A man shrouded in green mist pushed forward against the feral beast.
His slandered eyes narrowed as they observed their prey. Every breath. Every muscle twitch. Nothing was overlooked.
Kayden sprang forth from his position, claws bared, ready to slash through flesh. His figure bolted at daring speed, covering the distance within seconds.
"You're mine!" He snarled, eyes feral as the distance grew shorter.
Meanwhile, his opponent, the one known as Venom, cracked his knuckles. Exhaling, his lips slowly curled into a smile, and the next moment, the mist moved.
Kayden held his breathe as he dived into the mist, relying on his sharp vision to locate his opponent.
The mist hissed with every movement. His skin prickled. And his eyes burned like flesh over flame. Then, finally, he saw a vague outline not too far away.
He grinned, fangs on full display as he licked his lips. He sprang forth once more, heading straight for the outline.
As the seconds slowly passed, something strange began to occur.
Kayden's limbs grew sluggish. As though weighed down by anvils, they struggled to lift off the ground. His brows twitched as he noticed this, beads of sweat rolling down his face as his eyes shook.
"Crap!"
He turned, only to see the man known as Venom walk casually towards him.
His steps remained muffled by the demented cheers of the crowd. A few moments passed, and his figure came into full view.
A towering physique, chiselled abs, and wild green hair tied into dreads. The air sang with every gesture he made, a testament to his control over his surroundings.
"You knew who I am, yet you chose to attack me so brazenly?"
Kayden didn't respond. He could feel the toxic air creep further into his body, infecting his bloodstream and stunting his mobility.
He calmed himself, taking in slow, deep breaths as he concentrated.
'Nothing.'
"Answer me, you mangy mut!" A blow connected with Kayden's cheek, sharp, hot, and packed with poison.
He felt his face go numb within seconds. Not long after, his vision began to blur.
'No…this can't be happening…'
His breath hiked, the very action sending tremors down his spine.
The distant noise of the crowd filled his ears, and moments later, his back struck the floor, unmoving.
______
'I…lost.'
Kayden grimaced, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
'I did what I could to try and win, but it was all for nothing. That guy, Venom, I wasn't expecting for his powers to be so advanced. At first, I thought I could withstand the poison long enough to deal him a fatal blow. But I guess I was wrong. He was far more power than I gave him credit for.'
In the midst of his thoughts, a creaking sound invaded his hearing. Turning his head, a young nurse came into view, pushing a cart of medical tools into the room.
"Oh, you're awake? How are you feeling now?" She asked, stopping the cart right beside the bed.
Kayden took a brief moment to study the nurse's face. Her long blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect clear skin. It was like looking at an older version of Stacy.
His heart ached.
"I'm feeling better, though I still need more time to recover," Kayden responded, sitting up on the bed. His eyes fell on the needles embedded into his skin, trailing them to the medical bags placed over metallic poles beside the bed.
Glaring at them in disgust, he said:
"Though I'm an Ability User, I still wound up in a place like this," he forced a chuckle. "People like us are meant to have supernatural healing abilities, yet that turd was able to poison me so bad I had to resort to traditional means just to not die."
The nurse gave him a weird look as she took in his words, but chose not to say anything.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to sound weird or anything. I was just rambling to myself," he said, trying to diffuse the awkwardness of his earlier statement.
"No! It's nothing. I understand," the nurse quickly shook her head. "Let's just forget about all of this and I just do my job. Alright?"
Kayden's shoulders slumped as he allowed the unease leave his body.
"Alright."
_______
Later that night…
'$30,000… shit… it's still not enough!'
Kayden's fists clenched as he stared at his bank account. 'I need more! I need to head out and make more money!' His eyes turned to his opened window, curtains pushed aside to allow breeze into the room.
'No… I can't. Not now. Uncle John is already getting suspicious. He's already stressed as it is about Stacy going missing. If he finds out what I'm doing…'
His shoulders slumped, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he tossed the phone across the bed. 'This is all too much…'
Seconds slowly trickled into minutes, and minutes into hours. Kayden's gaze remained fixated on the rotating fan, as though it held the answers to his problems. 'Why the fuck is this world so messed up?' He asked himself, brows furrowed. 'If only this town was safer. If only the system wasn't so corrupted, then maybe something could've been done. Maybe those deadbeat cops could've helped find Stacy by now!'
His lips curled into a sneer, veins bulging through his forehead.
"I guess I'll just have to keep on doing this my way."
_______
The night after…
Cheers erupted across the underground stadium as the match went underway.
Silver Fang… the monster himself. The man who had come to know defeat only once during his reign within the ring, was in a match of power once again.
However, his opponent this time around was neither a man who could command flames. Nor was he a contender with authority over all things venom.
This time around, his opponent was a man who could transform, just like him.
But, this ferocious contender had not the body of a lupentine creature.
This daring fellow… beared the form of another creature of ancient myth. AGriffin.
Standing on all fours, with a pair of wings that stretched over half the width of the Arena, Cales eyed his opponent from head to toe.
Seconds later, the signal was given, and the match commenced.
Beak opened wide, an ear-piercing screech was unleashed within the Arena. Cales' wings flapped, sending him airborne as he dived forward.
Kayden gritted his teeth, and when the moment was right, he lunged into the air. Claws extended, he timed his descent, aiming to latch onto the hide of his opponent.
Cales' eyes followed Kayden's movements, and just at the right moment, he redirected his motion, now aiming right above where Kayden had jumped.
His front claws extended, and as the distance grew shorter, Kayden felt his heart thunder in his chest.
In the end, both met midair in a series of claw swipes. Deep slashes appeared on both their figures, neither willing to relent. But still, only one of them held the flight advantage, so as quickly as Kayden's attacks began, they came to an abrupt halt.
Seeing his opponent falling to the floor, Cales swept downward with his paw, aiming to deliver a deep slash at his opponent's chest. But Kayden was quick to block the attack with his front paws, feeling the weight of the blow pushing him into the ground with a hard thud.
'First, a man with poison abilities, and now, this…?' Kayden breathed heavily as he tasted iron. 'This doesn't make sense! What business do such people even have fighting in a place like this? Shouldn't they have high-ranking positions within the world right now?'
In the midst of his thoughts, Kayden witnessed the griffin dived downward. Quickly sprinting out of the way, a massive explosion of debris filled the battleground, obscuring the vision of those spectating the match.
"This is just like what happened when he fought Venom! Do you guys think he's gonna loose again?" A spectator asked.
"I mean, I guess so. In the first place, these guys are also prominent fighters within the ring. And while Silver Fang may be a rising star, these fighters have been fighting for far longer. They have far more experience, and their powers are simply on another tier. I just don't see him winning this one." Another replied.
Though the air was obscured by dust, Kayden could still see properly thanks to his special transformation. Gazing all across, his eyes soon locked onto the figure of the griffin slashing at the air. Right after, several claw strikes were produced that travelled through the air at a frightening speed.
Moving quickly, Kayden managed to dodge them all. Though as they struck the ground, each attack left deep trenches in their wake.
The closer he got to his target, the more claw strikes he had to evade. But not just that. The attacks were getting stronger, denser. More destructive.
Kayden's body narrowly avoided a claw strike to the chest, though the attack still managed to rip through the flesh by his side, drawing out blood.
His face paled.
Another claw strike struck him right across his leg, almost causing him to stumble and leaving himself vulnerable.
He forced his body to move despite the pain. Channeling his body's mana, he forced the wound to seal within seconds as he avoided more of the claw strikes. His breathing became uneven as he pushed his body closer to his limits just to avoid getting hit.
Suddenly, the barrage of attacks came to a halt, and in its place, came the full force of the griffib crashing into Kayden's hulking frame.
Both descending into a series of close-ranged skirmishes, neither willing to give up as they pushed their bodies closer to their limits.
Kayden swiped his paws across the griffin's limbs and abdomen. The griffin bit down on the werewolf's body with a monstrous force that threatened to crush bone.
From the perspective of the spectators, all that could be heard were the insidious roars of two ancient creatures, untill eventually, the thick dust cloud started to clear.
Within the metallic cage, standing defiantly above the downed figure of a teenage boy, was a man with long blonde hair and a figure most men aspired to achieve.
In the end, though both appeared to be equal in power through their exchange, experience and sheer tenacity had won in the end. Silver Fang was a natural talent. A beast in the ring. But compared to the old legends, even those stronger than griffin… He still had a long way to go.
"It seems we have our winner!" The announcer's voice boomed once again across the underground joint. "The Griffin has won the match!"