CHAPTER 1: AN ASSASSIN IS APPOINTED
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It was an unusually dark night, a perfect night for a kill. A woman dressed in a leopard fur coat and velvet mini dress walked the halls of a large building, clicking heels reverberating through the pillars making her presence known. She paused while scanning the vicinity, her senses were at their highest, noting the unbelievably chilly environment the estate has, and the abundance of oak trees made for perfect hiding places for infiltration missions. She was uncomfortable with the surroundings.
'But then again, this is Kazuya Mishima's estate. And he is enough to make the Carribean the next Antarctica.' She chuckled inwardly at the thought.
Guards saluted in her way and made way for her upon reaching two large oak doors, opening them and coming face to face with her former boss – Kazuya Mishima.
She raised a brow, looking at the man from head to toe.
'Seriously, does this man age at all?'
"Williams", he said coldly, startling her from her reverie. "I never expected I would be working with you again. I expect impeccable work from you having worked with me the last time. No screw ups. We cannot make mistakes."
'Ha! Still the stuck up son of a-'
"I am serious Williams." He said, as if interrupting her thoughts. His eyes sizing her up, as if trying to intimidate her.
'What, he can read minds now? Well guess what Kazzy, those eyes no longer scare me. I have grown immune to them.'
"Your business with your sister is the last of your priorities."
'Wow, he knows. How dandy.' She muttered to herself while looking at the man in the purple suit nonchalantly.
"I hired you for your skill and I expect that you will put the G-Corporation-"
"-at the top of my list of things to do. I know Mr. Mishima and I will do everything at the utmost of my abilities, that you can be sure" she said in the most sickeningly sweet way possible, interrupting his speech. Kazuya glared at the woman in the skimpy outfit. If it weren't for her eccentric instinct and her ruthless ability to kill stealthily, he would not have hired her. If he based his criteria on appearance alone, this woman would have been better suited on his bed more than anything else. But he knows she is a temptress with the ability to kill anyone with virtually nothing and bring down an entire island full of trained military men with her bare hands.
"Very well. From this point on, you will be directly under me. You will serve as my right hand man-"
"Woman." She interrupted, again. Kazuya glared at her even more coldly. She smiled back.
"You will follow my commands without question, and you will be working in separate missions with Bruce Irvin. I assume you already know who he is." He said with the same amount of coldness before. Anna nodded in acknowledgment.
"Yes, the Mohawk boy, I know him." She smiled, thinking of her times with both Bruce and Ganryu.
"You will report to me first thing in the morning tomorrow. I will place you in a reconnaissance mission, the location will be revealed in the briefing. Briefing for the mission will be from me. This is of invaluable importance. I expect no failure from you." He said, turning his back on her and looking at the Tokyo skyline.
"If there is nothing else you need, you can show yourself out." He said, indicating in a not-so-subtle way, that she should leave. Anna scowled inwardly as she bowed and turned to leave.
'Seriously, how big is that stick up his ass anyway? Would it hurt to say 'Good day Miss Williams'? Ha! Damn Mishimas, think they're all that.' She mumbled, putting her shades on, heels clicking as she neared her red Porsche. She couldn't pinpoint what made this place uncomfortable for her, as if someone's watching her every move. Experience taught her never to doubt her instincts – and at this exact moment, her instincts were screaming at her to be extra mindful of her environment. Her eyes scanned the halls as she walked, her pace subtly became slower, her body more aware – and as she neared the entrance, she told herself...
'Someone is definitely watching me. But where?'
She continued to think about the possibilities of her discovery until she paused when she felt a familiar presence 2 o'clock.
"Hello Bruce. Fancy meeting you here." She said as she threw her bag onto the passenger seat, then turned, facing the man she had not seen for the past 21 years.
"Yo kid. How's it going? You look like you haven't aged at all. Wait, you really haven't aged have you?" Bruce asked, leaning against the concrete tiled wall. He was still the same, but there are a few morphological changes like how his face showed his age. His body though, could still pass for a man in his prime. But then again, all male competitors in the Iron Fist Tournament were hardened muscle and cold steel.
"Ah, the benefits of cryogenic research. It's wonderful, isn't it?" She said, toying with her hair. "Who knows what I'd look like if I didn't have myself frozen for almost two decades." She smiled as she crossed her arms and leaned on her car, facing him indirectly. "So how has life been treating you?"
"So and so, kid. So and so. I have my own dojo now. Been teaching kids Muay Thai when I have time." He said proudly. She smiled at him. Who knew this was once the over complacent Bruce Irvin? He knew nothing back then but exchanging fist for fist.
"Wow. A refined Bruce Irvin! Say it isn't so!" She said in mock disbelief, her hand on her lips. She laughed heartily after, earning a scowl from the man.
"Well, at least I'm doing my fair share of atonement. I feel I've got so many mistakes to make up for. So I figured, building a dojo is the least I could do. Best I could teach some kid to have a backbone or something, so he won't be pushed around by anybody." He said, shrugging while looking at the vast G-Corporation Estate.
Anna smiled at the man in front of her.
'Time sure changes everyone. The only people who seem immune to it are Kazzy and Nina... Oohh, I know! They make a perfect pair!' She inwardly grimaced at the thought and readily felt pity for their children.
Smiling, she told him, "Well, that's good to hear Bruce. Keep that up. As for me, I have to go. I have some place else I need to be as of the moment. You know how to contact me, if you need anything."
"Tch, as if. You be careful." Bruce said, scowling at the thought of asking for help.
'Ok... maybe he didn't change much. But oh well.' She thought smiling inwardly as she revved up the engine and sped her way out of the estate, all the while thinking of the presence she knows lurking within the halls of the G Corporation.
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Meanwhile, hidden among the oak trees in the estate is a man, dressed in G Corporation Military Uniform, binoculars in hand and had been following the woman and the dark-skinned man's conversation. His eyes followed the woman as she entered the red Porsche and sped her way out of the estate. He pulled his phone out and spoke, "He has hired two people from the past tournament. One is named Bruce Irvin and the other is a woman I do not know the identity of."
The one on the other line spoke, "Good work Alexanderson. Return to base immediately.", and the phone line dropped.
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Anna pulled up in front of an old building about 30 miles from the G Corporation Estate. Taking her favourite Fendi and a nano-magnum, she entered the building, this time, in the most stealthy way she can. Taking a deep breath, she jumped up two staircases at a time, landing perfectly on her toes, and continued to proceed through the narrow hallways.
'Ha.. Of all the things I hate about my job, sneaking is the valedictorian.' She inwardly muttered, annoyed at the fact that she's sneaking in an old building, dressed in the most inappropriate outfit and dust fanning her face everywhere, threatening to choke her.
'Seriously, do people who live here ever know what a vacuum cleaner is? Or perhaps maybe a broom if they want to be conventional? It would make sneaking a whole lot easier if the place is at least HALF clean.' She scowled as she squinted her eyes to get a better view of her surroundings. She drew out a sigh as she found her target.
'Room 5026. Here it is. I hope the doc's not very busy. I'd like to have a word with him about my grapple gun's tensile strength.' She said as she took out a lock pick and opened the door noiselessly.
It's a relatively normal room, on first glance but Anna knows the good doctor hides his secrets from intruders very well, and having to have worked with him even behind Kazuya Mishima's back, she can confidently say she knows the doctor pretty well. Strolling carefully in the room, she noted for any possible crevice the doctor could hide his 'magic switch' in.
'It's amusing that no matter how long I've worked with Boskonovitch, figuring out where he hides the damn switch has always been a delightfully difficult puzzle to solve.' She thought, smiling at the memory of her rather radical efforts on finding the switch that leads to the doctor's lab. Every time Anna visits Boskonovitch in one of his labs, it's always been a trial of wit and tons of luck figuring out where he had hidden his 'switch'. Crossing over to the kitchen, she noted for any possible obscurity, anything that seemed out of place, but not really out of place. It is difficult to explain. Dealing with a scientific genius is pretty hard; most especially if what you need to do is think how he thinks.
'I know I'm smart... but I'm not THAT smart.' She scowled at the thought of being in a white lab gown and huge reading glasses. Noticing the left-over food at the dining table, and the stench it emanated, she cautiously walked over towards the table and examined the food. Lifting a piece of worn out bread on the table, she took notice of the black fungi growing at the sides. 'Ick. This doctor has to be given Hygiene 101 asap!' Lifting the bread between her pointer finger and her thumb, shewent to the trash bin to throw the disgusting food away, and as she stepped on the lever that opens the bin, a trapdoor below her opened instead, sucking her in and muffling her scream as the trapdoor slammed shut.
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In the silence of the night, a young man typed busily in the Mishima Zaibatsu mainframe, gathering as much information on the two people he had seen in the G Corporation Estate. He has known much about the man called Bruce Irvin – his identity not being a secret to known establishments who had hired him as a bodyguard. The other one, the woman with the red Porsche was a different story. The mainframe has nothing on her but a code name: Lightning Scarlet – and this intrigued him.
'Why would Kazuya Mishima hire someone who is virtually unknown? She has no agency. Is she a freelance assassin? It's impossible for Mishima to hire her without having anything on her. He wouldn't. Kazuya Mishima is known for a lot of things and stupidity is not one of those.'
He typed 'Lightning Scarlet' on the mainframe and two entries came out. One is her past connection with Kazuya Mishima as a bodyguard. The other was a research on cryogenics by the Russian doctor, Boskonovitch.
'Cryogenics? Why would she subject herself to cryogenic research?'
He began reading the entry. "The Williams sisters were subjected to cryogenic research as Guinea pigs for Dr. Boskonovitch's ailing daughter. This research aims to instil immortality by disinhibition of the shortening of human telomeres in gene transcription, preventing aging. The sisters slept for 19 years until awakened by Ogre, the God of Fighting." He paused, thinking 21 years ago, he was about 6, fighting for survival and helping his mother – and these women, the elder 20 and the younger 18, were about to be subjected to the research.
'If this program prevents aging, then that woman I had seen must be at least 39.' He thought in mild disbelief. He continued reading the rest of the entry.
"The older of the two sisters awoke with no memories of the past, with only the intent to kill Jin Kazama. The younger had proven to have all her memories intact and had since then worked to help the older sister regain her memories." As he scrolled down, a picture of both sisters were shown, and to his disbelief, Jin's appointed bodyguard was the older sister, Nina Williams, who had once been directed by the God of Fighting to kill Kazama himself, and the younger sister, Anna Williams, was the woman in the red Porsche.
'So, Anna Williams huh? Now I have a name.' He smirked as his brain planned multiple scenarios on how he could take both characters down, rising from his seat and exiting the room.
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Anna steadied herself as she adjusted her body on the narrow tube she found herself falling through. 'Talk about unconventional. Maybe next time, there will be a magical carousel that takes me away to techy utopia.' Anna thought as she rolled her eyes at the doctor's antics. Noticing the light at the end of the tunnel, she prepared herself to land, only to be mildly surprised by the sudden rush of air, slowing her fall and placing her comfortably on a cushioned seat, directly facing the aged doctor.
"Good evening Miss Anna. Fancy seeing you here." He said, smiling all the while as he gestured for her to follow him. "I assume you found my puzzle worth solving eh?"
"You know, Doc, the fungus-infested bread is a good disguise. No one would ever suspect that it's something more." She said as her nose squinted at the memory of the horrid looking piece of bread.
Boskonovitch smiled at the young woman following him. "Brilliant is it not, Miss Anna? I spent a quarter of an hour planning the entire scenario." He replied proudly. Anna raised a brow.
"Brilliant yes, but equally disgusting." She replied, earning a laugh from the old doctor.
Opening a door to a well-lit room, Anna was awed at the immense display of armory and weaponry. Boskonovitch had always been her sole provider of gadgets she uses for her missions – a solemn pact between the two had them working together for the longest time. She scanned the room for new, more effective weapons and found herself face to face with guns not even available at the black market. She whistled with appreciation.
"Wow, you have truly outdone yourself today doc." She said as she eyed a silver .9mm Magnum Gun. The doctor paced through the room and opened a small chest, gesturing for the woman to take a look at what he's holding.
"I figured you'd come here for a new grapple gun. That old one is obsolete. This one has a 1500 ton tensile strength, compared to your current 875." He said, looking at Anna's grapple gun holster.
'Now we're talking.' She said inwardly, her delight unconcealed by her awed eyes. Of course, the doctor pretty much knew how she thinks. And she knows the doctor would not give her identity or her secrets away, even if it means compromising him. Anna had done her fair share of protecting the doctor from Kazuya Mishima's manipulations, making sure he comes out of the clashes unharmed and safe – this caused the doctor to have a high debt of gratitude to Anna and has made it his sole goal to make Anna's every mission a success. Oh and he gets paid a huge sum of money as well.
"You read my mind doctor. I find this old guy rusty. I figured I'd need a new one if I want to get things done twice as fast." She said, handing the doctor her old grapple gun in exchange for the new, more powerful one. 'Oh and it's lighter too.' She thought as she fingered the grapple gun, examining its contours.
"There's also one more thing I'll give you." The doctor said, interrupting her examination. Anna inquisitively looked at the doctor as he dug in his inventory. Pausing to stretch his back, he dug again and lifted a small box, about the size of matchbox. He looked at her, as if gauging her reaction, only to be reciprocated with a look that speaks of a mind in deep thought. And just as he is about to explain what it is, he saw the realization in her face, her eyes widening.
She knew what the box was.
"That's..."