Story Mode: Leo
Chapter One - Sing for Absolution
The sun was bright as it was high in the sky, the hour early but the heat not so. There was but a simple breeze to keep the weather from being impeccable that would occasionally turn to more than the soft brush of air against one's skin. The birds sang loud and clear, full of cheer as the spring settled in fully. There was a slight chill in the air due to the early hour, the smell of freshly cut grass and newly laid flowers filled the air only to cover the very faint scent of rotting skin and decaying matter.
It was annoying how the place Leo hated the most was the place that felt the most peaceful. This place with it's neatly cut grass and it's dizzying sense of remorse and loneliness, it was only making every fiber in his body ache with a pain that wouldn't disappear until he had his hands on Kazuya Mishima….his hands on the truth, on revenge.
Leo's father had been a spelunker, or rather, a cave enthusiast. He'd love the feeling of finding a dark cavern in which he did not know what was at the other end. Sadly, it was this that took him away from his young family. Though he'd left his wife and child with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, Leo's mother did not quit her job at G Corporation to raise the young child. Even so, Leo loved his mother with the utmost heart just as he had love his father.
Leo was raised practically by the 'help' in his estate and he didn't mind much. After all, it was he's dearest friend who had encouraged him to take up a martial art. And so, along side this dear friend, although different arts, Leo began to learn the ways of Bajíquán at the tender age of eight. He took ease to the art of Hakkyokuken and became very good at it; a good thing, for he would prove to need it.
Ten years later Leo received the terrifying and most unsettling news that his mother had been murdered. Enraged by sorrow, he made sure that the police did a full investigation only for the murder to be labeled 'Unsolved' after a span of four months. Furiously, Leo investigated with his own resources and will until one day, just before his nineteenth birthday, he'd caught news of G-Corporations 'hero' Kazuya Mishima. Further investigation would have it that he may have been involved in his mothers demise.
And now, as he knelt in front of his mothers grave, he vowed that he would not return until he'd had his revenge for his mothers death. He whispered one last prayer before rest a bouquet of flowers and standing up, a five-foot-nine blond with blue eyes, white skin and slightly feminine discomposure. He wore a black stretch-leather fit shirt with sleeves down to just below the elbow, with five buckles down the front; two atop the chest, three down the stomach. Atop that, he wore a white, red and black leather jacket unzipped with black and red fingerless gloves. He wore plain faded blue jeans that tucked into his brown boots with four buckles. His belt was a brown that matched his boots and the holster on his right leg that carried his 'slightly' old fashioned pistol. To top off his most comfortable outfit, he wore a red scarf around his neck; something that most of his staff would call 'a little too girly' for him. He didn't care.
He turned around with a confidence upon his face and in his eyes that only meant that his journey was about to begin. He walked from the cemetery and towards the black 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom that awaited him at the gate, catching a few stares from other people walking into the resting hall. He opened the round passenger door and took the seat, nodding to the drive beside him, "Let's go home, Rudolph."
"Of course, Sir." he answered in his awkward German accent before starting the engine and driving away from the somber place behind.
Leo was German born and raised, but preferred to speak in English, making his staff do the same. Though most of them could not pull off the American accent as Leo did, they obliged the young master by learning the language to it's fullest; if only out of respect for the boy.
As the Phantom I pulled up to the estate, Leo flashed Rudolph a smile, "Up and early, tomorrow." he nodded, "I'll need to be at the airport at three."
"You realize that I'll be up and about before you are even awoken, Sir?" he gave a soft smile, "After all, the Master is a stubborn as a mull in the morning hours."
"Yeah," he chuckled once, "but this time is different."
"Indeed…"
"Well," he opened the door and slipped out from the red leather black stitching seat, "See you, than." he closed the door and made for the large brown wooden front doors of the estate. He pushed the door open with ease before kicking it closed behind him as he pulled off his jacket and hung it on a poll. He looked towards the right where a young woman two years his senior walked out towards him, a tray of tea with her, "Thank you, Meena."
"You know, your flight is a whole day away, Leo, why not rest the rest of this day?" she handed him the cup of tea, "After all, I doubt you will be resting well for a long while."
"I might…or, I might get in a few hours of training." he took a sip of the tea, the taste sweet but not so sweet that it killed the taste of the blackberry tea.
"Mmm, if it's training you want, I'd be glad to help. Of course, we'd all be glad to help. Your mother did not hire trained help for nothing…some days, I wonder if she knew she was going to leave you."
"Some days, … so do I." he paused for a moment to wonder if his mother had known. If she had, couldn't she have prevented it? "Only god knows now." he took another swallow before placing the cup upon Meena's tray, "In any case, I'll take you up on that offer….you and Georg." he nodded, "And tell Georg to bring Gustav as well, the more variety the better."
"What time? Or do you insist on doing it now?"
"Now, of course! You know I'll eventually get bored and call on you anyway." he rolled his eyes before taking the tray from Meena and placing it on a stand not far away, "Someone else will clean it up, right now I need you to run and get Georg and Gustav!"
"Hmph, well then, impatient little boy, where do you want to play today?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Mmm…good question…" he tapped his chin in thought before snapping his fingers, a small grin on his face, "Northeast firing range." he walked towards a wall and leaned against it, tapping his phone, "Call me when you've gathered the boys. From that time, you'll have five minutes to get to the range. If I beat you, I'll dock an hours pay. An hour for every minute."
He could see the cold steal behind Meena's eyes when he mentioned the docking. The only thing that ever pissed this woman off that Leo did was dock her pay. He knew he might lose this race.
"Fine." was all she said before turning around and walking out the doors.
"Fine." he repeated before crossing his own arms. He looked at the very empty and very white hall he stood in. Other than a few stands, a couple of busts and some nice curtains, it looked very plain. He didn't mind, after all, he didn't feel that walking into a room full of jazz the moment he came home was very comforting. Of course, that didn't mean his home was boring, either. When he was little, he'd always had a field day just exploring the house and grounds. He knew all it's secrets now, and those secrets he would use to beat Meena and the boys once she called.
He didn't have to wait long. The moment the phone rang was almost exactly the moment it hung up and Leo was running down the left corridor towards a very old tapestry. He practically slid behind it and into the hidden door, not bothering to close it behind him as he sprinted down the dark and very turnable passage. He'd skid a few times until he reached the stairs and began running down a straight and narrow passages past other halls and sets of stairs, only turning left once. After two minutes he reached the set of stairs he wanted and upon climbing them and pushing out the trap door above, he found him self a few meters from the range. He almost toppled towards the gate and threw him self inside only to find the three others already there, waiting for him.
"H-how did you get here so fast!" he panted, supporting him self against the gate.
"Gustav was already at the range, so when Meena called you, you had already lost." Georg shrugged.
Leo looked in disbelief before giving a big sigh, lowering his head in utter defeat.
--
Leo sat up in his bed, sighing. He glanced at the clock, noting the time as one-fifty three in the morning. He rubbed his eyes before clumsily making his way to his closet, opening it and pulling out a large duffle bag. He should have packed yesterday so that he'd get an extra thirty minutes of sleep but he hadn't and so now he was wobbling around his room, looking for clothing, luxuries and papers such as his passport.
After about ten minutes of searching, he just picked up his cell phone and held down the one key. After a brief pause a very tired voice answered, "Halo?"
"Meena- have you seen my passport?" he replied in a just as tired voice.
He heard a groan, "What? Didn't you pack yesterday?"
"N-nein…"
"Leo….ugh, did you check your middle drawer?"
"I did already, twice…"
"Check again." she hung up.
With sluggish movements, he opened the drawer and began to toss papers out of it. After a moment, he picked up a small black book and rolled his eyes, tossing it into the duffle bag.
--
Leo sat in a hard chair in the airport, yawning as he waited for his flight to be called. It was marked as delayed and every time he looked at the bored, he cringed. It was almost noon, and the plane hadn't made it yet. His flight was supposed to leave at nine thirty, almost three hours ago. It was times like this he wished there were more one-stop flights.
Just as a woman's voice began to announce something in German, another woman came up to him with a smile, "Sir?" she asked in German.
"Mm, what?" he replied in his natural tongue.
"Your flight will be boarding in fifteen minutes." she nodded before walking away just as ten or fifteen people came out of a terminal.
Leo stood up and picked up his duffle bag before looking around at all of the Chinese people who had come from where ever their plane had been. He yawned again before he spotted a small old man having trouble getting his bag back. Stifling another yawn, he walked to the luggage bay and took hold of this man's bag, pulling it out swiftly and placing it on the floor, "There you go."
The man smiled up at him before speaking in his tongue, something Leo could not understand. He assumed he was thanking him from the small bows he gave and just smiled. He was about to walk away before the man grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. Leo turned around and gave the man a questioning look before the old man pointed at the tag on his own bag. Leo looked at it and saw that this man was also going to Japan.
"Oh. Ummm, you're going to Japan as well?" he asked before continuing, "Well, then…I guess I'll help you with your luggage." knowing this is what the man wanted.
Again, the man spoke in his tongue before leading Leo towards another luggage bay to drop his bag off, only a terminal away. Leo handed the bag over before walking with this man towards their plane dock, trying to tune out his constant foreign rambling.
--
It was ten in the morning when Leo had finally found him self at the address of where he was supposed to register for the tournament. He looked up at the stadium and began to feel nervous for the first time since he'd made up his mind to follow Kazuya Mishima into the tournament. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from the flight over or the fact that he had to escort the old man all over Japan until he found where he presumed a relative lived. And than, he had to find his own hotel which then took about an hour to check into. Than, his wake up call hadn't come and so he'd been too late to take the car to the stadium, so he had to manage to get there him self.
After all that, he stood in front of the glass doors holding his duffle bag over his left shoulder, wondering what would become of his life after he walked through those doors.
"First steps always the hardest."
Leo almost yelled when he heard a voice from behind him. He turned around quickly to see a somewhat taller white man smirking at him.
"Don't worry, kid. It get easier." he said before walking past him and into the stadium, each stride full of confidence.
From the sound of it, that man was British. He looked a little familiar but he couldn't tell from that small meeting for sure. Leo took a deep breath before nodding his head and licking his dry lips. He cleared his throat before voicing, "Don't worry Leo, you can do this…" aloud. With a shaky stance, he took the first step.
-Chapter Two - The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6-
"Welcome to the King of Iron Fist Tournament Six; Rookie Tekken Fighter Leo."
"Why, thank you." he said as he took the card in hand. "Through those doors, than?" he asked, pointing to the opposite set of doors. "I mean, there isn't any other way."