Preparation for the Dead or Alive Tournament!
After meeting the real Kasumi in the secret hiding village guided by Ryu and the talk, they had together about what to do with the clone girl, he came back to the ship reporting back to Helena of what he found out.
"I see, to think I was working with a clone this entire time though deep down I had my suspicions." Helena said.
"That maybe the case, but I also see her as a person all on her own and just need someone's help in guiding her to the right direction." Shadow looked out the window.
"And you wish to be that man for the clone Kasumi, yes?" Helena asked.
"I know this may sound weird, but as a fellow lab rat who was created to be a weapon, I want to follow my own path and decide what I want to do with my life because no one will ever tell me what to do again." Shadow determined as a red aura faintly spiked around his body.
"(Oh my, this fighting aura is so mesmerizing. I just want him now!)" Helena thought a little arouse before quickly calming herself down.
"Well then, I believe this event may help you and the clone Kasumi get closer together." Helena handed Shadow a flyer.
"What's this?" Shadow asked, looking at the flyer with the big words "Dead or Alive Tournament" on it.
"Dead or Alive, this is the martial art tournament Kasumi told me about before." Shadow remembered what she told him.
"That's right, after three years of rebuilding DOATEC from that big battle, I have decided to bring back the biggest fighting competition in the world inviting the strongest fighters and hope to gain the people's trust. It will be spectacular!" Helena explained.
"Sounds interesting, and I take it you want me and Kasumi to take part in the tournament?" Shadow guessed.
"Indeed, I may also think that you can bring the two Kasumi's together so they can "work things out" and hopefully all ends peacefully between them." Helena nodded.
"Well, that all depends on her… Which now I think we need to think of another name for her as well." Shadow realized.
"Oh dear, that would lead to some confusion." Helena agreed.
"I'll think of something, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if she got a nickname from me." Shadow said.
"All that settles it, I'm going to be broadcasting the announcement about bringing back the Dead or Alive tournament and I want you two to be there just in case of security measures." Helena assigned the two for the broadcast.
"Sir, we'll report back her when you let us know about the time." Shadow nodded before walking to the door.
"Oh, Shadow, one more thing." Helena said getting him to stop.
Helena walks up to Shadow giving him a quick kiss on the cheek causing his eyes to widen shock and his face turning a little red.
"Give my regard to her for me." Helena winked before going back to her desk.
Shadow is shocked that an older, beautiful woman like her is interested in a love way towards him even though he already has Kasumi in his life, now there's the sudden weird idea in his head that he could have more than one girlfriend which feels a bit frightening to him.
He makes his way to Kasumi's room hoping she doesn't mind the visit as he knocks on the door to let her know she has company.
"Who is it?" Kasumi asked.
"It's me, Shadow. Can I come in?" Shadow answered.
"Yes, the door is open." Kasumi said.
Shadow enters the room seeing Kasumi doing her meditation to calm her mind as she had failed again to find any trace and clues about Alpha-152, he sat on his knees to do the meditation with her for a moment of silence.
"So, any luck with your hunt?" Shadow asked.
"No, she keeps getting further and further away from my grasp whenever I thought I found her, and she keeps hiding herself well." Kasumi answered with a little sadness tone.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find that clone soon and you can rest easy for a while too." Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I hope so, because after finding that clone, MIST is next along with their leader." Kasumi determined.
"And I'll be right there with you." Shadow promised making her smile.
Then Shadow thought about this Kasumi being a clone and remember his words he told Helena to help her become more of a better person and her own as well, hopefully it won't be too hard as she shares the same emotions as the originally Kasumi.
"Hey Kasumi, have you ever gotten this weird feeling that there's something about yourself that is… not right?" Shadow asked.
"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.
"How do I put this? You believe that you've been living your whole life doing the things you thought is right and knowing that everything you done is for your own personal mission, but along the way there must have been something that felt strange to you deep in." Shadow tried to say this as less confusing as possible.
Kasumi just look to her crush confusing though she found some sense in his words as she looks down placing a hand on her breast.
"Now that you mention it… I have been having these odd feelings that I want to find and destroy Alpha-152 yet at the same time there is this unsettling feeling that the mission isn't mine." Kasumi worried.
"Like you're doing someone else's work?" Shadow asked.
"Huh, oddly as it sounds, yes. And I'm afraid that maybe I'm not who I think I am anymore." Kasumi said as she got up and walk towards a mirror.
"Probably more so than you think." Shadow walked up behind her.
"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.
"Kasumi, the other day when I told you that Helena called me back to the ship for something important. It wasn't Helena, it was from a powerful ninja named Ryu Hayabusa and told me to meet up with him in Tokyo." Shadow revealed.
"What did he wanted to see you about?" Kasumi asked curious.
"I can't tell you about the person because I made a promise to not tell, but what I can tell is that you and this person Ryu introduces me to are more alike than you can imagine." Shadow mentioned.
"We're more alike?" Kasumi puzzled a bit.
"And no, this person is NOT Alpha-152 which I know you're thinking about right now." Shadow clarified, crossing that off of her number one suspect list.
"Then can I have your word that this person is an alley?" Kasumi asked to be sure.
"Yes, you have my word." Shadow nodded with a strong fire in his eye.
Kasumi can see the truth in Shadow's eyes and this mysterious person can be trusted though it would make her feel better if she could meet this alley face-to-face, but she can tell that she would have to wait for the time when she can meet this alley.
"Okay, I trust you." Kasumi nodded.
"Glad to hear it, Ao." Shadow smiled.
"Umm, Ao?" Kasumi confused of what he just called her.
"A nickname I thought of for you, it means blue in Japanese, and you always wear that blue outfit all the time, so I thought that nickname would suit you." Shadow explained.
After hearing all that, Kasumi suddenly burst out of laughter making Shadow feel like he said something wrong and surprise to see the serious ninja girl laughing that hard for the first time since they first met.
"Okay, maybe that nickname didn't sound cool." Shadow exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, it just I never thought I would hear you say something silly like giving me a nickname like that." Kasumi giggled as she starts calming down.
"Well, excuse me for not being creative with naming." Shadow rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"Again, I'm sorry, but I actually like the name. It's small, but it feels really special to me." Kasumi said.
"Then can I call you Ao from now on?" Shadow asked with a smirk.
"Indeed, you can." Ao smiled and kissed him on the lips much to Shadow's surprise.
Ao quickly realize what she is doing right now and pulls herself away from Shadow with a blushing face of embarrassment.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Shadow! I don't know what came over me." Ao apologized.
But Shadow grabs her hand pulling the ninja woman closer and wrap his other arm around her waist and smack his lips onto hers, returning the kiss and Ao's turn to be shocked though a few seconds later she sinks into the kiss. It was like something has exploded into their bodies and their souls screaming in celebration like it's a big party for just the two of them.
The kiss lasted for about two minutes and thirty seconds until they separate with a little trail of saliva between their mouths.
"Amazing!" Ao said.
"Yeah, better than I could imagine." Shadow smiled as they two hug each other some more.
"So, we're official lovers then?" Shadow asked.
"I believe so, and I hope we will always be together." Ao looked at Shadow in the eyes.
"Always." Shadow promised and the two kiss each other again.
Shadow's cellphone went on ringing making the newly couple separate their lips and he took out his phone to see he got a text message from Helena telling him to come over to her office.
"Helena wants on in her office for the broadcast message about the tournament coming soon." Shadow informed.
"She's bringing back the Dead or Alive tournament, it looks like she has been busy to make the company trustworthy." Ao surprised.
"She is, that woman is just fully of surprises like that kiss she gave me." Shadow accidentally blurted out the last part.
"Wait, she kissed you?!" Ao gasped.
"It's not what you think, it was an accident! Even though it did feel good at the moment." Shadow said out loud. He cursed his mouth for talking this much now.
"Shadow!" Ao glared.
"H-Hey, we better not be late for that broadcast." Shadow wrapped his arm around her waist to superspeed them there.
But Shadow's body suddenly start glowing red and the next thing the couple knew, they have already arrived at Helena's office in an instant like they just teleported there.
"Goodness." Helena surprised.
"What the… Did you do your ninja teleportation technique?" Shadow confused.
"No, that wasn't me. It was you, Shadow." Ao said.
"So, I can teleport?" Shadow looked at himself wondering if there are other powers he can do probably when he was being used as a test subject for MIST.
"How about we worry about that later, the broadcast is about to start, and I would like you two over there to watch over me." Helena pointed at the pillar.
"Oh, I'm sure would love to watch over you." Ao rolled her eyes and walked away from Shadow to the pillar.
"Ao, wait! I promise it was an accident!" Shadow called out, but she ignores him.
"Oh dear, so she found out about that kiss we had?" Helena giggled.
"Thanks to my big mouth…" Shadow sighed.
"I'm also surprise to hear you calling her "Blue" of all the nicknames you could have come up with." Helena laughed a bit.
"Hey, she's really cute in blue, okay!" Shadow snapped.
"Okay, okay, I will have a talk with her later about our kiss, you just go over to her and make the most of it. Show her that you really do care for Ao." Helena suggested.
"I will, thanks." Shadow nodded before walking over to Ao.
Ao saw Shadow for just two seconds and looks away not wanting to give him an eye contact moment and Shadow knew that, so he decided to just pull her in for a hug from behind.
"Hey, let me go!" Ao demanded.
"Not a chance, I just want you to know that I really do love you and you're my number 1 girl." Shadow confessed to her ear.
This causes Ao to blush like crazy, turning her face about six different shades of red all together and stop struggling to get out of his arms, she decided to take his word for it and place her hands on his arms to accept the embrace.
"Don't think this gets you out of trouble with Miss Helena, we are going to have a serious talk about this later." Ao stated with a firm tone.
"I know, and I won't run away either." Shadow said. Not really sure why he said that just now, but for some reason it just felt right.
Soon, Helena faces the camera as the guy behind it gave her the hang signal to start talking now as she is live right now.
"Good day, everyone. My name is Helena Douglas and I have the pleasure of speaking to you today on behalf of the newly reformed DOATEC for a very special announcement that in about two weeks, we will be holding the Dead or Alive tournament just like the one from three years ago." Helena revealed to the world.
"(Hmm, I wonder if Diego is gonna be entering though I don't he would leave his sick mom even for something like that.)" Shadow thought remembering how strong Diego is back when they first fought.
"And now, I must bid you all farewell. Thank you for your time." Helena bowed at the camera and the broadcast is over.
"What do you two think? This will certainly bring some familiar strong fighters." Helena asked.
"Probably for you and Ao, but I'm looking forward to meeting those fighters and see how strong they are." Shadow excited.
"I'm glad to hear it." Helena smiled.
"Is there any place we can talk in private about you-know-what?" Ao glared at Shadow making him nervous and scratch the back of his head.
"But of course, please follow me." Helena gestured, and sending a teasing glance at Shadow.
As they walk out of the office, Zack shows up looking a little nervous but excited at the same time.
"Hey Helena, I'm not late for the invite show, am I?" Zack asked.
"You're just in time, I finished announcing the Dead or Alive tournament and now you just have to inform the other fighters of another treat they'll be getting." Helena answered.
"Sweet! Shadow, my man, hope to see you in the tournament!" Zack cheered before entering the office.
"What's he going to do?" Shadow asked.
"He's going to do a little chemical about the tournament that they are all invited, and he is also going to announce that he is going to visit the fighters in person to test their skills and strength to see if they are qualified for the tournament." Helena explained.
"That's interesting." Shadow commented.
(New York, with Mila)
"Hm? Hey, this thing on? This one? Oh, this one. What's up?! Are you one of the world's greatest fighter? Then get your ass in the tourney of Dead or Alive! And if you won't enter yourself, I'll come to your house and drag you in myself! See ya at the fights!" Zack announced on the TV of the dinner Mila is working at right now.
"Wow, the Dead or Alive tournament! The biggest contest of strength where the strongest and greatest fighters from all over the world gather and fight each other to see who is the best!" Mila squealed.
"Oh man, I really hope he comes to me because I SOOO want to enter in that tournament!" Mila excited as she just exits the dinner because her shift just ended.
"I wonder if Shadow will be there? I bet he would make a great opponent and a cute boyfriend." Mila giggled looking up at the sky, then she realizes the last part she just said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, boyfriend! Where the fuck did that come from, I-I-I hardly know him and sure he does look cute-I mean strong to cuddle-I mean fight against." Mila stuttered and her face blushed so hard as she walks to the gym building, pressing her forehead against the love.
"Oh man, I am seriously starting to fall in love with him?" Mila asked herself.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Shadow and the clone Kasumi have officially become a couple, and the clone girl has now been named Ao so there won't be any confusion for when she does meet the real Kasumi in the near future, mostly likely during the Dead or Alive tournament. Though it looks like Shadow is in trouble after telling her about the kiss with Helena and Mila just started to notice how she feels about Shadow too.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!