The Idols of Iron Fist

by gracegrrl007

What happens to the idols of 765 Pro when Makoto makes an announcement that could shatter their lives forever? A crossover between Tekken and The iDOLM@STER. The idols participate in The King of Iron Fist Tournament, but little do they know that a new rule has been introduced that will shake them to the core. Will they survive? Probably not, but...you know, they'll try.

18. The Final Match

(A/N: WAAAAAAAH.

IT'S ENDING, OH MAH GOSH I'M NOT READY!

Well, I finally got enough votes and this was the result! Enjoy.

...you guys, I made myself cry writing this.

Oh yeah! Sorry for the length of this, by the way. I had a looooooot to stuff into one chapter.)

The Final Match

Iori yawned and tapped her fingers on the ground beside her. Sitting on her right was Ritsuko, and on her left was the recently-recovered Makoto, who was currently shaking rather violently. Over the past seven matches, the remaining three of the four girls they'd met had been wiped out, but the girls weren't exactly worried; Lili and Leo had taken tips from the idols and faked a death when they thought they'd received enough injuries for it to look real, and Alisa, being a cyborg, could be easily repaired and sent back into the fray.

Despite the fact that they knew the deaths had been faked, Iori and Makoto were still rather saddened by the matches; Leo had become a very close friend of Makoto's and Lili was a mentor of sorts to Iori. Both girls also knew that based on the injuries Leo and Lili had needed to sustain to make their deaths look realistic, there was a chance the girls could bleed out and die for real.

"Alright now, it's time for the final match!" the announcer cheered. "Are you ready?!"

The audience cheered.

"Final match?" Iori echoed. "What the heck, there's still…eight competitors left!"

"This match will be an eight-person free for all," the announcer continued. "All eight of the final competitors will battle it out in a battle royale! The last one standing is the winner!"

Makoto cast Iori a glance, a small smile on her face. "I have to admit, that makes me pretty happy," she said quietly. "I'll be able to protect you; all three of you. Just promise you'll make it easy."

"You're still hurt," Ritsuko pointed out. "Let Takane and I take care of ourselves. You just take care of Iori and yourself, got it?"

Makoto frowned. "If they come too close to you and there's something I can do, I'm going to do it."

"Fine. But don't go out of your way for us. Even if you've recovered enough to fight, you're still tremendously weakened, and I don't want you making unnecessary sacrifices."

Makoto nodded in response.

"The first four competitors; Ritsuko Akizuki, Iori Minase, Makoto Kikuchi, and Takane Shijou!" the announcer called. The four idols walked slowly down into the arena, where each one then went to a different corner. Makoto was limping slightly and Iori seemed to wobble just a bit, likely from her back injury from fighting with Anna, but each girl held her head high and stood straight as they could.

"The next four competitors; Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Jin Kazama, and Lars Alexandersson!"

The four men wandered down, each at his own pace, and went to different walls. Heihachi cackled and examined his opponents. Kazuya smirked across at his son, an excited gleam in his eye. Jin leaned against the wall and glared evenly at his father and grandfather. Lars took out his cellphone and made a quick call before returning the object to his pocket.

The idols drew in a simultaneous deep breath. Makoto kept her eyes on Iori at all times. Iori fiddled with the guns at her hips. Ritsuko looked around at her enemies and worked to calculate a strategy. Takane only glanced around at the arena and wished for a bowl of ramen.

Then the announcer blew an air-horn, and the arena became a mess.

Jin, Kazuya, and Heihachi ignored everyone else and simply charged at each other, beating one another as mercilessly as they could. Powers from the Devil Gene clashed, grandfather beat father beat son, and the idols (and Lars) were left standing against their walls or corners.

Lars suddenly stalked off to Takane and pointed at her. "You. I'm going to fight you."

"Wha—"

Takane was cut off when Lars punched her in the face. She stumbled into the corner and was kicked, and kicked again, and punched. Lars was a whirlwind, attacks coming from all directions.

And Takane, being in a corner, was trapped.

That all changed, however, when Ritsuko suddenly thundered over to Lars and body-checked him into the open, freeing the beaten Takane. Lars stumbled, but quickly recovered his footing and charged at Ritsuko. Ritsuko fought him back, using any skills she could to keep him at bay. Takane coughed, then drew in deep breaths until she had recovered enough to help Ritsuko. The two idols tag-teamed Lars, who was able to land decent hits on both of them while holding back their attacks. After all, the man hadn't gotten into the final match for nothing.

Makoto had immediately run over to Iori once the match started and was standing guard over the Minase daughter. Iori had drawn her guns and was pointing one at the cluster of fighting Mishima-Kazamas and the other at Lars.

Makoto nudged her. "Shoot."

"What?"

"Try to hit…Kazuya and Lars."

"Why?"

Makoto nodded. "Just trust me," she muttered. "Kazuya seems…distant, somehow. He's focusing too much on Heihachi and Jin. And Lars is preoccupied too, but…Takane and Ritsuko-san need help."

Iori waited a few moments before deciding to trust Makoto. Her "prince" got into a fighting stance in case something happened. Iori took a deep breath, adjusted her aim, then pulled the trigger on both guns.

The bullets zoomed through the air, and the one meant for Lars thankfully made its mark. The Swedish general winced and looked down at the side of his ribcage, where the bullet had struck.

The bullet meant for Kazuya, however, missed and hit Jin in the arm instead. Jin looked over in the direction of the bullet and his eyes locked on Iori. Iori flinched and Makoto cursed under her breath.

Jin broke free from his tussle with his family and started off towards Makoto and Iori. This, of course, made the other two curious, and the whole family started over to the two girls as a sort of competition to see who could kill them fastest.

Just beyond the three Kazama-Mishimas, Makoto could see that Takane and Ritsuko had gained back enough of an advantage to actually land some hits on Lars. Satisfied, Makoto focused on the three men stalking towards them. She moved closer to Iori, but didn't step in front of her in case Iori wanted to shoot someone.

"Aren't you that little boy that tried to attack me when I was crushing that little bug?" Heihachi growled, looking at Makoto. Iori hissed through her teeth.

"First of all, I'm not a boy, second of all, yes, and third of all, her name was Yayoi and she was a girl, not a bug," Makoto related.

"I didn't expect any of you to make it this far," Kazuya admitted with a hearty laugh. "What a petty group of girls! How did you actually survive this long, bribe them with a free concert?"

In response, Iori shot him.

Kazuya reached out and caught the bullet out of the air. Iori hardly had time for a gasp before the large man crushed it in his fingers and smirked at Iori. Iori growled.

"That's all you can do?" Kazuya taunted. "Alright, this one is mine. You two get the other one."

Jin, to reply, launched himself at Iori. Iori yelped and fled to a wall. Kazuya growled.

"I said she was mine, you little bastard!"

"I don't remember ever listening to you," Jin muttered. "What makes you think I'd start now? I'll kill who I want to kill."

Iori shot him again. He whirled towards her and sent a kick at her face. Iori dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, letting loose a barrage of bullets from both guns, one stream sent towards Jin and the other towards Kazuya. Both men dodged them almost effortlessly and launched again at Iori. It wasn't long before the young Minase was completely hidden from sight, and the only clue Makoto had that she was still alive was the occasional scream or gunshot.

"IORI!" Makoto darted off towards the girl, but she was cut off when Heihachi slid in front of her. Makoto bared her teeth in a snarl. "Get out of my way, you son of a b*tch!"

"Tch! You think you can defeat me with words alone?! It's about time I got a real match with you!" Heihachi cackled.

"I have to get to her!" Makoto cried, trying desperately to get past Heihachi. The man moved every time she did, though, and eventually Makoto realized that she was wasting her energy; energy she would no doubt need when she faced Heihachi. So she stopped, looked up at the man, and got into a fighting pose. Heihachi smirked at her, obviously amused.

"I'll have you writhing on the floor in seconds, you worthless piece of junk!"

Heihachi jumped at Makoto, who dodged easily aside at the last second and threw a kick at Heihachi. He was struck, but it didn't hinder him at all.

"Ten seconds," Makoto counted off. "I'm not on the floor yet."

Heihachi charged at her again. She jumped into the air and kicked off of his shoulders. Heihachi grabbed her foot. She kicked him in the face with the one that wasn't in his grip. His grasp on her foot loosened ever so slightly, and she landed upside-down on her hands, using her free foot again to wrench out of his grasp. A small roll, and then she was back on her feet, facing him.

"Thirty seconds," she announced. "Is that all you can do?"

Heihachi let out a loud roar and ran to her with his hands out. This time, Makoto dropped onto the ground and did a barrel roll, hoping to trip him. Heihachi stepped over her and drove his heel into her stomach. Makoto coughed, but she quickly rose to her feet again and took a few steps back to put more room between herself and Heihachi.

"Forty-five seconds."

Heihachi slammed his fist into the wall, which broke apart. He picked up one of the pieces of the wall, which was now a tumble of rocks, and threw it with all his might at Makoto. She swerved aside, and the rock landed harmlessly on the ground beside her.

"One minute!" Makoto called. "You lied. I'm not on the ground yet, Heihachi Mishima."

Heihachi tackled her to the floor. Makoto gasped, but she didn't allow herself any time to be shocked before she rolled over, putting herself on top of Heihachi.

From somewhere across the arena, she heard a loud scream of pain. When she looked over at Lars, Takane, and Ritsuko, she found Ritsuko with Lars' hand through her stomach and Takane standing behind him, holding the jagged rock from against the wall. Makoto flinched. Heihachi used the opportunity to wrap his hands around her neck and stand, flinging her against the broken part of the wall. Makoto let out a cry of pain.

"Was that…all you can do?!" she shouted, rising somewhat shakily to her feet. She knew she wasn't doing well; in fact, she knew there was a very strong chance she would drop dead in seconds. After all, despite the fact that she'd recovered enough to fight, the boyish idol still retained tender spots all over her body from trying to kill herself, and in addition her leg was still injured from her fight with Ganryu. Still, she was going to do her best. For the sake of the friends she'd lost, the girl she'd sworn to protect…and the father she wanted so desperately to please.

"You still aren't beaten?" Heihachi growled. "You're a stubborn one, I'll give you that much."

Makoto would have replied, but she heard another loud scream. Her eyes widened and she looked over at Iori to find that the girl had beaten off Jin enough that he was now coming after Heihachi. Kazuya and her were still locked in a tussle, but Makoto could tell Iori hadn't been the one to scream.

Then who…?

"Wow, what a match! Ritsuko Akizuki and Lars Alexandersson have been effectively wiped out! How about a hand for Lars for killing Ritsuko, and a hand for Takane for killing him?"

Makoto looked at the announcer, then at the spot where Lars, Ritsuko, and Takane had once been tussling. Sure enough, Ritsuko was lying on the floor in a heap, a hole in her stomach and her chest. Lars was laying beside her, his skull bashed to bits, Takane standing triumphantly over him holding the rock that had killed Yukiho.

Takane looked over at Makoto, then ran to her, holding the rock. "You are safe."

"More or less," Makoto panted. She glanced at Heihachi to find he had gotten preoccupied with fighting Jin and let out a breath of relief. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine," Takane admitted. "I am sorry. I could not defend Ritsuko-san."

"It's alright," Makoto said quietly. "You did the best you could. Congratulations for killing Lars."

"Thank you." Takane looked over at Kazuya and Iori, still fighting, and started towards them. "I will handle things there."

"So you're leaving me to fight two of the strongest competitors here all by myself?"

Takane smiled slightly. "But Makoto, you are the strongest of us, are you not?"

Makoto blinked. "You…really think so? But you were able to kill Lars, while I've barely done anything…"

Takane nodded. "That may be so, but keep in mind I had help. Also, I do not have to fight with the weight of my best friend's death on my shoulders."

Makoto flinched. "…Yukiho…"

"She would be very proud," Takane murmured, reaching across to wipe a bit of blood from Makoto's lip. "You have made us all very proud, being able to get up like this after being shoved so far down. I am honored to fight by your side."

"…honored, you say…" Makoto looked down, listening to the sounds of fighting all around her, staring at the bloody rock in Takane's hands—the rock that Makoto had used to murder her own best friend—and felt tears in her eyes. "…thank you."

Takane smiled warmly at her, bowed, then hurried off to Kazuya and Iori to offer Iori some help. Makoto looked over at Heihachi and now-Devil-Jin. The two of them were still fighting and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Sighing, she decided to leave them for now and join up with Takane and Iori. There was no need to get herself involved in a match she definitely couldn't win.

By the time Makoto reached Iori and Takane, Kazuya had gone to his family to try and kill them. Makoto muttered something about bickering relatives and paused by her teammates to check in on things.

"Sorry I couldn't help," she sighed to Iori. "I was preoccupied with Heihachi."

"It's…fine," Iori gasped, sliding onto the floor. "…you were right, Makoto…that magic is…really tough to get around."

"I warned you," Makoto muttered. She, too, took a seat in the dirt. Takane sat as well. "Well, I vote we sit here and recover our strength while those guys hopefully kill each other."

"Good plan," Iori agreed. She looked at her guns. "At this rate, I'm going to be out of bullets in minutes…"

"It's OK. I'll take care of you, promise," Makoto murmured.

Iori smiled slightly. "You better. If you don't, I'll sue you for a thousand dollars."

"Yeah, yeah…" Makoto giggled.

After a moment, Devil Jin broke away from the fight and headed for them. All three idols quickly jumped to their feet. If Makoto looked closely, she saw a limp in Devil Jin's left foot and could tell he had been greatly injured, but he was still able to fight strongly.

She smiled slightly. Jin was a worthy opponent, if nothing else.

He glanced at Takane, then his eyes scanned over Iori and Makoto. He stared at Makoto for a second before looking over at Takane again. A tiny smirk formed on his lips, and Makoto instinctually grabbed Iori around the waist and flung her away from Takane. Iori yelped. Makoto reached for Takane as well, but the silver-haired idol shoved her to the ground. Makoto cried out in annoyance.

"TAKANE…!"

The gem on Devil Jin's forehead was glowing. Takane looked over at the other two idols, smiled grimly, and bowed…and as soon as she did, the energy which Jin had been storing up was let loose in a blast of blue power, which pulsated and twisted in and out until it slammed straight into the Ramen Queen and straight through her. Makoto screamed. Iori started to cry.

And when the smoke from the impact cleared, there was a hole in the wall and what was left of Takane was lying on the ground, obviously dead. Makoto crawled over to her and shook her.

"Takane…Takane! Wake up!" she ordered, her eyes beginning to water. She could have saved her. She could have protected Takane like she wanted to if Takane hadn't shoved her aside. And that was the most painful part of Takane's death.

"Takane Shijou has been eliminated! How about a hand for Jin?" the announcer called. Iori whimpered and joined Makoto by Takane's side.

Her whole lower body had been obliterated up to her stomach. There was no blood, but her remaining body was charred and black with ash. Makoto almost wished she could see the blood instead of just a burnt torso. She sniffled loudly and turned to Devil Jin.

"How could you?!"

"The same way she could kill Lars," Jin responded. "It's called 'winning'."

"You're all monsters!" Iori decided.

"Great observation," Jin said sarcastically. "Now stand up. I don't want to kill my opponents if they're just sitting there waiting to die. It's more fun when they try to run."

Makoto growled and rose to her feet. Slowly, she reached around to the huge tumble of rocks that had been created from Devil Jin's attack and grabbed a sharp-looking stone as a weapon. Iori drew her guns and glared evenly at the winged man before them (if Devil Jin could even be classified as a "man".)

With a loud yell, Makoto launched herself at Devil Jin, purposely running at his left side. Jin tried to stop her, but before he had a chance to do much Makoto slammed her rock into the jewel on his forehead, smashing it to pieces. Jin groaned in pain and grabbed onto her arm. Makoto quickly dodged over to his right.

"Iori!" she shouted. "Shoot his left side!"

Iori wasted no time in following orders. She fired a steady stream of bullets from both guns at the left side of Jin's body. Makoto grabbed a hold of his other hand and slipped behind his back, holding him still while Iori fired away. Jin screamed in pain and began to struggle. Makoto killed him by digging her rock into his brain.

Iori stopped firing. Jin gasped slightly and slid to the ground, the stone lodged in his cranium and bullets stuck in his body. After a few more seconds of bleeding, he had died.

Makoto grinned and jogged over to Iori. "Nice job, Princess," she praised. Iori blushed slightly.

"You weren't bad yourself…Prince," she agreed quietly.

"And Jin Kazama has been defeated! Congratulations to Makoto Kikuchi and Iori Minase!" the announcer called, excitement obvious in his voice. "We are down to our final four, ladies and gentlemen; Iori Minase, Heihachi Mishima, Makoto Kikuchi, and Kazuya Mishima! Which of these stunning fighters will take the championship?!"

Kazuya and Heihachi broke apart and looked over at the two girls. There was blood dripping from Makoto's right hand and a determined scowl on her face, and Iori had both guns raised, looking all-too-ready to pull the triggers.

A team of paramedics ran in, blowing on whistles. The fighters waited while they ran around and collected the bodies of the dead competitors. Makoto had them pause while she murmured with Ritsuko and Takane, as well as giving each young woman a gentle kiss on the cheek before allowing the paramedics to wheel them away. Iori could tell how much it pained the girl to let them go, but she had to admit that Makoto was handling things surprisingly well. She knew it was because of her that Makoto had recovered—and for the first time since meeting the girl, Iori was glad she was with her.

As soon as the paramedics left, all hell broke loose.

Kazuya jumped on Iori and knocked her to the ground, then began beating her with his fists. Makoto yelled in surprise and started after her, but Heihachi suddenly appeared in front of her and threw her at the wall. Makoto growled and charged him, and the two rivals clashed once again.

Fists flew, bullets were shot, and rocks were thrown. The fighters grabbed each other around the neck, the arm, or the leg—anything they could find. Screams erupted from every mouth.

But the loudest of these came from Minase Iori.

Makoto gasped and flung Heihachi against the wall before starting towards her. Kazuya had one hand around her neck, and with the other hand he held one of the blunt rocks that had become so popular a weapon recently. Iori had her fingers on the triggers and was pulling them like mad, but nothing was happening. Dully, Makoto realized that her and Iori's biggest fear had become a reality.

Iori ran out of bullets.

"NO!"

Makoto bolted towards them. She had to reach them, she had to get to the pair before Iori was killed by that rock. She had to protect her, just like she'd promised. She had to.

Jut before she reached them, Heihachi hooked his arms around her from behind. Makoto screamed and kicked and struggled, but it was in vain. She was trapped.

"Let me go!" she ordered, tears in her eyes. "LET ME GO RIGHT NOW! IORI!"

Iori, too, had started to cry. There was a fear in her eyes, a longing, a desperation for safety that she hoped would reach her in time. Even so, the more Makoto struggled to escape Heihachi's grasp, the tighter the bigger man held her.

Heihachi cackled loudly. "Kazuya, you useless little bastard! Finish her already so we can watch this one suffer!" he called. His son laughed.

"NO!" Makoto sobbed. "LET GO!"

Heihachi and Kazuya ignored her. Iori's soft crying turned to loud wails as the hand on her neck tightened. She dropped her guns to the floor, feeing utterly defeated.

"Let…let me go," she demanded, her voice sounding broken instead of convincing. "Let me go…! I-I am Minase Iori, and I order you to release me this instant!"

Kazuya chuckled darkly. "No can do," he muttered. "…Princess."

"IORI!"

"M-Makoto…!"

It was the last word Iori could say. The rock Kazuya held slammed into her skull, and blood gushed from the newly-opened wound. Makoto screamed in agony, watching her last companion fall shakily to the ground, her eyes wide and frightened. Heihachi cackled again and released his prey, allowing Makoto to drop to her knees in horror. Kazuya stepped away and gestured to Iori's body, a smirk on his face, as if to embellish the fact that she was dying. Makoto half crawled, half stumbled over to Iori and lifted the girl's body into her arms.

"I…Iori…"

Iori coughed. "…so this is it, huh," she murmured. "Stupid peasant. You failed."

Makoto tried to smile. "…I…I-I failed…"

"I always knew…you wouldn't be able to do it," Iori admitted. "…I'm scared."

"Me too," Makoto said softly. "…but it's going to be just fine, Iori. Now you can be with Yayoi. Now you can go see her, like you wanted to."

"Yeah, that's true," Iori breathed. Makoto brushed her hair out of her tear-filled eyes and sniffled loudly. "Hey…don't cry. You're even more hideous than usual…when you cry."

"I let you down again!" Makoto snapped. "I told myself I wouldn't fail this time! I told myself that no matter what, I would never let you die! I promised YOU I wouldn't lose you!"

"It's OK. At least you…tried. …thank you." Iori paused to cough again. "I don't have long."

"Don't say that!" Makoto sniffled again. "…but, y-you're welcome."

"Hey. I'll tell Yukiho…you love her."

"IORI…!"

"…there's one more thing…I want you to know." Iori's eyes were serious.

Makoto wiped the tears from Iori's eyes, gently. "…what?" she questioned curiously.

"I like you."

Makoto stared at her. "…I like you too."

Iori smiled slightly, her breath coming out shaky and quiet. She stared at Makoto for a little longer; and then her eyes glazed over and her head tipped back, finalizing her death. Makoto sniffled and let out a loud, anguished wail. Kazuya and Heihachi laughed.

Makoto lowered Iori to the ground, slowly, and stood. She growled low and turned towards Heihachi and Kazuya, her eyes narrowed, filed with fury and sorrow. She felt the safety of her sanity slipping away once again and didn't bother trying to stop herself from morphing into the mad killing machine she knew she would become if she allowed herself to go insane. She wanted them to suffer. She wanted these men to feel an unimaginable amount of physical pain to pay them back for the pain they'd caused her.

She wanted Heihachi to suffer most of all. It was his rule that had made them kill each other. It was his hands that had murdered Yayoi. It was his offspring that killed Iori.

And Makoto was going to kill him for it. No matter what.

"You look kinda mad," Kazuya commented casually, obviously unaware of exactly how "mad" Makoto was. "Aw, did I hit a nerve, little Prince?"

"You're going to die." Those were the only words Makoto was going to waste on this monster.

"Right, and you're going to kill me, huh?"

Makoto didn't answer. Instead, she ran to the wall, grabbed the biggest rock she could find, and hurled it at Kazuya's chest. Kazuya blocked it with his arms and laughed. The next thing he knew, Makoto was in the air above him, a rock in her hands, quickly coming towards him. The Mishima son let out a loud cry before the rock slammed straight into his face.

Blood exploded from the new wound on Kazuya's head. Makoto barely gave him two seconds before she attacked him with the rock again, and again, while Heihachi watched them in amusement.

Kazuya would have blocked the teenaged girl, but thankfully Makoto's first attack had been enough to kill him in one blow.

Makoto knew that. She just didn't care.

He was going to suffer. His body was going to be turned into a broken pile of bones and blood. And Heihachi was going to be twenty times worse.

When Makoto at last finished her rampage, her wish had been granted; Kazuya was now no more than a few appendages and tiny pieces of broken bones. Makoto stood over him, shaking, her breath coming out in shaky laughs. There was a wide, rather unnerving smile on her face, and her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated. She still clutched the stone in her hands. Kazuya's crimson blood was splattered all over her clothes.

She erupted into a loud laugh, which Heihachi joined into with his own signature cackle. Both remaining fighters continued their small celebration for a few moments longer, then faced each other.

"That was quite a show," Heihachi congratulated her. "Nice job brutally murdering my son and grandson."

"You're next," Makoto rasped. Her lips twitched into another maniacal grin.

"You probably think I'm grateful to you," Heihachi continued. "You're wrong. It was my job to kill those two, and you, you miserable worm, beat me to it! For that, you're going to pay dearly—"

Heihachi broke off when Makoto suddenly appeared right in front of him, holding the stone by his head. She gazed up at his face and her eye twitched slightly.

"It was never your job to kill Yayoi," she hissed. "Do you know what that means?"

"You're going to try your best to kill me, only to fail miserably and lie on the ground bleeding to death while I laugh about what a fool you are for crossing me?"

"No." Her eyes widened. "I'm going to kill you."

Heihachi moved aside just as Makoto moved to slam the rock into his skull. He circled around her, throwing a kick at her back before she had a chance to turn around. Makoto whirled towards him and flung the rock into his shoulder. He winced slightly, but he didn't seem fazed.

Heihachi jumped at Makoto and grabbed her by the arm, flinging her against the wall. Makoto stumbled to her feet and giggled.

"I thought you were supposed to be able to kill people in thirteen seconds," she purred. "But I've been fighting you for at least fifteen minutes. Are you going easy on me?"

Heihachi cackled loudly. "Easy? Alright, you want my full power?! I'll show you my full power!"

He launched himself at the girl, his hand closed in a fist. Makoto ducked and dodged away from him, then jogged backwards against the opposite wall. Heihachi picked up a few rocks and flung them across the arena at her, but Makoto dodged them easily. She set up a small fort with the rocks that had been thrown at her and sat down to store up energy.

The pain from her injuries had practically vanished, and she doubted she needed to worry. Still, she thought it would be a good idea to rest whenever possible.

She wasn't able to rest long, however—Heihachi was soon right outside her small fort. Makoto quickly began flinging rocks in his direction. She managed to catch Heihachi off-guard and when the man emerged from Makoto's attack, he was bleeding through multiple abrasions in his skin. Makoto laughed insanely.

"You're going to die!" she repeated. "Do you hear me?! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Heihachi only laughed back. "You amuse me, little boy!" he called.

"I'M A F*CKING GIRL!"

"So perhaps I'll let you live a bit longer so you can entertain me some more! Show me the full extent of your power!"

Makoto charged at him with a cry. Heihachi cackled.

The two exchanged blows for a long time. Fists flew, legs whipped in all directions, and sometimes a tooth was dislodged from the mouth it belonged to. The audience was on the edge of their seats, watching for the exciting end to this seemingly endless struggle. Words were shouted (often colorful, furious words) and blood was spilled. The announcer twiddled his thumbs while he waited for the end result.

And somewhere in the back of the crowd, Haruka, Chihaya, Mami, and Producer sat in the bleachers next to Makoto's father, watching the show in excitement. If Makoto lost here, all five of them would have lost someone very special.

Haruka looked over at Chihaya. "We're lucky," she announced. "We're lucky we were knocked out of the competition by Takane-san and Mami-chan. We're lucky we survived together."

Chihaya nodded. "That's true," she murmured. "Haruka, I'm worried about Makoto."

"Me too." Haruka let out a long sigh. "Makoto-chan is scary when she gets like this…"

"Mami agrees," Mami muttered. "Makochin needs to chill and stuff. She needs to help Mami get over losing Ami."

Producer nodded slowly. "Makoto is a useful addition to our idol team, if not only to attract the girls. We really can't afford to lose any more of you," he said seriously.

"She won't lose."

All four of the others looked over at Makoto's father, who shifted slightly and watched his daughter in the arena.

"Makoto has trained hard for this," he declared. "She won't lose."

"I'm sure that's true, Sir," Producer began cautiously, "but Heihachi is an extremely challenging opponent and from what I've heard, Makoto hasn't been doing well. Honestly, if she survives this, it'll be a miracle."

Makoto's father smiled slightly. "Good. My family is known for miracles."

Producer fell silent. Slowly, he turned back towards the arena. Heihachi was in the middle of the ring, Makoto in front of him. Both fighters were panting heavily and held one or more of the broken stones in their hands. Mami recognized the rock that had killed Yukiho in Makoto's left hand.

"This is the end for you, foolish child!" Heihachi cried. "Do you realize that?! You are going to fall down and die here, right now!"

Makoto grinned. "Win…lose…it doesn't matter to me," she cooed.

"What on Earth are you talking about?!"

"If I win, I can go back to my old life. If I lose, I can see Yukiho and Hibiki and Iori and the rest again. In other words, no matter what happens, I'm the winner here," Makoto explained. "Sucks for you. If you lose you get stuck with your family again."

"Then, I'll just have to win!" Heihachi shouted. He ran at Makoto one more time, his rocks extended a foot apart as though he would crush her skull between them. Makoto giggled, a light and airy giggle. She gripped the stone in her hand.

This is for Yukiho, you d*mned bastard.

The whole crowd let out a collective gasp. Makoto ducked away from Heihachi's extended rocks and used her own stone to slice through his neck, swinging behind him so that the man hardly had time to flinch before the sharp part of the rock that had murdered so many people already added one more to its list. It was only after Heihachi's severed head fell to the ground and Makoto fell upon him and continued to beat him with the rock long after she knew for a fact he was dead that she realized—this stone had also, in a way, been Yayoi's downfall. Because the ginger-headed idol had been distracted by its existence, Heihachi had gained the upper hand and killed her.

How ironic, Makoto thought as she beat away mercilessly at Heihachi's fallen body, that I'm destroying this man using the same object that caused Yayoi's death.

The crowd only watched, and listened, as Makoto laughed and screamed and cried, eventually dropping the rock on the ground and simply digging into Heihachi's flesh (and his detached face) with her fingers.

A team of paramedics ran in and forcibly dragged the flailing girl off of Heihachi. Makoto screeched and struggled uselessly in their arms. They ushered her away, likely to a hospital, while the audience and the announcer tried to figure out what had just happened. Eventually, it sank in—in one quick, fluid motion, Makoto had successfully decapitated Heihachi Mishima.

She had killed him.

She had won.

"Wow," the announcer breathed. "…just, wow. How about that, ladies and gentlemen? What a comeback! What a battle! What a win! This is it, folks! Makoto Kikuchi is the winner of the seventh King of Iron Fist Tournament!"

The audience was on their feet in seconds, most of whom were laughing and cheering for their favorite underdog. Producer and the other three remaining idols cheered the loudest (except for maybe the still-recovering Leo, who had insisted on joining the audience to watch the final match despite her heavy injuries). Haruka burst into tears and hugged Chihaya tightly. Producer and Mami exchanged a high-five. Makoto's father offered a hearty laugh and a smile.

Another team of paramedics entered to clean up Iori's body and what had once been the bodies of Heihachi and Kazuya, but were now nothing more than puddles of blood, crushed bone, and the occasional organ. Makoto's five-person fan club joined up with Leo in the stands, and the six of them slowly made their way downstairs.

It was time to congratulate the winner.

(...*weeps excessively*

I FREAKIN' KILLED IORI! OH GOSH WHAT KIND OF HORRIBLE PERSON AM I?! YOU GUYS ARE CRUEL!

Well. There will be one more chapter before the book's official end, and then I'm going to drop it for a while and work on other things before starting the alternate endings. Please be patient.

...;-;)