"Stand up! It's the only chance you'll get," Marisha stated. His legs were ready to pounce. Tigeren, Speedy, and Heat gathered their remaining strength, trying to stand, but their bodies felt heavy.
"If we don't stop him, we'll die here," Speedy said. His voice was low and serious.
"Heat. Can you teleport us far from here?" Tigeren questioned, his teeth gritted against each other.
Heat responded, "No. There is no possible way of escaping. We have no choice but to fight."
"He's right. I will tell you the name of my elemental kantra. I call this mode Ekasoji," Marisha sounded confident.
"Let's try to have some fun," Heat said. His eyes sparkled with excitement but mixed with seriousness
.
They lunged ahead. Speedy and Tigeren attacked from below. Heat handled the sky. Tigeren punched Marisha as hard as he could, the ground quaking with thunder. The roar of thunder erupted from his fists. Marisha went flying and slammed into the ground. The ground cried out, wishing for the fight to stop.
"You did it," Speedy cheered. Sighs of relief were released.
"If this is the best you can do… you have no chance of winning," Marisha interrupted.
"He survived. But how?"
These were the first and only words brought into their thoughts.
Marisha released spears of lightning energy and directed them at Tigeren. Tigeren tried sprinting away, but no stamina meant no escape. The spears stabbed his legs and arms. His yellow fur turned red. The blood enveloped his body.
"Now to finish you off," Marisha declared.
A loud crowd of thunderstorms blew Tigeren away. An eruption of lightning energy followed. Light shined from the scene.
Speedy yelled out, "Tigeren, don't die." His eyes were blinded by the light.
"Is he… dead?" The thought sank into his mind.
The light slowly faded. Tigeren lay there like a corpse. Parts of his body turned black. Burned marks covered his fur. His scars lined with red liquid.
"Tigeren! Wake up," Speedy ran toward him, tears at the corners of his eyes. "Don't you dare die. Don't pretend on me," he whispered, his legs not slowing down.
Heat rushed to Tigeren. "Tigeren. I'm coming."
Speedy and Heat arrived at Tigeren's aid.
"Tigeren! Wake up," Speedy whispered, his paw holding Tigeren's paw. He felt the cold blood of his friend. He turned his face and looked at Heat.
"Is he… dead?" he asked, his eyes hoping for an answer that seemed almost impossible.
"I can still sense life energy from his core, but it's weakening. He's… slowly… fading?" Heat responded, trying to give him a little hope, but the truth was visible.
"He will die. Just like his foolish master," Marisha yelled out, feeling satisfaction from watching their hearts break.
"You're the one who killed our master. If it wasn't for you, he would still be alive," Speedy yelled, his teeth gritted in anger.
"Well, his death was the most satisfying part of my life. And your dying friend played his role perfectly."
"Speedy, what happened to your master? How did he die?" Heat questioned.
Speedy clarified, "It was years ago. Marisha attacked the Red Beast Kingdom, seeking the Sanguzu Ruby."
"The Sanguzu Ruby? What's the Sanguzu Ruby?" Heat asked.
Speedy continued, "A ruby that controlled Tigeren's raging power. King Weli created it specifically for that purpose. Marisha stole the ruby and used it to control Tigeren's outrage. Master Chahi fought Tigeren and broke the Sanguzu Ruby. After it broke, things got worse."
"Got worse?" Heat thought.
"Without the Sanguzu Ruby, Tigeren's state was unstable. He attacked everyone in sight. Master Chahi knew that the anger was slowly killing him, so he sacrificed himself and suppressed the tiger's destruction. He stabilized the anger, hoping that Tigeren would learn to overcome it after his death."
"Your master was nothing. My plans to kill him worked perfectly," Marisha said.
"So you're telling me that your master died not only to protect your kingdom but to protect both of you?" Heat asked, rage bursting from his heart.
"This is why I hate evil people," he said.
His memory flashed back to the times when Yugitiwa took his brothers away from him.
"He's going to pay," Heat shouted. Flames engulfed him.
Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. A dark voice that sounded demonic.
"Heat… listen to me. I can help you," the voice said.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Heat asked, the fire around him getting hotter.
"I am you. The darkness inside of you and your dead brothers. I'm not your enemy," the voice replied, sounding dark but polite.
"Well, what are you doing in my head?" Heat questioned.
"I want to see your strength. Your brothers are dead, killed by your creator. Let me take over. You don't have the strength to win against him or this weak spider."
Heat felt his body being taken over. The fire around him turned black. The black fire consumed his entire body.
"Heat! What's going on? Are you trying to finish Tigeren off? Control yourself, or else—" Speedy shouted, but he was cut off by Heat's glare of death. A cold chill ran down Speedy's spine.
"Heat looks different. His energy feels cold and dark."
"Shut up and listen to my words," Heat growled, his voice a low, ominous tone.
"I will heal your friend."
"Wha… you can do that? You can save Tigeren?" Speedy was shocked upon hearing Heat's words.
Heat pulled out one of his feathers. He charged it with magical elemental energy and gave it to Speedy.
"Use this to heal him. Fill this feather with your own emyiko energy. Don't worry about that spider. I'll fight him."
Those were the instructions given to Speedy. Heat walked toward Marisha. The darkness inside him controlled his mind.