A/N : This story takes place two months after CURSED BLOOD and will be published twice a month, every two weeks.
A big thank you to my lovely friend TheoreticallyEva for proofreading my work and making it better! Go check her stories, she's a gifted writer!
Disclaimer: I owe nothing
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PROLOGUE
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Hwoarang narrowly dodged a tazer that was aimed at his stomach and made his opponent bite the dust with a swift kick.
He turned and saw that Lars was about to get hit from behind by a soldier of the Tekken Forces. Quick as a flash, he grabbed the tazer and sent a shock to the man, who collapsed with a scream. Lars turned around, noticed the man on the ground, and glanced at his companion.
"Thanks," he panted, throwing his opponent against a wall.
"You're welcome!" Hwoarang said as he pounced on a soldier. "Just out of curiosity, didn't you say that this place was safe?"
"I guess my source was not as reliable as I thought!"
"Just my luck!" Hwoarang swore as he stooped to avoid a right hook that could have hurt him terribly.
"Stop complaining! You need to get back in shape anyway!"
"You son of a..."
BOOM!
One wall of the shed in which they were fighting exploded in a deafening roar. They avoided getting smashed thanks to Lars's reflexes as he pulled them into a corner. A huge Jack rushed into the breach he had just created and charged them with breathtaking speed. The two men rolled out of the way, and the robot crashed into a wall, making the ground shake. Ceiling swathes began to collapse, and Lars quickly put Hwoarang on his feet.
"Quick! We must get out before the building crumbles!"
But the Jack had other plans...
He grabbed Lars by the leg and violently threw him against a wall, knocking him out. Hwoarang grabbed a gun that was lying on the ground and fired on the robot with a long, Rambo-like yell. When he ran out of bullets, the Jack straightened up, unharmed, and marched on him menacingly.
"Oh-oh..." said the Korean, stooping in time to avoid the massive fist that was aimed at his face.
He swiftly bypassed the robot and sent him a burst of kicks in the back, pinning him to the ground. A huge concrete block then fell from the ceiling and crushed the robot in a cloud of dust.
"Perfect timing!" exclaimed Hwoarang as he rushed to Lars, who had a bloody nose and was still groggy.
He lifted him on his legs, put his arm around his shoulders and struggled to pull him toward the exit.
"Dammit, you need to lay off the McDonald's, bro! You weigh as much as the fatso Ganryu!"
The Jack appeared before them without warning and raised his two huge fists to crush them. The sound of a blade sliced through the air, and the robot was cut in pieces that fell on the ground, creating a thick cloud of dust. When it cleared, Raven stood before them, putting his daggers back into their sheaths.
"Give him to me," said the latter, pointing at Lars.
Hwoarang obeyed without hesitation. Raven took the unconscious man on his back and ran out of the building, which collapsed a few seconds later. The ninja lay Lars on the back seat of his car and climbed behind the wheel, while Hwoarang jumped next to him.
"What the hell was this ambush?" he yelled. "And why the hell are you here?!"
"I set up the meeting," the ninja said in his deep and impassive voice, taking the direction of the city.
"In a hangar full of soldiers from the freaking Tekken Forces?!"
"I did not plan on anyone cracking the security codes of our messages and ambushing us..."
Hwoarang sighed heavily and turned to see how Lars was. He was slowing regaining consciousness but still looked banged up.
"There's a first aid kit in the glove box," the ninja said.
His companion took the hint and grabbed the kit before contorting with lots of swearing to reach the back seat. He straightened Lars up and cleaned the blood that was smearing his face before disinfecting the wound on his forehead and applying a Band-Aid.
The wounded man emerged a few minutes later from his semi-coma and spoke.
"Hwoarang, what happened?"
"Let's say that the Jack made you physically aware of little he liked you," he answered with a smirk, "but Super Ninja dealt with him."
Lars then noticed that Raven was driving.
"What are you doing here?"
"I set up the meeting," he repeated with annoyance.
"What? But why did you..."
"Jin Kazama is alive," Raven cut him off.
There was silence for a few seconds, and he resisted the urge to laugh at their stunned faces in the mirror.
"What?!" Hwoarang exclaimed.
"How is that possible?" Lars protested. "I saw him disappear with my own eyes!"
"He was found inanimate in the Egyptian desert, near the Sudanese border, a few weeks after the events."
"But where is he?" Hwoarang asked.
"We were attacked during the repatriation of his body. A group of armed mercenaries decimated my team and took him away. Impossible to know who they were. They were neither Americans nor Russians, because both countries are still looking for him. It was not Kazuya, either."
"And Heihachi?" Lars asked.
"It's been two months since he disappeared without a trace."
"I'm sure that bastard is waiting for the right time to get out of his hole!"
"I'm sure he is, but in the meantime, he cannot be found, and I doubt he was the cause of this chaos. Kazuya is the head of the Zaibatsu and the only one who has the resources to hire those kinds of mercenaries."
Lars sighed deeply as he ran a tired hand through his face.
"So, Jin is alive, somewhere in the world, but no one knows where?"
Raven nodded.
"But Kazuya must have heard about it!"
"Certainly."
"Hwoarang, you must contact Xiaoyu immediately!"
"What? No way! I won't give her false hopes after what she's been through!" Hwoarang angrily protested. "We don't even know if he's alive!"
"You don't understand! It's Kazuya! Knowing him, he's going to use her as a means of pressure if we ever find Jin!"
Suddenly alarmed, Hwoarang took out his cell phone and was about to dial the young woman's number.
"No, take mine! You may already be wiretapped!"
"But she might be, too!"
"Then don't give her any clear indication! Stay vague so that they cannot find you!"
Hwoarang took Lars's phone, heart pounding, dialed Xiaoyu's number, put the speaker on, and waited.
She picked up at the end of the fourth ring.
"Hello?" she said in a suspicious voice.
"Hey, hi, Xiao! Listen, I think you recognized the sound of my voice, but don't pronounce my name! Let's say that I'm in deep trouble right now, and I have to be extra careful. Only answer me with yes or no, okay?"
"Uh... Yes..." she said, taken aback.
"Perfect. Do you remember the café where you took me a few years ago? With the nice landlady and her super beefy husband?"
"Um, yes…"
"I need to meet you there in twenty minutes. Is that okay?"
"Twenty minutes... Uh... Yes, I should be there..."
"Perfect! See ya!"
"Eh, wait! What's happening? Why are you…"
"I'll explain when I see you, Xiao. Trust me, please."
"I ... Well, okay, see you."
She hung up, and Hwoarang turned to face his companions.
"What now?"
"We'll drop you off at the café, and you'll explain the situation to Xiaoyu while we go to her home and check that the soldiers aren't expecting her. Then you'll have to leave the city."
"You can't be serious!"
"I'm afraid I am. Knowing Kazuya, he'll stop at nothing to get his way, so we need to make the first move and disappear before he..."
A bullet lodged in the rear windscreen, causing them to jump. Raven made a violent swerve to the left, throwing Hwoarang on Lars.
"They're chasing us," the ninja said in an even voice.
"Shit!" Lars swore as he tried to get up.
A second bullet blew the windshield, sending shards of glass in the vehicle, and Hwoarang, who was only wearing a t-shirt, groaned as shards lacerated his arms. The wind rushed into the car, ruffling their hair.
"Get down!" Lars ordered him, pulling out a gun from its holster.
The Korean obeyed as the exchanges of shots became more intense.
"Take this!" Raven said, handing him a grenade.
He remained speechless before taking the explosive with caution.
"Uh... Tell me, do you often have grenades in your pockets?"
"Always."
He swallowed and passed the grenade to Lars, who was reloading his gun.
"You're crazy!" Lars exclaimed. "We're on a highway! We might injure someone!"
"Make it explode inside their vehicle!" exclaimed Raven, braking suddenly.
His two passengers were thrown forward, but Lars straightened up in time and took advantage of the surprise effect on their pursuers to blow up one of the front wheels of their car. The tire exploded, and the vehicle skidded to the side as the driver desperately tried to brake. He unclogged the grenade and threw it through the windshield. The explosive went through the driver's window, and Raven accelerated to get away as quickly as possible, while their enemies rushed out of the trapped car with panicked shouts.
The explosion lifted the car in the air, and it fell back on the ground as a flaming carcass, producing a thick black smoke. The hot breath of the explosion made them stoop to prevent their hair from burning.
"What is the name of your café?" Raven asked an impassive voice, as if blowing up cars was part of his daily routine.
"Huh? Uh... The Cat's Eye," Hwoarang replied as he tried to remove the broken glass from his arms.
The ninja gave him a look in the mirror and smiled mysteriously.
"Perfect..."
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-.-===ooo0o0o0ooo===-.-
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Miki suppressed a giggle upon seeing the terrified look that her young client threw at her husband.
She had known Umibozu since her childhood, but she sometimes forgot that his 6-foot-5-inch frame could be scary for the average person.
She pitied the poor young man and approached him with a gentle smile.
"I'll bring your order right away. Please have a seat."
He did not linger and almost ran away from them.
"Falcon," she said reproachfully to her husband.
The latter stared at her with an expression that was meant to be innocent, but the rising corners of his mouth betrayed him.
"You must stop terrifying the customers," she added, suppressing a smile.
"Humph!" he replied with dignity, turning his back to wipe glasses.
She was about to go on but the doorbell chime echoed, and she turned to welcome the newcomer. She froze, recognizing the young redhead, apparently a Korean, who had already come several times. He had tried to flirt with her, but Falcon had appeared out of nowhere, as usual, and had cooled the young man's eagerness.
"Welcome to the Cat's Eye," she greeted him before gasping upon seeing that he was hurt. "Goodness! Whatever happened to you?!"
"Long story," Hwoarang replied evasively, his eyes scanning the room.
He immediately noticed the girl sitting alone on a bench against a wall. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a black sweater thrice too large for her, and his heart sank.
Ever since her suicide attempt, Xiaoyu had lost a lot of weight. She had styled her hair into a pixie cut that suited her strangely well and brought out the delicacy of her features. She looked so pale, so frail, and so fragile that Hwoarang felt like it would not take much to make her disappear.
And he did not want to relive what had happened a month ago...
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-.-===ooo0o0o0ooo===-.-
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Something cold and wet was coming and going on his face, and he straightened up with a bound, crying before recognizing Xiaoyu's living room.
The clock showed it was exactly eleven-thirty, and he rubbed his eyes and yawned. Panda stood in front of him and whined. He sighed and wiped the traces of drool on his cheeks with a grimace. The animal grabbed a piece of his jeans and pulled it, as if to make him stand up.
Despite his fatigue, Hwoarang noticed how frightened Panda looked and fear began to break him down when he remembered Zafina's warning.
"Don't you ever let her out of sight…"
He leapt off the couch and rushed to the bathroom. He skidded without warning and grabbed the wall to avoid a fall, then realized that the floor was flooded. He started pounding on the door, his heart pumping wildly.
"Xiao!" he yelled. "XIAO!"
When he realized that she would not answer, he smashed the door with a kick and rushed into the bathroom. His heart swept violently in his chest when he saw the inert body of his friend at the bottom of the bathtub.
"No, no, no, no, no..."
He took her in his arms, not giving a damn about her nudity, and lay her down on the floor of the living room. His hands were violently shaking, his heart was drumming in his chest, and he wanted to cry, but he tried to calm himself to save the young woman.
He grabbed his cell phone, dialed 911, and placed it next to him after turning the speaker on. He rolled up his sleeves and began the first aid actions that he had been taught in the army...
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-.-===ooo0o0o0ooo===-.-
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He gritted his teeth as he remembered the relief he had felt when she had spit out water in his face after what had seemed like an eternity, when her eyes had finally opened, and when emergency relief had arrived and taken her to the hospital...
Pushing away his gloomy memories, he forced a smile on his lips and stepped forward to sit in front of her. She had ordered a hot chocolate for herself and a peppermint soda for him.
"Yo, Pigtails! How's it going?"
"Oh, hi! Good, and you?"
"Eh… Could be worse! Thanks for the drink!"
"You're welcome," she replied with a faint smile. "Oh dear! You're hurt! What the hell happened to you?"
"Long story," he sighed, swallowing his drink under the worried eyes of the young woman.
"Your phone call scared me," she went on.
"I know," he sighed. "I'm really sorry, but this is a case of urgency."
"What have you done?"
"Me? Nothing! For once, this has nothing to do with me!"
"With whom, then?
He bit his lip for a few seconds while his friend looked at him anxiously, searching for the right words to break the news to her as gently as possible.
"Listen, Xiao, we've known each other for quite some time. We've been through some tough shit and often supported each other in difficult times..."
"Hwoarang, I really hope you're not trying to propose to me..."
He froze, looking horrified, while a teasing smile spread on the lips of the younger woman, and he finally burst out laughing, relieved to see that she was joking.
"Idiot! In short, what I'm trying to say is that we're friends, and that we can trust each other. All right?"
"Yeah, but you're acting really weird..."
He gently grabbed her hands in his, and his gaze became serious.
"Xiao… Jin is alive."
He saw her eyes widen and her lips part, but he cut her off.
"I know… I know it's hard to believe, because you were there when he confronted that monster, but Raven and Lars just confirmed to me that his body was found. He's alive, Xiao, but he was kidnapped."
Stupor, panic and fear whirled in the young woman's eyes, but she remained speechless.
"Kazuya knows he's alive, Xiao. And Heihachi, too. And they know you're his weakness. I'm sure they plan to use you as a bargaining chip, if they manage to catch you. That's why we have to leave the city."
"But when?" she whispered in a terrified voice.
"Right now. Lars and Raven are checking your place in case they've planned an ambush, but we have to leave before dark."
She opened her mouth to speak but remained silent, her eyes shining with tears reflecting the inner dilemma that consumed her. Hwoarang felt a wave of compassion for his friend and squeezed her hand.
"I'm with you Xiao, I won't abandon you."
"I ... Who took him away?"
"We don't know yet. But until we find out, we must get you out of Kazuya's reach. You saw how this monster is. I dare not imagine what he would do if he were to get his hands on you…"
She shivered with fear and nodded frantically.
"Where do we go?"
"Where he won't find us. At your grandfather's..."