup, it's time to duel."

Cera hardened her expression while her friends and everyone else stared in shock at how rude Kaze was, a handful of them were angry or furious with him, others were intimidated and worried, seeing the rumours as Kaze as being no nonsense now confirmed and nor did they want to test his patience any more.

Seeing he was right though, Cera sighed knowing there was no putting it off any longer, "Well, that's my cue you guys." She said to them as she began to step forward.

"Hey Cera," Max who put a hand on her shoulder, looking back she saw him and the others smile, "Good luck out there." He held a thumbs up to her.

"We'll be rooting for you the whole way." Rex nodded firmly while Zoe clapped her hands together.

"Just do your best, we know you'll win for sure!"

She nodded in acknowledgement of their good faith in her, "Thanks you guys…." she responded feeling appreciated before turning around and walking up to face her destiny. As she climbed up the stairs and stood on the same level as Kaze her expression then hardened, "I may need it." Deep down she saw this as her chance to surpass her old self and prove to Kaze she wasn't the same weak student he mentored once. Also she fought for the honour of the Resistance and the other captains she prevailed over, considering she beat them all but Kaze, it was for their honour she was fighting for and not just her own. As a breeze blew past them, everyone remained silent as the 2 duelists stared down one another, "Well Kaze, looks like it's you and me now." she spoke to him rather calmly with a smile, "Shall we see for whom the wind blows for today?"

Her former sensei as usual had no sense of humour, last thing on his mind was entertaining her or the audience gathered since he duelled only for himself, "Hmph! You should know I'm never one for words or jokes, I expected you to have realised that by now." He scoffed with disapproval before entering a battle stance, "The time for talk has passed, now let out swords clash on this battlefield known as the arena! Hyah!" He shouted upon taking out his dinoshot and holding it out like his shurikens or katana.

His hard response made Cera sigh in disappointment at how quickly he turned down her attempt at making friends, "Sigh….some things just don't change." She shook her head but alas that was the way of things sometimes. And yet, despite that she could notice what looked like a giant smile beneath his facecloth so perhaps he was opening up a little now, which made her smirk with confidence that she could get through to him as she took out her own dinoshot.

"And there you have it folks! It's time we get this battle underway without a second to spare!" The MC then quickly spoke, worried about being threatened by Kaze again and not wanting to waste anymore time for the audience before the match went underway, and especially for Kaze.

"Dino duel!" Everyone then announced as a field generated around the 2 duelists licked in battle, as the 2 of them found themselves in a

Seeing it, Kaze smirked under his facecloth while everyone else narrowed their eyes or tensed up at the worst case scenario come real.

"Tch! Of course it had to be a wind field…." Craig clicked his tongue in annoyance, of all the fields it could have been it had to be that one.

Blaze narrowed his eyes and folded his arms, "It'll be hard even for Cera to fight Kaze in this place, he practically owns it." Anytime Kaze duelled on his home turf victory was always guaranteed for him, any opponent he duelled on said field advantage ended up falling to him, even Blaze with his type advantage of fire was no match with his crafty tactics and deadly precision on the wind field. Only time he ever lost were in other kinds of battlefields though those defeats were only near defeats. The only one who ever came close to beating him in his specialty was Lunensis but at the end the match turned to a draw.

The other captains were aware of this, and now with Lunensis retired it was Cera's turn to take the mantle and given her experience was lacking compared to her father's, the odds weren't in her favour, "I know what you mean…." Hua nodded in agreement with a degree of concern.

"Still," Raina then commented with confidence in her tone, "I don't think we should count Cera out yet." There was after all the strength of the human spirit and bond, that always played an unpredictable role in battle so perhaps Cera's connection with her partner could be enough to give her the edge she needed.

Back at the duel, Kaze took out his card and slashed it, "Alpha slash! Unleash the storm Dilophosaurus!" Materialising in light blue light was his pink alpha dilophosaurus, Hunter, who snarled out viciously as his appearance drew out the excitement in the crowds.

"And there you have it! Kaze has brought out Hunter!" the MC announced, while a handful of spectators cheered in excitement for an exciting battle, a number of them including the D Team families were uneasy seeing Cera's opponent to be such a vicious dinosaur, with a cold blooded killer's intent in his eyes.

Cera had heard stories that were undisclosed, that Hunter was used in Kaze's assassinations before, though only for intended targets and never did he lay a claw on anyone innocent, though it wouldn't do her any good as this was a no holds barred battle.

"Another alpha dinosaur…." Rex narrowed his eyes while Max gritted his teeth feeling intimidated and uneasy.

Zoe gulped down nervously at the sight of that dino's snarling and intensified hostility from the aura he gave off, "That one looks real mean…." She could tell in contrast to Smith's grace and elegance, Hunter was way more on the vicious side. Way she saw it, given the Alpha dinosaurs of Saurus City retained their original personalities the fact Hunter was already so aggressive meant he was like that from the star, and combine that with even more power was a recipe for big disaster!'

Dr Z on the other hand had the opposite mindset of hers' as he grinned maniacally and cackled with excitement, "Ahahaha! Just imagine when they become more popular and when everyone gets one they'll know just who to remember and thank for bringing them into existence!"

His trio gulped at the thought of that, "That would be a nightmare…." They all said at the same time as they pictured in their heads the many alpha dinosaurs rampaging across the planet and causing natural disasters in their wake like lightning storms, wildfires, floods or typhoons! Seeing their uncontrollable power unleashed would turn their world to a wasteland should that ever come to pass made them shudder.

Back at the battlefield, Cera took out her card and narrowed her eyes fully prepared for what may be her greatest test yet, "Alright Erwin looks like we're up now." She said to the card before kissing it for good luck before slashing! "Dino slash! Eoraptor illuminate!" Erwin appeared on the field and screeched before glowing in bright rainbow light as Cera commanded, "Alright! Wind mode go!" Shining light blue he morphed into megaraptor form and snarled fiercely at Hunter how screeched back at him as the crowd went wild with excitement.

"And Cera once again calls forth her father's eoraptor which has been passed down to her like a silver torch! Will that be enough for her to seize victory!?" The MC announced.

"Let's find out." Cera smirked in response before deciding to make things more of a challenge for herself and to see off Kaze still had his sense of pride and honour which he forsook long ago, "And to make things interesting…and fair. I'll be using only wind moves this entire duel!" She pointed out at him with confidence as she made a declaration and vow his way, "I declare this that I'll fight and beat you at your own game with fair odds and with honour!"

"Oh?" Kaze mused raising an eyebrow and smirking under his facecloth, while everyone else widened their eyes as mixed reactions of bewilderment and excitement came up from the crowds around them, but mostly astonishment.

"Huh!?"

"Say what!?"

"She's challenging the wind captain to a battle of wind!? Is she nuts!?"

"Now this is our money's worth!"

"She's either really confident, cocky or just crazy!"

"Maybe all of the above!"

Lunensis narrowed his eyes, "Hope you know what you're doing Cera…." He prayed that she wouldn't do anything reckless now.

Back at the battlefield Cera remained steadfast and confident, she wasn't going to go back on her word here and now as she planned to see her decision through to the end of this battle, "So what do you say Kaze?"

The wind captain said nothing at first but calmly observed the situation, seeing how Cera had no hesitation nor any thoughts on betraying her promise. Not only that he could see her decision was made out of her own will alone and out of confidence, without any hint of arrogance or excitement tainting said choice. It was a clarity in her eyes he hasn't seen since he tutored her, and that amused him to an extent, "Heh, this should be interesting." He replied, "Surely to use all 6 elements at once would give you an advantage which you'd need." She said nothing back at him as he folded his arms and closed his eyes in thought, "In the old days I'd see such honour and fair play as meaningless in a real battle." During the Shadow War day after day was a battle for survival, it was all he could remember and since then he had forgotten about honour and respect, traits his old sensei once taught him yet he never passed it on himself.

Plus it was long since he had fought in a battle with rules, he almost forgot what it felt like, the excitement from the crowds around and the satisfaction that came with victory….."I almost forgot what real sport was like…." He thought before deciding to acknowledge Cera's battle challenge as he staked his own pride as a wind user on the line, "Heh alright fine I'll play nice, I'll accept your terms and you can be sure that I'll respond to your spirit with every trick at my disposal."

Cheers and excitement erupted from the crowds all around as everyone looked forward to a great fair match ahead.

Cera smile with hope at this, among the captains she trained with, Kaze was the only one she couldn't defeat, which he claimed was because of her kindness which he saw as a weakness holding her back from her true power and potential, though seeing how far it has brought her and her fiends maybe there is truth behind it now. While Kaze did acknowledge her on that, he has his methods and principles, because of that he confirms that Cera's own mercy was what stopped her from beating him when she have chances before. Nevertheless she and the others did give him hope that he once lost before, so the least he can thank them is to hold nothing back in this duel and maybe he had turned over a new leaf with the wind blowing a new way in the world.

Her hopes though were soon about to be tested as Kaze smirked rather sinisterly under his facecloth, "Of course before that I'd like to see you pass a little test first." He said which made Cera rather wary.

"Huh?" She widened her eyes upon seeing Kaze take out 3 normal move cards on his hand.

"Time for my triple rush combo! Go!" He declared slashing them all at once as a red, green and yellow light shone out! Leaping out were a trio of medium sized ornithomimid dinosaurs, one yellow, one red and another who screeched out as they rushed forward full speed at Cera!

"Whoa! What the!?" She widened her eyes in surprise, this completely caught her off guard while Erwin snarled and held his ground, agitated by the 3 smaller dinosaurs.

Her friends were surprised too as they widened their eyes and gasped, "Is that a gallimimus and a struthiomimus?!" Max called out.

"And I think that's a dromicieomimus!" Rex cried.

"They're heading right for Erwin!" Zoe exclaimed as the 3 mimids charged towards Erwin but as he lunged out to pounce at them, they split up and began to circle around him rapidly!

Cera tensed up and gritted her teeth uneasily, "Wh…What's going on?" she grunted as Erwin looked around seeing the trio coloured blur surrounding him and it seemed to be getting closer too!

"I did tell you that I'd be going at you with my best tricks from the start and I never go back on my word." Kaze spoke out to her making her look his way, "You may face me after you prove yourself worthy by getting past some of my best students here." He then smirked rather sinisterly, "Plus there's nothing in the rules about not using assist moves is there?"

Hearing what he said made Cera click her tongue in annoyance, "Tch! Of course….that's just like him….should have seen this coming…." She grunted realising she had let her guard down, she forgotten that while he has a code of honour and never goes back on his word, he won't hesitate to twist said words or manipulate the situation to his advantage. While not cheating it was still underhanded, how silly she felt at falling for the oldest tricks in the ninja book….perhaps it was her fault to expect Kaze of all people to go legit 100%.

Needless to say the D Team didn't approve one bit with Kaze's tactics and strategy, in fact it was just as sneaky as the Alpha gang's old schemes, "Hey! That's just plain dirty!" Max growled shaking his fist out!

"Yeah! Why don't you fight fair and square one on one! Unless you're chicken!" Zoe screamed angrily.

Their words though had little to no effect on Kaze, as he merely scoffed at their feeble attempts to distract him or throw off his game, "Hmph! You're all acting your breaths, save your words for someone who cares." He replied before narrowing his eyes at Zoe, "Plus, you're one to talk given the moves you pulled off when you faced Blaze. I'm basically doing the same thing." His words cut through Zoe like a knife as she was stunned speechless at the good point he made, seeing the reaction he got out of her made him smirk with sinister satisfaction, "Which I have you to thank for as well."

Zoe found herself eating her own words at that moment, "Urk….B…But that was…." As much as she wanted to claim it was different, looking at it closely given what she did against Blaze….wasn't all that different so who was she to judge? A part of her also felt real guilty inside for if Cera loses it'd be because of her.

On the other hand, Rex then blinked his eyes as he realised something, "He's…not wrong…." given it was a move card and assist moved were permitted, like what Zoe and Zander both did in their matches it was a strategy worth considering as he folded his arms in thought.

"Heh, he's got a point there, have to admit he makes pretty good burns." Blaze snickered earning a few unamused looks from the female captains sitting around him.

Craig however gritted his teeth in annoyance and popped his knuckles, "Tch! Doesn't make it any better though." He growled seeing such an underhanded strategy as despicable and unacceptable in his book, given he always fought with no strings and always with real honour in a mano a mano match as a wrestler. Clearly his style of duelling was the opposite and contrasted completely with Kaze's.

"Ahahah! I like him already!" Dr Z cackled in amusement.

Zander grinned eagerly with excitement, "I always love seeing an unfair advantage and the best part this time it's completely legit!" He snickered while Ursula smirked folding her arms.

"Let's see how the brats get out of this."

One of them though wasn't fully on board with the idea though, "Still, it doesn't seem as fun as I hoped it would be though…." Ed put a finger to his chin feeling conflicted about all this, then again they were dirty themselves so who were they to talk?

Cera narrowed her eyes, as much as it pained her to face such odds after making her vow, she always kept her word and she hardened her resolve to see it through, "Tch! Fine Kaze, we'll play your little game for now." She grunted begrudgingly to his amusement.

"Heh! Then let the games begin!" Kaze snapped his fingers giving his dinosaurs the signal! Before Erwin could react the 3 mimids gushed out at him and began pecking repeatedly at him like a set of jackhammers before turning around and back kicking at his face making him stumble back before they dashed away to safety into the blur!

"AH!" Cera widened her eyes in shock at the amount of power the 3 dinosaurs had but more in amazement at their teamwork.

"Whoa! You see that!?" Spike widened his eyes with the others in the VIP seats above.

"Amazing…."

"The time and dedication it would take to bring them up to that level…." They all had to admit Kaze did a great job in training them so skilfully.

"What a perfectly coordinated attack! All 3 mimids were in perfect sync with one another! Truly to be expected by the head of special tactics in the Resistance!" The MC gasped in shock and awe to see such flawless team work and coordination, none expected mimid dinosaurs to put up such a fight in face of a predator like that!

Cera narrowed her eyes, "Impressive Kaze, as always you know how to fine tune the skills of your soldiers and your dinosaurs to their peak levels." She admitted as he said nothing but observed her, despite the compliment he wasn't going to go easy at all on her, for he expected her to come up with a solution to the problem he presented before her, which she soon did taking out a move, "But that's nothing I can't overcome! Mayfly!" Slashing the move card, Erwin stomped his foot and roared out before racing towards the 3 mimid dinosaurs as they rushed at him! Before they could land a triple kick at him, he vanished in a blur and whirled around them in a gust of wind gathering them in 1 place. Before they could split up in separate directions, he struck out at them rapidly giving them no room or time to move before coming to a stop after striking through them and sending them flying as they returned to card form!

Everyone cheered happily to see her overcome Kaze's trial, "She did it!"

"Way to go Cera!" They called out clapping and jumping with joy.

Cera smiled looking back to her friends encouraged by their words, but her small victory would soon be short lived.

"It's too early to celebrate." Kaze grunted annoyed she was celebrating prematurely, "That was merely your first test."

She blinked her eyes looking back to him, "Huh?"

He smirked as he entered phase 2, "Now let's see how well you handle my tri sky strike!" He declared slashing out 3 new move cards as Hunter roared out, with 3 pterosaurs shooting out to the sky and swirling around high above Erwin in a circle in almost the same attack pattern as the mimid trio!

"AH!" Cera was caught off guard by another surprise attack but as she and Erwin looked up to the sky, the sun's radiance made it hard for them to get a good look at the 3 pterosaurs above, and were unable to respond as they shot out at her in a 3 way strike from all sides causing Erwin to screech in pain as he crashed to the ground while the pterosaurs regrouped in a single line formation! "Oh no Erwin!" Cera cried out as he grunted in annoyance and hurried to kick himself up as the pterosaurs came around for another go, this time clear enough for everyone to get a good look at them as he snarled out to the sky.

"A tupuxuara, tapejara and anhanguera all at once!?"

"No way! Again!?" Max cried out with Zoe.

Rex narrowed his eyes and hardened his gaze, "An aerial coordinated attack….Now I see why Kaze became head of special tactics…." He mused. On one hand he was angry at Kaze's dirty tactics on Cera, on the other hand, it did give him a few ideas he could try out later.

"How brutal! In an underhanded sneak attack, Kaze has sent in his airborne assault force straight in just when Cera just managed to overcome his ground troops!" The MC announced in shock as the crowds gasped, "Giving his opponent no time to rest or recover, truly we see how merciless he can be!"

"Urgh…." Cera gritted her teeth feeling even more pressured than before, a land based attack was one thing but now an attack from the air, that was really pushing her buttons as Kaze and Hunter calmly observed from the sidelines!

"Now that's just too low!" Spike then yelled out.

"Boo! Call it off!" Cretacia couldn't help but scream losing self control.

"Fight your own battles! Unless you're a coward!" Dr Drake then yelled as a handful of other spectators began to boo too.

As before, Kaze scoffed at their words treating them as no more than mere background noise to tune out, "Your words amount to absolutely less than nothing if you think I'm some common imbecile who would buy in to such empty prattling, so stop wasting your breaths." He replied uncaringly. His response manner stunned them, not just by how stoic and unwavering he was in his decision, but the fact he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it at all.

"Kaze…." Cera narrowed her eyes seeing he hasn't changed at all from how he was before, how unfortunate with everyone moving with the times it was surprising he hasn't gone with the flow yet. "They have a point you know." She then spoke out at him, unable to keep it any longer, "This is a tournament after all and not a real battle, the point of this is that we're trying to move on from those days of the war."

Unfortunately even she wasn't able to reach him either, "Hmph! I couldn't care less about that, to me every day is the same as the one before and the one next." Kaze replied before pointing out at her, "Plus, that would be your fault there, you left yourself wide open and I merely seized the opportunity. Surely you'd see this coming." She gritted her teeth as he held out his arm, "And I'm going to keep this up!" He announced as the pterosaurs in the sky screeched as they made a simultaneous dive-bomb towards her on 3 sides!

"Erwin move!" She cried out to him as he leapt out of their way as they dove past him but he could still feel their wings and beaks barely making contact with his skin, just by a hair's width before somersaulting and landing on his feet gracefully. Looking up he widened his eyes as 2 of them came in for another attack! He then rushed out trying to shake them but no matter how much he ran or zigzagged the tapejara and anhanguera were always right on his tail! Looking back he was puzzled that only 2 of them were chasing him only to realise it was a trap! looking ahead he widened his eyes as the tupuxuara was coming in from above right in front of his path! Mustering all the energy he could he leapt over the pterosaur as it darted at him before the other 2 flew past him as well!

As they continued divebombing and darting at him, he was able to dodge each of them thankfully, but being airborne their movements were way harder to predict as every duck, roll, leap and somersault he made continued to wear away at his stamina as they continued to corner him mentally making him and Cera unable to get a good read on their attack patterns and movements! Where one struck another one was waiting for him to get into position and he had to make last minute turns in his dodges in order not make near misses! It was then as Cera sweated anxiously she then began to realise Kaze's end goal was to slowly wear down her stamina while cutting off her options. She gritted her teeth seeing clear that Kaze not only had an effective strategy in play but he trained each and every dinosaur under his command to skilfully pull off the roles he assigned them, how they did so obediently and their movements perfected to a fine edge much like a ninja's sword slash.

Everyone remained tense, unable to keep their eyes off the merciless assault Cera was enduring.

In the seats above, Lunensis narrowed his eyes seriously seeing his daughter being cornered so badly, "Come on Cera, focus. You can do this if you keep your cool." From his experience that was what enabled him to prevent Kaze from winning whenever they duelled, in order to keep the Resistance from falling into his hands of management. Now it was Cera's turn to not only pull off what he could but hopefully surpass him….if she couldn't handle this attack then her game would never pass the real match to come.

"Oh dear how horrible." Aki said with concern.

Rod sweated gritting his teeth seeing the carnage down below, now he and Laura were having second thoughts on wanting to take part in this tournament.

At the D Team's side they were lacking confidence in Cera being able to get out of this, "Urgh….It's getting rough out there…." Max sweated as his heart raced and his eyes were unblinking.

"Yeah, Kaze's way more ruthless than Cera described him to be." Zoe nodded swallowing down hard.

"He plays real dirty too…." Rex gritted his teeth angrily, however he then put a finger to his chin in thought, "Still….now that I think about it…." Given his upbringing not everyone is given a fair hand in life and thus they have to make do with the best they've got. How those weak or less fortunate do whatever it takes to survive even if it means leaving others behind or using them. Because of that they'd come up with all kinds of elaborate methods and means to achieve their goals, an while underhanded it was also strategic from another mindset, a way of thinking that Rex realised he may need if he were to make it further into the tournament should his turn come around. He may need to be more cunning and clever to make up for his lack of strength.

Back at the b battle, Kaze shook his head with disapproval seeing Cera and Erwin were unable to make any sort of progress at all as the pterosaur attack continued for several minutes straight, "I expected better from you, thought you would've learnt something by now." He scoffed which served to further tick Cera off. He then held out his hand and threw it down, as the pterosaurs gathered together and struck out in all corners from the sky, the sun behind them so Erwin and Cera wouldn't be able to see them coming!

"Tch! You'd be surprised at what I've learned." She grunted before pointing out at him before grabbing a wind move, "I'll gladly show it to you first hand! Go tornado toss!" She yelled slashing the move with all her might! Erwin screeched as the pterosaurs came in from multiple directions again, this time having studied their attack patterns and movements he timed it at the right moment before running a wide circle and his movements generating a huge tornado in the path of the flyers! They screeched in alarm at how fast it came up and it was too late for them to change direction as they dove headfirst into it! Eventually as Erwin came to a stop to catch his breath while the tornado dissipated the 3 pterosaurs were sent flying out in separate directions before crashing to the ground and returning to card form.

"Hoh?" Kaze smirked with interest, not expecting this at all but found her resourcefulness amusing and impressive, while Hunter narrowed his eyes and snarled.

"How remarkable!" Ancient widened his eyes as everyone gasped in amazement at Cera's ingenuity!

"Yeah!"

"That was awesome!" Even the A Team were excited now.

"Way to go Cera!" They all cheered in excitement and joy

"Phew I thought she was a goner there…." Laura let out a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat frothier brow with her sleeve.

Lunensis nodded with approval at Cera's wisdom in battle and her skill at being able to pull off said plan too, "To work her way up to be Commander of the entire D Resistance and surpass me, I knew she had it in her to overcome this obstacle." He smiled but it soon changed to a concerned frown, "But that was the first step, time to see if she can pass the real test." He thought as he looked towards Kaze with a hard expression.

Down below Cera gasped with exhaustion before smiling with relief and holding a thumbs up to Erwin who smiled back to her as he fell down on the ground tired and unable to keep himself standing.

"Impressive, you managed to pull it off, as I expected." Clapped Kaze congratulating her as she looked his way and braced herself for his next sneaky attack. Erwin, though exhausted and nearly running out of steam as he panted and gasped for air, he struggled to push himself back up to his legs before growling out inn defiance at their opponent as Hunter decided to step up to the plate himself now. A few minutes passed as they prepared themselves mentally and physically for whatever sneaky trick Kaze planned for them….but as more time passed, she blinked her eyes in surprise having expected him to move in and strike while the iron was hot by now….and yet….

"W…Well? What's next? I'm ready for it!" She yelled out with assurance that if this was some trick to lull her into a false sense of security she wasn't buying it. While she prepared herself for any sneak attack he'd throw her way, what happened next really caught her by surprise.

"Hmph, you think too poorly of me." He scoffed to her surprise as he gazed at Hunter, who eyed him back before lying down on the ground to her and everyone else's confusion.

"Huh?"

Mercy, that was the last thing they expected from him.

"You've been through enough, I'll give you a moment to recuperate and no more." He calmly replied as Hunter lowered himself to the ground and lay down, "If you truly wish to surpass me I suppose you'd have to be at your absolute best yourself. You deserve at least that much." Was all he said after that.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise, kindness and mercy was the last thing she expected from him. She thought that he hadn't changed at all, truly ninjas were masters of surprise in more ways than she expected, "Th…Thanks Kaze." She replied feeling grateful, seeing his words were true, in a real fight he'd lure his foes into a false sense of security before striking them down….but this….was different, she could tell for sure. Though a part of her was still hesitant and still on alert, a part of her remained hopeful, perhaps deep down he had changed. The fact that Kaze had said opportunity to attack yet passed it up was proof enough. That brought a light smile to her face as she could rest a little more at ease, as Erwin panted and knelt down to catch his breath.

"Don't mention it, in fact don't expect it to last." He scoffed looking away from her and up a the sky. As he pointed out she followed it to show a large cloud blowing by and then covering up the sun behind it, "You have until that cloud passes the sun, once it covers it up, I'll show no mercy, so get ready!" He yelled as Hunter growled her way too, making her grit her teeth and grunt with exhaustion.

"Urgh…."

"Gee I don't know whether he's being generous or just harsh." Max narrowed his eyes and folded his arms.

Zoe pouted at his rudeness, as though it was some kind of bait and switch, the worse kind of tease ever.

Rex however had other things on his mind, "Either way, the real battle begins now…." He noted whether it being fair or not.

Soon the cloud was halfway past the sun, at that moment Cera wasted no time as Erwin kicked himself up and crouched down into a battle ready stance, while Hunter did the same on the other side, this time no more sneaky tricks it was up close and personal for real now. As the clouds continued to roll by, Cera hardened her gaze as well as Erwin, at this point they had gotten a good feel of his battle style, from him she learnt to see openings in moves, formations or tactics, such as the time she and her friends battled the rugops in the woods. Reading the air's rhythm Cera could confirm this was the real thing now, as long as she had known since duelling Kaze she had to rely on instinct to read his very emotions in order to anticipate his next move or what he planned next, and now she just knew the real fight was going to start any second now.

Silence filled the arena as everyone looked on in anticipation, a bead of sweat fell from Cera's cheek, and as it hit the floor the sun's rays began to shine from behind the cloud!

With lightning fast reflexes, Kaze slashed, "Jet shuriken!" He yelled as Hunter snarled and somersaulted backwards before generating a series of wind shurikens and sending them at Erwin!

Everyone widened their eyes in alarm, "Whoa! It's fast!"

Cera responded with equally fast reflexes, "Counter with biting wind!" Erwin glowed blue before creating a huge tornado in front of him! He swiped his tail through it generating blades of wind which fired out and easily deflected the incoming shrikes with ease! What's better, she had more of them coming in at Hunter and Kaze!

Undeterred, Kaze took another move, "Let's see how you like this then, split attack!" Hunter split into 3 copies of himself as they rushed forward!

Cera hardened her gaze, "I remember that move…." She recalled Sinraptor doing it one time and she did it too, the move's only weakness was that only the real dinosaur gave off a shadow but Hunter was moving rapidly as he mixed up his movements with his doubles making it hard to get a read on him! No other choice now, "Keep it up Erwin! Biting wind again!" She called out as

"He's barely avoiding them." Dr Ancient commented putting a finger to his chin in thought.

"If she could move in a bit faster she could get him." Cretacia muttered folding her arms and hoping Cera would be able to land in a good hit already, she deserved that much after all the trouble she went through.

"That's what he wants her to think." Lunensis then said which got their attention as they looked his way to see him eying the situation very closely, "If you look closely, you can see Kaze's allowing those attacks to get in close on purpose."

The other parents blinked in surprise at his observation, "He is?" Looking closer they could see he was doing just that, in fact Kaze had timed his moves with the whirlwind's charge up and then timing the tail swipes before dodging at each last second.

"But why?" Reese put a finger to her chin in thought.

Rod narrowed his eyes having an idea, "My best guess, he's luring Cera into a false sense of security while hiding his real objective….."

Down below, Rex had just reached the same conclusion, "I see! He's also measuring the timing of those strikes before getting in close secretly!"

The others widened their eyes, "Not good!"

"AH!" Max and Zoe both called out in alarm! Cera too realised it, too late to be precise as Hunter rammed right into Erwin's chest and pushing him back hard! "Oh no!"

"Amazing! With such keen senses Kaze and Hunter were able to discover the blind spots in Cera's attacks!" The MC gasped, "Truly to be expected of an elite ninja! She'd better think up something different and fast!"

She gritted her teeth in annoyance, "Don't give in Erwin! Counter attack!" She threw out her arm as Erwin roared out and tried to swipe at his smaller opponent but the smaller dilophosaurus easily evaded him. It was then Erwin had enough as he rushed up at Hunter up close and personal, unwilling to let him escape! They both vanished in a blur as sparks flew out with the clash of teeth and claws at one another with the spectators only able to get glimpses of the 2 dinosaurs fighting for the briefest of moments before they vanished into thin air again! The claws slashing at one another like katana blades, along with kicks and tail swipes being matched at every moment with the smallest glimpses caught on camera.

"Those moves….." Cera soon realised they were much like the time she duelled against Ofu and her ninja posse back in Ancient Japan….and considering Kaze used the same moves as them meant he was….."Erwin keep it up!" She then cried out encouraging her dinosaur as she roared out in motivation before keeping up the pace! Having recalled every move she made against them she continued commanding Erwin to match each of Hunter's attacks blow for blow, as Kaze soon narrowed his eyes and scowled with annoyance at being matched, to think she'd ever come this far was something he hadn't accounted for.

"Amazing….."

"Look at that…."

"Whoa…." Everyone breathed in awe like they were seeing a real life action move up close before the 2 dinosaurs broke away and returned to their sides panting tired.

"Hmph! I think it's time I took things higher." Kaze soon scoffed with boredom as he slashed a move, "Cyclone!" A tornado shot down from above and enveloped Hunter before he charged out at Erwin while wrapped in wind!

Cera narrowed her eyes as she grabbed a move of her own, "I don't think so! Hurricane beat!" Slashing it Erwin fired out a pair of tornadoes which ensnared the incoming Hunter! Running out at him he leapt out and kicked at his face repeatedly before somersaulting and smacking him away with his tail and sending him flying across the landscape to a crash! "Aha! Gotcha!" She pumped up her arm as her friends and others cheered her on.

"Yeah!"

"Woo hoo!"

Kaze however was about to sap the wind from their sails, "Heh, I believe that's my line." He smirked.

"What?" As Cera looked ahead to see Hunter lying on the ground he suddenly exploded in a cloud of dust and emerged as a tree stump! "AH!" She gasped in alarm as everyone else began to mirror her shock and realise it was a trap!

"Oh no that's dino illusion!" Marina gasped in surprise.

"Kaze sure has more tricks than a magician…." Blaze whistled impressed.

"Man he's just driving me nuts! Is it too much for him to fight normal!?" Craig growled impatiently as he grasped his head feeling dizzy with all the fancy moves coming into play before gnashing his teeth and smashing his fist into his palm creating a near thunderclap sound, "If I could just get my hands on him I'd mangle him!"

"Another skilful ploy! Again and again the captain of wind continues to exceed our expectations!" The MC then cried out as the crowds went wild with awe and excitement.

"If that was a decoy….Then that means…." Before Rod could finish, the dilophosaurus rushed out of the clouds from the side before leaping into the air and landing on the side of the megaraptor before biting into his neck!

"Ah! No!" Cera gasped in alarm, seeing that Kaze snuck in ANOTHER strategy, to tire her out and bait her with mock attacks so she'd expose openings and opportunities for him to capitalise on.

"No Cera!" her friends cried while her parents gasped.

"Kaze does like his enemies to think they are winning before hitting them when they least expect it so it hurts most and finally crushing their hopes down…." Hua observed. Psychologically, physically and mentally speaking, to ensure they lose hope along with the will to fight as he eliminates all their possible options. Also recalling how he set traps before and baited his enemies or targets into falling for them.

"Grr! How dirty! His way of battling grinds my gears!" Craig growled as he gnashed his teeth violently wishing for one day he could just get one hand grip on him, that's all he needed then he could show the world how overrated and cowardly he actually was.

Up above many of the audience in the seats or worldwide looked on with worry and concern for Cera as mixed responses came up and few of them had hope in her.

"Man this is really starting to take a toll on Erwin…."

"To think even the Captain would struggle against one of her own subordinates."

"Hope this isn't one of those situations where the loser has to forfeit their title or something like that."

"Would be real scary if the entire Resistance fell under Kaze's management."

Many of them including the D Team or Alpha Gang commented or shuddered at that very nightmarish thought and prayed that it would not come to pass or that Cera will win..

"Tch! I remember that tricky strategy from before." She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"And yet you keep falling for it every single time." Kaze responded as she grew even more frustrated.

"Grr! Really bites just thinking about it." She grunted.

"I warned you never to get ahead not yourself," He explained shaking his head in disappointment once more, "Now you see how easy it is to create the illusion of victory, not just by me even you can delude yourself too." Throwing out his arm he declared victory! "Now you're mine!"

"Grr! Not yet!" Cera then retorted, "In fact let's see how you like a taste of YOUR own medicine!"

Kaze blinked his eyes upon hearing that, "Hmm?"

She then grinned seizing a chance she couldn't pass up, "Erwin now!" Roaring out, Erwin was able to shift sideways and mustering up the strength he leapt to the side and then slamming on the ground with Hunter still on his back! The force of the fall and his weight forced the dilophosaurus to let go as he coughed out with the air knocked out of his lungs! Before he could respond, Erwin leapt upon him and began to pin him down with his massive arms and bite into his throat!

"AH!" Kaze stuttered with unbelief.

Cera smiled with delight at the look of surprise on his face, "Bait and reversal! Just trying out one of your tricks!" She boasted out confidently.

"Tch! To have my own tactic used against me…." He clicked his tongue in annoyance before his frustration shifted to a sneaky grin of his own, "Too bad you'll only be second best!" Using his arms Hunter was able to slash at Erwin's sides making him flinch from the pain, giving him enough room to get his legs underneath his stomach before kicking him off!

"Oh no!" Cera cried out as Hunter now had regained control of the situation with more room to move before darting back and forth and snarling out with fury!

"Enough games! Time to settle this now!" Kaze grunted seriously as he was through playing around as he took out his signature move, "Ninja attack!"

Cera widened her eyes realising what was coming, "His favourite move….." As expected, Hunter sped towards her before splitting into 6 clones and then leaping out and surrounding her in a blurry circle!

"Ah man!" Max cried out grasping his hair.

"The way he's doing it….it's faster than Ace and I could ever do….." Rex breathed in awe, seeing Kaze no doubt trained his dinosaurs to not only be faster but to have better stability, control and stamina to be able to use attacks in such deadly succession! As bad as a person he was he was no doubt a skilful trainer!

"Cera! Get out of there fast!" Zoe cried out as everyone widened their eyes and gasped in alarm seeing she was in big trouble now!

Each of Hunter's clones struck out without mercy much like a straight arrow, as Erwin was only barely able to dodge though with a sense of grace and elegance with a somersault or even a cartwheel before landing soundly on his toes, though he had little time to relax as another attack was coming in at each point he landed!

"She's barely avoiding them….." Mrs Drake tensed grabbing onto her kneecaps with worry as the families and friends around them look on anxiously seeing Cera was badly cornered and at this rate it was only a matter of time before she'd run out of stamina and this duel would be over…..

"Yeah…." Lunensis nodded as his eyes remained unblinking at what was unfolding down below, before blinking them in realisation at what was really going on, "Or could it be?" His face brightened up in a smile of confidence which got the others' attention, before they put 2 and 2 together and smiled like him.

Looking closer, Cera despite her uneasy expression was still keeping calm in maintaining her movements in sync with Erwin, almost as though their hearts and minds were as once, as she measured the timing of each of Hunter's strikes, before finally identifying his pattern and behaviour of attack seeing he much preferred to come at her from behind or the side away from her eyes….before finally-

"This ends now!" Kaze declared before seeing her smirk at the last second, "Ah! Oh no!" He realise too late he was baited, before he could command Hunter to pull out,

Cera then made her call, "Alright jump up Erwin! Now!" Right on cue, the megaraptor growled as he mustered all the energy in his legs and leapt up with full force high into the sky and avoiding the last few strikes of ninja attack!

"Whoa!"

"Look at that!"

"What an incredible leap!" The MC gasped in amazement, it was almost as though megaraptor was actually flying!

As Hunter and Kaze looked up to try and get their opponent into their sights, the sun's glare right behind Erwin forced them to shield their eyes or look away! Unable to read their opponents' movements now, Cera seized the window of opportunity instantly, just as Kaze once taught her, "Now sonic blast!"

"What!? Hunter no! Get out of there now!" His warning came much too late as the gust of wind fired down and swallowed Hunter up before he was sent spiralling out of control and thrown away several feet across the battlefield!

"Unbelievable! Just when it seemed like Hunter had Erwin cornered, Cera comes back with a masterful counterattack that not even Kaze could expect!" The MC called out as everyone roared with amazement and positivity to see the match turn in Cera's favour again!

As the dilophosaurus weakly opened his eyes and staggered to his feet, "Hunter! Move!" Kaze cried out in alarm and urgency to his dilophosaurus who instead stumbled about in confusion while also panting out in exhaustion, "Grrr!" He growled in annoyance, usually he never let his opponents get to him as he always went with the flow of battle but this time around he wasn't feeling said flow.

"It's too late Kaze, this time no tricks are getting you out of this!" Cera then yelled out seeing she had him right where she wanted him! This time she won't miss, for dino illusion needed the user to be in full focus at the moment it was used, with him off balance already no way could he do that! It was now or never, as she seized the chance for her final attack, "Erwin! Finish it up with Air raid storm!" She commanded as the megaraptor shone bright light blue before charging towards the vulnerable Hunter!

"AH! NO! " the master ninja could only look on as at the moment Hunter regained his senses, Erwin had already smacked him with his tail before flipping him up high into the air! He then blew out a tornado and slashed through it a set of air cutters which struck the helpless dilophosaurus before jetting into the air! Striking him repeatedly in midair, rendering everyone speechless before vanishing and appearing above Hunter, grabbing hold of him before spiralling down right to the ground! Throwing him he landed with a mighty crash causing an impact which cracked the ground and dust to form around them!

The onlookers looked on, jaws agape and in speechless awe as they awaited for the dust to clear, as it did, Erwin stood strongly on the battlefield, panting exhaustedly, while Hunter, weakly forced himself up to his legs and panted with each step he made, trying to get close to Erwin….but after a few exhausted steps he roared out in pain before losing consciousness and collapsing on the ground, unable to continue.

It was at that moment, Kaze fell to his knees and then lowered himself to his arms in defeat as he closed his eyes, accepting it, "I….lose…." he breathed out painfully as Cera smiled brightly and punched up to the sky with Erwin who roared out in triumph!

"YAY! I won!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner! Cera now moves on to the 3rd round! What a spectacular battle of back and forth it was picture perfect!" The MC then announced out loud as the D Team cheered out joyfully applauding the exciting battle and the outcome.

"Cera! You did it!"

"I knew she'd pull it off!"

"That was a fantastic battle!"

The other captains too applauded, "Wahahaha! Way to show that pompous windbag of hot air how to really fight!" Craig laughed out loud joyously, feeling great amounts of satisfaction to see Kaze be put in his place at long last.

Up above everyone else clapped and applauded Cera's efforts and victory but none were as proud as Lunensis, who smiled upon her with deep pride at seeing how far she had come as a person, "Well done Cera, you won, congratulations."

Even the A Team couldn't help but admire but strength she demonstrated then and there, "That kid actually wasn't half bad…." Ursula admitted humbly.

"Yeah….to think she could beat an actual ninja like that, just where did she learn how to do that?" Zander wondered curiously.

"Don't know," Ed shrugged his shoulders before suggesting an idea, "But think maybe we should take that Kaze guy's crash course on how to be a ninja master?"

His response earned him a bonk on the head by Ursula, "Let's not Ed….you remember what happened back with those deinonychus at the ninja village?" She grumbled making him and Zander shiver.

Upon being reminded of what they went through while in the Fun House that time, Ed sweated and gulped taking back what he said. "Oh…yeah…."

Dr Z meanwhile scoffed and folded his arms crossly, "Hmph! If only I had Dino, Dano and Sue with me now I'd show that guy who the real ninja master is!" He muttered believing his ninja dinosaurs would easily put Kaze's entire squad in their place.

While everyone was so fixated on the winner of the battle, despite losing, Kaze felt no bitter resentment towards Cera or any anger to his dinosaur for being defeated. In fact reflecting upon it he saw the fault didn't lie simply on one variable alone, it wasn't because his methods were wrong, not because Cera was stronger nor was he weaker but in the end he realised what he was lacking now, a sense of respect for his opponent and connection with his own dinosaur, a trait he had a long time ago but had long since forgotten.

As a competitive person he hated losing a lot in the past and this trained hard to outdo any potential rivals to the point he beat them all in a fell swoop time and again, and yet that came at the cost of him losing worthy rivals to challenge and push him harder and thus lacked any excitement or respect for others. The war didn't help idea as it made him forsake the need for bonds as every day was a battle to survive and to never lose again for to lose means to lose your life, yet despite this loss, he didn't mind at all, for if he were to lose he was fine with it being someone as respectable and special as Cera, in fact he felt rather happy or even grateful for it, as he experienced a brand new sensation he never felt before.

At the battlefield, Erwin reverted back to his normal form before collapsing on the ground and panting with exhaustion, while Cera sat down on her butt and let out a deep wheeze and sight of relief, "Phew, that took a lot out of us both huh?" She huffed placing hand to her chest to calm down her racing heart before seeing Erwin look to her with a weak look. Smiling pleased with his efforts, she rewarded him with welcome relief after pressing a button and reverting him to card form, "Here, come back in for a nice long rest. You earned it, along with a well deserved lunch later today." She said to his card.

It was then she looked up to see Kaze approach his defeated dilophosaurus, who looked up at him weakly and then lowered his head in shame, ready to accept whatever punishment his master had in store for him as with every mistake he and Chase ever made while living under him and then being disciplined for it. He closed his eyes and let out a soft whimper as he awaited a stern lecture and discipline….only to be surprised when he felt his master's hand gently stroke his face. Looking up and blinking his eyes in surprise, Hunter was taken aback to see Kaze eye him not with anger but with some kindness instead.

"You fought well Hunter, I have no regrets about this outcome and neither should you." Kaze response acknowledging his dinosaur's hard efforts and loyalty, to which Hunter felt most appreciated and in surprise, it was the first time if ever he had received such kind words from his master, "We shall get stronger from this together, but for now, you take a nice long rest." Was all Kaze said to him before reverting him to a card. As he did that, Cera smiled happy to see that Kaze was acknowledging bonds once more, it seemed that she had been successfully in conveying said thoughts and wishes to him as he looked towards her with a similar look. As they both walked towards one another and bowed in respect as they had done before, "Well done my apprentice," He said to her acknowledging her victory as well earned, "To think you'd actually surpass me at my own game….." He couldn't help but snicker feeling rather humbled by the experience and yet….it was also quite enlightening too.

Cera scratched her head sheepishly, "Well, I'll admit I had doubts in myself at first the moment I first stepped into your station years back….." She said with honesty, "And your way of doing things definitely challenged my beliefs time and again…." She lowered her head still feeling the scars of the past but then smiling with more confidence, "But I never gave in, I kept believing in the hope that we could not only win the war but help make things right again. A hope you once lost and almost gave up on." She then added as Kaze looked on and said nothing, his expression changing yet on the inside told a different story. "Yet I still knew a small bit of that faith still resided in you deep down, I just kept believing that I'd be able to help bring it to the surface again one day."

"And you all managed to help restore it, not just mine but everyone else's too." Kaze nodded in response. Turning his back to her he sighed a little before looking up to the sky, "You were right about one thing, there is still room for faith….perhaps it's time I did move on and have hope in the world once more." He said, "A good teacher, no a great teacher is one who can also learn from his students after all." Looking to her and smiling under his mask, "Today I acknowledge you as the master now, and I truly look forward to seeing you and your generation lead us all to the future." He said holding a hand out to her, to which they both shook on as the crowds cheered to see such excellent sportsmanship and code of conduct in their tradition. Also to see Kaze treating others with respect and honour helped restore the peoples' fate in him and have a better impression off the wind captain too, including those of the other captains. Being a man of few words still, Kaze then stepped back and said a few final parting words, "Good luck in your matches to come, and for now…farewell." He said at the end before performing some hand gestures and then vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Leaving Cera to smile with revitalised strength that she managed to win back someone who was once lost which also spurred her to do just as well in the matches ahead.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and how good it is to come back to this. With Kaze himself he trains himself along with his dinosaurs even adopting their move cards as his own personal techniques to take his skills up to new heights as well. Plus he is also the Resistance's master of tactics and strategy given his years of assassination gave him a mindset of planning ahead in advance and relying on cunning, should a plan fail he is quick to improvise too. He's not above being underhanded to an extent though something he taught Cera to realise in war anything goes. He also trains dinosaurs to not just move more swiftly but recover stamina faster too so he can follow up consecutive moves and give his opponents fewer options or opportunities to either retreat, rest or counter.

Something to note about Kaze he has a no nonsense attitude, being a hitman he often keeps sentimental emotions or morals out of his work as it's all part of business in his work as a bounty hunter or mercenary for hire. Believing it as how the world works and emotions and bonds being an ideal in face of reality. Made more apparent when the shadow war came and how he tried to force that on Cera once when she tutored under him, but her resolve to never give up on bonds and hope did have a slight impact on him though such as giving him hope and to have faith too even if small.

With his dinosaurs he has a master pupil relationship with them and doesn't try to get too close with bonds and all unlike the other captains, believing it would get in the way or worrying it can become a liability, though he does have a close enough connection in them that his dinosaurs give their all for him and one being able to go awakened form too. While being a strategist he also takes time to analyse an enemy for weaknesses and thus has a sharp eye for finding weak spots or openings to exploits such as in an individual's body or character flaws. Also he is the kind of person like Marina to go with the flow of the battle too and adapting albeit more on battling focus too.

Reply to reviews

tsukikami02

Yup the battle takes place the next day which is now.

I actually prefer the original series to battle planet at times but both have things I like and dislike. With the Alpha Gang they sure are opportunists and will exploit any chance they get.

I'm sure apart from Arkosaurus and his generals the other hybrids or mutants may be able to adapt to society.

Glad you enjoyed the moments with the captains, also any idea what you would want to name the kid? Also any thoughts on Kaze now?

I may try to mention something when Dr Z comes up with the secret dinosaurs. Also I think I gave Towa a cameo in the match Cera had with Seth.

Drew Luczyński

Hope you get enough sleep as always.

I try to have character development moments and not just fighting, to make my characters as human as they can be.

What do you think of Kaze as an individual now? I can assure you Craig trains most diligently and also would like to say you know how robots like Helga can withstand dinosaur blows? He also trains against such robots too, and yeah Ed would be past tense if it were actual combat.

Don't count Dr Z out just yet though, he did defeat Specter and Brontikens after all.