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Heartland had won.
It wasn't even that Heartland had been the better duelist of the two: he wasn't. Kaito had spent years of his life honing his dueling skills to a fine edge, and had been more than confident he could defeat the former-mayor.
Maybe it had been the effects of Barian World merging with Heartland City, weighing his body down and sending jolts of pain through his limbs like electricity with each attack to his Life Points. Maybe the years of utilizing Photon Mode and stealing souls had worn him down more than he realized. Maybe Heartland just knew his deck all too well – he had trained Kaito, after all. None of these maybes were any comfort to Kaito as he watched Galaxy-Eyes fall under a barrage from Infection Baal Zebul, felt pain surge up his legs until he had dropped to his knees by the time his Life Points hit zero.
Kaito's vision blurred and he doubled forward and dry heaved, with nothing in his stomach to void but sickly bile. By the time his vision coalesced again he didn't recognize the landscape anymore. Everything was angular and crystalline, washed out in hues of violet.
Yuma’s little fan club, his former mentor and his younger brothers, even Orbital-7 were all gone, or at least not in Kaito's line of sight anymore, and certainly not coming to his aid.
The sound of Heartland's voice made him sick to his stomach all over again. The thought of losing to a man like this made Kaito seethe inside.
"Kaito, Kaito, Kaito~" Mr. Heartland chided in a sarcastically sing-song tone. "How long have we known each other for now? Did you really think you'd be able to defeat me – of all people – in a duel? You forget after all, I made you who you are today!"
His vision swam out of focus a second time as he heard Heartland approach, his footfalls heavier than he had remembered them being in the past. There was a low droning about him, like the angry buzzing of an agitated beehive. If the man truly were a Barian, Kaito would never know by sight: his eyes failed him fully now, his vision growing spotty then black. At least for this he was thankful; he didn’t want the last thing he saw to be Heartland.
It took all of the strength left in his body to push himself back up and onto his feet; his legs threatened to buckle under him but Kaito endured it, gritting his teeth. The pain was overwhelming and he felt tears strain his dead eyes, but remained upright by sheer force of will alone. He heard Heartland chuckle maliciously at the effort it took Kaito simply to stand – much closer now. Though he could no longer see his assailant, he would meet him and whatever fate he had planned for him head-on.
If Kaito had to die today, it would be on his feet, not on his knees.