Chapter Three: Swallow Dance
The lobby of the Mishima Headquarters was buzzing from the throng of people gathered there. They came from all walks of life, all sorts of different backgrounds, but they had one goal in common: to be the King of the Fifth Iron Fist Tournament. Xiaoyu scooted around another contestant, trying not to stare as she recognized some familiar faces.
There was the unmistakable form of the Vale Tudo champion, Marduk, rising head and shoulders above every other human competitor. He was a relative newcomer to the scene, and had shaved his head in preparation for the fights. Xiaoyu thought it made him look like an exceptionally large, bronzed version of Mr. Clean, except that Mr. Clean was always smiling, whereas Marduk's face was pulled into a permanent scowl. She quickly ducked before he could notice her stare—and bumped into another contestant, who let out a loud cry.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" the girl exclaimed, dusting herself off as Xiaoyu backed away with a quick apology. Looking up, the first thing that greeted her was a massive pair of boobs barely contained by the tight shirt holding them in.
The Monteiro girl, she thought instantly as she pulled her eyes away from the bobbing chest before her. "Sorry!" she stuttered, secretly wondering how Christie managed to dress so shamelessly without batting an eyelash. The tanned girl flashed her a huge white smile, shaking her head.
"No problem!" the Brazilian called out, brushing by busily.
Xiaoyu continued to wind her way through the crowd until she caught a familiar flash of silver. Breaking into a wide grin, she ran over towards Lee Chaolan, waving wildly. "Uncle Lee! Uncle Lee!" she yelled, jumping to catch his attention. The silver-haired man turned slowly, one of his many pretty secretaries hanging off of one arm, as usual. As he caught sight of her, his eyebrow went up and a grimace passed over his face.
"Love, you'd better let go of my arm for now," he whispered to the secretary as Xiaoyu barrelled into him. The frown increased a notch as he pried the young girl off and pushed her back. "Ling Xiaoyu. I told you not to touch me like that." With a groan, he inspected his tuxedo and brushed it off. "Look, you wrinkled my suit!"
"Sorry, Uncle Lee, I couldn't help it," Xiaoyu mumbled, stabbing at the carpet with her toe. "I was just so happy to see you! Ever since Grandpa Heihachi died, Kazuya's been a great big meanie to me!" she complained. Noticing Lee's annoyed expression, she widened her eyes and did her best to look cute. "Come on, Uncle Lee, I know you missed me!"
"Just because we both trained under Master Wang doesn't give you the right to assume a family relation," he scolded Xiaoyu, smoothing out the lapels of his coat. "I do wish you'd stop doing that. I don't like to associate with people of a lower class," he added haughtily, wrinkling his nose with distaste.
"Oh," intoned a breathy voice, "you mean this adorable little girl isn't your niece?" The beautiful secretary looked disappointed. "That's such a pity, she's so cute!" Xiaoyu nodded wildly in agreement, widening her eyes a little more. As expected, Lee's arrogant attitude quickly took a back seat to his desire to score points with the arm ornament he had brought along to the tournament.
"Ah, um, yes," he fumbled, recovering and grabbing Xiaoyu, pressing her into an artificial hug of familial affection. "My beloved niece Xiaoyu, how I missed you these past few months. My how you've grown!" he said smoothly, patting Xiaoyu messily on the head.
Smiling, Xiaoyu leaned in. "Guess what, Uncle Lee! I have a secret for you, but you can't tell anyone else! Promise!" Ignoring the squealed "Aww!" of Lee's secretary, she waved him closer and pulled his ear down, ignoring the glare he shot at her.
"This had better be worth it, Ling," he growled as she cupped her hand over his ear.
"Can it, stuffy pants!" she whispered back hotly. "When I win this tournament," she said, and frowned slightly as he let out a loud bark of laughter, "I want you to take over the Mishima Corporation." This caught Lee's interest, and he turned his head slightly towards her.
"Assuming you even qualify for the finals, why on earth should I do that?" he asked her smugly. It was just a formality, she knew; Lee's greed and desire to run the company would ensure his agreement no matter what she said.
"Because you're good at it!" she whispered back reasonably. "And you're not as big of an ass as Kazuya. If I win, I let you take charge, and you let me stay here and keep my allowance, and help me out with favours whenever I ask. Deal?" She leaned back and grinned broadly, bringing her knees together and crouching down with excitement. She knew it made her appear even younger than she was, and ignored the secretary's squeal of laughter.
"Oh, come now, Lee, how can you resist that?" the woman cooed, batting her eyelashes at the silver-haired man.
"I can't imagine," he answered dryly, levelling a stare at Xiaoyu, who smirked. "It looks like you're finally learning something," he murmured to her lowly, before stepping back and clapping his hand on her back painfully a few times. "Assuming that you win," he crowed loudly, though his eyes promised that she wouldn't, "of course I agree. I can't refuse my favourite niece, after all." He smiled tightly as the secretary latched onto his arm affectionately, and Xiaoyu flashed a victory sign behind the woman's back.
"I gotta run, Uncle Lee! See you in the tournament!" she cheered and jogged away hastily. "Heh, he's so predictable," she giggled to herself as made her way to the front of the lobby. Her eyes scanned the crowd once more, searching for a familiar spike of hair. Considering their confrontation in the building last week, she was disappointed but not particularly surprised to see that Jin was missing. Turning to the large board posted to the wall, she raced over the list quickly. She stopped momentarily as she came to her own name, her eyes resting on the brass letters with a touch of pride. Continuing her search, she paused in confusion and re-read one of the names. "Kazama, Asuka?" she wondered. "Does Jin have a sister I don't know about?" She briefly wondered about the new contestant and if her hair would be as wild and spiky as Jin's own. Shrugging, she looked further and found his name directly underneath the mystery girl. "Kazama, Jin," she said out loud thoughtfully. "So he is coming, after all."
"He'd better," growled a voice from behind her. "That bastard owes me."
Stiffening, Xiaoyu didn't bother to turn around. "Hwoarang," she grit out. "So you came again, too." Only two sentences, and already the Korean was beginning to grate on her nerves.
"Of course I came," he said lazily, stepping around and blocking her view with his tall figure. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against board, unconcerned as she yelled in protest. "I'm going to beat Jin Kazama once and for all this time."
"Some people were reading that, you know," she began. Seeing him shrug, her eyebrows lowered. "That's funny, I remember you swearing you'd beat Jin, oh, like, EVERY SINGLE TIME you've shown up! Doesn't it get old?" Xiaoyu responded, putting her hands on her hips. "Anyway, keep dreaming, Jin will kick your butt like he always does." She smiled as she saw Hwoarang's eyebrow twitch in annoyance before falling back into its typical bored expression.
"Like you're any better," he yawned. "Built any theme parks lately, Ling?" He smiled as Xiaoyu's face flushed bright red, from both anger and embarrassment. "Hey, you'd better stop getting all hot and bothered, kid. Unlike Kazama, I'm not interested in minors." His smirk widened as Xiaoyu began to sputter.
"For your information, I'm eighteen years old!" she yelled, pointing a finger at his nose. "And Jin's not like that at all, you pervert," she added. "He's a gentleman, not that a smelly barbarian like yourself would know anything about that."
"Eighteen, huh?" Hwoarang said thoughtfully, one eyebrow rising in disbelief. "Well, you sure don't look it," he said, dropping his eyes to her chest. "Flat," he added monotonously. "No wonder Jin can't get it up."
Xiaoyu felt her temper skyrocket as she regarded the laughing face of her Korean opponent. Technically, he proclaimed himself to be Jin's personal nemesis, but in her view, Jin's enemies were her enemies. Exacerbating the situation was Jin's consistent refusal to rise to Hwoarang's verbal bait, much to the frustration of the tall redhead. Sometimes Xiaoyu felt as though she alone was left with the burden of defending Jin's honour from his insults. Even without the spectre of Jin standing between them, however, Xiaoyu could tell that she and Hwoarang would have been natural opposites. It had started with the third tournament, when he had unexpectedly defeated her because she underestimated the reach of his long legs. It continued into the fourth tournament, when she had gleefully defeated him after he underestimated her speed, thereby robbing him of his chance to battle with Jin. Whatever the underlying reasons might have been, whenever she was in the proximity of Hwoarang, Xiaoyu saw red. "I AM NOT FLAT!" she screamed at him, balling her fists in anger and momentarily forgetting that she was standing in front of the extremely popular contestant listing in full view of all of the guests.
"Something wrong?" Hwoarang laughed, savouring his victory as Xiaoyu blushed an even deeper red in embarrassment in the face of the multitude of stares she was receiving. They both snapped to attention as a strict voice cut through their argument.
"I'm disappointed in you, Hwoarang. Your time in the army has brought you so low as to pick on young girls now?" The silver-haired man glared disapprovingly at his student, who stood up from the wall and rubbed the back of his head.
"Sorry, Master, I guess I just got carried away," he replied apologetically. A scowl crossed his features as he glanced up and saw Xiaoyu sticking her tongue out at him.
"Just apologize to the child and don't do it again," Baek replied, missing the look of fury that crossed over Xiaoyu's face as he called her a child.
"Yes, sir!" Hwoarang said smugly, turning to Xiaoyu. "Sorry 'bout insulting you, little miss," he smirked. "How about I make it up to you later, buy you a lollipop or something?" He grinned broadly as Xiaoyu fumed at him.
"Good," Baek said, oblivious to the tension between the two. "Now come on, don't loiter in front of the board," he continued, pulling Hwoarang away and ending the conversation prematurely.
Xiaoyu stared after their retreating figures, resisting the urge to make a dirty face at Hwoarang's back. She started in surprise as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder heavily, and a feminine voice greeted her.
"What a jerk, huh?" Turning, Xiaoyu found herself looking at a girl who was around her age. Her face was bright and open, but her eyes glinted dangerously, also following Hwoarang's back. "I don't like bullies," the girl continued, breaking off her stare and smiling at Xiaoyu. "My name's Asuka Kazama, and it's my first time here."
Xiaoyu blinked in surprise, and then smiled brightly. "Oh, so you're her!" she blurted out. "Wow, you must be around my age! I'm Xiaoyu, nice to meet you!" The two girls smiled at each other, and Xiaoyu bobbed her head in excitement. "It's nice to see another girl fighting in the tournament," she confided. "I always think there are way too many guys at these things!" She looked on in confusion as Asuka's face fell slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing," the girl replied, looking a little disappointed. "It's just that I was hoping to make some new friends here, and you looked like just the type. But if you're gonna be in the competition, that means I'll have to beat you up," she added.
Xiaoyu huffed in indignation. "What makes you think you could beat me up?" she replied hotly. Wait a second, this is Jin's sister, right? Way to go, Xiaoyu! I want to be on her good side! "Sorry," she back-pedalled quickly. "I guess Hwoarang put me in a bad mood. He always manages to do that. And you know, we can still be friends even if we're both competing. After all, Jin is in the tournament, too!"
Asuka nodded firmly, another warm smile breaking over her face. "Yeah, that's true. And don't worry, when I get around to fighting that Hwoarang guy, I'll let him have it for you," she said, cracking her knuckles. A look of confusion passed over her face. "But who's Jin? Is he your boyfriend or something?"
Xiaoyu's mouth dropped open. "Jin! Jin Kazama! Isn't he your brother?" She frowned as the look of confusion on Asuka's face grew larger, and pointed at the contestants' board. "There, see, right underneath your name. Jin Kazama." Asuka continued to regard the board with a blank look, and Xiaoyu tried again. "Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama's son?" she asked.
Asuka's face brightened, and she snapped her fingers. "Ah, I know. That must be Auntie Jun's kid. I think I heard a little about him. Never met him, though," she replied. "Wow, so he's the son of a Mishima. He must be loaded!" she said, her eyes widening. "I hope he's not snobby," she added. "If he is, I'll have to beat some manners into him before he goes around staining the Kazama name!"
Xiaoyu shook her head wildly, wondering at the girl's violent streak. "No, no, he's not like that at all. He's a nice guy, really!" At least when he's not sprouting wings and being possessed by the devil, that is. She smiled so hard that her teeth hurt, hoping that Asuka believed her. Much to her relief, the girl smiled and nodded, clapping her on the back once more.
"Friends, then! Good luck in the tournament, Xiaoyu!" Asuka said with a smile. "I hope we don't have to fight, but I'll go easy on you if we do." Xiaoyu grinned and nodded happily. Both girls attention was caught as a murmur rose up through the crowd, and people began to swarm towards the front stage of the lobby. Silence quickly settled through the room as the familiar figure of Kazuya Mishima strode towards the podium. There was no visible sign of the battle he had fought with his son showing on his impassive face, Xiaoyu noted. He stepped up to the microphone, and without any fanfare, began to speak.
"Welcome to the Fifth King of the Iron Fist Tournament, hosted once again by the Mishima Corporation. I am sure most of you are familiar with Heihachi Mishima's enjoyment of showy displays." A cold frown flitted across his face as he paused. "It is an appreciation which I do not share. The tournament will last for one week. Fight order will be determined by random draw and posted each morning on the lobby board," he said briskly, glaring at the crowd. "Accommodations for contestants will be provided at the Mishima Residence Hotel at no cost, should you be unable or unwilling to find your own housing. Any further questions can be directed to the front desk here, at our corporate headquarters." With that, Kazuya turned away from the platform and began to stalk off.
More loud murmurs at the unusual tournament introduction rose from the crowd of gathered fighters. Finally a clear voice chimed above the others. Xiaoyu recognized it as the Native American girl, Julia Chang, who was once again taking part in the competition. "Wait just a second!" she shouted, pushing her way towards the stage. "I think we'd all like to have a little bit more information about this tournament," she stated angrily to Kazuya, who looked down at her from the stage with irritation. Spurred by the murmurs of agreement from the other contestants, she glared at Kazuya fearlessly. "We've been told that Heihachi Mishima is dead. Who's sponsoring this tournament, anyway? Are you the one who's going to personally battle the finalist?"
Kazuya glared at the young girl, and then looked out over the crowd. "Succeed in reaching the final round of competition, and your questions will be answered," he replied coldly. Ignoring Julia's protest, he strode off of the stage quickly, leaving the remaining contestants to trade rumours and gossip between themselves.
"I can't get a straight answer out of anyone here!" Julia said angrily. With a short grunt of frustration, she stormed out of the building, presumably to her hotel. A few others followed her, while the bulk of the contestants remained in the lobby, their chatter filling the room with a low murmur.
Kazuya's informal opening of the tournament had left everyone feeling uneasy, and sensing the tension that was winding through the crowd of competent fighters, Xiaoyu decided that it would be an excellent time for a tactical retreat. She was thankful for once that she lived in the large skyscraper so she wouldn't have to dodge any more tournament fighters on the way to the safety of her room. Saying a quick goodbye to Asuka, she made her way towards the private elevators at the back of the lobby. As she suspected, though, the pressure building from the uncertainty of the tournament soon erupted into blows between the remaining fighters.
"Get your hands off me!" shrieked Christie's high voice, pitched with indignation, followed shortly by the sound of a loud, ringing slap.
"No need to be rough, baby," came the deep reply, belonging to a dark-skinned kick boxer Xiaoyu vaguely remembered. Her view was soon blocked by another well-muscled dark-skinned figure, one she instantly recognized as belonging to Eddy Gordo.
"Back off before you get hurt," were his only words to the boxer as he stepped between the two. That was all it took for the first unofficial fight of the tournament to break out, and with two Capoeira masters on the rampage, it wasn't soon before a stray kick landed on another fighter in the crowded lobby. A load roar sounded, and then there was a crash as the masked wrestler King picked up the offender and swung him around the room. The resulting commotion brought in the police officer Lei, determined to break up the fighting, but meeting with very limited success.
Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and ducked as one of the lobby's vases came flying in her direction, shattering on the wall behind her. "Maybe I'll catch the elevator on the next floor up," she decided, changing her course towards the stairs. Tekken Force guards surged past her from the back rooms to quell the rioting, or at least give all of the remaining fighters a common target, making her progress difficult.
Pulling open the heavy door, she let out a huge sigh of relief as she entered the stairwell and let it close behind her, shutting out the commotion in the lobby. "This happens almost every time," she mumbled to herself, ascending up the stairwell. "I wish Panda was here to clear the way to the elevator," she added wistfully, leaning on the railing. "Stupid Kazuya!"
"Mmmm," rumbled a metallic voice. Gasping, Xiaoyu looked up to see Yoshimitsu crouching precariously on the railing above her. It looked like an impossible position to hold, one that required the utmost balance or at least very small feet, but the cyborg ninja managed to hold his position effortlessly. "Your bodyguard is not here," he stated, his strange glowing eyes boring into her.
Xiaoyu caught her breath and smiled at Yoshimitsu nervously. "Well, yeah, Kazuya sent Panda back to China," she admitted sadly. "He said she was too much of a bother to take care of. He said the same about me, actually," she added with a pout.
"Not good," came Yoshimitsu's reply. He executed a graceful flip, spinning head over heels to land delicately on the step below Xiaoyu's own. When he stood to his full height, she still had to look up slightly to meet his unnatural gaze. Despite the fact that he had saved her from the explosion at the end of the last tournament, his skull-like visage was more than enough to scare her ponytails into permanent stiffness, and she resisted the urge to turn around and race up the remaining steps to the next floor. "Your life is in danger once more," Yoshimitsu continued. "Leave this competition."
Shaking her head, Xiaoyu faced the ninja squarely. "No way! I mean, I'm really grateful that you rescued me at the last competition, and I still owe you big time, but I've got to compete in this tournament! I… I met Jin," she said slowly. Yoshimitsu's eyes flickered slightly at the statement, but he didn't move. "I want to help him," she pushed forward. "I've got to win, so I can find a way to save him."
"The devil curses the Mishima bloodline," Yoshimitsu replied after a moment of silence. "You will be hurt. You can do nothing." Though his face remained expressionless, necessarily because of the unmoving cybernetic mask that passed for his head, Xiaoyu still felt a sense of indignation course through her, as though she was being mocked.
"I know you think I'm just a stupid little girl!" she said hotly. "But I'll find a way to save Jin if I finish the tournament. And you can't stop me from trying! It's not your right!" She glared at Yoshimitsu, trying to pierce through his steel and glass skull with sheer determination.
"No bodyguard. No guarantees," answered Yoshimitsu slowly. "You might not be saved this time." He turned away from Xiaoyu. "You are sure?"
Releasing her breath, Xiaoyu nodded her head vigorously, feeling as though she had won another major battle. Another thought passed through her head as Yoshimitsu began to unceremoniously descend down the remaining stairs, his metal feet clunking heavily against the concrete. "Wait!" she called after his retreating back. He stopped, and turned to look at her. "I didn't ask you last time," she said hesitantly, poking her fingers together. "Why are you helping me?"
Yoshimitsu paused and seemed to consider her question. "Duty," he finally answered. He turned to continue his descent, and stopped in surprise as Xiaoyu laughed and clapped her hands behind him.
"Duty? Yeah right, whatever! That's okay, you don't have to tell me." She smiled broadly. "Whatever your reason, this means we're friends, right? That's so cool! I'm friends with a cyborg!" She flashed a victory sign at Yoshimitsu. "So if you ever need anything, you just come to Ling Xiaoyu! That's what friends are for!" she cheered, almost loosing her balance and tumbling down the stairs.
Yoshimitsu only shook his head slowly; his cyborg body lacked the ability to produce sweatdrops. "Mmmmm," he said with his unusual metallic voice. "Friends."
Ling smiled happily and skipped up the remaining steps to the next floor two at a time. "This is definitely a good start to the tournament. It's only the opening ceremony and I already made two new friends," she cheered to herself. Things were looking up; she hadn't felt this happy since before the fourth tournament. It put back a spring in her step and some of the old twinkle in her eye. "I know things will be different this time! Don't worry Jin, Xiaoyu is going to save you," she said to herself with a smile.