Clash of the Clans: Shinobi 7 Companion Book #1 Page 14

  ~*~*~*~

  Xing charged at me like an angry bull. His hands were reared back and ready to strike. He dashed across the ring with speed I didn't think he was capable of.

  Wham!

  He missed.

  All I had to do was slip through the wide space between his legs and I was behind him. He threw a back kick and torqued over with a right back-fist and left reverse punch.

  Missed. Missed. Missed.

  I veered left to avoid his right back kick, ducked down to avoid his back-fist, and simply shuffled backwards to dodge his left reverse punch. “That's all?” I asked him.

  Wow, it almost looked like steam was coming out of his ears. “That's not all!” he roared. He lunged at me with a front leg roundhouse, followed by a hook-kick, then side straddled right into a four-strike punch combo.

  I jumped over his leg roundhouse, ducked under his hook-kick, side straddled away from his side straddle, and veered left and right to avoid his punches. “Hey, this is kinda like dancing!” I laughed.

  “Shut up!” Xing screamed. He lunged at me for a third time.

  “Out!” Akira then called.

  “What?”

  “Out, you stepped out of the ring. There are boundaries, Xing Lee.” Akira narrowed her eyes at him. “You get two warnings, you have just used one. Step out one more time and you'll receive your final warning. Step out any time after that, and your opponent will receive a point.”

  Xing shouted, “That's cheap!” at the exact same time I said, “Awesome!”

  Then my opponent decided he was going to charge at me again, so he stepped back inside the ring and came right for me. This time he didn't come at me with combinations. He decided that he would box me into a ring corner and throw combinations then. I scooted backwards, not wanting that creep to touch me again.

  He got me in a corner of the ring and his mouth turned up in a haughty sneer. Xing threw a side-kick with all the strength he could muster.

  Bam!

  I was already bent down and ready to propel myself off of the floor when Xing had his foot up. Then when he threw his kick, I jumped over his leg, flew right for his face, and heaved myself over him. In other words, I totally just climbed over my opponent. He makes a great mountain!

  Xing thought for sure his kick would land. He lost his footing.

  “Out!” another judge called.

  “Two for two, next out and your opponent will receive a point,” Akira repeated. She had a smirk on her face.

  Before Xing could turn around, let alone process in his tiny brain what to do next, I decided now was my time to shine. I put all my strength into jumping into the air; I jumped so high that I was eye-level with Xing himself.

  Time seemed to go in slow motion for me. I sprang from the ground, Xing turned his head, and right in the last second he turned around and fully faced me. It was too late— my flying roundhouse kick was already tucked and ready to hit. The top of my foot tapped Xing's cheek, a very light and harmless tap. “Boop,” I said.

  “Point!” called the all four of the judges. The only one who didn't call it was (you guessed it) the grumpy judge. “One point for the Kitsune Clan,” Akira announced cheekily.

  “This is RIDICULOUS!” Xing then raged. He stomped forward and shoved me in anger. He grabbed a handful of my hair and tossed me backwards. I fell down onto my butt.

  “Disqualification!” Akira then yelled, “Unsportsmanlike conduct! Xing Lee of the Thorn-Goku Clan, you are disqualified from this division and Battle Month. Get out.”

  Before Xing could say anymore, I jumped back onto my feet. “Put your hands on me one more time,” I growled to him.

  He gave me a ballistic look. “You just don't know when to quit, do you kid?” he demanded. Before Akira or any of the other judges could stop him, Xing shoved me one last time. At least, he tried to. Once his hand was close enough, I snapped forward and bit his hand. “Gyah!” he hissed.

  I bit him so hard that he had four pointed bite marks from my fangs and blood starting to trickle. “Now get out,” I told him. I spit on the floor. “And Kaze-San, can you get me a snack to get this taste out of my mouth?”

  Kuroi's smirk had never been bigger. “Sure thing, little one.”