AN: READ THIS!!!!! There is a song that goes with the first fight in this chapter, "Seizure of Power" by Marylin Manson from Resident Evil. Play it at "They stayed still for a bit, eyeing each other." Otherwise, if you play it any other time, it won't be lined up like I typed it. You don't need to, but it makes it kind of cool, or so I think.
Also, please keep my dog in your thoughts. He's really sick, and he's my rock. If I lost him in any way shape or form, I'm pretty sure I'd be too depressed to write anything. That's why I didn't post this earlier. I've been freaking out all day about him because, my mom told my sis that he was really sick this morning and it looked bad. It's not as bad as we thought, now I'm just hoping the meds work … or he eats them at least. Anyway, please keep him in your thoughts. His name is Piper, btw.
On a random note, I think I know why the "Final Battle" in Breaking Dawn was a more of a debate than a battle. They have to be the hardest things to write ever. Note to self, never ever ever ever write another action story AGAIN!!!
And to Thomas Drovin, If you thought the first round of fights was awesome, just wait. These are of epic proportions, if I don't say so myself. Haha. And I'm doubting Madara thought so. I mean, have you ever heard of a blind spy? I haven't … I mean, other than Kirigi.
And to Dantesfreezer, Yes they have, haha. The chesshire cat was an action reference. He doesn't say that he smiles, he just drifts off. The other one was Lynne slicing up the other ninja, while holding him against the wall. I just had to give her a little bit of Sylar. ^.^ And the "Insanity" line, that's actually from one of my fave characters in Buffy/Angel. Faith says that to Angelus when he keeps on trying to hit her while they are in a "Hell" dimension as spectors, watching all of Angel's good deeds. That one, I wasn't expecting you to get. You know, you were the only one to catch them. Everyone else ignored it … I think. Oh well. You won. And the people are not as set as you think. Remember, Gaara hasn't said anything to Cordi about the arranged marriage, which is bound to blow up in his face. We have no idea how Sasuke is going to take the news of being a parent. Fred and Kankuro will have to correspond over long distance, which puts a really heavy strain on any relationship. So, there are many curve balls I could throw in this. ^.^
And to Me and Gaara 4eva, Well, OH SNAP!!! Look what's up!!! Haha.
And to Gaaras1Girl, Yeah, she's in for a bit of a roller-coaster. And honestly, ever heard a Eunuch's voice? They are beautiful! That's why they have so many boy choirs in England. It's the same sound, but without the snip snip. ^.^ And, yes. I can say, since I'm like deathly allergic to Poison Ivy, I can agree with saying it's a very cruel and unusual punishment.
And to Azura Soul Reaver, Yeah, her life sucks more than you think. Just wait until the next chapter.
And to Riss737, Haha, thanks. I was hoping it would be that funny. ^.^
And to princessSiyaka, You know it's funny because that's exactly how it would happen. .
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill. Oh, and Kirigi, Saito, belong to Thomas Drovin, which I'm very grateful he's letting me use. Although, I did take some creative liberties with Saito, Thomas. Thanks a bunch!!!
Chapter Eleven: Semifinals
"… Wow," Rox managed, while everyone else stayed silent, processing what Sakura said. "Just like our photo teacher," Rox nervously laughed, "instant family." Lynne narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Hehe, shutting up now," Rox stated nervously, her hands positioned in front of her in surrender.
"Well," Naruto sighed, "Safe to say, you are not allowed to fight for several months."
Lynne jumped up. "Why the hell not!?!" she challenged, her face contorted into anger.
Naruto held up his hands in surrender as well and replied, "We aren't allowed to send pregnant ladies out to battle." She glared at him warily as he said this. "Did they not cover that in the comic?"
"They did," Cordi sighed.
"Yeah, Lynne, remember Kuranai?" Ronni stated, hoping Lynne remembered that arc.
"You should probably go home and tell Sasuke," Fred stated quietly, so as not to draw too much attention to herself. Lynne was obviously mad at the moment, and the last thing Fred wanted was Lynne's anger focused on her.
"I can't," Lynne sighed, sounding very flippant. "He's on a mission." With that, she shot a glare at Naruto, who just silently bit his lower lip.
"H-he should be back soon," Naruto mumbled, scratching his nose. "Anyway, we need to get this competition rolling," he stated, looking at the angry fans in the stands. They were silent, but their obvious restlessness told them they wouldn't be for long. "Fred, Cordi, it's your match, so you guys just stay here. Lynne, why don't you just stay in the waiting room until the tournament is done?" Lynne rolled her eyes as if she didn't need to be told what to do.
"Only if you aren't going to be sick again," Rox stated, eyeing Lynne suspiciously.
Naruto sighed, "What does it matter?"
"Rox has an irrational fear of vomit," Cordi muttered. Her sister shot her an angry look as Naruto and Gaara just turned to her and frowned. "I'm serious! She hasn't gotten sick since she was seven because she avoids people throwing up like the plague," Cordi stated wide-eyed, contemplating whether she should tell the story of her sister locking her outside of the car in a parking lot one night and not allowing her in so they could go home, because Cordi had just gotten sick.
"You people and your phobias!" Naruto sighed exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air. "Get over it!" Rox shot him a dirty glare, as if to say "Chose your next words wisely … they may be your last." Naruto let out another sigh before conceding. "Sakura, stay with Lynne in the waiting room then, and make sure she doesn't get sick." Sakura nodded, and walked with Lynne to the stairs, not allowing her to jump up into the waiting room. Gaara put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, in a whirl of sand; put them back in the Kages' Box. Naruto walked back to his seat, rubbing his hands over his face. He looked over to Gaara then asked, "Do you have any phobias?" Gaara laughed at his friend and shook his head. The only thing Gaara had been afraid of had been dealt with several years ago. "Me either," Naruto sighed, not understanding the reasoning for having them in the first place.
Rox and Ronni went back into the waiting room, Rox standing as far away as possible from Lynne, who rolled her eyes at her friend. Granted, she was always like that. If someone had gotten sick back at school, it always amazed Lynne that Rox would walk around the entire world to get to her class than go down that hall. Sometimes, it was just a little extreme. Then again, Rox thought her fear of pregnancy was a little extreme too.
Cordi and Fred were left in the arena, waiting for the announcer to let them fight. Both eyeing each other, trying to form a strategy. They had never fought each other before, so it was guaranteed to be an interesting match.
The announcer looked at them both, determining if they were ready to start their fight. "Begin," he called out.
They stayed still for a bit, eyeing each other. Cordi shifted her feet slightly, getting in a fight ready stance. Neither moved for a couple seconds, the air thick with anticipation. She then launched herself at her friend, kunai in hand. Fred flicked her wrist, flinging up a sheet of rock from the ground beneath them as a shield. Cordi jumped to the side, to get a better angle at striking her friend. Fred flung up another shield around that side. But Cordi had gotten around it. Fred quickly snatched a kunai from her pouch, blocking Cordi's jab at her. They struggled a bit before Fred back-flipped away from her friend, landing softly on her feet. Cordi jumped after her, forming a fireball in her hand. Fred dodged the flaming ball, grabbing Cordi's wrist and dealing her a swift punch in the jaw, which was met with a resounding crack. Cordi retaliated with a swift kick to the side of Fred's knee before jumping away from her, cracking her jaw back in place. It always did that. Fred readied her stance, slowly pulling her hand up as if dragging something from the ground. Cordi furrowed her brows in confusion. She had no idea what Fred was doing.
A shadow was beginning to tower over Cordi, which caused her to look back. A giant bulbous tree had grown, and before Cordi could register what was going on, it began to collapse on her. Cordi jumped to the side, cursing at herself. The tree straightened itself out before striking at her with a branch. She jumped above the swinging branch, swinging an arm out and incasing it in fire. Cordi didn't see its other branch swinging around, which contacted her in the side. She fell, hitting the ground with a small thud, but quickly jumped out of the way of the huge trunk about to smash into her. She back-flipped away from the tree toward Fred, who was already prepared for her. Vines sprung up from the ground, wrapping themselves quickly around Cordi. Thinking quickly, Cordi engulfed her own body in fire, turning her chains into ashes. As soon as she was free, she jumped up, dodging Fred's attack from behind. While falling through the air, she made a couple shadow clones, sending them in a triangular formation to surround Fred. She looked around, seeing herself surrounded as the Cordi clones began to move their hands in synchronized motion. Fred pulled a huge column of rock from beneath her, shoving her skyward as Cordi and her clones shot a stream of hellish fire where Fred stood only seconds ago. She was safe up there … or so she thought.
Cordi dispelled her clones, and put her hands at her side, jets of flames rocketing her off the ground and high into the air. As soon as Cordi had gotten high enough, she landed a punch into Fred's face, knocking Fred off her column. To cushion her fall, Fred grew a huge bush just beneath her, so she was able to bounce off when she landed. Cordi on the other hand, dove off the column after Fred, fireball at the ready. Fred skipped out of her way, then broke out into a sprint. Cordi shoved her fireball toward the ground, exploding it, propelling her toward Fred. She did her best to block, but Cordi came flying at her at such speeds, that Fred was unable to do so. She let out a loud "OOF!" as Cordi's body hit hers.
Both of themselves got up, breathing pretty heavily, and both grinning like it was Christmas. Cordi feinted to the right and Fred to the left. Both snatched kunai from their pouches and flung them at each other, which met in the center of the field with a loud clang. Roots and vines jumped out of the ground, striking toward Cordi. She pulsed her chakra into her feet and quickly jumped up the side of the wall, till she was out of reach for them. From her perch, she looked down on the arena, seeing that it had been transformed into a jungle.
Time to end this, Cordi sighed, seeing her friend grinning up at her. Cordi slowly rose her hand, as if she were lifting some great weight. The earth began to shake, making Fred look around confused. This definitely wasn't Fred's doing. The ground began to crack and splinter in the center of the arena, not far from where Fred was standing. Steam and smoke began to plume from the crack. Fred took a step back, wondering what on earth was happening. They could hear a deep churning and spurting coming from the gouge in the earth. Suddenly something bright red flew out of the crack, landing on one of the vines, which quickly caught fire. Cordi raised her hand more, which widened the crack in the ground, allowing hot magma to fountain from it. Fred's eyes widened in terror as she too jumped up the wall to escape the burning liquid, just as Cordi had expected. She contained the lava, making sure it didn't melt the concrete and only harmed the arena's vegetation. The arena was completely clouded with thick black smoke. Cordi ran around the side, letting the smoke hide her.
Fred was blinded by the black clouds which burned her eyes and lungs. She held her hands to her face to shield her from the severe heat, even though she was far above it. Out of nowhere, Cordi landed a kick in her gut, making Fred cough. She jumped away from Cordi, hoping to get a safe distance from her friend. No such luck. Cordi was already behind her, sending another punch, but this one was sloppy, letting Fred know Cordi couldn't see either. Fred grabbed her friend's wrist, holding her in place as she landed a punch in Cordi's gut. Cordi coughed, but threw a fireball at Fred trying to keep her ground. Fred gasped at the burn, being careful not to touch it, but swung back at her friend with a nice kick to the side. Cordi caught it, and flung her down to the ground. Cordi dove after her, this time slowing her descent with her jet streams. As she landed, she noticed Fred had landed on her back, a couple bushes cushioned her blow, but the lack of oxygen and the impact of the fall had knocked her out.
Cordi snuffed the fires quickly by closing her fist, as she also shoved the lava she borrowed back into the Earth's core. The smoke slowly dissipated, showing Cordi standing over Fred's limp unconscious form.
The announcer, who seemed to have taken cover in the waiting room when the fight began to get a little too dangerous to stay in the arena, jumped from his perch. He placed his hand over toward Cordi and stated, "The winner is Cordelia Turner."
Cordi looked up to Gaara as the medics escorted Fred off the field. He gave her a small nod, which told her she did well. Honestly, Cordi felt like she betrayed her best friend, but she had to shove that feeling aside. She silently trudged over to the staircase that led to the waiting room before the medics had completely gotten Fred onto the stretcher. As they pulled Fred back to the staircase, they had to dodge the huge hole that led practically all the way down to the core.
As soon as the arena was cleared, the announcer called out the next fight, looking toward the waiting room. Ronni and Rox nodded, Rox jumping out first, not waiting to escape from a sick person. Ronni jumped slowly after her, but before Cordi got back. As Cordi got to the room, she walked over to the railing to see Ronni and Rox facing each other, waiting to start.
"Begin!" the announcer called out, jumping back into the waiting room, figuring that their fight would be much like the previous one.
Ronni spun around, swinging her arm out around her, water slowly flowing in a spiral around her. It formed a sort of water snake, which struck out towards Rox. Rox sucked in a huge amount of air before putting a hand in an O-shape over her mouth, before letting out a strong stream of air, striking through the snake tearing it apart, heading straight toward Ronni. Her eyes widened as the jet of air rocketed toward her. Just before it hit her, she became a puddle to dodge the blow. Rox frowned before sweeping herself into the breeze.
There was nothing for a bit, Ronni staying in her puddle and Rox staying a part of the air. Then a gust began to travel through the stadium before speeding up and concentrating around the puddle, picking up water and spraying it all around. Until the audience could hear a loud scream come from the center before it flung Ronni from the center, which ceased the light cloudless rain. Before Ronni hit the wall, she became a body of water, splashing on contact, and reforming herself from the spray it caused, landing nimbly on the ground.
Rox came out of hiding in the air, walking toward the center. Ronni glared at her before she raised her hands, reminiscent of when Gaara was fighting Deidera. A huge wall of water sprung from the ground beneath them, forming itself into the shape of an old man with a white foamed beard. Rox pursed her lips at the huge wave in front of her, slowly wading its way across the stadium towards her. Ronni jumped onto his shoulder, whispering in his ear what she wanted as his head was turned lightly toward her. He returned his gaze toward Rox, a wicked grin on his face. He shook his foamy mane, splashing some of the audience with escaping droplets of himself. He swung a hand out toward Rox in attempts to grab her, but missed. Instead the wave that somewhat resembled the sleeve of his robe swept over her. He dove into the water to find her. It didn't take him long. She was flailing to get to the surface as fast as possible, but he grasped her ankle, yanking her down to him. He suddenly formed himself on the surface of the water again, her dangling in his grasp. He grinned victoriously at Ronni, who grinned back at him, until the Rox in his hand poofed away.
Ronni narrowed her eyes, glaring at the newly vacant air. She used a shadow clone … clever, she muttered in her mind, looking around for her friend.
THUD!
The sound made her sweep around, only to see a kunai with a paper bomb wrapped around it sticking out of the ground. Ronni jumped away just before it exploded. She looked up, seeing Rox hovering high above the stadium. She barely had time to move before she heard three more thuds around her and her water man. "Fu–" she managed, just before they exploded in her face. The water man shrieked as the flames hit him, shrinking back into the earth, abandoning Ronni.
Rox was breathing hard, looking through the smoke for Ronni. When it cleared, Ronni was still standing, but she must have become water to escape the full extent of the bomb. Although, the boiling of the water she had been was obvious. She was red in some places on her skin, some even had blisters from the heat. Ronni let out a hiss, trying to work through the pain. Rox frowned, not sure she wanted to finish this fight. The seriousness from the fight had hit her with that last blow. She was practically trying to kill one of her best friends.
Ronni tried to do another water move, but the amount of pain was evident from the lack of control she had on the water now, compared to how it usually was. She cursed at herself, then turned to the announcer. "I quit!" she called out.
Rox's face fell. Ronni must have been hurt worse than she originally thought. Ronni wasn't the type of girl to just give up. It took a lot to get her to back down from something. Rox instantly dropped from the skies, crouching in her landing, so as not to hurt her own body too much.
The announcer had jumped down at the same time. "The winner is Roxanne Turner," he called out, pointing to the wind user.
Rox rushed over to her friend, eyeing the reddened and blistered skin. "Oh my God, are you alright."
"It's FATAL!" Ronni joked, laughing a little bit. Rox let out a nervous laugh, reminiscing that night when they were kids and playing Twister. Rox had accidentally elbowed Cordi in the diaphragm heart area. Cordi had instantly grasped her chest, gasping "THAT'S FATAL!!!" causing everyone to laugh at her, because that blow was anything but fatal. Ah, good memories. Rox smiled at Ronni, glad to see she'd be fine, and helped her friend up, walking with her toward the stairs. She didn't dare do her breeze thing, fearing it would hurt Ronni.
AN: So, you guys like the fights? Tell me! I want to know!!!! Haha, just review. I know more than six people read this story. Can you others tell me how you feel with a nice little review?