Wrath: Heh, I tried. Wait, aren't you that Hiro kid? Well, how about that. You weren't even close last time, how about a little redemption! At least you're not cowering this time.

Hiro lifts his sword, not speaking a word, Wrath generates a sword, and lifts it to meet Hiro. They look into eachothers eyes. Wrath with a smile, Hiro with a serious face.

--- Chapter 59 ---

Hiro dashes in, stabbing at him. Wrath summons out a dragon blade and lifts it to the side, blocking Hiros attack. The blades scrape against each other, Hiros blade over Wrath's left shoulder, their bodies close. Wrath looked into his eyes with a grin.

Wrath: You're all revved up, aren't you?

Hiro remains silent, backing up and releasing a flurry of slashes. Wrath moves his blade side to side, blocking every attack. Hiro swings with power, Wrath once again blocks it. With this, there is a stand still once again.

Wrath: You know how this will end. So why continue?

Hiro backs off a bit.

Hiro: I hoped I would be able to at least land a scratch with the sword. But it appears that was wishful thinking.

Wrath: Hm?

Hiro: Please, I need your help.

A large green seal glows around his chest. A sword hilt begins to emerge. He grabs the blade, it still has a sheath on it. He holds sideways in front of him. He grabs the cover, and tries to pull it off.

Click.

The cover doesn't come off, almost as if it's latched closed. Wrath was nervous but he began to laugh.

Wrath: Heheh, you really had me there.

Hiro sits there, a little embarrassed. But he looks up at him, and runs towards him, he swings the sheathed sword with power. Wrath blocks it, but there is a contest, like wrath isn't overpowering Hiro as bad.

Wrath: Unexpected, haha. Now, I'll take the offensive if you don't mind.

Wrath pushes Hiros blade away, and goes in, repeatedly slashing towards him. Hiro dodges and blocks a couple but he is getting injured. Hiro realizes his opponent is only toying with him, he isn't using anywhere near the power he had before. That, or his opponent is weakened. Within Wraths mind-

Within a black room Red stands, legs spread, and arms straight out to his sides. His eyes are closed. His eyes begin to blink open, as a purple iris. He sees a display in front of him, Hiro injured. He was seeing through wraths eyes.

Red: N-NO DON'T!

Wrath: It seems you're awake.

Red: Wha- what are you doing? WHO ARE YOU?!

Wrath: You need not worry about that.

Red tries to struggle, but he is almost stuck in this position.

Out of their mind, Wrath continues to attack and injure Hiro.

Wrath: Not gonna try and fight back?

Hiro: I'm just biding my time. Your movements are getting slower.

Wrath: Hm? Is that so? What of it?

Hiro looks up into his eyes, with one eye glowing.

Hiro: Not to toot my own horn, but getting slower in a battle against me is a very bad thing.

Wrath: A little cocky are we?

Hiro swiftly moves in and rapidly attacks at Wrath.

Wrath: He's right, I am getting slower. With Red awake trying to break connection, Red not having wrath but is actually feeling bad for him, and the amount of force I used earlier is really taking a toll on me. No matter, we still have only just begun to have fun.

Wrath swipes away Hiros attempts at damage. He then begins to slash, actually trying, his speed is much quicker then Hiro could anticipate. Hiro flies back after taking a lot of damage. Wrath brings his sword up, and begins to plunge his sword down, in an attempt to mortally wound him. In the mind, Red shakes violently, and eventually their heads separate, one head with red eyes and the other with blue.

Red: ENOUGH!

Wrath stops his attack, seemingly struggling.

Wrath: I got careless. I know this will use power, but I cant have him hinder my fight anymore.

Red continues to fight it, his arms coming loose and being able to move. But as there overlapping bodies begin to separate, a glowing black insignia like tentacle moves along the skin, and reaches out around both of their arms, body, legs, and lastly head. The tentacles pull them in with force, binding them in an overlapping state.

Wrath: Forced synergy.

Hiro had gotten up and Wrath began to move again.

Red: Hiro, I hope I gave you enough time.

Hiro, covered in blood stands before Wrath, staring him in the eyes, like he wasn't deterred in the slightest.

Click.

Wrath looks confused. Hiro smiles.

Hiro: I'm ready, perfectly.

He brings his sword up and unsheathes it, as if the latch had been undone. As the blade slides out of the sheath, it releases a burst of blue energy, Wrath leaps back. The blue energy flows around the blade. He drops the cover as it bursts into energy. Hiro rushes in and slashes with his blade, the whirling of blue energy weights down on Wrath's defense. Wrath uses his strength to push him away, this time breaking a sweat. Hiro leaps into the air putting all his strength into one attack. Wrath blocks and there in a stand still.

Wrath: My strength is running low, I have to do it!

A black energy swells around his left hand, and condenses into a thin layer around his hand. The colors start to shift and it looks like his normal hand, but instead its skin color is a bale gray, with some darker spots and long sharp black nails. He reaches forward towards Hiros head.

Wrath: Dark art, Wrath empowerment!

…

He says this but nothing seems to happen.

Wrath: Wait, what? How didn't I notice this before! Why, why do you not hold any hatred toward me, or anger. You only feel determined. How come?

Hiro: What is there to hate about, you did our job for us, and i'm confident I will get my friend back, so I don't see a reason to hate you.

Wrath cracks a smile.

Wrath: This kid.

Hiro shifts his power downward, causing Wrath's blade to also go down. Hiro plants his feet and begins to shift and spin. Wrath notices the blade is heavy, slowing his movements, and he thinks to himself “I’ll be able to block and counter this.”, causing him to smile slightly.

Wrath: No reason to hate me? But I'm part of the reason your friend got hurt, isn't that reason enough?

He's watching hiro spin, and hiro cracks a grin of his own. Wrath gets confused, and as he does there's a green flash. Hiro summons his lightweight katana, and swings at immense speeds, flying right towards his head.

Ting.

Wrath: That was close.

The blade stopped but an inch from Wrath's face. The reason why it stopped is Wrath used his razor sharp fingernail to stop it. Hiro’s face showed the first hint of fear.

Wrath: Let's finish this up shall we?

Wrath lifts his grey hand up, energy beginning to gather at it. He begins to drive it down into Hiro. But, his right hand grabs his wrist before he does.

Wrath: What?!

Red: Heh.

Wrath: You! What did you-

He exclaims out loud, not trying to hide it.

Red: When you did that thing with your hand, your grip loosened.

Wrath: Why you!

Hiro backs off, he doesn't want to hurt his friend, and it no longer feels like his battle. Within the mind Red struggles free of the black tendrils and they seperate. Wrath looks over at Red, still smiling.

Wrath: I must say, you made a pretty good move. But it's still my turn!

Wrath runs toward Red, but before he gets there, a furious roar fills the air, the dark surroundings start flashing and glowing red. Wrath stops and looks around, with a fearful yet spiteful look on his face.

Wrath: You. Fine, you win this round Red, but this isn't over, not for a very long time. Even if it takes a thousand years.

The walls return to black and Wrath turns around and walks into the darkness. Red blinks into his body, which is no longer glowing. He looks over at a very bloody Hiro.

Hiro: Good, you’re back.

He gives a thumbs up, the energy around his sword flairs up as the sheath of it forms around the blade sealing it. Red gives him a thumbs up back before falling over unconscious.