"That fucker shot Sun in the stomach! He tortured Summer. He let Moon rot on drugs all these years, and even gave him more just to trigger visions. And then… he made him disappear. That bastard doesn’t deserve to live. If I go back in that cage, he’s just gonna kill all of us anyway! Including your younger brothers!"
Luca clenches his jaw. "You’re not giving me a choice, Ragnar. I don’t want to fight you—"
Ragnar laughs. The sound is truly demonic.
"Try me! You stood there for years watching Moon suffer. Watching Summer suffer. Watching Sun suffer. You’re part of their fucked-up empire of silence. People like you, who keep their mouths shut, are the worst. Even Anzo would agree. Your father said nothing when Tito castrated him! You’re no different!"
Luca grits his teeth. The words hit him hard.
Bone protrusions burst through his shirt as his transformation accelerates.
Eliano and Mauro stare in shock, their faces white as chalk.
Luca’s transformation is just as fast as Ragnar’s. Bone plates slide into place, shielding every vital area, even his eyes. And suddenly, there they are, two monsters facing off in this goddamn room.
It’s all so surreal.
I can’t even process what I’m seeing. I even forgot the miracle that just happened. That I could heal myself.
The only thing I know is that Moon was right when he told Anzo that I had a gift. He knew it before anyone else.
So maybe…
Maybe he was also right when he said our pathslead to happiness, after all?
Is there any way out of this twisted, impossible situation? Because right now, it really doesn’t look like it.
All I see are two beasts facing off, and then, in a split second, Ragnar lunges at Luca.
They collide with a sickening crunch.
What happens next moves so fast my eyes can barely keep up. Two massive bodies slam into each other, wrestling, shoving, trampling, ramming. They push each other into the cages. I notice Luca starts pushing Ragnar toward Summer’s cage, and when Ragnar’s body hits it, Anzo has to fight for balance. It strikes me as odd, but I could swear there’s something deliberate about it.
Then I notice that Anzo tries to reattach the IV to the venflon, but it has shifted and he has a problem with it. The whole fight, shaking the cage and making their bodies sway from side to side, interrupts him.
The purples growl in inhuman, monstrous tones, trading blows that land on their armored bodies with horrible cracking and grinding sounds.
They tumble around. One of them goes down, the other pounces, but seconds later the roles reverse. It’s almost impossible to follow, it’s insane how fast these huge creatures can move.
Their spiked arms lock together, the protrusions jamming their movements. It looks almost like a perfect tactic for stopping your opponent, if it didn’t trap you too. That’s why most of the fight is a contest of brute force: pushing, rolling, slamming each other into the walls of the cages.
At one point, I see Rocco crouch behind the cage where Anzo and Summer are.
He tries twice to shoot Ragnar, right in the split second when Ragnar breaks away from Luca. But the window is too narrow, and of course, the bullets bounce right off Ragnar’s armor. One even hits Luca in the shoulder. The second ricochetsand smacks into the ground. After that, Rocco gives up trying to interfere.
I'm desperately trying to figure out whose chances are better. I think Ragnar is somewhat heavier, but Luca seems more adept at fighting, which is not surprising since he did cage fighting for years.
They’re smashing each other so hard… I know purple alphas have that silicon carbide-based cerametal armor. Ragnar’s plates look like they have a slightly glossy top layer that Luca’s doesn’t, but in the end, it doesn’t change much. Except for one thing:
It soon becomes clear Ragnar is fighting with more determination.
I’m almost certain Luca isn’t even putting his full strength into this. It looks like he’s mostly on defense, just blocking Ragnar’s attacks. It’s bizarre, but I’m relieved. Maybe Luca does not want Ragnar to lose? Is he pretending to fight? If he subdues Ragnar, Anzo wins. But who wants that, really? With every second of their fight that passes, our chances are improving.
I glance at Summer, and I swear his eyelids twitch. Is he waking up? If he does, the fight’s over…
Honestly, I don’t get why Anzo hasn’t just shot Summer in the head while he’s unconscious.
Is it that hard for him to accept the possibility of losing his precious weapon? The one he put so much effort into figuring out, the one he’s pinned so many of his future plans on?
