Time stood still for a few moments as Aries stood tall among the flames, arms open, waiting for Reaper to make his move. The Scyther splice clearly intimidated by the bravado of Takuya's shadow persona, though he was doing his best not to show it.

"Well? Show me what you can do, Reaper!" Aries shouted with a laugh. "Unless all that boasting you did about drinking Avery's blood like wine was just talk!"

Reaper furrowed his brow. "You little punk! You think all I was doing was just talk?!"

"You have yet to prove me wrong, otherwise." Aries said with a taunting grin. "Or are you afraid of breaking one of your sickle claws?"

Reaper became enraged, a vein popping out on his forehead. "How dare you! You dare have the audacity to make fun of me?! I'LL MAKE YOU EAT YOUR WORDS, ARIES!"

Reaper immediately powered himself up with a swords dance technique, boosting his attack power and focus before flying at Aries, full-tilt with his claws extended and ready to swipe and slash!

Aries then pulled an unexpected move: One that would send Reaper's chances of coming out of this unscathed tumbling to null.

Aries jumped up in the air at the last second, spinning his body around and sending his knee crashing into Reaper's gut with an impactful, sickening crunch! Reaper had all the air knocked out of him as he looked on at Aries, wide eyed! Time seemed to slow for a few moments as Reaper looked into the smirking Aries' eyes: Those dark, sick, twisted, fiery eyes…

Aries then slammed one of his fists into Reaper's chest, sending him flying across the battlefield into a nearby tree! Reaper crashed into the trunk of the tree back first, a loud grunt escaping from his throat with what little air he had left!

Aries didn't waste any words, nor time. He ran up to the tree with incredible speed, and slammed his fists into Reaper's body again! The Shadow Persona that controlled Takuya's body chained in multiple strikes, punching Reaper in the chest and gut with such force it would have broken a normal Pokemon, nonetheless a human!

With a quick spinning kick, Aries sent Reaper crashing through the tree as the trunk snapped in half like a twig from the impact! Reaper flew across the field into one of Team Rocket's jeeps, the impact sending the vehicle rolling through the dirt, as Reaper's body bounced and rolled across the ground like a rag doll! Once his velocity ceased, Reaper lay on the field, pain screaming across his entire body. He let out a sickening whimper of pain, unable to move from the elevated throbbing agony that coursed through every limb and muscle.

But Aries was not finished yet. He jumped through the air, landing a few feet from Reaper, still going on full blast! He then picked up the Scyther splice by the neck, holding him in the air with a tight grip as Reaper struggled to breathe! Reaper looked on at Aries in fear, on the verge of passing out!

"Again, you disappoint me, Reaper…" Aries sighed, a nonchalant toothy smile on his face that showed off his sharp feline teeth. "You have utterly failed to provide an even-paced fight at all… I would have more of a challenge beating up a practice dummy. No matter, though… I guess just burning you alive and hearing your unbridled screams will have to suffice for my entertainment…"

Aries then lit up a fire from his hand, getting ready to engulf Reaper in flames. Reaper was almost at the verge of blacking out, his vision darkening fast, and his hearing becoming muffled. There was no denying it… He was going to die, he was going to be burnt alive, barbecued like a slab of meat! Not only that, but he was going to be done in by a persona that controlled his former master's body! That thought sickened the Scyther splice more than anything else, as he felt the flames start to get closer to his body…

Then, out of the corner of his blurred vision, Reaper saw Dante swing his fighting staff at Aries, hard and fast! Aries was forced to let go of Reaper to catch the incoming offensive strike, turning to face Dante as the Mewtwo splice threw a Shadow Ball at Aries, throwing him across the arena!

"That's enough from you, dammit!" Dante yelled, his eyes glowing neon-blue. "You want a fight?! Then fight me, if you got the stones!"

Aries, after getting back up from the surprise attack, again let out a psychotic laugh. "Oh, so now you are stepping up to the plate, Dante? Perhaps you can succeed where Reaper failed?"

"I intend to, Aries." Dante replied with a scowl, taking off one of his finger-less gloves to reveal a triple ringed pentagram tattoo inscribed with strange glyphs along the edges in circles on the back of his palm. "The only reason you managed to take control is because Takuya still has much to learn of how to control that state. I know much more about the power you possess, and it's now time to fight fire with fire… Invoking Giritina's Incantation for controlled power release, unlocking restraint seal level 3…"

The third ring on the tattoo on Dante's palm glowed a blazing red, and a few seconds later the Balancer Mewtwo Splice was engulfed in a shadow aura of his own, one that was on par with Aries' own!

"Just remember: You asked for this!" Dante warned.