Chapter 10 - Wolf in the Lion's den part 2
The two riders clash in the middle. Their hands locked as the two grapple their individual strengths against the other. With height and most opposing physical strength on their side, Fang has the upper hand, pushing back against Idol's advances. Idol goes limp, allowing Fang to move closer before letting go of their hand, and grabs their arm with both hands, tossing him over their shoulder. Fang is quick to spin himself in the air, turning to land on his feet. With his free arm, he throws a punch only to be caught by one of Idol's hands. Feeling the grip weaken on his arm from the lack of hands, Fang throws his head forward, Idol does the same, clashing in the middle with a headbutt that pushes both of them back, freeing Fang from the arm lock.
Idol stammers backward with his hand on his head. Fang punches the air towards, firing the claws behind his hand with a chain following behind it. The claws wrap around Idol's arm. Fang tugs at his arm, pulling Idol close to him by the chain. Once he gets in range, Fang spin kicks him in the face, knocking his balance. Pulling the chain more, Fang directs him towards the wall before retrieving it. Fang fires both chain claws on the opposite sides of Idol, locking him between them. The chains pull Fang along as he slams Idol in the chest with a kick.
Idol crashes into a pillar, breaking through the stone on impact. Before he could collect his bearings, Fang grabs their head and slams it into the wall, breaking all the way through the pillar. With his head through the wall, Fang drags him across it before letting go. The momentum carries him across towards the next pillar in the room. He catches it, stopping his descent. One of the chain claws pierces the pillar by him and starts pulling Fang towards him. Thinking fast, Idol activates his claws, and cuts the chain, halting Fang.
Disarmed of one of his weapons, Idol goes on the attack with his. He starts slashing his claws against Fang's body, sparks fly off him with every swing and impact. Fang is pushed back. They swing their arm, using what's left of the broken chain as a whip but Idol's claws cut through them with ease. Idol swings downward with both claws but Fang grabs him by the wrists, stopping the attack. Thinking on instinct, Fang throws his leg up and kicks Idol in the crotch.
Idol recoils in pain, giving Fang the advantage again. Repositioning Idol so his back faces towards his hiding mother and aunt, Fang starts to wail on Idol, punching his face several times without a single hit being held back. Grabbing his fist, Fang slams Idol in the face with the back of his elbow, making him stammer backward.
Akemi gets an idea while watching the fight, and leaves. Ama notices and calls out to her, "Where are you going?" Akemi, not looking back shouts back, "I need to help Jiro. I have something that could turn the tied. Just make sure he keeps fighting." Ama turns back to see her son being brutally smacked about by Fang. She calls out, "Come on, Jiro! Don't let this mistake be the end of you! Think of your father!" Her words of encouragement are heard by Jiro, who tries to fight back.
Grabbing his driver, Idol engages his finisher. Both claws start to glow a burning gold colour. Fang takes notice mid-swing. Jiro swings upwards with one of his claws, slashing at Fang's torso towards his left shoulders. Jiro tries to swing the other claw to end the finisher, but Fang leaps back, his claws pierce the ground, making the tile floor erupt in an explosion. A cloud of dust blocks his sight. As the dust starts to clear, Fang leaps out of it with their knee, smacking them in the face. With their last claw chain, he uses it like a morningstar and slashes it across Idol, forcing him back before delivering a kick that sends him skidding across the floor.
Fang swings the chain to ready another barrage of attacks when Akemi reappears, carrying a large blaster with a lion motif. "Jiro!" She calls out, grabbing his attention as she tosses it towards him. Fang tries to intercept it, but Idol grabs the blaster by the handle and pulls the trigger. The kickback pushes Idol back onto the ground, but the single-shot fired destroys the claw at where it is attached, Fang's arm.
Fang, now the one to recoil in pain, grabs their left arm. Although he can clench the fingers, the arm itself goes limp. Idol gets back up from the ground, their legs shaking as they barely have the strength to come up the brutal fight. "Last chance, James. We can call this off now, and be on our.." Fang just sprints towards Idol, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Idol holds down the trigger, letting the cannon shoot rapid-fire laser bursts at Fang. He manages to dodge a few, but as he gets closer, the more shots he takes to the boy.
A window is smashed as a swinging sword is sent flying towards the two. With their one good arm, Fang grabs it and uses it to block a shot meant for his face. Now close enough, he swings the sword across Idol's chest. Sparks fly as he is shot off the ground and into a wall. The impact causes something on the cannon to open up, revealing a slot meant for an idol. Getting an idea, Idol pulls the lion idol from his driver and attaches. Seeing what's happening from afar, Fang risks the attack on an all-or-nothing shot. Opening the wolf jaws of his sword, he attaches the wolf idol to it. The blue flame auras around the sword as he makes a crescent moon shape. The cannon starts charging a blast with a golden aura. They attack at the same time, firing two blasts, one of a golden lion, the other of a blue wolf. The attacks clash in the middle, pushing both riders back as a thick cloud of dust rises.
Akemi and Ama cough hard as the fog of dust begins to settle. Becoming more clear, the silhouettes of the riders fade. In their place, are the men outside of their suits. Jiro lays hunched over against the wall, gripping their blaster tight. James kneels on the ground, his left arm hanging from his side as he holds himself up by the sword. Ama is quick to run to Jiro's side. He leans towards her, falling into his mother's arms, dropping the blaster on the floor. Akemi just stops and stares at the worn-out James, "It was a tie," she says under her breath.
James pushes himself back onto his feet, much to Ama's fear. However, he then turns to face the door and starts to walk away, dragging his sword at his side. "I'll concede today as a draw. I should have expected this power from my rival. Next time we fight, I will take what's mine...," he turns to face Jiro as he stands by the door, "brother." With that last word, followed by a toothy smile, and blood-covered teeth, he limps out of the room.
Ama picks Jiro up, and holds him with one arm over her shoulder, "You were right Jiro, he doesn't have your father's spirit. He's just a cold-hearted brutal." Jiro is silent, not agreeing with his mother, but just stares at the door. "Akemi. I think we should do something about him. He's too dangerous to be allowed to leave." Jiro is about to speak up when Akemi does so. "I agree, he is dangerous, and we should do something about him." She's quiet at first, Jiro can see her holding something in her hand, "I believe we can use him to end the Fallen crisis. Jiro alone can only do so much right now." Jiro silently nodded, looking down at his battered body, he knew she was right.
James is outside by Lee's bike, strapping the sword to the net he came with. His leather jacket hangs over the seat as he tears a sleeve from his long sleeve shirt, and ties it around his arm to prevent the bleeding. As he pulls the jacket over his arms again, he sees Akemi standing behind him in the reflection of the mirror. He doesn't acknowledge her but instead puts on his helmet. "I want you to take this," she says, holding out a pager. He turns to her as he sits on the bike. He stares at it, then at her, "Why?" he asks. She steps closer, shoving it in his face, "I believe that you really are my brother's son. I also believe that you are the one to truly help Jiro grow as Idol." James scoffs at that remark, "And why would I want to do that, when I'm just going to take that name at a later date?" Akemi remains calm in her response, "Because I want you both to fight together, and grow. I know that your fight just now has just pushed him in ways that I couldn't do in a month. I have a feeling, it's pushed you too." James is quiet. He turns his head to focus in front of him, kicking the stand up and igniting the engine. Without looking or saying anything, he reaches out and grabs the pager. After putting it in his pocket, he reves the engine and starts to speed off out of the garden, and onto the main road.
To be continued!
