Author's notes : Hello! Another day, another chapter. With one more to go!
Lei Fang was caught in a difficult spot, her choice being to either kill Jann Lee to free him from the evil that had taken over his mind, or die at his hands, according to the haunting words of Shen that constantly whirled around inside her head. It was tough on Lei Fang the moment it had dawned upon her, unable to think of way to escape the predicament. As Jann Lee launched his fist toward his intended target, Lei Fang made a quick jump to evade the attack as she tried to conjure up a plan, a plan that would both help her and Jann Lee. However, nothing came to mind, and she was stuck, forced to continue to fight the beastly fighter as threw his weight into her.
Off the battlegrounds Kasumi stood, fixed in concentration as she watched Lei Fang strike mercilessly at Jann Lee's abdomen, only applying soreness to her already reddened knuckles. "I'm going in," she declared.
"Not without us your not!" Hayate commanded, holding her arm in objection.
"There's no need to be rational," said Ryu. "I already have a solution to the problem. But it is risky."
"What is it?" asked Zack.
Ryu reached for an object clinging to his back, yanking it off and revealing it to everyone. It was a liquid of some kind sitting in a fancy glass bottle. "This is a special elixir. If Jann Lee is to be restored back to normal and have the Kagai removed from his body, he has to drink this."
"You make it sound so easy," Zack groaned in annoyance. "Jann isn't going to just drink it!"
"I know that, Ryu added. "That is why we must work together to get him to."
Hayate nodded in agreement, as he watched his sister's blank expression. "Is something wrong, Kasumi?"
"No. I'm fine, let's go!"
All four fighters rushed close to the ring in hopes of interfering in the battle brewed right in front of them, but a cautious Shen stepped forward to block their path. "Going somewhere?" he said behind clinched teeth. "Don't think for one second your coming into that ring to interrupt what's going on. If any of you dare to trespass, you will suffer the consequences!"
"Then I guess we're going to have to take that chance," Ryu said, as he made a quick jolt past Shen with the others following him.
"Stupid fools!" Shen said, generating a gust of wind and hurling it at Ryu.
Ryu quickly tossed the elixir to his friend Hayate before his back hit the ground as he fell. In mid air, Hayate caught the bottle in-between his arms and continued to run toward the ring. Shen generated a heavier gust of wind and shot it at the running ninja before he could reach his destination. Hayate tried to fight the harsh air blowing against him and reach the ring, but it was much too strong, forcing him to toss the elixir to the person nearest to him, Zack. The moment Zack had the bottle in his hands and witnessed Shen glaring at him sinisterly, he immediately ran forward, but ended up tripping on his untied shoe laces into a patch of dirt. The bottle rolled to Kasumi's ankles and she quickly scooped it up, nearly succeeding in making it into the ring as she sprinted her legs as far as they could go. Shen charged up his largest gust yet and sent it toward Kasumi, knocking her off balance and dropping the bottle of elixir on the ring floor. The bottle rolled slowly into the battle and bumped into the heel of Lei Fang's shoe. Looking at the bottle suspiciously, she picked it up and examined it.
"What the heck is this?" she said to herself.
"Lei Fang!" Kasumi shouted from the ground.
Lei Fang spun around to see her friend lying in the dirt with her head raised slightly.
"Lei Fang! That is elixir! It will change Jann Lee back to normal and rid him of the Kagai that controls him. You have to somehow get him to drink it!"
"Change back to normal?" Lei Fang screamed in shock. "But Shen said the only way to cure Jann Lee is to kill him."
"He's lying! Don't believe him!"
"Wretched girl! You're ruining the entertainment!" Shen barked at the fallen ninja.
Lei Fang clinched the bottle between her fingers, aware of what she must do, and dashed toward Jann Lee as he charged with his fist pointed forward. She quickly ducked before the knuckles touched her face and rolled past him to the other side of the ring. Jann Lee retraced his steps and generated a ball of fire in the palm of his hand.
"Die!" he shouted, as he threw the burning sphere at his oppenant.
Lei Fang bent over backward flexibly and touched the floor to avoid taking a hit. Jann Lee's fireball missed, crashing and burning into ashes into a pile of the debris that lied in the background. With a surge of anger, he struck his fist into the ground, sending another shockwave toward Lei Fang's direction. Quickly, she dove out of the way and rolled across the dirt, catching ants and other small insects into the long brown strains of her hair, still keeping the elixir locked tightly between her hands. After she had risen, Jann Lee sped toward her and struck her with a hard blow from his forearm. The bottle containing the elixir flew out of Lei Fang's grasp as she fell back, rolling across the dirt into a small ditch.
Jann Lee carried the biggest smile he had conceived, feeling his victory over his opponent drawing close. With great strength, he entangled his fingers around Lei Fang's throat, nearly squeezing the life out her as she gagged and gurgled uncontrollably.
"Your demise has come, Lei Fang. You have fought a great battle, but now, it is time for the final closing."
The power surging fighter balled the fist of his free hand, ready to deliver the final blow. Before his hand reached her, Lei Fang kicked up and shot the heel of her shoe into his devilish eyes. Jann Lee screamed in agony and immediately dropped hold of his opponent, with her darting for the elixir lying in the ditch behind him. As she grabbed the bottle, she thought there was only one thing she could do.
"I know he's going to be mad at me for this, but it's the only way," she said, pacing up to Jann.
Jann Lee's rubbed the sting felt from Lei Fang's heel out from his eyes and looked down to notice his opponent smiling at him. With a hard thrusting blow, Lei Fang kicked Jann Lee in the center of his groin and brought him down to his knees.
"I know that was wrong, but it had to be done," Lei Fang said. "Now open wide, Jann Lee!"
Seeing Jann Lee's mouth hung open as he screamed like a wounded animal, Lei Fang popped the cork off the bottle and poured the contains down his throat. Jann Lee twisted his body from side to side, jerking and jumping, his chest burning with unrelenting pain after swallowing the elixir. He immediately smacked Lei Fang away as the bottle of elixer emptied. Jumping up from the ground, he swung his arms violently at the air, his body size slowly decreasing as he did. His skin had reverted to its normal color, and the fiery evil that burned within his eyes slowly disappeared. He had changed back, back into his normal form, free from the Kagai's enslaving power. Being a little exhausted from the reverting transformation, he fell to the ground and laid there, gasping, trying to catch his breath. Lei Fang stood up on her heels and smiled with approving success. She staggered to Jann Lee's side, helping him up from the dirt.
"Jann. Jann Lee, wake up!" she commanded.
Jann Lee's eyelids suddenly opened up and a low grunt quietly escaped his lips with only one thing to say. "Where….is Shen?"
"Jann Lee, are you back to normal?"
"Where is Shen!" he repeated in a loud uproar.
"Over there," Lei Fang, said, pointing out the old man's location.
Shen's wrinkled face cringed in anger as he witnessed his young student had been set free from the Kagai's power, no longer under its control. His plans were ruined, crushed right in front of him.
"No. This cannot be. I had everything right! Take the gift back, Jann Lee! Take it back!"
"Shen…you and me have some business to settle," Jann whispered, walking toward the angered man.
"No, Jann Lee. I am the one that trained you, your master. I am your master, not your enemy."
"Not my enemy? You lie," Jann Lee scoffed. "I could see everything that was going on while I was under that spirit's control, but I could not stop myself."
"You speak as though you didn't want my gift. You should accept it, for it turned you into the greatest thing you will ever become. It made you, Jann Lee!"
"I didn't accept your gift, Shen. You forced it on me."
Lei Fang moved in closer to hear the conversation, patting the dirt and bugs from her hair. "What's going on? What didn't you accept?"
"This man claims that I asked to be possessed by the Kagai myself. I did not. He forced it on me. After my loss to you at the last tournament, Shen came to me with an offer, an offer for a power beyond my wildest dreams, so he claimed. He told me I could be the strongest fighter in the world if I accepted his gift. But I turned him down and set to work on my own way to heighten my skills. As I walked home, he followed me and smashed me over the head with something hard and made of iron. The last thing I heard before I blanked out was the sound of him chanting in these strange words that I had never heard before."
"Just as I thought," Ryu blurted out.
"So the whole time it wasn't Jann Lee all along like we had thought?" Kasumi asked.
"No. This was all Shen's doing."
"Your damn right!" the old man laughed. "Jann Lee had so much potential. It seemed rather foolish for him to decline such a precious gift. I figured I would give it to him anyway and he would soon start to see things my way. Young fighters like Jann Lee need someone like me in their corner, it's the only way they'll ever develop."
After hearing everything, Lei Fang placed her hand on top of Jann Lee's wrist. "Hey," she said, softly. "I know we've been through a lot, but what do you say Jann…let's me and you team up and fight this menace together? Come on. This is our battle and it involves the both of us.
Jann Lee stepped forward, ignoring Lei Fang's words. Anger boiled in his mind like a steaming teakettle. The Kagai had controlled him, Shen had controlled him, and many labeled him a bully and psycho for his outrageous actions.
Taking his past reaction as an agreement to her question, Lei Fang broke into her fighting stance with Jann Lee breaking into his.
"You two dare challenge me?" Shen chuckled. "Jann Lee, I offered you everything and look at you now. You have become weak. If its power you desire, take the Kagai back. It will still accept you."
"No!" Jann Lee barked. "After what you've done to me, Shen, I aim to make you suffer!"