Chapter 14

Julia knelt and touched the ground at her feet. "Protect me, mother, and give me strength." Standing, Julia patted her cheeks to focus herself. She took a deep breath and looked across the ring. A tall black fighter faced her. His hands were wrapped all the way from his wrists to his knuckles to support his punches. His hair had been shaved on the sides, leaving nothing but a thin mohawk and some trailing dreadlocks on the back. Both pec muscles held tattoos that resembled a dying tree branch with two dots between two of its branches. Julia couldn't place the symbolism, but his style was clearly Thai kickboxing from the way he framed his head with his arms held high and bounced rhythmically on the balls of his feet. He, too, wore a necklace but unlike Julia's ornamental turquoise and silver, it was a miniature bull skull attached to a thick metal chain.

Bruce Irvin, if she remembered his name correctly from the announcement of the match. She focused what she knew about Thai kickboxing into a strategy against it. Obviously he would be a strong kicker, that was easily evident from his long legs which had a callous ridge running down both shins, and she knew that Thai kickboxers often used short knee and elbow strikes in close quarters so despite the elbow strikes she knew from Xing Yi, she knew she would not be able to overwhelm him in close like she might if facing the other fighters.

If he was good, she would have a tough time at distance or in fighting. She would either have to grapple him so his knee and elbow strikes couldn't get any power behind them or stay just beyond his considerable reach and try to get him to overextend himself and counter.

"Go, Julia!" Xiaoyu shouted from the sidelines, apparently just as determined to support her friend as Julia had supported her. There were only a few fighters watching this match, most noticeable Lei Wulong, the so called Hong Kong "Supercop," who stood beside Xiaoyu with his arms crossed. From what she'd heard from Xiaoyu, Julia was surprised that Lei hadn't challenged Bruce himself - at the same time he seemed ready to jump into the ring at a moment's notice. She noticed that his eyes continually scanned the crowd as if on a stakeout.

Jin stood impassively behind Heihachi, giving no hint that he knew of Julia's activities the night before. He didn't even nod his head to acknowledge Julia's bow of respect to the hosts of the tournament.

'If you're lying,' she thought, but banished the thought. There would be time later to determine if he would become an ally. In the mean time, she couldn't afford to be distracted.

Heihachi stood and spread his hands out. "The sixth match of the tournament will begin. Julia Chang and Bruce Irvin. Fight."

Julia began moving as soon as she saw Bruce propelled himself off his back foot at her. His long legs seemed to stretch to inhuman proportions as he extended his left leg into a front kick. While a quick side step brought her safely away from the kick, Bruce twisted his body and caught Julia on her temple with his elbow. Julia turned with the blow to dissipate some of its energy. She took two steps back to give herself some time to clear her head and react to any follow up hits, but he was quicker.

He locked his hands behind her head and pulled her into the knee strikes aimed at the side of her ribs. By twisting, she was able to bring her arms between Bruce's knees and her side to cushion the blows but even with that extra protection she could feel her teeth rattle with each strike. He continue to yank her head from side to side to keep her off balance. Julia absorbed the blows, as she waited for a chance to break out of his grip. It came when she had correctly anticipated one of his yanks and was able to move her legs into a solid stance and jam his knee strike. She pushed forward and slammed her heavy boot down on his unprotected toes.

There was a satisfying crunch and Bruce shoved her back. Julia stood back to see how well Bruce moved without the use of his left foot. He limped heavily, the rhythm of his steps gone. Ducking a roundhouse kick that had been aimed at her head, Julia drove her right fist into Bruce's solar plexus, sending the air in his lungs whooshing out. She grabbed his necklace and pulled him into her uppercut that briefly lifted him off his feet. Wasting no time, Julia quickly jumped forward and hit Bruce full in the chest with her right fist. She struck the side of his head with a high kick, spun and caught him with a low kick to the front of his kneecap, and threw both hands forward into his gut.

Bruce was launched backwards, nearly head over heels, and skidded to a stop a few yards away.

'Stay down,' Julia thought. This wasn't her idea of fun. This was not what she lived or trained for, but there was a game to play. She couldn't allow Heihachi to find any weakness in her. As long as Bruce stood up she would have to put him back down, no matter how distasteful it was to continue fight a beaten man.

She cursed as Bruce pushed himself up. He was unable to stand up straight from the pain in his body and his arms were no longer directly beside his head like they were at the beginning of the fight but drooped down and towards each other like plants withering in the heat. Cautiously, Julia approached just in case it was an act.

Bruce threw a slow moving jab which Julia easily dodged. Another forearm in the gut doubled Bruce over before Julia kicked his legs out from under him. He landed hard on his back, his head bouncing against the ground. He arched his back in pain and collapsed back down and was still.

"Julia wins," Heihachi announced.

Only Xiaoyu and Lei clapped. The other fighters merely filed out of the room. It was just as well. Julia couldn't feel any sense of victory in this battle. Not so long as it gave Heihachi pleasure and didn't get her any closer to discovering Michelle's whereabouts.

She looked up at Heihachi who gave a sly smile as though this thrashing had somehow fulfilled a part of his plan. Julia had expected Jin to be standing beside Heihachi like a dutiful pet, staring down with dispassionate calm but he must have left some time during the fight.

"You did it," Xiaoyu announced as she gave Julia a hardy slap on the back.

Lei Wulong stepped forward. Despite the fact that he had no authority on the island compound, he still wore a pair of handcuffs on his belt. "Very impressive display, young lady."

"You make it sound like an exhibition," Julia said. She watched the medical team put Bruce onto a gurney and carry him off towards the infirmary. She shuddered. "Perhaps this is all a job to you, but it's not that simple for the rest of us."

"It's very simple for many of the other contestants. Believe it, Julia. But if it's any consolation, Bruce was a viscous fighter and a wanted criminal."

"He's still a man," replied Julia. "He still came from the Creator."

"You seem to be a nice girl. Why are you at this tournament?"

"I have my reasons, just like everyone else here. I just wish mine were as simple as you think the other fighters' reasons are."

"Hey, hey," Xiaoyu admonished Lei. "No spoiling the mood here with high pressure interrogation. Come on, Jules, you were the last match for the day. Go take a shower and lets see if we can find something fun to do in this place."

'Great Taiowa,' thought Julia. Was this all an act or does Xiaoyu really have no firm grasp of the reality of the situation. Still though, a shower did sound good. She caught sight of her palm, flecked red. Quickly, she closed her fist and turned them over so she wouldn't see the blood. Yes, a shower was just what she needed.