7 months Later
The day finally came, it was the day of the Kumite, the fighters were all gathering up with Kai and Raph in the Dojo already welcoming the fighters; the two of them had progressively been getting closer to eachother in the passing 7 months since Raph's arrival to her world. However out of respect, he didn't push beyond a few flirtatious comments and Kai sometimes borrowing Raph's lap as a pillow, and him tagging along to keep Hun at bay, he's never pushed it further, wanting to allow her make the first step. Which would happen all too soon, in the back of the dojo where the ring was, Master Jones and the heads of the other families were there awaiting Kai's announcement of the Kumite, Raph took his spot among the competitors from the dojo's own students itself, Kai taking her place among the Teachers of the students, “Raph whatcha doin' down there” Master Jones barks at him from the observation deck above them, “You should be sittin' next to Kai, yer no damn student of mine, and yer way too experienced tuh be sittin' among the pups” Raph blinks and looks up at Kai, she winks at him, and he immediately jumps to her side taking a seat next to her.
Kai leaning over holding his arm didn't help the blush that was already building on his face, the ceremony began as the ring rang with the lobbing sounds of taiko drums and kai let's raph's arm go and makes her way to the ring. She waves to the crowds earning cheers and bows ceremoniously to the masters and her master and father Casey Jones before speaking, when she rises from her bow, she starts the announcement, “I look around here and I see a lot of young faces and new faces. That doesn't mean a damn thing to me, in the Kumite, Age does not matter, race does not matter, species does not matter, you are not just humans and Mutant, anthros and Aliens in this tournament. You are all equals among men and women, you are all warriors all trained by the best your dojos have to offer. You have all been screened, tested, and assessed and have been permitted to fight in this tournament by Master Jonathan Casey Jones, Master of the CJK Dojo. But do not think that means that makes you the best one here”
“Every year including this year, Master Jones picks a specific number of you, not because he believes you are the best, but because he wants to see you all at your best, like all your masters in all your dojos, this is a test, plain and simple, you pass when you win, this is the final step, only one will pass this test, it could be any one of you here, however the fight is not an easy one. It is called Kumite for a reason, you will be pushed beyond your limits, you have a chance now to walk out of that door, and go home. If you wish to stay, then you've already passed the first part of this final test.”
A hush falls over the crowd, no one moves, they all clearly wanted this, Raph looks around seeing everyone's faces, she was genuine in her words and none showed a hint of nervousness, or if they did they were damn good at hiding it, “Good, Excellent, it's exactly what I wanted to see, commitment, conviction and devotion, I dig that in everyone here, my friends, my family, we couldn't call ourselves warriors if we had none of these qualities, I know I can dig it........and I have one final question for you before I get to the rules...CAN YOU DIG IT!!!” the ring explodes into a roaring cheer with her final words and Raph joining in the cheers pumped up by Kai's words and speech. Kai hushes the crowd by whipping the ground with her tail, and lays down the ground rules to the Kumite; No fatal attacks are to be stuck, Ringouts, Tapouts and knock outs signify the end of the match, your stats are measured in fastest punch and fastest knockout. The winners of each subsequent match move on to the next round, the losers are brought to the infirmary for treatment. However they are allowed to stay and watch the remainder of the tournament.
Kai returns to Raph's side smiling, “Nice speech there kiddo” Kai smiles shyly at him, “Thanks Raphie” Raph sighed and got a little bashful, he hadn't been called Raphie since he and his brothers were turtle-tots, and it didn't sound too bad coming from her. With that, the tournament began, each fighter taking their places in the fighting rounds, raph pretty much breezing through each round, even if he was holding back he was still contending with trained students versus anyone that's had actual combat experience like had fighting Shredder, the foot, purple dragons, triceratons, inter-dimensional bad guys, fighting in the battle nexus, among other things. It finally got to the final Match, this is where the Kumite of Master Jones' Dojo differs from most Dojo tournaments; unlike all other dojo tournaments they usually end when the last two students compete with one another, in the case of the CJK Dojo, the last student..........or Turtle standing had to face the master-student in a final bout. That's right, Hamato Raphael beat all the students from every dojo in this tournament and earned the right to challenge and fight Kaimana Jones.
Raph swallows nervously, the last time Kai tried fighting him, Casey stopped her and made it sound like she would have killed him if she pushed it further, this time though it's a tournament where it's pretty much “everything accept killing goes” so he knew she would not be holding back even by a little bit. They take their places on either side of the ring sizing eachother up for their match, not that a whole lot was needed for it since they knew what eachother's skills and techniques were just from sparring prior to the Kumite to during each preliminary, half, and quarter finals match during the Kumite as well. The ref signals the ready, the formal bows, then he signals the fight and Kai and raph drop into their battle stances, Raph taking a more forward and aggressive tiger stance while Kai held a dragon/crane stance where it was a mix of defense and offense by posture. Kai makes the first move charging raph by using her speed to try to out-step him with a few small jabs, kicks and chopping attacks, but raph was familiar with the movement as he counters by blocking and avoiding some of her attacks and counter-pacing her steps by getting behind her with each attack she makes.
Watching the fight from the booth Master Jones with the heads of the other families as well as his own daughter saw how Kai and raph were matching blow for blow, attack for attack and skill for skill, “ hey Shadow, let me ask you something” she looks up at her father, “What's up daddy?” not looking at her he continues his question, “Do you think kai would be happy with Raph?” Gabrielle gives her father a bewildered look, “She's happy with him now I don't...” Master Jones looks at his daughter, “I know Kai's been wanting to branch out on her own for a while, I also know she hasn't done it being afraid of what'll happen with the Dojo if she does leave. But if she had the Peace of mind to be able to leave and the chance to be with Raph, do you think she'd be happy?” Gabrielle looks down thinking for a moment, she didn't have to think Long, she and Kai grew up together, they were sisters, “Yes daddy, I'm positive and sure of it” Master Jones smiles warmly, “Then that's all I need to hear” As they return to the fight it got to the final bout, and it looked like it would be the first tie ever of the Kumite. However Raph had a lot more experience than most would think, he did mention he still followed a Master, but it wasn't like he was still a rookie either; he noted that Kai was able to read his every movement, his ever skill, his every step, and he was able to read hers as well. He remembered there was one bad guy they fought that did the same thing once, well not really a bad guy, more like a robot; mikey had long since dubbed it as metalhead cuz it was literally a metal turtle that was meant to copy and mimic their individual skills, but then again, it couldn't copy them after they traded weapons.
Raph stands up after flipping Kai to the mat on the opposite side of the ring, he stands with his back to her and his eyes closed as he breathes doing the same thing with her that he thought to do with Metalhead. This time though it wasn't like he'd grab Leo's swords from his back and just up and out attack, no weapons to begin with, this time he focuses his mind, remembering what his master taught him, “................Like a river over stone....” he whispers to himself, everything around him seems to slow in time, he hears the water dripping from a nearby sink for water bottles between matches, he hears the 'swish' of a slow spinning fan, then he hears a light thud. It was Kai's feet as she stood and stepped towards him readying for an attack; Kai rears her fist back ready to deliver a right hook to raph's face, but instead Raph leans back avoiding the attack and catches Kai's wrist using an Aikido throw he'd seen Don use once. When Kai goes for another kick, raph blocks with his knee like he'd seen Leo use before, and the last attack as Kai jumps upward for a take-down, Raph drops into a split, then he flips on his hands using a break-dancing move that Mikey used once in the middle of a Laser fight and connects his feet with Kai's stomach. The kick knocks the wind out of her and launches her out of the ring.
Flipping to his feet the crowd was silent, like deathly silent, no one had defeated Kai in a fight, sparring, practice, tournament, serious or not. Raph looked around, he was starting to get nervous, pretty much anticipating the crowd piling out of the seats and bearing down on him for hurting their star, instead Kai stand up pats her tail and butt clean of dust. She walks back t the ring and looks around, “Well what're you losers waiting for, cheer for yer new champion already! I can't win all my fights afterall!!” the crowd slowly breaks into some enthusiastic cheers as Kai pulls on raph's neck kissing his cheek, “Congrats Raphie, you're the first winner of the Kumite in nearly 19 years” His face flushes almost as red as his own mask, more from the kiss than anything else. Then Master Jones comes walking out of the booth, “Well Done Hamato Raphael, The first new student and record-setting acheivement of the CJK Dojo in almost 20 full years, as you all know I passed on my title when I became Dojo master and appointed Kai as my Champion successor for the kumite. But now Raphael has won the title fair and square” Gabrielle walks over with a Belt that had Gold stripes on the ends. Master Jones holds it in his hands flat on his palms as he turns to Kai bowing to her and presenting it.
Kai in turn walks to raph holding it out ceremoniously bowing to him, Raph takes the belt and bows back accepting it, then holds it up as the crowds roar in cheers again. Raph didn't notice however Master Jones whispering to Kai as a strange look appears on her face, like she was both happy and relieved. After 3 hours of congrats, well dones, way to goes, nice jobs, and every other congratulatory comment, Raph was relieved to be on the safer end of the Dojo that was closed off from the public, and secretly he admitted to being grateful no one knows he existed back home. The it hit him, “Back home” he still had to get home and he spent 7 months in this other world, so like his yet also different, he looks at his belt forelorned and downcast. He wished his brothers could have been there to see him fight in a tournament and win this as opposed to the Battle nexus, he especially missed his brothers' warmth and touch, though he did admit that he liked being near Kai just as much, “Speaking of which, where'd that minx go?” raph asks himself since Kai had vanished after the tournament started to clear up and Master Jones was doing the usual ceremonious farewell to the other masters. Raph however was still restless from his win, he wanted to tell Kai everything, how he felt, what he was thinking, he wanted to ask her something important too, but she was no where to be found in the dojo. He finds a note taped to his Zai which were mounted on the wall with the other weapons, he plucks the note off and reads it: meet me in my loft after 10 tonight, we need to talk. K – That was all the note said, and it was 9:55 already, he had to hurry.
