The Ketsueki Quadrilogy: Majin Seiryu Ki

by iceangelmkx

Part 3 of the Quadrilogy. Earth is at war, and the awakening of a legendary demon is imminent. The chosen ones unite once more at a new tournament in hopes of stopping their enemies... and one of their own. A Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, and Tekken Crossover.

27. Chapter Twenty Six

A/N: If anyone here is good with the game of poker, please let me know if I made any mistakes in this chapter. I had to rely on the internet for this one, but you can't always be certain if the info is correct or not.

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Chapter Twenty-Six

There was a full-day break between Round One and Round Two of the Shikoken Tournament. Naturally, the fighters who were still in the tournament took that opportunity to explore the island whether on hiking trails, or many of the shops and entertainment venues in the downtown area.

Most decided to take advantage of many of the island's entertainment offers. Some relaxed. Some decided to have fun. Others chose to add some rowdiness to their fun. It was a way to unwind in their own way before Round Two of the tournament began the next morning.

Many of Liu Kang and Zafina's Chosen Ones were no exception.

---

The Paradise Lounge & Disco, Downtown

Sonya Blade was usually a workaholic. At times, she needed people like Jax to remind her to relax every once in a while before she went insane from the stress.

When Sonya actually took his advice, she liked to go all out. She deserved it after all. On this particular night, Sonya decided to organize an all-girls night at a lounge and dance club close to the beach in the downtown area. She shared her idea with Chun Li (funny enough since she, too, was a workaholic) and the two began to work. Sonya invited Alex Walker as well as Cammy and Lita. Lita in turn invited Lucia and Juni. The latter invited Juli. Chun Li invited Christie. Chun Li also invited Julia, but she turned the invitation down since she planned a date night with Ryu.

Sonya also invited Kitana, who invited Jade. Alex soon roped in Li Mei, who roped in Ashrah (after a lot of convincing on Li Mei's part since Ashrah wasn't usually big on such gatherings). After that, Sonya called off any more invites (except coincidental meet-ups with the other chosen ones). She wanted to buy everyone a couple of rounds, but she only had so much money to spend.

Sonya promptly made reservations for a private VIP room for her and the other women to share. It was the smart thing to do (and they were lucky since they made these plans only earlier today). By the time they arrived, the place started to crowd. A line formed outside the club, the entrance blocked by two very large bouncers. Every seat was reserved or taken by the other patrons. The women's VIP room was a black carpeted room and large enough to fit everyone. Their seat was a black u-shaped lounge chair that covered the entire white wall (save for the one where the entrance was) with a ledge sparsely decorated with fake plants. In the middle was an elongated table lit up by a warm LED light. The overheard lights were set between the wall and the ceiling with the soft light changing to various colors every forty seconds. There were two call buttons by the door; one to hail service, and the other to change the lights settings, but no one opted to press them for the time being.

"This is… quite interesting," Ashrah admitted as she and the others sat down on the lounge seat. Not only was everyone able to fit comfortably, but there was still enough space to maneuver if someone needed to leave momentarily. Ashrah continued, "The décor and the lighting is an… interesting choice. I wonder what's behind this idea for such an establishment."

"To be honest," Sonya started. "No one really pays attention to the lighting and décor unless it's glaringly bad."

"Okay," started Lita as she looked at the menu that waited for them on the table. "I highly suggest we get some food before we order our drinks."

"Good idea," Lucia as she gazed at her own menu. "I wonder if they have any good ramen here."

"I could go for some fish and chips," Cammy replied.

"If they do, they're probably not as good as the ones back in London," Juni pointed out.

"Oh that reminds me! The Mexican food out here is, as Wagner would put it, 'Godawful," mentioned Juli. "The place we tried the other day used ketchup instead of salsa for crying out loud!"

"Ugh!" cried Lucia. "That does sound Godawful!"

"I'm not one to be an elitist on food preparations," Chun Li started. "But there are just some combinations of food and ingredients that just do not belong together."

"Like pineapple on pizza?" Alex quipped.

"Hey!" Lucia called out. "I actually love that, especially with chicken and barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce! Don't knock it 'til you try it!"

"Oh we are not having the pineapple-on-pizza debate tonight!" Sonya called out. "I already had a lengthy 'conversation' over that with Cyrax of all people recently. Let's just decide on four things to share. Then we can try other things if we're still hungry."

"I'll let you ladies pick," Jade said as she placed her menu down on the table. "A lot of this is unfamiliar to me."

"I'm seeing something called a 'hummus plate,'" Kitana brought up. "It looks quite simple if the picture next to the description is anything to go by."

"I suppose we could order that as a refresher for our palates," said Chun Li.

"Ask for ranch on the ride with it," suggested Lucia.

"They likely don't have that as they're not really available here in Japan," Alex warned. "Ranch is one of those things I miss since I moved close to Osaka. Shockingly, the other thing that no one really has out here is brownies."

Juli gasped at that. "Nooo! I love brownies!"

"Well I'm certain you can make them from scratch if you lived here, but who has the time for those extra steps?" quipped Lita.

"What are brownies?" asked Ashrah.

"The most chocolatey and fudgy cake-like goodness you'll ever have in your lifetime," answered Chun Li. "If they're made right of course."

After more debating over the menu, the women decided to finally settle on five items instead of the planned four - burger sliders, French fries, mozzarella sticks, temari-style sushi (by Lucia's insistence), and the hummus plate Kitana suggested. Not long after, they each ordered their drinks.

Once the orders were placed, Christie - who was mostly quiet since they arrived at the lounge - stood up from her seat. "I think I want to enjoy a little dancing. Anyone want to join me?"

"I will!" Li Mei called out as she stood up. "I'm not much of a dancer, but I'm really curious about what it's like to dance at a place like this."

"I don't dance much either, but I'll go anyway," Lucia said in between bites of her sushi.

"Me too," agreed Lita. "It's been a while since I've been to one of these places."

"I may join you later," mentioned Cammy. "I'd rather have a couple of drinks first."

"Have fun!" Sonya called out.

From there, Christie, Li Mei, Lucia, and Lita headed out of their VIP room and out to the bar and restaurant area. The bass from the music pulsed louder than before and practically vibrated deep within their chest.

Of course, it became louder as soon as they entered the dance hall. Multi-colored lights flashed to the beat of the music - a mix of modern synthwave and disco - as did the illuminated LED dance floor. A silver ball spun above the heads of dancers in the middle of the room, and it created sparkles of glittering lights all across everything and everyone it touched. The room was crowded with people, though space still remained for more dancers.

"Wow!" Li Mei shouted over the loud music. "This is so pretty! I love it already!"

"What?!" yelled Lucia.

"Let's dance!" Lita called out.

"WHAT?!" Lucia yelled again.

But the police officer got the picture as soon as her three friends started to hit the dance floor. The four women did go their separate ways, but did not stray too far from each other.

Christie soon found some space on the dance floor and began to dance. With her eyes closed, she let herself move to the rhythm and let the beat flow through her veins. With each move and beat, she felt the stress melt away. In this moment, she could momentarily forget all of her problems, especially the last several months.

This was just what I needed, she eventually thought of herself. I can't remember the last time I danced like this. I'll have to thank Chun Li later for convincing me to go out tonight.

Even with the loud music, she suddenly heard a male voice call out from behind her. "Christie Montiero?! Is that you?!"

Confused, Christie turned around to see who called her name. Her brown eyes widened with surprise as she instantly recognized him. There was no mistaking that afro and those retro '70s sunglasses with multi-colored polka-dots.

A big grin came over Christie's face. "Tiger Jackson?! Oh my God!" she jumped up and threw a big hug around his shoulders, which Tiger promptly returned. Christie then pulled back to gaze up at him. "I didn't know you were at the tournament!"

"I didn't think I'd be here either," Tiger replied. "But the way this world's been spinnin' lately, I couldn't just ignore it. Might as well boogie down at a club like this in between matches while I'm at it."

"You made it to the second round?" Christie asked.

"Yeah," Tiger replied. "Almost didn't make the tournament itself since I came here by myself. But luckily, I met up with this dorky old dude named Don Sauvage. He's this ring announcer in the boxing industry who claimed he used to be a rock star in his younger days. Likes to wear American Flag top hats and carry around sparklers like it's the 4th of July in the states."

Christie tilted her head at that. "He sounds… eccentric."

"Hey, we're all eccentric in our own way," Tiger pointed out. "Anyway, tonight, I'm just letting the good vibes roll and get groovy to the beat. You down with that?"

"Heck yeah!" Christie called out.

Soon, the two of them started to dance to the music along with the other patrons in the nightclub.

---

Mishima Casino

"This is gonna be GREAT!" Paul Phoenix called out. "Us guys just chillin' and gamblin'!"

"And with plenty of drinks to go around!" Marshall added. "This is gonna be a crazy night, but hopefully not too crazy."

"You know what's actually crazy?" mentioned Ken as he pointed a thumb behind him. "Convincing four guys from a totally different realm to hang out here tonight."

The three of them - along with Cody, Forest, Abel, Wagner, Fei Long, Johnny Cage, Lei Wulong, Steve, and Hwoarang - turned around and spotted the four Keisei men they managed to drag to the casino - Maxi, Kilik, Hwang, and Siegfried. All four of their eyes were wide as saucers as they stared at their surroundings, taken in by the flashing lights, the electronics, the foreign noises, and the people enjoying their surroundings.

Granted they've been here before as have every fighter in this tournament. However, this was the first time the four Keiseians were seeing the casino come alive.

"Okay," started Wagner. "I know Maxi was more than willing to go and he managed to get Kilik and Hwang on board… but who roped in Siegfried of all people and how?"

"That's all me, buddy," said Paul. "Remember how I was teaching him how to play poker during our time at the Rockies? I told him how this was the best place to play the game. But in all seriousness, he was bored to the point that he was willing to go."

"You did tell him to bring money, right?" questioned Fei Long.

"Of course I did!" Paul grumbled. "I'm not that cruel. Yet."

"You four okay over there?!" Hwoarang yelled out at the top of his lungs to the Keiseians.

"Eh, yeah…" Kilik managed to say. "I'm okay, just… getting my bearings. "

"Yeah… it's a lot to take in," Hwang admitted.

"I agree," said Siegfried. "But I'm also curious. We have gambling establishments in our world, of course, but it's nothing like this."

"Well I love it!" shouted Maxi. "This place looks like a hell of a lot of fun!"

"I think it's a good idea if someone shows you how to play the games before we get into them," suggested Lei. "I don't want you guys to find yourselves in big financial trouble, especially if someone decides to take advantage."

"I've had worse," Maxi mentioned with a wave of his hand. "I once had my ship raided by cannibals. Took everything except, ironically, myself and my crew. At least it was an excuse to buy some nice new clothes."

Hwoarang furrowed his brows as he leaned a little close to Wagner. "Didn't he tell that story during our time in Edenia, but with less embellishment?" The Air Force Lieutenant could only shrug in reply.

"I'd say let's split off and do our own thing, then meet back here in an hour," suggested Ken.

"What is this, a school field trip?" Johnny quipped. "What's next, a head count?"

"Better safe than sorry," added Steve.

Forest's eyes went wide at the slot machines nearby. "Oh man, I hope I win a lot tonight!"

"Have fun, son, but don't waste all your money in one slot," Marshall warned. "We still have a long way to go in this tournament."

"I'm hungry," said Abel. "I think I'll have a bite to eat first. At least we know they serve decent food here."

"Unlike the 'Mexican' place Juli and I went to the other day," Wagner groaned. "It was Godawful! Who the hell uses ketchup instead of salsa?!"

"The tacos here at the casino aren't too bad, actually," said Cody. "Though to be fair, it's more like a Mexican-Japanese fusion thing. Still tasty, but honestly, nothing beats Metro City street food."

"All right, enough talking already!" called Paul. "Let's do this!"

From there, the men split off. Maxi, Kilik, Hwang, and Siegfried followed Lei to the roulette table next to the bar, Marshall, Paul, Forest, Ken, and Cody headed to the slot machines, Abel, Fei Long, and Johnny headed to the bar for food and drinks, and the rest - Steve, Wagner, and Hwoarang - wandered a bit to figure out how they wanted to gamble.

A half hour later, T. Hawk was just about to sit at the bar table when someone - clearly a tourist - approached him. "Excuse me, but do you know where -"

"No, I don't! And for the last time, I don't work here!" T. Hawk growled enough to scare the patron away. As soon as the patron ran off, he rolled his eyes as he shook his head. "This is why I don't go to casinos. Damn stereotypical ideas…"

"What was that, tomodachi?" Ganryu asked as he adjusted his sumo-style top knot before he took a shot of his sake.

"It's nothing," T. Hawk sighed. "How's the sake?"

"Pretty damn tasty, actually," Ganryu replied. "I forgot what liquor they said they used as a few drops, but from the taste alone, it's damn potent. I was thinking about trying one more. It's a better distraction than… what's behind us."

"How come?" T. Hawk asked as he knew he was talking about the gambling floor.

The former sumo wrestler took a deep breath. "Many years ago, I eh… had a gambling addiction. It destroyed my career, among other things. I admit, I was a little nervous when I heard that the tournament meetup would take place here, but I was relieved to know that the actual gambling floor was closed during the tournament. Now, however…?" He gestured his hand at their surroundings.

"You were the one who suggested coming here," T. Hawk pointed out.

"Well, yeah, only just see if I can still resist the temptation, but I'm starting to think it was a bad idea," Ganryu admitted.

"We can leave if you want," T. Hawk suggested. "The Okan Bar should still be open."

"I like that place, but I think I'm in the mood for some nabemono. I hear there's one by the forest trail and-"

"Well well well, if it isn't the former Ozeki himself," a loud voice called out suddenly from behind them.

T. Hawk didn't miss how Ganryu completely cringed at that call out. The sumo wrestler quickly whirled around as he yelled, "Who do you think you-!" but he suddenly stopped as soon as he laid eyes on the person who called him out - another sumo wrestler, in fact.

"Nantekotta! You're Edmond Honda!"

E. Honda gave Ganryu a big grin and a wave of his hand. "The one and only! I thought I recognized you somewhere on the island not too long ago." He then turned to Ganryu's tag team partner. "Thunder Hawk! Long time, no see, how are ya?"

T. Hawk nodded to him. "I'm doing okay."

"Wait a minute!" Ganryu shouted. "You two know each other?! Hawk, why didn't you tell me you knew the famous Honda?"

"It didn't occur to me," T. Hawk answered. "We attended the World Warriors Tournament a while back." He then noted the other man with E. Honda. "Who's your friend?"

E. Honda slapped his friend's back. "This is my tag team partner, Hakan. He owns an oil company in Istanbul."

"The best in the world, might I add!" Hakan called out proudly.

E. Honda dropped into a whisper to T. Hawk. "Just don't start talking about Turkish oil wrestling to him. He'll never shut up."

"I heard that!"

"Anyway!" E. Honda shouted as he turned his attention back to Ganryu. "There's a blackjack table close by with our names on it. What do you say to a few rounds and see which one of us comes out on top? It'll be fun!"

Ganryu rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know-"

"Oh come on!" E. Honda called out. "What's wrong, Ganryu? Niwatori?"

Ganryu gasped momentarily before he jumped off his stool and gave E. Honda a glaring stare down. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, calls me niwatori! If it's a blackjack game you want, then you're on!"

"Eh, Ganryu," T. Hawk started. "Didn't you original-"

"GREAT!" E. Honda cut in as he slapped Ganryu's back. "Right this way then!"

And before T. Hawk knew it. E. Honda and Hakan started to drag Ganryu to the nearest blackjack. I better keep an eye on him, he thought.

But as he started to follow, T. Hawk happened to look over at one of the poker tables. He quickly recognized one of the patrons there - the martial arts actor Fei Long.

Huh, I didn't know he was here, T. Hawk thought. He recognized him not for his movies, but for the fact that they knew each other from the World Warriors Tournament, the same one E. Honda attended. He turned to see where his tag team partner went, but he - along with E. Honda and Hakan - had disappeared. After he thought it over, T. Hawk decided that Ganryu would likely be okay, at least for a little bit. He then promptly headed to the poker table where the famous actor was.

"Got room for one more?" he asked aloud.

Fei Long looked up at T. Hawk. A smirk came over his face. "Thunder Hawk. It's been a long time. I'd ask what brings you here but…" He gestured at their surroundings. "That seems to be a dumb question to ask."

"I find that the more common dumb question right now is, 'do you work here?'"

"Oof," said one of the players who sat next to Fei Long - a blonde who wore a white muscle shirt and had an American accent. "Even all the way out here, the stereotype still stands."

T. Hawk shrugged a little. "Tourists. What can you do besides call out their stupidity?"

"Eh, we're technically tourists," said a red-headed Korean man next to the blonde.

"But not dumb tourists like Paul here," the white-shirted blonde pointed out jokingly.

"Hey, not cool man!" yelled another blonde man - Paul, T. Hawk guessed. "That was one time when we first got here! Are we gonna play or what?"

"Yeah, come join us," Fei Long offered his old friend. "It'll make this pot bigger."

As T. Hawk sat down, the dealer who looked over the game started to pass along the playing cards. As they did, Fei Long thought it was best to introduce T. Hawk to the other six men at the table.

"So these guys I'm with are also in the tournament," the actor started. "Next to me is Cody. The red-head is Hwoarang. The gelled up blonde in red is Paul. The one with the mustache is Marshall, the one in the button-down shirt is Steve, and the one in the brown jacket is Wagner."

T. Hawk looked at each person as Fei Long introduced them. As soon as his eyes laid on Wagner, it took all of his willpower to not show his reaction upon recognizing the younger man. He remembered his face from the picture Juli showed him back in Los Angeles.

This is… my beloved's new boyfriend. Scott, if I recall. Scott Wagner… if he's here, she might be here, too.

"It's nice to meet you," T. Hawk managed to say as he started to look at his cards. He couldn't help but eye Wagner as he added, "Let's start the game, shall we?"

---

Mishima Hotel

Ryu hadn't realized how nervous he was about the upcoming evening - at least not until he heard a knock at the door of Ken's hotel room.

She's here! Ryu called out in his mind. He took in a deep breath and made sure both his red bandana was on as well as his shoes. It was only at that moment when he noticed how his hands shook a little, which baffled him.

Why am I so nervous? Ryu thought to himself. It's just Julia. We've known each other for almost two years! She wouldn't care if I was wearing my karate gi to this thing! Maybe? This is so out of my element! How did I let Ken convince me to -

The knock was heard again, and only then did Ryu realize that maybe he should answer it. He started to walk through the kitchenette and to the door. Oh right, the flowers! He quickly remembered as he went into the fridge in the kitchenette and promptly grabbed them. He didn't really notice what kind they were as he approached the door. He drew in one more nervous breath before he opened the door.

Just as quickly, his breath was sucked out of him the moment his eyes laid on Julia.

Julia's brown hair - which was normally pulled back into one or two braids - was completely freed and fell to her hips. She wore a light green sundress with a v-neck, short sleeves, and had a brown swirl pattern. On her feet were a nice pair of ankle-length brown leather boots. Aside from her glasses, the only other accessories she wore were a pair of hand-beaded earrings and a matching necklace. Both were the same colors as her boots.

A soft smile graced her face as she laid eyes on him. "Ryu," she started to say. "You look so handsome. I especially love the bandana."

That managed to crack a small smile from Ryu. "Um, thanks. And to think Ken thought it was best if I took it off." He then quickly remembered the flowers in his hand and promptly outstretched his arm. "These are for you. Eliza's idea, to be honest."

Julia giggled at that as she took the flowers in her hands. "Well, I love your honesty… and Eliza's taste! They're beautiful. Though I think it's best if we leave them here until we get back. Then tomorrow, unless I have a match, I can stop by the antique store and find the perfect vase for them."

"Sure," Ryu agreed as he let Julia into the apartment. As she placed the flowers back in the refrigerator, Ryu couldn't help but rub the back of his neck. "Listen, Julia, I'm going to be honest. I'm feeling out of my element here. I don't know if it's because of what the plans are for tonight or what, but… I don't know what I'm trying to say here…"

Julia approached him and took his hand in both of hers. "I think I understand, dear. I admit I have other ideas of what a date night should look like, one that fits both of our tastes and personalities. But Ken did put a lot of effort into this. I say let's enjoy ourselves tonight, then we'll choose whatever we want to do for the next date."

Julia then gave him a little bit of a shy gaze. "And to be honest, I eh… never really dated before."

That surprised Ryu. "Really? I would've thought you had before, especially given how typical your life was growing up compared to mine."

Julia shrugged. "I know. I mean, I did have a couple of boyfriends in high school, but our 'dates' were mainly dinner at places like casual pizzerias and fast food joints, aaand making out in the back of the car during a drive-in movie."

Ryu almost wanted to ask her if she ever, well… He lost his nerve before that happened, especially once Julia drew herself a little closer to him. "But this is the first time I've been on a date," she continued. "A quiet evening, dinner and show, and maybe some ice cream after."

Ryu had to chuckle at that. "I was thinking about suggesting that. Granted you're not too tired once the show is over."

Julia smiled as she moved her hands to cup his face. "We'll see about that." She then leaned in to press her lips against his. Ryu did the same and just began to place his hands around her waist when she pulled back and smiled at him once more. "So… shall we begin our first actual date night?"

Ryu nodded. "Just lead the way."

---

Mishima Forest

From a short distance, Liu Kang smirked as he witnessed Bo' Rai Cho - his martial arts Master from his mortal life - show off a few techniques to both his best friend Kung Lao and his former student Kai. "Now then," the older man started as he lifted one leg just off the ground. "The moment you lift your foot about this high, jump off with your other foot and focus on twisting your waist along the way. That should get the spin momentum going."

Kai went ahead and did as the Outworlder directed. Before he knew it, he spun twice in mid-air while he delivered a forward kick that would surely have landed on someone's face if he had been in a match. Once that was done, he gracefully landed back on his feet.

"Nice!" Kung Lao called out.

"Thanks for the advice," Kai said to the older man.

"Hopefully I'm successful with teaching that move to my two new students," Bo' Rai Cho mentioned. "They both have much potential, though I suspect that I'll be teaching Hwoarang much humility. Baek did warn me that it would be a challenge."

Liu Kang couldn't help but step into the conversation after that mention. "But when one succeeds in their journey, the challenge is worth the time and effort."

"Indeed it is," Bo' Rai Cho said as he beamed with pride. "I still remember the pride I felt on the day you told me that you defeated Shang Tsung with the flying kick maneuver I personally taught you."

"The one that you knew would defeat him in the Mortal Kombat tournament," the God of Fire added. "It's funny… so much was at stake back then. Now, I look back at those days with fondness."

"As do I," Kung Lao agreed.

"Like when you snuck into the tournament disguised as an Outworld guard despite Raiden's directions to not interfere and remain at the Wu Shi Academy?"

"Hey, I thought it was necessary at the time. Of course, I was quite young at the time of that decision. Then again, I am still fairly young."

"But unlike me, you will eventually age and wither into a wrinkly old prune," Liu Kang quipped.

Kung Lao narrowed his eyes at his long-time friend. "Haha, real funny."

Kai let out a big yawn before he said, "As funny as this conversation is, I think it's about time I get some rest. Especially in case we have our match when Round Two starts tomorrow."

"I agree," mentioned Bo' Rai Cho. "Though I definitely plan to enjoy a little bit of rice wine before I do. With that, I bid you goodnight."

"Goodnight," Kung Lao and Liu Kang bided. From there, both Kai and Bo' Rai Cho made their way down the hiking path and back towards the hotel.

Once the two were alone, Kung Lao turned his head to the God of Fire. "You only have a non-aging advantage because you died once before."

Liu Kang smirked. "Then perhaps I should've never interfered when Shao Kahn attempted to break your neck during Outworld's Mortal Kombat tournament."

"Touché," Kung Lao conceded. He then realized something for the first time since their mission began… though there was a moment's pause as he wasn't certain whether to share his thoughts or not.

Liu Kang noticed his friend's hesitation. "Speak your mind, Lao," he encouraged.

"Okay, but…" Kung Lao started. He took a deep breath before he asked, "You and Kitana. Have you two talked since…"

Liu Kang frowned a little as he shook his head. "We've acknowledged each other since we arrived on the island. Otherwise, she's been keeping her distance. It doesn't surprise me. After all, it's been nearly three years since my demise. I suspect she was a lot more shocked by my return than she let on when I first approached her in Edenia. I want to talk to her, but… I decided it was best to let her approach me when she is ready."

"I understand," Kung Lao said. "Though I get the feeling that you might have to take the initiative in this case. Don't push it of course, but…" He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to talk. Because before we know it, we'll be facing Quan Chi or Azazel… or both for that matter. If the worst comes to pass, well… then neither of you will receive the closure I suspect you both might need. After all, there were no goodbyes between you two last time."

Liu Kang thought about this before he replied, "I'll keep that in mind." A smile followed. "You've become wise since my mortal days."

Kung Lao smirked. "Well, the last two-in-a-half years put things into perspective."

The God of Fire nodded at that. "Thank you, my friend."

Kung Lao tipped his hat a little. "Don't mention it."

---

Downtown, Mishima Island

Hilde wasn't sure what she was doing.

Being new to Earthrealm, there was a lot that was unrecognizable to her - the technology, the 'electronics' as they were called, even the clothing. A couple of the girls in the chosen ones group did take her out clothes shopping to 'blend in,' but she couldn't help but feel a little exposed despite the promise that the clothes in question were considered modest.

I guess that's what happens when you wear armor most days, she thought to herself.

On this particular evening, Hilde found herself exploring the downtown area on her own. Her tag team partner, Siegfried, had been dragged to a mens' night out at the casino, and one of the only new friends she had, Julia Chang, was out on a date night. There was word about a girls' night out, but the event was already underway before she had the chance to inquire about it. Hilde didn't want to spend the evening in the hotel, so she decided to get out for a little while.

It was late in the evening when she discovered a little restaurant called Lavande. At the very least, the concept of restaurants was nearly the same as it was back home. This particular restaurant had a cute color scheme of white and lavender (hence the name) with potted multi-colored flowers that hung along the outside of the restaurant. It did, however, look tiny and cramped inside, so Hilde chose to eat outside.

Besides, the air was nice and cool this evening.

Most of the food listed on the menu was, not surprisingly, unfamiliar to her. So she took a guess on one menu item based on its picture - Coq Au Vin. It looked similar to a meal traditionally served back home in Wolfkrone.

As she waited for her dinner, Hilde looked at the nearby street corner. It was filled with both people and the autoettes that drove through the narrow roads. The autoettes were another marvel she couldn't help but be confused by.

How can they operate without horses? she thought.

Unknown to Hilde, some approached her table. "You are royalty, are you not?" a pleasant voice asked.

Hilde turned her head and her eyes were met by an older woman who wore a beautiful dark purple and black dress with bell sleeves - it was gothic yet elegant. Her very long hair - white with a black streak down the middle - was pulled halfway back and held up by a large dark purple flower.

The young woman thought the older woman looked familiar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint from where. "I am," she soon answered. "I am Hilde, Princess of the Kingdom of Wolfkrone in Keisei."

"I thought as much," the older woman said. "The way you hold yourself… it is subtle, but only other royals would notice. I am Sindel, Queen of Edenia. Like you, I am also one of Liu Kang's chosen ones."

Hilde nodded. Only then she did realize where she had seen Sindel before - at the meetings for all the chosen ones in the forest. "A Queen of an entire realm. That is both very impressive and intimidating."

"Indeed," Sindel agreed. "May I sit with you?"

"Of course," Hilde said. As Sindel sat down across from her, the Princess proceeded. "I'm not certain if you know much about the food here. But if you haven't eaten yet, I'd like to extend my offer to treat you to a meal."

"I thank you, dear, but it is not necessary. I've already had supper for the evening. I do know a little bit about the food here because of my daughter, Princess Kitana," Sindel informed her. "She spent some time on Earthrealm before. I assume this is your first time in this realm?"

"It is," Hilde confirmed. "My tag team partner, Siegfried… he's been here before, though not in this kind of civilization. We met after he returned to Keisei. He invited me to accompany him to this world when Fujin called upon him."

"Siegfried, hmm?" Sindel hummed. She couldn't help but smirk a little. "A very kind and noble gentleman, not to mention handsome. Did he ever tell you about his… intimate time with my daughter during the Blood Tournament?"

That caused Hilde's eyebrows to raise up with surprise. "He… never mentioned that to me before."

"Well, I suppose it's a private matter to him. My mistake. Anyhow, it's been over between them for quite some time. It's for the best. Not just because of the way things ended, but I suspect my daughter's heart has long since belonged to another, even if she did try to move on from him. A kind of tragedy I sadly know all too well…"

"I see…" Hilde almost wanted to ask how it ended, but decided against it. "Where is your daughter this evening?"

"She and her best friend, Jade, are with some of the other ladies in our group enjoying what Jade describes as 'a night on the town.'" The Queen then decided to change the subject. "How do you feel about Earthrealm?"

"It's overwhelming," Hilde answered without hesitation. "There's so much to learn."

"You'll figure it out, I promise," Sindel said with a smile. "Earthrealm has its beauty and marvelous ideas depending on where you look. It also can be, well… infuriating."

"How so?" Hilde asked curiously.

Sindel rolled her eyes with annoyance. "It's a personal matter, but ever since I arrived on this island, some imbeciles - including my opponent in the last round - think I look 'evil.' I couldn't understand it at first until one of the Earthrealmers mentioned something about dark clothes and dark make-up on pale skin. The idea of… that based on my appearance is absolutely ludicrous! It's appalling! I could go on and on about it all night, but I do not want to ruin the evening."

"That does sound… infuriating," the young woman agreed. She couldn't help but grin and teased, "So… are you evil?"

"Absolutely not!" Sindel balked without a moment's pause.

Hilde laughed at that. "In that case, at least let me buy you a dessert. It would be my honor, your highness."

"Thank you, dear. Do they have the crepe suzette? That's an Earthrealm dessert I enjoy very much."

As the two women continued to talk, Hilde found herself more relaxed. Not only was it good to talk to someone from another realm, but it felt good to converse with another member of royalty, even if she was a Queen of an entire realm.

---

The Paradise Lounge & Disco, Downtown

It was an hour later when Sonya, Chun Li, Cammy, Kitana, Jade, Lita, Lucia, Christie, Alex Walker, Juli, Juni, Li Mei, and Ashrah started to enjoy their second round of drinks in their VIP room. Sonya, raised her glass of whiskey. "Cheers to every single one of us surviving once this mission of ours is over!"

"Cheers!" all the ladies called out as they clinked their glasses together.

"I must say, this is quite nice," admitted Jade after she took a sip of her green apple sangria. "Just us ladies relaxing and enjoying each other's company. I can't remember the last time I had such an evening."

"You know what I also like about this kind of hangout?" started Lucia as she showed off a devious grin. "It gives us the chance to talk about men."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I hope you don't mean bash them behind their backs."

"Heck no! What I meant was, eh… here, I'll start." Lucia turned her attention to Christie. "Who's that guy you were hanging out with on the dance floor? The one who looks like the lovechild of Jim Kelly and Disco Stu."

A couple of the women giggled at that reference as Christie straightened herself up in her seat. "That was Tiger Jackson. Not his real first name, of course. We grew up in the same neighborhood. We haven't seen each other in a while, so neither of us knew the other was on the island. Like the rest of us, he made it to Round Two of the tournament."

"That's cool," said Lucia. "It's always nice when you can meet up with old friends."

"Speaking of old friends," started Lita. "Lucia, I must say that your conversations with Cody are quite… interesting."

Lucia raised her eyebrow at that. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well to be fair, you two do bicker quite a lot for two people who consider each other friends," mentioned Cammy.

"It's always been like that," Lucia pointed out. "We like to give each other a hard time, especially because I'm a cop and he's a felon which, by the way, would kill my career if I even thought about dating a criminal with his kind of record. Besides, I think Cody still might harbor feelings for Haggar's daughter, but don't take my word for it. I could be reading into it wrong for all I know."

"Before anyone asks," started Ashrah. "I have no interest in a relationship at this time. The company would be nice, but I'd rather focus on achieving my ascension."

"Same here, about being interested in a relationship, I mean," added Li Mei. "I'm more focused on myself and rebuilding my realm after the war."

"That's understandable," said Chun Li "We all have our own paths in life. Whether that's discovering ourselves, or discovering our significant others."

"Wise words," Sonya said as she raised her glass.

"I am curious," Lita started as she turned her attention to the two Edenians in the room. "Do you two have anyone in your life, or someone you're interested in?"

Jade's eyes downcasted at the question. "It's… not for me right now. For personal reasons."

"You mean there was never actually anything between you and Kilik after all?" Chun Li suddenly asked.

Jade gazed up at the Interpol detective as her green eyes widened a bit. "Where in the world did you get that idea?"

"Well, you two did train a lot during the Blood Tournament," Cammy said. "Aside from that, you two gave off this fond look to each other when the other wasn't looking."

"That's because I see Kilik as a nice, strong, kind, and caring man with an honorable fighting spirit," Jade explained. As everyone silently stared at her for a few seconds after, she huffed a bit as she looked down at the floor. "Oh fine! He kissed me once. Back at the Blood Tournament. But that's all that happened!"

"Oooo," whistled Lita. "That's a nice little juicy detail. Don't worry, we won't repeat this outside this room."

"I'd appreciate that."

"You never told me this, Jade," Kitana suddenly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jade gave her best friend a knowing grin. "I have to keep some secrets to myself, your highness."

"Hey Kitana," started Sonya. "How are you and Liu Kang these days?"

Except for Jade, everyone else gasped as they all turned their attention to Kitana. All were silent before Chun Li spoke. "You and Liu Kang were an item?"

"Ugh, you just had to blurt that out," Kitana groaned at Sonya. She then acknowledged Chun Li's question. "Yes, Liu Kang and I were once interested in each other. Back when he was mortal. It's complicated because I thought him dead for almost three years."

"So, you're just trying to figure out what to do at this point?" guessed Li Mei.

Kitana nodded. "Yes. Precisely. That reminds me." It was her turn to gaze at Sonya. "How is Mr. Cage these days, Ms. Blade?"

Sonya's eyes practically turned into slits at that question. "You did not just ask me that."

Kitana smirked at her. "Payback, my dear." Some of the other women giggled at that.

"He does seem to fancy you," mentioned Juli. "At least from what I've observed."

"...Damn. Well," Sonya started. She quickly downed her whiskey before she continued. "I'm pretty certain he's had a crush on me from the moment he laid eyes on me back when we attended the Mortal Kombat tournament."

"Sooo love at first sight?" Juni guessed.

"More like lust at first sight," Sonya said with a roll of her eyes. "Now… I do admit that he is handsome. Perhaps too handsome for my usual taste. But even so, first impressions mean more to me than looks. On the day we met, he was pretty much a sleazy narcissistic asshole. He kept calling me baby and invited me to dinner three times within the first hour of knowing him. He only finally got the hint when I had enough and punched him in the face.

"I will say, however, that he's been much better since that time. He doesn't call me baby anymore and he stopped asking me out. But I can tell he still wants to get together to this day. I caught him eyeing me up a few times when he thinks I'm not looking, especially on the day we arrived on this island."

"Perhaps there's a chance that these last few years have changed him," Chun Li guessed. "I don't know him all that well since I only recently met him, but I think the last couple of years have changed everyone in their own way."

Sonya shrugged a little at that. "Maybe. To be fair, though, I hadn't seen him for a while before the Blood Tournament. I can't help but remember how he was back then. If he has changed, I don't see it yet."

"Give him a little time," Christie advised. "Maybe he'll somehow show you how much better he's become."

"Thanks, Christie," Sonya said. "Buuut it would be a miracle if you're correct."

"Sooo, are we missing anyone?" Lucia asked as she looked at everyone else in the room.

"Times like these," Alex started. "I'm glad I'm not single."

"Me too," added Juli.

"I'll drink to that," said Lita as the three of them clinked their glasses together.

"Cheers to being a married woman," mentioned Chun Li as she joined in on the glass clinking.

"So no dishing out some juicy details on your boyfriends and husband, I suppose?" asked Lucia, who sounded just mildly disappointed.

"Naaah," Juli, Alex, and Chun LI said at the same time.

"Weeell no, buuut," Lita started. "Steve is a great bloke. The fact that he's hot is a bonus." She then gave off a sly grin. "But the bigger bonus is in the bedroom."

"Ugh, Lita!" groaned Cammy as she placed her hands over her face. "I didn't need to hear that!"

Lita shrugged. "But you already know that. From personal experience. Remember?"

"Hrm," Cammy groaned as her cheeks went a little red. "Yeah yeah…"

"Wait!" Christie called out as she caught onto their conversation. "Cammy, you were with Steve before Lita was?"

"Yeees," Cammy groaned. "We dated for a few months. Now he's been dating Lita for the past year."

"And that didn't affect your friendship?" asked Jade.

"I admit, I thought it would at first," Lita admitted with a small sigh.

"But Lita and I have been through too much to let it jeopardize our friendship," Cammy mentioned as she leaned back against the lounge seat. "I was a little upset at first. But looking back on it now, I think Steve and Lita are much better together than I was with him."

"Who do you think you might be better with, Cammy?" Lucia suddenly asked her.

Before Cammy had the chance to answer, there was loud pounding at the door to their room. Sonya growled as she nearly slammed her empty glass onto the table. "Now who the hell is that?" the Special Forces Major grumbled as she got up to answer the door.

Thank goodness for that disruption! Cammy shouted in her head as she took a big drink of her vodka.

"No one was expecting any more drinks or appetizers, were they?" Alex asked aloud.

Everyone shook their heads at the question, which made Sonya groan a little. "It better be someone we know, or an employee." She then went ahead and promptly opened the door. On the other side were five men no one recognized. All were clearly drunk judging by the slight swaying they did as they stood and how they reeked of alcohol. All of them also had sly grins on their faces.

"Ugh, neither," mumbled Lita.

"Heeey there, sweetheart," the male stranger who initially knocked on the door called as he eyed up Sonya. "I thought I saw some hot babes come in here a few minutes ago."

"Ooo look at you," Sonya started with a condescending tone. "Did you figure that out all by yourself? Your Mommy must be so proud of you."

"Heeey!" the stranger started to yell. "Ya don't need to be a damn bitch about it!"

"Let's cut to the chase," Sonya started firmly. "This is a private VIP room. We're here to relax and enjoy the night in our own way before tomorrow. I'd suggest you walk away now and bother someone who actually might have any ounce of interest in you."

Sonya started to close the door, but one of the other guys - the biggest one - quickly extended his arm out and stopped Sonya from closing the door. "Come on, baby, let us in!" he demanded. "We promise to show you a good time."

"You do realize why a lot of us are on this island, right?" asked Chun Li aloud.

Another one of the gang spotted Chun Li right after she asked that question. "Damn your thighs are THICK! I'd love to see those wrapped around my head, if ya know what I mean!"

"Oh my God…" Cammy grumbled as she placed her hand over her forehead. "I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"All right, enough!" Lucia called out as she stood up and joined Sonya by the door. "I may not have police jurisdiction on this island, as one friend put it recently, but I do know that there will be consequences if you don't stop harassing us!"

"Hey baby, I was tryin' to just-"

He didn't finish his sentence as Sonya promptly punched his face. It not only caused his head to snap sideways, but it also threw him back against his other buddies. All five of them stumbled and crashed onto the floor a few feet away.

Lucia turned to Sonya with a raised eyebrow. Sonya noted this and shrugged. "Hey, it's not like they're gonna remember this night. Besides, if he said 'baby' one more time…"

"Hey bitch!" the leader shouted as he and his buddies got back on their feet. "You're gonna be sorry for that!"

And predictably, all five of them went right after them. Quickly, Sonya used the gadget on her wrist to shoot out a pink projectile at the leader, which knocked him back. The next one, who was behind him, was quickly met by a fire projectile to the face. That one came from Lucia, who delivered the projectile through a high kick.

The other three approached and both women immediately began to pummel them with various punches and kicks. At one point, Sonya's punch had her opponent stumble back into the bar table before he slipped down to the floor. Lucia managed to get her opponent lifted over her shoulder before she dropped them right on top of an empty table, which promptly split in half under the man's weight.

"Bar fiiiight!" Lita called out as she jumped out of her seat and ran out the door to join in. The other women followed and were soon outside and in the main bar area.

"Is this… normal on Earthrealm?" asked Li Mei aloud.

"Sometimes," Alex replied with a shrug. "Then again, I don't go to bars very often."

Before everyone knew it, the initial fight started to get bigger as the other patrons started to get pushed around and got involved under retaliation. The other women in the group also started to pile into the fight one by one as they also got pulled into the crowd one way or another. Soon, everyone was yelling and screaming, furniture was smashed, and glass started to break into countless pieces.

Needless to say, all the patrons in the bar room were in an all-out brawl.

---

Mishima Casino

The poker game between Wagner, Cody, Paul, Marshall, Fei Long, Steve, Hwoarang, and T. Hawk continued. They had moved on to the second round after Fei Long won the first pot. They were only in their second game for a few minutes.

A couple of beautiful women joined in as spectators at one point during the first game. A long-haired blonde and a short-haired brunette, both wore low-cut, skin tight dresses - red and black respectively - that left little to the imagination, and their faces were painted with heavy make-up that also emphasized their best features. Both women stood on either side of Paul, who clearly enjoyed their company if the big smile on his face was anything to go by.

"That is magnificent hair you have," the blonde woman said as she resisted the urge to touch Paul's hair. "How did you get it to stand like that so perfectly?"

"Just a little magic I call the Phoenix Special," Paul answered with pride.

"Oh my God…" Wagner snickered quietly over that response.

Steve stiffened his own laugh as well as he turned to Wagner. "Paul does realize that they're tarts and not actually interested in anything but his money, right?"

Wagner was confused. "Tarts?"

"Hookers."

"Ah! Well then, let him have his moment."

The raven-haired woman then turned her attention to Marshall. "You're quite handsome. Has anyone ever told you how wonderfully defined your face is?"

"My wife tells me that all the time!" Marshall called out with an undertone of nervousness.

"Aww, you're married? That's sweet. Well, I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind if you had a little fun tonight," she whispered seductively near his ear.

"SOOO Mr. Hawk," Marshall started to say as he looked over at the newcomer while he ignored the woman behind him. "What brings you out here for the tournament?"

"Simply put, to try to stop this war the Zaibatsu created," T. Hawk replied. "Thankfully, it's yet to reach my people and my land in Mexico, but I fear that if this war isn't stopped, it will eventually reach us."

"That's very noble," said Fei Long. "A lot of us are here for very similar reasons."

"Well, the prize money's awesome, but yeah," mentioned Paul as the blonde-haired woman started to massage his shoulders. He didn't ask for it, but he certainly wasn't going to protest either. He briefly looked at his cards before he took a chip and threw it into the pile. "Raise."

Most of the others groaned a little at that, but everyone else at the table threw their own chip in the pile anyway. "Call," they each grumbled.

As the dealer passed out more cards, T. Hawk continued to speak. "I know Fei Long knows, but have any of you heard of Shadaloo? They were once responsible for destroying my homeland for their own gain. So you can understand the urgency of making sure the Zaibatsu does not do the same thing."

"I never really paid much attention to Shadaloo personally," Cody admitted. There were a couple of times where he seemed to debate whether or not to give any attention to the women behind Paul from the way he shifted his eyes back and forth between them and his cards.

"My girlfriend's in the military and dealt with them in the past," Steve mentioned.

"Yeeeah, heard of them would be an understatement on my part," Wagner said as he looked at his new cards.

"Personal dealings?" T. Hawk asked him.

"You could say that," Wagner replied, his voice neutral. "No offense, but I don't really want to talk about it."

"...I understand," T. Hawk said as he gazed down at his own cards. Before he did, Wagner noted the way T. Hawk stared at him. It was more like a glare despite its subtleness. The Air Force Lieutenant shook his head a little as he gazed back down at his cards.

The hell did I say to earn that look? he thought with some annoyance. If I don't want to talk about what Shadaloo did to me, Juli, Lisa, my parents, Cammy, Guile, and our respective best friends - not to mention countless others - then I have every right not to.

After a few more minutes and all but three folds, Marshall put down his cards. "Gentlemen, I present to you - three of a kind!"

"Ha!" Paul called out as he slammed his cards down on the table. "Try a flush!"

"Dammit!" Marshall groaned.

"Hooray!" the two women called out as they clapped enthusiastically over Paul's victory.

"Thank you, ladies, thank you," Paul replied with glee.

Steve suddenly grinned as he also placed his cards down. "Royal flush. I believe that pile actually belongs to me."

"GODDAMMIT!" Paul yelled as he slammed his fist onto the table, which shook every object on top. That also quickly made the two women back up a little.

"Sir, please don't hit the table," the dealer advised calmly.

Marshall placed a hand on Paul's arm. "It's cool, man, it's cool. We can play one more game if you want."

"But but… my moneeey…" Paul grumbled sadly just as Steve pulled all the chips towards himself.

On the other side of the casino, the blackjack game between Ganryu and E. Honda continued with Hakan acting as a spectator. It had been going on for quite a while. Ganryu won the first game, but E. Honda managed to gain victory over the next two games.

And he was about to win game number four the second the dealer revealed their card.

"Yeah!" E. Honda cheered just before he grabbed his prize. "I think I'm good here now."

"One more game!" Ganryu quickly said.

E. Honda turned his attention to the older sumo wrestler. "Nah, I've had enough."

"Oh come on, just one more game!" Ganryu started to beg. "I can feel it! I can win this time, I just know it!"

"Um, last I saw from here, pal, you lost the last three games," said Hakan, who stood behind both wrestlers. "I can hardly call that a good feeling."

"But I know I can win this time! Just one more game! One more game is all I need! Please!"

That's when E. Honda realized something and he frowned. "Oh boy… you have a gambling addiction, don't you?"

Ganryu was silent momentarily before he suddenly jumped from his chair, which fell back with a loud thud! and shouted, "YES! AND I LOVE IT! All that money! All the money! I love it and I hate it! I can buy wonderful goods with it, but it's also my curse!"

Hakan gave E. Honda a concerned gaze. "Um, Edmond. It might be time to get him out of here."

"Agreed," E. Honda replied as he stood up from his chair. He quickly smacked Ganryu upside the head, which caused the older man's top knot to go off balance to one side. It also shut him up mid-rant, which was the purpose of the smack. "All right, pal!" E. Honda called out. "I want you to turn around and head straight out the front door! And from this day forward, unless you're here for your match, you are not to enter this establishment for any reason ever again! And if I ever catch you here again, I will personally see to it that your top knot is shaved off your head! You got that?! Now march!"

Ganryu didn't move right away, but after a quick shove from E. Honda's hand, he started to walk. "Okay okay, I'm going, I'm going!"

"Where's Mr. Hawk?" Hakan suddenly asked as he followed the two sumo wrestlers.

"No idea," E. Honda answered. "We'll look for him after we get Ganryu outside."

Nearby, Lei Wulong couldn't believe what was happening. One minute, he was teaching Kilik, Maxi, Siegfried, and Hwang how to play both roulette and craps. The next minute, he found Maxi not only super drunk, but singing utter nonsense alongside Forest, who was just as equally drunk as he was… all because Forest 'wanted to try what Maxi had' and drank a good portion of Maxi's drink of choice.

And yet, somehow, their nonsense, unintelligible singing was both in-sync and in the same pitch. It was almost impressive, though naturally everyone in their vicinity stared at the two in a mix of amusement, second-hand embarrassment, and annoyance.

"WE aaaRRR we AAArrr PAAAALS! WOOOoooWWAAHaa!" Maxi and Forest sang completely off-key. The two had their arms around each other's shoulders like they were best pals. And somehow, Forest managed to find a blue and white striped necktie somewhere in the casino and tied it around his forehead like it was Ryu's bandana, only the tail ends were dangling nearly over his face.

"...How did this happen?" Lei mumbled with a small sigh. "Like… how? And where did Forest get that tie?!"

"It all started when Maxi ordered what the bartender considered 'the best stuff in town,'" Kilik reminded him. "Ten minutes later, it spiraled down to this. And I don't know where the tie came from."

"But how did they get so drunk so fast?" Hwang couldn't help but ask. "That's impossible with any drink. Unless…"

"Wait," Siegfried suddenly called. He spotted the bottle Maxi and Forest drank out of and grabbed for it. Despite not being able to read the words, his blue eyes still went as wide as saucers.

That made Kilik nervous. "What is it?" he asked.

Siegfried turned the bottle around to show everyone. "Anyone here also recognize the label design?"

Lei immediately did and he gasped with what seemed like pure terror, like he had just spotted a serial killer wielding a bloody knife ten feet way. "It's… it's…"

Siegfried finished for him. "Outworld Liquor."

---

Kojima Theatre, Downtown

At a small booth with the bountiful plates on the table and all completely cleared by his appetite, Ryu couldn't help but feel mesmerized by the play the theatre showed live. It reminded him of the stories Master Gouken used to tell him while he grew up under his tutelage. The difference, however, was that the story was being told right in front of his eyes - a visual reference rather than by words.

Between that, the costumes, and the stage sets, Ryu found it absolutely beautiful. Later, he could only question Ken's sanity over why he hated going to shows like this. Maybe he picked the wrong story, he would later guess.

At the start of the play, Ryu noticed that Julia had ordered a bottle of wine. He also noticed her serving a glass to him, but he ended up not touching the wine for the whole night (he preferred the complimentary water anyway). Aside from the fact that he wasn't much of a drinker to begin with, he was too enthralled by the story that played before him to pay attention to anything else. Well, except for the few times where Julia held his hand underneath the table as she leaned close to him.

The play - Chang'e Flying to the Moon - was a Chinese story about a moon goddess who fell in love with a man from Earth. The play was normally shown during the autumn season, but it was noted in the play bill the viewers were given that for those visiting East Asia for the first time, they decided to share this story with them during their stay on the island.

The play lasted for three hours before it finally ended. Everyone in the room clapped and cheered as the actors on stage took a bow and thanked their audience. He didn't cheer, but Ryu found himself clapping alongside the audience.

This was a fun experience, he thought to himself. Not something I'd do all the time, but maybe every once in a while in between traveling the world.

"That was quite a show," Ryu admitted aloud once the clapping and cheering ended. "I'll have to thank Ken for picking it out -"

"Woohoo! YEAH!" Julia suddenly shouted. She even clapped a few times even though the audience, at that point, started to disperse. He also noted how a few people quickly turned their eyes to their direction.

Ryu's eyes went a little wide at that. Julia was usually more reserved than this. "Julia?"

"That was a beYOOteeful play!" she cried out. "Encore, encore! Woo!"

"...Um, Julia? Are you all right?"

"Never BETTER!" she yelled a little more loudly than necessary. "Never never… better… yeeaaah."

Ryu was suddenly reminded of something. He quickly grabbed for the bottle of wine Julia had ordered earlier. He at least remembered that their waiter popped the cork open for them, so it was a new bottle.

Upon looking inside the bottle, Ryu saw that three fourths of the drink was gone! Worse, the bottle mentioned that it contained forty percent alcohol content! He then looked at their table and noticed that Julia had even drank from the glass she originally served him!

Oh no… Ryu thought. He personally didn't have much knowledge on alcoholic drinks, but he did recognize one thing thanks to his years around Ken - Julia was most definitely drunk. She must've been just as enthralled by the story as he was that she didn't pay attention to how much wine she drank. At least it's not Outworld Liquor, but…

"I'm sooo happyyyy," Julia said as she did a little bounce. She suddenly lost her balance and started to fall, but the world warrior caught her before she fell onto the floor.

"Easy there," Ryu said as he helped her back on her feet.

"Oooh thank you, sir, you're too kind."

Ryu started to leave the booth. He made sure to keep Julia close to him as they began to leave the theatre. "Let's get you back to the hotel," Ryu suggested.

"NooOOOoo," Julia called out. She actually sounded quite sad when she said, "I want ice cream… you prooomised."

Ryu took a deep breath at that as he started to feel a little bad. Funny how Julia remembered about the ice cream stop after the show, even though there was no promise involved. "Okay, eh… sure, we'll get ice cream."

"Yaaay!" Julia called out a little bit too enthusiastically. "I want coffee ice cream with chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles and hot fudge and caramel and cherries and whipped cream and bananas and-"

She was still listing what she wanted by the time Ryu got her into the autoette that waited for them. Thank goodness we have a driver, he thought. Because I sure don't know how to drive!

---

The Beach, Near the Docks

With many on the island enjoying the downtown and dock vendors, there weren't as many people along the small beach. Cassandra, Asuka, R. Mika, Sakura, Elena, Maki, Xiaoyu, Miharu, Xianghua, and Makoto chose to hang out at the beach. Xianghua managed to rope in Talim as the young Keisei native had yet to socialize with anyone outside of those from her own realm.

The girls listened to Talim intently right after Elena asked her about her home and family. "I'm from a small village on the Visayan Islands," Talim started to explain. "We're a tribe with connection to the wind. My grandmother is the village elder and my father is our shaman. My mother usually assists him in his work whenever he makes his rounds in our village. We're very close-knit and none of us have really traveled outside our island. I certainly made everyone nervous when I first traveled away from home."

"That must've been scary for you when you first left," mentioned Asuka.

"It was in some ways. But it was also exciting - seeing new things, new people, new ways of life. I was confused sometimes, but very fascinating at others. Still, during my travels, I find myself missing my home and my family. I realized that the more I travel, the more important my home has become to me."

"I think that's a lesson many of us learned during the Universal War," said Cassandra.

"But believe it not," Talim continued as she looked out towards the ocean. "Out of everything and everyone I miss right now, I really miss Alun."

"Is that your boyfriend's name?" Xiaoyu asked with a teasing grin on her face.

Talim's eyebrows raised up with some confusion as she turned to look at Xiaoyu. "Um, no. Alun is my pet bird."

"Oh!" Xiaoyu gasped as she covered her mouth with a little embarrassment. "Sorry, my bad."

"Way to go, Xiaoyu," Miharu teased.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know?!"

The other girls giggled at that before Sakura suddenly spoke. "But wait! What about Yun-seong? You two seemed pretty close when we all first met."

Talim chuckled at that. "I can see why you would think that. However, he is nothing more than just a good friend and traveling companion. I appreciated him looking out for me during the Universal War since he knew how isolated my village was. By the way, I've noticed that a lot of you talk about boys a lot. Is that normal?"

"Oh yeah! You bet!" called out R. Mika.

"I seem to be the only one annoyed with that from time to time," mentioned Makoto. "Life isn't just about boys, you know."

"Then what do you want to talk about?" questioned Elena.

"More like, I want to spar," Makoto answered.

"Then let's spar then!" shouted Maki as she stood up and faced her friend. "You and me, Makoto. Winner buys the other lunch tomorrow! Or the next day depending on how Round Two of this tournament goes for either of our teams."

"Sounds like fun!" Makoto replied as she stood up and joined Maki a few feet away. "Showing off the ways of Rindo-kan is always a plus in my book!"

As Makoto and Maki got themselves in their fighting stances, Talim turned her head to Xianghua. "Is this how it always is?"

"Not always," Xianghua said. "We also talk about fashion and eat a lot, among other things. It seems to be an Earthrealm tradition. I personally love talking about fashion."

Talim nodded, but said no more just as the sparring match between Maki and Makoto began…

Meanwhile along the docks not too far from the sparring match, Hugo and Poison looked on at the ocean in front of them. They each got their own food to enjoy. For Hugo, that was a cheeseburger. For Poison, she had long since finished her barbeque chicken on a stick and was munching on a bag of french fries.

For a while, the two of them simply enjoy the silence between them and the ocean view a few yards away. Eventually, Hugo spoke as a thought came to him. "Hey Poison. You think the competition will be tougher than before in this next round?"

"It'll definitely get tough the more time passes, big guy," Poison responded honestly. "But we got this. The combination of your strength and my strategic skills will surely put us on top! I just know it!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice yelled out in a mocking tone. "Hey look, King! It's the potato giant and the wannabe dominatrix!"

With an annoyed huff, Poison turned around and spotted both Marduk and King a few feet away from them. Marduk had a big sly grin on his face, clearly taunting them for his own amusement. To King's credit, he did place a hand over the front of his mask and shook his head, clearly embarrassed by his tag team partner's shout out.

"Oh, real mature you big brute of a bull!" Poison shouted.

Marduk nearly laughed at her response. "Pot calling kettle!"

"Oh shut up!" Poison yelled as she stomped over to Marduk until she was a foot away from him. She glared up at him with her blue eyes. "Why are you bothering us anyway? We were minding our own damn business over here!"

"Just having fun in between matches," Marduk admitted. "Besides, you would've made a comment at us if you saw us first and you know it. And another thing… you get mad so damn easily it's almost amusing!"

"No I don't!" Poison yelled. She then realized that she just proved his point. "I-wha-DAMMIT! I HATE YOU AND YOUR SMUG ASS FACE!" Poison waved her hand at him before she folded her arms in front of her and turned her back to him. "Go bother someone else!"

Marduk laughed maniacally at that. That made Poison turn her head back in his direction. "Oh I hope Hugo and I face you in this tournament! We're absolutely gonna kick your ass!"

"You couldn't even kick my arse in a surprise attack in Vegas!" Marduk reminded her.

As they continued to argue to the point of incoherence among outsiders, Hugo and King ended up turning to face each other. Neither one of them were sure what to do, but it was Hugo who simply shrugged over the situation. King took that as a mutual agreement on what they both thought on the unneeded argument.

"Sorry for my partner's immaturity," he eventually explained.

"That's okay," Hugo replied. "Actually, I liked that he called me a potato giant."

King tilted his head a little at that. "That's… good?"

"Yeah," Hugo started. He smiled as fond memories overtook his mind "My mama has a potato farm in my home country. She always said that potatoes would make me big and strong. She was right, you know."

At that moment, King inwardly shrugged and thought, What the heck? It'll be a better conversation than the argument next to us. "How big is that potato farm?"

"Really BIG!" Hugo said as he spread his arms out to emphasize his point. "Mama makes lots of good food with them. Baked potatoes, potato hash, potato French fries, potato hash browns, potatoes o'brien, scalloped potatoes, potato pancakes, potato wedges, roasted potatoes, hasselback potatoes, potato soup, potato pot pie, potato au gratin…"

Nearby, in an isolated spot, Matrik had finished analyzing the data she took from her opponent in her match days ago. Unfortunately, as she expected, there was no new information from the files she collected from her opponent.

Two years ago, Matrik freed herself from Sektor's programming as one of his cyborg followers of the Tekunin - the first female in her case. Aside from the eight month-long 'coma' she was in starting immediately after the Blood Tournament, she enjoyed both relative peace and her life with the Lin Kuei clan. Each day, she looked forward to creating new memories as well as whatever the future held as a free cyborg.

From time to time, however, Matrik couldn't help but wonder about her past - who she was, where she came from, who was in her life before… what her name was… She didn't believe she'd discover anything remarkable, but it would be nice to get some semblance of closure on her past.

Getting that information likely required getting closer to Sektor himself. However, he had been the reason for her 'coma' to begin with. In other words, it was easier said than done.

At the very least, she knew that the Tekunin were working alongside the Mishima Zaibatsu, as the data did reveal. It was hard to tell whether or not it was a step closer to having her questions answered. Matrik would know soon enough…

Not too far, Sagat and Feng Wei stood on the sands of the beach, both dressed in their fighting attire. Both were focused on their breathing exercises as well as their respecting slow-moving katas.

At the same time, Sagat noted his surroundings - the young ladies on the other side of the beach chatting and laughing away as two of them sparred against each other. Two wrestlers arguing over their petty rivalry while their tag team partners talked about different uses for potatoes. The green cyborg seemingly contemplating whatever was on her mind. They were just a few among the many walks of life amongst the chosen ones as well as the crowds on both the docks and the nearby streets of downtown.

"You're people watching," Feng Wei suddenly said aloud, though he didn't stop his movements.

Sagat raised a brow at that. "You're more observant than you let on."

Feng Wei gave him a very rare ghost of a smile. "It is a benefit when one usually travels alone. As I'm sure you know, it's a way to gauge people. Learn their ways even through their subtle movements. It's… something my master taught me in my childhood. Surprising given the strict code of monotony when it came to our fighting style in our temple."

Sagat nodded before he realized something. "You've never talked about your master before now."

"...He's… no longer alive," Feng Wei simply said.

Sagat nodded in silence. Clearly, he understood that this was a subject his tag team partner was not willing to share at this time.

The two warriors then straightened themselves up, slowly unleashing one last exhale as they placed their hands together as though in prayer. Once that was done, Feng Wei spoke. "Let us meditate and reflect on the upcoming tournament round."

Sagat nodded in agreement. The two soon sat on the sands in a lotus position and began their respective meditation.

---

Outside The Paradise Lounge & Disco, Downtown

"Well, it finally happened," Sonya said aloud.

Alex Walker raised an eyebrow at that. "What finally happened?"

Sonya placed her hands on her hips and grinned proudly. "I finally crossed off 'get into a bar fight' off my bucket list."

By then, the entire nightclub had been evacuated after a fire broke out on the bar table. Last they heard, it was put out quickly before the whole place went up in flames (considering all the alcohol, it was a miracle), though there were a couple of fire trucks at the scene to make sure all was well. There were also police officers on the scene as well as a few ambulance personnel.

"It's a miracle it's not worse than how it looks," Chun Li admitted. "I mean, we came out of it with a few bumps and bruises and just enough clothes tearing that will only need a quick fix at the local dry cleaners."

"The furniture and bar has seen better days, I'm sure," said Cammy. "Here's hoping they don't send us the bill later."

Lucia pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "And another miracle… the only ones who need to go to the hospital are the ones who verbally started this brawl in the first place!"

"My tooooe!" one of the men - the leader in this case - cried out in sheer pain as he was wheeled into an autoette ambulance on a gurney.

"Well, I don't know about your ladies, but I had a good time," admitted Jade. "Good food, good drinks, and a nice big fight to end the night."

"You know," Ashrah started. "I have to agree. I can't remember the last time I relaxed like this, even with the brawl involved."

"I had fun, too!" called out Li Mei.

"I'm certain Wagner will be both intrigued and a little concerned once I tell him what happened," said Juli.

"Steve would've loved to have been in that brawl," Lita pointed out.

"I sure had fun," replied Juni.

"Now that I had time to think about it," started Kitana. "It really was a lovely evening. It's nice to cut loose once in a while and not act prim and proper as society expects you to."

"I'd say let's bar hop!" Lita declared suddenly.

Everyone started whining at the same time;

"Nooo!"

"It's getting late!"

"The tournament's tomorrow."

"If I get drunk now, I'm definitely having a match in the morning!"

"I need real food, not more alcohol."

The rest was unintelligible, but Lita got the picture. "Oh fine ya big babies! Back to the hotel then."

As the women started to leave the scene, Christie chose that moment to approach Chun Li. Both of them were just a couple of feet away from the back of their group as they followed them down the narrow streets of downtown.

"Hey," Christie started. "I really want to thank you. Brawl or no brawl, I had a really good time. I'm glad you convinced me to go."

"I'm glad to hear that," Chun Li replied with a smile. "Maybe after Round Two of this tournament, we can find another fun activity for us to enjoy."

"That sounds good," Christie agreed. "Maybe something that doesn't end in a brawl next time."

Chun Li laughed at that. "Yeeeah, I'm looking forward to seeing Lei's reaction to this story. Hopefully, he's having a fun time at the casino."

It was then that the Capoeira fighter turned her head and spotted Tiger Jackson just at the edge of the crowd that gathered outside after the evacuation. At that moment, she decided to speak to him one more time before the night was over.

"I'll catch up with you in a little bit," she said to Chun Li. With that, Christie started to jog over to where her long-time friend was. It didn't take long for him to spot her.

"Christie, what it is!" Tiger called out as she approached. "That brawl was off the hook!"

"You're telling me," Christie replied. "Glad you got out without a scratch."

There was a moment of pause before Tiger gave her a serious gaze even with the sunglasses on his face. "Give me the lowdown, Christie. What brought you to this tournament? Last time you entered a tournament, your mentor went missing."

Christie took a deep breath before she responded. "Yeah. Eddy went missing again. This time, it's more complicated than it was before. Worse, my grandpa went missing at the same time he did. I don't know if you've heard, but Grandpa has a terminal illness. I also recently found out that Eddy joined the Zaibatsu. There's a good chance that he only joined in order to get Grandpa better treatments for his illness."

"Oof," Tiger winced upon hearing her story. "That's heavy. And the Zaibatsu? You need to be careful, Christie. War or no war, they're nothing but trouble."

"I know," Christie said. "I have a detective on the case. Don't worry, I'm being careful. I promise."

"Good," Tiger replied with a sigh of relief. "Well, I gotta skitty before another brawl breaks down." He gave Christie a peace sign before he started to turn to leave. "Peace out. And good luck."

Christie also gave him a peace sign. "See you around." She then watched her friend leave for a moment before she turned around and started to jog in order to catch up with her new friends.

---

Mishima Casino

As Maxi and Forest continued to sing nonsense in their inebriated states, Lei couldn't help but yell, "How?! How is Outworld Liquor on Earthrealm?!"

"Import?" Hwang guessed while Kilik and Siegfried both shrugged.

"This stuff should be outlawed!" Lei shouted. "Like, one little cup was all it took to get me-" He pointed at Maxi and Forest. "THAT drunk! How much did they drink?!"

Siegfried looked inside the bottle through the glass. Once again, his eyes went big. "Half the bottle between them both."

"...At this point, they need to go to the hospital!"

"What's going on?" the voice of Ken suddenly asked. The others turned around and spotted him along with Johnny Cage and Abel. He then noticed Maxi and Forest and became concerned. "Are they okay?"

"Outworld Liquor." Kilik simply said.

"Oh shit!" Johnny shouted with concern. "That stuff is no joke. Ask me how I know."

"You can say that again…" Ken grumbled.

"Ask me how I know," Johnny repeated with a sly grin. That made Ken groan as he slapped his hand against his own forehead.

Suddenly, Maxi got right in front of Johnny. "Heeey can I wear those?" he managed to say as he tried to reach for the sunglasses that were on the actor's face.

"Hell no!" Johnny called out as he backed away and held his sunglasses to his face. "These babies cost five-hundred dollars!"

"...NO idea what that means, but OOOOOOOkay!"

Meanwhile, the rest of their group - Wagner, Steve, Hwoarang, Paul, Marshall, Fei Long, and Cody - noticed the commotion at the bar table from their poker table. It didn't take them long to notice how drunk both Maxi and Forest were, not to mention how loud they were being.

"Oh no! FOREST!" Marshall called out in a panic as he dropped his cards and practically went flying across the casino to get to his drunk son. The others started to follow him and abandoned the game, but Paul was quickly stopped by the two women who paid him quite a bit of attention for most of the evening.

"Hey, get out of my way!" Paul demanded. He knew what he was turning down, but checking on the young man he watched grow up over the years was more important to him at that moment.

"Don't leave us!" the brunette purred. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Sorry, ladies! Bros before- eh… later!" He immediately ran off and nearly knocked the brunette over in the process.

"Asshole!" the blonde shouted in anger after all the time she wasted. "You better come back and pay for the shoulder massage I gave you!"

"I didn't even ask for one and you know it! And don't forget, I have witnesses!" Paul yelled. He and the others soon showed up at the scene while T. Hawk wasn't too far behind them.

Marshall's eyes went wide as soon as he got a close up of how inebriated his son was. He turned to Lei and raised his arms to gesture at the scene. "What the hell happened?! We've barely been here for an hour! How is my kid this drunk already?!"

"Hey!" Lei called out as he raised both his hands up in defense. "I was only responsible for the Keisei guys, not your grown son! Besides, he had liquor! The Outworld kind!"

"Oh shit…" both Wagner and Cody muttered at the same time.

"Look everyone!" Forest yelled out as he pulled down the necktie he wore around his forehead over his eyes. "I'm Kenshi!" He took one step before he hit a stool and fell right over with a loud thud! "Owwwee! How he do thaaaat?!"

Hwoarang had to cover his mouth with his hand to stiffen his laughter. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but that was pretty damn funny."

"Come on," Lei highly suggested. "I really think we need to get them out of here and to a hospital. I'm concerned about the amount of alcohol in their system."

"There's one only three blocks to the east from here," T. Hawk mentioned. "As long as the streets aren't crowded, you should get there very quickly."

"I'll bring the autoette around," Fei Long volunteered right before he turned and headed towards the exit.

Hwang and Siegfried managed to grab Maxi and started to help him out of the casino. "Heeey we gonna go for a ride on that buggy thing?" Maxi managed to ask.

"Um, yeah, we are," Hwang assured him.

It took Paul and Marshall a little bit longer to get Forest out. As soon as they pulled him back on his feet, Forest pushed them both away from him. "Off me!" he yelled.

Marshall decided to try something. His voice at his next words turned into that of a parent who wanted to try to reason with their cranky toddler. "Oh come on now, Forest. Don't you wanna go outside and buy some antiques? You can sell them on ebay and make looots of money. Does that sound like fun?"

A smile came over Forest's face even though his eyes were a bit unfocused. "Yeeaah Daaad, that sounds like fuuun."

That gave Marshall and Paul the chance to start helping Forest out of the casino before he changed his mind. The young man, however, started to sing again albeit much lower in pitch. "Livin' life… differ… pace… stuck in a constant… eh…"

"Race?" Paul finished for him.

"Yeah! Raaace!"

Marshall raised his eyebrow at his old friend. "You know that song?"

Paul scowled. "Hell no! That was just a lucky guess."

By the time everyone was outside, the mood turned a bit somber. As Fei Long started to arrive with the autoette, Maxi started to attempt to shake Hwang and Siegfried off him. He then yelled incoherently… until he didn't.

"Where's Kyam?" Maxi suddenly asked. The group looked at each other with confusion at his question, mainly those who weren't from Keisei.

"Kyam?" Cody ended up asking aloud.

Kilik frowned at that. Sadly, he knew what his friend meant. "Maxi, I'm sorry. Kyam's not here."

"Where is he?!" Maxi shouted almost aggressively as Hwang and Siegfried got him into the back of the autoette. "Where's Kyam?!"

"He's… waiting," Kilik ended up saying to his friend. "We, eh… just have to meet him at the meeting point. Yeah…" Hopefully he doesn't remember this conversation tomorrow…

Upon hearing all this, Abel turned his head to Kilik as the latter watched their two drunk allies being placed in the autoette. "Who's Kyam?"

Kilik frowned as he sighed a little. "His brother. Well… by spirit, not by blood. Maxi's father took him in as his own when they were still kids. They spent every day together for years. Well, until the incident six years ago."

"What kind of incident?" Abel inquired.

Kilik shook his head. "It's not my place to tell that story in detail. But long story short, Kyam was killed that day - ironically on the same day I met him and Maxi."

"I can only imagine the pain he carries," Abel mentioned. At least he had a family.

"More than he lets on, I'm certain."

"Kilik!" Fei Long called out from the autoette. "Get in!"

As Kilik headed to the autoette, Abel turned his head and happened to spot Wagner - alongside the familiar face of a very large Native American man. T. Hawk, Abel started to recall. Last time I saw him, he was in Los Angeles wanting to talk to Juli about her past.

"Sorry the night ended on a bad note," T. Hawk said to the lieutenant. "I hope your friends turn out okay."

"Thanks. I think they will be," Wagner replied. "They'll probably be in the hospital for a couple of hours, then get sent back to their hotel room. Then come next morning, they'll have the worst hangover they'll ever experience."

T. Hawk couldn't help but smirk with amusement over a thought. "Hopefully neither of them have a match tomorrow."

"Oof, that would really suck for them."

"Mr. Hawk!" called out a voice. T. Hawk turned and recognized Hakan, who waved him over from across the street. He stood alongside E. Honda while Ganryu sat on a bench with his head hung in what looked like shame.

I better check on him, the Native American warrior thought concerning his tag team partner.

T. Hawk gave Wagner a friendly slap on the back… though it ended up being a little harder than necessary as he noted how Wagner gasped from the hit, the way his dark blue eyes went wide, and the way he hunched over a little. "Well it was nice meeting you and your friends, Scott. I'm certain we'll see each other again. After all, we'll be at this tournament for quite some time."

"Eh, yeah," Wagner managed to say as he tried to deal with the sudden pain in his back. "Nice to meet you, too."

With that, T. Hawk began to depart. As he did, Abel chose that time to join Wagner while they still waited for the second autoette to show up. Abel noted the way Wagner's eyebrows furrowed as he rubbed the sore spot just below his shoulder.

"You okay?" Abel asked his comrade.

"Uh, yeah," Wagner started as confusion fell over his face. "He just called me Scott. The thing is... I never told him my first name at all this whole night. How did he know? Unless he's psychic, which I doubt or else he would've won our poker games."

"Juli must've told him your first name when they met up a couple of weeks back," Abel said.

It dawned on Wagner as he turned his head to Abel. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? Juli knows him?"

Abel's eyes went wide at his words. "I, eh… merde. I'm sorry, I assumed you knew."

"Assumed what?"

Abel sighed a little. "All I know is that he came to visit the hospital we volunteered at less than two weeks before we traveled to this island. He claimed to have known Juli in the past… before Shadaloo kidnapped and brainwashed her. Aside from a couple of very small details, she didn't share anything else with me. This is all I know. That's all Jane Guile knows, too."

Wagner looked across the street where T. Hawk was. "Her past… oh, right. She did say that she had recurring dreams of a Native American man. It's been like that since we've been together. That does add up."

"I'm sorry I brought it up, I thought she would've told you by now," Abel said. "Perhaps she was waiting for the right time to tell you. Especially since you two only just reunited recently after three months apart."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Wagner agreed as he felt a little better by Abel's words. By then, the second autoette showed up. The two of them, along with a few others, got inside before it drove off into the direction of the nearby hospital.

From across the street, T. Hawk watched the autoette depart before he turned his attention back to E. Honda, Hakan, and Ganryu, who still hung his head while he sat on the bench.

"I'm so ashamed of myself," Ganryu said aloud after some silence. "I usually have better control than that embarrassing display."

"Hey, sometimes we slip up," Hakan assured him.

Ganryu turned to E. Honda. "You understand, right?"

"Well, your gambling addiction is one thing, but the other things you did in the past? Not so much," E. Honda admitted. "Your ozeki status is legendary in the sumo world, but your other actions marred your legacy."

"I know. I marred myself and the name of sumo all those years ago," Ganryu mentioned. He hung his head in shame again. "It was never my intention. I got so caught up in my old illicit ways that it ruined me. I've been trying to redeem myself since then…"

"Including that time you joined the Mishima Zaibatsu?" E. Honda questioned sternly.

That surprised T. Hawk to hear. "Wait, you were with the Mishima Zaibatsu?!"

"Only back when Kazuya Mishima was CEO over twenty years ago," Ganryu admitted. "He saw my potential and hired me as his bodyguard. It ruined me even more. I even lost the chance at love because of my association!" He placed a hand over his heart as he gazed up towards the sky. "Rest well, my dear Michelle."

"Your unrequited love passed away?" T. Hawk asked a little sadly as he remembered their previous conversation when they first met.

Ganryu sighed. "Yes, but actually she rejected me long before that. Turns out she loathed anything related to the Zaibatsu. I only heard that she died a few years ago."

"Oh. I see."

"Believe it or not, her rejection forced me to turn my life around," Ganryu mentioned. "I moved to Hawaii and started a sumo stable. I only recently opened my restaurant. No more crime, no more gambling. I even found love again! Even if it is unrequited…"

Hakan decided to change the subject at that point. "Gentlemen, it's been a very long night. And I'm starving. I'd say we stop somewhere for some grub, then call it a night. I'm certain Melike and the girls will start to wonder where I am."

"Well, Ganryu did try to mention earlier about getting nabemono," T. Hawk brought up.

"I love nabemono!" E. Honda called out with some enthusiasm. "There's a place just near the forest that looks like a shack. I hear they got the best nabemono on the island!"

Ganryu, suddenly feeling regenerated, popped right off the bench he sat on and stood up on his feet. "It's no Chanko Paradise, but I was just thinking about that same exact place!"

"Then let's go!" Hakan pushed.

From there, the four men walked away from the casino and headed to get some late night nabemono.

---

Mishima Hotel

Ryu felt a little relief as soon as he and Julia returned to their suite. Their last stop at the ice cream parlor wasn't as disastrous as he thought it would be. Well, there was that part where Julia couldn't decide what she wanted, but Ryu eventually convinced her to get a small cup. However, she only ate two bites before she decided that she was done.

"It tastes awful…" she grumbled.

"I thought you wanted coffee ice cream?" Ryu had asked her.

"Not this kind," she had responded. At that point, the wine was really taking effect of her alertness to the point where Ryu was sure that she might fall asleep before they got back to the hotel.

Julia started to sing softly as soon as Ryu closed the door behind them. He tried to listen to the words, but found that they were in a language he had never heard before.

"What song is that?" Ryu inquired.

Julia twirled a little as she adjusted her glasses - and made them even more crooked on her face. "It's a lullaby. My mother used to sing it to me some nights when I was a little girl. It was my favorite."

Ryu walked up to her and took her hand into his. He then led her to the back of the suite and to the room where their bed was located. "Maybe you can teach me someday."

"Mmm maybe," Julia hummed. She suddenly let out a yelp as she ended up tripping over her own feet and began to fall forward.

"Whoa, careful," Ryu said as he quickly caught her. He then went ahead and lifted her up into his arms - one arm supported her back while the other was behind her knees - and carried her into the bedroom. He then placed her gently down on the king-size bed they shared.

"This is sooo nice," Julia mentioned as Ryu helped remove her boots from her feet before he placed them down on the floor. "You and me… just like this…"

"Yeah," Ryu agreed as he moved to sit down next to her on the bed. "It is nice."

Julia managed to sit up. She then looked into his deep brown eyes and gave him a warm smile. "You knoooow, Ryu," she started as she placed her hands on his shoulders. And if Ryu didn't know better, there was a hint of - seduction somewhere in those words. "I think I'm gonna kiss you now."

Julia started to lean her face towards him, her lips puckered slightly. Ryu tilted his head a little and started to close his eyes in anticipation of her kiss…

…Only for her to promptly fall sideways. Before Ryu knew it, her head ended up in his lap. A split second later, he heard her start to lightly snore.

Well… that went well, Ryu thought as he started to lift her off him. Carefully, he laid Julia back onto the bed. He then grabbed one of the blankets she brought with her from home, unfolded it, and placed it over her body except for her head and neck. After he sat back down on the bed, Ryu caressed the tip of his fingers over her cheek before he leaned down to press a gentle kiss onto her forehead.

"Good night, Julia," he whispered.

Ryu then got back on his feet and made his way out of the bedroom, but not before he turned his head briefly to look at her one more time. She was indeed, as they said, out like a light.

A small smile etched on Ryu's face before he began to make his way out of the bedroom and into the living area. He planned to promptly get back into his white karate gi and do some meditating.

---

The Docks

"Yo ho, heave ho… yo ho, heave ho…"

There wasn't much enthusiasm in Ruby Heart's singing. She couldn't tell if it was because of the amount of alcohol she drank… or the melancholy that gripped her at this moment.

Granted, she always drank like the sailor she was. That was nothing new. The melancholy, however… that was something different. And she hated it mainly because she didn't know how to handle it.

From her ship, Ruby Heart could hear the other warriors out on the docks as well as the beach and downtown. All those places weren't too far from where the ship was docked. On any other night, she would've joined her fellow chosen ones. Tonight however, she wasn't feeling it.

To be fair though, this feeling had been on and off for her ever since the end of the Universal War. The horrors she had seen… that she could handle.

The Captain knew the real answer - survivors' guilt. Long story short, Dhalsim's death haunted her to this day.

Sometimes, Ruby Heart wondered if naming her flying ship the Jita Victoire was a good idea. But every time she thought about it, she quickly reminded herself that changing her ship's name, especially now, would be a dishonor to her friend's memory.

She remembered that conversation well during their stay in Keisei;

"I've known this ship since your arrival," Dhalsim said. "And yet, I don't think I've ever heard you refer to it by its name."

"Huh," Ruby Heart bemused. She cocked her head thoughtfully. "You know… I've had this ship for a long time… and I never named her. Any ideas?"

"That's up to you," Dhalsim suggested. "You're the ship's captain."

Ruby Heart smirked. "I think I got one… if we win this thing, I'll celebrate by calling her Victoire."

It was Dhalsim's turn to cock his head. "I assume that word is in your native tongue."

"Norwegian is my native tongue, actually, but I can also speak French and I happen to like this word in French better.l," Ruby Heart said. "It means 'victory.' What does victory mean in your language?"

Dhalsim answered. "Jita."

"Hmm, sounds like someone's name," Ruby Heart said.

Ruby Heart shook her head. "You should be alive," she whispered. She took a moment to take a swig of her vodka. "You had a lot to offer to the world. I don't…"

Despite her clairvoyant powers, Ruby Heart never once saw his ghost since the day of his death. But that was okay. It meant that his spirit had moved on. He was with his family and neighbors.

With a sigh, Ruby Heart gazed up above her and beyond the rolled up sails of her ship. Despite being nearby downtown lights, she could see the small pinpoint of stars scattered across the night sky. If the pirate squinted her eyes just enough, she could see hints of the milky way.

Such a sight was always beautiful to her. In moments like this - and despite her survivors' guilt - Ruby Heart was reminded how small things like that were worth living for.

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A/N: "Tell me you hate Sindel's retcon without telling me you hate Sindel's retcon." =P But clearly I'm not alone in that thought.

Sorry to end the chapter on a sad note.

Anyway, Round Two of the tournament begins in the next chapter!