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Earl gritted his teeth and lunged forward, clutching the kitchen knife in both hands.
Adrenaline roared through his veins, his small face flushed red, eyes squeezed shut in desperate defiance.
BOOM!
A blast of air shook the street.
A loud crack, followed by the sickening pop of something bursting, rang out before he could even process what was happening.
But Earl didn't care.
His mind was filled with only one thought Kill the Mightyena.
He stabbed forward with all his might.
Whoosh!
The knife sliced through empty air.
No resistance.
No impact.
"Huh…?"
A wave of despair washed over him. He froze, ready to feel the searing bite of fangs tearing into him.
Instead, something warm and wet splattered across his cheek.
"…?"
He opened his eyes.
And froze.
Before him, the Mightyena was gone What remained was a twitching, headless corpse, its neck gushing crimson in violent pulses.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, splattering the ground around his feet.
Thud.
A heavy figure landed between Earl and the falling body, the ground cracking beneath the impact.
Kael straightened slowly, dark skin glinting under the afternoon light, his crimson eyes scanning the area.
He exhaled softly.
"Made it in time."
When he'd heard the scream, he'd sprinted toward the sound without hesitation.
What he found was a trembling boy facing down three Mightyena, which confirmed his suspicions.
Those beasts were the ones responsible for the massacre.
And this kid… he was the only survivor.
Kael might've been forged in the crucible of evil organizations, might've taken lives without blinking,
But he wasn't heartless.
He wasn't going to let a child die in front of him.
And so, he moved crushing one of the monsters before it could even react.
He looked down at the stunned boy beside him.
"Cat got your tongue?" he muttered with a wry smirk.
Before Earl could respond, a pair of guttural growls split the silence.
The other two Mightyena lunged, bloodlust burning in their crimson eyes.
Kael turned toward them, muscles tightening.
"Guess you want to die next."
He flexed his right hand, flicking the blood from his knuckles. A thin grin crossed his lips.
And then he was gone.
BOOM!
The ground split open where he'd stood, webbed with cracks from the sheer force of his takeoff.
The air screamed, displaced by raw power.
He reappeared beside one of the beasts, leg wrapped in a blazing aura of reddish Fighting-type energy.
The kick connected—
CRACK!
Ribs shattered.
The Mightyena's body folded in half, flung sideways through a nearby wall like a rag doll.
The crash echoed through the empty town, followed by a weak, dying whimper.
Another one down.
Sparks flashed to Kael's left.
"Thunder Fang!"
The last Mightyena lunged, jaws crackling with golden electricity.
The bright flash reflected in Kael's red eyes For a brief moment, his mind flickered.
A memory of his past life as an Ampharos.
Of how his own lightning had once looked just like that.
A faint, nostalgic smile crossed his face.
Then it vanished replaced by something far more dangerous.
"You used electricity on me? On me? Hahah"
His grin widened, sharp and feral.
"Cute."
He bent his knee and drove it upward.
BOOM!
His steel-hard knee slammed into the Mightyena's jaw, snapping it shut mid-bite. The trapped lightning detonated inside its mouth.
BZZZT!
Smoke puffed from its nostrils. Its body convulsed midair before going limp.
Kael caught it by the throat with one hand before it hit the ground.
Fighting-type energy flared along his arm, red and molten, crawling down the beast's fur.
It writhed and kicked helplessly, eyes wide with terror.
Kael's expression darkened his Ghost-type energy whispering through his veins, feeding that dark satisfaction.
He slammed the Mightyena down.
BANG!
The ground cracked.
The monster twitched once, then went still blood pooling beneath Kael's palm.
He released a quiet breath and let go.
Silence returned.
Kael turned to the boy—Earl—who was still sitting on the ground, eyes wide in disbelief.
The hybrid fighter smiled what he thought was friendly.
"Hey, kid. You alright?"
Earl stared at him for half a second.
Then his eyes rolled back—
—and he fainted on the spot.
Kael froze.
The silence stretched.
"…Seriously?"
He scratched the back of his neck, looking at the unconscious boy, the blood-soaked street, and the cratered ground.
"Well," he muttered with a sigh.
"That got awkward fast."
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