Tekken 24
Disclaimer: Don't own "24" or "Tekken".
The following takes place between 1:00 am and 2:00 am.
Events occur in real time.
1:00:00- Lee Chaolan walked into his office inside the Mishima Zaibatsu. The lights were already on as he moved towards his desk. Kazuya walked in behind him.
"What now?" he asked.
"Go to the estate. I'll catch up with you." Lee said.
Kazuya left the room, and Lee waited a moment before sitting down in front of his computer. He made the appropriate logins and opened a file that he had made sure was buried deep within the files inside the system.
The program opened and immediately asked for a command. He typed one in the program acknowledged it.
He opened one more program. It was a safety program that he designed himself. If something went wrong with the command he ordered, the program would halt. The safety was there so Lee would know of the problem as soon as it came up. It would call his cell phone and a series of noises would be broadcast over the line. When Lee recognizes them, he enters a series of numbers and another backup order is entered into the waiting command program.
Lee grabbed his jacket and left the room, turning the office lights off on the way out. He computer monitor glowed in the darkness. The program came up with a green message box. It said: "Combot dispersal proceeding".
1:02:44- Vehicles were everywhere outside of Mishima Labs. Most of them were Hazmat and various government vehicles. The news of a virus had everybody up in a panic. \
About an hour ago, Adam was all alone with a team of four securing the building. Now, he was outside of Mishima Labs, frustrated as all hell. For the past five minutes, he'd been trying to get a hold of Wallace only to get a busy signal. He dialed one more time, and sure enough it was a busy signal.
"Dammit!" he cursed.
"Agent Katoya!" a man yelled.
A man walked up to him. He was holding a phone. "What?" Adam asked.
"Wallace for you, sir." He said.
Adam took the phone.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you." Adam said.
"It's been complete chaos here. We got a lead and only had a few minutes to act on it." Wallace said.
"Does this lead have anything to do with the evacuation?" Adam said.
"It has everything to do with it. Drake Matthews threatened to kill a witness and release the virus if Hwoarang didn't deliver Julia Chang to him. The deadline was four minutes ago. Hwoarang is in a car with her now. I imagine Drake has already called him. What are you doing over there?" Wallace said.
Adam looked at the front door of the building. Men in Hazmat suits were setting up a tent in front of the door. The thought of a deadly virus on the other side of a thin pane of glass freaked him out. He could feel a shiver going down his spine.
"Hazmat is setting up quarantine before they enter the building. Once they get inside, I'm going to have to give them instructions on how to get down there." Adam said.
"Aren't you going in with them?" Wallace said.
"No. I can't do it." Adam said.
"I understand. We'll get back to you if we get Drake. Once he's in custody, we should be in the clear as long as the virus wasn't released." Wallace said.
"Yeah. I'll be waiting." Adam said.
1:05:16- Wallace hung up the phone. He rested his head back in his chair and closed his eyes. His phone rang again. He groaned as he reached for the phone.
"Wallace." He said.
"It's me." Hwoarang said.
"What do you got?"
"It's going down at Tokyo International Airport, Hanger 12." Hwoarang said.
"Great. I'll have teams scramble there now." Wallace said. "Thanks." Hwoarang said.
"Hwoarang?" Wallace asked.
"What?"
"Ling's going to be there too. She wanted to help." Wallace said.
Hwoarang stayed silent. He still cared for her, but he knew there was no chance that the relationship would start again. They were just friends now. But he didn't want to see her get hurt.
"I know what you're thinking. I took care of it. She's going to provide sniper cover." Wallace said.
"Thank you." Hwoarang said.
He hung up.
1:08:19- Terry Branch was at his desk down in the Medical Center of the ATU. The office was located near the morgue lockers in the back of the small complex that was buried in the dungeon of the building.
His office was cluttered and not because he wanted it that way. Branch was usually very tidy, very professional. But tonight was something different. A bottle of Jack Daniels sat on his desk, and for anybody that knew him, that should be a sign that he was having a bad night.
The office was trashed because he trashed it. He was downplayed again, like he always was. Wallace hired him because he was good at what he did, and Wallace soon found out that Branch had a very low self-esteem. He hated Wallace now, knowing that the fucking bastard enjoyed playing with that weakness.
Branch had tried complaining, but nobody above him listened. When Wallace would find out about his complaint, he would pull some type of prank or beating on him. The beatings were only a punch here or there, nothing serious in the long run. But two weeks ago, it got worse. Wallace began hitting him on occasion just for fun. One time about a week ago, Wallace came to his home drunk and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
He called up Wallace's supervisor, Gavin Le Carre and threatened to press charges. Branch was sick of it. Le Carre hesitated and told Branch that he would take care of the problem. Branch waited and Le Carre finally called him two days ago and told him that he was making an investigation.
That was good enough for then. Now Wallace was about to kill a young man who had no clue what Wallace was really like. Branch wasn't about to let that happen.
His office had been trashed before he had his first drink of the night. Most of it came when the combot arrived at his clinic earlier in the day. The clinic was supposed to be a secret. He was helping out there sometimes when the ATU didn't need him. There were other doctors that worked here besides him, and he wasn't scheduled to come in today. But Wallace placed him with the bot, and now tonight the shit hit the fan after Branch threatened to go back to Le Carre. He went to the phone on his desk and started dialing.
"Le Carre." The man said.
"Gavin, it's Terry Branch again." He said.
"What's up?" Le Carre said.
"A situation has come up over here. You know about everything that's been happening within the past few minutes?" Branch said.
"I talked to Wallace about thirty minutes ago. He said he was waiting for that new field agent to come back for a report. Why?" Le Carre said.
"The field agent came back and nearly died. It turns out that he was shot earlier in the day and Wallace performed a blood transfusion incorrectly. He then pressured the agent into going back into the field again. About thirty minutes ago, he was hooked up to an IV, and now Wallace has sent him back out into the field." Branch said.
"Why would he do something like this?" Le Carre asked.
"I don't know. All that I know is that if that agent doesn't rest, he'll die. The poor son of a bitch already coughed up blood as soon as he got in here." Branch said.
"Why did Wallace take him out?" Le Carre said.
"It's a bit of a long story. The man the agent was protecting, he died. Well, now his body is missing and some woman said she was attacked by this man who should be dead. The agent pretty much confirmed that he was still alive." Branch said.
"Well, I'll get all this from Wallace when I talk to him. But in light of this, I think you should know that I've finished my investigation." Le Carre said.
"So soon?" Branch said.
"Yes. I'm not telling you what I'm going to do to him, but I will tell you what I think of him." Le Carre said.
"Ok."
"When I appointed him, he seemed ambitious, smart, and very capable of doing his job. Now, he's arrogant, lazy, and irresponsible. He seems to love his job though. I just thought you'd want to know that." Le Carre said.
"Thank you, sir." Branch said.
They hung up.
1:13:28- Hwoarang sat in the passenger's seat of the SUV. His head lay back in the seat, his eyes shut. He was tired; no thanks to those tranquilizers Branch had given him.
Julia was wide awake though. That was thanks to a nap she forced herself to take after the incident at the mall. While driving, she glanced over at Hwoarang. He had changed from the last time she saw him. The short hair was still there, but there was something missing from him.
She couldn't help but gaze at him while he slept in the seat. She always found him attractive, and now was no different. She admired his face mainly. The five o'clock shadow he was getting was very attractive to her. She slowly began looking at the rest of his body: his chest, abs, arms, and his legs. God, she just realized how horny she was.
A horn blared and she glanced in front of her to see that she was in the oncoming lane. She swerved out of the way, which woke Hwoarang from his slumber.
"What happened?" he said.
"Nothing." She said, with a nervous chuckle.
Hwoarang rubbed his eyes, trying to fight to stay awake. Julia glanced at him quickly, just in time to see him slap himself across the face. He slouched back in the seat and stared out at the road.
"Talk to me." He said.
"Excuse me?" she said.
"I'm trying to stay awake, so will you talk to me?" he asked.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
"I don't care, just anything. Ask me something?" he said.
"What's going on? Why am I here?" she said.
"There's a man named Drake Matthews that's threatened to release a virus in the city. He's demanded you as a ransom." He said, not looking at her.
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know anymore, and I don't care either." He said.
She accepted this remark, seeing as her fiancé was Jin Kazama, she pretty much knew enough about Hwoarang as well. She just never saw him enough in the flesh.
"Ok, then. What happened to you after the tournament?" she asked.
"Trust me, you don't want to know. Ask me something else." He said.
Obviously she hit something. Jin always talked about how fun it was to piss him off. She doubted that he was just going to hand her over to some terrorist. He obviously had some sort of plan to get her back. She decided to push further.
"Trust me, I do want to know." She said.
He glared at her.
"Ask me something else." He said.
"Look, I'll stop this car if you don't tell me." She said.
"To put it in very short terms, I was tortured. Alright?" he said.
"I'm sorry. What happened?" she asked.
"If you must know, I went back to Korea after the tournament to find my father. I couldn't find him or my gang, and the next thing I know, the army arrests me. One thing about Korean Army policies is that they have none. There's the rule about discharges and all, but punishments aren't exactly watched like they are in a police station." He said.
She didn't mean to bring up such a horrifying subject for him, but she was curious.
"What did they do to you?" she asked.
"I was put through it all. I was tied up and all the guys in my unit beat me until I was nearly dead. The commanding officers put me on electroshock and laughed as I spasmed in front of them. They even went as low as submitting me to the old Chinese water torture. That's only to name a few." He said.
She stayed silent.
"I was lucky enough to keep my sanity." He said with a chuckle.
"How did you?" she asked.
"I didn't. If it wasn't for the UN, I'd probably be dead by now. That's probably the only reason I'm still here. I haven't had a purpose for living since after the tournament." He said, closing his eyes once more.
They continued on in silence for a minute. Julia then pulled up in front of the airport terminal.
"We're here." She said.
Hwoarang opened his eyes.
1:26:32- Wallace was grabbing his jacket out of the locker in his office when his cell phone rang. He quickly took out his phone and left his office, heading for his car.
He answered it by the fourth ring.
"Wallace." He said.
"What took you so long?" Le Carre asked.
"Gavin. I'm sorry about that. I was heading out."
"What for?" Le Carre asked.
"We got a lead on the man Drake. He got to the new field agent Hwoarang, and I set up a sting operation as a counter." Wallace said.
"What did Drake want?" Le Carre said.
"He wanted Julia Chang in exchange for the assurance that he won't release the virus or kill Baek Doo San. I have teams en route to the airport. He's waiting in Hanger 12. Hwoarang should be there by now." Wallace said.
"Good. I want you there. I'll meet you in fifteen minutes." Le Carre said.
Le Carre hung up. Wallace knew Le Carre was mad. He knew Branch must have called him, that fucker. Wallace left the ATU, and began to drive to the airport.
1:32:00- The SUV pulled up to Hanger 11 on its south side. Hwoarang had her drive around it once, to check to see which side Drake was waiting on. It was odd to find both sets of doors shut. He figured he'd be waiting.
Hwoarang had her stop the car and he got out. His cell phone rang.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Hey. I'm here." Ling said.
"Where are you?" he asked.
It was a good question. He left before she did and she arrived at about the same time as he did, if not earlier.
"I'm on the roof of the south tower." She said.
Hwoarang looked over at the tower and saw a small red light flash over his eyes. She had run her laser sight over his eyes. Not exactly healthy for him, but at least he knew where she was without her compromising her location.
The other line rang.
"Shit. Good luck, Ling." He said.
He switched lines.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Is she with you?" Drake said.
"She's in the car." He said.
"Tell her to get out. When she does, you get in the driver's seat and shut off the car." Drake said.
Hwoarang motioned for her to get out as he walked over to her door and got in the vehicle.
"Done. Now what?" he said.
The south doors to the hanger opened.
"Tell her to come inside." Drake said.
"What assurances do I have that you won't release the virus or kill my father?" Hwoarang asked.
"Sadly, none." Drake said.
He knew it was useless to resist.
"Go." He said to Julia.
She began to move.
"Thank you, Hwoarang. It was nice doing business with you again." Drake said as he hung up.
He quickly called Ling back and put her on speaker.
"Hwoarang?" she asked.
"Where's the teams?" he asked.
"They're on the other side of the hanger, waiting for my order." She said.
Julia made it there and the doors began to shut.
"The teams are saying that the other doors are opening and that they hear plane engines starting up." She said.
Hwoarang knew he couldn't let Drake escape with her. He started up the SUV and floored the damn thing.
On the other side, the teams were startled to find a car blaze out of the hanger followed by the Cessna.
Hwoarang took the SUV between the hangers.
"The plane is beginning to taxi." Ling said.
He stopped the SUV and scrambled to the back, pulling an Uzi out of the weapons cache. Hwoarang then put the car in drive and tried to catch up with the plane.
"Ling, shoot out the tires on that fucker!" he yelled.
"What about the car that's escaping?" she asked.
"Fuck. Deal with that, I'll get the plane!" he yelled.
The plane continued to get faster, and the SUV was nearing it's max speed. The vehicle was coming up alongside the plane, and Hwoarang knew he didn't have a lot of time left before the Cessna was airborne.
He rolled down the window, and aimed the Uzi out at the back right tires. The machine pistol sprayed bullets as he pulled the trigger. A number of them ricocheted onto the tarmac, but it was still good enough to blow out the tires. The plane immediately buckled and swerved to the right, causing Hwoarang to slam on the brakes. The plane slowed and Hwoarang got out of the SUV and dashed over to the plane.
There was no immediate way to get in, he would have to improvise. He looked around an saw people rushing over to the plane. He ran to the nearest person.
"What the hell happened?" the man asked.
"You work here?" Hwoarang asked.
"What? Yeah. Yeah, I do." The man said.
"I need to get in that plane." Hwoarang said.
"What happened?" the man asked again.
"I'm with a UN task force; I have a suspect on that thing. I need on there now!" Hwoarang said.
The man looked around and saw an employee on the stair car. It was always strange how you could always find one of these driving around whenever you went to the airport. He whistled the man over to the plane.
Hwoarang watched as he parked it. He didn't have time for a safe perfect fit. The man tried to stop him as he ran up the stairs.
"How do I open this door?" Hwoarang said.
"There should be an emergency switch on the outside of the door." The man said.
Sure enough, there was a small toggle switch, no so different from a fire alarm, on the plane's hull. Hwoarang gave it a tug and the door popped off. He ducked to the side, just as it began to fly off down the stairs.
Hwoarang, Uzi in hand, entered the plane. There was no one on board that he could tell, and it was actually smaller than he expected. He checked the cockpit to find it empty. Hwoarang knew that he had to have been in the back. The main part of the cabin was lit by emergency lights, which really didn't help. The lights made it feel like he was on stage, and he couldn't see past them into the crowd.
Hwoarang squinted just as a fist came flying into his chin. Hwoarang dropped the Uzi and stumbled backwards, just as Drake threw another punch. This time, Hwoarang caught it in his own hand. Drake was stunned. He obviously underestimated Hwoarang, just like Lee told him not too. Hwoarang hauled off and punched him in the face. Drake fell to the floor. He looked up only to get a faceful of Hwoarang's shoe as he kicked Drake in the face.
Drake rolled on the floor and began to painfully moan.
"You son of a bitch. You broke my nose." Drake screamed.
"You'll be lucky if your balls are still attached by the time I'm done with you." Hwoarang said.
He picked Drake up and punched him again in the face, then did a quick snap kick to his chest. Drake fell to the floor unconscious.
Hwoarang tried to catch his breath as he spat on Drake.
1:46:08- Wallace drove up to the plane on the tarmac. He heard the whole thing over the radio he brought with him. He couldn't believe half of it. He parked the car and got out just in time to see Hwoarang bring Drake out.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, he did it." Wallace said.
"Yes, he did." Le Carre said.
Wallace turned around to see his superior approach him.
"Why didn't you tell me about Jin Kazama's body missing, Al?" Le Carre asked.
"Is this really the time to bring that up?" Wallace asked.
"Yes, it is." Le Carre said flat out.
"I didn't think it was that important with this going on." Wallace said.
"Oh, I tell you what's important. You're fired." Le Carre said.
"What?" Wallace asked.
"You heard me. Now get the fuck out of here." Le Carre said.
"But..." Wallace said.
"Go." Le Carre said.
Wallace stumbled backward, and looked up at Hwoarang, who was walking down to the tarmac with Drake. Hwoarang stared at him without pity.
1:49:32- Le Carre called a number on his cell phone.
"Yeah?" Adam said.
"This is Le Carre. Who's this?"
"Agent Adam Katoya, sir." Adam said.
"Are you at Mishima Labs?" Le Carre asked.
"Yes."
"We have Drake in custody. Also, I'll be temporarily taking over the ATU until I can find a replacement for Agent Wallace."
"What happened to Wallace?" Adam asked.
"That's not important. Take care of the situation there, first. I'll get back to you." Le Carre said.
He didn't wait for Adam to respond, he just hung up. Hwoarang put a handcuffed Drake into the back of a waiting car, his own SUV too far away.
"What happened to Wallace?" he said to the man who happened to be Le Carre.
"I fired him, Hwoarang. I'm Gavin Le Carre, his boss." Le Carre said, reaching out to shake Hwoarang's hand.
Hwoarang shook back uneasily, wonder what was going on.
"I wanted to tell you that you can go now." Le Carre said.
"What do you mean?" Hwoarang said.
Le Carre pulled him away from the airport crew that was busy trying to get the plane removed from the tarmac.
"You've been through hell today. In fact, I know how you nearly died about an hour ago. I also know that you don't have a place to stay in town. So, I'm telling you that you're relieved of your post. I'm going to be ordering that you be given compensation for what you've been through, and here's the card to an agency penthouse to a five star hotel here in Tokyo." Le Carre said.
Hwoarang felt like the loser on a TV show for some reason. He didn't expect to be let off the hook so easily. He didn't understand, but he didn't want to ask questions either. He took the card. "Take the SUV as well, we'll collect the weapons later." Le Carre said.
Hwoarang walked away from Le Carre, still speechless. He got in the SUV and drove off.
1:53:34- Ling was still on the north tower. She was putting away her rifle after she watched Hwoarang get safely off the plane.
She locked the rifle case and left the tower. She decided to leave out the back door, where she had parked her car. She set the rifle in the truck and shut it. Then something struck her neck. It felt like a mosquito bite at first, but she reached up to her neck, she felt the fuzzy tip of a tranquilizer dart. She collapsed on the ground.
Three men came out of hiding and picked her up. They placed her in a waiting Honda Civic and drove off.
1:57:59- Adam was in the elevator on his way back down to the lab. He had gotten the call from Hazmat that the building and the elevator shaft were clear. There was no sign of a virus anywhere. They hadn't been down to the labs, but they said it would have leaked into the elevator shaft and up to the lobby by now.
It was good enough for him. He was afraid of the virus being released, but he figure the Hazmat team knew what they were talking about.
He exited the elevator and walked out onto the main floor. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.
"That's impossible." He said.
All of the Combots were missing.
1:59:57... 1:59:58... 1:59:59... 2:00:00...
Disclaimer: Don't own "24" or "Tekken".
The following takes place between 1:00 am and 2:00 am.
Events occur in real time.
1:00:00- Lee Chaolan walked into his office inside the Mishima Zaibatsu. The lights were already on as he moved towards his desk. Kazuya walked in behind him.
"What now?" he asked.
"Go to the estate. I'll catch up with you." Lee said.
Kazuya left the room, and Lee waited a moment before sitting down in front of his computer. He made the appropriate logins and opened a file that he had made sure was buried deep within the files inside the system.
The program opened and immediately asked for a command. He typed one in the program acknowledged it.
He opened one more program. It was a safety program that he designed himself. If something went wrong with the command he ordered, the program would halt. The safety was there so Lee would know of the problem as soon as it came up. It would call his cell phone and a series of noises would be broadcast over the line. When Lee recognizes them, he enters a series of numbers and another backup order is entered into the waiting command program.
Lee grabbed his jacket and left the room, turning the office lights off on the way out. He computer monitor glowed in the darkness. The program came up with a green message box. It said: "Combot dispersal proceeding".
1:02:44- Vehicles were everywhere outside of Mishima Labs. Most of them were Hazmat and various government vehicles. The news of a virus had everybody up in a panic. \
About an hour ago, Adam was all alone with a team of four securing the building. Now, he was outside of Mishima Labs, frustrated as all hell. For the past five minutes, he'd been trying to get a hold of Wallace only to get a busy signal. He dialed one more time, and sure enough it was a busy signal.
"Dammit!" he cursed.
"Agent Katoya!" a man yelled.
A man walked up to him. He was holding a phone. "What?" Adam asked.
"Wallace for you, sir." He said.
Adam took the phone.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you." Adam said.
"It's been complete chaos here. We got a lead and only had a few minutes to act on it." Wallace said.
"Does this lead have anything to do with the evacuation?" Adam said.
"It has everything to do with it. Drake Matthews threatened to kill a witness and release the virus if Hwoarang didn't deliver Julia Chang to him. The deadline was four minutes ago. Hwoarang is in a car with her now. I imagine Drake has already called him. What are you doing over there?" Wallace said.
Adam looked at the front door of the building. Men in Hazmat suits were setting up a tent in front of the door. The thought of a deadly virus on the other side of a thin pane of glass freaked him out. He could feel a shiver going down his spine.
"Hazmat is setting up quarantine before they enter the building. Once they get inside, I'm going to have to give them instructions on how to get down there." Adam said.
"Aren't you going in with them?" Wallace said.
"No. I can't do it." Adam said.
"I understand. We'll get back to you if we get Drake. Once he's in custody, we should be in the clear as long as the virus wasn't released." Wallace said.
"Yeah. I'll be waiting." Adam said.
1:05:16- Wallace hung up the phone. He rested his head back in his chair and closed his eyes. His phone rang again. He groaned as he reached for the phone.
"Wallace." He said.
"It's me." Hwoarang said.
"What do you got?"
"It's going down at Tokyo International Airport, Hanger 12." Hwoarang said.
"Great. I'll have teams scramble there now." Wallace said. "Thanks." Hwoarang said.
"Hwoarang?" Wallace asked.
"What?"
"Ling's going to be there too. She wanted to help." Wallace said.
Hwoarang stayed silent. He still cared for her, but he knew there was no chance that the relationship would start again. They were just friends now. But he didn't want to see her get hurt.
"I know what you're thinking. I took care of it. She's going to provide sniper cover." Wallace said.
"Thank you." Hwoarang said.
He hung up.
1:08:19- Terry Branch was at his desk down in the Medical Center of the ATU. The office was located near the morgue lockers in the back of the small complex that was buried in the dungeon of the building.
His office was cluttered and not because he wanted it that way. Branch was usually very tidy, very professional. But tonight was something different. A bottle of Jack Daniels sat on his desk, and for anybody that knew him, that should be a sign that he was having a bad night.
The office was trashed because he trashed it. He was downplayed again, like he always was. Wallace hired him because he was good at what he did, and Wallace soon found out that Branch had a very low self-esteem. He hated Wallace now, knowing that the fucking bastard enjoyed playing with that weakness.
Branch had tried complaining, but nobody above him listened. When Wallace would find out about his complaint, he would pull some type of prank or beating on him. The beatings were only a punch here or there, nothing serious in the long run. But two weeks ago, it got worse. Wallace began hitting him on occasion just for fun. One time about a week ago, Wallace came to his home drunk and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
He called up Wallace's supervisor, Gavin Le Carre and threatened to press charges. Branch was sick of it. Le Carre hesitated and told Branch that he would take care of the problem. Branch waited and Le Carre finally called him two days ago and told him that he was making an investigation.
That was good enough for then. Now Wallace was about to kill a young man who had no clue what Wallace was really like. Branch wasn't about to let that happen.
His office had been trashed before he had his first drink of the night. Most of it came when the combot arrived at his clinic earlier in the day. The clinic was supposed to be a secret. He was helping out there sometimes when the ATU didn't need him. There were other doctors that worked here besides him, and he wasn't scheduled to come in today. But Wallace placed him with the bot, and now tonight the shit hit the fan after Branch threatened to go back to Le Carre. He went to the phone on his desk and started dialing.
"Le Carre." The man said.
"Gavin, it's Terry Branch again." He said.
"What's up?" Le Carre said.
"A situation has come up over here. You know about everything that's been happening within the past few minutes?" Branch said.
"I talked to Wallace about thirty minutes ago. He said he was waiting for that new field agent to come back for a report. Why?" Le Carre said.
"The field agent came back and nearly died. It turns out that he was shot earlier in the day and Wallace performed a blood transfusion incorrectly. He then pressured the agent into going back into the field again. About thirty minutes ago, he was hooked up to an IV, and now Wallace has sent him back out into the field." Branch said.
"Why would he do something like this?" Le Carre asked.
"I don't know. All that I know is that if that agent doesn't rest, he'll die. The poor son of a bitch already coughed up blood as soon as he got in here." Branch said.
"Why did Wallace take him out?" Le Carre said.
"It's a bit of a long story. The man the agent was protecting, he died. Well, now his body is missing and some woman said she was attacked by this man who should be dead. The agent pretty much confirmed that he was still alive." Branch said.
"Well, I'll get all this from Wallace when I talk to him. But in light of this, I think you should know that I've finished my investigation." Le Carre said.
"So soon?" Branch said.
"Yes. I'm not telling you what I'm going to do to him, but I will tell you what I think of him." Le Carre said.
"Ok."
"When I appointed him, he seemed ambitious, smart, and very capable of doing his job. Now, he's arrogant, lazy, and irresponsible. He seems to love his job though. I just thought you'd want to know that." Le Carre said.
"Thank you, sir." Branch said.
They hung up.
1:13:28- Hwoarang sat in the passenger's seat of the SUV. His head lay back in the seat, his eyes shut. He was tired; no thanks to those tranquilizers Branch had given him.
Julia was wide awake though. That was thanks to a nap she forced herself to take after the incident at the mall. While driving, she glanced over at Hwoarang. He had changed from the last time she saw him. The short hair was still there, but there was something missing from him.
She couldn't help but gaze at him while he slept in the seat. She always found him attractive, and now was no different. She admired his face mainly. The five o'clock shadow he was getting was very attractive to her. She slowly began looking at the rest of his body: his chest, abs, arms, and his legs. God, she just realized how horny she was.
A horn blared and she glanced in front of her to see that she was in the oncoming lane. She swerved out of the way, which woke Hwoarang from his slumber.
"What happened?" he said.
"Nothing." She said, with a nervous chuckle.
Hwoarang rubbed his eyes, trying to fight to stay awake. Julia glanced at him quickly, just in time to see him slap himself across the face. He slouched back in the seat and stared out at the road.
"Talk to me." He said.
"Excuse me?" she said.
"I'm trying to stay awake, so will you talk to me?" he asked.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
"I don't care, just anything. Ask me something?" he said.
"What's going on? Why am I here?" she said.
"There's a man named Drake Matthews that's threatened to release a virus in the city. He's demanded you as a ransom." He said, not looking at her.
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know anymore, and I don't care either." He said.
She accepted this remark, seeing as her fiancé was Jin Kazama, she pretty much knew enough about Hwoarang as well. She just never saw him enough in the flesh.
"Ok, then. What happened to you after the tournament?" she asked.
"Trust me, you don't want to know. Ask me something else." He said.
Obviously she hit something. Jin always talked about how fun it was to piss him off. She doubted that he was just going to hand her over to some terrorist. He obviously had some sort of plan to get her back. She decided to push further.
"Trust me, I do want to know." She said.
He glared at her.
"Ask me something else." He said.
"Look, I'll stop this car if you don't tell me." She said.
"To put it in very short terms, I was tortured. Alright?" he said.
"I'm sorry. What happened?" she asked.
"If you must know, I went back to Korea after the tournament to find my father. I couldn't find him or my gang, and the next thing I know, the army arrests me. One thing about Korean Army policies is that they have none. There's the rule about discharges and all, but punishments aren't exactly watched like they are in a police station." He said.
She didn't mean to bring up such a horrifying subject for him, but she was curious.
"What did they do to you?" she asked.
"I was put through it all. I was tied up and all the guys in my unit beat me until I was nearly dead. The commanding officers put me on electroshock and laughed as I spasmed in front of them. They even went as low as submitting me to the old Chinese water torture. That's only to name a few." He said.
She stayed silent.
"I was lucky enough to keep my sanity." He said with a chuckle.
"How did you?" she asked.
"I didn't. If it wasn't for the UN, I'd probably be dead by now. That's probably the only reason I'm still here. I haven't had a purpose for living since after the tournament." He said, closing his eyes once more.
They continued on in silence for a minute. Julia then pulled up in front of the airport terminal.
"We're here." She said.
Hwoarang opened his eyes.
1:26:32- Wallace was grabbing his jacket out of the locker in his office when his cell phone rang. He quickly took out his phone and left his office, heading for his car.
He answered it by the fourth ring.
"Wallace." He said.
"What took you so long?" Le Carre asked.
"Gavin. I'm sorry about that. I was heading out."
"What for?" Le Carre asked.
"We got a lead on the man Drake. He got to the new field agent Hwoarang, and I set up a sting operation as a counter." Wallace said.
"What did Drake want?" Le Carre said.
"He wanted Julia Chang in exchange for the assurance that he won't release the virus or kill Baek Doo San. I have teams en route to the airport. He's waiting in Hanger 12. Hwoarang should be there by now." Wallace said.
"Good. I want you there. I'll meet you in fifteen minutes." Le Carre said.
Le Carre hung up. Wallace knew Le Carre was mad. He knew Branch must have called him, that fucker. Wallace left the ATU, and began to drive to the airport.
1:32:00- The SUV pulled up to Hanger 11 on its south side. Hwoarang had her drive around it once, to check to see which side Drake was waiting on. It was odd to find both sets of doors shut. He figured he'd be waiting.
Hwoarang had her stop the car and he got out. His cell phone rang.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Hey. I'm here." Ling said.
"Where are you?" he asked.
It was a good question. He left before she did and she arrived at about the same time as he did, if not earlier.
"I'm on the roof of the south tower." She said.
Hwoarang looked over at the tower and saw a small red light flash over his eyes. She had run her laser sight over his eyes. Not exactly healthy for him, but at least he knew where she was without her compromising her location.
The other line rang.
"Shit. Good luck, Ling." He said.
He switched lines.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Is she with you?" Drake said.
"She's in the car." He said.
"Tell her to get out. When she does, you get in the driver's seat and shut off the car." Drake said.
Hwoarang motioned for her to get out as he walked over to her door and got in the vehicle.
"Done. Now what?" he said.
The south doors to the hanger opened.
"Tell her to come inside." Drake said.
"What assurances do I have that you won't release the virus or kill my father?" Hwoarang asked.
"Sadly, none." Drake said.
He knew it was useless to resist.
"Go." He said to Julia.
She began to move.
"Thank you, Hwoarang. It was nice doing business with you again." Drake said as he hung up.
He quickly called Ling back and put her on speaker.
"Hwoarang?" she asked.
"Where's the teams?" he asked.
"They're on the other side of the hanger, waiting for my order." She said.
Julia made it there and the doors began to shut.
"The teams are saying that the other doors are opening and that they hear plane engines starting up." She said.
Hwoarang knew he couldn't let Drake escape with her. He started up the SUV and floored the damn thing.
On the other side, the teams were startled to find a car blaze out of the hanger followed by the Cessna.
Hwoarang took the SUV between the hangers.
"The plane is beginning to taxi." Ling said.
He stopped the SUV and scrambled to the back, pulling an Uzi out of the weapons cache. Hwoarang then put the car in drive and tried to catch up with the plane.
"Ling, shoot out the tires on that fucker!" he yelled.
"What about the car that's escaping?" she asked.
"Fuck. Deal with that, I'll get the plane!" he yelled.
The plane continued to get faster, and the SUV was nearing it's max speed. The vehicle was coming up alongside the plane, and Hwoarang knew he didn't have a lot of time left before the Cessna was airborne.
He rolled down the window, and aimed the Uzi out at the back right tires. The machine pistol sprayed bullets as he pulled the trigger. A number of them ricocheted onto the tarmac, but it was still good enough to blow out the tires. The plane immediately buckled and swerved to the right, causing Hwoarang to slam on the brakes. The plane slowed and Hwoarang got out of the SUV and dashed over to the plane.
There was no immediate way to get in, he would have to improvise. He looked around an saw people rushing over to the plane. He ran to the nearest person.
"What the hell happened?" the man asked.
"You work here?" Hwoarang asked.
"What? Yeah. Yeah, I do." The man said.
"I need to get in that plane." Hwoarang said.
"What happened?" the man asked again.
"I'm with a UN task force; I have a suspect on that thing. I need on there now!" Hwoarang said.
The man looked around and saw an employee on the stair car. It was always strange how you could always find one of these driving around whenever you went to the airport. He whistled the man over to the plane.
Hwoarang watched as he parked it. He didn't have time for a safe perfect fit. The man tried to stop him as he ran up the stairs.
"How do I open this door?" Hwoarang said.
"There should be an emergency switch on the outside of the door." The man said.
Sure enough, there was a small toggle switch, no so different from a fire alarm, on the plane's hull. Hwoarang gave it a tug and the door popped off. He ducked to the side, just as it began to fly off down the stairs.
Hwoarang, Uzi in hand, entered the plane. There was no one on board that he could tell, and it was actually smaller than he expected. He checked the cockpit to find it empty. Hwoarang knew that he had to have been in the back. The main part of the cabin was lit by emergency lights, which really didn't help. The lights made it feel like he was on stage, and he couldn't see past them into the crowd.
Hwoarang squinted just as a fist came flying into his chin. Hwoarang dropped the Uzi and stumbled backwards, just as Drake threw another punch. This time, Hwoarang caught it in his own hand. Drake was stunned. He obviously underestimated Hwoarang, just like Lee told him not too. Hwoarang hauled off and punched him in the face. Drake fell to the floor. He looked up only to get a faceful of Hwoarang's shoe as he kicked Drake in the face.
Drake rolled on the floor and began to painfully moan.
"You son of a bitch. You broke my nose." Drake screamed.
"You'll be lucky if your balls are still attached by the time I'm done with you." Hwoarang said.
He picked Drake up and punched him again in the face, then did a quick snap kick to his chest. Drake fell to the floor unconscious.
Hwoarang tried to catch his breath as he spat on Drake.
1:46:08- Wallace drove up to the plane on the tarmac. He heard the whole thing over the radio he brought with him. He couldn't believe half of it. He parked the car and got out just in time to see Hwoarang bring Drake out.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, he did it." Wallace said.
"Yes, he did." Le Carre said.
Wallace turned around to see his superior approach him.
"Why didn't you tell me about Jin Kazama's body missing, Al?" Le Carre asked.
"Is this really the time to bring that up?" Wallace asked.
"Yes, it is." Le Carre said flat out.
"I didn't think it was that important with this going on." Wallace said.
"Oh, I tell you what's important. You're fired." Le Carre said.
"What?" Wallace asked.
"You heard me. Now get the fuck out of here." Le Carre said.
"But..." Wallace said.
"Go." Le Carre said.
Wallace stumbled backward, and looked up at Hwoarang, who was walking down to the tarmac with Drake. Hwoarang stared at him without pity.
1:49:32- Le Carre called a number on his cell phone.
"Yeah?" Adam said.
"This is Le Carre. Who's this?"
"Agent Adam Katoya, sir." Adam said.
"Are you at Mishima Labs?" Le Carre asked.
"Yes."
"We have Drake in custody. Also, I'll be temporarily taking over the ATU until I can find a replacement for Agent Wallace."
"What happened to Wallace?" Adam asked.
"That's not important. Take care of the situation there, first. I'll get back to you." Le Carre said.
He didn't wait for Adam to respond, he just hung up. Hwoarang put a handcuffed Drake into the back of a waiting car, his own SUV too far away.
"What happened to Wallace?" he said to the man who happened to be Le Carre.
"I fired him, Hwoarang. I'm Gavin Le Carre, his boss." Le Carre said, reaching out to shake Hwoarang's hand.
Hwoarang shook back uneasily, wonder what was going on.
"I wanted to tell you that you can go now." Le Carre said.
"What do you mean?" Hwoarang said.
Le Carre pulled him away from the airport crew that was busy trying to get the plane removed from the tarmac.
"You've been through hell today. In fact, I know how you nearly died about an hour ago. I also know that you don't have a place to stay in town. So, I'm telling you that you're relieved of your post. I'm going to be ordering that you be given compensation for what you've been through, and here's the card to an agency penthouse to a five star hotel here in Tokyo." Le Carre said.
Hwoarang felt like the loser on a TV show for some reason. He didn't expect to be let off the hook so easily. He didn't understand, but he didn't want to ask questions either. He took the card. "Take the SUV as well, we'll collect the weapons later." Le Carre said.
Hwoarang walked away from Le Carre, still speechless. He got in the SUV and drove off.
1:53:34- Ling was still on the north tower. She was putting away her rifle after she watched Hwoarang get safely off the plane.
She locked the rifle case and left the tower. She decided to leave out the back door, where she had parked her car. She set the rifle in the truck and shut it. Then something struck her neck. It felt like a mosquito bite at first, but she reached up to her neck, she felt the fuzzy tip of a tranquilizer dart. She collapsed on the ground.
Three men came out of hiding and picked her up. They placed her in a waiting Honda Civic and drove off.
1:57:59- Adam was in the elevator on his way back down to the lab. He had gotten the call from Hazmat that the building and the elevator shaft were clear. There was no sign of a virus anywhere. They hadn't been down to the labs, but they said it would have leaked into the elevator shaft and up to the lobby by now.
It was good enough for him. He was afraid of the virus being released, but he figure the Hazmat team knew what they were talking about.
He exited the elevator and walked out onto the main floor. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.
"That's impossible." He said.
All of the Combots were missing.
1:59:57... 1:59:58... 1:59:59... 2:00:00...