Chapter Twenty-Four
Outdoor Arena
Rainbow Mika and Sakura Kasugano stood in the middle of the ring, looking at each other with a bit of surprise. After waiting all morning to fight, it turned out that the two friends would face each other in the same match.
Sakura smirked at her friend. "You think out of hundreds of people, you and I would end up being paired for a match."
"Tell me about it," Mika replied. "Well, all I have to say is… may the best girl win."
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yes. Because I have a few new moves up my sleeve." She then got into a fighting stance.
Mika got into her fighting stance as well. "Don't think I don't have some tricks on me either."
Soon, the match was called to begin. Both girls circled around the ring, keeping their eyes on one another. After a while of this, Sakura decided to make the first move. She ran over to Mika and attempted an uppercut, which Mika blocked. Mika then attempted to grapple Sakura, but the younger girl saw it coming and had no choice but to step out of the way.
Sakura then attempted various punches and high kicks at Mika, who blocked and dodged from them. Mika then found an opening and jumped up, swinging her leg sideways. Sakura saw it coming again and barely ducked from Mika's foot.
"Now I'm definitely ready!" Sakura called out. She bent her knees a little, then pushed herself upward. As she did, she placed one leg out and began spinning herself around.
"Shunpuukyaku!" Sakura called out. Mika ducked underneath the move and pulled back a bit. She watched as Sakura began to land on her feet. There, she saw an opportunity.
"Flying Peach!" Mika cried out as she launched herself forward, rear-end first. Sakura had just turned herself around when she was suddenly smacked in the face. The younger fighter immediately fell back, a bit dizzy from the impact.
Sakura looked up after a brief recovery and saw Mika slightly rubbing her rear a little before she turned her head with a grin. Sakura realized what part of Mika's body she was hit by.
"Now you're gonna get it!" the younger fighter called out as she stood up on her feet. The two fighters launched themselves towards the other again and from there, they exchanged various punches and kicks. The two girls watched the other in order to avoid getting hit by one of the moves.
This lasted for a bit before the both of them pulled back, feeling a bit exhausted. They both took a moment to catch they breath before Mika launched herself forward to perform another Flying Peach. However, this time, Sakura was prepared.
"Hadouken!" Sakura called out. She pushed both of her hands forward and ejected a ball of blue energy and it shot out right towards Mika. Unfortunately for the young wrestler, she didn't see the projectile coming and was hit… right in the rear. She let out a small yelp as she suddenly found herself flying in the opposite direction and landed on her side.
After the landing, Mika felt a burning sensation behind her. "Owe! Owe! OWE! Hot! Hot! HOT!" she cried out as she attempted to stand up.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh as she watched. "Now this fight is really mine!" She began running towards Mika, ready to launch one of her biggest attacks. Mika managed to look up and saw Sakura coming.
"Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!" Sakura called out. She slightly jumped, placed one leg out, and spun herself around multiple times in hopes of hitting Mika. However, Mika had just enough time to barely get out of the way.
Soon, Sakura stopped spinning. She was about to deliver a kick to the stomach at Mika… but realized that she wasn't there.
"What the-" Sakura began to say.
Suddenly, Sakura felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. Mika managed to lift the younger girl up in the air and performed a solid German Supplex.
"Hora!" Mika cried out as she made the impact. Before Sakura landed head first and a bit hard, Mika managed to render her unconscious. Mika let her drop to the floor, then stood herself up before she realized what she did to her friend.
"Winner: Rainbow Mika!" the Shadow Priest hosting the tournament called out.
"Oh no!" Mika cried out as she bent down to her friend. "Sakura, I'm so sorry!"
Asuka and Ibuki, who were both watching the tournament, came into the ring. "She's all right, isn't she?" asked Ibuki.
"She looks fine, just knocked out," Asuka replied as she lifted Sakura up with Ibuki's help. Then she looked over a Mika. "Congratulation Mika!" she said excitedly.
"Um, thanks," Mika answered unsurely. It did feel good to win, but a part of her wished that it didn't have to be at the cost of another friend's victory.
In the Cave
"Wagner?" Sonya Blade said aloud beside a curtain. "Are you in there? I need to talk to you."
The curtain was then pulled slightly aside and Wagner poked his head around it. Sonya noticed that his blonde hair was a bit messy. "I'm not in trouble, am I?" the younger man asked as he stared at her with his midnight blue eyes.
Sonya laughed a little. "Unless you're hiding something, no. Can I come in?"
Wagner looked in his room, then back at the blonde agent. "Um, sure." He then pulled the curtain back to let Sonya in. Sonya stepped in and felt her nose twitch at the sight of his room. Even in the caves of Outworld, Wagner's dirty clothes laid everywhere. She noted a pair of jeans hanging off one of the rocks on the wall and she couldn't help but sigh by the sight.
The Air Force Sergeant noticed Sonya looking around the room. "Yeah, I didn't get a chance to do my laundry. As a matter of fact, I don't know where to do the laundry."
"Oh, there's a clean river near the springs," Sonya mentioned. "I have to do my own laundry tomorrow so I'll show you where it is."
"Thanks." Wagner then stared at her. "So… I'm pretty sure that you're not here to talk about laundry."
Sonya briefly thought about what she was about to explain to Wagner and couldn't help but chuckle. "Well… it's kind of out of character for me now a days, but considering how Alex got to advance to the next round and I didn't, I can't help but feel that I should pull a prank on her. I haven't done something like that since high school."
Wagner snorted in amusement. "You? Pull a prank? This I have to see!"
"Well," Sonya continued. "I came to you for advice… because Guile told me some stories of the pranks you pulled when you were a teenager."
Wagner smirked proudly. "Those were the days. Well, come to think of it actually, did Guile tell you about the small party he plans to throw for Alex and Kenshi for their victory in round two?"
"Hmm, I almost forgot about that," Sonya answered.
"Do you think we should pull a prank on Kenshi too?" Wagner suggested.
"Bad idea," Sonya mentioned. "My colleagues Jax and Cyrax back in Special Forces tried pulling a prank on him once… and it backfired miserably because of Kenshi's keen sense."
"Darn," Wagner muttered in disappointment. "So much for my little revenge after losing to him in the tournament."
"If you think about it, helping me pull a prank on Alex is almost like pulling a prank on Kenshi since they're good friends. It's probably the closest you'll get."
Wagner raised an eyebrow and smirked even more. "Good friends, eh?"
Sonya got the idea of what he was thinking. "No no, it's nothing like that."
"Well I can't imagine him in a relationship anyway," Wagner replied. "He seems too grumpy to be in one."
Sonya chose to ignore that last statement. "Anyway, back to the prank… say, do you know what they'll be serving at the party?"
"Let's see… the usual chips and dip, Outworld berries, Outworld fish…" Then a smirk came on Wagner's face then. "And Outworld liquor."
A devilish grin came on Sonya's face. "Outworld liquor… that gives me an idea for a prank." She looked at Wagner then. "One question before I devise my plan. Do you own a pair of briefs?"
"Huh?" Wagner asked in confusion.
Indoor Arena
A match between the ice ninja Sub-Zero and the saurian Reptile was taking place. It seemed like an ordinary battle between the two. However, they had done nothing but impressed those watching their match.
A shadow in a black hooded cloak watched the match as the two continued with their various move sets. Soon, the two fighters brought out their potential;
Reptile removed the mask covering his mouth, reveal a chameleon-like mouth. He quickly opened his jaws and a glob of green acid spewed out of his mouth. Seeing the acid coming towards him, Sub-Zero quickly shot out a freezing cold projectile. The two projectiles crashed into one another, and disintegrated just before hitting the ground.
From there, they continued with the match for a few more minutes. Finally, Sub-Zero slid towards Reptile, leaving a trailed sheet of ice behind him, leaned forward with his shoulder in front, and slammed into the raptor. Reptile went flying backwards in fast speed before and flew right out of the ring, crashing into unexpected viewers in the process. Once things settled, Sub-Zero was then declared the winner of the match and will be moving on to round three.
The cloaked shadow stared at Sub-Zero as he left the ring. I had hoped he would win, it thought. Now I can set him up for the perfect match.
Palace Hot Springs
"I can't believe you didn't want to trek back to the outdoor hot springs," said Yang as he stared at his brother Yun.
"Well why not?" Yun replied. "We just had dinner and this hot springs was just two levels down. Why should we go to the hot springs outside when this one was right here?"
"Whatever you say," Yang said as he decided to give up with arguing with his brother. He leaned his bare back into the edge of the bath and let himself relax. At least there weren't that many people in the springs right at the moment. All of them kept to themselves, which was what Yang liked whenever he was in the springs.
It was then that the brothers heard footsteps heading their way. Sounds like one more person is coming in, thought Yun sighing.
Then, an older man with crazy grayish-white hair stepped into the area. He held a white towel in his right hand and the only thing he was wearing was a black speedo.
All the guys except for the Lee brothers began to snicker.
"Look, it's Heihachi Mishima, and he's wearing a speedo. How pathetic!"
"Old timers shouldn't be wearing things like that anymore."
"Ewww, I can almost see his-"
"Don't even say it! I already want to gorge my eyes out so don't make me want to gorge my ears out!"
Yun then couldn't help but snicker as well. However, he ended up stopping upon feeling Yang nudging hard on his arm. "Eh, sorry," Yun muttered to his brother.
Heihachi calmly placed his towel on the bench as the snickering continued. He then turned towards them and glared, enough that he managed to render the snickering bathers scared.
However, that wasn't enough for the Zaibatsu leader. Yun and Yang then ended up watching as, what seemed like within a millisecond, take out all the bathers and threw them out of the bathhouse. They screamed in terror and ran out of the springs in seconds.
Yun and Yang were the only ones left alone with Heihachi afterwards. They both sat there frozen in their place, unsure of what was going to happen next. Then, to their surprise, Heihachi let out a laugh as he stepped into the bath, just across from the brothers.
I'm not sure whether to stay or leave… thought a nervous Yang.
Heihachi looked over at the brothers then. "Hmm, water is quite nice today, huh boys?" he said in a cheerful tone (which almost seemed sadistic in a way as well).
Yun was the first to speak. "Um, yeah… it does seem nice today."
"Eh, yeah, same here," Yang managed to say.
Heihachi smirked then, which also seemed both cheerful and sadistic. "Say, why don't one of you get me a drink."
"That's your job," said Yun suddenly to his brother.
"Me?" Yang asked surprised. "He was looking at you when he asked!"
"Well I'm not doing it!"
"Me either!"
"Ahem!" they suddenly heard. Yun and Yang turned their heads and noticed Heihachi glaring at them with his arms folded. The look alone was enough for the both of them to jump out of the bath, grab their towels, and make a run for it.
Heihachi laughed to himself while they were gone. "Finally. I thought I'd never get the hot springs to myself. Now to finally relax." He leaned back a bit and proceeded to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Cave Area Later That Evening
The members of Special Forces, US Air Force, and Delta Red gathered around the campfire that evening. Near the fire, various food and drinks were being served, including the infamous Outworld Liquor, which was barely touched at the moment.
McCoy looked over at the liquor bottle. "I ain't chugging on that bloody bottle again for as long as I'm here," he said.
Lita grinned sadistically. "So… that means you'll still have some when you return to Earth?"
McCoy glared at her. "You know what I mean." After the statement, he took out his guitar from it's case. "Right now, let me play some music to lighten things up." With that, he began playing various tunes on the instrument as everyone sat around and enjoyed the environment.
"Hey, where's Kenshi?" asked a curious Guile.
"He'll be here," Alex replied. "He wanted to do some training before he came to the gathering."
"Must be dedicated to the fight," Wagner said. He then handed a filled cup to Alex. "Here, have some liquor. It's reaaaallllly good!"
Alex looked down at the cup before taking it. "Thanks." She then began drinking the liquor.
McCoy continued strumming his guitar, the various notes pleasantly reaching everyone's ears. Everyone continued eating and enjoying their time together. During that, however, Guile couldn't help but notice both Wagner and Sonya continuing to offer Alex more and more liquor. A few times she denied their offers, but they begged her to take it. Eventually, she would and continue to drink. This went on for about twenty minutes.
"Wagner, don't give her too much," the Air Force Colonel mentioned to his trainee.
Wagner stared at his surrogate father. "It'll be fine, Guile."
"But don't you remember when-"
Suddenly, Alex stood out. "WOO HOO!" she cried out catching everyone's attention. She stumbled a bit, indicating that she was definitely drunk. "Is it me or is it HOT out here?!"
Alex began taking her shirt off, but Lita immediately stood up and stopped her from doing that. "Now now mate, you don't want to be doing that!" She then looked over at Ginzu, who was playing around with his computer. "And that's why, Ginzu, you should never be drinking."
"Uh huh," Ginzu replied, not even paying attention as he tapped on the keyboards with his fingers.
The young brunette looked upward in a daze, "Pretty colors…" she muttered before passing out. Lita caught her in her arms before she was able to land on the ground.
About time! Sonya thought mischievously.
"Looks like she had a bit too much to drink," Cammy mentioned.
Wagner turned his head and noticed Guile giving him dagger eyes. The younger man sighed a bit, realizing that Guile was right all along.
Wolfman stood up. "I'll bring her to her room."
"Actually," Sonya called out. "Wagner and I will do that, if you don't mind."
"Be my guest."
Wagner stood up as well. Taking the now passed-out Alex in their arms, Sonya and Wagner carried her back in to the cave. As they disappeared behind the trees, Guile rubbed his chin a little.
Something fishy is going on with those two, he thought.
Courtyard
Mi-na stood in her spot as her friend Hwang got himself ready in the ring. They practically spent the whole afternoon in the courtyard area, waiting for Hwang's name to be called up for his match. She sighed of relief as his name was finally called out.
"You better win this," she had said to him as he stepped over the ropes. "Or else what kind of role model would you be to me?"
Hwang stared at the younger girl, noting her slight sarcasm. "Don't worry, I'm not going to lose." With that, he stepped into the ring.
Hwang's opponent was called out then. Mi-na recognized the second fighter as one of the people staying in the caves. If she remembered correctly, his name was Cody. With his scruffy blond hair and a hint of in-grown beard, and his name, he reminded her of a country bumpkins.
I'm surprised he doesn't have one of those accents, she thought. If I'm correct, I think they're called 'hillbillies.'
The two men stared at each other for a moment. She saw Hwang's mouth move, possibly saying good luck. She quickly looked over at Cody, who nodded to Hwang before getting into his stance. Without a weapon on Cody, it would like Hwang was going to have to fight hand to hand. Leaving his sword in it's scabbard, he got into his stance.
"Begin!" Shang Tsung called out as he looked at the two fighters in the ring.
Neither one of them waited another moment after the call. Mi-na watched as Hwang and Cody ran towards each other and go at it, starting with various punches and kicks. Mina became a bit frustrated because she couldn't tell who really had the upper hand at the moment.
I seriously hope you win this, Hwang, she thought.
The match proceeded on for a while as Mi-na continued to watch. At one point, Hwang would have the upper hand, then at other times, it would be Cody getting the offense. The two would manage to land different punches and kicks on their opponent, but the opponent would quickly recover and continue fighting.
Then, to Mi-na's surprise, Cody quickly pulled out a slim butcher knife from his pocket. A sadistic smirk came over his face as he quickly threw the knife at Hwang.
"Look out!" Mi-na cried out.
Luckily, Hwang saw the knife coming in time. Quickly, he pulled out his sword from it's scabbard and place it over his face. He had managed to block the knife as it hit the sword and fell down the ground.
"You tried to kill me!" Hwang called out.
Cody couldn't help but smirk even more. "No, I was only trying to distract you."
Hwang narrowed his eyes as he placed his sword back in it's scabbard. Once he did that, he immediately began running towards Cody, who was long prepared for Hwang's next move.
"Criminal Uppercut!' Cody called out. Hwang stepped right into his trap as he threw an uppercut and managed to develop a small tornado. Hwang stepped into the hurricane and went flying sideways, just a foot away from the edge of the ring.
Cody cracked his knuckles a couple of times. "Now things are heating up!"
Hwang stood up as Cody began running towards him. Hwang clenched his fists and concentrated on collecting energy around him. This produced some green mist around him and the area seemed to darken a bit, making the audience wonder what was about to happen next.
Once Cody was close enough, Hwang hit Cody with a punch and the green mist seemed to come flying out. Cody was punched so hard that he flew right across the ring and landed hard. The force of the landing rendered him unconscious.
Shang Tsung stood up after a few moments. "Winner: Hwang Seong-gyeong!"
"Yeah!" Mi-na cried out as she jumped into the ring and joined with Hwang. When she approached him, she saw that he had a blank expression on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Hwang heard Mi-na's voice and looked over at her. "Nothing, I'm fine. Let's get out of here. Something tells me that Cody is going to wake up soon and cause a bit of havoc."
Mi-na couldn't help but laugh a little. "All right, let's go. I'm tired of being here anyway."
With that, the two of them left as Cody's allies came to his aid.
Back In the Cave Area
"I can't believe I lost," Sakura sighed as she placed a hand on the side of her face. She then let out a huff that went up, forcing some locks of her short brown hair to stand up quickly before falling back down in place.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Mika replied. "I think that's what really matters."
The two of them were sitting on rocks just by the beach area not far from the cave. Along with them were Maki, Cassandra, Asuka, and Ibuki. The six of them had just finished eating some fish and had set their dishes to the side.
"You did great Sakura," said Ibuki.
"Yeah," Sakura said with another small sigh. "Besides training, what else am I going to do with my time?"
"I'm sure you'll find something," said Cassandra. "But I have a similar question… what should we do now?"
All of the girls fell silent then, pondering over what to do next. The sun had already set for the night and some of the people in the cave had already gone to bed. There was no use doing anything in the cave. Every time they were together in one of the rooms, someone who was trying to sleep would always yell at them to be quiet.
After a while, Asuka's eyes lit up. "I have a game we can play."
"What kind of game?" asked Maki, now interested.
"My high school friends and I used to play this game all the time," Asuka continued. "Basically, we sit here like we are now and we wait for a cute guy to come by. Once we see a cute guy, one of us will go up to him and hit on him. It's like truth or dare, but only with a dare and only a single dare that everyone is assigned to."
"Gee, I don't know," Maki said.
Cassandra smiled. "I think it's a great idea. Besides, I need to get to know some of the guys around here, especially since we're going to be here for a while." She then turned her head and spotted Maxi walking nearby. "Here we go. I'll go first." She then got up and began walking over to Maxi.
The girls looked at her in a bit of surprise. "She's quite the daring type," said Sakura.
"Hey, did anyone notice she's bringing her shield along?" asked a curious Ibuki.
Cassandra soon approached there. "Hi, I'm Cassandra."
Maxi looked over at the younger girl, a bit surprised. "Um, hi there. Aren't you the one who hangs out with the girls who giggle a lot?"
Cassandra couldn't help but giggle herself. "Yeah, we always like to hang out together."
"So I see," Maxi replied. "Well, I'm sorry but I can't talk right now, maybe next time."
Maxi began leaving then. Cassandra exhaled loudly, now angry because she wasn't able to get Maxi to talk to her longer. In her anger, she took the shield that was in her hand, bonked Maxi over the head, and rendered him unconscious.
"Well you know what?!" Cassandra yelled out. "You're definitely not my type!" Then she stormed off.
The other five girls looked at her and could've sworn they felt a bead of sweat on her forehead. All five of them sighed in sync.
"Well, that game got ruined," said Asuka. "Let's do something else…"
"Yeah," the other four replied, unsure of what to do now…
The Next Morning…
After a long sleep, Alex woke up and found herself in her own room on her bed. After opening her eyes, a pounding headache immediately came over her.
"Damn…" she mumbled to herself. "How much did I drink last night?"
She remembered being at the gathering by the campfire in celebration for her and Kenshi's victory in round two. Other than that, it was all she could remember.
Alex slightly moved a little and felt her headache even more. She placed a hand over her forehead and rubbed it a little, hoping that it would ease the pain a bit.
She then moved a little again. This time, she felt someone next to her and her blue eyes quickly widened nearly as big as saucers. "No... I didn't…" she mumbled. Alex then slowly turned her head over to the left, hoping that it was all in her imagination.
However, once she got a view of a shirtless Wagner, her worst fears were confirmed. Wagner himself was already wide awake, baring a big grin on his face as he looked over at Alex with his midnight blue eyes.
"Good morning, honey," he said jokingly and with high-pitch cheerfulness.
Suddenly, Alex let out a shriek so loud, it forced Wagner to jump back and fall off the small bed. Alex ended up backing away too far that she too fell off the other side of the bed. She quickly got on to her feet and saw Wagner struggling to get his jeans over his briefs, the only piece of clothing he originally had on.
"Please tell me this was a joke!" Alex screamed out.
Wagner laughed as he got his jeans on. "Don't blame me! This was all Sonya's idea!"
"What for?" Alex asked. Then, at that moment, Sonya pulled the curtain over to see what was going on. With her were both Guile and Lita.
"Oh bloke," said Lita as Sonya slapped her own knee and burst out laughing. Guile only shook his head, realizing that his own instinct were right.
"Don't worry Alex, Wagner didn't do anything to you," said Sonya, still laughing. "After you won your match and I didn't, I just had to pull a prank on you."
After the statement, Alex screamed, "GET OUT!" Immediately all four of them scrambled out of there, but not before Wagner grabbed his green tank top from the floor.
Once they were far from Alex's room, Lita looked over at Wagner. "I'll admit, that was pretty funny. However, something tells me that you two pulled that prank at a very bad time of the month."
Wagner sighed, getting what she meant. "You know… I think you're right…"
A/N: Mi-na being surprised that Cody doesn't have a hillbilly accent is a reference to the horrid American Street Fighter series... where he seemingly did have that kind of accent.