Chapter 14 : Rampage Zero

Duri smashed Yoshida's face into the snowy ground, breaking the ground apart heavily.

Duri exclaimed, "How ya like that shit?!"

Yoshida smiled, "It's amazing.."

Yoshida turned around, grabbed Duri by the arm, and kicked him in the stomach.

Duri wheezed as he began to fly across the area again.

Before he could hit another mountain, Yoshida appeared above Duri, cuffed his fists together, and slammed them on Duri's face, smacking him down fast, making him head towards the ground.

Duri thought, 'He's fast!'

Before Duri could hit the ground, a portal opened on the ground under Duri, and 3 40 foot red snakes with smoking gold eyes and sharp venomous fangs came out, looking to eat Duri.

"Seriously?! What type of shit are you pulling out of your ass?!"

Yoshida stretched his arms apart, and two portals opened on each side of Duri.

And out of those portals, came red and gold swords flying out of them.

'He's throwing eveything at me, everything is closing in fast..'

Duri dodged a few of the swords, but was cut by a few. He ended up grabbed two of the swords in the air, did a tornado spin, and cut then heards off all four snakes.

Duri's hair was red and smoking, his eyes were red, and the swords he was holding were red and black instead of gold and red.

Yoshida thinks, 'He's absorbed the power of my power…and using it on his own? What the hell is he? No…this isn't a time to be fascinated..he'll bring an end to our pain. Do not worry, mother, it'll all be over soon.'

Yoshida made two glowing red swords form in his hand, and flew over to Duri quickly.

Duri and Yoshida collided swords, and Yoshida said, "You're one of the Shadow realm, I see."

Duri replied, "Huh?! How do you know?"

"The way you are manipulating my power with your own power. Shadows are known for that. They almost match the power of the Titans…they are second to most feared."

"...What more do you know about them?!"

"Being born by the Shadows are a privilege, second to the best. Their abilities are outstanding…I'm glad to have chosen you to-."

Duri sliced Yoshida across the chest, then the face, spun around, and kicked Yoshida in the chest, blasting him away, making him slide and crash into the ground.

Yoshida got up instantly, leaking blood from parts of his body with a smile.

'That kid…he asked me that to temporarily distract me from the fight…just so he could land an effective blow! Amazing! That look in his eyes, those are not the eyes of just some teenage kid..'

Duri was still holding both swords, with red and white and black lightning coming out of the back of them. Duri was running fast, probably as fast as a cheetah or maybe even faster, the ground was breaking hard each step he took, the blood that dripped from his face and body melted some of the snow and ice around him.

Yoshida stood up, and began running twice as fast, with his veins popping out tremendously.

Duri and Yoshida jumped together, and turned with their dominant legs extended.

Their legs collided, their heels booming in collision with one another, the ground under them cracked and blew up, and some chunks of mountains around them shattered by the force from their kicks.

Yoshida was still grinning, but Duri had a serious face.

Duri thought, 'This guy is a weirdo…he wants me to kill him this badly…but if I do, won't I get in trouble? No…he attacked me first. This is self defense.'

Duri and Yoshida ran along the ground now, jumping and trying to  kill each other with their swords, the swords banged and clanged, the sounds were loud, Duri and Yoshida were swinging and flipping their blades at a very fast pace, and they were continously running and sliding on the icy and snowy ground.

Yoshida cut Duri across the chest, then used his elbow to hit Duri in the nose, then Yoshida tried to ram both of his swords into Duri's stomach.

Duri blocked it just in time, moving his swords in front of his stomach. But Yoshida held the swords there, trying to push them through Duri's swords, with Yoshida using half of his strength, and Duri using all of the strength he had left.

Duri said, "You wanna die this badly?!"

Yoshida answered, "I'm having so much fun! The best battle I've ever had! Thank you, boy, for making me feel worthy of a righteous death!"

"Fuck…you!"

Yoshida took a quick step forward, and he was pushing his swords against Duri's, both of them flying back towards more mountains.

Yoshida was pushing Duri through a bunch of mountains, and each mountain they went through, the mountain crashed to the ground.

Yoshida yelled, "What's wrong, boy?! Don't tell me you're getting tired!!"

Duri gritted his bloody teeth, he felt like he was running out of energy. He never fought this hard in his life. And doing it for the first time, it took a toll on him.

Clear and black shadow winds and energy circulated around Duri's head, and he looked at Yoshida.

"I don't get tired!"

Duri headbutted Yoshida, busting his face, and making him go backwards through another mountain which was 20 feet away.

Duri stood where he was, and he spit blood out of his mouth.

'This dude…is too strong. Way older than me I can tell…and his experience outweighs mine. No doubt I can beat this man. I shouldn't stop to think, I should just fight. He's fighting with no logic applied to his moves, making him unpredictable, which is why he keeps outmaneuvering me.'

Duri saw himself in the reflection of the swords he was holding, and he saw his appearance. His hair was red and flowy, and his eyes were red and glowing.

"What the hell..why do I look like this?"

Duri heard rumbling, and he looked upward with a gasp.

Yoshida was punching through the top of the mountain he was in, blowing a giant hole at the top of it.

Around Yoshida, was five human horses with wings, they were fully red, and they glowed a red aura with their air on fire.

Duri said, "Seriously?!"

In the blink of an eye, Yoshida threw a large punch at Duri, and Duri stopped it with by punching Yoshida's fist with his own fists.

Duri and Yoshida held each others fists against each others, testing to see who was truly stronger between the two.

Duri then imagined him and Jae fist bumping each other in the Shadow realm, and Jae saying, "If I don't become the strongest, then you should do it for me, birthmark boy!"

…

Duri looked into Yoshida's eyes, and his right arm was in a shadowy black and smoky form.

Yoshida said, "Amazing…! Show me your full and true shadow form!"

Duri said, "OHHHH! MY ARM! IT'S A SHADOW!!!"

"SUCH POWER!"

Duri smashed his shadow arm forward, and Yoshida's arm snapped, knocking him into the air again.

The red human horses falling near Duri with their gold glowing spears were getting closer.

Duri jumped up high, ascending upward. He pointed his fist at the horse hybrids, and four 30 foot shadow dragons came from his arm, emerging and engaging upon the human horsemen. 

The horsemen tried to use their wings to fly, and tried to use their golden glowing spears to attack the snakes, blasting rays at them.

Sliding down one of Duri's snakes was Yoshida, and he snapped his broken arm back into place.

"Incredible.."

Duri noticed Yoshida, and he started running up his own snake to meet him.

Duri and Yoshida gave out a battle yell, and they punched each other in the face, and as soon as they did that, the mountain around them blew up into pieces, and Duri's snakes had Yoshida's human horsemen in their mouths, taking them into the sky. 

Duri threw a spinning kick at Yoshida, Yoshida leaned back and punched Duri in the stomach. Duri coughed, but he grabbed the back of Yoshida's head, and rammed his knee into Yoshida's face, smashing more blood out of him.

Duri thought, 'Just keep fighting, no time to stop, no time to come up with a strategy, just fight. Hell yeah, I can feel it. I can feel power in me…even more of it. Is this what it's like to have a shadow form? Even though…it's just my arm in a shadow state, the training I've done is paying off…haha!'

Yoshida punched Duri in the face twice, then tried to kick him in the face.

Duri blocked the attack, then blocked a few more punches and kicks that Yoshida was throwing at him rapidly in seconds.

Duri dropped downward, and kicked Yoshida in the leg, breaking it.

Yoshida leaned down in pain, Duri jumped on Yoshida's neck, turned his body around and down, and twisted Yoshida's neck around with his legs, breaking his neck quickly.

Duri had his hands around Yoshida's face, he did a backflip off of his snake, and slammed Yoshida's face into the ground.

Duri's snakes and Yoshida's human horsemen vanished. Leaving only Duri and Yoshida out there. Which they thought they were the only ones.

On top of a half destroyed mountain, stood two reporters, who were recording the entire fight. A man and woman, by the names of Jin and Mara.

Jin and Mara were twin brother and sister, with Jin being a few hours older. They both had blue hair, glasses, and grey eyes.

Jin had his blue hair in a ponytail, and Mara had long blue hair. 

Mara was recording, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! The fight finally came to a conclusion!"

Jin replied to Mara, "Keep your voice down before they attack us too!"

"Shhh, you're the one being louder than me, idiot."

"Hehh? No I'm not! How much battery is left in the camera?"

"We've got another 2 minutes until this baby goes night night."

"Yes, yes that is acceptable. We've got enough film for today."

"Once we post this, we'll definitely get a promotion!"

"Our coverage will be massive, especially once we post it on Bloggerz."

"I can see the headlines now: 'Birthmark kid defeats super strong meta man thing!' Catchy headline right?!"

"Three words, TOOOO DAMNNNN LONGGGG. It has to be short and sweet!"

"Like?"

"...Gimme a sec. Got it. Kid with face birthmark defeats a man creature outside of Antarctica!"

"That's longer than what I had said earlier."

"It's all about catchy titles, Mara. We'll leave for the day and make sure this gets posted EVERYWHERE."

"Yes! When are we going back to Japan?"

"As soon as our work is done here. We got more news to cover. Why? You wanna leave?"

"No I was just asking. I wanted to try out A LOT more things before leaving."

"ME TOO!"

Duri was sitting on top of Yoshida, who was dying by the way.

He laid there, breathing heavily with blood leaking out of his eyes, nose, and mouth, and he was still grinning.

Duri stood up off of him, looking down on him with his fists clenched with blood, and his hair and eyes and arms turning back to normal.

Yoshida coughed, and said, "You have exceeded my expectations. So young…overpowering me. I thank you."

Duri replied, "I don't know if I should be mad at you for attacking me, or feel bad cause' I beat the hell out of you."

"You did me a great…service. You're strong…you have potential, lad."

"Yep."

Yoshida closed his eyes, and died. 

Duri had a "I feel bad" look on his face. 

'That guy just wanted to die..why did it have to be like this? Why did I have to come across some shit like this? Dammit. Now I need to find a way to get back home. I don't know where I am…'

Duri was feeling woozy, then he fainted, falling down straight beside Yoshida.

At a distance, man with a lab coat was watching, grinning maliciously at Duri..

Duri's POV : "I did it. All those damn years of trying to improve has finally caught up to me. It took longer than anticipated, but it happened. It's only my arm that had a shadow form earlier, but that's a good ass start. That idiot Yoshida just wanted me to kill him to end his suffering. Should I feel bad? Do I even feel bad now? He lost his mother in a fire, and used a ritual to transfer her soul into his body, allowing her to live, but it hurt them both. Is he a hero? Am I the hero for killing him? Am I a bad person for killing a man that just wanted to help himself and his mother? No. I'm not. He killed people. I can't defend him. He deserved what he got, but it was what he wanted. I must say though, like, I did good in that fight. I got beat a few times in it, outplayed and maneuvered, but all in all, it was a hell of a display. I got a long way to go if I'm going to be the strongest. Before, I had rejected that dream, forgetting the pact that me and Jae had made when we were kids and shit like that. But once me and Yoshida collided fists, once I felt the excitement of fighting again, once I felt the enjoyment of beating people up…the dream came back. Yeah, I wanna be the strongest. I'll do it since Jae…can't. Once I am strong enough, I will kill Zabel and the entire Arcane realm. I still haven't competed in a power tournament yet, I believe those will help me get stronger too. It's a damn process just to be a part of the tournaments."

…

…

…

Duri opened his eyes, and he found himself strapped upward. His arms were connected to advanced silver chains, and his legs were trapped in a box made out of steel with nerd technology imprinted on it.

Duri said, "What the.."

"You're awake. Good."

Duri looked ahead, and he saw a man in a white lab coat, sitting in a chair, with a bunch of devices, computer screens, tables, and test tubes around him. The man had long black and purple hair, green eyes, but no mouth.

Duri said, "Um.."

The man in the lab coat..his name was Warhol. (*WAR-HALL*).

Warhol had his mouth sewn, but he was still speaking through something electronic.

He said, "You have a purpose, Duri."

Duri replied, "Crazy shit just keeps happening. You better have a good explanation of why you have me chained the hell up. Either way, I'll still kill ya."

"Killing is not formidable, but is vanity. Vanity is like everything else."

"Get to the fucking point."

"Indeed. I've watched Yoshida for a few days. Watching him and his moves, observing his power and drive."

"He just wanted to be killed in a righteous fight..since he thought he deserved it."

"I heard everything you and Yoshida said."

"Why were you watching him?"

"He was strong. Too strong. Until he fell to a hybrid like you."

"A hybrid like me?"

"I didn't have power. But not the type of power you and other gifted have. I touch someone, and I know everything they know. You're entire Shadow realm was destroyed, and millions upon millions were slaughtered by Zabel's hand. He wants to kill you and then merge you with a weapon that tames beasts, all so he can control the minds and emotions of beasts and humans. A very complex goal, a ritual is in play. Rituals…there are tons of them. First discovered back in the stone age within the tribes, back in the witch and necromancer days where magic was first born."

"...What about my real mother and father?"

"You have no memory of them, therefore, I do not know of them. I watched Yoshida because I needed him here in the position you are in. I grew up without any combat powers, but knowledge is a power on it's own. But it's not enough. I needed Yoshida's power, since powers run through a human's body, even in their blood streams; I can transfuse some of his into mine, and mix it with herbs, snow, and energy from the sun. The snow will purify the blood, the herbs will repair the damaged blood cells, and the energy from the sun will manipulate the power within the blood, since our power is rumored to come from the sun itself. And those rumors are true."

"You stalked Yoshida…to take his power?"

"A man does what he can to protect and watch over his family. I have acquired power from one mythic beast on the verge of death. My methods worked, but it isn't enough power. But if I take yours, then I will be set."

Duri looked to the right, and he saw a little boy, a little girl, and a woman sleeping in vertical chambers filled with liquids.  They had hoses in their arms, and nuzzles around their mouths.

Duri said, "That's your family..?"

Warhol stood up out of the chair, and answered, "Yes. They are powerless. As a man, I'd take it up a notch."

"The hell happened to your voice?"

"Protecting your family never goes as planned. You know what the sports players, the business owners, the doctors, the lawyers, the pop stars, the actors, the armed forces, the millionaires, the billionaires, the pastors, the churches, the Hosts, and lifeguards have in common? Influence. My goal is to influence powerless men with families, to lead them to righteous bearings; the fruits of their powerless labor will no longer be in vain. I'll offer them freedom, strength, and prosperity. The value of a man's treasures are invalid towards the price of his family."

"I'm gonna kill you."

"You're angry at yourself. You're angry because you are not strong enough yet. You wish you could learn quickly like everyone else. Your bloodlust gets out of control, and it gets even worse every time you hit someone. You are always ready to fight, you are quick to anger, and you take no disrespect from anyone."

"Get the hell out of my head.."

"Oh, I'm not in your head. Before we start the procedure, we need to prepare your body for what is about to come. And you can't break out of those chains, the boxes on your legs are sedating you. You'd be too tired to use your powers or fight."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Your shadow abilities allow you to manipulate someone else's power if you grasp it, making you merge and bond with the power temporarily. That's exactly what I need. We will begin the tests."

"I'm going…to kill you!"

"There will be three phases. Please do your best to enjoy them."

"You bastard.."

Phase one:

Duri was being hung upside down, with his head dipping in and out of a tub of water, and each dip, he was being electrocuted.

He screamed intensely, as Warhol watched from a distance.

"Shhh. It will all be over soon."

Duri screamed, "I'm gonna kill you!"

Phase two:

Duri was in a large grey room, an empty space. Duri was sluggish, and he was surrounded by clones of him.

Duri said, "After I kill these clones, you're next, lab nerd."

Warhol from a high seating place replied, "You're doing the world a good deed, Duri."

Duri and the clones began to fight. The clones were beating him down, punching and kicking him around the room, jumping and slamming him against walls and such. Duri got a few hits in, breaking necks, arms, slams, and punching and kicking his clones all over the room.

Phase 3 :

Duri was laid on his stomach, as a large machine with a steel pole with 10,000 degrees of heat on it laid the pole on Duri's back.

Duri yelled louder, with a tear running down his eye.

Warhol stood off to the side, saying, "Screaming only increases the pain one experienced. But silence calms the fool."

Duri answered, "Shut up! This…is nothing! I'll kill you! AHHHHHH!!!"

Warhol gasped silently, he looked behind him, and he heard alarms going off, red flashing lights were everywhere.

"Warning. Warning. Security has been breached. Security has been breached!!"

Warhol said, "Impossible. This is a secure location."

Instantly, the wall blasted open, and dust and rocks flew everywhere. The lights began to cut on, showing that they were inside of another large grey room.

Warhol was on the floor, and he looked up at the hole in the wall.

He gasped again when he saw who it was.

It was the 7 strongest hosts: Chaos, Tetsuya, Sith, Xenon, Marshy, Kedarah, and Hanako.

Marshy was holding Duri, and she was looking down at him, seeing the bruises, cuts, and blood all over him.

Marshy said, "Duri.."

Duri answered, "I'm…I'm fine. Let me…let me kill…that man. How did you find me..?"

Xenon was smoking a cigarette, and he responded to Duri, "Footage of your battle with Yoshida was sent to us. Since the money hungry reporters knew you were with Marshy. Bastards tried to sell us the footage."

"It was…recorded…?"

Sith said, "Hehe! Let me cut this guy to pieces!"

Tetsuya said, "Man kidnaps and harms teenage boy to do experiments on him. Doesn't look good."

Kedarah said, "Meanie! You're a bad man! I wanna fight too! Fear me!"

Hanako said, "Tsk. Fool."

Xenon said, "A real dumbass to fuck with someone involved with the strongest Hosts, don't ya think nerd?"

And finally, Chaos said to Warhol, "Youuuu sir, are d-d-d-dumb! D-U-M-B."

Marshy looked at Warhol, and her eyes were fully red, planting fear in Warhol's heart.

Marshy says, "I made a promise..to my grandfather and to myself…that if anyone hurts my son…I will murder them."

Warhol replied, "I'm only advancing society! Strengthening the powerless men to protect their families! I'm helping you guys!"

"The only thing I wanna hear from you is the sound of you choking up blood…"

Warhol gritted his teeth, backed up, and pressed a button on the wall, yelling, "Get them, my creations!"

Bursting from under the floor, were a dozen 13 foot animals, standing on their legs, having the posture of a human, and they were wearing armor, with a colorful power aura surrounding them.

The animals were wolves, lions, tigers, deer, a komodo dragon, and even pandas. 

The wolf said, "Oh yes…they will be delicious!"

The lion added, "Yes. New taste for my tastebuds.."

The panda and komodo dragon laughed together, "Hehe! This is gonna be fun!"

In the blink of an eye, a great wind rushed by, the walls broke apart, the ground cracked, and all of the animal soldiers were flying in the air, then dropping on the floor, dead.

All 7 of the Hosts still stood in the same spot. They were the ones who killed the animal soldiers that quickly.

Warhol was shocked, saying, "No…no…that's impossible.."

Sith sighed, "Wow. That was underwhelming. They could've put up SOME kind of fight."

Xenon agreed, "Finally something we both agree on."

Warhol was getting angrier, thinking, 'That speed…this is expected though. But I've raised and cultivated those animal soldiers with modern science, my gift, and knowledge. I have to resort to my last card. The power I've acquired from the mythical beast..'

Warhol jumped back, and he clenched his fists together, straining hard. His hair began to defy gravity by flowing upward, his hair turned green, his eyes got bright green, and four giant arms with glowing metal-like spikes on them came out of his back.

Warhol said, "A father does what he can to protect his family. Strength is what he depends on."

Marshy handed Duri to Xenon, and she said to Warhol, "A mother does everything in her power to protect her cubs. Prepare to die. No one…touches Duri."

Warhol screamed, and the giant arms on his back, created a 11 foot tall green and black glowing bow and arrow. 

Two arrows formed with gold fire behind them, and  Warhol shot the arrows at Marshy. Marshy just stood there with her eyes dull, she was not in the mood for games.

Warhol yelled again, "Power Level: 600,000!"

The arrow was getting closer and closer, until out of nowhere, Duri jumped in the way, and grabbed both arrows with his bare hands.

Warhol yells, "No!"

Duri was gripping the large arrows tightly, and he slammed them downward, and Marshy said to him, "Duri?!"

The arrows started to disappear, and Duri's hair was flowing green, gold, and black. Green, gold, and black energy wind circles surrounded Duri's entire body. 

Duri got into a dog-like position, his teeth got sharper, and his tongue got longer. A long black and gold tail came from Duri's back, and two 3 foot long feather-like materials formed on top of Duri's ears. Those materials were black and gold too.

Duri was growling, and all of the Hosts gasped at what they saw.

They all thought the same exact thing, 'He can manipulate people's power if he catches hold of it, and he can bond with it?'