Author's note – Ahhh, final chapter. Man, it feels weird to actually finish something I've been working on. Oh well, though. Oh, also, if I put up any type of sequel at all, it'll be in the crossover section. Mahora is no longer large enough to house our heroes.
Tikigod784 – If you hadn't have caught that, I never would have known. Thanks.
Daughter of ether – Honestly, when I saw that my twist wasn't all that original, I nearly changed my planned ending just to niggle you. But, I persevered, despite being a no good copy pants.
Kafka's Dragon – Yes, you're right, and daughter of ether to, that does fit the flow better, but what can I say, except I suck. /. Glad you enjoy the story too.
TzuiAssassian – hehehe, you'll see what happened to her…
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Lee was in shock. Zazie, his Zazie, was standing there with his blood dripping off her claws, wearing a skimpy jester's uniform and an evil grin.
"Z-Zazie, what… I don't understand." Zazie cackled evilly.
"No, my dear Lee, I didn't expect you too. You always were so dull." The emphasis on the last word hit Lee like a hammer.
"What do you mean?" Zazie grinned again.
"Don't you get it? I'M the Nightmare Clown!" And with that statement, Zazie launched the attack.
Acting purely on instinct, for his rational mind was in shock, he avoided her first thrust and ducked to avoid the following slash. Laughing maniacally, Zazie pressed the attack, swiping across with her right hand, and turning through the attack to launch a roundhouse that caught Lee on the side of his face.
Lee got up slowly, feeling blood trickle down from a cut lip.
This can't be… not her... not Zazie…
Zazie came in low, leading with an upward slash. Lee jumped back, and threw out a claw blunt edge leading to catch the claw and deflect it aside. Undaunted, Zazie Front flipped over his head and spun two complete circles, slashing with both hands four times. All at different heights. All blocked by Lee.
"So, that means…"
"Yes, it was all an act, darling. I never felt anything for you at all. I merely wanted to play with the agency's chosen hero before I destroyed him." Zazie leapt forward and locked her claws with Lee's. Grinning she pushed against him, driving him back a few paces. Then, she back flipped away, catching Lee under his chin with a kick in the process.
Landing lightly, she went in fast, coming at Lee from all different directions. High, low, left, right, and thrust all came into play, but Lee stopped most. Here and there a few nicked through, scratching a shoulder, cutting a leg.
"What's the matter, Lee? You're not up to par! Where's the full fist pressure you mastered? Where's the instant movement you so love? WHERE'S YOU'RE GATE LIFTING, LEE?" Breaking off the attack, Zazie put a hand on her hip, pulling down her bottom lip in a pouting gesture.
"Or, could it be you just won't attack the girl you love?" Launching an offensive again, Zazie yelled, "Oh, Lee, THAT'S SO SWEET!"
Lee went through the motions like a dead man. Block, twist, back flip, right block, throw out a leg to block a roundhouse, duck, deflect a right jab, lean to avoid thrust, double block high, and repeat. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. I mean, come on, the very girl he set out to save, his first love, was now laughing maniacally and slashing away at him with a killing lust in her eyes.
Finally, Lee broke. His eyes went dead, his arms went limp. He was totally open to the thrust Zazie launched. He saw it coming, felt the tip of her claw pierce his chest.
When all of a sudden it stopped.
Lee went wide-eyed. All of a sudden, the red had dimmed from Zazie's eyes. Just a little. Just a bit.
But enough to rekindle Lee's spirit.
"You're still in there aren't you Zazie?" He saw a fierce inner struggle go on. All of a sudden, Zazie's face twisted and she back flipped away.
The red was back.
"Heh, you fool, there is no Zazie left. She's dead, fool!"
But the clown had made a mistake.
"No Zazie? Then that means you aren't Zazie at all. You're only the clown possessing her, and my Zazie is still in there." Lee grinned.
"And she wouldn't ever strike me." The clown grinned.
"Would you bet your life on it?"
"Try me."
With a feral yell Zazie leaped at him, thrusting a claw at his chest.
Lee, however, stood tall, arms at his sides, a sad smile on his face.
"Zazie, I trust you. I put my life in your hands." He closed his eyes, waiting for the outcome. One way or the other.
Three seconds passed. Lee opened his eyes.
Zazie's claw was an inch from his chest. Zazie herself was quivering, but except for that, she was completely motionless.
Her eyes were yellow again, and filled with tears.
Dropping to her knee's, Zazie cupped her face in her hands as her claws vanished. She began to breathe heavily as she struggled with her inner demon. Lee dropped to a knee and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Fight him, Zazie! I know you can do it!"
Shivering, Zazie threw back her head and let out a wild yell.
"Get out! Get out! GET OUT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
An explosion rocked the tent. A huge shadow flew out of Zazie's body and flew to a corner, where it folded in on itself, waiting.
Zazie collapsed in Lee's arms.
"Oh, Lee, I'm so sorry!" Lee held her close, smiling.
"It's all right, Zazie. You did it, you won!" Lee took her by the shoulders and pulled her away so she faced him.
"Let's go home."
With tears in her eyes, Zazie shook her head.
"I wish it was that simple." Lee looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Zazie looked at steadily, tears still flowing down her beautiful face.
"You see, Lee, while all my feelings for you are true, there's a lot you don't know about me." Lee scratched his head.
"Like?" Zazie took a deep breath.
"Well, for example, I'm the last surviving member of the dream clan. My parents were thought to be the last, but they had me before they were killed." Lee jumped up.
"WHAT!?!?!" Zazie stood up too.
"I would have told you, but that vile thing controlled a lot of my will." Lee frowned.
"Then, that means…"
"Yes. The Nightmare Clown killed my parents, and then decided to revenge himself further by possessing me and using me as a puppet."
Zazie's eyes blazed with fire. "That bastard possessed me for 15 years! Using me to do his bidding, kill innocent people, and spread his nightmares around. I'll kill him for this, I swear!"
Lee frowned, "What do you mean? He's dead, right? Driving him out of you killed him."
Zazie shook her head again. "Sorry, but that's not true. In possessing me, he locked up a large part of his power, you see. He considered it worth it, though, because of the humiliation the Dream Clan suffered from having one such as he control me. However, now that he's free, his power will return in full."
Zazie turned to the corner where a large shadow was forming slowly into the shape of a man.
"That's him, there. Right now he's invulnerable, but soon he'll have to take his true form, and then we'll kill him." Zazie reached out her hand. All of a sudden, a yellowish scimitar appeared in her grasp.
"This is the Dream Sword; only weapons made out of dream steel, forged by one of the Dream Clan like this, can kill it." Glancing over at Lee, she added, "You're claws have elements of it too, from my parents' swords. You can hurt him too."
She looked back at the clown. Raising a hand above her head, she snapped. Instantly, her skimpy jester's uniform changed into the form fitting yellow silk garment of the Dream Clan. Yellow leather was under the silk, further raising it's defensive ability.
She half raised her scimitar, then dropped it again.
"Oh. One more thing." Lee cocked his head to the side.
"What?"
Zazie leaped at him, throwing her arms around him. Then, looking right into his eyes, she leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips as passionately as she could. Lee returned her kiss just as fiercely.
After an eternity, they broke apart. Zazie smiled shyly.
"I wanted to make sure I did that in case we didn't make it." All of a sudden, a deep, dark voice rolled through the tent.
"Are you quite through?" They both turned and saw the true Nightmare Clown.
He was decked out from head to toe in shadowy steel plate. A black cape looking like the darkness itself hung from his shoulders. A helm with twin curving horns was over his face. His hands held twin falchions of black steel.
Lee smiled. "No, we're not through. You are." The Clown laughed without humor.
"As if I hadn't heard that before. Actually, I think you're parents told me the same thing. Right before they died."
Lee bellowed in rage and charged.
The clown threw out his falchions to block the double slash he launched. Not stopping, Lee jumped up and launched a double-footed kick to his chest.
The clown simply sidestepped.
Only Lee's Libra training prevented him from falling and leaving himself open. Twisting, he got his legs under him and charged again.
Zazie joined the frey. Her sweeping style fit her weapon choice, and her small stature made it easy to defend herself. She flowed better than Lee did, and was very fast on offense to defense changes. None of that matter, though, once the nightmare clown punched her through her sword, right into her gut, sending her flying.
Lee came in low to take advantage of the Clown's momentary distraction. He thrust with both claws towards the gut. The clown swept around faster than seemed possible, slashing down to block.
It was a feint, though. As soon as he saw the Clown start to swing, he stopped short, and pushed off from his legs, twisting around to launch a barrage of fist pressure from point blank range.
The clown took the impact of a hundred blows and more and didn't even flinch. Lashing out, he caught Lee with an armored fist.
Lee twisted with the blow, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he used instant movement to take him right back to the clown.
Zazie had recovered, joining in from the other side, she pressed hard with a series of sweeping slashes. The Clown handled them both with ease, turning sideways to allow him to defend against both at once.
The flicker of metal and clash of swords lasted for nearly a minute, until the Clown, deliberately missed a parry, and slashed a large gash on Lee's shoulder. Lee followed through any ways, hitting the Clown on the shoulder.
Only to see his claw bounce off harmlessly.
"You can't penetrate my armor, boy. Not with just that strength!"
Lee grit his teeth, and re-set himself, defending against the counter attack.
Zazie had forced a stalemate, with neither the Clown nor her being able to get an attack through. Finally, she twisting around a sword blow and dropped low, gashing the Clown through his armor at a seam in the plate at his shin.
The Clown gasped in pain.
"You'll pay for that, girl!"
All of a sudden, the clown threw Lee back, and stepped it up a notch. His falchions were but slivers of shadow, but their bite was as cold as ice.
Zazie fought well, the best she ever had, but she couldn't defend against the terrible onslaught. Thirty slashes defended, but the thirty-first gashed her shoulder. Fifty thrusts parried, but the fifty-first cut open her leg.
Lee slammed into the Clown's back, driving him back. Then, bellowing he launched an attack with Zazie.
Zazie, being smaller, was in the middle, and thrust at the clown's chest, occasionally throwing out a wide slash to try and make an opening. Lee stood behind her, lashing out with wide thrusts aimed at the seams at shoulder and waist.
As for the Clown himself, he parried the thrust of the scimitar with one hand while the other went out to intercept the claw blows.
But slowly, surely, he began to lose ground.
First one step back. Then another. And another.
The clown had fought Lee as Zazie, and himself, and had seen him fight through Zazie's eyes. Lee was good, he knew. But now, with claws adorning his hands, his strikes nearly cut the wind. The perfect balance ingrained after years of training allowed him to recover from any counter. Add that to the fist pressure he used sometimes through the gaps of Zazie's legs, armpit, and over her head, and you had a lot to deal with.
And as if that wasn't enough, Zazie herself was a hail of thrusts and slashes. Keeping her swings short, she perfectly complemented Lee's wide cuts. Her footwork was almost as good as Lee's, keeping her balanced and ready to lunge at any moment. And with the sword of her ancestor's in her hands, her determination increased tenfold.
As individuals, they were good. As a pair, they were incredible.
All of a sudden, Lee used instant movement to bring him from slashing over Zazie's shoulder to thrusting from under her armpit. As if reading his mind, Zazie launched a wide slash from the other side.
The clown leapt back, barely avoiding the blow. He panted heavily.
The pair grinned. "We've got you on the run, now. Give it up; we're stronger than you." The clown laughed slowly.
"This isn't over yet."
Leaping forward, he unleashed a storm of slashes that took both of them off guard. Being in front, Zazie received the brunt of the attack. Angry red lines appeared all along her body, even though she defended well. Lee was hit by cuts all over her extremities, from his legs to his arms.
The clown then punched over Zazie's head right into Lee's face, blowing away the defending claw to send him flying.
The other hand ran Zazie through the stomach.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lee was on one knee, staring at Zazie in horror. Laughing, the clown pulled the sword free.
"Now you are but one. Together, you had a chance. Alone you don't even pose a threat."
Lee's eyes were full of fire as he watched Zazie slump to the ground, a dark red spot blossoming from her torso.
He began to shimmer.
"You'll pay."
Leaping forward, he launched the attack. The clown defended easily. Slipping a cut through Lee's shoddy defenses, he gashed Lee's side heavily.
It went unnoticed. Lee still fought.
The clown began to worry. All of a sudden, Lee's strikes were coming faster and faster. Even so, Lee was focused primarily on attack, so every once in a while, a falchion would slip through and slash a new wound in Lee.
However, in exchange, as the blows became all the faster, a claw would slip through, mostly to clang uselessly off the armor, only once or twice catching a seam, and even then doing no real damage.
Finally, Lee slumped to the ground, still shimmering, but also bleeding buckets from his wounds, some critical.
"Too bad, boy. You almost had me there"
Lee's eyes blazed. "I'm not done yet."
He vanished. All of a sudden the clown was struck from every direction with the force of a freight train. Flailing wildly with his scimitars, a caught and deflected a blow or two.
But it was like stopping one raindrop in a downpour.
Every blow found a seam. Every blow penetrated fully. Every blow hit a vital spot.
Lee appeared again right in front of the clown. Yelling, he slashed with all his might, and took off the clown's head.
The knee's of the body buckled, then collapsed.
Lee shook with fatigue. Using that technique in critical condition had nearly killed him. In fact, he thought, as he slumped down to check if Zazie was all right, he wasn't too sure it didn't…
He awoke to the sounds of battle. Sitting up, he looking around. Konoka stood over him, a soft blue glow surrounding her hands.
"There, that should do it."
"Where's Zazie?" Lee asked angrily.
"Right here." Snapping his head around, he saw her right beside him, alive and well, with no hole in her gut.
"Thank God you're safe." Mana looked over at them from where she was standing.
"My sentiments exactly. But that's subject to change."
What do you mean?" Mana jerked her head over at where the Clown had fallen.
"We've got problems."
And then Lee saw it. It was like a writhing, twisting ball of shadow. At least twenty tentacles extended from it, lashing out at the other members of Negi's party. Ku, Setsuna, Negi, and Kaede fought valiantly, but they were hampered by the fact that their weapons could cause no lasting damage.
Lee asked, "What happened?" Mana sighed.
"Right after you killed the clown, ewe got her to find both of you near death. You owe Konoka for healing you. However, while she was healing you, a huge shadow came out of the body and transformed into that… thing."
Zazie looked grim. "He tricked us. The knight form was false; this is his true form."
Lee sighed. "Well, I'm good for round two I guess." He said, drawing his claws.
Konoka caught his arm. "Be careful. I healed your wounds but you still have the exhaustion from the gate technique in you. I can't heal tiredness. Lee bowed his head.
"Thanks." Konoka nodded, and ran off to join the fight with Mana.
Lee turned to look at the Clown. A head appeared, with a horrible mockery of a clown face on it.
"Hello again! My, but you are fools, aren't you? I mean, come on, don't you think a clown would look like, well, I don't know a clown?" The head grew larger, as did the ball of blackness, and the number of tentacles only increased.
"Fools!"
Lee looked at the Clown. Then he turned and looked at Zazie.
He began to shimmer.
Zazie gasped. "Lee, no!"
"It's the only way." Lee said calmly, "Now, I want you to run in as fast as you can and stab him through the heart; without his armor, it'll be easy to hit, and if that doesn't kill the bastard I don't know what will. I'll keep his tentacles off of you long enough to give you a clean shot. Understand?"
But tears had formed in Zazie's eyes.
Lee sighed, "Look. If you don't want to, I'm going in alone. However, I doubt my claws have enough power to put him down for good. Do you want my attempt to be in vain? Or anyone else's attempt?" Lee gestured around him to where Zazie's friends were already in pitched battle with the Clown's tentacles.
Zazie looked around, and finally shook her head.
"All right then." Lee turned back to face the clown, still shimmering.
"Lee?" Lee turned around to see Zazie's crying face.
"Yeah?"
"I love you." Lee smiled.
"I love you too."
Lee turned back and began to run.
20 percent… 30 percent…
Zazie followed close behind, as fast as she could run. Lee made sure to build up his strength slowly, so he could time hitting a hundred percent right when he needed it most. Occasionally he would flicker out to slash at a tentacle that had broken free from one of the others. As they went on, the tentacles only increased.
50 percent… 60 percent
Lee was already tired from the first gate lifting, but the second on top of that only added to his agony. His legs burned, his arms trembled, and the sheer effort it took to contain his growing energy was staggering.
80… 90…
Zazie closed her eyes so she wouldn't see Lee suffering. Already she could see blood vessels rupturing from the pressure through the cuts in his pants and shirt. She could only pray that they were almost there. All of a sudden, though, over a hundred tentacles were heading right for them. The clown had seen his weakness, and was determined to kill them before they got there.
100!
Lee vanished. All the tentacles that had been aimed at them suddenly exploded. Her way was clear. She saw her target. Leaping up, she stabbed right at the heart.
Only to be caught by a tentacle that had popped right out of the clown's skin. It wrapped around her foot, yanked her away, and held her up. The Clown grinned.
"You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?"
Zazie's heart fell. She struggled, but she couldn't get free. Not in time.
For Lee's second was up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zazie get caught. He turned to go cut her free, but all of a sudden he wasn't moving as fast as before. His legs felt like lead. His vision was going dim, and he felt so weak…
NO!
By sheer effort of will, Lee pushed back up to one hundred percent and dodged through the gauntlet of tentacles to cut Zazie free. The Clown howled in agony.
Zazie fell in what seemed like slow motion. As Lee shot past, she readied her scimitar, and right when she was cut free, she drew back and threw. As she fell, she saw it go end over end over end…
To pierce the clown through the heart.
"NO! How could this happen?!?! I'm too powerful for these kids to have… to have… AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!!!"
BOOOOM!
An explosion rocked the tent. When the dust cleared, there was nothing left. The Nightmare Clown was defeated, finally.
Still, Zazie did not smile. Sobbing, she looked around until she spotted Lee laying a corner, very still.
Too still.
"No!"
Running over, she collapsed on hi, crying her eyes out. It couldn't be, not Lee, anything but that. Closing her eyes, she gave herself up to her grief.
A hand patted her back comforting her. Funny, she thought everyone else was getting healed by Konoka. Then, this hand could only be…
"Lee!"
She opened her eyes and saw him smiling at her.
"Hi."
Smiling through her tears, Zazie yelled, "Don't EVER make me worry like that again! You scared me, Lee!" Lee chuckled.
"I'm sorry." Zazie hugged him again, hard.
"Ow! Ow, take it easy." Zazie looked at him, frowning.
"Are you going to be all right.?" Lee smiled.
"Yeah, as soon as Konoka gets her lazy butt over here." He paused as if considering.
"And I'd like to sleep for a straight year."
Zazie, her face still wet from her tears, laughed. It felt so good to hear the old Lee back.
Lee smiled and pulled her down to him and kissed her softly.
"Zazie?"
"Mm-hm?"
"NOW can we go home?"
fin
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