Let us see how the Preliminary Rounds end!
Viper vs. Jintien
It was time for the reptiles to fight, with the beautiful Viper against the tomboyish Jintien.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Both Viper and Jintien met with Viper Style, the komodo dragon matching the snake with skill and precision.
"Woah, this is getting intense," Viper said, summoning a vine to wrap Jintien up.
"My parents taught me well," the komodo dragon said, breaking out of the vine.
The two went back at it, meeting fist to tail, kick to vine. Eventually, even with her Chi powers, Viper was pinned by Jintien.
"Hah! Got you," Jintien cheered.
Viper smirked. "Not so fast." The snake coiled her body around Jintien's arm, taking control and punching the komodo dragon with her own arm. Jintien tried to struggle, but the snake had a tight grip on her arm. Eventually, the komodo dragon was forced to use the one thing she promised never to use: her claws.
Sinking her other arm's claws into Viper, Jintien tore the snake off, throwing her away and out of the arena.
"I'm sorry father, I broke my code," Jintien said. She clutched her hand tight, so tight that her claws pierced her skin, making her hand bleed.
Viper saw this and slithered over, creating some vines to wrap the komodo dragon's hand. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over this. So what if you used your claws; they're a part of you, so you should be allowed to use them."
"It's not that. It's about what happened because of them," Jintien said, walking back into the stands.
Mei Ling vs. Kiera
It was time for a cat fight as Mei Ling and Kiera readied their weapons for a fight.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Kiera went straight for Mei Ling's staff to cut it in half, but to her surprise, her sword bounced off of the staff.
"What…?" the tigress said, before getting kicked away.
"Ironwood, a material as strong as metal but flexible as wood," the golden cat said.
The two warriors went back to fighting, meeting their weapons in fierce clashes. Mei Ling decided to get some distance, shooting some water to push her opponent away. The golden cat then summoned a cloud, jumping onto it to get some leverage.
"Now I have the high ground!" Mei Ling announced.
"Really, a Star Wars reference?" Kiera asked.
"What, I like those movies," Mie Ling said.
Kiera jumped up to attack, but found it difficult to attack an opponent that now had the height advantage. Pulling out her short sword, the tigress jumped up to attack, the force of both blades making Mei Ling fall off of her cloud. Dropping her staff, the golden cat looked up to see Kiera holding a blade to her throat.
"I think that we know who the winner is," Kiera said with confidence.
Mei Ling looked worried, then noticed where they had ended up. "Yeah, me," she replied.
In a quick, fluid motion, Mei Ling tipped her head back, going into a breakdance spin to trip Kiera up. The tigress dropped her sword, flinging it up into the air, allowing Mei Ling to catch it, throw it to the other side of the arena, and then create a water spout to push Kiera out of the arena.
"Kiera has been knocked out of the arena, making Mei Ling the winner!" Kai announced.
"Hope you can do better, sister," Kiera said to herself as she recovered her sword.
Kya vs. Sora
"Great, even the author isn't using my full name now," Sora lamented.
The Author doesn't care. Now stop breaking the fourth wall.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Kya blocked Sora's scythe, anticipating a first attack from the bat. The tigress went in to attack next, forcing the bat to fly up and dodge the attack.
"You know, both you and your sister should really learn some ranged attacks," Sora commented.
"Shut up!" Kya shouted. "My sister and I are masters of the sword, opposite but powerful."
Sora flew down to attack again, only to have his scythe blocked and forced out of his grip. The bat decided to use a previous strategy from his fight with Song, releasing a sonic screech to stun the tigress. To his shock, however, Kya wasn't effected.
"Padded hood. Stops sonic attacks," the tigress said with a smirk.
'Crap, I need to take this up a notch,' Sora thought. The bat focused his energy, then released it, his scarf turning silver with a snake design and his kimono turning red. "Basilisk form!" he said, slamming his scythe into the ground.
This made a giant shockwave, causing Kya to stumble and drop her sword. Sora swooped down and kicked it out of the arena; Kya would have to forfeit the match to retrieve it.
"Without your sword, you're defenseless," Sora said, readying his scythe.
Kya looked down, then charged forward. "You think I'll just give up!? I've always been in the shadow of my younger sister, but this is my time to show how strong I am!" With a shout of power, her hand shined with energy, a new sword appearing in her hands. She took a slash at Sora, whom blocked with his scythe. To his horror, his weapon broke in half, while also knocking him out of his Basilisk form.
"How…?" he gasped.
"I learned on my training in Europe about the Knights of the Round Table, and how to summon a legendary sword," she explained, running a hand across the flat of the blade. "This is Caliber, the sword in the stone, capable of breaking other weapons, but only once her day."
Sora gaped at the blade, then recovered, getting up to fight. He used his Viper Style to hold on for as long as possible, but it was clear that he wouldn't last long without his scythe. Taking a hit from the flat of the blade, Sora was dazed, leaving an opening for Kya to finish the fight. With a hit from her hilt, the bat fell over unconscious.
"Good job, sister!" Kiera shouted. "Now go win this for us!"
Kya smiled, retrieving her normal sword and sending Caliber back. 'Now it's my time to show what I can truly do.'
Crane vs. Lu
"Ready? FIGHT!" Kai announced.
Crane dodged as Lu charged forward, the white tiger showing no mercy in his hits. The avian flew up to avoid more attacks, but Lu summoned his dark powers to shoot Crane out of the sky. Falling to the ground, Lu put a foot on Crane's back, grabbing one of his wings.
"This is a waste of my time," Lu said. With a quick jerk and a cry from Crane, Lu snapped the bird's wing in half. "You and the Five are nothing, just children trying to play hero. Well guess what, there are no heroes, only people trying to exhort dominance over others. And you are the weakest of all of them. Even the bug would be a better challenge."
Lu then thrusted his hand onto Crane's head, causing the bird to clinch his eyes shut in pain before falling unconscious. "Have a great nightmare," the white tiger spat, delivering a few more brutal hits before leaving Crane beaten and bloody on the floor.
Everyone was on shock at the brutality, but Mei Ling was the most devastated. She gritted her teeth, then stood up. "In the next round, that guy is going to pay for what he just did to Crane."
Author's Note
That last fight almost made me sick to write. I don't like to torture characters, especially when they're one of my favorites, but it was a necessary evil.
The Semi-Finals are next, so the fights are about to become a lot more intense. Also, I have an announcement to make, but that'll come next chapter.
