The Lost one's journey

Part 25: Etapa part 2

After a bit of cheering, the hands circle back to the announcer. The arena becomes silent as seven detached hands float around Zam's back, each with a distinct color: blue, red, white, black, orange, yellow, and purple. The white one has a black scar on the center of it, with the black one also having this but a white one instead. Domo dashes towards him, quickly reaching him in the blink of an eye. He swings his claws at his head, with an ethereal tiger claw following it. A white shield appears, blocking Domo's attack. Zam grins as the black hand floats beside Domo, summoning a pistol and pointing it at his head. Domo hardly dodges in time as the gun fires off. He jumps back, far away from Zam. "What was that!?" He shouts, scared. Zam laughs as the black hand floats in front of him, swinging. "Oh, this little thing?" He says pointing at the pistol. "It's just a human invention from my world." The black hand then dissolves the gun as it returns behind Zam. The purple hand then floats out in front of Zam, splitting into two hands as a rapier creates itself in the hands. Zam then rushes over to Domo, kicking at him while his floating hands stab at him with the rapiers. Domo is hardly able to dodge his rapiers while blocking his kicks until his instincts kick in and he ducks down. A gunshot rings out, and Zam brings up the white shield again, blocking the shot. Zam kicks his leg perfectly straight up, striking Domo's jaw and sending him flying in the air. The yellow hand fires out, summoning a dagger to stab Domo in the chest. The tiger on Domo's back swats the hand to the ground, then lets out a ferocious roar so loud. Zam's floating hands are sent flying away from him briefly. Domo takes advantage of this by quickly landing and running towards Zam, his claws ready. Zam grins and moves towards Domo as well. As they meet, Domo swings his claws at him as the tiger attempts to bite at his head, but Zam instead slides between Domo's legs, summoning his red hand to him. Two bright red arms grow from his shoulders as the hands attach to them. The other hands dissolve into nothing as this happens. Zam takes an odd stance as he holds his arms up, seeming to spin them. Domo doesn't let him do anything, as he runs at him, attacking with both his claws and the tigers. "No, no, no, gatito (Kitty)," Zam says while shaking a finger at him. As Domo's attack is only a second away from Zam, he suddenly claps his hands, and Domo's hands and even the tigers hands stop moving and snap to the center of the circle Zam was making as he spun his hands. Zam doesn't let Domo react as he kicks his leg up, striking Domo's elbow. A loud snapping sound is heard as Domo screams in pain. His arms were broken by Zam's kick. Zam continues to attack, kicking only at his broken arms as he flicks his hands up somehow, causing Domo's hands to also rise up, prime for Zam's strikes. Zam unleashes a myriad of attacks in a blink of an eye as Domo screams out in pain and only breaks out of the odd force holding his arms up by pulling back so hard that it dislocates his shoulder. Domo jumps back, sweating in pain, but then he notices it. A red string is in the air. He looks at Zam's red arms and finally understands what happened. Domo pops his arms back into place at the cost of great pain by using the tiger. Despite the dire circumstances, Domo grins in excitement as his eyes contract even more, becoming a mere sliver now. "¡Eso es lo que me gusta gatito! (Now that's what I like, little kitty!) Come at me!" Zam shouts excitedly as Domo does just that. Meanwhile, Pocu Raphael and Folmon walk across the large desert, joined by Gary the fire golem. "How much farther is this supposed jewel of the desert lady, Raphael?" Folmon asks tiredly. "Still got a couple of hours of walking, Fol. Don't worry, once we get there, Etapa is a hop and a skip away." She happily says with a wide grin. "I wish I could share your optimism." He half-heartedly says "Mr. Rodet, is there too, right?" Pocu asks. "Yeah, he should be." Raphael lies. Returning to Zam and Domo, they are trading blow for blow, becoming more animalistic in nature. Zam uses his arms and legs to strike Domo, while Domo strikes back with his own arms and the tigers claws. The crowd during this entire battle seems to be quiet, but they are trembling in excitement, waiting to see who will remain standing. The struggle is broken as Zam jumps back, his body and face bruised from the intense fight. Zam, with a face of pure ecstasy and joy, looms up to the roof of the arena as his red arms slowly unravel back into the red hand. He shouts out. "¡A ESTO HE VENIDO! ¡VIDA O MUERTE! ¡GANAR O PERDER! ¡NADA DE ESO IMPORTA AHORA! ¡SIGAMOS HASTA QUE NO PODAMOS MAS DOMO!" (THIS IS WHAT I CAME FOR! LIFE OR DEATH! WIN OR LOSE! NONE OF THAT MATTERS NOW! LETS KEEP GOING UNTIL WE CANT ANYMORE DOMO!). Despite not being able to understand Zam, Domo nods his head in agreement as the black lines on his face and body become sharper and more like the tiger on his back. A yellow hand attaches itself to Zam the same way the red one did. Knuckle dusters appear on Zam's yellow hand as he makes a fist. The announcer starts to talk again. "IT HAPPENED FOLKS! HIS SWITCH HAS BEEN FLIPPED! IS DOMO JUST THAT MUCH IT A THREAT TO OUR KING OF THE RING!?"He shouts as the crowd can no longer contain themselves and begins shouting. They cheer for Zam and Domo, letting out cries of support for the fighters, but to them, they might as well not even exist as they focus on their fight. Zam launches himself at Domo with a look of utter joy on his face. Domo manages to barely dodge Zam's fist but not his leg, as just as Zam misses, he extends his leg to kick him. Domo manages to put up a guard, but is still pushed back. Zam doesn't waste a single opportunity as he lands and dashes towards Domo. Domo also dashed at him. Both reel their fists back and manage to strike each other's fists, but Domo has an advantage that Zam doesn't have. His tiger goes to both claw at his back while trying to bite his head off. Zam responds with a kick, hitting that tiger's chin, then falling prone to the ground, only to spin back up and kick Domo down. Zam doesn't attack him as he falls; instead, he jumps back. "You can't use your tiger without focusing!?" He says seemingly disappointed. Domo stands up and doesn't respond; instead, he seems to start focusing. Zam grins and rushes at him once again, but he isn't fast enough to stop Domo. The tiger, once on his back, suddenly leaps off it and tackles Zam to the ground. Zam laughs in joy as this happens while matching the tigers strength and spinning it so it falls instead. "This isn't all you have, little Tigre! You fought your whole life, I can tell! Now show me the skills attainable only by years of battle!" Zam shouts out, sounding almost insane. Domo smiles with the same insane energy as Zam.