Chapter 17

Yang and Yamcha immediately clashed in a flurry of strikes in the center of the Ring. With his weights on, Yang was more or less even with Yamcha in terms of power and speed and it came down to a matter of skill to see who would win the exchange. Yang launched a flurry of punches, elbow strikes, knees, and kicks to try and force Yamcha to commit a mistake. For his part, Yamcha dodged and weaved away from the elbows and knees, and parried the punches and kicks, before returning with punches and kicks of his own. The flurry of attacks continued as the pair battled across the ring, traversing the length of the platform once, twice, and then a third time before an advantage could be gained. Yang sent three punches at Yamcha that were designed to catch the former bandit's attention by targeting vital areas so that Yang could slip a knee strike past Yamcha's guard while his attention was elsewhere. As it happened, Yamcha was so focused on parrying and dodging the punches that the knee strike was able to catch Yamcha in the gut. With a flex of his leg, Yang turned the knee strike into a thrust kick that created space between the two fighters in a one-two combo of an attack. Yamcha skidded backward across the ring tiles clutching his belly.

"Looks like the first round goes to me." Said Yang.

Yamcha straightened and said, "Yeah, sure, but let's see how you deal with this!" As he concentrated for a moment and the howl of wolves could be heard as he wreathed his arms in ki.

Yang could tell that this wasn't and ordinary Wolf Fang Fist, Yamcha's ki felt different, sharper, more focused. He didn't want to get hit with that. So instead of meeting Yamcha's rush with one of his own, he gave ground as the former bandit charged forwards, dodging, using Muten Roshi's Instinct Technique in order to keep just a small step ahead of the attack. A fist with fingers extended to grab and gouge tendons was narrowly dodged aside from, an elbow wreathed in ki was ducked, a leg aimed at sweeping him off his feet was jumped over, every strike Yamcha threw was narrowly avoided by Yang until the former bandit ran out of steam in his combo. For a split second between Yamcha on the offensive and Yamcha retaking a guard, there was an opening that the Instinct Technique screamed at Yang to take, and Yang did so, launching a kick that broke through Yamcha's resetting guard and sent the former bandit hurtling backward.

Yang didn't pursue the advantage, choosing instead to retake a fighting position. As Yamcha straightened once more he said, "That was my new technique, the Neo Wolf Fang Fist. How did you manage to stay one step ahead of an attack you've never seen before?"

"Think back to our training on Kame Island for a second, you'll figure it out." Replied Yang.

Yamcha thought for a moment, then his face lit up, "The Instinct Technique? You got it to a point where you could use it in a fight?" He asked.

"Some of us train to master the techniques we were taught rather than come up with new stuff after just learning the basics of the old, you know." Huffed Yang.

"Speaking of old techniques and Kame Island, I've got something for you." Grinned Yamcha as he cupped his hands at his side.

Yang, seeing what Yamcha was doing began to chant and channel mystic energy, gathering the components for a Zap Spell at the same time as Yamcha began to shout, "Kame!"

Electricity began to take shape in the palms of Yang's hand as he continued to chant as Yamcha Shouted, "Hame!"

Finally, the mystic energy took the form of the spell matrix as Yamcha Shouted, "Ha!" and Yang sent his Zap spell forwards. Ordinarily, a spell of Zap's Level would not stand up to a compressed ki beam like the Kamehameha Wave, but for one quality that Baba had drilled into Yang's head and that Tien's earlier Scattering Aura had put him in mind of. Lighting elemental offensive spells had a piercing effect that only grew with the caster's aspect and power. As Yang's soul had a lightning aligned elemental aspect, he had bet on the piercing effect being able to part the beam if he used a Zap against the Kamehameha. In point of fact, that is exactly what happened. The bolt of lightning from the Zap spell impacted the head of the Kamehameha and split the beam right down the middle, sending two smaller branches of ki haring off into the sky as the lightning bolt powered through towards Yamcha.

Yamcha, seeing his technique defeated and not wanting to get hit by Yang's spell, cut the beam off and dodged to the side, just in time for Yang, now devoid of weighted wrist and leg bands to meet him with a kick that sent the former bandit hurtling out of the ring. Yamcha tried to charge a Spirit Ball to blow himself back into the ring as he had at the last tournament, but just as he was about to re-enter the ring, Yang caught him with a flying knee, sending him hurtling back out of bounds. In order to not also fall out of bounds, Yang used Yamcha as a mid-air springboard to land on the edge of the ring, managing to balance himself back in bounds as Yamcha hit the ground out of bounds.

"Winner by ring out, Yang Shao!" Called the Announcer.

Yang gave a short wave to the crowd before hopping out of bounds to help Yamcha up, the bandit was shaking his head as if to clear cobwebs. "Thought I had you for a second there." Grunted the former bandit.

"Almost, maybe next tournament, eh?" Grinned Yang.

"You were wearing weights?" Asked Yamcha.

"For a lot of the match." Nodded Yang.

"You always did take training more seriously than me." Chuckled Yamcha.

"We can't all be fighting geniuses." Shrugged Yang.

As the pair headed to the back, Yang noticed Tien's eyes on him. The 3 eyed crane student was sizing him up. "The Lion is formidable this year. I am looking forwards to our bout in the Finals." He said.

"I wouldn't count your chicks yet, the Crane still has one more Turtle to go through before facing the Lion. potentially the most formidable one at that." Replied Yang.

Tien frowned and said, "The monkey tailed boy?"

Yang nodded.

Tien Laser-focused on Son Goku then, feeling him out with his Ki sense, before a shocked look came over his face. Turning back to Yang he said, "Perhaps you are right about that."

Yang merely nodded and helped Yamcha back towards the infirmary...

XXXX

Author's Note:

Yang Advances to the Semifinals over a concussed Yamcha. Now for Power levels, only doing Yang and Yamcha this time as no one else has changed really.

252: Yamcha (Enhanced Full Power)

254: Yang (Full Power, Weights on)

262: Yang (Full Power, Weights Off)

381: Yamcha (Improved Max Power)

393: Yang (Improved Max Power)

398: Yamcha's Neo Wolf Fang Fist

400: Yang (Focused solely on Instinct aided defense)

405: Yamcha's Kamehameha

410: Yang's Zap Spell

280: Yamcha (Tired, Beaten Up, desperately trying to avoid a ring out)

150: Yamcha (Base State, Beaten Up, Tired, Concussed)

252: Yang (Base State, Slightly Winded, likely to recover before next match)