A/N: After every death, the next chapter will show the perspective of that character just before they die. That's what's about to happen below. Also, this is another investigation chapter, so have fun!

I also know I said 'every death', so there will be more to come... Let's hope none of our favourites die. But who knows in this story?

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Tecmo and Team Ninja. Please don't sue me.

BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 13

Tina entered the backstage area after the fight with her father and slammed the door in anger. She was humiliated, to say the least. All she wanted to do was share her great news with everyone, and her father had unsurprisingly disapproved of her choices. She didn't understand why he was so against her intentions. It was her life; not his.

The famous wrestler ran her hands through her golden hair in frustration. Not only was she humiliated, but she was also furious. A rumbling noise nearby stirred her thoughts, but she ignored it. She resumed her deep thinking and recalled all the faces in the crowd that stared at her in shock. Of course, her father had to take the spotlight away from her. She was sick of it.

The door swung open and Tina glared at the mysterious person. Her glare softened when she noticed it was Hayate and Kasumi. They looked a little awkward to be confronting her after the outburst with her father.

"I hope you don't mind, but Kasumi and I need to go right now," Hayate said.

"It was fun! We had a really good time," Kasumi smiled.

The pro wrestler sighed. "I'm sorry if the fight with my dad made everything awkward," her Southern accent drawled.

"That's not the reason why we're leaving," Kasumi said. "Hayate and I have a busy day tomorrow, so I'm afraid we must leave early… I hope you understand."

Tina could see through their lies, but she nodded in response. "Yeah. Of course. I'm glad you two could come, though."

The door then opened once more and Ayane's head peeked through. Tina was hoping that she wasn't planning to leave as well.

"Kasumi," she called. "Come with me for a second. Eliot wants to meet you."

"Ooh, is this the guy you've been talking about at home?" she wondered.

"Shut up, you freak!"

Kasumi giggled as she followed her sister out of the room. She was always so defensive.

Once when the two sisters left the room, Hayate observed Tina's face. She seemed to be troubled by her situation with Bass.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. "I know you were arguing with your father before , but I saw you arguing with Lisa as well..."

Tina forced a smile. "I'm fine… After all, the show must go on!"

Ironically, the lights suddenly went out, which made the Texan frown. She and Hayate both wandered around the room in complete darkness. They tried to find each other in the process.

Without any warning, something blunt hit Tina's head. She clutched her forehead in pain.

"What the- ckkkkkkhhh!" her words soon turned into a slur as something made its way around her neck.

Tina tried her best to gasp for air, but there was no avail. She was immediately strangled to death. The murderer then allowed her corpse to fall onto the cold, hard floor.

"Tina?..." Hayate's voice called from the other side of the room. "What are you saying? I can't understand yo-"

Unfortunately for Hayate, he was the next victim to be attacked. After when he was also struck by a blunt object, the karate instructor touched his new wound in pain. His body then flinched in surprise since the lights turned on again. He blinked a few times in order to adjust his eyes to the light… And that's when he saw the blurry outline of his attacker…

BANG!

Hayate was hit on the head once more with the blunt object. He fell straight to the ground this time. Unluckily, it wasn't over for the young man since he suddenly felt something sharp pierce his shoulder. A pool of blood eventually surrounded him, and the last thing he heard were some footsteps running in the distance.

… His vision quickly faded.

Hitomi tried her best not to cry at the sight of her two deceased friends. It was all so sudden. Tina had just celebrated her victorious win, and Hayate was her longtime friend. She then looked at the two suspects at the other end of the room once more… Rig and Bass were aware of how the situation looked. Hitomi knew this due to their widened eyes and pale faces. Their behaviour was deemed as suspicious to her.

In an instant, Bass let out a loud cry and ran over to his daughter. He tried his best to find a pulse. After finding no sign of life within her, Bass swore angrily and began to shake Tina's dead body. He was desperate to get her back and apologise for arguing with her before in front of everyone.

"Hey!" Hitomi shouted, walking towards him. "Don't touch the bo- Ah!"

The female detective was taken by surprise as the door flung open. Kasumi dragged Ayane inside the room and pointed over to Hayate's body. Acting on her sisterly instincts, Ayane ran over to their dead brother. Kasumi followed.

One close glimpse at Hayate's body was all it took for Kasumi and Ayane to cry. Hitomi made her way over to the girls in order to comfort them. In a way, she knew how they were feeling right now. She was close to him, too.

"Don't cry," Leifang told the two sisters. "I know it's painful, but Hitomi and Eliot will find out who did this."

Hitomi smiled in response. Leifang had a point and Hitomi was glad she was there to motivate her. After all, if there was one thing Hitomi knew, it was that the truth would come out in the end. She believed that she would be able to solve the crimes and avenge the deaths of everyone. She just hoped this would be the last murder.

Eliot then entered the room in a hurry and shut the door behind him. His hair was messy, which told Hitomi that he had to push his way through the large crowd. He let out a gasp when he viewed the bodies. It was a surprise to him that there were two murders.

The British male then looked over at Hitomi. The glint in his eyes told her that they were thinking the same thing. With a sigh, the female detective turned to everyone else in the room.

"I'm afraid you all have to leave this room" she said. "This is officially a murder investigation."

Kasumi sobbed even harder when the word 'murder' was uttered. Ayane placed her arm around her sister's shoulders and slowly led her out of the room. Rig and Leifang followed shortly after. Bass, however, was still distracted by his daughter's corpse. He couldn't believe she was dead.

"You have to leave the room, Bass," Hitomi told him in a soft tone. "We need to figure out who did this to your daughter."

Bass let out a rough sigh and stood up. "Make sure you find the bastard so I can kill him myself."

Hitomi and Eliot watched Bass leave the room with wide eyes. They weren't a fan of his threatening behaviour right now, but they understood why he was feeling that way. After all, his daughter was just murdered. Who could blame him?

Now that everyone was out of the room, Hitomi shut the door and turned around to face the two victims. Tina's body was sprawled out on the ground, whilst Hayate was lying stomach-down on the far end of the room.

"We should inspect Tina's body first since she's the closest to us," Hitomi said.

Eliot nodded and headed over to the body. He grabbed his pen and prepared to write the investigation report on his notepad. He read it out loud as he did so:

INVESTIGATION REPORT: "The victim is Tina Armstrong. Age: 24. Her body was discovered at 9:16pm in the back room of the D.W.A coliseum. The cause of death was strangulation."

Hitomi looked at Tina's dead body with sadness. Her last moments alive were possibly spent by thinking nothing but terrible thoughts about her father. She felt sorry for Bass since he would have to live with the regret of their huge fight for the rest of his life.

Hitomi wiped the lone tear that had escaped her eye and proceeded to feel Tina's arm afterwards. Her body was still warm due to being murdered only a few minutes ago. As Hitomi continued inspecting the body, she eventually discovered something odd.

There was a strange mark on the pro wrestler's neck. The deep mark told Hitomi that the object used to strangle Tina was thin and bendable.

"Ah, you've noticed that, too," Eliot said, referring to the mark. "There is also a large bump forming on her forehead."

Hitomi observed the purple bump on Tina's forehead. From what it looked like, Tina was hit on the head first, and then the attacker decided to strangle her. But what was the murder weapon?...

As Hitomi looked around the small room, a figurative light bulb appeared on her head as she spotted a metal pipe near Tina's body. What was odd is that there was also another pipe right next to Hayate's body.

"I think those two pipes were used to attack Tina and Hayate."

Eliot quickly scanned the room and found the two pipes. "Hm, those two pipes do look suspicious… I agree with you because there is nothing else in this room that seems to be tough enough to form a bruise."

After failing to find any more clues on Tina's body, Eliot decided to inspect Hayate's corpse. Hitomi told him to begin his investigation without her since it was tough for her to see his dead body. She inwardly sighed to herself. She had ten years to tell him how she felt, yet she always chickened out. The karateka desperately wanted another chance to make things right with him.

INVESTIGATION REPORT: "The victim is Hayate Tenshin. Age: 25. His body was disco- What the…?"

Hitomi turned her gaze away from Tina's body and looked over towards Eliot. There was a large smile growing on his face. The female detective felt slightly offended since Eliot was smiling next to Hayate's corpse.

"Why on earth are you smiling?"

"Hitomi, he's still alive!"

Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"... What?"

"Hayate is still alive!" Eliot repeated. "Come over here and see for yourself!"

Hitomi got to her feet and quickly dashed over to Hayate's body. She never knew she could run so fast. Either way, the karateka kneeled next to Eliot and inspected Hayate's face. His eyes were closed, yet his mouth was slightly moving. He was barely breathing.

The karateka looked over to where Eliot was pointing. Hitomi frowned as she noticed two bumps forming on Hayate's head. What was weird is that both bumps were on different sides of the head. Hitomi gathered that the killer wasn't strong and needed to attack Hayate twice in order to lower his defense.

Another clue Hitomi laid her eyes upon was the knife stabbed into Hayate's shoulder. The female detective came to the conclusion that Hayate was lucky since the shoulder is not a vital organ. However, Hitomi couldn't help but notice the design of the knife. It was black and had some gold embroidery of a dragon onto it. Hitomi lowered her eyes to the ground in deep thought. Where had she seen that dragon before?...

Hitomi's concentration broke when a hand made its way onto her shoulder. She flinched in surprise and noticed that it belonged to Eliot. He frowned at her.

"I've been calling your name for the past minute," he told her. "Anyway, I think we should ask Hayate who the killer is since it's obvious that he was the second person to be attacked."

The karateka thought about what Eliot had said and realised he was right. It was possible that Tina was the first person to be attacked since she was definitely dead. Hayate was most likely attacked second since he was still alive. Hitomi figured that Hayate possibly saw the murderer, which is why he had two different bumps on his head. The murderer was definitely in a hurry.

Hitomi nodded at Eliot and lightly shook Hayate's other shoulder. He let out a light groan. It was clear that the karate instructor was in tremendous pain.

"Hayate…" she began. "Is there any chance that you saw the murderer? This is important."

"Y-Yes…" Hayate mumbled. He was slowly losing consciousness.

Hitomi sighed in relief. "Who is the murderer?! Please tell us!"

Hayate began to mumble some more. "The murderer… is… It is…"

Hitomi and Eliot patiently waited for an answer until they realised that Hayate had passed out.

"CRAP!" Eliot shouted, angrily throwing his notebook across the room.

The karateka was also disappointed since Hayate had lost his consciousness, but there was no point in feeling negative. She tried her best to calm Eliot down and instructed him to take some deep breaths. After when Eliot had calmed down, Hitomi collected the notebook and gave it back to the British man. He took it back with a bashful smile. She could tell he was ashamed of his tempered actions.

The two detectives then turned their heads to the front door of the room. It slowly opened, and Lisa's head soon popped through. Her face was filled with grief as soon as she saw the two bodies of her loved ones.

"Lisa, you can't be in here," Eliot told her.

"I know… but I couldn't help and eavesdrop," she admitted. "I've ordered everyone else to leave, so it's just the three of us here right now. I can call an ambulance, if you'd like? I'm a doctor at the hospital, so I can possibly help Hayate."

"That would be great," Hitomi responded. "Thank you."

Hitomi watched as Lisa made her way out of the room in order to find the nearest phone. She was thankful that the doctor was there, but she couldn't help but also feel wary of her. Something didn't seem right about her actions.

After when the two bodies were removed from the crime scene, Hitomi grabbed some yellow tape out of her pocket and began to place it around the room. Meanwhile, Eliot began inspecting the room even further until he came across something strange.

"Hitomi…" he called. "Don't you think it's odd that there is one piece of cable on top of this pile of rope?"

Hitomi headed over to where Eliot was standing and stared at the pile. The karateka grabbed the long piece of cable and inspected it. It was thin and bendable, just like the mark on Tina's neck.

"I believe this was murder weapon used to kill Tina," she said, twirling it around in her hands. "This cable matches the imprint on her neck."

"Hm, so that cable was used to strangle the superstar…" Eliot noted, crossing his arms. "That's quite sick... But still, we need to investigate some more."

Hitomi agreed and continued looking around the room some more. She eventually came across a main power switch on the wall. She noticed it was turned to 'off'. The German girl immediately called for Eliot to come over so he could inspect it.

"The murderer must have planned to kill Tina in this room the whole time," Eliot guessed. "It's possible they waited for the perfect moment to strike. Lisa clearly knew about the other power switch since she was able to get the power back on in the main room."

"Or… she knew about both power switches and decided to turn it on after when she murdered Tina in the back room," Hitomi replied.

"How would she do that, though?"

"Think about it..." Hitomi told her partner. "The lights were off for about five minutes. That's enough time for Lisa to make her way over to the back room. There, she quickly attacked Tina and Hayate before making her way over to the front room and pretending to fix the power. That way, she wouldn't be a suspect."

"That's ridiculous… But I can see where you're going with this," Eliot admitted. "But why would she try to murder both Tina and Hayate?"

Hitomi had a quick think about it before coming up with an answer. "Well, she and Tina had a huge fight at the party earlier… and she used to date Hayate. Maybe there is some secret grudge she has with him?"

"I… guess you have a point," Eliot shrugged. "Anyway, I think we should take this news back to the police station. I think we've checked everything out."

When they made their way back to the police station, Hitomi and Eliot were surprised to find Gen Fu still inside the building. He was pouring himself a cup of coffee as the two detectives stopped in their tracks.

"I believe you two are early," Gen Fu said. "Your shift actually starts tomorrow morning."

Hitomi gave out a light chuckle. "Oh, I wish it was that simple… We're actually here to report to you about a murder, as well as an attempted murder that happened at Tina's party."

Gen Fu arched a brow. "Two crimes? How did the attacker succeed with half the town around?"

"The murderer caused a blackout," Eliot told him. He and Hitomi then explained the whole situation to the senior officer in full detail. They could tell he was surprised when they mentioned that Tina was the one who died.

"Very well…" he said, taking a sip of his coffee. "You two need to come up with a list of suspects and interrogate those people."

"I'm glad you've said that, because we have already come up with a list!" Hitomi cheered, unfolding a piece of paper. "We have Lisa Hamilton as a suspect because she used Tina as a false alibi for Kokoro's murder, and they had a fight at the party. There is also Bass Armstrong. He was found inside the room, and he also had a fight with Tina at the party. The fight between them was pretty heated, so it is possible he may have acted on his anger."

Eliot nodded. "We also believe that Rig is a suspect since he was in the room with Bass when Tina was murdered. She also seemed to like him. And speaking of people liking each other... Zack was known to have a strong like for Tina. She has been known to reject him several times, and with the case of Niki leaving him a few months back, it doesn't look good for him."

"Very good," Gen Fu said, clasping his hands together. "Are there any other suspects?"

"Leifang and Tina didn't really get along. They always fought over food and exercise techniques whenever I was in the diner," Eliot added. "So, I'm adding her as a possible suspect."

Hitomi hated that her best friend was a suspect once again, but she had to admit there was a part of her that understood why. It was a known fact that she and Tina never got along. Either way, the karateka wanted to get these interviews over and done with so she could finally start mourning for Tina properly. Right now, she had to be strong and she was fine with that. The only thing keeping her from falling apart right now was that Hayate was still alive.

As soon as Gen Fu excused the two detectives from their duties, Eliot suggested to Hitomi that they should visit Hayate at the hospital and see how he was currently doing. The German woman agreed since she really wanted to see him again. She was thankful that he was given a second chance at life. Also, Hayate had already confirmed that he had seen the murderer. Maybe he would be able to tell them who it was.

The hospital was located down the road from DOATEC High School. The inside of the building consisted of many levels. The hallways were a pale green colour, and it was currently empty due to the time now being a few minutes shy from midnight. When Eliot and Hitomi found Lisa, she told them that she was currently doing some tests on Hayate since he was still unconscious. The best choice of action she told the pair to do was wait until he was awake.

Hitomi waited in silence as Lisa and the other doctors accompanied Hayate in his private hospital room. Her heart was thumping, and her brain was filled with doubt. She couldn't believe that another murder had occurred. The karateka then looked over to Eliot to see that he was also in deep thought. Her curiosity grew and she couldn't help but want to know what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" she whispered. Even though the halls was empty, it didn't mean that her voice wouldn't travel through the walls.

"I was thinking about the murders," Eliot answered.

"Oh?"

"Think about it, Hitomi," he said. "There is a pattern with all the murders so far… Each victim has been attacked on the head."

Hitomi thought back to the previous murders. Rolande's crushed skull, Kokoro's bleeding temple, Tina's bruised forehead, and Hayate's numerous head bumps all filled her mind. She felt sick just thinking about it. And then it clicked to her.

"Are you suggesting that all these murders have been done by one person?" Hitomi asked.

Eliot nodded in response. "Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"If that's true, then our investigation will be a whole lot easier."

"Exactly. All we have to do now is find out who this creep is."

The clock continued to tick and the next thing Hitomi knew, it was suddenly morning. It didn't even faze her that she and Eliot had been awake all night. One thing she knew for sure, though, was that she needed to consume a lot of caffeine in order to get through the day.

Hitomi spotted Kasumi and Ayane nearby. They arrived around an hour ago. They were sitting patiently on the seats and looked as though they were trying their best not to fall asleep. However, they were suddenly more awake than ever once when they spotted Lisa walking towards them.

"Great news," she told everyone. "Hayate is currently awake."

"So he's fine?" Ayane asked her.

"Yes," Lisa answered. "Only the detectives are allowed to see him right now, but I'm afra-"

Hitomi was too happy to hear the rest of what Lisa had to say and headed inside Hayate's room. The walls were a dark mauve colour, and there was a chair next to the bed. Hitomi made her way over to the chair and sat down. Eliot also made his way inside and shut the door behind him.

"Hayate… I'm so glad to see you!" Hitomi greeted, bursting into tears. She buried her head onto the bed. Oddly enough, he didn't do anything to comfort her. He seemed confused by the situation.

"We're glad you're awake, Hayate," Eliot said with a smile. He then clicked his pen in anticipation. "You said that you saw the murderer before they attacked you… Can you tell us who it is?"

"Please tell us," Hitomi agreed. "You can help us solve the case, and you can also avenge all these deaths. We just need the name of the murderer."

Hitomi frowned at Hayate's silence. He just stared at the wall in front of him, trying to recollect the horrific events from last night.

"Hayate?" Hitomi nudged.

"... Who are you?"

Hitomi's eyes widened in response. She had no idea what was going on, or why Hayate was acting this way.

"Hayate, this isn't funny," Eliot lectured. "Someone just died. You can't just mock their death by pretending to be confused."

"I'm not mocking anyone…" he struggled. He then grasped his injured shoulder in pain. "I have no idea who you are, either."

The karateka glared at the injured man. She had no idea what kind of joke Hayate was playing, but she grabbed Eliot by the wrist and dragged him outside of the room. The German woman led him over to Lisa, who was currently talking to Kasumi and Ayane.

"Why is Hayate acting like he doesn't know us?!" Hitomi demanded.

Eliot grabbed his wrist in pain. "Yeah… he seemed to be really confused."

"That's what I was trying to tell you before you both ran off," Lisa said, rolling her eyes. "I've just explained this to Ayane and Kasumi, but Hayate has-"

"Hayate has amnesia!" Kasumi interrupted. She then began to sob even harder than before. Lisa tried her best to comfort the poor girl.

'Hayate has… amnesia?' Hitomi thought.

This was terrible. Just when it was possible for the situation to get better, it only got much worse. Hayate no longer knew who he was, and Hitomi felt especially bad for his two sisters. He had no exact memory of them anymore.

Overall, the situation was very disappointing. Hayate was the only person that could have helped them clear the case, but now he had no memories at all.

Perfect timing.

A/N: Okay, that's a wrap. I hope some of you are feeling relieved about you-know-who... but then again, the situation is kinda bad.

I hope you guys realise why I named this story Breaking Chains now. It's up to Hitomi and Eliot to break the chain of murders.

On another note, Eliot and Ayane technically saved Kasumi's life... If Ayane hadn't gotten her out of the backstage room, then she probably would have died as well.

...

INVESTIGATION PROCESS #3

Time of murder: Around 9:10pm

Place of murder: In the D.W.A coliseum

Murder Weapon: Metal pipe and thin cable

Who found the body: ?

...

INVESTIGATION #3 SUSPECTS

Lisa Hamilton: [Suspect because of her recent conflict with Tina / False alibi]

Bass Armstrong: [Suspect because of his short temper / Was found at the crime scene]

Rig: [Suspect because he was found at the crime scene]

Zack: [Suspect because of his one-sided attraction with Tina]

Leifang: [Suspect because of her conflict with Tina]

...

INVESTIGATION #3 CLUES

~ Two metal pipes - confirmed to be the weapon that caused Tina and Hayate's head injuries.

~ Multiple bumps on Hayate's head - the attacker isn't strong.

~ Knife - used to stab Hayate's shoulder. It is black and features a gold dragon. Hitomi has seen this design before, but where?...

~ Small piece of black cable - found on top of some old ropes. Thin and bendable, just like the mark on Tina's neck. Confirmed to be the murder weapon.

~ Main power switch - There are two power switches. Switched to 'off' in the back room. Lisa managed to turn it 'on' in the main room. The murderer must know this place well.

~ Reoccurring coincidence - each victim has been attacked on the head. Therefore, each murder has been done by the same person.

...

Explanation #2: The reason why I killed Tina was because she didn't really have a purpose in the story. I wanted to convey her commitment issues when it came to her career, but that was the only thing I could think of. I thought it was best to get rid of her in an extravagant way... The only thing I regret is not making Tina and Bass be on better terms before her death.

Explanation #3: I had never planned to kill Hayate in this story. The reason why I faked his death was because I wanted to scare the readers and make sure they realise that unexpected things will happen in this story. Also, I needed to fit Hayate's amnesia into the story somehow. And because I feel bad that I scared a few people, I can safely assure you all that Hayate will not be murdered in this story.