Disclaimer: See previous chapters

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Chap. 27

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Shrine

'This guy's pretty strong.'

That was Long's thoughts as he battled against Ryoho. Though it was true that he was there to help them, which meant for Ryoho to fight with all of his strength and not take it easy. Unfortunately for Long, Ryoho was a very powerful opponent. His strength was quite formidable and he knew just were to strike an opponent. There were several times where Long considered transforming into his bestial state, but decided against it for two reasons. One, it wouldn't have made a difference. Ryoho's strength was that great; transforming into his tiger morph would have only evened them out in the long run. Two, Long had to conserve his power for when the seal was broken. If he transformed and the seal broke, he would be drained and he couldn't let that happen. Not if what he suspected was true.

"Well, at least you're brave." Ryoho called to him. "How much more fight do you think you have though?"

Long readjusted his glasses. "We shall see."

The big man laughed aloud. "Ha! I like this guy! Get ready!"

Ryoho dashed at Long again, launching into him shoulder first. Long sidestepped the brute attack, bent for a second and flew into the air, kicking his leg out in a double kick attack. Ryoho was hit in the chest, with the second kick heading for his face. But in a swift move, Ryoho snapped his head back, causing the kick to miss. Ryoho then wheeled himself around and with a massive backhand fist; he pounded Long as he was on his way down. Long rolled on the ground and came at him again, skipping forward with his fist outstretched and flying. Quickly, Ryoho's leg flew out and intercepted the punch, causing Long to be stopped in his tracks. Ryoho then lifted his elbow and made ready to smash it overhead. But the Kempo warrior managed to evade the attack with another sidestep and return with a heavy palm attack. Ryoho was hit in the side and staggered somewhat, but he quickly returned with a back elbow strike, catching Long off-guard and sending him reeling across the floor. Long rolled again, although pained as he did so. Nevertheless, Long was on his feet and rearing back his arm for an elbow attack of his own. Ryoho rotated his hands around in a strange form, summoning his k and it met with Long's elbow. It wasn't until impact that Ryoho realized that the reason Long's attack took so much time was because he had strengthened it with his own power. The result was an impact that rattled both of them and caused them to be knocked away from each other.

Shaking out of his stun, Long analyzed the battle situation. Ryoho may have been powerful, but Long was no stranger to facing formidable opponents. And he had already seen kinks in Ryoho. Although strong, his attacks left him open and vulnerable at times. And Long still had the speed advantage over him. It was just a matter of timing and force.

Timing and force…

Narrowing his eyes, Long prepared to make his move. Ryoho noticed this and prepared himself as well. Long then moved in with a quick punch; Ryoho blocked it and Long came again with another blow, this time lower. Again Ryoho blocked it. Long continued with a third blow, higher and once more Ryoho blocked it. Long paused briefly and Ryoho saw it as an opening. However, Long only paused in order to spring forward in the air, hitting Ryoho with a spin kick. Ryoho wasn't hurt to much by it, but it had stunned him a bit. But for Long, this was the opening he need as he continued the sequence. Landing on the ground, his arms then swept in low, hitting Ryoho's legs and causing him to stumble a bit. With Ryoho wide open, Long finished his sequence of attacks with a strong uppercut. Ryoho's head snapped back, but his body remained just where it was. In his stunned position, he was wide open as Long stomped the ground in stance and then launched an all-out fist assault on Ryoho, hitting him practically everywhere on his body and finishing with a power punch that sent Ryoho soaring back through the air.

"Waaaaahhh!"

Mana quickly rushed close to Ryoho's side, but stopped when the big man rose up to his feet. She felt it. The energy within him was beginning to surge. Now it was only a manner of time. Ryoho felt this within him.

"Okay, Mana! The energy is rising. Let's try to control it."

Mana nodded and lifted her arms. Okay, I'll break the seal and then reseal it!" She looked over at Long, who was now awaiting the next move. "Long, please help us complete the…!"

She was interrupted when a black form silently descended behind Long. Long turned quickly, but was unable to defend against the flying kick that smacked across his face and sent him to the ground. Mana shrieked lightly and stepped back as the figure came into view from the shadows.

Reiji…

Streets

Grroooaarrr! Snnaaarrlllllll!

The sounds of felines were accompanied by slashing, snapping and clawing as the two zoanthropes tore at each other through the wrecked streets. Despite what he said earlier, he was actually having trouble battling against his daughter. It wasn't that she was using any of her usual techniques. If that were the case, this would have been easier, for he taught her those techniques. But it was just the opposite. She wasn't using any such moves whatsoever. She was simply attacking; lunging at him whenever she had the chance and opening. And the more time passed, the more furious and savage she became. It was as though the beast had taken over completely, leaving nothing human behind.

Just the leopard…

Because of this, Gado forced himself into an early metamorphosis to match her savagery. As a lion, he had more than enough to take her down. But there was only one problem. He may have been a lion on the outside, but he was still human on the inside. And a human could not match savagery with a beast.

In short, they're evened out…

Around them, several cars were wrecked, overturned by the earthquake with a few of them being on fire. People ran in panic from both the fires and the fighting zoanthropes. Shina snarled at the fleeing people, but returned her attention to Gado. Gado meanwhile, was holding his place, waiting for Shina's next strike. It came just as he expected, but faster. Her claws were outstretched as she dove as him. Rearing his leg back a bit, Gado summoned a surge of energy into it and spin around with a powerful roundhouse kick. Shina was floored by the attack, but quickly jumped back up and attacked again. Gado was caught off-guard and tackled onto the ground with the leopard over him. Shina lowered her jaws in and clamped down on Gado's throat, but Gado managed to toss her off before she could get a firm hold. The teeth did manage to graze him however and upon rising, he found a thin trail of blood on his mane. Strangely, he felt a surge of anger at his getting wounded and without thought; he let out a loud roar. Windows nearby rattled and one or two of them actually cracked and shattered. Gado stopped midway; surprised by this one primal act.

'What was that?'

It was strange. There was no reason for it, other than out of rage. But even in his moments of anger (which were rare), he never let out like that. Something was happening to him and he feared what it may be. Whatever it was that affected Shina, may now be affecting him. He didn't know how it happened, but he realized that he couldn't stay in his beast form for too long. He had to change back. But as long as Shina was the way she was, this was the only way he could fight her effectively, which mean he would have to finish her off quickly. And giving her strength and current state, that wouldn't be possible.

'This could be…a problem.'

Shrine

"I wasn't able to get my fill earlier. But this…now this will give me great pleasure."

Reiji stood across the circle from Mana and Ryoho, with Long on the floor behind him. A wicked smile was crossed over his face as he looked over at them. Ryoho was on one knee, still weak from Long's attack and Mana was stationed next to him.

"I heard you had enrolled in a nearby school. I had hoped your nature had changed."

"I was just biding my time." he answered. "After my…dismissal, I sought you out. But you two are difficult to find. But now that I have you, nothing is going to stop me from fulfilling my true destiny."

Mana seemed to shrink near to Ryoho, but held her place. "You were trained to defeat the silver Zoanthrope, not Ryoho."

"I disagree. Once I beat it, I will destroy the silver zoanthrope." He then crackled. "I will be the strongest zoanthrope alive!"

"No!" Her fear of the dark zoanthrope disappeared, replaced with the fear of what he was suggesting. "You can't fight Ryoho. You don't know what he is capable of."

"So? You think he is?" He pointed back toward the floored Long. "Ha! I took him out in one blow."

"Don't count on it."

Ryoho blinked and looked behind him to see that Long was in fact on his feet. Long narrowed his eyes at him through his clear glasses.

"It will take more that a…cheap shot to defeat me."

Ryoho turned around fully, glaring at the tiger zoanthrope. "Oh, so you want some more, eh? Well then, prepare to die, you filth!"

"Such disrespect." Long stated, settling into fighting stance. "Come on and I'll show you what it means to fight."

The crow zoanthrope grinned again and lashed forward with a sharp kick. Long shot his arm out in a stiff block and stepped in with a powerful fist. Ryoho shifted his body to the side to avoid the blow and as it flew by, he snapped his own fist under Long's arm. The blow hit on and Long grimaced and staggered back.

"Is this all you've got?"

His response was a swift blow that landed right in his gut. Reiji was unprepared for that and this allowed Long to continue the attack, landing another punch in the same area, three more blows followed in different areas of his body. Continuing the combinations, Long spun in the air and hit Reiji was a aerial roundhouse and a sweep. Reiji landed on his back hard, but quickly leaped back to his feet and spiked his fist on Long's back. Long groaned and Reiji shot his knee in, causing Long to stifle his cry of pain. Not finished with him, Reiji shot in a slashing low kick and then a powerful high roundhouse. Long was semi-hurled in the air and landed on his hands. He saw the shadow of Reiji flying up into the air and Long sprang away before Reiji could stomp down on him. But Reiji managed to get another kick out, snapping into Long's face as he began to rise from the floor.

"Stay down already!"

Reiji dashed at the again rising Long and shot forward in a flying kick. But Long intercepted it by shooting high up in the air with a kick of his own, catching Reiji in the midsection in mid-air. But Long followed up with another kick, making his attack a double kick and sending Reiji flying back in the direction he came from, only now he was falling. Reiji hit the ground hard and Long moved in. but didn't attack. Reiji rose up slowly, hurt from the direct counterattack.

"Are you done now?" Long asked as he stood over him.

Reiji shook somewhat, but Long couldn't tell if it was from anger or pain. But he found out soon enough as Reiji's body began to shimmer.

"Now I'm really angry!"

Reiji shot up to his feet and exploded in a blast of energy shot out of him, causing Long to be pushed back. Reiji emitted a loud caw as he transformed into his alternate form; a crow. His red beady eyes gazed sharply at Long and his wings spread out wide. Long stepped back from the menacing figure, but not out of fear.

'I should have finished him off. Now I have no choice.'

Long was holding his full strength in order to deal with Ryoho when the seal was broken. But with Reiji fighting him in this manner, Long had no choice but to fight him beast for beast. If he hadn't fought Ryoho earlier, he would have faced Reiji as a human without worry of loss of strength. But as that wasn't the case and since Reiji couldn't be reasoned with, that left only one option.

Grrrrooooarrrrrr!

Long stamped his feet into the ground and the same energy that came out of Reiji burst out of him, turning Long from human to a tiger. His now emerald eyes looked sharply at the crow's, but the crow showed no fear. If anything, it was probably glee. The glee of a killer… Something Long was very familiar with.

'I never thought… He has no idea who I was. But this night…he will find out.'

ROAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!

CAWWWWWWWW!

Rooftop

Nagi's eyes opened, revealing the starlit sky. The sun was just fading away, making the sky a purple haze. However, that wasn't the point as she lifted herself from the ground and found herself on the very rooftop where she had fought Xion.

Looking around blankly, she saw the person in mind. Xion stood nearby in human form, staring at her as she lifted herself up. It was strange, for he was giving her the same blank gaze that she had given her. It was even stranger that when she rose fully, she made no move to attack him or any indication to continue to their bloody fight from earlier.

But the strangest part of all was that when she looked back at him…she smiled at him…

Shrine

Reiji soared high up in the air and dived down sharply upon Long; his feet talons racking out sharply to slash the tiger. But Long was too quick for such a simple maneuver and backflipped away. Reiji struck the ground forcefully, but rebounded and shot across the ground with his hand claws outstretched. His speed was incredible as he practically tore into Long, causing the tiger to fall back. But as it is with all cats, Long rolled and landed on his feet, tearing up the floor as he slid across to stop himself. Reiji spread his wings and shot at Long again, but rather than take it, Long jumped forward, hooked his claws into Reiji's shoulders, flipped over while still holding on and flung Reiji from behind him. Now it was Reiji's turn to be tossed away through the air and onto the floor, landing hard against it.

As Reiji arose, the tiger shifted into a new stance, placing his left paw upward and straight and his right paw backward and down. The tiger's eyes were closed as he focused on his technique. This was an old technique that he had used in his days as Tylon's assassin. An instant-kill maneuver that was used through use of a focused single blow. It was one of many such moves that he possessed. When he left Tylon, he relinquished his killing arts and focused on sole fighting skill. He had never needed to use these moves since that time, with one exception.

His fight against the leader of the Beast Liberation Front; Shenlong…

He had hoped never to do this again, to utilize his deadly arts. But Reiji was a killer and Long could see that he would settle for nothing short of his death. And he didn't have the time either. He had to help Mana and Ryoho with the seal. This would be something to plauge him in the future, he knew. But at the moment, there was no choice.

'Mother…sister…Forgive me…'

Reiji meanwhile had arisen fully and noticed the tiger in stance. 'What a fool', he though. Long could have pressed on and possibly did some more damage to him. Not that that would have happened. Reiji had an edge of being swifter than the tiger and could have dodged such a brutal advance. But that was surely better than simply standing there like a statue. In doing so, he had allowed Reiji to recover and continue the fight. And Reiji felt that he would be able to slay him in a prolonged battle. Not that it would be so long.

'I'm going to enjoy this.'

Reiji crouched, wings spread wide once again. Long held his position, eyes open now and focused on his target. Reiji cracked a caw and then shot at Long, full speed. Long saw his approach was fast, really fast. Reiji was practically tearing through the air, with a sonic wave of energy as a visual show of it. Long bent his knees slightly, preparing for the blow when…

"Oh, no!"

Long sensed it long before he heard the cry. Instinctively, he sidestepped the crow as it came, as he had first intended to. But instead of striking, Long skipped back and away. Reiji soared on and sharply circled to press his attack, but Long was more focused on the source of the cry.

Mana…

She was moving away from Ryoho, who was glowing brightly while he was bent on the floor. His body spasm as fiery beams of energy spewed out of him. The light grew more and more and then Ryoho shot up from the ground, letting out a furious cry.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

His entire body exploded in a flash, causing all to shield their eyes from it. A shockwave ripped out of him, forcing everyone back. Long managed to hold his ground, but could not believe the energy he was feeling.

"What…is…this!"

"The seal has broken!" Mana answered in horror. "It's free!"

SRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!