Chapter Twenty Eight

The Next Morning...

For the past twenty hours, Rose realized that things didn't seem right around the cave area. She had sensed a dark energy around her just past lunch time yesterday. With the exception of the swordsman Kenshi (despite being blind, his other keen senses were heightened and he is also able to sense things like that), no one else noticed the change in the environment and went about their own business.

She did notice, however, that the group consisting of Mika, Maki, Asuka, Cassandra, and Sakura came up to her twice during the late evening asking for Ibuki's whereabouts. They had not seen her since that late morning when they decided to go to the hot springs. Ibuki had declined to go then. Rose assured them that Ibuki should return soon despite not knowing where she was at the moment. However, Rose began to worry herself. With a mix of the dark energy and Ibuki's missing presence, she knew something had happened, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Even when she went to her crystal ball, it was like something was blocking her from discovering anything.

Speaking of being missing, she realized how quiet it was in the cave. Not long after noticing, she realized that Raiden had been missing since past noon. He had told her earlier this morning that he was going to find new recruits for the group.

How could it take him that long for him to find new recruits? the fortune teller thought to herself.

It was just after the crack of dawn, after Rose entered the lodge to begin making herself breakfast, that Raiden finally showed up, electricity surrounding his body as he teleported himself in. Rose turned herself around to face him. She was about to ask where in the world he had been this whole time. However, upon seeing the grim look on his face, Rose's heart sank. She felt stupid for not figuring it out before. The dark energy… Ibuki's disappearance… it all made sense now.

Before Raiden could speak, Rose spoke for him. "Ibuki's dead, isn't she?"

Raiden slowly nodded. "Yes… poor Li Mei witnessed her death. She's in her room now resting..." He sighed a bit before proceeding. "I buried her not too far from here during the evening. I then proceeded to look for new recruits, but I just couldn't do it. Not right after what happened to Ibuki. I've been at the beach the whole time thinking. When we recruited our chosen ones, I had hoped that death would've never befallen on any of them… but I was wrong."

Rose nodded as she understood. "How did it happen?"

Raiden sighed once again. "From what I've gathered, her soul was taken. Li Mei had said to me that a woman performed the terrible deed. However, despite that, I have no doubt that Shang Tsung was behind this. He is known to shape-shift himself into anyone he comes into contact with. However, at this point of the tournament, we cannot confront him, not yet, not until the tournament is over, not until we have proof that he was actually behind it. For one, it would blow our cover and halt the tournament. With Chishio No Me in their possession, they could use it against us. Avenging Ibuki's death will have to wait until the tournament is over. In the meantime, we are not to speak of this to anyone here. This is for their protection."

Rose nodded, completely understanding the situation.

It was then that footsteps were heard, making Rose and Raiden turn to face the person. Rose recognized Ashrah as she took another foot in to the room.

"Um, Raiden," Rose said quickly before he said anything. "This is Ashrah, I recruited her yesterday… before I knew about Ibuki…"

Raiden nodded. He sensed Ashrah's pure heart and soul and knew she was a good choice. However, though Ashrah didn't know it, this turned out to be a bad time.

"Ashrah," Rose spoke. "I hate to do this to you, but you'll have to come back here later this evening. We have to take care of a personal matter at this time."

Ashrah nodded. "I understand. I will meet with you this evening." With that, she left the lounge.

Raiden sighed. "I'll inform everyone of Ibuki's death in an hour or so."

"I'll help you," Rose offered.

The Thunder God nodded in appreciation. "Thank you."

Though both of them didn't think about it until later, this was the first time that they managed to talk to each other without arguing. However, they both wished that it would've happened under better circumstances...

A Few Hours Later…

About two hours later, Raiden and Rose gathered everyone in the cave around the lit campfire, only telling them that 'it was very important.' No one was sure what the meeting was going to be about, though Maki, Mika, Cassandra, Sakura, and Asuka had an idea of what it was. They feared that it concerned Ibuki.

Once everyone was there, Raiden was straight about the situation, telling them that Ibuki had passed away. Immediately, her five friends were in tears, hugging and comforting each other as their worst fears were confirmed. Some had grim looks on their faces while others were shocked. Some of the other girls in the group let a few tears slid down their faces as their male comrades comforted them.

They held a moment of silence, which was suggested by Guile, before Raiden offered everyone to pay their last respects at Ibuki's grave. Once Raiden and Rose began leading the way, they were surprised to see that everyone, even those who kept to themselves, were following them.

The walk was about ten minutes before they reached a spot that had loose soil and a large boulder over it. The boulder had Ibuki's name engraved on it, which Raiden had done himself.

One by one, each chosen one paid their respects, each one leaving Outworld wildflowers on her grave. Some got on their knees and prayed. Some talked to Ibuki for a couple of minutes. Some simply stood there and stayed silent before placing the flowers down and walking away.

Maki, Mika, Cassandra, Sakura, and Asuka waited until everyone had their turn. All five them then approached the grave, each one holding a handful of wildflowers in their hands. Those to stayed behind watched silently as the girls got on their knees, the endless tears streaming down from their eyes. They held hands as they placed the flowers with the others. They stayed silent as they continued to cry, though Mika managed to utter a few words;

"We wish we were there to protect you…"

Unknown to anyone nearby, the Netherrealm wraith Noob Saibot happened to have passed by the area where the chosen ones were paying their last respects for Ibuki. He hid himself in the shadows of the trees and watched the scene in front of him. It was obvious that someone had died. As the heartless wraith that he was, he showed no remorse for the situation.

Perhaps maybe back when he was still human, he would have…

The only reason he was in this area at the moment was to spy on the activities of the other tournament participants. He considered the main palace itself to be too dense, thus there was a good chance that he would be caught easily. So he decided to spy outside the palace grounds. This was the first time that he noticed these group of people.

Amongst the group, he noticed the Thunder God, Raiden, which surprised him. He was the last person the wraith expected to see in Outworld. At this point, there was obviously a plan amongst this group if Raiden himself was here. Why else would he be?

The group in front of him seemed be a bit close knit as far as he could tell. Were they from the palace as well? Or were they staying somewhere else?

Meanwhile, back in the group, the cyborg Matrik stood where she was as a few words were said about the young girl who died in the forest yesterday. It was then that she saw something move from the corner of her eye from within the forest. Turning her head slowly, she activated a heat emission through her lenses, and it didn't take long to spot something that emitted a high temperature. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a person... or something else.

Someone is spying on us, she thought suddenly.

Using her technology, Matrik used a scanner to shape out the figure from within the woods. However, by the time the heat emission was taking form, it was too late. Briefly, she saw a smokey mist burst from behind one of the trees, followed by a shadow being seen against another tree nearby. Matrik continued to scan just in case. For a moment, she had it in mind to go after whatever was there, but considering yesterday's incident as well as the memorial she was standing at now, the last thing the cyborg wanted to do was make the others worry even more than they are now.

Either way, whoever had been hiding behind the tree was now gone. Matrik decided then that she would keep an eye out on any activities surrounding the cave grounds. The last thing the group needed right now was more tragedy...

Later That Evening

Sitting around the campfire, Maki, Mika, Cassandra, Sakura, and Asuka stared at the fire. The tears were long gone, but the grim look on the faces remained. For some time, they remained silent, not bothering to say a word to each other.

Eventually, Maki sighed and spoke. "I didn't know her for that long… but she was such a sweet person. Why did she have to die?"

It was a question no one could really answer, though Mika replied, "I wish I knew who was responsible for this. If I ever find out, they'll get it in the end, that's for sure."

Asuka raised her head then. "Remember when we were first heading over here when we all suddenly got transported to the lower levels of the ship? Poor Ibuki was just getting her pajamas on when that happened and she was only in her bra and underwear."

Aside from Cassandra, the girls couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "She did get a good laugh later on," said Sakura. "She said it felt like something out of a TV show."

"Yeah," the girls said before falling silent again. It did feel a bit good to talk about the good times, but nothing could escape them from what happened.

"For now on, we stick together," declared Sakura. "I don't want anything like that to happen to any of you. If we're by ourselves, we're not to leave the cave area until one of us is around. We're doing this for Ibuki, she would've wanted this."

"Agreed," answered Maki. The other three girls nodded as well, agreeing to the new deal in their friendship.

It was then that Xianghua showed up. She had just returned from the palace after dinner with Kilik and Maxi and was just heading towards the cave. She also had a large bottle of Outworld liquor in her hands for a later time.

"Hey there," Xianghua said to the girls.

"Hey," the girls said. Xianghua then noticed that all five of them were staring at the large bottle. Xianghua stopped herself, wondering if she should give some to them. Then again, today was rough on them…

Xianghua sighed to herself. "Well all right." She sat down on a log, then she popped the bottle open. "Not too much though." She then took a swig before passing it to Maki, who followed. The other girls did the same.

As they began to relax a bit, Xianghua began to wonder if she was going to regret her decision later…

Main Palace

It was the last hour of dinner at the main palace's dining quarters. Queen Sindel showed up at the hall to get herself some dinner. Princess Kitana and Jade were taking care of a few things and promised to meet Sindel there soon. Sindel trusted their word and headed off to get something to eat. She was definitely starving.

After collecting some food on her place, Sindel began looking for a table. She wanted to sit at a place where it was quiet and a bit secluded so that when the other two arrived, they would have more privacy. However, upon spotting the Keisei knight Siegfried, Sindel immediately changed her mind. She hadn't seen him in some time and decided to head over to where he said.

"Good evening Siegfried," the Queen of Edenia said. "Do you mind having some company?"

Siegfried looked up from his food, a bit surprised to see Sindel there. "Not at all, my Queen."

Sindel smiled and sat down in front of him. "And why is it that I find you sitting here all by yourself?"

Siegfried shrugged a little. "Well, you, your daughter, and Jade are the only ones I know here, really."

Sindel nodded. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"I've been around. However, I did win a match yesterday and will be moving on to round three."

"Congratulations," Sindel mentioned. "My daughter, Jade, and I have also moved on to the next round."

"Congratulations to all three of you," Siegfried replied. "And thank you."

The two fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to talk about. Both of them took a few bits from their food before Sindel thought up another conversation starter.

"You seem like a lonely person. You are more than welcome to come visit us anytime you like."

Siegfried was a bit taken aback by the offer. He never expected a Queen of a realm to offer such a thing. "I thank you for the offer," he said. "In your position, it doesn't seem right for me to accept such an offer from a Queen."

"Nonsense," Sindel replied with a wave of a hand. "I am just as capable of doing things as any other citizen. It's not like there's a strict code when it comes to how to behave when you are Queen."

Siegfried nodded in agreement. "Thank you for your hospitality, though it is not necessary."

Sindel smiled more then. "I'm sure my daughter Kitana would love to see you again."

Siegfried was a bit surprised that Sindel brought up her own daughter. He did admit, however, that Sindel seemed a bit forward since she came to sit with him. "I'm sure she will," he only said.

As the conversation continued, Kitana and Jade showed up at the main palace. Only Jade noticed Sindel sitting with Siegfried as they continued talking. Sindel herself seemed to be a bit happy, which made Jade raise an eyebrow.

What is going on with the Queen? she thought curiously. It wouldn't surprise me if she was trying to play matchmaker between Kitana and Siegfried...

Main Palace Hot Springs

Heihachi Mishima sat in the large bath tub of the hot springs, only wearing his black speedo. It was his lucky day once again because only he was in the bathhouse. However, a couple of people did try to come in earlier, but upon seeing Heihachi, they immediately left. It was exactly how the Mishima Zaibatsu leader wanted it.

Aside from that, nothing exciting has been really happening in and around the main palace for him, not since he made it to round three as also his encounter with Ivy Valentine. He smirked to himself as he thought about the kiss he gave her. He definitely got a kick out of seeing the look on her face and her initial reaction once he pulled back. What else could a bored man do?

He knew, however, that his grandson Jin Kazama was also in the tournament. He only spotted him once when Jin won his match against some guy with tall blond hair that reminded Heihachi of Paul Phoenix, who was a participant in his previous King of Iron Fists Tournaments. He had been sitting in the back so Jin never spotted him. As much as Heihachi would have loved to approach Jin at that very moment, he held back. He wanted to wait for the right opportunity before approaching his grandson.

Jin was the main reason Heihachi was here. He lusted for the powers Jin possessed, the powers he had no control over. Heihachi wanted the powers to benefit the Mishima Zaibatsu. He wanted the world to fear him. Plus, if he won the tournament, it nearly counted as an extra bonus.

Heihachi then picked up a margarita, which sat next to him. "The right time will come eventually," he said. "I see Jin going far in the tournament. If he loses, I'll approach him then."

Actually, Heihachi did hope that Jin would lose. If he won, that would mean that Jin would be in possession of Chishio No Me. Who knows what Jin would do with it then.

Heihachi was about to take a sip of his beverage when a weapon suddenly hit the glass, smashing it into pieces and causing the fresh drink to spill on Heihachi's hand. The old man didn't jump at the surprise attack. As a matter of fact, he almost always expected this, even in a place where rarely anyone knew him.

He stood up them, still in the tub, and turned himself around to face his would be opponent. Now he became surprised upon looking at the creature in front of him. If it wasn't for the small blades coming out of his body and the teeth outside of his mouth, he would just look like a normal human.

Heihachi got into a fighting stance. "You wasted a perfectly good drink. Let's get this over with."

The mutant seemed to smile, though that's what it looked like previously. "Baraka will kill you!" he said. Baraka then lashed his arms out, his two long blades coming out of each arm.

"Hmph," Heihachi said, slightly impressed by the weapons. "This will be interesting."

With that, Heihachi and Baraka charged after each other.

Main Palace, Fourth Floor

In his room, Adon looked at himself in the mirror in his bathroom. He brushed his fingers lightly over the right side of his face. The scars he received have recovered, but they were only going to recover as far as a handful of red dots at this point.

It was such an ironic thing. Ever since his former master Sagat received the scar on his chest, Adon looked down on him, believing that because of Sagat's loss to Ryu that he dishonored all in the name of Muay Thai. He knew that the scar would always remind Sagat of that loss. From there, Adon claimed himself as Muay Thai God, believing that he will someday surpass what Sagat once was.

Now this had happened. Adon came to this tournament to prove that he was indeed Muay Thai God, only to end up following the same path as his former master did. And just like Sagat, the scars on his face will always remind of him of his loss… the loss of his dignity, sense of honor, and the fact that his own words to Sagat came back to him.

Adon figured that Havik was a member of Shao Kahn's developing army, which he believed was a rumor at first. However, upon asking a guard about it, he told him to go deep in the woods and he would find an abandon palace. There, he was sent to the main palace where Shao Kahn stayed.

On the way, he encountered Sagat, who joined the same army. Adon told him to stay out of his situation and walked off. He didn't want Sagat to remind him of the scars he now had upon his face.

Adon passed his tests and was recruited as a guard. He later learned that his hunch was right… Havik was there. However, since he was a guard and Havik was in a higher rank, Adon wasn't allowed to approach him, not until he reached a higher rank, whenever that was.

Upon thinking about Havik again, he thought about their match. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would never forget the moment when the morning star was shoved into his face.

Anger quickly filled within Adon. Without thinking about it, he punched at the mirror, shattering it into countless pieces as they fell on the sink and floor. Adon's fist began to bleed immediately, but he didn't care, not one bit.

He growled and declared, "I WILL have my revenge!"

Cave Area

After some training, Kilik and Maxi began their return to the cave. They had been training at the beach area. Normally they would train in the forest, but after hearing of Ibuki's death, they changed their locations. That way, if any intruders came, they would easily spot them.

They trained to clear their minds from today's events. It had indeed been a grim day. Losing one of the chosen ones in the cave was one of the last things anyone expected, especially this early in the tournament.

As they walked back, Maxi spoke. "We were definitely sloppy today."

Kilik nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I just can't stop thinking about what happened to Ibuki. I didn't know her that well, but to know that she died the way she did… it's so unexpected. When I came here, I didn't expect anyone to die. Maybe from a major injury in the tournament, but not like this."

Maxi sighed. "Unfortunately Kilik, with so many different types of people here, it was bound to happen to anyone. The person who killed Ibuki was one sick asshole and I hope he or she gets killed a thousand times over. I haven't felt like this since my crew was killed by Astaroth. Losing my friends, my brother, my parents from illness beforehand… death is a horrible thing to experience. I can't imagine how her friends are feeling right now. Worse, if she has family at home…"

Kilik couldn't agree more. He had his share in death as well, but in such a different way that not even Maxi and Xianghua knew about it. He thought of his surrogate sister Xianglian, who lived with him at the Ling Sheng Su temple when he was a teenager. She had given him his staff as a gift, which was named Kali Yuga.

One night, an unknown plague possessed everyone in the temple and it caused everyone to go in an out of control frenzy, a murderous one at that. Kilik was the strongest fighter in the temple, thus he was the sole survivor. He had killed a few of his comrades including Xianglian with the weapon she had given him a few nights before. Although he was assured that it wasn't his fault, since he couldn't control the plague, he still, to this day, couldn't help but blame himself for what happened. As far as he knew, the temple still stands, but now in ruins.

He was surprised when Raiden and Rose declared that he had a pure heart and soul and was worthy enough to stay with them as one of their chosen ones. He still felt like he possessed the blood on his hands from that night, but somehow, Raiden and Rose looked passed it.

Kilik shook the thought from his head and looked over at Maxi. "So, round three starts tomorrow."

Maxi nodded. "I look forward to it. My last opponent was tough, but I was able to handle it."

"Eh… you said he was nothing when you fought him."

Maxi bit his tongue. So he told a little white lie to his friends earlier. "Eh, keep that between you and me."

It was then that Hwang and Mi-na approached them. Kilik and Maxi saw a slight worry on this faces and became concerned. "What's going on?" Maxi asked.

"You have to see what Xianghua and the girls are up to," said Hwang.

"Follow us," Mi-na said. She and Hwang began walking back with Kilik and Maxi following them.

They soon reached the campfire. The fire was long out and Xianghua, Maki, Mika, Cassandra, Sakura, and Asuka were all passed out. In Asuka's hand was a large bottle of Outworld liquor, which was half empty.

Kilik sighed. "It was definitely a long day for them."

"I thought I told Xianghua to save that," said Maxi as he picked up the bottle and set it to stand.

"We should put them to bed," suggested Hwang.

"We'll help you," said Maxi.

And so all four of them began carrying the girls back to their rooms.

Main Palace, Hot Springs

The fight between Heihachi and Baraka continued on. Because of Baraka's long blades, Heihachi found himself mostly dodging from his attacks. He then performed his attacks whenever he got the chance to. The wet floor caused both combatants to slip a few times, though they would always regain their balance. Objects in the room were either knocked over or broken in their path.

Heihachi didn't understand why this mutant was attacking him. What was his purpose exactly? He never saw him before in his life.

The fight continued for some time as they maneuvered around the indoor hot springs. At one point, two people, who were looking forward to taking a bath in the springs, saw the fight going on and looked with interest. However, upon being noticed by both fighters, they realized that it was best to stay out of it and ran off.

Then, Baraka shot out a blue projectile at Heihachi. The old man ducked from the projectile. He then bent both of his knees and performed a powerful punch, briefly sending red electricity out of his arm and into Baraka. Baraka backed away quickly as Heihachi stayed in his position, ready for more.

However, Baraka slowly straightened himself and his blades went back into his arms. Heihachi kept his place, unsure of what was to happen next…though he began to believe that this fight was over.

"This is good enough," Baraka said. "I never planned to kill you… I was only testing your strength and skills." With that, the tarkatan jumped out of the window that was open.

Heihachi got out of his stance. "That was a pathetic end," he said. "I saw potential in him, but I was wrong. He was nothing more than a mutant punk with a death wish."

He then grabbed the only dry towel in the springs and left, leaving the mess that was left by the fight. Unknown to Heihachi, Baraka had fought him to test Heihachi… then report it to Shao Kahn as directed…