Sunlight poured down on the blocks of dilapidated tenements and the desolate streets. Fenghuang flew across the sky, the in-built camcorder in her eyes ready to record the upcoming battle.

Walking down the pavement with Katrina, Brandon scanned the surroundings. He had tried hard to not wince when Wong suggested that he and Katrina fought here. Although Brandon had no information about what Katrina's powers were, he knew for sure that his opponent, being half rabbit, had nimble legs. She'd use the buildings for hiding or simply height advantage when she saw it fit.

After studying the area for some time, though, Brandon thought of an idea. The loaded trash cans in the alleys might come in handy. Moreover, collecting some sand from the streets and hiding it in his pockets would help a lot; nobody would like getting some of it in the eyes. He shouldn't let Katrina spot him picking up sand, though.

Upon reaching a T-junction, Katrina halted and looked at the street sign. "Bamboo Street" was written in big white letters on the green metallic plank.

"This is the place Mr. Wong talked about. The Gatou people would only roam this street early in the morning to throw away the castle's trash. It's also quite far from Jiugang Castle." Katrina turned to Brandon. "Mr. Wong won't mind the property damage here, but try keeping it at minimum."

Brandon took a few steps back and held his axe as if it were a fly swatter. Once again, the memories of laughing at the minotaur methdroid haunted his mind. Not that it mattered much, as killing Katrina would break Mika's heart.

He only aimed to incapacitate Katrina and win, to prove that he didn't need David's Chrono Chamber.

Katrina scratched her cheek with a finger. "That's an interesting way to wield an axe."

"I do not wish to kill you. You took care of Mika when I was away, and Mika has grown quite fond of you."

"Very well." Katrina readied her fists. "Let us begin."

Brandon charged and swung his axe. Katrina ducked, blue ethereal aura coating her furry body.

Crack!

A chop to the wrist knocked his axe out of his grip. Brandon's eye widened. Holy crap, this rabbit woman's blow could affect the hands that could lift an armored truck with ease!

Just as he moved to retrieve his weapon, Katrina kicked it away into an alley.

A hiss escaped through Brandon's gritted teeth. Well, not that he couldn't fight barehanded; he just disliked trading strength and range for speed.

Brandon launched a flurry of fists, at which Katrina bobbed and weaved like a professional boxer. He growled at his inability to hit, and his punches now flew everywhere like bullets out of a machine gun. But Katrina dodged everything.

Screw it! Brandon stopped punching and inhaled. Rabbit ears couldn't possibly handle this!

When Katrina threw a fist at him, Brandon unleashed a mighty shout at her face. The rabbit woman pulled away with a wince, her hands moving to cup her ears.

Brandon barraged the dazed Katrina with knuckles to the face and the body. Bones rattled. Blood, teeth, and saliva flew everywhere. However, Katrina wouldn't fall.

In a flash, Katrina wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Oh, no, not this move! Brandon had watched many boxing shows in the TV, and seeing this hugging thing - a clinch - had always annoyed the heck outta him. After drawing a deep, hearty breath, he roared into Katrina's ears and broke free from her grip.

As he pulled back a fist, Katrina regained her composure, and her aura turned green. Then she zipped away like a bolt of lightning.

Ah, so the green aura made her faster, meaning he could never hit the rabbit woman for the time being.

Let's play a waiting game then, Brandon thought. Her blood would run out sooner or later, and he'd pounce on her when that happened.

Katrina ran into an alley and wall-jumped all her way up to the rooftop of a tenement. Great. Now that the rabbit woman wasn't watching, Brandon rushed to the pavement to scoop up a handful of sand.

"I see that, Brandon!" Katrina yelled from above.

Shocked, Brandon dropped the sand and turned. Katrina, now drifting in the air without any aura, cupped her hands at her side. Radiant threads of bluish white energy swirled between her cupped hands and merged into a glowing sphere. It grew bigger with each passing second.

Whatever this was, Brandon's instinct told him to run. Dodging was the best when one didn't know what a move would do.

Katrina thrust her cupped hands forward, and the sphere turned into a streaming wave of energy that hurtled towards Brandon. The undead man jumped aside and ran towards the plummeting Katrina, but the wave swerved and pursued him.

It caught up with him, and the explosion sent him crashing into a tenement in the distance.

Brandon lay on the ground, his clothes oddly intact. However, his back felt sore and unnaturally hot, with beads of fluid rolling down his skin.

Huffing, he sat up and placed a hand on his back. Nothing covered his back now, and his fingers detected both ruptured and intact blisters. He brought his hand to his face and saw blood across his fingers.

If he'd had Scutum's barrier power, this attack shouldn't have been a problem.

A moment later, the soreness faded. At least he could regenerate his wounds.

Getting up, Brandon approached the gaping hole in the wall. What a power. The blast had wrecked the lower floors of the surrounding buildings, too.

Once he stepped out of the building, a furry foot struck him in the face and sent him smashing into the pavement. Katrina stood beside him, her body coated in blue ethereal aura. Dried blood stained her nose and lips.

"See? Without your folk's power, you're too weak to tackle the misty capital."

Gritting his teeth, Brandon stood up and readied his fists. His heart pounded. Beads of sweat ran down his body. It didn't matter; he only cared about winning the duel and proving his might to Mika.

"Just give up now."

Brandon inhaled, but as he tried to shout, an uppercut struck his jaw and slammed his mouth shut. The force knocked blood and a few teeth out of him.

Another fist came, but much to Brandon's confusion, it whizzed past his ear. Katrina would never launch inaccurate blows, would she?

Then a snap resounded behind him, and he could no longer feel anything below his neck. How to breathe? How to move his limbs? How?

As Brandon fell, Katrina hailed him with myriad of punches and kicks from all direction. The skin around his face and eye swelled, obscuring his already blurring and darkening vision. Amid the buzzing in his ears, he could hear the cracking of his bones.

He should've been more careful when Katrina punched that way; that was the beginning of a rabbit punch, a debilitating and potentially deadly blow aimed at one's cervical spine. Now, he was losing and couldn't possibly catch up anymore. His regeneration would use up too much blood.

The flurry of blows stopped, and Brandon's limp body thudded into the ground. He could now feel everything below his neck, but his limbs could barely move.

"You're in no shape to fight now," Katrina spoke. "Just give up."

The swelling, buzzing, and soreness faded, and he gradually regained his vision. Clenching his fists and panting, he glared at Katrina, whose aura had faded. What injuries had he inflicted on her? Bruises? Broken bones? The rabbit woman had regenerated them all.

Losing to Katrina meant he'd need Chrono Chamber, which also meant he had to spare David from his wrath. Oh, how much he hated letting that snake bastard rip off Mika's arm and get away with it.

Brandon slowly rose to his feet, his body covered in sweat, blood, and bruises. The soaked fabric of his tattered shirt clung to his skin.

"Is winning that important for you, Brandon? Look, if you keep fighting, you'll run out of blood and die. Think about Mika."

Trying to make him give up, eh? Not a chance.

Brandon sidestepped to the sand-filled groove beside the pavement. Just as he kicked the sand at Katrina, the rabbit woman hid her face behind her arms. Then she dashed and jumped over him.

Brandon whirled to see Katrina pointing her glowing index finger at him. What now? Another energy wave thing? Nonetheless, he stood still, ready to dodge.

A beam of energy shot out of her finger and drilled into his only eye and through his skull. Brandon grasped his empty eye socket and howled in agony, knowing that he had no choice but to give up now. His eye couldn't regenerate that fast, especially with him running low on blood supply.

"You cannot see now. Give up!"

But he could still hear. Brandon inhaled, but when he tried to shout, a blow struck his jaw and slammed his mouth shut.

She'd known this trick, hadn't she? Fine. Brandon let go of his bleeding eye socket and stood still, his ears perked up. Guided by her breathing noise, he punched. His fist ripped through the empty air.

Then something struck both of his knees. Tumbling, he could feel blood gushing out of the wounds and trickling down his shins. Damn, Katrina must've kneecapped him with that energy beam thing.

Brandon smashed his fist into the ground and picked up the slabs of concrete. With a roar, he threw them. Katrina would certainly dodge everything, but it'd tell her that he hadn't given up yet.

"Stop this nonsense!" Katrina yelled.

A whoosh echoed, and a solid sphere slammed onto Brandon's back. Spines rattled. Concrete shattered. Blood sprayed out of his mouth.

As his consciousness faded, bloody tears trickled down his face. I'm sorry Mika. I don't think anyone will let me teach that snake bastard a lesson now.