The Outworld Chapter Three- The Night Before

The next evening, some of the people either ate, rest, or sparred.

Ken, Cody, Fei-Long, and Johnny Cage sat around a fire eating rice out of a coconut shell made into a bowl.

"So," said Cody. "Are you guys ready for the tournament?"

Johnny swallowed his rice. "I'm sure I am."

Fei-Long looked at him. "Do you ever take those sunglasses off? It is dark out you know."

Johnny rolled his eyes and took off his sunglasses. "Is that better?"

As the guys were talking, Ken was writing a letter to his wife Eliza and son Mel. In it he wrote:

Dear Eliza and Mel:

Things are going fine here in the 'nameless' island. The tournament's tomorrow, I guess I can't wait for it. I believe that I can live through this, but what about my friends? Ryu's a good fighter, but I've heard scary things about Prince Goro. The guy has won this tournament nine generations in a row. Supposesly, there's an army called Outworld wanting to find the best fighters. Sounds like Shadowlaw, only they take your souls. They call themselves Outworld because from what Kitana told me, Outworld is a place outside this earth originally called Edenia which was taken over by Shao Kahn. Chun-Li has seen him once when she fought Bison, he's pretty strong. I mean, he did take Bison's soul. I miss you both and I love you. I'll be thinking about you guys as I fight through this tournament.

Love, Ken

Ken sealed the letter and stared at it for awhile.

"Ken," he heard Fei-Long say. "Is that letter for your family."

Ken got up. "Yeah."

Over by the cave, Guy just finished practicing some moves. He started to walk over to the cave to get some food when he noticed Kitana with Dan and Mika.

He heard the conversation.

Dan flexed his muscles. "I really want to get through this tournament and beat Prince Goro."

Kitana smirked a little. "You have good confidence, but Goro is very strong. He did win nine tournaments in a row."

Mika's eyes widened. "He must be very strong."

"He is."

Dan's eyes nearly popped out as he said, "But..but what if were not strong enough to beat him??? I don't wanna die!!"

"Me neither," Mika said.

"Kitana," Dan said. "How do Mika and I become stronger?"

Kitana looked at the two and said, "There is one way you can become stronger. Seek the one named Nightwolf. He will help you make you stronger."

"Where is this Nightwolf?" Mika asked.

"He lives on the other side of the island. It's a long walk. You must be back in time for your tournament."

"I'm not in for another three days," said Dan.

"Me neither," Mika said.

"Okay," Kitana continued. She turned around and pointed behind her. "Follow that trail. It should lead you to his camping grounds."

"Yippee!!" Dan cried and immediately took Mika's hand. "Come one Mika! Let's go meet Nightwolf." He started running still holding on to Mika's hand.

"Dan!!!" Mika shouted. "Don't run so fast!!"

Kitana watched as the two ran towards the woods. She turned back towards the cave. She was a little shocked to see Guy standing there.

"Hello Guy," she said.

Guy was so busy staring at her face that he was startled when she said hi to him. He shook his head a little and slowly walked towards her. "Hi Kitana."

Kitana smirked a little seeing the way Guy was walking, slow and wobbly. Kitana continued, "You're in the tournament tomorrow, correct?"

"Yes," Guy replied. "I'm going against someone called Sub-Zero."

Kitana nodded. "Sub-Zero. He's part of a secret society called Lin Kuei, a group of assassians."

"Asassains?" Guy repeated. He looked back at her. "Who are you fighting?"

"I'll be watching," she said. "I've had my eye on Outworld for a long time."

Guy looked at her face once again. He couldn't believe that a ten thousand year old woman could be so beautiful.

He shook his head a little. "(I mustn't like her only for her outer beauty. I must get to know her inner beauty)"

Guy sighed. "So, um, other than fighting, um, what else do you like?"

Kitana gave him an evil smirk. "I guess you can say men who seem to like to say the word 'um' a lot."

Guy looked into her brown eyes as she said that and felt his heart flutter a little. "(I must be falling in love with her)"

Then, he heard Honda. "Hey Guy! Come in the cave and play cards with me."

Guy turned to the sumo wrestler. "All right," he said. He turned back to Kitana.

"Good luck tomorrow," she said.

Guy gave her a shy smile and started walking. He was still looking at her when he ended up tripping over his own feet.

Honda laughed. "Hey Guy, I didn't know you were that clumsy!"

Guy buried his face in the sand as his face turned a thousand shades of red.

***

Over by the beach, Ryu and Liu Kang got into their stances. They starred at each other for awhile.

Then, Liu jumped into the air. Ryu got down and rolled out of the way. Liu landed on both of his feet. Ryu put his leg out and tripped him. Liu fell on his back but immediately got up. He threw a roundhouse kick. Ryu blocked that and tried to hold on to his leg to flip him, but Liu saw this attempt and pulled away.

Over by one spot, Sakura watched them spar. Even though Liu was a guy, she was jealous that he got to spar with Ryu. "(I wish that was me over there right now)"

Chun-Li watched them in another spot with Rolento.

Rolento laughed. "Those two are alike. They're pretty good fighters of course. Dan's kind of right, it's pretty funny how they have red bandanas."

Chun-Li didn't really listen to Rolento. She watched the spar with amazement.

Ryu ducked another punch from Liu. Then, he aimed his fist at his stomach. Liu blocked and did a karate chop. He clipped Ryu in the shoulder. It didn't hurt Ryu too much.

Liu then took his arm and flipped Ryu. Ryu landed on his back and felt slight pain. He ignored it and jumped back up and crouched down. He made a fist and jumped.

"Sho-ryu-ken!!" he cried out. He got Liu in the stomach. Liu flew in the air and fell onto his side. Ryu landed on his feet.

Liu got up. "That's it," he said with a grin. He jumped up and flew at Ryu, his feet towards him. He knew he had to go easy on him because if he did this move too hard, he could kill him.

Liu started kicking Ryu rapidly in the stomach and chest keeping his body in the air. After five seconds of this, Liu lightly pushed him sending Ryu flying a few feet back and landing on his back. Liu landed on his feet.

Ryu slowly got up and got into a stance. Liu was a bit amazed that Ryu wanted to still fight even after all those blows.

Liu smirked at him. "We'll continue this later, Ryu. I need my rest for tomorrow. You're a good fighter."

Ryu got out of his stance. "You are as well, Liu." They bowed to each other and went back towards the cave.

Everyone sat around in a circle later that night. "The competition is tomorrow," said Kitana. "Liu Kang, Guy, and Dee Jay are fighting tomorrow. The three of you, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks Kitana," said Dee Jay giving her his trademark grin and giving her the thumbs up.

"Hey," said Jax looking around. "Where's that funny looking guy? And the blond girl?"

"You mean Dan and Mika?" Kitana said. "They want to become stronger so I send them to Nightwolf."

"Well," said Cody. "At least I don't have to listen to him snore and talk in his sleep tonight." He lied himself down on his gray sleeping bag.

"We better get some sleep," said Sonya.

As everyone went to their sleeping bags, Chun-Li turned to Ryu. He walked over to his sleeping area and sat down. She knew that he was going to mediatate. She was surprise that Sakura, who was about a foot away from him, fell asleep right away.

"(Ryu's so peaceful)" she thought to herself. "(I wonder why he doesn't open up that much.)"

But then she remembered. "(To him, the fight is all)"

Chun-Li closed her eyes feeling a bit guilty from her thoughts as the candles were blown out.

***

Dan looked up at the sky. "It's pretty dark outside," he said.

Mika gave him an devilish grin. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Dan looked at her. "Me? Afraid of the dark? I'm Dan Hibiki, I'm afraid of nothing!"

That's when they heard something squeal in the woods. Mika looked around. "What was that?" He looked around and realized Dan was standing next to her. She felt someone holding on to her shoulders. She turned around and saw Dan bend down shaking.

Mika laughed. "Admit it Dan, you ARE afraid of the dark."

"No I'm not!" he cried. "I....umm.....I was ....uh..checking....umm....your rear!"

Mika turned to him shocked and a bit angry. "What?!"

Dan then realized what he said. "(Doh!)"

"That's it Dan, you're going to get it!" She slowly walked up to him evilly.

"Help!!" Dan cried out and started sprinting down the trail, not realizing he was going west instead of south. Mika chased him down. She got to him and picked him up. She flipped herself over and lightly slammed Dan onto the ground. She got up quickly and saw Dan on the ground.

"Ow," he said in a low voice.

Mika bend down to him and smiled. "I know you're afraid of the dark. Next time you make an excuse, be careful with what you say." She put her hand out.

Dan showed a goofy smile and took Mika's hand. She helped him out and they continued their trail, not realizing that they're going the wrong way.

***

During the night, Chun-Li couldn't sleep. She stared up at the walls of the cave.

She felt a little cold from the winds coming in. She tried her best to cover her shoulders with her sleeping bag, but she still felt cold.

She thought about her father and all the memories she had with him. She hopes to destroy Shao Kahn. Since he took Bison's soul, it was the only other way to avenge her father's death.

Chun-Li did her best to think about the good memories. Then, she turned to Ryu. He slept peacefully. "(I wonder what he is dreaming about)"

"(I know Ryu is strong, but I hope that he can live through this tournament. I don't need another reason to destroy Shao Kahn)"