Chapter 12: Love's End

Through the Eyes of Julia

'Where is Peter?' I thought to myself as I stood in the center of the lobby.

"He said he'd be here, so where is he?" I said aloud this time. That's when I heard his voice call out my name.

"Julia!"

I turned to see him running in my direction. Right away I smiled and ran to embrace him. Grabbing him in a hug, I smiled.

"You're late…" I teased him. Suddenly, he pulled away from me and his smile faded.

"Julia…there's something that I have to tell you. Something that's important to our relationship…the reasons why I haven't been as close as I used to…" With his words came a sorrowful expression that made me question him.

"What are you saying?" I asked as he looked into my eyes.

"It's just that…" Suddenly, he was interrupted by the loud speaker.

"Would Miss Julia Chang please report to your pre-match location. The fight is about to begin."

"Peter, we can talk about this later okay?" I said as I turned to walk away. As I turned around, a tear fell from my eye. I think I knew what he was going to tell me, and it broke my heart to know that this was possible.

A few minutes later, I walked out into the sandy arena. It was inside of a giant cage and the floor was covered with sand. I stepped out once I heard my cue, the song Pump It by Black Eyed Peas. In the audience, I noticed Peter take a seat next to King. At least he still supported me. I felt reassured that he was sitting there in the audience, watching me compete.

Once I finished acknowledging all of my fans, I heard a new song blast through the speakers. I recognized it as Paper Desert by In The Nursery. It had a Middle Eastern vibe to it. I liked it actually, but I got serious once saw who my opponent was. It was the new woman named Jamila. Peter told me about his encounter with her, and so far, she seemed like cold person. I planned to gain back my reforestation data and I wasn't about to lose to her.

I'd been there since The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and I wasn't about to be beaten by a newcomer. Not much was known about Jamila, except for the fact that she was a professional Bounty Hunter. I didn't really have much time to do my research and it didn't help that most of Jamila's files were empty. I didn't even know her fighting style; the slip of paper just said 'various'.

Jamila walked forward to me and looked me up and down. I wasn't too comfortable with her doing that but I didn't respond. Instead, I offered her my hand to shake. I was slightly embarrassed when she didn't grab my hand in return. The crowd yelled various boo's to her as she looked around. She didn't seem to care to much. She just seemed intent on fighting.

"Good luck." I said in a peaceful manner as she put on her red leather gloves.

"Likewise." She replied. Her callous attitude made me slightly nervous, but I knew better. That was what she wanted. She wanted to intimidate me, make me nervous to the point where I couldn't win the fight. I couldn't let this happen.

The referee stood back after explaining the rules to us and raised the red flag into the air. I watched as in slow motion, he let the flag fall to the ground.

"FIGHT!"

Jamila was the first to attack. She came at me with a swift punch, but I was quick enough to block it. I retaliated with my Triple Spin Kick attack, hitting her with the first two. Once I attempted the third kick, she grabbed hold of my leg and knocked me over onto the floor.

I put my hands out in front of me and let the ground meet them. Jamila still held my leg and what she did next really hurt. She began to twist my leg, making me cry out in pain. Instead of sitting there and letting her continue, I kicked her ankle…HARD. She let out a yelp and staggered backwards.

"You're better than the previous fighters I've encountered." She said. In a way, I felt flattered, but I had to focus on the task at hand: defeating her. I jumped to my feet and rubbed my leg, my hand running down my short denim skirt and onto my soft skin. Snapping back to reality, I ran at her with my hand balled into a fist. It connected with her stomach, but she grabbed hold of my arm before I could get away from her.

'She's fast!' I thought as she flipped me over her shoulder. Rolling underneath her legs, I tripped her. Once she fell to the ground, I jumped high into the air and attempted to stomp on her. Just as I expected, she rolled out of the way and attacked me with a high kick. I blocked it and thrust my open palm into her chest, sending her flying back into the cage wall. The fans cheered and pushed her back towards me.

"Hi-YAH!" I yelled as I spun around with a kick to her face. Unexpectedly, she grabbed my leg and threw me into the cage wall. Before I knew it, her foot found its way to my stomach. The last thing I saw before passing out was her green pendant. It seemed to be glowing. At least before I lost, I managed to see something beautiful…

Through the Eyes of Peter

I looked on at her beautiful frame as she slept. Jamila really didn't show any mercy. But then again, how would I know for sure if she did or not? I guess I would never know for sure.

Julia looked so peaceful as she slept, but her peace was soon ended. She opened her eyes and looked into mine.

"P…Peter?" she said as her vision began to return to normal.

"Hi…Julia." I managed to say. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Are you really?" she replied.

"Of…course I am, why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"Before the fight, you had to tell me something…something important. It was about our relationship…"

"We can talk about that later, Julia. Right now, it's important that you-"

"You want to break up with me…" she said.

Tears rose into her eyes and I found that I couldn't say anything to deny what was truth.

"I'm sorry Julia…my feelings…they changed. I still love you and always will, but something's different, and I think I need to explore it on my own." I said, immediately regretting it.

"It's okay…I understand Peter…"

I looked down at the blankets, and I wished that I could be wrapped in them as she was. I felt like I needed comfort, a hug even and there was nobody there to give it…

That's when Hwoarang walked in.

"Hey Pete. I came to see Julia." I looked in his hands and saw roses; at least two dozen of them.

Turning back to Julia, I smiled scornfully and said, "Look's like you won't have to be alone anymore…"

"Peter…" she said as I walked away. I put a hand on Hwoarang's shoulder and smiled slightly.

"Take care of her 'Rang…" Just then, I left to do battle with my first opponent…Bryan Fury.

Through the Eyes of King

"It's okay Peter…really. You did what you had to." Comforting Peter was never an easy task, but now I found out just how hard it truly was. He broke up with Julia, but he refused to tell me why.

"Thanks King…I really appreciate it." He replied.

"We can talk later. Right now…just go kick some tail." I reassured him as he smiled up at me. I watched as he walked away and into the center of the garden. The referees closed the steel gates as soon as he walked in. He faced Bryan Fury with a stern look on his face, completely unafraid. It was then that I realized how truly proud I was of my son.

Bryan's music began to blare over the speakers and the fans began to whistle and scream for their favorite fighter. It made me proud to hear that most of them were rooting for Peter. I listened to the lyrics of Dragula by Rob Zombie as Bryan acknowledged his fanbase.

Dead I am the one, exterminating son

Slipping through the trees,

Strangling the breeze

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches

And slam in the back of my

DRAGULA!

Bryan said something to Peter; probably something vulgar because he then shook his head in disgust as Bryan started laughing. That's when Peter's theme began to play throughout the garden.

Judge Dredd, found dead

Face down in Snoopy's bed.

Making friends, robbing them

X-Men taught him everything

Anybody with a heart votes love,

It's absurd…

The Whitewash Mix of Absurd by Fluke began to play as Peter waved to his fans as well. After a few seconds, both of them got into their respective stances and got ready to duel.

As soon as the announcer yelled for them to fight, Peter jumped backwards, probably anticipating the next move. Bryan spun around with a kick, but Peter was already out of reach. Sadistically, Bryan continued to laugh as he ran forward and punched Peter in the face. I groaned for him as he turned his head with the punch to avoid as much pain as possible.

"Roll with the blows Pete, keep it up. You can win this." I said to myself aloud. Peter jumped forward with a hop kick and sent Bryan backwards. Once he landed, Peter spun around and spin kicked Bryan to the floor. My facial expression quickly moved from one of excitement, to one of disgust as Bryan yelled out "MORE!" when Peter punched him in the face.

Bryan almost seemed to be enjoying the pain that Peter was giving him and it made me afraid that Peter would soon be hurt. I was right. Bryan grabbed Peter's arm and spun him around, making his back come against his stomach. I watched as Peter struggled to move, Bryan licking his ear in an evil manner.

"Peter!" I yelled out as Bryan tossed his forward and kicked him in the backside. Peter fell to the floor and gasped for air, since Bryan had been choking him. Bryan stood still and laughed at him as he stood on his feet again. Suddenly, Bryan moved forward and punched Peter in the face with both fists, before kicking his shin with his right leg.

Peter jumped back and returned to his defensive stance. He was losing this fight and I could tell that he was scared. I could almost smell it. I was surprised when Peter actually took the initiative and drop kicked his opponent to the ground. Once on the ground, he grabbed Bryan and put him into an arm bar. I became excited seeing as how that was one of the moves that I had taught him earlier on.

Bryan screamed out in pain as Peter applied as much pressure as he could. Showing mercy, Peter let him go and instead rammed his elbow into his chest. The onlookers groaned as if they could feel the pain.

Peter stood up on his feet only to be tripped by Bryan. Hoping back to their feet, Peter and Bryan traded blows for awhile until Peter could no longer take it. He jumped back and got ready to make his next move.

"Come on Pete, think of anger. Think of Sylvia for god's sake, just get angry!" I yelled out. Almost as if he heard me, Peter ran forward and tackled Bryan to the floor, punching him fiercely in the face numerous times. Bryan kicked Peter off of him and threw a random punch to Peter's side. Acting quickly, Peter grabbed his arm and twisted it as fast as he could, sending Bryan to the floor.

From there, Peter picked Bryan up and performed a Tombstone Piledriver on him. As soon as Bryan hit the floor, he yelled out in pain as we heard a metallic sound snap. It was then that I realized that Bryan was half human, half cyborg. Peter rolled away and dropped back into his stance, waiting for Bryan to rise to his feet again.

He never did. Peter had won the battle! My son had done it! I couldn't have been more proud of him. One thing I did notice is that he didn't look too happy when the cameras where taking his pictures. Maybe he was in too much pain, but I knew that the pain was coming from his emotions. There's something that he's not telling me, and I'm bound to find out what that is eventually…