CHAPTER ONE

Assignment Accepted!

SHINJUKU. Freeway 71. Throughout the expansive freeway, a frantic car chase can be seen. As the exotic is chased by police cars, the car makes a sharp turn onto an airstrip. The woman gets out of the car and rushes to the shipping containers. Pelted with gunfire, the woman barely makes it to safety. "Hold," the commander says, raising his right hand for acknowledgement.

The soldiers stand down. When they drop their guns, the girl then pulls out a phone. "This is Agent Fukua. I've been compromised. I need a transport!" she says.

"Agent, your transport will arrive in five minutes!" the person on the other line says, then disconnects. Fukua sighs. All of this to find out where the Black Ops are? she thought. I think Vitale may have finally lost his marbles.

"We know you're there, Double Agent! Show yourself and we won't have to take this any further!" The Commander removes his helmet. "Come on, Fukua. You've done quite enough to Shinjuku. We can just go back to the Zaibatsu and then we'll square this away. Or do we have to destroy each one of these containers to find you? I've got nothing but time tonight."

"Screw that!" Fukua shouts loudly.

"You asked for it. General." The commander points to the shipping containers. The general blasts one with a rocket, causing the surrounding ones to explode. "Still nothing, boss. Any other ideas?" the general asks.

"Continue destroying them. This girl cannot and will not escape with the data that she collected!"

"Understood." The general fires three more rockets. When all of the containers are destroyed, Fukua bolts. "There she is! Fire!" The Commander says.

A transport jet appears out of nowhere. Cloaked with the midnight sky, the commander watches Fukua board and leave. "Dammit..." He pulls out his phone. "Yes. This is Jin. She got away... But she knows that she'll run into some trouble from us sooner or later." Jin makes a look of disbelief as he hangs up. So, you are better than they had told me, girl. I'm shocked. Enjoy this, because you won't be laughing for long. Jin takes his motorcycle and then leaves the wrecked airstrip.

NEW MERIDIAN. The Cirque Des Cartes. "And now, for the main attraction! The high-flying superstar of the Canopy Kingdom, and master of the living weapon, Vice Versa! The One Diamond, CEREBELLA!" the announcer cries. Cerebella, as she balances on the tightrope, waves for pictures. The crowd cheers wildly, as she performs her carefully orchestrated segment.

Backstage. "Great job there, Cerebella! But the tightrope, though? I think we'll sell a bit more balcony tickets if you kept your act in the center ring, though," one of the other performers says to Cerebella.

"Aw, thanks, Feng!" she says to her. "But think about it, if I were in the center ring, nobody would look up to see your segment, Feng!" As Cerebella looked around through backstage, she says, "Is he here yet?"

"Well, if he's not in here, then he's probably waiting outside. Wanna check out there?"

"We may as well." As Cerebella and Feng head outside, they see a limo waiting for them, ushering them inside. As they get in, the display blinks on, showing a middle-aged man. "Welcome, Cerebella," he says.

"Hello, Vitale. What do you need?" Cerebella asks.

"I need you to meet me here."

"Understood, Vitale!" As Cerebella disconnects, the limo turns down the road. "Thank you. I'll be needing you in the morning." When she gives the driver a tip, he drives away. As Cerebella and Feng ride the elevator, Feng asks, "What do you think this is about?"

"Well, he did want us, so, something's up, Feng. We should just watch and wait." The elevator stops at the penthouse. Cerebella and Feng slide out. "Welcome, girls. Just the people I wanted to see."

"What's this about?"

"The Four Factions War that's coming up. I can already see it coming, dear. I'm going to give it to you honestly: There will be no New Meridian anymore, if we lose this war," Vitale admits solemnly.

"Does the Zaibatsu intend on invading, sir?" Feng asks.

"Yes and no. Not yet, but definetely. I'm going to ask the both of you. I need you two to be a part of a task force, so to speak. I want them to know why we haven't been giving in. You'll be taking any jobs that come up. Am I understood?"

"I need to know. Is this a quest for redemption? Did you wrong them in the past?" Cerebella asks Vitale.

"It was a business deal that went sour fifteen years ago. Jin had told me to either mobilize against Iron Fist, or die. I chose the latter, and we barely drove him out. Fukua will be leading, should you accept. But we, as the Medici, need to know your choice."

"This is family we're talking about. I'll do it for the Medici, Vitale," Cerebella answers after a pause.

"If Cere's going, then I may as well, too."

"Good to hear, girls. You'll be meeting Fukua and Filia in Russia. Now, your flight leaves in the morning. Dismissed."

AUSTRIA. "Send them in." Two beaten prisoners stand before the man behind the desk. "So, Baek Doo San and Hwoarang. You two have caused quite the trouble here. Destroying Borscht Seven Factory... I'll give you a hand, that was impressive. I'll tell you now: give me the data, or you and him will die," the man says to Hwoarang.

"Over my dead body, Kazuya," Hwoarang says to him.

Kazuya blows Baek's brains out. "Last chance. Where is the data?"

"I have a message. From Vitale."

"Go."

"He wants you to know, that he wants you to back off. Or pay the price."

"Is that so? Guards, send the Medici bastard his agent's remains." Kazuya shoots him in the head. "Well, he's definetely gonna need help, but from who? Jin? No, they're at each other's throats. When they dropped each other, they realized they couldn't trust each other. This is really puzzling..."