Ready for Round 2? The Preliminary Rounds start now!
Everyone prepared for the next round of the tournament, with there being an hour break for everyone to rest and for the arena to be repaired. As soon as the break was over, it was time for the next round, starting with…
Karasu vs. Neyo
"Hey, you ready for this fight?" Karasu called to his opponent.
Neyo didn't respond, instead just pulling out his bow and getting into a fighting stance. "Karasu, a master of ninjutsu. Plan of defeat: take his sword, take his power."
"Okay, you really need to stop being creepy," the raven said.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Neyo wasted no time to fire arrows at Karasu, but was surprised when they were all dissipated by the raven's own arrows. Neyo switched over to his boomerang, but that too was countered by Karasu slicing it in half.
"You're not the only one that studies his opponents," Karasu said, rushing forward to slice the hedgehog.
Neyo dodged the attack, pulling some of his quills off to attack the raven. Karasu dodged the attack, then in a surprise move threw down his sword to grab Neyo's hands making him unable to move.
"Okay, there is something seriously wrong with you," Karasu said.
"Shut up, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm just here to win," Neyo said.
Karasu looked into the hedgehog's eyes, noticing that they seemed unfocused. "Right, and it's totally not because of the guy standing on top of the stadium." After saying that, the raven kicked Neyo away, rolling over to grab his sword and fling it at that figure. The figure dodged the sword, catching it by the blade and throwing it back at Karasu. The raven glared at the figure. "You can release you hold over the boy. He deserves to learn his own skills instead of being under your control."
The figure vanished after that. When he did so, Neyo suddenly shook his head, his eyes focusing and returning to their full size. "What?"
Karasu reentered his fighting stance. "Come on, Neyo. It's time for the fight with your real skills instead of with the power of another."
The hedgehog instantly got nervous. "But I can't! It's because of my master that I was able to use my knowledge to defeat Su Wu!"
"But you can. That guy was putting the skills you already have to use," Karasu explained. "Reach into yourself and pull it out!"
Neyo was stunned, but nodded, focusing his breathing. When he opened his eyes, that calculating stare was back, though it was filled with confidence instead of emptiness. The battle truly began this time, with the two combatants meeting arrow to arrow, eventually going into close combat. Surprisingly, Neyo managed to summon a sword of Chi, though it was radiating dark energy.
"My master gave me this sword to use when I push myself to the limit: the Jinshu Jian Jiao," Neyo explained.
"I would be interested in meeting this master face-to-face," Karasu said.
"I've been trying to get her to apply to the school as a teacher, but she doesn't do appearances," Neyo said.
"She?" Karasu said in surprise.
The two broke off from their clash, with Karasu deciding that he had learned enough for now. The raven went into his final attack, but decided to do a different finisher. "DRAGON CHI VOLLEY!" he exclaimed. Pulling out his bow, he fired off a bunch of arrows, each of them coated in Chi and homing in on Neyo. The hedgehog was pelted by the barrage off arrows, falling to his knees and onto the ground.
"How about we do some training together?" Karasu offered, helping Neyo up. "I can teach you how to overcome those mental blocks you maybe have a chat with your teacher."
"Sure, why not," the hedgehog said.
Up on the roof of the stadium, the figure looked down with the faintest hint of a smile. She didn't expect anyone to figure out that she had put a spell on Neyo to help him overcome his mental anxiety, but she was proud that Neyo didn't give up right away. However, she was more interested in the raven. There was something different about the boy…
Fenghuang vs. Toka
"Tch, this will be easy," Fenghuang scoffed.
"Be careful out there. Fenghuang is one of the most powerful students," Suya warned her friend.
"Please. Toka's got this," Koji said.
As the two combatants entered arena, they sized the other up, then got into their fighting stances.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Toka and Fenghuang met each other fist-to-fist, making a rush of energy blast out from the force. The snow leopard tried to punch with his other fist, only for the owl to block it and do a leg sweep. Toka caught himself from falling flat on his face, but Fenghuang delivered another kick, knocking him up onto his back.
"Ready to give up?" the owl said as she pinned him with her foot.
Toka smirked. "Nope. You're right where I want you." The snow leopard then charged up his hand and delivered an Iron Fist to the owl, sending her off of him so he could get up.
Fenghuang was surprised at her opponent's ferocity, but smirked, activating her own Chi. "So you want to play hero? Then allow me to be your villain."
The owl coated herself in a thin sheet of ice, charging forward and smashing the ground to create a wall of advancing ice. Toka jumped over it, sending out his own Chi which created a field of smoke to try and blind the owl. Fenghuang was able to get rid of the smoke, however, by using one of the Twelve Impossible Moves to blow the smoke away.
"Oh come on, that usually works," Toka whined.
"How about you show me your full power. No holding back," Fenghuang suggested.
Toka smirked, then charged up his Chi. "Time to bo beyond my potential, beyond the Iron Fist." As he continued to charge his power, a green glow surrounded him, forming the image of a phoenix.
"It seems that someone wants to try and take my title," Shen mused to himself.
Toka then charged forward, the phoenix surrounding his hand. "PHOENIX FIST!"
Fenghuang then charged up her own attack, throwing a ball of wind and fire forward. "Mongolian Wind Fire Hammer!"
As the two attacks clashed, there was a blinding explosion, which covered the arena in smoke. When the dust cleared, both combatants were still standing, but damaged and breathing heavily. Everyone waited to see who would fall first…
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… and the owl fell to her knees, barely holding herself up.
"Impossible," Shifu breathed.
"Fenghuang, defeated?" Huli questioned.
"I won?" Toka said in astonishment. He then smiled. "I WON!" He jumped for joy, only for the pain from his injures kicking in, making him fall onto his back in pain. "Ow."
"Good job kid, but I won't let this go so easily," Fenghuang said. "Next time, your ass is mine."
"Interesting," Kai mused. "I think I see a potential pupil in my future."
Tai Lung vs. Jikan
"Time to advance to the next round," Tai Lung said.
Jikan just nodded, not responding to the leopard.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Tai Lung charged forward for another one-hit KO, but Jikan froze time, moving out of the way and delivering a kick to the leopard's back. When time unfroze, Tai Lung flinched, then turned around.
"What? Impossible," he said. "There's no way you could move that fast."
Tai Lung charged again, but Jikan time dodged again, and again, and again. "Hah! You're too slow!" the fox taunted in sing-song tone.
Tai Lung growled, his anger spiking as a dark aura coated his paws.
"Tai Lung is losing control," Shifu gasped. "If he doesn't calm down, the darkness will consume him."
"Alright. Time to destroy you!" Tai Lung shouted, his eyes starting to leak with dark energy.
"Whatever you say, Akuma," Jikan scoffed.
As Tai Lung charged again, the fox freezes time, running around to the other side of the leopard. To Jikan's horror, however, Tai Lung turned to face him while time was frozen and charing. The fox panicked, dodging and shooting off magic blasts to slow him down. Unfreezing time, Jikan got desperate and tried one last ploy to get Tai Lung to stop.
"TRI-ATTACK!" he shouted, creating three spheres of magic and blasting them at Tai Lung. The snow leopard was then burned, frozen, and paralyzed at the same time, given Jikan time to deliver a series of fast hits. They weren't powerful, but they were enough to push Tai Lung out of the arena.
"Tai Lung has been knocked out of the arena, so Jikan is the winner!" Kai announced. He then looked to Oogway. "We're going to need to calm him down now."
Oogway nodded, then jumped down and delivered a few precise hits to Tai Lung, stopping the flow of Dark Chi and stopping him from struggling.
Jikan looked calm but on the inside, he was freaking out. 'He was able to break out of my time freeze. No one has been able to do that, ever.'
Cat vs. Ayeka
"So, you're into girls, right?" cat asked his opponent.
Ayeka giggled. "No. I'm into anyone that interests me."
Cat smirked. "Then maybe after this we can hang out, have some 'fun,' if you will."
Ayeka paused. "Sorry, waiting till marriage."
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Ayeka went right for the cheetah's pressure points, but Cat dodged, using his superior speed to dodge.
"So, what's with that kiss of yours?" he asked the tiger.
"I fancy myself to be very alluring. I'm hoping to make the dance team to learn more ways to make myself more attractive," Ayeka said. She smirked, then grabbed Cat's wrist. "How about I show you?"
The tiger then pulled the cheetah into a kiss, holding his head so he couldn't get away. Cat started to get into it, but stopped himself before getting lost in the pleasure and catching Ayeka's incoming punch.
"Black Hole," he said, taking her kinetic energy and delivering it back at her with twice the power.
The tiger was sent flying, right to the edge of arena. "How many powers do you have?" she asked.
"Too many to count," Cat replied.
The author then muttered something about being 'OP.'
Cat rushed forward with blazing speed, dodged another nerve strike, then gently pushed her out of the arena, ending the match.
"How about we go on a date, my treat?" Cat offered.
"You're going to have to fight Biyu for that honor," Ayeka said.
"A double date it is then," the cheetah smirked.
Author's Note
While we wait for the next fights of the Preliminary Rounds, I want to respond to a few reviews.
To Supreme Divine Alpha 17: Song only agreed to go on a date with Sora to not knock her out. It also might involve her 'sisters' if you catch my drift…
To Phantomwriter: when there's only two bisexual people on campus in a sea of straight people (as far as they know), it'll be inevitable to get in some fan service girl-on-girl action. If it goes anywhere, we'll have to wait and see.
TO DKLunaSlar-9-E: Yeah, Kai isn't a fan of one of the students sharing his name.
