Like A Wounded Animal

Back at Julia Chang's Condo, Scottsdale, Arizona…

Although the mission on Fort McIntosh was a tactical success, it was a bittersweet victory for Julia's team. Rodeo Montana's military unit lost nearly half of his men all due to a surprise assault by the Mishima Zaibatsu's latest drone called HECTOR-IT329C. He had to talk with his superior officer back in Washington State about the secret mission and hopefully get some more help. Although the latter will prove to be rather difficult. Tiger Jackson was in still in Phoenix, but opted to stay in a rental condo room not too far from Julia. He would come by her place later. Forest Law was in Julia's place since he did not stay somewhere else. So he was able to crash in Julia's spare room. Forest and Julia were eating a late brunch as they talked about what to do next after the Fort McIntosh raid.

Forest: "Hmmm…nothing like a good Waffle out of a toaster!" (Takes a bite)

Julia: "Yeah."

Forest: "Uhhh…are you still thinking about the other night?"

Julia: "I probably shouldn't but…" (Pauses.) "We have to avoid any kind of casualties if we can just regroup."

Forest: "We were doing great until that flying robot showed up. Lucky for us that secret agent guy had a fighter jet to destroy that thing. I wonder how more nasty surprises the Zaibatsu has."

Julia: "I know, and that is what frightens me the most. Their engineering has already superseded those of Violet Systems. All Lee Chaolan and his team were able to produce are the Combots. Heihachi has androids that can match the G-Corps JACK series."

Forest: "Yeah let's use them next time!"

Julia: "I don't think Lee will want to waste his precious experiments in warfare like that. Those Combots are not perfect either."

Forest: "Oh."

Julia: "Well…we can discuss this again when Tiger comes. I won't hear from Rodeo until tonight and the match between Armor King and Craig Marduk is tonight as well."

Forest: "Wha? It's tonight?!"

Julia (Nodding): "Yeah. I just hope those two don't kill each other."

Later in the day…

Tiger came by rather late around 5 pm at Julia's Condo, but the group did go out to a nearby place to eat and come back. Julia also got a call from Rodeo explaining the details about the new recruits. Rodeo was able to provide evidence on why some of his soldiers were killed during the raid. So this time, his superior officer granted him some troops at another base in Kentucky. Rodeo wasted no time to travel there. Julia could only hope that Rodeo might be able to salvage some more men. Before the fight match between Armor King and Marduk, Forest asked Julia about the latest news from Rodeo. Not to mention, Jane as well.

Forest: "Hey, was that Rodeo you were talking with just now?"

Julia: "Yeah. He was given permission to recruit more troops by his General. So now he is traveling to Fort Knox as we speak."

Forest: "Sweet. And any word from Jane?"

Julia: "No. I have not heard from Condor either. Hope his master is doing alright."

Forest: "How did you guys meet up anyways?"

Julia: "He just came outta nowhere and saved me and Tiger from getting beaten by a JACK. We will definitely need his assistance again when the time comes."

Forest: "Whoa. Man I guess whoever he works for must be incredible in combat."

Tiger: "When is this fight bout to start?" (Eating veggie chips.)

Julia: "Any minute now." (Sees the commercial ends.) "See? Now it's coming on."

The TV went blank as the presentation for the special match was underway. Once the analysts gave their predictions of the fight, then came the announcement of the fighters for the ring entrance. Craig got introduced first. The crowd was hyped for him as usual. It was a long time coming for him to get back inside an arena. Next Armor King was announced, coming through the walkway with smoke covering his path. By the time he stepped in the ring the crowd's cheers grew even louder. The fighters didn't even bother to touch hands seeing that the referee did bring them forth together. The animosity was real with these guys. Julia grew very worried for Armor King. Not to mention, she never did see Michelle at ringside or near the front rows of the crowd.

Referee: "FIGHT!"

Overall, the fight got bloody and nasty really quick. It was a back and forth bout that lasted for at least 30 minutes. Craig suffered a bent nose and a dislocated knee cap. Yet Armor King broke two of his fingers trying to punch and slap the oversized Craig Marduk and he received a concussion due to Craig's vicious DDT by the end of the match. For good measure, Craig took the unconscious Armor King and did his signature Suplex Bomb and slammed the jaguar wrestler hard on the ring floor. The crowd was in a frenzy after seeing that move!

Julia: "No! Armor King!"

Forest: "Owww."

Tiger: "Damn!"

Julia and her friends looked on helplessly as Armor King laid motionless on the ring floor. Craig hobbled at bit after the body slam because of his left knee, but he gave the crowd a slit throat sign as they cheered. He had won this bout. The ref came over to Armor King and tapped his shoulder. He did not respond. The match was declared over by the ref and yet Craig still was not done making an example out of Armor King. So Craig shoved the referee out of his way as he picked up Armor King once more. This time Craig was gonna cripple Armor King for good with a Backbreaker attack! However…

Michelle: "NOOOO!"

Out of nowhere, Michelle jumped in the ring and hit Craig dead in his midsection with a rushing elbow strike. The attack was strong enough to make Craig drop Armor King as the jaguar wrestler hit the ring floor again. So Craig pedaled back holding side grimacing. Michelle had tears in her eyes. She had seen enough of the carnage.

Michelle: "That's enough! You won already so please leave him alone!"

Craig (Still in pain.): "Why you?"

Michelle (Putting up her guard): "Don't come any closer! Just! Leave him alone!" (Sobs.)

Finally, the medics arrive at ringside along with security. The security showed up to apprehend Michelle for entering the ring uninvited. She did not care about the circumstances, just as long as her friend didn't get killed by an ego maniac. Michelle never gave resistance and simply exited out of the ring as the medics placed Armor King in the stretcher. Craig maintained a confused look on his face. After all of this excitement, he wondered why his victory felt so shallow. He never was the type to think deep. For now, he needed medical attention too because of his knee. But Craig gave the crowd one last rallying cry as he exited the ring. Some of people were booing at him while others continued the cheers. However, back at Julia's condo, the young woman had her down in obvious disappointment.

Julia: "Spirits why? Why did it have to be like this?"

Forest: "Julia? Are you ok?"

Julia: "Forgive me guys. I…I need to make sure mother is ok. Give me a moment please." (Getting up from her couch spot.)

Julia walks into her room inside the hallway…

Tiger: "Po' girl. I know she wasn't expecting Craig to beat Armor King, but the big homie is a beast for real."

Forest: "That just reminded me as to why I am not in the King of Iron Fist Tournaments."

Tiger: "Why you say that?"

Forest: "Because I don't need to be in the ICU every freakin' fight dude! I mean you saw what happened! Armor King eventually got turned into mincemeat!"

Tiger: "Yeah but I thought he could've pulled off a knock out a few times in the match. Marduk is just ridiculous dawg."

Forest: "No sh*t. And why aren't you in the tournaments anymore?"

Tiger: "Ain't it obvious? My music and performances keep me groovy baby."

Forest: "Must be nice. Traveling the world, getting with groupies, living in penthouses. If I put my mind to it, I could do what you're doing too."

Tiger: "Ehhh…I doubt that bruh."

Forest: "What? Why not?"

Julia comes back into the living room…

Julia: "I could not get a hold of my mother."

Tiger: "She never picked up?"

Julia: "No. I guess I will have to wait."

After some silence…

Tiger (Stands up): "Well…I better get back to my spot. It's messed up that Marduk won tonight, but don't let it beat cha down Julia."

Julia: "Yeah…I won't Tiger. Now are you coming back here tomorrow?"

Tiger: "I can."

Julia: "Good. By then I should come up with another idea for the next assault. But anything could change of course."

Tiger: "Good deal. Later y'all."

Forest: "See ya."

Tiger exits the condo…

Forest: "The nerve of that guy, saying I can't be a disco star like him!"

Julia (Chuckles): "What? You a disco star?"

Forest: "We were talking while you tried to call your mom. Guy said I wouldn't have what it takes to do what he does! I may not be the best singer, but I can dance my tail off!"

Julia (Shurgs): "Hey. Go for it. I'm sure you can get some notoriety in the music world."

Forest: "Yeah I guess. For now I think I'll do a late upper body workout, take a shower, and then call it a night."

Julia: "Ok. Have a good night Forest."

Forest: "I will Julia."

Julia retired for her room after leaving Forest to do his workout regimen. She looked online using her laptop to see the reactions of the fight between Armor King and Craig. It was a wide mixture of both positive and negative messages directed at Armor King. Julia could only shake her head in disbelief. Before she could sleep, Julia went back to her documents folder and looked at the list she created on the majority of the Zaibatsu and G Corp bases. There was one base in particular Julia wanted to exploit. A G Corp armory located in the Hawaiian Islands. It used to belong to Violet Systems until G Corp pretty much infiltrated and stole the base for themselves. By doing this, G Corp maintained a strong military influence through most of the Pacific Ocean Region. If Julia could reacquire the base for Violet Systems, then surely G Corp will lose out in its industrial gains.

Then a phone call…

Julia: "Is this her?" (Answers) "Hello?"

Michelle: "Julia?"

Julia: "Mom. I'm so sorry about Armor King! Is he gonna be ok?"

Michelle: "Yes, but he will be out of action for some time. He is lucky to only have a few broken bones, some lacerations, and a concussion. That damn Marduk showed him no mercy."

Julia: "Mom?"

Michelle: "I'm okay Julia. I'm in the hospital with Armor King. Tomorrow we will see about his recovery time. Are you in bed?"

Julia: "Uh huh."

Michelle: "Ok I thought so. Go on and get some rest. We can figure out what to do tomorrow ok?"

Julia: "Sure thing. May the spirits watch over you guys."

Michelle: "And may they do the same for you Julia. Good night."