As the smoke cleared, the faint shimmer of an ink-like dome faded out, bubbling with residual fluid before popping and dissolving into black mist.
SPLASH.
The ink bubble fell, revealing the team mostly intact within.
Coriaria tilted his head, vines curling around his forearms like snakes. "Ah… so the little bunny kid's got some reflexes after all. Threw up a shield just in time, huh?"
The last of the ink dripped into the grass, and there stood Eleo—body trembling, fists clenched, ears stiff with fury. His eyes locked on Coriaria, blazing with something rare from him: pure rage.
Timmy called from the side, voice full of worry, "Are you guys okay?!"
Tony, holding his side, gave a quick nod. "Yeah... We're okay. Barely."
Coriaria chuckled. "I'll admit, that was quick thinking—"
CRACK!
Before he could finish, Eleo was right in front of him.
Coriaria's eyes widened, his vines flaring as he tilted left—
WHIFF!
Eleo's punch missed by a hair, the air cracking from the force.
"That was clo—"
BOOM!
Before the words even left his mouth, Eleo was already above him, leg high in the air. He brought it down with a monstrous arc.
Coriaria backflipped just in time, landing clean as Eleo's leg SLAMMED the earth.
CRASH!
A small crater exploded beneath Eleo's feet, dust shooting upward as bits of shattered rock and grass flew in every direction.
Coriaria landed like a gymnast, arms flaring out wide, vines spinning behind him like a cloak.
He smirked. "What? No talking? That head empty now?"
Eleo looked up from the dust, eyes burning. "Why talk to a dead plant?"
Coriaria's grin dropped into something more sinister. "Dead? You think you can kill me?"
Tony's eyes darted to Eleo. Man… I've never seen him this mad. And it's kinda scary. That goofy look's gone. Like... completely gone.
CRUNCH!
Eleo's foot cracked the ground under him again—and he blitzed forward, a streak of speed so fast it shattered the air behind him like glass.
Coriaria launched into the sky, vines twisting into coils on his legs to rocket upward.
But Eleo wasn't done.
"Bunny Hop!!"
BOING!
He launched upward like a missile, soaring through the trees in pursuit—leaves ripping apart from the shockwave.
Mid-air, their eyes locked.
Both fists cocked back.
THWAM!
Their punches collided, a burst of shockwave shooting outward and knocking birds from the trees.
Coriaria grunted, catching Eleo's follow-up swing with a forearm shielded in hardened bark-vine. He spun around Eleo's body like a vine whip, slamming a heel into Eleo's side.
BAM!
Eleo flew sideways—CRASHING through a giant tree trunk, splintering it in two, then another, and another—until he hit the ground hard, bouncing once and rolling through a bush.
Coriaria floated down gently, vines forming spirals beneath his feet like coiled springs.
He smirked again.
"Is that it? That was the fury of the bunny freak? Man… you came up like a storm but fell like a twig."
He dusted his shoulder off. "Tell ya what, kid. I'll plant a flower where you landed. That way when your bones start rotting, at least something pretty'll grow."
Eleo launched forward with a burst of speed, yelling at the top of his lungs,
"INK BARRAGE!!"
His fists blurred, black ink coating his arms as he unleashed a relentless flurry of punches straight at Coriaria.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Each strike left a splash of ink on Coriaria's vine-covered arms as he blocked with crossed limbs, twisting and deflecting Eleo's fists with calculated motion.
Coriaria growled, stepping back slightly. "Alright, enough of this."
THWMP! THWMP!
Two thick vines burst from the ground beneath Eleo's feet like fangs from the earth, snapping toward him.
But Eleo's instincts kicked in—his body twisted mid-air, legs tucking in before he bunny-hopped high into the sky, dodging both vines.
"Nice try, Weed Man!" he shouted.
Coriaria's eyes narrowed. "Let's raise the stakes."
He snapped his fingers—
FWP FWP FWP!
Dozens of glowing green seeds fired from his shoulders, arcing in all directions toward Eleo mid-air.
SNAP!
They all detonated mid-flight, BOOM BOOM BOOM, green explosions lighting the canopy like fireworks.
Smoke clouded everything.
For a second, there was silence.
Then—
Eleo stood unharmed on a thick tree branch, panting.
"Too close… That was almost really bad," he thought.
His hands clenched tighter.
I can't hit him… he's too fast. Even faster than me. He keeps reading every move I throw at him…
…Wait. That's it!
His goofy face twisted into a grin. His ears flopped back, and he clapped his hands together, forming a massive ink circle between his palms.
The ink boiled and spun, forming into a pressurized cannon chamber.
Coriaria, unimpressed, tilted his head. "That move again? Bunny, it didn't work the first time. You really are slow in the head."
"Just shut up already!!" Eleo screamed.
"INK CANNON!!"
The cannon fired point-blank at Coriaria's feet—not to hit him, but to create a massive explosion of ink smoke.
WHOOSH!
The battlefield vanished into swirling black mist.
Coriaria stepped back, tense. "Where—?"
CRACK!
A fist erupted through the smoke.
SMASH!
Right into Coriaria's face.
His eyes widened in shock as the force sent him reeling.
"INK BARRAGE!!!" Eleo screamed again.
He came in swinging, fists like meteors—SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!—ink splashing across Coriaria's body as each punch landed with growing force.
Coriaria's guard faltered.
Eleo leapt back and his hand shifted into a huge, dripping mallet—twisting, inky, and massive.
"Time for the smackdown, WEED HEAD!!"
"INK HAMMER!!!"
BOOOOM!!!
The hammer crashed against Coriaria's face, his head snapping to the side as he was blasted backward, crashing through two trees, snapping them in half with each impact.
THUD!
But Eleo wasn't done.
BOING!
He bunny-hopped mid-air, crashing down on Coriaria with a knee, then went into a combo:
BAM! Elbow.
CRACK! Hook to the ribs.
WHAM! Spinning ink kick to the jaw.
SPLASH! Uppercut with an ink-coated fist.
Coriaria finally rolled out, coughing as vines exploded from his back to shield him.
He growled, blood leaking from his mouth—mixed with ink.
"Y-you little freak..." he hissed.
Eleo stood there, panting, fists dripping with ink, eyes blazing.
"Who's the weed now, huh?! You ain't scary! You just bark a lot! I'm gonna turn you into salad!"