Chapter One – The Same Fates
On a highway that led past the DoA Tec building, a young man had orange hair that was pushed back behind the goggles he wore on his head, and was driving his motorcycle. He looked to the building and noticed multiple explosions coming from inside it.
Inside the DoA Tec building, two kunoichi were locked in fierce combat. Ayane, the female tengu with purple hair, pink eyes, and a ninja mask strapped to the hip of her ninja outfit was making effective use of the jutsu from her home clan of the Mugen Tenshin Village. Kasumi, the female tengu's older and kinder sister, had a long orange ponytail and large soft brown eyes. She was on the defensive and was getting cornered more by the second.
"Kasumi, just give up and let me end this!" Ayane growled as she chased after her sister.
"No, Ayane… I won't let you. I have to see Big Brother one more time. He'll understand why I did what I did." Kasumi protested in her soft and calm voice. She had just stopped at a window and turned to face her sister once again.
"The Master has no need to talk to a traitorous bitch like you! Be gone!" Ayane yelled and sent a purple burst of lightning at the elder sister.
Kasumi was caught off guard, and thus, she was sent flying through the window, and rendered unconscious. Ayane gave a satisfied smirk at what she'd just accomplished, but was not aware of the other pair of sisters battling in the vicinity.
Nina Williams, a woman who could best be described as a heartless version of pop singer Britney Spears, was dressed in her usual assassin attire, and held a rocket launcher over a stair railing, aiming at her sister, Anna.
Anna Williams was a busty figured woman who had healthy brown hair in a short bob cut style, her eyes were a crystalline blue color and she could use her charms on nearly any man to get what she'd wanted. She was in her usual silk red dress, and she held a bazooka up at her sister and grinned evilly.
The two sisters shot off missiles at each other at the exact same time, and both missiles exploded on contact, sending each sister in a different direction. Anna had flown toward Ayane, while Nina had been sent up further into the building. When Ayane has realized what was going on, it had been too late. She was knocked unconscious from the rate of impact that Anna had gained from the nearby explosion.
On top of the DoA Tec Building, Christie, a British woman with short white hair and cold grey eyes was on the helipad at the top of the building, which wasn't that far from where the two pairs of sisters had just been fighting. She'd heard the explosions, and was certain that no one knew where her employer was going off to; however, a black haired male had just approached her.
"I'll be your new employer, and I'll make this brief."
Christie turned and gave a hard glare, sizing up the man in the black leather suit before her. "Who are you?"
"Jin Kazama. I need you to join my army for a short while. Your partner will be Nina Williams. She's somewhere in this building as we speak, so be quick. She'll bring you to my office after that. The trigger word for her is 'dagger'." Jin stated and rode off into another helicopter.
As the helicopter began to rise, Jin pulled out a walkie-talkie and gave a call to Nina. "Fall back. I need you alive. Head to the roof and meet your new ally."
A strained voice replied on the other end, "Understood, sir."
Jin looked away for a moment and spotted his old rival, Hwoarang, riding his motorcycle, and in Hwoarang's arms was an unconscious Kasumi. Jin gave a dark grin as his helicopter flew off into the raining night.
Meanwhile, in the building, which had just caught fire, Anna stood weakly, gripping her face with one hand and gripping a part of her waist with the other, and noticed the kunoichi that she'd just knocked out. "Oh my… Looks like I'll be babysitting again…"
Anna hauled Ayane's body away with relative ease, given the two of them were of similar figures. Anna had made her way to a sports car and zoomed off in the direction opposite of where Hwoarang had headed.
Nina, however, was greeted by Christie, and when Nina looked up, the white haired assassin held her hand out and said, "Dagger." Nina nodded and took Christie's hand and headed out a secret compartment of the building via a spy jet.
The next day, Anna had been in her home taking care of the injuries that Ayane had sustained from Kasumi, which were a lot, and most of them were cuts and slashes. Anna's home was a large, almost mansion sized place with a multitude of rooms. Anna had once lived in this house by herself, but one of her prior engagements with Nina had almost resulted in her death and she was saved by a young man who just happened to have a crush on her.
The young man was a student of Tae Kwon Do, and he was 19 years old. He was believed to be Japanese due to his last name, Natsumoto, but he clearly looked like an American. He was a brown skinned male with red eyes, that most believed to be contacts, and red hair, which most people believed that he'd dyed.
Anna was very fond of the boy after he'd nearly died trying to protect her, so she felt indebted to him, and she'd offered him a place in her home. They'd lived together since.
"Anna, who's this?" The young man asked as he entered Anna's bedroom with some gauze and medical tape.
"I dunno, but I know she was around doing some fighting in that building I infiltrated last night…" Anna gave a shrug and removed the clothing from Ayane's body.
"Hm, so did you find Nina?" The young man asked and studied the figure of the violet haired kunoichi before him.
"Yes, and like always, she finds a way to chicken out of a gunfight. Such a disappointment, really…" Anna sighed and wrapped a roll of gauze on Ayane's left bicep.
"That's unfortunate…" The young man added, and then proceeded to apply alcohol to the cuts on Ayane's right half.
At the touch of the alcohol, Ayane winced a bit, and slowly opened her eyes. "Ooh, what the…? Where… am I?" She only managed to turn her head, and with her vision blurred, she couldn't see much.
"Just rest there sweetie, we'll be done taking care of these injuries in a moment." Anna smiled and gave Ayane a soft pat on her forehead, and Ayane lay down again.
After an hour, the two, Anna and her boyfriend, finished tending to Ayane's wounds.
"Well, how do you feel now?" Anna asked; her smile was apparent again.
"Ugh, I feel better than I did when I woke up…" Ayane gripped her head and looked around, "Who the hell're you two and where the hell are we?"
Anna gave a soft, yet perverted sounding laugh, "My name is Anna," Anna gestured to herself and slid her hand down the side of her silk red dress, "and he's Zell." Anna gestured to the brown young male beside her, "He helped me treat those nasty injuries of yours…" Anna waved her index finger at Ayane with this statement.
Ayane gave a half interested shrug, "Well thanks, I guess, but that still leaves my second question unanswered. Where are we?" Ayane looked around the room with an agitated look on her face.
"You're in Lady Anna's sleeping quarters, and you'll be more respectful to the one who saved you from bleeding to death you idiotic little girl." Zell growled pointedly and got into Ayane's face to establish the respect factor.
"Yeah, whatever human torch. Where's my equipment and why the hell am I dressed like a nurse?" Ayane waved Zell off, in a feeble attempt to hide her gratefulness, and looked down to see that she was in a thigh length white button up blouse and a pair of fitted silk pants to match.
"Those dangerous toys you were carrying are put away safely. You can get them when you recover, and that's the only pair of pajamas that I have that fit you, little girl." Anna answered the question and folded her arms.
"Zell, can you show the little kunoichi around for me? I've got to get my next briefing." Anna walked out of the room and headed elsewhere.
"Hmph, it's not like I got anything better to do, right?" Zell crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame. It was at this point that Ayane noticed how slim the boy's build was. He had a nice amount of muscle, but it was apparent that he wasn't a body builder or wrestler. She also noticed that he was taller than both her and Anna, by about three or four inches.
Zell turned his gaze to the kunoichi and she blushed and looked away. "Are you gonna get up now or not?" Zell's tone made it obvious that he wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, especially after that little joke.
"Well, I don't think I'll just be able to hop on out of the damned bed and walk right to you, you know?" Ayane folded her arms and continued to stare at the dresser to her left, which held a picture of Anna with Zell on it.
The photo looked casual; Anna was in a vest and skirt, while Zell was in a jacket and carpenter's jeans. The two were in a nice comfortable hug position, Anna had her arms around Zell's neck and they both were smiling. Judging by the small difference in height, Ayane thought that Anna was wearing high heels when the picture was taken. She looked jealous for a second as she recalled at one point actually wanting someone to do things like that with her.
When she'd snapped herself out of her mind's recollection, Zell had left. So Ayane decided to get out of the bed, or at least give it a try, but when she stood up, the room spun and she passed out again on the bed.
Around the same time, in Baek's Dojo, Hwoarang was in his training Gi, and bowed before his master, Baek Doo San. Baek is a 48 year old Tae Kwon Do master, and is like a father to Hwoarang. Baek donned his own training Gi as well when Hwoarang returned once again.
"Master, please, can she stay with you? The people in my apartment threatened to evict me if they saw her again…" Hwoarang asked pleadingly, something that never happened unless it was regarding his training.
"Hmm…" Baek inspected the wounded body of Kasumi, and he'd noticed that her body crackled with purple electricity at random intervals.
"Well, master? Can we do anything?" Hwoarang asked, his tone growing more and more nervous with each word.
"I'll go find Jun. She should be able to help us." Baek stated calmly and left the dojo once again.
Hwoarang sighed and sat beside the orange haired kunoichi, "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything sooner…" he placed his right hand gently on Kasumi's forehead, but moved it shortly afterward.
In the city, Baek looked for a woman with short black hair and a white headband. Her name was Jun Kazama, and she was the other person that Hwoarang had come across. She was also a participant of the second King of Iron Fist Tournament along with Baek, so they had already been familiars.
"Ah, Baek, How may I help you?" Jun called out over the busy street, waving her hand for the old master to see.
"Hello Jun. I've come to request your assistance in the dojo. I hope you have the time. It's rather urgent." Baek replied with a gentle smile that mimicked that of Jun's.
"Oh, well yes of course I can come. What seems to be the trouble? Did Hwoarnag get an injury again?" Jun asked as she walked beside Baek, she looked like a young schoolgirl and not like she would have given birth to one who was bent on destroying the world, or a person who would date a devil.
"Not exactly, but he did assist a young female. She's the one with the injuries, and I doubt that we'll be able to take her to a hospital… I don't have enough money to pay for her to stay."
"Fear not friend. I'll take care of it. Now, what of these injuries you spoke of?"
"Well, she had purple electricity surging through her, not to mention that she was covered in slashes and cuts from head to toe…"
"Ah, say no more. Let me see for myself." Jun stated with another smile as she entered Baek's Dojo.
Kasumi's eyes fluttered open and closed as Jun was healing her, which was a sign of her recovery. Hwoarang stood over the kunoichi and as her eyes began to focus, she called to him. "H-Hayate? Is that you?"
Hwoarang looked baffled at what he was just called. "Who?"
Kasumi wiped her eyes and sat up, and was greeted by Baek, Jun, and Hwoarang.
Baek extended his hand first. "I am Baek Doo San, the master of this dojo. What shall I call you?"
Kasumi looked at Baek's hand before she extended her own to reach his, "I am Kasumi, formerly of the Mugen Tenshin Village…"
"I'm Jun Kazama. Nice to meet you Kasumi." Jun flashed a kind smile to the wary nuke-nin.
"Th-the pleasure's all mine… really." Kasumi replied a bit bashfully, she was not sure how to act around the three, for she hadn't known kindness for two years.
Hwoarang stepped to Kasumi, crouching to get eye level with her and he looked her square in the eyes. "My name's Hwoarang. Not Hayate. Get it?" He pointed to his face to emphasize his point.
Kasumi bowed frantically. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, please, forgive me. I-it's just that you look so much like my big brother…" hoping not to have offended the Tae Kwon Do student.
Hwoarang was taken aback by the sudden apology, "Whoa, relax. It's not that serious. I just don't want you confusing me for someone I'm not. Besides, if you have a brother, then why wasn't he protecting you?"
Kasumi held her hand to her chest, the way she would when she was nervous or afraid, "I… I ran away from my village, and I was disowned… Now there are a lot of mean ninja coming to kill me…" She looked at the mats on the floor of the dojo as she spoke, and tears entered her eyes.
"Whoa, chill out. Don't start crying… I didn't mean to stir up bad memories… jeez." Hwoarang scratched the back of his head nervously and rolled his eyes, and then stopped the ex-kunoichi from elaborating any further, and hoped she wouldn't start bawling on the spot.
Jun and Baek both crouched down and looked Kasumi in her eyes, "Well would you feel better about explaining after you got cleaned up?"
Kasumi was confused at what the two elders meant until she looked at her clothing. It was ripped and torn in many places, some of the tears in the fabric also revealed more than she'd liked. "Yes please, but what do you have that would be appropriate?" The nuke-nin blushed a bit.
"Here, it's a training Gi. Perhaps while you're here, you'd like to spar with my son and myself." Baek tossed a burgundy colored gi at Kasumi and gestured to the rear of the dojo.
"Thank you and I'd like to stay only for a small bit of time. I don't wish to burden you…"
Baek waved off some of the comment, "Nonsense! You'd be fine here for a while. No harm at all."
Kasumi smiled warmly and bowed before taking off in the direction of the restrooms to change.