Black Dragon stood tall. His gaze locked with Hibaki's, unreadable and calm.
Hibaki held her ground. There was electricity flickering between her fingertips. "Who are you, exactly?" she demanded.
"I am Black Dragon," he replied.
"That's a title," she said sharply. "But who are you? Where did you come from?" she asked.
A slow smile curled across his lips. He observed her, He thought she could've been a fine addition to the harem however, she didn't stir anything in him. Not like Musubi. She was brighter. Deeper. Stronger. Hibaki didn't even come close. He looked at her chest and thought Musubi won in that department.
"I know Aladdin's tied to you," Hibaki continued as she pressed forward. "He knows you and her. There has to be a connection," she added.
Black Dragon's eyes narrowed slightly. "A connection? Perhaps. I have never spoken to him, it's my second time seeing him really," he responded.
"You're lying." Hibaki clenched her fist as sparks ignited around her arm. "Aladdin wants you. Whatever you are," she added. She raised her hand forward. "Standing Needle Thunder," she cried. A barrage of piercing pink lightning bolts erupted from her fingers. They zipped through the air like a swarm of electrified needles. They twisted, whistled, and homed in on Black Dragon.
Black Dragon didn't flinch. "Black Dragon Roar," he thundered. A concussive shockwave blasted outward from his body so intense the air itself cracked. The lightning bolts met his roar midair in a violent collision. Each needle was shredded, their energy erased by sheer primal force. The blast shattered every window nearby, glass raining down like crystal shrapnel.
Hibaki stumbled back, shielding her face from the shock. Her knees nearly buckled. Smoke curled around Black Dragon's form. He stepped forward, slow and unfazed.
Hibaki narrowed her eyes. Her heart thundered against her ribs. He's not like the others, she thought. There's something... wrong about him. Something deeper. She raised both arms skyward. "Crownbreaker Thunder," she roared. Above, the storm screamed to life. A jagged bolt of pink lightning slashed down from the clouds, splintering violently into five crackling tongues of energy. Each bolt twisted in midair, bending unnaturally as they raced toward Black Dragon.
"Black Burst," he said as a concentrated blast of pure void energy erupted from his palm. It was thick and hissed like a corrupted smoke. The beam went through the air with lethal intent as it locked directly onto Hibaki.
"Thunder Shield," she countered as she summoned a swirling wall of electric pink energy. The shield covered her.
The Black Burst collided head-on. The shield cracked instantly. Its surface webbed with fractures before it could absorb the shock. A second later, the beam burst through and struck Hibaki square in the chest.
She screamed as the blast hurled her backward like a ragdoll. She crashed against the hard stone ground. The air around her shimmered with residual lightning. She coughed, blood flecking her lips, dazed and trembling.
"W-What... power..." she gasped. Her body twitched with leftover voltage. Her mind buzzed not just from the pain, but from the sheer force behind his strike. She started to get up once again. She wiped the blood from her mouth. She saw him. He was unphased.
Black Dragon unfurled his wings in a sweeping motion. The gust that followed howled through the streets. The air rippled around him. It whipped dust and debris into spiraling trails.
Without warning, he launched himself forward. His wings folded tight as he streaked toward Hibaki like a missile of pure darkness. "Black Dragon Fist," he said as dark energy surged down his arm. He clenched his fist. It glowed ominously. There was black lightning crackling around it, The sheer heat warped the air.
He swung his fist and punched Hibaki's abdomen. She gasped. Her eyes were wide. She could feel the air violently leaving from her lungs. Blood sprayed from her mouth in a red arc as she was launched backward, smashing through cracked pillars before hitting the ground hard.
Her body crumpled, unconscious. Lightning flickered weakly around her limbs, then faded.
Black Dragon looked toward Jasmine and Aladdin. Wind stirred around him as his boots thudded against the cracked stone floor as he went towards them.
Jasmine stared at the boy standing across from her. She could see something in his eyes that felt wrong and twisted.
"Jasmine," Aladdin said. "You're not meant to be with him," he added. "You and I… we're destined to be together," he said.
"I don't know you," Jasmine replied. She was genuinely confused.
Aladdin's tone sharpened. "He kept us apart. We were supposed to have a life together, she showed me everything. Our home. Our future. It was perfect... until he ruined it," he remarked.
Jasmine's breath hitched. Who showed him? she wondered.
"My life is already happy with James," she said firmly.
Aladdin's expression twisted into something bitter. "He's corrupted you," he snarled. "You were perfect, but now you're just a tainted whore," he said while looking at Jasmine. He thought he would have to purify her.
Jasmine froze. She thought, why did he call her that.
At that moment, Black Dragon appeared in a blur of motion, his fist buried into Aladdin's gut with bone-shattering force. The blow echoed through the streets.
"Watch your mouth," he growled. His voice was cold and commanding. "She is my woman," he added.
Aladdin gasped violently as blood spurted from his lips. He staggered backward. One of his ribs cracked audibly. His body collapsed against the ground.
Jasmine stepped up beside Black Dragon, her tone light but her eyes gleaming. "My woman?" she teased playfully. "Then you'd better marry me," she added.
Black Dragon turned his head slightly toward her, still watching Aladdin writhe. "And I will," he promised. Black Dragon could feel his blood lust. "He doesn't deserve to live," he added.
Jasmine looked at Black Dragon. She could sense he was out for blood. "James don't," Jasmine said. She thought he might have said hurtful things to her however he did not deserve death.
From the shadows above, Reniner watched everything unfold. He saw how Aladdin followed the Goddess instruction and got the two girls. He was then told to pursue her. "You did not follow the plan," Reiner remarked. He looked to see Aladdin broken. Hibaki and Hiraki were down.
He thought of the man who transformed. "James," he muttered. He thought the Goddess had warned them about him. The Black Dragon raised his arm.
Reniner`s eyes widened. He was not going to let his comrade die while he sat around. He bit his lip.
At that moment, Reiner's body convulsed with power. Energy surged around him as the air quaked violently around him. A deafening boom tore through the building as windows shattered. It launched smoke into the sky.
His form expanded rapidly. His muscles bulged, his bones reinforced and his skin hardened into armor-like plates. Metallic glints coursed across his shoulders, chest, and limbs as his body morphed into something massive. As the smoke cleared, the Armored Titan came down. His hulking figure gleamed beneath layered armor. His eyes set deep beneath a ridged brow, jaw lined with reinforced plating. He swung his fist towards Black Dragon.