White Wolf's Wing, part 8

Eight: Training and Tournament:


Kiba always thought he could keep track of time, but the next several months flew by with remarkable speed. With all the training he had to undergo, it was a wonder he could keep up with school and his martial arts training with Kurogawa. Raphael Kideris, or Raph as he like to be called, and Sasha helped out in transformations and use of claws and fangs (but only in self-defense); Antonio, being a weredragon, taught him how to fly even with a lot of weight on his back. It was also during his flight lessons (which took place at night) Kiba discovered he actually had acrophobia, or fear of heights. But with Antonio's help, he overcame it rather quickly.
Several weeks into his training, Gary Price made a surprising discovery about Kiba himself. It turned out despite having his immense arcane power sealed up by the wolf's head pendant, Kiba still had Caster abilities. Specifically, he had magical abilities centered on weather manipulation, which meant Kiba could control lightning and wind, and could even create huge thunderstorms, just like the superhero Thor from Marvel Comics. But at least he didn't need a hammer called Mjolnir. Needless to say, Kiba knew he could not use the Caster abilities yet, as weather manipulation would cause a lot of problems within the human world.


Halloween turned out to be a bit more fun than he anticipated. His school hosted a party for a large number of teenagers, including the team members of the Dragons. And it was certainly a night to remember. He found that incredibly ironic, since he normally didn't celebrate this holiday.
The day of Halloween itself, which did not coincide with a full moon (not that Kiba had to worry about it, since the moon had no influence on Therians), started out just like a normal school day, but of course a lot of students, mainly freshman and sophomores, dressed up in rather ridiculous costumes. Comic book characters, vampires (ironic, in every sense of the word), celebrities, and other ideas filled the hallways of Fox Field High. Kiba didn't dress up, and neither did Carly, but Joey did.
"Joey, are you going retro?" Carly asked at one point.
"I'm Van Helsing," Joey replied. And Kiba noticed he certainly looked like it. The costume looked very much like what Hugh Jackman wore in the movie, but without any of the weapons shown in the film (none were appropriate for school, not even the silver stake). Joey even went so far as to get a wig which looked very much like what Kiba's hair used to be before his Awakening.
"Caught any 'monsters' lately?" Kiba asked, barely maintaining a straight face when he said that. "Or is Count Vladislaus Dragulia evading you once again?" Joey, however, had no such luck; he burst out laughing so hard he nearly banged his head against one of the student lockers.
"Oh, my God, Kiba," Joey finally spoke after he calmed down. "When did you get such a sense of humor? You're just like Steve Martin."
"Get outta here," Kiba retorted. "I'm nothing like him."
"Yeah, you have a point. So are you coming to the party tonight?"
"Of course I am."
"So am I," Carly added.
"Is that what you're going as?" Kiba asked Joey.
"Yeah," Joey replied. "And I have a dance partner."
"Who would that be?" Carly asked.
"Her." Joey pointed down the hallway toward a woman dressed in a late 19th-century corset, and who looked very much like the character Anna Valerious. But underneath the black wig and 19th-century clothing, Kiba recognized who was really there.
"Sasha Pratt, huh?" Kiba whispered. "That's unexpected."
"It took a little persuading," Joey spoke. "But I convinced her I wouldn't try anything stupid... after she showed me her claws."
"She did what?" Carly asked.
"She told me she was a weretiger."
"Oh, that explains it."
"Hey, there, Van Helsing," Sasha told Joey as she came up to them.
"That's a good look for you, Sasha," Joey stated, glancing over all her costume. Kiba thought he could see something in his friend's eyes. Was that... admiration, or was it something else?
"Thanks," Sasha replied to Joey's comment. "But this corset is a pain to wear. I don't know how women back then could handle these things."
"Who knows," Kiba commented.
"By the way," Joey began, "what are you two coming as?"
"I'll leave that to your imagination," Kiba replied, giving a faint smirk.
"As will I," Carly added.
Kiba could not help but smile at that.


Later that night, Kiba was dropped off by Dad, but he wasn't "in costume" yet. Once he got inside the school and found a restroom, he entered the handicap stall, making sure no one else was there. His werewolf hearing told him no one was within fifty feet of him, so for now he was safe. He quickly got out of his normal clothes (except his boxers) and transformed, but restrained himself from changing his entire body. His head remained in human form, as his training with Raph allowed him to do partial shifting, which wasn't easy to say the least. And the wings did not grow out.
Once he had changed his body (most of it) into Therian form, Kiba went into his backpack and fished out the fake wolf's head, which Mom had painted white to match his fur, and even colored the fake eyes to match his own - the right eye went gold, while the left one was his natural blue. He also got out his large winter boots, his special fingerless gloves, and his 3XL red t-shirt depicting a vicious werewolf like something out of a horror movie. This image always cracked him up, since werewolves in reality were not monsters unless they chose to be, and Kiba would never choose to be one.
Lastly, he pulled out the large pair of jeans he wore whenever in Therian form, and put them on rather quickly, since he didn't want to miss the beginning of the party. Once he put on the shirt and his gloves and boots, he made sure his tail (yes, it did grow out at his command) was more or less stationary; if it moved around too much, people would probably get suspicious. He then put the backpack on, and then secured the fake wolf's head so the flaps went under the collar of his shirt. And that pretty much finished up his idea of a "Civilized Werewolf." No doubt a lot of people would find this weird. But then again, weirdness was relative, as Barnabas Collins would say.
He exited the bathroom, and found the hallways deserted, mostly. Nearly everyone was by the gym, judging by the sounds in his ears (even with the fake head on, his hearing was still sharp enough to find other sounds), and it was starting to get crowded. He made his way carefully over there, keeping an eye out for anyone who might want to "fire a silver bullet at him." Like that could ever happen; the necklace he wore to keep his immense thaumatic power sealed was made of silver, and didn't burn him in the slightest. But he did have to be careful around nitric acid, which was rather dangerous, even more so when combined with silver. In other words, silver nitrate was what he had to avoid.
Finally, he approached the gym over past the H and J wings of the school, but again no one was around to see him... yet. Except for someone wearing a red cape and a medieval-style dress. That was unmistakably Carly.
"Carly," he whispered, "over here." He waited as she approached, and wasn't surprised when she nearly jumped at his appearance.
"What the hell are you?" she asked.
"Carly, it's me," Kiba replied, taking off the wolf's head. A look of recognition entered her eyes.
"Kiba, that is one great costume." She quickly looked him over.
"It's not entirely a costume," Kiba admitted. "Most of this is part of my Therian form. The tail, for example, it's actually real."
"Are you serious? This was your idea of a costume?"
"Being a werewolf has many advantages. And I can control what parts to shift. That's why my head still looks human."
"But why are you so tall?"
"Can't help it. When I shift, I grow a few inches. My full Therian form is over seven feet tall." He then put the wolf's head back on, securing it under the collar of his werewolf shirt.
"I see. Well, shall we, Mr. Wolf?" Carly asked.
"It would be my honor, Red Riding Hood," Kiba replied in the best British accent he could create. He then held out his arm, which she took in her left hand. And on they went, toward the gym. Kiba felt his wolf tail start to wag in pleasure from Carly being with him, and he forced it to stay still, or at least sway gently.
As Kiba expected, the lobby in front of the gym was crowded, but he knew it would be worse inside. Part of him wondered why people went to these things, but he told himself it would be worth it. After all, how often did a werewolf get to show off at a high school party?
He knew once he stepped into the lobby, people would go nuts over his costume. And sure enough, they did. But he kept silent and let Carly do all the talking. The party went on, with large amounts of dancing and some rather spooky tactics. And when it came time to announce the best costumes in the party, Kiba just listened as various people won in certain categories. Some freshman, Yasmine Yusuf, won "Scariest Costume" by dressing up as a witch; a second freshman, Ezekiel Lane, won "Goofiest Costume" by doing an impression of a court jester, and even acting like one. And a sophomore, Adam Thatcher, won "Most Original and Innovative Costume" for dressing up as something Kiba couldn't identify. Honorable mentions went out to Oscar Tyrell (who Kiba recently found out was a werepanther) for his werepanther "costume", Mike Haretis for his depiction of Iron Man (yes, the comic book character), and to the beauty queen of the school, Gabriella Veshon, for her Miss America look.
But what happened next caught Kiba off-guard entirely, to the point his head nearly turned to its Therian form.
The supervising staff member (Kiba couldn't remember her name) then announced the top three greatest costumes for the party. In third place was Tom Haretis, who was dressed up as Edward Elric from "Fullmetal Alchemist" and even had real metal covering his right arm to simulate the character's auto-mail. Second place went to Joey and Sasha for their cosplay of Van Helsing and Anna Valerious, and most people didn't even recognize them until their names were called.
"And now," the announcer spoke, "our number one costume - or should I say, costumes - go to..." A drum roll came from out of nowhere, scaring a few people. "Little Red Riding Hood and the Civilized Werewolf." Instantly, a spotlight shone down on Kiba and Carly, and most people were amazed at Kiba's costume, but clearly, no one (except his friends and those who were part of the Packhouse) had any idea who was under the wolf's head.
They walked down a path toward the makeshift stage and slowly went up there.
"Well, it looks like we have... Carly McAllister as Red," the woman spoke. "But who is this handsome and very realistic werewolf? Could you tell us who you are?" She held the microphone close to him so he could speak clearly.
"I thought the costume was a good clue," Kiba replied.
He could hear murmuring in the crowd, as people began making the connection, and then someone out there yelled out his name.
"It's the White Wolf, Kiba Hunterson!!"
At that, the gym rocked with applause, and Kiba could feel himself blushing hard; it was a good thing he still had on the wolf's head, because he was certain his skin had literally turned red. Or was it beginning to shift?
He certainly hoped not!


Several more weeks passed, and finally Kiba's favorite season hit: winter. Around December 15 or so, the first snowfall hit. But it was around the winter break when things started getting interesting. And Kiba got some real experience in being a werewolf.
Snow was falling in a rather thin curtain around the nature preserve close by his home, as Kiba walked carefully in that area. He had not been near this stretch of woods since being attacked by whatever bit him (he honestly couldn't be sure if it was actually another werewolf who had bitten him that day), and even now, the place didn't exactly look friendly. But at least it wasn't nighttime; the sky was a definite grey from the heavy clouds dropping crystallized water all over town, but there was enough light from the sun leaking through for anyone to see. Not that he needed it, since his vision was much sharper than it used to be.
He found the pathway leading into the trees, and as he started walking down there, it seemed like two things were overlapping in his vision. One was a snow-covered beauty with the trees completely devoid of leaves, the other was a green forest lit by the moon. That's when it hit him; his memories of that night, when his life changed, had not been forgotten, just suppressed by the shock of it all. It all came flooding back, but now that he thought about it, it really didn't matter. Dad's words from several weeks ago came back into his mind, that he could not fight his own heritage or sense of self-being. And he had grown to accept it; he didn't care who had bitten him or why. Besides, being a werewolf had a lot of advantages. And disadvantages. Just by scent and hearing alone, he could tell what other people had done as far back as four days, even their... private stuff (let's leave it at that).
He heard a rustling behind him, and his inner wolf went nuts, saying something was close by and about to come toward him. He quickly sniffed the air, and caught a faint scent downwind. Definitely familiar.
"Get out of the tree, Joey," he spoke out loud.
"Damn it," Joey cursed. "I can't seem to sneak up on you anymore." Kiba heard him jump out of a tree and walk toward him. His friend wore a thick red parka and a sort of greyish-brown pair of waterproof pants, as well as highly insulated hiking boots, a thick scarf showing the logo of the Washington Nationals, and a thick band covering his ears but leaving his black hair exposed.
"You can't sneak up on a werewolf," Kiba told him. "But nice try, though."
"Oh, well."
"What are you doing here?"
"Just taking a walk. Besides, I like the cold air. Nice and refreshing."
"I know what you mean. I just haven't been here in a while, not for several months."
"How come?"
"This is close to where I was attacked. And I'm starting to remember what happened that night."
"Do you know exactly what attacked you?"
"At the time, I most likely thought it was a dog, but now I'm not so sure. Like I said before, whatever attacked me awakened my werewolf blood. And to be honest, I don't really care who bit me."
"I'm not sure if I ever asked this," Joey said after a few seconds of silence. "But, what is it like, being a werewolf?"
"I don't really know how to answer that," Kiba replied. "I guess the best way to describe it is like this: my senses are a lot sharper and more accurate than they used to be. Not to mention I have much more strength and speed than before."
"Can you give an example?"
"An example. Okay. You see that pond over there?" He pointed to a large oval shape in the trees, where a small pond usually rested. A thick layer of snow covered the icy surface, and more just added on to it given the current snowfall.
"Yeah," Joey replied. "What about it?"
"Does it look like it is safe to walk on?" Kiba asked.
"I have no idea."
"Guess."
"Well, maybe, but I have no idea."
"It isn't. Part of the ice is in some kind of semi-liquid state, sort of like a mush. For ice to be safe, it has to be at least 3 feet thick. And right now, it's nowhere near that thick. You try walking it, you can say hello to hypothermia and frostbite."
"Damn, how did you figure that out? The pond is about fifty feet away."
"I can hear the mush ice moving about."
"Your hearing is that good?"
"Yeah. I can even tell there's a squirrel hibernating over there in that tree." He pointed toward a large oak about one hundred feet way.
"Whoa, that is beyond awesome. Now you're having me wish I was a werewolf."
"If you want-"
"I'm kidding. I'm fine as a human."
"Glad to hear it. Because I am in no mood to biting anybody."
He paused. Did he really hear that? A faint cracking sound, like a branch being broken, sounded through the trees.
"Kiba, what is it?" Joey asked. He replied by holding up his hand for silence. Neither one of them spoke, as Kiba let his werewolf hearing take over. All the sounds in the woods came to him, helping to form a sort of map in his mind. Sure enough, something sounded out of place. Something, or someone, was heading toward them, and didn't sound very friendly. He focused his hearing on that figure, only to "see"… dozens of them.
Then came a sound which chilled him considerably. A deep moaning and screeching combined together, to create some kind of alien sound. He'd heard reports on something like this before. Add to that, his magical wristband was glowing intensely bright, but Joey couldn't see that.
"Kiba, what was that?" Joey asked, sounding scared.
"It doesn't make sense," Kiba whispered. "Why are they striking in winter?"
"What's going on?"
"Something's coming. Joey, no matter what happens, stay close to me."
"What's coming?"
"Ghouls."
"What are they?"
"Vampires who have been deprived of blood. They're like starving zombies. No matter what happens, don't let them touch or bite you."
"Got it!"
No sooner did he say that, Kiba spotted several figures running at high speed toward him. Definitely ghouls, given how much they looked like zombies. Many of them looked heavily decayed, with pieces of flesh literally falling off them. Since vampires didn't die by starvation, they instead rotted if deprived of blood for a certain period of time. And what he saw now was the result. But why would the Nocturanla Coven create these things? Based on what Bruce had said, the local vampires didn't act like the monsters shown in movies.
He did a quick change into his Therian form without ruining his clothes (they were made for large bodies such as his), but didn't grow out the wings, as he would not need them yet. The ghouls came closer, running like they were possessed.
Kiba went in, claws unsheathed, and lashed out, cutting off the heads of the closest ghouls and turning them to ash instantly. Joey just hung back, clearly scared out of his mind, and nearly screamed when a ghoul came very close to touching him. But Kiba came around at high speed, kicking up snow and ice, to literally rip the undead figure in half, leaving only a pile of ash. Within seconds, nothing was left of the ghouls except ash.
"Thanks," Joey told him. "Uh, Kiba, what is that?" He pointed toward something in the air. Kiba looked to where he was pointing, and saw a large winged figure coming right at them.
<Is that Bruce?> he wondered. <No, it can't be. My wristband is glowing like crazy. It doesn't do that around Bruce, because he's half-werelynx.>
The figure swooped down over them, forcing them to duck, but then continued onward up into the air, toward the street.
"Oh, shit," Kiba cursed. He then stripped off his coat.
"What are you doing?" Joey demanded. "You can't catch something in the air!"
"Actually, I can," Kiba replied. "Hold my coat." Joey took it, and Kiba concentrated hard. In just two seconds, his hawk-like wings grew out, and he flexed them to make sure they were ready. Because the shirt he wore had the special holes in them, it didn't tear apart.
"Kiba, how did you do that?!" Joey inquired.
"I'll explain later," Kiba replied, flapping his wings hard so he levitated off the ground. He could hear Joey's gasp of amazement as the ground fell away from him and then the trees. Ignoring his acrophobia, he searched the area for the flying ghoul, and found him about to hit the nearby playground.
<Oh, no you don't,> Kiba thought, flapping his wings very hard to gain speed. He caught the thing just before it reached the area with sledding kids. The ghoul fought back, trying to bite him, but Kiba went straight for the creature's throat. In just a few seconds, a large amount of ghoul ash scattered about, while the snow and wind kicked up a curtain to shield him from being seen by all the little kids. He then turned around, fighting the wind itself and headed back to where Joey was waiting.
"Kiba, how did you grow wings?" Joey asked as he made a gentle landing on the snow-covered pathway.
"It's a part of my heritage, Joey," Kiba replied, folding up his wings and taking his coat. "I'm part werehawk on my father's side. That's how I'm able to grow wings and fly."
"Incredible," Joey commented, studying Kiba's feathered appendages. "So this is your alternate form?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Nice. But what was with all those ghouls?"
"I have no idea."
As it turned out, Kiba and Joey were not the only ones attacked by ghouls that day. When Kiba reported this to Antonio, he learned similar attacks had occurred on Raph, Bruce and Wolfram. Luckily, no one in either the human or the Gifted Ones world had been seriously hurt. But not even Gary could answer the mystery of why the ghouls attacked in a snowstorm or even where they came from. By Antonio's decree, Kiba was not allowed to tell Joey about the county-wide incidents, so Joey assumed the ghoul thing was an isolated thing.


January came around, and winter just intensified, with snowstorms coming one right after the other. But it didn't interfere with Kiba's martial arts training, or his training to master his Therian side. Even his father helped out, keeping him busy with workouts and other things. Not to mention Kiba got quite a workout with shoveling snow off the driveway, since his Caster abilities didn't help in that respect.
The 17th of January came around, and it was time for the third county-wide martial arts tournaments in the public county school system. This time, they were being hosted at Wild Eagle Stadium, which was normally used for roller hockey and basketball. Kiba found a place to set his things down, and did a quick change into his martial arts outfit, which also included his brown belt indicating his rank in experience. As he put on his white outfit and secured his hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, he heard a voice from just outside the men's locker room. Carly.
"Kiba, are you in there?"
"Just hold on a sec," Kiba replied, rapidly stashing his stuff in the locker, then securing it with the key he had. He then went to the entrance to see Carly had already changed into her outfit, which had a white belt instead of a brown one, given she was still a novice at this.
"Hey, there," he began. Then he noticed she had a rather weird look in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I'm just worried about you," Carly replied.
"I'm not going to lose that easily."
"I'm not worried about you losing. I'm just concerned you might go overboard."
"I'll be fine, Carly. I'm in full control of my abilities. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll win this one."
"You think so?"
"Trust me. And no, I am not using my Therian power in this fight."
"That's good to hear." They then embraced each other.
"Hey, guys," Jason interrupted. Kiba and Carly let go of each other.
"What is it, Jason?" Kiba asked.
"The other schools are here. And we're the last ones to be announced."
"How many?" Carly inquired.
"Seven others, but we have the largest team."
"Jason, are you sure you'll be okay out there?" Kiba asked. "You know how frenetic these things can get."
"It's okay," Jason replied. "Gary put a long-lasting spell on my wristband. It'll make me look human even if I'm injured during the fight."
"Say what?" Carly asked.
"Long story," Kiba told her. "Let's go."
The three of them headed down the hallway toward the arena. Kiba felt a huge amount of anticipation and anxiety building up inside him, enough to drive his inner wolf nuts, but he forced himself (and the wolf inside) to calm down. He looked out toward the arena, and could see at least fifty other kids gathered around the gigantic combat ring.
"This is going to be fun," Joey commented from in front of him. Kiba could not agree more.
Then the announcing began, from the commentator who was broadcasting this to the schools watching this event. Kurogawa-sensei stood in his designated spot, ready to announce the Fox Field High Dragons. In less than three minutes, only Oscar, Sasha, Jason, Joey, Carly and Kiba had yet to be called, but they didn't have to wait long.
"Number eleven," Kurogawa spoke in his microphone, "Oscar 'Panther' Tyrell." Oscar went out to be greeted by a large round of applause, and he certainly seemed to enjoy the attention.
"Number twelve, Sasha 'Tigress' Pratt." Again, another round of applause, plus a few wolf whistles aimed at her admittedly sexy look (her martial arts attire fit like a cat-suit).
"Number thirteen, Jason 'McCloud' Mikeralas." More applause sounded out, and Jason just strolled in, clearly ignoring the attention he got. Kiba figured he wasn't one to truly yearn for the spotlight, given his Anthro-Fox nature.
"Number fourteen, Joseph 'Silver Tiger' Park." Joey went out with a rather confident atmosphere around him, and Kiba could hear someone calling him a show-off; he could not help but smirk at that when Joey just acted like a minor goof. Typical of him to pull a surprise in something like this.
"Number fifteen, Charlene McAllister." Carly gave Kiba a quick glance, to which Kiba replied by giving her an encouraging look. She then went out, to receive a large amount of applause, and a few surprised comments, given she was usually known for cheerleading.
"Here we go," Kiba whispered to himself.
"And finally," Kurogawa spoke, "number sixteen, our famous White Wolf, Kiba Hunterson." The second Kiba stepped out of the shadows, the entire stadium erupted in cheers and whistles of encouragement. He tuned out most of the deafening noise and focused on the task at hand.
Round One went very smoothly, with no disqualifications or injuries of any kind. Kiba took out his enemy in only two minutes, deliberately holding back so he didn't accidentally demonstrate his werewolf abilities. Rounds Two and Three also went without a hitch, and by this time, two schools had been eliminated.
But Round Four proved to be very hectic.
Kiba faced his fourth enemy, who turned out to be Guo Lin-Mei, a very experienced fighter from Thompson High, Fox Field's greatest rival. And she was not holding back at all. Kiba ended up having to use a tiny bit more strength than before, but not enough to expose his werewolf side, and managed to render her unable to fight for a while. Definitely not easy beating up a girl. As he expected, he was the first one to finish on this round, and several others finished up. But the last fight of the round ended in a not-so-good way.
As he rested on the nearby bleachers, he heard a cry of agony which shocked him and everyone who had heard it. Kiba looked over to where the last fight was happening, and saw a huge brute of a boy slamming his foot right into Carly's left knee. Kiba's werewolf hearing took over instantly, and he heard a sickening crack, from inside Carly's leg.
<That idiot broke her damn leg!> he realized. As he noticed that, Carly came down on her side, clearly trying very hard not to scream in pain, but Kiba knew she would snap at some point.
"Oh, my- Ma'am, I'm sorry," Kiba heard the guy say to her. A time-out was called, and a medic was brought in to take Carly off the mat.
"Sensei, is she going to be all right?" Kiba called as the medic and Kurogawa took her toward the medical room.
"I certainly hope so," Kurogawa replied.
The announcer then called intermission, to allow the contestants a thirty-minute break. Kiba immediately went toward the medical room, with Jason and Joey behind him. He barely noticed everyone around him as he proceeded toward his destination. Once he got there, he came face-to-face with the McAllister family.
"Sonny, you're not allowed in there," a young nurse told him.
"It's all right," Mr. McAllister replied. "This is Carly's boyfriend." The nurse stood aside, while Kiba motioned for Jason and Joey to wait outside. The medical room was not crowded in any way, but it seemed small to him.
"Kiba," Kurogawa spoke as soon as he noticed him.
"How is she, sensei?" Kiba asked.
"It appears her leg has been broken. She will not be able to continue fighting. If you want some time with her, I will allow it."
"Arigato, sensei." Kiba then went over to Carly's side.
"Hey, Kiba," Carly spoke in a pain-laced voice. "Some warrior I turned out to be, huh?"
"Don't talk like that," Kiba told her. "You'll be fine. They'll probably just put a cast on it. I've had a few broken bones myself."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll go out there and finish this for you, okay?"
"Kiba, you don't have to fight for me. I joined this because I wanted to."
"I know that. But what else can I fight for? I don't fight for glory or fame. I fight for honor... and for the one I love."
She could not help but smile at that.
"Then go kick some ass, White Wolf."
"I intend to." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then left the room.
The break ended soon, and Round Five commenced. Since Carly was injured and her opponent disqualified, that left an odd number of contestants. Out of random chance, Kiba was chosen to automatically move on to the next level, while the others paired off randomly and finished the round. During this round, Kiba noticed Joey, Jason, Sasha, Oscar and Sharif Ahmadi were left in the tournament. In short order, Sasha, Oscar and Sharif were eliminated, and Round Six commenced.
Kiba paired up with another person from Thompson High, who did not hold back in any way. He was forced to do a temporary paralysis on this guy, by striking him in the spine and pushing upwards, causing a wave of discomfort to travel throughout his opponent's body. During this round, Joey was eliminated, by a girl no less. And again, Joey just laughed it off, causing some people to laugh at his antics.
Round Seven was the Semi-Finals. Kiba went up against a strong woman who seemed determined to beat a guy. Kiba could not help feeling overwhelmed when he finally put her down, non-violently, and won. But he quickly noticed who had won the other match. Not Jason, but a guy who seemed to be a near-exact duplicate of the boy who had injured Carly. The only difference, this white-skinned guy had black hair, and stood nearly seven feet tall.
"So you're the famous White Wolf, huh?" the person spoke in a very gruff voice. "You better get ready, pup, as you won't have that title for long. Byron Michaels the Iron Fist will crush you."
<This guy is way too flamboyant,> Kiba thought. And then the Final Round commenced, and this time, it was literally no holds barred.
For a second, as he fought this guy, Kiba wondered if Byron was actually a normal human. His immense strength seemed to hint otherwise. Kiba did his best to defend himself, but he found he was getting tired just by avoiding this brute. He dodged every which way he could, trying very hard to ignore the commentator in the observing box or whatever it was called (man, that guy was annoying as hell).
Finally, Kiba went on the offensive, landing a blow on Byron's leg, but it wasn't enough. He realized too late he had left himself wide open, and the next second, Byron's fist slammed right into his chest, forcing his wolf's head pendant to dig deep into his skin. Kiba went flying backwards into the nearby pillar which supported the rubber railing, and he gave a loud grunt of pain as he slid down onto the floor. Gasps of shock went up from the audience, as well as cheers directed at Byron.
Byron himself started walking away, clearly thinking the White Wolf was defeated. But Kiba could feel the pain in his spine starting to vanish, as his werewolf body instantly healed that part. Rage started to build up in him, but he forced himself to stay calm. <Keep a positive outlook on things. Don't let emotion overrule you. Fight with calmness, not brute force.> That was all the encouragement he needed to stand back up and face the Iron Fist.
"Hey, Iron brain," Kiba said in a loud voice. "I'm not done with you yet."
Byron turned around in amazement, and Kiba could hear the amazed gasps of the crowd, but he ignored them.
"You need to learn your place, pup," Byron snarled.
"I don't have a place," Kiba retorted.
"You want a piece of me, jerk?!"
"It's your move, fist-brain."
"Why, you-" Byron lunged at him, but Kiba jumped up onto the top of the pillar and then made an even bigger jump over Byron to land behind him. Byron collided with the pillar, turned around and charged right at Kiba, but again, Kiba dodged it by doing several back-flips.
"Come on, is that all you can do?" Kiba asked. "Charge at me?" Byron didn't reply, but instead threw a fist at him. Kiba caught it, and then swung himself between Byron's legs, forcing the brute to trip over himself, but he recovered quickly. Kiba got up quickly, and then ducked to avoid Byron's incoming foot. He then went straight for Byron's spine, striking him right where the curve in the back was. Striking bones was a hard one to do, given how much was in the way. The move worked briefly, but Byron recovered, and swung around to try and whack him. Kiba caught that arm and twisted it so it touched Byron's backside. Byron pulled it loose, and Kiba back-flipped again to avoid the incoming punches.
Finally, Byron threw both fists at him, but Kiba caught both and held them off to the side. He then braced himself for what he was about to pull.
"Final move," he announced. "White Wolf Kick!!" He then jumped up, still holding onto Byron's arms, and then gave a very strong kick with both feet at the same time, not letting out any werewolf strength. His feet connected with Byron's chest, while he let go of the arms at the same time. Byron went flying backwards and somersaulted right into a pillar, where he whacked his head. Kiba, meanwhile, landed crab-like on the mat and righted himself.
"You... you win," Byron managed to whisper, before he fainted from the impact. Kiba just stood there, barely even noticing the deafening roar from the crowd.
<I guess I really earned my nickname,> he thought during the ceremony where he got the trophy, for the first time this school year.
Carly ended up needing only one cast, as the leg wasn't actually broken, just badly sprained, which meant she could participate in the next tournament in March. Kiba knew she was proud of him, but what he didn't know was how she felt deep inside.
He would find that out the hard way.