NOVEL NEXT Episode XCIII: Kori’s Death Games Pt. II
Yosuke bounds onto the platform, facing his opponent. "Ready for your final match?" Kazuhiro sneers. Yosuke responds with a glare of pure fury. Suddenly, a cage of black ice springs up around the platform. "Wait, what is this? This wasn't in the letter!" Tokido exclaims in surprise. "Too bad; I like to make up rules as we go along," Yoji retorts smugly. Anger flashes across Tokido's face at this unexpected turn of events.
Juro approaches Tokido, his face etched with worry. "Why did they trap my brother in a cage?" he asks anxiously. "I don't know why they did it, but someone will pay for this," vows Tokido.
"In the death games, we don't bow; we just start right away," announces Kazuhiro as he lunges towards Yosuke with a punch imbued with green ice energy. The blow sends Yosuke flying into the ice cage, which remains unscathed by the impact. Juro watches nervously as Yosuke quickly recovers and retaliates.
The two combatants clash fiercely, their fists meeting in an explosive display of power and skill until Kazuhiro lands a kick to Yosuke's head that sends him spinning to the ground. Kazuhiro follows up with another kick to Yosuke’s gut and a punch to his head.
Yosuke rolls on the icy floor and crashes into the cage again before slowly rising to his feet only for Kazuhiro to grab him by his hair and land another punch to his stomach. However, Yosuke's hand glows white as he catches Kazuhiro's fist mid-strike.
With a swift headbutt from Yosuke, Kazuhiro is sent flying back across the platform where he collides hard with the icy bars of the cage. Blood trickles down Yosuke's forehead from the force of his own attack. His hands ignite with white flames as he charges towards Kazuhiro.
Seeing Yosuke approach, Kazuhiro launches a barrage of green icicles. Yosuke deflects them all and leaps into the air, landing several punches on Kazuhiro before receiving a punch to his own face.
Despite the blow, Yosuke manages to grab onto Kazuhiro's arm only to find it has turned into solid green ice. He falls back onto the ground with a thud, Kazuhiro dropping on top of him and pressing both feet into his gut in a crushing move that leaves Yosuke gasping for breath and coughing up blood.
"It seems like you are weaker than your brother," mocks Kazuhiro, laughing cruelly at his opponent's plight. "That's not true; my brother and I are equal in spirit," retorts Yosuke through gritted teeth and more coughed-up blood.
"Let me end this quickly so I can test your brother next," says Kazuhiro as he prepares his special move: Green Ice Horn Rush! Despite seeing it coming, Yosuke is unable to avoid the incoming attack completely but manages to counter with his own white flame punch leading to an enormous explosion.
Impressed by Yosuke's resilience, Kazuhiro is admonished by an angry Yoji who urges him to stop playing around and finish off their enemy. Ignoring him, Kazuhiro allows his green aura to surge skywards as he transforms into Gavekax, the Green Ice Kirin.
Despite trying to enter his spirit form, Yosuke is continuously knocked around by Kazuhiro’s swift attacks until finally one lands on his arm breaking it causing him to scream out in pain. As Kazuhiro charges up another attack right in front of Yosuke’s face, Yosuke's body begins to glow with a white flame aura. He unleashes the aura which pushes Kazuhiro off him.
Yosuke then fires off his own attack at Kazuhiro, who is unable to dodge in time and takes the hit. Although it damages him, it isn't enough to cause any permanent harm.
In retaliation, Kazuhiro powers up his Ultimate Move: True Green Ice Horn Bash! In response, Yosuke calls upon his own ultimate move: Max White Flame Burner! The two attacks collide causing an explosion that sends both fighters reeling.
Seeing their friend in such a dire state causes Juro's eyes to lose color as he collapses to the ground while Felix, Jax, and Lionel watch on in disbelief. FJ tries hard not to show his anger but feels a pang of pain in his heart while Rin-Rin begins to cry.
"You almost had me there, not" laughs Kazuhiro cruelly as he stands over the fallen Yosuke. "Maybe next time you'll train harder. Don't worry; you'll be joining your brother soon." His words are met with laughter from Takuji and approving smiles from the rest of the Kori brothers.
"As this fight continues, one of you will be next," warns Yoji ominously. "Soon this island will be easy to destroy." As he finishes speaking, Yosuke's eyes glaze over as memories flood back into his mind.
A flashback. Yosuke and Juro were training together when Juro swept Yosuke off his feet and punched him in the chest. "Nice hit, brother!" Yosuke yelled. Despite Juro's persistent strikes, Yosuke continually dodged until Juro finally landed a second hit. However, Yosuke countered it with a hit of his own and they both tumbled over.
"You are quick with your dodging ability," Juro remarked.
"Yeah, I learned a few things from Lionel," replied Yosuke. "Don't worry, you've gotten stronger with your striking since last time; you're getting quicker each time we spar."
"I picked up some tips from Jax," added Yosuke.
FJ dropped down onto the twins and ruffled their hair. "Are you guys ready to whoop some icy asses?" he asked, clenching his fist.
"You bet! I'm looking forward to fighting someone stronger than me; I feel confident that we can defeat them together and become the best fighters on the island," said Juro.
"Yeah, Team Checkmate will be on top and no one will be able to defeat us," FJ declared confidently.
"However, for some reason, I have this ominous feeling that I might not make it through this fight," confessed Yosuke nervously.
"Hey man, don't talk like that; those guys aren't even good compared to us. We'll all come out alive after this is over; we'll be back here celebrating with everyone else," FJ reassured him with a smile.
The night before the fight, right before they went to sleep, Yosuke turned to his brother and said solemnly, "Juro if anything happens to me take care of mom for me."
"Why are you talking like that?" questioned Juro alarmed by his brother's words.
"I just sense something bad might happen to one of us," Yosuke replied.
"Look, you aren't going to die; none of us are. I promise if anything happens, these so-called death games will be over sooner than you think and we'll be back here celebrating together," Juro reassured him with a positive smile before yawning and drifting off to sleep.
While sleeping, Juro muttered, "We are going to be the first twins in the world to win the Kung-Fu Championship." Hearing this, Yosuke smiled for the first time that day and fell asleep.
On the day of the fight, Juro's burn mark glowed black and his heart started beating irregularly. His eyes turned completely black for the first time ever and a black aura rose above him. As an ice cage lifted slightly so that he could get onto the platform, he sat next to his brother crying.
"I failed him. I promised he would live through this and I lied," Juro confessed as he clenched his fist so hard that his palms started bleeding heavily. Turning towards Kazuhiro, he said menacingly, "Now you're going to suffer."
"Pfff! You don't look scary at all; it isn't the first time someone has threatened me," retorted Kazuhiro.
FJ ran up to them on the platform too. "Please take Yosuke somewhere safe," requested Juro. FJ carried Yosuke's body away from the platform and set him down on a distant rock.
"We're going to kill them all - every last one of them," FJ declared grimly as tears streamed down their faces.
Tokido, Jax, Felix, and Lionel all came over to pay their respects to Yosuke. In response to Kazuhiro's taunt in the ring about meeting his brother's fate soon after their match was over, Juro yelled defiantly, "We will see about that!" as he charged right at him.