Author's note

Ah! Here we are. Another chapter has arrived. Enjoy!

The loud booms of thunder brewed heavily in the rain pouring sky and exploded into snapping crackles as Jann Lee smashed a crunched fist into Lei Fang's abdomen. She keeled over, but didn't fall without taking her rival down with her. She swung her feet into Jann's standing legs and tripped him just before she hit the floor. His punches were of course damaging and Lei Fang wondered as to how long she could survive taking another hit in the ribs. It was clear Jann Lee was weakening her, draining all of her stamina to soften her up for the final blow that would offer him the much wanted victory. Lei Fang noticed this was Jann Lee's plan as she could see him still moving about like the match had just started, showing no clear signs of tiring.

Another punch was thrown into her stomach after she tried getting up. Jann Lee was having fun as he galloped with Lei Fang around the ring as she tried to avoid taking another solid hit. As Jann Lee came toward her for a quick strike, Lei Fang quickly caught his hand before it touched her. Still holding it, she jumped kicked the side of his face with the back of her heel and sent him to the floor. It was a damaging counter Kasumi often used during her battles. In the barricades, the female ninja recognized it just as Lei Fang touched back on the floor.

"Ah, using a trick out of my book, huh? You sneaky little devil," she smiled.

Jann Lee stood back up swinging at the air, but was kicked in the stomach and pushed to the floor as Lei Fang appeared from beside him. Not giving him a chance to catch his breath, she went on the offensive and battered him with punches and kicks the moment he sat up. Jann became a little dazed and swung around wildly, hoping to get lucky and hit Lei Fang, but each swing turned into a pathetic miss and he found himself splashing face first into the concrete ring floor.

"What's the matter, Jann? You're getting a little slow on the hits," Lei Fang teased.

Jann Lee lied on the floor for a moment before getting up. He couldn't take Lei Fang poking fun at him any longer. She had beaten him last year, and with that, he wasn't willing to let it happen again a second time in a row, though he felt he could win and defeat her, regardless. As he stood, he saw no sign of his female opponent's whereabouts, that was, until he noticed something grab his arms from behind and pull them backward into a long painful stretch.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Lei Fang giggled.

"You better hold on tight, little one, because as soon as you let go I'm going to really lay on the hurting!" Jann barked.

"Talk, talk, talk. That's all you do, Jann. Here, let me give you yet another firm introducing to the ground."

Lei Fang somersaulted herself over Jann Lee's head while still holding onto his arms. She was, at the moment, standing in front of him, yanking his stretched arms up into the air above her head. With a loud scream that the crowd was able to hear as the thunder quieted down for a minor second, Lei Fang yanked Jann Lee over her back and slammed him onto the floor, but this time the young bouncer's whole body went straight through as it touched the concrete.

The people in the crowd were silent, their eyes widened into puzzling stares with mouths held wide open. Even the competitors that had decided to stay and watch were in shock as Lei Fang had used a large heap of her strength to slam Jann Lee down and create a large hole in the floor.

"Is it over?" said a woman in the crowd.

"Did she win?" said a young boy next to her.

"Whoa! Is that guy going to be alright!" said another woman, with concern in her voice.

Kasumi and the others watched Lei Fang as she fell to her knees, panting. She was semi exhausted, but still able to compete if needed.

"All right Lei Fang!" Zack yelled in a loud cheer. "I knew you could do it, girl!"

Hearing that, the crowd started to applaud as they saw the referee starting his count. If Jann Lee didn't stand up out of the hole before the ten second count, Lei Fang would be declared the winner of the tournament. While the crowd and Zack carried happy expressions, Kasumi, Hayate, Ryu, and even Lei Fang herself appeared to be the only ones not smiling. Zack suddenly turned to see their faces and couldn't figure why they weren't celebrating like everyone else.

"Hey! What's wrong with you guys? Didn't you see how hard Lei Fang slammed him? That guy's going to be hurting for a while," he said, trying to convince them.

"I have a feeling this fight isn't over," Hayate mumbled.

"You feel that too, brother?" Kasumi said, grabbing her sibling's hand.

"Yeah. Same here. I can feel something going on inside the ring," Ryu noted.

"You people are strange," Zack thought. "Why is it so hard to convince ninjas?" He sighed to himself.

Across the arena, a screaming voice in the crowd diverted everyone's attention back to the ring as the thunder quieted again.

"Hey! Look! He's getting up!"

In the ring, Jann Lee could be seen pulling himself out of the hole created by his falling body. Lei Fang and the others knew for sure that he wasn't yet defeated. But as the passionate fighter stepped out from the hole his body, somehow, had downgraded into a slimmer size. His bulbous muscles were gone, no longer noticeable, as was his steely chiseled abs and meaty calves. He was in the form of a skinny man with hardly any strength.

Outside of the ring, a thin smile was on Shen's face as he saw his young pupil bring himself out from the hole. Through the fight so far, he had kept the smile hidden, but released it just as he watched Jann Lee stand on two feet.

Frequent whispers were passed all around the arena from person to person of Jann Lee's deflated body, coming up with their own speculations of what caused his body mass to suddenly decrease.

"What the hell happened to him?" screamed a man from the crowd.

"Holy crap! Jann Lee's an anorexic skeleton!" Zack shouted in a disgusted tone. "Man, Lei Fang must have knocked some of the weight out of him. He looks like a skinny twig with legs and arms attached."

Jann Lee slowly walked over to Lei Fang as she threw up her guard cautiously. She too was disgusted and shocked by his deformed appearance along with the crowd of spectators. She believed another attack was soon coming and he was going to wait till she let her guard down, but Jann Lee didn't throw a single punch nor lash out with a kick when she did in suspicion. All he did was smile and tilt his head to the side.

"You've impressed me, Lei Fang. I can see your skills have improved greatly since last year, that's for sure. Congratulations for working so hard to achieve what you have right now."

"Huh? That's it? Are you submitting?" Lei Fang asked in confusion.

Jann Lee chuckled and shook his head.

"No. But as you've grown stronger in these past months…so have I."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying this is it, Lei Fang. This is the end of the match, the end of the tournament, and…the end of you. You've come so far, but it all ends here, for I hold the key to your fate in the palm of my hands. Prepare yourself, Lei Fang, because now it's over!"