Chapter Three

About three days later, Teal had found herself flying to Okinawa, where the first rounds of the King of Iron Fist Tournament was taking place. She was still confused about the whole situation. All she knew was that this was a worldwide tournament, and that this tournament had something to do with whatever Jin was planning. She still couldn't believe that this was the same Jin Kazama she had grown up with. The same timid, but easy going Jin that she was once best friends with, despite him being 3 years older than her. She hadn't seen him in years, and she thought she wasn't going to ever see him again. So, she began to make herself forget about him. It was working too...until recently. When she arrived at the hotel, she checked in and immediately went to her room. It was a pretty elegant hotel, probably a four or five star. Her hotel room was pretty big too, and had a rather comfortable California king sized bed in the middle. She dropped her bags on the bed and walked to the huge window. From her room view, she could practically see the Okinawa city skyline, and the huge lot that the tournament's first round fights would be held. She sat down and started thinking about everything she had to do.

"The plan is simple." She could hear Helena's soft, but stern voice saying in her head. "You win each round, get as close to Jin Kazama as you can. If you have to beat him up to get him to talk, do so. I'll keep checking on you to make sure your staying on track. Remember, we're watching you. So don't fuck up."

Teal sighed as she started thinking of a hundred reasons why JCo had picked the wrong girl. For one, she definitely wasn't a champion fighter. She had only learned Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from her father out of self-defense, and Yakima-style martial arts from her mother, because it was a family tradition. She did practice both styles everyday, but that didn't mean she was a skilled fighter. She only fought when necessary, out of self-defense. Oh no, mommy, she thought as she shook her head. Poor mommy. Her mom had no idea what was going on, and thought that Teal was out on a senior class trip. Teal had to make sure to protect her mother at all cost, and if meant doing this stupid tournament to see a former friend all over again, so be it.

The next morning, Teal had gotten up pretty early to go workout in the hotel's gym. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed into her workout clothes, leaving her hotel room right afterward. When she got to the gym, it was empty, but the machines were still on. She spent about a half hour on the treadmill, running and watching one of the big TVs in front of her. It was on the news channel, and there had been a house fire not too far from where the hotel was. Luckily, there were no casualties. Another breaking news had came in, about how the Mishima Zaibatsu was starting to evacuate citizens from certain neighborhoods throughout Japan. Teal immediately stopped running and turned off the machine, still looking at the news.

The reporter continued to describe the many weeks of weird and unusual actions called by the Zaibatsu's leader, Jin. When the newscast was over, Teal shook her head, walking over to the punching bag on the other side of the room. She began practicing her Jiu Jitsu moves on the bag, continuously hitting and kicking the bag in a quick, but rhythmic pattern, just like her father had taught her. She practiced that, and some of her Yakima-style martial arts for almost two hours, stopping to catch a breather. She sat back down on the floor, and re-tied her hair back into a ponytail. She looked at some of the dumbells and weights that were in front of her, and thought of something. Hm, I never tried lifting weights with my powers before.

She easily focused her energy on the weights,and felt her aura form around her. Her eyes turned purple again, and one of the weights slowly began to float in the air. She tried lifting the weight as high in the air as she could, without causing herself any strain.

"Impressive." Another voice said from inside of the gym.

This caused Teal to quickly take her focus off of the weight, causing it to drop to the ground. It made a loud bang! and she hoped that it didn't make a hole in the floor. She quickly turned her head and seen another girl not too far away from her. Her long, flowy blond hair and elegant mini dress moved with her as she walked over to Teal.

"And here I thought witches weren't real." The girl said.

"I'm not a witch." Teal said. "Just a normal girl with abnormal abilities."

"Right." The girl said. "And I'm not the daughter of a very successful and rich oil miner."

"...Are you?" Teal asked.

The girl looked at her and began laughing, which caused Teal to chuckle also. That was the first time she smiled since arriving in Okinawa the day before.

"I'm Emilie." The girl said. "Emilie de Rochefort. But, you can call me Lili."

"Nice to meet you, Lili. I'm Teal Yakima...just call me Teal I guess." Teal said.

"Teal... like the color? That's a really pretty name." Lili said.

"Thanks."

They both sat down on the floor, and Lili attempted to still cross her legs elegantly.

"Wow, you're very...elegant." Teal said.

"I have to be, I'm a girl." Lili said.

"You don't just kick your feet up and relax sometimes?" Teal asked.

"What's that?" Lili said.

"Oh boy..." Teal chuckled again.

"So are you in the tournament too?" Lili asked.

"Yup, and I'm guessing so are you."

"Yup. My father's mining company is going through some problems. Winning this tournament could really put his company back on the map. Why are you in the tournament?"

Teal tried to find an explanation, but she could find a way to say it. It was still pretty confusing to herself, why she was in this tournament.

"Uh, it's kind of complicated to say." She said.

"Oh...hey, since we're both in the tournament, there might a chance that we go against each other at one point." Lili said.

"Yeah, you're right. It's hard to believe a prissy girl you like can fight though." Teal admitted.

Lili giggled and said, "Don't judge a book by its cover, Teal. I can kick some major butt."

That caused Teal to laugh, and she stood up and stretched. "Welp, I'm done for now. I'm gonna go take a shower and eat before the first rounds start. Do you know if your fighting first?"

"Nope, I guess I gotta find out when I get there later." Lili said getting up as well. "You wanna go eat breakfast together? I heard this hotel's food isn't really that good anyway."

"Hmm...okay. Sure. Let me take a shower and change my clothes, and I'll come get you. What's your room number?"

"225."

"Oh good we're on the same floor. I'll get you when I'm ready."

"Okay, see you then."