Chapter One
It had been months since it happened. Yet this place still felt unfamiliar. A new place, a new building, a new city.
A new boss.
Shadaloo had been overtaken by the Mishima Zaibatsu in a coup. Though they had fought bravely, they were ultimately overtaken when Lord Bison dropped his weapon and surrendered to the forces of Heihachi Mishima.
It was unfeasible.
Sayaka Swano always knew how strong Lord Bison was, but for him to bow so easily to the Mishima...
Quietly, she began walking to her office, aware of the peering eyes of Lars Alexandersson. He was a member of the Tekken force, fighters, soldiers who serve Heihachi without question. Lars was their commander. She knew he was a dangerous man. She fought him in the room where Shadaloo's forces hid and protected the Psycho Power, the essence that kept Lord Bison alive. And the machines that assisted them.
Her room was the final line of defense and she was ready to fight to the death. Lars, too. Until, Heihachi entered the room.
She didn't remember much else that happened that night. But somehow, she was still standing, and now, a scientist under the Mishima banner.
"Following me again, are you, Alexandersson? You know one day that'll get you in lots of trouble." she said, her thick Swedish accent rushing through his ears. "I will continue to do so until you tell me everything you're up to." he replied.
A Swede Only In Name, she called him. Lars was actually the son of Heihachi, born from a one night stand with a Freja Alexandersson, a businesswoman from Stockholm. Heihachi had a contact in Sweden and once they met, Lars was born soon after. Ms. Alexandersson died at childbirth, leaving Lars to fend for himself at an orphanage.
And somehow, he became the battle hardened soldier that he was now.
"That's not your business. I am simply here to do the job I was tasked with. You should do the same. Follow me again, and I'll break both your legs and beat you with them." she snapped. Lars was taken aback by her threat, nearly jumping out of her skin at the coldness in her voice.
"Cold like the northern winds, my lady.." he said with a smile.
"Your Swedish analogy falls upon my deaf ears. You are a Swede in name only. Do not lie to me." she simply said, and closed the door in his face once she reached her office.
"I won't leave until you let me in." he said, pounding his fists against her door.
"Then I will call security. Go ahead and tell Heihachi why his bastard son is bothering his favorite worker." she replied. That made Lars freeze. "Fine. Have it your way, Princess." he said, spitting out the last word as he stomped away.
Sayaka crossed her arms and looked at the closed door, listening to Lars' fleeing steps. "That fool. We may have been overtaken by Shadaloo, but Heihachi is wrapped around my finger...if Lars insists, I'll simply kill him. As I meant to do back then." she said, watching as the Psycho Power swirled into flames around her palm.
"This power was meant to bring life to him, but it was trained to kill...I wonder what I could do with such a thing.."
Floors above, Dr. Fang, a disgraced scientist who found work again under Shadaloo had also been taken in the Mishima. An opportunist, he'd work wherever he could find it. Surrounded by his new team, he grabbed a clipboard and began walking into one of the bio labs.
At the end of the large room, there was a pod. And inside the pod, there was a body.
A man. Nude. He was unmoving thanks to all the wires and tubes around his pale skin. His eyes were closed from all the drugs, the large and deep scar trailing down his arm numb from the latest round.
"How is he?" Dr. Fang asked.
"Project NT01 is responding well enough, sir." a scientist replied to his superior. Dr. Fang nodded and looked up at the figure. "You poor child. You thought you could escape once, but not this time...if it is my job to turn you into a super soldier, then I will go through any and all avenues to assure its success..."
His smile was sick and sadistic, as he rose his hand against the pod's surface.
"You will not elude me this time. I have been given this project for a reason. I will succeed, I will make you into a soldier, and I'll be even better than Dr. Abel and his pathetic Project Fury."
And then he laughed.
As another shockwave ran through Project NT01's body..
Sayaka awoke with a jolt as her phone rang. It was 3am, who could possibly be calling her now?
She held her hand to her heart, trying to stop it from racing as she got out of bed and ran to her phone, only for the phone to stop ringing.
It was Lars.
"What the fuck...what does he want?" she yelled, ready to slam her phone to the opposing wall, only to stop once she realized that too much of her work was on it. With a sigh, she looked back down at the phone and pressed the re-dial. She only had Lars' number because they were co-workers, any other reason was irrelevant. Besides, she didn't like him.
"Lars." she snapped, annoyance in her voice at being woken up from a peaceful sleep.
"Sayaka..." he breathed into the phone. She froze at the hesitation and fear in his voice. Something was very wrong. The fact that a commander was calling her with such apprehension in his voice could only dictate that. "Lars. Say something. What's wrong?" she demanded. "I need you to come with me to the Mishima building. Something..I don't know what it is, something doesn't feel right." he finally replied after a few moments of silence.
"What do you mean? Aren't you a commander? Why do you need me?" she asked. "Because I may need backup and you're the strongest fighter I know." he replied,"please, just hurry. Meet me at UPenn's campus and we'll go in together. If we meet at the labs, it may be suspicious. Jin Kazama is still in there."
"And what makes me think this isn't a set-up..?" she snapped. "I wouldn't be so elaborate if it was. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." he replied smugly. "You'd be dead if I had my way, Alexandersson." she said, rolling her eyes as she got dressed, putting Lars on speaker phone.
As it was still fairly chilly out, she opted for a pair of black jeans and a black longsleeved shirt, along with a light purple jacket. "Fine. I'm on my way." she said in finality, hanging up on the man. Sayaka didn't even know why she was doing this. She didn't even know why Lars wanted her help. It didn't sound like a set-up, but she brought a knife with her anyway, just in case. Truly, Lars was wrong. He couldn't kill her. She could kill him if he tried. Foolish man...
Approaching Lars at the bridge to UPenn hovering over 32nd Street, she grabbed him and put him in an arm-lock, holding him against the fence. "Say something smart and I'll break this fence and drop your ass into traffic." "You...actually showed up. Thank you." he said. He knew to say such a thing would provoke the crazy woman, but she refrained from threatening him anymore. She grunted in response, holding her hands to her hips. "You're lucky I have off tomorrow morning. But, I was having a nice sleep."
"I apologise for disrupting it." he said simply. She took notice of the way his voice changed. All malice was gone from his tone. Instead, it was filled with concern. She only tilted her head in response. "What's wrong?" she asked. "My contact, Noct, is around here making sure no one can disrupt us." he replied, looking up at the sky. The sound of a helicopter flying nearby nearly made Lars jump out his skin. "What is that doing here?!" he shouted. "There's a children's hospital not too far from here. Maybe a dying child on that thing..." she said, watching as Lars' hand on his heart felt back against him.
"Now talk. Tell me what I got out of bed for. Tell me what the hell is so important that the commander of a highly trained team of soldiers needed the help of a woman like me." she added, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Illegal experiments are happening the very halls we venture." he said, looking deeply into her eyes. "Do you know the story of Nina Williams?" he asked. "Who?" she asked. "Nina Williams. The stone cold Irish assassin." he said. "No. What about her?" she asked. "There was a rumor that she was taken by the Mishima Zaibatsu and put into a cryosleep for 20 years following the second King Of The Iron Fist tournament...who knows what kind of things the Zaibatsu did to her." he replied.
Before she could reply, Lars continued.
"Do you know the story of NT01?" he asked,"the story of a young boy used as an experimental guinea pig?" She watched him closely. "Or..how about that dead cop in the basement?"
"Wait, slow down, Lars. What are you talking about?" she asked,"guinea pigs...and dead cops?" Her eyes narrowed in curiosity.
Lars kept pacing, then he stopped, and looked at Sayaka.
"We work in this building with all this going on! This is insanity! And this happening right under our noses!" he yelled, his voice suddenly increasing with every breath. "Stop! Listen to yourself, Lars. You're claiming all this stuff without any proof. Where's your sources, are you motivated by such heresy?" she snapped, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Sayaka...you don't believe me.." he said, his voice lowering to a calm.
"..."
"Your silence speaks volumes. What...exactly do you know?" he asked. "I am in the biomechanics lab. Anything else is outside my jurisdiction. But you'd have to be a damn fool to think Heihachi Mishima is innocent of any crimes. But...why the whole justice shtick, Lars? Do you think you're some hero who can stop it?" she replied.
"And are you an enabler?" he asked.
"Don't question me. You are the son of Heihachi. The child always carries the sin of the father. Your blood is just as guilty." she snapped. "And you pretend to be so innocent." he said coldly. "I never said I was." she growled,"but I know what it's like to be a fool. To challenge one. So, what are we waiting for? If you have something to show me, then show me. If not, you're wasting my time."
Lars looked at her with narrowed eyes.
She was as cold as the northern winds. Icy. Terrifying. No wonder Heihachi trusted her. Stone cold. Her eyes glared at him, steely and frozen.
"Do you even feel anything?" he asked.
"I feel annoyance." she growled in reply.
Before Lars could reply, his phone rang.
"Noct." he said, answering his phone. Sayaka crossed her arms and watched Lars pace back and forth, talking to this Noct person. His watch, the one who was to look out for bodyguards. She reached in her back pocket, her finger tracing the knife there, in case she had to use it. Lars Alexandersson could not be trusted. His sudden care, his sudden justice was nothing but a facade. He was as much an enabler as his father was.
Like father, like son.
"Sayaka. The coast is clear, I want you to-"
His command was cut silent by the sounds of sirens and alarms going off at the Mishima Building. A gasp, and Sayaka could hear all the commotion going on down the block. Instinctively, Lars jumped in front of Sayaka, despite them being blocks away from the commotion. Sayaka only glared at Lars, who quickly jumped away.
Lights shown into the sky, illuminating the area. Lars' phone rang, Noct was on the line, shouting,"There's been a breach at the Mishima Building! You two need to hide, and fast!" "Sayaka! Get out of here, go home, Noct and I will handle this!" he yelled. "Fine. But tell me what happened once this is all over." she said, looking at the lights, her head turning towards the sounds of shouting and sirens.
As she ran off the bridge further down Spruce Street, she tried to look conspicuous as what looked like an Interpol car zoomed past her. "Interpol..?" she questioned,"and what is going on at the building..?" Quietly, she walked down the street, stopping when she saw Dr. Fang hunched over in the sidewalk, holding his stomach as he vomited practically on his feet. "Fang!" she shouted, approaching him.
"Dr. Swano!" he yelled,"what the blazes are you doing out so late?" There were cops everywhere. By now, the area was blocked off by police tape, as all the scientists who were still in the building (and had ran outside) scrambled to find each other and huddle for safety. "What the hell happened?" she asked, helping the tall and lanky man to his feet. "There's been a breach..one of our projects..they escaped." he said, groaning as he was ready for another round of vomiting.
"Fang!" she yelled in shock, jumping away at the near projectile vomit. When he was finished, he received a towel and a bottle of water from a colleague. He thanked them, and then turned back to Sayaka. "I apologise. The man hit me so hard...I tried to stop him. But..his fists were so fast...like a professional boxer..." he groaned. She took notice of all his wounds; cracked or broken ribs, bruising in the facial structures, his jaw was nearly unhinged with dried blood crusted upon his nose, his left eye swollen to the point of closure..
"I...went in to check on him. And all of a sudden...he attacked. I didn't even see it coming. I had no chance against him." he said, sitting up on his knees.
Heihachi Mishima was already on the premises. He was speaking to Jin Kazama, his grandson. After checking up on him and the other scientists, he was taken aback in shock when he saw Sayaka. "Mr. Mishima." she said, giving a slight bow. "Ah...Dr. Swano. Glad to see you are unharmed in all this." he said, taking her hands into his.
"I missed the whole commotion. I only got here once it was over. But Dr. Fang let me in on everything." she replied. "Yes...one of our experiments escaped. NT01, I believe it was." Jin said.
Sayaka's heart skipped a beat at that name. That was the name Lars brought up...of course..it was possible that he was right. That mad experiments were happening in the labs. And now...one was on the loose. This could spell doom for the entire city. What did the Zaibatsu do to him? And what could he do the city? To its people? .
"We have no choice. We have to find him. Fast. He's dangerous, too dangerous to leave out here." Heihachi said. Sayaka was silent, listening in. Jin nodded. "You two go home. I will fix everything." he added, approaching Fang.
Jin looked at Sayaka shyly and awkwardly.
"I was finishing finances and then this happens..." he muttered.
"I'm leaving." she simply said.
Heihachi watched as the scene began to clear out. Soon enough, it was just him there, standing at the corner of 34th and Spruce. "My building was nearly destroyed tonight. My experiment escaped...a pest I should have swatted out 25 years ago...I will not let him destroy my hard work. Not this time."
Looking up at the stars, he growled and clenched his fists. "I will kill you, Lei Wulong. And then, I'll bring NT01 back. This city, and everything, belongs to me."
