Two years ago...
"Hey, Bryan, you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay to you? Damn, this hurts."
Lei Wulong was standing in the doorway of the men's room at the local police precinct in Hong Kong. The Chinese detective looked on as Bryan Fury dabbed the still-bleeding cut on his face and chest with a blood-soaked towel. Damn, it stung! Once it finally scabbed over he examined it.
Standing shirtless before the mirror, Bryan almost cried at the damage. There would be a long, nasty-looking scar. It started just above his left eye, and continued down his face until just above the corner of his mouth. On his chest, it started at his collarbone and twisted its way down to his waist. He'd been very lucky that his antagonist had missed his eye.
Lei examined his partner with a discerning eye. They'd been partners for almost two years, now. Bryan's brown hair was going prematurely gray, to his eternal shame. Probably from stress. His facial features hadn't been exactly handsome to begin with, and now the cut on his face made him look downright frightening. The eyes had always been that unblinking steel-blue, and they had aquired an intensity to them that made one look away the second you saw them.
Bryan noticed his partner examining him, and grinned. "Boy, I knew I had frighteningly good looks before, but this is ridiculous."
Lei gave a small sigh of relief. At least he wasn't obsessing over it. Oh well. Bryan was like that.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you got a look at my attacker. She got away, dammit, and I want to pay her back."
"We didn't find a single living soul in that alley, except for you. And then, you were screaming fit to kill, clutching your face and bawling like a baby-" Lei broke off and ducked as the bloody towel barely missed his face. "Hey, now! That's playing dirty."
"I was NOT bawling. I was merely... expressing my current state of emotion, that's all."
"Right."
They bantered back and forth good-naturedly as Bryan gingerly slipped on one of his favorite T-shirts. Then, still bickering, they exited the police station. Once in Lei's car (Bryan's was still in that alley), Lei immediately turned to his partner. "Bryan, what's going on?"
Bryan shot a blank look at his Chinese partner. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"You've been avoiding me lately. You never report in. Come on, Bryan, how is your case progressing?"
Bryan sighed. "It's getting pretty heavy in there. I should probably pull out while I still can, but my instincts tell me that I'm about to stumble onto something big. Really big. As in, so big that it may actually screw over a LOT of really important people."
Lei whistled. "What people would that be, exactly?"
"Not sure, really, but I think tonight was a message to stay clean." He snorted. "Clear message."
"Message from who?"
"I don't know, dammit, now quit asking me!"
He was ducking the question. He knew, he just didn't want to say. Odd. Normally Bryan was totally honest with his partner. From the looks of things, Lei correctly guessed that Bryan was having trouble.
"Bryan, if you're in over your head, just say so. We can have you pulled off the case in no time."
Bryan shook his head. "Can't. I'm the go-between for two of Hong Kong's biggest, meanest gangs, plus the as-of-yet unnamed drug supplier. You pull me out now, and you can kiss this city goodbye."
"That bad, huh?" Bryan nodded. "Well, you know that if you need anything, you can just tell me, right?" Bryan nodded again, but Lei saw something in his friend's eyes. Bryan was scared of something, but wasn't saying. Lei resolved to keep a better eye on his partner, and then put the car in gear to drive back to Bryan's apartment.
As Bryan stepped out of the car, he turned to his partner.
"Hey, Lei?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"No problem." Bryan disappeared inside the apartment building. Lei looked after him. He didn't realized that it would be the last time he saw his partner for a very long time.
****************************************************
Meanwhile...
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Angel's fists beat the punching bag mercilessly as she worked out her bad mood. Her anger was mostly directed at Abel-sama. So she'd disobeyed an order. So fucking what? No need to go all psycho on her. Her ribs still smarted from the beating that his personal bodyguards had administered, before she'd strangled one of them and kicked another in the balls. The two remaining antagonists had backed away very quickly after that. Then Abel-sama had sent her here.
She didn't understand herself lately, either. She supposed that that thing called 'puberty' was beginning to kick in. She was just sixteen. She was feeling rebellious, and it showed. Maybe Abel-sama would give her a little breathing room now. She'd been quite moody lately. Several guards had suffered unmerciful beatings at her whim, and vice versa.
The order was one that Angel considered trivial. She'd been told to kill an undercover cop. She'd almost dealt the killing blow when the sirens started screaming. The cop got away, but not clean. She'd left a nasty little reminder on his face, one he'd see for the rest of his life.
She worked out for another hour until Abel-sama sent one of his guards to fetch her. She followed the guard silently to Abel's lab. He gave her a stony glare. "Angel, I am very disappointed in you."
"Mistakes happen. It was inevitable that I had to leave early to avoid being caught. I couldn't exactly eliminate twenty policemen, now could I?"
"You will watch your tone with me!"
Angel bowed her head. "Yes, Abel-sama. Please forgive me."
"Right. Now, I've decided that you're ready to move on to the next phase in your existence."
"And that would be...?"
"I am sending you to America, to learn how the people live life there. You must learn to interact properly within a family environment in order to blend in with society. No self-respecting assassin would last five minutes without this crucial knowledge. You will have a father-figure. You will go to a public high school, and you will get a job. You will learn to blend perfectly with everyone. Then, you will be ready to accept your destiny."
"Abel-sama... are you sure about this?"
"Yes! You must never question me!"
"Yes, Abel-sama."
"There is one thing that I'm afraid you won't appreciate." He paused, and sighed. "Angel, we're going to have to wipe your memory."
"Do WHAT now?"
"Yes, that's right. You must have your memory erased. For the next five years, you will live as a normal person would, excepting that you continue your martial arts training. Once the five years are up, you will come back here, and your memories will be restored."
Angel was speechless. Wipe her memories? She wasn't sure that she liked this. Not at all. She decided to venture a question. "How exactly would you go about erasing my memory?"
"Very simply, with the aid of young Master Kazama. Young Kazama-sama, you may enter now."
Angel turned to see a figure enter Abel's office. It was a young Japanese boy, who looked to be just slightly younger than her. His jet-black hair was slicked back to a point, like a drill, excepting for sparse bangs in the front. He was wearing a light jacket, and what looked like black gi pants. His feet were encased in sneakers. Oddly enough, there were sparring gloves on his hands.
The young man bowed. "I am Jin Kazama. I heard you needed my help with something, Dr. Abel?" He spoke in broken English. Angel winced at the accent; it was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Yes, young Master. This specimen needs her memory erased, to better improve her focus on her next assignment." Kazama looked unsure. "Besides, young Master, it would be another fine test of your ever-expanding abilities," Abel added.
Angel sensed the nervousness of the young man. Then he looked at her, and his deep, chocolate-brown eyes burrowed into her piercing lavendar ones. "And what is your name?" He spoke in Japanese. Angel instantly knew that he was very smart; Abel-sama could barely speak Japanese, especially slang.
"I am Tenshi, young Master." Angel replied, bowing deeply.
"Please, call me Jin. I really don't want to do this."
"Neither do I, Jin-sama, but I suppose that it must be done."
Abel's gaze flew from one person to the other. "Well?" He demanded in English.
Jin turned to him. "I will do it."
Angel turned as well. "And I will submit."
Abel gave a cold smile. "Very good, the both of you. Now, shall we get started?"
Without being asked, Angel moved to sit down in one of the chairs, because she knew that it was what Jin-sama was about to ask her to do. He looked surprised, then smiled. "You are gifted, too, I see." She nodded. Jin then removed his jacket, and draped it over a second chair and took a seat in a third, which he positioned directly in front of her.
Angel's eyes flew to the young man's arm. "That is an interesting tattoo, Jin-sama." It was a fascinating design. Simple, yet powerful. Kinda like two lightning bolts twisted together, or something like that.
Jin didn't respond. His mind-touch said that he was slightly embarassed be so close to such a sensitive mind. So, he was an empath as well. That explained how he was going to wipe her memories.
He held out his hands, palms facing her, and she did the same. His fingers curled around hers, and his eyes closed for a moment. And then they flew open. Angel's mind caught a glimpse of something in them. Something wonderful, but she didn't know what. Whatever it was, it made her heart sing with joy. She didn't understand it. It was as if, in that moment, she had somehow experienced something akin to true happiness. It was an odd feeling, one Angel had never experienced.
After that brief second, everything went white all around her.
***************************************
It was a month later that Lei got the phone call on his cell phone. The voice was familiar. "Bryan? Is that you?"
"Shut up and listen. I don't have much time. You gotta get out of Hong Kong now!"
"Slow down! What's going on?"
"Something's gonna happen tonight. Something big. As you value your life, I suggest that you and every other cop in Hong Kong get the hell away from here." The voice lowered even more. "There's gonna be a fucking huge gang war tonight. Both gangs, in their entirity. Plus, the army of that drug company will probably make a surprise appearance, too."
"Jesus, Bryan! Pull out now!"
"I can't! They're watching me like a hawk. I'm hiding behind a dumpster to make this call right now."
"My God. Bryan, I have to get you out of there."
"Lei, please don't try. You won't succeed."
"Tell me now, Bryan. Where are you?"
The voice hesitated, then gave the address. "Swear you won't be there, Lei. Please."
"You know I can't do that."
"Dammit, Lei, stay away! They'll kill you!"
"I don't care. You're my partner. I have to come and get you." Lei's voice was like iron wrapped in velvet. What on earth had Bryan gotten himself into?
"Lei... Shit, somebody's coming! Stay away, man!"
The connection was abruptly severed, and Lei found himself listening to a dial tone. He immediately called Interpol and explained the situation. Backup was on the way.
The location was in front of a warehouse, in the run-down section of town. Night fell. Bryan paced back and forth nervously under a streetlight, and puffed heavily on a cigarette. He needed to kick the habit, he knew, but it calmed him down.
Footsteps sounded, and he turned to meet their owners. It was the leaders of one of the gangs, the Tigers. Slipping in and out of the shadows, Bryan could see more Tigers positioning themselves for the fight. More footsteps behind him, and he turned to see the Cobras doing the same thing. Shit, he was right in the middle. Translators and leaders stepped forward to meet with him as the respective gangs waited. No sign of the drug dealers.
They jabbered for a while, mostly the leaders at each other. Verbal shit was flung all over the place, and both sides were soon itching for the go-signal. Bryan did his best to calm them down, saying through the translators that the merchandise was on the way; he'd give both of them a fair price. More haggling, more shit was thrown. Then, just when things couldn't get any worse--
The door to the warehouse that they were standing in front of suddenly flew open, and the gangs and Bryan found themeselves staring at over thirty armed and armored men and women. Sweet Jesus, Bryan thought. The dealers brought the whole fucking army.
A man stepped forward from the dealer's army and stood with the knot of now-nervous men. More words were exchanged, with the military guy shouting in Chinese. It almost moved too fast for Bryan to comprehend. Then he heard the words he dreaded more than anything else in the world at that moment.
Suddenly Bryan's dirty little secrets were out. He was partner to SuperCop Lei Wulong. He was grossly overcharging them on the merchandise. Worst of all, he was dipping into it himself. Bryan found himself sweating heavily as the five men stared at him, and he knew right then and there that he was a dead man. Then came the sweetest words he'd ever heard in his life: "FREEZE! POLICE!"
Suddenly the little lot was flooded with searchlights, and the Chinese gangs scrambled for cover before fixing targets. The dealer's army, on the other hand, lined up in orderly groups of three: One for the Tigers, one for the Cobras, and the largest turned to face the small army that was the International Police Force. And Bryan Fury was standing in the exact center.
There was utter silence for about ten seconds, then all hell broke loose. It was every group for themselves, and the little abandoned lot was turned into a war zone. Gunshots rang out, with the screams starting soon after. Bryan flattened himself on the pavement and began belly-crawling toward the Interpol cops. Once he thought he was close enough, he stood and started rushing toward them. He fired his handgun blindly over his shoulder as he raced toward his comrades. He picked out Lei's face in the crowd. Lei was screaming "GO, BRYAN, GO! YOU CAN MAKE IT!" Bryan almost thought he would, too.
Then, suddenly, more shots rang out. Searchlights from Interpol began sweeping the roofs of the warehouses. Bullets ricocheted off the ground in front of him. Snipers! The dealers had brought snipers! Instantly Bryan changed direction, and slipped into a nearby alley. It was quieter here, and he hoped that he could sneak back to the Interpol troops and continue the war from there. Then, footsteps. The respective leaders of the Tigers, the Cobras, and the dealer's army stepped into the alley. They spotted him, and froze for a moment.
Then the two gang leaders whipped out knives and rushed him. Through sheer adrenaline alone, he knocked out both of them with a single punch. Then he faced the dealer. The dealer fixed him with a stare, though it was hard to tell through the helmet he wore. Then the long rifle slowly raised to point straight at Bryan's chest.
In slow motion, four shots rang out. A searing pain ripped through Bryan's chest. He screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. Jesus Christ, he thought. The pain... he started to black out. It felt as though something had exploded inside of him. Then, another figure appeared in the alleyway behind the dealer. "BRYAN!" It was Lei Wulong, and through the death fog Bryan watched as his partner unloaded his weapon on Bryan's attacker. The dealer fell without a sound.
Then Lei was kneeling beside him. "Bryan? Bryan, speak to me. We're gonna get you out of here. Everything's gonna be okay." He stopped to pull out his walkie talkie. "Officer down! We have an officer down, code red! We need medical help here now!"
"Negative, detective!" came the static-filled reply. "It's a war zone out here! We can't spare anybody! We--SHIT!!" Then, silence.
"Jesus Christ. Bryan..." Lei stared at his partner, laying facedown in a rapidly-expanding pool of blood. It was a wonder that Bryan was still breathing. "Bryan, I have to go help them. I swear I'll come back for you. I swear-"
Bryan drew an incredibly painful breath. Lei flipped him onto his back, and Bryan's steel-blue eyes, now starting to fog over, looked into his partner's brown ones. "Go," he rasped. With the word came a trickle of blood out of his mouth.
Lei hesitated for a second longer, then stood. "I swear I'll be back for you. I swear. Bryan... I'm sorry." Then he turned and raced away without looking back.
Bryan watched him go. He wanted to shout after him, but his mind wouldn't work. It was getting hard to focus. Everything was so far away. The pain... His vision began to cloud over as he watched his partner walk away.
Then Bryan Fury knew no more.
"Hey, Bryan, you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay to you? Damn, this hurts."
Lei Wulong was standing in the doorway of the men's room at the local police precinct in Hong Kong. The Chinese detective looked on as Bryan Fury dabbed the still-bleeding cut on his face and chest with a blood-soaked towel. Damn, it stung! Once it finally scabbed over he examined it.
Standing shirtless before the mirror, Bryan almost cried at the damage. There would be a long, nasty-looking scar. It started just above his left eye, and continued down his face until just above the corner of his mouth. On his chest, it started at his collarbone and twisted its way down to his waist. He'd been very lucky that his antagonist had missed his eye.
Lei examined his partner with a discerning eye. They'd been partners for almost two years, now. Bryan's brown hair was going prematurely gray, to his eternal shame. Probably from stress. His facial features hadn't been exactly handsome to begin with, and now the cut on his face made him look downright frightening. The eyes had always been that unblinking steel-blue, and they had aquired an intensity to them that made one look away the second you saw them.
Bryan noticed his partner examining him, and grinned. "Boy, I knew I had frighteningly good looks before, but this is ridiculous."
Lei gave a small sigh of relief. At least he wasn't obsessing over it. Oh well. Bryan was like that.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you got a look at my attacker. She got away, dammit, and I want to pay her back."
"We didn't find a single living soul in that alley, except for you. And then, you were screaming fit to kill, clutching your face and bawling like a baby-" Lei broke off and ducked as the bloody towel barely missed his face. "Hey, now! That's playing dirty."
"I was NOT bawling. I was merely... expressing my current state of emotion, that's all."
"Right."
They bantered back and forth good-naturedly as Bryan gingerly slipped on one of his favorite T-shirts. Then, still bickering, they exited the police station. Once in Lei's car (Bryan's was still in that alley), Lei immediately turned to his partner. "Bryan, what's going on?"
Bryan shot a blank look at his Chinese partner. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"You've been avoiding me lately. You never report in. Come on, Bryan, how is your case progressing?"
Bryan sighed. "It's getting pretty heavy in there. I should probably pull out while I still can, but my instincts tell me that I'm about to stumble onto something big. Really big. As in, so big that it may actually screw over a LOT of really important people."
Lei whistled. "What people would that be, exactly?"
"Not sure, really, but I think tonight was a message to stay clean." He snorted. "Clear message."
"Message from who?"
"I don't know, dammit, now quit asking me!"
He was ducking the question. He knew, he just didn't want to say. Odd. Normally Bryan was totally honest with his partner. From the looks of things, Lei correctly guessed that Bryan was having trouble.
"Bryan, if you're in over your head, just say so. We can have you pulled off the case in no time."
Bryan shook his head. "Can't. I'm the go-between for two of Hong Kong's biggest, meanest gangs, plus the as-of-yet unnamed drug supplier. You pull me out now, and you can kiss this city goodbye."
"That bad, huh?" Bryan nodded. "Well, you know that if you need anything, you can just tell me, right?" Bryan nodded again, but Lei saw something in his friend's eyes. Bryan was scared of something, but wasn't saying. Lei resolved to keep a better eye on his partner, and then put the car in gear to drive back to Bryan's apartment.
As Bryan stepped out of the car, he turned to his partner.
"Hey, Lei?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"No problem." Bryan disappeared inside the apartment building. Lei looked after him. He didn't realized that it would be the last time he saw his partner for a very long time.
****************************************************
Meanwhile...
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Angel's fists beat the punching bag mercilessly as she worked out her bad mood. Her anger was mostly directed at Abel-sama. So she'd disobeyed an order. So fucking what? No need to go all psycho on her. Her ribs still smarted from the beating that his personal bodyguards had administered, before she'd strangled one of them and kicked another in the balls. The two remaining antagonists had backed away very quickly after that. Then Abel-sama had sent her here.
She didn't understand herself lately, either. She supposed that that thing called 'puberty' was beginning to kick in. She was just sixteen. She was feeling rebellious, and it showed. Maybe Abel-sama would give her a little breathing room now. She'd been quite moody lately. Several guards had suffered unmerciful beatings at her whim, and vice versa.
The order was one that Angel considered trivial. She'd been told to kill an undercover cop. She'd almost dealt the killing blow when the sirens started screaming. The cop got away, but not clean. She'd left a nasty little reminder on his face, one he'd see for the rest of his life.
She worked out for another hour until Abel-sama sent one of his guards to fetch her. She followed the guard silently to Abel's lab. He gave her a stony glare. "Angel, I am very disappointed in you."
"Mistakes happen. It was inevitable that I had to leave early to avoid being caught. I couldn't exactly eliminate twenty policemen, now could I?"
"You will watch your tone with me!"
Angel bowed her head. "Yes, Abel-sama. Please forgive me."
"Right. Now, I've decided that you're ready to move on to the next phase in your existence."
"And that would be...?"
"I am sending you to America, to learn how the people live life there. You must learn to interact properly within a family environment in order to blend in with society. No self-respecting assassin would last five minutes without this crucial knowledge. You will have a father-figure. You will go to a public high school, and you will get a job. You will learn to blend perfectly with everyone. Then, you will be ready to accept your destiny."
"Abel-sama... are you sure about this?"
"Yes! You must never question me!"
"Yes, Abel-sama."
"There is one thing that I'm afraid you won't appreciate." He paused, and sighed. "Angel, we're going to have to wipe your memory."
"Do WHAT now?"
"Yes, that's right. You must have your memory erased. For the next five years, you will live as a normal person would, excepting that you continue your martial arts training. Once the five years are up, you will come back here, and your memories will be restored."
Angel was speechless. Wipe her memories? She wasn't sure that she liked this. Not at all. She decided to venture a question. "How exactly would you go about erasing my memory?"
"Very simply, with the aid of young Master Kazama. Young Kazama-sama, you may enter now."
Angel turned to see a figure enter Abel's office. It was a young Japanese boy, who looked to be just slightly younger than her. His jet-black hair was slicked back to a point, like a drill, excepting for sparse bangs in the front. He was wearing a light jacket, and what looked like black gi pants. His feet were encased in sneakers. Oddly enough, there were sparring gloves on his hands.
The young man bowed. "I am Jin Kazama. I heard you needed my help with something, Dr. Abel?" He spoke in broken English. Angel winced at the accent; it was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Yes, young Master. This specimen needs her memory erased, to better improve her focus on her next assignment." Kazama looked unsure. "Besides, young Master, it would be another fine test of your ever-expanding abilities," Abel added.
Angel sensed the nervousness of the young man. Then he looked at her, and his deep, chocolate-brown eyes burrowed into her piercing lavendar ones. "And what is your name?" He spoke in Japanese. Angel instantly knew that he was very smart; Abel-sama could barely speak Japanese, especially slang.
"I am Tenshi, young Master." Angel replied, bowing deeply.
"Please, call me Jin. I really don't want to do this."
"Neither do I, Jin-sama, but I suppose that it must be done."
Abel's gaze flew from one person to the other. "Well?" He demanded in English.
Jin turned to him. "I will do it."
Angel turned as well. "And I will submit."
Abel gave a cold smile. "Very good, the both of you. Now, shall we get started?"
Without being asked, Angel moved to sit down in one of the chairs, because she knew that it was what Jin-sama was about to ask her to do. He looked surprised, then smiled. "You are gifted, too, I see." She nodded. Jin then removed his jacket, and draped it over a second chair and took a seat in a third, which he positioned directly in front of her.
Angel's eyes flew to the young man's arm. "That is an interesting tattoo, Jin-sama." It was a fascinating design. Simple, yet powerful. Kinda like two lightning bolts twisted together, or something like that.
Jin didn't respond. His mind-touch said that he was slightly embarassed be so close to such a sensitive mind. So, he was an empath as well. That explained how he was going to wipe her memories.
He held out his hands, palms facing her, and she did the same. His fingers curled around hers, and his eyes closed for a moment. And then they flew open. Angel's mind caught a glimpse of something in them. Something wonderful, but she didn't know what. Whatever it was, it made her heart sing with joy. She didn't understand it. It was as if, in that moment, she had somehow experienced something akin to true happiness. It was an odd feeling, one Angel had never experienced.
After that brief second, everything went white all around her.
***************************************
It was a month later that Lei got the phone call on his cell phone. The voice was familiar. "Bryan? Is that you?"
"Shut up and listen. I don't have much time. You gotta get out of Hong Kong now!"
"Slow down! What's going on?"
"Something's gonna happen tonight. Something big. As you value your life, I suggest that you and every other cop in Hong Kong get the hell away from here." The voice lowered even more. "There's gonna be a fucking huge gang war tonight. Both gangs, in their entirity. Plus, the army of that drug company will probably make a surprise appearance, too."
"Jesus, Bryan! Pull out now!"
"I can't! They're watching me like a hawk. I'm hiding behind a dumpster to make this call right now."
"My God. Bryan, I have to get you out of there."
"Lei, please don't try. You won't succeed."
"Tell me now, Bryan. Where are you?"
The voice hesitated, then gave the address. "Swear you won't be there, Lei. Please."
"You know I can't do that."
"Dammit, Lei, stay away! They'll kill you!"
"I don't care. You're my partner. I have to come and get you." Lei's voice was like iron wrapped in velvet. What on earth had Bryan gotten himself into?
"Lei... Shit, somebody's coming! Stay away, man!"
The connection was abruptly severed, and Lei found himself listening to a dial tone. He immediately called Interpol and explained the situation. Backup was on the way.
The location was in front of a warehouse, in the run-down section of town. Night fell. Bryan paced back and forth nervously under a streetlight, and puffed heavily on a cigarette. He needed to kick the habit, he knew, but it calmed him down.
Footsteps sounded, and he turned to meet their owners. It was the leaders of one of the gangs, the Tigers. Slipping in and out of the shadows, Bryan could see more Tigers positioning themselves for the fight. More footsteps behind him, and he turned to see the Cobras doing the same thing. Shit, he was right in the middle. Translators and leaders stepped forward to meet with him as the respective gangs waited. No sign of the drug dealers.
They jabbered for a while, mostly the leaders at each other. Verbal shit was flung all over the place, and both sides were soon itching for the go-signal. Bryan did his best to calm them down, saying through the translators that the merchandise was on the way; he'd give both of them a fair price. More haggling, more shit was thrown. Then, just when things couldn't get any worse--
The door to the warehouse that they were standing in front of suddenly flew open, and the gangs and Bryan found themeselves staring at over thirty armed and armored men and women. Sweet Jesus, Bryan thought. The dealers brought the whole fucking army.
A man stepped forward from the dealer's army and stood with the knot of now-nervous men. More words were exchanged, with the military guy shouting in Chinese. It almost moved too fast for Bryan to comprehend. Then he heard the words he dreaded more than anything else in the world at that moment.
Suddenly Bryan's dirty little secrets were out. He was partner to SuperCop Lei Wulong. He was grossly overcharging them on the merchandise. Worst of all, he was dipping into it himself. Bryan found himself sweating heavily as the five men stared at him, and he knew right then and there that he was a dead man. Then came the sweetest words he'd ever heard in his life: "FREEZE! POLICE!"
Suddenly the little lot was flooded with searchlights, and the Chinese gangs scrambled for cover before fixing targets. The dealer's army, on the other hand, lined up in orderly groups of three: One for the Tigers, one for the Cobras, and the largest turned to face the small army that was the International Police Force. And Bryan Fury was standing in the exact center.
There was utter silence for about ten seconds, then all hell broke loose. It was every group for themselves, and the little abandoned lot was turned into a war zone. Gunshots rang out, with the screams starting soon after. Bryan flattened himself on the pavement and began belly-crawling toward the Interpol cops. Once he thought he was close enough, he stood and started rushing toward them. He fired his handgun blindly over his shoulder as he raced toward his comrades. He picked out Lei's face in the crowd. Lei was screaming "GO, BRYAN, GO! YOU CAN MAKE IT!" Bryan almost thought he would, too.
Then, suddenly, more shots rang out. Searchlights from Interpol began sweeping the roofs of the warehouses. Bullets ricocheted off the ground in front of him. Snipers! The dealers had brought snipers! Instantly Bryan changed direction, and slipped into a nearby alley. It was quieter here, and he hoped that he could sneak back to the Interpol troops and continue the war from there. Then, footsteps. The respective leaders of the Tigers, the Cobras, and the dealer's army stepped into the alley. They spotted him, and froze for a moment.
Then the two gang leaders whipped out knives and rushed him. Through sheer adrenaline alone, he knocked out both of them with a single punch. Then he faced the dealer. The dealer fixed him with a stare, though it was hard to tell through the helmet he wore. Then the long rifle slowly raised to point straight at Bryan's chest.
In slow motion, four shots rang out. A searing pain ripped through Bryan's chest. He screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. Jesus Christ, he thought. The pain... he started to black out. It felt as though something had exploded inside of him. Then, another figure appeared in the alleyway behind the dealer. "BRYAN!" It was Lei Wulong, and through the death fog Bryan watched as his partner unloaded his weapon on Bryan's attacker. The dealer fell without a sound.
Then Lei was kneeling beside him. "Bryan? Bryan, speak to me. We're gonna get you out of here. Everything's gonna be okay." He stopped to pull out his walkie talkie. "Officer down! We have an officer down, code red! We need medical help here now!"
"Negative, detective!" came the static-filled reply. "It's a war zone out here! We can't spare anybody! We--SHIT!!" Then, silence.
"Jesus Christ. Bryan..." Lei stared at his partner, laying facedown in a rapidly-expanding pool of blood. It was a wonder that Bryan was still breathing. "Bryan, I have to go help them. I swear I'll come back for you. I swear-"
Bryan drew an incredibly painful breath. Lei flipped him onto his back, and Bryan's steel-blue eyes, now starting to fog over, looked into his partner's brown ones. "Go," he rasped. With the word came a trickle of blood out of his mouth.
Lei hesitated for a second longer, then stood. "I swear I'll be back for you. I swear. Bryan... I'm sorry." Then he turned and raced away without looking back.
Bryan watched him go. He wanted to shout after him, but his mind wouldn't work. It was getting hard to focus. Everything was so far away. The pain... His vision began to cloud over as he watched his partner walk away.
Then Bryan Fury knew no more.