Chapter 1-Beginnings

Jin stood on the main deck of a large, extravagant cruise ship. He gripped the railing tightly with his hands. An island could be seen on the horizon, steadily growing. It was Zack Island. The site of the next King of the Iron Fist Tournament. He pulled up the hood on his purple and silver hoody.

"It's time," he whispered to himself.

Kokoro ran to the edge of the ship.

"Oh wow! Look at the island!" she called out.

Hitomi ran up next to Kokoro and looked out onto the horizon.

"Amazing," she breathed in awe.

"Come on, we need to get packed before the ship docks."

Kokoro and Hitomi rushed to their rooms. As Kokoro turned the corner, she ran headlong into someone. Kokoro quickly realized that it was a person.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" she hastily let gave an apology.

The man was wearing a hoody, his face concealed by the hood, the only thing showing was his hazel eyes. They resembled two small embers in a fire. Though they seemed cold and evil, she felt drawn to them, and try as she might she couldn't look away.

The man merely walked past her, brushing her against her gently.

"Who was that?" asked Hitomi in wonder.

"I don't know," replied Kokoro softly.

Hwoarang looked out the porthole of his small. Land! It was a bout damn time. He was sick of being on a boat. He wanted to feel the land under his feet. He sighed and lay back on his bunk. It was official. He was going to fly back to Korea. No way in hell was he going to take a boat again. He turned his head and looked down at the floor of his cabin. Clothes were strewn all over the floor. Well… it looked like he would have to pack… again. Hwoarang sighed. Already this trip was becoming a pain in the ass. The only reason why he was here was because of Jin. He clenched his fist. He knew it…this was going to be the tournament he beat Jin once and for all. He was going to pay for beating him in the fifth one. No way was he going to be beaten again.

Hayate sat by himself in the spacious dining hall of the ship. He slowly sipped his tea from the fragile china cup. Someone sat across from him.

"Hayate. The ship will be landing soon. We must get packed if we don't wish to be left behind."

Hayate nodded and sipped his tea.

"I'm quite aware of that Ryu."

Ryu Hayabusa nodded.

"This tournament will be different from the ones we've previously have competed in," commented Hayate.

"How so?" Ryu asked puzzled. "It seems like any other tournament."

"I sense two great evils here."

"Two? What could they possibly? Could it be Tengu and Raidou?"

"No. These two energies are pure evil…they are the core of what is evil."

"It seems we'll have a fight on our hands."

Hayate nodded.

"As I said… this tournament is going to be much more different than the other ones."

Asuka neatly folded her clothes and placed them in her trunk. She closed the lid and smiled. Everything was ready. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded photo. The edges were ragged and it seemed flimsy, like if handled too roughly, it would crumble to dust. There were two creases in the picture, making it into 4 sections. Asuka sighed and looked at the photo. In the picture was a young man with spiky black hair. His eyes held a look of pure intensity. His lips looked like they'd never came close to smiling.

"Brother… I'll find you," whispered Asuka. "One way or another, I'll find you."