Dre struggled up from the hit. He hadn't seen what struck him while he was airborne. He scanned the area until he spotted a figure approaching from a distance.
The man was tall. With spiky black hair. Bright yellow eyes glowed in the night, as he walked forward. He was muscular, built like someone who'd spent every day of his life training, or fighting.
"So, you're still alive. Interesting," the man said, cracking his knuckles. "I hope you won't disappoint me. I've just been itching for a good fight kid!" He roared and sprinted forward, then leapt, clearing the distance in a single bound. His foot ignited midair as he brought it up and smashed it down.
Dre crossed his reinforced arms and blocked the strike, skidding back and shoving the man's kick away. The man flipped backward. The moment his feet touched the ground, he dashed in again and swung.
Right hook.
The punch cut through the air. Dre slipped it and fired back immediately. A sharp slap echoed as his fist connected, snapping the man's head to the side. Dre went for a sweep, but the man lifted his leg just in time and answered with a roundhouse aimed at Dre's head.
Dre ducked.
His head came back up, and a kick smashed into his chin.
He hit the ground, rolled, and forced himself back to his feet.
"Let's turn up the heat, kid. Whaddya say?" The man's fist ignited. "General Huo Jianfeng. The Immortal Flame. Remember the name of the man who's going to kill you."
Dre responded by transforming his arms into a gorilla's.
Huo smirked. "Interesting ability."
"This is all I'm gonna need to kick your ass." Dre pounded his chest and settled into his stance.
Huo mirrored him. "You talk big for someone who just ate a boot to the chin."
They shuffled forward. Dre swung heavy with his massive arms. Huo ducked low, ripping quick shots into Dre's body. Dre felt them, even through the reinforcement.
He clasped his hands together and brought them down like a hammer. The blow landed, but not cleanly.
Huo rolled with it, flipping with the momentum and snapping his leg over his shoulder to kick Dre square in the face."
Dre staggered back, blood spilling from his nose.
He shifted again, this time hare legs. His arms reverted but he kept his hands as is.
"Enough messing around," Dre said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "It's go time."
He burst forward, whipping his leg up for a front kick. Huo slid aside at the last second and threw a punch, but Dre had already stepped back.
Dre slapped his legs. "These are gonna keep you on your toes all fight."
He stepped in with a right hook. Huo slipped it, but it was a feint. Dre kept spinning, the back of his left-hand cracking against Huo's face.
A spinning backfist.
Dre surged, arms swelling back into full gorilla form. Huo, stunned, threw wild punches to keep him back, but Dre powered through, landing a crushing right hook that snapped Huo's head aside.
Huo reeled, wide open.
Dre grew larger and drove an uppercut that lifted Huo's feet off the ground. He hammered the body with repeated hooks, then snapped a jab into Huo's face, driving him into a tree.
Dre kept growing, nearly fifteen feet tall now. He towered over Huo and kicked him straight through the trunk, sending him crashing deeper into the forest.
Dre collapsed to one knee, breathing hard. "I need to get back to Silas," he muttered as he forced himself up.
He limped toward the stone wall he'd been thrown through earlier when a wave of heat washed over him. Sweat poured down his face. The air grew hotter, thicker.
Something was coming.
Something tore through the air.
It was Huo.
The kick slammed into Dre's face, launching him backward. Huo chased him down mid-flight, grabbed his shirt, twisted, and hurled him into a tree.
Dre crashed to the ground, dazed.
Huo approached. Each step scorched the earth. His hands and feet burned, flames licking up his limbs. His eyes glowed red, just like Liwei's had that night in Nenchu Forest. Dre scrambled up and rushed him, desperate to keep him on the defensive. His punch connected with Huo's face–
–and did nothing…
Huo stared straight into his eyes. Fear flooded Dre, raw and suffocating.
Huo drove a flaming fist into Dre's chest. The impact blasted him backward, his feet carving trenches in the ground. Somehow, he stayed upright.
It felt like his chest had been punched hollow.
Fireballs screamed toward him in rapid succession. Dre reinforced his entire body, barely holding on. He didn't notice Huo closing the distance until hands clamped around his throat and lifted him off the ground.
He kicked, clawed, fought, but the grip didn't budge.
He felt the air escaping from him, "this can't be how I die!" He thought to himself.
He looked at Huo choking him, he was smiling.
That broke something in Dre.
Rage ignited. His eyes burned red. His neck thickened, swelling until Huo was forced to release him.
Dre landed on his feet.
But he wasn't Dre anymore.
No… he was something else.
He growled, baring sharpened teeth. His arms ballooned, larger than before, fully bestial. Claws replaced fingernails. His hair spilled down his back like a lion's mane. His legs reshaped, powerful and avian from the knee down, built for explosive moment.
He was indeed… a monster.
He moved around, striking his own head, fighting the chaos of the many instincts tearing away at him. Then he lifted his gaze to Huo.
A shiver ran through Huo's spine.
And he smiled.
Bruised, bloodied, burning, this was exactly what he'd wanted. The creature that had once been Dre snarled, "I'll kill you…" The voice was low and warped, barely human.
He charged.
Huo flared to full power, heat flooding the battlefield as his strength spiked. He knew the monster before him was exhausted, but he was nearing his limit too.
This fight was close to its end.