NOVEL NEXT Episode LXXXV: The Mythical Finish
The Faded Legacy team reentered the resting area. Jax harbored a strange feeling within him, knowing that if something had occurred to Tokido, he would have been deeply affected. "If Tokido didn't fade away, I believe he's still alright," Jax voiced his thoughts to Tethyus.
"I share your belief; my brother's disappearance doesn't sit well with me either, but I can still sense his energy," responded Tethyus.
"I can't fathom how you managed to defeat that scoundrel Tokido with just one hit of your special combo," Yeom declared. Jax's face contorted in anger at Yeom’s snide remarks. Lionel glanced at Jax and advised him to maintain his calm and reserve his fury for the ring. The intercom buzzed, summoning Alpha Reserve and Mystical Force to the platform. Both teams rose and proceeded towards the platform.
"Finally, it's our turn to fight," Kiyoshi announced with a grin on his face.
"Yeah, I've been anticipating a good fight too, without getting crushed by some unknown fighter family," Lionel added.
"Hopefully, this is a real team posing a challenge; so far we haven’t faced any worthy opponents," Jun stated.
"You better believe we are a worthy team!" Kiyoshi retorted as he overheard Jun's comment. "We shall see when we fight,” replied Jun.
"I am ready for it to be the first match of the round," Kiyoshi declared confidently.
"Well then, I am going to ensure you eat your words," Jun countered. Kiyoshi wore an angry expression on his face as he clenched his fists and a purple aura enveloped him. Before things escalated further, Jax and Lionel seized Kiyoshi and restrained him from launching himself at Jun.
"Save it for the fight; we don’t want to get disqualified," Lionel cautioned. Kiyoshi calmed down and they all moved towards the platform.
As per the tournament tradition, both teams stood side-by-side for Hiroko's announcement. "We have two strong teams waiting to face off against each other for the title of best team on the island, but first we need to see who will make it to the final four. Will it be Alpha Reserve, who've squashed their opponents without losing a single match?" Hiroko asked. The crowd chanted and cheered boisterously in response.
"Or will it be the most impressive team here, Mythical Force?" Hiroko continued, resulting in cheers from the audience, though not as loud as those for Alpha Reserve.
After that, both teams moved to opposite ends of the platform.
"I guess Kiyoshi will go first since he seems eager to fight," Felix surmised.
"Yeah, I am ready!" Kiyoshi exclaimed as he leapt onto the platform.
"Give it your all," Ogaki encouraged with a smile.
"I will," Jun responded tersely before jumping onto the platform and staring at Kiyoshi. They both bowed to initiate the match.
"I won't lose this match because I outclass you in every possible way," Jun asserted confidently.
"We'll just see about that,” Kiyoshi retorted. Jun and Kiyoshi clashed with each other before unleashing a flurry of punches. Thanks to Jun's swiftness, he knocked Kiyoshi over and his body ricocheted across the platform.
Jun rushed over and hoisted Kiyoshi by his collar, kneed him in the gut before delivering a potent uppercut to his chin. As Kiyoshi was launched into air, Jun hurled a green energy ball at him which resulted in an explosion mid-air. When smoke cleared away, there was no sign of Kiyoshi.
"Where did he go?" Jun wondered aloud.
"He might have come up with something new for once," Jax conjectured, grinning.
"Or… He could've been vaporized," Lionel suggested.
"Negative Lionel strikes again," Felix teased.
"What? I'm just stating a possibility,” Lionel defended himself.
To everyone's surprise, Kiyoshi tapped Jun on the shoulder. "How did you get there? And how did you dodge a direct hit?" Jun questioned in disbelief.
"You missed me; as soon as the explosion went off, I was already back on the ground and snuck behind you," Kiyoshi explained before delivering a shadow kick to Jun’s back.
Jun slid face-first onto the platform. Then Kiyoshi attempted to jump on his back, but Jun spun around and punched him with a fist glowing green. Kiyoshi's body flew into air and smacked hard against the platform, bouncing up again only to narrowly dodge another green blast attack by twisting mid-air. His body was then surrounded by a purple aura which faded away shortly after.
"What?" asked Kiyoshi, trying to catch his breath.
"How is he out of stamina already?" Lionel queried with concern etched on his face.
"I also forgot to mention that my blasts are powerful, but they can drain someone's energy if they're near them,” Jun revealed nonchalantly.
"Oh, crap," Jax muttered under his breath.
"Hold up, where does the drained energy go?" Kiyoshi asked in confusion.
"Nowhere; it just disappears," Jun replied casually.
"That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Lionel scoffed.
"So, I can't use Kitaro and I've run out of energy for my Ultra-Move," Kiyoshi mused. "I wonder what would happen if I reflected the blast back at him." As if on cue, Jun launched another energy blast towards Kiyoshi. With a surprising maneuver, Kiyoshi deflected the blast using his residual energy. The redirected attack exploded in Jun's face, sending him flying backward.
"What an impressive counterattack!" Hiroko exclaimed.
"That was nothing," Jun retorted, gasping for breath.
"If it was nothing, why are you panting?" Kiyoshi shot back.
"Enough!" Jun declared. "Super Move: Acid Griffin Strike!" But as he summoned his power, nothing happened. "Are you kidding me? I'm out of energy too?" He groaned in disbelief.
"It worked," Kiyoshi muttered to himself. A shadowy purple glow enveloped his hand as he charged at Jun. "Shadow Punch!" He cried out, delivering a powerful right-handed punch to Jun's face followed by a swift left hook to the gut that left Jun stunned. Using his last ounce of strength, Kiyoshi kicked Jun off the platform.
"What goes around... comes around," he said with a triumphant grin.
Hiroko commented on the unexpected turn of events. "Kiyoshi made an incredible comeback despite being low on energy and even managed to use his opponent's move against him."
As Kiyoshi descended from the platform, Jax, Lionel and Felix congratulated him on his victory.
"Just like that, their team lost a round in this tournament," Hiroko noted before turning to Felix saying, "You haven’t fought in a while; I think it's your turn next."
"I'll do my best," Lionel assured them before hopping onto the platform where Ogaki awaited him.
"You performed admirably considering you're the weakest fighter on our team," Ogaki commented.
"Thanks!" Lionel responded cheerfully. "Now it's our turn to show that we can fight as well." Ogaki bowed respectfully, and Lionel returned the gesture.
"That’s the sportsmanship we've been missing this tournament," Hiroko observed as the two fighters began their match.
Lionel contemplated his strategy while dodging and blocking Ogaki's attacks. He managed to land a Neon Punch on Ogaki, but his opponent remained standing. Despite multiple attempts, Lionel's punches seemed ineffective until he unleashed his special move: Neon Flash.
"Special Move: Neon Flash!" He yelled, momentarily blinding Ogaki. However, his opponent still managed to land a punch sending Lionel towards the edge of the ring.
As he was about to fall out of bounds, Lionel summoned his Ultra-Move. "Ultra-Move: Neon CyFlash!" Three flashes headed towards Ogaki who blocked two with his own Ultra-Move: Double Horn Smash. The third flash hit him square in the chest, knocking him to his knees before he collapsed unconscious.
Despite falling out of the ring himself, Lionel was declared the victor since Ogaki had fainted first. Mystical Force advanced to the final four while Alpha Reserve faded from existence.
"They should have just named this tournament 'Survival' instead of 'Beach Classic'," Felix remarked dryly.
"We're lucky we're winning these matches against such formidable teams," Jax admitted.
"As long as we're not fading away like them," Kiyoshi added cheekily before noticing everyone's stern expressions. "I mean... We need to figure out what's going on."
"Time for revenge against Faded Legacy; I hope our next match will be a four vs four," Jax said determinedly, clenching his fist.