.
The Angel Within
Chapter Two: Quite an Interesting Tuesday
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 05:12 UTC (00:12 in local time)
Miami, Florida, United States Of America
"Hey, look over there." Steve says, pointing with his head in the direction of the small dance area, his blonde hair shaking slightly. He is wearing a red button shirt and black jeans, with white sneakers.
Forest, who is sat down in the stool of the bar, is wearing quite similar clothes – yellow button shirt and light grey jeans with black sneakers. "What is it?" He asks.
Steve just signals with his head again, and Forest turns. He scans the pub's heavily crowded dance floor for some seconds, until he sees a woman who stands out from the rest of the people.
"The brunette?" Forest asks, without turning back to Steve.
"Yeah." He says, also looking to the woman.
What makes the woman stand out is definitely her exposed curves. She's wearing a leather bra with low waist grey and white striped pants, which also expose part of a leather panty, accompanied of black stilettos. She is white and has a heart tattoo under her bellybutton, and has a brown long hair matching the brown of her sunglasses.
"Quite a view." Forest says. Steve nods, although Forest doesn't see it since he hasn't taken his eyes out of the woman.
She is dancing freely to the Cuban music that is playing the pub, just as the people around her. Suddenly, a man grabs her butt, and she quickly turns and puts her right hand on her hip. The man who did it smiles to her in a dirty way, and she simply spins in the air, lifting her right leg and bringing it down in his head, putting him on the ground. A few people who were closer stopped to see what had just happened, but rest just kept dancing, just as the band kept playing. Seemingly pissed off, she leaves the dance area, heading to the bar.
"What the hell?!" Forest says, taken aback.
"She's coming over there." Steve says, but is obviously just as surprised.
Hearing that, Forest turns to meet the bar in front of him, keeping his back against the stool in a relaxed position. Steve keeps turned to the same direction, putting his elbow in the bar counter, discretely watching her behind Forest. The woman sits one stool away from them, and asks for a mojito, a drink made with rum, sparkling water, sugar, lemon juice, ice and mint.
"Quite a jerk, huh?" Steve says in his remarkable accent, loud enough for the woman to hear. She turns as she sips from her glass. "He earned it." He continues.
The right corner of her mouth smiles, and she finishes sipping, putting her glass on the counter. "He messed up with the wrong girl." She answers in a thick accent, although it's hard to say where she might be from.
"No real man does such thing." He continues.
She smiles briefly and looks away. After a short pause, she looks back to him. "What's your name?"
"I'm Steve." He says, getting up and going to her direction. "Can I?" He says pointing with his head to the stool on her right.
"Sure." She says, and he sits. Forest simply watches in astonishment. How does he do that?, he thinks.
"You're not from here, right?" She asks, surprising Steve. Then he remembers he is a British man in American territory.
"Yep. I'm from England." He answers. "And you? Where are you from?" He asks casually.
"Brazil." She says. That explains that body, he thinks.
"I'm sorry, but I think I don't know your name." He says shyly.
She laughs softly. "It's Katarina."
"Well, it suits you." He says, smiling briefly. "You did quite a kick there, huh?" He says, laughing.
She laughs back. "Thanks. It's savate."
"Savate? You mean, like, French kickboxing?"
"Yeah, that's right." She says, and then sips her drink.
"You must be kidding me."
She is confused for a second, but then it hits her. There is that rivalry between the French and the British. She doesn't really get it, although Brazil has a rival of its own, which is Argentina. And she hated those goddamn Argentinians. "Oh." She laughs and puts her empty glass on the counter.
"Sorry to say this, but the good ol' British boxing is far better." He says playfully.
She laughs again. "And sorry to say this, but I can kick their ass regardless."
Both laugh. "So you think you can kick my ass?" Steve asks.
"What?" She frowns slightly. "Wait, you're a boxer?"
He smiles and raises an eyebrow playfully as a positive answer. She laughs back.
"Hm…" She emits a sound, analyzing him from head to toe. "Easily." She teases, leaning a bit forward in his direction as to emphasize it.
"What about some rounds?" He says in the same tone, also leaning forward, although his intentions by saying this are clearly different. Few inches separate their faces now.
She raises her eyebrow and puts a sassy expression on her face. "You don't play around, huh?" She asks, eyeing his whole face. He keeps himself silent, eyeing her back. He's lucky he's hot, she thinks, smirking. Otherwise, I would've indeed kicked his ass already. She then closes her eyes and kisses Steve, who follows suit.
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 09:22 UTC (10:22 in local time)
Venice, Italy
"Remember me of following your suggestions more often!" The girl says cheerily, bouncing her two black ponytails. "This vacation is all I needed!"
The other girl chuckles. "Italy is beautiful! Venice is soooo romantic!" She answers, holding both her hands together and looking up dreamily. "I just wish I had a boyfriend." She says, now in an upset tone, looking to her feet.
"Oh Miharu, like we need boys to be happy!" She says in a mocking tone.
"Now you say that, but minutes later you'll be blabbering about you-know-who…"
"Miharu!" She answers, angrily. "That's not true."
"Xiao." Miharu says in a serious tone, as she stops walking, holding her friend's shoulder. "Relax. I'm not saying that's a problem. It's fine to care about someone." Xiaoyu timidly nods once. After this pause, Miharu continues to talk and to walk. "Anyway, sorry for bringing it up. It's not what I meant, but you left me no choice! Let me dream about my future husband!" She says in a mocking angry tone. Both of them laugh.
"Oh, I wish Panda could be here! She would love Europe." Xiaoyu sighs. "But I think a time in the forests might be better for her. She's still a bear, you know."
They keep walking through the busy open-air market, oblivious to the fact that they are being followed. Their summer dresses float graciously in the air as they walk. Miharu's is a strapless light blue lace piece, while Xiaoyu's is a plain light yellow one with three-quarter sleeves. Both are wearing white sandals and no earrings.
"Hey, look!" Miharu says, pointing to something. "There's a lovely café there!"
"Let's go!" Xiaoyu says, and they run towards it like two playful kids, Miharu's white purse and Xiaoyu's pink one kicking angrily.
They get into a cozy and small café shop. The sweet smell of coffee caresses their noses. They choose a desk close to a window and sit. Miharu orders a café miel while Xiaoyu asks for the classical cappuccino. They keep blabbering about the wonderful vacation they've been having while sipping their coffees. Xiaoyu notices from the corner of her eye a black-haired man with blue eyes and an odd tattoo in the face sitting in a desk nearby. There is something very weird about him. Or maybe it's just the fact that he keeps watching them talk, not taking his eyes off of them for even a second. When the girls are finished, they go to the cashier.
"Excuse me, but do you guys have a restroom here?" Xiaoyu asks after paying.
"Sì, the female restroom is just over there." He says, pointing to a door in the far other side.
"Thank you." She says to him, and then she grabs Miharu by the wrist. "Come with me! I need to check my makeup."
They both go towards it. "Makeup?" Miharu asks, laughing.
"Yes, of course! I don't wanna look like a zombie in the photographs of our trip!" Xiaoyu answers playfully.
The man keeps looking at them from the desk, and seeing that both have entered the restroom, he watches the door, patiently waiting for them to leave.
Xiaoyu suddenly wears a serious expression and whispers as low as she can. "There's a man watching us. In a desk nearby."
Miharu frowns. "Are you sure? Maybe it's just another client." She asks in the same volume.
"He didn't order anything and kept looking at us, like, all the time." Xiaoyu answers. "What if he follows us?!"
Miharu's eyes widen. "What do we do?!"
"Let's act normally and see if he does. If so, then we'll have to outwit him." There's a pause. "Everything is going to be okay, relax. Maybe you're right and I'm just being paranoid." Xiaoyu says, trying to calm her friend.
It seems that it worked, because Miharu goes back to a normal expression. "Okay." She sighs nervously.
Both leave, and Xiaoyu tells a stupid joke as they do so, and both laugh. From the corner of her eye, Xiaoyu sees that the man was watching the restroom door. Outside the café, they're walking through the fruit fair, which is still busy. They stop for a second in the tent of a florist, and Xiaoyu realizes the mysterious man is indeed following them. Walking fast, the girls take a right turn between two market stalls, which lead them to an alley. They keep turning right, and then left, and then repeating the process, in an attempt to keep changing directions. When they get to a street, which in Venice is actually a waterway, they enter a water taxi, telling the driver the name of the hotel they're staying in.
Xiaoyu looks around. "No sign of him." Miharu sighs in relief.
Xiaoyu takes the money out of her pink purse and pays the driver as they arrive. The friends get in the hotel, childishly jumping towards the elevator.
"Come on, Miharu! We have to get our things! We can't miss our flight, there's still Milan to visit!"
"Yay! I can't wait to go shopping!" With that said, the elevator door closes.
Unfortunately, they failed to see the follower was there waiting for them in the lobby. Sitting in one of the couches, he gets up and goes towards the elevator. Seeing that it has stopped on the third floor, he already knows where to head to.
He presses the button and waits for the elevator to come back to ground floor. He adjusts the white and gold coat of his suit while waiting. As the doors open, he gets in there while fixing the bandages of his right arm. When the man gets to the third floor, he finds himself in an empty corridor of pastel beige walls and vintage golden wall lamps in between doors. "It shouldn't be hard to find them", he mumbles to himself in Italian. His silent steps meet the red carpeted floor. One by one, he presses his ear against the dark brown wooden doors. Most are silent – the tourists are probably enjoying the day in the city. Two rooms had television noises – he is sure of that because one of them was talking about some civil war and called a reporter correspondent in South America, which leads to the conclusion that it is a news program, and the other one was saying the names of many products and its prices, which means it was a department store advertisement. After another silent doors, the last one in the corridor emits giggling sounds. Pressing his ear on it, he distinguishes two different female voices speaking in an Asian language. He smirks. Bingo.
Inside the room, Xiaoyu and Miharu are dreaming out loud about all the clothes they are planning to buy in Milan as they pack their things, with their bags on the bed.
"As far as I buy a fancy Versace dress, I'm happy." Miharu says, and both laugh.
"I want a Fendi purse soooo bad!" Xiaoyu continues the talking. "Oh! Remember those Dolce & Gabbana jeans we saw on TV? I want those too!"
"Don't forget some pairs of Prada sunglasses! They are soooo in!" Miharu says, giggling. "Hey, I need to go to the bathroom. Just a second." She leaves a half-folded shirt on the bed and goes to the washroom.
This is my chance, the man thinks. Looking through the keyhole, he sees that Xiaoyu's back is facing the door. Taking a kitchen knife out of his jacket, he takes a few steps backward and then runs in the direction of the door.
The door crashes with the impact of his shoulder, and Xiaoyu jumps out of surprise. Before she's able to turn, the man puts his right arm around her neck, putting the knife very close to her flesh, and puts his left arm in her mouth before she's able to scream, although she still manages to make some muffled noise. Even though she's a very skilled fighter, the man caught her off guard and is much bigger than her, besides the fact that he is holding her too tight. She doesn't give up struggling, though – if she's not able to free herself, she can at least slow him down. He carries her through the stairs, and reaches the top of the building. Walking towards the limits, he releases her mouth and grabs her neck, suspending her in the border of the rooftop. Unfortunately, instead of a waterway, there's a bridge under her, which means that if she falls, she'll collapse onto the hard concrete. He is holding her neck tight enough for her not to be able to scream, but she manages to whisper half-breathily.
"Who… are you?! What do you… want?!" She says angrily, with all her strength.
"I need answers. And you have them." He says.
Instead of saying 'Me?', she frowns to express the same idea, in an effort to maintain her breath.
"Yes, you." He says. "I know you are close to Jin Kazama. I want to know where he is."
Xiaoyu can't stop herself from laughing. When the man was about to ask 'Do you think this is a joke?', she speaks.
"I know as much as you do." He frowns at hearing this.
"Don't play dumb with me!" He says angrily, tightening his grip. She didn't even think it was possible to make it tighter, but it seems it is.
"I… don't… know…" She murmurs almost silently, struggling to breath, a tear escaping for her eye.
The man releases her in the ground of the rooftop. She falls on four while regaining her breath. He maintains his hands away but keeps standing on her side closely, ready to act if she decides to do something.
"Listen to me." He says sounding like an authority. "You have the information I want. And you are going to tell me. I want to know it."
"Google it then, jerk." Miharu says in the door of the emergency stairs room. He looks at her. "Nobody messes up with Xiao." She says angrily, frowning at the man in the meanest way she can. While he distracted himself for a second paying attention on Miharu, Xiaoyu managed to creep to her friend's direction.
He sighs. "Look." He says, calmly. "I am not a thief. I am not evil. I am seeking your help. We can do this in the easy or in the hard way."
"What a way to get help, huh?" Xiaoyu says while getting up and facing him, with a voice still affected by the grip she had around her neck just seconds ago.
"Who are you?!" Miharu asks, still angry.
He scoffs at hearing this. "I am the one who's here to make questions."
"Ah, shut up already!" Miharu says, fuming and getting into her fighting stance. Xiaoyu does the same.
He smirks and gets into his own fighting stance. "Make me."
Miharu explodes at hearing this and charges at him in full speed, while Xiaoyu walks cautiously through the right, being prepared to attack him when Miharu finishes her own attack. Miharu jumps and attempts to make the Shooting Star, which consists on kicking the opponent's face a few times while in the air, but he crouches and she falls with the butt on the ground, behind him. While he gets up, Xiaoyu makes the Fire Dancer by kicking him with the left leg while spinning 180º, then standing and kicking him through her shoulders with her right palm followed by the left palm, and finishing the attack with a kick of her right leg while still facing her back to him, launching him upwards.
After falling, he instantly rolls backwards and gets up, while Miharu has already made her way to the left side of Xiaoyu. The three of them resume their fighting stances, and the man goes offensive this time. He makes a 360º flying somersault, with his left foot knocking Xiaoyu on the ground. When he lands, he keeps himself crouched and quickly spins 180º, kicking Miharu on her ankles, making her loose balance with his right leg. Then, he takes a few steps, going back to where he was.
Both girls get up at the same time. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He says in mocking tone.
Miharu frowns even further and attacks him with a Bayonet Thruster, hitting him with the left hand followed by the right one, and then a more powerful blow with the left palm to push him away, but he blocks the combo easily. Before he is able to make an attack of his own, Miharu makes a Backflip, taking him off guard and sending him to the ground. When he gets up, he meets with Xiaoyu's palms as she performs the May Flowers, hitting her right hand in his face and her left hand in his stomach.
He charges at Xiaoyu, slapping her in the face with the right limb, then making her crouch with his left palm hitting her head and then using his left shoulder, he hits her hard in the chest to send her flying away. Miharu, who was right behind her friend attempts to charge at him, but he's faster and performs a similar attack he did on Xiaoyu, hitting his right palm in her face. But the combo, however, finishes differently, as he uses the same palm to hit her hard in the stomach, which makes she cross her arms over her belly and fall on her back.
As they get up, he says "Il mio potere!" while his left eye shines white, and attacks again. Giving a hard punch on Xiaoyu's stomach, he follows by sending her upwards with the other fist. As she rises, his right arm releases some sort of blue light, which he expands with his arms like it is an arrow, and shoots Xiaoyu with it while she's midair. The girl is sent flying, hitting Miharu and sending both to collapse on the wall of the stairs room. The wall cracks heavily, and both girls fall onto the ground.
As they struggle to get up, Xiaoyu asks between coughs. "What… are… you?"
He ignores the question. "There's still time to make it the easy way."
The girls look at each other while both are struggling, barely on fours. Xiaoyu has a questioning look on her face, which Miharu answers with a defeated expression of her own.
Xiaoyu sighs. "What do you want from us?" She says, looking at him.
He gets out of his fighting stance and slowly walks towards them. "I want all your knowledge about the Mishimas. Preferably, their location."
"I've already told you." Xiaoyu frowns. "I really don't know where Jin is." After a pause, she continues. "I want to know just as much." She looks to the ground, disappointed.
The man can sense in her tone and expression that she's telling the truth, but he needs to get everything he can out of her. "Don't you have any clue?" After she keeps herself silent, he continues. "Wasn't he in the charge of the Zaibatsu?"
"He was." She says matter-of-factly.
"So he isn't anymore?"
"I don't know, I was just agreeing with your statement." She says, sighing. "Look," she starts, facing him again. "If you're really looking forward to stop their fighting, I would be pleased to help you, but I don't know anything." She says frankly. The man seems to be thinking deeply. "Satisfied?" He frowns.
"I thought you were his friend." He says in a normal tone, but Xiaoyu takes it as an accusation.
"I am his friend." She wears an angry expression. "And again, who are you?"
He thinks of a way to get out the question, but since they've collaborated and have been sincere, he decides to answer. Only this one, he thinks. "My name is Claudio. Claudio Serafino."
Xiaoyu is now on her knees, while Miharu is sitting on the floor. Both are looking him up and down, actually paying attention on his appearance for the first time. He is very tall, probably close to 190 cm of height, and has black hair and light blue eyes. He is wearing a white suit with golden details, too fancy to be wore in a ride through the streets of Venice. The coat of his outfit, however, doesn't cover his right arm – instead, the limb is covered with dark grey bandages. There appears to be some sort of tattoo under them, in a similar fashion of the one under his left eye.
"After all, is Kazama still the head of the Zaibatsu?" He asks.
"Officially, yes…" Miharu says facing the man. "Right?" She concludes, looking at Xiaoyu.
Her friend simply shrugs. "I guess so." She says in an innocent tone.
"But he hasn't been seen since the sixth tournament." Claudio thinks out loud.
"Yep. That's right." Miharu agrees, oblivious to the fact that he was speaking to himself.
Well, they clearly don't know anything, he thinks. Asking them about Kazuya would be useless, since they're not close to him. Then it hits him.
"What about Heihachi Mishima?" He says.
"Huh?" Xiaoyu answers, frowning.
"You were close to him. Do you know his whereabouts?"
There is a moment of silence while Xiaoyu and Claudio simply stare at each other before she speaks.
"Being close to a Mishima means they haven't had any reasons to kill you so far, and that's all." She says this in such a sincere tone, that it takes Claudio and even herself aback. After a second, he leans and help both stand.
"Perdono." He says with a concerned tone. "I must be going. I wish we had met in better circumstances." With that said, he leaves so fast that it doesn't give the girls any time to ask anything else. And they are too astonished to do so, anyway.
Both look at each other, confusion in their faces. Miharu breaks the silence. "What a weirdo."
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 12:59 UTC (21:59 in local time)
Seoul, South Korea
A 50-year-old man of long greyish hair has just gotten out of the shower and is in his bedroom changing to his sleeping clothing, which consists of a simple black cotton shirt and white pants. Suddenly, the telephone rings. With a clue of who might be calling, he picks up the phone.
"Baek's Taekwondo Dojo."
"Master! It's me, Hwoarang!" The voice on the other side of the lines speaks. It is indeed who he presumed it was.
"Oh my pupil, how many times have I told you not to talk too loud?" Baek says, sighing.
"Sorry, Master." Hwoarang says in a defeated tone. "I think it's late there in Korea, right? Sorry for disturbing. It's afternoon in here."
"I don't think it is ever late for you." Baek says, and both laugh.
"It's just that you wanted me to call you before getting in the plane back."
"It's good to know of you." Baek smiles briefly. "In what time are you arriving here?" He asks.
"Tomorrow morning." He answers. "Sorry Master, but I have to hang up now, I need to get in the plane." He says, after a pause.
"Alright. I will pick you up tomorrow. Have a good flight. Good bye." Baek says, and Hwoarang hangs up.
Baek takes his white robe back to the bathroom, hanging it on a metal hook on the tile wall and turns to the sink. He brushes his teeth with a green brush while facing himself in the mirror. He goes back to his bedroom, and lays down on the bed, accommodating himself under the warm and soft blankets.
As usual, he thinks of his father and how much he still misses him. It is a stubborn wound in his heart that never heals. It bleeds constantly as a reminder of his repentance. Even if his father's death was an accident, Baek could never stop blaming himself. How could he? He was the one who did it. He saw his own beloved father die in front of his eyes. Baek remembers it like it was just yesterday. His father falling like a rock on onto the ground and not getting back up. Only if I had been slower, if I had been weaker, had been softer, been moderate, gentler… only if.
The sadness slowly pushes him towards a sleeping state, the gloom embracing him to another dreamless night.
Some minutes have passed. Maybe an hour. When Baek finally starts to sleep, a sudden noise comes from the dark. Baek shoots his eyes open.
Taking careful steps out of the bed, he heads to the center of the dojo. Leaning on the wall, he cautiously looks through the open door of the corridor, the one that leads to the sparring room. The only source of light is the pale moonlight, which makes shadows of the already dark objects disposed in there. Suddenly, he sees something moving. Precisely, not something, but someone.
It seems that someone went to the far other side of the dojo, where Baek's office is. When he hears a noise of a door trying to be opened, that supposition is confirmed, so Baek slowly walks to that direction, stooping to hide behind objects.
Suddenly, a click is heard, and a door creaks as it is opened. The intruder turns on the light of the room and gets in. It is indeed his office. Something in Baek's mind say that he has already seen that person before, but nothing clicks, even though that reddish hair in ponytails is quite odd.
With its back facing Baek, the intruder a light purple long-sleeved shirt resembling a kimono and tight black gi pants, combined with white ankle boots with shoelaces. Leaving a knife on the table, she starts to search the shelves.
Baek is now in the door, and the thief seems to have not realized him there. He then clears his throat. "Ahem." The person stops dead in its tracks. "I don't think you have been invited."
The person simply turns. Baek's jaw drops as he recognizes who it is, thanks to the unforgettable fox mask.
"Kunimitsu."
Without saying a word, she gets into her fighting stance, and so does him. Baek is the first to attack, aiming a simple high kick, but she easily blocks it. He then proceeds to a combo consisting of three high kicks with his left leg followed by another high kick with his right leg – the Butterfly Kicks. She simply crouches, and makes an attack of her own. Using her right leg for supporting, she stretches her left leg and spins, making her Manji Spin Low Kicks. After six hits in a row, she stops spinning by putting her left leg on the ground and gives him a high front kick with the right leg, which sends him through the door out of the office. Before he gets up, she quickly grabs her knife with her right hand and walk towards him, already in her fighting stance.
Baek growls out of anger while he gets up and resumes his own fighting stance. They circle each other for a while, until Baek goes offensive and kicks her twice with his left leg – once in her face, and once in her legs – followed by a punch in the stomach with his right hand. As he finishes this Trident Rush, she steps back and performs the Katon, which consists of blowing fire in the opponent's face. Baek has no idea how she has done that. It was too fast for him to see. All he had time to do was to jump back in an attempt to dodge, but he failed miserably and is now rolling in the ground, trying to make the burning stop.
Kunimitsu has kept herself silent through all the fight. Not even a gasp has come out of her mouth. She is patiently waiting for her opponent to get up, and when he does, she simply performs the Cycle of Rebirth with her knife, cutting him in the left arm and in the right side of the face. Baek was caught off guard by this move, because he had presumed she would wait for him to attack first, just like she had done before. He collapses onto the ground.
This time, he struggles to get up. After using all of the strength he has left, he manages to do it after some long seconds. When he faces the Fox Lady, however, she is not on her fighting stance. She is simply standing still and smirking. He slowly approaches her but, inexplicably, each step is weaker than the one before. After three steps, his arms are already falling down to his sides, getting out of his stance. He breathes hard and attempts to take a fourth step, but collapses on the ground with his face down. This time, there is no strength left on him at all. He feels a hand in his hair, which suspends him. He is completely lightheaded, but still manages to see Kunimitsu in front of him. Through his half-closed eyes and blurry vision, he sees her shaking the knife in her hand playfully, meaning that it is the reason he's passing out right now.
Suddenly, she puts him sitting with his back against a column and walk away. The last thing Baek saw before fainting was Kunimitsu coming back with a rope.
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 13:35 UTC (06:35 in local time)
Phoenix, Arizona, United States Of America
Julia is inside her apartment, precisely in her bedroom, packing her things. She is folding her few clothes in a sloppy manner and putting them inside her black suitcase on the top of her bed as her gaze is locked in the recently found ancient pendant. It is placed on the nightstand, where the yellow illumination of the vintage lampshade makes the red gemstones and the golden of the necklace glitter in a dreamy way. Looking how the light shines in the pendant makes Julia enter in some sort of trance, leading her into a reverie that puts her heart at ease.
Suddenly snapping out of it and deciding that she has had enough of such inattention because of the collar, she grabs it and hides it underneath her clothes inside the bag. Either to purposely try to bring the hallucination back or simply to relocate the object, she had already grabbed the pendant a few other times after she first got it in her hands, but nothing would ever happen. Not like it did in the first time.
As she finishes packing, she zips the suitcase and sits beside it on her bed. Putting her elbows on her knees and her face on her palms, she sighs. Kazuya Mishima himself had called her just minutes ago stating that he had a reassignment for her, which would "be discussed in person", in his own words. He said a private jet would be waiting for her in the city airport to take her to G Corporation's headquarters, although not mentioning where to. Her friend, Lee Chaolan, had stated in a casual call some days prior that Kazuya was in progress to relocate the headquarters of the company because of security matters. Because of it, besides the very few employees involved in the transition, all the others were given a few days off.
She wasn't very fond of the idea of working for Kazuya Mishima. She had enjoyed working under her mentor, Professor T, back in the day when G Corporation was solely a genetics company. Eventually, Kazuya became the CEO, and now she couldn't help but feel uneasy being under his commands. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do, since quitting would probably not be something he would like. And when Kazuya dislikes something, he destroys that something. She knew better not to mess up with him.
She was also not very fond of the idea of leaving home. Besides travelling for the Tekken matches, she would always stay in Arizona. Leaving her tribe had already been too much, and now she would leave the state, maybe even the country, depending on where G Corp is now. She had first left her tribe in the North of Arizona and moved to this apartment in the capital of the state to enroll in university, just after the third King of Iron Fist Tournament. While attending it, she worked for G Corporation under her college archeology professor, in a project named GENOCELL, which would eventually be stolen by the Mishima Zaibatsu. Attempting to recover it in the fourth tournament and subsequently succeeding in the fifth, she was "put in an indefinite hiatus until reassignment", in the words of Kazuya Mishima himself. She took her free time to use GENOCELL to reforest her homeland, which had been her actual intention since the very beginning. While there, a land owner with psychic powers predicted that "if the two devils clash, an even greater evil will be unleashed on Earth". She knew those were Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, and upon hearing news of an upcoming sixth tournament, she entered it to defeat them. Unfortunately, Kazuya found out her plans and kept her captive in one of G Corporation's facilities. After that, she thought she would enter his long list of enemies, but it proved to be wrong.
Julia lifts her head up and looks at the clock on the nightstand. My flight in G Corp's airplane is only at night, she thinks. There is no time to waste. She stands with determination. Looking at the small round mirror, she adjusts the indigenous headband on her single-braided hair and checks herself. She's wearing her usual knee-length brown boots, blue jeans and a dark red cardigan with a simple brown shirt under it. There is something I need to do before leaving Arizona. She leaves the bedroom and heads to the exit, locking the door of her apartment. More precisely, something I need to find out. Taking the elevator, she reaches ground floor and goes out the building. After a few minutes of waiting in the sidewalk, she sees a taxi passing by. She waves for it and as it stops, she gets in quickly.
"To the airport, please."
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 14:57 UTC (09:57 in local time)
Nassau, The Bahamas
Lee and Anna are walking through the landing strip of the airport, towards G Corporation's private jet. Lee is wearing a dark brown suit with a purple rose in the front pocket of the coat, the latter being over a white shirt and lacking a tie. Anna is wearing a strapless tight zebra dress that goes until her ankles, exposing her navy blue stilettos, and pearl earrings and necklace. Both are whispering sexual jokes to each other and giggling, but as they get closer to the airplane, they regain their composure. As they go up the stairs, both nod to a guard standing beside it. The guard nods back as they pass, and climbs up just after them. Lee and Anna take their seats and fasten their safety belts while the guard closes the door and goes to the cockpit, closing its door as well.
Anna is serving them both some wine while blabbering about yesterday's party, which Lee only pretends to be listening. Now that he is in the plane, it actually feels real. That whole thing of moving headquarters has only hit him now. Perhaps it's time to take action, he thinks. It has already been a while since he's been planning a coup d'état during Kazuya's leadership to take over G Corporation, with Julia Chang, Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch as allies. After the sixth tournament, the world was upside down, like a sandstorm had hit, and there was some sort of nonconsent hiatus in those plans. Now that the dust has settled, but a bit of fog is still present, it's the perfect opportunity. They might not have another chance like this.
Lee didn't have that much to do with G Corporation, actually, since he was simply one of the major shareholders. All he needs to do is show up in some eventual meeting that regards the corporation's estate and nothing else. So far, Kazuya hadn't actually done moves in that field, so the company has no practical influence of Lee.
But what Kazuya hasn't done financially, he has done in the military field. He has arranged a private army just as powerful as the Tekken Force, and is presumably developing weapons in G Corp's laboratories, although Lee doesn't have access to such information. But Lee knows Kazuya too well. Of course Kazuya plans to take over the world. He even involved the firm in the sixth Tekken tournament. But Lee knows he can lead such a big company as G Corporation just as good as Kazuya and without pursuing the path of evil. The world doesn't need more hatred.
The jet has already taken off, and has been in the air for about five minutes. Both are already out of the grip of the safety belts. Anna has stopped talking, and seems to be thinking as well. Lee has just finished his glass of wine. "Excellent."
Anna finishes just after him, and keeps tapping her nails on it. After a moment, she leaves it on the tables, stands and heads to the cockpit.
"Hello there." She says seductively, knocking on the door.
The guard opens it. "What can I do for you, Ms. Williams?"
Anna smirks. "I was just wondering about where we are going."
The security man is noticeably melted because of Anna, and doesn't take his gaze off of her red lips.
"T-to São Paulo, Ms. Williams." He answers, blushing. Anna is taken a bit aback by the answer, and keeps herself silent. "Is there anything else I could do for you, Ms. Williams?" He asks, reluctantly, after a pause.
"No." She says abruptly and goes back to her seat. Confused, the guard blinks. After some seconds, he simply closes the door.
Anna glares at Lee and raises an eyebrow. He is frowning.
So, to São Paulo we go, she thinks. Quite an unusual choice. But then again, there has been a lot of support coming from South America. I should've seen that coming. Serving herself another glass of wine, she moves the bottle towards Lee, offering to serve him another glass. He makes a sign with the hand as to say 'no, thank you', so she simply puts the bottle back on the table and sips from her glass.
I wonder what he is up too. She takes another sup of wine. Popularity may be good now, but considering this is Kazuya, it feels too much of a superficial reason for him to move the company to Brazil. He might keep playing mysterious, but she knows him well enough. He's the type of person to take strong strides, not a simple and short step. And considering there is something else, what could that be? She finishes the glass and puts it on the table. This makes no sense at all.
Deciding that she has had enough of both the wine and the thoughts about Kazuya's plans, she reclines the seat and hopes to take a nap during this boring flight. She sighs.
I just wish he had chosen Rio.
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 19:35 UTC (12:52 in local time)
Show Low, Arizona, United States Of America
"This was delicious, Auntie Barbie." Julia says happily, and gets up to help clearing the table.
"Oh, thank you, darling!" Barbara answers as she clears the dark wooden table with Julia. Barbara had been a distant friend of the Chang family, and Julia grew up calling her aunt, although she has rarely seen the woman. As the years passed, Barbara eventually moved out from the tribe when she got married, coming to Show Low, a larger city, where she once had distant relatives. Her husband eventually died. Barbara is wearing a hair tie full of feathers in the end of the single braided black hair. Her eyes are dark brown, and so is her floor-length strap dress, which covers her black sandals. She is on her 40s.
They are now washing the dishes, in a beige granite counter with two sinks. "Auntie." Julia breaks the silence.
"Yes, darling?"
"I have come here because I wanted to talk about my mother." She answers, stopping what she is doing and looking to Barbara.
Surprised by the answer, Barbara stops what she is doing as well and looks to Julia. "What is it?"
Thinking about from where she should begin, Julia continues to wash the dishes. After a second, she talks. "I know she had a pendant, right?"
"Yes, she did." Barbara says reluctantly, as she goes back to what she was doing.
"What was it for?"
"Oh." Barbara says, and thinks for a second. "It had been passed through many generations of our tribe. It was said that it could lead to a great treasure, although nobody knew what it was. Some even speculated that it had immeasurable power." She says. "To me it seemed to be an ordinary pendant, really."
"How did it look like?"
"It was very beautiful, I can't lie, but that was it." Barbara says. "It was a golden circle with some red gems in it, a bigger one in the center." Just like the one I've found, Julia thinks. So maybe my assumption was right.
"The Mishima Zaibatsu looked after it in some point, right?" Julia asks.
"Yes, they did." Barbara answers in a sad tone. "They sent a man to infiltrate in the tribe and take it."
"My grandfather." Julia says in an upset tone.
"Yes." Barbara continues, seemingly moved. "But Grandpa Bernard genuinely loved your grandmother, and turned his back to the Zaibatsu. They eventually killed him while he was here in Show Low, while he was visiting some of my relatives, friends of the Changs."
Now Julia understands the sad tone of Barbara's voice. "It was not your fault." Julia says, washing the lather of her hands, and gently placing her right hand on the woman's left shoulder. "It was the Zaibatsu." Barbara nods, trying hard not to cry. "And that's why mother entered the Tekken tournament." Barbara nods again, pulling herself together.
"They eventually kidnapped Grandma Julia as well." Barbara saying, trying hard not to cry again. Julia had been named after her now deceased grandmother.
"That's what led mother to the second Tekken tournament, then." Julia says sadly.
"Thanks to the great spirits, she was able to bring Grandma Julia back." Barbara says with closed eyes, pointing her face upwards, in the direction of said heavens.
They finish washing the dishes, leaving them in a dish drainer. Barbara leads Julia to the living room, and both sit on a dun-colored couch.
"Do you know what happened to the pendant after that?" Julia asks.
"After Michelle came back, she tossed the pendant into the water of a lake." Julia frowns at hearing this. That's why I found it in the river, she thinks. It must've come from the flow. "Why are you asking all of this?" Barbara asks out of a sudden.
"It's just that mother never told me much about those things." Julia answers sincerely. "I just want to know the most I can about her, now that she's… gone." Julia says sadly. Either disappeared or really… dead,… mother is gone, she thinks.
"Oh, don't talk like that!" Barbara says, trying not to cry for the zillionth time. She puts her hand on Julia's shoulder. Not wanting to get emotional, Julia simply nods to the woman and tries to think of anything else to ask her. After some seconds, a thought crosses her mind.
"Has she ever talked to you about the tournaments?" Julia asks.
"Not really." Barbara says. "She just said that she lost." She makes a brief pause. "And she brought Grandma Julia back, of course, which was everybody's main concern."
"Hasn't she ever talked about the other contestants? Anyone?" Julia insists.
"Hm…" Barbara enters a state of deep thought. She is trying her best for Julia. Nothing more fair than a daughter trying to know more about the mother. "I think she mentioned something about a sumo fighter." She says uncertainly. "I'm not sure. I think it's just an impression." Julia frowns. "Hm…" The woman starts thinking again. "I don't recall anything." She says sadly.
"It's okay Auntie." Julia says, and smiles. "Thank you very much." They hug each other.
"It's such a blessing to see you, darling." Barbara says emotionally, not letting go. "You've grown so much. You're a beautiful young woman."
"Thank you, Auntie." They release each other from the grip and smile at each other.
"Make sure to visit me more often. I've missed you."
"I will." Julia answers. "I wish I could stay longer, but I have to go now, Auntie."
Barbara wears a sad expression upon hearing this. "Oh, are you sure? You company has been so good!"
"I love spending time with you, Auntie, but I really have to go." Julia says. "I have a business appointment in Phoenix, at night." It's better not to say it's a flight, because if she asks me about it, I won't know how to answer.
"Oh, what an unfortunate thing." The woman sighs. "Well, it was good to have you here. Let me take you to the door, then."
Both stand up, and Barbara leads Julia to the door, opening it for her guest. "Thank you for having me in such unexpected conditions." Julia says. "I hope I haven't disturbed you."
"Of course not, darling! That's the best surprise I've had in ages!" She smiles warmly.
"I'll visit you more often, I promise." Julia warmly smiles back. "Thank you." She turns and walks away.
Julia walks through the sidewalk, aiming to get to the nearest busy street so she can take a cab.
I don't know if this conversation has given me more answers or more questions, she wonders, and sighs.
[Day 2]
Tuesday, 23:02 UTC (17:02 in local time)
Somewhere in Mississippi, United States Of America
"They're here." The woman says, taking her finger out of her earpiece.
"I will go receive them." He says, and leaves the observation room.
After walking through a few corridors, taking some turns every now and then, he reaches outside, where three people – two women and one man – wait for him in front of a pitch-black car surrounded by a pine forest.
"Raven." The man in the center says. Raven takes out his sunglasses to look at them.
"Lars." She nods back to the owner of the voice. "Nina, Alisa." He nods to the right and to the left at their directions respectively, and both nod back. "Follow me." He turns, putting his sunglasses back, leading the three inside the relatively small military building, as the chauffeur leaves with the car.
Nina Williams is a blonde and cold Irish woman of icy blue eyes. She is wearing one of her usual combat clothes, this one being a pale purple military printed catsuit that covers her whole body from neck to the feet, but leaves her arms exposed. Instead of her usual shoes, these pair of boots have no high heels. Her hair is in a single simple ponytail, as usual. A professional assassin, she had been hired by Jin Kazama to be his personal bodyguard when he assumed the Mishima Zaibatsu. As he technically hasn't left the post of CEO and, de jure, still commands the Zaibatsu, it is still her job to guarantee his safety.
Lars Alexandersson is, de facto, the current CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Although logistically speaking, Nina would probably be the first in line to assume the Zaibatsu, being a Mishima, even if he's an illegitimate child, and also the leader of the Tekken Force, assured him the post. Not that Nina had any interest on it, though.
Lars has no Asian resemblance. Besides his spiky hair, all his other features came from his mother, who's Swedish. He's a white tall man of sandy brown hair and very light blue eyes accompanied with a scar on his left eyebrow. He is wearing a dark grey shirt embraced by the coat of his black suit. After climbing several positions in the Tekken Force, he became the captain of it. Although the men were loyal to the Zaibatsu, they were not pleased with the decisions of the then-new CEO, Jin Kazama. They planned a coup d'état, culminating in the sixth King of Iron Fist tournament. After he came to know Jin's true plans with the world war, he now knows his half-nephew has noble intentions, even if he goes through meandering paths.
Alisa Bosconovitch is a cyborg. She is wearing a monotone pink hair, instead of the dual tone she had during the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament. Her haircut resembles Marilyn Monroe's signature one. She has no flowers on her hair, instead wearing them on her earrings. She is wearing a strap dress with a round skirt that goes until half her thighs. The print of the piece is plaid of white and red lines contrasting in a dark purple background. Black leather shoelace boots embrace her feet, and knee-length delicate white stockings accompany them. She is also wearing a pair of cotton black gloves covering her whole hand until the wrists. The youthfulness and innocence of her look contrast drastically with the serious tone these people and this place has.
Created by Doctor Bosconovitch to resemble his deceased daughter of the same name, Alisa had been programmed to serve Jin Kazama. She assisted Lars Alexandersson during the sixth Tekken tournament while on safe mode. When they faced Jin, he disabled her safe mode by voice command and ordered her to kill Lars. Lars defeated her, which led her systems to collapse. Jin Kazama himself had said in the occasion that it was a "good riddance to a worthless piece of junk", although she's oblivious to this statement. She was then fixed by Lee Chaolan, an ally, and now has free will. Since Lars temporarily assumed the Zaibatsu, she kept working for the company to assist him.
Raven leads them through a maze of corridors until he stops in front of a door. He opens it and makes a sign with his hand as to invite the guests in. They're greeted with a nod of a woman who's standing inside.
"This is another agent of my organization." Raven breaks the silence after closing the door. "Her codename is Robyn."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Robyn says. "I've been chosen by Raven to assist him in this mission."
The woman has a dark caramel tone of skin, that even in the pale white illumination of the observation room, shines vividly. She has thick, yet defined lips and a large nose. Her eyes are slightly small of a very strong green color accompanied by thin dark brown eyebrows. Her hair is also dark brown, and could only be described as a mix of a black power haircut and a 1980s hairstyle, since part of it is elevated, but the rest falls, and it is heavily curled. In length, it goes until a palm after her shoulder. Either because of her strong and hard gaze or her drop dead beauty, the woman must be quite menacing when necessary.
Robyn wears simply a plain black leather strapless shirt, pants and boots, accompanied by sunglasses, which is the same Raven is wearing.
There are five metal chairs beside a desk of the same material, facing a glass in the wall. Robyn sits in the far left chair, with Raven on her right and Lars taking a seat in the middle. Alisa sits beside Lars and Nina accommodates herself in the far right chair.
"In respect to our alliance and for concern of his health, we haven't talked to him." Raven breaks the silence.
"Thank you." Lars responds. "How is his state?"
"The doctor can explain that better." Robyn says. "He will come here as he finishes scanning him over there." She points to the glass with her head. There is a doctor standing beside the bed making some examination. It doesn't take too long before he leaves the place and knocks on the door of the observation room before entering.
"Excuse me." The doctor says as he closes the door. "My name is Anthony and I'm responsible for the patient's treatment." The man has short grey hair, light green eyes and many freckles and some wrinkles on his face, which are covered in a thick pair of glasses. He is probably in his late 50s and is wearing all-white clothes. "As you know, after being knocked unconscious, he woke up in a very angry state during the trip to this facility. He was sedated, and every time he woke again, he would be enraged and subsequently sedated once again. Ultimately, it was decided to induce him into a coma to prevent any sort of trauma." Anthony makes a pause. "And by rage I mean that his Devil gene was very instable." He adjusts his glasses before continuing. "Now, after a week of an induced coma, we decided it was already a good time to wake him up. And we were right. He is just as new, and completely calm. He is just a bit weak, nothing that good nutrition, rest and saline solutions won't do."
"Is there any sort of amnesia or difficulty to move?" Alisa asks unexpectedly, before anybody could ask anything themselves.
"Not really, actually. He was a bit slow when he first woke up, but he is incredibly fine, which is very, very impressive." He adjusts the glasses once again. "He's memory is intact, although I avoided delicate topics." Anthony puts his hand on his glasses for, like, the millionth time. "He's capacity of speech is intact, but he seems not to be a person of many words, anyway."
"What have you asked him about?" Lars questions.
"The basic. His name, his age, the name of his mother, where is from. I didn't ask about his father nor his grandfather." He answers. "I wanted to ask him more, but you've forbidden me to ask him about the tournaments" He says, looking at Raven. "and it would be useless to ask him about moments of his childhood when I can't check up to see if it's true, since not much is known about it."
"I understand." Lars say. "Would it be a good idea for us to go there now?" He says, looking to Raven, but aiming the question to anybody who knows the answer.
"If it's one at a time, then yes." Anthony says, but Lars' gaze is still locked towards Raven.
"Sure." Raven says.
There is a moment of silence. Causing stress to someone who has just awakened from a coma is definitely not the intention here. After all, who should go in there to talk to him?
"Maybe Alisa should go." Robyn breaks the silence, taking everybody aback.
"Me?" She asks, clenching her eyebrows.
"You're the most… innocent one." And with 'innocent', she pretty much means that Alisa has never attempted to do him any harm.
Alisa looks at Lars with indecisive eyes. "It's okay." He says warmly. "She is right. You should go." He points the door with his head.
Anthony opens the door for Alisa, cracking a shy inviting smile to her. She gets up and exits the room silently, followed by the doctor. Before they get inside, Anthony stops and gives her some instructions. "Do not mention the tournaments unless he does himself. Even if he does so, try not to contribute much to the topic. Try to talk about his childhood, or his coma experience, as if you're curious. When you don't know how to proceed, turn your gaze to me and I'll think of something."
She nods slightly. He opens the door for her again, and enters just after her.
"Hello, I'm back with a visit for you." Anthony says in a happy tone to the patient and looks at Alisa. "Go." he whispers to her. She reluctantly walks towards the bed, while the man laid on it watches every move she makes. The doctor keeps watching from far away, standing beside the door.
Although he is paler, he doesn't seem very different from the usual. His raven black hair of odd fashion is not even a bit messed up, and he is wearing a serious expression. But the grim of his gaze is gone. For the first time, he is actually emotionless, with vast vagueness emitting from his eyes. For the very first time, lacking emotions is not only a mask he wears, but an actual state of his spirit.
"Hi Jin." Alisa says in a whisper, almost inaudible.
"I am sorry." He says in a deeply concerned tone, but maintaining his expression intact.
She clenches her eyebrows confusedly. "For what, exactly?"
He keeps himself silent for a second, seemingly struggling inside, as like he is about to say something difficult.
"For insulting you. And turning you against your friend." He hits her with it, taking a weight off his shoulders.
She slightly widen her eyes. She wasn't expecting that. Although she doesn't know what he means with 'insulting', as there are no records of such thing in her database, she decides against asking him about it after seeing how he was relieved for managing to apologize to her. "I accept your apologies." She says and smiles faintly. "How are you feeling?"
"Uh… foggy, I think." He says, but this time looking at the doctor in the far back of the room, who is silently writing notes as he watches the conversation.
"You'll be better soon." She says. "Might I ask you how was it? I mean… the coma." She asks reluctantly. "I have been told that one can sense the things around, but is not able to respond. Is that correct?"
"Yes and no." He says in a monotone. "In your head, you're responding." He looks to the doctor. "The doctor moved my limbs a few times, and when I told him he had ignored my questions, he said I had never asked anything."
"Sorry about it!" Anthony jokes, and laughs lightly. Jin smiles so faintly that only someone as close as Alisa is now can see it.
"And how is it like when you are alone on thoughts?" She asks, but not in act to keep up a conversation, but in actual curiosity. That is a part of human experience she'll never be able to experience. She controls the urge to sigh in frustration because of that.
"It is like a normal life." He says, which makes she frown. "Sometimes I would, uh… be simply walking through empty streets, reading the many signs, one by one… as if there was nothing more entertaining than that." He makes a short pause. "And there really wasn't." He smiles faintly once again. "Then, in between dreams, everything would go black for a while, like it was… uh… loading. I think that's the better word for it." He continues. "But most of times I found myself at home." He cracks a smile, this time a bit more apparent.
"At home?" Alisa asks.
"Yes, at home." He says matter-of-factly, oblivious to the fact that, with the question, she meant that she didn't know what home he is talking about.
"And how was it? I mean, your home?" She risks.
"Uh…" He takes some good seconds to answer. "Wooden. And… surrounded by a forest." He makes another pause. "It was very beautiful."
"And what did you do there?"
"Uh… Not much. I would, uh… watch the sky, and the plants and… the animals."
She looks to the doctor from the corner of her eye, who makes a sign to her meaning that 'this is enough'.
"Jin, I must be going now. But it was good to see you. We will be seeing each other more in the future." She smiles and nods to him, leaving the hospital room with the doctor, both going back to the observation room.
All of the three inside stand as the door is opened. Even though everybody is wearing a serious expression, Alisa can sense everybody is quite surprised. "How was it?" She asks facing the ground.
"That was good." Lars says walking towards her, putting his right hand on her shoulder, smiling briefly to her. She looks to him and returns the smile.
"Well, it seems Jin's memories are really intact, after all." Raven says in his usual serious tone. "If he apologized to you, he remembers the tournament."
"Let's not jump to conclusions." Robyn says. "We still don't know until which point he actually remembers it all or if it's just a bunch of random scenes going on his mind." Raven nods at her, acknowledging her statement.
"This was very impressive." Anthony says. "He did most of the talking. I was expecting the opposite." We all were, Nina thinks.
After a pause, he continues. "But as you can see and as he said himself, things are still foggy…" He adjusts his glasses for the zillionth time. "…so it's better not to push it too far. Maybe Alisa can visit him tomorrow again." He finishes the sentence looking at her. "If he does well again, maybe we can risk to bring somebody else to talk to him… that is, if it is of your interest, of course." He says in an open statement, with his eyes meeting with everybody else's in a quick gaze trip.
"We will discuss that tomorrow." Raven says abruptly. "Might I show you the accommodations?" He asks, pointing to the door with his hand.
After a second, Lars answers. "Yes, please." They all leave, and Raven guides the three guests through the right while Robyn and the doctor go to the left.
Lars reflects about how abrupt Raven was back in the room. But it doesn't take him long to conclude that Raven wants to be the first to talk to Jin about the tournament.
After walking for a couple of minutes, they reach a dead-end grey corridor, with three white doors – one in the left wall, one in the front wall and the other in the right wall.
"These are your rooms." Raven says. "Choose as you will."
"Thank you." Alisa says happily and enters in the door of the front wall. Nina simply nods and follows suit, entering the door in the left.
"Lars." Raven calls. "I would like to make some questions to Jin tomorrow, if that's not a problem."
"It is not." Lars answers. "Just make sure not to push too far." Raven nods, and Lars gets in the door of the right wall.
End of Chapter Two
Author's notes: Hello! Here you are! Chapter 2, yaaasss!
As I said before, the chapters will be quite long (this one has almost 11000 words without the author's notes!).
I also said that more characters would appear, and TCHARAN!, here you are: Xiaoyu, Miharu, Baek, Kunimitsu, Claudio and Katarina! Raven, Nina and Jin as well, although they had already been mentioned in the previous chapter.
There was also the mention of another characters in this chapter as well.
I also made sure to come up with some characters of my own, to add up a bit more to the story. That includes:
Rita, the secretary from the previous chapter. I was uncertain of a name for her, but then I thought of Rita Ora and decided it would fit;
Robyn, Raven's partner/assistant (if you have actually paid attention, she is pretty much Rihanna);
Barbara, a very distant friend of Julia. (I mean, she grew up in a goddamn tribe, she had to know somebody else besides her mother and her grandparents, right?) Both Michelle and Julia have American names that are completely understandable in Spanish/Portuguese, so I tried to follow suit while choosing the name of this character.
I think it's nice to mention too that the names of Julia's grandparents (Bernard and Julia) haven't come out of nowhere - those were the names they had in some Tekken comics published back in 1997/98.
Well, this is it! Thank you very much for reading, and thanks for the reviews!
p.s.: I hate the fact that I can't put multiple exclamation/interrogation marks in a row. This really saddens me. :( !