**I do not own Tekken.

Chapter 7 : The Beginning of an End

Before they knew it, it was already the day they waited for. Previous players have showed up and a few rookies as well. There met Lili, Asuka, and Julia, all warmed up and excited. Paul, Lei, Marshall, and a few other known men glued themselves to their own means of preparation. Both the William girls arrived with their flashy entrance, both trying to overshadow each other. Lars and Alisa sat in one corner as they simply watched from afar. Lee came with lady escorts fancying him, or his wealth. The other candidates showed up one by one, giving scattered smiles to those around them. Forest, however, showed up with a head turner lady by the name of Chae So Ra. Everyone gave a slight examining glance at her, feeling the familiarity with her charm. Of course, a few seemed to recognize who was under the disguise. The men teased Forest for 'bringing a date', while the others tried to take the opportunity to talk to her. Anna rolled her eyes at the new girl in annoyance as she felt the attention shift from her to the other. Hwoarang showed up eventually, greeting the familiar faces as if he wasn't the CEO of the G Corp. He acted normally and casually, as greedy as how he was during the previous competitions. He acted all cool and whatnot till he laid eyes on this new female. He couldn't help but feel the curiosity to ask her stuff after hearing from others that the girl was said to have come from Korea, just like him.

"Chae So Ra, I presume?" he asked as he walked over to her direction.

Nervous, she flinched as she recognized the voice. "Ah, yes.., and you are?"

"The name's…" he paused as he saw the girl's face, "Hwoarang."

She immediately smiled and bowed in greeting then excused herself before he recognizes her. Hwoarang felt odd upon their meeting and somehow, he knew there was something weird about the girl. Before he could even turn to get a hold of her arm, Jin entered the area. Everyone fell into deep silence. They knew of Jin's wrong doings back then and so they didn't want to approach or even smile at the guy. Asuka, knowing his cousin good enough, came to him and gave him a pat on his broad shoulder. Jin managed to let out a light smile before turning his gaze to the girl named Chae So Ra, knowing it was Xioayu underneath the believable disguise. This made Hwoarang even more doubtful of the situation. To see Jin interested in a person only meant his familiarity with the person.

Finally, the cinema-like screen turned on and showed them the randomly chosen people for their battles. It read:

First Round:

· Marshall Law vs. Bruce Irvin

· Nina Williams vs. Paul Phoenix

· Lei Wulong vs. Alisa Bosconovitch

· Chae So Ra vs. Anna Williams

· Christie Monteiro vs. Lee Chaolan

· Forest Law vs. Ganryu

· Craig Marduk vs. Asuka Kazama

· Jin Kazama vs. King

· Kazuya Mishima vs. Kuma

· Yoshimitsu vs. Hwoarang

· Julia Chang vs. Lili de Rochefort

· Lars Alexandersson vs. Raven

· Steve Fox vs. Bryan Fury

As the game progressed to the next level, the winners had to go through a ten minutes break. Each of them took their own energy drinks and bars. They were all exhausted; everyone had gotten better and faster. They knew they had a lot more ahead of them. As for those who had lost to the final round, they assembled at the lobby to wait and watch the occurring battle.

Second Round:

· Marshall Law vs. Kazuya Mishima

· Nina Williams vs. Forest Law

· Alisa Bosconovitch vs. Hwoarang

· Chae So Ra vs. Steve Fox

· Lee Chaolan –on stand by-

· Asuka Kazama vs. Jin Kazama

· Julia Chang vs. Lars Alexandersson

Third Round:

· Kazuya Mishima vs. Forest Law

· Hwoarang vs. Lee Chaolan

· Chae So Ra –on stand by-

· Jin Kazama vs. Lars Alexandersson

Fourth Round:

· Kazuya Mishima vs. Jin Kazama

· Hwoarang vs. Chae So Ra

Before Hwoarang's match started, he gave a heavy sigh as he hated fighting against women. He always thought it was unfair to win against a girl but he can't just go easy on her because of that. It had always sent him confused thoughts; however, he knew he was fighting for something important. He wanted to win despite the fact that he had to throw her out of the arena if he needed to. On the other side of the arena stood a petite female, breathing slowly as she calmed herself down. She knew she had to face at least one of the two men she would rather not see in the entire tournament. But it was impossible, if she was aiming to win, she knew she needed to settle a fight with the two.

"Well, let me tell you before hand, little girl…" he started, coming forward to the centre of the room, "I'm not going to go easy on you so you better prepare yourself or you're dead."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before, monkey boy" she commented, realizing her comment was a bit personal. After all, 'monkey boy' was what she always called him.

This made the male raise a brow as he cocked his head to one side, further examining the girl in front of him. But before he could ask anything, she already skipped her way to attack. He blocked her for defense and lowered his head as she tried to do a flying kick. His thoughts wandered off, escaping his mind. Even her scent was familiar. He couldn't take it anymore so he quickly grabbed her right arm with his left hand; making her turn so her back would face him. His right hand quickly took a hold of her left arm, trapping her.

"Xiaoyu" he whispered into her ear as he panted. The girl tried to catch her breath as she felt a bit teary eyed after hearing him call out her name. Her disguise is done and she knew it. She's going to be disqualified whether she liked it or not. She sniffed before bowing her head to hide her tears.

"I thought I told you to stay out of the competition?" he growled, pushing her gently to see her face.

"It's because you won't listen to me!" she blurted out.

"No, it's you who won't listen! I didn't do this for myself, I did this for you!" he mumbled under his breath as he walked over to the door. "Go home immediately or I'll make sure the guards will take you by force."

"Hwoarang! No, please!" she begged, kneeling as she clasped her hands together.

The red haired man paused before he opened the door, 'I'll see you after the tournament, whether I win or loose, Xiao" he stated. He felt as if he lost a match when in reality, there was actually none. In the end, Xiaoyu was disqualified and was sent to a private room with attendants waiting to take all those fancy stuff and turn her back to her old normal self.

On the other side of the room was where the father and son had their brawl. Their match wasn't about obtaining the said possession offered as a prize, but more of a personal family war. They exchanged fists and kicks, a few signature attacks and whatnot. A bit of questions thrown with each assail but none answered. Finally, Jin got the strength to ask his father about his mother, Jun Kazama. Kazuya stayed silent, analyzing Jin's sequence of attacks instead of answering the questions. Still, Jin threw the question again and again. Anger struck the young man and so he summoned his devil gene to borrow some strength. He wanted to catch his older man's attention. Kazuya merely smirked, seemingly pleased at his son's action.

"I said tell me the truth!" Jin yelled as he attacked with a handful of force.

Kazuya counter attacked and blocked, smirking even more. "Defeat me and I'll tell you what you want."

It gave Jin a lot more determination and so the battle between them continued. After what seemed like an hour, the battle ended with Kazuya down on his back, a bit pissed but seemingly satisfied.

"I met her in a forest when I was a kid. She was wearing a white dress and from just one glance, I knew she was just as pure." He started, closing his eyes shut. "Jun introduced himself to the person I used to be; a jolly young lad who feared his father the most. My father trained me so hard to the point he no longer praised me but showered me with insults. That was his way of making me stronger after my mother died. He wasn't able to cope up with her death and so he threw all of his feelings to me. He then had to take in Lars, his son from a swedish woman, who suddenly showed up. Another child he had to support was Lee, her adoptive son. But he only wanted me to be his weapon, knowing I had the devil gene inside me which I inherited from my mother. He knew he could use me if only I was strong enough to control and use my own devil gene. I was a victim of his stressful sorrows and aggression. He threw me off a cliff, told me if I was strong enough I would survive. If not, then I better die. But Jun saw it happen and tried to help me, he waited till I managed my way to climb all the way back up. But I was no longer the same, I became bitter and arrogant. I wanted revenge more than anything. You mother, however, never gave up on me. She tried her best to catch my attention and make me fall for her. I rejected her more than a million times, making her cry a lot. But it ended when she stopped chasing after me. When she started to move on with her life, I knew I missed out on someone great because I started to miss her. I tried to find her, and when I did, I spent nights with her alone. I wanted to succumb to her holiness; I wanted to stay where she was. And that was when Heihachi knew Jun was pregnant with you. He wanted another soldier, not a family. He used the Mishima Zaibatsu's force so he could take Jun away, but I didn't let him. I told Jun to go far away from the city. Somewhere rural so she can raise you. I made her promise to never speak a word about me so my son would never know of his relations to the Mishima clan. Then I know he'd be safe from the disputes and the curse within the bloodline. But I guess you really had my blood in you, you were stubborn and aggressive. I heard that when your mother died, you learned of things I hoped you wouldn't. You finally knew who your father was, but what you thought was wrong. I may have hated your mother for trying to stop my revenge against my own father, but I never wanted her dead. It was because she knew I was out of control that time. I was suffering with the uncontrollable devil gene in me. It devoured me just as much as it did to you. And so she told you ask for Heihachi's help instead of mine. She wanted you to learn the truth but I guess you never did." Kazuya paused for a deep breath. "Change the chain of bad luck and create your own destiny, I'm sure that would make your mother proud more than being the King of Iron Fist. Prove to me that you are the 'child of destiny'."