~ Fighting arena – Hong Kong, China
 

Juli turned over on her belly, crawling slightly before she sat back on her heels. Ming stayed ready on his guard, watching her for any signs on her next move.

Her eyebrows drew together and she got to her feet. Ming came forward to deliver his next attack, but was quickly caught by surprise when Juli hurtled herself to him in a flying kick.

He fell back and got up just as her fist came to hit him. When she swung her fist to hit him again, he reacted much faster, moving to her side and socking her four times rapidly before she was pushed out of range. Juli spun around to hit him with her knuckles, but he barely managed to duck to the side, kicking out with his right foot.

Which connected to her knee.

Causing her left leg to collapse under her weight.

She braced herself on her right foot for a minute and moved away from him, limping on her left leg.

"That's enough," a voice from the judges' table called out.

Juli blinked. "What?"

"It's over now."

"No...it's not," Juli responded, narrowing her eyes.

"You're injured. There's no use in fighting anymore. We'll announce our decision at the end of today's matches," the judge said, ignoring the determined look on Juli's face.
 
 
 

~ Home plate, SBC Park – San Francisco, California
 

Riq paused to catch his breath. For the last five minutes, he and Birdie had exchanged hits and throws.

He was going to have to do something quick. His opponent certainly had no qualms about causing severe injury. And this was just a preliminary round.

Birdie reached out with his chain again to pull him close for another hit.

But Riq had another idea. He wasn't going to let him do that again.

Riq momentarily let himself get caught, and when he was close enough, sent a kick to Birdie's ribcage, spinning to deliver a kick with his opposite leg to Birdie's upper chest.

Immediately, Riq felt the chain loosen as Birdie coughed several times.

Birdie quickly decided that after Riq's latest move, the chain wasn't worth using anymore.

Back to basics.

When he caught his breath, Birdie swung his giant fist towards Riq's head. Riq immediately brought his arm in a block, took one step and brought his leg up to kick Birdie in the side.

Birdie saw the move and barely managed to move out of the way. While the foot hadn't connected at maximum impact, the hit was hard enough to make him grunt in pain. After Riq's multiple strikes earlier, he could feel parts of his torso already tightening in pain.

Riq didn't seem any better. He looked exhausted.

But Riq was determined. He had a job to do and part of it was winning.

Taking a deep breath, Riq came forward, prepared to hit Birdie multiple times if that's what it took to wear him down. When Birdie swung his fist at him again, Riq ducked out of the way, taking advantage of the opportunity of his opponent's momentum and moved in close. With each step he took, he struck his opponent multiple times at the head and torso before finishing with a kick that sent Birdie back a few feet.

Riq lowered his fists just as the judge called out, signaling that the match was over.
 
 
 

~ Left field, SBC Park – San Francisco, California
 

Aaron wasn't exactly sure how long he and Sodom had been fighting. But with each move that Sodom did that entertained the crowd, he did some weird...dance.

His opponent didn't strike him as a show boater. Looks can be deceiving, he guessed. Kind of like himself.

The last few minutes pretty much told him that Sodom was more of a mid-range person fighter...and his throws were pretty powerful. Aaron winced. He'd hit the floor quite a few times already. But he gave just as good as he got.

Sodom jumped in the air to attack. Aaron stepped away, reaching out with a punch. But Sodom was prepared and brought his arm up in a block, his other hand quickly dashing out to hit Aaron's midsection. Aaron deflected the attack with his forearm.

"Flash!"

Before Sodom could react, he was hit with multiple punches to the head and another hit to his midsection. He yelped in pain as Aaron's foot stomped hard on the toes of his split-toe socks, followed by knees to the torso.

And then he went flying, his back hitting the floor as Aaron jackknifed into the air.

Several moments passed as Sodom stayed on the ground.

"You okay over there?" Aaron asked over the sound of the crowd.

Sodom raised one hand and Aaron carefully made his way towards the right side of his body.

"That move deserves a victory dance," Sodom announced.

Aaron grinned.
 
 
 

~ Fighting arena, Hong Kong, China

Ming watched as Juli limped away from the fighting arena.

The judges had declared him the winner.

Juli was pretty good.

While Juli had argued against their decision, the judges stated that it was useless for her to fight. She even told them it would only take her another minute or two to walk off the sprain. But her speed wasn't the same and most of the well-trained fighters could tell.

With an angry glare, Juli had left the arena, with a promise that she wasn't done with him yet.

He had no doubt about that.

It was probably a good idea to tie up some loose ends before he left for Hawaii.

And he'd probably be better off finding a good place to hide until he left.
 
 
 

~ SBC Park – San Francisco, California
 

"That was pretty fun. Educational, too," Ken spoke up from beside her.

Victoria couldn't agree more. It had been a long day at the park. Sean's fight had been one of the last of the day. Unfortunately for him, his opponent had won by a few points.

It was the end of day one of the preliminaries. Several participants had won their ticket to Hawaii. Several more would be scheduled tomorrow.

Yet one person had lingered in her mind.

Riq.

What was he doing here?

A young man in his mid-twenties poked his head into the room. "Mr. Masters, the press would like to speak with you."

"Of course..." Ken grinned good-naturedly. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Duty calls?" Victoria concluded with a smile.

"That it does. And so does yours..." Ken reached into a backpack and handed her a familiar-looking envelope. "Give this to Sean...he's probably in the locker room. Tell him that we're all going out to eat. Eliza and Mel are craving Bubba Gump's at Pier 39. It's a family place. I'm all for fine dining, but Mel can't keep still..."

Victoria smiled at that. That saying from some song was true. Boys would be boys. "All right." She accepted the invitation and moved to exit.

She had to go through the winding hallways and doors of the park before she finally found her way to the hallway leading to the men's locker room, waiting outside as various press members interviewed other fighters on camera, while others furiously jotted down several notes.

Victoria squinted slightly as a cameraman aimed his light in her peripheral vision.

She moved to stand by the wall, trying to stay out of the way of camera crews and reporters alike. About ten minutes later, Sean emerged from the locker room dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, a blue backpack slung over one shoulder. He grinned as she waved him over.

"You did a great job," she said sincerely as he walked up.

He shrugged and said with a rueful smile, "Not enough to make it, though." He grimaced and dodged just in time as a cameraman nearly hit his head with the tripod he carried over his shoulder. "This place is crazy right now..."

"No kidding..." She pointed behind him so he could avoid another camera crew. "Ken said that we're meeting the others at Pier 39," Victoria informed him. "He's talking to the press right now...but he wanted me to give you this..." She produced an invitation from behind her back.

Sean stared at it for a few seconds. Then his eyes shot to hers. "You're kidding. I thought he didn't have any more to give."

Victoria giggled, extending the invitation towards him. "It looks real to me..."

"Oh, man, this is awesome!" Unable to contain his excitement, Sean jumped on the balls of his feet, raising both of his fists in the air and let out a loud cheer. "I'm going to Hawaii!!!! I'm going to Hawaiiiiiii!!!" He cheered again, not caring the dirty looks some reporters gave as they tried to conduct interviews.

Victoria was surprised when he snatched her in a bear hug and spun around once before he let her go to continue jumping and cheering. She grinned. Okay, she'll let him get away with that. Just today, since he had been playing the waiting game for a while. Probably since Ken began the official paperwork and marketing campaigns necessary to start the whole tournament thing.

"Excuse me, sir!" An Asian reporter rushed up, cameraman in tow. "You're Sean Matsuda, Ken Masters student. Do you have any thoughts on the preliminaries that you'd like to share?"

The young man blinked. "Uh...sure..."

Victoria respectfully moved away several feet as Sean thoughtfully answered the reporter's questions.

And she stopped short at the sight of her mentor standing several feet away. For a second, there seemed to be something in his eyes...relief? Happiness at seeing her?

Riq walked straight in her direction. And he sure didn't look happy anymore.

"Where have you been?" he inquired.

She almost flinched at his tone, instantly feeling an inch tall. Victoria shoved her hands in the back pockets of her flared jeans.

"I was visiting friends," she explained lightly.

"So you decided not to tell anyone where you were going," he concluded before shaking his head.

"I just had something I needed to take care of, and coming here was..." she trailed off, staring at him for a moment. "Why are you here?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Why are you here in the tournament? And how did you get here in the first place?" Victoria pressed.

He sighed, breaking eye contact as a reporter hustled by him. "I could ask you the same things."

Victoria looked away to study the reporters and cameramen before saying quietly, "I think I know who did it..."

"Who attacked the dojo, you mean."

She nodded once.

"And you think fighting in this tournament will solve that."

"I won't just sit and do nothing," she argued.

He was quiet for a few minutes.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked. Did he find out where she had gone? Had he come after her?

"He's in stable condition, last I heard," Riq said quietly.

She lowered her gaze for a moment, not missing his change in conversation. "That's great." But she had to admit, he'd flown a long way to tell her that. Somehow, she had the feeling that his decision to participate in the tournament was a recent thing. But why? She cleared her throat, hoping to try again. "I was planning to call once I got to Hawaii. But it looks like you're going, too. Any reason?"

Riq glanced at her for a few seconds before looking over her shoulder and speaking. "Your friend is waiting."

It took several things to register first. One, that he avoided answering her question. Again. Two...he had pretty much dismissed her. And three...what friend was he talking about??

Victoria glanced over her shoulder to see Sean leaning against the wall, spinning a small red, white and blue basketball on his right index finger. The reporter had apparently left to harass another fighter.

"Oh. He's the martial arts student of the family I'm staying with-"

"I'll see you in Hawaii," Riq cut her off and turned to walk away.

Victoria felt her shoulders sink slightly. The man was like a brick wall at times. Forcing a smile, she turned to Sean.

"Everything okay?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah..." she said quietly. Then she asked in a cheerful voice as much as she could, "So...you ready to go?"

"Yup!"
 
 
 

~ Fisherman's Wharf – San Francisco, California
 

Iwa Hoshi briefly studied her menu while sipping her glass of water. Her companion anxiously tapped his paw on the table.

"Doing that won't make the waitress come faster," Iwa stated.

Her companion made a squeaking sound in response. Iwa merely shook her head and was interrupted by the sound of her phone beeping. She picked up the device that indicated that data had been sent. She pushed several buttons and studied the information that had appeared. On display was a list of several who fought in the day's matches at SBC Park.

Her Master was always more than willing to add people to his organization.

There were a couple people who might be useful in some way or other.

Iwa skimmed the last names - Shuichi, Ko, Katsusaki, Edik. One of the Shadowlaw agents was in the middle of two tasks - recruiting more personnel for the organization...and people who would serve her Master's 'purpose'.

"Hmm. That's the most he finds in a day," Iwa said quietly. "Either he's getting lazy or people are a lot worthier these days...I wonder what kind of test he'll have in mind for them..."
 
 
 

~ A few days later...
 
 

~ Oahu, Hawaii, USA
 

Luke Blaze immediately surveyed the hotel once the van pulled up to the front, right near valet parking. Then he let out a whistle.

"It's a beautiful property," one of the other gentlemen spoke up. He was dark skinned, and spoke with an accent. Jamaican? He had worn a bright green shirt and dark blue denim shorts. On the ride to the hotel, he had been constantly speaking into his tape recorder. Luke assumed he was a journalist.

The van had picked up several people that had arrived from the airport.

Luke stepped outside, briefly thanking the driver who set his bag down at the curb.

Two men dressed in green and blue matching Hawaiian shirts, khaki pants, and white sneakers appeared, dragging a cart along with them.

"Checking in?" one of them asked.

He was Asian, and the nametag attached to his shirt had The Makai logo and in capital letters, 'Kane'.

"Yeah..."

"We'll take it from here, sir," the other one spoke up as they began to load luggage on the cart. "Erica, the event manager will meet you and the others and see that you're checked in."

"Thanks!" The lobby of the hotel was a partial open breezeway with tall palm trees.

"I love the bellman's outfits!" one of the young women spoke up as they entered the hotel.

When Luke turned to the voice of the owner, he couldn't help but stare slightly. She had short white hair, and was wearing a light gray crop top and khaki drawstring pants. She was attractive...and judging by her muscle tone...another fighter in the tournament.

He'd only taken one step in the hotel and things were already starting to look interesting.
 
 
 

A few more days later...
 
 

~ Oahu, Hawaii, USA
 
 

It was Saturday. Weekend. Thank goodness. The tournament wasn't set to start for at least another week or so. Which was fine with her. She still had to go over menu items with her event manager for the luau, which would be kicking off the main tournament.

After waiting for her Kona coffee to brew and pouring herself a cup, she made her way to the living room, seeing the patio door open. The beeping sound of an incoming fax caught her attention, and she walked over to the unit, skimming the information that had been sent over - a list of the competitors for the tournament. Taking the item with her, Meliza went outside and found Locke seated at the patio table overlooking the Pacific Ocean. From their vantage point, she could see the other islands in the distance.

The table had plates of eggs, sausage, SPAM, rice, mangoes, pineapples, sweet rolls, and two small carafes of orange juice and guava juice. She grinned. Hawaiian breakfast. Just like her grandmother on her mother's side would make it.

Her boyfriend was currently shuffling a deck of cards one-handed. It was a common ritual...whenever they had breakfast together...unless it was at a restaurant, he could be found playing with cards. She found it to be very cute. In a Locke sort of way. Which would be pretty difficult to explain to people who knew him. Cute didn't exactly classify anything he did.

She set her cup down on the table, pausing to rest one palm on his shoulder. "And the hand is?"

He dealt two cards and showed them to her. "Two aces." He began to shuffle the deck again while his other hand reached up to his shoulder to lightly squeeze her fingertips in greeting.

"Hmm. Not the highest hand in blackjack, but makes poker very interesting..." Meliza settled in the seat next to him and pushed her coffee cup in his direction. "Try this." At his curious look, she said, "Paradise in a cup."

Locke took her mug and took a small drink. "Hm. Not bad."

Meliza placed some food on her plate, noticing that Locke had switched shuffling hands, his other hand holding the Kona cup. The hand farthest from her.

"You can give that back anytime," she announced.

"I made breakfast, you bring me coffee. More than fair."

Meliza lifted her brows. "Throwing food on a frying pan doesn't make you a domestic god."

He merely drank her paradise in a cup before saying, "Remind me again how many times in the last twelve months you were in the kitchen when we were visiting each other."

Darn him. Ten freaking times he turned on a stove to make breakfast in the past. Besides...it wasn't as if pancakes, omelets, French toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and SPAM were that hard to make. Then she paused for a second. Goodness, most men were awful in the kitchen – there were quite a few of the population who couldn't even make instant ramen without it turning into a disaster. He had a lot of time on his hands to actually be comfortable around a stove. An attempt at normalcy is what he called it once. It also probably helped that he had friends who could cook.

Still, a part of her was curious to hear what her kitten heel would sound like if it hit his head. Or any part of his body for that matter. But knowing him, he'd either dodge it or catch it one-handed. So when she got up to walk away, she exaggerated the motion of her hips so that one bumped against the elbow of his shuffling hand, sending cards flying in all directions. She took small pleasure in the ever so little scowl that made an appearance on his face.

"I never got around to asking who's watching the shop while you're gone..." Meliza said once she settled back in her seat, a new coffee cup perched on the table as she placed a small portion of food in her mouth.

"Xia is on break from school for three weeks," he answered, referring to his assistant.

Though she knew that Locke was content with his business, there were a few times since they started dating that she'd catch him thinking a little too hard, see that distant look in his dark eyes. But she usually knew how to draw him back. Other times, she had to just leave him alone and let him settle it by himself.

He was odd like that. Around others he seemed grim, uncompromising and arrogant. But around her...she grimaced slightly...well, he was still those things, but there was a side of him that only she was privileged to see. She was happy to know that her impressions of him hadn't always been the correct ones. And as much as the independent side of her scoffed at his protectiveness, it was pretty flattering.

"Thought you might like to see the complete list of fighters..." Meliza handed him the sheet of paper. "See any more familiar names?"

He nodded once, glancing at her over the sheet of paper. "Are you planning on having me research fighters, too?"

"You read my mind," Meliza quipped with an easy smile.
 
 
 

~ Somewhere Over Waypoint Lima -
2243 hrs -
17 Mikes until Zero Hour –

Sergeant John Heagy checked over his equipment one last time out of sheer habit as he replayed his last meeting with Iwa Hoshi through his mind. He had been so foolish! Letting his emotions get the better of him like some rookie fresh out of boot. John frowned a little as his young age once again rushed into the front of his mind. Age didn't matter, it was his fighting abilities and skills that did.

The insertion was fairly routine. Airborne paradrop via C-130 Hercules cargo plane into unsecured territory? After landing he would be on his own without any fast movers prepped to launch, AC-130 Spectre gunships standing by, or AH-64 Apache helicopters waiting nearby. It would be up to him alone to secure his equipment and head to the rally point then establish commo with HQ.

A red light alerted Heagy to his jump time as he slowly stood up and shuffled to the ramp. The cool night air was refreshing after being stuffed on the plane for nearly 2 hours. A quick check of his watch revealed that the mission was a few minutes ahead of schedule. It shouldn't provide any problem on its own however. Taking one final breath, John kicked his equipment bag out then leapt from the rear of the C-130 and into the murky darkness.

The freefall was brief before his chute deployed and jerked Heagy to a slow decent. It was during his slow descent that he noticed his first sign of enemy sentries. A small controlled bonfire with at least two identifiable personnel just roughly 100 meters from his estimated LZ. There could easily be additional manpower hidden in the shadows or worse, enemy snipers.

John cursed to himself as he released his chute's harness and took a gamble of the soft sand breaking the remainder of his fall. Quickly rolling to a knee he drew his Beretta M9 and fitted it with its silencer. Advancing as quickly as stealth would allow, Heagy begin to size up his approach. He could confirm at least two more potential threats under an umbrella a few meters off from the first two.

'Sloppy positioning' Heagy thought to himself as he drew one of his stun grenades. 'The enemy teams are huddled too close together. One grenade should take out one team. I'm fairly sure I can gun down the second team. Hopefully there are no additional enemies nearby to assist them however.'

The stun grenade was thrown with great accuracy at the second team in the shadows, the resulting explosion and flash sent both flying to the ground hard. The larger of the two remaining enemies started to get up before John's round hit him twice in the torso before a third round to the center of the head dropped him like a stone.

John flinched as he realized the remaining person was a female and quickly holstered his pistol as she began to scream. Quickly reaching behind his back he instead drew a taser and fired. Two darts embedded themselves deeply into the female's arm but before she even had time to cry out in pain, high voltage electricity shot through her body and quickly rendered her unconscious.

Dropping the taser John quickly rolled to the side and drew his M9 once again, preparing for any counterattacks and praying that he wasn't being watched through the scope of a high powered rifle. Seeing no signs of retaliation, John holstered his weapon and began securing his equipment then securing his prisoners.

A deep frown formed over his features as he took in a few features of his sentries. Two were male while two were obviously female. The males were both wearing bright swimming trunks and a loose shirt. The females were likewise wearing a red bikini and a blue one piece respectively. It had proved wise that he used considerable restraint, using stun grenades and rubber rounds rather than frags. While they may have some rather nasty bruises, there should be no permanent or serious injuries.

His cell phone suddenly began to silently vibrate in his side pouch. When John read the caller ID he felt a few beads of cold sweat form across his brow. The name read SGT Sanderson. Slowly flipping open his cell phone and bringing it up, he swallowed loudly before he answered, "H-Heagy here."

"Guess who got promoted!? Me!? Say hello to your new 2nd Lieutenant." Erin's voice was clearly full of feminine glee on the other end.

"Roger. Excellent job... you've earned it Serg-... I mean... ma'am." John replied in a crisp and even tone.

"Geez... you don't got to sound overjoyed... so how is Hawaii? I hear you should be there by now. A good flight?"

"Affirmative. Tactical as ordered. The jump was smooth an-" John was interrupted before he could finish.

"Tactical!?? You BAKA! I said PRACTICAL ! I swear all you think about is war. Did any civilians see you?" Erin's tone was anything but cheerful now. Sweat begin to roll down Heagy's spine and forehead.

"Err... Negative...uh... targets were neutralized before I was identified. Umm.... I'd just like to say, ma'am.... that I used great restraint, using less than lethal force, ma'am."

"I had hoped to use this later... it was hard sneaking past your defenses... but I know your habits well. Sergeant Heagy... is your bag anywhere near you?"

When John affirmed that it was, Erin continued, "Good... Check where you were storing your 3 extra smoke grenades.... you see a small package?" Once again John replied that he had, "Good... now take it out... now sergeant." Her tone could've caused a lesser man to soil himself.

John removed the brick sized package and looked at the name stamped on the front, "Baka!" before his blood suddenly ran cold. That sense of danger that comes from moving near an IED or a landmine suddenly sent chills down his spine. There was a quiet beep before Erin spoke again, "Sorry John..." followed by an explosion.

By the time police arrived to the scene after reports of a loud explosion of some kind there were no signs of the culprit. None of the cops could figure out why the entire area was covered in bright pink dye. Likewise it was several days before the strong scent of feminine perfume finally dissipated.