Chapter 20: Kageru vs. Aria Pt 5: The Defeated Will

Kageru slowly rose as he gasped for breath; trying to regain any amount of strength he had left to finish the duel. He was not ready to yield to Aria yet. Thinking of his ace card still within the deck, he had faith that he can still claim victory. "My turn!" Looking at the card he just obtained Kageru smiled with relief. "(Alright!)".

Just as Kageru was about to play the card however, Aria quickly responded. "Judging from your expression, I believe that card is Rekindling. Very well, I'll activate my trap Delayed Passage. This allows me to call a card name, and until your next turn, that card cannot be activated or placed onto the field. I shall delay the activation of Rekindling. And afterwards this card returns to the deck instead of being sent to the grave.

"Urk!"

"Oh man. If only.."

"What's he gonna do now?'

"Hang in there Hinodama!"

Kageru trembled with frustration. The pressure of the game was clouding him. If he could somehow manage for one turn, and play Rekindling in the next, he knew that victory would be his. Kageru began to think of his late sister Akane, asking for her in spirit for guidance. He then remembered something her and their father Ken always told him.

"In darkest of places, light up a candle. And if people seem cold, give em a little warmth. And whenever something stands in your way...Burn it to the ground! That's the Hinodama family motto!"

"If something stands in my way...I'll burn it to the ground." Kageru looked up with a mere shred of hope left. "(I'm not down yet. I can still buy one more turn)".

"You may as well surrender now Kageru. I cannot guarantee your safety should you suffer another blow from my monster. Face it. Your primitive clan holds no power over me who has evolved."

"I've had enough of your blabbering. I'm still in this game, and I ain't burnt out until my Life points are burnt out. I activate my trap Comrade's Will. This card can be activated when my Life points are under 2000 and a monster on my side of the field is destroyed last turn. I pay Life points until I only have 100 left and then I draw 2 cards for each time a monster on my field was destroyed. Since you got rid of my monster twice, I can draw 4 cards!"

"Alright! Hinodama just got a major plus from that one." Tetsu exclaimed in excitement. Gai, Maira, and Kell however felt uneasy, fearing the risks Kageru just took. His Life points were now beyond the safety line, and even minor damage will prove fatal.

Kageru took a deep breath and yelled out. "DRAW!" Kageru looked the four cards he drew. It seemed he had the perfect solution for Aria's 5600 ATK monster and a last resort card to protect him.

"Here I go. I summon the tuner monster Flamvell Magician to the field! And since I have a tuner, I can special summon Boost Warrior from my hand."

With both a tuner and monster in his field Kageru prepared to bring about another Synchro summon.

"A LV5 Synchro Monster? And what could you possibly have that withstand my Shark Drake's power?" Aria asked.

Kageru simply smiled and responded. " I'm still pretty pessimistic about all these Terminal War stuff. Still, one thing's for sure though. The cards that my sis and my old man used were still pretty convincing. And since you're such an expert on this stuff, let me see you handle this. I tune my LV4 Flamvell Magician and LV1 Boost Warrior!"

LV4+LV1=LV5

With rings and stars floating about. A ray beamed from space and onto Kageru's field. His new monster descended a white and gold machine with four gleaming arachnid-like legs. Its gilded head bore a small sphere with a lens that served as its core.

"I Synchro summon Ally of Justice Catastor!"

Ally of Justice Catastor LV5 DARK/Machine/Synchro

ATK 2200 DEF 1200

The crowd gasped in awe at Kageru's monster. Tetsu, and Gai were stunned to see such a monster. They obviously had never seen him use it before and only remembered the card being used by few elite duelists. Including the late Akane Hinodama.

"Catastor. So..one of the legendary creations of the Allies of Justice has been entrusted to you. Catastor, the relentless predator, and one of several weapons built by the AOJ to counter the Worms that invaded them. As I remember also, that the weapons of AOJ relied on the use of dark matter to counter the light. And this weapon was made to counter anything that does not possess that property."

"That sounds about right. When Catastor battles a monster that isn't DARK attribute, that monster is instantly destroyed without damage taken. Get em Catastor. Take out that Shark Drake! Dark Matter Ray!" Catastor flew across the field and from its spherical lens and tail, fired an array of beams that disintegrated the WATER attribute Shark Drake."

"How do ya like that!? I'll set a facedown and end my turn." Kageru exclaimed as Aria's monster was destroyed.

Kageru looked at his hand. With his last Synchro summon, Kageru managed to gain a decent amount of monsters for Rekindling. He also had, another Flamvell Firedog in hand, and the card, Battle Fader to keep him safe for one turn, as he knew Aria's Soul Ogre will remove Catastor from his field. Victory was near, and all he needed was one more turn.

"My turn... Draw...So you seem confident that you'll survive this turn don't you? You have put up quite a warm up for me so far."

"Warm up!?"

"Urgh!"

"What!?"

Aria arranged the cards in her hand. It seemed that her next move may cripple Kageru's strategy. A thought came towards Maira and Gai's mind. They remembered Aria having another ritual monster added to her hand at the beginning of the match; one that she hasn't even used up.

"Why do I have a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach?" Gai asked. Tetsu made his reassurance and was confident in Kageru's skills and luck."You worry too much. I'm sure Kageru won't lose. He's already got this in the bag I'm sure."

Just then Aria suddenly made her call. "Time to finish you off..."

"(Urggg...She's bluffin.. I ain't losing... not to her...not today...not ever..)"

"I activate.. The continuous spell; Dimensional Altar of Tribute! This allows me to perform ritual summons by banishing monsters from my graveyard equal to the LV of the monster. Now I shall activate the Gishki Aqua Mirror spell card! I sacrifice Gishki Shadow and Beast."

The large golden mirror once again appeared, this time absorbing the souls of the departed.

"Great Mirror of Creation, accept my offerings to you, as I give you the sacrifice of life. Let all who draw breath take part in a new creation. I call on the being who judges unworthy souls. Come to my aid and join me in bringing judgment to my enemies! Come..Evigishki Soul Ogre!"

Kageru trembled with anxiety and anger at the sight of Aria's monster returning. Still, he felt confident in his strategy. "*gulp* No prob. Everything is goin accordin to my calcu- I mean plans." he thought as he shook off a quote from a previous encounter.

"I'm not through with you yet. I activate another Gishki Aqua Mirror!"

"That's the one she recycled!" Tetsu added on. Gai and Maira knew well that Aria was now about to summon the monster she conserved for so long.

"Great Mirror of Creation. accept my offerings to you, as I give you the sacrifice of life. I call upon the enchanter of beginnings. The being of reincarnation and evolution. Bring forth a new enlightenment and awaken for me."

Aria's eyes glowed with power. The Kageru shook with anxiety, feeling an intimidating aura around her. Still, he held on towards his last shred of hope. "(One more.. just one more turn..)"

"I tribute my Gishki Ariel and Reese the Ice Mistress...Hear thy call and create a new beginning as Thou shalt bring the end. Come...Evigishki Mind Augus!" A new creature appeared from the large mirror. It took the shape of a large fish=like creature, horrendously merged with a figured that appeared to be Gishki Ariel the young sorceress.

Evigishki Mind Augus LV6 WATER/Aqua/Ritual

ATK 2500 DEF 2000

"I activate Mind Augus's special ability. When she is ritual summoned. I can choose up to 5 cards from either player's graveyard and return them to their respective owner's decks."

"NO!"

"But that means!-"

"I shall select all the monsters in your graveyard would have been summoned by Rekindling and any other optional monsters you have."

With each card selected. Mind Augus waved its large mirror-like staff and sent all the souls resting in Kageru's grave back to his deck. Aria then activated Soul Ogre's effect once more to remove Catastor from Kageru's field. Left with no monsters and an unusable Rekindling, Kageru feel to his knees in defeated shock.

"Let me put you out of your misery. Soul Ogre. Finish this game..." Despite that call and having a Battle Fader in his hand, Kageru gave in to despair and Aria's Soul Ogre lunged at Kageru and jabbed him in the stomach."

"Acccckkkk!" Kageru began to cough up blood. Suffering 2800 points with only a mere 100 proved too much for his body. As his Lifepoints dropped, so did his body as it fell unconscious. All he thought of with a tear in his eye. "I'm sorry...Akane..Maira..I..lost.." With that he fell to the ground with a thud.

Kageru LP 100-2800=0