[The Karawei Farm, Darrilyn, Piasu, Ryomania, May 6th, Tuesday, 7:22 PM]
The Twin Kings stepped forward, standing side-to-side, their fists outstretched in a fighting position.
The pipe Jasmine had during our battle with Keito Nakamura suddenly rolled through the front door from the resulting rubble.
"How fitting." My hands trembled around the metal pipe as I picked it up.
The taller one of the two, Raijin, laughed and clapped his hands.
"Oh man... I knew I'd be good at this job! It feels great to throw lightning around. It's easier than I thought to get used to these shoes. It's a crazy relic, right, Normand?"
"It's an old one…" His eyes locked onto the molten path Cathy's body had carved.
"Is that… Is that a hint of jealousy in your voice? Bahahaha!" Raijin cackled and clutched his knees.
I stepped closer.
"I made a promise that I wouldn't let this happen again. That nobody would fall to The Boss's corruption…"
Memories of Keito Nakamura's life flashed before my eyes, the voice of The Boss echoing in my mind: The heart is a fragile thing, isn't it?—
I shook my head to dispel those thoughts.
"No, I don't want to hear it. Not from you, not from anyone. You're going to regret what you've done. Anyone who touches my friends will go down. No. Matter. WHAT!" I pointed the pipe at them.
Normand's hollow eyes glinted at me with mock pity.
"Wow… You think I'm corrupted? That's so hurtful."
While Raijin scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Ramblings of a madman — geez, honestly, where do you think all that goodness is going to take you? You don't know, do you? Just how worthless this is… Oh, you will. With time."
Normand's tattered blanket fluttered in the wind, revealing skin marbled with sickly green veins. He turned his head and shouted towards the house —
"Sorry, sis! You should've joined when you had the chance! You're staying out of this, understand?! I'd hate to kill you too — you were the only one nice to me!" He yelled towards the house, hoping Cathy would hear.
Normand then shot Raijin a glance. Both of them nodded in unison. He got the message.
"Tag, you're it!"
Before I could react, Normand crouched, and the other one — Raijin — blurred out of sight, leaving only skid marks burned into the asphalt and the sound of electricity.
His voice was raspy and worn.
"Zombie: Fly Trap!" Normand slammed his palms into the earth.
The ground shuddered, then rippled, the soil bubbling and splitting into infected flesh.
"What the hell—?!"
Green eyes bulged from the dirt, followed by gnashing mouths that spewed fetid green mist. He turned the ground into a zombie.
"Holy crap... a z-zombie?! Dude, that's so freaky... I'll be honest, I don't really like where this is going... I'm scared of zombies!" Despite his complaints, Jack lunged, jumping over the patio railing and kicking off it to boost himself to Normand. He spun twice in the air.
His spin-kick connected with Normand's ribs, the impact echoing in the night.
"Mean Twister! That's one of my signature moves… I totally didn't just make it up… on the spot…" He breathed heavily, his hands trembling as he stuck the landing. Despite that, Jack kept smirking.
Normand flew backward from his strike, crashing into the burning cop car.
"That'll show ya! Zombie bum! Um... actually, I can't think of anything witty to say. Weird."
I snapped my fingers at him, also jumping over the railing and stepping closer, looking around for Raijin.
"Jack! Focus! There's two of them, and the other one seems really fast... Whatever this is, it isn't like Mr. Nakamura! I'll need your help! We can't let this escalate, no matter what!"
He nodded and took a fighting stance. His arms thrust outwards towards the car like two spears.
"Right, sorry!"
However, soon enough the fire consuming the cop car would transform, turning a sickly green color. Each ember grew a new mouth as they slithered towards us, the car eating itself alive as it became a zombie, along with the fire.
"H-hey, James…? I-I'm not too comfortable with zombies. Maybe you should take this one? You've got power now!"
I nodded and stepped forwards.
"Alright! Fine… This wasn't even meant to be personal, but that's their choice, not ours. Orders or not, you've always got a choice." I tightened the grip on the pipe in my hand. I felt the same surge of energy coursing through me as earlier. Serene Garden activated — a rainbow rose had already grown into the pipe, the soapy vines stretching outwards around it, giving it an extra layer of protection.
"Let's give this a shot. Serene Garden: Soft Strike!" I swung the pipe at the approaching creatures and a giant iridescent bubble burst from its tip.
"Hey, wait! That's not soft at all! That's too big, it'll affect us too—"
It exploded right in front of us as one of the zombies hit it. The shockwave ripped through the zombies, blood and guts covering the ground. The blast hurled the three of us over the fence leading into the property, over the main road and into the Redwoods, our backs slamming against the crimson-barked trees.
Jack and I got up quickly, Normand shaking and rolling on the ground, whining.
"Ah… Damn it… Okay... maybe I should've practiced more. That was definitely too big!"
Raijin was somehow already perched above a tree, chuckling and looking down at us. He pointed to Jack with a smirk on his face.
"Woo… I put in a whole workout while you three kept talking. I just can't get over these shoes. I'm itching to test out my new speed… Hey! You, with the three ponytails! You're mine. Come this way." He jumped down, the ground cracking slightly beneath him. He began casually walking deeper into the woods, the same white electricity arcing from his feet.
Jack glanced at me with a smirk. I noticed the scars bleeding on his face.
"Jack, you're bleeding here." I gestured to my cheeks.
He used his thumb to swipe some of the blood off and rubbed his palms together.
"Nah! That's fine. I can handle this, James. You just worry about that weirdo, Normand. Hey, guess what? I'll make a vow too... I won't ever lose a fight ever again! That's a glorious vow!" Jack took a step forward, putting his left hand in his pocket and tugging at his jacket with his right. "Glorious! I've been dying to try these techniques on something other than mannequins at home. You'll regret messing with James's house — it has damn good property value, you idiots! Now, let's settle this like gentlemen."
Normand staggered upright, his cracked toy crown — now stained with blood — almost fell before he placed it back on his head, his grin unhinged.
"No, no, no... I didn't see it! I didn't touch it… It's not mine, it's not real… It's okay, they'll fall soon, they always fall..." he muttered to himself, chuckling bitterly.
He snatched a rock from the forest floor, and it writhed in his grip, morphing into a small snarling green zombie creature with jagged teeth.
"Zombie: Despicable Gift!" Normand threw the zombie-rock at Jack, but suddenly —
Raijin turned to shoot Normand a dangerous glare. He moved in a blur and kicked away the little zombie.
"Thunderstrike!" Lightning arcing from his kick and shooting the zombie deep into the woods.
"Dumbass! I warned you about this before we came here!" The bolt of lightning pushed back the now dead zombie through the forest. It travelled roughly two kilometers into the woods without hitting anything before firmly destroying a tree, turning most of it to ash and embers due to the sheer force of a lightning bolt. The only thing remaining was the burning tree stump.
Normand clenched his teeth in anger.
"Raijin! What the hell was that about?! Why did you stop my attack?!"
Raijin simply lowered his raised foot and smirked.
"I thought I told you the plan. You have your prey, I have mine. We're splitting this battle into duels, got it? I want to fight the famous Daniels kid. See if he's as tough as I think. Plus... The Boss wasn't clear on HOW we had to capture them, understand? Get to work." He turned around and kept walking.
Jack grinned and waved to me as he ran off into the woods.
"This is insane..." I brushed my hair off my forehead.
"NO! You're the crazy one here, Karawei, don't you dare turn your back to me!" He kicked me in the back, the lower half of my shirt turning into a zombie and eating itself and me at the same time. I quickly ripped it off and hit it with the pipe until it died.
"Agh! You...!" I turned around, swinging upwards towards his face. He dodged out of the way and kicked my pipe upwards.
"Not fast enough, Karawei!" He slammed his foot down onto the ground, causing it to become a zombie and collapse into itself, making both of us fall downwards into a cave.
I quickly stood up, coughing from dust. The pipe was still outside.
"Normand! Stop this madness! We can talk this out... Your sister loves you, damn it!"
He snarled and got up from the cold and wet floor of the cave slowly, watching my every move.
"I can't betray The Boss! I never will! He saved me... And I'll be sure to complete this mission, no matter what!"
He dashed forwards towards me, hand outstretched, and before I knew it, rainbow vines were crawling out of my hand and forming a wall in front of me, stopping Normand in his tracks.
For now.
[Meanwhile... On the other side of the forest, 7:44 PM]
"Weak. Get out of my sight! You barely know how to throw a punch."
Raijin was fighting Jack, both going toe to toe with each other. Fist for fist as it were. Despite the great gap of power between them, Jack was not even the slightest bit worried.
"Raijin, you're all bark and no bite! First Step: Apex!" He suddenly jumped up above Raijin, once again spinning twice in the air.
Despite the fact that Jack's spin-kick attack seemed like it wasn't going to hit due to Raijin holding up his leg to block it, it did. It connected with his jaw.
"Mean Twister! How's that for weak?"
Raijin's eyes widened and he kicked upwards in retaliation, aiming for Jack's left side, but Jack dodged just in time, flipping back onto the ground and kicking him with both legs away.
"Barely a scratch! Nghaaa!" Raijin grabbed him by the legs and slammed him into a tree thrice before spinning and throwing him into the forest.
Jack spat out blood mid-air, laughing as he landed backwards, his fingers digging into the dirt.
"Woo... Now this is what I've been waiting for, a chance to show off! I feel like I can see everything... Hah! Flow is great. You know, for a guy who runs fast, you're kinda slow~" He chuckled and stood up, tugging on his jacket, taunting Raijin.
Raijin also spit out blood. The wildfire which had been steadily growing could be seen in the distance.
"Who taught you Flow?! Huh? Was it that... pesky splinter of a sister you've got? That girl was not given orders to do so, damn it, even if she's above us! Tsk." Raijin slammed his fists on the forest floor as if it had personally offended him and slowly stood up.
"Hey! Don't badmouth my sister! Now stop being a sourpuss and come fight me, or are you scared?"
Raijin bared his teeth at Jack and slowly took a runner's pose, his fingers firmly planted on the forest floor and his legs stretched. And then in a burst of speed —
"No wonder you're the heir... You're cocky. You'll regret challenging me! I'm the King Of Speed!" He dashed forwards at Jack, his punch landing in his gut, a lightning bolt coursing through Raijin's body and launching forwards and pushing Jack back into the forest.
"Gah!—" Jack felt weary. And yet absolutely great at the same time. Flow was coursing through his body, not that he understood it. His eyes were strange — a faint white mist coming out of them as they began glowing. He got up quickly, cracking his knuckles.
"You really are fast—"
Before he could say another word, Raijin ran in circles around him in a blur, lightning arcing off his shoes and onto Jack, burning his pants.
"Speed: Mach Cage!" All while he was launching punch after punch on Jack.
Jack held his arms up to block the assault but barely could.
And just then he focused. Jack took a deep breath, all the mist from his eyes seemed to gather in his right hand. He clenched his fist and extended it forwards.
"Pop Cracker..."
Jack landed a punch right in Raijin's face, his fist covered in the same white mist. Jack's eyes glowed brighter. His Flow increased. Jack clutched his fist and winced in pain.
"Damn... that hurt more than I thought it would!"
Raijin's momentum was halted. The attack itself was just a normal punch to the face. The real damage came from the Flow within Jack's body. However, Flow was now coursing through Raijin Hogo as he had not felt before. He seemed to slow down and the world around him blurred, transparent shards flew out from his body like a mirror cracking under pressure.
This type of attack was known as an Apex Strike.
"Impossible! Agh—" Raijin's head rattled and the lightning from his shoes also turned into the same ethereal glass matter. His body trembled due to the shockwaves of the attack coursing through his body, like fracturing glass.
This caused Raijin to be launched backwards straight into a tree, almost being thrown into the forest fire which was now close to the clearing where the two of them were fighting. It continued to spread.
"What... What is this? This feels weirder than when I've usually used The First Step… Everything feels like it's slowing down... Why does my body move before I think?! This is amazing! I would've used this in battle against Mr. Nakamura if I'd known it was this easy to control. Well whatever — come at me!" Jack took a fighting stance and grinned wildly. The mist once again coming from him, his eyes continued to glow.
Raijin chuckled as he got up and ran back over to the clearing at breakneck speeds.
"Wow, I'm actually impressed. I definitely should've learned Flow too… I got cocky." He rubbed his face, wincing in pain.
"Maybe you should! What even is your goal, huh? Why have you come after us? These Redwoods are a treasure to Darrilyn... You will pay for every last tree burnt!"
Raijin scoffed and turned to face the fire.
"Blame the fire on Normand! He wanted to attack you. Look, I'll be honest. We're here officially to bring you into The Syndicate, all three of you... The Boss thinks you've got potential or something, but I don't care about that—" Raijin crossed his arms and grinned back at Jack, slowly walking towards him. "I only wanted to fight, to see what you're made of... Jack Daniels. The famous Daniels. Rich, bratty, smug… You disgust me."
Jack narrowed his eyes at Raijin's statement, his posture relaxing ever so slightly.
"But why? I'm not cool like Cathy or strong like James. I'm just the funny guy, y'know? The class clown if you will."
Raijin burst out laughing and pointed towards his face. His eyes started glowing too, ever so slightly. Except in a pink hue compared to Jack's glow. Flow began circulating throughout Raijin Hogo's body, unbeknownst to him. He had achieved Apex.
Lightning started crackling around him from his feet and arcing upwards like an aura. His body was covered in it.
"Yeah, that's true... But look at this! Nobody has laid one hand on me ever since I joined The Syndicate's Special Ranks. Nobody. Maaaaan, you really are something! Haha~" He then let his arm drop to his side and slowly took a running stance again. "I'll make sure your death is painless for being the first to make me bleed."
"I'd like you to try, Jackass—"
Raijin once again dashed forwards toward Jack, his right hand extended and his fist clenched. The shockwave from his dash sent Jack backwards, the trees rattling intensely.
Jack sidestepped him despite the speed difference and elbowed him in the arm, turning around mid-fall and suplexing him over his shoulder.
"This is it! My special attack: Slam Jam!" He yelled as he slammed Raijin to the ground so hard that it cracked with pressure, the same fractured glass as earlier coming from Raijin's body. Raijin's left leg had dislocated.
Raijin, despite the injury, kicked straight up towards Jack's face, a thunderbolt coming out of his shoe. Jack somehow dodged it at point-blank range, backflipping twice, away from Raijin.
"Woah, woah, woah... That was a close one, you could've killed me!"
Raijin slowly got up, wincing in pain.
"That's the point! You stupid brat... I guess the rumors were true then! Fine..." He turned around and began walking away from Jack while clutching his leg and wincing in pain.
"Hey! Where are you going?! I thought you were going to kill me!"
Raijin stopped, still clutching his leg. He turned around slowly. His right eye twitched as he tried to hide his emotions. He was running away out of pride, not wanting to lose the battle.
"I've seen enough. You're strong. I'll give you this one. I'm going to get stronger too, and then I'll make you bleed. You will see me again. Oh, and tell your sister I said Hi… And that she trained you well."
Despite his injured leg, he ran away, blurring out of sight and leaving behind burn marks on the ground.
The glowing white mist coming from Jack's eyes slowly faded. He spat blood, his eyes started blurring, and he began breathing heavily. The exhaustion caught up to him. And he fell backwards onto the forest floor.
"Ah man... Humans aren't supposed to move this fast! Damn it... My head..." He clutched his head as he felt a terrible headache come upon him. He tilted his head to the side to watch the forest fire and slowly got up again.
He took the first step towards where Normand and I were fighting.