"Get away from him!" Walter shouted loudly as anger burst from his cries like lava from a volcano.

"No way!" Sanshouuo took in a sharp gasp of shock. His eyes widened as the setting seemed to become pale with a bright light. The whiteness wiped away all the surroundings as things seemed to react in slow motion, a pain, slowed motion. Sanshouuo's mouth pulled open like an open register. Blood spit out with a splash horridly as he ducked his head slowly. This surreal world seemed more untrue than any other. Pain shot through his chest as he pulled back, time slowing that down as well. His eyes were peeled wide open like oranges.

If you watched from a full point of view, you would be shocked. Walter had his fist at Sanshouuo's right side as he had his head jerked towards the floor. His body was still getting used to that burst of energy, and he pushed the fist backward, forcing more pain into his enemy's body. Sanshouuo gagged. Suddenly, the whiteness surrounding them began to fade, and the paleness soon returned the trees while the bleakness pushed back the skies and the emptiness churned into dirt.

"What…?" Sanshouuo muttered to himself. His voice was weak as the comfortable feeling of the sun left him. "How?" he said bleakly, no tone to his voice. The sound barely came from his lips as redness leaked out of them, light pain searing through his body like a poison. How- how did he escape the heat? Sanshouuo asked himself, peering slightly to the tree where he had been held back towards. Hotness still shook the air as it made a light layer over the ground. He shouldn't have been able to escape it…

Walter continued to breathe hard, catching his breathe for just a moment. He got himself ready to explain, the anger still pulsing at his temples, his heart racing, pummeling against his ribcage from the inside. It felt as if he was ready to implode. "It wasn't hard," Walter began, his voice strong and confident, cool and calm. "Actually, I all ready told you how I did it," Walter explained.

"What?!" Sanshouuo cried out in disbelief. "Don't kid around, brat!" he demanded quickly. His voice encouraged the pain rushing in his body. He had almost coughed out another splotch of red.

"I told you before, didn't I?" Walter told him, close to the floor as the icy dagger he held in his hand dug deeper into Sanshouuo's body. Walter grinned carefully as he narrowed his eyes. They both had the same flashback at the same time.

"Water is one of the most malleable materials on earth," Walter had said. "It can slither and defend me from any situation, just like your body."

"I changed my body into a watery substance that let me remain in control and the rest of my body functions but with my flesh, skin, and bone as water," Walter explained. "Using that, I was able to rush past the friction sensitive field without touching it." Walter dug the ice dagger deeper as his words progressed. Time's running out for you, Walter told him secretively in his thoughts.

"I see," Sanshouuo realized. "You're a smart one," he complimented. "But… now that you've stabbed me once, what are you going to do now?!" Sanshouuo laughed, taking his arm and smacking Walter with it once, sending him flying to his teammate's side.

Getting up, Walter wiped his chin to prepare himself. His feet sort of stumbled as they picked up. "Now," Walter began weakly. "I prove to the world that I can become strong enough to achieve my goal." Sanshouuo flashed an unknowing look. That wasn't surprising. He knew nothing about Walter, yet picked him as an opponent.

Eric peered to his side, wiping away the blood from the wounds on his head. His brown eyes found Walter's hand at his side, tightly gripped around something red, like a stripped ribbon. The Fire Minor breathed quickly in a flash of surprise. No way! He looked to his right hand to look for his Base Minor cloth strip. It wasn't there. He has it, Eric realized, looking back to Walter's hand on all fours. That's why he made a direct contact with Sanshouuo, though? Just to get my Minor Strip? Walter began to help Eric up to his feet. The Fire Minor stammered also as he struggled upward.

"Here," Walter handed Eric the strip. Eric just seemed to stare at it dully, his eyes narrowed in a suspicious way. "What?" Walter snapped. His eyes were narrow as well as he scoffed. "Here!" he demanded. Eric took it solemnly. Walter sighed. It was so weird. First, Walter's this guy who risks his own body to get one possession of Eric's, and now he's snapping at him.

Eric got to his feet, feeling the energy return to his legs. That last blow he took really sucked out a lot out of him. He wiped away some blood and dirt away from his face again and stared hard at their opponent. "Eric," Walter began again, his voice calmer. He caught his attention immediately. "I'm sorry for the lonely, obsessed person I used to be who just kept to myself," Walter explained. Eric seemed shocked at his words. He put a serious lock on his face. Was this the real Walter? "Now, I realize that my goal in life will benefit others, not just me. That loneliness that you have, you're trying to defeat it, aren't you?"

Eric widened his eyes. How did he know? Eric tightened his fist at his side. Why is he helping me with my problems? Eric asked himself, his clenched hand too tight for comfort. He looked down at the floor in a kind of shame. I should be the one helping the ones I care about! "Then," Walter continued. "Let's prove we can beat it by defeating this guy first. Although, I still believe in almost all the things I used to, so don't think I'm changing all that much."

Eric scoffed. "Whatever," he told him, changing his stance to ready himself. Eric grinned as he finally knew for sure he made a connection with Walter.

"The purpose to your life is to protect those you care for," Walter told Eric. "The purpose in mine is to get revenge. I'll let you know one thing right now, Eric," he told him. Eric listened, turning slightly towards his teammate. "Nothing's going to stop me from getting that revenge and destroying that pain," Walter made sure Eric listened. He narrowed his eyes suddenly as his gaze went nowhere near Eric. "Friendships will not get in the way. I'll kill you if you ever try to get in the way."

Eric took a deep breath to clear his mind and closed his eyes for a second. He then turned completely forward. "I understand," he replied dully. He took the Minor Strip and tied it around his index finger again, the ends of it raggedy and torn. Tiny holes were punctured through them like a memoir to keep of this moment. He didn't so much agree with the idea of revenge, but he knew that this was Walter's only proof of his own survival. He couldn't take something like that away from him.

Walter turned completely serious now, just like he had always been. His brown, secretive eyes were narrowed in a mean stare as his lips were tightly sealed together in a sworn protection. He changed his stance as Eric followed. "Let's get this piece of shit out of our way," Walter suggested. Eric nodded as they separated their legs more, readying themselves to the fullest extent.

Sanshouuo scoffed loudly. He practically burst laughing for a second. "Who do you think you are?" he asked them. "Cut with the damned drama and fight me, you worthless fool!" Sanshouuo demanded.

Walter's features remained calm yet somewhat tightened. Eric couldn't believe it. His motivation… Eric thought. Where did it come from? Is this really the Walter I tried to get to know? "You…" Walter accused Sanshouuo. "You don't know anything about pain! So I'll show it to you!" Walter threatened. Sanshouuo felt challenged, happy at that fact. Walter suddenly flashed in front of the enemy, sending kicks and punches all over in such a creative and not wasteful way, it was hard to believe that this was his real fighting style. "I'll kill you with physical attacks," Walter told Sanshouuo as he flipped over him, trying to land low kicks. "I don't need to use my Half Spirit against you."

"That's a big threat from someone so weak," Sanshouuo muttered, grinning evilly. He bobbed his head to dodge attacks and put arms in front of him just in case. Walter seemed to disappear and reappear from every direction, all his speedy attacks blocked. Eric gulped. Walter was moving so fast, he wasn't making any openings for Eric to come in.

"Is that so?" Walter continued to shoot back. Walter reappeared at Sanshouuo's front and tried to land a round kick. Sanshouuo slithered away into the air. Walter disappeared again, looking more confident.

Sanshouuo waited in the air. "I told you all ready, you can't beat me!" he cried out loudly in the air. Eric wondered if he should attack. But he felt like Walter had a plan in store that he shouldn't ruin. Sanshouuo had to admit. That water-controlling brown eyed kid really did get stronger to a great degree. He truthfully didn't know if he could keep blocking his physical attacks any longer than two minutes without getting hit eventually.

Suddenly, Walter appeared behind Sanshouuo in the air in a flash, reappearing with his stern look on his face. Sanshouuo cried out as he realized what had just happened .There was no time to run away, though. Quickly, Walter wrapped his arms around Sanshouuo's neck and both of them began to crash down with Walter closer to the surface. Sanshouuo scoffed. "Fool, if we crash down, you're the one that's going to take the hit, idiot!" Sanshouuo laughed. Walter wasn't so sure.

"I told you I'd beat you with physical attacks, didn't I?" Walter told Sanshouuo as they continued to fall from such a high distance, it didn't look like both of them were going to survive. Suddenly, Walter backed into Sanshouuo closer, now both of their feet direction layered, Walter's feet beneath Sanshouuo's in the same position. Sanshouuo gasped as he realized he was about to be taken into a technique. Walter's arms still tightly locked around his enemy's neck, he pulled out two icy needles that he grew from the back of his shoulder and stabbed them into Sanshouuo's body. He cried out as he let out a cough of blood spill into the air. Walter winced as some of it got onto his skin.

"Damn it!" Sanshouuo cried out in pain. His lips were leaking blood from his mouth. "What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough!" Walter shot back. With full strength, Walter pulled the two needles out and threw them towards Sanshouuo's feet. The two prickles struck right through both of them and right through Walter's own feet as well. Sanshouuo's eyes widened in shock. He stabbed his own feet, too? Sanshouuo thought in panic as wind rushed upward. What is this guy trying to do? Next, Walter took his hands and put them on top of Sanshouuo's palms, creating water needles that stabbed from his hand and into his hands as well. Specks of blood spilled out from the wound. Walter grinned. "Now you can't run away," he told him. Blood began to spill into a puddle in Walter's hand. He gritted his teeth to wash the pain away. As they neared the surface by the second, Walter announced the attack. "Maina Mizu: Fukai-Umi Haritsuke! –Minor Waters: Deep-Sea Crucifixion!-"

"What?" the opponent cried out as he heard the name of the attack. "You're not going to-" Sanshouuo's words were cut off by a loud crashing of impact against the hard, forest ground. Dust was blown into every direction possible, a giant wave of power that took a long time to wash away. Eric had to cover his eyes with his arms, keeping his eyes only half open as the driving dust and power fluttered his clothes wildly. Chunks of rock and dirt blasted into the air from the force, falling down like hailing memoirs into little pieces. A huge cloud of gray dust piled against the sky. The trees rustled loudly in protestation as the winds calmed.

"Walter!" Eric cried out. Where did he go? Did he really…? No! Eric found Walter at the corner of his eye hovering high in the sky, watching the smoke clear. Dust caked his face and so did pain.

Suspended towards the sky, Walter coughed into his own arm, wincing as he did so. It's true that I took impact as well since the plan was to turn into water and wisp away at the last nanosecond before we hit the ground, but I'm sure that that guy took at least ten times more damage. However, my back still does hurt, and I can't perform as well as I used to any longer, Walter warned himself. He knew how crazy he could get when he got angry. That anger always tapped into the deep anger he held inside him. No matter, Walter told himself. I'll finish it with the final move. "One thing you were wrong about my water abilities used from my own body," Walter began as he found sight of his opponent. Sanshouuo lay uncomfortably and limply in a large crack dented into the forest surface, tiny pebbles and rocky boulders surrounding him as his body was pushed in the deepest possible. His limbs stuck out like dead sticks. His eyes remained half-open with bare attention. "Was that whenever I use it, I lose a percentage of my total body water," Walter continued. "But, that's not the case if I use it like this, is it?" Walter asked, turning his right arm into a water form of it.

Sanshouuo seemed to cry out in surprise. Walter grinned. "Tch," he began. "You're standing in the way of me and my revenge," Walter told him. "Because of that, you're going to die!" Walter shouted as his arm zoomed downward and took over Sanshouuo's body. With a pull, the arm brought the lizard-like being upward, and was reeled in for a punch. The fist hit him hard against the middle of his face, sending him flying once more in a type of midair cartwheel to the forest floor. Walter's aquatic arm contracted as he prepared for the final move. With a jolt, he drop kicked him from his place high in the sky, the heel of his foot digging straight into Sanshouuo's stomach. He yelled out as Sanshouuo's arms were hanging limply in the air, unable to move or operate. They both crashed into the ground as more dust and collision sounds spread outward, sending them to the sky. The cloudy dust began to block the sunlight.

Wow… Eric thought to himself, blocking his face again for protection. This guy… he really became that strong out of his confidence to get his revenge for his past? Then… he really was serious when he said he would kill me if I ever got in his way…

Walter soon found himself walking out of the cloud of smoke, his limbs weak and dragging behind him as he stumbled on his own feet. His breath was heavy like a million tons and dust hissed all around him with tired marks all over his skin. He fell to the floor against a tree near the rising smoke. He couldn't find himself to walk any longer. He just sat there, breathing the hardest he could so he could catch his breath. The breath never seemed to be found. Eric rushed to his need, bringing his arm about his shoulders again. "You're always rescuing me," Walter muttered into Eric's ear weakly. His voice was crackly.

Eric smiled. "I told you why, didn't I? You're really going to make me repeat it again?" Eric said as he put Walter down against another tree. He took the sack that contained the food and other necessities out and began to treat Walter's wounds with ointment.

"You think he's dead?" Walter asked, one eye closed in a light wince as the other one made its best effort to stay open. His chest kept rising and falling as his wide, open mouth kept taking heavyset inhales.

"I don't know," Eric said solemnly as he took out the roll of bandages from the bag. Walter sighed, the last move tiresome as he watched the light gusts of the forest brush away the smoke.

PoVS

"Die!" Gaia told Mark as he threw a sharpened piece of clay toward Mark. Mark dodged it to his right as he slid towards a tree. A frontal attack? Mark thought to himself. Is he crazy trying a move like that? It has no skill to begin with.

Suddenly, Mark realized it. He peered to his left and saw the incoming sharpened clay. A trap! He told himself urgently. He jumped away just in time as the thunking noise against the body of the tree echoed through the morning. It was like they were knocking on a random house's door for a next victim. No one answered. Mark slid into another direction, dragging his feet with the dust in the area. The Earth Minor sighed as he jumped backward into the forest, jumping onto a tree's limb for a short time of rest. He jumped back to another one until he was far enough away from Gaia.

Gaia scoffed. "Going into long distance, eh?" he muttered. Mark put an uneasy, disdainful look as he gritted his teeth lightly. "Finally run out of energy?" Gaia asked with the least bit of considerateness. He scoffed once more. "You made a big mistake," he told the Earth Minor loudly. I should probably use Mode, but brother would probably call me "too hasty," again. A smirking grin grew on Gaia's lips. Oh, well. I'll hold it back for now. "You'll regret choosing to go into long distance with me, kid!" Gaia shouted playfully. He clapped his hands together as he prepared his attack. The dirt in the ground seemed to emerge like wild beasts ready for their next meal. "Chiri Nadare! –Dirt Avalanche!-"

More dirt seemed to pile upward towards the weakened Minor as he narrowed his eyes at his luck. He stared hard at the pillars of dirt as they bulleted towards him, and prepared himself, watching the immense amounts of dirt from all over head toward him.

PoVS

"It's been a long time since he went down," Walter told Eric at his side. "He should be dead by now. It'll be amazing if he's not."

"Yeah," Eric said, lying down against the same tree as Walter. He rested himself too. Eric had put ointment on his head wound and bandaged it up. He sighed as he brushed dirt off his clothes. Now they could finally rest.

Both of them stared at the sun above them, now finally beginning to show its stuff as it poured its pale light onto the cold, darkish forest. It was about time. The dark corners of the area could use some light. They both imaged their lives at the same time once they've reached their goal, and to some scale to their serious, calm selves, they smiled. A confident yet weak grin growing on Eric's face, and a careful, satisfied grin with narrowed eyes on Walter's.

Suddenly, disturbing their pleasant fantasies came a loud explosion. Blurring redness and black smoke rose into the air. High winds began to spread around the area, flustering Walter's clothes and hair. "No way!" Walter choked out, the forcing winds making it hard to speak. He had to put an arm in front of him. Eric did the same. How can he still be alive?! I can't do anything about him. I can't even attack well anymore. My body's too weak! All we can do now is run away!

From the rising smoke came a blackish figure of Sanshouuo. His arms dragged at his side limply, weak and tired. His head was bowed in a sort of respectful yet hateful way as he slithered outward from the concealing smoke. He wore a gritted grin between his lips as he stared up at the two unprepared Minors. His hair was ashy and dust-dirt made a sort of costume or wrapping around him. "Damn it," he muttered to himself loudly so that the two Minors could hear him. These guys have become so strong in such a short notice, he thought to himself. At this rate, I'll have to use it. Sanshouuo let out a forced laugh of excitement as he let the seal break inside his body, letting all the power rush throughout his blood. "I never thought I would ever have to use this form of me against you two," Sanshouuo began. "But, in this case, it looks like I very much have to."

Eric helped Walter up as both stumbled on his feet, watching Sanshouuo with narrowed, careful eyes. With head bowed and gaze locked on the Minors, Sanshouuo began to force out Mode. Suddenly, his skin tone suddenly became slightly darker as two bones emerged from the right side of his back. One bone connected to the other, the larger one making like a spider leg kind of limb. The bony, wing like structure thing continued to grow out of his body until it actually looked like a wingless wing, if such a thing would exist. Sanshouuo closed his eyes as power surged throughout him, his teeth growing into demonic fangs. He opened his eyes with a burst, and suddenly, the dark, ebony eyes Eric and Walter always found themselves staring into became painted with the deviance of red, red like the bloody moon, and wide open with excitement.

"What…" Eric began. "What is that?" Fear surged through his blood as he watched the transformation slowly complete itself, feeling wave after wave of nausea hit against him like the beach's ocean currents. They seemed to be overwhelming, his body barely able to hold them back. The two Minors continued to watch his metamorphosis as grayish dust seemed to pool at Sanshouuo's sides eerily, gray-brown dust rising behind him to create a powerful, dramatic background.

"Now…" Sanshouuo went on. Legs began to grow out of from between his tail, human shaped legs like any other you would have seen. "All that's left is to find him…. To find Gaia," Sanshouuo muttered loudly. At the mention of the other one's name, Eric and Walter knew that this was when the real serious battle began.