Gym

Clementine's POV~

Louis and I headed for the training room of the gym Garath had built.
Louis led me to a glass window. Through the glass, I could see what appeared to be an abandoned ghost town.

"This window allows us to see the actual room where Garath does his training. And by the looks of that ghost town out there, I'd say he's gonna be fighting Hellhounds." Louis explained

I noticed Garath standing in the center of the room.

"Computer... Spawn 100 Hellhounds." He said.

I covered my mouth and widened my eyes in surprise. For no sooner did Garath say those words, than a loud voice rang out.

"FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!"

Lightning bolts hit the ground as a pack of Hellhounds appeared and surrounded him. They were all the size of rhinos.

One of the Hellhounds appeared to be bigger than the rest, and I was willing to bet that one must've been the leader of the pack. This one was the size of an adult bull African Elephant.
The huge demon growled at Garath, but he didn't show any signs of fear.

"Bring it on you douches." He said confidently

This angered the alpha dog who let out a loud bark, ordering the others to attack.

Teeth and claws were flying everywhere, but Garath was too fast. He was dodging and countering attacks from every direction.
Within minutes, Garath and the alpha dog were the only ones left.

The Hellhound growled again, but this time, Garath growled back. However, when Garath growled, it didn't sound human. In fact, it sounded like the growl of an angry dragon. And his eyes gave off an ominous purple glow before changing back to blue.
The demon lunged forward, but Garath dodged and punched it in the face which left the Hellhound stunned.
But Garath suddenly used a Shout, which sent the Hellhound flying into a tree.

"FUS ROH DAH!"

The demon scrambled to its feet, but this proved to be futile.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!" Garath shouted. And as he used this shout, he spewed Soul Fire from his mouth and the Hellhound was burnt to a crisp.

"Don't break out the handkerchiefs yet Clem. I have a feeling that Garath is gonna make things more challenging." Louis said.

Garath looked around, and he seemed to be thinking of making things tougher.

"Computer... Level 9" Garath said.

As soon as Garath said this, the Hellhounds awoke and surrounded him again.

"Told you so." Louis said.

The alpha ordered the rest of the pack to attack, only now they were attacking much more aggressively since Garath went straight to level 9. But again, he was dodging and countering attacks from every direction, and there was not a single mark on him.

"IIZ SLEN NUS!" Garath shouted, and this Thu'um froze nearly half of the Hellhounds in the room.

Garath quickly dodged an attack from the alpha and prepared to use another Shout.

"FROH KRAH DIIN!" He screamed. His voice created a blizzard, and froze all of the remaining dogs, except the alpha.

The alpha Hellhound lunged at him, but Garath rolled out of the way, and prepared to use his voice again.

"IIZ SLEN NUS!" He screamed, and the demon was frozen solid.

Garath ran at the frozen Hellhound and hit it with a devastating kick.

"SOREI!"

The force of the blow shattered the demon into pieces.

"Seems like Hellhounds aren't good enough. Computer... Switch to castle ruins and spawn a death dragon at Level 9." Garath said.

With these words, the scenery changed to abandoned castle ruins, and a dragon appeared.

"I knew I should've brought a weapon with me. Computer... Bring me the Rebellion." Garath said.

Suddenly, the Rebellion appeared in a flash. It was ejected through a hatch in the wall, and Garath caught it in his hand.
He tied the scabbard to his belt and prepared for battle.

The dragon growled at him, but Garath stared at it, unintimidated.
The dragon snapped at Garath, but the boy was too quick. He backflipped out of the way before shooting a purple fireball out of his right hand. The fireball hit the dragon and exploded. The beast recoiled and roared in anger before spewing its firebreath.
But Garath crossed his arms, and a shield formed around him. The dragon's firebreath went around Garath as the shield protected him.
As soon as the fire was gone, Garath stretched his right arm out as he moved his left leg behind him and the shield vanished. Soul Fire began swirling around his hand as he prepared to use an attack of his own.

"The Hand of Pyro!" He said, before launching a row of five fireballs from the palm of his hand.

The projectiles exploded upon impact with the dragon, and forced it back. But Garath got into the same position from before, and this time, there was a crackling orb of Dark Thunder in his hand.

"The Bolt of Thunder!" He said, as he shot 10 orbs of lightning at his enemy. The lightning shocked the dragon furiously, and now it was stunned.

With his enemy crippled, Garath drew his sword and pressed the red button on the handgrip.
After this was done, the carbon steel blade vanished, and a completely different blade appeared with a loud SNAP-HISS!!!

The new blade looked exactly like the blade of a traditional katana, but it was made of plasma. It was purple in color, and the core of the blade was black. It hummed rhythmically as Garath prepared to strike.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked

"Yes. That's the hidden blade that Garath designed for the Rebellion. It's a lightsaber blade." Louis answered.

Garath charged at the dragon and began to hack and slash at it mercilessly, leaving cauterized wounds on the monster's skin. In the end, Garath sliced the dragon's head off, finally killing it.

"Whoa. It looks like I'm gonna have to be careful if I'm gonna help Garath. Because by judging the intensity of his training sessions, I'd say he's tougher than he looks." I said.

"Oh, he is. He's protected us from Delta forces many times before. But every time they fired their guns, the bullets only bounced off of Garath, without even hurting him at all." Louis replied.

I looked back at Garath, and he seemed to be a bit more calm, as he deactivated the Rebellion's lightsaber blade and sheathed the sword.

"I must go meditate. Thanatos must not be allowed to seize control of me." He said.

Louis and I followed him to the room across the hall.

"Computer... Bring up the waterfall from the Rockies." Garath said.

The next thing we knew, is that everything changed. We appeared to be in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I looked in Garath's direction, and I saw him sitting in a Lotus posture in front of a waterfall.

The waterfall was flowing into a crystal clear lake, just as Louis told me.

"Listen, Clem. I'm gonna get outta here. I need to keep watch at the gates. You know what to do." Louis said

"Yes. I must try to uncover the origins of his transformations. And in doing so, I may be able to learn the reason behind his dark demeanour." I replied.

"Good luck." Louis said before walking out of the room.

I walked over to the lake and sat next to Garath. Almost immediately, Garath opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Why have you come?" He asked. Garath clearly sounded angry to have his meditation interrupted.

"Easy Garath. I came to talk. You see, Louis and the others told me and AJ about your anger problems. And I want to help you." I answered.

"I appreciate it. But the source of my anger comes from my power to transform into a dragon." Garath said.

"Why?" I asked

"Trust me, you don't want to know. If I told you, you'd think I'm crazy. Plus, the origins of that power are dangerous." Garath answered.

"Try me." I said.

My POV~

Clementine just told me that she knows of my anger issues, and much to my surprise, she wants to help me. I warned her that the origins of my shapeshifting powers were dangerous. But she insisted that I explain it to her. So, I decided to give in and tell her what was wrong, in hopes that she'll understand.

"Very well. To start off, my power of transforming into a dragon is not a gift. It is a curse." I said.

"What do you mean?" Clem asked.

"When I was 15 years old, I fought an evil dragon god known as Thanatos, who is hellbent on destroying humanity, and turning the Earth into a living Hell. The battle was fierce, but I came out on top. However, before I could finish him off, Thanatos put a terrible curse on me. He transmitted his own soul into my body. So every time I get angry, I transform into a hideous dragon, and he takes control of my mind." I explained

"Oh, that's terrible." Clem said.

"Gets worse. The only way to break the curse, is to find true love. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. In order to expel Thanatos from my body, I must have sexual intercourse with the girl I fall in love with. And sadly, there's no other way for me to finish him." I replied.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Clem said.

"No. I am not shitting you. There is one positive though. I'll still have that power, but I'll be able to use it at will, and I won't have to lose my temper. I can still use my anger to begin my transformations, but it won't be required." I replied.

Clementine was shocked to hear this, but she still held herself together.

"This may seem crazy, but even though we've just met, I love you Garath. And in time, we will get rid of Thanatos, together." Clem said.

I was surprised to hear that Clementine loved me. But now I felt a surge of hope, so I accepted her feelings. Especially since I unknowingly loved her too.

"Thank you Clem. And, I love you too." I replied.

"Come. We need to get some food. And maybe with me by your side, you won't have to worry about losing control." Clem said.

Clem's POV~

I was happy that Garath accepted my feelings for him.
However, I am also quite shocked to hear that the old enemy Louis was talking about had turned out to be an evil dragon god.
And now I realize that the main enemy of Garath's training sessions on level 10, is a reincarnation of Thanatos.
I've heard legends about Thanatos and his tyranny, but I never expected him to be real. Let alone the thought of Garath actually being able to fight him.
However, what really crushed my heart is that despite his best efforts, Garath was unable to kill Thanatos before the god cursed him. But I'm willing to help him break the curse, and finish what he started.