Leon I

CHAPTERXXXX FRIENDSHIPS POSTPONED, HARD HITTING COMPETITION WEDNESDAY APRIL 24

Togu, Caronita, Syithi, and Mr. Velril were all staring at us as we were staring at them. They knew all too well how high the stakes were, and so did we. Only one team could go onto the final to face Mrs.Dexter's team, and as of now, I only was concerned with that being my team. Without hesitation they all started walking toward us.
"Stand your ground." Quas whispered that, and he was right. We needed to show them we weren't going to back down from fighting them. I wanted to set an example that we weren't going to go down easily, so I began walking toward them too. My team followed as well and after a few seconds, they stopped as well as we did. It was now a stare down, no one talked, moved, blinked. Suddenly, Togu formed a friendly smile on his face.
"Hey. We just wanted to say something before our match, if it's okay."
"Um...s...sure."
"Cool, so Leon, was it?"
"Yes, I'm Leon."
"Nice. Well I just wanted to say we hope you're ready to fight your hearts out, because we won't hold anything back."
"If that's all you've got to say, you'd best prepare for disappointment."
"All kidding aside though, whoever wins between us, I only care that the winners defeat Mrs.Dexter's team."
"What?!"
"Yeah, it's only because of that smug face of Aaron. He makes it every time he is winning or winning he thinks he is. Me and my group hate him so much because we came so close to defeating them during a sparring contest, but when we lost, Aaron made it seem like we never had a chance to begin with."
"I agree with you Togu, that's why I have to beat you, I have to get my rematch with him!"
"Sorry. No offense but, we'll try to finish the match between you Ariel, Quas, and Leon as quick as we can, though we do expect you to put up a great fight." With those words that parted from us, I looked over at Ariel and she looked provoked by his statement. Quas was shocked, as was I. I thought they'd be a little more, how do I put this...harsh.
"How dare Togu, I'll-"
"Ariel, don't!"
"What!? You're really going to let them get off on the sly like that?"
"Ariel, you've got it all wrong. I know he said some things that may have gotten to you, but look further into what he said. He said that he and his team will try."
"What's that supposed to mean Lee?"
"It means that he is uncertain of his team's victory."
"What?!"
"He'd never say 'we'll try' unless he is close to completely certain that his team can win. He believes that their chances of winning are just as equal to ours, and he knew that in underestimating our skill, he'd only be damaging himself and his team." I could see it in her face that clarification was coming through and she soon calmed herself.
"Since we're already in our feet, I think it's best right now that we make it down to the battleground."
"You're right Mr.Red, it is almost time for our match."
"Okay then, but first, team signal."
"Right on it Lee." We all arranger our hands in order to form the shape of our team signal, and then we charged chi aura to our hands and made our team signal. I took one last glance over at Syithi, Togu, and Caronita, to see that Togu was looking at us in amazement. After we displayed our team signal, we all headed down, to what could be our last match of the tournament. It had to be a few more minutes before Mr.Velril's team finally met us on the field, and they announced the match was about to start.
"The sixth match of the tournament is ready to begin. Remember competitors, whoever wins this fight will go on to face Mrs.Dexter's team in the final match of the original bracketed tournament. The losing team will maintain their place in the Copper Clan and will not have to compete in the second chance round due to the fact you've both won a fight in the tournament already. Once you hear the two claps begin, the fight will begin."
"Ariel, Leon, we have to give this fight our best, even if it means we are exhausted at the end, at least we win."
"Heard that Lee, no holding back."
"I never intended to hold back!" I couldn't believe they were insulting me on my effort, if anything, I have more purpose than them to even be participating in this tournament. Without warning, the two claps were heard and the match began. Unlike our previous match, Quas and Ariel were cautious and actually tried to formulate a plan.
"Ariel, let me fight Togu. I'm confident...no, I know I can beat him. He may have that ascension form's power on his side, but I know I can exploit any weakness he has."
"Fine, only because you're both going to let me fight Aaron, that is if we get the chance."
"Don't doubt Ariel, we will win. And on the topic of the battle, I can handle Syithi."
"Guess that leaves me with Caronita."
"One last thing, don't underestimate their skill." We all looked at each other with a final nod, then we began to charge our opponents. I focused on my target, Syithi. She most certainly had size on her side, she had to be half a foot taller than me, both that didn't matter, only skill did. As I got closer to her, I charged my chi to my legs that way I could jump over her. Just as I jumped, she immediately followed me in the air. We were both at about the same range of each other and because of that she took the opportunity to try and strike me. I was able to dodge some of her attacks, but she hit me with a lucky forearm to the face and followed up with a kick to my gut that sent me flying back down to the grass. I was able to land on my feet with some damage suffered, but I was fine. She landed on the ground, much softer than me.
"Your pretty good, I didn't expect you to attack me like that."
"Less talking, more fighting." She then charged at me quickly, and I quickly formed a plan. I was going to use my Genesis Trap, from there I was going to follow with an attack that would finish her. I just had to get an opening like I did with Neto. She came at me quicker than I expected so I back up and as I kept going backward I realized I was getting very close to the wall. It would be all bad, but I finally thought up a proper plan that would allow me to excite what I was trying. I just had to use the wall. I had it all planned out, only Syithi increases her speed tremendously and caught up with me. That's when I threw caution to the wind and tried attacking her, but that boost in speed she had showed itself while she was dodging. While I was attacking she caught both of my hands, then she lifted me in the air like a feather and kicked me in the chest while I was being held by her. I know Togu was uncertain of his teams victory, but did he at least try and test Syithi. Right now I'm zero for two in plans against her, but you know what they say, third times the charm. I got up slowly, and when I looked for Syithi, she was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere around the battleground and I could only see Ariel and Quas doing fairly well against Togu and Caronita. I kept trying to search for her until I got punched in the face by something. While I held my jaw, I got attacked again with another strike to my chin that sent me to the ground. I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what was going on, it couldn't be Togu or Caronita attacking me. That's when it hit me, it was Syithi attacking me, but how?
"Invisibility, heh? That's how you're attacking me and I didn't even have a clue it was you."
"You're right, I'm using my chi energy to mask my visible appearance." I tried to think of how I was going to fight her now. I thought it'd be clever to follow her voice, but she clearly wouldn't talk a lot, so that idea was out of the hat. Then I remembered, I can sense the chi within anyone, and I could sense her chi, which also meant that I could know where she was. I tried sensing energy movements around me, and I could soon feel her energy close to me. She was behind me and ready to attack as soon as I got up. I played into the trick, and almost instantly when I got back up to my feet, I quickly swept her legs and she was down to her feet. I would say now I had the advantage, but that thought quickly disappeared from my mind when I saw Togu coming from behind me ready to attack. Then I realized something again, there was no energy coming from Togu.
"Lee, it's a trick!" That's when the clone of Togu vanished from my mind and Syithi landed a strong kick to my back. I could now feel her power rising. I was all out of options, luck was my only choice. While I was on knee, I began charging as much chi into my hand as I could. That's when I figured, there was also a chance she may not know I could sense her. She began approaching me and when she did, I turned around and aimed a strike at what I hoped was her gut, and it was. After I hit her, she was visible again and the force of that punch sent her back to where Ariel, Quas, and I were standing at the beginning of the fight. The referee ran over to her, and explained that she was now eliminated due to knockout. Once again, I eliminated an opponent first, and now I could help Ariel or Quas. I wanted to go over and help Ariel with Caronita, but before I could even tell her I was going to help, she knocked out Caronita with a kick to the face that sent her crashing on her face. Now only Togu remained, we were in that same situation like we'd been in when we were facing Mr.Dexter's team. Togu and Quas stopped fighting for a second and that's when Togu noticed his teammates were gone from the battleground.
"Oh. Guess I'm by myself now. Thought I wouldn't have to go this far, but I can't give up, I have to push past my limits! I have to win! I will win! That's why I have to disobey you Mr.Velril. Sorry, but you'll thank me later, and if it backfires, sorry." I didn't know what to do, and that's when Togu's blue-violet aura began to surround him. I quickly tried to sense his power and when I felt it, it felt just like before when he was fighting Zounichi. He was now going to combat us with the power of the first stage of rage. The numbers advantage didn't matter now, winning probably didn't even matter, the main objective now, survive Togu's onslaught of pain coming our way.