Chapter Seventeen
The morning sun rises up into the sky. Clouds also appear as well.
Jax was the only one awake out of everyone at the cave. He was setting up the fire and breakfast when he noticed six figures coming out of the woods. Jax squinted his eyes trying to see the figures but they were in a dark shadow. Then, they all step into the brightness of the sun revealing the six figures.
Jax smiles as he sees Ryu, Ken, Guile, Liu, and Rayden along with Chun-Li well and alive.
"You guys made it!" he cried. He runs over to the group. When he was a few feet away, he looks at Chun-Li. "Are you all right?"
Chun-Li smiles. "Yes, I'm all right."
"What's happened since we left, Jax?" asked Ken.
Jax bows his head. "Rose didn't make it."
Chun-Li gasps and puts her hand over her mouth.
Jax looks back up at them. "But we can't let our emotions get in the way. We still have a tournament to get through."
"Speaking of emotions," said Liu. "How's Sonya?"
Jax shook his head. "Not too great, especially after Rose........." he trailed off.
That's when a few others step out of the cave. "Hey Jax," said Rolento. "Is breakfast ready yet?"
Honda looks over at where Jax is. "Hey! Look who's back!"
Sonya was also one of the people who came out of the cave. She smiles, especially when she sees Chun-Li. "They made it!" she cried. She runs over to Chun-Li. "Thank goodness." The two women hug.
"You guys should've been there," said Guile. "Ryu put a can of whoop-ass on Reptile."
"Really?" Jax said stunned. "He's one of Shao's best warriors."
"Speaking of Shao," said Ken. "He almost broke my neck." He pats Rayden's shoulder. "But the Thunder God here came to the rescue."
That's when two people emerge from the cave. The friends turn to them and see Guy and Kitana holding hands.
Kitana notices the stares from everyone. "What? Ever seen a ten thousand year old woman holding hands with a twenty-nine year old man before?"
Everyone laughed.
"Okay everyone," Jax said. "Breakfast is almost ready. We must prepare for the next tournament."
***
Sub-Zero and Dan wake up in their dungeon.
"That was the most uncomftable sleep I've ever had," said Dan.
"Umm, I'm guessing because we've been hanging on the wall by chains all night," Sub-Zero replied.
Fei-Long wakes up fluttering his eyes. He then starts looking around. "Wha......what is this place?"
"Shang Tsung's dungeon," said Sub-Zero.
Mika starts waking up as well. "I have a headache," said mumbled.
That's when the doors of the dungeon opens. Everyone looks up to see a figure in a black cloak walking in. A black hood covers the figures face.
"Grim Reaper?" Dan asked.
"No," Sub-Zero said knowing full well by senses who this is. "Shang Tsung."
The figure pulls over his hood revealing Shang.
"May I suggest to PLEASE keep your hood over your face?" Fei-Long asked.
That's when Shang puts his hand out. Fei-Long could feel his insides twisting. Fei-Long shuts his eyes tightly and growls in pain. After a few seconds, Shang puts his hand down. Fei-Long was still growling.
"I hope you are enjoying your stay," said Shang. "We are kind enough to at least give you a meal. The sun has just risen. Your meals will be ready in twelve hours."
"Twelve hours?!!" cried Dan. "That's a long time, I can't wait that........"
Shang puts his hand out. Dan starts to cry in pain. Mika watches this and tears develop in her eyes.
Shang puts his hand down. "As I said, your meals will be ready in twelve hours. For now, I have a tournament to host, more souls for me to take." He begins walking out of the dungeon.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH WHAT YOU DID TO MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sub- Zero cried out.
Shang turns to him and puts his hand out. Sub-Zero starts to cry in pain. Shang makes the pain last a little longer than the last two. Then he puts his hand down. He steps out of the dungeon and closes the doors. The slamming of the door could be heard throughout the area.
***
The friends enter the indoor ring. The clouds have covered the sky threatening a storm.
"Honda and Dhalsim are fighting today," said Jax. He sees Dhalsim meditating and Honda warming up.
Shang enters the arena and sits at his throne. "Welcome to the next tournament. First up, Dhalsim versus Kano."
"(Why is that name familiar?)" Guile asked himself. Then he remembers. Kano was the one who killed Dee Jay, the first to die out of everyone in the cave.
Dhalsim stops his meditation and begins walking towards the ring. Kano was already in the ring waiting for him.
"Eck!" cried Sonya. "Did he have to leave his shirt off? He has the body of a monkey."
Jax looks at her. "Then why are you staring at his body?" He gives Sonya a devilish grin.
Sonya got the flirting message and lightly shoves Jax. "Just be quiet."
"Begin!" cried Shang. Everyone looks into the ring where the fighters are.
Dhalsim and Kano circle the ring for a minute. Then, Kano charges at him. As he does, Dhalsim teleports behind him.
"What the......" Kano said as he turns around to find Dhalsim. Kano runs towards him and starts throwing punches at Dhalsim. Dhalsim blocks every one of them. Then, he takes his legs and stretches it out quickly hitting Kano in the gut.
Kano jumps back. Then, Dhalsim jumps in the air. With his feet towards Kano, Dhalsim flies down towards him. Kano sees this and jumps out of the way. Dhalsim lands back on his feet.
"Yoga fire!" Dhalsim cried out. He spits out a ball of fire. It flies towards Kano. Kano dives out of the way.
"You skinny skeleton!" Kano cried out. He runs towards Dhalsim and begins throwing punches at him. Dhalsim blocks every one of them.
After a while, Kano manages to break through Dhalsim's block. He throws his punches at Dhalsim's head, face, and stomach. Dhalsim then jumps back feeling a little dizzy.
Then, Kano jumps in the air and darts at Dhalsim rolled up into a ball. Everyone knew that Dhalsim could dodge this one, but for some reason, he didn't budge.
Kano hits him hard in the chest breaking his ribs. One ribs manages to puncture his lung.
"No way!" Jax cried. "Dhalsim had time to teleport out of there."
Dhalsim hears this and looks up at Jax. "A demon. There's a demon in this room, a very strong one. He....he paralyzed me when Kano went after me."
"Finish him!"
"Find the demon, Jax. He's the one who is........." before Dhalsim could finish, Kano performs the same move that broke Dhalsim's ribs. This time, Kano hits him in the head, hard enough to kill him.
Kano lands back on his feet.
"The winner, Kano!" Shang cried out standing up.
The quiet scream could be heard throughout the ring.
"(Whoever this 'demon' is,)" Jax thought. "(It must be responsible for the soul-taking. Obviously, this demon must work for Outworld.)"
"Next," said Shang. "Honda versus Cammy."
Chun-Li raises an eyebrow. "(Cammy? Why is that name so familiar?)"
As soon as Honda's opponent steps into the ring, Chun-Li realizes who Cammy is. She is one of Bison's commanders for Shadowlaw.
"(Outworld must've captured her too)" Chun-Li concluded.
"Honda!" Chun-Li cried. Honda walks towards her.
"Yes Chun-Li?"
Chun-Li goes into a whisper. "Your opponent is someone I've been looking for for quite sometime. Try not to kill her."
Honda gasps. "Chun-Li? You want me to die?!!"
Chun-Li laughed. "No!! Never Honda." Her face turns serious again. "Do what Sub-Zero did to Guy in the beginning of the tournament."
Honda nodded remembering what happened. He walks to the ring and gets into his fighting stance. Cammy is already in her fighting stance.
Chun-Li turns to Jax. "Don't worry about Honda. I guarantee that he'll live through this tournament."
"Not that I don't want him to die and all, but why do you say that?"
"Begin!!" Shang cried out.
Before Honda could react, Cammy immediately jumps towards him and kicks him in the face. Honda keeps his balance.
Cammy starts throwing series of punches at Honda. Honda blocks most of them. Some of the punches hit him on the side and his gut.
Honda then pulls back and attempts his hundred-hand slaps. Cammy dodges out of the way and kicks him her heel digging into his cheek.
"(Damn,)" Honda thought. "(How am I going to make this a double K.O?)"
Cammy crotches low to the ground and spins her body her feet towards Honda. "Cannon spike!" she cried out.
Honda sees this and jumps over her. Cammy quickly gets back up.
Cammy throws more punches and kicks at her.
"(I gotta do something!)" Honda thought desperately.
Then, an idea came to him.
"Hi Cammy," Honda said smiling.
Cammy was only two feet away from him. She looks up at him but still keeps her guard up.
Suddenly, Honda steps towards her, grabs her, and squeezes her as hard as she can.
Honda smiles. "I just wanted to give you a nice, big sumo hug!"
Cammy struggles to get out of Honda's grip, but it was no use.
"(Here's my chance)" Honda thought. "(Hopefully we both live.)"
He uses his head to hit her head hard enough to knock her and himself out. They both fall to the ground.
Honda's friends cross their fingers.
After a minute Shang stands up. "Double K.O."
Everyone sighed of relief.
"Why did he do that?" Jax thought looking at Chun-Li.
"I asked him to," she replied. "Cammy has suffered enough in her life. I'm pretty sure she didn't have a choice but to fight in this tournament."
Jax nodded. "I understand." He sighs. He looks into the ring where Cammy and Honda lay unconscious. He then remembers Dhalsim's words about a 'demon.'
"(I hope we find this demon, Dhalsim. As soon as we do, you and the others will finally rest in peace.)"
The morning sun rises up into the sky. Clouds also appear as well.
Jax was the only one awake out of everyone at the cave. He was setting up the fire and breakfast when he noticed six figures coming out of the woods. Jax squinted his eyes trying to see the figures but they were in a dark shadow. Then, they all step into the brightness of the sun revealing the six figures.
Jax smiles as he sees Ryu, Ken, Guile, Liu, and Rayden along with Chun-Li well and alive.
"You guys made it!" he cried. He runs over to the group. When he was a few feet away, he looks at Chun-Li. "Are you all right?"
Chun-Li smiles. "Yes, I'm all right."
"What's happened since we left, Jax?" asked Ken.
Jax bows his head. "Rose didn't make it."
Chun-Li gasps and puts her hand over her mouth.
Jax looks back up at them. "But we can't let our emotions get in the way. We still have a tournament to get through."
"Speaking of emotions," said Liu. "How's Sonya?"
Jax shook his head. "Not too great, especially after Rose........." he trailed off.
That's when a few others step out of the cave. "Hey Jax," said Rolento. "Is breakfast ready yet?"
Honda looks over at where Jax is. "Hey! Look who's back!"
Sonya was also one of the people who came out of the cave. She smiles, especially when she sees Chun-Li. "They made it!" she cried. She runs over to Chun-Li. "Thank goodness." The two women hug.
"You guys should've been there," said Guile. "Ryu put a can of whoop-ass on Reptile."
"Really?" Jax said stunned. "He's one of Shao's best warriors."
"Speaking of Shao," said Ken. "He almost broke my neck." He pats Rayden's shoulder. "But the Thunder God here came to the rescue."
That's when two people emerge from the cave. The friends turn to them and see Guy and Kitana holding hands.
Kitana notices the stares from everyone. "What? Ever seen a ten thousand year old woman holding hands with a twenty-nine year old man before?"
Everyone laughed.
"Okay everyone," Jax said. "Breakfast is almost ready. We must prepare for the next tournament."
***
Sub-Zero and Dan wake up in their dungeon.
"That was the most uncomftable sleep I've ever had," said Dan.
"Umm, I'm guessing because we've been hanging on the wall by chains all night," Sub-Zero replied.
Fei-Long wakes up fluttering his eyes. He then starts looking around. "Wha......what is this place?"
"Shang Tsung's dungeon," said Sub-Zero.
Mika starts waking up as well. "I have a headache," said mumbled.
That's when the doors of the dungeon opens. Everyone looks up to see a figure in a black cloak walking in. A black hood covers the figures face.
"Grim Reaper?" Dan asked.
"No," Sub-Zero said knowing full well by senses who this is. "Shang Tsung."
The figure pulls over his hood revealing Shang.
"May I suggest to PLEASE keep your hood over your face?" Fei-Long asked.
That's when Shang puts his hand out. Fei-Long could feel his insides twisting. Fei-Long shuts his eyes tightly and growls in pain. After a few seconds, Shang puts his hand down. Fei-Long was still growling.
"I hope you are enjoying your stay," said Shang. "We are kind enough to at least give you a meal. The sun has just risen. Your meals will be ready in twelve hours."
"Twelve hours?!!" cried Dan. "That's a long time, I can't wait that........"
Shang puts his hand out. Dan starts to cry in pain. Mika watches this and tears develop in her eyes.
Shang puts his hand down. "As I said, your meals will be ready in twelve hours. For now, I have a tournament to host, more souls for me to take." He begins walking out of the dungeon.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH WHAT YOU DID TO MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sub- Zero cried out.
Shang turns to him and puts his hand out. Sub-Zero starts to cry in pain. Shang makes the pain last a little longer than the last two. Then he puts his hand down. He steps out of the dungeon and closes the doors. The slamming of the door could be heard throughout the area.
***
The friends enter the indoor ring. The clouds have covered the sky threatening a storm.
"Honda and Dhalsim are fighting today," said Jax. He sees Dhalsim meditating and Honda warming up.
Shang enters the arena and sits at his throne. "Welcome to the next tournament. First up, Dhalsim versus Kano."
"(Why is that name familiar?)" Guile asked himself. Then he remembers. Kano was the one who killed Dee Jay, the first to die out of everyone in the cave.
Dhalsim stops his meditation and begins walking towards the ring. Kano was already in the ring waiting for him.
"Eck!" cried Sonya. "Did he have to leave his shirt off? He has the body of a monkey."
Jax looks at her. "Then why are you staring at his body?" He gives Sonya a devilish grin.
Sonya got the flirting message and lightly shoves Jax. "Just be quiet."
"Begin!" cried Shang. Everyone looks into the ring where the fighters are.
Dhalsim and Kano circle the ring for a minute. Then, Kano charges at him. As he does, Dhalsim teleports behind him.
"What the......" Kano said as he turns around to find Dhalsim. Kano runs towards him and starts throwing punches at Dhalsim. Dhalsim blocks every one of them. Then, he takes his legs and stretches it out quickly hitting Kano in the gut.
Kano jumps back. Then, Dhalsim jumps in the air. With his feet towards Kano, Dhalsim flies down towards him. Kano sees this and jumps out of the way. Dhalsim lands back on his feet.
"Yoga fire!" Dhalsim cried out. He spits out a ball of fire. It flies towards Kano. Kano dives out of the way.
"You skinny skeleton!" Kano cried out. He runs towards Dhalsim and begins throwing punches at him. Dhalsim blocks every one of them.
After a while, Kano manages to break through Dhalsim's block. He throws his punches at Dhalsim's head, face, and stomach. Dhalsim then jumps back feeling a little dizzy.
Then, Kano jumps in the air and darts at Dhalsim rolled up into a ball. Everyone knew that Dhalsim could dodge this one, but for some reason, he didn't budge.
Kano hits him hard in the chest breaking his ribs. One ribs manages to puncture his lung.
"No way!" Jax cried. "Dhalsim had time to teleport out of there."
Dhalsim hears this and looks up at Jax. "A demon. There's a demon in this room, a very strong one. He....he paralyzed me when Kano went after me."
"Finish him!"
"Find the demon, Jax. He's the one who is........." before Dhalsim could finish, Kano performs the same move that broke Dhalsim's ribs. This time, Kano hits him in the head, hard enough to kill him.
Kano lands back on his feet.
"The winner, Kano!" Shang cried out standing up.
The quiet scream could be heard throughout the ring.
"(Whoever this 'demon' is,)" Jax thought. "(It must be responsible for the soul-taking. Obviously, this demon must work for Outworld.)"
"Next," said Shang. "Honda versus Cammy."
Chun-Li raises an eyebrow. "(Cammy? Why is that name so familiar?)"
As soon as Honda's opponent steps into the ring, Chun-Li realizes who Cammy is. She is one of Bison's commanders for Shadowlaw.
"(Outworld must've captured her too)" Chun-Li concluded.
"Honda!" Chun-Li cried. Honda walks towards her.
"Yes Chun-Li?"
Chun-Li goes into a whisper. "Your opponent is someone I've been looking for for quite sometime. Try not to kill her."
Honda gasps. "Chun-Li? You want me to die?!!"
Chun-Li laughed. "No!! Never Honda." Her face turns serious again. "Do what Sub-Zero did to Guy in the beginning of the tournament."
Honda nodded remembering what happened. He walks to the ring and gets into his fighting stance. Cammy is already in her fighting stance.
Chun-Li turns to Jax. "Don't worry about Honda. I guarantee that he'll live through this tournament."
"Not that I don't want him to die and all, but why do you say that?"
"Begin!!" Shang cried out.
Before Honda could react, Cammy immediately jumps towards him and kicks him in the face. Honda keeps his balance.
Cammy starts throwing series of punches at Honda. Honda blocks most of them. Some of the punches hit him on the side and his gut.
Honda then pulls back and attempts his hundred-hand slaps. Cammy dodges out of the way and kicks him her heel digging into his cheek.
"(Damn,)" Honda thought. "(How am I going to make this a double K.O?)"
Cammy crotches low to the ground and spins her body her feet towards Honda. "Cannon spike!" she cried out.
Honda sees this and jumps over her. Cammy quickly gets back up.
Cammy throws more punches and kicks at her.
"(I gotta do something!)" Honda thought desperately.
Then, an idea came to him.
"Hi Cammy," Honda said smiling.
Cammy was only two feet away from him. She looks up at him but still keeps her guard up.
Suddenly, Honda steps towards her, grabs her, and squeezes her as hard as she can.
Honda smiles. "I just wanted to give you a nice, big sumo hug!"
Cammy struggles to get out of Honda's grip, but it was no use.
"(Here's my chance)" Honda thought. "(Hopefully we both live.)"
He uses his head to hit her head hard enough to knock her and himself out. They both fall to the ground.
Honda's friends cross their fingers.
After a minute Shang stands up. "Double K.O."
Everyone sighed of relief.
"Why did he do that?" Jax thought looking at Chun-Li.
"I asked him to," she replied. "Cammy has suffered enough in her life. I'm pretty sure she didn't have a choice but to fight in this tournament."
Jax nodded. "I understand." He sighs. He looks into the ring where Cammy and Honda lay unconscious. He then remembers Dhalsim's words about a 'demon.'
"(I hope we find this demon, Dhalsim. As soon as we do, you and the others will finally rest in peace.)"