Kai and the Chaos Emeralds

Chapter 12: Clash of Blades

Kai and Hazel had carried Toad to the arena's hospital. Hazel was curing Toad with her magic.

"He's fine, but he'll need his rest," Hazel said. "But I'll have to stay here to make sure he doesn't get any worse, so I'll have to skip our match. Just tell them that I forfeited."

"That's alright," Kai said. "I'll get that Mr. L guy for this."

"Just be careful, Kai," Hazel said.

"I will," Kai said. "My fight should start soon. I'll take down that Mr. L no matter what it takes!"

Kai then walked to the referee and told him about where Hazel was.

"Attention everyone!" the referee said through a microphone. "Hazel has forfeited the match in order to take care of a friend, so, by default, Kai wins! So we'll skip to the next match!"

Kai then watched as Mr. L crushed his next opponent, just as he did with Toad. By the time the match was over, Mr. L's opponent had both of his arms and his left leg broken.

"The ruthless Mr. L has just defeated another opponent!" the referee shouted. "Now we shall take a three hour break to give our fighters a rest! The final match will be between Kai Kamai and the mysterious Mr. L!"

The audience began to leave the stands in order to get something to eat. Hazel's siblings went to the hospital wing in order to see how Toad was. Kai decided to get everyone something to eat. He brought several burgers to his friends.

"Are you ready for your match?" Almond asked.

"Of course," Kai said. "I'll take down Mr. L for what he did!"

A few hours later, everyone had gathered in the audience to watch the final round. Kai stepped out into the arena. He then watched as Mr. L stepped out as well.

"It's time for the final match of the tournament!" the referee shouted. "This match is between the heroic Kai Kamai and the mysterious Mr. L! Fighters, when you hear the Xatu, you can begin!"

Kai's and Mr. L's eyes met. They glared at each other as they waited for their fight to begin.

"Natu!"

The whole crowd watched in anticipation. The energy emitting from these two fighters was overwhelming.

"Natu!"

Hazel and Toad watched from a TV in the hospital room. Toad's hospital food remained uneaten. He just couldn't eat thinking about how tough Mr. L was.

"Natu!"

Mr. L could feel Kai's magical power growing, but he was no longer afraid. He was at full strength.

"XATU!!!"

Kai and Mr. L rushed toward each other. Sparks flew from their blades as they tried to slash each other. The clangs from the swords hitting each other could be heard from the very back of the audience.

Kai eventually jumped back. He put his sword in his left hand. He then charged magical energy in his right hand. He cast a Fire spell, which Mr. L blocked with a gust of wind. Mr. L then slashed horizontally. A blade of sharp wind formed where Mr. L slashed. The wind shot straight for Kai. Kai barely got the sword back in his right hand in time to block the wind. As Kai blocked this attack, Mr. L ran up behind him and attacked. Kai was forced toward the opposite wall by Mr. L's attack.

Kai caught himself right before he hit the wall. He then turned around and rushed toward Mr. L. Mr. L attempted to hit Kai with gusts of blade-like wind. Kai managed to dodge these attacks, but Mr. L charged a large blast as Kai dodged his gusts. Mr. L then blasted Kai back toward the opposite wall.

"Kai's not doing well," Amy said to her brother.

"I can tell," Almond replied. "I just wish that we could've gotten some more training in."

Kai kept getting blown back into the wall as he tried to attack. Eventually, he couldn't stop himself from crashing into the wall. He was running low on energy.

Eventually, Kai hit the wall thirty times. Mr. L just watched as Kai slowly got up.

"What allows you to keep going?!" Mr. L shouted. "No human should be able to take this much abuse. If you continue much longer, your body will break from the strain."

"I'm afraid that he's right," Hazel thought as she watched Kai's fight. "I know that Kai's tough, but he's still human. All of his bones will burst if he continues much longer. Kai, it isn't worth killing yourself to keep fighting."

But Kai kept going. It didn't matter how much abuse he took. Kai just kept on getting up to fight. Mr. L was running low on magic power.

"How can he do this?" Mr. L thought. "How can he continue on?! I guess I'll just have to finish him!"

Mr. L began to charge a final blast. His sword glowed with a strange light. He continued to charge this attack. Kai could only watch as this happened. He didn't have enough energy to reach Mr. L.

"THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS!!!" Mr. L shouted as he swung his blade.

A large tornado formed where Mr. L slashed the air. The tornado began to rush toward Kai. When it hit, Kai's screams of pain could be heard all throughout the stadium.

Hazel couldn't watch this torture. She hid her eyes from the horrid sight.

Kai fell to the ground. He seemed to be dead.

"It's over!" Mr. L shouted. "I win! Call it, referee!"

"Well," the referee said. "I guess a 10-count is in order. 1…2…3…4…"

"It doesn't matter," Mr. L said. "He's dead."

"…7…8…9…huh?" the referee finished.

Mr. L turned around and saw Kai get up. His whole body was covered in blood and bruises. He was breathing heavily.

"Impossible!" Mr. L shouted. "That last blast was too strong for any human to survive! What are you?!"

Kai's magical energy rose higher and higher. Everyone watched in surprise.

"Hazel, look at this!" Toad exclaimed.

"Is it over?" Hazel asked through her hands.

"Just watch!" Toad shouted.

Hazel lifted her head. A smile rose on her face. Kai was still standing. In fact, his magical energy was higher than ever.

"I still have enough magic power for another spell," Mr. L said. "I'll just finish you off."

Mr. L began to charge another spell. Kai's energy eventually filled the entire stadium. The energy then was concentrated into a visible form on his back. The magical energy took the shape of wings. These wings were a beautiful snowy white.

"This is strange, folks!" the referee shouted. "It seems that Kai has grown wings!"

"That's strange," Toad said. "Kai's never had wings before, has he?"

"I don't know," Hazel replied. "What a minute!"

A flashback began. It was during the battle with the Lord of Darkness. Kai was plummeting toward the ground.

"I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!!!" Kai shouted.

His energy rose to its peak and shaped itself into a pair of wings. The flashback ended.

"Kai did have wings before!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Really?" Toad asked. "When?"

As Hazel explained the flashback, Kai's fight with Mr. L continued. Kai began to rush toward Mr. L. He was moving so fast, it seemed like he was flying. Almost a second later, Kai disappeared. Mr. L's eyes widened with fear as Kai vanished. Kai reappeared behind Mr. L. He then slashed him toward the wall. Mr. L's spell faded.

Kai then appeared right behind Mr. L. He slashed Mr. L toward the other side. He then repeated this action. The audience tried to see how Kai was doing this.

"Does Kai have the ability to teleport?" Amy asked.

"I don't think that he's teleporting," Almond answered. "I think that he's just moving extremely fast."

"Can we get an instant replay on this?" the referee asked. "Also, play it in slow-motion."

A large TV screen showed Mr. L flying backwards in slow motion. Kai was seen rushing across the screen, as if he was moving at normal speed.

"Whoa!" Toad exclaimed as he watched the fight. "In all of the time I've known Kai, he's never moved this fast! What's going on?"

After about twenty slashes, Kai slammed Mr. L against a wall.

"Time to finish this!" Kai shouted.

His sword glowed with a green and light-blue light. He began to slash down at Mr. L. Mr. L saw this and raised his own blade to block the attack. When the blades hit, a large explosion of light rose from the point of impact and covered the entire stadium.

When the light faded, Mr. L and Kai were both standing there. Neither of them was moving. Kai's wings had disappeared from sight.

"Mr. L!" a voice shouted into Mr. L's head. "Get out of there now! If you stay, you'll die!"

"Yes, Lord Zant," Mr. L thought.

A purple tornado began to form around Mr. L.

"You win this time, swordsman," Mr. L said. "Next time we meet, you will die. See you L-ater!"

Mr. L then disappeared.

"Well, it looks like Mr. L forfeited the match!" the referee shouted. "So Kai wins the match!"

The crowd roared with excitement. Hazel and Toad were cheering from the hospital room. One second later, Kai collapsed. Almond, Amy, and Marina ran down into the coliseum to help Kai. On the way to Kai, Almond told the referee that he'd give Kai the trophy and the prize. The referee then handed a golden trophy and the Chaos Emerald to Almond. Almond, Amy, and Marina then lifted Kai out of the stadium.

Eventually, Kai slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in Hazel's mansion. He was lying in bed. Nobody was in the room with him. Suddenly, a door in the room opened. Hazel, Toad, Almond, Amy, and Marina walked in.

"You're awake!" Toad exclaimed.

"What happened?" Kai asked as he slowly sat up.

"You won the match and then passed out," Almond answered. "We found out that your left arm was broken, your right arm was heavily bruised, and you had deep cuts all over your body. We got Hazel to mend your bones and heal those cuts, but you'll be bruised for a few more days."

"I can feel it," Kai said as he rubbed his right arm.

"The last part of the match was strange," Marina said. "Somehow, your magical energy rose above normal levels, you grew wings, and you moved too fast for the eyes to see."

"How did I do that?" Kai asked. "Hazel, you must know."

"I don't," Hazel replied. "I've never seen anything like that."

"I can explain it," Almond said. "It's in an old book that we have deep within the library. I brought it with me."

Almond took out an old, dusty, brown book. He opened it up.

"Here we go," Almond said. "Whenever the body is under great stress, the magic system…"

"That's a body system that controls magical energy flow," Hazel interrupted.

"Thanks," Almond said. "Anyway, the magic system, when the body is under stress, increases the speed of magic flow in order to get the body out of danger. This only happens when someone is faced with a life-or-death situation."

"But how did Kai grow wings?" Toad asked.

"Hazel, you once told me that Kai found out that he was part Avian," Almond said.

"I remember that," Hazel replied.

"Avians were known to have wings made of pure magical energy," Almond continued. "These wings allow the user to fly by using magic to control the wind currents around them. Since Kai is only part Avian, he doesn't normally have wings. I'm guessing that he grows wings when his magical energy reaches its peak. That would also explain why his wings disappeared when Kai's magical energy was completely drained by his last attack."

"That must be why Kai grew wings during the match against the Lord of Darkness!" Hazel exclaimed. "He was plummeting from the sky. He would've died if his wings didn't grow!"

"This wing stuff sounds pretty cool!" Kai exclaimed. "I just wish that I could control it. Being able to fly through the sky would be amazing!"

"True," Toad said. "Maybe you'll learn to control it some day. Right now, however, we have to hunt down the Chaos Emeralds!"

"That's right!" Kai exclaimed. "We have three now! How many are there again?"

"A total of seven," Toad answered. "So we only need four more."

"Cool!" Kai exclaimed. "Alright, let's get going!"

Kai jumped out of bed.

"Shouldn't you rest for at least one more night?" Marina asked.

"No way!" Kai shouted. "I can rest on the ship. The sooner we leave, the better chance we have of getting those Chaos Emeralds before anyone else. Let's go!"

"Alright," Hazel said. "But I'm going with you guys. After seeing how much you got hurt in that last battle, I better tag along to heal your injuries."

"Cool!" Kai shouted. "If we had Zero with us, the whole gang would be back together! Maybe we'll find him on the journey."

"Maybe," Toad said. "Alright, Kai. Let's pack our bags and get going."

"Ok," Kai said.

Kai and Toad left to pack their bags. Hazel began to leave, but Marina stopped her.

"The real reason you're going is to be with Kai, right?" Marina asked.

Hazel's cheeks blushed with a brick-red color.

"Wh…wh…what makes you say that?!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Don't lie to me," Marina said. "You did almost nothing but talk about your adventures whenever you got back. Plus, when you see Kai after a few years, the first thing you did was hug him. I've seen lovesickness before, and you've got it."

Hazel then blushed brighter than ever. She then rushed out of the room to pack her bags.

"Do you have to embarrass Hazel like that?" Amy asked.

"At least I waited until Kai and Toad were out of the room," Marina said.

"If you did that, you would've died from hammer-shaped wounds," Amy said.

"True," Marina said.

Later that day, Kai, Toad, and Hazel set sail on the S.S. Mushroom. When they were out to sea, Kai turned to Toad.

"Where are we going next?" Kai asked. "Dreamland? Pokemon Land?"

"Nope," Toad said as he watched the Chaos Radar. "According to the radar, we'll be leaving the Gameon Islands completely."

"So we'll be trekking unknown territory," Kai said. "Cool. Let's go! Next stop, adventure!"

The ship sailed further and further out to sea. Who knows where they'll go? What kinds of allies will they meet? Will they rejoin with Zero? Who knows?