Showdown! The Best of the Best

Chapter Thirty-One

Azula and Genji were locked in a dance of death that seemed to have no clear winner. As chunks of molten metal rained down around them, the Fire Nation princess dodged or sidestepped every swipe of the ninja's glowing blade. And yet, even with her fists aglow with flame, Azula could not land a single hit on Genji. He was more nimble than even Ty Lee, her former friend and enforcer, who also happened to be a circus acrobat. In the midst of battle, Azula wondered if this entity's strange metal carapace had anything to do with his enhanced agility.

As if to encapsulate this thought, both fighters temporarily drew back to catch their breaths. Azula stared daggers at the mechanical warrior.

"You're a nimble one," she said. "Ever consider standing and actually fighting me?"

"Not my fault you can't land a hit," Genji replied.

Azula surged forward, feinting right, then jumping into a somersault. Genji took a swipe at her with the sword, but she managed to twist in midair, the blade missing her by inches. Her foot swiping down, wreathed in fire, Azula managed to catch him in the shoulder. Genji grunted, falling to one knee. As she landed, she saw her opportunity and charged. 

Genji's hand shot out, unleashing a cloud of throwing stars that darted towards her. Azula hissed as she was forced to slow her momentum down to negotiate the field of deadly points surging towards her. Brandishing his katana, Genji leaped at her again, but Azula had the upper hand, having predicted his movements. Weaving through the stances as quickly as she could, she shot out with her index and middle fingers toward the ninja.

A bolt of lightning echoed through the air and struck Genji in the solar plexus. The robotic ninja cried out as he was thrown backward, slamming into an errant, inert Kriegbot. Azula's face twisted in a wicked rictus as the katana was flung wide, clanging to the dirt. Now was her chance. She shot forward, aided by a gout of flame, and thrust her hand out like a claw to slash at her hated foe. 

Moments before the princess' claw like nails could slash at his armor, Genji moved left. The Firebender's inhumanly sharp fingernails actually slashed a divot into the hide of the Kriegbot that he'd smashed into. Although his body was still wracked with agony over the bolt he'd just taken, Genji still managed to tuck into a roll as the princess tried to swipe at him again, to no avail. Getting to his feet, he moved into the stance for fisticuffs.

The Fire Nation princess was impossibly fast, and it didn't help that he had to bite back pain with every move that he made. Even as he dodged every swipe from her clawlike nails, and every knifelike kick, Genji knew that he had to get back to his sword if he hoped to have a chance of winning. With his mind working as quickly as his body, Genji brought up his fist to intercept one of Azula's strikes.

The princess shrieked with pain. Pulling her hand away, her eyes widened as she saw that a gout of blood came with it. The scarlet liquid trickled down Genji's hand from the three shuriken clasped in his fists. Azula's face twisted into a hateful death mask and she shrieked as she charged towards Genji. He let the shuriken fly, causing Azula to somersault sidewas to avoid them, which still barely slowed her down. Genji leaped backward, twisting into a backflip, and came down in a three point landing. He barely had a moment to clasp the handle of his discarded katana.

Azula gasped as the blade went straight through her armor and burst out of her torso. The lightning she had been intending for Genji's throat died on the end of her fingertips. Blood slowly leaked down the end of the katana, out onto the shattered earth. Genji pulled the blade out with deft efficiency, flourishing it, causing some of Azula's blood to splatter onto the dirt. The princess slumped to her knees, clutching the gaping wound in her stomach. She peered up at Genji, speaking vicious curses at him through the sheer fury in her amber gaze.