Seven Deadly Jewels
Chapter 25
A loud CLANG echoed through the city as Li and Tatsuki locked their weapons together. Gold met with amber as their eyes locked together as well. They jumped back only to rush towards each other again. Li struggled as he tried to push Tatsuki back. It was like trying to push down a tree, but that didn't stop the chestnut haired boy. By summoning a great deal of his inner strength he pushed Tatsuki back, and attacked with a strong overhead blow.
"Not bad," the spear fighter muttered as their weapons met once again.
"I'm just getting started," Li replied, and added more force behind his attack. Tatsuki just smirked.
"So am I." The golden-eyed fighter suddenly pushed Li back with ease, and lunged forward with a swift thrust. Li quickly back flipped away, and as soon as his feet hit the dirt he shot towards Tatsuki.
"Take this! Element, Lighting!" Tatsuki quickly held up his spear, and the spear easily absorbed the lighting attack.
"You're going to have to do better than that. My spear can act as a lighting rod. Remember?"
"Yeah, now I do," Li muttered. The two fighters eyes met once again before they dashed towards each other once again. Li attacked with a fierce horizontal slash as they pasted each other, but it suddenly went through a transparent of Tatsuki. "Nice trick but you're going to need a better one!" The chestnut haired boy swiftly swung his sword behind him, but it once again went through a transparent image.
"Up here Syaoran!" Tatsuki shouted from the air. "Behold another one of my many attacks. Diving Dragon Thrust!" The spear fighter was suddenly surrounded by a light purple aura as he dove towards Li like a rocket.
"Element wind!" the young man quickly put up a shield around himself as the attack came closer. Sparks flew, and the ground shook when the two techniques collided.
"You can't defeat this attack, Syaoran," Tatsuki growled as he added more force behind his assault. Li dug his back foot into the ground, and started to force the energy of his shield outward.
"I…beg…to differ," Li growled back. "Wind Reflection!" With a fast wave of his sword, Li used the wind of shield to blow Tatsuki back. The spear warrior however, simply back flipped and shot towards Li again. As soon as he saw amber eyed boy thrust his sword forward, he used his spear to pole vault above the young man.
"Try to blow back this. Drilling Needle!" As soon Tatsuki was over Li, he pointed his spear downwards and started to spin fast. In a matter of seconds a red spiral aura covered Tatsuki as he came down. Li quickly held his sword over his head to block the aerial attack. His hands shook as the vibration traveled down his sword, it took all of his will power not to let go of his weapon. But his persistence paid off once the spinning started to slow down.
"Gotcha," Li muttered. Taking his chance, Li pushed Tatsuki through the air, and struck with a swift downward assault. Another loud clang echoed through the town streets as their weapons met once again. Tatsuki suddenly hit Li's sword to side, and struck him across his face with the butt of his spear. The chestnut haired fighter pivoted on his foot, and countered with a well-placed punch to his throat. The two quickly jumped back for a fast rest.
"Well your skills haven't diminished in the two years I was away," Tatsuki said as he felt his throat.
"Yeah well you aren't as weak as were when I first fought you," Li replied and spat out a tooth. The two shot quick glares at each other before starting again. At first they were only jogging, but after a few seconds their feet started to move so swiftly that they were nothing but blurs. The dirt they kicked up slammed together and created one large cloud of dirt when they collided. The only thing a normal person could see would be their shadows, and the thunderous shockwaves was all normal people would be able to hear as their weapons clashed together. Their auras flared, and battled just as fiercely as the two fighters. Tatsuki's golden aura overpowered Li's green for a while, but the green started to grow spin together with the gold. The two auras spun together like a hurricane until they finally collided together near the top of the dust cloud, and separated.
"Not bad," Tatsuki said as the dust cloud started to clear.
"I'm just getting started," Li replied and went into another fighting stance. Tatsuki smirked, and said,
"So am I." Li rushed towards the spear fighter, and attacked with a strong downward strike. Tatsuki easily evaded it, and gave Li a swift uppercut. The young man back flipped while he was airborne, and knocked Tatsuki on his back with a well placed double kick to his chest.
"Element, fire!" Li shouted as soon as he jumped to his feet. The fire blast engulfed Tatsuki in its flames, but when the fire cleared, the spear fighter was gone.
"Don't look behind you," he heard a voice whisper. Without second thought Li ducked, and felt the wind of Tatsuki's spear pass over him. The amber-eyed fighter gripped his sword, and ran it through his stomach. Tatsuki yelled out in pain as the sword went all the way through his body.
"Gotcha," Li said with a smirk as he removed his sword.
"Clearly," Tatsuki whispered as he stepped back with his hand over his wound. The blood started to run through his fingers, and drip to the ground like a small fountain.
"It's over," Li said, but the spear fighter just laughed.
"It's far from over Syaoran!" This caught Li's full attention.
"What the hell are you talking about? That wound would kill anyone!"
"You fool," Tatsuki chuckled, and removed his hand from the wound. Li's eyes widened when he saw that the wound was completely healed.
"No way!" he whispered. "Is this how you survived? You can heal yourself?" Tatsuki just chuckled again.
"Not necessarily," Tatsuki replied as he went into another fighting stance.
'What's this strange aura I'm sensing? It's not coming from him, and there's no one else around. Who could be giving off such an aura?' Li thought as he looked around the area.
"Keep your eye on your opponent!" Tatsuki shouted suddenly, and thrust his spear forward. Li quickly dodged to the side, and countered with a swift sidekick to his head.
"If you want to beat me, you'll have to use better tricks than that. You should have known by now my guard is always up," Li said as he walked up to Tatsuki. The spear fighter just started to chuckle as he looked at the young man's eyes.
"I must say I'm surprised that you are able to fight with a level head. After all, I am partly responsible for that incident two years ago. Remember?" Li growled deeply, and gripped his sword hilt tighter.
"How could I forget? You forever marked of that," he snarled.
"It just a little reminder. To make sure in the two years you would spend wandering the world, you wouldn't forget where you come from. Or what caused it." Li gritted his teeth together as he saw flashes of crimson blood spray through the air, the cries of countless people, and a great green flash.
"Shut up," he whispered. For a split second his iris (colored part of you eye) flashed red. Tatsuki smirked.
'He's almost there. He just needs a couple more pushes.' Viga, who was watching from afar, just chuckled as he listened.
"So Tatsuki you wish to fight that side of our little Syaoran. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into," Viga muttered as he watched more.
"I hope you know that those little reminders are also to remember Viga as well. He had his part to play to in that incident." The flashing in Li's eyes only started to become more rapid, and his necklace started to glow just as rapidly.
"I'll never forgive any of you, for what you did," he growled dangerously as he made an extremely tight fist.
"And what about Shu Ling?" Li's eyes widened as soon as he heard that name.
"Ling?" he whispered.
"She's just as responsible for what happened. Her hands are just as dirty as Viga's and mine. Will you be able to forgive her for what she did? Even though I wouldn't blame you for not forgiving her. She was nothing but a deceitful, foolish piece of trash!" Li's fist became so tight that his nails started to dig into his skin.
"You….dare….insult….Ling?" he growled viciously. His irises became crimson red, and a dark green aura started to slowly surround him.
"There it is," Tatsuki said under his breath.
"Tat…Su…Ki," Li growled slowly. He snapped up his head, revealing his now red eyes. "The gloves are off!"
"Well then by all means show me how you fight without your gloves," the golden-eyed warrior replied and went into a fighting stance.
"I intend to."
OOOOO
Kero turned his head around suddenly when a chill passed through his body.
"What is that?" he wondered out loud.
"…Kero…." Sakura groaned as she slowly woke up.
"Sakura, good you're awake."
"The only reason I'm up is because that cold feeling I get it in stomach is back, and that usually means trouble."
"Yeah, I'm sensing it too. It some type of intense aura. I'm not sure how else to describe it, it's just so….wild."
"I know, the feeling in my stomach is ice cold, it's never been this cold before. What do you think is happening?"
"Not sure kid. Most likely that Tatsuki guy must have used some powerful attack against Li."
"Then we have to go and help him! I'm not even sure Li can take this guy alone!" Kero nodded.
"I know, but we have to take his friend to his dojo to get him some help. That wound will kill him if we don't worry."
"Well then step on it Kero!"
"Gotcha!" the beast agreed, and flew faster.
OOOOO
"So Syaoran you have unleashed it after all this time," Viga said with a chuckle.
"Shouldn't you be back at the castle?" Mudo asked as he suddenly teleported behind Viga.
"Ah it'll be fine. Besides I just had to watch this fight, it's been so entertaining," Viga replied.
"Who's fighting?"
"Li and Tatsuki. You fought him remember?"
"Yes for a kid his age he was quite the opponent. But I don't see him anywhere." Viga just chuckled.
"Try to sense for him." Mudo closed his eyes, but they suddenly snapped open when he sensed Li's aura.
"I've….never felt such wild and incredible aura! Is it really that Li kid's?" Viga nodded.
"It seems that Tatsuki caused Syaoran to unleash the beast within. Luckily for Tatsuki Syaoran has such a short temper. Bring up the incident from two years ago, and he completely loses it."
"So what exactly happened two years ago?" Viga just smirked as he watched the fight.
"That is a story for another day."
OOOOO
A loud shockwave ran through the area as two blurs collided. As soon as they passed each other, the blurs turned around, and collided with each other again. When they collided another time, the shockwave was so rough and powerful that it shattered the barrier that Tatsuki had put up, unleashing the fight upon the town and its people.
'Now I can finally be serious,' Tatsuki thought as he ran along side of the now red-eyed Li. The two dashed all the way to the center of the of the town in only a matter of minutes. The dust they had kicked up started to settle, and there was a brief pause as they stared each other down again.
"Syaoran, you can't defeat me. You barely defeated me two years ago, what makes you think you can beat me this time?" Li just smirked.
"I just have a feeling," he replied darkly, and suddenly rushed towards the spear fighter, who just smirked.
'I can feel that his bloodlust is rising at a rapid state. The longer he stays in this state the higher it becomes. Soon his bloodlust will be so strong that he will kill just about anyone and everyone around him,' Tatsuki thought as he dodged Li's swift downward strike. Li suddenly appeared behind Tatsuki, and attacked with a fast slash, but his sword only passed through another transparent copy.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" Li shouted, and suddenly hurled his sword to the side. He was rewarded with a loud yell of pain. Tatsuki fell to his knees with Li's sword imbedded in his stomach.
"Nice….aim," he said weakly. But Li didn't stop there he rushed towards the spear fighter, and knocked him on his back with a strong sidekick. Li then stood over Tatsuki, and in one motion pulled out his, and held it over his head for a final blow.
"Get ready to die for real this time."
"Not yet," Tatsuki muttered, and from behind Li, Tatsuki's spear started to levitate. The golden-eyed fighter then swung his hand, and instantly the spear shot towards Li like a bullet. In a matter of seconds the red-eyed young man had a long spear impaired in his shoulder.
"You cheap bastard," he growled, as he took a knee. Tatsuki smirked as he stood over him.
"Now that I have the upper hand, I'm going to play with you for a little while." However, Li just smirked, and pulled out the spear like it was nothing.
"I don't think so," he said and suddenly shot towards Tatsuki again. The spear fighter quickly kicked Li's sword out of his hands, and came in with a sudden jab to the young man's stomach. Li growled, but managed to counter with an equally strong uppercut. The two jumped back, for a quick break.
'He's strong, but nothing I can't handle. I think it's time I used more powerful techniques,' Tatsuki smirked, and the two fighters dashed towards each other again. A blur suddenly came in from the right, and made the spear fighter stumble two steps. When he looked up he saw Li with his leg extended in a round kick position. Tatsuki just smirked, and disappeared.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Li said, and suddenly elbowed the golden eyed fighter in the stomach from behind him. Once he was crouched over, Li spun around, and gave him a strong front kick to his chin, sending him to the ground. Tatsuki jumped to his feet, and threw a fast jab, but Li dodged with ease, and countered with an elbow strike across his face. The young man was nose to nose with the killer in a matter of seconds, and started to pound his face with rapid punches. After the ninth punch was landed, Tatsuki tried to block Li's attacks, but they were so fast, no even he could keep up with all of them. In only a few minutes, Tatsuki was face first on the ground with his face covered with bruise.
'He's only getting stronger,' the spear wielder thought as he struggled to his feet. 'I have to end this before…he gets too strong for me.' Li was on the move once again. Tatsuki tried to stop him with a strong jab, but the young man only leaped in the air, and gave him a sidekick to his ribs. His kick was so strong that it broke most of the ribs on that side of him. As Tatsuki slid across the dirt, the Terra Bracelet on his wrist started to glow.
Li dashed towards Tatsuki with speed that not even he could keep up with. In seconds Li was behind the spear fighter, and knocked him to the ground with a powerful kick to his head.
"Run from this! Dragon Quake!" Tatsuki slammed his hand on the ground, and created a small but put powerful earthquake around Li. The ground around him started to split apart, and fall to pieces. Only a small piece of earth remained when the attack was finished, and Li was trapped on it. "Now I have you trapped! Time to finish this! Dragon Quake!" Another powerful earthquake hit, and started to break away the small piece of earth that Li was standing on. Li however just smirked, and leaped into the air.
"You can't beat me that easily!" he shouted.
"Oh really?" Tatsuki shouted back as he grabbed his spear. "Dodge this! Dragon Assault!" Five golden dragons shot out of his spear, and blasted towards Li who had no look of worry on his face.
"Too easy," he whispered and started to dodge the dragons with ease. But Tatsuki suddenly appeared behind him with an arm that was now completely stone.
"It ends here," he whispered and slammed Li into the ground with a hard punch. The young man fell like a rock, and hit the ground with a loud THUD. "Now it's time to show you my most powerful technique. You'll never survive this Syaoran!" Tatsuki shouted as a blue aura started to surround him.
"Bring it on!" Li growled as he got to his feet. "I'll take anything you have!" The young man grabbed his sword, and dashed towards Tatsuki, who was now completely covered in blue aura.
"Dragon Rush!" In a split second the two fighters ran past each other, and everything was silent and still.
"I told you I'd take anything you had," Li whispered as he turned his head. Tatsuki however just smirked.
"Too bad you body couldn't take it." As soon as he said those words, blood exploded from Li's body, and the young fell face first to the ground. The blood ran across the ground like a river, and it was only growing in size. Tatsuki chuckled as he stood over Li.
'No one can survive the full blast of my Dragon Rush attack. Now to take his energy,' he thought and held his hand over the fallen fighter. But just as he was about to take Li's energy, a powerful wind blew him back.
"Leave him alone!" Sakura said as she stepped out from an alleyway.
'Damn! I am in no condition to fight her now! I'll withdraw for now, and get Syaoran while he's healing.' With that Tatsuki leaped on to a rooftop, and ran off. After making sure he was gone, Sakura ran over to Li.
"Kero!" she called. The beast popped out from her pocket.
"What is it?" he asked lazily.
"We have to get him to Chiharu and fast! He's losing a lot of blood!"
"All right, but if he hits me when he wakes up the next time he's injured like this he's on his own!" Kero said, and created the shield.
"Don't worry Kero, I'll make sure he won't."
OOOOO
When Li opened his eyes, he found himself a black void deprived of sound and light. But the next thing he knew he was on a street in his old town, watching his younger self talking to an old man in black robes.
"He has gone to too far Syaoran," the old man said.
"What do you mean?" his younger self asked.
"He has been killing off key members. If he continues kiss this place, and your family goodbye. You must stop him Syaoran."
"Why the hell do I have to? Get one of the other two do it. Even better Yamazaki. He's better at spear fighting than I am." The old man let out a groan of frustration.
"You're the one who hired him, which means you must be the one to stop him."
"Well how the hell was I supposed to know he would go berserk? It's not my fault."
"But it's your reasonability! It is your reasonability to protect your family, and the towns people that's what being a…"
"All right I get it old man!" he barked. "I've heard that damn lecture more times than I care to count. I'll do it, but this better be the last time I'm ordered to do something like this." The scene then changed to his younger self on the ground with two long and deep slash marks on his back while Tatsuki was lying lifeless on the ground. But something caught Li's eyes as he looked at Tatsuki's body.
"What the heck is that?" he wondered as he got a closer look. Then it finally hit him. "No wonder he survived!" The scene then went back to the void, but suddenly a big green flash covered the entire void. When it cleared Li was now staring at two huge red eyes.
OOOOO
The chestnut haired boy's eyes fluttered open and he found himself in one of the rooms at Yamazaki's dojo. He sat up, and put a hand on his now bandaged forehead.
"Did I transform during the fight. Because if I did…" his thought was interrupted when the door opened, and reveled Sakura in the doorway.
"Oh good you're awake," she said with a smile. Li just shot her a glare.
"What do you want?" he growled. Sakura frowned.
"I just came to see how you were doing. You were in bad shape when Kero and I found you. Lucky for us Chiharu is so good at patching people up." Li stared at her with little interest as he got out of bed. "What are you doing? You need to rest!"
"Shut up," he growled as he pulled on his cloak. "I have unfinished business with Tatsuki."
"You can't fight in the condition you're in! You'll only get worse," Sakura said and tried to get him back to bed, but Li only shoved her away.
"Leave me alone!" he muttered coldly, as he grabbed his sword. "And if you follow me, you're dead." Sakura froze as he walked passed her, and out the door. When she finally regained her nerve, Li was gone.
"Sakura, I just saw Li leave," Tomoyo said.
"I know."
"Well shouldn't we follow him? I mean in the condition he's in he might as well be walking to his own death." Sakura hesitated as Li's words played through her mind. She shivered slightly when she remembered the harshness, in his voice, it as though she was his enemy. After a while the emerald eyed girl sighed.
"All right, let's go."
OOOOO
Li took a quick breath as he fingered the bandages around his torso, and stomach. His wounds had already opened again, and the once pale bandages around him were now quickly turning crimson. He took a knee, and rested against a tree in the forest near the town. He looked up at the sky, and noticed it was pitch black with the stars as his only light. The last rays of light were fading far west, and setting underneath the trees. The light wind suddenly became harsh and loud. As soon as Li felt a familiar presence he jumped away from the tree, and drew his sword. Standing on a tree branch was none other than Tatsuki.
"So you decided to come to me. Not a smart decision, but it benefits me nonetheless."
"This ends tonight Tatsuki!" Li declared and went into a fighting stance.
"Oh really, then by all means, come." At that moment they were gone, and became nothing but dark blurs in the darkness.
'If I'm right, then this fight shouldn't last very long,' Li thought as he parried a straight thrust from Tatsuki. The spear fighter hit Li's sword away, and gave him a swift jab to his stomach with his spear butt. The chestnut haired boy clutched his stomach and stepped back.
"Oh, I see you came here injured. What a foolish move," Tatsuki said as he watched Li cough out blood, and his bandage becoming stained with red. Just as Li was starting to regain his nerve, Tatsuki appeared in front of him, and slammed him into a tree with a strong knee blow. The young man quickly ducked under a horizontal slash that cut down the tree, and jumped behind him.
'I have to hold out, and wait for him to use that Dragon Rush, otherwise this whole thing is useless,' Li thought as he watched Tatsuki dash towards him. A second later, Tatsuki slashed the young man across his chest making the wounds there even worse. Li's hand became just as crimson as the blood staining his bandages as he clutched the wounds on his chest. Tatsuki appeared behind him again, and slashed his back. He then followed up with a swift stab to the back of his thigh. As soon as Li took a knee, Tatsuki appeared in front him, and knocked him back with a hard swing to his head with the wood of the spear.
"Look at you, you have no power left. It was foolish to fight me with all your wounds," the spear fighter said as he looked over the now blood covered Li. "You should have known that you couldn't fight with all those wounds. No one survives my Dragon Rush. And if they do, they're so weak and lost so much blood that they can barely fight."
'Just keep talking Tatsuki,' Li thought as he started to mutter something. Tatsuki suddenly went up to him, and kicked him into the trunk of a tree.
"Time to finish you," he whispered in his ear, and raised his spear. Li, who had his eyes closed this entire time, snapped them open, and knocked him away with a strong kick. Once he was far enough, Li leaped onto the highest tree branch of the tree.
"I'm not going to die that easily!" he shouted. Tatsuki just smirked, and started to gather the blue aura around him.
"So I see the only way to kill you would be with Dragon Rush. That's fine with me." As soon as the blue aura was gathered it covered Tatsuki's body completely, and he dashed towards the tree.
"Prefect! Raijou!" Li shouted, and in seconds his body was covered by electrical energy. The blue aura that was surrounding Tatsuki took the form of a dragon as he leaped into the air. The electricity around Li became a fierce electric tiger as he shot towards the blue dragon like a bullet.
"Dragon Rush!"
"Electric Claw!" The claws of the two beasts collided with a thunderous explosion that caused a shockwave that echoed through the entire forest. When the two great auras faded all the leaves on the nearby trees were gone, and many others were broken in half. Li was on the ground a knee down, and Tatsuki was on the tree branch Li was on with a large hole between them. Everything was still for a few moments before Tatsuki's spear broke in half, and he fell out of the tree.
"But…. how?" Tatsuki asked weakly. Li smirked as he fell to his knees.
"It was your spear. I thought from the beginning there was no way you could have survived the fight from two years ago. Then I realized that as you lay there you cast a spell on your spear to keep flowing continuous life energy into your body. That's why you were able to heal yourself, and survive the fight. Take away the spear, and I kill you."
"I…can't believe…. after…all this time…. it ends here, but Syaoran you know what you are, and killing me will not let you escape your fate. No matter what you do, you will always be alone," Tatsuki whispered as he took his final breath. When he closed his eyes, Tatsuki's body was reduced to nothing but dust. Li sighed, and started to walk away, thinking about what Tatsuki said.
"No matter what I do I'll always be alone. Is that truly my fate? A fate that I can't escape from?" he asked himself as he reached the edge of the forest. But when he got there he met Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero.
"Man, what the hell happened to you? We leave you alone for a few minutes and you come back looking like crap!" Kero chuckled, but he kissed ground.
"Shut up! What the hell are you doing here anyway!"
"Well we did come to help you, but judging by all the blood on you I'm guessing you beat him?" Tomoyo guessed. Li just scoffed.
"Did you doubt that I could kill him?"
"Actually yes," Sakura replied.
"Whatever. Now come on let's get going."
"Aw, but we didn't even get to say goodbye to Chiharu," Tomoyo complained.
"Is this something you feel compelled to do?" the girls nodded, and Li just groaned. "Fine, go I don't care. But if you take to long I'm outta here, got it?"
"Yep, come on Sakura. Maybe she'll give us some clothes for the road!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly.
"That'd be great!" Sakura replied as they ran off. Li just leaned against a tree, and looked up at the sky.
'No matter what I do I'll always be alone huh?' he smiled slightly. 'With those two around, and that stuffed animal, all I want is to be alone.'
AN: Another chapter finished. I hope you liked it. That fight was a pain to write. And if the ending seemed rushed that's because I was trying to finish this chapter before I had to go to school. Anyway what other dangerous lie in wait for Li and the others? What incident occurred two years ago to make Li so angry? How is he able to transform like that? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. See ya!