Wayne's never dying ambition

With Kage, Unknown, and Lex down for the count, Wayne is the last one standing in the way of Hunter. Wayne gives Hunter a vicious stare. The look in his eyes screams, "I'm going to kill you!" Hunter notices this and smiles.

"Ooo yes! I like that look in your eyes! Actually, it looks familiar. Oh, I remember; that's the exact same look the Beast King gave me all those years ago. Hehe, yes, how could I ever forget those eyes that continue to peirce into my soul!? I guess being raised by the Beast King gave you some of his facial expressions. But I do wonder how the hell you are standing right now, especially with all those injuries. Are you sure you're just a level zero?"

As Hunter questions Wayne's very existence Wayne looks down at his broken arm that he used his shirt to wrap. Wayne starts to think back to a few moments ago, after he blacked out.

Wayne, after a long battle, succumbed to the pressure and fell unconscious. Wayne, even though unconscious, is still breathing heavily, but his head is racing even faster than his heart.

"why? Why am I so weak? Pops? Lex? George?  Someone, please tell me something."

"Ok, then how about instead of sitting here and drowning in sadness, you get off your ass and do something?"

"!?"

Deep in Wayne's mind, someone answers his call for help. That person is George, who has manifested in Wayne's head during his time of need.

"...George, is that you?"

"Well yeah, you called for me, did you not?"

"Oh, I see. Well, there's really no point in you being here right now since the battle is pretty much over at this point. Kage and Unknown probably won't last much longer against Hunter."

"Oh, do you know that for a fact?"

"Before I blacked out, I fought Hunter head-on, and in that one encounter, I could tell he wasn't playing around anymore. If we can barely handle him when he's not serious, how do we expect to beat him when he is? It's hopeless."

"Hey! Didn't you spend the last two years becoming a man of ambition? Remember all those long days and nights of pushing your body to the limit!? The fact you even made it this far shows how much work you put in!"

"I understand that, but even with all my hard work, I now realize that there is truly a limit to what a level zero can do. I can't protect Pops with the way I am."

"Hey! I don't want to ever hear you talk like that again! I will not let you give up, especially right now! The Beast King, no; your father is counting on you right now more than ever!"

"But what the hell am I supposed to do!?"

"Now that is a question you must answer on your own."

George's manifestation starts to slowly disappear from Wayne's mind. Now, seeing his close friend once again leave him behind, Wayne's face turns to disappear.

"Wait, George, don't go! Please, I need you. I can't do this without you."

"No Wayne I can't do anything to help you. All I can tell you to do is make an effort. Any type of effort made right now could change the tide of battle in an instant."

Wayne hears what George is saying but is too overtaken by emotion to respond.

"You truly have grown, you know. I might not be here with you, but I will always be with you, no matter what. Bye, Wayne. 

George's manifestation completely vanishes from Wayne's head. As the conversation with George ends, Wayne awakens and is no longer breathing heavily. Actually, he is breathing more clearly than ever. He was completely cleared of all his stress, but most noticeable of all was the pure determination in his eyes. Now he only had one thing on his mind.

"I've got to save Pops!"

Wayne moves his broken left arm back into place. Then he ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around his arm so he could hold it in place.

"My ambition will never die!"

Back in the present, Wayne stands between the bloodthirsty Hunter and Kirata's life.

"Hahaha, are you just going to sit there and stare at me the entire time?"

Wayne closes his eyes and comes to terms with his situation. He is pretty much already in a corner. With no Lex, no friends, one arm to use, and nothing to enhance his chances of winning this battle, Wayne grits his teeth and quickly rushes toward Hunter.

"Oh, I see no room for talking! I like your style, boy!"

Wayne clutches the sheath of his blade and swings it as hard as he can in an attempt to cut Hunter. Hunter catches Wayne's blade with no fear.

"How many times are we going to do this? You're just a level zero; nothing you do will work."

Hunter takes Wayne's blade and throws it to the ground. Hunter, with a smile on his face, punches Wayne in the face, which leaves a gaping cut on his head. Wayne doesn't give up and continuously punches Hunter in the chest with his right arm. As he does, his hand starts to break. Wayne should be in pain right now, but he's not even making a sound as his hand breaks; he just keeps going. It's almost inhuman. Hunter stops messing around and punches Wayne once again in the face.

"Ok, this little standing in my way thing is starting to get annoying, so I'm going to end this now."

Wayne puts up a weak stance for battle, but that does nothing in the face of Hunter's next barrage of attacks. Hunter starts to pound both of his fists into Wayne's face over and over and over again, to the point where Wayne's face is so bloody he's unrecognizable. Even with all the damage he's doing, Wayne still stands in Hunter's way.

"You pathetic level zero! There's no point in being this stubborn! Are you really going to sit there and die over some beast that's not even your blood?"

As Hunter yells at what he thinks is foolishness, Wayne doesn't respond, not because he doesn't want to but because his body has already given out. He's only standing because of sheer willpower. He's at the point where a feather could knock him over. Unaware of this, Hunter becomes angry at the silence.

"Wait, why am I even entertaining this? I saw the look in your eyes and thought you were going to do something, but I guess a level zero is still a level zero. Now it's time to kill you so I can have some fun with the beast king."

Hunter vanishes and reappears in front of Wayne. With no remorse in his heart, Hunter swings his arm toward Wayne's head in an attempt to kill him once and for all. Before he could get his attack threw Hunter was suddenly blown away with no warning. Hunter gets sent to the far right side of the mountain.

"What the hell is this?"

Hunter flips around in the air to fix up his positioning. When he does, Hunter lands perfectly on the ground. He looks up and sees Wayne on the other side of the mountain falling backward until he is caught by a huge furry hand. The person who caught him turns out to be Kirata, who has finally broken out of the bubble prison. Kirata stands up on two feet, picks up Wayne, and cradles him with care.

"It's ok now, my son; your fight is over. Please rest and leave Hunter to me."

Kirata looks down at his son and sees all his injuries, but what really shocks him is his face, which has been destroyed to the point where he's unrecognizable. Kirata's face gets filled with pure passive rage.

"Arcta, please take my son."

Arcta waddles behind Kirata, and Kirata places Wayne on Arcta's back.

"Put him in the cave, and when you're done with him, grab his friends and put them in the cave as well. Also, please try to treat their injuries as well as you can."

"Kakaka!!"

"Thank you, Arcta, and while you do that, I will make sure that Hunter over there dies painfully."

"Kakaka!"

"Yes, I know Arcta, after being stuck in that bubble for so long, has cut my energy pretty much in half, but even with that said, Hunter has been fighting for a long time; he's strong, not immortal. His OGI tank must be at its limit by now. He will run out of steam soon, which means both of us are in the same boat. All I have to do is last longer than him."

Arcta looks at Kirata with a worried look on his face.

"Arcta, stop worrying about me; those boys are dying. You need to help them."

"Ka!"

"And Arcta, one more thing."

"Ka!"

"Thank you for helping me. I could have never made it this far without you."

"Ka!"

Arcta takes off for the cave with a tree growing out of it that is at the far back of the mountain. With Wayne on his back, Arcta runs to the cave as fast as he can. As he does it, it catches Hunter's attention.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!?"

Hunter Gets in a position for an attack.

"Hahaha! Sorry, but I spent too much time beating that boy's ass, and now I think killing him is only right!"

As Hunter prepares for an attack, Kirata appears behind Hunter with a fist not only fueled with lightning but also fueled with rage.

"You think you can just hurt my family like that and get away with it! I'll show you true suffering!"

Kirata slams his lightning fist into Hunter's back.

Chapter 33 end