Chapter Six

The next morning, Teal had woken up to a text message from Helena, who was clearly upset from what had happened at Club Echo the night before. Helena had a feeling that the shooting was just to scare Anna and Nina, and that no one was even injured. Teal really didn't care about this company war that was going on between G Corp, J Corp and the Zaibatsu. But she did care about her mother safety, and the safety of everyone else living in Japan, and those were the only things keeping her from cursing out Helena and abandoning her mission (that, and they beautiful hotels she gets to stay in). After she finished washing her face in the bathroom, she walked back out and sat Indian-style in the middle of the floor to begin her morning meditation. The meditation routine was taught to her by her grandmother when she was younger, and it was to make her start her day in a very calm manner, and to also build up strength for her powers. She doesn't meditate every morning, but when she does decide to do it, it helps somewhat. She felt her purple aura form around her again and began feeling calm, but it was suddenly interrupted by someone knocking on room door rapidly. The aura went away and Teal rolled her eyes, quietly standing up and walking over to the door.

"Hey, did you hear?!" Lili practically yelled.

"About what?" Teal said, holding her ears.

"Someone from one of the corporations is coming to watch the next round of the tournaments later on today."

"Really? Who?"

"I don't know. I personally hope they watch my match. I want them to actually see the girl who's going to kick their ass in the last rounds."

"So you're already assuming that you'll beat me?"

"Pretty much." Lili shrugged, then laughed.

"Okay, we'll see about that." Teal laughed also.

"Well, let me hop in the shower. I just wanted to let you know before I did."

"Okay. See you later."

Teal closed the door after Lili walked back down the hallway to her room. She sat back on her bed, just as another vision started to appear in her mind. It was quick, but pretty confusing. She had seen herself walking out of a room, which she assumed was were she had just finished fighting in another round. She couldn't see her opponent, but it looked like she had won the fight. As she was walking towards the exit of the building, she had made eye contact with someone who looked very familiar to her. Before she could make it who it was, the vision ended. She blinked her eyes again and looked around her hotel room.

"Who the hell was that?" She asked herself.

That afternoon was the second round of the tournament, and Teal was once again looking to see who her next opponent was. The lobby that she was in looked like the place in her vision, so she assumed that her vision would be happening there. Lili was pretty excited about her opponent being Asuka Kazama, since they were rivals (according to Lili, they were). Teal had found out that her opponent was someone named Zafina, and made her way to the 7th floor, where her match was taking place. When she entered the room, she had seen someone standing on the other side of the room, looking outside of the window. The woman turned around and looked at Teal, and smiled.

"You must be Teal." She said in a thick, unrecognizable accent.

"I am." Teal said. "And I'm guessing you're Zafina."

"Correct."

Teal realized that Zafina was dressed like a gypsy, maybe because she was an actual gypsy. Now that she thought about it, she did get a weird aura when she walked into the room, but didn't really pay attention to it.

"I feel something coming from you." Zafina said. "A different type of sorcery."

"Sorcery." Teal snorted. She hated that word.

"Let's see what type of sorcery you possess, Teal Yakima." Zafina said, getting into her fighting stance.

"Uh, okay." A confused Teal said, getting into her stance also.

They began fighting, but fighting Zafina was definitely different from anyone else she had to fight before. The way she gracefully moved and dodged Teal's hits; it was amazing. An outsider could look in on the fight and think that Zafina was dancing, not fighting. She suddenly stopped and looked at Teal, with a confused and upset expression.

"You don't fight with your powers. Why is that?" She asked her.

"Huh?" Teal said. "I wasn't taught to...is there a difference?"

"I feel no emotion coming from you. Like you're forcing yourself to fight."

"Look, if you count me being forced to fight to save my mother—" Teal started.

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a sharp sensation on her head and groaned in pain. It felt like something had seared her brain, and she held her hands against her head. Zafina had taken advantage of her momentary weakness and kicked her, causing Teal to fall back against the wall. What the hell was that? She thought as she shook the cob webs out of her head. Teal stood back up and felt the searing pain in her head again, but ignored it. She charged back at Zafina and began hitting her with continuous blows, each hit being stronger than the last. Zafina had fallen to her knees, and then her side, and Teal thought that she was defeated. She looked down at her and sighed. I don't feel the way I did after my last match...she thought as she began to walk back out of the room. As she walked down the hall to the elevator, another door had burst open and a girl flew out, crashing into her.

"Ouchh." Teal groaned.

"Shit, watch it!" The other girl said in a thick Osakan Kansai accent.

"Get off of me!" Teal spat back.

Both girls had stood up, and Teal took a double look at her. She looked very familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on a name.

"Teal, I see you've met my defeated opponent." She heard Lili say. Lili walked out of the room, fixing the gloves on her hands, and a smirk on her face.

"Defeated?! The match isn't even over yet." The girl said.

"Relax, Asuka, we'll find out who really won once we get back downstairs." Lili shrugged.

Asuka snorted and looked at Teal. "Are you from Tokyo? I recognize that accent from anywhere."

"Yeah." Teal said. "You must be from Osaka."

"Yup." Asuka said, stretching her arms out. "Born and raised."

"Well, I'm ready to see if I beat this girl or not." Lili said. "Although, I already know that I did."

Asuka became angry again and stormed towards the elevator, with Lili behind her. Teal giggled and walked up to the elevator to, just as it opened. When they got to the first floor, Lili and Asuka pushed each other out of the elevator and made their way over to the huge scoreboard.

"Aw, what?!" Asuka yelled.

"A draw?! What the hell?" Lili yelled.

"I was clearly beating your ass. Clearly!" Asuka said to her.

"Really? So I guess me kick you out of the room doesn't count, right?" Lili said back.

Teal laughed again and looked at the scoreboard herself, seeing that it said she defeated Zafina, and was moving on to the next round. She looked around to see if she could spot Christie anywhere, but remember that she wasn't scheduled to fight that day. After Lili and Asuka finished arguing, and Asuka stormed out of the building, Lili walked back to Teal and put her arm around her shoulder.

"I can't believe it was a draw, I clearly beat her!" Lili said.

"Maybe knocking her out of the room made it a draw." Teal said, shrugging her shoulder.

"If that's true, that's bullshit." Lili said. "I'm ready to go. Wanna grab something to eat? I'm in the mood for pizza."

"Ooh, me too." Teal said, her stomach suddenly growling. "They don't have a pizza shop in my neighborhood. They did, but it got shut down."

"Well then, let us go." Lili smiled.

As they were walking out of the building, Teal began feeling woozy and sick, and stopped. Lili stopped walking and turned around, coming to her aid.

"No, I'm good. You go catch a cab." Teal said, holding her stomach.

Lili nodded and continued to walk outside, as Teal tried to get her breath. She felt the sickly wave again, and this time it was even stronger, causing her to double over. She couldn't tell if she wanted to throw up, pass out, or both. After inhaling and exhaling slowly for about 2 minutes, she finally began to stand up straight. As she was standing up, she made eye contact with someone and stopped. He was looking at her, but it felt like he was staring into her soul. Teal realized that this was her vision happening all over again, but she was able to see who it was clearly.

"Jin?" She said lowly.

Because he was pretty far away from her, he didn't hear what she said, but he did read her lips and smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile, but more like a evil, cocky smile. He turned around and began walking away, as she just stood in the same place. Come on, feet! Move dammit! She commanded, but she couldn't move. The sickly feeling finally went away once he was out of sight, and Teal found her self walking in the direction he went in.

"Teal! Come on, I got a cab!" Lili's voice rang in her ears.

It snapped her back into reality, and Teal turned around and ran out of the building. Lili opened the taxi cab's door, and stepped inside. Teal stepped in behind her, and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Lili asked her.

"Yeah...yeah I'm good. Just hungry." Teal said.

"Well let's take care of that. Driver, you know this city more than I do. Take us to the nearest pizza shop, please?" Lili asked.

As she taxi drove away, Lili began talking to Teal about the festivities that were happening the next day. Apparently, the Mishima Zaibatsu was going to throw some type of masquerade ball, to honor the people who have made through the tournament thus far. Teal was half listening to Lili, with her mind still trying to wrap itself around the weird encounter she had with Jin. She didn't understand anything that was going on, she just knew that there was definitely unfinished business between the two of them. Next time I see him, it's definitely on, she thought as the taxi cab pulled up in front of the pizza shop.