Ahem, I better get cracking on this chapter. You shud read the last couple of chapters to refresh your memory…I need to :P
Chapter 23: A final battle and a surprise meeting
"Well, 'ere we are." Steve announced, standing outside the arena where he was supposed to fight the "wildcard".
"Who do you think you'll be fighting?" Christie asked.
"It could be anyone…even me!" Hwoarang pointed out.
"So we all have to be ready for a fight, right?" Xiaoyu chimed, performing a few quick jumps to get her blood pumping.
"It's definitely not me though. I have to go somewhere else while this is going on." Asuka said.
"Shouldn't you be going then?" Julia asked. At that moment, Asuka's eyes widened.
"Crap! You're right!" Asuka squealed and grabbed hold of Xiaoyu's arm.
"EAHH!" Xiaoyu squeaked as Asuka had pulled her away from the group and started running off into the distance.
"Good luck Steve!" Xiaoyu called over her shoulder helplessly as she tried to keep up with Asuka without falling over. The group stared at them as they disappeared off into the distance.
"Anyway," Miharu said slowly. "Let's get in there already!"
Hwoarang, Julia, Christie and Miharu pushed their way through the crowd to the front to get a clear view of the currently open cage. Steve, wearing his trademark boxing attire, stood holding his arm in the air, acknowledging his fans. He even had his championship belt on to emphasize the fact that he was the middleweight champion. The announcer came to the middle of the arena with his wireless microphone.
"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls; to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 Finals!" The crowd started to cheer wildly in response.
"With me right now is Mr. Steve Fox, middleweight boxing champion of the world. Definitely a great comeback after losing in the first round at the last tournament." The announcer turned to Steve, who was slightly frustrated that the announcer mentioned his failure at the last tournament.
"Mr. Fox, how does it feel to be this far in the tournament?" The announcer shoved his mic at Steve.
'Well, uh…certainly didn't think I'd be able to make it this far. Feels bloody good!" Steve's amplified voice echoed throughout the area. A wild uproar from the crowd broke out from Steve's statement.
"Who do you think the "wildcard" could be"
"I'm not that sure eh? But whoever it is, I'll be sure to kick 'em to England an' back." Steve taunted, performing his signature move amongst the crowd known as "Gatling Gun.
"Alright, well let's meet the wildcard!" The announcer announced (A/N: HAH! I don't know why, but I found that funny…the announcer announced…:D), pointing towards the left corridor. There was silence and no-one had emerged from the corridor.
"Uh…Let's meet the wildcard!" The announcer tried again. Still nothing. There were murmurs within the crowd, some pointing towards the sky. Steve saw this and tilted his head back to view the night sky. There was something up there, which looked like a comet, that seemed to be getting larger and larger. When it roughly became the size of a tennis ball, the crowd began to scream and scatter. The announcer had fled, which left Steve staring up at the object in the sky in wonder.
"Steve! Get out of there!" Julia's panicked cry snapped Steve out of his state and caused him to move. He reached the group and they hastily fled the stadium as well. When they had exited the arena, the object; which wasn't as big as it seemed, crashed into the arena; the impact making everyone in the area stumble and fall over. It created an explosion of concrete and metal but it was rather minor. After it was over, Hwoarang regained his composure and decided to check out what had crash landed inside the arena.
"Hwoarang, are you mad? We should get out of here!" Miharu protested and grabbed his arm. He yanked his arm out of her feeble grip.
"There's no harm in checking it out. If it's some unidentified space junk, we could be paid millions for discovering it." Hwoarang said casually and continued. "How do you know it's not some evil alien race trying to kill us all?" Christie suggested.
"Highly unlikely, Christie." Julia pointed out.
"Let's just go. Hwoarang might be right for a change." Steve said with a shrug and followed Hwoarang. The three woman glanced at each other and mentally decided to follow the guys to keep them out of trouble.
Hwoarang and Steve peeked over the concrete rubble, followed by Julia, Miharu and Christie. The dust cloud shielded the object from view but a silhouette began to form, causing the group to gasp.
"I told you it was some kind of alien!" Christie hissed.
"Be quiet! It might hear us." Steve hissed back at Christie. The dust cloud had lifted from the scene and it revealed the same hideous creature they had faced before.
"It's that lunatic that almost fried us." Miharu squeaked nervously.
"TAXI!" Asuka called out, waving her arms wildly but the yellow and black vehicle just drove past without noticing her. Asuka groaned in frustration and gritted her teeth.
"If a taxi doesn't come by soon, I'm gonna go crazy." Asuka mumbled through gritted teeth. Xiaoyu shook her head in disappointment.
"You're doing it all wrong, Asuka." Xiaoyu pointed out, which caused the Japanese girl to turn around and stare at Xiaoyu with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, and I suppose you know all about it?" Asuka said sarcastically.
"Watch and learn how a teenager gets a ride in Tokyo." Xiaoyu said coolly and stepped onto the curb. Asuka took a step back and observed with crossed arms. Xiaoyu leaned forward to observe the oncoming traffic. Red car, blue car, yellow car, motorbike, bus, blue car, black car, Xiaoyu mentally noted as each car passed her. Ah, a taxi…haven't done this in a while, Xiaoyu thought as a taxi was coming towards her. She jumped out into the path of the taxi, causing the driver to gasp and shove his foot on the brakes. Xiaoyu jumped to avoid being bowled over by the taxi and landed elegantly on the top. She jumped back onto the sidewalk (A/N: hehe its called a footpath here in NZ but sidewalk just sounds better…) and crouched a little to see the driver, who had an expression of pure shock on his face.
"Mishima Mansion, pronto." Xiaoyu ordered. The driver nodded furiously in shock. Xiaoyu looked back at Asuka to find her jaw hung open, staring at Xiaoyu. "That is how you get a taxi in Tokyo." said Xiaoyu, adding a giggle afterwards. The two boarded the taxi and it left the sidewalk in a hurry.
"Asuka, I've been meaning to ask you but you were too busy trying to wave a taxi down." Xiaoyu said, a smile forming on her face as Asuka's mouth formed a scowl.
"These taxi drivers just don't notice people flailing their arms everywhere these days." Asuka said indifferently. "Anyway," Xiaoyu shook the thought of Asuka acting like a complete maniac out of her head.
"Why did you drag me with you to where you're supposed to go? It's only meant to be you, Jin and Kazuya." Xiaoyu stated.
"Well, you'd probably wanna talk to Jin right? I mean, it's obvious you've got a crush on my big bro." Asuka stated matter-of-factly. Xiaoyu's face tinted pink.
"Who said I had a crush on Jin? He's just a friend." Xiaoyu said, turning a darker shade of red by the second.
"Sure, sure…whatever you say, Xiao." Asuka said coyly. "Is that the only reason you're taking me?" Xiaoyu asked.
"Nope…just in case I spring into de-uh…crazy mode." Asuka picked her words carefully, glancing at the rear-view mirror and at the driver.
"But you've got Jin for that…plus, Kazuya…kinda…almost…" Xiaoyu said slowly. "You know." Xiaoyu added in a whisper.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't go anywhere near ya…" Asuka reassured her confidently. The two eventually turned up at the lavish palace known as the Mishima Mansion. Xiaoyu chucked a bill at the driver and hopped out of the car, Asuka following her. The towering gates have been left open so the two had cautiously entered the grounds, prepared to launch an attack on anything that moves.
"Wish we bought some sort of torch." Asuka cursed at the darkness. Suddenly, a soft glow fell to the ground and illuminated it. Asuka faced the origin of the light which was Xiaoyu's bright orange cellphone.
"It's not much light but I guess it'll have to do." Xiaoyu said with a shrug. Asuka and Xiaoyu ventured towards the gigantic mansion with Xiaoyu's cellphone light their only source of vision; apart from the distant glow of street lamps outside the grounds. Asuka and Xiaoyu climbed the few stairs towards the door, which has strangely been left ajar. The teenagers glanced at each other with a look of anxiety on their face. Thankfully, there was light coming from inside. Xiaoyu reached out with a trembling hand and slowly pushed open the door.
"Just the way I remember it." Xiaoyu mused as almost every detail about the mansion remained the same since she ran away a couple of months ago. A flight of stairs was on the immediate left of Xiaoyu and Asuka, which spiraled to the second floor. Large, magnificent rugs lay on the ground level on top of the marble floor. Xiaoyu guided Asuka towards the middle of the large room.
"Aren't you lucky I've lived here before?" Xiaoyu spun around and met Asuka's eyes. A look of relief spread across Asuka's face.
"I guess I am. Lead the way Xiao"
"Where should we go though?" Xiaoyu questioned and looked this way and that. Asuka shrugged.
"Well…when you were here, where did the CEO of the company usually stay?" Asuka asked. Xiaoyu tapped a finger against her chin as she thought back. She snapped her fingers as a light bulb flickered on in her mind.
"Heihachi usually stayed upstairs. Follow me!" This time, Xiaoyu took hold of Asuka's arm and dragged her upstairs. They wondered down the corridors and stopped at one door in particular.
"Is this it? Doesn't seem to scream out CEO to me." Asuka said critically. Xiaoyu rolled her eyes.
"This is my room silly! And that's Jin's room next door," She pointed to the room to the right. "I wonder what they did with it." Xiaoyu opened the door to her room to find an empty room. Everything had been stripped from the room; the pink four poster bed, her dresser with countless matching hair ties and bangles, the millions of posters she had of various manga and anime…also a few panda pictures and basically anything she thought was cool, her study desk that was always filled with random assignments given from school. She sighed. Memories began flooding her mind of when she first came here when she was the tender age of 16. Xiaoyu shook her head immediately and closed the door.
"Well, that's enough down memory lane. To the task at hand." Xiaoyu said, a weak smile coming to her as she slowly closed the door.
Eventually the two arrived at a large mahogany door that was about twice their size.
"This would be where Heihachi hangs out. I've never really been allowed here before." Xiaoyu said, only now just thinking about what could lay beyond this door. Asuka turned to Xiaoyu.
"Xiao, you've got to promise me one thing." Xiaoyu turned to Asuka.
"I'm listening"
"If things get dangerous in there, you've got to get out of here, alright?" Asuka said seriously.
"Asuka! You know I can't promise that. I'm sticking with you until the end and I'm not going to just leave you and Jin here." Xiaoyu said defiantly.
"I'm serious, Xiao." Asuka pressed.
"You sound a lot like your bro when you do that, you know?" Xiaoyu commented. This didn't shake Asuka though. Yup, definitely a lot like him.
"All right, all right. I'll leave." Xiaoyu said after seeing Asuka's expression. "But I'm dragging you and Jin with me." She added with her carefree smile. Asuka smiled back.
"Well, here goes nothing." Asuka said and with a high pitched yell, she threw a powerful kick at the door. It didn't budge.
"Uh…Asuka? It's a pull door." Xiaoyu said to Asuka, pointing at the rather large handle. Asuka glanced down at the handle and then at Xiaoyu.
"Oh…right, heh heh." Asuka said with a sheepish smile. Xiaoyu giggled.
"If that kick was any more powerful, you would've gotten your foot stuck in the door." Xiaoyu said and gripped the handle. Asuka gripped the handle as well.
"HEAVE!" Xiaoyu screamed and the two tugged on the handle until the door flew back. Asuka and Xiaoyu entered the door to find an extravagant room.
"Whoa…" Xiaoyu said as she entered the room. It was a very large room. The floor was a beautiful mix of purple, blue and a hint of green. Xiaoyu could even see her face on the marble floors. There were a few pillars supporting the ceiling, which could barely be seen from the ground. The pillars bore a few torches with an eerie blue flame. Not far from the door was Kazuya and Jin, staring each other down.
"Jin! Hey!" Asuka called out, breaking the very tense moment between the father-son duo. Asuka jogged up to Jin.
"Why do you think the CEO called us here"
"I'm not sure but whatever it is, it can't be good." Jin said in his monotone voice, still eying Kazuya. Xiaoyu decided to stay out of this family discussion by leaning against one of the pillars and watching the situation from afar.
"Jin, Asuka…now that you're both here, I can talk to you as Kazuya and not as the devil." Kazuya stated seriously. Jin and Asuka glanced at each other and then turned back to Kazuya.
"Well, this is the first time your talking to me." Asuka said.
"Jin…I could never forgive myself for leaving you and your mother in Yakushima…" Kazuya said with a tinge of regret. Jin's eyes widened but then narrowed to slits.
"You're wrong! You didn't care what happened to me and mother. If you did, you would've been there to stop her from being killed!" Jin shouted. It took every bit of self control to stop himself from attacking Kazuya right there. Kazuya diverted his eyes from Jin and took a deep breath.
"I know I deserved that…" Kazuya said in a low voice and faced his son once more. He turned to Asuka who was staring at Jin in shock, since she'd never seen him that angry. Feeling his stare on her, she turned to face Kazuya. The corners of Kazuya's lips had lifted to form…a smile? It wasn't one of his sadistic grins…it seemed foreign on his face since it was set in a permanent scowl.
"Asuka…you look so much like your mother. Such purity, innocence…" Kazuya said, seeming more on the topic of Jun than Asuka. His cold orbs for eyes had began to soften and this had surprised both of them. As Asuka stared into Kazuya's eyes, something in her memory stirred and she gasped.
"Aren't you the sick jerk who chucked Xiao into a raging river?" Asuka said with anger, her hands curling into fists at her sides. Xiaoyu perked up as her name was mentioned and she strained her ears to hear the conversation. Before Kazuya could answer, the echo of hells clicking against the marble was brought to everyone's attention. The sound appeared to be coming from all directions so it was hard to pinpoint the origin. Asuka, Kazuya and Jin spun around and in the distance, a figure walked towards them.
It was a woman, wearing a black silk kimono that stopped at the shoulders with long, draping sleeves. Her hair was up in a loose bun with a few wisps of black hair escaping. As she came closer, Jin had gasped and was frozen on the spot.
"M…Mother?"
A/N: Whew! That was one heck of a long chapter…I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written! Well, there's only a few more chaps left in this story (sniff sniff) but no worries, I'll probably b back with another sequel…but not for a while since I gotta concentrate on I believe and Clash of Fists and Swords. Once again people. I'm absolutely sorry about the late update but be expecting the last few chapters of this story to be up really soon…maybe tomorrow…not exactly sure since school has started for me. REVIEW!