Chapter Twenty Five: What's My Line?

A/N: Peter Colon is Junking's character…you should read his stuff because it's good!

"Absolutely not!" Kazuya said slamming his fist down on the wooden table. "You're the Nephilim! Lives depend on you! What you're doing is absolute madness!" He finished by pointing his finger accusingly at Jamie.

"Ooookay…" Jamie said, wearing a pair of red board shorts and a tanktop. "so I guess the red board shorts are out."

"You should wear the blue ones," Mina offered. "They look better on you and they match your eyes." She sat on the edge of the bed with one leg draped across the other.

"How many board shorts do you actually own Jamie?" Kyo asked.

"Can we talk about something else please?" Peter asked from the threshold.

"Okay…jeez…" Billy said.

"I like him. He's directly to the point." Kazuya said.

"Yeah and he also tried to kill me." Jamie added tempestuously.

"All the more reason…" Kazuya shot back.

"Alright…nobody kills my favorite Nephilim." Hwoarang said glancing at Peter. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Did you know you can learn a lot about a person's intelligence by how many times they curse? It looks like the extent of your vocabulary doesn't go beyond four letter words." Peter replied.

A hushed silence fell across the room, Hwoarang stared Peter down.

"Listen to me…you've threatened one of my best friends…you've almost killed him twice, and the only thing stopping me from kicking you out this window is the fact that Jamie says this is all a big misunderstanding…so watch your mouth!"

"You do owe some explanations Peter…we want to know why you were working for Doctor Abel and Heihachi." Xiaoyu said.

"I'm King's adopted son," Peter began.

A hushed silence fell across the room.

"I didn't know King had a son." Julia said.

"No one knows much about King." Jin agreed.

"He's one of the most overlooked fighter's in this whole tournament…and it's funny how he's also the least selfish as well-"

"Yeah," Jamie interrupted. "We all know that King saves the children and that's cool but we really need to know-"

"Is that all you can do?" Peter shouted, getting into Jamie's face. "Trash people and make jokes when things go wrong? King fights for a cause! I've read your biography, all you want out of this tournament is to break out of your brother's shadow-"

"Hey! Listen to me brain trust!" Jamie shouted back. "I'm the Nephilim, that's a cover story! I can't go around and tell everyone that I'm here to save the world and prevent the world from being sucked into hell! I've nearly died twice for this cause, and I don't think you have the right to tell people that they're not fighting for the right reasons!" Jamie finished shouting.

The room fell silent…even Jamie was surprised…he hardly ever yelled…most of the time he dealt with things calmly and collectively. He sighed and shook his head.

"Look…I'm sorry okay…I'm just a little frazzled alright? Apparently, I'm bringing about the destruction of the world after saving it for three years…I just need to know what's going on and no one seems to know what I'm going to do." Jamie ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"I don't know anything about this ritual Jamie…I just took the job because they said you were evil." Peter said a little more softly.

Mina chuckled. "Yeah well Jamie isn't evil…you might want to check your backgrounds before you pick up your…blood money!" She finished disgustedly as she stormed off.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kazuya shouted.

The room fell quiet, before Jin spoke.

"Father's right; we can't argue about Peter's situation…he's sorry, it was a misunderstanding and we have to move on."

"You're right." Jamie said. "I'm sorry Peter." The Nephilim offered his hand.

"It's alright man; I'm sorry too." Peter responded as he shook his hand.

"Okay…now that the WB teen drama is over, tell us what you know Peter?" Julia asked with her hands folded at the desk.

"All I know is what Abel told me; that Grey was the Nephilim and Jamie was the Anti-Christ and that Mina was an innocent girl…and, apparently, that they are all involved in this ritual that will bring hell on earth…they're very guarded about this thing."

"That's father's style…almost all of his employees never know what exactly they're fighting for…that's why the Tekken Force is so loyal." Kazuya said.

"Loyal? More like motivated." Jin snorted.

"Motivated?" Jamie inquired.

"Yeah, would you want to tell Heihachi Mishima that you couldn't do what he wanted?" Xiao asked.

"That's actually very true…" Hwoarang said.

"So…I guess the next point is what we're going to do tomorrow…and I'm going to that party." Jamie said firmly.

"C'mon Jamie, you know a trap when you see one…and that's what this is…a big fat trap!" Hwoarang argued.

"Nothin' doin' Hwoarang," Jamie crossed his arms. "This is supposed to be the Iron Fist's premiere party…and besides, Nina told me that Lee might have another disk at his house…which, by coincidence is exactly where that party is supposed to be."

"Not all of us should go though." Peter advised.

"Good idea; we'll figure out who goes and who stays later." Jin said.

"At anyrate…I suppose this meeting is adjourned for the night." Kazuya replied.

"Yeah; that sounds good I guess…I'm going to go talk to Mina." Jamie said with a yawn and a stretch.

"Sounds good…I'm kinda tired but I'm going to see Kaori first." Kyo agreed.

(New Scene)

The angsty, throaty voice of Kelly Clarkson blared over the stereo in Kim Seung Mina and Kaori's room…Behind These Hazel Eyes was playing…a deciding factor that Mina was angry…whenever Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson were being played, it always meant that Mina was angry, depending on how annoyed she was, would determine how loud the volume would be set.

Right now, Kelly was singing on full blast.

"God I can't believe I did that…" Mina sighed as she lay on her stomach on Jamie's bed.

"Mina…c'mon now, you can't beat yourself up over this." Kaori responded.

"I know that Kaori…but I mean-"

"You're not Super woman Mina…you did what any girl would do in the same situation…I mean…put aside the whole Nephilim and 'destined to die' issue and you're doing what any good girlfriend would do. Someone was trashing your boyfriend and you stood up to him." Kaori advised.

"It's just…I stared directly into the face of the man who tried to kill the person I love…and, as weird as it sounds…if he had apologized and left it at that then I would have been fine…as long as Jamie forgave him, I would have too…he's got enough on his plate already…I…I can't burden him with my feelings either…it's just that…once he called Jamie selfish I just…I lost it." Mina added.

"Sorta makes me wish I was there." Kaori added. "I'd probably have stuck up for Jamie too…but from what you tell me, he was given the wrong information."

"Yeah, Peter was…and he was also led to believe that all Jamie cared about doing in this tournament was breaking out of Justin's shadow."

"Oh…" Kaori winced. "That lame cover story?"

"Yeah," Mina chuckled. "I'm surprised anyone really believes it either…but it's the best that we could come up with at three in the morning the day before we were supposed to leave."

"And that's when Peter called Jamie selfish right?"

"Yeah, and that's when the 'shit hit the fan' as they say…Jamie blew up…I blew up…Hwoarang blew up…I just got so upset…how dare he call him selfish? He fights for countless people's lives and-"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Mina, it's Jamie open up!"

"And Kyo…don't forget about me!"

"Listen; I know you're upset…I can tell because you're blasting some hardcore Kelly Clarkson…but you might want to turn it down and let me in before you get us all kicked out of this hotel!" Jamie responded.

In spite of it all, Mina managed to crack a smile and laugh.

"Should we let them in?" Kaori asked through giggles.

"Yeah…I think so." Mina said.

Kaori opened the door and the girl's boyfriend's ambled in the room.

"MY EARS! MY EARS! I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS CRAP!" Jamie howled as he stumbled around holding his hands against the side of his head.

"I'll save you Jamie!" Kyo called.

The young Kazama ran to the stereo and shut the stereo off.

"Ah…" Jamie sighed. "That's better."

"So…what'd I miss after my grand teen drama exit?" Mina asked sarcastically as she wiped her eyes.

"Yeah, fill me in too! I swear, I run to the store to get some soda for Steve and nail polish for Christie and I miss a meeting and get completely out of the loop."

"Jamie and Peter are on good terms now…he apologized…and get your swim suit ready for tomorrow-" Kyo began.

"Oh," Kaori's eyes got wide. "So we're going to Grey's pool party?"

"Yeah…and possibly certain death…but not in that order." Jamie replied sarcastically.

"It's also somewhat of a reconnaissance mission…there might be another disk with more information on the ritual at Lee's house." Kyo added.

"Well that's good…I bought a new sarong the other day, and some cute flip flops so I can wear those…" Mina began, mulling over her outfit choices.

"I didn't know you bought new stuff." Jamie replied.

"Yeah," Mina replied. "Want me to show you?" She added half joking.

"I most certainly do!" Jamie replied. "Everyone out!"

"C'mon Kyo," Kaori said as she laughed. "Let's go to your room, I'll give you your own fashion show."

"But you don't have any other clothes except the one's your wearing." Kyo said with a half smile.

"Exactly." Kaori responded simply.

The two left the room, but before the door closed, Peter walked into the threshold.

"Um…hi…I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Now…Jamie Parker wondered how exactly to approach this…he could have been nasty and said yes…but, Jamie wasn't nasty, he was a nice guy.

"No." He responded with a smile.

"I um…I wanted to apologize to you Miss Mina…it was wrong of me to say those things…and I hope you can forgive me." Peter said softly.

"Peter." Mina began seriously as she rose up to face him. "As long as Jamie forgives you then I forgive you too…and I'm sorry for the way I acted too…I'm normally not that bitchy…really…I'm not!" She said with a chuckle.

Jamie coughed and muttered. "My ass!"

Mina gave a mock sigh and hit him. "Jamie Parker! You know me! I'm a calm, cool, collected girl!"

Peter chuckled too, but then looked at the two seriously. "So…you guys forgive me?"

"Yes," Mina said with a smile. "We forgive you Peter…welcome to the club!" She finished with a hug.

"And…I hate to be mean Peter…but-" Jamie began.

"Oh…" Peter began before his eyes widened. "OH! Okay then…I'll leave you two to it then."

"Thanks bro," Jamie said with a pat on Peter's arm and a wink. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No…you won't...King needs me to visit a Japanese orphanage, but I'll try to stop by if anything interesting happens. Keep me posted okay?"

"Will do." Mina replied.

Peter walked out of the room, and as he did, Jamie wrapped his hands around Mina's waist while she wrapped hers around his shoulders.

"Now…" Jamie said with a grin. "Where were we?"