Chapter 1
The girl was completely dressed in black. The task at hand asked for it. The hood of her jacket hid most of her face as well as her blonde hair. She sneaked through the garden like a cat. She knew she had to be careful. The estate was guarded well, although there were fewer guards now than there had been when the old man was still here. Behind a huge tree she stopped and waited. She watched her surroundings carefully.
In the pocket of her jacket she had a bottle of chlorophorm which she had used against the guards at the gate. There had been two which had made her task difficult. But she had moved quick and silently and had brought them down unnoticed. After she had made her way through the gate she had gotten far away from there. In the distance she could see the lanterns lining the drive; it was completely dark where she was now. Darkness was her ally.
She rested her back against the tree and watched two guards carefully. They were patrolling by the house, but they weren't very alert. It would probably be easy to get past them. But she wanted to be extra careful. This job would get her a lot of money. Enough money to allow her to decline further contracts if she wanted to. Soon she would be a very rich girl and she didn't want to risk that by running into a guard out of haste.
Patiently she waited till the guards were far enough away. Then she got out from behind the tree and sneaked forwards, making her way from one bush to the next, always careful to have a spot where she could take cover if something unexpected happened. Step by step she approached the mansion. When she was close enough she started looking for a way in. There were a couple of doors around the house, but none of them were unguarded. Apparently the new owner was not as overconfident as she had thought at first. 'Ok, so I need to use some brute force to get in there, fine by me' she said to herself. She sneaked up to the next door and watched the guard there carefully. He was fully alert and watching the garden intently, so she decided to let him do his job. She got some distance between her and the house again so the guard wouldn't spot her and went further along. By the next door she approached the house again. This was a much better choice. The guard here seemed to be half asleep. He was leaned with his side against the wall just looking in one direction, his eyes barely open.
"Perfect" she said.
She crawled past him and then approached him from behind. She stayed hidden behind a bush till she was certain that no other guards were around. Then she climbed out and tiptoed towards the guard from the back. She brought her arms up behind him and when she thought the time was right she grabbed around his neck and pulled it sideways. The lifeless body slumped to the ground.
"Hey, don't make that much noise, bastard." she commented.
She then grabbed the guard by the collar and dragged him away from the door for now. But she wasn't stupid... If the guy was missing they would probably look for him behind the next bush, so she had to hide the corpse somewhere else. Ignoring it for the moment she got out a lock pick set. But then she thought of something else and started searching the corpse. She was not surprised to find a set of keys.
"Tight security around here." she commented sarcastically.
She looked at the keys carefully and then picked one which seemed adequate. But she had to try two more till she found the right one. Carefully she pushed the door open with her glove-covered hands. Assassins don't leave finger prints.
Before she disappeared inside, she returned to the corpse of the guard and pulled him through the door. She had to hide him inside the house. It would take longer for them to find him there, and she needed to stay undetected for at least another hour to finish her task and get out of here. She dragged him inside the house and hid him in the next wardrobe she could find.
Then she had a look around. The agency had given her a map of the mansion and she had tried to get it all into her head. But now that she was here everything seemed to be different. However that did not lessen her hopes to achieve her goal. She looked around the dark spooky hallway to get oriented. This mansion was far too big for her taste and it was quiet like on a graveyard. Outside there had been some life, but apparently no one was guarding the inside. All the better for her, she thought. After a moment she decided in which direction to go and set into motion. She was shocked that her steps could be heard on the white marble floor, even though she tried to make no noise at all. She got out of her boots and packed them into the bag she was carrying.
Suddenly she got this feeling of Deja Vu, like she had been here before, had to take off her shoes before. No that couldn't be right; no one had ever made it into the Mishima Mansion yet. She knew she was the first. Then how was it that she suddenly knew exactly where she had to go. 'Calm down Nina, you have tried to get the map into your head all day. Now it's paying off.'
Moments later she made her way up the broad marble stairs. When she had a look around, greed took hold of her and she began to wonder if she should have made a deal with the heir as well. A little payment for helping him to all this wouldn't hurt him. But then Jin wasn't like the rest of his family, he wouldn't have made this deal. She pushed the thought aside. 4 Million Dollars was a lot of money, more than enough.
When she had reached the top of the stairs she stopped and listened. Still everything was quiet in the house, it was kind of spooky. Suddenly the world began spinning around her. She closed her eyes for a second forcing the dizziness away. When she opened them again she was still at the same spot but everything seemed different. The floor which had been white marble just a moment ago was suddenly wooden. The wall decorations had changed as well, and broad daylight was entering the house from everywhere. Nina knew this wasn't real, she was seeing everything through a thick layer of white fog. She closed her eyes again and when she opened them once more she was back on the white marble floor in the dark and quiet house.
"What was that all about? I hate these flashbacks." she thought to herself. "I haven't been here before, have I?" The loss of memory she had suffered from the cold sleep was driving her crazy.
She cleared her mind and concentrated on the layout of the house she recalled from the map she had looked at. She knew where she had to go. Slowly and without making any noise she made her way to the door of her victim's bedroom. As quietly as she could she then opened the door and sneaked through. The room was not as dark as she had expected it to be. Through the windows the moonlight poured in and illuminated the chamber. On the left was a separated section of the room where Nina could spot a desk with a computer. The soft hissing indicated that the computer was in standby, waiting to be called back to life. "Workaholic." Nina muttered. "Working on making more enemies, I suppose."
Nina turned away and walked over to the right side of the room. She found her victim lying in bed on his stomach, head turned to one side. He was wearing expensive purple pyjamas, the dark blue cover was pulled up to his shoulders and although he was sleeping, he had his hair styled perfectly. "You even go to bed with this silly peak?" Nina would have said, if she had dared to make any noise.
Nina had never seen him that peaceful before. Since the day she had first seen him - at least the first time she recalled - when he had walked in at the pre-party of the 4th King of Iron Fist Tournament he had caused nothing but trouble. He had made sure that each and everybody remembered his name by the end of the first day, behaving like he owned the place. And much to Nina's and everybody else's annoyance by the end of the tournament he did. Although the unofficial fight between him and his son Jin was never finished he had taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu by defeating his father.
Nina looked at him for a moment and then smiled while drawing the knife. "You are mine." she whispered spinning her dagger. "I never thought earning 4 Million Dollars would be that easy. I guess it's time to die." she said and brought down the dagger.
The girl was completely dressed in black. The task at hand asked for it. The hood of her jacket hid most of her face as well as her blonde hair. She sneaked through the garden like a cat. She knew she had to be careful. The estate was guarded well, although there were fewer guards now than there had been when the old man was still here. Behind a huge tree she stopped and waited. She watched her surroundings carefully.
In the pocket of her jacket she had a bottle of chlorophorm which she had used against the guards at the gate. There had been two which had made her task difficult. But she had moved quick and silently and had brought them down unnoticed. After she had made her way through the gate she had gotten far away from there. In the distance she could see the lanterns lining the drive; it was completely dark where she was now. Darkness was her ally.
She rested her back against the tree and watched two guards carefully. They were patrolling by the house, but they weren't very alert. It would probably be easy to get past them. But she wanted to be extra careful. This job would get her a lot of money. Enough money to allow her to decline further contracts if she wanted to. Soon she would be a very rich girl and she didn't want to risk that by running into a guard out of haste.
Patiently she waited till the guards were far enough away. Then she got out from behind the tree and sneaked forwards, making her way from one bush to the next, always careful to have a spot where she could take cover if something unexpected happened. Step by step she approached the mansion. When she was close enough she started looking for a way in. There were a couple of doors around the house, but none of them were unguarded. Apparently the new owner was not as overconfident as she had thought at first. 'Ok, so I need to use some brute force to get in there, fine by me' she said to herself. She sneaked up to the next door and watched the guard there carefully. He was fully alert and watching the garden intently, so she decided to let him do his job. She got some distance between her and the house again so the guard wouldn't spot her and went further along. By the next door she approached the house again. This was a much better choice. The guard here seemed to be half asleep. He was leaned with his side against the wall just looking in one direction, his eyes barely open.
"Perfect" she said.
She crawled past him and then approached him from behind. She stayed hidden behind a bush till she was certain that no other guards were around. Then she climbed out and tiptoed towards the guard from the back. She brought her arms up behind him and when she thought the time was right she grabbed around his neck and pulled it sideways. The lifeless body slumped to the ground.
"Hey, don't make that much noise, bastard." she commented.
She then grabbed the guard by the collar and dragged him away from the door for now. But she wasn't stupid... If the guy was missing they would probably look for him behind the next bush, so she had to hide the corpse somewhere else. Ignoring it for the moment she got out a lock pick set. But then she thought of something else and started searching the corpse. She was not surprised to find a set of keys.
"Tight security around here." she commented sarcastically.
She looked at the keys carefully and then picked one which seemed adequate. But she had to try two more till she found the right one. Carefully she pushed the door open with her glove-covered hands. Assassins don't leave finger prints.
Before she disappeared inside, she returned to the corpse of the guard and pulled him through the door. She had to hide him inside the house. It would take longer for them to find him there, and she needed to stay undetected for at least another hour to finish her task and get out of here. She dragged him inside the house and hid him in the next wardrobe she could find.
Then she had a look around. The agency had given her a map of the mansion and she had tried to get it all into her head. But now that she was here everything seemed to be different. However that did not lessen her hopes to achieve her goal. She looked around the dark spooky hallway to get oriented. This mansion was far too big for her taste and it was quiet like on a graveyard. Outside there had been some life, but apparently no one was guarding the inside. All the better for her, she thought. After a moment she decided in which direction to go and set into motion. She was shocked that her steps could be heard on the white marble floor, even though she tried to make no noise at all. She got out of her boots and packed them into the bag she was carrying.
Suddenly she got this feeling of Deja Vu, like she had been here before, had to take off her shoes before. No that couldn't be right; no one had ever made it into the Mishima Mansion yet. She knew she was the first. Then how was it that she suddenly knew exactly where she had to go. 'Calm down Nina, you have tried to get the map into your head all day. Now it's paying off.'
Moments later she made her way up the broad marble stairs. When she had a look around, greed took hold of her and she began to wonder if she should have made a deal with the heir as well. A little payment for helping him to all this wouldn't hurt him. But then Jin wasn't like the rest of his family, he wouldn't have made this deal. She pushed the thought aside. 4 Million Dollars was a lot of money, more than enough.
When she had reached the top of the stairs she stopped and listened. Still everything was quiet in the house, it was kind of spooky. Suddenly the world began spinning around her. She closed her eyes for a second forcing the dizziness away. When she opened them again she was still at the same spot but everything seemed different. The floor which had been white marble just a moment ago was suddenly wooden. The wall decorations had changed as well, and broad daylight was entering the house from everywhere. Nina knew this wasn't real, she was seeing everything through a thick layer of white fog. She closed her eyes again and when she opened them once more she was back on the white marble floor in the dark and quiet house.
"What was that all about? I hate these flashbacks." she thought to herself. "I haven't been here before, have I?" The loss of memory she had suffered from the cold sleep was driving her crazy.
She cleared her mind and concentrated on the layout of the house she recalled from the map she had looked at. She knew where she had to go. Slowly and without making any noise she made her way to the door of her victim's bedroom. As quietly as she could she then opened the door and sneaked through. The room was not as dark as she had expected it to be. Through the windows the moonlight poured in and illuminated the chamber. On the left was a separated section of the room where Nina could spot a desk with a computer. The soft hissing indicated that the computer was in standby, waiting to be called back to life. "Workaholic." Nina muttered. "Working on making more enemies, I suppose."
Nina turned away and walked over to the right side of the room. She found her victim lying in bed on his stomach, head turned to one side. He was wearing expensive purple pyjamas, the dark blue cover was pulled up to his shoulders and although he was sleeping, he had his hair styled perfectly. "You even go to bed with this silly peak?" Nina would have said, if she had dared to make any noise.
Nina had never seen him that peaceful before. Since the day she had first seen him - at least the first time she recalled - when he had walked in at the pre-party of the 4th King of Iron Fist Tournament he had caused nothing but trouble. He had made sure that each and everybody remembered his name by the end of the first day, behaving like he owned the place. And much to Nina's and everybody else's annoyance by the end of the tournament he did. Although the unofficial fight between him and his son Jin was never finished he had taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu by defeating his father.
Nina looked at him for a moment and then smiled while drawing the knife. "You are mine." she whispered spinning her dagger. "I never thought earning 4 Million Dollars would be that easy. I guess it's time to die." she said and brought down the dagger.