Team Battles {III}–{The Sin Of Anger}

While the epic battle between the two Elves was about to spike up again, Zreno was seen facing the Asura of the other team.

Both were going at it with only their raw physical strength and speed, no flashy techniques or abilities were involved, just their fists clashing knuckle to knuckle.

Zreno was neither winning nor losing, and the same could be said for his opponent, they were deadlocked and both had noticed this, but still went at it for another minute before stopping.

"That was a nice warm up Zreno." The opposing Asura announced.

"I know right? Now let's get serious, Zuko." Zreno replied with a smirk and took a battle stance.

"Now now, let's not rush things." Zuko announced with a sly smile on his face. "How about a little bet to spice things up."

Zreno saw the smile on Zuko's face and instantly knew that he was up to no good.

For an Asura, Zuko had always been weird, he had great strength, and coupled with his mischievousness and cunny intelligence, it was always hard to win against him in a fight, but that didn't deter Zreno.

"What do you suggest?" Zreno asked calmly.

"It's nothing much, the loser would have to drop out of the Tower of Doom conquest." Zuko replied with a grin.

"WHAT!!!" Zreno's body suddenly set ablaze with a violent red energy when he heard the bet stake.

He was extremely livid because the Tower of Doom conquest, was a once in a lifetime opportunity for young Asuras, and the fight for who were going to enter it was fierce and deadly.

Zreno had barely won and secured a spot for himself, now, Zuko was telling him to drop out if he lost, to him that was a direct disrespect to his strength, but before he could speak further, Zuko continued.

"I know you don't like it, but the reason I have placed this as the bet price is because I have someone who wishes to participate by my side, and I'm sure no one who already secured a spot would be willing to drop out, so I had to resort to this."

"Who might this person be that you will be willing to do this for? I'm sure you know the consequences of your actions." Zreno calmed down a bit when he heard Zuko's explanation, but he was still pissed off.

"That's my little secret, for now, will you accept the bet or not?"

Zreno stared at the Asura before him with a frown inscribed on his face, the odds of him winning were pretty high when compared to Zuko, but Zuko's intelligence was unpredictability, made the odds tip in his favour, still...

"I accept." Zreno, the son of a high warrior, couldn't back out of a challenge even if he wanted to, it was a rule placed on him by his father.

"Good good good." Zuko rubbed his hands together, like a sleezy merchant who just succeeded in swindling his customer.

Still filled with rage, Zreno began to control his anger and channel it around his body. His red aura increased in intensity and ferociousness, causing the ground around him to crack from the raw power coursing through him.

Zreno began to move his hands in complex ways, tracing invisible symbols in the air and mumbling a mantra, and then, his eyes glowed a bright golden colour, making the air around him shimmer with radiant lights.

His arms were suddenly encased in a golden piece of armour, with intricate and mystical runes etched on its surface that glowed dangerously.

"Your control over your dual mantra is something else." Zuko commented and began a transformation of his own.

His body released a white aura that seemed ethereal but at the same time real.

A phantom shot out of him and began to circle him, before submerging back into his body before anyone could make out its looks.

The beast wasn't seen, but the other Asuras who knew him and his Spirit Beasts, understood that he was going all out just like Zreno.

Zuko's body that was just as muscular as any other Asura, and also had markings etched deeply in his skin, began to undergo a change. Bright Orange light illuminated the area, and the source was none other than Zuko.

When the light died down, he was now covered in an exoskeleton armour, and between the seams and openings, red flames spewed out, threatening to consume anything that came too close.

In Zuko's hands, he held a sword made out of condensed flames, and without warning, both fighters blasted off the ground at untrackable speed and reached themselves in an instant.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light illuminated the area, and then a loud explosion occured. The ground didn't dare to stay the same as cracks snaked through it, creating deep fissures and gaping holes.

Zuko who looked to be on the receiving end of the attack, had a terrified expression behind his exoskeleton mask on his face, as he was flung through the air like a ragdoll, and before he could recover to fight back, the golden eyes of Zreno appeared before him and a red fist full of destructive energy, was in his face, hitting him squarely on his exoskeleton mask.

"Fuck!!" Zuko exclaimed.

Zreno's anger was consuming him, Zuko couldn't fight back in the face of his overwhelming strength, and the technique he had used was beginning to control him, and caused him to go on a rampage.

He was beating up the already limp body of Zuko, throwing him around and smacking him back on the ground, just to pound him again.

Zuko was lucky to have his exoskeleton protecting him in his state, if not, then he would have been long dead.

Zuko in his state, could not even throw out a punch or swing his flame sword, if he even tried to attack, Zreno dodged, then doubled his attacks inflicting more pain on him.

The air was rippling with heatwaves due to the excessive release of energy at once, and everything was coming from Zreno, his golden armour that encased his arms were blurring in and out of existence once in a while, and cracks began to appear in Zuko's exoskeleton.

Then with a final resounding crack, the exoskeleton gave way after another powerful punch.

Zreno even in his rampage, focused his attacks on the broken part of the exoskeleton.

Zuko's eyes bulged out and almost popped out of their sockets when he punched his guts, he mustered as much strength as he could, but in the face of true power, he had no choice but to bend his head and succumb to its will.

His eyes drooped, as his consciousness slipped out of him.

"I've lost."