27

Rage, the emotion his father always warned him of was now encroaching on his heart. He could feel its transformative effects. The bile that tasted so bitter in his mouth. The tightening of all his muscles to the point of strain. The animalistic desire. The desire to kill, to destroy. It was intoxicating and overbearing. His heartbeat was like the raging storms of the Malunod, blood pulsing hot through his body at each smug drenched word that hung over his head. The steps of the shoes that drew nearer allowed the rage to creep deeper and deeper into his heart. At first, he fought it, tried to gain control, tried to regain focus but the feeling it spoke to him, and he loved the way it spoke.

When he felt the heat sear against his back, he let it explode. The power the rage promised him, the pride that had been stripped from his hands, that sweet, sweet vengeance that sang in his heart. At it came in the low menacing words of "I'll Kill YOU." Then as Azarios let out a monstrous roar, water burst from the ground in a high-power torrent smashing into Kaji.

An eruption of steam resulted from the clash that robbed both opponents of their vision.

Though Kaji couldn't see Azarios he could feel him, his rage and bloodlust petrified him. He didn't move, he couldn't move he had never faced something so menacing. He heard Azarios' ungodly movements across the ground searching for him.

Kaji had still yet to get up from the blast, his body trembling silently. He heard the sound getting closer and determined that he needed to move but his legs shook without his control. He stared at them till he heard the screech again, this time barely audible saying,

"Where are you!"

Kaji just managed to get control of his legs as Azarios appeared above him in a flash. Azarios smashed down, but Kaji blasted away just in time dodging the assault. Now of the retreat, Kaji dashed around the arena dodging the ravenous Azarios, His power was next level as each strike destroyed wherever it landed.

Kaji stayed dodging but he wasn't focusing on his surroundings and ran into a wall of water Azarios had set up. Kaji's movements completely stopped and once they did Azarios crashed into him with force so strong it blasted away all the remaining steam. The impact forced Kaji to spit up blood and vomit what little he had in his stomach.

Azarios' assault had only begun though. He began thrashing Kaji savagely, with heavy haymakers and overhead strikes. Azarios grabbed Kaji's face and slammed his head into the arena wall.

Kaji blacked out, but in his mind replayed a memory. A memory of him and his father on a hunt.

Kaji remembered the fear he felt when he first saw a Drago Shark. The shark had torn apart their small boat and killed two of the crew mates they had. His father had found a piece of the ship that they were able to stay afloat on. The death of the other two is what allowed them to get to the piece of wood.

His father had called it "Nature's sacrifice." He remembered that the Drago Shark still stalked them, and his father telling him that he was going to kill it.

"Dad, aren't you scared?" Kaji asked as his father stood up, shaking the boat slightly. Syros looked at his son and smiled. At times he would tease him and tell him he was supposed to be born a woman because he was too beautiful, but he didn't see that now. Now all he saw was his frightened son that asked a great question.

Syros looked into the dark waters, knowing his enemy lurked beneath the surface seeking to devour him.

The fear crept into his heart. The emotion he always fought against, the great crippler. He felt it seep into his knees as they began to shake. Cold sweat crept down his neck and back as he saw that charcoal grey fin in the water, watching, lurking, waiting. He thought of Kaji, the one who needed him more than he needed himself. He turned back and looked at his son and smiled.

"Scared? Son, I'm frightened beyond belief." Before driving headfirst into those murky waters.

Kaji woke up with an eruption of flames as he caught himself mid-fall. The flames forced Azarios to retreat off him as Kaji stood. His hair hung in his face as his crimson eyes glared from beneath them, a wicked smile accompanying them as he faced off against his Drago Shark.

Though the sudden flames initially made him retreat, they didn't halt Azarios' assault. This time, however, Kaji attacked as well. Both attacks connected in a vicious way. The energy that flared off forced the chiefs to reinforce the shielding of the stadium. Shaking the ground to where everyone on the island felt the tremors. The ground beneath them split under the extreme force of their fist clashing.

Azarios threw another heavy blow, but this time Kaji dodged and countered. The punch landed hard in Azarios' gut, but he didn't relinquish a bit of ground, slamming his fist hard into the back of Kaji, buckling his knees.

Kaji quickly recovered moving out of his range, 'That monster is too strong to beat head one' he thought as he wiped away the blood from his mouth. His hands were still trembling from the fear he felt. He stared at them for a moment before clenching his fist. 'Think Kaji think! How do I win this?' He barely had time to gather himself when Azarios launched another attack. Kaji quickly dodged yet and placed more distance between them.

Then it hit him, 'You have the speed advantage fool!' he thought to himself, 'Speed and technique!' Kaji jumped out of another wild charge. This time with a little less room for error. The rage seemed to be building increasing his strength.

Kaji nimbly dodged out of his range, throwing his arms to the side, and unclenching his fist. This time they weren't shaking. Fires burst out at the palms of his hands. First a bright orange then slowly they began to turn to a deep blue.

Azarios charged in faster than ever. He threw a punch cloaked in a torrent of water that spun around his arm like a drill. Kaji met his attack with his left hand, using the momentum to spin around to Azarios' back.

Kaji condensed the blue flame in his hand turning to a light blue, nearly white flame as he threw his right hand into Azarios' back. When the flame connected a massive geyser of blue fire erupted and blasted into the wall.

Smoke filled the stadium from the aftermath of the attack, and Kaji coughed as he fanned it out of his face. He could feel his energy fading as he took in a deep breath, 'I may have overdone it and killed the beast.' He thought. His plan was to make a flame hot enough to evaporate the water and leave him defenseless, but he never counted on the full destructive power of the attack.

His eyes inspected the tarmatic energy walls that shielded the viewers and wall. Several cracks had started to appear and were slowly repairing. The stadium itself was a complete wreck and he wondered if he gave himself enough time to truly get a rest. As he turned his back, he heard a sound that seemed to be a loud pop.

"CRACK!"

"POP!"

Kaji turned around as the sound began to come in more frequently and saw blue cracks of energy flying out from the crater in the wall. Suddenly the light from the sky faded and he looked up to see clouds covering the sky.

Panic filled the stadium as everyone began to scream out in fear,

"The Malunod it's come early!"

"I don't live here!"

"We're all going to get washed away!"

"This can't be happening we're supposed to have at least another two months!"

Various other indecipherable sentences were being shouted that Kaji could hear that drowned out his thoughts. He tried to think about what was going on when he heard a scream.

He whipped his head back towards Azarios. It was unmistakable that the scream came from him, and now lightning arced out from his position wildly. Kaji threw up a hand blocking the blinded light surge of powerful wind.

"What are you!" Kaji managed to grunt out.

The crackling of the lightning died down, becoming more tamed as Kaji heard the words.

"I AM WRATH!"

Before he could even respond he was blitzed. Smashed into the wall, Kaji could barely register what happened before pain blasted through his body.

Azarios now stood where Kaji once was, lightning sparking erratically around his body, his eyes glowing with the power of the lightning. Water swirled around his arms and fist and Azarios let out a roar.

Kaji stood up slowly, fear grasping his body as he shook. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. 'I can't lose!' he thought to himself. Flames erupted and swirled around his body soothing the pain that registered throughout his body. His hair floated upward, giving the appearance of a dancing flame. The orange flames turned to blue and then to white.

Kaji stepped forward and vanished as soon as his foot touched the ground. Without reappearing a blast of flame struck Azarios who blocked, then another attack came from behind him. Azarios responded by vanishing himself. The two traded blow for blow. After a few seconds, their speed began to diminish, and their actions became visible.

Each attack was loaded with staggering power that rocked the stadium, and the two only stood through sheer willpower. The awakened wrath of Azarios or the fear conquered by Kaji, which would stand supreme? Each punch made the other stagger as their power waned. The elements now receded from their bodies.

Azarios threw a wild punch that Kaji barely dodged throwing Azarios off balance. Kaji took his opening with everything he had. The shaking had stopped, the beating of his heart had calmed, the sweat was no longer cold, and his breath was now calm instead of ragged. He shouted as he gathered his remaining power into his right hand. The punch was met flush against Azarios' face and sent him to the ground.

Kaji dropped to his knees, tears filling his eyes as he thanked his father for teaching him how to conquer fear.