Dance of the Thunder God

“THUNDER GOD'S CLOAK!”

From the darkened sky, a lightning bolt came down with a powerful roar. It hit the black-haired boy and mixed itself with his own electricity, forming a bright blue cloak around his body. His eyes lit up and his hair spiked up even more. “Hahahaha!” Even Katsuhito’s voice sounded different, having a slight echo to it.

“Crap! So that’s his ultimate technique?!” Without wasting any time, the delinquent gets in position and starts to charge his jet. “I’ve got-!” The Kurohane Student smirks with a loud boom, he completely disappears from his opponent’s field of view. “Where-“

“Hehehe! You’ve got to do what?” In a flash, the shorter teen had moved behind Ken. “With that speed-“ Delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the other boy’s side, Katsuhito adds. “-You’re never gonna catch me!”

“Gaaaah!” The Yumehara delinquent is sent flying towards the other side of the arena by that unbelievably strong kick.

“Don’t think it’s over!” Yet again he disappears from view, yet again followed by a high-pitched explosive sound. “We’re just getting started!” Reappearing by Ken’s side, he hits the taller boy with a kick that sends him flying high up in the air, all that before the delinquent could come close to the barrier.

“Kaaaah!” Feeling both the pain from the kick and the burning sensation of the electric shock coursing through his body, the black-haired teen lets out a painful cry. “Guaaaah!”

“Hahahahaha! Here I come!” Once again Katsuhito vanishes and that same sound comes out again. “Hahahahha!” Laughing like a maniac, he appears above his opponent’s body. “We ain’t done yet!” He delivers a spinning kick to Ken’s stomach, sending him crashing down. “Thunder Gun: Overcharged!” Pointing his hands down, the electric boy shoots multiple projectiles just like the ones from before, but this time one from each finger of his.

The delinquent king gets hit by the shock-bullets on his way down. As his body hits the ground, the arena's floor explodes into a large cloud of dust and debris.

“What is happening!?"

“Is that boy even human?"

“That’s our Nakai!"

Surprised gasps fill the stadium as the electrified teen laughs maniacally in the air.

***

“Man! This getting real bad, really fast!” Umiko shouts, now completely standing up and with her hands in the air. “I knew that ability was powerful, but that’s a bit much no?” The girl turns around and starts waving her arms. “I could barely see him moving!”

“It’s not just the speed.” Comments the star-eyed boy while grasping his pants. “He was able to easily break through Onimaru-san’s natural durability.” Biting his lip, the boy questions. “What sort of power-up is that?”

“I’ll admit, I never thought the difference would be that drastic.” George comments while crossing his arms. “Thunder God’s Cloak is a technique that uses the electric currents the user produces to essentially overclock their internal systems, which in turn gives them a boost on all status.” The man explains with a sigh. “But I never expected it to be such a large upgrade.”

“That’s a stupidly advanced technique.” Replies the blue-haired girl. “It’s insane to think that someone our age can even use something like that.”

“Indeed.” The club advisor nods. “But it isn’t invincible.” He puts on a hopeful smile. “An ability like that rapidly overcharges the Magical Circuit of its user, so as long as Onimaru follows the plan, and stalls enough, we might be able to win this.”

Nodding, Umiko turns around, plants her feet on the ground and shouts. “Don’t give up! Go! Go! Go! Onimaru!” She cheers as loudly as her throat can muster.

“Well, someone is excited ain’t she?” A familiar voice comments making everyone look towards the changing room door. Standing there was a bandaged up Kayoko. “Yo!’ She greets with a smile.

“Izumi-san!” Hiroto blinks surprised. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

The fashionista chuckles as she moves in closer and sits down by the boy’s side. “My wounds weren’t that bad, so I was discharged quickly.” Her jovial smile disappears as she asks. “How’s Onimaru-kun doing?”

“Right now? Not great.” George replies with a serious expression. “He's in trouble, but there should still be a chance.” With a sigh, the blond tries to give his students an encouraging smile. “We should have some faith in him.

They all nod and Umiko goes back to cheering with all her heart.

***

“Where’s that durability now, Mr. King!?” Katsuhito continues to cackle while in the air.

“Ogre Impact-“

“Huh?”

“-Double Jet!”

From behind the dust cloud, Ken burst out using both of his jets. He shoots up at high speed and rams his head against the shorter teen's stomach.

“GAAAH!” Spitting out some saliva, Katsuhito tries to catch his breath but is stopped by Onimaru’s legs wrapping around his torso.

Repositioning himself so that his opponent’s head is facing downwards, the delinquent king shouts. “Ogre Impact: Fast Fall!” Pointing his jets to the sky, he propels himself down at an incredible speed. “Haaa!”

*Crash*

Burying Katsuhito’s head on the ground below, Ken quickly undoes the transformation on his arms and jumps away. “Guh!” The black-haired teen winces as he lands.

His clothes had been partially destroyed and there were burn marks all over his body.

In order to pull that counter, he had to trudge through the pain and ignore most of the damage he had received, and it was now catching up to him.

After a couple of seconds, the taller boy has finally caught his breath, so he looks towards where the other teen’s body was located.

Except he wasn’t there.

“Wha!?” Ken doesn’t even have the time to process what is happening before he feels a powerful wind flying past him.

“Man!” Katsuhito’s voices comes from behind the other boy. “That was really dangerous!”

“How did you- gah!” He is interrupted by a swift kick against his back that makes the black-haired delinquent bend back slightly. “Gaaah!”

Not being done yet, the shorter bot grabs Ken’s hair. “Good thing I’m just that awesome!” With a giggle, he pulls on the other boy’s hair. “This has been fun, truly-“ Letting him go, Katsuhito jumps away from the delinquent. “-but it’s time we end this little show!”

“Huh!?!”

“Be honored!” Lifting his arms to the sky, the shorter boy shouts. “You shall witness the full extent of my technique!”

From the darkened sky, many bolts of lightning started to quickly hit everywhere in the arena. One even hitting Ken. “Shaaah!” The boy cries in pain while his opponent laughs out loud.

“Hahaha!” As he cackles, many bolts end up falling on top of him and each time they hit, the electricity surrounding him gets stronger and brighter. After around four thunderbolts, Katsuhito’s entire figure had disappeared behind the cloak, leaving only a faint silhouette with a creepy smile behind. “Kahahahahah!” With an even creepier laugh, the shorter boy completely disappears from view.

“W-Where did he-“ The delinquent stops talking as the shining form of Katsuhito flashes in front of him.

“Thunder God’s Dance!”

Using his unbelievable speed, the Kurohane student began throwing a flurry of punches and kicks. From up, down, left, right, behind, or the front, he strikes from all directions while leaving a trail of electricity behind that slowly forms into a sphere of pure energy.

Once that sphere was completed, his strikes came to a stop. “And now!” Appearing behind the taller boy, Katsuhito wraps his arms around his torso. “Finale!” He shouts.

All the energy that had accumulated from his technique pulsates, then it explodes, bathing the entire stadium in a beautifully blinding blue light.

A cloud of dust and electricity fills the arena. After a couple of seconds go by, the dust settles, revealing Ken’s unconscious body still being held in the hands of a badly burned Katsuhito.

For the second time that day, the crowd erupts into cheers or desperate cries as the barriers go down and the nurses rush in.

Nakai Katsuhito has won.

***

“Onimaru!” The bluenette shouts as she and the others watch their clubmate being carried away to the school infirmary.

Kayoko stands up, but before she can say anything, a hand rests on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, he’s in good hands.” George says calmly, although there is a hint of worry in his tone.

The fashionista bites her lip. “I know that, but-“

“He needs to get treated right now and our presence would only make things worse.” He cuts her in, then adds. “Right now we should focus on winning. For him.”

With a nod, the silver-haired teen sits back down again. “Yes… you’re right.

A tense silence fills the bench area as the Yumehara Dueling Club waited for the inevitable announcement to come.

“Now, for our final duel of the day-“ The Kurohane Headmistress’s voice comes, booming with a heavy tension that it didn’t have before. “-Kanzaki Hiroto Vs. Kurohane Takahashi!”

Taking a deep breath, the brunet gets up and starts to make his way out of the bench area.

“Hiroto-kun!” Umiko calls, making the boy look back towards her. “I won’t say good luck, because I know you can do it!” Her words of encouragement make him smile. “Kick his ass!”

“Thanks, Umiko.” With a soft chuckle, he looks towards the other two.

Kayoko gives him a thumbs up and George silently wishes him good luck with his eyes.

The star-eyed boy nods and strengthens his resolve before stepping away from his clubmates and down into the arena.

***

Hiroto feels his heart pounding nervously as he makes his way down to the arena.

Maneuvering around the holes left by the previous battle, the brunet comes to the center, where his opponent was waiting for him.

The ever-so-imposing Kurohane Takahashi.

“…!” Their eyes met and the brunet feels a shiver run down his spine.

He had the same look as before, one full of anger and frustration, that alongside his tall, muscular physique made the blond’s presence feel overwhelming.

But even so, Hiroto couldn’t back down now. The future of the dueling club, no, of Umiko’s dream, is resting on his shoulders. He couldn’t lose this battle.

“Are you ready?”

Yet, the star-eyed boy couldn’t deny that Umiko’s dream wasn’t the only reason why he had to fight. That feeling he always carried with him, that desire for violence that burned deep within his being, that too yearned for this duel.

Staring deeply into Takahashi’s eyes, Hiroto smiles.

It was time to-

“Fight!”