Mwahahahaha! It seems that all I have to do to get more reviews is almost kill one of the main characters off! Anyway, I'm probably not going to be able to update much (if any) between Nov. 20 and Dec. 17 because my first semester is reaching it's end and I have way to many essays, projects, and finals. If I seem a little mad during this time... Well you guys understand, right? Most of you have been/ are going to high school or college and you know how important finals are! The pain, the suffering! (For you people who aren't in high school yet, take very good, legible notes if you want to pass!) Sorry, I got carried away there... Anyway, here are the reviewer responses!
Karisan-karisan: thanx a lot for the review! I hope you update soon, I love your story!
Ignes Fatui: Yes I do enjoy torturing you, not! I hope you like this chapter, and please update your great story soon!!!
Sunshine: Mwahaha! Read and find out what I put our fabulous Tekken characters through!
XInfernal: I like listening to sad music too. In fact, I was listening to sad music when I wrote that chapter...Oh! The Julia thing is a typo. I was writing that at 2 AM so I missed a few mistakes... That was supposed to be Ling, sorry!
TheWishOfNight: Thanx for the review. Yes I have read Shadow-Raven's stories, and she's on my favorite authors list. Her stories are awesome!
Its me!: Glad you liked it! I'll try to keep my updates as frequent as possible, but I'm really busy with school and that has to come first...
Jill: Thank you!!!!!!!! Please keep reviewing!
Thedarksavior: Thanx! Kazuya stayed in the room, but he didn't interrupt the mother son moment since at that point in the story, he and Jin still didn't understand each other or get along.
Diamond Xiaoli: Wow! Thank you so much! I'm glad to know the person whose stories got me started in writing Xiaoyin stories thinks me so highly of me!
Wow!: thanx! I can see your enthusiasm through the name you chose!
TheWishOfNight: Sorry about your computer! I know how you feel! My computer always has something wrong with it...
TheWritingBee: thanx for the review! I checked your story out and I really liked it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken
Bonds of LoveHwoarang panicked as Ling collapsed on Jin. He tried to glimpse her assailant, but he didn't see anyone armed with a weapon. He looked back over to Jin, and saw that the poor guy was in shock, Well, who wouldn't be? His girlfriend was just shot right in front of him blocking a bullet that was probably meant for him!
Hwoarang ran over to his injured friend, and from the corner of his eyes he saw Julia running towards them from the other direction. He gently pulled Ling off of Jin and saw that there was a massive amount of blood smeared across her dress. He didn't know humans had that much blood.
Acting quickly, he ripped a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around the bleeding girl, careful not to apply too much pressure lest he do something wrong. Julia had finally gotten there, and he watched as she surveyed the scene through wide eyes.
"Julia," he screamed, "Call an ambulance, quick!" She looked around frantically for a while before grabbing a cell phone from an unsuspecting man's hand. She dialed a number, and Hwoarang had to turn his attention back to Ling. He had to keep her alive until help came.
Suddenly it arrived, but it wasn't an ambulance. Hwoarang was even sure if it was the help that they desperately needed... or something far worse than their current problem. It was a large, black van with the silver initials CC on the side. Hwoarang glared at Julia who was already beckoning him towards the vehicle.
"What the Hell?!? You expect me to take her there! Those people are murderers Julia!" He stared straight at her, waiting for her response.
"Hwoarang we have no other choice! We have to hurry, she's dying!" She screamed back at him.
Hwoarang glanced from her to the van to Ling. Despite his efforts, she was still loosing blood at an alarming pace, and Julia was right, if they didn't go then she would die. Making his decision quickly, Hwoarang picked her up and carried her to the vehicle. He handed her over to the professionals inside and quickly climbed in himself.
Julia watched as one of her only friends was laid out on a stretcher with all sorts of odd equipment attached to her. It was the only thing keeping her alive! Her skin was now pale and it was clear from the ragged way she was breathing that the bullet had punctured something important. Julia looked closely at her friend and hoped that she would be ok. She glanced around at the men dressed in almost regular looking hospital uniforms. The only difference was the large CC insignia on their shirts. There were to many risks in taking Ling to a regular hospital. For one thing, they didn't really like gun wounds, and they would ask several questions. For another thing, Ling is a missing person, wouldn't they wonder what a missing Chinese girl would e doing all the way in Egypt? It was way to risky for that.
Ling switched her glance to Hwoarang and noticing he was trying to snap Jin out of the shock he had fallen under. He was just staring at his hands with a bewildered look on his face as if he was frozen at the exact moment of when everything happened. Julia wondered about Jin. Was there more to him than what met the eye? Why were those people trying to shoot him? What was that thing that he was turning into when they were in the alley? Why did it stop when the map dropped from her hands? Could the treasure and whatever was happening to him be connected in any way? There were too many questions and no answers.
The speedy vehicle pulled up to a large American style manor surrounded by the desert. The men carried Ling out on her stretcher and into the manor. Julia watched as Jin came back to life as his eyes followed the stretcher into the building. Julia stepped out of the van, and an older woman suddenly rushed to her side and enveloped her in a bear hug.
"CC," Julia whispered as she returned the warm embrace, choosing to ignore the cold stares she was receiving from Hwoarang and Jin. "It's so good to see you mom," she whispered.
Her 'mother' pulled away from her and kissed her on the cheek. Julia knew that there was probably a giant red lipstick mark on her cheek, and she made a weak smile.
"So, honey, where's the necklace?" she asked sweetly, but in her eyes there was something similar to malice.
"Mom, can I see Ling first?" Julia asked, slightly worried that her mother was acting this way. It was almost as if Hwoarang was right about her, but she was really a sweet woman, right?
"Sure honey, we'll have this all settled by tomorrow!" Julia looked at CC. One of her best friends was in the hospital, and she was playing it off like it was nothing. Something was very wrong here... This could not be the CC she grew up with.
Julia fingered the engagement ring that was hidden under her shirt. She could tell CC, but right now she just didn't know what to do. For now it all depended on how quickly Ling recovered, if she recovered.
CC led them inside the temporary mansion that she was staying in while they were in Egypt. While the outside was furnished in a very American style, the inside was another story. Egyptian Hieroglyphics were drawn on the walls in gold paint to form abstract art. Coffins and ancient Egyptian furniture were stylishly strewn across the rooms. The poor lighting added to the ancient Egyptian tomb style. Julia shivered. She hoped that the rest of the house wasn't like this, it freaked her out.
CC led them to their rooms, and Julia was relieved to see that her temporary room here looked exactly like her room back in Arizona. She fell backwards onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Unconsciously, she let out a deep breath she hadn't known she had been holding in. Her ceiling fan was a deep brown that contrasted sharply with the off white walls. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she noticed something that had definitely not been in her previous room. A small camera that was cleverly disguised by the fan returned her stare. Julia's eyes shot open as she remembered something Hwoarang said to her only earlier today.
"Your mother wasn't the woman either of us thought she was, Julia. Accept it. She wants to find this treasure as much as Heihachi does."
Could have been she that refused to accept the truth? Maybe CC was after the treasure? Would she be willing to kill them all just for some gold? Julia's heart was screaming that CC couldn't do that, but after all, it could've all been one big act. Julia found that as she searched her mind she really didn't know the answer to her questions. CC was a good woman, but greed could corrupt almost anyone. All she knew was that if her friends were hurt because she led them to the enemy, she could never forgive herself.
Jin grabbed an unsuspecting maid from the hall. "Excuse me," he began in slightly accented English, "do you know where the they're keeping Ling Xiaoyu?"
The startled woman looked taken aback and stuttered, "sorry. I don't know anyone by that name."
Jin let go of her arm and asked, "then do you know about the girl who was brought in here wit a gunshot wound?" Once again, the woman shook her head no.
"Sorry sir, but I haven't seen any new comers hear except you!" She practically ran away from the poor young man to get back to her duties. Jin sighed. That had been the third maid he had asked, and they all responded the same way. Either he really needed to work on his people skills, or they were hiding something from him.
"Jin, that's no way to attract the girls," an annoying voice spoke from the shadows. Jin growled. Just because he understood why Hwoarang did what he did, that didn't mean he was anywhere near forgiving the red-headed Korean.
"What do you want?" Jin asked calmly. Hwoarang stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Jin, his hands in his pockets.
"We both know that these people are hiding something from us. I've been asking around too, but they've always avoided the topic or run off. Something seriously wrong is going on here, and it started a few months ago. I've known CC for almost as long as Julia has, and up until she threatened me, I believed that she was the sweetest woman in the world. Julia just can't accept the fact that her adoptive mother might not be as nice as Julia thinks she is. I think I know where Ling is. If you want to see her, follow me."
Jin growled as he followed Hwoarang through the dark halls of the giant mansion. He didn't know if this was some ploy on Hwoarang's part to help him regain Jin's trust, or if it was something more sinister. Even so, he followed Hwoarang because he trust the man who shot him over anyone else here, and that was saying something. Hwoarang opened a huge door, and they came across a part of the mansion that looked like it could be a hospital. While no one was there at the moment, it had everything needed.
Suddenly, Jin heard something, and he grabbed Hwoarang, and, without thinking, pulled them both into the closet. Jin stayed silent as four people wandered past their hiding place. Three of them were wearing doctor's uniforms, but the forth, that woman CC, was wearing regular clothing.
"So, how is the girl?" she asked. Her voice was much different from when Jin heard it earlier...It was much colder.
"The girl is fine. She's in room 20846. The fake blood that exploded from the tranquilizer dart on impact was perfect. She'll be out cold for a few more days, and when she wakes up, we'll have her... Dealt with accordingly." The man who spoke these words was sort and stubby with a nearly bald-head that was sparsely populated with gray hair. He turned to his fellow colleagues to get their opinions.
"Remember, we can't kill her yet Mr. Leviad. There are many things we could do instead with a martial artist o her caliber." The second man replied. His voice was crackled as he talked making him sound like a madman.
"To bad she was the one who was hit. Hwoarang proved that he had the Devil Gene, or else how would he survive that shot! If Jin had been hit like he was supposed to, then we could have analyzed the Devil Gene..." Her voice trailed off as she and her companions walked away.
Jin waited until he couldn't hear the sounds of their footsteps echoing through the halls before he let himself and Hwoarang out of the small closet. Hwoarang stared at Jin wide-eyed and started to back away from him. Jin was starting to get annoyed at his unusual behavior.
"You're it! That thing CC always used to tell us about! That's why you survived being shot so many times, and that's why you don't have any scars!" Hwoarang stared at Jin who in trn looked at his hands. He had never thought about these things. It never occurred to him to ask why... All he was worried about was his mother. What was this devil Gene thing? Why was it in him? This was the time to find out. He slowly turned to Hwoarang.
"Tell me, what do you know what this devil Gene is?"
