Day of the DOA Tournament

The day has finally arrived for the Dead or Alive tournament to begin. Numerous fighters include veteran participants Jann Lee, Lei Fang, Mila, Brad Wong, and Eliot along with recent participants such as Christie Monteiro, Feng Wei, Paul Phoenix, and Marshall Law.

All of that fighters gather at Helena's Yacht as she stands before them to make a speech.

"Thank you all for coming today. I am happy to see you all. Without you, the Dead or Alive tournament would not have been as big as it is now. It is time for the best fighters in the world to showcase their abilities once again."

As Helena continues her speech, Kazuki looks around at all of the fighters gathered for the meeting. Some of them are fighters he's mostly heard of while others he's seen for the first time.

One particular fighter does catch his interest; Kazuya Mishima.

"(Kazuya!)", Kazuki thinks to himself. "(So…he's here.)" Their eyes lock on to each other, with a very intense stare. It is almost as if they were in their own world.

"(We finally meet again, Kazuki!)" Kazuya thinks to himself. "(Let's see if you finally accepted the gift that lies in your blood.)"

At that point, a girl with a blond-haired ponytail, white shirt, and blue jeans walks up to Kazuki.

"Hey, aren't you Kazuki?" asked the girl.

"Oh…yeah, that's me," said Kazuki as he turns towards the girl.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Hinata."

"It's nice to meet you too, Hinata."

"So, you're part of the Mugen Tenshin Clan? If so, do you know anybody named Ein?"

"'Ein'? I'm sorry, I don't know anybody by that name."

"Oh, shoot!" said Hinata as she places her hand over her eyes. "How stupid of me! I meant Hayate. That's who I was talking about."

"Oh, well…yeah," said Kazuki. "He's the master of our clan…and he's also my uncle."

"Really? Hayate is your uncle? Wow! So that means that you're…Ayane's son, right?"

"What?" said Kazuki. "No, I'm Kasumi's son and Ayane's nephew."

"Oh…sorry! She always gets those two mixed up."

"'She'? asked Kazuki. "What do you mean by 'she'?"

"My mom," said Hinata. "She doesn't know much about Kasumi and Ayane but she does know a lot about Ein…I mean, Hayate. He used to train in karate at our dojo a long time ago. My grandfather said that he was one of his best students."

"Wait a second! Master Hayate trained in karate? But he never told me that."

"Well, that's what my mom and grandfather told me," said Hinata. "Maybe you should ask him?"

During the conversation, Zhang, the Chinese girl from the King of Iron Fist Tournament, walks up to the two. She looks a little surprised to see Kazuki at the tournament.

"Kazuki?" asked Zhang. "You're here at this tournament as well?"

"Oh! Hi, Zhang" said Kazuki. "I wasn't expecting you either."

Zhang looks at Hinata and asks "So is she your friend, Kazuki?."

"Well, actually we just…" Kazuki says but gets cut off by Hinata.

"Hey, you're Zhang Xiaoyu!" said Hinata with an excited look. "That's right! Your mom owns the biggest theme park in the world!"

"Yes, that's true," said Zhang as she looks at the ground for a moment.

"I love the Xiaoyu Theme Park. I've been going there ever since I was a little girl. Have you been there before, Kazuki?"

"Yes, I have a few times," said Kazuki.

Zhang looks up at Kazuki with a very surprised look. "You have?"

"Yes, I use to go there a few times as well but I didn't know that the owner of the park was your mother."

Zhang blushes with a smile and says "So do you like the park?"

"Yes! I had fun each time I went. I'd like to come again someday."

"Oh right! Just let me when you're ready to come again."

At that moment, everyone turns their attention to Heihachi Mishima as he walks through the door. He looks up at Helena (who by now have finished her speech) and folds his arm, making a smirk on his face.

The atmosphere suddenly changes. Many people are intrigued by Heihachi's appearance.

"Heihachi Mishima," Jann Lee said in a low voice. "Is he really as strong as they say?"

"This guy is really old, isn't he?" said Leifang. "Doesn't he know when to sit down?"

"This guy would have given me the creeps years ago," said Elliot.

"Explain why he doesn't give you the creeps now?" Brad Wong said to Elliot.

"I've grown up since then," said Elliot.

"Only in height," said Brad.

"Oh, man! Why the hell did Helena get me caught up in this mess?" asked Zack to himself. "I don't want anything to do with those people."

Helena calmly stares back at the man who was once a rival to her father.

"Helena Douglas. We meet at last," said Heihachi.

"Indeed," said Helena. "I must say that it is an honor to meet you and to see you compete in the Dead or Alive tournament."

"You shouldn't be surprised," he responded. "Heihachi Mishima never walks away from a challenge. Even your father knew that."

"That may be true but whatever problems my father had with you, they are not mine. We want nothing more than the best performances from our competitors and for the many fans who are watching. We do not want to resume our war with the Mishima Zaibatsu."

"Then just consider my participation as a response to your challenge," said Heihachi. "(And my victory as a final message to your father to show who is truly superior.)" he thought.

Heihachi then looks around at the other fighters. First, he notices Kazuya. Everybody can sense the tension between the two.

"(Hm! Kazuya.)" thought Heihachi. "(He must have a plan in mind. He wouldn't come here just to defeat me.)

"(I knew you'd show up,)" said Kazuya. "(Now it's time to prepare yourself for the biggest failure of your life.)

Heihachi then looks over at Kazuki. The atmosphere is still very intense everybody looks in silence.

"(Kazuki still has a lot of hatred.)" Heihachi thought. "(He really wants to kill me and that will lead him right into my trap once this is all over.)"

Kazuki stare makes it very clear to everyone how he feels about Heihachi.

"(Heihachi, you and Kazuya have caused a lot of problems in my life…but it ends here. I'll make sure of that.)" thought Kazuki.

"That guy really thinks he's something," said Hinata to Kazuki and Zhang. "All of those Mishimas do." She then thinks for a moment as she looks at Kazuki. "Oops! I forgot that Jin is your dad. Sorry about that."

"Where is Jin anyway?" asked Zhang.

"He's not entering this tournament," said Kazuki. "I think he plans on taking care of Kazuya and Heihachi his own way."

"Heh! And just to think, we both almost ended up fighting our dads at the King of Iron Fist Tournament," said Hinata.

"So, your father competes in these tournaments as well?" asked Kazuki.

"Well, yes…but I don't care that much about him. I rarely see him within the 18 years of my life anyway. My mom and grandpa can't stand him now because he's always getting caught up into these stupid street fights."

"That's really bad," said Zhang.

Kazuki thinks to himself how he never even met his father until recently and how he despised him at first.

At that point, Bruno walks up to the three.

"So, you came just like you said," said Bruno. "You know Kazuki, I've always been curious to see how good you really are. After all, you made it pretty far in the King of Iron Fist Tournaments from what I heard."

"If we do ever fight, then just know that I will not hold back," said Kazuki. "I've been training really hard to prepare myself for this moment."

"I understand that. What you fight for is very important so that's why I don't want you to hold back. A good challenge is just what I'm looking for. Of course, I personally plan on taking a shot at Heihachi myself. I cannot let somebody like him win the tournament. That will be a disgrace to my family."

"So, we both are after Heihachi?" said Kazuki. "Well, if you get to him first, be careful. He's very strong for someone his age. I've experienced that myself."

"Wow! It seems like you two get along just fine despite your families' history," said Hinata.

"Interesting!" said Zhang.


Tournament Begins

The tournament begins later that day. Kazuki and Bruno manages to advance through the tournament pretty well against the well-seasoned veterans. But Kazuya and Heihachi are advancing as well. Zhang and Hinata also manages to make it pretty far in the tournament.

But as the tournament continues to go on, the assassin-turned-bodyguard Bayman encounters a familiar face within one of the locker rooms in the Dead or Alive stadium. This person has been mysteriously lurking all around the competitors and Bayman has decided to confront that person.

"I see you're still working for Donovan," said Bayman. "You'll never change."

"I am an assassin for life," said Christie. "I take no sides. I'm just doing my job. But you…you've gotten soft over the years. You've bonded with Helena and Bruno, haven't you?"

"That is of no concern to you. All you need to know that you will never kill Bruno as long as I am around. You will fail just like last time."

Christy laughs and says "This is quite a change for you. Do you really think you have a right to protect Bruno when you were the one who killed his grandfather?"

"All of that is in the past," said Bayman. "What matters to me now is protecting Ms. Douglas and her son…and making sure that Donovan dies."

"You've been pursuing Donovan for years," said Christie. "You really are…quite a persistent man."

Bayman hears a person's footsteps behind him in the doorway.

"But you can also be too persistent," said Rig.

Bayman turns to look at Rig and then back at Christie.

By this time, the next match in the tournament is about to take place. A match that is somewhat anticipated by many people.

The crowd erupts with excitement as Kazuki and Bruno enter the ring. For them, this win would be the first major step to each of their accomplishments…unaware that another battle is taking place.

To Be Continued.