Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Qualifier
Author's Note: This chapter has been edited (9/05/11).
"Waaait wait wait, I'm still stretching!"
Baek furrowed his eyebrows as he crossed his arms, "Hwoarang, you are taking too long."
A mischievous grin, "Yeah, I know, but I wanna make sure I win!"
Razer quirked an eyebrow, "And you think by stretching more than me, you will?"
He lazily stuck his middle finger up (and promptly received a light smack up the back of his head by his mentor) as he got into his stance, the grin still painted on his youthful features, "Let's go let's go let's go!"
Baek's countdown whooshed by rather quickly, and soon enough the two best friends were fighting one another, decked up in their dobok and all. He came at her first with Hunting Hawk, leaving himself wide open for a counter attack, only to go for it too soon –
Jin was thrown back onto the floor. He held his stomach with a light hiss, disliking the pained throbbing in the area. He had not been prepared for that hit at all. First, Paul had swept him off of his feet with a kick, and then he had been sent flying by a single, well directed elbow-to-the-gut.
"Yo, is that all you've got?" the American cried with a chuckle, watching his foe stand.
"You know full well, Hwoarang, that I'm not going to give up that easily!"
She launched a rising uppercut, sending her friend back, but it lacked the strength to topple him. With a frustrated sigh, she stood fully again, performing a Left Axe Kick, followed quickly by two ordinary punches. She smirked a little when the Korean wiped blood from his mouth with an annoyed frown. He was slowly putting down the 'but you're my friend' mindset in favour of 'this is a spar'.
A cry emitted from the Japanese boy's throat as he smashed his fist into Paul's jaw, sending him up into the air – Tooth Fairy. With a grin, he kept him up in the air for as long as possible, a few jabs and kicks there, before performing Rising Sun, sending him back further across the arena.
And then he was upon the foreigner, punching him continuously, before moving to his right arm and pulling on it as hard as he could in the hopes of dislocating it. He refused to lose here, he'd come so far… he had to win this match. It didn't matter if he lost in the next one, because Ogre would then come out to play, but for now…
Another punch came to the size of the head, causing a dizzy spell.
You and your damn distractions.
"Concentrate!" Baek growled.
Please shut up, monster, Razer responded to the previous taunt, shaking her head, attempting to recover.
"Crap, Raze, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to kick you that hard," it had made her dizzy. Hwoarang frowned.
She then came at him after spinning in a circle once – Misdemeanour – and at the conclusion of it, she spoke, "Do not let your guard down. What was it that Baek always said? 'Do you think your opponent would apologise if they gave you a concussion or a broken nose?' I doubt it. She quickly conducted Dynamite Heel, wincing slightly as it collided with his calf muscle.
"Could you at least apologise for that? Shiiit…" he rubbed the tender area whilst standing.
"Language, kid," Baek hissed.
"Insolent shit!" Paul screamed, sending another three punches into Jin's stomach, causing him to fly back.
Xiaoyu stood on her tippy-toes, "Jiiin! Don't let that asshole push you around!"
Phoenix's blue eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the screaming youth – and that moment was enough for Kazama to rise from his feet and tackle him to the ground, slamming fist after fist into his face. Summoning his strength, Paul threw him off of his body, and then leapt into the air, delivering two short kicks. They were both blocked, but he didn't mind – he was just angry.
Jin sloppily dodged another incoming punch, and he could already hear Devil taunt him in his mind for being so slow – but he was exhausted, dammit! His eyebrows furrowed as he caught another incoming punch, and he conducted his Complicated Wire throw, hurling the American back into the ground. Shakily, Jin took up his stance once again.
"When did you get so fast?" Hwo growled, throwing a nose bleeder attack against Razer, which missed.
She shrugged, blocked a few more incoming attacks, but was unfortunately hit by Total Outrage. The floor rushed up to greet her as she held her side and rubbed it, looking at the smirking youth above, "And when did you get so strong?"
Baek interjected immediately, his gruff voice carrying through the room, "Stop talking. Resume fighting."
"Can't we just call it a draw?" the duo asked in the exact same tone, leaving them both to smirk afterwards.
"No. You're qualifying for your black belts, remember?"
"Remember," the announcer remarked to the substantially large crowd that were observing this battle, "This is the semi final! Whoever wins here will go on to face the winner of the 2nd King Of Iron Fist Tournament, Heihachi Mishima! It's a qualifier to face the best of the best! They would prooobably wanna be careful though, considering the state that he put his opponent in last week!"
Razer's eyebrows furrowed as she recalled the shape she was in last week. She crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance and then leant against the Korean beside her, watching Kazama continue attacking, being thrown down, standing back up and then repeating the entire cycle an additional two times over. Somewhere nearby, Xiaoyu yelled for him to stand to his feet, her voice carrying over the sudden wind.
"Is this all this all the son of Kazuya Mishima can muster? Your Pops won the first Iron Fist tournament, y'know," Paul put a hand on his hip, his only thought on provoking the youth. Seriously, he knew he could dish out more, and he wanted it, "And your Gramps won the second one. He was, what… fifty-four then? And you can't even knock me down for more than five seconds!" he tilted his head, "Kid, even your Mother fought better than you when she participated. You're disgracing your whole family!"
A fist suddenly slammed into his nose, and a burning sensation swirled about thereafter. A second strike came to the side of his face, sending him back to the ground. The American quickly scrambled for ideas in his mind as Jin began to conduct his Lightning Screw Uppercut attack.
"Face it Hwoarang, we are too evenly matched today," Razer remarked, hoping to stop the fight.
"It is not over until I say so," Baek interjected, eyeing the pair.
Anger dawned upon the young Korean boy as he dodged another kick and watched her land on her two feet. Taking this as an opportunity to deliver a very painful kick, he conducted his Misdemeanour roundhouse, watching with frustration as his aim went wrong. Rather than going for her side, it ended up smashing her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious.
Baek blinked for a few moments before declaring him the winner, watching as his student went to lift her.
"Be glad you don't know what happened afterwards," the Blood Talon muttered.
"Please enlighten me."
"Ripped my fucking pants trying to pick you up. It was so humiliating."
"At least there was only you and Baek?"
"Shut it."
A scream brought them back to reality. Razer's keen green eyes turned and watched a blur of skin, blond and red fly high into the air before slamming back down into the hard, concrete ground. Paul lay on the opposite end of the arena, unconscious and clearly having lost the fight against Jin Kazama, who was on the other end on his knees, holding his head and attempting to concentrate on holding the devil within out.
He felt like collapsing, really. That fight took a lot out of him. His muscles were aching like they had never ached before, and he mused for a few moments that Paul was an amazing fighter and unquestioningly a worthy adversary. He could vaguely see Paul be lifted by medics and placed onto a stretcher. There were a few who were near him, most likely inquiring if he needed the same treatment, and whilst he could see their mouths moving, he could not hear what they were saying.
An unpleasant wind arrived, encircling the vicinity, making people wonder in silence. Razer left the small patch of friends he had and came to stand beside him, hands in her pockets, eyes downcast and observing his mannerisms. His eyes were staring into nothingness, and the rest of his face was rather lax as she asked, "You alright?"
When he did not respond, she became worried. Her own entity spoke, Give up, Kazama. You are too weak.
I did not ask you, monster. He'll be just fine!
She nudged him with her foot, thereafter adding, "Fight it, you can win. You're not exactly a pushover."
There were a few moments of silence before he exhaled, looking up at the girl nearby. He looked back down and made an attempt to stand, clearing his throat, "Is Mr Phoenix alright?"
"Well," she replied, maintaining a neutral tone, "He was breathing when they carried him off, so that's good."
He nodded, "I believe I should go too, my ankle is rather sore."
"Yeah, you landed kinda funny on it at one point…" she grabbed her friend's arm and slung it across her shoulders, taking as much weight as possible as he began to limp off the arena stage with her, "Don't put any pressure on it."
As they moved towards the general direction of the hospital, those who considered themselves Jin's friends came and congratulated him on his efforts, stating that the finals was sure to be on amazing match. He thanked them all, quietly proud of himself, and chuckled a little when Miharu wondered what his reception would be like at school tomorrow.
Razer smiled at her enthusiasm.
"But I was knocked out. That means there's no belt for me."
Hwoarang shook his head as he spoon fed her some more soup, "Nah! Baek said you earned it. Well done."
She looked to her lap, marvelling at the belt, "I guess you won."
He grinned a little when she took the food, thereafter adding, "My theory of stretching worked. Suck it!"
There was a light chuckle, "Where is Baek, anyhow?"
"Just went out to do an errand. He said he'd be back soon."
"Okay."
Her eyes hovered across to Hwoarang, who appeared to be in deep thought as they all, as a group, arrived at the hospital. Just thinking back on those memories made her smile, because those few months before Baek vanished were well and truly the best of times.
Xiaoyu's voice had her snap out of her own thoughts, "We would like to check in Jin Kazama!"
The receptionist nodded, leading Jin and herself to another room to wait for a doctor. She felt him tighten his grip on her side for a few moments, and she guessed that he put too much pressure on his ankle once more. With a light chuckle, the Greek stated, "Don't worry, it's probably only a sprain."
"It hurts quite a lot. Perhaps I fractured it?"
"Doubt that. You worry far too much."
