Chapter 32: At the Tournament

Hearing about the tournament had been the first step. The sign-up process was one of the most strenuous set-ups Kazuya had been through. Some tournaments only required that money was paid by a certain time. Some tournaments had prerequisites of other tournaments one must have attended and fared fairly well in. Still others that were more elite, required that one's skills be put to the test and along with that a hefty amount of entrance fee. The tournament that Heihachi was hosting was exactly like this except the skill testing took all of three days to complete perhaps even longer if the official judges still were on the fence. The weak ones were quickly weeded out this way. In the first place, thousands of would-be contestants signed up, then they were all put through a "pre"tournament if you will. It wasn't a true tournament. The ones who signed up did not fight each other, but by individuals who were hired to face each one of them. Where Heihachi found these men and women was another question altogether. All that was necessary to know was that they were all professional fighters and quite skilled at what they did. Before the process even began, these professional fighters were assigned the people who they were to face because they would often have to face up to four people; ample time was given to them to recover after each fight—that was the main reason the entire thing could take up to a full month to finish. Those who signed up were only promised that their pre-fight would be set before the tournament began if time allowed, but that was all—they were largely left in the dark until they were finally given a letter that detailed the time and place this fight would happen. As one could imagine, those with more qualifications were given precedence. Because of the sheer number of people who signed up for this tournament, those who had never attended a tournament before would be lucky to even be accepted.

Getting a letter in the mail that verified that a pre-fight was set was almost like getting a golden ticket. Winning the pre-fight was another story. It was step two of the process. One could never be sure if they would be faced with one or two fights depending on how the judges felt. Deliberations would be done on the spot in ten minutes time. Right then and there, the fighter's fate would be decided. After this, if they passed the skills test, they truly would be given a "golden" ticket or more like a plane ticket that would take them to the location of the tournament—it was a private plane to be more specific and only those who would be participating in the tournament would be riding it (along with the pilot, copilot, and other necessary associates). Because the location was quite exotic and out of the way, no normal plane could have done the job, besides, this kept out unnecessary publicity. Though the King of Iron Fist Tournament had the feel of being private, it was well publicized in the news all around the world to attract the best fighters. Not only was the prize money tantalizing, but the promise of there being a good challenge for all those who entered—it was something that was hard to pass up for any who wanted to prove themselves strong.

No doubt Kazuya was able to succeed in being chosen to be a competitor. In his case, the sign-up process took all of two days to do. It was obvious that his name must have been placed at the top of the list. Little reason why. Unlike all the other tournaments he had contended in, he didn't have to do a lot of spending. Not only was transportation provided for, but so was food and lodging. It was a nice change of pace not being at all worried about how much money he was spending. There was a downside however; he had to be on a plane with all the other people he would eventually have to beat down if not by someone else.

It was a large enough plane that everyone could sit comfortably, but a plane was a plane and they were all in a close enough vicinity to talk to one another. Many chose to do just that. Kazuya was certain that people were only trying to figure out each other's weaknesses rather than simple small talk, but he would not have joined in anyways. He tried to keep to himself. His eyes, however, were misleading. They passed over all the other passengers and he counted how many were there—fourteen excluding him. There were fourteen people standing in his way to his ultimate goal. One of them seemed wholly out of place—he looked to be a samurai or ninja of some sort. Along with that oddball, there was a brunette woman, a blonde woman, a Chinese old man, Paul—just the man that Kazuya didn't want to see at the moment—a Native American woman, Marshall, the Chinese-American that Kazuya had seen before, Chaolan Lee, a female with a catlike mask on, a burly blond man who wasn't Paul, a sumo wrestler, a very odd and obviously robotic man, and two wrestlers who had similar jaguar masks and peculiar moving tails. There was another participant in the back of the plane, but they were not allowed to go back there—Kazuya could have sworn that he heard the sounds of a growling bear behind closed doors, but it could have easily been his imagination.

Chaolan Lee made no motions towards him besides a brief glance. He must have gotten the clue that Kazuya wanted nothing to do with him. Kazuya couldn't help but be just a little disturbed by the placid expression on his face. If he thought this tournament was going to be a walk in the park, he'd have to rethink his plans. Kazuya knew the reward for winning was gaining the position as head of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Because of that fact alone, Kazuya felt as if he was destined to win this. He was the one entitled to win the throne—it was sad that he had to literally fight for something like that. Besides, it would make Jinpachi happy wherever he was now. Kazuya could at least look forward to doing one thing right in his life.

Kazuya looked up from his thoughts when a shadow came over him.

"Who are you?" Kazuya asked roughly and in a rather thick accent—he assumed that everyone on this plane excluding Lee wouldn't understand his native tongue. Also, since the last tournament he had gone to, he had decided to pick up more English words—it would just make life whole lot easier—he was still not an expert, however; not like his adoptive brother.

"I've known you for a long time, Kazuya. We met face to face on that fateful day in the Mishima Zaibatsu main building."

A look of surprise crossed Kazuya's face, "You're him, you're Yoshimitsu," Kazuya said returning immediately to Japanese.

Kazuya gave the other a closer look. Yoshimitsu was all armor and his body was completely covered. In a sense, Kazuya really hadn't seen "Yoshimitsu". Covered as he was in armor, he still seemed to be hiding from the world.

"I've been watching you, Kazuya. You've gone to many tournaments to hone your skills. I sincerely hope you've improved your skills as a fighter. This is that chance you've been waiting for. This is the time to take back what was promised to you and save the world from an evil man."

"I'm here to take revenge on my father."

"You remember your promise."

"Ah, yes, that promise I made when I was just a kid," Kazuya replied, "I was a different person then," he finished distantly.

"It does not matter. I've halted all retaliation towards the evils of your father in favor of you facing them yourself. I believed you back then and I still believe you can keep your promise. The evidence is right in front of me. You are on this plane along with me—had you not been, I would have taken your place."

"Don't worry Yoshimitsu—your promise is safe with me." Kazuya noticed the large sword that the other had on his side. "I had no idea that weapons were allowed."

"Anything is allowed. For you, your fists will be your weapon."

"Little use it'll have against a sword like that. It almost seems like overkill."

"It is a sword that is passed down from Manji Clan leader to Manji Clan leader—the next leader in line must kill the current one with this very sword."

"And one day someone will kill you with a sword you've used your whole life. Sounds…how should I put it?—counterproductive and unnecessary."

"Outsiders, of course, wouldn't understand."

"Who am I to lecture someone else on killing?" Kazuya asked nonchalantly finally looking away from the other. "Your code is your code. Who you choose to kill is none of my concern."

"It is of some of your concern. I fight for the good of the world. You have changed from the boy that you were—the moment I see that you have strayed from the right path after you have taken what was stolen from you—I will have to stop you."

"Is that a threat?"

"It is a warning. It is wise to know all the consequences before you do something you'll regret. Now, if you will excuse me."

With clinking armor, Kazuya watched as Yoshimitsu returned to his seat—the scene was rather comical. Had their seats been any smaller, Yoshimitsu would not have fit into them.

"Strange man," Kazuya said to himself as he returned to looking at nothing in particular.

If Yoshimitsu thought that he could keep him on some kind of leash, then he had another thing coming.

"Yes he does."

Kazuya nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard that voice. Then he noticed that most of conversation had stopped on the plane and he felt almost everyone's gaze on him. It seemed "nearly" jumping out of one's seat was enough to draw attention. Unable to simply ignore them outright, his eyes looked up to them and dared any of them to say something—Paul was utterly oblivious to such subtle threats.

"What's wrong? Nerves getting to ya? Don't worry we're almost there, then we can get to that fight where you lose."

Paul said this out loud so everyone could hear it much to Kazuya annoyance. There were some snickers here or there, but many kept their comments to themselves. Kazuya could tell that they were already sizing him up. He hadn't said anything thus far and had avoided most conversation; this was the only indication into what kind of fighter Kazuya was.

"Right," Kazuya responded simply with a grin. If Kazuya ran into Paul this tournament, he would be demolished plain and simple.

"You're almost there, Kazuya—you're so close to your goal."

There. There it was again. Devil's voice. It seemed like an eternity the last time he had actually heard it.

"You haven't forgotten about me, have you Kazuya? For God's sake, you don't have talk out loud, you can just talk to me mentally."

I know that as well.

Kazuya made sure that he was no longer looking at anybody.

It feels weird talking to some disembodied spirit—it always has. Why exactly would I want to start doing something like that again?

"Disembodied, you say? I haven't been that for a long time, Kazuya. I am part of you and soon, I will be you."

Why are you bothering me now? What do you want?

"Oh, I'm bothering you now. All I'm trying to do is help."

By scaring me half to death—making a fool out of me? Besides, I don't need your help in defeating my father. I want to defeat him on my own.

"You mean 'kill' him on your own, right? That's the only way to really get your revenge."

I'll give him what he deserves.

"Which is kill."

Kill. Defeat. They're all the same thing. What does it matter? What are you trying to get at?

"You're getting soft. Has the years of wanting the same thing eaten away at your resolve? He's within your grasp and yet…the concept of actually killing him hasn't even crossed your mind. That's what we're here for, isn't it? You've killed before for even less. What's so different now?"

That man from before…I don't know what came over me. That wasn't what I had intended to do. I—

"Oh, please. You can't fool me, remember. You wanted to kill him. You gained pleasure from that. You can feel that same thing twofold, if you rid yourself of you father forever."

Kazuya closed his eyes when he felt the gravity of the situation come upon him. The question was did he truly hate his father to such a degree? Is that what he had been training for all these years to do? If killing was all he had to do, then bringing a gun would have sufficed, but no, he had trained and trained and trained so that his skills would exceed that of his father. Kazuya wanted a real fight and he wanted to defeat his father—win against him. That was as far as his plans went, he realized. Would he then take it to the next level? Would he then kill his father? Surely, once his father knew that he was strong enough to defeat him, he'd simply call it quits. It was all about strength to his father and that was the only thing he would listen to. And anyways, he was giving the winner of this tournament his most prized possession. It was obvious that his father believed the strongest man deserved to run the corporation. Strength. That was keyword. Surely kill would simply be…overkill.

"Oh, don't fool yourself, Kazuya. You're still surprisingly naïve. You really have grown soft. Well, let me help you out—

No, I don't need your help. I'll do what I have to.

"As will I. You seem to have forgotten what he did to you. Some convenient amnesia."

I know what he did.

"Yeah, that's what you tell yourself. I know what you're really thinking, Kazuya. You can't hide anything from me. It's that repugnant girl Jun again, isn't it? You think—

I don't want to hear this from you.

"Tough. I want you to hear how ridiculous it sounds. You think defeating Heihachi will be enough. It would appease me. It would appease yourself. I'll simply fade into the background because I suddenly don't want to take over the world. You'll call Jun. She'll be overjoyed. You'll visit her at her university. You might even enroll in that university and you'll live the rest of your life normally and with what humans call 'love' becoming a different person altogether all for that Jun girl."

Stop it.

"If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. You might as well forget about Jun. You pushed her away for a good reason. Subconsciously you know that it would never work out. It's time to face reality, boy."

We still have a long ways to go.

"What do you mean?"

To reach our destination. I think I'd rather rest for the remaining time than listen to your annoying voice the whole way.

"Now wait. Don't be so hasty. There's still some things I want to discuss…Damn it!"

It was a gift really. Kazuya could sleep anywhere. On dilapidated wooden floors, with music blaring in the background, on hard gym floors, on a ground full of dried leaves and twigs, and of course anything that even remotely resembled a bed. Screaming away at him was a highly inefficient way of rousing him—and that was all Devil could do at the moment. The only real way to get him up—and Jun had figured this out early on—was to shake him violently. Sure, he'd be pretty upset, but you would've gotten the job done. That was something Devil could not do and Kazuya knew this. Still, Devil tried the only thing he could do which was to yell at him, but that did little—it was all just background noise along with all the other people around who simply continued on with their conversation oblivious to Kazuya by now.

"Fine," Devil said heatedly. "Ignore me, but I will get what I want."

Kazuya's supposition about the flight taking quite some time had been right. It took an entire day before the plane finally touched down at an airport. By that time, Kazuya had woken on his own, but he had heard no more from Devil. After they climbed off the plane, they were transported to a hotel via limousine—it was all very classy. One could tell that the one sponsoring this tournament was high class.

They all had separate rooms that already contained training equipment unique to their fighting styles. Surprisingly, Kazuya didn't touch any of it. He put down his duffel bag and headed straight for the showers. There was a television and a nice bed, that was all Kazuya needed to make himself comfortable. He had done all the training he was going to do for this tournament or for anything. This was the opportunity that he had been searching for. After this one, he planned to be in charge of the Mishima Zaibatsu—he would no longer have any need to train as much as he had in the past. He'd be a businessman. It was a comforting feeling. Fighting was all he had known for a very long time. Even at such a young age, he wanted a change of pace.

"Already getting complacent," Devil said seemingly in his ear.

"Leave me alone."

"Is that all I get from you now? Didn't I say I was trying to help?"

Kazuya simply continued to flick through the television channels.

"We haven't even gotten to the actual tournament! There is a such a thing as too relaxed."

"You sound afraid, Devil. I'm not all that concerned with winning or losing—I know that I'll win."

"And how do you know that? How are you so confident? You don't even know what the other competitors are capable of."

"No, I don't, but I've done all the training in the world, I've participated in plenty of other tournaments, and besides I'm so jetlagged."

"Really? That's your excuse?"

"If you're just going to bicker, keep it to yourself. I can't remember the last time you've actually helped me. Then again, that's never been the reason you were here in the first place."

Kazuya waited for the other's retort but it never came much to his satisfaction. He flicked through a few more channels and then stopped on a reality show—it was a guilty pleasure. Watching how other people lived had always fascinated him. It was "normal" compared to the life that he had lived. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"It's open!" Kazuya said with a raised voice in English.

Kazuya had no idea who it was, but he assumed that it was another person bringing in food. He didn't expect it to be Lee; he could see the white hair out of the corner of his eye.

"What do you want?" Kazuya asked returning to a more comfortable language.

"I was bored and you were close by."

"And why, pray tell, did you not go and bother your actual friends. I'm sure they're around."

"They probably are, but I don't often get to see you if at all. I was just wondering what you were up to."

Kazuya studied the other closely and then returned his eyes to the television, "Nothing really, as you can see."

"One would think you'd be pounding away at some unfortunate sandbag."

"I've done enough of that. If you were here to get some type of advantage in the tournament, you never had a chance; sorry to disappoint."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Tell me anything. Why else would a rival adoptive brother vying for the same prize as me want to come "checkup" on me?"

"So everyone has to have an ulterior motive, huh?"

"Not everybody, but especially you in particular."

"Fine, keep your suspicions."

Lee noticed one thing out of place in Kazuya's room—there was a large stuffed teddy bear sitting quite comfortably on the floor beside the head of the bed, but Lee decided not to say anything about it. Something told him that it would be wise not to. Kazuya, on his part, drew no attention towards it and instead was looking intently at the screen.

"So, what are you watching?"

"Reality show," Kazuya answered immediately.

"Oh really, those are always interesting."

Lee walked further into the room in order to see the TV. He stood there for a while watching. "Can I take that seat over there?" Lee asked referring to one of the chairs that was under the dining room table.

"Do what you want."

Lee was surprised that he had even said that much. He quickly got the chair just in case Kazuya changed his mind. It wasn't long before Marshall showed up as well claiming to have been looking for Lee. Lee hadn't closed the door so it was easy to see that he was there. Kazuya had the same reaction to him as well. The last person who showed up was Paul who saw that both of his friends happened to be in Kazuya's room. He was the only one to make a big deal about his presence, but Kazuya could care less and eventually Paul simply took up a chair just like the others and sat down in quiet fascination of the reality show that Kazuya had been watching from the beginning.

The circumstances itself was strange enough, but the fact that they hadn't broken out into an all-out brawl was even more so. Kazuya wasn't all that talkative, but the other three made up for that fact enough so that he might add in a few words here or there. They weren't discussing the upcoming tournament or fighting styles—oddly enough they spoke only on the reality show. From the outside looking in, it might have looked like a group of colleagues who had just decided to spend their free time watching television. If Jun had seen this, she would have been overjoyed to see what appeared to be Kazuya getting along with other people.

It all depended on what kind of mood he was in. At this point, he was so ridiculously prepared for this tournament and his goals were so set in stone that he felt completely and utterly at ease—nothing could ruin his serene mood not even if some idiot had run off with his wallet; he would not have batted an eye. Lee wasn't sure what to make of him, but he thought he would enjoy it while it lasted. He didn't ask any personal questions, he hadn't dared to; he kept it at a very impersonal level so as not to draw out any sort of confrontation. He had still remembered Jun's plea to him when he was younger—to try to get along with his brother. He had thought it impossible at the time, but he still hadn't forgotten it. After so many years, he thought they could put their differences aside. Was it indeed possible? Could this day also be repeated in the future? Lee sincerely hoped so. He hadn't entered the tournament because of money or fame or a chance to face a challenging fight; he had done so to gain possession of a position he had devoted almost his entire life to becoming: the CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Even if Kazuya won—and there was a good chance he would—he believed that by staying close by, in other words working in the company, Kazuya would have the good sense to hand over his position to him. Kazuya didn't seem like someone who would even be interested in business or making money. That went for any of the guys who could possibly win. Lee was practically in a win-win situation. He could lose the tournament tomorrow, but still get what he wanted in the end.

The three of them, having nothing better to do, stayed there in Kazuya's room and one by one they dropped off as the night became late. Kazuya noticing that everyone else had fallen asleep turned off the television and did the same—there was no way he was going to drag them all off to their proper rooms especially if he didn't know for sure which room was whose. The hotel was kept at a good temperature so climbing under the covers was unnecessary.

/

The next morning would be full of surprises. He woke up as sunlight struck his closed eyelids. He squinted at the sudden light and realized that someone must have opened the blinds. There was a man dressed in a black suit who was obviously the culprit as he was next to the blinds and he had just dropped the white wand that controlled them. The man smiled at him easily.

"There's a letter on the bed beside you," the man spoke in Japanese.

Without asking questions, Kazuya looked to his side and found a blue envelope with his first name on it. "Okay…" Kazuya responded uncertainly.

"Open it, please."

Kazuya simply did so and inside was a yellow index card with a time and the word "blue" written under it. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"The time indicates what time the doors will be open and you will be released into the area. Blue indicates what arrows you should follow. After you step out of this room, you will follow the blue arrows until you arrive at a metal door. At the time that appears on your card, the door will be unlocked and you can go forth. Whoever you run into first you must fight and it must be a one on one battle. You must defeat four people before you are eligible to proceed to the last fight which is against Heihachi Mishima. After defeating four participants, you can choose to avoid all other battles by evading all other encounters and making a run for it towards the other end of the island—that is what I suggest you do. Whoever defeats Heihachi first wins automatically and the tournament will come to a close."

"I don't understand. Won't we all just get lost since none of us are familiar with the environment outside?"

"Follow the blue arrows as much as you can. If you find yourself lost, look for the colored arrows on the trees—they are quite obvious and easy to spot. Everyone's colors will be on display. I advise you to at first follow a color that is not your own to quickly make an encounter."

"Hm, pretty clever. Someone went out of their way to make this different from other tournaments—it's almost like a free for all."

The man smiled at the other, "Mr. Mishima was indeed going for that feel. He believes that a structured tournament leaves much to be desired."

"That old bastard—he thinks he so wise when it comes to combat. So, are there any rules of engagements?"

"None at all. Besides the rules I have given you: wait for your time to enter the area and win four one-on-one fights before proceeding to the other end of the island, there is none. You now have thirty minutes. I suggest you prepare yourself."

"Wait, where are the other three who were in the room yesterday?"

"They were taken back to their respective rooms. I have to say, it was quite surprising to see people who will soon be fighting each other fraternizing right before the tournament."

Kazuya shrugged casually and watched as the man exited the room and shut the door behind him. Kazuya immediately leaped into action changing into more comfortable clothes that were still sensible enough to fight in and stepped out of his room. The blue arrows were as clear as day. He followed them quickly to a metal door. There was a convenient clock on the wall above the door and Kazuya waited with arms crossed until the door finally opened.

After waiting an eternity, the door made a clicking noise and then Kazuya tried out the door handle. He pushed it down and the door swung open. Kazuya, after finally climbing into the outside world, was presented with a thick forest full of trees. There were painted arrows as far as the eye could see. Following the man's advice, he decided to travel the route of a color besides his own. He went with purple first. It didn't take long for him to run into another person, the person being a blonde woman.

"Fancy running into you," Nina said upon seeing him, "You're just the man I wanted to see."

"Let's just get this over with."

Nina noticed the heavy accent in his voice as he spoke English and grinned, "Don't bother with English—I can understand Japanese quite well. I came here to find you, Kazuya—I was sent to assassinate you. That is to say," Nina continued noticing that the other didn't quite understand, "I was sent to kill you. Someone wants you dead and I'm here to make sure that it happens."

Nina finally got into her fighting stance with hands erect, Kazuya's fists were anxious to finish her off. He didn't wait for the other person to begin; he pounced on her as soon as he could. He backhanded her across the face so hard that she was made disoriented. In that brief moment of confusion, Kazuya dished out a crippling body shot from his fist and then another and another until she could barely stand. Sensing that she must not have much stamina left, he simply pushed her to the ground as she gasped for breath.

"So you came here to kill me, did you? You have a long ways go before you can ever kill a Mishima."

"Think again, it's not over," Nina replied smoothly.

As deftly as a cat, she pulled herself up far enough to swing her feet across the ground and trip the other up. Had it worked, it might have been impressive, but Kazuya had seen it coming and had jumped at the right moment. Growing tired of her tricks, Kazuya advanced upon her before she could fully climb to her feet and grabbed hold of her tiny neck—it fit perfectly into his wrapped hand. He threatened to cut off her air supply and all Nina could think to do was try to loosen his grip, but it was iron tight.

"You give up?" Kazuya asked the other.

"No!" Nina gasped out angrily.

"Dedicated to your job. The way I see it, if you want to live to see another day—you'll see that this fight has already been decided."

"I can't! I can't lose to you!"

Kazuya gritted his teeth and squeezed even harder. He watched as her face grew red from the effort of drawing air from her lungs. "Don't be an idiot!"

Judging from the determined look that Kazuya could not seem to wipe off of her face, he knew that she would not back down, not unless he…

"Then why don't you kill her," Devil's voice enticed in his ears.

"I'll do as I please," Kazuya responded not bothering to answer back mentally.

Kazuya unhanded the blonde woman. When she hit the ground, he grabbed her by the hair and swung her so hard into a nearby tree that she fell unconscious immediately.

"She's either dead or unconscious," Kazuya said aloud after seeing that she made no further movements.

She laid sprawled on the hard ground and he was sure that he left a rather large gash on her forehead. If she did manage to survive, it was likely that she'd simply bow out of the tournament.

"Why don't you make sure that she won't bother you anymore?" Devil asked as Kazuya turned from her.

"It isn't necessary. I'm through with her. I just need to find three other people," Kazuya replied aloud.

The red arrow caught his eye and he arbitrarily decided to follow it. The first thing he heard after ten minutes of walking through the foliage was a growling bear that sounded none too happy. Kazuya followed the sound and to his surprise he found Paul locked in deadly combat with a massive bear. He watched the entire thing in amazement. Paul was actually strong enough to throw the bear back multiple times until it simply gave up and stalked off.

"Ha ha! Fight number 2 is done!" Paul cried out like a maniac.

Kazuya wasn't sure if he should leave the other to his own devices or interrupt his victory dance. Apparently he was on his third fight already, Kazuya couldn't afford to let the other remain in the lead for much longer. He purposely made a lot of noise as he stepped forward closer to where Paul was.

"So it's you! I was hoping we'd meet up. All this following arrows got me a little worried, but here you are. C'mon, give me your best shot. If I can beat a bear, I can beat anyone!"

Kazuya already had his fists up. Paul ran towards him at top speed. Unprepared for this sudden spurt of energy, when Paul's shoulder rammed into his chest, Kazuya was sent flying back into a nearby tree. For a short moment, the air was knocked out of him and Paul was on him in a second. A heavy punch came crashing down on his head and another and another.

"How do you like that? It's called the Hammer of the Gods!"

Kazuya was a bit disoriented as he climbed back to his feet. A steady stream of blood climbed down his forehead, but he didn't have time to see just how bad it was as the madman known as Paul was coming towards him again to perhaps finish him off, Kazuya went on autopilot as sidestepped once and then spotting an exposed chin, he drove his fist upwards in a fierce dragon uppercut. A small amount of electricity jolted through Paul after he was sent flying a good distance. Paul had scarcely gotten to his feet again before he felt Kazuya's knee ram with a solid force into his guts followed by another uppercut and a thrust that sent him crashing to the ground once again. Paul leaped back to his feet sensing that Kazuya was catching his stride and swung his fist as hard as he could into the other's stomach and then followed it with a roundhouse kick knocking the other down again. He might have continued on with a sweeping kick while the other was on the ground had Kazuya not leaped to his feet again so quickly pushing him back a little and disrupting his flow of attacks. A rain of kicks and punches was brought down upon Paul—and before Paul knew it, he was knocked up into the air once again with more electricity. It was beginning to take its toll on the energetic Paul who took a moment longer than usual before trying to get back up again. Before he could, another stronger jolt of electricity was sent through him as Kazuya stomped down on the other with painful force. Paul found himself coughing up blood, but there was no way he was going to give up so easily.

"You should quit while ahead," Kazuya spoke in his broken English.

"In your dreams!" Paul spat.

He grabbed Kazuya's exposed leg and tried to knock him off balance. He was at least strong enough to do this as he scrambled back to his feet. He couldn't hold back now—he had to finish off Kazuya while he still had enough strength. Kazuya was already slightly off-balance by this time; Paul went for another low sweeping kick but with much more force behind it to knock Kazuya completely off of his feet. Before Kazuya could touch ground, Paul fist shot out to send him a bit higher into the air and then another power punch that sent Kazuya flying once again, but by this time Paul was out of breath—he hoped that this would've been the straw that broke the horse's back. Surely, Kazuya had to be feeling it as well. Paul watched in silent desperation as Kazuya's form remained still on the ground, but then after a few seconds past, he was climbing to his feet once again, but with more difficulty.

"Bastard, why don't you stay down?" Paul cried out.

The only thing left to do was to defend against Kazuya's next attacks. If he could hold out, he'd have another chance to finish Kazuya. Paul had felt Kazuya's attacks before; he knew that another bout of his strange electricity would send him unconscious. Paul should have put his hands up a bit higher as Kazuya struck a quick jab to the jaw and while caught off guard dished out another volley of punches and kicks, but this time it ended in a hard, electrifying body shot and finally Paul fell to the ground limply.

Kazuya was almost too glad to finish him off. He hadn't expected to expend so much of his energy on one person and especially not on the second fight. Then again, this was the same guy who had just finished taking on a bear—what was he to expect? Unlike before, he did not go immediately to the next fight. He knew that time was of the essence, but he also knew he could not walk into a fight half-assed. He allowed himself to rest for a few minutes as he accessed his injuries. He wasn't bleeding too badly from his head—it was a small scratch, but on a very sensitive area of his head. He wiped away the thin stream of blood so as not to draw attention to it—surely any other fighter with half a brain would go for his injuries first if they wanted to finish him off quickly. Kazuya climbed slowly and dizzily to his feet. He waited for the world to stop spinning before proceeding. There was no help for it, he needed to continue. The white arrows which he hadn't seen before until now stood out to him and he followed these to his next fight.

He caught up to Lee this time. Lee's arrows had actually been purple, but he too had been following the white arrows. All of this didn't matter once Lee realized that an opponent was upon him.

"You look worse for wear. That doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."

"I don't expect you to."

Lee was someone who relied heavily on his rapid kicks, but his punches were devastating as well once he got into it. Kazuya didn't waste time starting things—a drawn out fight was his enemy. His body knew what to do better than his brain at this point. Lee was quick. For a deafening moment, all Kazuya could feel were his kicks hitting him from every angle possible, but one hard blow to the body sent Lee falling to his knees. Kazuya lifted the other to his feet so that he could better aim his next four body shots. Then when Lee was down again, Kazuya rammed his knee so hard into his chest that Lee cried out in pain. Lee tried climbing to his feet again, but found that he was completely immobilized. Lee was not as determined as the other two fighters had been and simply gave up.

"How many?" Lee gasped as he managed to pull himself up to sitting position.

"You would be my third."

"Wow, you don't waste any time. My color was purple—you'll run into fewer fights if you follow that one I think."

"Alright."

"And, Kazuya, be careful. I know you want your revenge on Heihachi, but he'll be at 100% while you've already fought four people. It isn't worth your life."

"I'll be fine."

"Right," Lee respond in a tone that suggested that he did not fully believe the other.

Kazuya stalked off in the direction of where the purple arrows pointed. He followed it for miles and he met no one. He grew a little anxious when he felt that he was drawing too near the other side of the island, but then finally his fears were abated. As if the massive blond machine had been waiting for him, he stood motionlessly in his path. Something about him ticked off Kazuya immediately.

"You may not pass," in a voice that made it painfully obvious that he was indeed a machine.

"Says who?"

"Says Heihachi Mishima."

"So he put you up to it. He thinks he can stop me with a mere robot—he's insulted me for the last time."

"Prepare to die," Jack declared.

"The second one today," Kazuya grumbled before bringing his fists up.

Jack was everything Kazuya thought he would be: predictable and hard-hitting. Jack was so predictable, in fact, that Kazuya was able to evade most of his attempts at attacking. Who couldn't avoid those massive hands as they tried to go in for quick jabs or his elbow tried to knock him backwards. Jack was a bit more flexible than Kazuya had anticipated and his Cyclone Hammer where he would spin around not once but twice with his fists out and then end it with a bone shattering uppercut that didn't have nearly as much air as Kazuya's and send his opponent flying backwards. Kazuya had gotten caught by that twice, but not for a third time. Kazuya was glad that he had successfully avoided Jack's falling hands that would have made him one with the ground permanently. Jack was dangerous to fight up close or for a prolonged time period since he did not lose breath like a human. A machine like him could annihilate a lesser man, but Kazuya was determined. He evaded one of Jack's long strings of body shot where his arm went back and forth like a broken record and tackled the other to the ground and bashed him over and over and over again on the ground before letting him up again. Before Jack could get off one of his silly looking Cossack kicks again, Kazuya spun and kicked him off balance twice and then finished with a left and right hook. He didn't stop there however. With more concentration, his fists became charged with electricity and he unleashed five of his Demon God Fists into the machine, spun kick three more times, twirled twice more to kick him even harder in the face from both sides, grabbed for his head and tossed him to the ground as hard as he could. While Jack was on the ground, he dropped his foot that was charged with more electricity into his back so hard that it went right through it and out the other side. Jack did not cry out in pain, but it did become nonresponsive. Kazuya watched the other for a while before determining that Jack was indeed knocked out completely—he was more akin to a pile a junk.

"If this is what my father thinks will stop, he'll be in for a rude awakening," Kazuya said to himself looking at the now pitiful machine that seemed as if it was having a seizure before shutting down.

He was so close right now he could taste it. Kazuya took a few minutes to gather himself before proceeding. He felt confident that he still had enough energy to pull off the two moves he had come up with to finish Heihachi. He could picture it in his mind, but first he would have to tire the other one out before unleashing his ultimate attack.

He didn't have far to go until he reached the other end of the island. When he did, Heihachi was waiting for him with all the patience in the world.

"Ah, my second fight. I didn't think there'd be another one quite so soon."

"You underestimate me, old man."

Heihachi laughed, "Kazuya, so it's you. How have you liked my tournament so far?"

"I could have done without the killer robot, besides that enjoyable—it's right up your alley."

"Yes, only the strong can survive my tournament. I'm glad you've made it this far. It means that you've been keeping up your training. I'm going to enjoy this."

"Then you'll enjoy losing," Kazuya said already moving into his initial fighting stance which was similar to the one that Heihachi changed into.

Heihachi started things off with a left right combo with his fists. Kazuya was taken aback by the force behind such a simple attack—it took more out of him than he had expected and he didn't miss the tingle of electricity. Heihachi didn't give him much time to recover before he attacked him with a similar succession of hits, but ending with a double handed thrust that sent so much electricity coursing through his body that Kazuya had no choice but to fall back. It was then that Kazuya realized something—Heihachi had managed to incorporate the blue electricity into all of his attacks which made them doubly powerful. Heihachi wouldn't have to do nearly as much as a normal fighter to take down his opponent. Kazuya began to evade more and more looking for an opening. He could tell that Heihachi was enjoying himself—he hadn't gotten hit once and his opponent was beginning to seem more like a punching bag. Eventually, Kazuya stood his ground and successfully blocked one of Heihachi's electrified Demon Kicks and retaliated with a hard thrust forward. Heihachi was only pushed back a little. Kazuya knew that he had to come harder than this if he was going to sap the other's stamina. He conjured forth more of his electricity for his next few attacks—left hook, right hook, left hook, right hook and then a spinning kick that was blocked easily by the other. Kazuya didn't let this slow him down; he brought his fist down so hard upon the other with such a massive amount of electricity that Heihachi stumbled back in dizziness. Kazuya saw this as an opening and he might have dropkicked him hard into the ground had the other not retaliated so quickly almost too quickly for a human. Heihachi turned and stiff armed Kazuya so abruptly that for a moment all he did was stand still as his momentum disappeared into thin air. As if it were a delayed reaction, Kazuya fell back to the ground. Kazuya rolled back to his feet before the other could stomp him into the ground and twirled as quickly as he could for two sweeping kicks that successfully knocked the other one off balance. Kazuya's knee went up fast and met with solid bones and then with flesh. Heihachi was knocked into the perfect position for a nice little Rising Uppercut from Kazuya. This one came from his right hand and was therefore lower than any of his other ones—it still did the trick. Heihachi was pushed back even more now.

Kazuya grew wary when Heihachi moved into another stance and began to charge himself up with a massive amount of electricity. Heihachi came at him so quickly afterwards, that Kazuya had no time to evade Heihachi's demobilizing attack—a sharp forward thrust and a downward elbow stroke all completely charged up. The first thrust alone stopped any movement that Kazuya could have made—it was as if his heart had stopped for a moment. The next hit and Kazuya crashed into the ground so hard that the earth beneath him crumbled. His face felt numb for an entire minute. He couldn't move, he thought he was going to die at that very moment as he struggled to breathe once again when Heihachi's massive feet crashed down into him causing him to spit out blood.

"MOVE!" Devil bellowed.

In a state of panic, Kazuya rolled over once and successfully dodged Heihachi's finishing stroke and then climbed back to his feet only to find a fist coming directly for his face. Kazuya put his arms up to defend himself as he was pushed further and further back. Kazuya finally ducked under the volley of high attacks from Heihachi and got in two electrified jabs into the other's stomach. Before Heihachi could do anything about it, Kazuya quickly stepped backwards out of Heihachi's reach and then came forth again to bring his elbow down upon the other's head. He brought his knee up again which then turned into a hard, electrified dropkick that sent Heihachi to the ground. He moved back once again just as Heihachi climbed to his feet again.

"You think you can keep up with me, boy. Look at you, you're almost finished."

"Well, you don't look so well yourself."

Kazuya had managed to draw blood from the other; it flowed down from his left temple. Heihachi began to charge himself up once again, but Kazuya had some idea as to what Heihachi would do next and he sidestepped a split second before Heihachi could land his powerful right handed thrust into his body. Kazuya knew that expending so much energy at one time would soon take its toll. Heihachi had slowed down and he was in the prime condition for his signature move. Kazuya lowered his center of gravity and brought forth a staggering amount of electricity which he had been holding back for this moment. The ground rumbled a little as Kazuya turned once then twice as he concentrated everything into one fist. Then he leaped up as his dominant left hand shot to the sky and connected with Heihachi sending him flying into the air and falling roughly to the ground. Lightening still crackled on his fists as he watched the other intently. Heihachi could still move much to his surprise, but Kazuya wasn't finish with him yet.

"Get this over with already—quit stalling," Devil said anxiously.

Kazuya ignored Devil, and approached Heihachi slowly as he struggled to climb to his feet once again.

"You little—

Heihachi was high enough now. Before Heihachi could finish his statement, Kazuya crouched and yanked Heihachi downwards into his knee with crippling force. Satisfied when he heard a distinct cracking noise, he stood up and thrust Heihachi to the ground again with the heel of foot. Heihachi seemed to have stopped breathing altogether.

"Make sure," Devil encouraged, "You have to make sure."

"I don't have to do anything. Look at him, he's done."

Kazuya looked around himself. He had indeed reached the other end of the island—he could hear the waves again crashing against the rocks. From where he stood, the ground slanted upward into a cliff that dropped directly into the ocean. Silently, he lifted Heihachi into his arms and walked over to the very edge of the precipice and released Heihachi to the rocks below.

END OF TEKKEN 1

/

AN: I can finally let out a sigh of relief—I'm done with the first Tekken. I might have ended the story here, but quite a few reviewers mentioned interest in a continuation. This will be continuing this in a story entitled "The Kazuya Story: Tekken 2".