This chapter is dedicated to my pals Thunder, Glorious D., and Firebat!

Chapter 14: Monster Duel

This was the day that Peter would have his first match. It was against one of the tournament's veterans, Nina Williams. Peter was so nervous. He would fight against one of the deadliest combatants yet. Most of her opponents didn't exactly walk away without anything to show. Peter was nervous that he would be defeated, and that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his dreams.

As Peter thought about this, Julia Chang, his beloved girlfriend approached him. "So Pete, today is your first match. Are you scared?" she told him. Peter smiled and replied "Well, I'm sure the best person will win."

Julia took a seat next to her lover. "I heard about your outbreak with Xiaoyu." she said quietly, hoping not to offend him.

"What outbreak?" Peter asked. Deep down inside, he knew the answer. He knew exactly what she was talking about. True he had been offended by what Xiaoyu said, but he also knew that he overreacted to it.

'Something is happening to me…' Peter thought to himself. He found that he had problems focusing on people, that he had little patience, and that he became more depressed than ever. What he also realized, was that his fighting skills had increased exponentially. All Peter seemed to think about was destruction. But he would never harm anybody. Or would he?

In his head, Peter saw the flashback of when he killed that street thug to protect King. The more he thought about it, the more he enjoyed it. He had been free, animalistic, and brutal. Something about it made him feel at peace. As ironic as that thought was, Peter didn't seem to care. He only knew what he felt, and what he felt was an ever increasing darkness.

"Pete? You okay?" Julia asked. Peter realized that he had totally blocked her out. Again, he had trouble focusing on people lately. "I'm sorry Julia, I've just been thinking about my match today. I hope that I can win. Say. I happened to catch your match with Sasha again. It was playing on the hotel monitors today. Great job, you really unleashed the power within."

Julia chuckled at his remark, knowing full good and well that she had done excellent. She noticed that Peter seemed to be in his own world and it both scared and hurt her that they had recently become farther apart.

Outside, there was a big commotion. Peter took Julia by the hand, something which caused her heart to skip a beat, and led her outside to see what was going on. "Looks like there is going to be a fight in the front lawn of the hotel." Peter said as the two stepped down onto the grass. "Wonder who's fighting?" Julia asked.

That's when her question was answered. Out of the crowd stepped two grotesque looking fighters. One was Yoshimitsu. He looked like some kind of roach or beetle, insect-like wings sprouting from his back. The other was a newcomer named Ghoul. His appearance was the most disgusting out of the two. His name fit his appearance well. The creature had no flesh at all on him, only raw exposed muscle tissue. Out of his fingers, were the pointy parts of the finger bone. The same was true with his feet.

He wore a trench coat and his eyes bulged out of his head. "Oh my God, how gross!" said Christie as she approached Julia and Peter. The two agreed with her. This is when the announcer began to speak through his microphone.

"This fight will be Ghoul vs. Yoshimitsu! Prepare!"

Suddenly, all of the onlookers and fighters went silent as the announcer said "Fight!"

Ghoul rushed forward with amazing speed, elbowing Yoshimitsu in the chest. Yoshimitsu spun around with his green glowing blade and attempted to slice at Ghoul's neck. This proved useless, as he soon found himself flat on the floor due to an unexpected sweep kick on Ghoul's part. Sitting up in an Indian style, Yoshimitsu began to hit his sword against the floor repeatedly as Ghoul ran forward to attack him. Surprisingly, Yoshimitsu twirled around on the ground and disappeared into thin air. Ghoul stopped in his tracks and looked in front of him.

"How come Yoshimitsu gets a weapon and we don't?" asked Peter as he saw him appear behind Ghoul. Julia shrugged, as did Christie as Ghoul was backhanded to the floor. Yoshimitsu spun around, kicking his opponent three times in the side. Ghoul would not give up so easily, he jumped up to his feet and slashed a wing off of Yoshimitsu's back. Yoshimitsu's scream echoed throughout the entire yard. He jumped into the air and spun his sword around, creating a helicopter-like effect which helped him to levitate.

"Get down here!" cried Ghoul as he attempted to jump up to his opponent. Peter shuddered at the sound of Ghoul's voice. It was dark and fear inducing. That was when Ghoul jumped behind him, picked up a stone, and tossed it at his head. Upon impact, Yoshimitsu fell to the ground, landing abruptly on his back. Ghoul wasted no time. He jumped over to Yoshimitsu, sat on top of him, and began to pummel him with a flurry of punches.

After Ghoul was done, he leaped off of Yoshimitsu and laughed. Poor Yoshimitsu had been defeated. "Uh, K.O.!" yelled a reluctant announcer.

"Well that was an interesting fight." said Julia. To her dismay, Julia realized that Ghoul had heard her. He smiled and walked towards her direction. Peter and Christie gasped as he reached Julia saying, "Well I'm glad you thought so. Care to go for a cup of coffee?" Peter stood in front of her defensively replying, "Hey she's mine. Besides, she's not into zombies." The crowd yelled out as Ghoul grabbed hold of Peter's throat, laughing as Peter choked. Christie and Julia grabbed hold of Ghoul's arms, trying desperately to pry him off of Peter. It was no use.

Peter fell to his knees, choking harder and unable to do anything to get Ghoul off of him. Looking past Ghoul, Peter saw that King was running through the crowd to save him. Peter didn't think he could hold out that long though, and his grip on Ghoul's hands began to slip. Suddenly, the yellow eyes of Ghoul, changed to a brilliant purple. Peter began to feel air enter his lungs as Ghoul's grip loosened. Something was happened to the man in front of him, and he didn't know what…