Tekken 24
Disclaimer: Don't own "24" or "Tekken".
The following takes place between 12:00 am and 1:00 am.
Events occur in real time.
12:00:00- The world was black to Ling Xiaoyu. She awoke to a very awkward blurriness that only became worse when she realized she couldn't see. It was then she realized that she was lying down. She tried to sit up, only hitting her head against solid metal in the process.
She laid her head back down on the table she was on and closed her eyes. The memories of where she was before she blacked out were a little fuzzy. The darkness wasn't helping, as it was tough to think frantically in such a calm and quiet surrounding.
Then it came to her: Jin. He had nearly strangled her to death inside the ATU's medical center.
"Oh god." She whispered.
She knew where she was, and the very thought of it made her shake. She was inside one of the body lockers. Her hand touched the cold steel of the table, and she felt something cool and syrupy. Her hand jerked away as she realized it was blood.
There was no light in the lockers, and she had nothing that could illuminate her surroundings. It was times like these she wished she smoked.
She began to press her hands against the door, trying to find some kind of an emergency latch, kind of like the ones you find in walk-in freezers.
The door was flat and smooth with no evidence of a handle or knob of any kind. With this little problem, the claustrophobia was beginning to set in. She felt like she had been buried alive, and that she only had minimal air left to breathe with. There was no way out and only one thing to do: scream.
"Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
12:05:38- The bike was speeding towards the ATU and Hwoarang couldn't help but rejoice at the familiar feeling he got from gripping the handle bars of the motorcycle. It was like sitting on a couch that had your groove in it, like an old t-shirt you could help but feel relaxed.
Nina was the only thing that made him from going all out on the bike. He pulled over to the curb. Looking up the street, he figured he was about a mile away from the ATU.
Hwoarang got off the bike, and immediately felt light-headed. Something wasn't right. His balance was off and he began to stumble backwards into the street. Nina grabbed him and pulled him forward just as a car was about to hit him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He leaned on the bike, and began to breathe heavily. Something was very wrong with him, and he had no clue what it could be right offhand. He had felt fine all night, but then all of a sudden he felt like he could pass out.
"I don't know. I'm not feeling too hot." He said.
"Well if Drake is serious about doing what he says he'll do, we can't worry about it." She said.
He looked at his watch. There was less than half an hour before Drake's deadline and he was still nearly a mile away from Julia. This wasn't looking too good. Hwoarang stood up and shook his head wildly, hoping to shake the dizziness he was getting.
"I'll call you once I have Julia. When I find out where the drop is, I'll tell you that too." He said.
"You need my number." She said, stating the fact.
"Oh, yeah. That'd help." He said with a nervous chuckle.
She gave him the number and he ran off towards the ATU. Nina then scooted up to the warm spot on the seat where Hwoarang had sat and drove off.
12:11:14- Heihachi and his attorney Kayan Ryoto sat in the back of Heihachi's limo. It was a godsend, Heihachi thought as he mentally melted into the leather seats. The back of the limo was very dark. He couldn't even make out where the cab ended. The fact that the windows were tinted didn't help.
There was a shuffle of clothing that came from within the cab, and Heihachi sensed it. It was intentional too. He heard a light whizzing sound and then a noise came from his attorney. Heihachi turned to see the man gagging up blood. There was a knife in his neck.
A light came on inside the limo. Sitting on the other side was Kazuya. Heihachi was only a little surprised.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"I've come to collect you, father." Kazuya said.
Heihachi noticed that Kazuya was in terrible shape. The devil gene had begun to work on healing him, but there was still quite a bit to cover up. The front of Kazuya's shirt was still covered in blood from when Wallace shot him earlier. When Wallace had slammed on the brakes, Kazuya had flown off the hood which sent his face skidding onto the rough pavement. His face looked like it had gone through a meat processor. His face had a good chunk of skin and some muscle missing from the right side of his jaw. Both eyes were bloodshot and whatever skin wasn't damaged on his face looked pale. Heihachi felt sick just looking at it.
"What are you going to do to me?" Heihachi said.
"That depends on what my master wants." Kazuya said.
"Somebody is controlling you? Figures my pathetic child would want to take orders. You have no right to call yourself a Mishima!" Heihachi yelled.
Kazuya quickly threw something from his hand. It was small, silver, and round. Heihachi didn't react quickly enough. The heavy ball bearing Kazuya had thrown hit Heihachi in the forehead, and he immediately fell unconscious into the seat, right next to the now dead lawyer.
12:17:50-Wallace was in his office, as usual. Other than what Adam was working on, and Hwoarang trying to track down Nina, there was nothing important for him to do. He had no leads, other than the chip, and he already had somebody on that. One thing was certain; his job was very boring sometimes. Wallace yawned as his phone rang.
"What." He said.
"Hey, I thought I'd let you know that I was able to recover a sample of something from the Combots down here." Adam said.
"What?"
"Well, it's a vial of some sort. There's a yellowish liquid inside. I think it might be the virus." Adam said.
"Bring it over here, and we'll run it through forensics." Wallace said.
Wallace looked out from the glass walls of his office onto the main floor of the ATU. He saw Hwoarang walk through the front doors. He looked very pale.
"Hey, Adam. I'm going to let you go, something's come up." Wallace said.
He hung up and rushed down to Hwoarang.
12:23:15- Hwoarang was entering the ATU after he ran and walked the mile to the building. He felt like shit. He was beginning to wonder about the blood transfusion he had earlier after he was shot at the mall.
Wallace came up to him and looked at him as if he were the plague.
"What the hell happened?" Wallace said.
"I don't know, I haven't been feeling too well. Nina wasn't there." Hwoarang said.
"Well, that's about all I have for you now. Go get a drink or something and I'll have something for you soon enough." Wallace said, walking off.
Hwoarang felt ignored. He didn't know it, but he was very pale, ghostly even. Sweat dripped off his face and onto the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. He was perspiring so much that it was soaking through the shirt. His arm had bothered him during the run and he was now holding it as if he broke it. How the hell could Wallace ignore this?
Hwoarang was really beginning to hate Wallace. Earlier in the day he seemed to genuinely be concerned, but then he told Hwoarang to "do his job". Hwoarang figured that if he didn't, he'd be going to jail. He didn't understand how Wallace could make that happen, but Hwoarang figured he probably could somehow. He remembered that Wallace gave him a chance to get out back when he had the accident with Jin that led them to Heihachi's doctor. He almost wished he had taken it.
"Shit." Hwoarang thought. That was how the tracker got there: Heihachi's doctor, Heihachi's private hospital, and just Heihachi period. The bastard probably had the doctor implant trackers in him and Jin.
Hwoarang's phone rang. He knew who it was and for one of the first times in a long time he was genuinely afraid. If something happened, Baek would die first. He could almost see the explosion shaking the building after he told Drake that Julia wasn't in his possession yet. He took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Yes?"
"Do you have her yet?" Drake asked.
"No. I just got here." He said.
"Why has it taken you so long? I gave you plenty of time?" Drake asked.
"I don't know. I haven't been one hundred percent all day." Hwoarang answered.
"Don't lie to me. You were too busy frolicking with Nina Williams." Drake said.
"Really?" Drake said.
"Lie to me again and I'll but your father out of his misery. But yes, you were." Drake said.
"I guess you know her?" Hwoarang asked.
"Her sister, actually. And seeing as I can't contact her, I can only guess she was ill-fated." Drake said.
"Something like that, yeah." Hwoarang said.
"So where is Julia?"
"She's here in the building. I can still get her." Hwoarang said.
Drake sighed.
"I'll tell you what: I'll call back at one o'clock. If I don't hear Julia's voice, that's two strikes. If she is under duress of any kind, two strikes. Not only will your father be dead, but the city of Tokyo can say good night permanently." Drake said.
"Fine." Hwoarang said.
He hung up the phone. Immediately a wave of nausea hit him and Hwoarang threw up on the floor of the ATU in front of everyone. He dropped the phone and dropped to his knees.
He didn't know how to describe it. He couldn't breathe, and he continued to vomit while his stomach felt like it met a trash compactor. He looked up to see someone running to him to help.
Everyone was a blur, and he was beginning to feel very cold. So cold in fact that he was beginning to shake. He fell to the floor in a fetal position and could barely see the vomit on the floor. It wasn't vomit, it was blood and nothing but.
An intern was by his side trying to check his pulse as Wallace came running up. He was in shock to see Hwoarang like this.
"I need a doctor!" he screamed.
12:31:04- Heihachi awoke. It was strange, because there was no blurry vision or anything that you would expect after waking from an unconscious state. It was like his eyes opened and the world was clear and quiet.
He was in his office, at his desk. All of the lights in the office were on. Heihachi adjusted himself in the office chair. How did he get here? He remembered being in the limo, yelling at Kazuya, then he was here.
The office had four entrances, one on each of the three walls in front of him. To the west, the door led in from a room for a private elevator that led to his penthouse apartment. To the north, the door led in from the hallway that also led to Lee's office. To the east, the door led in from his private dojo.
He felt pretty safe right now, but God only knew how he got here, and that was what worried him.
The sound of heavy footsteps came from the north door, and Heihachi immediately reached for the gun under his desk. He became frantic as it was missing from the holster. He stood up and looked at the door, defiant and worried at the same time.
Kazuya opened the door, looked at his father then closed the door. He then stood near the door and continued to stare at Heihachi with bloodshot eyes.
The damage Kazuya sustained within the past few hours was still visible. A sickly, bloody scrape covered the far right side of his face. Both of his eyes were almost completely red with blood, with little white showing. There was a very visible bullet hole in the center of his chest, around the area where the heart would be.
Heihachi was in shock, but he didn't show it. Kazuya looked like the walking dead. He didn't understand how he was able to live through it all.
More footsteps could be heard coming from the west door. Jin Kazama walked through the door, shut it, and then stood next to the door while staring at his grandfather with accusing eyes.
"Jin?" Heihachi asked.
He would get no response, for he heard more footsteps, this time from the east door. As Nina Williams walked through the door, Heihachi could see the conspiracy around him.
One more set of footsteps could be heard coming from the north door.
Heihachi could believe the fact that he was blindsided. Jin, Kazuya, and Nina were all apart of a conspiracy. All it needed was a ringleader.
Heihachi kept his eyes on the door in front of him. The one who walked through was the last person he ever expected to see.
It was Lee Chaolan, alive and in living color. Heihachi could almost feel his jaw hit the floor. Lee had the look on his face of a man who just pulled the perfect coup. It was really priceless.
Heihachi was still speechless.
"Say something at least." Lee said.
"How?" Heihachi said.
"How? How. I can't believe you didn't see it coming." Lee said.
Lee walked past Kazuya and up to Heihachi's desk.
"Did you ever really think that your own son would want to work by your side?" Lee said.
He had to admit it, Lee was right. Heihachi had grown confident that Kazuya would take over the company after Heihachi stepped down. Their relationship was in the process of getting patched up after the past twenty-something years. The hope of the possibility that Kazuya would forgive Heihachi for all the pain and suffering had crossed his mind, but his instincts had told him more than once before that Kazuya would never trust him. After all, this was a moment for Lee to cherish, and all the people in the room had a grudge against Heihachi. Revenge really was a dish best served cold.
"Why don't we settle this in a reasonable fashion?" Heihachi said.
Maybe he could just give the company off to Lee, and maybe he could just leave. Boy was he living in a pipe dream.
"Yes. I agree with that. Nina?" Lee said.
Lee turned around and began to walk out of the room, Jin and Kazuya following him out the north door. Nina walked up to Heihachi and pulled out a Colt .45 revolver. She shot him four times.
Heihachi didn't fight it. It was inevitable. As the bullets pushed through his flesh, he fell back into the chair. The feeling of warm blood flooded through his mouth. His vision became blurry, and then went black. The last thing he wondered before he died was if he would have ever done the things he had done in life, if he knew he would die like this. He was never able to answer his own question though. His heart had stopped, and Heihachi Mishima was dead.
12:39:20- Wallace waited outside the medical center inside the ATU. It was a bit of a nervous moment for him. He knew what was happening and there was nothing he could do about it.
If Hwoarang died, then he would be in prison probably. Yeah, he would be. The past eight minutes had been chaos, and his shaking hand was a sign of the adrenaline leaving his bloodstream.
Wallace walked over to the water fountain and took a long sip from the faucet. This was a time to think about the decisions he had made today. It didn't even take a second before he justified everything he did. Maybe he was arrogant, and a prick as well but he didn't care. He did what he had to in order to get the job done. His bosses approved of him, because he delivered results when they needed them. Today was no different, he figured.
The door to the medical center opened, and out walked Dr. Terry Branch. Wallace walked over to him. He seemed concerned, but at least he didn't look like the bearer of bad news.
"How is he?" Wallace asked.
Branch sighed.
"He's lucky to be alive, that's for sure." Branch said.
"What happened?" Wallace asked.
"I should be asking you that question."
"What do you mean?" Wallace asked.
"Please, spare me. The blood transfusion, genius. I know the new machines can be used to do something like this in a matter of minutes, but do you have any idea how to operate one?" Branch said.
"I've been a few training sessions." Wallace said.
"A few? But are you fully trained?" Branch asked.
"No." Wallace said, knowing that he was about to get a lecture.
"Then you shouldn't have operated it. You ushered the medic, who was fully- trained, by the way, and then finished the procedure yourself. You forgot to file the paperwork afterwards, and you sent an injured agent who should have been resting out in the field. Are you that insane?" Branch asked.
"I'm quite sane, thank you." Wallace said.
"Then what the hell where you thinking? Hwoarang just told me all the things he went through tonight! He should be dead, but he's got some drive. If it were anybody else, I'd have another dead body to deal with. Personally? When I'm done in there, I'm contacting Le Carre." Branch said.
"You're going to go above my head? For something like this?" Wallace said.
"Yeah. This is the poor bastard's first day, and he's lucky to be breathing right now. You pushed him to hard." Branch said.
"Terry, you don't want to go there. You go above me and I swear to God, you'll be sorry." Wallace said.
"You threatening me?" Branch said.
The two stared each other down for a moment.
"Is he awake?" Wallace said.
Branch didn't answer; he just walked back into the medical center. Wallace followed.
Inside, Hwoarang was lying on a stretcher, and he was hooked up to an IV drip. His eyes were shut and his was breathing heavily. Wallace walked up to him and could see that his eyes weren't really shut all the way. It almost looked like he was resisting the sleep-inducing drugs Branch must have given him. He looked like he was trying to say something.
"Terry. Did you give him anything to knock him out?" Wallace asked.
Branch walked over to Hwoarang's side.
"Yeah. I gave him a mild tranquilizer. He needs rest." Branch said.
"He's trying to say something." Wallace said.
Wallace leaned in and put his ear in front of Hwoarang's mouth.
"What are trying to say?" Wallace asked.
"Don't...put...me under." Hwoarang spat out.
Wallace snapped to attention and looked at Branch.
"He said to not put him under." Wallace said.
"Why?" Branch asked.
"Just wake him up dammit!" Wallace said. Branch walked over to a nearby medicine chest and pulled out a small bottle. He then inserted it into the drip.
"It'll take a minute." Branch said.
There was silence in the room, but Wallace thought he heard something faint.
"Do you hear that?" Wallace asked.
Branch listened then nodded.
"What is that?" Branch asked.
Hwoarang moaned.
"Here, I'll stay with him, you go find out what that is." Wallace said.
Branch walked off.
"Wallace." Hwoarang said.
"What is it?" Wallace said.
"I need to tell you something. Drake called me. He wants Julia Chang." Hwoarang said.
"Did you find out anything about where he is?" Wallace asked.
"No. But he threatened to kill Baek, and to release a virus in the city if I didn't walk out of here by one o'clock." Hwoarang said.
It took a moment to register, but then Wallace thought of Adam. He took out his phone and called him.
"Yeah?" Adam said.
"Are you still in the lab?" Wallace asked.
"Yeah. I got a team here. We found something interesting in the Combots." Adam said.
"Is it a virus?" Wallace asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Adam said.
"Doesn't matter. Just get everyone out of the building, now!" Wallace yelled, and then hung up.
"What are you going to do?" Hwoarang asked.
Wallace really didn't know what he was going to do.
"Did he ever say where he wanted you to take her?" Wallace asked.
"No."
Wallace had an idea, but it was risky. He was lucky Hwoarang lived, but he needed the kid now, more than ever.
"How do you feel?" Wallace asked.
"How come I feel like I've heard this question before?" Hwoarang asked.
12:50:41- Branch was hot on the trail of this noise, which he determined was a voice. He heard a banging now, which was coming from the morgue lockers.
The sound was vibrating through the metal wall, and he couldn't tell which one it was coming from. He put his hands on each of the lockers, the vibrations getting stronger the closer he got to the source.
If there was a live person in there, the banging was probably the result of the person struggling to breathe.
He found the locker and opened it. Inside was Ling Xiaoyu, and she gasped for air and quickly shut her eyes as the light blinded her. Branch gave her a hand out of the tight space.
He was stunned to see that her clothes were covered in blood.
"Are you hurt?" Branch asked.
She knew he was talking about the blood.
"It's not mine. It was Jin's." She said.
Branch ran to find Wallace.
12:52:27- Wallace was helping Hwoarang get off the IV machine when Branch ran in. One shock after another seemed to be the routine tonight, he figured. Because now, he was staring at Wallace helping Hwoarang out of bed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Branch asked.
"I can't be here." Hwoarang said. "You're staying right here. Wallace, did anything I said get through to you?" Branch said.
"Yeah, but an emergency situation has come up." Wallace said.
"You know what? If he dies, I'm holding you responsible." Branch said.
"Fine, call Le Carre if you want. I don't give a fuck anymore. What was the noise?" Wallace asked.
"Ling was locked inside one of the morgue lockers." Branch said.
Hwoarang snapped his head around his shoulder to look at Branch.
"What?" Hwoarang said.
"Someone locked her in there." Branch said.
Hwoarang thought about it a moment.
"Whose locker was it?" Hwoarang asked.
"Jin Kazama. The guy who was killed today." Branch said.
"He's not dead." Hwoarang said.
Wallace stared at Hwoarang, dumbfounded.
12:56:03- Drake was standing inside Hanger 12 at Tokyo International Airport. He was becoming impatient. The people here had been taking forever to refuel his Cessna.
His phone rang. He answered it.
"Do you have her yet?" Lee asked.
"No, father. Not yet. I gave him thirty more minutes." Drake said.
"I told you not to toy with him." Lee said.
"I'm not. I threatened to kill Baek and release the virus if she isn't on the phone when I call back." Lee said.
"And when is that?"
"In about five minutes. I'm thinking of calling him early. How did your little celebration go?" Drake asked.
"It was a smash. I don't want any mishaps when he delivers her. He's not exactly a man who likes to be controlled." Lee said.
"I can deal with it. Now if you don't mind, I have a phone call to make." Drake said.
12:58:37- Hwoarang was walking through the main hall of the ATU. He was moving towards Wallace who was bringing him something he cherished.
"Here you go. They brought it in a while ago. You got your gun?" Wallace said.
"Yeah." He said.
Wallace had handed him his Army jacket. It was a trench coat really, but it was something he considered lucky. He remembered wearing it on his way to the last tournament and how long ago it seemed. He slipped the heavy jacket on. He continued to walk towards the front door. Wallace stayed beside him.
"We'll be a safe distance behind you, taking different routes. We're still following the tracker in your arm, so that way it doesn't blow your cover while you're with Drake. Julia's going to drive you to wherever he says to go to. We good?" Wallace said.
"Yeah." Hwoarang said.
Hwoarang's cell phone rang. Wallace left his side as he walked out the front doors of the building. He answered the phone.
"Yeah?" he said.
"You have Julia?" Drake asked.
"Yep." He said.
He walked about three hundred feet to the edge of where the parking lot began. A SUV was waiting with the passenger door open. Hwoarang could see Julia in the driver seat.
"I want to talk to her." Drake said.
"Tell me where we're meeting and you can talk to her when we get there?" Hwoarang asked.
"Are you trying to screw me over?" Drake asked.
Hwoarang smirked.
"I wouldn't think of it." He said.
12:59:57... 12:59:58... 12:59:59... 1:00:00...
Disclaimer: Don't own "24" or "Tekken".
The following takes place between 12:00 am and 1:00 am.
Events occur in real time.
12:00:00- The world was black to Ling Xiaoyu. She awoke to a very awkward blurriness that only became worse when she realized she couldn't see. It was then she realized that she was lying down. She tried to sit up, only hitting her head against solid metal in the process.
She laid her head back down on the table she was on and closed her eyes. The memories of where she was before she blacked out were a little fuzzy. The darkness wasn't helping, as it was tough to think frantically in such a calm and quiet surrounding.
Then it came to her: Jin. He had nearly strangled her to death inside the ATU's medical center.
"Oh god." She whispered.
She knew where she was, and the very thought of it made her shake. She was inside one of the body lockers. Her hand touched the cold steel of the table, and she felt something cool and syrupy. Her hand jerked away as she realized it was blood.
There was no light in the lockers, and she had nothing that could illuminate her surroundings. It was times like these she wished she smoked.
She began to press her hands against the door, trying to find some kind of an emergency latch, kind of like the ones you find in walk-in freezers.
The door was flat and smooth with no evidence of a handle or knob of any kind. With this little problem, the claustrophobia was beginning to set in. She felt like she had been buried alive, and that she only had minimal air left to breathe with. There was no way out and only one thing to do: scream.
"Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
12:05:38- The bike was speeding towards the ATU and Hwoarang couldn't help but rejoice at the familiar feeling he got from gripping the handle bars of the motorcycle. It was like sitting on a couch that had your groove in it, like an old t-shirt you could help but feel relaxed.
Nina was the only thing that made him from going all out on the bike. He pulled over to the curb. Looking up the street, he figured he was about a mile away from the ATU.
Hwoarang got off the bike, and immediately felt light-headed. Something wasn't right. His balance was off and he began to stumble backwards into the street. Nina grabbed him and pulled him forward just as a car was about to hit him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He leaned on the bike, and began to breathe heavily. Something was very wrong with him, and he had no clue what it could be right offhand. He had felt fine all night, but then all of a sudden he felt like he could pass out.
"I don't know. I'm not feeling too hot." He said.
"Well if Drake is serious about doing what he says he'll do, we can't worry about it." She said.
He looked at his watch. There was less than half an hour before Drake's deadline and he was still nearly a mile away from Julia. This wasn't looking too good. Hwoarang stood up and shook his head wildly, hoping to shake the dizziness he was getting.
"I'll call you once I have Julia. When I find out where the drop is, I'll tell you that too." He said.
"You need my number." She said, stating the fact.
"Oh, yeah. That'd help." He said with a nervous chuckle.
She gave him the number and he ran off towards the ATU. Nina then scooted up to the warm spot on the seat where Hwoarang had sat and drove off.
12:11:14- Heihachi and his attorney Kayan Ryoto sat in the back of Heihachi's limo. It was a godsend, Heihachi thought as he mentally melted into the leather seats. The back of the limo was very dark. He couldn't even make out where the cab ended. The fact that the windows were tinted didn't help.
There was a shuffle of clothing that came from within the cab, and Heihachi sensed it. It was intentional too. He heard a light whizzing sound and then a noise came from his attorney. Heihachi turned to see the man gagging up blood. There was a knife in his neck.
A light came on inside the limo. Sitting on the other side was Kazuya. Heihachi was only a little surprised.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"I've come to collect you, father." Kazuya said.
Heihachi noticed that Kazuya was in terrible shape. The devil gene had begun to work on healing him, but there was still quite a bit to cover up. The front of Kazuya's shirt was still covered in blood from when Wallace shot him earlier. When Wallace had slammed on the brakes, Kazuya had flown off the hood which sent his face skidding onto the rough pavement. His face looked like it had gone through a meat processor. His face had a good chunk of skin and some muscle missing from the right side of his jaw. Both eyes were bloodshot and whatever skin wasn't damaged on his face looked pale. Heihachi felt sick just looking at it.
"What are you going to do to me?" Heihachi said.
"That depends on what my master wants." Kazuya said.
"Somebody is controlling you? Figures my pathetic child would want to take orders. You have no right to call yourself a Mishima!" Heihachi yelled.
Kazuya quickly threw something from his hand. It was small, silver, and round. Heihachi didn't react quickly enough. The heavy ball bearing Kazuya had thrown hit Heihachi in the forehead, and he immediately fell unconscious into the seat, right next to the now dead lawyer.
12:17:50-Wallace was in his office, as usual. Other than what Adam was working on, and Hwoarang trying to track down Nina, there was nothing important for him to do. He had no leads, other than the chip, and he already had somebody on that. One thing was certain; his job was very boring sometimes. Wallace yawned as his phone rang.
"What." He said.
"Hey, I thought I'd let you know that I was able to recover a sample of something from the Combots down here." Adam said.
"What?"
"Well, it's a vial of some sort. There's a yellowish liquid inside. I think it might be the virus." Adam said.
"Bring it over here, and we'll run it through forensics." Wallace said.
Wallace looked out from the glass walls of his office onto the main floor of the ATU. He saw Hwoarang walk through the front doors. He looked very pale.
"Hey, Adam. I'm going to let you go, something's come up." Wallace said.
He hung up and rushed down to Hwoarang.
12:23:15- Hwoarang was entering the ATU after he ran and walked the mile to the building. He felt like shit. He was beginning to wonder about the blood transfusion he had earlier after he was shot at the mall.
Wallace came up to him and looked at him as if he were the plague.
"What the hell happened?" Wallace said.
"I don't know, I haven't been feeling too well. Nina wasn't there." Hwoarang said.
"Well, that's about all I have for you now. Go get a drink or something and I'll have something for you soon enough." Wallace said, walking off.
Hwoarang felt ignored. He didn't know it, but he was very pale, ghostly even. Sweat dripped off his face and onto the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. He was perspiring so much that it was soaking through the shirt. His arm had bothered him during the run and he was now holding it as if he broke it. How the hell could Wallace ignore this?
Hwoarang was really beginning to hate Wallace. Earlier in the day he seemed to genuinely be concerned, but then he told Hwoarang to "do his job". Hwoarang figured that if he didn't, he'd be going to jail. He didn't understand how Wallace could make that happen, but Hwoarang figured he probably could somehow. He remembered that Wallace gave him a chance to get out back when he had the accident with Jin that led them to Heihachi's doctor. He almost wished he had taken it.
"Shit." Hwoarang thought. That was how the tracker got there: Heihachi's doctor, Heihachi's private hospital, and just Heihachi period. The bastard probably had the doctor implant trackers in him and Jin.
Hwoarang's phone rang. He knew who it was and for one of the first times in a long time he was genuinely afraid. If something happened, Baek would die first. He could almost see the explosion shaking the building after he told Drake that Julia wasn't in his possession yet. He took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Yes?"
"Do you have her yet?" Drake asked.
"No. I just got here." He said.
"Why has it taken you so long? I gave you plenty of time?" Drake asked.
"I don't know. I haven't been one hundred percent all day." Hwoarang answered.
"Don't lie to me. You were too busy frolicking with Nina Williams." Drake said.
"Really?" Drake said.
"Lie to me again and I'll but your father out of his misery. But yes, you were." Drake said.
"I guess you know her?" Hwoarang asked.
"Her sister, actually. And seeing as I can't contact her, I can only guess she was ill-fated." Drake said.
"Something like that, yeah." Hwoarang said.
"So where is Julia?"
"She's here in the building. I can still get her." Hwoarang said.
Drake sighed.
"I'll tell you what: I'll call back at one o'clock. If I don't hear Julia's voice, that's two strikes. If she is under duress of any kind, two strikes. Not only will your father be dead, but the city of Tokyo can say good night permanently." Drake said.
"Fine." Hwoarang said.
He hung up the phone. Immediately a wave of nausea hit him and Hwoarang threw up on the floor of the ATU in front of everyone. He dropped the phone and dropped to his knees.
He didn't know how to describe it. He couldn't breathe, and he continued to vomit while his stomach felt like it met a trash compactor. He looked up to see someone running to him to help.
Everyone was a blur, and he was beginning to feel very cold. So cold in fact that he was beginning to shake. He fell to the floor in a fetal position and could barely see the vomit on the floor. It wasn't vomit, it was blood and nothing but.
An intern was by his side trying to check his pulse as Wallace came running up. He was in shock to see Hwoarang like this.
"I need a doctor!" he screamed.
12:31:04- Heihachi awoke. It was strange, because there was no blurry vision or anything that you would expect after waking from an unconscious state. It was like his eyes opened and the world was clear and quiet.
He was in his office, at his desk. All of the lights in the office were on. Heihachi adjusted himself in the office chair. How did he get here? He remembered being in the limo, yelling at Kazuya, then he was here.
The office had four entrances, one on each of the three walls in front of him. To the west, the door led in from a room for a private elevator that led to his penthouse apartment. To the north, the door led in from the hallway that also led to Lee's office. To the east, the door led in from his private dojo.
He felt pretty safe right now, but God only knew how he got here, and that was what worried him.
The sound of heavy footsteps came from the north door, and Heihachi immediately reached for the gun under his desk. He became frantic as it was missing from the holster. He stood up and looked at the door, defiant and worried at the same time.
Kazuya opened the door, looked at his father then closed the door. He then stood near the door and continued to stare at Heihachi with bloodshot eyes.
The damage Kazuya sustained within the past few hours was still visible. A sickly, bloody scrape covered the far right side of his face. Both of his eyes were almost completely red with blood, with little white showing. There was a very visible bullet hole in the center of his chest, around the area where the heart would be.
Heihachi was in shock, but he didn't show it. Kazuya looked like the walking dead. He didn't understand how he was able to live through it all.
More footsteps could be heard coming from the west door. Jin Kazama walked through the door, shut it, and then stood next to the door while staring at his grandfather with accusing eyes.
"Jin?" Heihachi asked.
He would get no response, for he heard more footsteps, this time from the east door. As Nina Williams walked through the door, Heihachi could see the conspiracy around him.
One more set of footsteps could be heard coming from the north door.
Heihachi could believe the fact that he was blindsided. Jin, Kazuya, and Nina were all apart of a conspiracy. All it needed was a ringleader.
Heihachi kept his eyes on the door in front of him. The one who walked through was the last person he ever expected to see.
It was Lee Chaolan, alive and in living color. Heihachi could almost feel his jaw hit the floor. Lee had the look on his face of a man who just pulled the perfect coup. It was really priceless.
Heihachi was still speechless.
"Say something at least." Lee said.
"How?" Heihachi said.
"How? How. I can't believe you didn't see it coming." Lee said.
Lee walked past Kazuya and up to Heihachi's desk.
"Did you ever really think that your own son would want to work by your side?" Lee said.
He had to admit it, Lee was right. Heihachi had grown confident that Kazuya would take over the company after Heihachi stepped down. Their relationship was in the process of getting patched up after the past twenty-something years. The hope of the possibility that Kazuya would forgive Heihachi for all the pain and suffering had crossed his mind, but his instincts had told him more than once before that Kazuya would never trust him. After all, this was a moment for Lee to cherish, and all the people in the room had a grudge against Heihachi. Revenge really was a dish best served cold.
"Why don't we settle this in a reasonable fashion?" Heihachi said.
Maybe he could just give the company off to Lee, and maybe he could just leave. Boy was he living in a pipe dream.
"Yes. I agree with that. Nina?" Lee said.
Lee turned around and began to walk out of the room, Jin and Kazuya following him out the north door. Nina walked up to Heihachi and pulled out a Colt .45 revolver. She shot him four times.
Heihachi didn't fight it. It was inevitable. As the bullets pushed through his flesh, he fell back into the chair. The feeling of warm blood flooded through his mouth. His vision became blurry, and then went black. The last thing he wondered before he died was if he would have ever done the things he had done in life, if he knew he would die like this. He was never able to answer his own question though. His heart had stopped, and Heihachi Mishima was dead.
12:39:20- Wallace waited outside the medical center inside the ATU. It was a bit of a nervous moment for him. He knew what was happening and there was nothing he could do about it.
If Hwoarang died, then he would be in prison probably. Yeah, he would be. The past eight minutes had been chaos, and his shaking hand was a sign of the adrenaline leaving his bloodstream.
Wallace walked over to the water fountain and took a long sip from the faucet. This was a time to think about the decisions he had made today. It didn't even take a second before he justified everything he did. Maybe he was arrogant, and a prick as well but he didn't care. He did what he had to in order to get the job done. His bosses approved of him, because he delivered results when they needed them. Today was no different, he figured.
The door to the medical center opened, and out walked Dr. Terry Branch. Wallace walked over to him. He seemed concerned, but at least he didn't look like the bearer of bad news.
"How is he?" Wallace asked.
Branch sighed.
"He's lucky to be alive, that's for sure." Branch said.
"What happened?" Wallace asked.
"I should be asking you that question."
"What do you mean?" Wallace asked.
"Please, spare me. The blood transfusion, genius. I know the new machines can be used to do something like this in a matter of minutes, but do you have any idea how to operate one?" Branch said.
"I've been a few training sessions." Wallace said.
"A few? But are you fully trained?" Branch asked.
"No." Wallace said, knowing that he was about to get a lecture.
"Then you shouldn't have operated it. You ushered the medic, who was fully- trained, by the way, and then finished the procedure yourself. You forgot to file the paperwork afterwards, and you sent an injured agent who should have been resting out in the field. Are you that insane?" Branch asked.
"I'm quite sane, thank you." Wallace said.
"Then what the hell where you thinking? Hwoarang just told me all the things he went through tonight! He should be dead, but he's got some drive. If it were anybody else, I'd have another dead body to deal with. Personally? When I'm done in there, I'm contacting Le Carre." Branch said.
"You're going to go above my head? For something like this?" Wallace said.
"Yeah. This is the poor bastard's first day, and he's lucky to be breathing right now. You pushed him to hard." Branch said.
"Terry, you don't want to go there. You go above me and I swear to God, you'll be sorry." Wallace said.
"You threatening me?" Branch said.
The two stared each other down for a moment.
"Is he awake?" Wallace said.
Branch didn't answer; he just walked back into the medical center. Wallace followed.
Inside, Hwoarang was lying on a stretcher, and he was hooked up to an IV drip. His eyes were shut and his was breathing heavily. Wallace walked up to him and could see that his eyes weren't really shut all the way. It almost looked like he was resisting the sleep-inducing drugs Branch must have given him. He looked like he was trying to say something.
"Terry. Did you give him anything to knock him out?" Wallace asked.
Branch walked over to Hwoarang's side.
"Yeah. I gave him a mild tranquilizer. He needs rest." Branch said.
"He's trying to say something." Wallace said.
Wallace leaned in and put his ear in front of Hwoarang's mouth.
"What are trying to say?" Wallace asked.
"Don't...put...me under." Hwoarang spat out.
Wallace snapped to attention and looked at Branch.
"He said to not put him under." Wallace said.
"Why?" Branch asked.
"Just wake him up dammit!" Wallace said. Branch walked over to a nearby medicine chest and pulled out a small bottle. He then inserted it into the drip.
"It'll take a minute." Branch said.
There was silence in the room, but Wallace thought he heard something faint.
"Do you hear that?" Wallace asked.
Branch listened then nodded.
"What is that?" Branch asked.
Hwoarang moaned.
"Here, I'll stay with him, you go find out what that is." Wallace said.
Branch walked off.
"Wallace." Hwoarang said.
"What is it?" Wallace said.
"I need to tell you something. Drake called me. He wants Julia Chang." Hwoarang said.
"Did you find out anything about where he is?" Wallace asked.
"No. But he threatened to kill Baek, and to release a virus in the city if I didn't walk out of here by one o'clock." Hwoarang said.
It took a moment to register, but then Wallace thought of Adam. He took out his phone and called him.
"Yeah?" Adam said.
"Are you still in the lab?" Wallace asked.
"Yeah. I got a team here. We found something interesting in the Combots." Adam said.
"Is it a virus?" Wallace asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Adam said.
"Doesn't matter. Just get everyone out of the building, now!" Wallace yelled, and then hung up.
"What are you going to do?" Hwoarang asked.
Wallace really didn't know what he was going to do.
"Did he ever say where he wanted you to take her?" Wallace asked.
"No."
Wallace had an idea, but it was risky. He was lucky Hwoarang lived, but he needed the kid now, more than ever.
"How do you feel?" Wallace asked.
"How come I feel like I've heard this question before?" Hwoarang asked.
12:50:41- Branch was hot on the trail of this noise, which he determined was a voice. He heard a banging now, which was coming from the morgue lockers.
The sound was vibrating through the metal wall, and he couldn't tell which one it was coming from. He put his hands on each of the lockers, the vibrations getting stronger the closer he got to the source.
If there was a live person in there, the banging was probably the result of the person struggling to breathe.
He found the locker and opened it. Inside was Ling Xiaoyu, and she gasped for air and quickly shut her eyes as the light blinded her. Branch gave her a hand out of the tight space.
He was stunned to see that her clothes were covered in blood.
"Are you hurt?" Branch asked.
She knew he was talking about the blood.
"It's not mine. It was Jin's." She said.
Branch ran to find Wallace.
12:52:27- Wallace was helping Hwoarang get off the IV machine when Branch ran in. One shock after another seemed to be the routine tonight, he figured. Because now, he was staring at Wallace helping Hwoarang out of bed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Branch asked.
"I can't be here." Hwoarang said. "You're staying right here. Wallace, did anything I said get through to you?" Branch said.
"Yeah, but an emergency situation has come up." Wallace said.
"You know what? If he dies, I'm holding you responsible." Branch said.
"Fine, call Le Carre if you want. I don't give a fuck anymore. What was the noise?" Wallace asked.
"Ling was locked inside one of the morgue lockers." Branch said.
Hwoarang snapped his head around his shoulder to look at Branch.
"What?" Hwoarang said.
"Someone locked her in there." Branch said.
Hwoarang thought about it a moment.
"Whose locker was it?" Hwoarang asked.
"Jin Kazama. The guy who was killed today." Branch said.
"He's not dead." Hwoarang said.
Wallace stared at Hwoarang, dumbfounded.
12:56:03- Drake was standing inside Hanger 12 at Tokyo International Airport. He was becoming impatient. The people here had been taking forever to refuel his Cessna.
His phone rang. He answered it.
"Do you have her yet?" Lee asked.
"No, father. Not yet. I gave him thirty more minutes." Drake said.
"I told you not to toy with him." Lee said.
"I'm not. I threatened to kill Baek and release the virus if she isn't on the phone when I call back." Lee said.
"And when is that?"
"In about five minutes. I'm thinking of calling him early. How did your little celebration go?" Drake asked.
"It was a smash. I don't want any mishaps when he delivers her. He's not exactly a man who likes to be controlled." Lee said.
"I can deal with it. Now if you don't mind, I have a phone call to make." Drake said.
12:58:37- Hwoarang was walking through the main hall of the ATU. He was moving towards Wallace who was bringing him something he cherished.
"Here you go. They brought it in a while ago. You got your gun?" Wallace said.
"Yeah." He said.
Wallace had handed him his Army jacket. It was a trench coat really, but it was something he considered lucky. He remembered wearing it on his way to the last tournament and how long ago it seemed. He slipped the heavy jacket on. He continued to walk towards the front door. Wallace stayed beside him.
"We'll be a safe distance behind you, taking different routes. We're still following the tracker in your arm, so that way it doesn't blow your cover while you're with Drake. Julia's going to drive you to wherever he says to go to. We good?" Wallace said.
"Yeah." Hwoarang said.
Hwoarang's cell phone rang. Wallace left his side as he walked out the front doors of the building. He answered the phone.
"Yeah?" he said.
"You have Julia?" Drake asked.
"Yep." He said.
He walked about three hundred feet to the edge of where the parking lot began. A SUV was waiting with the passenger door open. Hwoarang could see Julia in the driver seat.
"I want to talk to her." Drake said.
"Tell me where we're meeting and you can talk to her when we get there?" Hwoarang asked.
"Are you trying to screw me over?" Drake asked.
Hwoarang smirked.
"I wouldn't think of it." He said.
12:59:57... 12:59:58... 12:59:59... 1:00:00...