Chun-Li woke up before anyone else in the cave. She stretched out a little and walked outside to set
up the fire. Today, she would fight Jade. She knew that if she beat her, she would be one step closer to getting to Shao Kahn.
Just
as the fire began, she heard someone coming out of the cave. She turned around and saw Ryu. "Good morning," he said. "You're
usually the last person to get up in the morning."
Chun-Li smirked a little. "Since I'm in the tournament today, I
thought I'd get up early. It's just Sakura and I fighting today. I hope both of us live today."
Ryu sat down next to
her. Chun-Li looked at the burning fire. Once again, she thought about the memories with her father and how much she wanted
to avenge his death.
Ryu saw the look on Chun-Li's face and took her hand. Chun-Li was startled to feel his rough hand
over her’s. "Chun-Li," he said. "You're a very strong woman and I know that you can make it through this tournament.
If you don't make it, I'm sure you'll will though, I promise I will beat Shao Kahn, for you and your father."
Chun-Li
looked into Ryu's eyes. She wanted to cry at that moment. She hugged him. "Thank you."
As the sun began to rise, more
people emerged from the cave. Jax looked around. "They're not back yet!" he cried.
"Who?" asked Ken.
"Dan and
Mika," replied Sonya. "They have a tournament tomorrow and they're not back yet!"
"I don't understand why they're not
back yet," said Kitana. "Nightwolf only lives five miles from here."
Ken burst out laughing. "It's Dan Hibiki, he could
get lost anywhere, even in a paper bag."
"Great," said Sonya. "Looks like we're going to have to replace them for tomorrow's
tournament."
***
The sun began to rise more. Under a big tree, Mika opened her eyes and yawned a little. She
looked over to the side and saw Dan snoring in his sleep. "(He's so cute when he snores)" she thought.
Suddenly, Dan
bolted up making Mika startled. "Good morning!" he cried out. He stretched himself out and stood on his feet. "So, what's
for breakfast?"
Mika stretched as well. "We're lost in the middle of a nameless island, so I don't know."
Dan
looked around. "I'm REALLY hungry. We haven't eaten anything in two days!" Suddenly, he heard something rattle in a bush.
"FOOD!"
he cried and started running towards it.
"Dan!" Mika cried. "You don't even know what's............."
Suddenly,
Dan screamed, "SKUNK!" and began to run. Mika saw the black and white animal leap out of the bushes and chased after Dan.
“Are there really skunks in Southeast Asia?” Mika asked herself.
Dan jumped up into a tree
and climbed to the highest point. Mika ran towards him. The skunk looked up at him for two seconds before running away.
Mika
laughed. "You can come down now, the skunk's gone!"
Dan began to climb, but as he did, a branch broke under his foot.
Dan tumbles about eight feet before landing flat on his rear.
Mika ran up to him. "Are you okay?"
Dan shook
his head quickly. "A big branch broke while I stepped on it. I'm FAT! And I hurt my bottom!"
Mika tried not to laugh
at Dan's whining as she patted his back. "It's okay Dan, and you're not fat! The branch was probably weak in the first place."
Dan
sniffed. "You think so?"
"Of course."
"But my bottom still hurts!"
"It'll go away," Mika smiled. She
helped him up. "Now let's try to find the trail again and find Nightwolf."
She knew just saying Nightwolf's name made
Dan happy. A huge grin came across his face. He jumped onto his feet and cried out. "Let's go!!" Knowing that Dan would grab
her hand, Mika put her hand out as he grabbed it and began running.
***
After lunch, the fighters walked back
to the tournament ring. Chun-Li and Sakura were dressed in their usual fighting uniforms.
Chun-Li spotted two women,
one African American, and one looking exactly like Kitana. She knew immediately that the African American woman was Jade.
Both women wore a one-piece bathing suit-like uniforms laced in the middle. They both also wore long thigh-high boots and
elbow-length gloves. Their faces were covered by a cloth from their chins to their noses and their long hairs were tied back
in a high bun. The only other difference was that Jade's uniform was green and Mileena's was pink.
Shang stood up.
"Welcome to the next part of the tournament. First up....Chun-Li versus Jade!"
The two women stepped into the ring.
Jade held a six-foot metal staff.
Chun-Li looked at her spiked bracelets. "(With her weapon, it looks like I'll be
needing these)"
They both got into their fighting stances. As soon as Shang cried out, "Begin!" Jade jumped in the
air with the weapon in her hand. She aimed the weapon at Chun-Li, but Chun-Li immediately stepped out of the way. As soon
as Jade landed, Chun-Li attempted to kick her to knock her on the ground, but Jade quickly turned around and tripped her with
her weapon. Chun-Li wasn't prepared for that, so she fell.
"You can do it Chun-Li!!" cried Jax.
Chun-Li heard
this and immediately leaped in the air. Jade looked up at her, preparing for her attack. As Chun-Li fell towards her, Jade
tightened her grip on her stick. Then, Jade jabbed the stick at her. Chun-Li quickly grabbed the stick and used it as a guide
to her next attack. She slid down the stick with her hand and then punched Jade's face. Jade still managed to stay standing.
Chun-Li
landed on her feet and then Jade started using her stick to attack her. Chun-Li did her best to block every one of them. After
a minute, Chun-Li became tired, but she wasn't about to give up. "You really love to just use your stick and not your own
hands and feet. That makes you a coward."
"You think so?" said Jade with an evil look in her eyes. "Sounds like to
me that you can't stand my power."
Chun-Li became angry. "I didn't want to do this, but you asked for it!" She then
found an opening and took the back of her hand. She jabbed her spiked bracelet into Jade's chest, just missing the heart.
Jade screamed in pain. Chun-Li quickly pulled out. The blood quickly gushed out. Jade soon became weak.
"Finish her!"
Shang shouted.
Chun-Li flipped upside down and split her legs, one in front and one in back. She jumped up a little
and began to spin herself fast. "Spinning bird kick!!" she shouted as she rapidly hit Jade's face. Soon, Jade went flying
across the ring and landed on her back. She was then still.
"The winner....Chun-Li!!"
Her friends cheered for
a few seconds before they got themselves prepared for that small scream meaning the demon would be taking Jade's soul.
Nothing
happened.
"Why isn't that scream around?" Chun-Li asked.
Rayden bowed his head. "Because she is not dead."
Then,
to everyone's surprise, Jade rose up. Chun-Li went into shock as she picked up her staff. Jade narrowed her eyes at Chun-Li
who was ready in her fighting stance. "This isn't over yet!" she shouted and then leaped out of the ring. Chun-Li put her
guard down.
"Next," Shang cried. "Sakura versus Mileena!!"
Chun-Li sighed and walked out of the ring.
Sakura
jumped into the ring with excitement in her eyes. "Get ready!" she cried out.
Mileena narrowed her brown eyes at Sakura.
"Oh I'm ready all right. Say, aren't you a little young to fight in this tournament?"
In the audience, Guile turned
to Rayden. "I hope Sakura can do this."
Shang stood up once again. "Begin!!"
Before Sakura made a move, Mileena
took out her Sais. She aimed them at Sakura and began running towards her. When Mileena was close enough, Sakura jumped as
high as she can over her. Then, Mileena tried to jab the sai into Sakura's leg, but ended up scratching her deeply. Sakura
yelped in pain and fell on her side. The blood gushed out, but she did her best to ignore it as she stood up and got back
to her fighting stance.
Mileena aimed at Sakura again, but Sakura quickly moved out of the way. She threw a high kick
at Mileena's face. It connected and Mileena stumbled a bit but regained her composure. "You think that was suppose to hurt?!"
Mileena asked before aiming her sai at Sakura. This time, she jabbed her in the shoulder.
"Sakura!!" cried Ken. He
turned to Rayden. "She's not ever twenty yet! Isn't their a rule that you have to be older than twenty-one to be in this tournament?"
Rayden
bowed his head once again. "I'm afraid not. There really aren't many rules in this tournament." Guile heard this and brought
his blue eyes back towards Sakura.
Sakura dodged another jab from Mileena. She felt herself getting weaker from the
blood loss. She fell on her knees. Shang stood up and cried, "Finish her!!"
The tears formed in Sakura's eyes. "(At
least I will die for Ryu. Oh how I wish I could tell him my feelings!)”
Mileena smiled an evil grin under her
pink cloth and raised one of her sais over her head. "All I have to do is prick you in the heart." Sakura closed her eyes.
Suddenly,
Sakura felt a tug under her back and the back of her knees and being lifted in the air. She still had her eyes closed as the
person carrying her dashed out of the ring.
"That's enough!" Sakura heard. Her heart fluttered as she opened her eyes
and looked up at Ryu who held her. He narrowed his eyes at Mileena. "Spare one's life just this once."
For a brief
moment, Ryu and Mileena's eyes were narrow and they stared at each other. Then Mileena said with a sigh, "The tournament IS
about the fight to the death, but I guess I can spare one's life just this once." She walked closer to Ryu and lowered the
tone in her voice. "When Chun-Li fought Jade, I saw that look in her eye, like you felt like your heart will break if Jade
killed Chun-Li."
Ryu only stared and said nothing. Sakura's loss of blood made her too weak to understand nothing but
the fact that her love was holding her.
Mileena evilly smiled under her cloth. Ryu saw that through her eyes. "Just
you remember this.....neither Chun-Li or Jade were killed during their battle. One does have to die you know." Before Ryu
said anything, Mileena, like Jade, leaped out of the ring.
Other tournaments continued on as Ryu carried Sakura towards
the back of the audience. Sakura began to focus a little more as she said, "I've failed you Ryu."
Ryu could only smirk.
"It'll be all right. We got to get you back to the cave."
A half hour later, bandages were wrapped around Sakura's
ankle and shoulder. Sonya was helping her when she said, "If Mileena went deeper into your shoulder, she could've hit a major
artery. No one really loses AND lives through a battle in this tournament EVER. You're very lucky."
Sakura nodded.
"And
Sakura," said Jax taking her hand. "I think it's better off if you went back home. I, um, know you want to be here, especially
with, um, Ryu, but for someone your age, it's better off. What you went through today might get worse if you went against
another person. I'm not saying you're not strong. You're not only very strong, but very brave too."
Sakura forced a
small smile. The tears formed in her eyes knowing that she had to leave.
Sonya sighed. "It's for your own good."
"Will
Ryu be okay?" she asked.
Jax sighed. "From what Liu told me, Ryu is a great fighter. I'm positive that he'll be fine.
We'll send you letters updating you about the tournament."
Sakura smiled a little more.
That evening, a helicopter
landed in front of the cave. Sonya, Jax, Ryu, and Chun-Li helped Sakura onto the helicopter.
"It was great having you
here," Chun-Li said.
"Thanks," said Sakura. She looked at Ryu. "When I recover, I'm going to make myself stronger!
I hope I can train with you one day, Ryu."
Ryu only smirked and nodded. Sakura got into the helicopter. One of the
pilots shut the door and then it went on its way to Japan, Sakura‘s homeland.
Chun-Li looked at Ryu and smiled.
"If it wasn't for you, Sakura wouldn't be alive right now."
Ryu turned to her. "I couldn't let her die. She has so
much to live for."
"Ryu," Chun-Li said after a brief silence. "What did Mileena say to you after you got Sakura out
of the ring?"
Ryu stared into her eyes.
***
Later that evening, Dan and Mika kept walking through the
woods. "I think we're lost again!!" he cried out.
Mika laughed and held Dan's hand. "I'm sure we're going the right
way this time."
Dan felt her soft hand on his and grinned. Mika smiled back.
Suddenly, they heard a noise within
the woods, like someone was around.
Dan's smile grew larger. "Do you think that could be him?!"
Mika slowly
walked over towards the noise. The crunching of the leaves became louder and louder.
"Nightwolf?" she whispered.
Suddenly,
she saw something snake-like darting towards her. Mika saw the redness in its eyes. She shrieked and moved out of the way
quickly. The thing just missed Dan's nose.
"What was that?!" he cried out. "Was it Nightwolf?" He stared at the rest
of the thing's long, narrow body.
"Looks more like a snake to me," Mika said. Her eyes widened. "Dan, I think someone's
after us!!"
That when another snake-like thing darted at them following a loud, echoing shout; "GET OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The
snake wrapped around Dan's arm. Dan was lifted and tossed around in the air.
Mika went into the shock as someone emerged
from the bushes. The person wore a black and yellow Lin Kuei-type uniform. His eyes were pure white.
Mika gasped. She
recognized this person from pictures that she's seen before coming to the island. "Scorpion!!"
The snake that they
saw first came from behind Mika and wrapped itself around her waist. She too was lifted in the air.
Dan was upside
down when Mika was being tossed in the air. "Do you think I can be right side up?" Dan asked Scorpion. "I think the blood
in my body is affecting my brain more than it already is!"
Scorpion stared at the two for a while before throwing them
and letting go in mid-air. Dan and Mika shrieked as they flew across the wood wondering where they were going to land.
***
As
everyone slept in the cave, Chun-Li stayed up once again for a while. She thought about Ryu's heroic effort this afternoon.
She smirked to herself. "(I think Sakura would’ve ended up being killed if Ryu hadn't been there)"
Just before
she closed her eyes, Chun-Li saw a figure standing over her. It was too dark for her to see, but she could see that the person
wore a Lin Kuei uniform.
"Sub-Zero?" she said. She reached over to turn on the gas on her lantern.
"Chun-Li!!
Look out!!" she heard someone cry. As she turned to the voice, she saw Sub-Zero up on his feet in his regular clothes. Chun-Li
looked up at the figure and gasped. Standing over her, the man was not wearing the black and blue Lin Kuei uniform....
It
was black and green.
“Reptile!” Sub-Zero cried.
To Chapter Six ------->
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