As the final battle continues, I would like to once again give Andrew Glasco all the credit he deserves for his assistance in this chapter…

Chapter 37

An Evasive Victory

The sudden explosion of an invisible force slammed into her fully, making the unsuspecting Uriko lose her grip, and she sailed aimlessly through the air across the area, only stopping when she hit a tree, and after a moment, she tumbled clumsily back down to the ground. With a groan of clear discomfort, she slowly untangled her aching limbs and scrambled onto her feet to gaze at her opponent, realizing that there could only be one reason for the wave of energy that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Part of her mind insisted that surely, he could not have transformed into his animal counterpart when he had made a distinct point to mention that each of their battles were to be fought strictly without beast abilities, but there was no other explanation for the emission of that faintly familiar burst of light. Her dark eyes stared forward at Kenji, who was standing before her, evidently having abandoned his human form for the time being, and her mouth dropped open in response as she felt aghast and astonished that he had morphed, but even moreso because she thought that he broke the rules.

"Why, you… y-you dirty cheater!" She shrieked in accusation, her expression tainted with anger while her lithe form actually shivered from the ferocity of her ire; just when she thought he had maybe a little sliver of integrity in his character, he proved her wrong. "I can't believe you actually morphed after you said it was against the rules!!"

The girl was so busy yelling at him that she seemed unfazed by the giant mole-beast poised a few feet away from her, his eerie, crimson red eyes focused upon her as he raised his razor-sharp claws meaningfully, and then pointed to her in wordless explanation.

"…Huh?" Confused by his gesture, Uriko glanced down at her own hands, and upon realizing that there were indeed little points protruding where human nails should have been, she became flustered, inwardly scolding herself for making such a stupid move, even though it was by accident.

But then again, she found this new interesting turn of events more than slightly fascinating, seeing as through the numerous times she taunted Kenji about revealing his beast form, she was surprised he had finally complied with her request, albeit unintentionally. Eager to figure out what animal counterpart he had, the curious young cat zoanthrope took a few good minutes to stare at his morphed appearance, shuddering when she spied his sharp, gleaming claws, remembering the past occasions when he hurt her with them. Quickly moving on to peer at his other features, Uriko saw that his nose was elongated and extended out a couple of inches past his face, and after a glance at his chest, broad and bulging with muscles, it was then she discovered that part of his ninja gi had burst during the transformation. The lower half of the ripped attire encircled his waist, dangling loosely while torn pieces of yellow fabric were scattered around the ground nearby his feet, which she realized had changed into what looked like the talons that resembled those of birds.

Her gaze went back up to start from the top and she noted with mild amusement that not only was his head completely bald of hair, but he also appeared to be a bit shorter in this form – by a couple of inches anyway – and she giggled upon realizing that they were closer in height now. Glowering red eyes glared her way just then, as if he knew the reason behind her sudden joviality, and she froze for a moment, feeling her breath catch in her throat at the obvious disdain on his expression, fueling the hostility that hovered between them. Her slender form tensed a bit and she silently wondered why he had yet to initiate an attack, but then the thought occurred to her that perhaps he was waiting for the healing effects to aid his body and restore his energy. Before the battle would resume, Uriko tried to guess his beast form as she mentally ran pictures of various rodent mammals in her head; her uncertainty was understandable, since she did not exactly have a degree in zoology, and the fact that he had such unbelievably large claws in proportion to his body threw her off a bit.

"Are you… are you a shrew or something…?" The slender brunette asked with some uncertain hesitation as she tilted her head to one side in wordless wonder, one small hand instinctively raised to lightly tuck underneath her chin as an emphasis of her being deep in thought. "Um… maybe some kinda mouse with overly big claws…?"

The male zoanthrope growled shrilly in annoyance, a simple indicator that she was wrong, and he masked his growing aggravation at the foolish young girl who could not even accomplish a simple task like successfully identifying his beast form.

Uriko pursed her lips in a meek, helpless gesture while she struggled to recall a few images of the small mammals that she had seen back in her high school class a couple of years ago; she learned about many different animals, but who knew all of the ones in existence? "Well… you look a little bit like a groundhog…?"

"Screech!!" He furiously whipped a claw to the side in a blur of fast frustration to show that she was wrong, once again; just like he had mocked her about on several occasions, her ignorance always stretched his patience very thin, this instance being no exception.

"Ummm… maybe…" Her eyebrows furrowed a bit in concentration, and then she quirked an eyebrow curiously as another animal came to mind to further aid her in the ambiguous guessing escapade – the girl was unaware of his steadily-rising irritation. "Hmm… a mole kinda looks like a shrew, but it stays underground a lot more, and I think its claws are bigger…"

"Shree." He nodded his oddly-shaped head in affirmation of her guess, an uncharacteristic show of patience on his part, although truthfully, he was in fact mentally formulating a strategy to defeat his naïve opponent while she wasted her time fretting over frivolous matters.

"Yay, I got it!" A smile formed over her lips at reaching the right conclusion, but then she vaguely noticed the cold, unrelenting glare in his eyes and immediately sobered up, sliding a glance at the long, deadly lengths that extended out where his fingers had once been. "So… you're a mole, huh, Kenji? That's definitely… different. I think your claws are a little too big, though…"

As if to dispute that statement and show his disagreement, the morphed fighter began to slowly stalk towards her while brandishing his claws in a menacing manner, his gaze never leaving her face for additional intimidation.

"Eep!" She gasped sharply in response, feeling unable to look away from his hypnotic stare, and she shifted directions before stepping back, matching him every foot, fear evident on her expression as the girl maintained distance between them.

He secretly reveled at the small sign of her weakness, but he maintained his cool composure, merely narrowing his eyes for a brief moment… and then all at once, he broke into a full sprint, his feet blazing as they flew across the dirt floor. As the mole zoanthrope neared his opponent, he suddenly dived towards her, shooting his entire body forward in a swift motion with his claws raised and jutting right above his head, the numerous sharp points poised to jab her form. As the girl turned to run a second too late, unbidden came the realization of his impressive speed, and she had to admit that Kenji was actually faster than her – not by terribly much, seeing as she evaded him once before, when he chased her through the forest. Since he obviously possessed more strength and brutal tactics, Uriko had been counting on using her combination attacks and rapid agility to best him in the battle, but at present she could not effectively defend herself, and he slammed into her back, twin claws raking along her sides as she went sprawling to the hard ground.

"O-oww!" The young brunette cried out in pain when her chest hit the floor, the impact stealing her breath and abruptly ending her utter of pain even as anxiety alit her eyes at the sharp stinging sensation that made her skin burn from the fresh wounds.

Paying no heed to her discomfort, Kenji smoothly vaulted back onto his feet with the strength of his claws, and upon seeing that his opponent was down, he immediately leapt towards her again, this time bending his knees as he intended to drive them into her form. Having had the wind just knocked out of her, Uriko shook her head free of the slight daze and lifted herself a bit as she gasped weakly, straining to get air back into her lungs, although her averted attention happened to be a bad distraction in a critical moment. Hovering behind her, the ninja suddenly descended, crashing into her back and forcing her face to slam into the ground, though she thankfully managed to turn to the side at the last second and ended up bruising her cheek instead of breaking her nose. The uncomfortable and painful position forced a whimper of fear from the girl, and in response, a low squeal emitted from the mole beast as he leaned in closely and pressed a claw threateningly to her exposed neck, no doubt silently demanding her submission.

"Grrr…!" Feeling angry with herself for allowing the arrogant fighter to get her off-guard, she forcefully inhaled a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, ignoring the pain that shot through her lungs at that moment as she made a split second decision. Due to the inhibition of her half-beast nature, Uriko had some difficulty sustaining the form of her animal counterpart for a certain period of time – not that it was something she would tell her opponent about – but if she did not transform soon, her chances of winning the match were slim. When the female zoanthrope triggered her morphing ability, her lithe form instantly exploded with heat and light, and a wave of energy hitting the mole sitting atop her body, drawing a shrill squeal from him as he was thrown a considerable distance away from her. Shaking off the effects, Kenji slowly rose back to his feet with a low growl, blood-red irises eyeing her dangerously as he straightened himself into his usual rigid battle stance and watched his captive avidly, long claws raised before his face and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"Mrowl…" Down on all fours, the slender feline agilely sprinted forward for a bit, gaining a little distance, and then she stood up, quickly turning around to focus crimson-turned eyes intently on the deadly adversary positioned just a few feet away. Her ears perked in expectation of sensing sound and motion, and Uriko kept her paws close to her face, anticipating an attack from him without warning, but minutes passed and he remained frozen in place, almost as if silently challenging her to make the first move. His calm exterior unnerved her slightly, and with a shrill yowl, the morphed cat suddenly dashed toward him, and just before she was about to strike Kenji, she dropped her body and fully twisted in a tight circle, her hind legs stretched out to slash at him in the ankles. The blow connected, but the mole swiftly thrust his sharp lengths into the ground before he fell, keeping his body from connecting with the ground by firming his hold, and after he was able to regain his balance, he tore his claws free and back-flipped several times, landing easily on his feet.

His gaze followed her movement as Uriko lingered hesitantly in the distance, flailing her arms in a mild defense; the keen assassin considered the girl with a great deal of thought, formulating a strategy to defeat her, but not being able to deal her any fatal blows. His expression was cool and collected when she charged forward once again, and a second before she came into contact with him, he disappeared into a cloud of misty smoke and emerged behind her, his arm reared back in preparation to strike. She turned around slightly just in time to catch sight of his long claws rushing toward her, unable to defend when he delivered a swift uppercut and knocked her straight into the air, her light form floundering helplessly as she tried to recover. Immediately leaping up in pursuit, Kenji locked her arms within his hold and flipped the cat around until she was dangling upside-down, and he kept her pressed against his form as he descended toward the ground, but before she could crash head-first, he pivoted and flung her body into the trunk of a nearby tree.

The female zoanthrope went flying and hit the hard surface with a sickening thump, the impact causing her to visibly wince and shut her eyes to absorb some of the pain, and then she fell to the dirt floor, her form folding tightly together in a reflexive motion of defense. He quickly reached her position and crouched down to her level to furiously slash his claws into her side, strips of flimsy white cloth thrown about here and there as he tore her skin, staining the deadly lengths with her blood and drawing a yowl from the injured cat. A slight smirk flickered over his facial features as Kenji retracted a few feet, graciously allowing her a little bit of time to get back up, but he scrutinized her motions carefully, making sure he had not harmed her too severely with his aggressive attacks. Admittedly, he was unused to restraining himself while fighting while in his beast form, for in the past, he had only morphed to eliminate his opponent and end the battle very quickly; but of course, he could not treat Uriko in the same exact manner.

After several long moments of needed time to recover, she arose shakily, her side stinging vividly from his fierce lashes, but she sought to act quickly before he could initiate an attack of his own, and leapt toward him to close the distance between them. When she was close enough, the nimble cat twirled around once in a small, tight circle, one foot extended to strike at his abdomen, and then she delved right into a combination attack, her body bent low as she briefly clawed at his knees before finishing by turning in a circle with one foot out after the other, trying to trip him. Kenji defended the first three blows with relative ease, but her low attacks were met with surprise, her claws digging deeply into the skin of his shins and knees before she tripped him, causing the mole to crash on the back of his head with a pained squeal. Pleased that he fell to the ground, she pounced on him briefly, her paws latched onto his talon-shaped feet before Uriko jumped back up again and carefully edged away while watching him, her arms flailing about the air in a defensive gesture.

He rolled back in a briefly defensive nature, ignoring the dull ache that thudded around his wounded areas, but once he had a moment to recover, the young assassin charged toward his opponent again, and when he neared, thrust the claws of one hand out at her abdomen with furious strength and momentum. The deadly points were driving toward her so suddenly that she was unable to avoid them, but her fast reflexes and upright paws at least allowed her to shoot her arms forward and she ended up digging her sharpened nails into his fur-covered wrist. Not wanting to receive such a devastating and malicious blow, Uriko struggled with the effort of withstanding his overwhelming strength to barely hold his elongated claws away from her body, and sure enough, the distance was just a few inches short of contact. Seeing that she had no means of avoiding it, Kenji merely opted to lash his other hand across her cheek, striking her with vicious force, and immediately thereafter, he jerked his trapped arm free from her defensive hold, a momentary grimace crossing his expression.

"MROWL!" She shrieked as her head snapped back in response to his claws slashing into her fur-covered cheek, and she reflexively retreated a few steps while one paw instantly elevated to press against the open wound, nurturing it in a feline gesture. A shrill hiss broke free from her lips as the cat zoanthrope grit her teeth in determination and quickly dashed in to prance up into the air, her raised paw leaving the area of comfort to lift higher as her arm arched to deliver a strong uppercut to Kenji, hoping to knock him into a more vulnerable position. But his experience from predicting her movements allowed him to defend the blow, and then he instantly retaliated by drawing one arm back, a green energy forming in his palm before he thrust it forward, the sparkling force sizzling to strike her multiple times. Hanging in mid-air, Uriko could only manage to recover into a partially-upright position, and so unable to block against his attack, the electric volts jolted her body a bit before she was sent flying backward, ascending a short period before falling down to the hard ground.

"Mew…" she uttered weakly upon landing, though with surprisingly less force than she originally thought, as the feline could still breathe rather easily, and so she wagered that the purpose of his guard tech was to get her away, rather than dealing actual detrimental damage. Recovering after a brief pause, the nimble female zoanthrope rolled up to her knees, but then suddenly crouched into a typical cat-like position while emitting noises of her animal counterpart, appearing deceptively vulnerable and open to attack. Mere seconds passed before Kenji suddenly appeared before her in a burst of misty gray smoke with his arms lashing downward at her, but this time, Uriko was prepared; her hind legs extended and she immediately pranced up into a standing position. They met in the middle, sharp claws clashing together furiously as both fighters tried to press forward and gain an edge in advantage, but neither budged and instead, they glared intensely ahead, an invisible struggle of wills, each desiring to win the battle.

Their crimson eyes locked gazes, and for a moment, they were on equal footing, glimpsing each other's steadfast determination and their own respective aspiration to emerge victorious; her freedom and his possession lingered between them.

The brief union broke a mere moment later, and the battle resumed.

A glare slanted in her direction, the mole silently eyed his opponent for a long moment, his mind actively germinating a plan to wear down the energy of the weak young half-beast, and then he began to dash towards her, sliding down into a kick when he neared. In preparation for his rapid approach, Uriko sprung high into the air and scratched out furiously with her claws, elevating slightly with each wave of her arms as she continuously slashed her foe from his waist up to his face, rising slightly above his head. She soon lost the upward momentum and started falling back to the floor, both paws hastily rushing over to cover her face and protect it from the descent, but he reacted quickly and with an angry growl, he launched forward and instantly leapt up to grab her. Kenji slipped around behind the vulnerable girl, holding her firmly about the waist, and when he reached the peak of his ascent, the ninja began to twist backwards, flipping in tight, dizzying circles several times before he slammed her head into the ground with powerful force.

"Hck…!" Her vision briefly blurred before her eyes, and that was quickly accompanied by the great pain that throbbed achingly in her head as she stumbled up to her knees, inwardly fighting to refocus her sight on her surroundings, needing to recompose herself quickly before he took advantage of her weakness.

The woozy cat zoanthrope opted for a fast retaliation to get him down so she could have a moment to breathe and hopefully recover, and she laid herself upon her side, hastily lashing out one leg to kick at his ankles and viciously break his skin with her sharp claws. Kenji disappeared right as her attack landed, leaving a few tuffs of fur in his wake, and then he emerged before her back, raising a foot to slam right into the open area; as the talons of his foot dug into her furred skin, she yowled aloud at once again having received a harsh blow. Feeling irritated with being overpowered, she blindly lashed one arm out toward him during her brief descent back down to the ground, her jagged points desperately seeking to inflict wounds, but easily detecting the oncoming attack, he back-flipped away, effectively avoiding her wayward strike. The complacent assassin took a brief moment to shoot her a cool smirk before he charged in just then, his dark eyes reflecting his confidence and belief of his firm control in the current situation, his body rigid with tension and the determination to dominate the feeble girl.

Rolling away to gain a little distance, she bounded back up to her feet and shrunk away slightly, giving off the impression that she was just going to defend whatever attack he had coming, bringing an odd smile of pleasure to appear over his expression. Uriko had managed to sneak in a few shots at him, but he felt certain that by the end of their match, he would arise from the battlefield as the victor, making the girl his to do with as he pleased and crush all her pathetic dreams of attaining her freedom. Just as he had reached her, the agile cat suddenly thrust both paws forward, slamming forcefully into his nose, making her opponent stop abruptly in his tracks, and when Kenji was still stumbling back from her hit, she launched at him with a combination attack. Her paws flew in a whirling blur of speedy punishment, claws slashing furiously at his fur-covered chest several times before she hopped up a bit and drove her leg right toward his face, her clawed foot slamming hard and straight into his exposed cheek.

He was thrashed backwards from the force of her kick, mild surprise briefly flickering in his eyes at her abrupt move while a splutter of blood trickled from his mouth when he crashed hard onto his back, and it took a few minutes for him to stumble dazedly to his feet. Relentlessly determined, Uriko dashed right at him and bent her body down low once again, her hind legs outstretched to strike at his ankles in hopes of tripping him, seeming as though she wanted Kenji to be acquainted with the ground as many times as he had forced her. His concentration wavering from her frenzied motions, he did not have the presence of mind to prevent succumbing to her attack, and the young man landed on the hard dirt floor with a restrained groan of discomfort, a reluctant show of debility on his expression. His thoughts whirled frantically in his mind as he considered the current situation: he could not defeat her using raw, brute force, and therefore, his only other option was to wear out her short-lived energy, for surely, a half-beast zoanthrope like her must have possessed such a drawback.

"Mrowl!" Immediately rising, the lightweight cat turned around rapidly and raised a foot to stomp him, intending to crush his side underneath the impact of her clawed paw, and her foot connected with a satisfying tearing noise as his blood faintly stained her fur.

A formulated plan firmly rooted within his mind, Kenji hid a smirk and slowly rolled away, keeping up the illusion that he was running away from her, when in fact he inwardly braced himself for the upcoming attack – she appeared ready to launch her strongest beast technique on him…

"Hiss!" Convinced that he was weakened enough for her to finish the battle, Uriko ran toward the rising mole and leapt hurriedly at him, her claws poised to grab hold as she planned to execute her Beast Drive, inwardly grateful that there were so many trees around, making their quarters rather small, to her advantage. She felt fairly confident that she could easily take him out of his beast form, and very likely the fight, if she successfully executed her special technique, and when her claws sank into his shoulders, the young feline cheered triumphantly in her head. Her lithe body instantly curled into a ball, trapping her opponent inside the buzzing sphere of energy, and she brought him along with her as the pair bounced about everywhere, hurtling blindly around and crashing recklessly into the surrounding trees and ground. The cat zoanthrope herself was vaguely affected by the continuous whirling, but she stayed atop the mole as they slammed into the various objects nearby, and the process lasted for several minutes before Uriko finally released the ninja by one hard, final crash to the earth.

Now reverted back to her human form, the dizzy female zoanthrope stumbled to her feet with considerable effort, and she swayed a bit as her body twirled slightly from the previous circling motions; after a still moment, she mumbled dazedly, "Whooooa…"

A few feet away from her position, Kenji thrashed upon the ground, rolling around numerous times with the direction of the momentum, gradually slowing to a stop, and in spite of all the pain, he remained motionless, purposely making the girl believe that he was unconscious.

"Yeow…" Uriko shook her head to clear out the daze, and then quickly shot her eyes toward the cobalt-haired ninja, admittedly pleased to see him lying still on the ground, although she was a little startled by the sight of his attained beast form even after she had used her Beast Drive on him. She wearily bit her lip at the discovery, but she was determined to defeat the relentless foe for the sake of her freedom, and after a few minutes of silently studying him, she straightened herself up and began to stride toward his downed body, fists clenched at her sides. The brunette youth gingerly came to a stop when she had drawn very closely to him, and with an expectant, eager expression on her face, she leaned over his seemingly-unconscious form, and peered at him curiously, vaguely checking his condition. The second she did so, his eyes suddenly shot open without warning as a flurry of energy surrounded him, and a moment later, Kenji disappeared and emerged right underneath her, delivering an uppercut that sent her into the air to fall victim to his own special beast technique.

"ARGH!" Uriko cried out in shock, unable to avoid the sudden attack as she found herself suddenly flying upward, her body flailing helplessly in vast open space, exposed and vulnerable to the approaching series of blows coming from her skilled opponent.

Now in human form, the young ninja prodigy vanished and reappeared back and forth, juggling the girl in the air as he flew around in a frenzied spiral, striking her relentlessly several times, his amber orbs locked onto her fragile figure the entire time. The short screams that burst free from her lips caused a sadistic grin to briefly flicker across his face, but nevertheless, he directed his attention and efforts to delivering sharp, forceful blows upon her body, the fierce wind aiding his quest by keeping her afloat. With one final hit clean across her forehead, Kenji materialized behind his captive and snaked his arms firmly about her waist to twist her around and slam her down into the ground, a green flow of energy sprouting from the earth in response to the impact of the landing. He gracefully descended upon his feet and instantly pivoted to gaze toward his opponent, watching as Uriko moaned weakly and crumpled to her side, soon raising both hands to delicately shield her upper body, and he mentally noted the sudden expression of weakness with great interest.

Her head pounding with dizzying pain, she coughed hard a few times and winced at the hurtful ache burning in her chest, only faintly aware of the thin trail of blood that began to leak out from the side of her mouth at the violent reaction. "Ohhh… u-ugh…"

Breathing heavily as well due to the punishment his body had received from her previous wayward bouncing, Kenji made his way toward her with deliberately slow steps, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to ignore the sting of his fresh wounds for the time being. He closed the distance between himself and his soon-to-be dominated victim, his lean form smoothly falling on top of her slender figure as he trapped her with his legs closed around her sides, and he hurriedly reached out to grasp for her throat with both hands, intent on choking her. Trapped beneath his intense power, she was bitterly reminded of how their first battle had ended, and although she had been worn too weak to fend off her foe, she stubbornly reached up and grabbed his arms, desperate to fight to the end, even though her strength threatened to succumb. Faintly, Uriko acknowledged in her mind that he was so much stronger than her, both in body and mind, and she almost felt like crying in frustration from her wasted time and effort in all the training she had endured in the past few weeks, and coming this close to winning just to…

A displeased frown deeply creased his brows at her tenacious resistance, and his light-colored eyes seemed to nearly burn holes in hers as the young man firmed his hard grip on her vulnerable area, sweat covering him from head to toe from the effort of their intense battle. "Surrender, you pathetic little amateur…"

Resentment soared heatedly through her body at his taunt as the girl recalled all the instances when she had suffered at his hand, everything that she undergone in his presence: the endless jeering of her person, his somewhat helpful, yet thoroughly condescending fighting lessons, the embraces that he forced upon her… Her voice was a meek croak as she struggled to deny his victory; "N-no-!"

Kenji growled lowly, dangerously, and then to emphasize his deadly intent, the hands that he wrapped around her slender throat grew even more rigid and uncomfortably tight, denying her breath – victory was so close that he could almost taste it, and her resistance quickly wore his patience thin.

"This match has been decided," he elicited hoarsely, his voice mildly strained from his effort to maintain control over himself as to not push her frail form over the edge into dark oblivion. "Your body is weak with all of your strength depleted, and you have nowhere to run. Now… relinquish yourself to me, Uriko Nonomura."