Chapter 7

Xiaoyu Ling awoke to the sound of a mournful cry - a howl that haunts the dreams of children. The blankets slipped off her slim body as she rose from her bed and shuddered. Again the howl rose up from somewhere downstairs before breaking down into a series of sobbing groans. Tip-toeing down the dark hallway, Xiaoyu kept close to the wall for support. Seven steps to the bottom of the staircase and two rights to the family room. Opening the door, Xiaoyu found herself facing the bent frame of a old, wizened man who would not be out of place in any ghost story.

"Uncle Wang," she admonished. "I thought I warned you about your training." Guiding him to a waiting cushion, Xiaoyu fisted her hands and pounded out a rhythm on his lower back until the muscles loosened. "It's barely five, Uncle Wang. Why can't you be like all the other old men in the village and be sleeping now?"

"Watch your tongue around your elders, young lady," he said. "I've never missed a day of training in eighty years. I'm not going to start now. If you took your training more seriously, you could easily become one of the youngest masters of Baguazhang and Piguaquan."

"I do take my training seriously. I've already learned the Art of Phoenix."

Wang scoffed. "I taught you that nearly two weeks ago."

Xiaoyu smiled and wagged an index finger. "Not like this you didn't." Stepping back, Xiaoyu brought her body low to the ground and extended both arms up and behind her in a stance that resembled a resting butterfly. She shuffled forward and jabbed out her fingers to strike an imaginary opponent in the groin before executing two jumps forward, turning as she went so that both feet would sweep across her opponent's face twice. She landed cleanly and delivered a chin high kick designed to knock someone head over heels backward. Finished, she faced Wang and placed her right fist to her open left palm and extended it to him as a sign of respect.

"So you have been practicing," Wang murmured. "If only you were so diligent with your school studies."

"I told you, Uncle Wang," she said as she stomped a pink slippered foot. "Sifu Tong hates me."

"Don't blame your failings on others, Xiaoyu."

"But it's true! Besides when I am going to need math anyway? I'm going to own the biggest amusement park in the world and have more money than I can count."

"Xiaoyu," Wang said, smiling. "The amount of money you can count is directly related to your schooling. At your rate, giving you enough money that you can't count it wouldn't be all that much. You're not planning on letting everyone into the world's biggest amusement park for free just because you don't want to deal with numbers are you? Someday you must learn that sometimes you must learn what you don't want to."

"Sounds like learning that defeats itself."

"Reinforces," Wang corrected. "Not learning it is a costly mistake. What do you plan to do with your amusement park if you don't want to deal with finances?"

"Well ... I'll hire someone to do it."

"And if they're dishonest?"

"I'll only hire my friends."

"That doesn't guarantee honesty. Look at the Mishimas." Wang shook his head. "Now there's a shame."

"Who are the Mishimas?"

"They're an old family," Wang said. "I trained with Jinapei who had a good heart - he wanted only the best for his son, Heihachi, and spent long days at the office to provide him with everything a person could want. But what is money to a child? Time ... that is all that matters to the young and to the old. It wasn't until Heihachi was grown that Jinapei realized his folly, but by then it was too late. No longer wanting to spend any more time in the office, Jinapei transferred control of Mishima Financial to Heihachi and, in time, Heihachi had a son as well - Kazuya.

"Sadly, Jinapei watched as the beast that had stolen his time away from Heihachi stole Heihachi's time from Kazuya. Seeking to make up for his mistake, Jinapei took care of Kazuya in Heihachi's stead. Unfortunately, Heihachi, having grown up fending for himself, felt that Kazuya was being spoiled and sought a way to undo Jinapei's softening influence. So he took Kazuya to a high mountain in the eastern part of Japan and held him out by one leg over the rocky precipice."

Xiaoyu gasped. "How could he do that to his own son?"

"Much evil has been done in the name of love. As for Kazuya, it was never clear whether he simply slipped from Heihachi's hand or was purposefully dropped. What is clear is that the five year old who clawed his way back to the top of the mountain was not the same one who fell. While that was the most dramatic attempt at reforming Kazuya, it was not the only one. Heihachi later adopted a Chinese orphan, Lee Cholan, to be raised as a sibling rival to Kazuya, but even as skilled as Lee would become he could not cool the fires raging in the young Mishima. It was at that time that Heihachi held the first Iron Fist tournament, Tekken, to determine the greatest fighter in the world. The title and control of Mishima Financial were offered as prizes."

"Were you invited, Uncle Wang?"

"I was, and I did attend - but only to learn of what happened to my old friend Jinapei. When I learned of his death, I forfeited the competition. By then, it was clear that the final contest would be between Kazuya and his father. Kazuya won that time and, in vengeance, threw his father's body over the edge of the same cliff he had fallen down as a child."

"Geez, Uncle Wang, this is too much. Let me sit down." Xiaoyu plopped herself onto a nearby floor pillow, tucking her legs beneath her. She had always believed that Uncle Wang had participated in contests before, but she had always imagined them as local sparing matches - nothing so grand as the "Greatest Fighter in the World."

At the same time, the story about the Mishima family seemed too horrible to be true. "How can a family like that exist?" she asked.

"It can't," Wang replied. "I would never call what the Mishimas have a family."

"So Kazuya killed his father?"

"That's what his intentions were, but Heihachi was strong and survived somehow. Later, he returned to challenge Kazuya again, this time at the second Iron Fist tournament. This tournament was to decide who would ultimately control the Mishima Corporation. The final fight was held on the edge of a live volcano, and the loser was to be thrown into the bubbling lava. I participated in hopes of dissuading Heihachi from confronting his son, but they were like wild fires. Only the elimination of the fuel source would extinguish their hate. There was no avoiding this fight."

"So who won?"

"Heihachi. Although it is rumored that Kazuya had a son with one of the fighters in the second tournament. Who she is or where she disappeared to was never revealed."

"Do you think the rumor is true?"

"If so, I pity the poor boy if he ever returns. May his mother keep him safe. As for you, I expect some studying out of you. I want to see grades worthy of the owner of the greatest amusement park in the world."