Disclaimer – I don't own Negima
Author's note – Here's a present for you guys before I go on vacation, so since there won't be any updates 'til Thursday or so, I thought I'd write this before I left.
Tikigod784 – Thanks for the compliment on the fight scene's, I hope I live up to the praise for the rest of this story. And I'll find some way to do that fight, don't fear.
TzuiAssassian – I don't have to put up their names, all I have to do is say that they were defeated. It works since I'm the one writing. Trust me, they don't matter, they're just placeholders, defeated at the earliest opportunity.
Baka purple – whooooo! New reviewer! Thanks for the compliments, too.
Daughter of ether – I got my info from eyeshield 21. And daaaaaaang, you react faster than I do, (I react at 0.17), kudos! And I have plans for the other fight scenes, although I do need to work it out so Lee wins, the only purpose this tournament plays is showing off different aspects of his fighting ability.
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"So, Kaede's my next opponent, huh? This should be interesting." Lee remarked, looking at the board.
"Who else won?" Zazie asked.
"Negi, Asuna, Mana, Ranma, Koutaro and Takamichi." Lee said.
"Death glasses Takahata? That should be a challenge." Lee nodded.
How well I know that.
Shaking the thought from his head, he said, "Well, I have to focus on Kaede now. Judging by the caliber of Ku, Kaede's not going to be a cakewalk." Zazie nodded.
Lee looked at the nearby clock. "Whelp, it's nearly time. See you in the stands?"
"Of course." Smiling, Lee gave her a quick one-armed hug and then left for the ring.
Zazie walked over to the designated fighting area, running her temples as she did to try and relieve the pounding headache she had.
Why do these things come at the worst times?
Taking a seat, she shook her head worked to focus her eyes on the scene below.
Lee and Kaede came walking out, Kaede looking very mysterious in her chunin outfit, Lee looking like… well, Lee.
Lee doesn't need to look mysterious or tough, though. He's already made it perfectly clear that wearing something like that would be redundant.
Zazie turned to look at Kaede again.
But then again, Kaede is strong enough she doesn't need to either. Her outfit is only practical, not flashy or bold.
Zazie saw out of the corner of her eye the announcer walking onto stage. Standing, she dutifully applauded along with the rest.
You can do it, Lee!
Lee's POV
"Contestants, are you ready?" the announcer yelled. Lee nodded, and dropped into his stance. Kaede nodded too, but didn't even move a muscle from her calm, relaxed position.
No stance, huh? That'll cost her.
The announcer raised his hand.
"Ready… Fight!"
Lee took the initiative this time, and quickly closed the distance. Right when he was on her, he feinted a left hook, but Kaede wasn't fooled. Lee was impressed, as he used the momentum from his feint to spin himself into a twisting front flip to kick down at Kaede's head.
Realizing too late that nothing was there.
Damn!
Kaede's foot caught him squarely in the back, sending him crashing down to the cold stone floor of the arena.
Up in the stands, Zazie gasped in worry.
Lee got up, a little slowly.
Instant movement. Not bad.
But, I can do that too.
Lee vanished suddenly, and reappeared right in front of Kaede. He lashed out with a straight kick. Kaede, caught off guard by his technique, was still fast enough to jump into the air, dodging the kick. Making a hand sign, she split into four copies, each one landing on a different side of Lee.
Lee dropped his arms to his side and hunched his shoulders. "You can do shadow replication, too? I have to admit, you're better than I expected."
Kaede smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. However… You're still not good enough!" Lee used instant movement to reappear behind the original Kaede but, the other three had reacted fast enough that he was still surrounded, and from a much closer distance. Immediately, they launched into attack.
A fist came at him from behind. Lee, already crouching, dropped his center of balance even lower; swaying to the side and shooting out a wrist block to simultaneously dodge and block a low kick from another clone. Kaede herself flipped over him, grabbing him by the shoulders and fling him into the air.
Using his perfect balance, even while airborne, Lee righted himself in time to block a chop from a clone. Through sheer improvisation, he angled the block so it sent him back towards the ground. Anther clone was waiting for him, though.
Lee flipped so he was falling headfirst, and then twisted through the clone's high punch high kick combo. Landing lightly on his hands, he twisted into a helicopter like series of kicks, nearly breaking the clone's defenses until the arrival of the other three Kaede's forced him to abandon his offense.
Even when standing on his hands, Lee could still fight. Using his natural speed and reaction time. He quick stepped using his hands and swung his legs out to intercept all of her attacks.
As fast as he was, Lee couldn't keep up with four Kaede's. First, a low kick got in, then a chop to the midsection. Lee compensated so he wouldn't be unbalanced, shifting with the blows to absorb their impacts.
Damn! She's nearly got me pinned! I have to think of something!
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Zazie, yelling at him.
"Keep going Lee! You can do it!"
And then, he knew what to do.
The clones and Kaede worked him inside and out, finally aligning his defenses so they had the opening they wanted.
That's right, girls. Take the bait!
Kaede and her clones pulled of her signature shadow cross, a combination of ki and physical technique. However, when she turned to see the result of her attack, Lee had disappeared.
"Huh?" All of a sudden, she heard laughing from behind her. She turned and saw Lee balancing on the edge of the ring.
Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, Lee held his sides as he shook. "I must admit." He gasped out. "That's one for the record books. I mean, come one, have you ever heard of a guy pulling off instant movement with his hands?"
Kaede gasped. Lee finally stopped laughing and smiled, a glint in his eye.
"Shall we?"
All of a sudden, all four Kaede's were airborne, landing in a heap in the middle of the ring. The other three clones disappeared. She got up dazedly.
"Very nice movement. I couldn't even see it." Kaede commented, while secretly making hand signs behind her back.
"However," She said, "It won't be enough!" And all of a sudden there was not four but seventeen Kaede's.
As one the took a fighting stance and shouted, "Come on!"
Lee smirked. He was still smirking as the all charged. Even when all seventeen had surrounded him and were all attacking as one, he was still smiling.
Up in the stands, Zazie was confused.
What is he up too?
All of a sudden, Lee dropped down onto his hands and launched into a whirlwind of attacks not dissimilar to break dancing. Kaede's flew in every direction, vanishing in a puff of smoke when they contacted the hard floor.
The original Kaede found herself laying flat on her back, bleeding from a knock to the forehead and wheezing for breath from a kick to the stomach.
So fast… she thought.
A shadow fell over her. Lee lifted a foot and held it an inch over her face.
"Checkmate."
"Not quite."
Kaede grabbed Lee's foot and twisted, causing the knee to buckle. Launching off from her back, she came to her feet and launched a kick to Lee's back as he fell to his knees.
She could hardly believe what he did next.
Jumping with his knees, he spread is legs, narrowly avoiding her kick, and grabbed her leg. Pushing on it, he subtly shifted his balance and twisted into a fast spin, kicking Kaede across the face no less than three times in less than a second. Then, grabbing her leg again, he pushed off into an upside down spin, twisting forwards to land a heel kick to the underside of her chin.
Still not done, he spun to the ground and used instant movement to launch a series of lightning fast punches to Kaede's midsection, finishing with another instant movement to take him to behind her and elbowing her right in the small of her back.
She went down. Hard.
Lee looked at her sadly. "Sorry, Kaede."
The announcer held up his hand. "Winner, Lee!"
Later on…
Zazie caught up with Lee outside the first aid tent. "That was great Lee, you we- ouch!" She clutched her forehead in sudden pain.
Lee looked at her, a worried look on his face.
"Are you ok." She nodded.
"Yeah, I just have a small headache." She rubbed her head. Lee gave her a peck on top of her head. "Feel better?"
Zazie smiled. "Yup!"
Lee smiled and went back inside the tent. Zazie watched him go sadly, wondering why she hadn't told him how much pain his small kiss had caused her.
My head feels like it's going to explode, now.
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I'm worried that that fight scene was substandard…--. Oh well. The others will be better, I hope.
Oh, and…
Rrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww.
