The shockwaves heard from the impact of their initial punches connecting blew through the arena. Megumi and Kousuke stared each other down as their fists were still locked into one another.
They started throwing more punches, the speed of the punches was blinding, they were hitting left and right not letting up from each other. Kicks were thrown in too from roundhouses, Brazilian kicks, and even flying knees. Everyone in attendance was mesmerized, they were horrified but drawn into the fight at the same time. Megumi cackled throughout the fight in her enjoyment. She was intoxicated with fighting Kousuke. Kousuke was doing his best to keep up. He knew this wasn't her full strength she was just toying with him.
Kousuke went for a spinning back kick, Megumi dodged it, and she followed with a spinning heel kick of her own.
Kousuke barely dodged it before the tip of Megumi's toes could scratch his forehead, Megumi took in a deep breath as she looked at Kousuke before using a Gouki Ryu technique.
"Hino Tsume no Kata(Fire Claw Form), Kurohyō no Shakunetsu(Black Panther Scorch)." Megumi blasted a stream of black flames at Kousuke that had a panther's face in them. Kousuke had to release his flames to shield himself before being burned.
The flames singed the tips of his hair, and Megumi launched a flaming thrust kick to Kousuke. Kousuke retaliated with his attack.
"Fumetsu no Kata, Zou no Shougeki(Elephant Slam)!" Kousuke tensed the muscles in his hand, his flames heating the palm of it as the image of an Elephant ramming into Megumi appeared, she dodged before it connected. Kousuke's hand destroyed a small spot in the ground where she was standing before, the aftershock shook the area making everyone nervous.
Megumi followed with a knee strike to the stomach, and Kousuke with a spear thrust. Neither of them could stop attacking each other.
Every move was either a counter or an offensive strike, both not slowing down in their momentum to strike each other.
The audience couldn't stop watching. The violence aside, they were into it so much that their feet began to stomp rapidly in their excitement. The arena roared into its lalapalooza. Gentaro's heart raced watching the two fight, his warrior spirit was burning with excitement. Ren and the others felt their hearts race too, even if they knew they would die in the process, they wanted to fight again, fight against those two.
Megumi slid under Kousuke, her leg charged in black flames, Kousuke attempted to counter with a flame punch barrage, but Megumi was unfazed, she followed with a two-kick combo and then another signature move.
"Hino Tsume no Kata, Yami na Mikeri(Darkness Wave Kick)"
The black flames burned Kousuke's arms, he jumped back to extinguish them before any permanent damage could be done. Megumi cackled in satisfaction, Itsuki couldn't help but cover her mouth in fear. Rina could see her worry, she was also scared for him badly.
"Hehehe impressive. When you were a kid I burned your head and you were bald for weeks after that." Megumi laughed as she wiped her eyes from laughing so hard.
"Urusai! I'm not a kid anymore, and I've had enough of the teasing from you. Let's end this stupid kid's game, shall we? Let me see your beast, Shishou. I want all the smoke."
Megumi stopped laughing and looked stoic for a second smiling, she couldn't believe what she heard. When she looked at Kousuke again she could see the seriousness in his face. Her face flustered with excitement, her smile widened to the point it would rival the Cheshire Cat's. She felt immense joy that he wanted her 'real' self.
"Mmmm, hahahaha, muahahaha, oh joy, such blissful joy. You have gotten cocky, haven't you? Ok then you want it so bad, here it comes little boy." Her voice sounded like a mix of demonic with her own.
Megumi bent down, he arms to her sides, she was concentrating her energy on another technique, one that was pressuring everyone again intensely.
"Gouki Ryu, Chouyuē Geijutsu(Transcendence Art), Jushin Kakusei! (Beast God Awaken)"
Megumi roared, and her aura of power became visible for everyone to see. The fear in their eyes, and many others gasping for air from her immense power. Gentaro himself was dropping sweat from his head from the feeling. He could feel the intense bloodlust from Megumi.
Megumi's muscles bulged, her blood vessels pumping furiously, her roar shifting between human and animal. Her skin had created black claw mark tattoos on her legs and arms converging around her upper body. The nails on her fingers and toes formed into sharp claws, her canine teeth shaped into fangs, her ears into points, and her eyes changed, they resembled the eyes of an animal, real beast's eyes.
Anna gasped in suspense. Itsuki couldn't stop quivering in fear at what she saw. This was the Master who trained Kousuke, the Deity of Killers who killed a 1,000 Ghasts in a single night.
Megumi's transformation ended, but her bloodlust still lingered in the air. The black and red aura everyone could see made them freeze in place. The drool from her mouth flowed as she continued laughing menacingly. Everyone was fazed, except Kousuke who stood defiant against her.
"Hehehe well Toranoko, you wanted the Queen. Here she is! Are you satisfied with my Alpha? Kurohyō Tsuisekisha Tamashi(Black Panther Stalker Soul)! Beautiful isn't it"
Kousuke was silent at first. He wasn't going to be intimidated by her choice of an Alpha beast soul. He looked to Itsuki with sorrowful eyes, then back to Megumi with an intense glare.
"Oh yes, I am. Because I got a surprise for you!"
Kousuke took his stance like Megumi did except his fists connected knuckle to knuckle, Gentaro knew what was coming. He was impressed that Kousuke mastered it as was at such a young age.
"Chouyuē Geijutsu, Jushin Kakusei!"
Kousuke now did what Megumi did. His blue aura burst out too as he transformed just like her except with tattoos of tiger stripes on arms, legs, and back. The intense growl in the painful transition could be heard, it was his first attempt at using this move on an animal spirit that was a level above an Alpha. He practiced as a kid with weaker ones but they didn't require the concentration and time needed like this one did. Much more this was rushed, syncing with an Alpha carries risks of the soul taking over or heavily influencing its personality onto the user.
Itsuki was in utter disbelief. Her friend, her cherished friend with the cocky smile and kindness to her when it counted didn't look the same in that moment. That wasn't him in that ring, that was an animal standing there.
Rina could see Itsuki's face, she grabbed her hands removing them from her mouth, she gave Itsuki kind and concerned eyes.
"Itsuki don't be scared. Even if he looks different. That's still Kousuke down there."
"But." Itsuki tried to say anything but her words were barely coming through.
"Itsuki, we need to trust him. No matter what happens He's still the one you helped at the store that day. Don't be afraid of him. Trust him."
Itsuki wiped her eyes, she tried to be strong, Kousuke had to endure so much when he was gone. She couldn't look away when he was looking forward.
Megumi's grin brimmed with excitement, she was happy to the point she felt she would burst into ecstasy.
"Hahahahahahahahha, amazing! Amazing! You mastered it. You're a beast like me now, I couldn't be happier. And you got an Alpha too. My my it's a strong one too at that." Megumi couldn't stop laughing, her face was flushed with excitement.
"Ichi no Kiba(First Fang), Mouko Tamashi(Wild Tiger Soul)! This is my beast Shishou, just like me untamed and fierce in the face of an enemy. Shishou, Omae O Kami Chigette Yaru!" Kousuke shouted in anguish and rebellion to his master.
Megumi licked her fangs, she was hungry for battle, and she let out a beastly growl with Kousuke following with his own in defiance of her. Megumi ran to Kousuke howling with laughter. She swung fast claw strikes at him, Kousuke would block, strike, and burn her with his attacks in the process. She didn't even try to block, she was overjoyed in the battle where blocking and evasion would ruin her mood. This wasn't a fight anymore, it was two Alphas mauling each other for the title of the real royalty.
The audience couldn't help it again, like instinct or some primeval trait inside them, the auras of Megumi and Kousuke were drawing out their savage excitement. They couldn't stop cheering and stomping.
Natsume herself felt an intense heat in her body, one hand holding her chest where her heart was, the other clinching on the end of her skirt.
'What is this? Why am I so excited? What's happening to me?' Natsume looked back at the fight, the sight of Kousuke fighting, it was exciting her more were she was heavily panting.
Gentaro and the instructors were not affected nor were Ren and the others.
"Dear Buddha, what's happening to the people in here? They're losing themselves in this fight."
"It's those two. Like real animals, their fighting aura acts like a pheromone that's attracting everyone to them. Some animals exhibit a special pheromone during times of intercourse or even when killing prey that attracts others to them. Unless you have a strong will it's an irresistible sensation." Alexandra explained.
Ren and the others couldn't move from their seats. The fighting became an unflinching sight they didn't want to miss a second of it.
"I can't move. My body feels like it's made of cement." Tatsuya shivered as he said his words.
"I feel it too pretty boy. Even my man's spirit is quaking like a child cause of them."
"Those two, they've reached a height of fighting I can't analyze. I don't even want to try to remember this fight. This is too barbaric even for me." Hiro quivered in his seat, his willpower to not fall over was being pushed.
Ren remained silent. He was watching with his hands quivering on his sword.
'Hayashi. Be careful. That woman, I remember her now. Why I recognized your style on opening day. That woman. She ripped off my Sensei's leg. She's a monster.'
Megumi's cackling continued as she clawed away at Kousuke. Kousuke did his best to block and attack. He used every move in his arsenal, the only problem was the moves he knew were the same as Megumi's, even with his preparation in the locker room to unlock the secret technique Megumi was pure carnage. She was a beast before she unlocked it.
Megumi vanished, and Kousuke tried to find her, he was anticipating her peek-a-boo trick to sneak up on him. Megumi stood in front of Kousuke, she tricked him by hiding her aura to disguise her presence making him think she moved when she was standing still the whole time.
Megumi grabbed Kousuke's face, her smile flashing her pearly white teeth.
"Kiss me little cub." Megumi's fangs sank into Kousuke's mouth, she was trying to rip his lips off with her teeth. Kousuke fought back with his fangs, and both of them to the crowd looked as if they were violently kissing. It was only that they were grinding their teeth against each other, both using their bite force to attempt to break the other one's jaw to pieces.
Megumi jammed her fingers into Kousuke's back to force him into submission, but he wouldn't let her, he used all his strength in his jaw to force her back till he eventually flung her away from him. He breathed heavily trying to catch his breath after that, his mouth numb from the pain getting feeling back into it
Megumi wiped her mouth still keeping her smile intact. She was having too much fun in the mouth.
"My o' my, you know how to beat me when we play dontcha? Always finding a way to surprise with your little retries in our games. I know how bout we play skin the cat and see how many lives you have."
Kousuke heard those words and inside he snapped. The same, the same tone, it was just like how Shiina said them the day she killed Akane.
"What…what did you say?" He asked with a voice breaking.
"Hmph, what was that?"
"I said, I said what did you just say to me!"
Itsuki could see it, Kousuke was remembering that day. She couldn't stay quiet, she had to warn Megumi before it got worse.
"Kuromori-San, don't say anything further. You'll push him too far."
Megumi looked confused. She only said a few words, and they weren't even offensive to the whole arena. She could see that Kousuke was triggered. She didn't care, the fight was too good. She figured if she teased him more it would motivate him to fight her with more intent behind it.
"Hmm, what's wrong, can't handle a little teasing. Didn't your Primary Mother teach you how to be tough? Wasn't she a brave hero who saved you? Or maybe she was just a little kitty cat who got lucky saving her weak kitten from the big bad wolf." Megumi knew what happened that day, she wasn't naive. It wasn't that she didn't care she was just toying with Kousuke's emotions a small bit to keep the fight going.
Kousuke couldn't take it anymore, his rage was filled, and the memories of that day flooded like a tsunami in his head. He didn't see Megumi anymore, he saw Shinna standing there laughing at him licking her hands just as she did with Akane's blood. Kousuke roared, his flames erupted violently, cracking the barrier surrounding the ring.
The Barriers were exerting extra effort to stay operational, and the security team tried to keep the barriers going.
"You…..you….you son of b***h!" Kousuke leaped at such a speed that it caught Megumi off guard for a second. Kousuke threw a claw slash at her which she avoided before the nails cut her.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!! I'LL F**KEN KILL YOU!!!!" Kousuke kept swinging, the flames were bursting violently so much so that Megumi struggled to avoid being burned. She knew it wasn't enough to take her down but she was trying not to be in a rage like Kousuke now that she was the only one who could stop him.
"Oy! That's enough, it was only taunting words, get your head on straight before you burn everyone. Oy! You hearing me Kousuke." Megumi tried to reason with him, but he wasn't hearing it. She struck him in the abdomen to hit a pressure point to stop his rampage. It made things worse, getting hit in the stomach made him revisit the memory. No matter what Megumi did all Kousuke could see was Shiina taunting him, using the same tricks on him like she did to Akane.
"I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
Kousuke couldn't stop, the flames were getting worse, and his body was being burned by his flames going wild. The burn marks he had were growing, he wasn't in control. Anna saw the scene before her, and she was more worried about Megumi going crazy, not Kousuke. This is much worse than she thought.
"Natsume! Get down there and get the tranquilizer gun. You've got to put him down before he destroys himself. Hurry!!!"
Anna ordered Natsume as her responsibility as the Class President. Natsume was frightened greatly, she couldn't move her legs properly. Looking at Kousuke and his growing wounds, it made her resolved herself to run down to the security booth to find the case that had the special sedative used to bring down any of the students who went out of control. She loaded a round into the chamber, and her hands trembled as she held the gun. She looked at Kousuke again trying to will herself to move.
'Hayashi-Kun hold on. I'll save you. I'm not letting my friend go on like this. Forgive me.'
Natsume ran to the ring, the barriers weren't holding on anymore. The pressure was breaking down, including the backups that were set up. Natsume pointed the gun at Kousuke, and Megumi looked at the quivering girl trying to steady her aim. She knew what was going on, and she tried to hold Kousuke in the palace by strangling him.
The security team lowered a small hole in the barrier for Natsume to make the shot.
"I'm sorry Hayashi-Kun." Natsume cried out as she closed her eyes and fired the gun. The dart rushed through the air. It hit Kousuke in the back, the sedative tried to knock him out. It wasn't working, his flame magic was too strong for even the sedative to take effect. It only fueled Kousuke more to attack Megumi. He followed by choking Megumi back, Megumi could see his eyes were filled with intense rage and pain. Nothing was going to snap him out of his mental state.
"Damn you! Why did you do it? Why did you take my mom away from me? Damn you! You pale b**ch, give her back. Give me back my mom!!!"
Megumi knew it now. He was seeing her as his Mom's killer. She was regretting the words now, it was only taunting she didn't think he would be so easily influenced. It was the worst she had seen him break even during their training.
"Kousuke stop, I'm not her. I'm not the one who killed your mom. Snap out of it you stupid kid."
Megumi threw him off before the choke on her made her pass out. Kousuke wouldn't let her catch her momentum, just like a wild tiger, he was intent on killing Megumi.
"Omae wa dake wa YURUSANAI(I will never forgive you)!!!" The flames blew up stronger, and the barrier began to break to the point that the flames seeped out almost hitting the crowd. Gentaro and the others tried to help set up new barrier poles to save the students. Hiro and the others helped alongside them, looking on as Kousuke stopped looking like himself, just a savage monster before them.
Itsuki tried to run down to help, but Rina held her back. If anything happened to her it would just make Kousuke even worse. Nothing would stop him at that point.
"Let me go! I need to help him. Let me go now, Rina. Let go!" Itsuki pleaded. Rina wouldn't budge, she was focused on keeping Itsuki safe for Kousuke's sake.
Kousuke was still swinging his hands trying to hit Megumi. He was desperate to get her no matter how much damage he was doing to himself.
Megumi grunted, she knew there was no going back for him now. All she could do was save everyone by ending his pain.
"Damn you for making me do this. You dammed idiot" Megumi stood still as she baited Kousuke to strike her. He did as such, Megumi dodged again followed by using her nails to cut the tendons in his arms and legs. Enough to paralyze him before he got back up again.
She then proceeded to grab him by the neck lifting him in the air. Everyone knew what she was going to do, they pleaded with her not to do it. Megumi didn't want to either but she had no choice left, burns reached far, part of Kousuke's mouth disintegrated exposing his teeth as he tried biting her futilely.
"Kuromori-San don't do it!" Itsuki yelled. Megumi ignored her plight, she placed her hand on Kousuke's chest. Perfectly aligned with his heart.
"Sayonara Toranoko. I hope you'll see your mom again. I never wanted you to be one of the ones I had to kill in my life."
Megumi breathed hard. She concentrated everything into her hand to deliver the final blow. Everyone desperately tried to fix the barrier to step in and stop her. Itsuki tried to break free as her voice yelled to Megumi not to go through with her next move.
"YAMETE!!!" She shouted pleading for Megumi to stop.
"WAPAH!!!" Megumi shouted as she did a one-inch punch to Kousuke's heart. The impact of destroying it in the process. Kousuke slowly began to stop biting till he was completely unresponsive. The entire arena was silent, not a word out of anyone's mouth. Megumi let go of Kousuke, and he fell knees to the ground before falling forward. His lifeless body that burned so hot is now cold and motionless.
Itsuki was frozen in place, her eyes running with tears, she started moving her face as she began to cry out in anguish at the sight of her cherished dead friend on the ground mustering up one painful word that echoed out in the arena.
"NOOOOOOO!!!!"