A red aura enveloped the entirety of Isa's body, sending moderate wind currents right towards Itama and Xavier. His tattoo lit up and expanded from only his face to his hands and legs, followed by yet another giant explosion. "He's mutating!" Itama noticed Xavier, who focused on increasing the power of his phantoms. Isa's skin hardened and changed its color to red, and the tattoo slowly faded across his body. "You two are consuming my precious time!" he complained, taking slow but steady steps towards Itama and Xavier, who stepped away from him in sync. Isa took a small breath like he usually did when he was breathing fire, but this time lava spewed right out of his mouth and went flying straight at the duo. "He's a lava-type entity!?" Itama whispered in shock, taking a step back for Xavier to execute his attack.
Confidence engulfing his glare of determination, he had covered his body with Exothium. Back in Death Desert, Team ENTITY had encountered multiple formidable foes wielding Exothium, but this had been the first time it had been seen since their departure from Death Desert. Looking behind him, Xavier took time to remember Trhama's scarf that was tightly wrapped around Itama's shoulder, which explained why he was pulling it down so often. "If he gets hit by the lava at all, then the scarf will just burn to the ground! We need another plan, instantl-" Isa slammed Xavier into the ground aggressively with his fists, creating a giant crater in the ground that was covered by dust. "When you're in a fight, you need to battle like you've got nothing to lose!" Isa reminded both of them, looking straight at the colorful scarf. "You may have been able to fight with it before, but there are some times where you just have to put something down for the time being to pull through a battle!"
Vivid memories of when Itama retrieved the scarf from Trhama played inside his head, but were drained out by Xavier's screams of urgency due to Isa's advancement across the battlefield. "ITAMA, YOU HAVE TO ACT FAST!"
Without another thought, Itama untied the scarf for the first time in about a decade, revealing a withered tattoo that had been destroyed with multiple (but now partially healed) knife wounds. Itama grabbed both of his swords again, and a blue aura similar to Isa's transformation engulfed him. "I refuse to be helpless like I was all those years ago!" he exclaimed, charging straight towards Isa. "I carry the unfulfilled dreams of the late Trhama Black not only on my shoulder, but in my soul! Therefore, I will not stop until he is truly put to rest, and his scarf returns to the very grave it came from!"
Itama cut the blazing flames that covered the tunnel entrance and zipped past Isa, landing a perfect cut wound on him before dragging back onto the dirt floors of the tunnel. "Slash of Memories!" he exclaimed, watching as Isa intensely coughed up lava due to the severity of his attack.
"I'm not a mindless griever - I am Itama Kawasaki of the Death Desert Police Force!"
Volume 13, Chapter 15 - Slash of Memories
13 years ago, Death Desert
Stephanie and Itama aggressively gripped their swords, focusing entirely on what their teacher's next move would be. Itama was wearing short sleeves, causing the scarf he had put on just three years before to blow in the wind by its ends. "Three years since Trhama's death, and you haven't considered taking the scarf off to fight once!" Stephanie criticized, but silenced herself seconds after she had truly thought about it.
"Even if fighting with something on my shoulder is hard… I'LL MAKE IT WORK, NO MATTER WHAT!" Itama declared, charging straight at the Master but being pushed to the ground shortly after. "Yet, you still have a long way to go before that begins changing in your favor," Stephanie joked, helping him up from the ground. "Even if it is an extra weight to carry, I am sure Itama has the ability to still keep Trhama's most prized possession around, even if his human body isn't here to see it…"
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Itama slowly walked past Xavier, sliding one of the two swords he currently wielded back into its case. "Did you just use Trhama's first attack!?" Xavier said in shock. He covered his face in happiness, muffled screams coming straight out of his mouth at the top of his lungs. He noticed Trhama's scarf now placed across his right hand, holding it out in Itama's direction. "Itama, you're leaving me with the scarf!?" Xavier asked, memories from his childhood pouring back in upon just a singular touch. "I'm not permanently giving it to you," he informed him, closing his eyes and focusing on the sound across the battlefield. "If I'm fighting with no restraints, I'll be able to see my true strength for the first time in years!" Isa's entire body disbanded into a pool of lava, racing across the hallway in the direction of Itama. "Let's see if you're truly strong enough to take me down!" his voice exclaimed, resurrecting his body with the lava that had come straight from it and jumping straight into Itama's face. He drew his swords, ready for the starting attack.