-The land of Shinto, in the distant past-
At a large open plain of flowers, and mountains standing tall in the distance, not a gust was stirring and not a cloud in the sky. A serene and beautiful landscape.
"I don't quite remember how exactly we came to be. All I remember is a loud bang and then…"
Suddenly there's a loud thunderclap and a gust of wind as two figures come SPRINTING through the field at Mach-speeds. One of them is Raijin, the other looking a lot like him, except his skin is green, his hair is short and a lighter green with swirls in it, and he has a large piece of cloth which seems to float behind him, one end wrapped around both of his arms. "Oi Fujin! Keep up, slowpoke!" Raijin calls out with a smile, Fujin smirking as he speeds up, the two of them running into a dense forest, Fujin leaping onto a branch, and hops from tree to tree, while Raijin runs down below dodging the trees with ease even at breakneck speeds.
"First one to the edge of the forest wins!?" Fujin calls as they both laugh happily, shooting away through the forest, scaring away EVERY animal they come across. They reach the end of the forest and both FLY out not realizing it's a huge sheer cliff into an ocean, Raijin coming out first a few steps ahead. They both look surprised before laughing with each other as they fall. "Well, that's not what I thought it'd be!"
Raijin howls with laughter. "Me neither man!" The two laugh as he grabs Fujin's hand and Fujin uses his cloth to guide them towards the cliff where they both just keep running down and as they hit the water they simply start sprinting over it. "Where are we going!?" Raijin says with a laugh.
Fujin just smiles brightly. "I'm going where you're going!"
"Well, I'm going where YOU'RE going!" They both pause as they hit a beach and they fall onto their backs.
"We just WERE. And it was awesome. We would race all across Heaven."
Zeus and the other Olympians were sitting at their conference table on Mt. Olympus when suddenly, from one of the windows, Fujin and Raijin come BURSTING through, shooting out the other window, the old god noting that their food has been swiped, making him chuckle heartedly, while Fujin and Raijin laugh as they run down the mountain at sonic speeds. "WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!" They excitedly cheer as they stuff their faces. From the desert of Duat, to the snowy lands of Valhalla, the two brothers would run and look for new and exciting race tracks, creating a ruckus wherever they went, as loud sounds of strikes and kicks can be heard as the two gusts pass.
"We would even fight, just for fun! He wasn't just someone to race and fight. Fujin was a REAL brother. We could talk for ages about nothing and everything. I loved him."
The two brothers sit on a cloud overlooking a large country down below. "Hey, Raijin. The world sure is big isn't it?"
"Yeah. Plenty of places to race against each other huh?"
Fujin laughs as he glances toward his brother. "Yeah. You know. I NEVER beat you. You're WAY faster than I am. You just take it easy on me."
"N-no I don't! What're you talking about!?" Raijin retorts, scratching his cheek a little.
"It's alright, Raijin. I know you do. And I appreciate it." The two sit in silence for a few moments again.
"Hey, Fujin?"
"Yeah?"
"You think we'll ever meet someone… as fast as us?" Raijin asks sheepishly.
Fujin chuckles a little nervously. "I doubt anyone is faster than you. But if we do meet someone like that one day…" Fujin says something that makes Raijin blush with slightly wide eyes, but a loud gust of wind makes it hard to hear.
"We had tons of fun. For THOUSANDS of years, it was just the two of us against the world! We were even adopted into the family of Shinto, with Izanagi and Izanami as our 'grandparents'. But good things ain't meant to last forever I guess."
Fujin and Raijin had just finished their third lap around the gigantic country of Shinto with Fujin laughing, and heaving as he was a few steps behind Raijin. "Raijin. I wanna get faster," he says suddenly sounding so serious.
Raijin raises an eyebrow at the sudden tonal shift. "What? Why? You're plenty fast! You ALMOST caught me that time!" He says with a chuckle.
"Well yeah. But I want to get faster. Please. Will you help me out?" He asks and Raijin smirks.
"Of course, I will! Come on!" The two speed around a little.
"I trained him in getting faster, and he got faster QUICKLY!"
After merely 20 years of training, Fujin could feel himself catching up to Raijin more and more often. The two speed through the forest at immense speeds as always, but this time Fujin comes out of the forest first. "YEAH! I won again!" He says as Raijin comes shooting out after him. However, he couldn't find his proper smile for some reason. He was happy for his brother! Obviously! He was achieving his goal! And Raijin had gotten faster too. But there was a feeling. Deep in his heart. He couldn't quite place it. But it appeared EVERY. Time. He. Lost.
The two stand in front of a large canyon. "Alright, Fujin. This one's for ALL the marbles!" Raijin says as Fujin taps his feet against the ground.
"Alright! Let's do it! I'm totally going to win this one too!" Fujin confidently declares as they take their places.
Raijin tosses a rock in the air. "We go when it lands!" He says and the rock clinks against the ground and the brothers BLAST off at the speed of sound almost. However, as they break the sound barrier it seems to cause a rockslide all across the entire canyon!
Fujin looks up. "Raijin! Look out!" He calls out as they start dodging the falling boulders, Raijin turning around to run backward, dodging them with ease.
"Come on! What's the matter Fujin!? A few rocks SCARE you or something!?" He says with a laugh.
"That rockslide was no accident. I CHOSE that field knowing it'd happen! Fujin was always slower when it came to running around obstacles. It was a surefire victory! Nothing meanspirited. I-I just wanted to win!"
The two of them sprint through the field, Fujin narrowly dodging the obstacles. Suddenly, a GIGANTIC rock falls forward, threatening to block the ENTIRE path ahead, Raijin confidently rushes towards it. "RAIJIN! STOP! It's dangerous!" Fujin calls out.
"I can make it! Worry about yourself!" Raijin calls out with a confident laugh until he finds himself right underneath the rock, seeing the end closing up. He won't make it! However, suddenly Fujin comes in from behind leaping forward, and pushes Raijin out on the other side. In his moment of panic, Raijin BARELY felt his brother's push, but the sound that followed is one that still haunts him to this day. CRUNCH! Followed by a gut-wrenching scream of pain. Raijin turns around in shock, seeing Fujin lying on the ground, the giant rock having crushed BOTH of his legs, leaving him stuck under it screaming out in agony. "F-Fujin?"
"Argh! R-Raijin. H-help… I-I… I can't move. I-I'm stuck! P-please! Hurry! I-It hurts!" Raijin grabs hold of the rock and tries to lift it, but it won't budge.
"Come on you stupid giant rock!" He punches it, bleeding from his knuckles. "D-dammit…" He feels tears streaming down his face. "I-I'm going to go… I'm going to get the others. Don't worry. I'll be right back!" Raijin says grabbing Fujin's cloth as he shoots off, hearing Fujin behind him.
"Raijin! WAIT! D-don't leave me here! Raijin! RAIJIIIIIIIN!"
-Present day-
"I should've stayed. He was scared and hurting! I got the help. He got out, but… I-I didn't come back. I COULDN'T come back. I couldn't bear to face him. Or tell him I was the cause of all that. So... I ran away," Raijin finishes, his eyes slowly filling with tears. "Fuckin'..." He wipes them from his eyes angrily.
Ali nods along. "So… what? After that, you decided to just be a dick to everyone and make them hate ya'?" He asks and Raijin sighs.
"Whatever. I'm done talking. Get up and let's finish this," He says slowly getting to his feet.
Ali stands up himself as well. "I know the feeling. You felt like a coward. You had a moment of weakness and it ruined the best thing you ever had. How does Fujin feel about this?" He asks, dusting himself off, the two of them seem almost peaceful.
Raijin sighs. "I ain't talked to Fujin since then. He probably hates me. I know because… h-he can't walk. The boulder crushed him too much. Even our divine healer couldn't give him his legs back. I made him faster. And I took away his biggest dream RIGHT AFTER!" Suddenly Ali is in front of him and he strikes him right in the face, sending Raijin tumbling.
"STOP BEIN' SO FUCKIN' SELFISH!" He yells out.