A/N: Hey Hey everybody! It's Thee Slushee back with yet another chapter of Phoenix Tail! Sorry bout the real slow updates folks, you guys should know my overused excuses by now. To the chapter!
Chapter 26: The rematch of the century
Xiaoyu, Asuka, Miharu, Julia and Hwoarang were hurrying towards the white, two storey building which contained the virtual simulator, as they were ten minutes late.
"Hwoarang! I told you it was a bad idea to stop to buy hotdogs!" Julia complained as she caught up to Hwoarang.
"Hey, there's no way I can fight with an empty stomach! And that's not the only reason why I'm late." Hwoarang retorted.
"Somebody took about an hour extra than the others to get changed." Hwoarang said, purposely increasing his volume.
"Don't exaggerate! I only took five more minutes." Miharu shouted back at Hwoarang as she jogged behind him.
"Guys, we better pick up the pace! If we're not there in 5 minutes, Jin's gonna win the fight by default." Asuka reminded the group.
"WHAT!" Hwoarang exclaimed and immediately took off, sprinting as fast as he possibly could…which was somewhat of a bad idea.
"Hwoarang! Wait up!" Xiaoyu called after him and quickened her pace.
Jin had already arrived and he was getting himself mentally ready for the fight. With his mind clear and focus unshakable, Jin opened his eyes and saw Hwoarang in front of him, bent over with hands planted on his knees and panting heavily.
"You're late." Jin stated in a plain tone. Hwoarang looked up at Jin and then regained his composure.
"Yeah? Well at least I made it. You're going down like you did last time, Kazama!" Hwoarang threatened.
"Hwoarang! I didn't think it was a good idea for you to run like that." Xiaoyu called out upon entering the gridded room. Xiaoyu paused as her eyes fell on Jin.
"Jin!" Xiaoyu squealed in joy and she started jogging towards him.
"I told you to get out of here Xiao." The sound of Jin's cold voice froze Xiaoyu to the spot.
"You didn't think I'd leave just because you told me, now did you?" Xiaoyu replied.
"Xiaoyu, this is serious. You have to get out of here." Jin said seriously. Xiaoyu opened her mouth to reply to Jin when Hwoarang interrupted her.
"You think you guys can discuss this later?" Hwoarang said, annoyed.
"Fine." Xiaoyu groaned and waved to the two before jogging towards the others that have arrived. They took the lift to the technician's box so they can view the match from there.
The room glowed brightly for a few seconds and when the light had subsided, a pirate's paradise stood in the place of a gridded room. Piles of golden doubloons scattered across the stage, a few golden vases and treasures adding to the piles. In the background, a majestic ship rocked back and forth due to the waves beneath it. It was truly overwhelming.
"You may have gotten a second chance in this tournament but there's no way you can beat me again." Hwoarang taunted, crossing his arms.
"I'm gonna have to Hwoarang." Jin said in a threatening tone.
"Don't give me that bullcrap Kazama. I'm gonna kick your ass like I did last time." Hwoarang snapped back.
"Jin Kazama versus Hwoarang." The voice of the tournament official rang out through the arena. Jin slid into his fighting style while Hwoarang bounced into his.
"Ready? FIGHT!" Hwoarang instantly lashed out his right foot at Jin but he saw it coming. Jin sidestepped to dodge the move and dealt a punishing left punch onto the side of Hwoarang's ribs. Hwoarang cried out as he reflexively clutched the area of injury. Jin spun around and kicked Hwoarang on the side of the head, causing him to topple over.
Hwoarang recovered quickly and was bouncing around on his feet again. Hwoarang jumped into the air and kicked Jin in the head. Jin blocked the first kick but the second connected smoothly with his head. Hwoarang then executed a left axe kick, which instantly sent Jin sailing towards a pile of treasure. Jin didn't seem to be breaking a sweat, as he was back on his feet in his not so energetic stance.
Hwoarang performed a head high kick at Jin, which was easily blocked but then Hwoarang snapped his foot from side to side with incredible speed. Since the move was so fast, Jin didn't have time to react to it and both kicks had knocked his head from side to side. Hwoarang kept relentlessly kicking like this until Jin finally parried the move and performed a low sweep while Hwoarang was vulnerable (A/N: hehe, I've noticed that when not-so-experienced people figure out how to do this move with Hwoarang, it doesn't seem to stop until u knock them over). Hwoarang rolled back quickly and launched himself at Jin, performing a flying cross chop. The move sent Jin a couple of meters back and when he hit the ground, the boards beneath him broke to reveal more treasure. Jin stood up and executed a fast one-two punch combo. The move caught Hwoarang off guard and it sent him flying towards the wall. Hwoarang hit the gate on the wall and a skeleton fell on top of him.
"AHH!" Hwoarang screamed as the sneaky grin of a decayed skull met his face. Hwoarang threw the skeleton off him, all of the bones falling out of place as it hit the wall before slowly disappearing. Hwoarang stood up quickly, only to be met with a powerful roundhouse kick that sent Hwoarang towards the gate again and a new skeleton fell on top of him. He threw the new skeleton off him in annoyance and quickly got back onto his feet. Hwoarang threw two punches, jumped in the air and spun around, dealing a powerful roundhouse kick. Jin staggered back but managed to maintain his composure. Hwoarang started to build up his 10 hit combo. The second to last kick was meant to send Jin into the air but Jin had blocked it and had started sidestepping until he was behind Hwoarang.
Hwoarang, used to the flow of his combo, couldn't really stop himself from performing the final kick, leaving his back vulnerable. Jin took hold on Hwoarang's arm and swung it over his shoulder. A final sweep on Hwoarang's downed body and he didn't have the energy to get up.
"Jin Kazama is the victor." The tournament official's voice sounded throughout the area. The pirate's cove had disappeared and returned to the grid square room. Jin fixed his glove guards and started to leave the building when Hwoarang called out to him.
"Kazama…I want another round." Hwoarang got on all fours at stared at Jin's back.
"I'll verse you some other time. I've got more important things to do now." Jin replied sternly. Jin continued to walk off.
"Get…back here…Kazama." Hwoarang shouted at Jin's back but he just kept walking until he had exited the building. Xiaoyu, Miharu, Julia and Christie entered the arena and found Hwoarang on one knee, attempting to stand up. Xiaoyu looked around and her heart sank.
"I missed him didn't I?" Xiaoyu said with disappointment.
"Just missed him…the bastard wouldn't fight me again." Hwoarang said with teeth clenched and he stood up.
"That was a pretty cool fight though." Christie complimented.
"It was so funny when the skeletons fell on you." Miharu stated, giggling.
"They were pretty real for holograms." Hwoarang said in an annoyed tone.
"Well, the Mishima Zaibatsu owns cutting edge technology. What do you expect?" Julia stated.
"Can we just get out of here?" Hwoarang said angrily.
"Don't be so mad, Hwoarang. You beat him before. You should be proud." Miharu said.
"Yeah? Well that didn't count since he got brought back in." Hwoarang snapped.
"Hey Hwoarang…now that your out of the tournament, where are you gonna stay?" Julia asked. Hwoarang looked up in thought.
"I'm not really sure but I'll find somewhere."
"You could stay at my house." Xiaoyu suggested.
"HAH! We'd never getting any sleep. What, with Hwoarang's snoring." Miharu joked.
"Ha ha, very funny." Hwoarang replied sarcastically.
"But we know you'll definitely eat all our instant food." Christie said.
"Instant food? What kind of lazy arse lives off instant food?" Hwoarang asked.
"Ahem…" Xiaoyu cleared her throat, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"Well, I'll bet you do too." Julia said to Hwoarang.
"No, I live off fast food. There's a difference." Hwoarang said matter-of-factly.
"Even though you called me a lazy arse, I'm prepared to let you stay over at my house. Be nice to me though; one more snide remark like that and you're on the street, kapeesh?" Xiaoyu mock-threatened.
"Oh come on, Xiao, I know you'll never do that to me." Hwoarang said coolly. Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow.
"Okay but don't tell me that I didn't warn you." Xiaoyu chimed.
"Okay, now let's get out of here. I think a fight's going to start here soon." Julia said and the group walked out of the area.
A/N: Hmmm……a rushed ending, as usual. I thought this chapter was ok….not that great but not that crap either, lol! HAHA I really liked that skeleton thing. Another bit of my strange sense of humour. Wooh! Finally, all those fight scenes are over! Now next chapter is the one uv all been waiting for….the appearance of J Mishima! Now that is definitely going to be hard to write…I'll try and update as soon as I can!