Star Flight Adventures
Chapter 26: Final Round; Part One
After the fight Sarah and Hui-Ying had, the two females gathered up their beam weapons and went to the healing pods. This time, the field would change after the crocodile announcer stated what it would be.
After getting fixed up which only took ten seconds, the two females made their way to the waiting room. Sarah got a nice surprise when she saw that Lucas was waiting for her. The two young foxes went to each other and embraced.
"That was incredible," said the vulpine. "I didn't think you'd be this strong."
"I did it for you," whispered the green vixen. The two then kissed and after a bit they came apart.
Meanwhile, Hui-Ying and Jazerc were in a similar situation as Lucas and Sarah. "You're almost there," said the male panda. "The last stretch is ahead."
"Don't worry babe," said his girlfriend. "I'll win this for you."
"You've all done a good job," said Mitch, with Brooke next to him.
"But now Hui-Ying has to face against my brother," said Lucas. "If she hadn't won the last match, then Sarah would be going against Nicholas. And if I could trade places, I would and win the tournament."
"The same goes for me," said Jazerc.
"Big words," said Nicholas in a corner. "Coming from the two who got their asses kicked in the first rounds and that they're weaker than their girlfriends."
The younger vulpine and male panda snapped, and whipped around to glare at the older vulpine. They both seemed to have a pissed off mark on their foreheads. "Nicholas, shut the fuck up!" they yelled. Before the older vulpine could respond, they heard the announcer speak.
"All right everyone; this is it! It's the finals!" He was met by a huge roar from the crowd. "Who will win it all?! Will it be Hui-Ying Yao or Nicholas McCoy?! This will be a fight to remember! And now for the stage that they'll fight! It will be on the valley of the end field!"
The stage began to shift and morph. In a short amount of time it changed to look like a valley. There was a river with trees on either side. The body of water went over a cliff in a waterfall that went into a lower level that only had water, rocks, and a rocky bank. All of the water was only five inches deep. The waiting room was near the part that had the trees.
"And now would Nicholas and Hui-Ying come on out!" said the crocodile. The two did so, with grins on their faces, near one of the banks. The female panda was wearing a long, white colored dress that was made for battle. It was sleeveless so that the line tattoos on her arms could be seen. Two pink colored flower designs were on the top, and two more were at the bottom part. The bottom part of the outfit split into two smaller sections so that the spiral tattoos on the panda's legs could be seen. The dress was fused into one piece between the panda's legs to avoid showing something that wasn't supposed to be shown. Attached to the belt in the back were two brown colored pouches, and on the right side at the front was a square shaped like pouch also colored brown. On the right side of her head was a hair pin that was silver in color, had markings on it, and had four rubies. It ended at points, two on either side. On the left side was another hair pin that was the same as the first except that it had one ruby, and ended at three points.
The two finalists took their positions. "These two have shown to be incredible fighters but only one will be determined the strongest of this year!" said the announcer. "Let the final match begin!"
Nicholas however, just stood where he was even though his opponent had taken a ready stance.
"Well?" asked Hui-Ying. "Aren't you going to attack me?"
"Like I'd ever go before a women," said Nicholas and crossed his arms.
"Heh; flattering," said the panda. "But maybe you're world's a bit too small. What If I'm stronger than you or another specie?"
"Doesn't matter if you're stronger than me, or another specie," said the vulpine. "I ain't going to attack first. But now it's time to finally find out who should be considered the master of hand to hand combat. We've never been able to prove it. But this match will determine who the better fighter is."
"I agree," said Hui-Ying. She then noticed that the fox had his double bladed beam ax on his back. "You won't need that weapon on your back. I'll just knock it out of your paws."
"We'll see," said Nicholas.
Suddenly, the panda reached into the back left pouch on her belt. With her index and middle finger, she grabbed something inside. Pulling the fingers out, everyone could see that Hui-Ying had grabbed knife handle like objects that were colored silver, and had a hole at the end of each one. The panda tossed one of the handles to her other paw and squeezed the handles. A small green blade of energy came out. A lot of the species, including Nicholas knew that these were beam kunai. Hui-Ying threw the weapons at the vulpine with great speed.
The fox immediately uncrossed his arms and ducked. The kunai knives went wising over his head and right into a tree. Nicholas jumped back towards the area where the beam weapons were, and removed them. He placed one in each paw.
"You've gotten faster at throwing them," said the vulpine, while tossing the knife in his right paw up and catching the handle of the blade. "And you're accuracy is still is superb. If I hadn't dodged that, your weapons would have gotten me in the head."
Hui-Ying just stood there, ready for her opponent to make a move.
"But now that you've attack me, I can strike now," said Nicholas. The fox instantly used the speed booster technique to get behind the female panda. He threw the beam kunai at her. Hui-Ying was prepared, and moved out of harm's way.
Nobody said anything as the panda straightened herself out. The vulpine took the double bladed beam ax off of his back and activated it. He took a ready stance.
"I told you that weapon will just get knocked out of your paws!" said Hui-Ying. She took out a ring like weapon from the pouch on her right side. He finger flexed, and a small beam of green energy popped out on all four sides of the ring. It was a beam shuriken.
The panda threw the weapon at the vulpine who just swung his ax down and deflected the missile. Hui-Ying used this to her advantage. She grabbed some beam kunai knives from both of her back pouches, and threw them at Nicholas. The fox spun his double bladed beam ax in a circle in front of him. The weapon acted like a shield, and the knives were deflected.
"That's all you've got?" asked the vulpine.
Hui-Ying made no response but instead used her speed booster technique to get behind the fox. He saw the move and spun around to meet her. He then did a series of thrusts with his beam weapon. The panda just dodged all of them. She suddenly managed to grab the handle of Nicholas's weapon and stopped him. With a yell, she got him in the stomach with her fist. Hui-Ying put all of her strength into it.
The punch was so strong that the vulpine actually lost his grip on his weapon, and went flying back before coming to a stop. He grabbed his stomach while his opponent tossed the double bladed beam ax to the side.
"What has just happened has proved my point," said Hui-Ying. Nicholas straightened up.
"So you've gotten better," said the vulpine. "That's the first time you managed to disarm me like that. I guess it would be pointless to try to use it. In that case, I'll just use this. Fists of Cerinia." His weapon from his cross came out and covered his paws. The field of green and white energy came out. But this time, it seemed stronger. Everyone could notice it.
"What's wrong?" asked Nicholas since Hui-Ying hadn't done anything. "Aren't you going to call out your weapon?"
"Shut up," she said. "I don't need you to tell me what to do. Panda Gauntlets." From her hair pin on the left side came two objects. They went almost up to her elbows, and were open at the bottom to allow Hui-Ying to grasp objects. They were silver in color, and each had a single ruby on them. They had markings on them and a silver colored tube connected them that went behind the panda's back.
Those who had not seen this weapon instantly saw why Nicholas and his opponent had struck up a rivalry; they could see that Hui-Ying's weapons were also a hand to hand combat type.
"You aren't going to make those six spikes come out?" asked the vulpine.
"Not yet; unless you make me get serious," said the panda. "Besides, you haven't gotten the claw part of your weapons out yet."
"It's only so I don't end up killing by mistake," Nicholas responded.
"Well then, I'm ready," said Hui-Ying and took a ready stance. She was then surrounded by a field of pink and white colored energy. Once again, everyone noticed that it seemed stronger as well.
"Let's do this!" shouted her opponent, and charged at the panda at incredible speed, despite the fact he wasn't using the speed booster technique.
"He's fast!" thought Hui-Ying. She didn't have time to respond as Nicholas got close and jumped onto his paws. His left foot made contact with the panda's face. With a yell, the vulpine sent the bear flying.
"What's wrong?!" he asked. "I'm just getting started!" Hui-Ying managed to land on her feet.
"Bastard!" she shouted, and got up with her fists ready. The vulpine came charging in. The panda launched with a punch but Nicholas blocked it. He went low, and got Hui-Ying with his elbow. The panda staggered forward a little bit.
"Ha!" said Nicholas and stuck his left middle finger at her. "So how do you like that?! I think this is pretty easy just kicking your-"
He never got to finish the sentence because at that second Hui-Ying struck his face with a kick which made contact. Everyone could hear the impact that it made. "I can't believe you let me have that one!" she said.
Nicholas's nose was bleeding, but his glasses were still normal. He had been telling the truth when he said that they couldn't be broken. "Bitch!" he snarled at his opponent. The blood was beginning to run down his chin.
"So do you honestly think you can beat me?" asked Hui-Ying. "It doesn't seem like you can."
"Who asked for your opinion?!" Nicholas yelled and did an uppercut with his left paw. The panda dodged the attack and got her right paw to make contact with the vulpine in the face again.
"You're too predictable right now," said the panda. "I can tell when you're going to strike. So how is it? You're second nose bleed of the day?"
Blood was coming out of both sides of Nicholas's nose. He didn't answer but had a grin on his face. "Too predictable huh?" he asked. "Is that what you said? Then I'll just have to show you the training I've done while I was gone! Let the second round begin!"
"Bring it!" shouted Hui-Ying. The two warriors met with a series of kicks and punches. Everyone else just watched in amazement. These two were going all out. They then managed to come to a standstill with Nicholas using his right paw to block his opponent's left while both his left and Hui-Ying's right were against each other. They both had their teeth barred.
"Try some of this!" said Nicholas. He used his speed booster technique and struck the panda in her throat with his right upper arm. Some blood actually came out of her clenched teeth, and she went back a foot. "The whole body can be used like a weapon!" the vulpine explained. "So how was that?"
He then got annoyed as his opponent just cracked her neck and shock her head to shake off the pain. "Did you think a stupid move like that would work?" she asked.
"Tch! You just don't know when to go down," said Nicholas. "I guess I have to use that," he thought.
"Let's go!" yelled both the fox and the panda. They charged at each other. Nicholas then jumped and landed on Hui-Ying's right leg. He then kicked off of that part of the body and landed on her left shoulder. This stopped his opponent as the panda was taken by surprise. The vulpine kicked off of Hui-Ying's shoulder and flipped himself upside down.
Nicholas reached out with his paws and grabbed the panda by the neck, hitting some pressure points. She staggered down as the pain hit her. Nicholas landed on his feet, using his momentum, his opponent's weight, and her momentum to send Hui-Ying flying into some trees. She hit them with a crash.
"Amazing!" said the announcer. "After some blows, Nicholas has sent Hui-Ying flying!" Jazerc just had turned his head away from the sight. The vulpine walked towards his opponent who was on the ground.
"The choke, the set-up, and the throw; that's a three-step combined technique called The Neck Breaker!" he said. He looked over at the announcer. "So where's the countdown? I don't hear it."
"Take a look," said the crocodile. The vulpine whipped his head around to see Hui-Ying getting up.
"Fuck!" said Nicholas. "How thick is that head of hers?!"
"She's back up!" said Jazerc.
"Wait…" said Lucas as he looked the female panda over. She was having trouble breathing. Some could even hear it. "Something seems to be wrong with her."
"That's right!' said her opponent."No matter what specie, how fast, strong, smart, or tall you are, the neck is still a weak point! One more hit, and it's lights out! Just give up on this match now!"
Fara and Luna were just watching Nichols with shock. How could he be this brutal in a fight? None of the practices they had with him were like this. "How can Nicholas be this way?" the vixen whispered.
"He has to be," said Vincent. The older vulpine had heard her. Fara looked up with blush on her face to him. "He can't be gentle in a fight were his opponent is strong. But Nicholas has a sense of honor and fairness. He knows when to stop. My son won't do anything that will make him kill Hui-Ying. His personality when not fighting makes up for his behavior that he's showing right now. And that is one of a warrior. He's still the same guy you know no matter what happens."
Luna also heard Vincent say this and the she wolf and Fara began to take comfort in these words. It was like when the vixen had made her decision; that it didn't matter if Nicholas had some strange power or something that made him not normal. It didn't matter how he acted in battle; he was still the same vulpine that she had fallen in love with. Luna was thinking the same thing.
"So what will you do now?" asked Nicholas. Hui-Ying still hadn't said anything. "I've trained as hard and as much as I could both physically and mentally while I was gone. Some of it was done with my team mates. But most of it only I could do. It's all been for that goal that I have. That one thing is what drives me to get stronger. And until it happens I cannot and will not lose to anyone."
Most of the species didn't know what the vulpine was talking about, but some did. "Is that so?" asked Hui-Ying. "Is it proving who the better of us two is?"
"No, it's something different," said the vulpine. He had a dark look on his face. He was thinking of the past. Of the time when his heart had been broken very badly and had been betrayed.
"Well I don't plan on loosing myself," said the panda, and took a ready stance. Her force field of energy came back on, and it seemed to heal her up a bit. It disappeared after a couple of seconds.
"But you will," said Nicholas. "After all, the suffering I've gone through is something nobody else has or will understand. Not even you."
Hui-Ying's eyes went a bit wide with shock. She then bared her teeth and used her speed booster technique. She got behind her opponent who turned his head to face her.
"What do you mean nobody would understand?!" she yelled. "You think you're the only one it's happened to?! What about your friends, family, and teammates?!"
The vulpine did nothing as the panda got him and slammed him against a tree. With her left paw, Hui-Ying slugged the fox in the face. Everyone could hear the impact. The panda was breathing a bit hard. Meanwhile, Nicholas had a trickle of blood coming from the right corner of his mouth. He turned his head back to face his opponent since it had gotten knocked sideways. He spat out some blood which hit Hui-Ying on the check.
She grabbed the vulpine by his shirt with both paws. "Yes I think I'm the only one that it's happened to," he said. "After all, my breakup with that bitch is nothing compared to anyone else's. I'll admit that when it happened, I felt alone and nobody cared about me. But then I realized that my family was there for me, along with my friends. Then when I found Bill and the others, my group of friends grew. Watching them train alongside me to become strong gave me the inspiration to do the same as well. It's because of my friends and family that I've gotten this strong and will continue to do so. Until that goal is reached. And that is killing her and the one responsible for ruining my life."
Everyone on the Star Flight team felt their eyes widen with shock. So did everyone else who didn't know what had happened to Nicholas on that day. But those who did just closed their eyes and looked away with a sad look on their faces. Hui-Ying on the other hand just stared in shock at her opponent.
"It's the only way to end the suffering those two have put me through," continued the vulpine. "And to keep the universe safe from their wrath."
Fara and Luna couldn't believe that the guy they loved would have such a goal. What had happened to him?
"And there's no other way?" asked Hui-Ying.
"There is none," said Nicholas. "Thanks to those two fuckers, they made me lose faith in love and relationships. That's why for so long I've always said no to girls who ask me out. I've lost the ability to fall in love which is why I don't want another relationship."
"I don't believe it," said the female panda. "I think you still have it."
The vulpine grabbed her shirt with his right paw. "You're wrong."
Fara wanted to ask what the story was behind Nicholas's break up. But she didn't know how. And could his opinion be changed? Vincent must have been able to see that the questions were on the vixen's mind because he then spoke to her. "That story is only for my son to tell." The young vixen looked to the older vulpine. "When he's ready, he'll tell you. Until then, just put that question in the back of your mind. As for making him see things differently, only time will tell."
The rest of the Star Flight team heard this, and decided to do what Vincent said. They turned their attention back to the fight.
"Now then, I think it's time to get you off of me," said Nicholas. He began to push Hui-Ying off of him, and was able to move her to the panda's shock and everyone else's. The vulpine's strength was incredible. Hui-Ying grabbed his arm, but couldn't get it removed.
Nicholas then had himself off of the tree. He let out a breath and his paw went off Hui-Ying. He launched his left fist at his opponent with all of his strength in the stomach while using the speed booster technique. Everyone could hear the impact as the fist went deep.
Some blood came out of Hui-Ying mouth as she was launched back and went several yards into the water. She landed and didn't get up for a few seconds. Meanwhile the vulpine looked at his right paw. "What is it?" he wondered. "This sudden burst of power? Radiating through me? Is it my Cerinian blood getting excited because of fighting a strong opponent? Or is it because I've gotten stronger with all the fights I've had so far? If this is what I'm capable of now, then what will happen when I go all out? Either way, the show will be spectacular."
Hui-Ying had gotten up on her feet, and was panting. "Amazing," she thought. "He never was this strong before. Not in all the fights we've had in the past." The panda looked up and saw Nicholas looking at her from the bank.
"I won't stay down!" she shouted and used the speed booster technique to get close to the vulpine. He just dodged the punch she threw and got her with a right kick to the head. The panda went back again and did some back rolls to the water because of the momentum she had while charging at the vulpine.
"I'll grant you that you've got determination," said Nicholas. "But you're no match for me. The pain of what happened to me is the third thing that has made me strong besides friends and family. That's something you could never achieve."
Hui-Ying had gotten up by this point. She took out some beam shurikens and threw them at her opponent. The vulpine just dodged and used his speed booster technique to get behind the female panda. Her head turned to face him as he clapped his paws together.
"Fire energy beam!" he shouted, and from his paws a trail of actual fire came out. Hui-Ying let out a yell as the flames covered her. Everyone watched this in shock.
"What the hell was that?" asked Miyu, breaking the silence.
"One of the things that Cerinians and Part Cerinians can do with the Energy Beam technique," explained Linden. "Even a non Cerinian can as long as they wield one of our weapons. We can combine the fire projectiles or ice projection with the Energy Beam technique to create a trail of fire or of ice to use against an enemy. The attacks are more powerful than the original techniques, but they cost a bit more energy to use. If Nicholas is using the fire energy beam, then he must be getting serious."
The vulpine was watching, waiting for something to come out of the fire. Suddenly something did and it was Hui-Ying. The flames came off of her showing that she was unharmed. With a yell, she slugged her opponent on the left side of his face. Her eyes then widened in shock as the panda's punch had only made some blood come out of the corner of his mouth where he had been hit. Nicholas hadn't been moved at all.
The vulpine turned his head towards her. She then struck again and again. "What's with him?!" Hui-Ying wondered. It did move her opponent back, but it didn't seem to affect him at all. She then stopped, with her paws hurting a little bit.
"Is that the best you can do?" asked Nicholas and his opponent looked up to him. "I thought you were stronger. If that's all you've got, I guess I won't need it after all."
"What?"
"Oh come on. You haven't realized it yet? I'm not using the power that I got on that day."
"Don't mock me!" shouted Hui-Ying and launched her left paw at the fox. But he stopped it with his left. He began to push it back.
"You don't have what it takes," said the vulpine. "Not the strength or desire. If this is all you're going to do…" And with that he punched Hui-Ying in the stomach followed by some more with what he said next. "… Then I'll just pound you into a bloody pulp!" He ended with one more which sent the female panda to her knees.
He then turned his back on her and walked to the bank to wait for Hui-Ying. He knew that she wasn't done yet. The vulpine turned and saw her walk toward him with her energy field out again. The fox thought once again it seemed to heal her as the panda was walking with no trouble at all now.
"I hope that woke you up," he said. "Now you know that you need to take me more seriously."
Hui-Ying gritted her teeth and barred them at him with a growl while her energy shield vanished. "Allow me to show you," said Nicholas. "The true power of a Hiita's Rage user." Suddenly the green pupils he had turned red and the whites of his eyes became black.
Everyone in the waiting room and audience saw and heard this. They could see the change in the vulpine's eyes. They began to talk amongst themselves. The crocodile announcer said nothing.
"It can't be," said Lucas. "My brother… he actually…."
"I don't believe it," said Mitch.
"No way," said Tiger.
"What's going on here?" asked Bill.
"Why is everyone acting like this?" asked Amanda.
"What did my son say?" asked Linden in a shaky voice like she was on the verge of crying. Vincent wrapped his arms around the vixen to comfort her. Nicholas must have been able to hear the whispers because he spoke up.
"Yes, it's true," he said. "I really have gained the ability of Hiita's Rage. On that day were I was betrayed and my heart broken was the day when this power was granted to me. But I'm still me despite the fact that my eyes have changed."
"So like that one guy, Nicholas has Hiita's rage," thought Kareem from his position. "We'll need to keep an eye on this vulpine."
"What is this thing Nicholas is talking about?" whispered Fara. The eyes of the fox she loved looked scary.
"It's one of the rarest of cases," said his father. "There are a few among both pure and part Cerinians that can achieve what is called a release. To have one is a difficult burden because often the user is looked down upon because others will be scared of them."
"So this thing Nicholas stated is one of them?" Luna whispered.
"Yes," said the older vulpine. "He has Hiita's Rage which is something only foxes and coyotes can get. Each release is accessible to only two species. Each one has two, three, or four states to it. Every time a state is used, some, but not all wounds are healed, and magical energy is completely restored. Each state also increases strength, agility, stamina, and speed each time one is used."
While Vincent said this, Nicholas wiped the blood off from his nose and around his mouth. The rest of the Star Flight team could see that the statement of wound healing was true since no more blood was coming out.
"But what about his eyes changing color?" asked Katt.
"Each release no matter what starts with the person's eyes changing color. And then during the final state, fur color is changed, and if they have hair, then the color of that is changed. Sometimes it can change length. So if Nicholas goes to that point, I don't know what he'll look like since each one is different."
"The only way it can be obtained is for the specie in question to have a certain aura. Only a few are born with it and we don't know what it is or who will have it. Then a certain event or strong emotion has to trigger the aura which grants the specie the release. I never thought my oldest son would have that aura."
Fara and Luna just thought about what Vincent had said. Could they still love Nicholas despite the fact that he had this ability? And could they still love him if he changed?
Meanwhile, Hui-Ying hadn't said anything all this time. She finally spoke. "So you've done what I told you to do before you left."
"Yes," said her opponent. "It took me two years of intense mental training to get this power under control. It's the only way someone with a release can learn how to use it properly. I wanted to avoid using this so others wouldn't get scared. And there are some I'd rather not see this." Instantly Fara's face went through Nicholas's mind. He didn't know why, but didn't have time to figure it out.
"But sooner or later I would have had to resort to using Hiita's Rage. Especially during the tournament," the vulpine continued. "I knew that my opponents would be strong. However, I wouldn't use it unless it was absolutely necessary. So far this is only the second time I've used it."
Everyone was shocked to hear this. "What?" asked Hui-Ying. "Then who was the first?"
"It was in my battle against Pecker for only a few seconds when he used his Energy Beam technique," the vulpine explained. "I knew with that much energy poured into the attack, my force field alone wouldn't be enough. So I had to resort to Hiita's Rage to not only avoid losing, but to also send Pecker out of bounds.
"So that's it," thought the avian from the waiting room. "I thought I saw his eye had changed color. I wasn't imagining things."
"I then knew that I had to use this power against you to win," Nicholas continued. "Especially since you've got your own release called Blood Lust." Everyone except for a few felt more shock going through them.
"I didn't ask you to reveal it," the panda growled.
"But it would have sooner or later," said the vulpine. "After all, you could only have a shot of wining with it against me. In the past, if you had used it before I got my release, you could have easily torn me apart in a fight. You told me all about it when you told me what to do to get Hiita's Rage under control. You gained the Blood Lust release which can only be accessible by bears and badgers four years ago. What triggered it was the death of your best friend. You then had to spend two years after that getting it under control. That's why during that time period you said a fight wouldn't be a good idea. I wondered why. And then I found out from you that your Blood Lust release could go out of control since you hadn't mastered it."
Hui-Ying went silent as she remembered what had happened. "But after the training was over, you accept my proposals to fight," said Nicholas. "And never once did you use it since it wouldn't have been fair. Just like I decided before entering in this tournament. I swore that I would only use Hiita's rage against you or if someone pushed me far enough."
The fox then took a ready stance. "Now that I've got a release, we can fight at full strength. That's what it'll take to decide the winner. Now let's go Hui-Ying!"
The panda came back to the present and also took a ready stance. "Bring it!" she said. Everyone else just watched in silence.
Author's notes: I had to divide the final round up into two parts because the chapter was getting too long.