Black-and-gold crash—
Something in Carlos snaps awake.
For half a heartbeat, the bowl blurs out.
Mud bank. Brown River. Shacks on stilts leaning like tired men.
Abuela's tin bracelets clink as she prays.
Kids chase a flat, half-pumped ball. Bare feet. Cracked heels.
The aura generators cough and die. Night swallows the block.
Luz's workbook closes in the dark. "Mañana," she says. Again.
Mama's hands salt the beans twice so they taste even better.
Roof leaks. Buckets fill. Wet mattress.
Carlos at the door, jaw clenched. "Voy a traer luz. Se los juro."
Not anger. Obligation. Hunger with teeth.
He blinks back into the roar.
Spirit Muti: Beast Mantle — Jaguar (Partial).
Pupils slit. Canines grow. Pads bloom on his palms. A low rumble vibrates the air; heat shimmers off his shoulders.
Kai steps in—
Enlightened Senses lag a moment.
Carlos is already inside.
"Martial Muti: Jaguar — Colmillo."
Liver—buried. Kai folds, breath torn out.
He tries to shift the line—"Hanuman Step—"
Shadow clings to him.
"Jaguar — Paso Sombra."
Angles are gone. Carlos appears at Kai's ear.
"Jaguar — Garra."
Hook-rake. Brow splits. Red streaks his eye.
Kai aims at the chest—"Surya Spiral—"
"Jaguar — Embestida."
Ram through the center. Tiles scream. Kai slides long, boots carving black.
The bowl explodes to its feet.
Tunnel—Aria's knuckles go white on the rail. "Kai—"
Rin, steady: "Beast Mantle. I've only heard legends from steward Bai."
Kai crouches, breath heaving. He stands nonetheless.
Carlos moves, low and hungry. Eyes flat. No mercy.
"Jaguar — Zarpazo Cruzado."
Cross-rake high into a spinning heel. The first smears his forearm—
—The heel pounds his crown. Bells ring in his skull. Knees dip.
Kai fires back on grit—"Agni—"
Air. Carlos is gone.
"Jaguar — Cola."
Sweep scythes ankles. Stone bites. Kai rolls, surges up—
"Jaguar — Lomo Quebrado."
Shoulder shocks ribs. Spine jolts. He stumbles blind.
Skybox—Johnny, low: "What will you do now, Kai?".
Kai takes a breath, tries to reset—
"Hanuman—"
"Jaguar — Último Zarpazo."
All speed. All kill. Three claws in one breath: temple, sternum, kidney.
Kai's body bows around the hits. He stumbles to the boundary stone, catches himself on one hand, blood dribbling off his lip.
He rises. Swaying. Eyes bright with pain and stubbornness.
Carlos is already there.
"Jaguar — Embestida."
Impact silences sound.
Kai lifts off, slams onto the tile, skids in a sharp arc. He gets to a knee. Stands. Palms high. Flame flickers—but can't ignite.
He needs a plan.
Ribs scream. Vision doubles.
No time.
Carlos charges again—fangs flashing, hips loaded.
Kai drags a breath from the floor and rips his aura open.
Grey explodes.
A fierce ring erupts—stone skitters, banners snap. Carlos flies back three strides, lands low like a cat, eyes slit, surprised for the first time.
Kai refuses to let the breath go.
He feeds it.
Grey brightens—warms—shifts.
Spirit Muti: Spirit Bloom — Lotus Bloom.
Gold fire lifts off his skin. Petals halo, heat without smoke. The bowl feels it; two hundred thousand lean in involuntarily.
Carlos grins, unblinking. "Así."
They clash.
Carlos snaps low. "Jaguar — Colmillo."
Kai twists—Surya Spiral—the fang skims ribs. He responds at the center—Bodhi Palm—short, dense. Carlos slides, handspring, pounces mid-air.
"Jaguar — Salto del Jaguar!"
Knee like a bullet.
Kai climbs the frame—forearms bark—lets the force pass through spiral and lands.
Hanuman Step. Inside shoulder. Elbow pin. Agni Mudra under the heart. Meaty thud.
Carlos rolls out, claws back in. "Paso Sombra." He leans into Kai's blind side—
—Enlightened Senses shifts the world slightly. Kai's already there. Wrist trap. Hip turn. Feint—no throw—just angles.
Hook-rake whips in. "Garra."
Gold clashes with black—forearm to forearm—shock sends sweat flying in a halo.
They tear apart. Reunite.
"Zarpazo Cruzado!"
Double rake high-low, spinning heel behind.
Surya Spiral catches the high; the heel rips the air where his head was. Kai steps back on the hinge—Bodhi Palm—Two-Count—rib, sternum.
Carlos hisses. He laughs through it. He stamps. "Cola."
Low sweep scythes.
Hanuman Step floats a heel; Kai drops weight late and stamps the calf. Cat-feet stutter for a beat.
They trade in the blink.
Temple. Jaw. Liver. Solar.
Palms press heat; claws carve lines; skin splits; both refuse ground.
Crowd: a living wall of noise.
Skybox—Johnny, pleased: "Now it's a fight."
Tunnel—Aria's grin returns, all lightning. "Cook him."
Rin's eyes stay steady. "My rival shouldn't lose to something like this."
Carlos explodes straight through the centerline. "Embestida!"
Gold doesn't brace—it turns. Surya Spiral → Bodhi Palm.
Carlos hits like a truck and still Kai moves him half a tile with compressed fire.
He rebounds off stone and comes in tougher. "Cazador." Three-claw chain.
Kai responds with a frame—Spiral → Palm (Three-Link)—redirect, print, park.
Tiles crack in a web.
Both are bleeding now. Shoulders slick. Chests heaving.
Carlos drops lower, pupils pinned. Flick. Vanish. "Paso Sombra."
Kai's breath tightens into focus. Enlightened Senses hums. He steps where Carlos will be, not where he is.
Hanuman Step. Outside line.
Agni Mudra. Liver bite.
Carlos snarls, answers spitefully—upper brushes the chin—Kai absorbs it and stays.
The beat flips.
Gold meets black in a blur.
Hanuman Step closes the distance again—
Surya Spiral spills a fang—
Bodhi Palm stamps center—
Carlos snaps back with Garra Doble—two backfists like fangs—
Kai shells, shaves both, threads a straight palm through the tunnel—
Carlos shoulder-shocks—"Lomo Quebrado!"—
Kai takes it on his lat, skids a shoe, rips Agni under the ribs in the same breath.
They break.
They smile. Bloody. Bright-eyed.
Then faster.
"Último Zarpazo!" All speed. All kill.
Hanuman Step—three times. The world stutters; Kai ghosts three half-steps along Carlos's line, arriving where the last claw ends, not starts. Bodhi Palm—Five Count.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—THUD.
Carlos spins out instinctively, palms slap the stone, springs back upright, and hammers a flying hook that nearly grazes Kai's ear. Kai ducks with it, gold streaming off his shoulders like heat haze.
They clash chest to chest—foreheads grind—breath hot.
"Más," Carlos breathes.
"Always," Kai.
They burst apart and slam back together, two meteors trading orbits.
Hanuman Step opens a lane.
"Zarpazo." Brings it back.
Surya Spiral. Bleeds it sideways.
"Colmillo." Punishes the turn.
Bodhi Palm. Shields.
Stone spiders. Air booms.
The bowl is one sound.
For a heartbeat, they freeze at arm's length—both hands up, both chests heaving, both grinning like fools at their joy.
Then they move to end the exchange simultaneously.
Carlos drops into a lethal crouch—rumble deepening—
Kai's lotus burns brighter, petals tightening—
Black-gold and gold-white rush toward each other—
—and the page tears right there.