Y/N POV
The tournament's end was near, I could feel it. And it was an uneasy feeling at that. One by one fighters were dropping away and I still had no idea where Jin was in regards to it! I knew Kazuya defeated Raven so it was inevitable I'd encounter him soon, but fortunately, not today.
That night had been restless, I'd struggled to sleep now that I was so close, so close to finding out who was behind this tournament. I'd defeated Lee, my father and the obstacle I'd hit in the last tournament, Raven was out and had to work behind the scenes. From here I was on my own.
I did eventually fall asleep thankfully and was awoken to the sound of knocking at my hotel room door. Opening it, I saw the receptionist stood there. She handed me the letter with the Zaibatsu seal and of course I opened it up. When I saw the name at the bottom, I sighed in relief. It was no Mishima, or Kazama for that matter.
'Wang Jinrei'.
Now that's a name I'd heard about from the first two King of Iron Fist tournaments. An elderly warrior yet not one to be underestimated. The fact he'd made it this far was enough proof of that. I will admit, I was curious.
This curiosity only increased when half an hour later I heard a tapping at the glass door to the balcony. Turning to it, I was surprised to see a small white bird stood on the balcony's rail, tapping away. In its beak was another piece of paper.
I slid the glass door open and the bird let out a chirp, leaning closer. I took the paper from its beak and reached over petting the animal. "Thank you." I said to it causing it to chirp and fly away. My attention shifted to the scrap of paper. Opening it up, I found it to be a fully written paragraph from my soon to be opponent.
'Dear Eagle,
I trust you've received my letter. The waterfalls outside of the city, I believe you had a previous fight there did you not? Your former adversary Yoshimitsu told me of your battle. If so, then you will know where to find them. A beautiful sight, and a suitable location for our match.
I trust to see you there and will await your arrival,
Wang Jinrei'
I smiled at the letter before placing it in my pocket. It seems Wang was already one step ahead. I didn't want to keep him waiting so I exited the hotel found my car which I'm still glad wasn't damaged in the Williams sisters' battle and headed out.
Knowing the location of the waterfalls in question, it was easy making my way there. I found the cave leading to it and made my way out into the clearing where the arena was located and it was just like before, my opponent was waiting.
While Yoshimitsu had been training under the waterfall, I saw Wang just kneeling, his back to me. I'd seen pictures of him from previous tournaments so I was able to recognize him and approached.
Image of Wang Jinrei:
Once I'd got close enough, I heard him speak "So, you made it." He opened his eyes and slowly began to get to his feet. "We both know why we're here. So let us save the pleasantries until AFTER the fight." He wasted no time entering a combat stance.
I just said "Have it your way." And entered my own stance. All that could be heard now was the crashing of the waterfall behind us as we just stared at one another. I finally broke this stare-down when I rushed forward and went in for a kick.
Too my surprise, Wang stepped to the side faster than I'd expected and quickly countered with a palm-thrust to my back that made me stagger forward. I spun around to see the old man stood with his palm extended in front of him.
He lectured "It will take more than speed to win this fight child." This made me raise an eyebrow and say "Okay, try this." I leapt upwards and tried to land another kick, bringing by foot down towards his head.
Wang however raised his arms to block before pushing firmly pushing me back. I managed not to stagger this time and instantly stepped in once again, this time going to perform a combo of punches and kicks.
Annoyingly, Wang just kept dodging or blocking each blow simultaneously. I was beginning to grow more annoyed however this gave me an idea.
I trust both arms down in a palm strike which lead for Wang to try and block, it was in that quick moment I caught onto his arm before swinging around finally managing to land a punch catching the elder's cheek.
At first, I was a bit concerned he may have been seriously injured given his seemingly frail appearance. However almost instantly I was proven wrong he the next thing I knew, he retaliated by punching my in the stomach which was then followed by a kick hitting my side and making me stagger back.
I just stared at Wang for a moment before saying "You're skilled. Impressive." Wang just smiled as I said "But this is where the fight picks up." I knew I had to make each move count and formulate my strategy carefully.
My next attack utilised my speed, I dashed to the side of Wang. In an instant he thrust his fist towards my face, however I managed to duck out of the way and landed an elbow strike to hit him across his cheek.
I performed a kick that caught his side and went in for another punch which was caught and turned into him knocking me in the face with his forearm. I let out a grunt before stepping back and going in for a chop.
I managed to catch his shoulder however Wang succeeded in landing a jab to my chest and went in for another however I used that moment to duck down and counter with an uppercut hitting my opponent right in his beard.
He was able to stay on his feet however it was at this point I noticed he looked tired. This was what caused me to ask "Are you alright?" Wang proceeded to catch his breath. "Yes, it's just my old age catching up with me."
This caused me to feel concern for the elderly man, seeing past his fighting skill that in truth, I didn't know if I could beat. I had an idea. It was a way to get around him, but also because I didn't know how long we'd be at this. I spoke up.
"Sir, with all due respect. Do you think it best you sit this out. I don't doubt your skill but are you sure you can handle this?" Wang's expression suddenly became one of determination as he stated "No! I came this far. I cannot let him down now, not so close to the end!"
And this caught my attention. Him? I asked "Who's him?" Wang responded "He must have started this tournament for a reason. He invited me personally." Started the tournament? The mysterious sponsor requested Wang here? This didn't answer my question.
"Sorry to keep asking, but who is 'he'?" Wang waved his hand "No need to apologise. It was an old friend of mine from years ago. I believed he'd died until I received a letter from him inviting me to this tournament." He paused before delivering a name that made my blood run cold.
"Jinpachi Mishima..."
Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. The next one will be a direct follow-up to this one, we're actually getting close to the end of the segment now. I really hope you liked the chapter and as always, thank you for reading.