Kung Fu Academy S/ カンフーアカデミーS

Music began to echo across the beach venue as a group of fighters initiated a coordinated dance. "Alright, guys, let's perform the routine we practiced," instructed William. They all moved in perfect rhythm and synchrony, executing jumps, Milly Rock, slides, spins, flips, shuffles; their feet were heating up from the intensity of their movements. Then suddenly, another group bumped into them.

"Watch it," snapped Jun.

"Hey, you're the ones who bumped into us," retorted William.

"Well, perhaps if your group wasn't flailing around so poorly in our path, you would have maintained your balance instead of getting knocked down so easily," Jun sneered as he sauntered away from them.

"Who is that guy anyway?" questioned William. His companions shrugged and shook their heads in confusion.

William's mind drifted back to earlier days when he was part of a different dance team. Their goal had been ambitious - to become the best dance group in the western hemisphere. They practiced relentlessly every day until one day things took a turn for the worse for William and some other members.

"You aren't in sync with us at all; those of you at the back are doing entirely different moves!" exclaimed the dance group leader. "We'll have to start again from scratch."

They repeated their routine but this time William and his fellow outliers deviated even more drastically from the rest of the team. Incorporating kung-fu moves into his performance angered both the leader and other members of his dance crew. The leader stormed over and shoved William into a glass mirror behind them.

"What was that for?" demanded William towering over him due to his height advantage.

"You aren't dancing with our choreography," accused the leader.

"I was following along just fine; it's just that your steps lack creativity," defended William.

"Well who is leading this group?" shot back the leader defensively.

"You are, but your choreography is simply too generic and lacks innovation," explained William. The leader's anger was palpable, although he tried to mask it as he turned his back on William. Suddenly, he spun around and threw a punch at William's face. But William caught his fist in mid-air, retaliating with a fiery punch of his own that sent the leader spiraling to the ground.

The other members rushed to help their fallen leader who screamed at the top of his lungs, "YOU'RE OFF THE TEAM! GET OUT!"

William collected his belongings and stormed out with an angry expression etched onto his face. On his way out, he punched a wall so hard it left behind a black burn mark along with cracks.

Two days later, after processing what had happened, William decided to blend what he had learned from dancing with his former team into a kung-fu style. He practiced this new fusion daily until he had perfected it over two months.

One day, as a light breeze rustled through the trees, William noticed an advertisement for Zokor academy which was accepting new students. "That's it; I want to be the best kung-fu dancer fighter in the world while winning the Kung-Fu league," declared William.

He grabbed his boombox bag and raced towards Clacton's nearest dock. Clacton was not a large village; rather it was quaint with numerous dirt roads winding between mountains and ports bustling with trading activities.

Upon reaching Zokor island, he found fighters everywhere amidst clear blue waters and vibrant landscapes. As three guys bumped into him accidentally, one of them apologized profusely.

"It's all good," assured William before picking up his boombox and starting to walk away.

"Hold on a second; do you dance?" asked one of them noticing the boombox.

"Yeah," replied William surprised by this sudden inquiry. "How did you guess?"

"Well, the boombox was a giveaway. We also dance; what a coincidence," said the fighter.

"Do you have a name?" inquired William.

"Yeah, I'm Hugh Gallagher," introduced Hugh.

"And your friends?" asked William.

"I'm Goichi Uemori," announced the fighter standing behind Hugh while the other added, "And I’m Kenta Hoy."

"Cool. Do you guys have any moves?" asked William curiously.

"Give us a beat," requested Goichi. As William set down his boombox and hit play, Hugh, Goichi, and Kenta began to breakdance in front of him. They even managed to spin on Hugh's foot as part of their routine. Feeling their energy surge through him, William joined in with his unique dance moves.

Hugh's face is square, his nose stubby and his lips narrow. His eyes are light brown and wide-set, framed by neatly groomed eyebrows. He has short, straight blonde hair with a long fringe. His physique is muscular with strong arms and legs, a broad torso and shoulders, a straight waistline, and average-sized feet. Previously he wore a white gi; now he sports one in pine green with a silver belt adorned with three stars. A hawk emblem graces the back of his gi.

Giochi also has faint freckles on his round face which tapers to a pointed chin. His nose is large as are his ears; his cheeks are smooth while his lips are thin. Dark red eyes peer out from under thin eyebrows. Giochi's hair is light blue, cropped so it falls over his left eye. He possesses long arms but lacks muscle tone in his elongated torso; his waist is straight while his legs are spindly. Like Hugh, Giochi used to wear a white gi but now dons one in rich blue with a pink belt featuring three stars. On the back of Giochi's gi is an emblem of a Dracowolf.

Kenta has a lean face complemented by a softly shaped jawline and large nose; narrow light green eyes look out from under dark purple locks that fall to shoulder length before being pulled into a blonde bun at the back of the head. Short arms accompany Kenta’s narrow torso which boasts chiseled abs; he has short legs and currently wears an electric indigo gi with four stars on its black belt along with an image of Kraken surrounded by electric static on the back.

After their music stopped playing, laughter filled the room as they congratulated each other on their moves before racing off towards the check-in desk where they discovered they were all assigned different rooms. During their wait time, they invented a four-way handshake, starting with a backhand slap followed by a coordinated dance. After bidding each other farewell, they all went in their separate directions.

In the present day, an announcement came over the intercom asking the teams Catching Heat and Galactic Hive to report to platform G2. Eight fighters made their way to the platform, giving each other competitive glances before separating to opposite sides of the platform. The Referee explained that the match would be decided by last man standing on the platform and asked who would start first.

"I should start," Kenta offered, dancing his way onto the platform. "I will fight first," Wi declared. Wi had matured since they last met; although she still had a temper it was less volatile than before and she appeared calmer and more collected. As per instructions from the Referee, Kenta and Wi bowed at each other to commence their match.

Their knuckles collided as both threw punches; Kenta managed an uppercut but Wi caught it then evaded his second punch. Kenta started breakdancing to amplify his electric power which left Wi momentarily confused. She charged at him with another punch but he deflected it using his electric charge up then countered with an electric kick into her gut causing her to flip backwards.

Kenta executed a backflip followed by a two-step shuffle while Wi shook off residual static electricity from her body before charging back at him only for him to land an electric spin slap – accidentally on her rear end. Silence fell over everyone around them including the Referee whose eyes widened in shock along with team Catching Heat who halted their dance routine mid-move.

"Looks like he messed up badly," Thomas commented as redness crept up his face while Kenta apologized profusely with blush spreading across his cheeks. This only served to infuriate Wi further as indicated by her pink aura which flared around her body transforming it into a pink globin creature while she retained her human form. Kenta braced himself for the punch that he knew was coming; his body dragged along the sand platform as a result of the impact.

After about thirty seconds, Kenta managed to get up despite being covered in bruises. "I deserved that punch, but the slap was an accident," he admitted before calling out for Tennyson's help. His body lit up in an indigo color as he transformed into a half-human, half-indigo Kraken with eight tentacles all crackling with electric static.

Kenta started swinging his tentacles around Wi who managed to dodge them and grab onto one of them which shocked her due to its electrical charge. She pulled him towards her then started punching him repeatedly in the face before launching herself into the air and announcing her Ultimate Move: Pink Doki Mist Stomp.

She landed on Kenta twice causing him to spit out blood both times while still holding on to his tentacles. Knowing this, Kenta activated his Special Move: Tentacles Shocker which sent an electric shock through every tentacle straight at Wi.

Wi began to scream in pain, but after a while, the discomfort ceased as Kenta's energy was completely drained. Eventually, Kenta collapsed. "Kenta Hoy has fainted and is eliminated from the match, awarding Galactic Hive a point," announced The Ref. The members of Galactic Hive erupted in excitement.

Giochi leaped onto the sand platform and hoisted Kenta into his arms to hand him off to Hugh. "Don't worry, guys, I've got this," Giochi assured his teammates before turning his attention on Wi's Dokkaebi form. He bowed respectfully before launching himself at her with a clothesline move. Wi caught his arm and spun him towards the sand; he crashed face-first into the platform. Quickly recovering, Giochi executed a kickflip to stand up.

When Wi threw a punch, Giochi dodged it with limbo-like agility and countered with an upward kick followed by a spinning dance move that ended in another kick. His foot connected with Wi's side, sending her sprawling onto the ground where she rolled away from him.

Ignoring Wi's prone form, Giochi continued dancing as a blue glow enveloped him and his movements became faster and faster until they were almost impossible to track visually. As Wi struggled to rise, she found it difficult to keep her eyes on him due to his speed.

"Why can't I keep up with him?" she muttered under her breath as she scanned the area for any sign of Giochi's position. Deciding on another tactic, she closed her eyes and relied on her hearing instead.

Giochi advanced rapidly towards Wi, throwing punches so fast that it felt like only two landed despite their number. Wi managed to dodge some of them but took several hits to her face and body.

"I knew this would work; you can't keep up with my special ability which only activates when I'm dancing," gloated Giochi. "Ultra-Move: Extreme Draco Howl Strike!" he yelled as he powered up into Jethro the Dracowolf, his punches flying even faster than before.

Wi took all of Giochi's punches but managed to land an uppercut amidst his barrage. Her fist connected with Giochi's chin, sending him soaring into the air. As he descended, she summoned a pink aura around her fist and slammed it into Giochi's gut. The force of her punch sent him flying out of the ring where he collapsed in the sand.

"Giochi Nagaki has fainted and is out of bounds, awarding Galactic Hive another point," announced The Ref. Fabiola taunted their opponents saying, "It seems you guys aren't catching heat; more like catching a cold."

William and Hugh glared at her in response. "Don't worry, William, I'll get us on the scoreboard," said Hugh confidently as he jumped onto the platform with a rolling spin.

Wi was panting heavily from exertion as Hugh bowed respectfully to both Wi and The Ref. A gust of wind blew across the platform accompanied by a green glow that outlined Hugh's body.

"Special Move: Wild Feather Dance," declared Hugh as he began dancing in a modern style which drew confused looks from Galactic Hive team members. Suddenly, a strong sandstorm whipped up around them obscuring vision and making it impossible for Wi to sense his presence.

"I can't see or sense him," muttered Wi just before Hugh rushed at her with a knee strike landing directly on her cheekbone.

"Thanks for playing," said Hugh smugly as Wi collapsed onto the ground unconscious. "Wi Sohyen has fainted; Catching Heat gets a point," announced The Ref as Wi reverted back to her normal human form.

Hugh returned to his side while Thomas helped Wi off the platform before taking her place himself. As soon as Thomas bowed in respect, Hugh charged at him, landing a gut punch and following up with his Wild Feather Dance move.

"Bye-bye, homie," said Hugh dismissively. Thomas was immediately knocked out of the ring. "Ring out, Thomas Vossughi has been eliminated; Catching Heat gets another point and ties the series," announced The Ref.

"I didn't even get a chance to fight," complained Thomas to The Ref who simply replied, "You have to keep your guard up at all times."

Fabiola expressed her regret about teaming up with them this year but Kastro reminded her they were in a rush and didn't have time to think things through. Fabiola then announced she would take care of the remaining opponents and stepped onto the platform where she clashed knuckles with Hugh before both tried to land kicks on each other.

They both managed to land punches on each other's faces before rushing towards each other again. This time Fabiola's punch drilled into Hugh's side bone causing him to cartwheel through the air before landing awkwardly on his side.

Hugh got up clutching his side then transformed into Hor the Green Hawk - half pine green hawk, half human. His arms became wings and legs turned into hawk feet while he was still in mid-air.

"Ultra-Move: Ultra-Violent Wind Storm!" he yelled but before he could execute it, Fabiola activated her own ultra-move which reversed time allowing her to redirect his attack back at him.

"That was an easy win for me," gloated Fabiola as she watched Hugh crash out of bounds from his own attack. "Hugh Gallagher has been eliminated; Galactic Hive gets another point."

"I did my best to give us the lead," Hugh admitted, his voice echoing in the silence. William, with a confident smile playing on his lips, responded, "You all gave it your all; now it's my turn to step into the spotlight." With a swift jump and an air of determination surrounding him, he added, "You guys make a solid team; I won't underestimate you."

Fabiola chimed in from the sidelines, her tone light and teasing. "You guys aren't half bad yourselves," she said. Acknowledging her words with a bow towards both Fabiola and the referee, William prepared himself for what was to come.

Without wasting another moment, Fabiola lunged at William as soon as he straightened up from his bow. However, William swiftly sidestepped her attack and tripped her out of bounds. The crowd gasped collectively as Fabiola stumbled out of the ring.

"Unbelievable! Fabiola Furer has stepped out of bounds which means Catching Heat takes the point!" announced The Referee over the stunned silence that followed.

"I've been such a fool," murmured Fabiola, disappointment etched across her face. As she retreated to lick her wounds, Kastro leaped into action.

"You're not the only one who commands fire," he declared confidently. His statement made William raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"How did you know I'm a fire user?" asked William curiously.

"I can sense your energy," Kastro replied cryptically before launching into his own transformation sequence. At this point, William too decided to reveal his true form amidst a red aura that seemed to dance around him like flames.

"Let’s go! I am Calypso: The Blazing Dancing Unicorn!" He roared with excitement while Kastro transformed into Shoshun: The Fire Anubis. They both charged at each other at blinding speed, their fiery fists leaving a trail of flames in their wake.

"Blazing Horn Uppercut!" cried out William, his uppercut landing on Kastro’s chin. However, it lacked the necessary power to deal any significant damage. Unfazed, Kastro retaliated with a punch of her own. "Fire Sandstrap!" she yelled as the sand from the platform ignited into a flaming pyramid.

Barely having time to register what was happening, William found himself being flung into the fiery structure. He crashed right through it only to find Kastro following him inside.

"No one has ever escaped from here and won," she taunted before launching her ultimate move: Pyro Bombage Barrage! Her fists lit up in flames as she charged at him.

William quickly got up and began moving around rhythmically, using his special ability called Rhythm Tap which increased his power and evasiveness with each dance move. As he danced around dodging Kastro's punches, a red glow outlined his body and the fire on his horn grew larger.

Drained from her relentless assault, Kastro watched helplessly as William prepared for his ultimate move: Double Trouble Blaze Horn Attack! His fists ignited with flames as he dashed towards her at lightning speed, delivering two rapid-fire punches that sent her flying out of the pyramid.

"Kastro Kouri is down! Therefore Catching Heat advances to the top sixteen," announced The Referee as cheers erupted from the crowd. The members of Catching Heat broke into a victory dance to celebrate their hard-earned win.