The remnants of a shattered overpass overlooked the desolation of the city below, its cracked concrete and scattered debris hinting at a once-vibrant metropolis now transformed into a wasteland. Purple clouds swirled ominously around the massive Kaiju portal that towered over the skyline, casting an unsettling aura over the scene. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and dust, a reminder of the chaos that lingered in the atmosphere.
In this eerie calm before the storm, the team assembled atop the ruins, their excitement palpable. High off the newfound powers granted by their Kaiju counterparts, they stretched and prepared, unaware of the impending test that awaited them.
As their hosts took a step forward, the atmosphere shifted. Each one adopted a serious expression, a stoicism that would become the hallmark of the training that lay ahead. Raijin stood with arms crossed, his brows furrowed in challenge, his voice cutting through the air. "If you think flashy moves are enough to win… you're still weak," he declared, his tone devoid of the warmth typically associated with camaraderie.
Infernia followed with a sharp crack of her neck, a predatory smile emerging as she broke the tension. "No more kiddie gloves," she stated, her eyes glinting with an unrestrained intensity. The gravity of her words hung heavy, suggesting an escalation that promised to transcend mere sparring.
Aqua's calm presence contrasted sharply with the tension building around them. "Analyze. Strike. Overwhelm," she advised, his voice smooth and measured, yet underlined by an urgency that demanded focus and commitment.
Zephyr stepped forward, a wicked grin spreading across her face as he taunted, "Let's see if you can dance before you break." Her challenge was a dare that sparked adrenaline, urging the Hosts to brace themselves for a bout that would push them beyond their limits.
Ren, the least intimidated, returned the grin, his bravado evident as he shrugged off the weight of expectation, "Tch. Bring it." His confidence was a thin veneer, but it masked the uncertainty that lurked beneath the surface.
As the tension thickened and the Hosts prepared themselves, they remained blissfully unaware of the brutal lesson that awaited them—a lesson forged in the fires of resilience, wrapped in the guise of harsh, loving brutality.
The air was tense. Static clung to every surface. Ren stood in the middle of a ruined intersection, wind pushing dust past his feet. His daggers spun in his fingers, loose but ready.
Across from him, Raijin descended from a broken rooftop in a drop, landing on the pavement without a sound. Arms crossed. Lightning flickered off his shoulders. His eyes glowed faintly with condescension.
"Show me something new," Raijin said, the smirk already tugging at his lips.
Ren didn't answer. He dashed forward-- toward Raijin's face. Raijin tilted his head slightly, letting the fist skim past his cheek, and countered with a brutal elbow aimed at Ren's ribs.
Ren twisted his torso, narrowly evading it. His heel scraped concrete as he launched a low sweep with his left leg, aiming to take Raijin off balance. Raijin hopped the sweep, and mid-air, spun and brought down his heel in a crushing axe kick.
Ren raised both arms to guard. The kick landed with a thunderous crack, forcing him to one knee, but he pushed back, shifting his weight and slamming his shoulder into Raijin's torso.
Raijin barely moved.
With a flick of his arm, he grabbed Ren by the collar and flung him into a half-standing sedan. The car dented inward with a metallic scream as Ren smashed through the door and out the other side.
Ren coughed, rolled, and rebounded off the debris. He sprinted again.
They collided in the center. Ren ducked under a right hook, drove an uppercut toward Raijin's jaw, but Raijin parried with his forearm, then kneed Ren in the stomach. Ren's body folded for half a second—Raijin grabbed his head and pulled him down into another knee, aiming for his face.
But Ren twisted, taking the hit across the shoulder, and used the momentum to spin into a backfist. Raijin blocked it with one hand, then shoved him away with a palm strike that cracked the street.
Lightning flickered.
Raijin raised his hands. Gauntlets formed over his arms, crackling with electric energy.
Ren's daggers sparked to life, currents pulsing along their edges. He charged again, ducking under a gauntlet punch and slashing upward with his right dagger. Sparks flew as metal met metal. Ren twisted, reversed grip, and stabbed at Raijin's thigh.
Raijin spun, catching the wrist, and slammed a gauntlet into Ren's chest. Ren was sent flying backward, bouncing twice along the asphalt.
Mid-air, Ren flipped and kicked off the hood of a half-crushed SUV, redirecting himself and launching back in. He threw his dagger like a spear.
Raijin deflected it with the back of his gauntlet.
Ren teleported behind him mid-throw, catching his own dagger in reverse grip, and slashed horizontally across Raijin's back.
The blade connected—
The clang of metal echoed like a thunderclap, the twin daggers in Ren's grip locking against dual lightning sabers, sparks cascading around them like electric rain.
Raijin grinned, eyes narrowed. "You've improved."
Ren pushed back, channeling his strength, teeth clenched. "I'm not done yet!"
In a fluid motion, Ren twisted his daggers outward in an 'X', redirecting Raijin's blades off to the sides and stepping in with a rising knee aimed at the Kaiju's abdomen. Raijin let it hit, absorbing the blow with a grunt—then twisted mid-air and answered with a spinning elbow that cracked across Ren's temple, sending him staggering sideways. Ren made two distant leaps but Raijin didn't let up.
He advanced with machine precision, each step launching lightning-laced slashes. Ren ducked one, flipped over another, and deflected the third—but the fourth came in low. Too low below his forward-raised arms.
It sliced through the bottom of Ren's hoodie, grazing his ribs. Blood welled though his injuries started healing up.
Ren skidded back with a wince. He exhaled sharply, daggers held in reverse grip now, stance lowered.
Then he dashed forward, feet blurring.
He feinted left, then right, then vanished for a second—a faint after-image streaking by. He reappeared behind Raijin and slashed horizontally.
Raijin twisted at the last second, catching the blade with his own. Their faces were inches apart, sweat and steam rising between them.
"You're fast," Raijin said, smile widening. "But speed alone—"
A dagger dematerialised, making a leaned in Raijin lean further in.
Ren let go of the other mid-clash, kicking the dropped weapon upward with his heel, flipping it into his other hand mid-air. The sudden attack came from a low crouch, aimed directly at Raijin's kneecap.
Raijin backflipped just in time, landing on a crumbled car. He raised a hand, then a loud crack followed.
Lightning spears rained down like divine artillery.
Ren weaved through them in tight zigzags, each step barely ahead of the strikes. Concrete split beneath his feet, his shoes skidding across rubble and debris.
Then—
Raijin appeared.
No sound. No warning. Just instant presence—right in Ren's face.
A hand gripped his head.
SLAM.
Ren was driven backward, through a building wall. Bricks exploded outward, a cloud of dust erupting in his wake as Raijin kept driving forward like a battering ram.
Mid-crash, Ren's instincts kicked in. His other daggers shimmered into his grip—he stabbed one into Raijin's wrist, forcing the Kaiju to release him with a flash of sparks.
Still mid-air, Ren pushed off the wall behind him—the same one Raijin had slammed him through moments ago. The force launched him leftward across the narrow gap between two ruined buildings.
He hit the ground in a tumble, but there was no time to breathe—Raijin was already unleashing another barrage. Spears of lightning, each locked on Ren's position, ripped through the air with a screech.
He flipped off the ground backwards to regain balance mid-flight, letting the first volley of spears tear past below him.
Rubble collapsed beside him as a chunk of ceiling gave way—but he was already moving.
Ren tapped off the wall on the left, redirecting his trajectory sharply, then landed hard on a crumbling staircase just ahead.
Another spear embedded itself in the step right behind him—barely missing.
"Okay…" he muttered, wiping blood from his cheek. "That hurt."
Raijin walked through a wall, slow and steady, lightning flickering around his body. The scattered spears in the surroundings fizzled out, His blade reformed—now into a three-pronged halberd, buzzing with volatile plasma.
"You want escalation?" Raijin said. "Here it comes."
Ren's daggers glowed, veins of white electricity crackling around the hilts. He slid one along his arm like a whetstone, he was charging it.
They rushed each other again. Bursting out off the building side-by-side then clashing at an intersection.
Steel met plasma.
Blade clashed with halberd.
Sparks exploded. The force sent tremors through the air as Ren's footwork buckled under the impact. He dropped low, spinning into a sweeping kick—but Raijin leapt, twisting mid-air like a phantom of lightning.
The halberd came down.
Vertical. Brutal. Absolute.
Ren, still regaining his balance, dropped into a squat, digging one heel into the cracked ground. In the same breath, he raised both daggers in a tight 'X' block overhead.
Impact.
The halberd slammed down, and though the daggers caught it, the pressure behind the strike—raw, storm-forged force—drove Ren to one knee.
Raijin's foot met his chest in the next instant, launching him back like a missile.
Just before getting launched back, Ren followed up with a spinning kick—Storm Spiral Kick. As his foot connected with Raijin's ribs, a blast of electricity exploded outward. Raijin was flung across the intersection, crashing through a low wall.
Ren flipped mid-air, stabbed his daggers into the concrete, and skidded to a stop—panting, furious, grinning.
Lightning crackled around both of them.
No more holding back.
Their next clash would shake the street.
Raijin emerged from the rubble slowly, brushing debris from his shoulder. His halberds faded.
In their place, a spear formed.
He dashed, thrusting with the spear like a lightning bolt. Ren sidestepped, deflecting with a dagger, but Raijin let the spear go—it exploded into particles and reformed as dual swords mid-spin.
The swords came down in an X-pattern. Ren blocked one, dodged the other, and dropped into a knee-slide to get under Raijin.
Raijin backflipped, landing on a light post, and summoned a chain blade, snapping it down like a whip. The chain tore up pavement as it chased Ren, who sprinted in a zigzag, narrowly avoiding the blade's path.
Ren kicked off a broken streetlight thereby hitting back the chain blade, and then after soared toward Raijin. They met mid-air. Pushing Raijin off the light post.
As Raijin landed, he swung his chain blade, then a faint humming sound filled the air. Around him, a massive cross-shaped pattern of lightning began forming. Aura Slash.
Each movement he made made the structure grow, slices of space vibrating with deadly energy.
Ren's eyes widened.
He landed, barely dodging a slice from the chain, and bolted to the side. But the Aura Slash expanded again, silent and sharp, carving through a nearby building as if it were paper.
He couldn't let it corner him.
Ren teleported behind Raijin, dagger poised.
Raijin expected it. Turned off Aura slash to avoid obliterating Ren.
Ren on the other hand knew Raijin had to turn it off to properly attack him.
He turned, caught Ren's arm, and flipped him over his shoulder. Mid-air, he summoned a glaive, and as Ren tried to re-balance, Raijin slammed the flat side into his back.
Ren crashed through a bus. He got up, coughing blood, staggering.
Raijin didn't give him time.
He blitzed forward, caught Ren by the throat mid-swing, spun him into the air, blitzed him again then dragged him diagonally through three buildings. Concrete shattered. Sparks lit the sky.
Raijin emerged from the rubble first. He stood above the cracked pavement, weapons orbiting him like satellites. Aura Slash still pulsed around him, a spiraling but now suppressed one metre deathwheel of pure voltage.
Ren lay half-buried in concrete. Bruised, bleeding, but alive.
Raijin looked down. No smile this time.
"Good. You're not dead. That means I can hit you harder next time."
Ren stands up.
The heat warped the air before the first punch was even thrown.
Mika stood amidst shattered pavement and tilted street lamps, steam rising from her shoulders. Her breathing was measured, every motion coiled like a spring. Across the street stood Infernia—in human form—fire flickering around her arms like they were dipped in a volcano.
"Still no weapon," Infernia mused, voice like crackling embers. "Then let's hope your fists are worth something."
Mika didn't respond. Her feet shifted. Her aura flared.
They clashed.
Mika opened with a straight jab to test the water, but Infernia didn't dodge—she leaned in, letting the punch land across her cheek. Her head turned with the force, but a devilish grin grew.
Then came the retaliation.
Infernia's fist struck Mika's ribs like a piston. Fire exploded on contact.
BOOM.
Mika flew backward through a delivery truck, metal crumpling like paper. She rolled once, twice, then pushed herself up, smoke rising from her jacket.
Her eyes glowed orange.
With a scream, she launched forward. Her fists lit with flame—not Kaiju conjured, but internal combustion, drawn directly from her bond.
[Infernal Crash]
She ducked under a fireball and delivered a rising uppercut that detonated like a landmine. Infernia was launched back, flipping mid-air, and caught herself against the side of a tilted bus.
But Mika was already there.
She hit her with a side kick—BOOM—the bus flipped.
Infernia snarled, fire spiraling from her hands into two molten gauntlets. She slammed the ground, fire pillars erupting around them. Mika flipped up onto a streetlight, then vaulted off it.
They collided mid-air.
Punch against punch. Kick versus elbow. Each impact shook the ruined street.
Infernia weaved through Mika's combination, ducked a spin-kick, and planted a palm against her chest. A burst of fire knocked Mika back—but not far.
She absorbed the shock, landed, and used the momentum to slide under Infernia's next attack. Her elbow found Infernia's stomach.
The ground shattered.
But that's when the difference showed.
Infernia didn't fall.
She grabbed Mika's arm mid-strike, spun her, and hurled her into the air—and chased her.
Flames wrapped around her legs as she caught up with Mika mid-air, and before the girl could react—Infernia planted both knees into her back and drove her into a billboard.
Crack!
The entire metal structure bent inward.
Mika coughed, blood flecking her lip. She tried to roll away, but Infernia was already there, grabbing her by the ankle and slamming her into the ground below.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The earth trembled beneath each impact.
Then Infernia stopped.
She dropped Mika unceremoniously and stepped back, flames coiling around her fists like restrained beasts.
Mika groaned, trying to rise.
"Still standing?" Infernia tilted her head. "No weapon. No range. You're punching through fire itself. And you still think you're keeping up?"
Mika's eyes opened, burning brighter.
She clenched her fists, every muscle in her arms glowing orange. Heat exploded off her body. Her boots sank into the pavement.
"I'm not keeping up…" she whispered.
"I'm about to catch up."
The second round was coming—and this time, Mika wasn't holding back.
The second round was coming—and this time, Mika wasn't holding back.
The wind stopped.
That was the first warning.
Kaede Hoshino stood on a tilted rooftop, chest rising and falling slowly. Her white jacket fluttered in the unnatural stillness. The city below shimmered, the heat from Mika and Infernia's battle still radiating through the haze.
And then a breeze brushed past her cheek.
She didn't see Zephyr move—only felt her presence vanish.
Then—BOOM.
Kaede barely ducked in time. A streak of air pressure tore through where her head had just been. Zephyr appeared behind her mid-slide, kicking Kaede square in the spine. She was launched across rooftops, crashing through a water tower.
The explosion of wood and water hissed against the hot concrete.
Kaede landed in a roll and kicked off the ground immediately, eyes scanning, heart pounding. She activated **\[Tempest Waltz]**—teleport-like dashes stringing together as she zig-zagged mid-air, forming shockwaves with every blink.
Zephyr grinned.
She disappeared again.
Kaede had enough sense to spin and block.
*Too late.*
A knee slammed into her stomach. The impact cratered the road beneath them. Zephyr didn't even touch the ground before following with a spinning heel kick to Kaede's head.
She went flying through a glass wall.
Kaede tumbled, rolled, and slid—but she wasn't done.
She popped back up, wind spiraling around her body like blades.
Her movements blurred as she launched toward Zephyr, fists glowing with compressed wind. She struck out with three rapid jabs, teleporting slightly with each one.
Zephyr dodged each hit casually, her own body flickering in and out of view like a corrupted signal.
Kaede smiled faintly.
She disappeared.
Zephyr blinked—only to get slammed in the ribs from the left.
Kaede dashed past in a streak of air, dragging Zephyr through two wrecked cars with the momentum. She appeared on the other side and spun—releasing a Wind Quake, a sudden explosion of pressure that cracked the asphalt.
Zephyr grunted as she was flung into a skyscraper's glass exterior—shards erupting outward like stars.
Kaede exhaled hard.
Then froze.
The air grew stiller.
She turned just as Zephyr stepped out of the falling glass, completely unharmed. Her expression had changed—no more teasing.
"Okay," Zephyr muttered. "Now we fight."
She vanished.
What followed was chaos.
Kaede activated Tempest Waltz to the limit, dodging strike after strike in rapid succession. Every time she blinked, Zephyr was there—faster, closer, sharper. Their fists clashed mid-air, shockwaves scattering debris across the broken street.
Kaede dove into a slide, twisting mid-motion to launch a roundhouse.
Zephyr ducked, caught her leg, and swung her like a hammer into a nearby semi-truck.
Kaede's body dented the metal—but she kicked off it, launching straight and releasing a double palm strike. Wind blasted Zephyr off the ground.
Kaede dashed behind her, chaining four strikes together, teleporting between each. Zephyr dodged the last one with a single tilt of her head and countered with a downward axe kick.
Kaede crossed her arms to block.
The ground beneath her exploded.
Kaede was driven into the pavement, the force rippling out like a crater. Zephyr flew back a bit then landed, wind swirling violently around her heels. She didn't gloat.
Kaede coughed, winded, but smiled. Her eyes flickered with energy.
That was only round one.
And she was still breathing.
And then the city trembled.
Not because of an explosion—because something walked.
A massive, armored figure leapt from the top of a ruined building. The ground cracked beneath his landing, asphalt rising like waves.
Eiji stood there, war hammer in hand, staring up at his Kaiju: Titan, in his humanoid form, easily over seven feet tall, broad like a walking fortress.
"Ready?" Titan growled.
Eiji rolled his neck, cracking it.
"No," he admitted. "But let's go."
Titan was already moving.
Eiji barely got his hammer up in time to block a punch the size of his torso. He slid back over twenty meters, boots carving trenches through the cracked street.
Titan didn't wait.
He grabbed Eiji by the shoulder and *slammed* him into the ground.
Once. Twice. *Three times.*
The fourth slam went through a concrete wall.
Eiji was ragdolled through the air. He coughed blood but flipped mid-flight, grunting. He landed on one knee and swung his hammer in a wide arc.
CLANG.
Titan blocked it with one forearm.
The shockwave from the impact flattened nearby debris, shattered windows for blocks.
"Not bad," Titan grunted. "But luck won't carry you here."
Eiji's Lucky Gambit ability was always active—a flicker of probability shifting in his favor. He ducked just as a chunk of falling debris missed him by inches and used the momentum to leap forward.
His hammer glowed faintly—a critical swing incoming.
He brought it down.
Titan sidestepped.
The hammer missed.
And that was Eiji's problem.
Even when he was lucky, Titan was better.
The Kaiju caught the hammer mid-swing and ripped it out of Eiji's hands.
"Cute trick," Titan said.
Then he raised his massive leg and kicked Eiji into a nearby building.
Concrete exploded as Eiji went through the first floor, then the second, then burst out the third like a pinball.
He landed, rolled, groaned, and laughed.
"Still alive?" Titan asked.
Eiji wiped blood from his mouth. "Somehow."
He snapped his fingers.
The hammer dematerialised in Titan's hand and back into his hands
He surged forward. Not clean. Not graceful. But gutsy.
Titan grinned.
They clashed.
Eiji ducked low, swung up from below—Titan raised a knee and caught the swing.
Eiji pivoted, kicked off Titan's leg, spun, and brought the hammer around for a backhand.
Titan tilted, grabbed Eiji mid-spin—
—and slammed him through a semi-truck.
BOOM.
Metal folded like paper. Eiji groaned.
Titan didn't stop. He *dragged* Eiji through the wreckage, then tossed him into the air—
—and leapt, meeting him mid-air with a shoulder tackle that sent both of them crashing into a distant building.
The structure gave way, dust cloud rising high.
Silence.
Then a rumble.
Eiji staggered out, smoke rising from his jacket, hair caked in rubble.
"...Still lucky," he muttered.
Titan walked out behind him, unfazed, fists tightening.
"Not enough."
They locked eyes.
And charged again.