Unleash
A bright flash of light enveloped the prince, and seemed to explode from his body, blinding the other residents in the room as he was proceeding in his transformation. The instincts of the mole screamed to run away from the exposure, but the conscious owner held his ground and refused to budge in his aligned position with his opponent. The shield hiding Cronos slowly faded, and it revealed a small, dark bird in shrunken clothing that flapped short wings while screeching what was presumed to be a battle cry. The cobalt-haired ninja blinked his large red eyes at the new form, and released a little squeak that resembled a snort when he saw what stood before him.
Holy…! Is that…?? He's a… a penguin?! Good Lord, that is… ridiculous… but shockingly hilarious at the same time. He heard his female companion giggle and then barely manage to stifle her laughter at the sight that he found equally humorous, though he showed no implication of his present feelings. What a pitiful creature. The mole sneered; he allowed some of his well-concealed arrogance to betray his facial features as he slacked in his stance and casually beckoned his rival over with a wave of his large front paw.
The diminutive animal shrieked in a high-pitched volume, hopped up a little ways with his beak stabbing at the air, and waddled across the distance to Kenji. Letting out a shrill squeal, the prince dodged a straight out swipe, and pounced on the younger boy's talon-like feet, pecking aside the brown fur blocking his target, and used the sharp tip of his new mouth to attack the unprotected ankle. The tiny claws on his feet scratched at the other shin, and the surprised cry mingled with pain that reached his ears made Cronos bounce his lower body in excitement, yet he still kept his biting grip. His opponent raised his leg and shook it furiously, trying to throw off the little bird attached, and the penguin willingly flew off, landing a couple feet away to plan his next assault.
"Shreee…" Kenji elicited, briefly brushing his injury with one claw, then looking up and scowling at his opponent, his crimson irises flashing in anger. When the prince began to ran toward him, the sixteen-year-old quickly bent down to ground level and swept one of his feet around in a full circle. Cronos tripped over the extended leg and fell flat on his face; his opponent leaped to his side and scratched several times at his head before bounding backwards away. The prince stood up, slightly dazed, and squawked at the younger fighter in a silent challenge, beckoning him to try a new technique again.
Young and foolish. Cronos smirked to himself, grinning with pleasure when he spotted his opponent inching toward him stealthily; he immediately leaped toward him and tackled the ninja to the ground. His webbed feet danced about Kenji's unprotected eyes when he trounced all over his face like he owned the property, and the penguin squealed as he was soon flung off. But since his size was so miniature compared to that of the large animal standing before him, he was barely affected by the throw, and landed with ease. He flapped his light arms and squawked loudly, snapping his beak at the air to entice his rival into attempting another predictable move on him.
The mole responded by dashing forward hastily, with one arm protecting his face while the other was outstretched to claw at his victim, but he could tell his attack would be easily dodged. Anticipating his rival's movement, he changed angle at the last second and thrust his leg out; his hooked talons caught Cronos in the side, tearing a long rip in his shrunken golden garbs. The bird shrieked and latched himself onto the foot that caused his injury, and started pecking at the navy blue clothing, scratching the material to shreds. Unfazed by the brown fur of shielding, he bit into the tender skin hiding underneath, and reveled in the loud screech that came from his opponent.
Freaking leech…!! Kenji snarled inwardly, and brought his lower thigh up near his face to furiously slash his claw at the little animal that held such an intently grip around his leg. The black-furred creature loosened his grasp and dropped down, rolling away just in time to avoid a vicious stab that delved into the ground, inches from his head. Squeaking as he hurriedly arose to his webbed feet, Cronos felt himself being lifted up into the air by the other fighter, and flapped his wings to slap at the protruding nose and thin whiskers that stuck out from the sides. He twisted his beak to the side and bit into the large wrist that held him, then started to attack the base of where the claws emitted from; he assumed those were sensitive spots.
The ninja refused to let go, and instead began slamming his nose into the small penguin's face, his spidery whiskers whipping across his tiny black eyes. Cronos shrieked in discomfort, and vigorously slapped his furry black wings at his opponent, then delivered vicious pecks at the sensitive muzzle with his hard beak. Kenji seemed to be somewhat affected by the assault, yet he still attained his grip, and reared back one clawed arm, and swung it to deal a harsh blow to the side of his rival's head. Momentarily stunned, the prince blinked several times before regaining his senses, and lurching forward to harass and try to scratch out the mole's large red pupils.
The sixteen-year-old finally released his hold to protect himself, unwillingly allowing Cronos to achieve his freedom, in which he pushed off of the hands that had held him, and gently glided away with the steady position of his small fuzzy wings. He landed with just a short distance separating him from the younger boy, and flashed a wide, confident grin in an almost taunting action. Kenji took the bait and darted forward, jumping with both of his claws extended above his head to thrust them into the short body of his opponent. The penguin squawked happily that his ploy had worked, and he leaped just a little ways upward to avoid the strike, and clamped his feet down onto the mole's stomach.
Holding on tightly, Cronos launched both himself and the younger teenager into the air, and slammed his victim straight into a wall, all the while screeching with malicious glee. Uriko covered her mouth with her hand to conceal the horrified shriek that threatened to escape as she watched her friend get roughly ridden around the room in midair. He crashed into several objects that were in the way, and he was barely able to yank up his claws to defend his eyes from being scooped out. Different points of his body scraped against the various weapons that hung for display and easy access to usage, and one sharp, unsheathed sword sliced a lengthy wound across his forehead.
"Shreeee-!" the mole cried and touched his injury, which was a badly timed reflex that caused a small ledge protruding from the wall to slam into his soft, unprotected nose. His body bounced and flopped as Cronos dragged him around on the walls for a couple more turns, enjoying his 'surfing' as he was inflicting pain to his victim. The feline zoanthrope could not help wailing out his name when that happened, and cringed at the golden-clothed creature rearing up and harshly flinging Kenji to the ground headfirst. Reverted back into his human form, the prince threw back his head and guffawed triumphantly when he saw the ninja lying still on the floor, but he did not notice that he was still a mole.
"Kenji!!" The Kenpo student arose to her feet and stumbled over to her friend, concern and worry marring deep lines into her brows as she hurriedly reached his side. Upon her arrival, she carefully cradled the back of his neck into the crook of her elbow, and balanced him in her lap, then shifted to place her other hand on his face, and gently stroke his furry brown cheek. She dipped her head down in remorse, and also tilted her ear toward his chest, listening for breathing to indicate that he was still alive. Surely, she heard raspy gasps being emitted from him, and the girl bit her lip, anxious to find out just how badly of an injured state he was in, and wanted to know how long it would take for him to regain consciousness.
I can't believe he's still in beast form… Uriko thought wonderingly for a brief second, then her facial features brightened as she considered the positive side of possibilities for his current state. That must mean he'll be all right! It's better for Kenji to be injured and still stay in his beast form rather than being human… at least he can heal… Still, she feared for any internal damage that he might have suffered from the executed technique, and she gingerly hugged the mole's upper body to her bosom comfortingly. Kenji…
"Release him. He is of no danger, nor burden to you now, my darling." Cronos' calm voice spoke in a cool tone from some distance away. "My bodyguard will dispose of this useless rodent, and you can start your new life with a clean slate, remember nothing of your harsh, cruel past, princess."
Kenji… No! He's not… he's not dead! The feline's head snapped up to glare at her adversary and she felt her lips instinctively curl back to reveal angrily gritted teeth, and a threatening snarl rumbled low in her throat. "Kenji… It's my turn to protect you." She whispered to the unconscious boy near his ear, even though she was sure he could not hear her, and then the auburn-haired teenager carefully dislodged herself from his body. Gently setting him down on the floor, she stood up shakily, grabbed and held the torn portion of her white attire against her shoulder before adjusting into a more intimidating stance.
The female zoanthrope balled her free hand into a tight fist, and thrust it out past her face in the direction of her opponent, fighting back the urge to quiver as she kept her ground. Her long brown braid bounced off her back as she suddenly dropped into a crouch, rolled over to the side a little ways, and climbed to her feet with one of the previously fallen swords in her grip. She held the weapon up near her right ear, and leveled the blade to her eyes, catching a silver glint from the reflective surface, and when she turned to glance at it, she saw a slightly wild look in her own chocolate-colored irises. Mild red flush spotted her cheeks, and Uriko wondered if perhaps she was disillusioned, and hoped that she was not sick so that nothing could hamper the fight she would soon be engaged in.
This… this doesn't look like me at all… She realized, and swallowed nervously; unbidden came the thought that she had the appearance of a hunter that had spotted her prey, and was now edging in for the kill. Kill…? Did she truly have to… do that to Cronos, did she have to end his life in order to save her friend and herself from and escape from the prince's horrible, imprisoning realm? If it was at the cost of death, the elimination of his existence, she had no choice except to deplete all obstacles that stood in the way of their freedom. Yet still, the concept made her sick to her stomach, as she always hated the more fatal outcome of fighting, and the girl had to finally wrench her eyes away from her reflection in the sharp blade of the sword she held in her hand.
"I…I don't want to kill you," Uriko spoke softly, her grip loosening slightly as she cautiously peered at her opponent, keeping her other senses alert to detect any sudden movements from him.
"You will not do so, my love. Not ever." He replied matter-of-factly, and casually took a few steps toward her with a silky, convincing tone in his smoothly spoken words. "You would not strike down your husband-to-be, now would you? Turn around, princess, and there you will see your true enemy. He is the one that deserves the fate of destruction. He is the one that needs to be killed, for your sake, and for the sake of our kingdom and our future. Do not look to me with suspicious eyes; instead, look to the figure lying a few feet behind you, and there you will see your real adversary."
The feline shook her head vigorously, ignoring the statements and persuasive voice that he was trying to entice and confuse her into betraying her friend. She gritted her teeth in effort, and raised her sword a little above her head to emphasis the fact that she was not falling under his spell, like he had hoped she would. "No! You can't make me hurt Kenji; I'd never do that to him! You're the one that should be struck down, not him! He doesn't deserve it because he didn't do anything. Now stop trying to make me turn my back on my friend, because I won't do it!"
He sighed mournfully, and slightly shrugged his shoulders. "He has bewitched you, my dear Uriko. I am sorry that he has blinded your senses and reason to the point in which you are baffled, and unable to detect what is really right and wrong. Your judgement has been twisted to have you think the opposite of what is truly there, but alas, I don't blame you for it." An icy expression formed over his face. "I blame that young fool, Ohgami. He has interfered with my plans since the very first day I arrived at your school by clinging to your side like a leech, and not allowing others, such as myself, the privilege to get closer to you."
She scowled, and feeling the need to defend Kenji's honor while he was currently unable to, she retorted back, "You need to get your head checked, 'cause I do have other friends at school, and Kenji doesn't impair my contact with them or any of the other stuff you said! He hangs out with me a lot because most of the other guys at school are jealous that he's better than they are in some athletic parts, so they provoke and bother him to see if they can get a rise out of him! Honestly, you're just as bad as they are! You accuse him of being a horrible person, or doing rotten things without even having enough background information to back up your stories. You're all thick-headed mules!"
"Do you not see what he has been doing to you?" Cronos demanded, with a more authoritarian edge in his tone as his brows knit into a frown and his eerie yellow eyes flickered in her direction. "You are in a deep ditch of denial, my sweet. He has made you refuse to look at the truth, stripped you of the ability to delve underneath the surface, and realize that there is more to a person than what you see on the surface. You are only able to look at the top layer of someone, and automatically trust that he will never betray you, or use you in some way to his own sadistic pleasure when you least expect it."
"That's total bull!" The Kenpo student spat at him, and furious with his cleverly fired taunts, she ran forward, decreased the little space between them, and swung the sword wildly at his head. The prince ducked to the side with ease, making her overshoot her target, and he grabbed a hold of the arm that she had occupied with keeping her ripped attire stuck to her shoulder, covering a rather private and modest portion of her upper body. With his other hand, he swiped at her wrist and knocked the sword out of her grasp, and after she was barely able to gasp in surprise at his action, he roughly yanked her form to be pressed against his. Towering at least half a foot over her, Cronos glared down at the girl in an almost condescending manner, and captured both of her hands, keeping them imprisoned in his grip.
"Tell me something, princess, has he not tried to hurt you before? No, you shan't lie to me," he enforced when he saw that she hesitated before shaking her head. "Has this boy never raised his hand in a motion to strike you? Has he never imprinted a bruise on your tender body? Has he never harmed you in any way, physically, emotionally, or mentally? You are claiming that the entire time you have spent in the presence of this young scoundrel, he only treats you with the utmost respect, and never caused a single pinprick of pain to your being? There has not been one day, one hour, one incident, in which he has hurt you, and made you feel threatened, given you the impression that he could kill you at any instant he desired to?"
Uriko grew quiet, and the jade-haired teenager inwardly laughed in triumph; aloud, he exclaimed, "Your silence tells me all I need to know. He is not perfect - oh, far from it, my love. He may be pretending to fulfill the role as your, ahem, 'best friend', praytell; however, in the end, when he is finished with his fun, he will destroy your life. I can see through him, milady. The very day that we fought on school grounds, our eyes met for a brief moment, and I could see a murderous glint shining in the depths of his. His face appeared flustered, and redness crept up on his neck, as if he were eager to fight me to the point of death, and could barely maintain his exterior so that no outsiders would detect the emotions conflicting within his mind."
"No… You don't know what you're talking about…"
"Oh, but I do," he said confidently, and continued, "You know, I will admit to you I was a bit frightened for my life, that day Ohgami and I fought. Although I knew the odds of a victory were in my favor, there was a sliver of a chance that he could beat Fate's dealt hand, and defeat me. Admit it, you know that he possesses the look and attitude of a killer. Recall, if you will, how eager he was to morph into that hideous rodent beast form of his a short time ago, and surely you saw how many attempts he executed in which he struck at my head. He wanted to kill me, my darling, and I am positive that if I had fallen to his hands, he would eliminate you next as well."
"Sh-shut up! You're lying!" She screeched, and began to struggle as she wildly thrashed her arms and legs to try and land a hint that would grant her the freedom she was trying to achieve. "I won't listen; I don't believe a word you say, now let me go!"
"Foolish girl!" The prince hollered impatiently, and shook her shoulders hard, making her head snap back and forth in unwilling reflex as she fell limp, not wanting to aggravate him to the point in which he would harm her friend or herself in fury. "Did you not pay close enough attention to the appearance of his beast form?? Did you not notice the ten vicious claws that extended from his hands, and the way that he was constantly poised to slash at me with them?! He is a killer! He could shred you to non-existence in a mere minute! He would fit perfectly in the role of an assassin for hire!"
The girl shivered at how closely his words were near hitting home, not wanting to believe him, and then he choose that very instant to stop speaking abruptly, and lean in very close to her ear, whispering knowingly, "Once a killer, always a killer." She elicited a distressed moan in response.
At that same second, a pair of red eyes looked up in his direction, and a forbidden fury aroused from the depths, leaping out in scorching flames that threatened to consume the focused target. The ears that had heard every word exchanged between the two perked in attention, and creased back to thickly emphasis an undeniably fierce expression. Sharply tipped claws rose in the air to a much higher level, and were poised in a position ready to pierce into the soft, weak body of an unfortunate victim. A voice of reason feebly attempted to fight back the screaming impulse that craved vengeance, and only by the way of spilled blood staining such presently clean hands.
The pleas were crushed into submission, and the ire bubbled up higher, inhibiting everything, consuming all controls and stripping away any remaining sense or lingering doubts. The anger was far too great to be diminished easily, and the one solution that seemed to have a single bit of effect was to destroy the life that was standing a mere few feet away. Acute senses returned immediately, almost as if they were never forgotten, but just stored elsewhere to be used again in an appropriate time, such as this one. A hunger erupted within the risen figure, the urge to inflict pain, cause much bodily harm and injure the person in sight, and the owner finally succumbed to the dark emotions that had lay dormant inside, and had not been released for a long period of time.
"You are mine. And you will very soon be dead." The assassin Bakuryu hissed silently, and the shady intentions and ideas running through his head was entirely dripping with malice.