Kechara took a light step from the boat to the dock and looked around. She was finally here! She wanted to pause a moment to absorb the warm rays of the sun upon her face but was shoved from behind by the Brazilian Capoeira maestre Eddy Gordo. She stepped out of his way. What rude people, she thought. Thank God for Ling.
Kechara had met Ling Xiaoyu on the way to the Tournament island and the two had become instant friends. Ling had helped Kechara fend off irrational comments from the hot-blooded Paul Phoenix and saved her from Hwoarang's analytical stares and whistles. Kechara realized that the trip would have been pure hell without the guidance of a Tournament veteran.
Ling stepped off the boat and joined Kechara in the sunlight. "Ah," she said, "off that stupid boat." She turned to her friend. "Okay, the first thing that happens is that all of the participants meet in a room and are lectured in the basic gameplay, rules, etc, by the head of the Tekkenshu. Then we go to our rooms and get some sleep." She laughed. "I managed to 'persuade' the rooms-keeper to put your room next to mine. Just don't ask how."
Kechara smiled. Ling was quite persuasive.
Ling waved her hand, as if flicking a fly. "But anyways, bless Kazama-san, he gave us tomorrow to explore the premises, you know, kinda get used to the layout of the island, meet the people, blah, blah, blah. Then, the day after, the fighting begins and that's that."
"How-" Kechara started when a loudspeaker blared, "All participants in the Tekken Tournament please report to the main building at this time. Thank you."
"Come on, Ra, that's us!" Ling cried, grabbing Kechara's arm. "You're lucky you know somebody who has already done this because this island is like a freakin' maze!" Kechara let herself be dragged.
In a matter of less than a minute, the two girls stood in front of the Zaibatsu's huge main building. Already the crowd of fighters had gathered outside the main entrance. Kechara quickly scanned over the throng. She recognized some of the world's most renowned fighters, including the wrestler King the 2nd and his mentor Armor King, the baleful assassin Nina Williams debating a hot topic with her sister Anna, and that jackass from the boat, Hwoarang. She also saw some people she had never heard of before, including a guy who looked to be about 15, who was standing off in the corner of the plaza by himself. Kechara was immediately interested, being 15 herself. She turned to Ling and said to her, "Stay here. I'll be right back." And not waiting for a response, began to run towards the young man.
She called out "Hi!" but got no response. His head was bowed down so perhaps he hadn't heard her. She ran up to him and repeated her greeting.
When he met her eyes, she was shocked. He was from her school, back in the U.S.! She had the deepest crush on him and wanted to kick herself for not recognizing who he was.
"Griffin!" she cried, excited. "What are you doing here?"
Griffin Burkhart immediately recognized her and smiled slightly. "I came to fight," he replied and went back to his head-down position.
Kechara tried to hold a conversation with him but he seemed too preoccupied to give much response. So Kechara politely bid him farewell and good luck, and jogged back to where Ling stood.
She, however, was engrossed in a conversation with Julia Chang and did not notice Kechara until a few minutes after she had been standing there. She regarded her with a feinted fury. "How could you just leave me here all by myself, just so you could talk to some guy?! I thought you had-"
Her lecture was interrupted by the whistle of one of the Tekkenshu. On a balcony above the main entrance, an old man in a black business suit appeared. "Welcome!" he said in a deep voice. "You have all decided to participate in this King of Iron Fist 4. There are a few rules and regulations, so if you would please step inside, we can get this over with quickly so you can wander around." He smiled and disappeared into the building.
The group poured through the doors and entered a large auditorium-like room complete with a stage. The people found a seat and sat. Kechara edged near Griffin, unbeknowst to Ling. She had forgotten all about her lecture and looked like she was deep in thought. Kechara was shaking with excitement and kept glancing over at Griffin, who still seemed oddly subdued. Kechara took a deep breath to calm herself as the old man in the suit walked gracefully onto the stage. He stopped in the center and folded his hands over his stomach, waiting for the chatter of the Tournamentees to die down. A loud laugh from Paul Phoenix ended the noise and the old man in the suit began to speak.
He spoke for a long time, going over how the fights would occur, the rules invloved, and the setup of the final fight between the winner of the fighters gathered and the last Tournament's winner and ultimate CEO of the Mishima Financial Empire, Jin Kazama.
He went on to describe the prizes but Kechara paid no attention after the mention of the name Kazama. Jin was the reason she had entered this God-awful Tournament. She felt like Jin's mother Jun, who had entered the King of Iron Fist 2 to save Kazuya Mishima from the hold of the Devil (kind of); Kechara had come to the Iron Fist 4 to rescue Jin from his father's legacy.
Kechara was thrown out of her reverie by the sudden standing of the group; they had been dismissed. Ling was calling for her to hurry up. They exitted the building and stopped to talk.
"Rooms 16 and 17," she read from a small slip of paper. She looked up and around. "I had Room 3 last time and it was there," she said, pointing to her front-left, "so we'll follow til we get to 16 and 17."
They started off. Before they reached their rooms, they bumped into Hwoarang.
Oh, God, not again.
The red-headed Korean gangster grinned wickedly as he saw them. Fortunately, he passed them without an incident. They reached Rooms 16 and 17 without any more events.
When they arrived, they found that there was one of the Tekkenshu standing outside each of the doors. "Room 16, Ling Xiaoyu," one said, tossing her the keys. She caught them easily and the guard departed.
"Room 17, Kechara Matz," the other said, and looked at Kechara. "Are you Kechara Matz?" When she nodded, he handed her the keys to her room and without another word, ran to catch up with his comrade.
"Jeez, security's heavy," she remarked.
"Yeah," Ling said casually, unlocking the door to her room. "They say there are some spare Mishimas running around somewhere." She rolled her eyes. "I think that's kind of stupid. Both Kazuya and Heihachi are dead; they wouldn't run around here near the guest houses if they were alive anyway!"
They laughed while Kechara turned the key to her room and opened the door. She was instantly amazed by the furnishings that met her eyes.
The door opened up into a small, dark blue living room which contained a cream-colored leather sofa and chair surrounding a mahogany coffee table. There was a mahogany entertainment center with a big screen TV, stereo and CD player, a VCR and DVD player, and Kechara's favorite electronic appliance, a Playstation 2, along with an entire rack-ful of games. She gasped and ran over to it.
Ling heard her sharp intake of breath and hurried over from her little apartment to see what was wrong. "What the..." she started when she looked inside Kechara's. Ling saw her kneeling on the floor, toying with something.
Kechara looked up. "Playstation2," she murmured happily. "How did they know I like playing video games?"
"Ra, come here," Ling said, still looking around the room. "Your room..."
"Isn't it beautiful? Kechara stood up, still in awe. "They did an excellent job. And blue just looks so cool."
Ling beckoned to her. Kechara walked over to her, watching the deep blue carpet squish under her sneakers. Ling led her to her own room. What she saw was totally different from her own.
Ling's apartment had been painted a teal color and carpeted in a light magenta. A bright yellow couch and two yellow beanbags complimented the black coffee table and entertainment center. Kechara ran to the ET center.
"No Playstation," she said, shocked.
"I don't play much," Ling admitted. She cocked her head in confusion. "These are my absolute favorite colors. Why are the rooms like this?" She plopped down on a beanbag and sighed.
Kechara wrinkled her brow. "I guess somebody cares about us," she joked.
"Kazama-san wouldn't do this," Ling murmured. "Or would he..."
Kechara threw up her hands. "I don't care right now. All I want to do is take a nap. Wake me in an hour, okay?"
"Sure," her friend replied distantly.
Kechara went back next door to her own apartment. She explored deeper into the space and found her bedroom. She was amazed all over again.
The black-blanketed bed stood out sharply against the expertly painted walls. They were decorated with four scenes: one wall showed the ocean, another a mountain, another a forest, and the last a great valley. All were covered with a fire print up to her waist and the ceiling was graced with stars and an extremely detailed Chinese dragon. A black dresser and nightstand obscured parts of the ocean and valley scenes. Kechara was speechless. This was a design she had created for a future bedroom back home! What the hell...?
She dismissed it, too tired to care. She walked out into the lavish dark green kitchen/dining room to get a drink. She found the stainless steel refrigerator stocked with Pepsis and Yoo Hoos.
She was really starting to get suspicious. Her favorite color and PS2 in the living room, her own unique design in her bedroom, and a dark green kitchen with a nice refrigerator containing her favorite drinks? Kechara was extremely confused but decided that a nap would be the best thing to do. She grabbed a Yoo Hoo, chugged half of it, and retreated to her awesome bedroom. She flung herself onto the bed and in a matter of minutes, fell asleep.
Kechara did not hear the knock on her door. She did not hear the door open and two Tekkenshu and one Mishima Financial Empire CEO enter. She did not feel as that CEO leaned over her sleeping form to make sure she was just sleeping and not suicidal. She did not hear him tell the Tekkenshu that he would come back later to deliver what they had not been able to this time around. The three men left, and Kechara still slept.