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Chapter 24 – Fire vs. Metal
22nd APRIL
That morning Ling Xiaoyu had a feeling that she wasn't going to have a good day. She had this feeling, but she couldn't say why. The first thing she did that morning was to take a quick shower. While she was in the shower she remembered the talk with Jin last night and she cursed herself, because she couldn't hate him.
Miharu was probably right about him. He was just a rich guy who thought he could have everything he wanted, but for some reason, Ling wasn't totally sure if that was Jin's case. He sure seemed determined and sometimes even arrogant, but he didn't seem to be doing that for fun.
Since he was simply pushing her away from him and the problems that were haunting him, Ling decided that maybe it was better to forget all about him. From now on she would focus on her own fights.
She was pretty sure that she was going to be able to forget about Jin, but Ling changed her mind when she arrived to the hotel lobby and found Julia.
In any other day, she would've been happy to see her new friend, and eventually she would even appreciate her to be waiting for her to breakfast, but that morning everything was different.
Julia was a nice person, and Ling was sure about that, but in that moment she didn't want to talk to her. She wanted to be alone. Julia wasn't of that opinion, so she didn't take a "no" for an answer and dragged Ling with her.
They sat down on a table and waited until the waiter arrived with their breakfast. Ling sighed when Julia started to talk.
-'I know you're upset with me…but just listen to what I have to say.'-Julia said almost begging.
-'I think that maybe you should wait a day or two…'
-'I'm not going out with Jin…I'm not interested in him and I'm really sorry if I caused problems between you two.'
Ling was a bit shocked when she heard Julia say all that. It seemed that Julia was thinking that Jin and her where dating.
-'Oh…it's not like that…'-Ling quickly said, but she couldn't help to blush.
-'Did he say anything to you?'-Julia asked.-'I mean I only want his help…I'm sure he still likes you very much. You should go back together.'
-'I'm not his girlfriend, Julia…We're just friends…we were…before he lied to me.'
-'Oh…but he didn't lie on purpose…'
-'This is not just about you…it's about him too. He doesn't talk to me. I want to help but he doesn't want me to help him, he wants to do everything by himself.'
-'He's just worried about you.'
-'He said that?'
-'Not with these words…but I'm sure that's how he feels. Maybe you should forgive him.'
-'This is not about forgiveness. I'm not angry with him and I don't hate him…I'm just disappointed because I thought we were friends and now everything has changed. He is no longer the Jin that I used to know…I don't even know what's going on.'
-'I thought he told you…'
-'He told me that he's helping you and that's all.'
-'I can explain…'
-'You don't need to if you don't want to.'
-'But I want to…'
-'Fine…'
-'I never told you because you said you lived with the Mishima family and I'm not very fond of Heihachi.'
-'You too?'
-'Heihachi is evil, he only wants more power.'
-'Why do say that? He was so kind to me…he offered me a home and he's paying my education…he can't be that bad.'
-'Maybe he is kind to you, but Jin and I think differently. Heihachi did something to my mother and I'm here to put things right again. That's why I asked Jin to help me.'
-'What happened to your mother?'
-'I'm not sure…but I think she might be here…I'm going to get her back!'
After the breakfast Ling made up some excuse to go back to her room. She needed to digest the new information Julia had given her. She knew now why Julia was in the tournament and why she had asked Jin for help, but she couldn't understand his actions. Why was he helping Julia, if he was the one who needed help? Why was he always hiding his true emotions and why was he keeping his problems to himself?
Unable to find an answer, Ling drifted off to sleep only to dream about the same dark creature and the horrible screams she used to dream since she had arrived I Japan. In the dream she was always calling Jin's name, but he wasn't there.
When she woke up she could hear the screams coming from the arena. Ling left in a hurry because she wanted to see that fight.
It wasn't an ordinary fight at all, it was Hwoarang's fight. He was fighting a man named Gun Jack, a brutal guy who had the strengths of an army. Hwoarang had been bragging about his Tae Kwon Do skills every day and Ling was hoping to see him lose. It wasn't a very friendly thought but sometimes she couldn't help it, if Hwoarang won he would talk about it for ages.
-'How's he doing?'-Ling asked Julia forcing a smile.
-'Ok…I guess…'-Julia answered watching Gun Jack avoiding a flamingo kick.-'Where were you?'
-'Resting…'-Ling lied.-'Ouch…that must have hurt…'-she added when Hwoarang hit the floor for the first time.
-'This guy isn't normal…'-Julia announced.
-'Don't be so hard on him…he's just an idiot. I guess he's not as good as he was always bragging about.'
-'I wasn't talking about Hwoarang…'
-'You mean Jack? What's the problem?'
-'He doesn't move like a normal person.'
-'You're right…he doesn't.'-Dr. B. said.
-'Who are you?'-Julia asked.-'What do you know about that guy?'
-'Nothing much…I only know that your friend won't win…Gun Jack is too strong.'
Ling watched Hwoarang, who was trying to punch Gun Jack. He succeeded a couple of times, but the punches had no effect on that man. Hwoarang took a few steps back to think about a way to defeat that guy. It seemed that he was going to be forced to use all of his new attacks otherwise he would never be able to fight with Jin Kazama.
-'Do you think Hwoarang will win?'-Ling asked Julia.
-'I have no idea. Maybe he was too confidant and now he's paying the price…'
-'So that old man was right…'
-'If Hwoarang loses, his ego will be reduced to ashes, which means he'll have a hard time. Guys like him can't handle to lose a match…'
-'But if he wins…no one will be able to shut him up.'-Ling concluded.
-'Exactly…'
-'Do you want him to win?'
-'Why do ask that?'
-'Because you look worried about him.'
-'I'm not worried…'
-'If you say so…'
In that moment, Hwoarang looked worriedly to his watch. He had less than ten minutes to win. Gun Jack was waiting for his opponent to move, but this time Hwoarang was determined to hit the target and he couldn't be too impulsive or he could miss his chance.
Since Hwoarang wasn't moving, Gun Jack attacked. When his leg touched Hwoarang's stomach, everyone thought the fight was over. But they were wrong. Hwoarang absorbed the impact of that kick with his left arm, protecting his stomach and preventing some broken ribs. And then, he grabbed Gun Jack's arm and performed a combination of seven kicks in a row. Gun Jack stumbled and finally fell on the ground. Hwoarang was declared the winner and everyone started to leave the place since it was almost lunch time. Only the few who stayed behind noticed that Gun Jack wasn't moving.
-'He killed him…'-Anna said all of the sudden.
Julia, Ling, Hwoarang and Paul turned back to see if it was true.
-'You're going to be disqualified.'-Paul stared at Hwoarang to see his reaction.
-'Oh…there's no need to do that, he's not dead…he just needs to be fixed.'-Dr. B. announced with a sad smile.
Hwoarang jumped to the arena again and watched as Dr. B was putting Gun Jack's arm on its place.
-'I broke his arm?'-he asked.-'I didn't realise…'
-'No…I guess this material isn't as strong as I thought it would be.'
-'Material?'-Julia inquired.-'He's not human?'
-'No.'-Dr. B confessed.-'He's a robot.'
Ling, Hwoarang, Paul and Anna started at him.
-'I was fighting with a damn robot?'-Hwoarang asked astonished.
-'A military robot actually.'
-'How do you know?'-Anna asked.
-'I'm his creator.'
Ling was still watching Gun Jack on the floor. Maybe Jin was right, maybe that tournament wasn't just a simple competition. After all there were robots among them.
-'Is this legal? Are robots allowed to enter the tournament?'-Ling asked still focused on Gun Jack.
-'There's no rule against it, so I guess it is legal…'-Dr. B answered.
-'Great…'-Hwoarang said.-'How many more are they?'
-'This was the only one. I need to work a little bit more on him…so if you excuse me…'
Everyone left and Dr. B sat down besides Gun Jack.
-'Hurry up and clean the arena…I'll be fighting next.'-Paul said leaving.
Ling and Julia returned to the hotel and they passed almost an hour talking about Gun Jack, robots and cyborgs. Weird things were definitely going on and Ling was feeling more frustrated because she didn't know anything about it.
Julia, on the other side was very well informed about the subject though she ignored about Gun Jack's true nature.
When the two girls were ready to go and watch Paul's fight against Yoshimitsu, Hwoarang showed up. Just as Ling thought, he immediately started talking about his fight.
-'I hate to be right all the time.'-Ling whispered.
-'You never thought I would actually win, right?'-Hwoarang asked.
Julia shrugged and Ling just sighed.
-'Maybe your skills aren't as good as you were describing them…'-Julia said.
-'Are you saying that I'm weak?'
-'She's saying that you had more troubles than us to eliminate your opponent.'-Ling defended Julia.
-'Well…lets see…your opponent was some dancer from Brazil or Paraguay…'
-'He's a capoeira master…'-Ling corrected.
-'It's the same thing…and Chang faced another chick. And who was my opponent? A military robot! With the strength of three men or even more.'
-'So?'-Ling asked.
-'So? Not many people can win against a robot.'-Hwoarang explained as if he was speaking with a two year old kid.
-'Fine…just stop talking about that and lets see the fight.'-Julia said.
-'If I can win a robot…Kazama will be a piece of cake.'
-'I'll laugh so hard when Jin kicks your butt!'-Ling said.
-'That will never happen!'-Hwoarang declared.
-'We'll see about that.'-Jin's voice reached them.
Ling saw as Jin passed them and went near the arena to watch the fight. Once again she felt that he was isolating himself from everyone else. He was so close and yet so far; he seemed so distant.
Unable to stay there without doing anything, Ling turned around and left without a warning.
-'I hate this crap!'-she said heading back to the hotel.
