Story Mode: Leo
Chapter Two - The King of Iron First Tournament 6
"Are you here to register?"
Leo looked at the thin woman in a black skirted suit as she stared at him with eyes that could only mean to pry. The address that he had been given was this building, but from the out side, he couldn't have been sure. It was a stadium and supposedly, there was some sort of sports team practicing inside, so as to why it was closed from the public for the day. There weren't any 'sports' happening, as far as Leo could see.
"For the tournament?" he asked, just to clarify.
"Of course." she nodded before holding out a clip board full of white sheets of paper, "Fill these out. When you are done, please make your way just beyond the glass doors to your right. In there you'll have your I.D. card made. From there, that is to be seen." and with that, she walked away towards the other side of the room to speak to a woman who didn't seem fond of clothing.
Leo shrugged before sitting down and beginning on the papers, pulling from inside the bag he had brought with him a pair of reading glasses:
'Name: Leo
Age: 19
Gender.-
Fighting Style: Baijiquan
Reason For Entering: Rev- Just Because.
By singing your name below you agree to any and all ….'
Leo rolled his eyes before signing his name on the first sheet, flipping through the rest, just signing away. He didn't much care about liability or the like. All he wanted was a chance to clear things up. But who knew the registration for the King of the Iron Fist Tournament would be so…standard?
After a moment, he sighed, putting the glasses back. He stood, pulled the bag over one shoulders before walking to the glass doors to his right. He took a breath before pulling one of the doors open and walking into the next room. This room was relatively small, with only a woman wearing the same suit as the first with a lap top, a camera and a photo screen. When they had said I.D. card, he thought they'd be taking head shots, but it seemed that there was no chair.
As he walked towards a bench to put his bag down, he looked at some of the copies of the fighters before him I.D. cards. He noticed that they all seemed to be posing in some way or another. He shrugged before walking to the woman and handing her the clip board.
She took it, looked it over before typing something into the lap top, a new file, no doubt.
"Leo? You don't have a last name?" she asked after a moment.
"I do, of course. I just rather keep it simple, d'you know?"
"Mmm, right. Than please take a spot in front of the photo screen." she said, pointing to the white screen. As he did, she began again, "It isn't really necessary, but most fighters like to show off a little when taking this picture. You're welcome to do so. Don't worry, this camera is very good, it will catch any movement you do."
"A-alright…" he stuttered as he stood in front of the screen. He didn't want to look stupid, being the only fighter standing straight. He nodded, "Alright, I guess I'll show off a bit, too."
"Than in five seconds from when I stop talking, the camera will begin to take ten snaps of your movement. You'll be aloud to chose which shot you want as well as a background if you'd like. And from now, five starts."
Leo counted in his head down to two before moving swiftly, one foot forward at an angle to his left, spread out. His torso leaned up and with a tilt forward as he brought his, right arm back a bit, the left reaching out with a force that made the red scarf around his neck flow behind him. Snap.
"Alright. Now, if you would please choose your setting." the woman said as Leo walked towards her and the lap top. The shots were very clear for a movement with that much speed behind it. He decided to pick the shot with the scarf at the pinnacle of flutter as well as adding a greenish back ground with an Asian looking scenery. The woman printed out the card and looked at it for a moment before looking up at him, staring into his face, "No specified gender? Curious." she smirked before handing the card over to the now slightly blushing boy. "Welcome to the King of Iron Fist Tournament Six; Rookie Tekken Fighter Leo."
"Why, thank you." he said as he took the card in hand. "Through those doors, than?" he asked, pointing to the opposite set of doors. "I mean, there isn't any other way."
"Well, yes. But from this point on, we cannot guarantee what happens. Good luck." she added, "Oh, just a second! I almost forgot to give you the most important things!" she pulled a small black cell phone from a bag beside the floor. She pressed a few keys on it before handing it over, "This will be your worst and best friend. Worst because it tells you who your fighting when your fighting. Best because it has a little blue key on it. If you press this key, we will assume that you are injured beyond capability of continuing the tournament." she smiled before continuing, "It also has a number in there that you should call once you've got the location for your next fight. I'll let you figure that one out on your own. Now, I've already registered you into the phone, to activate it, all you have to do is hold the pound key. Also," she said, pulling another small gizmo out of the bag beside her, handing it to Leo, "This is probably the most helpful item you've ever seen. Just put it in your ear and tap it once to turn it on. It'll translate any language into your native or respective tongue. Isn't that neat?" she smiled, "Now, this really is good bye. Good luck, again."
"Thanks, again." he said before taking up his bag and walking through the doors, trying to get used to the newly inserted ear piece.
What he saw would have shocked any normal person. Hell, it shocked him a tad. There were fighters in this stadium, real Tekken Fighters. They all looked so serious and Leo knew that they all had a reason for being there. This was his chance. If he could find that man, he'd surely….
Almost instantly as he was walking through the rows he was distracted. Just a few rows down from where he stood was a bear. A huge brown bear. And a ways beyond that he could make out a little Chinese woman talking to another animal, this time a Panda. And just maybe a meter away from them was not one, but two Kangaroo's idling next to a rather large boxing ring in which was currently empty. He walked down a few more rows before taking the left isle, opposite of the bear. He walked a while before pulling out the phone and holding the pound key.
A second later, the screen lit up with his name on it. Another second and it rang.
"Halo?" he answered quickly.
"Leo. Your first match has not been decided as of yet. Please wait for our next call in the stadium with the rest of the fighters. Be weary, a fight can start at any time and any place. The stadium it self is one of many stages you might be venturing to. It'd be wise to stay out the other fighters ways." the phone clicked and the line went dead. From the sound of the English woman's words, it was best to keep a low profile until he left the stadium.
"Well, then I guess I'll just sit down and watch what happens." he said to him self aloud before taking a seat in a fairly empty area. He leaned back to relax, his eyes and ears not doing so. They watched those near him, and listened for those behind. If that woman was telling the truth, someone could end up fighting right in front of him.
---
"Let's see what Meena snuck into my bag last night…" he said after a while of waiting as the seats around him began to fill. Leo pulled the duffle bag towards him and unzipped one of the smaller pockets, allowing him to pull out a small juice packet only. It would seem his last comment to the woman made her reluctant to make him any real food for when he actually wanted it.
"Oh, damn…" he muttered before ripping a hole into the packet with his teeth, slowly sucking the strawberry kiwi liquid from the pouch. His blue eyes focused on the center of the arena as two people began to fight. So, the tournament had officially started it seemed.
Around him, a few people answered their phones before standing and leaving, no doubt to their required location. He watched as a group of three men sat down in the empty seats beside him, talking loudly as if they were alone. One man seemed of American decent, another of Asian and the last of English. Her raised a brow, recognizing the third from earlier. An odd trio indeed.
Of course, nothing could be as odd as the strange robotic monstro walking down the aisle, other fighters trying to squeeze away from him as he passed. What the hell was that thing? It was obviously not human with how bulky it was and the way the floor beneath him cracked a bit with every step. It had to way a ton in the least.
As it passed the three men and Leo, the American spoke, "Heh, I guess that's the new model this year."
"Looks the same to me. Then again, they've always looked the same." the Asian added.
"Do they always?" the English man asked before leaning back, hands behind his head, "I 'spose they've always been easy to beat than, too."
"About the same." the American nodded before he pulled the same black phone Leo had out and opened it. He groaned before standing and placing the little thing back into his pocket, "Looks like my ass is goin' back to America."
"Mmm, that's a little dumb. They fly you here from America to be in this tournament, then the blocks fly you back for your first round." the English man said, shaking his head, "Well, best of luck to ya."
"I'll be meeting you out there." the Asian nodded, as if it were already decided before hand.
Leo watched the American leave before letting his blue gaze fall back down on to the fight. It seemed like it was almost over. Both men looked extremely wore out after their three minute bout. In truth, this fight was lasting longer than the German would ever have expected. He supposed all the matches were about this length; after all, they weren't here because they couldn't fight.
Leo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his fingers lightly laced as he watched the fight end with one man slamming his fist into the others face. Some who were watching cheered while the majority only seemed to take note that they would probably face that man sometime later.
He zoned out a bit, looking to the person below his seat. It was an old man. It was almost baffling that a Grandmaster would be here and yet, there was no other explanation to the little man sitting in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as he recognized this man as someone he might need to watch out for; after all, he had years of experience over Leo's young shoulders. Suddenly, he realized that this little man felt somehow familiar to him. Had he met him before?
"Oi…oi!"
Leo blinked some before turning to his right, looking past the Asian man who was staring at him to the English one, "What?"
"You're Leo, right?"
He blinked, in confusion. His expression must have shown this for the man pointed to his name tag before continuing, "Well, if you haven't notice, Leo, you're about to forfeit your match."
"Leo."
"What?" the English man asked in confusion to the young boys answer.
"My name isn't pronounced Lee-Oh. It's Lay-oh…got it?" he tapped his temple before shaking his head, eyes wide, "Wait? Forfeit my match!"
"Yeah, Lay-OH," he stressed before pointing towards the electric board flashing his name and another he couldn't pronounce, "better hurry!"
"Oh, shit!" was all he said before grabbing his bag and practically hopping over the two men into the aisle. He pushed his way passed a few people, quickly running down the steps towards the center as quickly as he could, yelling, "Yo', wait! I'm here, I'm here! G-ah!"
He nearly tripped as he rammed into someone. He didn't have time for this, "Oh, damn, sorry!" he yelled behind him as he heard what he could only presume to be cursing in a Spanish language. He was about five steps close before throwing his bag into the ditch designated for the fighters belongings and jumping down the flight. He landed low, his finger tips touching the ground beside his feet before he practically threw him self into the ring, panting before leaning against the ropes, "Warten….bitte, ….I'm here…"
" 'Ha! This is who you expect me to fight? A little boy?'" the tall and slightly dark man said, his words automatically translating into Leo's right ear. The man crossed his arms and leaned back against the ropes of the ring holding a cocky gaze.
Leo raised a brow before he raised himself up to his normal height, his eyes focusing on the man before him. He glanced back to the board that illuminated their names and re-read the man's alias, 'Zhang Fei', so, he was Chinese. He looked as if he was in pretty good shape with his lean muscle structure around his tall figure. He wondered what type of style he fought with.
"Ready? Fight!"
The voice seemingly came from no where but it acted like a defilibrator on the young German, sending him into his stance of his left arm brought forward, fingers open. His right arm was brought in, slight fist shifted upwards while his legs following the pattern as he controlled his breath. As his opponent came at him, he lowered his body starting off with a round house before bringing his right fist up into the man's oncoming gut, "Shh-tat!" he let out in exertion. The man gasped before tightening his stomach and jumping back, bringing his fists up just above his head; Leo frowned, Chinese Kick Boxing.
"Don't think you can win with that weak form." Leo said before advancing, left foot first. He saw right through this man who, in Leo's opinion, needed way more practice if he even hoped to advance in the tournament. Starting with a short side upper cut from the right hand, Leo began to advance on the man in a strong, fast paced combo consisting of many flat palms, knee's up and powerful shoulders.
From those who had been watching, it almost seemed like the poor Chinese man didn't even see the young boy coming before his face hit the mat, ending the first round and as it was, ending the match.
-Chapter Three - Cemetery -
He gasped, putting the pistol away, one hand on his chest. "This guy better get here fast, I might just die here…" he voiced, hoarsely.