Destiny Changed
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.
To all the Tekken Fans
Chapter 11
Not wanting to be accused of being a bad friend, Xiaoyu woke up early in the morning and went to get Miharu. Both girls decided to leave Julia resting and went to see Steve's match.
Xiaoyu didn't find any trace of Jin but she never spoke a word. She knew that her friend didn't trust him. She wanted to speak up for Jin so that Miharu could see, once and for all, that the Japanese young man was despite all facts, an innocent victim of his ancestors. But she knew that Miharu was stubborn and would never listen to her so she tried to focus on the young blond man in the arena.
Xiaoyu didn't know much about him, but whenever she had seen him he looked like a confidant person. Yet right now he looked the exact opposite.
-'He looks really nervous.'-Xiaoyu said.
-'It's the first time he enters the tournament. How did you feel when you fought for the first time?'-Miharu asked.
-'You're right…'
Steve was indeed very nervous, maybe even terrified. He was about to face his mother. It had been difficult to escape the Syndicate alive but knowing that his biological mother was Nina Williams was even more difficult to bear. He had so many questions to ask her and yet he had no idea if she knew the truth. That was why he had to play safe and be extremely careful with his words. The only problem was that Nina was there to kill him. That was why Steve was hoping that for once, God didn't play a trick on him.
Since she had lost her memory Nina had tried to unveil the secrets of her past but so far she hadn't succeeded. It was a side effect from the cryogenic sleep she had been submitted to after the Iron Fist Tournament 2. All that Nina was able to remember was the hate between her and Anna. It was much more than a simple rivalry between siblings. Thinking about it, she didn't hear from her sister for a few months but honestly, she didn't give a damn. Anna could be rotting in prison or even dying on the bottom of a cliff and still, she wouldn't care at all.
If Nina was a believer she would definitely say God had a very twisted sense of humour. Last night, after reading some files about the cryogenic sleep she had been put through, Nina learned that she had a child. She didn't even remember her own mother and now she was someone's mum. As if this wasn't weird enough, her child was now 21 years old and was the man she had been ordered to kill, Steve Fox. Wasn't it ironic? Actually it sounded more like a joke, but watching the young British man's picture, she could see the resemblances. It wasn't a lie.
Blue eyes, blond hair, good looking, good fighter…just like her. Nina didn't know why she was having second thoughts about pulling the trigger. She was used to kill people all the time. Family or simple strangers, she was unable to feel empathy as before death everyone is equal. And now she was confused because she knew that the person she was meant to kill was somehow a part of her.
After thirty minutes it was clear that Nina wasn't going to show up but Lei had his own reasons to be on red alert. The judge had already disqualified her from the tournament and he was about to declared Steve the winner when a red dot appeared in Steve's blue shirt.
-'Get down!'-Lei yelled trying to see where the shooter was.
It took Steve at least ten seconds to realise what was happening. Unsure of what to do he didn't move and waited for the shot but it never happened.
Lei told him that Nina was ruthless and had never missed a shot yet he was still alive. Could she know already? After a few more seconds Steve noticed that Lei was going after someone and decided to follow him through the woods.
Jin was coming out of the woods when suddenly he noticed three people passing by him running full speed: Nina first, then Lei and finally Steve. He had no idea what was happening but he didn't care that much to go after them. When he got to the arena everyone was already leaving and he noticed Xiaoyu standing next to Hwoarang. The Korean had his arm around her shoulder. Jin didn't feel happy about it but he didn't have the courage to approach them and show his disapproval. Xiaoyu was free to be with anyone she wanted to although Hwoarang wasn't properly the best choice for a boyfriend.
A few hours later the next match was announced. Lei would face the newcomer Christie Monteiro, but there weren't any signs of him, Steve or Nina. Christie had spoken to Xiaoyu about Jin, she wanted to know his whereabouts but Xiaoyu didn't know. Jin was staying in a room but he was never there. She knew why he was hiding but she couldn't tell Christie. While Hwoarang was trying to give Christie some advice for the fight (actually he was more interested in talking about his own skills than giving useful advice), Miharu and Xiaoyu had been keeping Julia informed about the tournament. She was surprised about the whole Nina/Steve/Lei thing, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know all the details. Michelle had warned her several times about the Williams sisters and having fought against Anna once, Julia knew that they were dangerous people.
Since she had spent the whole morning in bed, Julia decided to go with her friends and watch Christie's match. Wulong was late and he didn't give much of a fight.
Just like Paul and Marshall Law he was considered a veteran in the Iron Fist Tournament. His qualities and techniques were a legend among the other fighters but it seemed that he wasn't motivated enough to win. On the other hand Christie proved to be a hell of a fighter. She definitely deserved some credits. Capoeira sure was a "wave of fresh air" as far as martial arts techniques were concerned. It was different from all the others and Christie was a real expert. She was absolutely delighted about her victory. Not only she had managed to pass to the next round but she had also won against a powerful legend-fighter.
Of course that she was unaware that Lei didn't have a reason to stay in the tournament anymore since Nina had escaped and Steve was thinking about leaving too. The British young man was safe so Lei's mission was over.
A few minutes earlier Lei had finally convinced Steve to move on with his life and forget about Nina Williams. Well, he didn't know if he had actually succeeded but at least Steve wasn't thinking about following Nina anymore.
When Steve managed to reach Lei and Nina, the police officer had a gun pointed at her. Nina was unarmed but she was still as dangerous, even without a gun.
Though she had been ordered to kill him, Steve decided to help her and before Lei could arrest Nina, he allowed her to escape, leaving behind an unpredictable "thank you".
At first Lei was completely furious. Steve had probably cost him a raise and a medal. But since Nina was actually Steve's biological mother and the fact that, for the first time, she had ignored an order and haven't killed her target, made Lei believe that maybe it wasn't a mistake to let her go. Nevertheless he lectured Steve until they got the hotel.
-'The fact that she didn't kill you doesn't make her your mum, got it?'-Lei asked.
-'I know that…but it must mean something.'
-'Your reaction is understandable but she's still a killer…so next time don't interfere. If you do, I'll arrest you as well.'
-'Fine. I won't.'
-'Good. 'Cause you can get hurt…and it's not physically. I've known Nina for quite a while now and believe me, she's not the maternal type.'
Steve nodded. Even after Lei's words he couldn't stop feeling unbelievably happy about himself. To have heard a "thank you" from Nina was absolutely awesome, after all she was a ruthless murder and now, suddenly she had not only spared his life but also thanked him for helping her. Maybe one day they could speak about their situation although Steve knew they would never be a real family. In that matter, Lei was right.
Meanwhile, the next match was announced. Xiaoyu was going to fight against Yoshimitsu. To know that she would have to fight in the next morning was stressful but also exciting. So far Christie was the only girl left in the tournament and Xiaoyu wanted to join her in the next round. If only Yoshimitsu wasn't as strong as he looked…
For the rest of the night Miharu and Julia kept insisting that Xiaoyu had pretty good chances of winning her match. Miharu didn't know much about Yoshimitsu but she wanted to make sure Xiaoyu was mentally prepared to win.
-'You worked hard for this tournament Xiao. I know you'll win!'-Miharu insisted.
-'I think I should've train harder…Yoshimitsu has much more experience than me and he's really strong.'
-'Don't worry. We'll be there to cheer you up.'-Miharu reassured her.
Xiaoyu didn't want to verbalize her thoughts because she would sound really ungrateful, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking "Big deal!". As if her friends' presence would make any difference.
The next morning Xiaoyu and Yoshimitsu arrived at the same time. Yoshimitsu was indeed scary but just like Julia had said, better a scary ninja dude than a psychotic cyborg such as Bryan. Julia had the displeasure of being Bryan's tag partner and things didn't work out very well.
During the fight Xiaoyu managed to block Yoshimitsu's attacks twice but even so she couldn't stop thinking that his techniques were quite amazing. Unfortunately she wasn't very familiar with Ninjutsu and after a while Yoshimitsu had a pretty good opportunity to take the lead but he didn't grab it. Fifteen minutes later it was still impossible to know who was going to win. For a few seconds Xiaoyu thought about the meaning of entering a martial arts' tournament. People enter those competitions mostly because they want to win and prove how strong they are. For some unknown reason Xiaoyu didn't feel that vibration from Yoshimitsu. It was almost as if he was there because he had nothing else to do. Was he going to let her win on purpose? The answer was yes. Yoshimitsu was there to face Heihachi Mishima but just like before, he had realised that the Mishima patriarch was planning something rather suspicious again and he wanted to know what it was. Yoshimitsu also knew that Xiaoyu and Jin Kazama were involved so he decided to stay alert even if that meant to lose a fight.
After that extraordinary victory, Xiaoyu became a star. The youngest fighter from the tournament had managed to defeat a veteran.
-'Do you have any idea how much money you cost me?'-Hwoarang asked when Xiaoyu was being helped by Julia and Miharu.
-'Can't you see she's hurt?'-Miharu inquired, slightly annoyed.
-'She was supposed to lose. I'm sure she cheated.'
-'Hey! I didn't cheat. I won fair and square asshole.'-Xiaoyu spat furiously.
-'As if a midget like you could win against a super ninja!? If you didn't cheat, he let you win on purpose.'
Xiaoyu tried to release herself from her friends' hands to hit the Korean but he dodged her fist.
-'Xiao might not be the strongest fighter but she trained hard and she deserved to win.'-Julia said, defending her friend who was now fuming.-'Please apologise.'
That request made Hwoarang's jaw drop. Apologise? Did he hear correctly? She wanted him to apologise?
-'Are you crazy?'-he asked.-'Why would I apologise?'
-'If you don't want to apologise then leave us alone.'
Julia and Miharu turned around and headed to the hotel, taking an injured Xiaoyu with them. People around weren't paying attention to the argument. Now that one more fighter had passed to the next round, everyone was expecting to know the next match.
-'Hey!'-Hwoarang yelled.-'I've always been like this…why the hell you think you can force me to apologise?'
-'Did I ever say I wanted you to change?'-Julia asked remaining calm.
-'I never apologise…besides what I said to Pigtails was true.'
Julia stopped and instructed her friends to continue without her. She was curious to know why Hwoarang was so angry about an apology request.
-'As a fighter you should know that we don't like to be told that we're weak.'-she started.
-'I didn't say she's weak.'
-'No, what you said was even worse. You practically told her she's not worth being here. She's so worthless that her opponents have pity on her and let her win.'
-'So what? She's just a kid!'
-'She has feelings…Anyway I asked you to apologise but I'm not expecting anything from you. And neither is she.'
-'Good. Because this argument is pathetic.'
-'It's your fault. You're the one all stressed up because of it.'
-'That's because you annoyed me.'
-'Why? No one ever asked you to apologise before?'
-'Don't start!'-Hwoarang didn't have many good memories about his childhood but he remembered that as a child he was always forced to apologise to other people, even when he'd done nothing wrong. It was always the poor kid's fault. That's why he had been forced to fend for himself; otherwise his life on the streets would have been unbearable.
-'Now you know how we feel every time you decide to annoy us.'
