Episode 8: Meet and Greet – Tekken Style

After the graduation ceremony was complete without any issues, Gon, Jin, and Nina didn't waste any time explaining the upcoming mandatory Tekken Meet and Greet to Stephanie. She completely understood and knew that it wouldn't take more than three days. So, she decided to call her parents to help her with the permanent move into her new place while the three warriors had just arrived at the massive Tekken Mansion. Gon hopped out of the limo first and he was revealed to be back to his old short yellow carnosaur self. Jin and Nina got out of the vehicle just seconds later, even while the dinosaur was breathing in a deep inhale of fresh air.

"Ahhh!" He sighed afterwards. "Feels so good to be back. Hard to believe that brand new faces have come here, like you guys said. Are you really sure about that?"

"Trust us on this." Jin admitted with no regrets. "The only ones you've met in the third Tekken tournament was just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, I've made sure that only those you haven't seen have all been gathered in the main meeting hall of this mansion before we arrived. You won't be disappointed."

"I sure do hope so." After that was said, the three warriors headed inside the main entrance and Nina volunteered to pick up the small dinosaur as soon as the glass double doors closed automatically behind them.

Several minutes later, Jin, Nina, and Gon finally arrived at the main meeting hall that was probably big enough for an Olympic sized swimming pool and Nina had just put the small yellow carnosaur down before her and her boss, took a couple steps back alongside him, and awaited some form of a reaction from anyone at this point. Gon remained speechless as he saw the largest crowd of new Tekken warriors he's ever seen at a distance of about ten feet for now. After about a minute, Jin silently gave the dinosaur a paper list of the names of each warrior standing before him and he didn't hesitate to read it to himself:

Christie Montero
Master Raven
Gigas
Lars Alexandersson
Alisa Bosconovitch
Michelle Chang
Kunimitsu
Raven
Lucky Chloe
Claudio Serafino
Miguel Caballero Rojo
Zafina
Jack-7
Kazuya Mishima
Jinpachi Mishima
Kazumi Mishima
Jun Kazama
Asuka Kazama
Marshall Law
Craig Marduk
Armor King
Bruce Irvin
Bob
Steve Fox
Baek Doo San
Combot
Fahkumram
Feng Wei
Ganryu
Jack-5
Jack-6
Josie Rizal
Katarina Alves
Lee Chaolan
Leo Kliesen
Leroy Smith
Lili De Rochefort
Miharu Hirano
Prototype Jack
Roger & Roger Jr.
Angel
Alex
Sergei Dragunov
Shaheen
Jack-2

"Good… Lord…" Gon whispered breathlessly as he continued to look at the massive crowd of approximately 45 warriors in various shapes, sizes, colors, machines, and creatures. "…this is all of them, Jin?"

"Every single last one." The son of Kazuya replied. "How do you feel?"

"I… I'm almost speechless. How in the hell did you have enough room for 'em all?!"

"Eh, we worked many things out throughout the years since you've been away."

"There's even another dinosaur in the crowd!" That was Alex's cue to come out to reveal himself for a moment before the rest of them, making them all smile with respect. "Your name is Alex, right?"

"Yep!" The green raptor replied in a deeper semi-growling male voice of his own. "I would've eaten you alive."

"Pfft! Says the dinosaur that steals eggs for a living."

"Grrr!"

"Heh, heh. Easy, you two. Alex, get back in line." Jin commanded and the taller dinosaur didn't hesitate to obey.

"Sorry about that, everyone." Gon apologized to the rest of the warriors. "It's my first time back here in many years and I'm just amazed by how much this company has grown." Then, he saw them. "Huh! Raven and Master Raven, I assume." The two said fighters stepped forward next. "You were the pair of birds who found my information in Dr. B's lab, right?"

"Yes." They both replied together. Gon laughed.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! I knew it! Master Raven IS a woman! And a pretty badass lookin' one at that. Nice braids!"

"Thanks, Gon." Master Raven replied with sincerity. "And I must say that it's truly an honor to finally match that letter with a face. Your short stature sure doesn't make you seem like the threat Jin and Nina remembered. Are you sure that you're as tough as they said you are?"

"You better believe it! I was the best! You all have absolutely no idea. Back then, I actually won the third Tekken tournament." This made everyone in the crowd behind the Ravens gasp with absolute shock. "Yeah, it's true. I know I don't look the part, but trust me. Despite my short ass, I was dangerous. Not even Jin in his devil self could stop me! And I also see more of his family there. Kazuya, Jinpachi, Kazumi, Jun, Asuka… all of you probably wouldn't have had a chance against me."

"That's what YOU think!" Kazuya threatened. "What could you possibly have done to make you such a formidable opponent?" Gon became confident as he started to casually walk towards the crowd and they didn't hesitate to let him walk all around them like he was in a maze, purposefully walking by Kazuya first. "Humph! Your win must've been a fluke."

"On the contrary, Mr. Mishima. Since I've been living since the Jurassic Era of the Dinosaurs, I've gained much more strength throughout all those billions of millions of years." During the small dinosaur's speech, he didn't even flinch when he stopped for a moment for a few contenders to take a closer look at him. "I also had many formidable powers at my disposal to add more to the fun. I've got fire breath and I can conduct electricity throughout my body, just like Blanka from Street Fighter. Nobody ever sees that coming."

"Impossible!"

"How can you do that, though?" Christie dared to ask as she just kneeled down alongside Leroy and Lars.

"No idea, really. I guess it all started way back… uh, about 100 years ago. Electricity was a huge deal back then and even I was as curious as a cat. No offense, Lucky Chloe. Cute name, by the way."

"None taken and thanks, nya!" The otaku replied with her usual cheerful demeanor. "What happened, though? Did it hurt?"

"A little bit. I stepped on an active power cord that was cut and felt probably about 3000 volts flow through my entire little body. I was unconscious for an entire day and when I woke up, sneezed, then BOOM! I made a small spark of electricity that would've paralyzed ya. I've been teaching myself how to use it every day since."

"Wow!" Everyone said with astonishment. Marduk picked up the small carnosaur by his tail and he was forced to now see his future fans upside down for a moment.

"Man, you're bluffin'!" The Val Tudo champ disagreed. "I can throw you across the room right now, if I wanted to." Gon chuckled.

"Heh! And I would allow it because I can bounce right off the wall with my short, strong legs here and bite ya where it counts… and it looks like you've got plenty of it."

"(Gulp) Damn! You ARE a feisty little bastard."

"Told ya." It got quiet for a moment as he spotted Alisa looking at him with a curious tilted head. "Alisa Bosconovitch, right?"

"You are correct." The android replied. "My father was right about you. You may be approximately 2 feet tall, but you have the strength that would even make a Tyrannosaurus Rex flee with extreme terror."

"And you talk like a robot, but with a voice that's just as cute as Chloe's. Are you an android?"

"Yes."

"Wait a minute. Marduk, hand me over to her." The massive champ did so and Alisa held him up from underneath his small arms, which prompted Kunimitsu, Josie, and Miguel to take closer looks at him from over the android's shoulders. "Huh! When Dr. B told me that he recreated his long lost daughter, I didn't believe him because he looked like he wouldn't even have kids. You've been reincarnated into an immortal android, eh?"

"Again, you are correct, Gon. He has been telling me the truth 100 percent when he proclaimed that you were indeed the grand champion of the third Tekken Tournament, although True Ogre was quite the challenge for you."

"Heh, yeah." The rest of the fighters gathered around the two conversing warriors after that was said. "We both have fire breath, so it was an even challenge… except that he could put those goddamn wings to good use. That fight was literally to the death. I nearly died that day."

"Whoa! Really?!" Josie asked with excitement.

"Yep. Ogre had me floored and I was just smothered in my own blood. He was too, but he was much stronger and he wasn't as close to dying as I was. His last resort to killing me was to use that snake arm to eat me alive. Right at the very second those fangs were about to bite down and kill me, I used that electricity I told ya about earlier and he got within range. He was getting 5000 volts of it for five painful minutes and he was fried like a chicken. So, Kazuya… yeah. My win was a fluke."

"I knew it!" The father of Jin exclaimed. "It was sheer dumb luck that made you win."

"But, I made it to True Ogre with my own bare claws."

"He says this with absolute truth." Alisa agreed. "I had my lie detector on the entire time and he hasn't lied yet since he got here."

"I still find it hard to believe." Kazuya continued his protests with crossed arms.

"Did you encounter Yoshimitsu?" Kunimitsu asked in her deep feminine voice of an expert with her signature mask off, showing her youthful, but scarred face. Gon got a good look at the pigtailed kunoichi and smiled with respect, which made Alisa turn around to have them both facing the ninja.

"Now, I recognize that voice and that face anywhere. You're the Kunimitsu I've heard so much about from him. You sure do look a lot younger than he said you were. Did you really get on his nerves?"

"In your manner of speaking, yes. I was more of a hinderance than a help to his Manji Clan back then. My skills as a thief did surpass his own by a thousand fold, but my greed got the best of me."

"No kiddin'! And your skills with that kunai isn't something to write home about, neither." The kunoichi held up that said blade with careful precision and Gon whistled at it with astonishment. "Damn! What a weapon! You could probably slice my tail off with that thing!"

"Heh, maybe. It hasn't failed me yet."

"Nice. To answer your question, though, yeah. I have encountered and beaten him. His sword did intimidate me because I had a gut feeling that he would just simply cut me down and be done with it, but he actually fought fair against me. Hopefully, you're much faster than he was."

"Rest assured. I will be a much more worthy opponent than he'll ever be."

"I'm looking forward to it." The two shook hands with honor after that was said. Then, he showed a look of suspicion as he felt something warm within her bare fingers. "You have fire breath, too, don't you?"

"Yes, but don't ask how. Just be prepared for it when our battle awaits."

"Gotcha."

For the next two hours, Gon got very well acquainted with all of the other Tekken warriors. Overall, he enjoyed their company, even from Gigas and Fahkumram. After those two hours, Jin stepped in and approached his skeptic father to further explain Gon's impressive feat in the third tournament, giving the short dinosaur some repeat relief. He ended up sitting in Lucky Chloe's lap after the meet and greet session was finally over.

"Phew! All of you are a handful." Gon concluded as he bowed his head with another heavy sigh. "How does Jin put with you all?"

"He's a tolerable man." Bruce replied with humor. "Kickin' ass is what we all do best and he's not one to complain."

"Even towards Lucky Chloe here?"

"Yep!" Chloe replied as she was giving the dinosaur gentle rubs on his back. "Can't believe that I'm a freestyle dancer, huh?"

"Especially after that demonstration not too long ago. Sheesh! You sure don't look the part, but ya killed those moves! I'll definitely have to practice my jump roping skills to beat you. I've gotta jump over those legs."

"Oh, it'll be fun! I can feel it!"

"Yeah, it sure will, but listen up, everyone. I've gotta confess something before we get to the fightin'." Gon remained on the otaku's lap as he stood up and got everyone's attention. "I never told ya'll this during the whole meet and greet session: I'm currently in a relationship with the most beautiful woman I know." A stunned silence was heard all over him as he continued. "And you thought Kazuya had a hard time believing that I won Tekken 3. Anyway, her name is Stephanie Veronica Fredrickson. I've known her for pretty much her whole life and that third Tekken tournament had me on hold from her for a while. I promised I'd come back to her before her college graduation and I fulfilled that promise already. I fell in love with her because she was the only human who truly cared about me and felt maximum sympathy for everything I've been through in order to survive the extinction of the dinosaurs. I even had to go through a drastic appearance change to make the relationship work even more. I can transform in and out of it at my own free will. Ya wanna see it?"

"…uh, HELL YEAH!" Marduk exclaimed on everyone's behalf. They all just slowly nodded twice in agreement. Gon chuckled before he hopped off of Lucky Chloe's lap and gave himself plenty of standing and transforming space at ten steps before the massive crowd of fighters before he magically underwent his said transformation that took approximately fifteen seconds. Afterwards, he appeared as the muscular purple and yellow dragon obstatricity standing at his height of 6 feet and 4 inches before them. He stood there with confidence as he allowed all of them to take it all in for a moment, even after Kazuya finally came out of another meeting room with his son.

"Wwwwhat the-" Kazuya muttered with bewilderment before Jin interrupted.

"Just seeing the new and improved Gon, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. "We found him like this in the Galar region of the Pokémon Universe, dressed in that same pair of baggy brown khakis. He's basically an anthropomorphic dragon with the appearances of an obstagoon and the Amped form of toxtricity all at once, making him a deadly combined force of dark, dragon, electricity, and poison. Not bad for someone who has to protect his precious girlfriend, eh?"

"I'll say." Michelle agreed as she alone dared herself to approach the transformed creature. "It was already incredible enough to hear that you're in love with a human, but it's even more astonishing to see this new form of yours. What an extremely drastic measure you took. Does Stephanie really mean that much to you?"

"More than myself." Gon confessed with no remorse in a normal deep male voice that made her and the rest of the fighters jump with surprise, but remained calm afterwards as he continued. "She's been taking care of me since I became a subject in one of her classes during her freshman year of college after we reunited many years ago. Now, my compassion for her is kinda returning the favor. After this meet and greet battle session with you all, I'm gonna be living the rest of my life with Steph. I love her that much."

"Awww, that's so sweet. Well, we all wish you the very best."

"Here, here!" The rest of the warriors, including Nina and Jin, agreed immediately after the elder brave. Gon blushed with embarrassment as he felt honored by every last one of them.

"Thank you so much… all of you. I truly appreciate it."

"No problem!" Asuka exclaimed alone before slapping a fist into an open palm with determination. "Now, I'm ready to see what you're made of in the arena. All of us!"

"Well, then I better get comfortable." After that last word was said with humor from Gon, he transformed back into his old 2 foot tall carnosaur self. "Now, let's end this introduction in true Tekken fashion. Kunimitsu, let's get you outta the way first. I wanna see your fire breath!"

"And so you shall." Kunimitsu replied with a golden smile on her blood red lips as the two challengers led the rest of the group, leaving Jin and Nina behind with crossed arms and a hand on the hip respectively as they both showed a smile of honor.

"Well, it's safe to say that this meet and greet was a success." Nina proclaimed professionally, making her boss nod in agreement.

"Despite whatever the outcome of the fighting portion may turn out, yes." Jin added. "Nina, you spectate the fights. I'm gonna call Stephanie and let her know that she can come and get Gon now. I have a feeling that it'll be over by the time she gets here."

"Consider it done." The elder sister of Anna didn't waste any time heading towards that same massive arena with a calm demeanor as Jin went in the opposite direction back to his office to make that said phone call.

Overall, the Tekken warriors were glad to have finally met the little dino that could. Now, they're all most likely going to get their asses handed to him like the champion he is as the solid gold proof they've been waiting for since Raven and Master Raven revealed him.

To be continued…