Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading, and thanks for the handful of reviews. Here's to many more chapters to come! I hope you enjoy this one. Please read and review!
Into the Night
Chapter Two: The Gathering
Jin Kazama.
Strength and determination beyond compare.
It was an honor to have finally met him.
Yet, I was ashamed at having to bear bad news.
His friend, Ling Xiaoyu, was in terrible danger.
With little hesitation, he went to her aid.
I was to accompany him.
Yet little did either of them know of the nightmare about to unfold…
Jin and the man he met earlier ran quickly through the darkened city streets, the streetlamps casting eerie white glows upon the ground in wide circles. Both men had their breaths coming out in short huffs by the time they reached the house of Ling Xiaoyu. When they finally got there, Jin noticed nothing out of the ordinary. As they stepped forward towards the porch, Jin paused, and turned to the man in white.
"By the way, I never got your name."
The man stopped, his long white robe billowing about him.
"My name is unimportant."
"Oh, come on. You must have a name."
The man remained silent for some time, before responding.
"I have no real name. You may call me by my alias, Ghost."
"Ghost, huh?"
Jin shrugged.
"Sounds good to me, Ghost."
Jin looked around, his senses somewhat heightened by the night.
"Nothing seems out of place. I thought Ling was in danger."
Ghost replied, his tone grim.
"She is. She must come with us now is she is to live."
Jin was startled by the seriousness of his tone, and entered the house without question. He went up the stairs and went over to Xiaoyu's bedroom, which, oddly enough for this time of night, seemed to be blasting with music. Jin gently pushed open the door, to find Ling and Asuka lying on the floor, reading magazines in the dim light of a lamp in the corner. The stereo that sat atop Ling's dresser was blasting loud rock music that Jin found rather annoying. But now wasn't the time for that. Jin tried to make himself heard over the overly loud music.
"Ling! Asuka!"
Ling looked up, and smiled, getting up and happily bouncing over to Jin, giving him one of her characteristic hugs. Asuka looked up and smiled, before getting up as well. Once Ling had released Jin from her hug, she spoke, excitement clear in her voice.
"Hey, Jin! What are you doing here at, like, three in the morning?"
Jin quickly took her wrist and led her out of the room, much to Asuka's surprise. Asuka yelled at him impatiently.
"Hey! What about me?"
"There's no time to explain. We just need to get out of here, now."
This took Asuka by surprise. Worried about the concern in Jin's voice, she followed Jin and Ling outside, where they met Ghost. Jin spoke.
"I have Ling here, and her friend Asuka, too."
Ghost nodded.
"Good. We must leave at once."
Ling spoke up, her voice quiet.
"Wait a minute. Where are we going?"
Ghost spoke, his eyes hidden by his hood.
"As I'm sure Jin told you, there is no time to explain. We can exchange pleasantries later."
Asuka piped up angrily.
"Hold on a minute, mister. You expect to just waltz over here to my best friend's house and whisk her away without her even knowing where she's going, and you're just going to leave me here?"
Ghost sighed exasperatedly, before speaking with a tinge of impatience in his voice.
"You don't understand. I can explain everything once we get to a safe place, but for now, we need to get-"
BOOOM! A huge explosion engulfed Xiaoyu's house, and the resulting shockwave threw the group of four back into the front yard of the house across the street. Xiaoyu gasped, watching the flames engulf what was left of her home, tears welling up in her eyes as she turned to Ghost, blinking back tears.
"What's going on? Why….Who…?"
Ghost groaned, before standing on legs still shaky from the shockwave.
"Like I said, there is no time to explain. You three are still in danger. We must leave, before…"
Ghost perked up as his heightened sense of hearing picked up the sound of mechanized marching coming from either end of the street. He turned, drawing each of his guns from the holsters slung across his hips. He made his way to the center of the street, and gulped, drawing his attention to the enormous crowd of JACKs that made their way towards them from either end of the street.
"This is bad…very, very bad…"
Battalions of JACKs approached from all directions, marching in the street, or navigating through the lawns of neighboring houses. From one of the JACK battalions, someone stepped forth, apparently their leader. It was a thin, almost skeletal woman, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages, including one around her eyes. Over these bandages she wore long red pants and a flowing red jacket, topped off with a bright red scarecrow hat. She carried two long, curved knives. Stepping forward, she bowed, before speaking.
"So we meet again…Ghost."
Ghost growled softly, his grip on his guns tightening.
"Yes, so we have…Scarlette."
Jin, Asuka, and Ling backed up against Ghost, assuming fighting stances and forming a small circle. Ghost gestured towards Ling's still-burning house, and spoke.
"Was this really necessary, Scarlette?"
The woman smiled, laughing maliciously.
"Oh, yes it was. You've caused so much trouble for my master. So much trouble. Not anymore, though. Did you honestly think you could save them? My master knows what they are capable of. That's precisely why they must die...right here, right now. It's been a pleasure knowing you…"
The woman made a sweeping gesture with her arm, and the JACK hordes targeted the group of four.
"Attack!"
Author's Note: Well, that's all for today. How's that for a cliffhanger? I won't keep you all waiting too long. Once I get a couple more reviews, then I'll put up the next chapter. Until then, you'll just have to wait. I hope you enjoyed reading! Drop a review if you like.
