Chapter 1: After the Tournament Rewrite
The fourth King of the Iron Fist tournament had just come to a close. The atmosphere of the city was electric. No winner had been announced. Neither Heihachi nor the Mishima Zaibatsu had released any kind statement. People were taking any kind of rumor and passing it a long to the next person as fact. He had even heard that he had won at one point.
Hwoarang laughed at the thought. He never cared to ever try to win the actual tournament. There was only one thing he had wanted and he had come so close it had left a bad taste in his mouth. Now that tournament had ended he was sure he had missed his chance for now.
Hwoarang had been stuck in Japan ever since it all had ended. Having got into the country though illegal means meant that leaving would be hard. Catching a boat at the docks would be his best bet. Not that much of a risk. A large number of ships look for crewmembers that would work just for a passage. He could always just steal a boat or small yacht. Hwoarang laughed and wondered if there might be any Mishima boats that could use a new owner.
He had just been wandering the streets looking for something to do. Hwoarang was just looking for anything to pass the time until he could formulate a plan, finding Jin Kazama or leaving. He preferred the former but he'd take the latter.
Hwoarang caught his reflection in the glass window of the building he was walking by. His long red hair was gone what was left was a military crew cut. Grabbing the motorcycle goggles off the top of head and letting them fall around his neck while running his hand though his hair he sighed. He really did miss having longer hair.
With the Korean military still after him he couldn't go back. He didn't know what he was thinking. Leaving and then joining a highly publicized tournament was already one of his worst decisions in recent memory. Now he was thinking about going back where he would be charged with desertion and possibly with treason. Worse then any of those reasons was the fact that there were no challenges there for him. There were no rivals; there was nothing left in the military for him. But Korea was home and he missed it.
He continued down the street while thinking about the fight with Kazama in the parking garage. Right before the end of the tournament though what seemed like dumb luck he had found Jin. He was confident that he would have won if the military had not have showed up. He had to fight Kazama again. It was the only thing he had left. The desire he had to beat him was like a sickness. It was an uneasy feeling that ate away at him from the bottom of his stomach.
Once he beat Kazama the Korean government could have him for all he cared. The only problem is that Kazama disappeared after the tournament just like last time. Hwoarang walked with his head down deep in thought when he turned the corner of the block he was walking.
Not paying attention he failed to notice the person who was trying to get around him. With a thud he slammed into her. Hwoarang took a step back in surprise. Who ever he had bumped in to had been knocked to the ground. He looked down and saw a brown-headed girl sitting on the sidewalk.
"Hey!" She winced as she sat on the sidewalk. He extended a hand towards her. The girl grabbed a hold of his hand and he pulled her to her feet.
"Sorry but you should probably watch where you're going." was all Hwoarang said as he continued past the girl.
He thought she looked out of place here. She was American or European; he didn't know and he really couldn't tell the difference between the two and really didn't care. Well at least he had bumped into someone that he considered attractive he thought. Probably would have talked to her in a different situation. She was familiar though he knew her from somewhere.
"Well that was rude." Julia said causally to herself as she dusted her pants off.
Julia watched him as he walked away. She had seen him before, she just couldn't remember where. The tournament she thought, he had fought in the tournament. She tried to think of what his name was. She looked at him and thought that he looked so much different then anyone she had ever seen before. His red hair made him stick out from everyone else. She remembered that she had been around him once before and one word came to mind: arrogant. Suddenly she heard someone yell behind her.
"Hold it right there!" A man in full combat gear including a rifle shouted. She turned and looked around to see the red headed boy had taken off into a sprint. She turned back around to where the man who had shouted was. As she turned she was shoved and was knocked to the ground as several men dressed in the same gear ran past her.
"Hey!" She shouted but was ignored as they ran after the red headed boy. She picked herself off the ground. She thought about following them but she thought it was none of her business.
Julia started down the street in the opposite way that the men had gone. She stopped and then she spun around and took off running after them. She had to know what was going on. They didn't look like the police or the Japanese military and with the Zaibatsu's Tekken Force around you could never be sure of military types.
Hwoarang ran down the street. He turned down an alley and ran down it. He ran though the alley until he came to a dead end. Hwoarang spun around looking for anything a door, ladder, anything he could use to escape. He searched for a fire escape anything he could use to get away, nothing.
"Shit." He mumbled to himself.
"Stop right there we have you cornered!" One of men shouted. Hwoarang turned and faced him. There were eight in all. He had wanted to avoid a confrontation but now it didn't look like he had a choice. Hwoarang thought to himself that this shouldn't be too hard just follow one rule 'Don't get shot.'
"So what's going on guys?" he asked them as he gave them a sly smile.
"You are to be arrested for desertion!" One shouted at him.
"I've heard it all before." He said as he raised his arms in the air. One of them slowly stepped closer to handcuff him
Hwoarang suddenly side kicked the soldier in the stomach. He jumped into the air kicking another in the chest. He spun around and kicked another in the face. Hwoarang landed as a soldier threw a punch at him. Hwoarang slid to the side and roundhouse kicked him in the stomach cause him to double over. He then spun around and hook kicked him in the back of the head sending him sliding forward.
Another solider tried to punch him but he grabbed the soldier's arm and then elbowed him in the side. Hwoarang spun towards him and then flipped him over his shoulder. A soldier ran at Hwoarang and tried to roundhouse kick him in the face. Hwoarang blocked the kick with his forearms. Taking a few steps back Hwoarang created some distance between himself and the soldiers.
Hwoarang bounced on the balls of his feet and waited. The remaining soldiers seemed weary of attacking him now. One finally stepped towards him. Hwoarang lunged forward scaring the man into flinching.
Hwoarang smiled and laughed as he closed the gap and attacked. He nailed the soldier in the face with a jab. The solder tried to attack him with a cross punch but Hwoarang leaned back and to the side and the punch went over him. Hwoarang hit the soldier in the face with a jab again then a hook punch. Hwoarang rotating on the ball of one of his feet back kicked the soldier in the chest sending him flying against the wall.
Suddenly Hwoarang heard a gun shot. He felt an extreme burning sensation in his thigh. He looked down at his leg to see his jeans darkening quickly.
"Well I messed that one up." Hwoarang grimaced as he clutched at his leg. The bullet had just skimmed the outside of his thigh but the wound was still was extremely painful.
He turned around the best he could to see the remaining soldiers standing there with their rifles pointed at him. He tried to take a step forward but suddenly one of their rifles went off hitting him in the arm grazing him. Hwoarang fell down onto the ground grabbing his arm.
Getting shot didn't really feel all that great he thought. One soldier closed the gap between them. Smacking him in the face with the rifle's butt he sent Hwoarang backwards to ground. He tried sitting up but met with a sharp kick to the ribs. The other soldiers around him were starting to get up.
"Oh ok so this is bad." He coughed. An angry soldier grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up slightly. Hwoarang smiled at him.
"You little punk!" He yelled drawing his fist back. The punch stuck Hwoarang's face sending back to the ground. He tried getting back up but only received a boot to the face for his trouble.
The best he could do now was to raise his head. He was starting to lose consciousness. He could barely see because his vision had become extremely fuzzy. He looked around best he could. He was taken back when he thought he saw the girl from the street standing behind the soldiers.
"What? Get him! Her too!"
Hwoarang heard the shouting but couldn't react when another smack from a rifle butt rendered him unconscious.
