Chapter3

Lara woke early the next morning. She was very tired still, but she couldn't sleep any more. She had completely lost her feeling for time, but if she could believe her watch it was 6 o'clock. She got up and had a shower. All the while she was thinking about what to do with the day. She would see Heihachi tonight. He would be fighting in a tournament and she got front row tickets. A very good opportunity to see him in action. When she got dressed she finally had an idea what to do with her day. Why not go and have a look at the Mishima Fortress? She packed her binoculars, her trusted HK USP Matchs and some other useful equipment into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Then she went down to have breakfast. She didn't eat very much but grabbed something for the day which she stored in her backpack as well. Then she went to the reception and asked for a motorbike she could rent. A car would be far too difficult to hide and taking the bus wasn't an option, since there was no bus stop 'Mishima Mansion'. She'd still have to walk a couple of miles.

****

Around 11 o'clock she reached the Mishima grounds. They were surrounded by a huge electrical fence, the main gate was guarded and inside she occasionally spotted armed guards. Downey's words rang in her ears 'Von Croy's Skyscraper is nothing compared to the Mishima fortress'. He was right. There was no way she could fly over the fence using a paraglider - like she had done when she had stolen the Iris from Werner. They had picked the highest place around to build their empire on. And besides she guessed they would watch the sky and shoot everything down that is larger than a butterfly. The front gate wasn't an option either. There was a guardhouse and cameras were lining the drive.

****

Lara drove around the fence till she had brought some distance between herself and the gate. Here she hid her motorbike behind a bush and took out her binoculars. Again it paid off that she had taken the best and most expensive ones. The house was very far away, even though she had found a spot where the fence was running closer to it. She looked around and sneaked along the fence to get a better view. At first the house looked quite unguarded from this side, but then she spotted cameras here as well. The garden sure showed how rich that guy was. A large pool was in front of the house. The garden around was lined with statues and exotic plants. Lara's eyes fell on a guy sitting on a chair by the pool. His hair was silver white making him quite attractive. He wore a white short sleeved shirt. He looked very strong, but his face was soft, too soft to be Mishima's son if she compared it with the face on the picture. 'So this must be Lee Chaolan' Lara remembered from Downey's words, Mishima's adopted son. She then recognised that he was speaking to someone. She was too far away to hear what he was saying but he was talking to someone in the pool. Lara scanned the water's surface but that was quite unnecessary as the one in there was just about to climb out. She recognised the hair style at once. Even after he had been in the water it still formed a perfect peak. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" Lara said to herself. "The guy from yesterday." She recognised that he was even stronger built than his adopted brother and as she could see when he turned, had a scar on his chest. Lara now found the time to compare him to his father. He sure looked a bit like him, but not too much. Heihachi had this really evil look about him, but not his son, although his face wasn't as soft as Chaolan's. But somehow Lara found him quite attractive. 'Ok, Lady, remember Downey's words, he is dangerous... Lee Chaolan is your man.' she thought. Lara continued watching the two guys. Kazuya had wrapped a towel around himself and Lee was talking to him. He nodded. Lara was really annoyed that she couldn't hear a word they were saying. They kept talking for the next ten minutes and then they disappeared inside the house. Lara used the binoculars to scan the rest of the grounds around the pool, in the distance she saw a building that looked like a dojo. She sneaked along the fence to get closer. Just when she watched the building the two men appeared again and disappeared inside. Nothing happened for the next half an hour, so Lara returned to the place where she had hidden her bike and drove around the fence. Finally she couldn't get any further as part of the mountain blocked her way. The fence continued up the mountain. It looked smaller up there but after all it was nearly impossible to reach it there.

****

Finally Lara drove back into town and returned to the hotel. She went into her room and called Downey to tell him what she had found out.

"I told you, you can't just walk in there. Don't be fooled by the peaceful looks of the house and garden. If you get there you have not gotten past Heihachi yet, you will see what I mean tonight."

"Why don't you come with me tonight?"

"I have to work. But if you want to talk to me we could meet now, I can take a break. Are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"Care for Japanese food?"

"Great idea!"

"I will pick you up at the hotel, wait in the lobby."

"Okay, see you later." she said and hung up.

****

Lara waited for Downey to pick her up. Then they drove to an exquisite restaurant.

"So you think Lee could be useful to me?" Lara started the conversation.

"Maybe, I have no idea how else you could get close to Heihachi. I guess he will be at the fight tonight as well. Try getting close to him. Oh, before I forget, I've got a fighting timetable for you. It includes a map which shows you how to get there."

Lara took it and scanned the flyer.

"Kazuya Mishima will fight as well?"

"So it seems. Heihachi will fight at 7 and his son at 9."

"That's perfect. Gives me the opportunity to find out about him as well."

"Lara, whatever you do, be careful. Some people who did business with any of the Mishimas were never seen again."

"For tonight I am just going to watch."

"We should eat now." Downey interrupted the conversation.

They were silent for a while.

"Do you think he has the artefact in his house?" Lara suddenly asked.

"I am certain that it's hidden somewhere on his grounds."

"Then wouldn't it be a good idea if I got in there tonight?"

"Well first you should find out where it might be hidden, otherwise you will spend weeks looking for it."

"That's true. Ok, I will see what Lee can do for me."

****

Downey went back to the Museum after dinner and Lara returned to the hotel. There she packed her bag with some useful things.