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Fatal Instinct

Chapter 5

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Ammunition sprayed from the barrel of her submachine gun as she gripped it tight in her hands. Once he neared close enough to land a blow, she rolled sideways to keep distance. She had ejected more than twenty bullets into his lower body and he stood without flinching the slightest.

His psychotic grin did more to aggravate than it did to intimidate as she shot him again with the same result. He took a couple steps back, approaching a few stacked barrels that he regarded right away. The look he exchanged with her was enough to enlighten her of his current intention.

He kicked the adjacent barrels over, the spilled chemicals eating right through the floor. Anna tensed as she executed a back flip and evaded the toxic before it touched her heels. She stared at the hole made in the floor, gaze shifting up to notice he no longer stood in front of her. He moved so fast she had trouble keeping up with him. Soon she realized his hulky form loomed over her like a hawk from behind.

It was too late to move as she felt the spinning bionic kick smash into her spine, thrusting her forward with inhuman force. After she collided with the wall, her hand lost grip of the submachine gun as it skittered across the floor, several feet away from reach. She staggered to her feet, Bryan Fury's blurring fist already homing on their mark.

Her head ducked and missed the incoming hook by a fraction as it left a severe dent in the wall. Anna reached down for her pistol, but Bryan was quick in stopping her. His clamping grip squeezed her wrist hard enough to force her to drop the sidearm. She used her free hand to whip out the double-edged knife as the next option, cutting only through the air as he stepped back to avoid it.

"Quite a weapon you got there." He grinned and disclosed a superior knife from his pocket, tossing it in the air as if it were a simple toy. "But mine's better. Doesn't matter what you do. You and this entire building are going down either way."

"What are you talking about?" She kept her guard up and watched him circle her.

"I've planted quite a number of heavy-duty explosives at the bottom of this building. Soon enough, this place will go crumbling down into the sea. " He held up two fingers. "Two hours. That's how much time is left before it all blows. I'll be long gone before that happens."

It could have been just a ploy meant to scare her, yet his eyes and demeanor said otherwise. Now she had another problem to face that added even more difficulty to the situation.

Wasting little time, he lunged forward to take a swipe at her. She avoided every slash… until she tripped and lost balance. The knife's blade cut a slit through the midriff of her dress, almost making contact with her own flesh. She sat there, astonished, but not for long as the knife's blade came near again. Rolling out of the way, she heard the loud clang of metal hitting floor mixed with Bryan's maniacal laughter.

"Hold still, my darling. The doctor needs to operate." He lunged forward again, murderous intent in his eyes.

"You want me dead? Come and get me!" Anna challenged him and he did just as she wanted, rushing at her like an angry bull. She primed the flash grenade, unused from the last mission, behind her back and tossed it in his path. An expansive glow of white light ignited with Anna shielding her eyes as she dive-rolled to recover her guns off the floor. She looked up to see Bryan blinded by the temporary distraction as the light started to diminish.

He stumbled near a few barrels, not realizing he was right where she wanted him. Anna fired another barrage of bullets, the containers exploding with massive force. She dodged the hunks of debris flying at her before silence filled the room. The emergency sprinkler system activated, fizzling out the fire before it spread. Anna let out a sigh and relaxed herself against the wall for a breather.

A minute of this and she brushed off the wet marks of her dress to continue her way. Then she heard the mechanical squeal from behind, insinuating her job here was not yet finished. She turned to face the reality of the situation, reloading a fresh clip into her gun.

When he had emerged from the thick fog of smoke, half of the flesh upon his face no longer existed there, burned off by the explosion. The skeletal, robotic visage of the cyborg seethed, the red gleam in its eye focusing upon Anna's still form, glaring her down.

"I'm sorry I ruined your face, sweetie. But I don't like it when a man gets too rough with me." She stifled a giggle as he leapt into the air and pounced on her.

The bulk of his weight kept her down as he restrained her flailing arms. Then, out of desperation, she kicked him hard in the crotch area. He shook his head with a wide grin, as it seemed to have no effect on him.

"No way…" Anna murmured to herself in disbelief.

"Ha, typical women. Don't you think of anything else?" He flashed the knife out again, the blade aiming and easing toward her chest. "You know, I almost feel bad that I have to kill such a beautiful creature."

Her mind scrambled for a solution. The idea he gave her was never any clearer. Anna feigned a smile, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Who says you have to?"

"Hmm?" He cocked his eyebrow, the question seeming effective enough to stop him.

She brought her voice down to a seductive whisper, raising her head to his ear. "Even for a cyborg, you're pretty cute. You need a woman in your life Mr. Fury… and that woman…is me. You're so crazy, so wound up, so strong and built. A man like that turns… me on."

" Hmmm." He paused, pondering a bit as his gaze left her a moment. "Sorry. You're not my type."

Anna's smile turned into a scowl. "Fortunately, you're not my type either!" She kicked up with both legs, slamming her heels hard into his unguarded abdomen.

A gasp of air burst from his lungs as he relinquished the hold he had on her, the knife falling from his hands. She rolled backward into a stance, unwilling to shoot him this time, as she knew it would do her nothing. Just then, she noticed the debris falling from the ceiling, a sign that it could collapse at any moment. She weakened it, aiming her shots upward instead.

Bryan's eyes reverted to their normal color, and he stopped in place as he noticed the substance's effect wearing off. Instead, he charged her anyway, his speed no longer what it was minutes before.

"Hey, Fury!" Anna called out to him. "Remember when you said I was a bitch?"

He panted, going for his syringe to inject another dosage into his neck, unknowing of the danger from above. "Yeah?"

"You were right!" At the pitch of her voice, the ceiling fell, bombarding him with vast support beams and other broken debris. The force was enough to perforate the ground and send him plunging below into a dusty burial. There was no movement, no sound as she looked down.

"That was one nasty fall. But I told you…I don't like it when men play rough." She walked away, blowing a kiss to him in farewell. "Thanks for the work out, sweetie. I needed it."

In seconds, guards stormed the room for investigation as she made her departure a fast one.

The hallways were narrow and short, guarded by a significant number of patrol units. It would be impossible to go in undetected, and Anna needed some way to get through without attracting a hoard of trouble. Her ammo was scarce, her body still hurting from the fight with Bryan. She squatted down to notice an air vent big enough for her to crawl through.

The sight of cobwebs and dust disgusted her, but it was the only way. She managed to pick up a conversation, though it did not possess anything that held her interest. However, the next one did, as she verified the thick voice of Kazuya exchanging words with one of his employees. She froze and peered through the vent to obtain any bit of useful information.

"I feel different… without you. Somehow, you believed in me and I never understood why. No matter what, you always managed to somehow brighten my day. And I'm still looking to return the favor…somehow. I wanted to tell you how I felt about you, but I may never get that chance. Just know that care for you in a way I may never have cared for someone before."

These words were so unusual for someone like Kazuya to say, packed with so much emotion and sincerity. Never did he reveal this side of himself to anyone, but then again he was alone…or so he thought.

In his hand, he held a black and white photograph, studying it. Anna could not make out the image of the person from such a cramped spot, doing her best to suppress the sneezes from all the dust. After hearing such deep heartfelt words, Anna did not know how to feel about Kazuya right now. She took the job because she had no qualms with killing heartless individuals, but she started to rethink that with him. A soft knock at his door did not give her much time to contemplate the matter. Kazuya discarded the photo and asked for whoever it was behind the door to come in.

"No sign of any bodies on the island, Mr. Mishima. We've swept the outside clean." A stern looking man with a military style buzz cut said in front of his desk as he walked in.

Kazuya rested his chin upon folded hands, snorting at the report as if unpleased. "Are you certain about that? From what was reported, that aircraft was flying rather low. It had to have dropped somebody off. We can't afford to have spies snooping around."

The man nodded, standing stiff. "I suspected that too. We have a team already looking into it. They're still searching just to be sure." He went silent, as something seemed to be on his mind. "I'll tell you something that is odd, though."

"What's that?" Kazuya drummed his fingers against his desk.

"Apparently, a few of our patrol units have gone missing. Nobody knows where they are and they haven't been responding to their walkie-talkies for the past hour or so."

There was an inhuman snarl from Kazuya as he sat up. "They better not be on some damn coffee break."

"I highly doubt it, sir." The man replied with shaky hands, insisting his assumption was wrong. "These men take their jobs seriously."

Moments later, another man walked into the room dressed in tactical gear. "Mr. Mishima, please forgive me for the rude entrance, but I think there's something you need to know. Two things in fact."

"This had better be good." The Zaibatsu owner clenched his fist at the sudden interruption.

"Half the chemical lab is in ruins." The guard stood back in caution, as if expecting Kazuya to lash at him from behind his desk. "And--and all the cameras were destroyed within, so there's no evidence of what exactly went on in there at the time."

"What?" There was no mistaking they were both terrified of Kazuya's anger. From here, Anna imagined the veins getting ready to pop out of his head as they did in the past. Somehow, he did not blow up like expected.

"Ye--yes." He continued. "And Doctor Boskonovitch—he--he was trying to deactivate the security system for some reason. He's in our custody right now... and we're awaiting your orders on what to do with him."

"Boskonovitch is a dead man if he has anything to do with this." Kazuya stood up from his chair. "He's going to learn a hard lesson in why people never double-cross me and get away with it. Take me to him."

He pushed past them out the door, walking with purpose. Anna crawled out, muffling coughs, breathing in the dust-ridden air after spending ten tortuous minutes inside that vent. She rose to her feet and acknowledged the black and white photo Kazuya left lying on his desk. It was of an Asian woman, her smile sweet and genuine. Her name was marked across the bottom in cursive handwriting.

'Jun…'

The name did not seem familiar to Anna, nor could she figure out what affect this woman had on Kazuya's life. Perhaps she had tried to steer him toward a less corrupted path. Of course, all this was just speculation. There was no time to think about that now, though. Boskonovitch was in real danger and she needed to get to him fast.

She activated her communicator as she chased after Kazuya. "This is Agent Williams. I'm gonna need a new ride out of here. Tell them to get here as quickly as possible. And be sure to keep a good distance away from the building until I give the signal."

Kazuya and his men were fast, but not enough to hinder Anna from keeping up with them. Up the stairs and through the dim halls led her to a large room where they had Doctor Boskonovitch held prisoner. She pressed her ear to the door, listening in on Kazuya's interrogation.

"Just what did you think you were doing, Boskonovitch? You know the penalty for treason." Kazuya's voice was as grim as ever, having no trace of forgiveness.

"I'm an old man, sir. I don't know what I was doing." The Russian used any excuse necessary to get himself out of this mess, but Anna knew Kazuya would not fall for such a trick. It was her own doing that got him into this, and now she would have to be the one to get him out.

"He's protecting somebody, sir," said one of the guards. "He has an accomplice that's in on this thing."

"Oh really?" Kazuya replied, intrigued. "And just who would this person be…Boskonovitch?"

If there was ever a time to make a move, Anna needed to make it now. She readied her weapons until a loud voice from afar startled her.

"Intruder! Sound the alarm! No--"

She shot him dead, but it was too late. The doors flung open, two guards leaping out with guns ready, focused upon her. She whipped out her weapons before they could fire and did away with them. More guards emptied out, forcing her to take cover behind the wall as she returned fire. Another balding head came into the view of her crosshairs…Boskonovitch's.

Kazuya stood behind him, gun drawn to his skull. His tone was demanding. "Whoever you are, come out, throw down your weapon, and walk toward me."

Anna pressed her back against the wall, gritting her teeth as she pondered what to do.

"You have ten seconds." He added, weighing more tension down on her mind.

She had no choice, closing her eyes as if through in defeat. Her hands went up in surrender as she stepped to where Kazuya could see her.

"Anna… so it is you. I should have known. Like a typical Williams, you end up coming back for more. You've caused enough problems here. Kill her."

"Wait." She commanded. "If any of you shoot me, I'll blow us all to hell…with this." Her hand held the hidden grenade up for everyone to see. "There's enough power in this thing to level this entire hallway. Let the old man go and I might change my mind."

Kazuya did not seem intimidated by her threat as he cocked his gun. "Humph. You're bluffing."

"Am I?" A push of the button to prime it and his men backed off as she pretended to throw it across to them. "Well? What's it gonna be, gentlemen?"

They began whispering to each other, huddled together. Kazuya nodded to let Boskonovitch go free. When the old Russian was half way to her, she lobbed the grenade. A white cloud of smoke poured out from the device as it smashed against the floor, blinding their path. She reached for his arm and pulled him toward her, drawing the pistol she had tied in the bow behind the back of her dress. The plan worked just as she had hoped.

They ran for cover and dodged the oncoming gunfire.

"Oh my goodness!" The scientist cried.

"Hey. You know where my sister is, right?"

He appeared too terrified by all the chaos to answer, but another firm shout got his attention. "Er…why yes. There's an elevator that can take me to her much faster. All I need… is time."

"I'll give you the cover you need. Now go. Go get my sister!" Anna yelled though the gunfire whizzing past them.

The opposition seemed to strengthen as he left her side. However, there was a different matter that Anna minded as she heard it rumble from overhead. Something drilled right through the ceiling, enabling several soldiers to drop down in the process. Anna's eyes widened in shock, seeing Heihachi Mishima standing among them.

"What on earth are you doing here, old man? I thought you were finished!" Kazuya shouted from around the corner.

"Kazuya! I'm shutting your program down and taking back what is rightfully mine." His father retorted. "The Zaibatsu belongs to me!"

Anna crouched low, staying hidden. A father-son war was about to start, and the explosives set by Bryan Fury were ticking closer to detonation. Whatever the case, she was going to have to shorten things soon before they got worse.