Note: Hey guys. Sorry for the LONG delay between this chapter and the last. I notice that it has been a little more than a month since the last update. Midterms have been crazy, and I have a couple more coming up. But rest assured that I have definitely not given up on this story, and I do plan to finish it. Please bear with me.
And many thanks to all those reviewers out there. You guys are awesome. You guys keep me motivated to write when I should be studying! Hahaha, just kidding. Now on to Chapter 9...
Julia observed her captors carefully. There was a dark board between the back of the car and the front seats, so she couldn't see what was in front of them or their accomplice who drove. Dammit, how could I fall into such a stupid trap? she berated herself. She noticed that the accented man that caught her was peeling an apple. I wonder how hard I would have to kick his right hand for that knife to fly up and stab his neck…
Ling observed the young lady as she spread ointment over the gash on her arm. What the…why are they doing this? Who are these people? Ling worried. The girl put the ointment away in her first-aid kit. After some further rummaging, she emerged with a white bandage and began wrapping it around Ling's exposed arm. This is too weird…first they kidnap us, and now they are treating our wounds? Do crazy murderers usually do this? They probably want all of our pain to come directly from them, and not from some outside source… Ling attempted to rationalize, trying to make her mind wander from the dire situation they were in.
The girl finished up, and patted Ling's bandage. "All done," she proclaimed in a friendly tone. She smiled at Ling, and all that Ling could do was look at her in confusion. Seriously…there's something wrong with these people… Ling thought. She tried to show her appreciation by muttering under the tape, but it came out muffled. Ling quickly turned away. What the hell are you doing? You don't thank your kidnappers!
To Ling's horror, the girl seemed to understand her unintelligible phrase. "Wow…you said 'Thank you' to a person that has just taken you hostage…you're pretty weird, or stupid, I can't tell," she said off-handedly with the same smile.
WHAAAAT! Ling's mind protested, You're the one who took the three of us for no apparent reason! And then you give me first-aid while we are stuck in your damn car! What the hell are you talking about! When I get out of here, you're dead, bitch!
The girl quickly turned to Julia. "All right, I saw the blood down the back of your head at the alley. Turn around and let me take care of it," she requested in a polite tone.
Jin turned to the girl in wonder as Julia turned around in the car. These people…they really are pieces of work… The tape around his mouth started to make his mouth itch as he thought.
Suddenly, the car made one sudden left turn and began to accelerate. The captives were thrown backwards into the seats, while their captors let out a little chuckle.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Yoshi is working on that part of the programming of the car…" the blond, accented man explained as offered his hand to Jin to help him sit upright. Jin struggled, but made his way back into the upright position of his car without the blonde mans assistance. He stared into the accented man's eyes with full, unadulterated hate.
"Nyeh…whatever bro…we're almost there anyway," the accented man said as he continued to eat his apple silently.
"Hey Lei, you want some of this?" the blonde man asked the long-haired man, apparently named Lei, offering his apple. "I'm not going to finish it, I had that awesome duck before the mission. You're cop-buddies would never let you hear the end of it if they found it you were a great cook," the blond-haired man laughed.
Lei, their last captor, shook his head and waved his hand in disgust. "You really need some discipline, Steve. Back in China, we never wasted any food. Eat your damn fruit!" he said with bravado.
Jin looked up in shock. A cop! This isn't good…kidnapping rings have even infiltrated the police!
The girl patted the back of Julia's head rather firmly. "All done!" she said victoriously, shuffling back to her seat.
"Just in time, Asuka," the blonde man smirked. "We're here, guys."
The three friends turned their attention away from their captors for once and looked out the windows. They were in very industrialized part of town. There was litter scattered every which way on the roads and sidewalks. Nobody was found outside in the barren street. Towering, empty-looking buildings overlooked them on either side. Even though it was approximately three o'clock in the afternoon, somehow, the sun didn't seem to reach this part of town, making everything instantly darker compared to the warm and inviting environment around the Mishima Hotel.
The car came to a sudden halt in the middle of the street. Once again, Jin, Ling, and Julia weren't ready for the stop, and they were thrown from their seats forwards, towards their captors. The three strangers laughed at them once again as the blonde man opened the door on the right side, allowing room for the girl and Lei the cop to get out.
"Let's go, guys. Time is money, money is time, and I'm flat broke," he beckoned from outside the car.
Jin stood his ground. With a hard expression, he remained seated in the car, without moving a muscle.
This could get heated…but there isn't anything we can do… Julia thought. She nudged Jin gently in the side, encouraging him to go forward. He looked back at her, annoyed. Julia conveyed equal intensity in her expression. Jin non-verbally saw her point, and began shuffling out into the dirty street.
"WHIPPED! Hahahaha!" laughed Asuka as she noticed this exchanged. Losing control of his temper at the comment, Jin broke into a full run towards Asuka.
However, two strong hands held him back before he had even made a step. The cop and the accented blonde man each had a hand in the pit of Jin's elbow, rendering him immobile.
"Damn…this one's a fire cracker!" Asuka laughed again, winking at Jin as she turned and walked toward a run-down building. She beckoned at the others to follow her.
Ling and Julia exited the car without any resistance, trying to assess the situation. The moment Lei closed the door the car immediately took off and drove around the corner to a destination unknown.
Suddenly, as if the situation was more concrete than ever, it was just the six of them, making their way from the dirty street to an equally dirty-looking building. Three of them were teenagers, duct-tape covering their mouths and their hands behind their backs with handcuffs. Another, random teenager was leading them into a creepy, frightful-looking building. Last two members of this group pushed the teenagers clad in dirty school uniforms forward. It perhaps was the strangest scene any of them had ever been a part of.
The girl, Asuka, shoved the door of the building open. They don't even have locks? questioned Ling. The teenagers then entered the run-down building, followed by the remaining two captors.
There was nothing in this building. The room looked huge without any furniture. The walls looked like they were going to collapse any second. Random pieces of paper from old newspapers were found sparsely throughout the large room. The only object of notice was a staircase that led to the next story of the building.
They are probably as equally as dreary thought Julia.
Walking towards the corner of two walls, Asuka continued into the building. Several paces before meeting the wall, she bent down and fumbled with something on the ground. Suddenly, a loud metallic clank! rattled through the building, startling the three teenagers. Asuka lifted latch from the ground, and heaved up the floor from under her.
"Down we go!" she said, a little too enthusiastically for Julia's tastes.
Underground? Not good…definitely not good Ling worried.
Lei and the blonde man urged the trio onward. As they approached the cleverly hidden trapdoor, they peered down inside it. It seemed well-lit, but nobody could see the end of the corridor due to its length. Jin, at the head of the pack, hesitated slightly before entering the trapdoor. This warranted a nudge from the blonde man, and Jin fumbled down the stairs, trying to stop himself from falling down completely. After everybody had entered, Asuka herself stepped onto the stairs and closed the trapdoor shut. Another metallic clank! emanated throughout the staircase
Jin, Ling, and Julia made their way down the foreign, unfamiliar steps, not knowing what was in front of them. After what seemed like an eternity, the group finally reached a landing. At the end of the hall was a large, metallic door. This looks like this is it thought Jin. This must be the last stop.
Asuka quickened her step to pass the rest of the group. She twisted the oddly-shaped knob on the door and pulled at it. The door opened, and bright white light poured into the hallway to reveal a rather large room. The room had a panel of computers in the far end, each displaying a different view of some street. Julia recognized the street as the one in front of the building they were under. The tile on the floor was another off-white color, as if promoting sterility. Electrical equipment was littered on different tables in the middle of the room. Julia didn't recognize all of this technology, with all of their cords and microphones and monitors and electrical plugs. The fluorescent lighting made this large room look like a laboratory of some sort.
As they entered, they noticed a man in a strange, silver armor sitting in a chair, facing a computer. The man stopped typing and looked up at the visitors. Ling was initially frightened by his odd appearance. The helmet that covered his entire head took the shape of some unearthly skull. He also had a scabbard on his left hip, with what seemed like a hilt of a sword protruding from its head. However, Ling had never such a sword before, making her even more uneasy.
"Hey Yoshi, you really need to get that bug in the car's automated driving system fixed. It caused our guests to be very uncomfortable on the ride here," the blonde man said. "Anything good happen while we were gone?"
The silver armored man let out a mechanical grumble. However, despite speaking in an unintelligible language, Julia, Ling, and Jin understood every word he said.
"Nothing of interest appeared on the surveillance cameras. None of the phone taps brought up anything notable either," a deep voice rang in their brains.
What the hell! thought Jin, his expression was incredulous. He searched wildly for the source of the voice. For a split second, Jin's eyes met with Ling's frantic eyes. She also seemed noticeably rattled. At that moment, it dawned on him that the voice could only be from one person: the strange silver-armored man.
"Uh oh…these guys look like they are going to hurl or something…" observed Asuka, "what's wrong?"
"I'm guessing it is Yoshimitsu," said Lei, the cop. "You see, guys, Yoshimitsu has an automated translator in his suit which allows us to understand him, even though it sounds like he isn't speaking at all. So while you may hear just noise when he speaks, your eardrums receive it as regular, normal speech," he tried to explain.
Julia only sighed in confusion and frustration.
"Seriously…where are my freakin' manners!" the blonde man exclaimed. "My name is Steve. Steve Fox. Nice to meet ya. This spunky young ball of fire is Asuka," Asuka waved at the three. "And this here is Lei, super-cop extraordinaire. Back at home base here is Yoshimitsu, our resident ninja of the group, and the brains of the entire thing." The blonde man named Steve sighed. "And I believe I already know your names. You must be Jin." Steve made direct eye contact with him, making Jin feel uncomfortable. He then turned his attention to Julia. "Hello Ling," Steve said. He turned his head towards a confused Ling, he greeted, "Good afternoon, Julia." They all tried to protest as their names were called out, but the tape once again muffled their cries.
"Maybe this would be a more inviting atmosphere if we took off the tape and handcuffs?" suggested Lei.
"Haha, I think you're right," replied Asuka, as she made her way over the trio. She scratched at Jin's cheek trying to get the edge of the tape. As soon as she had a fingertip's worth of tape between her thumb and forefinger, she pulled quickly. Jin grimaced in pain.
Asuka… Jin stared intently at the girl. For some strange reason, I feel like we have met somewhere...
Asuka made her way over to the girls and ripped off the tape from their mouths with equal ferocity. Ling yelped as the tape separated from her lips.
Lei fumbled his pockets for the keys to the handcuffs. He clutched them in his hand and walked toward them, but Steve blocked his way with his left arm.
"Whoa whoa…calm down now," Steve smiled. "Why don't we explain our situation first, and then see if they will cooperate with us?"
"We'd never cooperate!" Julia snarled, looking around the room frantically for a quick exit.
"Ehh…after you hear this sob story, I wouldn't be too sure about that. And I wouldn't try to go anywhere…this place is wired to the core," Asuka replied tartly.
"All right, here it goes. This is the sales pitch: we want you guys to help us take down the Mishima Zaibatsu," Steve began.
"WHA!" Ling yelled in surprise. "OK, I thought you guys were crazy when you kidnapped us…but now I KNOW you're crazy! Asking three random kids…this is insane. What makes you think we can help you? What makes you think that we would want to help you? This is insane! Just let us out of here, and we'll all be on our way! I swear…none of us will tell anybody about this little…thing…you have and your plans and other crap…just let us out!" Ling finished her tirade, breathing heavily.
There was a moment of silence between the two parties. Steve finally broke the awkwardness, "Oh god…this one is a noisy one. But that can be easily fixed…" He took some more tape from a nearby table and pressed a strip firmly over the protesting Ling's lips.
"That's better…much better," Steve mocked. Asuka chuckled, while Ling stared at them intensely. "Now, I'll continue, unless you two need to get something off of your chest."
Julia cast her eyes down, unresponsive. Jin listened intently to Steve, with a contorted face of anger.
"All right then. So, as I was saying, we want you guys to help us ruin the Zaibatsu. And contrary to what Little Miss Loud said, we did not pick you three at random. We know that you, Jin, have a really deep inside connection to the organization. We have tapped almost all phones that are in any way affiliated with the Zaibatsu. We heard some goon reserving the penthouse suite of the Hotel for three, one of them being the CEO's grandson. We then staked out the hotel, looking for three kids, hoping to take them home with us. That fire alarm was the perfect distraction and extremely lucky for us, but I swear we didn't do it. We didn't even think of it."
Julia hesitated for a moment, flashing back to their fight in the penthouse and her race down the fire escape. That means…they don't know about those strangers who attacked us…and their boss…
"Why do you want to ruin the Zaibatsu? They are doing really good work in finding cures for various diseases wrecking havoc on the world…and Jin is the CEO's grandson, so why would you expect us to help you?" Julia asked as her voice escalated, losing her composure.
"Well, I tried to avoid revealing this, but we all knew it was inevitable. While it may seem that they are doing good work on the surface, every company has its dark secrets. And these secrets…sheesh…they are a doozy," Steve continued.
"How so?" asked Julia. She glanced over at Jin to see how he was taking the news. He seemed despondent, staring intently at Steve with a seemingly unreadable expression.
"You don't need to know that…just know that they are bad," Steve waved his hand at the question.
"No, tell us. If you ever expect us to cooperate, we need to tell us what we are getting into," Julia demanded.
"Little girl, you really need to know your place. We're the ones in charge here," Steve chuckled.
"She's right. Tell us. Or you might as well kill us. You'll lose your only connection to the Zaibatsu, and probably your biggest opportunity to strike," Jin finally broke his silence. He stared resolutely in Jin's eyes.
As Asuka looked back at him, she could feel the tension between her friend Steve and this newcomer.
"OK fine…I guess I have no choice," Steve continued, with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. "We'll start off with the illegal testing of pharmaceuticals on animals. If this were ever exposed to the media, the Zaibatsu's stock would plummet in a matter of minutes. The Zaibatsu single-handedly funds the poaching and capturing of endangered wildlife to test their drugs on."
"That's horrible…" muttered Julia.
"That is horrible, but is that it? Just the animals?" Jin asked dubiously. His voice was shaky. He knew that this wasn't the worst of them, and he also knew that he probably didn't want to know the answer to the question he just asked. Ignorance is most definitely bliss.
"Well, no, but are you convinced yet? Will you help us?" Steve asked.
"Hell no. Tell me more," Jin commanded.
Lei started to get annoyed. "We really need your help. I know that this is very sudden, but believe us, the Zaibatsu must be taken down."
"They caused social unrest and civil war within my clan, destroying it in a matter of days," the mysterious Yoshimitsu grumbled.
"Heihachi Mishima hired a hitman to kill my father!" Asuka's voice rang throughout the room.
"I have been investigating their misdeeds for about four years, and they definitely have a handle on illegal operations and business malpractice," Lei's soothing, calm voice continued, "All we need is that conclusive proof. And we think that you can help us get that proof."
"I don't believe you. You're all lying. You just want to ruin the company for some obscure, arcane reason. I've only talked to him a couple of times, but my grandfather is a good man. He wouldn't do all that crap that you guys have said," Jin protested. However, the voices in his head betrayed the strength behind his voice. Dammit, how can it get worse? he thought.
"Yeah! Mr. Mishima allowed us to stay in the most expensive place around town, and Jin said that he seemed really excited to hear from his grandson. He seems like such a nice old man," Julia came to Jin's defense.
"Get your asses out of that ivory tower," Steve retorted, "Not everything is black and white like you kids see it; not everything is what they seem. Heihachi Mishima is a bad person. I don't care if he is your grandfather; he is an evil man."
"Whatever you say, these are just words. I don't believe one word out of your goddamn mouths," Jin said angrily. Oh god...my mom…remember what she said? The Zaibatsu was…
"Fine, kid. You win. You really want to know why we are after them?" Steve's voice sounded like Jin had offended every last fiber of his being. "We've done extensive recon on the Mishimas. Here is the truth--"
"Steve, wait. Are you sure we should tell them everything so suddenly? They've been here for only about ten minutes. We've been working on this case for a long time." Yoshimitsu's voice rang throughout their heads. Julia felt a chill go down her spine as the modern-day ninja spoke.
"Yoshi, these goddamn kids aren't giving us much of a choice, and it is imperative that they cooperate with us. Anyway, the Zaibatsu is engineering biocybernetic humans. You want to know how? Since you're so goddamn curious, you don't even have to ask. I'll tell you. Behind the façade of 'happy, do-well pharmaceutical company', they have some extremely, extremely shady business. We've discovered that approximately twenty-seven years ago, they began experimenting and creating the perfect guinea pig for their own purposes. Their little puppet was supposed to do anything for them. It was supposed to live without free will. Its only purpose was to do Heihachi Mishima's bidding. However, their project proved to be a failure, and they then decided to halt their experiments. Only about five years ago have they pursued this research again. And, from what we have gathered, they have been getting closer and closer to the perfect soldier. It will only be a matter of time until their scientists hit the nail right on the head." Steve sighed as he regained his composure and took a swig from the pocket flask that nobody had noticed that was in his hand.
"You guys are fuckin' mad," Jin snarled tartly.
"Dammit, Jin, it's true!" Asuka interrupted. "The Zaibatsu send out their underlings to challenge the best fighters in the world. They want prime DNA samples to make their soldier, so that whatever creature they make is unbeatable. If their underlings lose, then it just proves that their blood samples are among the best to create the perfect soldier, so they just send more to overpower their test subject. That's why they have been attacking dojos around the world. Haven't you seen those dojo attacks on the news? That's why they attacked my dad," Asuka finished. Her plead seemed to recharge her fervor.
"I'm the head of the investigation on the Zaibatsu back in China, and the pattern of the attacks on these dojos Asuka mentioned weren't random. They all point back to the Zaibatsu, which lead me this little ragtag group of revolutionaries," Lei explained smoothly. Yoshimitsu nodded at Lei's words.
Suddenly, a pathetic clapping sound came from nowhere. It took a moment for the group to realize that it was Jin who was applauding with his handcuffed hands. "Excellent performance, guys. Really, well done. Good job. While you have proven nothing, absolutely nothing of what you just said, you have succeeded in proving that you all belong in the crazy bin." Jin let out a creepy, slow laugh that startled Ling and Julia.
Why in the hell is he laughing in a time like this? Ling thought. While this does sound farfetched, why would these four people lie?
"You need proof, asshole? Here's your fuckin' proof," Steve screamed at the three with fierce intensity, making them all cringe. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the nearby table. "I didn't get this by falling off my bike as a kid," he snarled.
Julia looked on in horror as a long scar covered Steve's muscular left arm. It traveled from his shoulder all the way down the length of his forearm. It looked like as if somebody had intentionally tore his flesh open in the same lines repeatedly for a long time.
"Remember how I said that they began this project around twenty-seven years ago? Well…I probably forgot to mention that I am 25. They spent two years in rushed research on the animals we first told you about, and then immediately tried to make a prototype 'perfect' soldier. And I was the result. Obviously, though, there was something wrong." Steve paused. Everyone present took this as a signal to glance at Steve's scarred arm again.
"After realizing errors in their experiments…their errors in me…I went through surgery after surgery after surgery on this arm. They opened it up more times than I can count to try to find out what happened…the pain would cause most people to just drop down dead. They extracted liters of blood from me in the span of a few short years for their next round of experiments. You know, in case they ever decided to begin this research again. Then…they tried to off me. But I escaped with some sheer luck and my superior physical strength. At least they did one thing right…" Steve snorted out a short, insincere laugh. "We've only recently found out that they have, in fact, started the experiments again. Now I have devoted my life to take down the Zaibatsu, for all that they have done to me, Asuka, Yoshimitsu, Lei, and countless others. I don't know what they'll do with their perfect soldier, but I guarantee you it won't be to find a cure for cancer. Not after what I've been through…" Steve grabbed his shirt from the table and put it over his back. He sat on the table, burying his head in his hands, casting his eyes downward.
An awkward silence permeated through the room. Ling tried to process the information that Steve had just told them. She looked over at the four in shock. This can't be true…it just can't be…it is impossible…making people in a lab? Impossible…
Julia looked away from the group. She blinked away a small tear that had formed in the corner of her eye. These people must really be serious…oh my god…poor Steve…
Jin closed his eyes. If this is true, Grandpa…no…Heihachi, what the hell have you been doing my entire life? Is this why you have kept your distance? I want to trust in you…but…if this is true, this must have been what my mother was talking about…
Asuka stared at Steve and his arm. She then returned her gaze back to Jin, Ling, and Julia. This HAS to work. It just has to.
Jin opened his eyes and stared at the four people across from him. "I'm still not sure if I believe you guys," he started.
Asuka groaned loudly in annoyance.
"But," Jin continued, "I want to see what you guys have come up with. I'm not saying I'm fully convinced. I'm not saying I'm convinced at all. But I want to see what you have on Heihachi. I definitely want to see where this is going."
"Me too." Julia interjected.
Ling nodded in agreement fervently, the tape over her mouth making her mouth itch more.
Asuka yelled in excitement, "Oh fuck yeah! This is definitely a start!" She jumped into the air.
Lei smiled at her enthusiasm. He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "You know, a little girl like you shouldn't be using that kind of language…" he cautioned. Asuka let out a smile that went from ear to ear. Yoshimitsu nodded his head slightly in approval, and returned to his chair and began typing at the computer console in front of him.
"Well…what the hell are we waiting for?" Steve jumped off from the table and began to slip his shirt back on. "Let's get this bitch started…"
