Chapter 30: The Fighting Spirit
This was it.
After many days of hard training and pushing to my limits, the day of my fate-deciding fight had at long last arrived.
I stared at the entrance of the Queensland arena, I thought back to when I first landed into Canistralia. How I had spent a day in the shoes of Chuck Nolan, to that fateful meeting of Bluey and her family, to meeting her friends and eventually becoming an official citizen.
And the fate of that status was on the line if I turned the other cheek and walked away now, there was no going back now, not when I had trained for this very moment.
Several other dogs passed by me, a few of them giving me a few glances of recognition as they continued inside, no doubt ready and waiting for the battle to begin.
I just stood there however and kept staring at the entrance, I couldn't tell if it was last-minute anxiety or anticipation holding me back, but I knew I could not stay outside forever.
I guess I should be lucky that Bandit and Chilli bought the little white lie Hachi's grandpa had told them about me going to the dojo for another round of training when he arrived earlier to take me to the arena. The only Heeler that did know was Bluey, and she swore on her heart that not a word would come out of her mouth about it.
My moment of mentally putting myself together was then interrupted by a scoff followed by a new voice, a masculine but rather deep voice with a Japanese accent to it.
"So you arrived after all, was wondering if you were going to chicken out at the last minute."
I very slowly turned to the source of the voice, and what stared back at me…
I knew very well who it was.
A black furred Spitz, the fur on the sides of his face stuck out like spikes to which they were highlighted in a maroon-ish dark red, stripes of the same red down his arms and legs and the edges of his tail, and lastly, his eyebrows, muzzle, hands and feet a clear white.
He actually looked familiar… Almost like a certain video game character.
"You're definitely not what I expected you to be… Faulkner." He said as he slowly took a few steps towards me.
"I could say the same thing… Kurou." I returned what the Spitz possibly considered his own way of greeting me as he crossed his arms.
"You know you're making a big mistake, thinking your "raw human strength" will give you an advantage over me. My kind was born to power through the harshest of winters while carrying five times our weight, to challenge a Spitz is death wish on it's own." Kurou snarled grimly at me, as if attempting to intimidate me, but I didn't even flinch.
"We humans may not have fur or your strength, but we have so many other things, we evolved to protect ourselves and others… And that's what I'm trying to do with this region." I quickly countered firmly, but Kurou only just smirked and gave out a light chuckle.
"And yet it's your kind who causes so many wars, and waste your precious lives away with things like riches and love. At the end, most of you just end up becoming miserable."
I held back a grunt at that, but him mentioning love made me remember something.
"I want to ask you something… What happened between you and Megan?" Kurou's muzzle immediately scrunched in what looked like mild disgust upon me mentioning his ex's name.
"That pink puffy fashion obsessed wench. I still regret somehow having feelings of her, never stopped talking, especially to her "phone buddies", a social media-holic, and always dragging me to places I hated and… Why am I even wasting valuable time telling you my regrets?"
I could only frown at Kurou's answer, even if Megan was a bit obsessive with her interests, that was no excuse just to get fed up with her and leave her in the mud.
"Because she's my friend. A friend that you hurt. If you didn't want that relationship to continue, why didn't you just try to come to a mutual agreement of parting ways?"
"Oh spare me the sob stories, I made a girl sad, so what? You humans aren't exactly angels yourselves when it comes to relationships."
That shut me up. He wasn't entirely wrong either. The few people I knew at school, all their parents had divorced at a certain point in time, so knowing that, I stayed quiet.
"So… Are you going in, or do you have any other words to bore me with?"
At first, I didn't have anything else to say… But then I remembered, the reason why I was here in the first place.
"Just one thing; A wager." Kurou raised an eyebrow at this before I continued.
"...If I win, you will get rid of your contacts with the UN and never put Canistralia under threat again."
Kurou's look didn't fade for at least an uncomfortable while, but then he smirked again.
"Alright then, Falkner." He agreed as his grin suddenly became more sinister.
"But if I win… You will leave Canistralia, either by boat, a plane or even swim, and NEVER come back."
...Now it was really serious, my time with the Heelers was already getting short, but if I lost, then it'd be all over, all of my hard work for nothing.
But if I didn't agree, then who's to say Kurou would go back on his word and contact the UN regardless. It was a choice between risking my own life or putting the whole of Canistralia in danger.
Eitherway, the only guarantee that Canistralia would be safe is if I…
"Deal." I finally said without another second thought. Kurou's grin widened a little under his glaring expression as what he said next was told through a foreboding growl.
"I'm already having fun with this. I'll see you at the ring."
And then, without another word, Kurou entered the arena, leaving me alone.
I could only look up at the sky in a mix of concern and remorse for what I had just done. Canistralia would be safe, but at the cost of Bluey and Bingo losing someone they were very close to.
...Would I be able to live with myself if I lost and had to leave Canistralia for good?
Forgive me, Bluey and Bingo…
Minutes later, I was in the changing room in a martial arts outfit, a traditional Gi with a pair of karate shoes, performing some last minute chops and kicks, making sure not to hit anything near me, the clock ticking away at my impending fate as I awaited for the match introduction to start.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
And there it was, the summoning bell as I took in a deep breath, possibly the last one I'd ever make in Canistralia as I approached the hallway leading to the fight arena as I heard the announcer's intercom.
"Alright ladies and gents, sounds like it's going to be one hell of a match up this year as it may just be the first ever in so many years, a battle between human flesh and dog fur as our very own human ambassador, Nathan Faulkner battles against the very powerful Kurou Spitz, who has a thirty-seven win streak under his belt with NO losses so far. It's safe to say that I hope Faulkner is evenly matched against this formidable fighter!"
The screams of the cheering audience rang after the announcement, it seemed clear that none of them knew why this fight was even happening, and even if they did, would they be able to stop Kurou, especially when he has his grandpa to fall back on to?
The audience however went absolutely wild the second they caught sight of me stepping into the ring, I couldn't help but wave to them which actually encouraged louder cheering from them. Thankfully that actually got me a little more motivated as I stepped into the middle of ring and awaited for Kurou.
I didn't have to wait long as my opponent in question arrived from the opposite hallway, in a Gi of his own that was black with red lining to match his fur. He didn't seem to acknowledge the crowd cheering for him as his eyes were fixed directly at me, still in a burning scowl with his footsteps slow, making his entrance as foreboding as possible, until at long last, he was only a few steps away from me.
"You may have a tough nerve… But I hope you have the arm strength to swim all the way back to Devon, Faulkner." Kurou growled through his teeth in a menacing grin.
"It's Denver." I fired back under my breath with as much fire in my tone to match his as a Japanese terrier stood at our left in a Hakama and exclaimed.
"KAMAE!"
We both stood firm and bowed, but I knew there was no mutual respect between us even through the gesture before lifting our upper-bodies back up and waited…
…
…
…
…
"HAJIME!"
Kurou let out a war-cry as he quickly charged gung-ho at me, but I immediately brought an arm up to block his strike, only for him to counter with a kick to the stomach, knocking me back a little.
I was actually stunned to have felt some strength behind that kick as Kurou rushed in a chop aimed at the neck, I quickly ducked however and delivered a chop of my own to the side.
He barely even flinched however as I immediately felt a hard elbow strike to the back of my neck, making me fall forward, but I just managed to catch myself from falling before performing a leg sweep.
His legs remained stood on the floor however, it was instead like I was trying to kick down a very stubborn tree as Kurou grabbed me by the wrist and without even a struggle yanked me off the floor with the intent of throwing me back down.
This was a move I just couldn't counter and I cringed as my shoulder slammed down against the floor, it was like it had been punched by Muhammad Ali on steroids as the shock even made by arm bone shudder a little. I was lucky that it hadn't broken or that would've been the end.
Quickly springing back up, I tensed up as he went in to deliver another kick to the stomach but I was ready this time and countered with a kick to the side of his head. The blow actually earning a grunt out of him, but he did not stumble as he sprang back forward and managed to throw in a combo of three punches to the chest, which felt like he was aiming for my heart. Good thing we have rib cages.
I tried to deliver an elbow strike to the side but Kurou was faster than I had expected as he side-stepped, countering with a hard elbow strike to my cheek. The pain of his elbow connecting with my cheek bone made Rex look like the softest dog in Canistralia as I staggered aside, the strike actually disorienting me on the spot as my vision had become blurry.
Thankfully my vision has readjusted itself just in time to see Kurou shooting a foot up to my face, I quickly leaned and spun, managing to score a kick to his side. Again however, he didn't move an inch as he lunged forward and delivered another punch, this one directly to my heart, causing me to actually stagger back a little and nearly clutch my chest, I actually felt my heart beating against my ribs which told me just how dangerously close Kurou had gotten to actually striking it.
That was when I remembered what Hachi's grandfather had told me back when he had told me about Kurou.
How his karate career with Kurou's own grandpa had come to an end when the latter ended up breaking his opponent's leg and making him automatically lose…
…
Oh my god.
Muramasa had gotten Konan disqualified with a broken leg in order to win, and he had no doubt passed that trick onto his descendants.
All thirty-seven of those wins by Kurou weren't from him besting his opponents… but by getting his opponents disqualified, and the fact that he was already so strong made such a cheap tactic all the more easier for him!
I had to be more careful and on the defensive side. If Kurou managed to deal a blow on me that could incapacitate me, it was all over.
I quickly spotted him about to deliver another kick to the chest as I quickly rolled out of the away and delivered the hardest punch I could muster to his side, keeping my other arm close to my chest like a shield.
This time, I saw his upper body shift a little but he was quick to fight through whatever amount of pain I had given him in order to deliver a chop to my cheek.
I leaned back just in time, seeing his dull dog claws up close as they just licked the tip of my nose before I launched myself upwards and attempted to swing a leg at his head, but he blocked just before it could hit and delivered a low kick to my side in retaliation, and it was just as painful as the other blows he had managed to land on me, but at the very least, he hadn't hit anywhere vital so I was still focused.
With an arm still being used to shield my chest, I used the other arm to block another low kick he attempted to throw at me as I quickly swung my leg around, getting him in the side once again. Another grunt escaped his lips as he actually stumbled aside a little this time before quickly planting his foot down to keep himself balanced.
The crowd meanwhile was in excited uproar. Must've been a long while since they last saw a karate match so entertaining, unless if it was because one of the fighters was a human.
Kurou swung his arm forward, delivering a few chops to my arm shielding my chest, as if trying to get me to pull away, but even if the blows stung, I still held it tightly close. It was the only thing that was keeping him from using the one advantage he had over me.
He then swung a chop at my face once again. This time however, I wasn't as quick enough to lean back as his finger claws actually managed to graze my cheek this time.
The wound he had made stung, because it only cut just far enough to not cause any bleeding, like I was suffering a paper cut to the face.
"Things are slowly but surely getting heated in this match, mates! Blows have been blocked and delivered, both opponents have had their fair share of injuries but they're both still standing. Only one will walk out of this evenly matched battle!"
The announcer rang out, neither of us daring to let ourselves get distracted for a second. Kurou then immediately lunged with an elbow strike to my side, which I quickly turned to my side and was about to counter with an elbow strike.
But then I saw him flash a smirk on his muzzle, as if I had just walked right into a trap.
And without warning, with me still turned at the side, my shoulder of my shielding arm was left wide open as Kurou swiftly swung up, landing a very hard kick to my shoulder blade.
Out of all the blows I had felt so far, this one was possibly the most painful, but it would pale compare to what happened next.
The blow made me feel what felt like a shock wave run down my arm as it suddenly went numb. Despite my desperate attempts, I just couldn't feel a thing on my chest shield as it fell limp seconds later.
And then, before I could even register what happened, I felt it.
The hardest kick Kurou had put all his strength into went flying directly into my guard-less chest, the shock wave of the blow rippling through my ribs and against my heart, making it beat out of rhythm.
My body felt stiff, like the trauma to the heart actually had me paralysed on the spot like I was a living statue. I couldn't even do anything to block the next kick directly to the face.
Everything was in slow motion the second Kurou's foot made impact, from the feeling of warm liquid slowly flowing out of my bruised nose to my blurring vision as another result of the kick.
I could feel myself slowly leaning backwards as the floor got closer and closer to me.
The crowd's reactive gasps of shock had become muffled as I couldn't help stare forward as my body continued to fall slowly.
...I couldn't believe it. Despite my hardest training and my attempts at evading Kurou's tactic, it wasn't enough.
I was going to lose.
It was all over. The second I hit the floor and heard "Yame", there was nothing else I could do.
How could I have been so stupid as to agree to that deal with Kurou? The Spitz in question only stood and looked down at me, arms crossed with a scowl on his muzzle. He said something to me, but I couldn't comprehend his words.
I understood if Bluey and Bingo or even the whole of Canistralia never forgave me for having to leave them… I was their last hope of helping them make peace with humanity once again, and I had thrown it all away.
Everyone… I'm… so… sorry…
Author's Note:
I've gotten at least one or two reviews of people asking what happened to my Family of 101 series. I explained it in full on my Twitter and Wattpad but to put it simply, I deleted those fics because I just ended up not liking them at all, there was a lot of continuity errors compared to them and the series and I completely lost all motivation to continue 'Children of London'.
However, I am considering rebooting it from scratch with everything done over from scratch, new protagonist, new plotline, that sort of thing.
In other news, it seems it may just be the very end of Nathan's adventures in Canistralia. All that hard work only for it to end like this. No home… No family… And no other friends to turn to, the future looks bleak for him.
...Or does it?
See you all next year.