Ryo and Itsuki stood in the middle of Egghead's futuristic cityscape, glass towers and neon panels reflecting off their bodies as tension crackled through the air like static before a storm. Ryo rolled his neck, then grabbed the edges of his shirt and tore it clean off — fabric snapping under his fingers.
The wind licked across the map of scars etched into his skin, every mark a piece of the brutal life he'd lived. But on his back, where a Celestial Dragon once burned their brand into him, now burned a pillar of flame — the searing tattoo he'd etched over it to honour Ace. Itsuki's eyes lingered on it.
Itsuki: You've definitely grown stronger, but you're still hiding many things from me, but there's one thing I want to see
Ryo smirked, all fang and danger.
Ryo: Oh yeah and what's that scorpy
Itsuki's eye twitched at the nickname — venomously.
Itsuki: That form you used to face down Kaido
Ryo tilted his head, grin widening.
Ryo: Oh, you wanna see that huh
The wind grew heavier, the pressure around Ryo thickening until the floating debris started vibrating.
Ryo: on one condition
Itsuki's mouth tightened into a crooked smirk.
Itsuki: Ooh, Do tell?
Ryo's grin sharpened further.
Ryo: you have to respond in kind, you've got stronger too so I want to see it, show my what that scorpion devil fruit of yours can truly do
Itsuki looked genuinely impressed for the first time.
Itsuki: so you figured it out..
The ground beneath them trembled. Their hair rose. Machines sparked and flickered from the sheer aura these two monsters were releasing.
They didn't blink. Didn't breathe.
Then—simultaneously—them both smirked and jumped back, boots grinding into the pavement.
Ryo inhaled.
Ryo: Kyokitsune!
Lightning exploded outward in an expanding dome, swirling violently around him.
His body dropped to all fours as his spine tensed, muscles tightening visibly beneath his skin. Electricity crawled across him like living serpents. His one red eye glowed molten gold... then slit into a fox's predatory gaze.
His hair split — half black, half white — whipping through the storm of electricity. His fox ears sharpened, tail bristling. Golden markings carved themselves across his arms and shoulders, igniting like divine script.
Then came the sound— A rising electric guitar riff echoing from nowhere and everywhere.
Itsuki instinctively took a step back, body falling into a stance. Ryo's heartbeat — The Call of the Storm — pulsed through the air, vibrating the metal beneath their feet.
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Itsuki: This'll be fun..
Ryo's voice crackled like thunder.
Ryo: Show me!
Itsuki nodded once — and the ground cratered beneath him as his transformation began.
His eyes burned into glowing gold slits. A black, glossy shell spread across his skin like living armour, pulsing with faint red veins of poison. His hair spiked upward, streaked with crimson.
Chitin ripped through his skin — four segmented scorpion limbs bursting from his back, each ending in a wicked curved stinger. A massive tail erupted behind him, arching high with venom glowing like molten ember.
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Poison mist drifted off him in coiling waves.
Itsuki (raspy): let's-
He never finished.
Ryo appeared in front of him without warning — so fast it distorted the air.
Itsuki froze as molten gold stared into his soul—
Then Ryo's fist slammed into his face, detonating like a bomb.
Itsuki flew through three buildings, steel and glass exploding outward.
He barely regained control mid-air—
Only to see Ryo descending on him, claws raised.
Itsuki: Shave!
He vanished just in time. Ryo's strike carved a trench through the ground like it was soft dirt.
Ryo turned with a feral growl, heartbeat loud enough to shake windows.
Ituski: Toxic flicker!
Itsuki reappeared behind Ryo, hulking body towering over him.
Itsuki: Rankyaku! Venom Crescent!
A massive red blade of poisonous air ripped through the sky toward Ryo—
But Ryo blinked out of existence.
He reappeared behind Itsuki, lightning swirling into a black-and-white spiral around his fist.
Ryo: Raigeki Gokui!!
He drove the punch into Itsuki's gut—
But Itsuki crossed his arms.
Itsuki: Tekkai! Obsidian carapace!
The impact detonated, the explosion ripping the street apart. For a second, Itsuki held firm— Then his armour cracked.
He was blasted backward, slamming into a tower hard enough to crater it.
Ryo stood amidst the smoke, golden eye burning.
Ryo: alright, so you're stronger than I thought
Itsuki crawled out of the wreckage, roaring — a deep, monstrous, insect-like sound.
Itsuki: I will not lose to you!
Ryo's lightning intensified, storm clouds forming above him unnaturally fast.
Ryo: Well then, Why don't you just try and kill me!
They crouched at the same time — two predators syncing perfectly.
Ryo: Senko shunrai!!
Itsuki: Toxic flicker!!
Ryo's body collapsed into swirling black-and-white lightning before blinking out of existence entirely.
Itsuki's form blurred, dissolving into streaks of venom and motion.
They vanished.
The city trembled as two monsters resumed their dance — faster, deadlier, and more ferocious than ever before.
