Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.

Thanks for all the reviews and all your support. The story is coming to an end…I hope you like chapter 33. Karisan

Chapter 33 – The Taste of Defeat

While she was unconscious, Ling dreamed about a huge amusement park. She was back in China and all of her friends were there, having fun and congratulating her for winning the Iron Fist Tournament. Jinrei was also there and he seemed to be having a great time too. He didn't call her "child" anymore. But for a reason she wasn't that happy. There was someone missing, Jin wasn't there with her. Where was he? Maybe he had found a cure to the devil gene, or maybe he had simply disappeared again. Ling never knew the answer because she woke up in a white room. She didn't know where she was.

-'Hello honey…'-said a middle-aged woman.

-'Where am I?'

-'In the medical compound. A young man brought you here.'-the nurse explained.

-'Oh…I lost…I'm happy for Jin.'

-'He was here for hours, but then he left…'

-'What time is it?'

-'Almost a half past two p.m. You slept for three yours.'

-'Wow…wait a minute, everyone must be watching the other match. I have to go.'

Ling was right, but the match was now over. Heihachi had won and Hwoarang was completely frustrated.

At first he had a small advantage and he even had broken Heihachi's nose with a powerful punch. After that Heihachi was truly pissed off and attacked with all his power. Hwoarang managed to block some of his kicks and punches but he soon realised that Heihachi had far more experience than him. To him, losing was even worse than death.

On the floor, Hwoarang clenched his fist and punched the ground, his hand was now bleeding but he didn't feel the pain.

-'Did you really think you could win?'-Heihachi asked mocking him.-'You're lucky I didn't kill you for broking my nose…'

-'Bastard!'

-'Watch your mouth, Korean jackass…next time you won't live enough to insult me.'

Heihachi left and slowly the crowd disappeared. Jin looked at Hwoarang and then at Julia, in the end he decided to leave too. He was probably the last person that Hwoarang wanted to see in that moment. Maybe Julia would have some luck.

-'You should go see a doctor…Heihachi was pretty rough with you…'-Julia said.

-'Shut the hell up. I don't need your help.'

Hwoarang got up slowly and left the arena. His right knee was fractured and he was feeling some pain on his ribs. His eyebrow and his lip were bleeding.

-'You're bleeding…just go see a doctor, will you?'

-'Leave me alone Chang. What do you want from me?'

-'What are you talking about?'

-'Do you want to humiliate me even more? Or do you want me to admit that you were right?'

-'I want you to treat your injuries…'

-'Forget it! I'm fine. Now go away!'

Hwoarang's pride had been severely damaged. Julia knew that he was trying to hang on but since he was always so confidant, that defeat was hurting even more. The injuries were not the main problem, his pride and his honour as a man and a fighter had been destroyed.

Feeling helpless, Julia left him alone. It seemed that he didn't want any help.

Ling was back at the hotel, she had searched for Jin but he wasn't in his room so she decided to meet Julia. Both girls met in the elevator.

-'How was the fight?'-Ling asked.-'I wish I could've seen it.'

-'Heihachi won…but we were all expecting that.'

-'Except for Hwoarang.'

-'Yeah, except for him.'

-'How is he? I didn't see him…'

-'I don't know. When I left him he was heading back here, but I don't know if he changed his mind…'

-'Have you seen Jin?'

-'He watched the fight and disappeared again. What about you, are you ok?'

-'I'm fine…Jin wasn't too rough on me.'

-'I figured that.'

-'I guess he cares about me…'-Ling blushed a bit.

-'Definitely.'

The final match would oppose Heihachi and Jin and everyone was talking about that at dinner time. Paul and Law didn't hide that they both preferred Jin as a winner, but Paul had his doubts, after all it was Jin's first tournament and he was too young. In the end, Heihachi was clearly the favourite.

-'From what I've seen, Jin's capable to win…but it will be hard.'-Julia confessed.

-'Heihachi is the boss and he won't make things easy for Jin.'-Paul said.-'I saw that old geezer win the last tournament…unfortunately. His son won the first Iron Fist…and now maybe his grandson can win this one.'

-'I guess it runs in the family, huh?'-Law suggested.

-'Kazuya Mishima won the first Iron Fist?'-Ling asked surprised.

-'Yeah…he was really strong and…arrogant too.'-Paul said.-'I almost kicked his ass.'

-'Wow…I never knew that Jin's father was that strong.'-Ling continued.-'I guess he takes after him.'

Julia sighed. She knew that Kazuya's strengths had been given to him by the Devil. Ling had seemed to forget about that though.

-'Lets hope that Jin can win…'-Julia sighed.

-'Yeah…we really need new blood in this tournament.'-Paul got up and went to order a beer.

-'If only that stupid redhead had won…'-Law complained.-'I was betting on him.'

-'I didn't see him yet…'-Ling said.

-'He's probably ashamed.'-Law declared.

-'Do you think he's ok?'-Ling asked turning to Julia.

-'Why do you ask me?'

-'You were worried about him earlier.'

-'I was not!'

Ling and Julia kept on talking about the tournament until late at night. Paul and Law left them and went to the bar. Then Ling decided to go check on Hwoarang.

-'Come on…I know you want to go too.'-Ling insisted.

-'I'm not going. He doesn't want our help. He told me to leave him alone.'

-'He was being an idiot…'

-'He IS an idiot.'

-'Then I'm going on my own.'

-'Fine. I'll see you in the morning.'

Ling didn't have a choice. She entered the elevator and soon she was knocking on Hwoarang's door. She had to knock five times.

-'What do you want? Why can't you people leave me alone?'-he asked aggressively.

-'I…just wanted to see if you're ok.'

-'You can laugh all you want.'

-'I'm not laughing. I lost too, remember? I'm just wondering why the hell you didn't go to the medical facilities…'

-'I didn't break anything.'-he said but in fact, he wasn't in his best shape. His left hand had a bandage just like his right knee. He had managed to stop the bleeding from his eyebrow and lip. One of his shoulders was also hurting, but since he didn't break any bone he decided he didn't need a doctor at all.

-'He kicked you hard…huh?'

-'Look, I'm not in the mood for this. You can say Chang that if she wanted to see me, she should have come herself.'

-'Julia is disappointed with you. She tried to help you and you were rude to her. But I didn't come just for her…I know how it feels when we lose a fight. It's horrible…we feel humiliated in a certain way.'

-'Your boyfriend must be really thrilled now that he saw me losing to his grandfather.'

-'I don't think Jin's happy just because you lost. Do you know what your problem is?'

-'Please enlighten me!'-Hwoarang said sarcastically.

-'You think that everyone is your enemy and you're always too confidant.'

-'Well, thank you very much for the information…now leave!'

Ling turned around and opened the door.

-'You know…this is not the end of the world. You are strong…you just need to be stronger next time!'-she said.

Hwoarang watched her leaving and thought about her last words. It made sense. He had to be stronger.

28th APRIL

It was almost lunch time when Julia decided to go and call Ling. She had waited for her at breakfast but the Chinese girl never showed up. Julia knew that her friend was probably tired from the fight with Jin. Deep down, Julia also wanted to know if Ling had spoken to Hwoarang.

Suddenly, she changed her mind and went downstairs again. A few minutes later she was holding a bag with a pizza and some drinks, and she was right outside Hwoarang's door. She realised that she didn't have the courage to knock. She walked down the hall and came back to the door. She repeated that at least three more times, until the door was opened suddenly.

-'You could've knocked.'-Hwoarang said.

-'How did you know?'-Julia asked surprised.

-'Well I heard your steps…and honestly it was driving me crazy.'

-'I brought you this.'-Julia gave him the bag.

Hwoarang didn't accept it but he moved to the side to let her in. Julia entered and the first thing she noticed was the medicine on his bedside table.

-'Are you in pain?'-she asked.

-'Not anymore. I heal pretty fast.'-Hwoarang got the bag from her hands and opened it.

-'You're welcome.'-Julia said ironically.

-'I didn't ask you to come.'

-'I know.'

-'What do you want? To see if I'm still alive after losing all my pride?'

-'No. But you should've seen this coming.'

-'Fine! What the hell do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you that you were right? That Heihachi Mishima is stronger than me?'

-'Why are you acting like a child?'

-'I'm not. Besides, it doesn't make a difference. I would fight with him even if I knew that I was going to die. I never quit!'

-'You're really stubborn, do you know that?'

-'Yes, I do. By the way, why are you here?'

-'Well, I hate to see children starving…'

-'Are you calling me a child?'

-'Did I say that? Oh…sorry I don't remember.'

They both shut up for a few minutes.

-'Chang?'

-'What?'

-'Do you think I can become stronger?'

-'Of course you can, you came this far, didn't you?'

Julia left a couple of minutes later. Now that she knew Hwoarang was ok, she needed to talk to Jin, but once again he wasn't around. A half an hour later it was Jin who found her.

-'We need to talk…now.'-he said.

Alone in Jin's room, they could talk properly about the next day, the day of the final.

-'Do you have a plan?'-Julia asked.

-'I don't think I can call it a plan, but I know exactly what to do.'

-'Ok…I need to know what you're going to do.'

-'The final match doesn't have a time limit. In my previous trainings with Heihachi I managed to fight with him for more than an hour. This time, I'm sure I can hold him down for two hours.'

-'So I have two hours to take my mother out of Heihachi's headquarters, is that it?'

-'Yes, basically. I think I can win this match, but just in case, you better count with only those two hours.'

-'Ok.'

-'Can you do it? Don't forget about the tekken forces and maybe Dr. Abel…'

-'It would be easier if I had some help, but I don't want to risk Ling's life because this is my problem…'

-'What will you do after you get your mother back?'

-'I already contacted the G Corporation, and they'll send a plane. It will land behind the hotel. Meet me there as soon as you can. We'll go to the States and my mother will focus on your problem. Your grandfather won't be able to follow us.'

-'That's fine by me.'

-'Maybe you should bring Ling along with you. She'll be vulnerable here and Heihachi can use her to get you.'

-'If I take her with us, she'll be involved and I don't want that to happen. Is not her fault that I'm half-devil.'

-'If you don't take her, she'll be in danger anyway. I'll stay with her while my mother solves your problem. I'm sure that Ling wants to be by your side.'

-'Do you honestly think so?'

-'I'm positive.'

-'Then we're settled. I'll be there with Xiaoyu and we're all going away.'

-'You just need to know one more thing…'

-'What?'

-'Hwoarang knows that something is happening between you and Heihachi, and he also knows that Heihachi has my mother.'

-'He's not a problem. He wants revenge for what happened between us in South Korea…Since he lost his fight against Heihachi, he doesn't have any right to fight with me, so he'll have to wait.'

-'But he knows about Ogre and…'

-'He won't do anything. That guy is all talk. He only thinks about himself…I'm sure he won't get in our way.'

Julia nodded and whished Jin good luck for his match, after that she left. She thought that Jin was too confidant about Hwoarang. If she was right, Hwoarang could become a real problem.