Six Warriors

The Coyote and the Wolf - (Arthur)

He woke up with Amy calling him.

"I… lost, then?" He asked weakly.

"Yes" replied Amy with a pained look that Arthur knew was unintentional, yet he hated it. The boy had been trying to change that thought for a long time, but losing was still one of the sensations Arthur hated most. "You and Glayig would fight for third place, but you were incapacitated, so Musushi was called in and as Glayig was also badly injured from the Garm fight, Musushi was the third place, which leaves Glayig fourth and you fifth. But if you ask me, the fight for first place has yet to start, and it's the tiebreaker between Laci and Garm, you wouldn't want to miss it."

"Really not." Arthur agreed.

They left a hut where the wounded were where Arthur was, and went to the stands.

"Hey Arthur, are you up yet?" Gartham asked when he saw him.

"Yes."

"Don't worry about losing, man, you fought well. Laci is a very strong guy, I've lost him a few times myself and I've won others, it's part. Besides, in our first Underground we did a lot worse than you. I was fifteenth place. Laci, his first time, was twelfth. And Garm, believe it or not, twentieth."

"And now, the most anticipated fight by everyone" shouted Loire, in her irritating voice, "Garm the White Wolf, dangerous, feared, leader of the craziest club in academy. Against, his rival, Laci the Bloodyy Coyote, which is just as feared" The audience roared "they want a tiebreaker right now! It's going to be an electrifying fight, bunch of people!"

Garm ordered the two girls out of the arena, and early on he had already taken off his cloak, which meant he considered his opponent worthy of respect. Laci was serious, and looked boldly at his rival. The screams were split between "Bloodyy Coyote" and "White Wolf."

"I hope you have a better fight than the one you did against Glayig" Laci teased.

"Leave it to me. I'll fight so well you'll regret asking for it."

"This time you don't stand a chance, man."

"Begiiiiiiin!" yelled irritatingly Loire.

Bloody Coyote rushed forward, so fast it was hard to see. He fired several punches quickly at the White Wolf, who defended as fast as his rival. Laci turned around kicking Garm, who defended with both arms crossed, and kicked Laci's leg which had fallen to the ground, but Laci, deftly jumped with his one leg. Garm landed a punch at Laci, which ended up impacting the boy's face. The Wolf still tried a kick, but Coyote dodged and walked away quickly.

Laci came forward again:

"COYOTE'S CLAWS!!" yelled Laci, and slashed the air with its claws, making a s***h that tore through the air in the shape of claws and the same neon green color as her other attacks, advancing toward Garm.

"GATE OF THE WHITE WOLF!!!" Garm yelled, and a thick, gleaming white gate with a wolf's head at the front appeared, shielding him from Laci's attack. "Impact of the White Wolf!" He charged his opponent with his blow.

"COYOTE BOOST!!" Laci brought a coyote's head into his hand, just like the blow he'd made against Arthur, only now he was firing forward instead of up. 

The two blows collided in power-filled punches, exploding between bright white and neon green, gusts of wind kicked up, dust was kicked up and gusts of pure magic danced in the wake of the impact. The two screamed, still with their hands glued together by the blows, that it didn't lean to either side. One more small burst of magical power, and the two were thrown back, dragged along by the power of his blows. The sand of the arena, the grass, finally, the arena itself was being completely destroyed by the impact of the blows and the destruction only did not advance to the stands by magical barriers around the fences to protect the spectators.

"Ace! Neither of they are giving back!" Yelled Loire.

"They are very strong!" Arthur exclaimed.

"They really are" Amy replied.

"Damn, now I'm really excited" said Gartham standing up "I should have gone in!" and began to laugh.

"You're fighting well, Stinky Dog" admitted Laci.

"I know, thanks Lassie, but I can't say the same for you," chuckled Garm.

"Oh yeah? And why are you having so much trouble?"

"You know my traits. Play a bit around with opponents a little bit before put to break."

"Something tells me you're not kidding right now."

"I took off my cloak as it was hot. Nothing to do with taking this fight with you seriously.

"Uh-huh. Right. When you're kissing the floor, I hope you don't give me that excuse."

"Never mind. I'll make you kiss the floor myself."

Garm lunged forward, kicked, but Laci defended him. Laci punched Garm in the face, and Garm staggered under the blow.

"CLAW STORM!!!" Laci cried. The attacks hit the White Wolf's body squarely, mutilating his body, causing blood to spurt. Garm screamed, and before he could fall to the ground, Laci attacked "COYOTE BLAST!!" Several neon green spectral coyotes pounced on Garm, who took all the attacks screaming and soon after, falling to the ground.

"It's over Garm" said Bloodyy Coyote with superiority "I won."

"Incredible!" Exclaimed Loire excitedly, "Laci has just beaten Garm, who is lying on the b****y floor. Will he come out of this? One. Two..."

“THREE” the audience counted “FOUR”. Arthur was really rooting for Laci, even though he lost to him, as Garm was such an i***t. "FIVE! SIX!".

"I said," Laci continued, "but you didn't fight too bad, Stinky Dog."

"SEVEN! EIGHT..."

Everyone was already screaming the name of b****y Coyote. Arthur had even stood up, hoping the fight was over now, and he could laugh in the face of Garm…the annoying Garm. But that didn't happen, Garm stood up, fury in his eyes.

"The White Wolf got up!" announced Loire "and he doesn't look happy, ha, ha!"

"I din't fight too bad?" asked Garm, growling "you'll see what it's like to fight right now, you bastard!" Garm was on his feet again, looking at his rival. A glowing white aura enveloped the entire body of the Hell's Dogs boss, "You'll see what power is. Get ready!" A white aura covered Garm's arms and legs. 

"Damn…I really hoped I didn't have to deal with it," Laci lamented.

"What is that?" Arthur asked, "What is he going to do?"

"Watch and find out," Gartham said seriously. "It's a fearful thing."

Garm's features were no longer visible, he had turned into a stark white silhouette, made of the purest energy of light. The silhouette created a tail, which looked fuzzy furry but was pure light, created ears and a wolf face. His eyes were pure, fierce cobalt blue.

"PACT WITH THE GLITTERING WOLF!" howled Garm in a wild, almost demonic voice. The audience roared in ecstasy.

Garm advanced on Laci, who had no time for reactions. When Garm finished, Laci lay on the floor, bleeding. The White Wolf howled. Laci got up with difficulty.

"Damn!" He whined as he got up "I still haven't perfected my Sync..."

Garm glared at him with a wild gaze, pure sparkling blue, snarling.

"COYOTE SYNC!" Laci growled. A green aura surrounded him, but not completely, just in his arms and legs, and the rest of his body was covered by something like a semi-transparent veil of the same color, it was as if his technique was incomplete. The two grappled, fighting fast and fierce. All Arthur could see was two smudges, one green and one white, like a laser show. After a while, Laci was thrown away, and while he was still in the air, Garm cried out in a guttural, fierce voice:

"BIG PAW OF THE WHITE WOLF!!"

The attack hit Laci squarely, who found himself swamped by a large mass of luminous energy. He screamed in despair, and the looks from the people in the audience were pure surprise.

"Ace!" Narrated Loire, "The White Wolf has turned the fight back on!"

Laci was on the ground, without the green aura around her. She looked unconscious. The magical light around the White Wolf faded, until finally he was just a normal boy.

"I told you I wasn't seriously fighting you yet." Garm smiled.

"They are very strong" Arthur thought in amazement, "we have to train a lot if we are to reach them!"

"Where is my prize?" Garm asked aloud contemptuously, "It seems like it's the only thing worth doing here." He stomped on Laci's face disrespectfully, which pissed Arthur off. "I don't like fighting weak people like that." He still frequently stepped on his rival's head. Arthur growled, annoyed. Winning the fight was one thing, disrespecting your opponent like that wasn't right.

"Stop this!" Arthur roared from the crowd and everyone looked at him, "It's not right to treat a proud warrior that way! Win with dignity! Besides, he almost beat you!"

"Almost beat me?" Garm mockingly laughed "Where were you looking? Talking nonsense like that is what you'd expect from an amateur like you. Don't make me laugh protecting him, just because he gave you a hell of a beating, you weakling." The girls who were always with him arrived laughing and agreeing "yeah, hell of a beating!"

"Garm you know the brat is right," Gartham said with his strong arms crossed.

"Shut up Gartham, you're even worse because you lost to some goddamn newly founded club. The mighty Iron Lord, losing to a bunch of newbie brats, what a joke!" Garm spoke contemptuously, "Bring me my damn prize! I'm tired of this weak-people place."

Two other girls brought the award to Garm and it was nothing more, nothing less than a... teddy bear. Of course, Garm had won a decent sum of Duel Points, but still, why would a mere teddy bear be the grand prize of first place? That was weird, Arthur remembered that Sam had said something about a music box. Was it those things that opened the way to the academy's secret passageways? That teddy bear Garm had in his hands, was it actually a secret key?

"See you, bunch of suckers." He said, leaving and laughing, accompanied by the two usual girls.

"I wish he had been beaten up" Arthur admitted.

"It must be worse for Laci, who in addition to being beaten, lost to his biggest rival, who now has a greater number of victories." said Amy.

"You're right, maybe we can help the guy? He's not really my friend, but..."

"Better not" Gartham said seriously "Laci is stoic, he's the type to suffer alone. Leave him for now, his mood must be bad right now but soon he recovers and tries to outdo himself to get more strong and then win the next fight. I've seen it happen before, you Arthur, as a warrior should understand."

"Anyway, that was the end of Underground, too bad you didn't win, Arthur," Amy continued.

"Yeah, but I think I learned a lot here today" the boy gave a confident smile, "I'm still not strong enough" he said before punching his own hand, "but that will change soon, very soon."

She smiled and they went away from there. The tournament Underground was gone, leaving dirt, mess and blood all over its place.