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Kung-Fu Academy /カンフーアカデミー
Episode XXXIII- Every Wolf Has Its Days

Episode XXXIII- Every Wolf Has Its Days

Felix lies sprawled on the stolen raft, defeated. “I cannot believe I came to this island thinking I could best these people,” he mutters. “I tried every trick and scheme, but still I fail. Each fight leaves me begging for aid. I'm useless,” he berates himself. Scanning the endless azure expanse, no land appears on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Jose saunters back to the chamber where they began. Spying the ajar door, he slinks inside and scurries up the pipes. Perched overhead, he spots the others below and pounces down, spooking Kiyoshi.

"Aww!" Kiyoshi yelps, jolting as Jose lands behind him. Scarlet, Lionel, and Tokido whip around, shooting daggers at Kiyoshi with their eyes. "Sorry," Kiyoshi whispers, wilting under their glare. Jose convulses with laughter. Kiyoshi frowns, disheartened by the prank.

"What was that?" Sekel demands, swiveling toward the noise. Cloven and the others search for the source. Sekel sniffs the air and sneers. "I smell a pathetic hippogriff trying to rescue his brother. Isn't that right?"

Tokido clenches his fists, seething. "Well, if you want your brother back, we should make a deal. What will you give me for him? I want your eye. Mitsukodorians have such lovely oculars to guide me to the gems," Sekel hisses.

"Fine, it's a deal. Just release my brother," Tokido concedes.

"No, I think not," Sekel scoffs. "First the gems, then your brother. Or we kill you all and take both eyes."

"They aren't my friends or kin. Do your worst," Tokido growls.

Draven snatches Tokido and vanishes, teleporting away with him.

"What happened? Where did they go?" Kiyoshi sputters, frantic.

Lionel's eyes narrow. "This was a trap, wasn't it?"

"Now you're catching on. Tata for now, boys," Sekel cackles before darting off.

"Wait!" Lionel cries out, but Sekel is already gone.

Scarlet scans the room for any sign of Felix. "Where's Felix?" she asks, worried.

"Uh, he ran off. I'm not sure where," Jose lies, exhaling heavily. Scarlet's body seizes up, paralyzed by fear.

"Scarlet?" Jose waves his hand in front of her face, but she remains frozen.

Meanwhile, Felix rows further and further from the island, putting distance between himself and his troubles. He reminisces about happier times with his friends during their island adventures. "Why did I ever come to this accursed place?" he wonders aloud, standing up in the raft.

As dusk falls, an enormous luminous moon ascends, bathing Felix in its ethereal glow. His eyes morph into an eerie bluish hue, and he gazes sadly at the celestial orb. A fragment breaks off the moon's face, hurtling toward Felix like a shooting star.

"What is that? Why is it coming right for me?" Felix cries out, recoiling as the lunar shard plunges into the sea. The impact sends massive swells rolling outward, capsizing Felix's raft and plunging him into the frothing waters. He sinks unconscious into the midnight blue depths.

When Felix comes to, he finds himself on an unfamiliar shore. "Where am I?" he croaks, still soggy from his ordeal.

"No longer on Zogahr," responds a gravelly voice. Felix rubs his eyes to see a grizzled man wearing a tattered orange headband standing over him.

"Who are you?" Felix asks warily.

"Call me Master," the stranger insists.

"Why should I?" Felix challenges.

"Because I will teach you to fight like a true warrior," he declares.

Felix sighs. "Alright, Master." He follows the eccentric man to a tree incongruously growing on the beach.

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"Only the greatest fighter can fell this sacred tree," his new master claims.

Felix frowns skeptically. "You've got the wrong pupil. I'm no fighter," he protests.

"Go on, try," the master urges.

Felix reluctantly throws a half-hearted punch. Nothing happens.

"Put some force behind it!" the master barks.

Mustering his strength, Felix strikes again. This time he leaves a dent in the trunk. "This is pointless. I used all my might just to dent this stupid tree," Felix grumbles.

The master's eyes narrow pensively. "Who is this scrawny whelp?" he murmurs to himself.

A spectral wolf materializes beside him. "Judging by his looks, I'd say he's your son," the apparition notes.

"My son? Impossible! My boy has grit, not like this quitter," the master objects incredulously.

"He carries your bloodline," the wolf spirit asserts.

"This is the child you warned me not to retrieve that accursed scroll?" the master questions.

The wolf nods silently.

"Thank the heavens I heeded your warning - that quest would have damned the boy," the master breathes in relief. "I suppose I must teach the lad my Kung Fu arts."

While they talk, Felix searches the beach for anything to aid his escape. But the wrecked raft and endless ocean thwart him.

"Hold on now," the master calls out. Felix pauses and turns back to him reluctantly. "I'm trying to get home. Your training won't make me the Kung Fu legend you desire," Felix insists.

"That's not the point of it," the master counters gently. "Kung Fu teaches joy in the face of adversity. Embrace this philosophy, and winning and losing won't matter."

Felix remains unconvinced.

"Humor an old man. Take a swing at me," the master implores.

Felix hesitantly jabs at him half-heartedly. With minimal effort, the master evades it and sweeps Felix's legs out from under him.

"Where's your form? You must have proper stance and guard," the master chides as Felix sprawls on the sand. "Leaving yourself open will lead to a thrashing."

He hauls Felix up. "Show me your fighting stance," he demands.

Felix assumes an unbalanced, clumsy pose.

The master sighs. "Who taught you such sloppiness? No proper dojo, clearly."

He demonstrates a sturdy wolf stance, then tells Felix to attack again. This time when Felix strikes, the master effortlessly deflects his blows with open palms before unleashing a decisive palm strike to Felix's chest, knocking him flat on his back.

Felix wheezes in pain, winded. "Please, no more," he gasps.

The master kneels and gently applies a medicinal salve, bandaging Felix's torso. "Rest now, my son," he murmurs. He builds a small fire to keep Felix warm through the night.

As Felix sleeps, the master reflects aloud. "When I struck him, I saw the heart of a wolf. Perhaps he really is my kin."

The next morning, the master is surprised to find Felix furiously punching the tree again. "Why won't this work?" Felix vents in frustration.

"Have you tried combinations rather than just hammering it?" the master suggests wisely. To demonstrate, he unleashes a kick then follows with two punches, a jumping one-two kick, and finally a devastating palm strike that sunders the tree.

"Great, you destroyed our one training tree," Felix grumbles sarcastically.

"Nonsense, there is a whole forest of them," the master corrects, pointing to a lush grove.

Among the ancient trees, Felix pauses to center himself before attacking, eyes closed in meditation. When he opens them, his irises glow an eerie moonlit blue. He assumes a balanced stance and unleashes a flurry of punches and a powerful kick. He finishes with a crushing blue-tinged punch that leaves a gaping hole but fails to fell the tree.

"Damn it all," Felix curses in frustration.

"Perhaps you require a special finishing move," the master suggests.

Felix tries again, this time concluding with his Moon Typhoon signature move. The tree splinters but remains standing.

"You need something stronger," the master critiques.

As the sun dips below the horizon, the full moon rises, bathing them in its ethereal glow once more. Felix and his master's eyes burn with inner power - Felix's an uncanny blue, the master's a fiery orange.

Felix focuses his chi, aura blazing around him. This time his Moon Typhoon grows to massive proportions before he strikes. The tree disintegrates in a shower of splinters, but the effort leaves Felix breathless and drained.

Panting, he looks at his mentor. "We should spar, you versus your wolf spirit," Felix proposes boldly.

The master considers this and nods. "A sound idea."

Master and student bow deeply before assuming their stances. Felix unleashes a flurry of kicks, but his master ducks beneath them and strikes Felix's legs in a sweeping kick, knocking his feet out from under him. As Felix flips forward, the master leaps skyward. "Omega Smash!" he bellows, slamming the ground with tectonic force. But Felix nimbly evades the explosive impact.

Before he can react, the master closes in and socks Felix across the jaw. Felix careens to the earth with a sickening thud.

"You must defend yourself!" the master admonishes.

When the master next charges in, Felix dodges his punch then counters with a kick to the arm, spinning acrobatically to plant his foot against his master's face. Felix presses the advantage, unleashing a vicious soccer kick to the midsection that blasts the air from the master's lungs.

Gasping, the master struggles to his feet only for Felix to palm strike his chest twice before spinning into a crushing heel kick to the back that sends the master sprawling.

As the moon's glow intensifies, Felix lets loose an otherworldly howl. Before the master's eyes, his body contorts, morphing into a wolf-human hybrid form.

"I am Mudar, the Moon Wolf!" he proclaims. In this new shape, Felix resembles a giant wolf with icy blue fur and piercing blue eyes. His humble training garb transforms into a sleek blue gi with a matching blue belt and a wolf emblem blazoned on the back.

"I've done it!" the master whispers in awe. Then he throws back his head and unleashes his own howl. The moon shifts to a fiery orange, and the master likewise transforms into a battle-scarred wolf warrior.

Student and master trade earth-shattering blows until finally the elder warrior lands a devastating kick that knocks the breath from Felix's lungs. But as his master moves in to finish him, Felix catches his leg and slams him backward with a mighty punch.

Snarling, the master scrambles up. "Omega Wolf Rush!" he bellows, blurring forward with blistering speed to assault Felix with a barrage of attacks too swift to counter. The merciless strikes batter Felix relentlessly until finally he summons a wellspring of power. Silvery-blue light envelops his palms, swelling to engulf his master and halt his assault.

With a titanic detonation, the master is flung away and crashes down, reverting to human form. Utterly spent, he lies panting and defeated. Felix likewise reverts and goes to his master.

"I have nothing left to teach you," the master rasps, removing his tattered headband. "Make me proud," he whispers, pressing it into Felix's hand as darkness claims him.

When Felix comes to, he finds himself alone on Zogahr once more. Glancing down, he beholds his new gi and headband, reading the poignant message left by his father. Tears fill his eyes. "My father...I'll make every fight count for you," he vows solemnly, donning the headband.

"Are you ready, Mudar?" he asks his wolf spirit.

"As ready as you are," Mudar replies. Together, they turn to face their destiny.