It's time for the final matches of the Qualifier Round!


Kai er Sora vs. Song

"Up next, Sora the bat versus Song the leopard!" Kai announced.

"Uh, my name is Kai," Sora said.

"Nope! I'm the teacher, so I'm Kai while you're Sora," the bull said.

Sora grumbled, then tugged on his blue scarf to fit better over his purple kimono. Song meanwhile, twirled her parasol, showing off her light blue eyes. The leopard was wearing a red and brown vest with brown sweatpants and gloves.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Sora started by flying upward, summoning a scythe in his feet and diving down to strike. Song blocked with her parasol (it was a lot durable than it looked) then batted her eyes at Sora.

"You won't hit a lady, would you?" she asked.

Sora blinked. "Are you… flirting with me?"

The bat then got conked over the head with Song's parasol, causing him to stumble before taking his fighting stance. Sora fought through the use of Tai Chi, but Shifu noted that the bat mixed in a bit of Viper Style Kung Fu. Song kept dodging, taking a pose every time she did so, while Sora continued to attack.

"Time to step it up," the bat said. Focusing his power, Sora let out a sonic scream, which made Song drop her umbrella and hold her ears. Sora then ran forward, sweeping Song off of her feet and holding the scythe to her neck.

Song blinked, then sighed. "Okay, I know when I'm beat." She then smirked. "But, I'll only surrender if you go on a date with me."

"Ugh, fine," Sora replied. 'There go my study plans,' he thought.

Koji vs. Crane

"Hey, it's my turn!" Koji realized, jumping down into the arena. The beetle was wearing purple combat shorts.

Crane joined him in the arena, the avian wearing a rice hat with blue shorts and a thick purple belt.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Koji started with a leg sweep, which Crane jumped over to deliver a kick to the face of his opponent. The beetle stumbled, but recovered and went into a double-fisted punch. Crane dodged again, this time sweeping with his wings to create a gust of wind.

"No way, you can use Chi!" Koji said in amazement.

"Uh, quite a few people have already used Chi," Crane noted.

"But I wanted to fight a Chi user, to show that I'm stronger without it!" Koji said.

Crane smiled softly. "Well then, I wish you the best of luck."

The battle truly began then, the two combating Samoan fist style to Crane Style. As Koji kept fighting, he surprisingly held his own against Crane, which drew the attention of quite a few of the students.

"Hm… there's something else about this bug," Anubis said.

"Agreed," Karasu said. "There's something hiding inside of him, just waiting to get out."

'Okay, we really need to talk about this after the tournament,' Aurora thought.

"Time to show you my strongest move!" Crane said. The bird took to the sky, flying up and shadowing the sun. "WINGS OF JUSTICE!" he cried, swinging his wings downward and creating a giant gust of wind, blowing Koji off of his feet.

The beetle struggled to stand, but eventually lost his footing, getting blown clear out of arena. Before he could go crashing down, Crane grabbed him, letting him down gently to the ground.

"I… I lost," Koji said, sniffling a bit.

"Are you kidding?" Crane said. "You shouldn't be sad about a lost. That just means that you can only get stronger."

Koji looked up, wiping his tears away and smiling. "You know what, you're right! I can get stronger!" He took a pose. "And when I do, I'll show everyone that I'm one of the strongest people ever!"

"You'll have to beat someone like Tigress before you can claim that," Crane stated.

Shen vs. Jintien

There was some grumbling in the crowd when Shen took to the stage. The peacock scoffed, brushing off some dust from his black robes with a jade phoenix on the back. He didn't care the supposed "rumors" about him; he just had to prove himself better than those accusations.

"I should warn you, I don't hold back, ever," Jintien stated. The komodo dragon was wearing a black and white Japanese battle uniform with elastic bands on her arms, legs, and tails.

"I would hope so," Shen said, drawing his Guan Dao.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Jintien started by charging forward, striking with punches and tail strikes. Shen dodged a few, then allowed her to get a hit in so he could get in close and strike with a knife.

'She fights with all of the styles of Kung Fu, but doesn't use her claws,' Shen noted in his mind. 'Being a reptile means she can also see heat signatures, which means blinding her won't do anything.'

The peacock then flared his train, creating a distraction to deliver a few attacks with his Dao.

"You're pretty good, for a spoiled brat," Jintien said.

"Just because I'm the son of some of the wealthiest people in the city, doesn't make me a spoiled brat," Shen retorted.

"Doesn't matter. People like you only care about yourself. I had to work to learn all the styles of Kung Fu," the komodo dragon said.

Jintien went forward to strike, meeting Shen in combat for one last bout. The two were surprisingly matched, though it was clear that Jintien had the strength advantage. Shen then swept his train underneath her feet, letting him back up and charge his power.

"Fireworks blast!" he called out, shooting a ball of fire that exploded around Jintien. The komodo dragon grunted, but stood firm in her stance.

"Why don't you just give up and admit I'm right? The rich always pick on the poor," Jintien said.

"Because my father taught me that I should always reach for my dreams. For me, well, that's for me to know and you to find out," Shen said, taking a confident smirk.

Jintien growled then charged forward, only for Shen to trip her with his train and pin her with his talons. What he didn't expect was for the komodo dragon to grab his foot, flipping him over and pinning him down.

"Now then, why don't you give up?" she growled.

Shen frowned, then smirked, charging up another Firework Blast and shooting her away. Jintien went flying, right to the edge of the arena. As Shen charged forward to finish the fight, Jintien dodged out of the way, the peacock's eyes widening as his momentum threw him out of the arena.

"Shen has been knocked out of bounds, which makes Jintien the winner!" Kai announced.

"Hm, I think I just found myself a rival," Shen said to himself as looked over to see Jintien getting praise from the crowd.

Yuki vs. Jikan

Jikan readied himself, the fox hopping in place to get pumped for the fight. He was wearing a grey pants and shirt with a black open jacket and armored gloves. His opponent, Yuki, was wearing a red kimono with floral patterns on the edges, as well as a beautiful headdress.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Yuki went first, flowing like water as she attacked with her sword. Jikan flashed his gloves, creating a replica sword to counter the swan's attack. The fox then used his speed to escalate the battle, but Yuki just dodged his strikes, giving a good swing to break her opponent's sword. The battle went on for some time, with both combatants dodging and using their skills to counter each other.

"Alright, how about an attack that you can't dodge?" Yuki asked. She raised her sword to the sky, summoning a torrent of smaller blades to come crashing down. Jikan responded by using his trump card: time manipulation. The fox made time go to a crawl, easily dodging the falling blades and delivering a few hits to Yuki. When time resumed, the swan was sent flying, but recovered quickly.

"Wha-? What just happened?" she asked in disbelief.

Jikan smiled. "Time for my ultimate attack!" He summoned up clones of himself, each of them rushing forward to attack with various skills. While Yuki tried to dodge and block, the clones became too much for her, leading her to drop her sword and take a knee. When she looked back up, Jikan had a sword to her throat, the blade crackling with energy.

"Oh," Yuki said, raising her wings in surrender.

"Winner by forfeit, Jikan moves on!" Kai announced.

"That guy has some skill," Jintien said. "But if I face him, I'll defend Yuki's honor and show everyone that skill beats tech anytime."

Neyo vs. Su Wu

"Oh crap," Toka said as he saw the next match-up. "Neyo has to face Su Wu!?"

"He'll be eaten alive! Probably literally!" Suya gasped.

"Well, I hope that kid had a good life, 'cause he's as good as ****** by the time Su is done with him," Lu said, resting his hands behind his head.

The oldest Wu Sister smiled sinisterly, staring down the hedgehog. Neyo was wearing grey pants with red stripes on the sides, as well as bronze shoulder armor.

'Poor kid,' Kai thought to himself. "Ready? FIGHT!"

Su went straight in for the kill, but was surprised when she lost all feeling in her arm. Looking at it, she saw an arrow of energy sticking out of it, with Neyo holding an energy bow in his hands.

"Su Wu, a fierce fighter. Strategy: disable her limbs one by one to ensure victory," Neyo said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Su growled, but rusher forward, grabbing Neyo by the throat and slamming him into the ground. The hedgehog pulled out one of his quills and jammed into the back of her leg, making the leopard scream out in pain as another limb was disabled. Neyo got up and shot another arrow point-black, taking out Su's other arm and leaving her practically defenseless. In a desperate move, Su tried to kick the hedgehog out of the arena, but Neyo dodged and jabbed another quill into her outstretched leg, leaving his opponent lying on the ground, unable to move.

"Well… Su is unable to battle, making Neyo the winner!" Kai announced, just as surprised as everyone that arguably the fiercest warrior at the academy had been defeated so easily.

"Jesus, that kid was almost not real," Tai Lung said.

"That… didn't seem like Neyo at all," Suya said in a worried tone as the hedgehog returned to his seat.

Up at the top of the arena, a figure looked down, pleased that his prodigy was proving himself already.

Karasu vs. Fung

"No hard feelings, right Fung?" Karasu asked his opponent.

"Hah, just show everyone why you should win," the croc responded. "I know I don't stand a chance against you, but darn it I'm going to try anyway!"

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Karasu let Fung have the first attack, the croc charging forward and kicking up a chunk of earth to hit at his opponent. Karasu sliced straight through the rock, then leapt forward with an earth strike of his own.

"I thought Karasu had lightning powers?" Saras said in confusion.

"Karasu has the element of Aether, meaning he has control over the five elements of Fire, Lightning, Ice, Earth, and Water," Fenghuang explained. "His Chi is what you should be most worried about."

Fung really didn't have a chance of winning against the ninja, but held his ground, meeting axe to sword as the two clashed for a bit. Eventually, the croc took a stance, slamming his feet firmly in the ground. "Come on, hit me with your special attack!" Fung shouted.

"Really? It's gonna hurt a lot," Karasu said with some concern.

"I can take it!" Fung shouted.

Karasu nodded, then charged up his sword. "CHI DRAGON STRIKE!" he exclaimed, sending out a wave of energy that formed into a dragon. When the dust settled, Fung was knocked clear into the wall, leaving another sizable hole that someone would have to fix later.

"Yeah… I can take it… ow…" Fung said in pain as Karasu helped pull him out.

"Thanks for the warm up. I'll win this for both of us," Karasu said.

Fung smiled. "Glad to know I have someone like you as a friend and not an enemy."

Mei Mei vs. Tigress

"Hi Po!" Mei Mei waved from her place in the arena.

"Wait, she goes here!?" the panda yelled, hiding behind one of the other students.

"Is that a problem?" Crane asked.

"Only that she has a creepy crush on me and wants to marry me," Po said.

Tigress didn't say anything as she entered the arena, taking her fighting stance.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Mei Mei pulled out her nunchucks, the panda doing a few twirls before taking her stance. Tigress just delivered a punch to her opponent's face, sending her flying out of the arena in one blow.

"Hah, just like me, always wanting to get this over with quickly and efficiently," Tai Lung said.

"Ow, I think you broke my nose!" Mei Mei said, getting up and holding her nose.

"This is a battle. Things can get broken," Tigress said. "A warrior should be more concerned about fighting than showing off."

"Geez, someone needs to lighten up," Mei Mei said, returning to the stands.

Biyu vs. Ayeka

As the Corsac Fox entered arena, she eyed her opponent. Ayeka was wearing a pink fighting tunic with red pants, a silver belt, and pink scarf, which helped to show off the tigress' body.

'Damn, she's cute,' Biyu thought to herself.

'Oh, she's cute,' Ayeka thought to herself, eyeing the fox's attire of a maroon unzipped jumpsuit with a white top underneath, a silver cropped jacket, and black gloves.

It was then that the Author realized that both of the bisexual characters we pitted against each other, which made him question if having RNG choose these fights was a great idea.

"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.

Ayeka went straight for Biyu's pressure points, but the fox threw out her chain sickle, rapping it around the tigress' arm and pulling her close. "Hope you're ready for a beat down, cutie," Biyu said in a flirt tone.

"Only you're going to get hurt in this relationship, sweetie," Ayeka said, even more so flirty. In a surprise move, she grabbed the fox's head and pulled her in for a kiss, which turned a lot of heads at the girl-on-girl action they were getting.

"Hey! No Public Displays of Affection on the battlefield!" Master Flying Rhino shouted.

Ayeka then broke off the kiss, leaving Biyu dazed long enough to get a full-force punch to the face, knocking her out silly.

"Maybe we could hang out some time, if I don't find anyone else first," the tigress said, blowing a kiss to the fox as Kai announced Ayeka the winner.


Author's Note

And with that, the Qualifiers are done! What did you think of these last few fights. Trust me, the next few rounds will get a lot more interesting as the real fights begin.