Pinner had somewhat taken the role of leader of this small group of Zodiacs, and it was for good reason as well. Out of the three, he saw himself as the strongest.
At times there would be fights within the Zodiacs, and at others, there were those that naturally knew their place among the group.
In this case, with three Altereds that had similar forms with the same type of powers, he knew his was the strongest, and so did the other two.
Yet, he was quite impressed with the result occurring right in front of him. He had hurled one of his spike balls at Kai, who had caught it with no fear and hurled it right back at Pinner.
The timing was perfect, and the moment it touched his face, the ball exploded, and smoke spewed out everywhere.
Pinner was taking a step back, sweeping his hands to clear the smoke. The moment he looked up, he could see a wolf running at him, leaping into the air and transforming back into a human-like werewolf.
A punch was thrown and blocked by Pinner, who raised both of his hands, but the hit was heavy, sending Pinner into one of the metal cars behind him.
Once again, he could see Kai coming for a follow-up, so Pinner desperately ripped the door off the car and used it as a shield.
When Kai’s punch hit, his hand ripped through the metal but was unable to reach Pinner.
Seeing this, strange sharp dark spikes appeared all over Pinner’s body. They extended out and wrapped around Kai’s legs and arms, continuing to constrict his muscles.
“You are quite feisty. I can see you’ve received some type of energy boost, right? Maybe a strength boost as well?” Pinner said.
“Seeing how I was able to create these out of my body and hurl them, you probably thought the best idea was to fight me up close. I can see you’ve got a good head on you.”
Kai tried to move his arms. He was pulling with his muscles, and although he could somewhat move, it was restricted. The strange spiked hair was intertwining and locking together.
“However, I’m from the One Gang, where Harvor is the AFC champion. Did you really think us Zodiacs had no clue how to fight up close?”
“Anyway, I guess it’s time to say goodbye.” Pinner took a step to the side, and all of the strange dark spiked hair that had been coming off his body and onto Kai separated from him.
Pinner was seen quickly moving away, and Kai noticed the strength in the hair was quickly fading. It no longer felt alive now that it wasn’t attached to Pinner’s body.
Something else was happening instead. The fur covering Kai’s body started to light up, just like the small balls did.
His entire body began to glow, and Kai now understood why Pinner was running away.
A large explosion erupted right where Kai stood. It pushed some of the cars and rubble further out and scorched the ground beneath his feet.
A smoke cloud could be seen from quite far before the black smoke was all that remained.
When everything started to settle, Kai was seen, his legs spread out, his arms hanging down by his side. Parts of his skin were patchy, looking burned or ripped apart.
The Howlers’ shirt, along with parts of his trousers, was almost completely destroyed in the explosion, and Kai himself was huffing and panting, having a tough time.
“You’re one tough cookie. You still managed to survive that?” Pinner said. “I’m quite curious. You guys almost seem the same as us.”
“All of you have a similar base of Altered forms, yet they’re all slightly different. Although you’ve got a head on you, yours doesn’t seem too special other than the fact that you can turn into a wolf!”
Pinner shouted as he swung both of his arms in the air, and instantly he released a rainfall of spiked balls.
He wasn’t just going to let Kai recover while he had the upper hand.
Kai had turned into his wolf form, and it didn’t look as healthy as it did before. Parts of the fur didn’t cover the skin, and wounds were still visible.
His speed wasn’t quite up to scratch either, but he managed to avoid most of the bombs falling from the sky. He had to predict which ones would land where first.
He avoided most of them until one landed on the ground too close to him. The explosion flung him off to the side, crashing him into some rubble.
‘I’m not as sharp as I usually am…’ Kai thought. ‘Is this because I’ve spent so much time behind a desk… trying to help out the Howlers?’
While in the middle of this thought, a loud bang was heard. Due to his hearing, he could tell it was an explosion not far from where they were.
Kai noticed the look on Pinner’s face—it was one of slight concern.
Not long after, another large explosion went off in another direction. It sounded almost identical to the first and just as large as the one Kai had gone through.
“Both of them?” Pinner commented under his breath.
Kai started to smile.
“I guess from that look on your face, your friends aren’t doing so well, are they? I might be the only one lacking compared to them,” Kai smirked. “But there’s one thing I have that’s different compared to them.”
Pinner, annoyed, hurled a large spiked ball toward Kai, but in his wolf form, Kai easily avoided the attack.
When Pinner saw Kai again, this time there was something in his mouth—or more accurately, someone. With his strong jaws, Kai was chomping down on one of the Altereds that had fallen and been killed in the explosion from the highway.
He managed to wolf it down his throat fairly quickly, and his body was starting to feel energized.
“I’m willing to do anything to win!” Kai claimed as the wounds on his body began to heal.