Hey, all. Wow another chapter. Gemma sent me this today and I'm putting it
up now. Hope the readers are still out there and sorry for the lack of
updates.
Jin was stunned. Before he could even comprehend anything to say, the sound of clapping echoed round the room.
Heihachi Mishima stepped out of the shadows. "Touching. Very touching," he sneered at Hwoarang, "I always knew Kazuya was worthless. I was the one who made sure he never received your street-rat mother's letters."
Hwoarang burned at Heihachi's insult, clenching his fists.
Heihachi then glared at Jin. "Well, well. Now I have TWO good for nothing grandsons."
"I refuse to relate myself to your cursed bloodline," Hwoarang narrowed his eyes, "I don't have any family left."
"By the by," Heihachi smirked at the young Korean, "If you had done a little research into your teacher's history, you would have found out that the reason why Kazuya travelled to Korea was not so unknown."
"What the hell you talking about?" Hwoarang snapped, eyeing Heihachi murderously.
Heihachi gave a short laugh. "By a stroke of terrible misfortune, Kazuya only met your mother because he was looking for your beloved mentor to put forward a little proposition," he smiled tauntingly, "You must have been living under the illusion that Baek was some kind of Saint. Well, he was far, far from it . . ."
"Watch your mouth," Hwoarang cut him off sharply, eyes narrowed, " or it may just have a collision with the back of my foot."
Heihachi merely smiled. "The truth hurts, doesn't it? Do you even know WHY Baek entered the Second Iron Fist Tournament?"
Hwoarang snapped his mouth shut angrily, knowing he couldn't supply an answer. It was true that he didn't know why Master Baek had entered; his teacher had never volunteered the information and Hwoarang had been too respectful to ever ask.
"Hah!" Heihachi laughed at Hwoarang's telltale silence, "He never told you, did he? Probably too ashamed . . . didn't want his best student revolting against him and throwing it back in his face."
Hwoarang cast a confused glance at Julia, to see what she was making of this. To his surprise, the Native American girl was fidgeting; obviously aware of the reason why Baek had entered the Tournament. Hwoarang guessed that Julia's mother had probably been the one to tell her.
"Kazuya hired Baek to compete in the Second Iron Fist for the one sole purpose of eliminating another fighter by the name of Marshall Law," Heihachi grinned, showing off his crooked yellow teeth, "By eliminate, the correct term I'm looking for is assassinate."
Hwoarang was stunned. Surely he couldn't be talking about the Master Baek he'd known all his life - the wise contemplative man who had hated Hwoarang's distasteful occupation as street gang leader and who had always taught him to spare lives and not take them.
Heihachi laughed wickedly, shaking his head, he muttered, "Koreans; they never learn."
"Michelle!" cried Julia suddenly. Two soldiers had entered behind Heihachi, holding the unconscious body of her mother between them.
"Ah, Miss Chang. Do not worry, I have shown your mother the utmost courtesy she deserves," he signalled to the MPA soldiers and they dropped Michelle Chang disrespectfully to the ground.
"I won't let you get away with this," Julia near-screamed, all sorts of ways of murdering Heihachi painfully flew to her head.
Heihachi merely ignored the seething Native American and turned to his petite Chinese ally.
"Good job, Ling. I will hold to my end of the bargain since you managed to round all these miscreants here - you may do what you want with them and it will all look like an accident to the press in the morning," Heihachi smirked wickedly. Ling grinned happily. She turned to Jin and Julia, who were both looking horrified.
"Jin, I'm giving you one last chance. We can still be happy together, I know it," Ling began to sound desperate, her feelings for Jin were beginning to drive her mad.
"I'd rather die," Jin spat, glaring at her venomously.
"Then so you shall," she raised the revolver and aimed it at him, then paused, "I know what would hurt you more - if I was to kill that devious slut." She pointed the barrel at Julia and placed a finger on the trigger. Julia's eyes widened as she heard it click.
Suddenly, just as it fired, the revolver was kicked swiftly out of Ling's hands and the bullet shot upwards.
"Hwoarang!" cried Julia thankfully.
"At your service," he joked, bowing slightly.
"Hold them down!" barked Heihachi. Twenty or so Mishima soldiers formed a ring around the young fighters.
Hwoarang looked at Jin, wondering what he was thinking about all this.
"You know, now that I think about it, having a brother may not be so bad," Jin didn't look at the red-haired one, but as he finished his sentence, he turned to grin at Hwoarang.
Hwoarang smirked. "Finally accepted a pathetic excuse for a human being as your brother then?"
"Well it was a bit rich coming from a pansy, after all," Jin smiled meaningfully. Then he said more seriously, "I'm sorry you had to hear about Baek like this."
Hwoarang shrugged. "It's cool," then he smirked again and pointed to the Mishima soldiers, "after you, Bro'."
With that, they both charged in headfirst and sent the MPA flying left, right and centre in opposite directions.
Julia, meanwhile, had crawled over to where Michelle lay on the floor. She looked down at her mother, brushing stray strands of her long hair out of her eyes. "I knew you were alive, I could feel it," she whispered happily. Michelle smiled at her daughter weakly. "Seeing you again and knowing you are well is enough for me," she reached for Julia's hand and squeezed it, "I'll always love you, Julia."
Julia felt tears come to her eyes. "Don't speak that way. You're going to be fine."
"Use it well," Michelle smiled again and her eyes fluttered shut for the last time. Julia bowed her head, as her tears flowed freely from her eyes but as she moved her hand, it felt considerably heavy. Inside her tightly shut palm, lay a beautifully engraved golden pendant: an heirloom of her people, which Michelle must have placed there when she had reached for Julia's hand.
"I will, Mother," Julia said, a determined look in her eyes, as she kissed Michelle's forehead tenderly and slowly stood upright.
While Hwoarang and Jin were still fighting back the MPA, Ling had finally flipped. Tears running down her face, she shrieked, "If I can't have you, no one will!" Aiming the revolver back on Jin, who couldn't do anything as he was still in the midst of defending himself against the soldiers, Ling jumped back dangerously near the huge glass window which spanned from the floor to the ceiling and overlooked the school grounds.
She didn't notice Hwoarang kick a Mishima soldier away from him. The soldier flew back several feet from the impact and collided into Ling, knocking the unfortunate girl and himself through the window whilst splintering bits of shattered glass in every direction.
Uttering an ear-piercing scream, Ling held on to the jagged edges of the broken window, preventing her from suffering the same fate as the lifeless soldier below.
The fragments of broken glass cut unbearably into Ling's fingers and she was slowly losing grip. Through her tears, she could just make out the shape of Julia looking down on her. "Take my hand. I'll help you," Julia said, looking worried, as she began to kneel down to reach Ling.
"No, I'll never accept your help," Ling screamed. She glared up at Julia's distressed face. "I hope you and Jin are very happy together," she snarled and in a moment of pure blindness of her crazed emotions, she let go of the edge and plummeted to her death.
* * *
Jin was stunned. Before he could even comprehend anything to say, the sound of clapping echoed round the room.
Heihachi Mishima stepped out of the shadows. "Touching. Very touching," he sneered at Hwoarang, "I always knew Kazuya was worthless. I was the one who made sure he never received your street-rat mother's letters."
Hwoarang burned at Heihachi's insult, clenching his fists.
Heihachi then glared at Jin. "Well, well. Now I have TWO good for nothing grandsons."
"I refuse to relate myself to your cursed bloodline," Hwoarang narrowed his eyes, "I don't have any family left."
"By the by," Heihachi smirked at the young Korean, "If you had done a little research into your teacher's history, you would have found out that the reason why Kazuya travelled to Korea was not so unknown."
"What the hell you talking about?" Hwoarang snapped, eyeing Heihachi murderously.
Heihachi gave a short laugh. "By a stroke of terrible misfortune, Kazuya only met your mother because he was looking for your beloved mentor to put forward a little proposition," he smiled tauntingly, "You must have been living under the illusion that Baek was some kind of Saint. Well, he was far, far from it . . ."
"Watch your mouth," Hwoarang cut him off sharply, eyes narrowed, " or it may just have a collision with the back of my foot."
Heihachi merely smiled. "The truth hurts, doesn't it? Do you even know WHY Baek entered the Second Iron Fist Tournament?"
Hwoarang snapped his mouth shut angrily, knowing he couldn't supply an answer. It was true that he didn't know why Master Baek had entered; his teacher had never volunteered the information and Hwoarang had been too respectful to ever ask.
"Hah!" Heihachi laughed at Hwoarang's telltale silence, "He never told you, did he? Probably too ashamed . . . didn't want his best student revolting against him and throwing it back in his face."
Hwoarang cast a confused glance at Julia, to see what she was making of this. To his surprise, the Native American girl was fidgeting; obviously aware of the reason why Baek had entered the Tournament. Hwoarang guessed that Julia's mother had probably been the one to tell her.
"Kazuya hired Baek to compete in the Second Iron Fist for the one sole purpose of eliminating another fighter by the name of Marshall Law," Heihachi grinned, showing off his crooked yellow teeth, "By eliminate, the correct term I'm looking for is assassinate."
Hwoarang was stunned. Surely he couldn't be talking about the Master Baek he'd known all his life - the wise contemplative man who had hated Hwoarang's distasteful occupation as street gang leader and who had always taught him to spare lives and not take them.
Heihachi laughed wickedly, shaking his head, he muttered, "Koreans; they never learn."
"Michelle!" cried Julia suddenly. Two soldiers had entered behind Heihachi, holding the unconscious body of her mother between them.
"Ah, Miss Chang. Do not worry, I have shown your mother the utmost courtesy she deserves," he signalled to the MPA soldiers and they dropped Michelle Chang disrespectfully to the ground.
"I won't let you get away with this," Julia near-screamed, all sorts of ways of murdering Heihachi painfully flew to her head.
Heihachi merely ignored the seething Native American and turned to his petite Chinese ally.
"Good job, Ling. I will hold to my end of the bargain since you managed to round all these miscreants here - you may do what you want with them and it will all look like an accident to the press in the morning," Heihachi smirked wickedly. Ling grinned happily. She turned to Jin and Julia, who were both looking horrified.
"Jin, I'm giving you one last chance. We can still be happy together, I know it," Ling began to sound desperate, her feelings for Jin were beginning to drive her mad.
"I'd rather die," Jin spat, glaring at her venomously.
"Then so you shall," she raised the revolver and aimed it at him, then paused, "I know what would hurt you more - if I was to kill that devious slut." She pointed the barrel at Julia and placed a finger on the trigger. Julia's eyes widened as she heard it click.
Suddenly, just as it fired, the revolver was kicked swiftly out of Ling's hands and the bullet shot upwards.
"Hwoarang!" cried Julia thankfully.
"At your service," he joked, bowing slightly.
"Hold them down!" barked Heihachi. Twenty or so Mishima soldiers formed a ring around the young fighters.
Hwoarang looked at Jin, wondering what he was thinking about all this.
"You know, now that I think about it, having a brother may not be so bad," Jin didn't look at the red-haired one, but as he finished his sentence, he turned to grin at Hwoarang.
Hwoarang smirked. "Finally accepted a pathetic excuse for a human being as your brother then?"
"Well it was a bit rich coming from a pansy, after all," Jin smiled meaningfully. Then he said more seriously, "I'm sorry you had to hear about Baek like this."
Hwoarang shrugged. "It's cool," then he smirked again and pointed to the Mishima soldiers, "after you, Bro'."
With that, they both charged in headfirst and sent the MPA flying left, right and centre in opposite directions.
Julia, meanwhile, had crawled over to where Michelle lay on the floor. She looked down at her mother, brushing stray strands of her long hair out of her eyes. "I knew you were alive, I could feel it," she whispered happily. Michelle smiled at her daughter weakly. "Seeing you again and knowing you are well is enough for me," she reached for Julia's hand and squeezed it, "I'll always love you, Julia."
Julia felt tears come to her eyes. "Don't speak that way. You're going to be fine."
"Use it well," Michelle smiled again and her eyes fluttered shut for the last time. Julia bowed her head, as her tears flowed freely from her eyes but as she moved her hand, it felt considerably heavy. Inside her tightly shut palm, lay a beautifully engraved golden pendant: an heirloom of her people, which Michelle must have placed there when she had reached for Julia's hand.
"I will, Mother," Julia said, a determined look in her eyes, as she kissed Michelle's forehead tenderly and slowly stood upright.
While Hwoarang and Jin were still fighting back the MPA, Ling had finally flipped. Tears running down her face, she shrieked, "If I can't have you, no one will!" Aiming the revolver back on Jin, who couldn't do anything as he was still in the midst of defending himself against the soldiers, Ling jumped back dangerously near the huge glass window which spanned from the floor to the ceiling and overlooked the school grounds.
She didn't notice Hwoarang kick a Mishima soldier away from him. The soldier flew back several feet from the impact and collided into Ling, knocking the unfortunate girl and himself through the window whilst splintering bits of shattered glass in every direction.
Uttering an ear-piercing scream, Ling held on to the jagged edges of the broken window, preventing her from suffering the same fate as the lifeless soldier below.
The fragments of broken glass cut unbearably into Ling's fingers and she was slowly losing grip. Through her tears, she could just make out the shape of Julia looking down on her. "Take my hand. I'll help you," Julia said, looking worried, as she began to kneel down to reach Ling.
"No, I'll never accept your help," Ling screamed. She glared up at Julia's distressed face. "I hope you and Jin are very happy together," she snarled and in a moment of pure blindness of her crazed emotions, she let go of the edge and plummeted to her death.
* * *