Disclaimer: I don't own Negima or Ranma 1/2.
Rise of Prodigies
Chapter Seventy-Five: Epilogue - Exchanging Fists of Friendship
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!" Nagase Kaede, a chūnin of the Koga ninja clan and member of Ala Alba, shouted as she rushed through the magically shielded, forested training ground where she had chosen to face her opponent.
"Good move, Kaede. As always." Kū Fei-san, her current sparring partner, praised honestly as she gathered her ki to counter the rush of the kunoichi's clones. "But not enough. Try my Touate (Distant Hit)!"
As she said this, the Chinese martial artist punched a fist into the ground, channeling her ki into it and unleashing a wave of raw force that shot towards the incoming clones. A wave powerful enough that it toppled the dozens of trees in its path whilst popping just as many of Kaede's clones as it did. However, many more survived as they used the agility that had been drilled into them by her training as a ninja and the use of her ki to evade her friend's attack. As they did, they threw their kusarigama at Kū Fei-san, wrapping the bun haired girl in their chains.
"You think can hold me?" The Chinese girl countered with a snort as she flexed her muscles slightly which served to stretch the chains binding her slightly, showcasing that she could shatter them easily.
"It will hold you long enough." Kaede countered as she had her clones use their kusarigama to rapidly pull themselves towards Kū Fei-san.
This action clued her friend into her plan and the Chinese martial artist snapped the chains, but she was too late in doing so. Kaede's clones had already used them to reel themselves towards her opponent and were already flying through the air towards her. They had not completely closed the distance however and in the window of time that she still possessed, Kū Fei-san tried to use Shundō (Instant Movement) to escape what was to come. However, the kunoichi was not about to let her escape and had her clones finish closing the distance before she could by using Shukuchi Mukyou (Limitless Contraction). Thus before the Chinese girl could speed away, she found herself dogpiled by Kaede's clones.
"Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)!" Kaede shouted as she disrupted the ki that made up her clones, causing them to explode. Explosions that joined together into a single powerful detonation that produced a massive mushroom cloud that if not for the magical wards surrounding the training grounds that they were using, would have likely raised alarms throughout Mahora.
But of course, this was hardly enough to take Kū Fei-san down. Something that was proved when the Chinese martial artist demonstrated her survival.
"Makankōsappō (魔貫光殺砲/Demon's Penetrating, Killing Light Gun)!" Kaede's sparring partner shouted as she fired off a spiraling beam of ki out from the mushroom cloud, dispersing it as it shot towards Kaede's hiding place.
It came nowhere close to hitting her of course, not when a simple Shukuchi Mukyou allowed her to teleport out of the beam's path. It didn't even stop her from counterattacking. A reprisal that took the form of her surviving clones, of which there were still about a dozen, launching a barrage of shuriken at Kū Fei-san.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)!" She shouted out the name of her technique, duplicating the barrage of flying blades that she had just thrown at her opponent and transforming the already impressive onslaught into a veritable tsunami of death. One that flew towards the Chinese martial artist from all directions courtesy of her clones.
"Touate!" Kū Fei-san shouted as she once more unleashed her shockwave technique, this time using it defensively by releasing a shockwave that proceeded to deflect the entirety of the incoming storm of shuriken that Kaede sent her way.
But that was okay too. Because in the briefest of possible windows when Kū Fei-san's technique was turning aside her barrage of shuriken, Kaede used Shukuchi Mukyou to teleport behind Kū Fei-san with the dragon claw blade of kusarigama pressed against her Chinese friend's neck. However, even as she did so, Kū Fei-san had sensed her presence and had spun around so one of her fists was stopped inches from her face.
"Tie?" Kaede asked with a sigh, knowing full well that if the martial artist hadn't pulled back with her punch she would likely have been dead. With her Futae no Kiwami (Two-fold Extremity) technique, any punch from the Chinese martial artist would likely have shattered her skull. And even if she managed to slit her opponent's throat with her kusarigama in the process, it would at best be nothing more than a mutual kill.
"Tie." Kū Fei-san agreed as she pulled her fist back and Kaede also sheathed her kusarigama.
As they both stood down, Kū Fei-san began stretching to cool down. At the same time, Kaede pulled out a storage scroll and proceeded to unseal a pair of water bottles. Putting away the scroll, she quickly tossed one to her friend and took a deep gulp of the one she had saved for herself.
"Good fight." Kū Fei-san offered after she had finished a gulp from her own bottle.
"Yeah." Kaede agreed rather half-heartedly.
Quirking an eyebrow in confusion, Kū Fei-san shot her a questioning look. "Why you sound like you disagree?"
"No, I don't disagree. It was a good fight." Kaede clarified with a shake of her head.
"Then why you sound like you not believe it?"
Kaede sighed. "Just thinking about how what to us is a good fight would probably be considered child's play to most of Ala Alba. Sometimes that is a little hard to stomach when before we took our trip to Mundus Magicus we were some of the strongest people in the group."
"Yeah, now we mid-tier." Kū Fei-san said with a sigh. "But that just means we need work harder so we be top tier again!"
"I suppose we will." Kaede agreed, her slightly depressed spirit buoyed by her friend's enthusiasm. However, at the same time, she knew she had to temper the very same. If not, there was a good chance that Kū Fei-san would go overboard. "But don't be too serious about it. The rest of Ala Alba have crazy potential. If we try too hard to keep up with them, we'll be overwhelmed."
"Yeah. You right." Kū Fei-san agreed hesitantly, clearly unhappy at having to do so but having no choice. The Chinese girl was a martial arts prodigy and one of the skills of any good martial artist was being able to identify potential. And Kū Fei-san, like Kaede, would have been blind if they failed to recognize how insanely powerful their friends in Ala Alba had the potential to become.
"Hey, don't be like that." Kaede said, feeling a deep sense of irony about how despite originally being the one needing to be comforted over her abilities being overshadowed, she was now the one doing the comforting. "That our friends have unlocked their potential is a good thing. In fact, we should be looking forward to seeing just how far they can go."
"Um." The Chinese girl said with a nod. "Yeah. I wanna see too."
"To seeing how far our friends can go?" Kaede offered as she offered her water bottle to clink against.
Nodding, Kū Fei-san accepted the offer and clinked her water bottle against Kaede's. "To seeing how far friends can go."
Whilst Kaede and Kū Fei were sparring in the woods, another group of Ala Alba's members were also engaged in practicing their fighting skills. However, whilst their two comrades had chosen to spar outside of the public eye, Yuna, Akira-chan, Makie-chan, and Ako-chan had instead chosen to stretch their combat muscles in the traditional Japanese style arena that Chao-san had rented to host the Martial Arts Tournament during the Mahora Festival.
"Here you go, Yuna-chan!" Ako-chan informed Yuna as the school nurse's assistant stabbed her with the giant syringe that was the Artifact, Cultrix Cum Traumate, granted to her by her Pactio with Konoka-san. The moment that she did, Yuna felt a surge of energy filling her body. Something that washed away the strain that she had been feeling from supporting Makie-chan and Akira-chan as they sparred with each other.
Speaking of her two Ministra, Makie-chan was using the various weapons granted to her by her Armatura Quinquiplex Artifact to engage Akira-chan. Specifically, she was using her endless Liberum Lemniscus ribbon and her own impressive gymnastics skill to swing around the arena like some kind of hyped up monkey. All whilst she telekinetically manipulated iterations of the endlessly multiping Frango Stipes juggling clubs to try to club Akira-chan, all supported by barrages of repeatedly conjured iterations of explosive Bombus Globus balls and Cleaving Rings that she threw at her opponent as well.
"You know, when I'm not using my Artifact to fight bad guys, playing with the toys they give me is actually pretty fun."
"Yeah, I've gotta agree to that." Yuna added her own opinion. "But just because we have some down time right now, it doesn't mean we should slack off too much. You never know when an enemy might attack."
It was because she was capable of such logic that she guessed Donet McGuiness, one of her parents' friends, had approached her to inform her that she was a possible recruit for Megalo-Mesembria's intelligence agency, which her mom had been a part of. Not that she would agree of course. Megalo-Mesembria was a total human supremacist nation and that was something she was not comfortable with. Not when a good number of her friends like Ranma-san, Setsuna-san and Sayo-san weren't human. That said, she was still flattered by the thought that they would want to recruit her. It was proof that she'd truly become strong. And she wanted to become even stronger.
Though there are some things I am not willing to pursue in the name of improving myself. Yuna thought with a frown as she turned her attention towards her second Ministra. I just wish I could say the same about Akira-chan…
"Umm… Akira-chan, did you have to use your new spells like that?" Yuna asked the swim athlete cautiously.
Now there was nothing wrong with how Akira-chan was using the Sagitta Magica, Series Aqua (Magic Arrows, Water Series) that she had learned. She was using them as was expected, namely as water bolts that she fired in volleys at Makie-chan. How she was using Flagellum Aqua (Water Whip) though…
"What's wrong with how I'm using them?" Akira-chan asked with a confused tilt of her head as she collapsed a wall of water conjured by her Artifact, Amnis Obex (Stream Barrier), and used it to both allow her to surf along the wave that created atop the aforementioned surfboard/kite shield hybrid whilst simultaneously using it as fuel for her spells.
"I think she's talking about how you're using them as tentacles, Akira-chan." Ako-chan explained. "It's freaky and reminds us a little too uncomfortably of a tentacle monster from some sick hentai."
Akira-chan scoffed. "If you're thinking that then you're overthinking. After all, with how Makie-chan is jumping all over the place, how else could I possibly catch her if I don't use my Flagellum Aqua as tentacles?"
"I've gotta agree with Akira-chan there!" Makie-chan added.
Yuna shared a look with Ako-chan who just shrugged. "They have a point."
"Okay! New topic!"
"Why are we even talking whilst we are sparring again?" Makie-chan asked, demonstrating the absentmindedness that was typical of her.
"To give us practice to avoid getting distracted whilst in a fight. Duh!" Akira-chan explained.
"Oh!" Makie-chan with an embarrassed blush.
"Anyways~!" Yuna-san said, reclaiming the reins of the conversation. "Akira-chan, you were the one that suggested we spar today. Why? I mean, it's not something I would have expected from you, you know?"
"I think, well, after watching all the gladiatorial fights back on Mundus Magicus, I've got an idea to introduce something in a similar vein here on Earth." Akira-chan confessed with a small smile. "Though, instead of slaves fighting or fights to the death, maybe we can do something like the martial arts tournament we had during the festival here at Mahora."
"Wouldn't they have those already?" Yuna asked with a tilt of her head.
"I'm going to organize a better one!" Akira-chan said, fist clenched with a determined fire in her eyes.
"Yeah! That sounds awesome!" "Go for it!" "We'll help out!"
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
They were kung-fu fighting! With exploding clones! Ah, it's good to see the old powerhouses just going at it. Still, the power creep later on in Negima really showed how martial arts prowess really did not scale well unless you had some magic boost or something. Even pure ki power didn't really match up. This is with Ku busting floating mountains with just her fists.
Nameless: Yeah, I know right? Negima really did martial arts dirty. I think this is why I liked the idea of Ranma choosing to focus on magic instead of martial arts in this fic in the first place.
And now to the athletic girls just chillin' and Akira having big dreams and plans. Our headcanon is that she is responsible for all the big tourneys that happen in UQ Holder.
Nameless: Indeed. She's got a hard on for battle tournaments now. Ironic considering how much of a girl next door she was at the beginning of her journey, no? Then again, that's true of most of the girls of Ala Alba, isn't it?
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!