The final fight is gonna start, guys!
Toka in his whole new Phoenix Warrior Level 2 form and Zhan Ju in his Lava Mode were glaring at each other, the pression around being stronger than ever. The evil phoenix/peacock hybrid scoffed. "Okay, I admit that your power rose up a bit, so what?"
Suddenly, Toka dashed at him with incredible speed and caught his face in his paw before dashing somewhere farther from the city. Once he was far enough, he tossed Zhan Ju away into the middle of the open area.
"W-When did you do this? I didn't saw anything coming!" He exclaimed in pure shock. "And why did you brought us here?! You don't want your friends to see you die?"
Toka shook his head without closing his eyes. "No: I just don't want them to be implied in our fight. Cause it will be a violent one!"
"You arrogant little...!" Zhan Ju growled before dashing forward as Toka did the same and they both sent a kick that collided and created a giant energy wave that destroyed most of the things around.
"I'M FURIOUS WITH YOU, ZHAN JU!" Toka screamed as he delivered a violent punch across the avian's face, sending him flying in the air and then dashed up at him to hit a backbreaker on his knee that cut the air out of his body for a moment before catching him by the legs and throwing him down on the ground, making him crash violently.
It created a crater where an explosion of red energy jumped before Zhan Ju came out and got face-to-face with his adversary. "I though I was getting broken in two! When did you get so strong?"
"The moment I decided to defeat my fear and face the biggest evil with all of my heart!"
"But don't let things get to your head! There's no way you can win!"
Toka simply smirked and, as Zhan Ju tried to dash behind him, Toka simply dashed in front of him which caught the avian by surprise. Getting angry, he lifted one wing and shoot a giant beam of Lava Chi which destroyed practically everything in the way. Well, safe for ONE thing: the Phoenix Warrior who didn't had the slightest burn mark on him.
"What?! IMPOSSIBLE!" He shouted and kept shooting Lava Chi balls after the other, but the snow leopard simply knocked them away with his paws. Pushing a roar of anger, Zhan Ju dashed behind Toka and smashed him which sent him crashing into the ground and disappeared underneath it.
However, after a few seconds, Toka jumped out of the ground and hit a violent uppercut right underneath the avian's chin which created a small explosion and sent him flying and crash on the ground. However, he quickly kicked up and started shooting energy balls at Toka who did the same, causing a lot of small explosions.
Meanwhile, back at Gongmen, Master Yoshi could see the explosions from afar which worried him. Alena came beside him, walking weakly.
"Master, do you think Toka can win this?"
"I sure hope so..."
The two strong opponents were now fighting in close combat and Toka went for a Phoenix Fist which Zhan Ju ducked and smashed him repeatedly in the torso before kicking him away with a spin kick. "There's no way you're gonna win in a hundred year. FIRE ZONE!"
As he said that, Toka found himself trapped inside a big square-shaped dome of fire.
"Nobody's ever escaped from this technique! The zone is gonna get smaller and smaller until you get crushed and there will be nothing but ashes remaining from you!"
Or so he though. With a simple paw swing, Toka destroyed the whole dome which completely surprised Zhan Ju. "Sorry to disappoint you, but this technique isn't as strong as you though!"
Summoning his giant sword, Toka then dashed in front of Zhan Ju and swung it to cut his shoulder, making him bleed for the first timer ever. He looked in pure shock and passed on wing across his wound, looking at the red liquid on his feathers. "You...made me...bleed?!" Growling angrily, he then exploded with Lava Chi. "YOU DARED MAKING ME BLEED?!"
He charged his Chi between his wings and shot a Lava beam which Toka dodged, letting it collide in the background and create a giant explosion that could be seen from miles. The snow leopard then replied with a way stronger Fist Storm that Zhan Ju managed to either dodge or block. He replied with small lava beams which Toka dodged with ease.
"Darn! If I would have touched you..."
Toka suddenly smirked. "Well, touch me then!"
This surprised Zhan Ju who then glared angrily. "STOP MOCKING ME!" He shot his small beam which touched Toka straight to the head. However, to his surprise, the snow leopard's head simply bent backward before returning to its normal position with a mark on his forehead.
"Not bad, but not great either." He said with charging his fist with Chi. "PHOENIX FIST!" He dashed at Zhan Ju and smashed him right in the stomach which made him spit blood before being sent all the way to the other side of the open area.
"Alright, time to finish this!" Toka declared as he charged his right fist which started emanating jade coloured Chi. Zhan Ju could now barely stand up as he was too damaged. "Zhan Ju, you're the strongest guy I ever faced. Your power and skills were absolutely impressive. I'm just sorry for all the pain you went through. When you,ll go to the Spirit Realm, change your heart to a brave way and come see me. I'll be waiting for you. But in the mean time, I have to save this realm!"
He lifted his fist and though about all the people he cared about: Master Yoshi, Koji, Alena, Suya, Neyo, the Elemental Five Po, Tigress, Viper, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, Shen, Karasu, Fenghuang, Mei Ling, Fung, the Imperial Ten, and everyone else. Then, once his fist was surrounded by a giant burning phoenix, he charged forward at full speed. "FINAL PHOENIX FIST OF HOPE!"
He smashed the evil avian with all of his strength, turning him into nothingness. After the attack was finished, Toka's fur returned to its usual grey and the arm he used to launch his ultimate attack was all burned with the bandages gone. He felt like he just ran the longest marathon in history, but then reality smashed him really hard.
He just saved the whole world!
"I-I did it...?!" He mumbled while looking at his arm and trembling.
"TOKA!" He turned around and saw all of his friends arriving. Koji ran into his arms, taking his best friend into a big hug. "YOU DID IT, MAN! I KNEW YOU'D WIN!" He beamed, crying a bit in joy.
Toka smiled and hugged his best friend back, crying too. Suya, Neyo, Po and the Five joined in the hug as well. This made him even more glad he won. After everyone broke from the group hug, Toka turned his attention to Alena who walked toward him with a smile. "That was hell of a job."
Toka nodded and looked down with a blush. "So, hum, you're fine-" She interrupted him by catching him with her paws and putted him into a kiss. He didn't see that coming and blushed madly for a moment before closing his eyes and kissing her back. Needless to say that everyone was surprised by this and looked at the scene with wide open eyes. After the kiss ended, both felines hugged each other which warmed up their hearts.
"Congratulations, my students." Master Yoshi said as he arrived. He almost instantly received a group hug from his five students, but they quickly broke out of it after a few seconds. "The day I took you in, I always knew you were destined to accomplish great things, but I didn't expected it to be saving the world so soon." He admitted with a laugh shared by everyone before getting serious once again. "It is a great day, my dear students. Not only because you all worked with the bravest warriors of our world to save China, but also because you made me very proud by all reaching the goals you fixed yourself."
He started by looking at Toka. "Toka, the best Kung Fu masters are not the ones with the biggest strength, but with the biggest heart. By risking your life and giving everything you had in a desperate attempt, you proved that you have a lot of heart to offer. Therefore, it means that you are a great Kung Fu master." This made Toka nod, close to tears.
He turned toward Alena. "Alena, you wanted to show everyone that you are not the monster everybody called you as well for Toka. Irony of the fate, you ended up being the demigoddess of sun and moon and saved Japan from one of its biggest threats. If that's not enough to show the people that you have a great heart, I don't know what will."
Next one was Koji. "Koji, you made the most progress out of everyone since you left my dojo. There, you have always been treated as a failure because of your low Kung Fu skills and your background as a party lover as well as your inability to produce Chi. However, just like any underdog should, you worked really hard and today, you proved that with hard work, any failure can become a great warrior. Congratulations." He said with patting the beetle's head before turning toward his girlfriend.
"Suya, you always perceived yourself as your every day girl who is good at nothing but charming and take care of flowers. But I knew that you had way much more in yourself since day one. You worked hard too and in the end, not only did you saved Egypt, but you even proved that you are a brave warrior like you always wanted to and earned this Pearl of Hope." He said with pointing at it as she blushed a bit.
"And finally, Neyo." He said with turning toward the hedgehog. "Your dream is to find the world's deepest secrets, but unfortunately, the world have unlimited ones, so..." He said with a chuckle which Neyo shared. "But on a more positive note, you too progressed a lot. Despite your limited physical abilities, you used your smartness, knowledges with Arritochan weapons and of course, your needles to prove that physic isn't what makes a good warrior. I'm sure Master Oogway is very proud that you are the one currently holding the Jinshu Jian Jiao sword."
"And that's not the only reason why today's a great day, Master." Toka said. "It's also a day where families are getting reunited." He said with looking at Tai Lung who exchanged a look with Tigress. "A day where enemies become friends." He said with looking at Ahulani and Tatara who simply shrugged. "A day where couples are sealed forever." He said with looking at Mantis and Kasaiori, Crane and Viper, and Koji and Suya. "But most of all, it's the day China overcame another obstacle to see another day."
He then turned around and saw the sun rays piercing through the clouds. "Yes, today is a new day..."
The war is finally over. Man, it was very long to write, but the end result is totally worth it.
As you can see, with the end of this chapter marks also the start of a new day for all our heroes. But this is not the end: the final chapter of the Spirit Realm Army Arc is next. So stay stunned :)