Makoto VS. Gepard, and a New Enemy

The whole rest of the day, Makoto paced back and forth, worrying about his upcoming fight with Gepard. What if he lost? Would that mean he wasn't actually the Chosen One, and that his coming to Eldoria was all just a big mistake? Did this Dragon that everyone seemed to worship pick the wrong person?

                   Was Makoto going to end up being laughed at, just like back on Earth?

Then, Katze walked up to Makoto. "Hey, um," he said, "can I talk to you about something for a sec?" Makoto turned around quickly, but nodded. "What is it?" He asked Katze, who chuckled sheepishly before speaking.
"So," he started, "I just wanted to let you know, Gepard wasn't mad; he's just naturally very straightforward and firm."
"Really?" Makoto asked awkwardly. "Mhm," Katze nodded. "He hasn't always been like that ーhe used to be gentle, actuallyー but ever since our Master..." his voice trailed off.
Makoto looked at him, not sure if he should ask him what happened. But before he could say anything, Katze sighed and tried to brush it off. "Well, it's probably around 10 PM now, you and Gepard will fight at midnight, so I'd say you should prepare."
Makoto nodded and went to the entrance and practiced a bit for the two hours that were left before his fight would start.

Those two hours passed by quickly though, because it only felt like thirty minutes when Gepard suddenly came back from outside the cave room. "Alright, it's time," he said, looking at Makoto, who nodded slowly. When everyone came forward, ready to watch the fight that was coming, Gepard teleported them all to the very top of Flame's Peak, where it was boiling hot, just like in Makoto's dream, but only the group outside of the arena didn't feel the heat.
'It's so foggy and hot,' Makoto thought, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"Why is it so hot up here??" Makoto shouted into the air, exactly like he did in his dream, which made the air feel hotter, also like in his dream. And just as he said this, Gepard appeared out of nowhere and almost hit him with a giant scythe. Makoto barely dodged, but Gepard struck again, though he missed again.
But the third attack, Gepard's scythe scratched Makoto's cheek. Makoto would've tried to attack him back, but the ice-cold scythe touching his face made him freeze. Just as Gepard attacked a fourth and fifth time, Makoto tried to fight back, but missed each time.
Gepard stopped for a few seconds, and said:

                                              "If you really are the Chosen One,
                                then tell me why you can't use your full power."

Makoto got worried and tried to hit him, but still missed. Then, suddenly, a strange chuckle sounded from somewhere. Makoto could see Gepard stop through the fog; he looked backwards, and then to the left and right.
'What was that?' Katze thought to himself, since no one outside nor inside the arena could see anything through the fog, though he sensed that something was up. 'It sounded like... one of those  people...!'

                                                               "Heh heh heh~..."
                       "Seems like you still haven't changed, ey, Schneeleopard~?"

Everyone looked around in nervously, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
"Who's there?!" Gepard shouted. "Show yourself!!"
Suddenly, the ground started shaking and the disappeared, though also it started getting cold.
Then, dark energy swirled around in a sphere for a few seconds before a person appeared between Makoto and Gepard from it.
The person, who seemed to be a young man(around 19), had short, loose, wavy blonde hair. His cherry colored eyes (along with most of his clothes being cherry or a grey variant) seemed to emit some kind of dark energy, one that Makoto hadn't seen before. The diamond shape on the young man's forehead also had this energy, and it seemed to be the source of it, Makoto thought.
"Well, well, well," the person said, landing on the ground slowly. "Fancy running into you here, Gepard."
Gepard stared daggers at this person. "Zain," he said in a low voice. "What are you doing here? You know what my Master said."

Zain chuckled at him. "Why, I was just in the area, and I happened to see this very important person~" he said, going up to Makoto and, using one gloved finger, tilting Makoto's chin upward.
Makoto recoiled though, having been made uncomfortable. 'Who the heck is this guy?!' Ryu thought to himself. "Why, I oughtaー" But before he could leave the barrier, Chihiro grabbed his arm to keep him inside. "No, wait," he said. "That guy's way too strong for us."

"But Chihiro, heー"

"I know, and I wanna slap him as much as you do, but he's too strong! I can sense it from here!"

Zain chuckled when Makoto stepped back; a weird, dark chuckled. "Awe, did I make him mad~? Ahaha~!" Gepard prepared to fight and said, "Zain, you have three seconds to step away from the Chosen One:"

                                                                               "One."

Zain stopped laughing, but the smug grin was still there.

                                                                               "Two."

'W-What's he plotting??' Katze thought, sensing something was up with how confidently Zain was standing right in Gepard's range of attacking. "Gepard, wait a minute!!" He shouted.

                                                                              "Three!!"

Zain either moved very quickly or teleported behind Gepard. "Gotcha," he said under his breath, a spear appearing in his hand. But instead of hitting Gepard, he hit the person who had teleported in his way:
he hit Katze.
"KATZE!!" Gepard screamed, running to catch Katze before he fell, and Zain teleported away with an evil chuckle.
"Katze, what the heck?!" Gepard shouted, sounding angry on the surface, but also worried.
"M-Master saidーnghー Master said to protect each other, and that's what I'm d-doing... ngh!"
Katze tried to talk, but Zain's spear had gone straight through his side, and the attack was sudden, too.
"He also said to think before you act!!" Gepard shouted. "You did protect me, but at what cost?!" And before Katze could try to answer, Gepard teleported everyone inside the cave of Flame's Peak.

(Later...)

Probably a couple hours had passed since Zain's ambush. Katze seemed to be fine, but any time he tried to sit up, since he still winced at the pain, Gepard would keep telling him to "stop trying to get up," that he "still needed to rest". Makoto could tell it was all because he was worried about Katze, but the way he got it across looked like he was mad.
Ryu, Chihiro and Shiro where standing in the corner of the room, away from Gepard and Katze, only because they were afraid they might make Gepard angry.
"Hey, Mako," Katze said quietly, gesturing for Makoto to come closer to him, which he did. "Uhm, yes?" Makoto said awkwardly, not sure if he would make Gepard mad by talking to Katze.
"So," Katze started, "I know this isn't the best time to explain this  to you, but remember when I said that thing about how Gepard didn't always seem cold and distant?" Makoto nodded.
"Well," Katze said, "I think I should explain the story to you."