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The Angel Within
Chapter Four: Important Calls and Inner Bawls
[Day 4]
Thursday, 16:12 UTC [Wednesday] (01:12 in local time)
Osaka, Japan
The neon lights bath the wild dance floor as the loud music makes its way into everybody's mind, in a volume as loud as possible. The colored illumination, however, doesn't fill the room – it simply serves as a way to turn the moving shadows into moving colored blurs, while the overall is still quite dark. Each and every silhouette dancing is living life as there is no tomorrow. The individuals on the bar don't seem to be caring about the future as well, as they get drunk or flirty.
One certain boy, however, is worried about tomorrow. That is because he shouldn't even be here, actually. But he is. He needs to erase his mind at least for tonight. But it hasn't worked so far. He finishes his zillionth bottle of beer. He has already so many that he doesn't even know the amount. The bill is probably going to be expensive, he thinks. But for one of the few times in his life, he is not worried about spending. There are another things that need his concern.
With that on mind, he asks for the bill and pays it. It was much cheaper than he thought, because he drank much less than he thought. He was probably too distracted with the problem in hand. But, well, it was still worth trying to forget it, he thinks. He didn't even get changed: he is still wearing his brown boots, blue jeans, grey T-shirt and black leather jacket of yesterday. He leaves the club, his orange hair glowing in the moonlight.
Hwoarang starts to think about what Baek and the police said as he crosses the street. Baek described to the cops that "a redhead woman with a fox max attacked the dojo Tuesday night", in his own words. That was all he was able to say, though, and was directly taken to the hospital. Hwoarang heard from the cops that the mysterious woman had been attacking a few dojos in Japan, but that was the first case to happen in South Korea. However, it seemed she was back in Japan, because on that same Wednesday morning she had attacked a dojo in Osaka. Hearing this, he took the first flight to Osaka.
So here Hwoarang is, in Osaka, staying in a cheap hotel just across the club he was in. He walks up the stairs of the building, crosses the corridor and enters his room.
I better get some sleep. By the morning, I'm going to find out who that woman is, he thinks as he gets undressed.
He gets in the bed, under the comfortable white blankets, which cover his semi-nude body, as he is on his black boxers only. (*this is for us, girls, lol*)
There can be only one redhead bitch around here.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 00:00 UTC (09:00 in local time)
Osaka, Japan
After reading on the newspaper that the dojo attacked by the red-haired woman was "Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts", Hwoarang scoffed. I guess I'm about to face another Kazama, he thinks as he makes his way into the hospital someone named Asuka Kazama has reportedly been taken to. He is wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.
He gets in the reception room of the hospital and stops by its desk. A non-Asian brunette woman turns to speak to him. "How may I help you?" She says in fluent Korean, although there is an accent.
This is going to be easier than I thought. "Hey baby, I'm here to visit a friend, perhaps get your number." He smirks.
The woman smiles at him, visibly melting. "Who is the name of your friend?"
"Asuka Kazama." He answers, trying hard not to sound disgusted while saying 'Kazama'.
The receptionist makes a few clicks on the computer, before she speaks again. "She is on room 222. Just take that corridor," the woman points "and go up the stairs." She says, in a stupid seductive fake voice that annoys even Hwoarang.
"Thank you, babe." He smirks again, playing along, and leaves.
…
Asuka has spent the night on the hospital. She feels quite good, besides a sprained ankle and many scratches and bruises. Her consolation is that her parents are well. She would never forgive herself if her father came back to the hospital. Rather me than him, she thinks.
Asuka had fought the woman long enough for the cops to come. Her father had called the police as soon as she had hid inside. When the sirens came, the cat lady ran away, and Asuka fell unconscious from tiredness. After a couple of hours, she woke up in a hospital bed to see two cops standing beside her. She gave them her testimony, only for them to say they are still investigating who the cat lady is. She sighed in repressed anger as she heard that. She would then be visited by her parent, which made her relax. The doctor advised that it would be better if she stayed a bit longer in the hospital, so here she is.
She is wearing simple white T-shirt and shorts, the usual hospital clothing. The shorts go until half her thighs, and are a bit tight as not to show her undergarments, since her right foot is elevated for her ankle to heal faster. Her left arm has some bandages, and she is half-sitting half-laying in a relaxed position on the bed, with her back against the soft pillows. I must be looking terrible, she thinks, but pays not much mind and keeps changing channels on television.
The room is relatively small, with a large window by Asuka's left, illuminating the room with the warm sun light, and the access door by the wall on her right. A 29" television is suspended by some sort of metal structure on the wall in front of her. The walls are of a very light yellow tone, and there are different types of hospital equipment on both sides of the bed, although most are turned off. There is a small white couch beside the door, which is for the visitors. The door itself and her bed are also white.
She hears the door open, and presuming it is the doctor, she keeps changing channels on the TV, trying to find something interesting. She hears the door close after some long seconds, and she still pays no mind about it.
Hwoarang is paralyzed. I knew it was a girl, but I didn't expected her to be this hot, he thinks. He takes a good look on her elevated right leg. I need to focus, I'm not here for this, he thinks as he shakes his head. Before he distracts himself again with her curves, he simply clears his throat to call her attention.
Asuka frowns, resting her right arm with the remote control on her belly and turns. Her frown doesn't leave when she sees a redhead guy.
"Who are you?" She asks in a harsh tone.
"Oh, calm down there, I'm just here to talk." He says in a casual tone, putting both his hands up, taking a step closer.
"You're here to finish the service, huh?" She asks in an angry tone.
Hwoarang frowns for a second, then he gets it. "Oh no, the hair is just a stupid coincidence." He says. "I'm here for the same reason you are here."
Asuka's frown is still there. "What do you mean?" She asks, confused.
Hwoarang can't stop a sigh. "My master's dojo was attacked by the same person who attacked your family dojo."
Asuka's expression goes softer, but she is still confused. "Why are you here?"
"I want to know about the woman, and then kick her ass." He says with a slightly angry expression.
Asuka smirks. "I guess you'll be happy to know I kicked her ass already."
Hwoarang raises an eyebrow, in an amused expression. "It doesn't look like."
Asuka narrows her eyes slightly. "If I said I did, it's because I did."
Hwoarang smirks, still amused. "Is that so?"
"Yes."
"So why isn't she in prison?"
Asuka sighs. "She ran away when she heard the sirens. I just didn't chase her because my ankle was already sprained." She says in a frustrated tone. "Stupid cops, did they really need to turn on the sirens?" She finishes, now angrily.
Hwoarang keeps himself silent for a second, amusedly analyzing the girl's face. Her skin is cream-like, and her short dark brown hair is like bittersweet chocolate. He shakes his head slightly and focuses on the topic at hand. "Do you know why she invaded the dojo?"
"I have no idea." Asuka says in a defeated tone. "She didn't say a word. I tried to make her, of course, but she was silent all along." There's a pause. "Not even when I hit her." She frowns slightly. "It was weird."
"Maybe you didn't hit her hard enough?" Hwoarang says mockingly.
"Tell that to the blood she spilled when I punched her face." Asuka answers in a sassy tone.
Hwoarang laughs slightly, amused. She doesn't even seem like she's a Kazama. And then it clicks him.
Before he's able to speak, however, she does. "What is your name again?" Asuka asks.
"Hwoarang." He answers uninterested, more concentrated on the following question. "You're a Kazama, right?"
"Yes. I'm Asuka Kazama." She says as if he doesn't know her name.
Hwoarang skips the pain of telling her he knows her name already, after all he wouldn't have been able to come here in first place if he didn't, and continues the conversation. "Are you related to that Kazama bastard?" He is not able to put it in better words.
Asuka sighs in an angry way. She knows who he's talking about. "I don't know. But he's bringing shame to the Kazama name."
"Wait, so you don't like him?" Hwoarang asks, frowning slightly.
"Why should I?"
"I thought he was of your family."
"I don't care! I don't even know him! All I know is that I'm going to kick his ass when I get the chance!" She answers angrily, in a bit louder volume.
Hwoarang smirks. I like her already.
"Do you know him?" Asuka asks.
Hwoarang wasn't expecting the question, so he frowns slightly before answering. "He is my rival."
Asuka raises an eyebrow. "How is that so?"
"We had a street fight some time ago, and it was a draw." He sighs angrily. "Then I entered the third Tekken tournament to kick his ass, but didn't have the chance until the fifth tournament." He ignores the details.
"Wait, you're a Tekken fighter?" She asks stunned. "So am I!"
Hwoarang frowns a bit. "Really?"
"Yes!" She says, quite amazed with the coincidence. "I entered the fifth tournament to avenge my father." She says, half-angry half-frustrated.
"And did you do it?" Hwoarang asks, curious.
"No. The guy defeated me." She sighs. "But he was beaten up real bad in his following match, so I just started thinking of him as an insect afterwards." She says, giving him a dismissive shrug. Hwoarang laughs.
After a moment of silence, Hwoarang changes the subject. "Well, then you really don't know nothing about the auburn-haired lady?"
Asuka sighs frustrated. "No."
"Alright, then. Thanks for the time, girl. Sorry for bothering, though. Get some rest." He says and turns, walking to the door. "Maybe we'll see each other again. Who knows." He opens it and leaves before she's able to say goodbye.
She keeps looking intently to the door for a few seconds, with an amazed expression, and then turns back to the television.
This was oddly interesting.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 07:35 UTC (02:35 in local time)
Cancún, Quintana Roo, México
"Por aquí!" Zafina screams. It is the only sentence she can speak in Spanish.
Zafina is doing voluntary work in the south of México. Refugees coming from the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche are being relocated either to Yucatán or Quintana Roo to be medically treated and fed. Everybody is going to be staying here until it is safe enough to go back or too dangerous to stay.
"Por aquí!" Zafina screams again, putting her arms up to signalize. The loosen mid-sleeves of her orange blouse moving at every single thing she does. She is also wearing brown pants and black sandals.
Zafina felt useless back in Egypt when there was a war going on. In a last minute self-made decision, she volunteered to work in a refugee camp organized by a philanthropic organization. She wasn't able to stop the evil, but she can at least ease the situation.
"Por aquí!" She screams for the millionth time.
Zafina's job, so far, is to give everybody a basic-needs pack. It contains clean clothes and basic objects of hygiene. For women, it also contains absorbents. There are four types of packs: for average women, for average men, for 5-12 years-old children and unisex plus-size. Children younger than 4 and pregnant women have special specific packs, and they not come through here.
"Por aquí!"
Each group that passes by has 20 people. After a basic checkup, people who are not seriously injured are selected to pass through Zafina and then go further inside the hangar, where there is a collective improvised place with many mattresses so people can rest. The hangar is huge, and is an improvised refugee camp on Cancún's airport. It is big, made of greyish brown wood and grey stone ground. There is a violent storm outside.
"Por aquí!" She screams for, like, the zillionth time.
Some people mutter 'gracias' and 'Dios te bendiga' as they get the packs, while anothers are in a clear state of shock and act like robots. But a similarity in all of those people is that everybody is quite dirty, sweaty and scared. This war is horrid.
"No más grupos!" A male volunteer screams from the door of the hangar, and starts closing it on the right side
"No more groups!" The woman on the left side of the door screams and starts closing it as well.
"What now?" Zafina asks confusedly in English, showcasing her Egyptian accent, to nobody in particular.
"We go there." A woman who's passing by says, pointing to her destination. "Love." She continues, clearly in an attempt to communicate on a language she is not fluent in. Zafina smiles and nods, following the woman.
Speaking of love, I'll make sure to call home whenever I get the chance, Zafina sighs as she keeps her pace. Zafina crosses a second door, leading to a place full of mattresses and crying people. This place is so full of suffering, she thinks as she puts her hands on her heart. She eyes the people, and eventually starts walking towards a woman who's silently crying in state of shock.
"Hey." Zafina says to call the woman's attention, since she doesn't speak Spanish. She only understands a little.
The woman looks at her, and Zafina leans for a hug. The woman hugs her back and breaks into tears, this time almost screaming out of pain. They hug each other tighter every second, Zafina holding her own tears back.
"Qué pasa?" Zafina asks in a comforting tone, one of the few Spanish sentences she has been able to memorize.
The woman seems to try to explain, but every time she attempts to start, she feels even more painful, and goes louder on crying. Zafina keeps whispering 'todo bien' all the time.
After a couple of minutes of this, the woman starts speaking in Spanish between sobs. Zafina doesn't really understand much. She is not only a foreigner, but also the woman's sobs are making it all near impossible. The only things she is able to understand are the words 'man', 'violent', and 'nightmare', in completely random order through the woman's speech. Zafina just keeps whispering to her that everything is going to be alright.
Eventually, the woman gets calmer, although she is clearly still scared. Zafina gives her a warm reassuring smile, which the woman answers with a faint smile of her own. Zafina helps the woman to lie down. The woman must be on her early 50s, and has tanned skin and black hair. She has wrinkles on her face as of someone who has worked hard through all her life. Zafina gently passes her hand through the woman's hair, giving her a last warm smile. She then gets up and proceeds to see someone else.
After a few steps through people sleeping on the floor and people who are already being assisted, she spots a man on his mid-60s sitting on his mattress. His head is on his knees, and he is embracing his legs. He seems to be in a complete state of shock, like his mind is on another planet. He has the same skin tone of the woman Zafina has just talked to, but his hair is white. He is wearing circle glasses.
Zafina crouches and puts her left hand on the man's shoulder. He slowly turns his head towards her, the shock still present. "The man." He says in Spanish.
Zafina frowns. "Qué pasa?" She asks concerned.
"The man brought destruction." The man continues in Spanish.
That's what humanity does, she thinks and sighs. She wants to tell the man to lie down, but she doesn't know the words in Spanish. She starts fluff the pillow and stretch the blanket over the man's feet. He seems to get the cue, as he slowly lies down, but the expression of his face is kept intact. Zafina proceeds to cover him until the shoulders, and she keeps passing her hand through his white hair until his shock loses to his tiredness, and he falls into sleep.
Zafina gets up again. The process keeps repeating itself. She spends between 5 and 15 minutes with each person, letting them cry and talk as she keeps herself silent, but showing them empathy and warmth. After a few hours, everybody is asleep, so the volunteers start to lie down on their own mattresses, including Zafina. She is praying when she involuntarily starts overhearing a conversation, this time in English.
"Do you know what man they're talking about?" A raspy male voice says, with a Caribbean accent, although it's not able to determine of which English-speaking island he's from.
"I don't know, but everybody who arrived today was talking about a man." A female voice says in an American accent.
"A guy told me a strong man destroyed a village with his own hands, like a beast." A third voice says, another male one, this time in a Hispanic accent.
"At least they're safe now." Zafina finds herself invading the conversation with a thick accent of her own.
"Yes. We're going to help them." The female voice of before says.
"They're going to be fine." The Hispanic-accented male voice says.
Everyone falls into muteness after that. The only hearable sounds are the many breaths of the people inside, a few snores, the heavy rain outside and the ocean waves. The silence, however, is louder than any other sound. The tension is high in here. Deep inside, all these volunteers are just as scared as the people. That includes Zafina. She's so afraid. Afraid for these people in here. Afraid for the soldiers, whoever's side they're in. Afraid for the people who haven't been rescued. Afraid even for the fellow volunteers and for herself. And she knows a similar thing can happen at any moment on her birth country. The Arab world is always so instable. What would happen to her village? To her family? Her friends? The image of many people cross her mind. The guy who owns the local market. Jasmine, her friend. Zafina's parents. Cousins. Aunts and uncles. What is gonna happen to them?
Zafina can't help but cry silently. I need to find a way out of this nightmare. Not only to me, but to everybody. She sinks her face in the pillow.
This war has to end.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 11:30 UTC (06:30 in local time)
Somewhere in the State of Amazonas, Brasil
Julia knew she had no time to waste. She has to make this call. It is now or never. After taking two flights, she and the rest of Kazuya's crew were staying in a small simple hotel of a small town near to the border with Colombia and Venezuela. The actual mission was going to start at 7:00, when daylight is full. Julia, however, had been ready for some minutes now, dressed on her red shirt and sneakers, and blue jeans. The hair, as always, was done in a single braid with some feathers.
After finishing her breakfast on the hotel, probably the only hotel of the city, she went out for a walk. The place is a ghost town. There are no people in the streets. All stores are closed. No wonder why. During the night, she was able to hear some screams coming from the Forest Reservation Park, which is not far away from here. Actually, the whole town was pretty much surrounded by the Amazon forest. Whoever still stays here, is locked inside their homes. That includes the owners of the hotel she is in.
In the reception room of the hotel, she had bought some sort of card that allows her to use the public telephone. Now, all she needs to do is find one. She had been walking for about only 5 minutes now, but it felt like an eternity. It is on these moments that I wish I had a cellphone, she curses on her mind.
Yesterday afternoon, her friend Lee had invited her to help him out on a project of Violet Systems. After the meeting with Kazuya, she felt like distracting her mind would be the best thing to do, so she accepted the invitation. She was surprised to see how big the São Paulo installations of Violet Systems were, but then again, Lee's company is headquartered in Rio, so that shouldn't have been a surprise.
While there, besides a surprise call from fellow allies, she helped on Lee's project, Combot. It is a robot that should be able to know how to fight the martial arts of all the Tekken fighters at the same time. However, the machine was only able to do only one kind of fighting style at a time. During that, Lee mentioned the names of the fighters Combot was able to mimicry, including a guy named Ganryu, whose fighting style is sumo. That clicked on her mind. Barbara, her distant friend, said something about a sumo fighter. Julia had never met Ganryu, but if he was a Tekken fighter, maybe Lee knew, so she tried to take every information she could out of him, but without arousing suspicion, of course.
She learned that Lee had never fought Ganryu, but knew the guy in person. That's why, many years ago, both worked for Heihachi and Kazuya on the Mishima Zaibatsu, during the period of the first and second tournaments, although they were not close. After the second tournament, Lee never saw the guy anymore. He only heard about the guy again in the fifth tournament, and Ganryu has returned to all other tournaments ever since. Lee hasn't met him again, and simply doesn't know why he has come back to the tournaments after all these years.
After some research, she found out that Ganryu has a restaurant in Hawaii. She took the phone number of the place from the internet and wrote it in a small piece of paper.
Finally spotting a telephone booth, Julia takes the small piece of paper and the special card out of her back pocket. She dials the number and waits.
"Chanko Paradise, how may I help you?" A female voice says on the other side of the line.
"Hello, I am looking for the owner of the place, his name is Ganryu." Julia says.
"Who is it?"
"Julia Chang."
"Just a moment." Then, Julia hears a noise, as if the woman had put the phone on a table or somewhere else. There are some seconds of muffled sound, probably coming from the clients of the restaurant, before there is another noise, as if someone is grabbing the phone. "Julia?!" A male raspy voice asks, surprised.
"Is this Ganryu?" Julia asks innocently.
"Yes! Oh, Julia!" He answers.
Oblivious to his excitement, Julia continues. "Listen, I really need to make you some questions. Do you mind?"
"Oh, anything to my dear Julia!" Ganryu says.
"You fought in the second King of Iron Fist, right?"
"Yes, I did!" Ganryu answers in the same happy voice.
"Have you met a woman named Michelle Chang?"
Silence. After some seconds, Julia thought the line had gone dead, but before she could say 'hello?', Ganryu answered.
"Yes. Oh, how beautiful she was. It was love at first sight." He says in a sad voice full of longing. "After that tournament, I never saw her again. And, some years later, I was devastated to find out she had disappeared. I only went back to the tournaments when I saw you fighting in the fourth tournament. You look so much like her."
Julia is taken aback by this. "What?!"
"I feel bad for liking you this much. But deep inside, when I look to you, I look to Michelle." He sighs on the other line.
"How did you meet her?!" Julia asks in the same shocked tone of before.
"Uh… well…" Ganryu makes a pause. "It is something I'm very ashamed of."
Julia, focus, she tells herself on her mind, getting calmer. "I need to know. Please." She asks, now in a serious tone.
"Well, I think you have the right to know." Ganryu says. Julia doesn't know what to make of this, so she lets him continue. "I was Kazuya's employee on the second tournament, and he had asked me to take care of someone he had kidnapped." He makes a pause. "That someone happened to be Michelle's mother."
Julia's jaw drops and her eyes widen. The state of shock is back. "What?!"
Ganryu simply sighs on the other line. "That was when I realized how wrong my life was."
Julia tries her best to calm herself again before she speaks. "Do you know why he did that?"
"I was just his bodyguard. I have no idea. I just did what I was told, although I let her take her mother." There is a long pause. "Why you ask?"
"I just had to know." That's all Julia is able to say. "Thank you for answering. Goodbye." She hangs up before Ganryu is able to say anything else.
She leans her back on the wall of a building and sighs, trying her hardest to organize the thoughts on her mind. I still can't believe I'm working for… him. He has done so many bad things to so many people, including my own mother… A tear falls. But I think it's a good thing I've come to this mission. Whatever are his plans, I can stop him. She wipes the tear away with the back of her hand. I will stop him. She has found determination out of nowhere. She starts walking, going back to the hotel. I know I can. So does The Agency. He is not going to do any more harm.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 14:03 UTC (11:03 in local time)
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
The sunlight glows on his chocolate skin as he walks through the streets of the favela. He has just left his orphanage, which he paid a visit. It is now being taken care of by his aunt. He goes down the slum as the burning sun keeps the temperature up. His brown dreadlocks shake at each of his steps. His green button shirt and his khakis pants are impeccable, even though he is sweating slightly.
As he goes down the slum, he thinks about his past. This favela always makes him nostalgic. Although he grew up in a wealthy family, his mother's relatives lived in here, so he has spent a lot of time here. And this is where his got his nickname, 'Gordo'. That is because he was a chubby boy back in the day, and the fellow kids started calling him that. It wasn't bullying, actually – everybody had a nickname of the same fashion. And as he grew up as an athletic man, the nickname stuck, and he embraced it.
When his found his father shot and dying, he was devastated. But he did according to his father's last words – he said he was the murderer, and went to prison. He spent 8 years living a hellish life in there. What kept him going was his desire for revenge, and later, a friend he made in there. That friend was a legendary capoeira master, who taught Eddy everything he knows about fighting.
When he left prison, he entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to seek his revenge, with hopes to persuade the Mishima Financial Group to help him. Since Eduardo Siqueira was too much of a complicated name to be pronounced in other languages, he entered as Eddy Gordo. The only thing he was able to make there was a friend, Hwoarang. Besides, he lost the tournament, so he went back to his home country. Back in Brasil, he recovered his family's financial business and sought out his master's granddaughter, Cristina Monteiro, so he could fulfill what he promised to his master, which was to teach her capoeira. Also, he invaded a drug dealer's mansion, who his father was trying to imprison. The man told him that the actual responsible behind it was Kazuya Mishima.
After that, Eddy pretty much disappeared, seeking revenge. That was the reason Cristina entered in the fourth Tekken tournament, where she was nicknamed Christie. They would only encounter when her grandfather was about to be freed from prison, and both found an old and frail ill man. They took him to the hospital, where they learned he had an incurable illness. With hopes to find a cure, both Eddy and Christie entered the fifth Tekken tournament.
At the conclusion of the tournament, he spoke alone with Jin Kazama, who promised to find a cure to the legendary capoeira master if Eddy joined the Tekken Force. He did so, and even upon seeing the world war that was being caused, he stayed loyal to the Zaibatsu, even though he had the chance to betray it in a coup d'état organized by a fellow officer, Lars Alexandersson.
At the conclusion of the sixth tournament, his master died. He left the Tekken Force afterwards.
Entering his limousine, the driver takes him to his mansion. After about five minutes, his cellphone breaks the silence inside the car. Eddy takes it to see that a blocked number is calling him. Frowning, he answers nonetheless, since that's the only way to find out who it is.
"Eddy?" A male voice says. Eddy recognizes it instantly.
"You!" He says angrily, fuming.
"Please, let me talk." The man says in a calm and concerned tone. Eddy senses the deep guilt on the man's voice, so he calms himself only enough to listen. The man continues. "I tried to find a cure to your master, but there was none."
Eddy explodes at hearing this. "Mentiroso! You did nothing! You let him die! You're gonna pay for it, Kazama!"
"Eddy." Jin says. Does it sound like he's going to… cry? "I swear I did everything I could."
Eddy is silent. He hates to admit it, but Jin is telling the truth. He can feel it. A single tear falls from Eddy's right eye as he remembers his capoeira master. As if Jin had sensed it, he speaks. "I'm sorry."
Eddy doesn't wipe the tear away. It simply falls. There is a moment of silence, until it is broken by the person on the other side of the line. "Eddy." It is a male voice, but it's not Jin. It sounds familiar, but Eddy is not able to recognize it.
"Who is this?" Eddy asks.
"It's Lars."
Eddy's eyes widen slightly. "I thought you were against Jin." He says, more as a question.
"I was. But I learned he has noble intentions."
"What?" Eddy is dumbfounded.
"It's true." Lars says. "And we need your help."
Eddy frowns heavily, then scoffs. "My help?"
"Yes." Lars says. "Please."
"So you can make more war?" He asks angrily.
"No." Lars answers, the same calmness. "So we can stop it."
There is a pause. Then, Lars speaks up again. "I want to tell you more details about it, but you're not on a secure line right now."
As silence falls again, Eddy reflects. Reflects deeply. He can't believe he actually made this decision, but he has. "Alright." It is all that he says.
Lars gives him a few instructions, which Eddy hears silently. Lars finishes it by saying "Thank you." He then hangs up, and Eddy puts his cellphone back where it was.
If the leader of a coup d'état against Jin Kazama has turned to his side, that must mean something.
The car arrives at Eddy's mansion. He sees his friend, Christie, practicing capoeira on the garden. He smiles briefly at the sight.
Let's see if they really have noble intentions.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 17:57 UTC (18:57 in local time)
Barcelona, Spain
Josie is leaving a bar, happy. She has managed to get a job as a waitress, at night. She is going to start tomorrow. The blue of her jeans, the red of her flat shoes and the yellow of her strapless shirt look quite funny under the pale moonlight. Her caramel skin and chocolate hair are sweetened by the shine of the stars. She is walking back to the place she is currently living with her grandmother.
In the context of the Third World War, her native country, the Philippines, entered on a deep civil war. Resuming it all, it is pretty much the Muslims against the rest of the people. She wanted to join the army and fight. However, she is the only one left to take care of her sick grandmother, since all the other members of her family are men, therefore they all had to serve obligatorily. Taking advantage of her grandmother's dual citizenship, they fled to Spain. Josie took some of the family funds to buy a kitchenette in Barcelona.
Josie's full name is Josefina Rizal, named after her grandmother. However, since an early age, it has been shortened to Josie, thanks to her English-speaking friends. The nickname stuck, and if anybody shouts out 'Josefina!' in the streets, Josie's simply gonna walk past the person.
Josie trips over something. She turns back to see it wasn't something, but someone. There is a huge man sitting on the ground, his face on his knees. His left hand is embracing his legs, but his right hand is holding a bottle of beer. There are half a dozen empty bottles around him, though.
Josie crouches, but keeping a safe distance from the man. "Are you alright?" She asks in Spanish.
The man looks up. She gasps. "You?!" She says.
He simply puts his face back on his knees. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" She says angrily. "Get up!"
"Leave me alone." He mumbles.
What was his name again?, she thinks as she tosses the bottle out of his hand. "There's no way I'm leaving you here."
"Why not?!" He asks, enraged.
"Look at yourself." She says frustrated. "There is no way for a man to be. Mainly not a man like you. Where is the guy who kicked my ass yesterday?" She says, trying to lift both his spirit and his body up.
He looks at her quite amazed, and gets up with her help. "What was your name again?" He asks in a drunk manner.
"Josie." She answers. "And I can't recall yours, I'm sorry."
"Miguel." Oh, yes, Miguel, she thinks as she helps him walk.
"Where do you live?" She asks.
Realizing that he is being helped, he wakes up from his drunken reverie. "Oh, no, no, there's no need to help me." He says. "I'm good."
"Are you sure?" Josie says in a concerned tone.
Miguel takes his arm off of her, and analyzes her for a second. She does the same to him. He is wearing an orange shirt, black jeans and black shoes.
Miguel scoffs. "Are you really willing to help me?"
"Why wouldn't I?" She answers, clearly offended.
"If this was the other way around, I would've laughed at you." He says. And the worse: it's sincere.
This time, she scoffs. "Fine then. I did what I could here." She turns and walks away. "Have a good night."
Miguel watches her go away for some long seconds. A mix of confusion, amazement and plain drunk confusedness is going on his head right now.
Whatever.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 21:00 UTC (11:00 in local time)
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Of America
Nina is currently sitting on a restaurant table, alone. The private Zaibatsu jet that was taking her, Lars, Alisa and Jin back to Japan had to make a stop to refuel. That gives an hour to kill. Since she had slept the whole flight, her excuse of grabbing a bite worked, so she took a taxi and asked for the driver to go to the nearest restaurant. Now here she is, on some tropical place called Chanko Paradise, eating some random dish with fish, although she is not hungry. She only needs some time alone.
She can't stop thinking about Steve Fox. Luckily, during the conference video call of Wednesday, the laptop camera was showing only Robyn, Raven and Lars, but Nina saw him. Seeing him awakened many dormant feelings. The same things she felt when she first learned he's her son, back in the fourth Tekken tournament. A mix of shock, sadness, rage and deception.
Shock because she still can't believe she has a son. It feels as such a distant thing. Of course it does. She allows herself to sigh. She didn't see the progression of the pregnancy, neither raise the boy.
Sadness because she can't even imagine how it is like to grow in an orphanage without any parents. Although she had the love of her father, her relationship with her mother was distant, even though they lived in the same household. She remembers how sad she would feel at times. But at least she had someone. Steve has been always on his own.
Rage because Heihachi was capable of doing such a thing. Nina may be an assassin, but even she has some morals. She shouldn't have expected less from him, though. He threw his own son from a cliff and later from a volcano, adopted a boy he didn't love and raised him as if he was a piece of garbage, kidnapped his grandson, and the list of barbarities goes on.
Deception because she keeps thinking about what could've been. Since she has never lived with him, she feels nothing for him. Yet, she feels guilty, because she is his mother nonetheless, and it was her responsibility to raise him. But she wasn't able to.
Nina finishes her meal and then her glass of water. Her blonde ponytail falls on her shoulder as she calls a waiter with her left hand. She is wearing a golden catsuit and black stilettos.
A very fat man approaches her. He is on his mid-50s and has a black single-braided hair. He is wearing a green T-shirt and blue jeans with black formal shoes. It is impossible for her not to recognize him. Since she's not only an assassin but also Jin's bodyguard, she knows about every Tekken fighter. That includes Ganryu, who's the one approaching her.
She is a bit surprised to see he's handling her the bill. She doesn't show it though, as she is wearing her usual icy cold expression of always. Then it clicks her. She remembers reading something about him owning a restaurant in his file. He seems to be sad. Nina, however, simply ignores it, since it is none of her business. She pays and leaves.
Nina allows herself to give a faint smile at her last thought about Steve. At least he has grown up to be a good boy.
She waves for a cab, gets in and it goes away, heading back for the airport.
[Day 4]
Thursday, 23:40 UTC (15:40 in local time)
San Francisco, Los Angeles, United States Of America
The Laws plus Paul are sitting on a beige couch, in a room of wooden floor. The moonlight being outshined by the room's white lamp. The night is still young for them as they watch a comedy show on television.
"Oh man, I love this show!" Forest says. He's wearing a navy blue T-shirt and grey pants, messy hair and barefoot.
"So shut up and watch!" Paul says, half-angry half-joking. He's wearing his usual black leather bad boy jacket, pants and boots.
Meadow simply sighs. "I'm going to the bathroom." She stands and leaves.
Marshall sighs in a similar fashion and turns to watch his wife walking. She still has the same beauty after all these years. She is wearing a simple white strap dress that goes until her knees and white flip-flops. He smiles faintly before turning his head back to the TV. Marshall is also wearing white on his shirt, but has navy blue on his pants.
The commercial starts and Paul and Forest start fighting over the remote control. Marshall sighs again. "Can you stop?" He says as he gets the remote control to himself.
"Dad!" Forest says, frustrated.
"Just cut it off!" Marshall says angrily, putting the remote away from their hands.
"But, hey, tell me about the club." Paul says to Forest, ignoring Marshall's action. "That girl you talked about."
"Damn dude, it was crazy! One second she was knocking a guy down, in the other second she was making out with Steve!"
Paul chuckles loudly. "My man!"
Marshal sighs for the millionth time. The telephone rings. Since Forest and Paul are too concentrated on talking about ladies, Marshall gets up to answer it.
"Hello?"
Paul cuts off the topic with Forest to pay attention on Marshall. "Who is it there?!" He screams, as always. Forest turns to his father as well.
Marshall is wearing a half-shocked half-serious expression. "Paul. It's your mother."
"My mother?" He scoffs.
"Yes. She passed."
Silence falls. Not until Paul breaks it, as usual. "What?!"
Marshall extends his hand with the telephone. Paul quickly stands and picks it up. Marshall goes back to his seat, where his wife is back and has already turned off the TV. She silently tells Forest to take the popcorn back to the kitchen and clean up the rest of the mess of the living room.
Paul puts the phone back on its place after a couple of minutes. He is visibly lost. "Thanks pal." Paul says to Marshall, and leaves with no more words. Nobody tries to stop him, though. Perhaps the probable best thing to do is leave him alone for now. The Laws silently prepare themselves to go to bed, the happy feeling of the night being completely shattered by the sad news.
End of Chapter Four
Author's notes: Chapter 4! An update earlier than ever before! Yaasss!
Introducing: Asuka Kazama, Ganryu, Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro!
(And some clues about next chapter's introduced-to-be character…)
Also, I named Marshall's wife Meadow based on their son's name, Forest. I didn't think much about it – it just crossed my mind and I typed it instantly.
This chapter is shorter (7200 words), because my inspiration was shattered by Nina Williams' reveal for Tekken 7: Fated Retribution. Not that I don't like her, but her new outfit is a wedding dress, and I'm not sure if I like it storywise speaking. I feel like they're gonna pair her up with Jin, and sincerely, I'm not sure she should end up with Jin. I can't barely picture her as someone who has a heart, lol. And that's what made writing a part about her in this chapter so interesting – because it is one of the few moments in which she allows herself to feel something. She's quiet, icy and manipulative (the only exception being when she's with her sister, and on such moments she simply mocks Anna). And even though Namco is (IN MY OPINION) putting Jin as a guy who turned out to be evil, I still see him as someone who's good and serene inside. To me, he's still a timid boy from Yakushima.
*ANSWERING* Reibun - Thank you VERY much for your kind words! Thanks for the pairing suggestions, though. Asuka/Hwoarang is something I already had on her mind (as you're able to see in this chapter... hehe), and also a few other pairings you've mentioned (but I'm not going to mention which ones, mwahaha).
I'm glad you've enjoyed the OCs so far. I'm trying my hardest to put them correctly within the story. I mean, some people need to be added up in important parts, but they can't steal the spotlight, you know what I mean? And that's what I'm trying to do with them. I'm happy you're enjoying them.
And no, it's not wrong to ship Josie with Miguel. I might give this couple a chance. And it's funny because I didn't write their scene on the last chapter with those intentions, I just wanted them to meet, lol. I just came to realize the possibility afterwards.
And you're right to hope Steve/Leo aren't a romantic pair, because they're definetely not. Their moment was more of brotherhood, so I'm happy to see it makes you remember of you and your brother, it makes me feel like I've done my thing right.
Well, what makes me actually happy is that you like my writing style, because I personally think I suck, lol. I'll make sure to keep up, at least for you. :)
Thank you very very very very much!
Anyway, thanks everyone, and see you next time. :)