Part 3: The Return
I recieved a telegram from Boskonovitch two years later.
"Nina -
Too bad you couldn't win the first time, but no matter. See you soon!
Love, Dr. B"
"Love?" Whatever. I tossed it aside, because I had bigger things on my mind. Michelle Chang had
called me up earlier that week to tell me what had happened: Heihachi had lived! I couldn't
believe it at first, but she told me the whole story. The final match of the last tournament
was, to no one's surprise, between father and son, Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima. Heihachi was
dropped from a cliff after his defeat and left for dead by everyone, even his own forces. After
all, Kazuya was now the head of the MFE. But, somehow, he survived the fall and vowed to seek
revenge on his son. Despite being stripped of his status in the MFE, he still found the resources
to organize a second tournament - and another chance to finally destroy his son. Soon after I
recieved an invitiation to the tournament - as did Anna.
We were set to leave when the phone rang. It was Phoenix, asking if his "favorite Irish lass"
was going to be there. I let Anna deal with him. It was funny hearing them talk, but at times
I couldn't tell if she was leading him on or if she was serious. At any rate, she told me what
Paul told her when we were on the plane. Apparently, Kazuya had developed some sort of extreme,
uncontrollable aggression disorder, something almost...evil. It didn't matter, because this
time Anna and I were there together. I would have someone on my side, and she wouldn't feel
bad about herself for not being invited.
The plane landed and both of us were scheduled to fight later that day. I checked in with
Mishima organizers and started my warm-up. Anna, on the other hand, was out on the town
shopping. She missed her first fight, and instead had to fight matches against other
late entrants - a nice man named Baek, and some guy named Bruce. On top of that, she came in to
these battles in a red evening gown she bought just a few hours before. Not that she didn't
hold her own, mind you. In fact, she was doing quite well until she went up against me. And,
just as when we were younger, I came out victorious.
That night, when we were out having dinner at one of Tokyo's finer restaurants (compliments of
the tournament's wealthy sponsor), Anna and I were talking about the tournament. I was
saying something about how good it was going to feel to defeat Phoenix the next morning, when
things turned sour.
"Nina, how could you?"
"How could I what?"
"How could you embarass me like that?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"First you tried to kill me in our fight, then you took that picture of me coming out of the
shower!"
"Anna, the picture was just a joke, don't worry, there's -"
"You made copies didn't you? You were passing them around, weren't you? That's just like
you, always making me look bad so you can be number one for everyone else!"
"What are you talk-"
"No, you know it's true, you've been doing this ever since dad died, just because you don't have
anyone to show off to anymore!"
"Showing off, what are you talking about?"
"Ever since...ever since we were young, it wasn't enough for you to be the best, you also had
to make sure that everyone knows it, you've always been so petty, you've always been such a
bitch!"
"You're just jealous is all, Anna. All you were ever good at was giggling and being a whore,
you just wish you could do something right!"
"Whore? Whore? Is that all you can say? I think you're just mad, Nina, because you can't face
hearing the truth about yourself!"
We were both extremely loud by now, and Anna ran off with tears in her eyes. I just sat there
confused, feeling very angry at Anna, but also kind of sad...Anna was my best friend, after
all. But how could she have said those things? I couldn't believe it, and I was not going to
let her forget it. Paul came over to the table and put his arms around me asking if I was
alright, that he saw what happened and felt bad for me. I pushed him off of me and gave him
a swift kick to the groin and left (it made me wish I had thought of that move sooner).
I was so upset that I couldn't finish the tournament. All I could think of was how much Anna
had taken a turn for the worse. When I returned home, I found that she had moved out. Good, I
thought, maybe now I can get a little peace.
I didn't see her for a few days. It was my father's birthday, and I was at the cemetery paying
my respects. I had brought a lovely bouquet of flowers to decorate the headstone. I wanted to
show him how far I'd come, but I knew that I never could...what I felt was just beyond words.
I wanted to tell him about everything, about Anna, about Heihachi. I remembered what he used to
say to us when we fought as children, he'd say "Be nice to each other, because some day you'll
each be all the other has." And then I heard the sound of heels. Anna! I drew a pistol, but she
talked me out of it. She had tears in her eyes. "No," she pleaded, "not here, not in front of
dad." Very well, I thought, I can wait. I walked out of the cemetery and that was the last I
saw of Anna for a long time.
Part 4...