Part 4: Danger Lurking
In the cold, dark water of the sea, Devil stirred, "Kazuya"
Kazuya awoke and realized his situation. He swam to the surface and took in a deep breath.
"Kazuya, was that Jun?" Devil asked.
Kazuya could not believe it himself, but he felt her. He felt Jun's presence in that young woman, and her eyes reminded him of Jun.
"I see. It seems Jun has come back."
"Then there must be danger lurking." Kazuya said.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Heihachi has been after Jin, we have been after Jin, so why does she come now? She has an important reason for being here now. "
"She came to protect him from something much worse than us."
"Exactly"
Suddenly, they both felt a chill that reached deep inside of them.
"It can't be." Kazuya mumbled in disbelief. Kazuya transformed and Devil took control.
"He's finally returned. This means we must stop him." Devil stated, "We will absorb his power first; then we will be invincible."
"Wait, we may have a problem. Remember what she said, "I may finally be able to get close to him, maybe both of them...What did she mean by 'them'?"
"It doesn't matter Kazuya. When we absorb the power that has finally revealed itself, nothing will matter." Devil laughed hysterically. Kazuya pushed it to the back of his mind for now. "Let's go then Devil. We have no time to waste."
With that, Devil-Kazuya flew off back toward Japan.
Ling sat impatiently waiting for Julia and Hwoarang. She wanted to hurry and put her plan into action, but she had to wait for Hwoarang to win his match first. There was no doubt in her mind that he would succeed.
"Izumi Aruka has failed to show up for her match. She has been disqualified; Julia Chang is the winner by default."
"Darn it!" Ling whispered, "The one time I need him to do something, and he fails me. Figures… But I can still make this work."
Julia came strolling back to Ling, "I did not have to fight, and my next fight is not for awhile. Actually, I think I will be fighting you next."
"That's cool."
"You have the room keys right?"
"Yeah"
"Well, let me have our key. I want to get a shower in before my next match. I feel dirty."
"Here. We have room 2b on the third upper deck above us"
"Yeah, I remember where it is. Thanks, I will see you in a bit."
"Alright" Ling replied as Julia walked away. Not long after Julia disappeared around the corner, Hwoarang was pronounced the winner of his match. Hwoarang came up with a sour expression on his face.
"Are you alright Hwoarang?"
"I had to fight this nasty fucker. He kept sweating and he was funky as hell. Something crawled up his ass and died. I think it rubbed off on me." Hwoarang sniffed at his shirt and frowned.
Ling almost burst out laughing. "This is perfect," she thought.
"Oh really, would ya like to go take a shower?"
"Hell yeah"
"Mr. Webster got us some rooms. If ya go to the third upper deck, room 2b, you can take a shower. The door should already be unlocked."
Hwoarang grunted at the thought of Mr. Webster, "Then I'm out of here. Don't let them start my next match without me, or I'm kicking your ass."
"Yeah, Hwoarang, I know," Ling replied holding in giggles.
Hwoarang thought Ling was acting suspiciously, but he shrugged it off as he walked away.
Ling leaned back on the bleachers. Smiling to herself, she thought, "This should be interesting."
As Hwoarang disappeared around the corner, Jin and Yusho came from the other side of the room. Ling sat up, "You guys are back. Did everything go okay?" She looked to Yusho.
"I proved myself," he said.
Ling turned to Jin; he nodded in return. "I'm so glad," Ling jumped up with glee, "Yusho, I knew you two were brothers." Jin raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" Yusho asked.
"Of course! I don't know how I knew, but I somehow felt it. You two just fit for some reason." Ling said smiling.
"Next Match…Yusho vs Taiko"
"Oh, my turn to fight," Yusho said leaving for his match.
Jin did not think about what he did next. Something just came over him, something he did not quite understand, something unfamiliar. It felt like…concern?
"You sure you can fight?" Jin uttered under his breath so Ling failed to hear it.
"No problem," Yusho whispered, "I'm okay."
Jin turned to watch Yusho walk away, and he and Ling sat back down on the bleachers.
"Can you handle this?" Ling asked in a more serious tone, wrapping her arms around Jin's waist and leaning her head on his right shoulder.
"We shall see," Jin said with downcast eyes and his thoughts elsewhere.
Yusho was about to step into the ring when he noticed the woman he had bumped into earlier. She had caught his eye earlier, but she would have been a distraction, so he put her out of his mind. After she found that she was disqualified from her match, she began frowning a bit. She realized soon enough that it was her own fault.
When she looked up and saw Yusho, he could not help smile; she was beautiful. So Yusho mouthed to her, "Watch my fight." She cocked her head to the side, puzzled, but she mouthed back, "Okay." Yusho got into the ring, and the girl was quickly spun around.
"What are you doing?" Asuka asked.
Izumi saw the expression on Asuka's face, "Nothing, I think that guy likes me."
"It is too late now. Izumi can not escape getting involved, but you have to leave. Neither Yusho nor Jin can see you. It would be too soon." Jun told Asuka.
"Alright"
"Asuka, we have to catch up. It has been too long. Let's watch that guy's fight first though, he was kind of cute." Izumi and Asuka smiled at each other. Izumi looked toward the ring, but Jun kept her from seeing the young man.
"Do not look. I will explain later, but right now, we have to go."
"Okay"
Asuka had not seen Izumi for a couple years, and they had been great friends. She would have loved to talk with her, but she somehow knew she could not. "I'm going to miss you Izumi," Asuka thought.
"Izumi, I would love to watch the fight with you, but I can't stay. I'm sorry." Asuka ran up the stairs leaving Izumi to stare with a shocked expression.
"Asuka…?" Izumi wanted to go after her, but she knew Asuka probably had her reasons for taking off, so she went for a seat on the bleachers.
"Why couldn't we wait till we reached Honk Kong to leave?" Asuka thought.
"I do not mean to upset you by taking you away from your friend, but you two must part. You do not know me, but we are closer than you think. I am a part of you, and I need your help accomplishing something Asuka: Protecting my sons," Jun explained, "In order to do this, we have to work from the shadows. You are not supposed to be here, so you cannot be directly involved with them; they cannot meet you yet. They cannot meet me, their mother, for I am dead. Seeing me again, would bring them false hopes. We must help them stop a great evil, and I must keep you out of harm's way for your future."
"I still don't quite understand."
"I came back because my sons are in great danger, and I need you to help me fight for them."
"I feel I can trust you," Asuka whispered, "So as long as you need me, I'll be here for you."
"Good. Right now, I need you more than ever. Just a moment ago, the great threat I have feared for some time has finally emerged. We must investigate at once."
"How, we're on a ship, remember?"
"See that door, open it." Jun commanded. Asuka rushed inside a dark room shutting the door behind her. "Now, close your eyes and let go of all your thoughts." Asuka began to glow. She felt warmth engulf her body, and after a few seconds, she disappeared.
Meanwhile, Julia finally made it to her room. Just as she unlocked the door, she smelled the scent of flowers. She turned her head and noticed a small flower at a shop a few feet away. Being away from nature for so long, she decided to visit the vendor for a little bit.
Hwoarang showed up and immediately went inside of the room. He started straight for the bathroom. Inside, he threw his clothes in the corner and hopped in the shower turning on the hot water.
Julia came back to the door happy as can be. She had been given a flower as a gift because she was so beautiful. She walked into the room and heard the shower going. For a second, she thought she had the wrong room, so she went back and checked the number. She had the right room all right.
Julia's first thought was a burglar, but there was nothing in the room of value. Her second guess was a stowaway. She made her way to the bathroom, and the door was open. Steam was pouring out from within, and she tried to call to the person, but she her efforts were futile.
She couldn't see anyone and the person couldn't hear her, so she searched for some clothes. She found some, but the smell they emitted was so rank she did not dare go near them.
Julia set her sights on the shower curtain, "All right Julia, here goes nothing." She grabbed the curtain and yanked it back.
"Hwoarang!" she gasped. Hwoarang turned to her with a devilish grin, "Julia, came to join me?" Julia, confronted by such a question, felt embarrassed that she had been put in such a situation. She saw Hwoarang in all his glory. She even saw his above average "potential". She quickly turned to avert her eyes and to hide her blushing cheeks.
"Hwoarang, you are such a pig. I can't stand you," Julia shouted. She yanked the curtain closed and headed for the bathroom door when she heard a familiar voice.
"Julia, are you all right in here? How's your shower going?" Ling questioned while giggling. "She did this!" Julia yelled in her head to herself. "The shower is nice. Everything is great," Julia replied concocting a plan. She heard Ling's footsteps coming toward her, so she hopped back into the shower with Hwoarang.
"I knew you wanted me." Hwoarang whispered seductively in her ear, and Julia reacted by kneeing him in the groin. Hwoarang staggered back a bit, and then he stared at Julia with fire in his eyes. He started to curse up a storm, but Julia silenced him.
"Are you sure? Haven't had any visitors?" Ling asked beginning to sound disappointed.
"Positive. Why do you ask?"
"No reason," she answered with a nervous laugh, "I'll see ya back downstairs."
"Okay."
"Dang, it didn't work," Ling sighed, "Oh well."
Julia spun around to face Hwoarang, "Not a word to anyone about this. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, if that's what you want Nature Girl."
Julia rolled her eyes and kneed him in the groin again. She stepped out of the shower and pulled the curtain back. "I am going to kill her, "she huffed steaming mad, but then reasoned, "after I find out why the heck she did this."
When Julia realized she was soaked, her anger flared up again and she stormed out from the room.
Exiting, she heard the announcement.
"Next Match…Julia vs Ling"
For the first, Julia held a devilish grin across her face.
Hwoarang finished his shower while Julia headed down to the ring. She tried to hold in her excitement as she hurried down the corridors. Hwoarang dried off and threw on his clothes pissed at what Julia had done. He was even more pissed at Ling for causing all of the shower mayhem.
Hwoarang thought about it, the events replaying in his head, the cocky grin he had worn when Julia got a look at his manhood. He wondered if she liked what she saw. Then Hwoarang caught himself. Julia wasn't his type. She was too much of a good girl. Now, the girl he met at the tournament registry was more his style, so he drove Julia from his mind and walked back down to look for her.
Yusho won his match against Taiko, and he now stood beside the beauty named Izumi.
"I couldn't help noticing you," He told her under his breath. Yusho couldn't help being shy. Even after Hwoarang used to tell him, he had to be confident around girls, he melted around them. They gave him chills.
"Yeah, I saw. You're a great fighter. You have an interesting style," she smiled at him, sensing his nervousness.