Yang Xiao Long VS Jude Mathis | DEATH BATTLE!

    Before Jude could finish a thought, Yang used her gauntlets to launch herself at Jude, forcing him to duck under a hook at the last minute and block a jab at his lowered head. Using the momentum given to him from the strike, Jude backed away to avoid several powerful swings from Yang. At this point, Jude pretty much knew her pattern of fighting: her two favorite weapons were her left fist and her right fist. All too easy. Jude attempted an uppercut...

    ...Which Yang met with her own downward fist.

    "What?" That was Jude's only thought before realizing that he was wide open.

    Smirking, Yang swiftly punched Jude in the gut to knock the wind out of him, staggering him with a left hook to the jaw and driving both her fists into his back, shooting him to knock him several feet back and stumbling into the ground. Cracking her knuckles, Yang ran towards the downed Jude and jumped just above him, ready to bury him in the ground with a flaming fist.

    "Heh... guess he still wasn't up to it." With that, she dove down and... Jude disappeared.

    "Yang began to hesitate in her dive. "What the-!? Where did he-!?"

    "Palm Strike!"

    Yang suddenly felt the force of a devastating palm on her spine, causing her to cough up something fierce. She felt two more palms strike her in the same area which forced her to take Jude's place on the ground. Yang rolled out of the way of Jude pounding her into the ground, but as she recovered she couldn't avoid a quick roundhouse to her jaw and a series of quick jabs which Jude kept varied by continuously strafing around her.

    With her irritation growing Yang put all of her force into one strike which... would've hit the mark...

    "Beast!"

    ... Had it not been for Jude summoning a spiritual lion head to clash with the attack. The force created a shockwave strong enough to sent both brawlers sliding back across the dirt, but Yang quickly recovered by firing her Ember Celica behind her, the recoil launching her back at Jude.

    In an attempt to evade, Jude kicked off of a tree that got behind him during his skid, backflipping over Yang's sudden rush... and yet the hot-headed blonde smirked.

    In one of the most unexpected displays that Jude had ever saw, Yang placed her hands on the ground, and in a sweeping kick motion she turned around and shot herself back at Jude. In his awkward midair position, Jude couldn't avoid an unrestrained punch to the face. The attack was fierce enough to send Jude tumbling across the ground with no way to recover. Eventually he was forced to a stop as he slid along the dirt on his back.

    Jude panted heavily as he lay there. She was definitely tougher than she looked, and she looked pretty tough... which meant it was time to stop playing around. Jude somersaulted back to his feet. Crossing his arms in front of him, he took a deep breath as he slowly lowered them back into a combat stance.

    Jude began to run at Yang, and as he swung his fists he continuously shouted "Demon Fist" sending continuous waves of energy along the ground. Yang rolled out of the way of all of the attacks, being rather easy to avoid. "Alright, I see what game you're playing." Yang began punching the air in front of her, firing several rounds from Ember Celica that Jude had to work a bit harder to avoid. Jude rolled behind a tree for some cover.

    "Okay, so she has an advantage in ranged combat... Gotta find a way to get in close." Jude held a finger to his temple and closed his eyes, entering a state of deep concentration...

    Thinking... thinking... thinking how he could get past those shot... gauntlets... "Got it!"

    Jude rolled out from behind the tree and began an attack. "Demon..."

    "You should know that won't work, kid!" Yang confidently declared before quickly jabbing to fire a round that was right on point...

    But she did not expect the armored hand of Jude to wave in front of his face, completely dismissing the projectile as he continued "Fist!"

    "What!?" Yang's shock caused him to become hit by the Demon Fist, stunning her. Jude closed the distance between the two with "Rising Falcon" kicking her even further off balance. Quickly spinning around Jude continuously strafed around her, aiming for the jaw over and over again like a boxer and giving her no time to recover. A frustrated Yang tried to back away from Jude, but with a cry of "Whirlwind Snap" he delivered a quick kick that somehow pulled Yang back towards Jude who continued the assault.

    This only further annoyed Yang, and with a yell she fought through the pain being inflicted upon her and threw another extremely powerful punch at Jude's chest. This knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying back, stumbling across the ground, smashing through a tree and eventually slamming into a boulder, cracking it severely.

    *stop music*

    He slid along the boulder till he sat on the ground, and he felt this too was a familiar scene.

    --- --- --- --- ---

    "Ow..." groaned the young boy, rubbing his backside as he slowly got back up. "Couldn't you have pulled your punch a little?"

    The blonde girl chuckled. "If you want to toughen up, you gotta get ready for the world to throw everything at you. Some fighters are gonna hold back, but life isn't, and you gotta be prepared for that!" The girl rose her fists again. "Now c'mon. You're not quite done yet."

    The boy gave a sigh before dawning a nervous smile. Raising his fists again he charged the girl, fully knowing the outcome of that decision.

    --- --- --- --- ---

    Much later into the day, both kids lay on the ground, heads next to each other and looking at the red sky. The boy was covered in more bruises and was panting harder, but the girl felt a great level of fatigue as well. Both felt themselves improving every day they fought.

    With heavy breaths, the girl said "Nice going, kid... but here's my advice... against an opponent like me... work a little bit on your speed.

    --- --- --- --- ---

    Yang panted heavily after the attack. Somehow steam was coming off of her at this point. "You're a fast little rascal, ain't you?" With a quick movement of her arms, she reloaded her shot-gauntlets. "And I was even holding back for ya. Well, now that I'm a bit mad, I don't seem to have that luxury."

    Jude slowly got up, clutching his side. "Yeah, well... Couldn't you have held back a little?"

    Yang blinked in shock again. When he said that... that sounded like...

    <da:embed id="MrW6JpeRc8Q" profile="youtube" width="560" height="315">

    "Still," Jude continued, activating his Steel ability, "I don't have that luxury either." Jude raised his fists...

    And disappeared again.

    "Okay," Yang bursted out, "What the hell!? I call-"

    But she was interrupted when a gut punch knocked the breath out of her. Jude's fist was then raised into an uppercut which brought Yang off the ground before it glowed red with energy. The power turned into a small explosion and launched Yang into the air. Jude caught up with her using Cyclonic Surge to get himself into the air quickly. With a cry of "Swallow Dance" Jude caught Yang in a succession of roundhouse kicks before throwing down a fireball that instantly exploded, launching Yang back down to the ground.

    Yang got up surprisingly quickly and heard Jude shout "Rising Falcon!" Feeling the need to defend, Yang threw a fist upward which collided with Jude's diving foot attack. The force of both attacks clashing created a shockwave strong enough to make the trees around them rattle. Pushing off of the fist with his foot, Jude flipped and entered a combat stance, standing opposite of Yang.

    As they charged at each other, what followed was the two warriors matching each other blow for blow. For every fist, knee, elbow or foot that Yang threw Jude matched them with his own offensive appendages. Yang's bullet punches were only being defended by the armor on Jude's gauntlets. Jude knew that the stronger woman would overwhelm him eventually, so he had to think fast. As Yang threw another punch, Jude jumped back and disappeared again.

    "Oh no you don't!" Yang quickly turned around and threw a powerful punch which Jude just barely blocked with both palms. Yang smirked in triumph. "I've wizened up to your tricks now."

    "Keep telling yourself that." Jude was able to adjust his hands in such a way that they formed some kind of oval. "Sun Spark!" Suddenly a ball of light formed before instantly exploding and flashing, blinding Yang momentarily and leaving enough time for Jude to cry "Beast!" and send her hurtling back, awkwardly tumbling along the ground.

    With a window of opportunity present, Jude outstretched both of his arms and declared "Healer." A green circle was formed around Jude, and he felt his wounds being healed and fatigue being lowered. He took a deep breath and got back into a stance, now more ready than ever.

    Yang got up slowly and saw the whole thing. "Oh come ON!!! Now he can heal himself!? As if you weren't an more of a... pain in... the..."

    While Jude became confused at the sudden shift in her mood, Yang saw something that horrified her floating through the air. You would barely notice even if you were right next to her, as it was so thin that one would just glance over it. But oh boy, did Yang notice. What did she notice?

    A single strand of blonde hair, slowly falling to the ground.

    *stop music*

    Jude noticed Yang's eyes darken, and he felt a strong aura coming off of her. Trying to see what was up, he placed a finger on his temple and narrowed his eyes. Somehow he was able to make out that falling strand of hair, then he looked up. Yang's eyes seemed to glow red. That actually brought back some more memories...

    --- --- --- --- ---

    "GAH!"

    The boy fell on his back, covered in cuts and bruises, even bleeding out the mouth a little. Panting heavily, he looked up to the source of his pain. The girl before her appeared just as wounded, but not nearly as tired, She was quite literally burning... somehow. And she. Looked. Pissed.

    Jude desperately waved his arm in front of him "Woah woah, hey! What's gotten into you!? Were just sparring, not trying to kill each other!!!"

    The girl pounded her fists together, further presenting her aura. "Maybe you should've thought'a that before touching my hair!"

    --- --- --- --- ---

    Oh.

    Shit.

    After a brief, tense silence... the hair hit the ground.

    "You're..." Yang's eyes began glowing red, "GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!!"

<da:embed id="Pls8oMlEKRU" profile="youtube" width="560" height="315">

    Yang then seemed to catch fire, blazing towards Jude at surprising speeds. Jude strafed around the charge attack, and Yang spun to punch him, which he deflected with his gauntlet. Jude jumped with a shout of "Dragon Shot" and tried to deliver a rising uppercut to Yang. Tilting her head back to avoid the attack, Yang grabbed Jude's vulnerable leg an threw him at a tree. Luckily for Jude he was able to recover and cartwheel to slow himself down before his feet met the tree, stopping him.

    Knowing what to expect, Jude flipped off the tree over a charging Yang. Like before Yang spun around and tried to punch Jude in a vulnerable position, but having wizened up Jude shouted "Mirage Blitz" and spun away from Yang, gaining distance. Landing on his feet and one hand, Jude shouted "Demon Fist" and the caught-off-guard Yang. Fortunately for her, she gained her bearings and with pure strength she wove her arm and swiped the attack away. Yang once more charged at Jude, who punched the ground to create a pillar of ice.

    Yang was easily able to smash through it... but now Jude was gone again.

    As Jude was about to deliver an elbow to her back, this time Yang jumped, backflipping over Jude and getting above him, diving down for another attack. Jude was barely able to cross his arms above him to block the attack, and even then he really felt the impact.

    Jude used Mirage Blitz again to get out from under Yang before he was crushed. Yang fell to the ground and turned around to block a fast punch from Jude, who uppercut her arm to break free. Both fighters unexpectedly pulled back, before channeling fire in their fists and continuously punching each other. The punches were so fast that the blaze of fire between them was more visible than the blur of clashing arms.

    For some reason they both had the urge to continuously shout 'Ora'... but they didn't.

    Much to Jude's surprise, however, Yang threw both her fists forward at the same time, stopping Jude's attacks and sliding him back several feet. Yang then ran towards Jude and jumped, building up as much energy into her fist as she could. Jude looked up and saw her smirking face shine before the light of the broken moon. It was as if she knew she could end the fight there.

    But Jude wasn't out of the game yet.

    With a cry of "Savage Roar" Jude delivered an upward kick that met Yang's punch and knocked her off balance before suddenly spinning and kicking her head downward. While she landed on her feet, she couldn't avoid the shockwave coming from Jude's downward punch.

    Suddenly, Jude reached into his deepest energy reserves and channeled all the power that he could muster. After activating Coil, he threw a devastating jump kick to Yang's jaw, sending her flying back.

    "My fists..."

    Jude charged forward and threw a string of swift punches at Yang.

    "Will open..."

    Jude pivoted around to Yang's other side, delivered two roundhouse kicks, threw several spinning punches at her and sent her sliding back with a body slam.

    "The Heavens!"

    Jude channeled all his energy into his right fist and dashed forward at a breakneck pace.

    Yang, on the other hand, wasn't ready to give in so easily. She skilled to a halt and shot Ember Celica behind her. Going at maximum speed she too channeled all her energy into her right fist.

    As the two fighters approached each other, time seemed to slow down as they both finally realized something: They enjoyed themselves as they fought. They hadn't felt this kind of joy since...

    --- --- --- --- ---

    As the girl walked away from what may end up being the final sparring session with him, the boy ran up to her and took her hand.

    "Hey... will I ever see you again?"

    The girl didn't answer for the longest time, but after a grueling silence she smiled. Turning around she adjusted her hand in the boy's to form a handshake. Winking and giving a thumbs up she confirmed "You'll see me. Trust me, I'm hard to miss."

    Jude smiled and shook Yang's hand. "Yeah. We'll find each other again. I promise that."

    --- --- --- --- ---

    Both combatants smiled in fond remembrance.

    "It's good to see you again."

    "FINAL FURY!!!"

    The attacks met, and the combined energy was enough to rattle the entire forest, creating a massive explosion that uprooted and even destroyed the large trees surrounding them. Birds were sent from their nests as to not die, and even the Grim and other monsters dare not approach the area.

    *stop music*

    As the dust from the battle settled, both fighters stood with their fists outstretched towards each other. Both looked at each other, panting very hard as if they would lose all their breath at any moment.

    When looking at the scene from a different angle, Jude's fist was directly on Yang's chest... while Yang's had been redirected away from him, at the cost of his gauntlet.

    Yang smirked, and she actually chuckled a bit. "Well, whaddaya know... you pulled it off." Having no strength to say anything else, Yang fell on her back, unconscious.

    Jude looked down at his friend smiling, seeing that she had a satisfied smile on her sleeping face. Deciding that she was in a comfortable position Jude lay down in the opposite direction of her, heads next to each other and arms outstretched. As he looked at the shattered moon above him, Jude could not stop smiling. He raised a fist in the air and asked his friend something.

    "So... how was that?"