CHAPTER 2: THE MEETING
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As Anna began walking through the stalls in Shibuya, she couldn't help but think about how she blends in so much. Nobody would even consider her as a viable contestant in the Rave War. She laughed at how unsuspecting people can be, bound by stereotypes. Looking at her watch, she surmised that the briefing took 3 hours 32 minutes and 56 seconds. She inwardly laughed at how desperate she was, timing the whole meeting, counting down the minutes before she could get out of that darned room.
"Good morning miss. Could I interest you with Hungarian Tulips, perhaps? I haven't seen anyone as lovely as you walk by this street since I was 19! And I'm 53!" Said a vendor as he gestured for her to take one.
"Why surely sir, such a flatterer. For that, I'll take a dozen." Anna smiled as the man wrapped the freshly picked tulips in a nice white paper and handed it to her. She gave him crisp bills.
"Oh this is too much, I'll go get the change miss-". He hurriedly dug his pocket, until Anna stopped him.
"Never mind sir. Keep the change." She said as she smiled and walked away from the store, with the vendor looking at the crisp bills in his hands. But before she could even make it out of the joint, someone purposely bumped into her, causing the bouquet of tulips to fall down.
'Why, how rude! I oughta show him how to treat a lady-'. As she prepared to give the person a lecture, and probably a little something more, she was rooted in her spot by a pair of blue eyes, the bluest she had ever seen.
'Oh my, such beautiful eyes.' She said as the two stared at each other a little more than they should. She scanned his profile. Through his fitting military jacket, she could tell he was well-built. He has the height too, despite his current kneeling state and he's not bad on the looks department either, until her gaze arrived at his hair. 'Well, maybe except for the hair... definitely gotta go.' Gelled up in a haphazard fashion, his sandy blonde hair looked like one of the Japanese animations young boys developed a rather strong fascination to. 'What's that again...? Ah yes. I believe it's Dragonball.' She thought, giggling at her eccentric correlation for the man in front of her. Her giggling was not unnoticed by the said man.
'I have to retreat. I have never planned this to happen. She is supposed to have gotten the flowers by reflex and revealed her true identity to me.' Lars inwardly winced as he reached up and picked the bouquet, and handing it to the stunned woman. "Here you go, Miss. Next time, watch where you're going." He said arrogantly.
Wrong move.
Anna smirked evilly at the comment. 'Watch where I'm going huh? Let's see about that.' She thought as she stood up from her crouching state and flipped her hair. Smiling sweetly, she took the bouquet from the nonchalant man and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. You're Goku right, from Dragon Ball? Forgive me sweetie. I should've noticed you... Super Saiyan and all. " Giggling, she sped off.
Lars raised an inquisitive brow at the giggling woman as he discreetly followed her, noticing the aftermath of her comment on the giggling crowd.
'Dragon ball? What is that?' He quickly rid himself of the thought as he sped through crowd, reading the woman's movements and following her like a snake does to its prey. He planned to bump her to make her reveal to him what she is capable of, to stop herself from falling, as most assassins have been trained for. But she didn't seem to do the same. Instead, she dropped the flowers in surprise and knelt down to gather them – a normal response from a normal person – and this is not good for him. It was also not good that he found that she was extremely attractive up-close, and the sensual sway of her hair and her full lips were enough to drive any lesser man crazy in wanting. But he is a man hardened by time, and a simple game of seduction will not make him stray from his goal.
Shrugging the thought at the back of his mind, he came into an empty intersection, worn down boxes on the left side, rusting gas tanks on the right and an old water tank ahead. Old verandas were about 10 feet high. And no sign of the mysterious Anna Williams.
"I figured you were something else." The woman in question said as Lars looked up at the most stable looking veranda. There sitting with her legs crossed is the woman in question, a silencer pointed at his forehead. How she got there without him noticing was a mystery to be solved some other time.
"I would think twice pointing that gun at me Miss Williams." Lars said, not the least bit scared of the turn of events.
'So he did his homework? Cute and smart. I think I hit the jackpot. Too few of them in the world.'. Anna just giggled haughtily.
"Surely hun, you do know the gravity of your situation don't you?" Anna said as she tilted her head to the side, daring him to do something. Lars smirked as he looked at the seductive woman.
"What made you think I am alone?" He said, looking at the woman in the eyes. Anna's eyes registered surprise as her GPS warned of 40 men coming from the three different directions about 50 feet away from them. Lars kept his place, arms crossed at his chest, eyes arrogantly sizing her.
"Hm. I guess I'll just have to use plan B." She said loudly, not really talking to anyone. Lars raised an inquisitive brow at her. She smiled and continued, "I picked this place for a reason, Dragonboy." She said, smiling as she rapidly hoisted her grapple gun and pointed it at the direction of the water tank. Lars' eyes widened as realization hit him.
"It's got nice fireworks." She said as she was pulled by the grapple, turning around and firing one accurate bullet at the crates of old gas tanks. Lars flipped back, breaking the wall with his fist and used the debris as cover for the impending explosion.
Anna rapidly ran from wall to wall, right hand tightly gripping the grapple gun while the other held her Fendi and the bouquet of tulips. Jumping up as she hit the end of her run, she flipped up into the air and landed gracefully on top of the old water tank, watching the smoke and fire emerge 50 ft from where she was having a dialogue with the cute military man.
She had to admit, she was a little apprehensive about how the new grapple gun would feel like. It seemed to her that a 1,500-ton TS is a bit strong – but she was proven wrong. It was just right, in fact it was better than she had expected.
'It's really a shame though .Too bad I wasn't even able to get his name.' She inwardly frowned. Plucking a tulip from her slightly ruffled bouquet, she threw the flower as far as possible, hoping to make the deaths of the people about to attack her, and Dragonboy, to at least be to some degree, solemnified by the flower. Jumping down, instincts told her however, that this was not the last time she'll be seeing Dragonboy.
Within the rubble caused by the explosion, Lars punched his way out of the debris that had fallen on him and immediately scanned the vicinity.
'Hm, not bad. Not bad at all.' He said to himself as he punched his way further out of the debris. The 30 men employed by the Mishima Zaibatsu were all injured severely albeit still alive, and the place was thoroughly reduced to rubble. As he walked further towards the direction Anna ran off to, he found a single tulip left unharmed in the middle of all the debris. Lars picked it up.
"We will meet again Miss Williams. And the next time we do, you will not escape me." He said as he looked at the flower in his hand, the sole reminder that the temptress has made her mark on him.
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"This is a time for war! The G Corporation has followed our cues and is now on their way to destroy the fortresses we have built throughout the world. We will not permit them. We will crush them and show them that the Tekken Force and the Mishima Zaibatsu are and will remain supreme!"
Lars looked at the young man in front of the huge battalion of soldiers about to go to war. His face held undoubtedly an uncanny resemblance to Kazuya Mishima. But his age, 21, is too young and too naive to be ruling something as big as the Zaibatsu. He however, has pledged allegiance to him, and will serve him until the end of his term.
'It seems we lack one more Mishima. Where are you father?' He said in mock smirk as he turned around, unnoticed by anybody and headed to the Helicarrier to prepare for departure.
'The Zaibatsu was unusually quiet.' He mused as he neared the chopper. 'Is this the calm before the storm?' Just then, a loud explosion reverberated through the assembly hall.
'Shit. I knew it.' He told himself as he ran towards the location of the explosion.
He was used to dealing with emergency situations and reconnaissance missions. In fact, if he were to make a life review of the things he had done so far, the number of people he had killed and double-crossed for the sake of the Zaibatsu outnumbers the clothes he has in his closet. Perhaps he was destined to be a military asset, a weapon to be used by the Mishima Zaibatsu if it needs him. And he doesn't give a damn if that's how the Zaibatsu sees him – because it is the only thing he knows how to do, and the only thing he finds worth doing.
He hid himself in one of the pillars, and immediately scanned for Kazama. It didn't take him long to locate him. He was still standing behind the lectern, looking straight ahead at the attackers. Nina Williams, his appointed bodyguard is below him, sporting submachine guns and looking ahead as well.
'Could it be her?' He thought as he pulled his sword out of its sheath, waiting for the opportunity to strike. It was only about a week since the Shibuya incident and he had not passed a day without thinking about the woman he met – this is because no one has ever crossed him the way she did. 'She's smart. She wouldn't barge in here without a plan, that's for sure.' He said inwardly.
About the time he was to attack, Nina flipped backward, hoisting herself on the lectern and immediately began firing, forcing Jin to duck while she twisted in the air and threw a grenade from her back. The explosion merited cries of surprise from the opposing party. Lars saw this as a chance to attack directly.
He has been trained to see through smoke and read his opponents' movements. Upon sensing two people, he immediately slashed them in the midriff – enough to make them incapacitated, but not enough to kill them.
'They would prove to be invaluable sources of information.' He said to himself as he stealthily attacked the opposing group. And just as he was about to bring down the last of the opposition, an anguished cry reverberated throughout the halls. He ran back only to see a man in Mohawk contorting in pain, and Kazama floating 15 ft from the ground, with a murderous intent on his eyes.
"Who sent you?" Jin asked the man, taking him by the neck and lifting him at the same level as he is, eyes flashing a dangerous red.
"If you even have half a brain, you would know who..." the Mohawk man, named Bruce Irvin retorted in ragged pants, still struggling to speak despite the tight hold on his neck. This retort angered Jin Kazama and threw the man to the wall, effectively breaking the wall and crushing the man, rendering him unconscious.
"Bring him to the torture room. I'd like have a word with him when he wakes up." He said to the gathering Tekken Force soldiers, turning his back on them and heading out of the destroyed complex, with Nina close behind.
When they were gone, Lars released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Upon finding it wasn't Anna who infiltrated the Zaibatsu, it gave him a huge sigh of relief. It troubled him to be feeling this way about the enemy, and he couldn't explain why. But all he knows is, it is him who will capture Anna Williams no matter what. That he knows for sure, but after capturing her, what will he do with her? The answer is supposed to be clear, but to him, it still remains unanswered.
"Bruce Irvin has been captured Kazuya. What will your next move be?" He whispered to no one in particular. Looking at his men cleaning the remains, he looked at the fallen army before him.
'They did a good job. That's a sizable army they just destroyed. It would be hypocritical to say that it would not harm the Zaibatsu at all.' Lars thought as he jumped down into the rows of broken metal and steam. Lifting a boulder, he tried to look for possible survivors, only to be given a view of torn flesh and splattered blood.
'There really is no point searching for survivors. Though huge, this is a congested space with nothing to use as cover.' He told himself and instead commanded his men to remove any further objects that would compromise the safety of the Zaibatsu. With this, he treaded towards the direction Jin and Nina took – to the torture room where Bruce Irvin is now being held for questioning.
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Kazuya Mishima was never a patient man. He always made sure that despite the odds against him, he will always come out on top. Imagine the anger he had upon discovering that one of his prized soldiers was captured at the infiltration mission in the Zaibatsu...
"You IMBECILES! How could a simple infiltration mission be a complete failure?!" He shouted, his eyes dangerously large and his lenses, red. If it weren't for the scary expression his red eyes were showing, Anna would have found the situation extremely funny.
'Haha. Kazzy's mad. If only I had my camera... This would have been a perfect Kodak moment!' She thought as she fought back a smile. This was not unheeded by the angry president.
"And what, I may ask, is funny with this situation?" He said, not looking at Anna himself. The woman in question immediately stopped smiling and bowed her head in apology. Dealing with Kazuya in this state is dangerous, especially if she only had two weapons with her. The Devil gene is a formidable foe. And if she ever plans to subdue it, she needs all the help she can get.
Kazuya redirected his attention to the army in front of them. Thousands of men kneeling down in front of this man, who once ruled the Zaibatsu and sponsored his own Rave Wars. There is no doubt this man commands respect and fear even in his mere stare.
"Relax, Mishima-sama. Angry men are prone to wrinkles, and wrinkles show your age." She said, with a sadistic smile on her face. Kazuya glared darkly at her, as if saying 'Don't talk to me'. Anna tilted her head to the side. "Bruce is a capable man. You should know that captured or not, he won't sing." She told him as she clenched her fists. 'But for how long until they kill him, that's the question...' If Kazuya won't make the effort to save him, then she'd save him herself, even if she'd be alone. She wouldn't let him die, just as he was beginning to experience how rewarding a normal life can be.
'I certainly won't allow it. Hang on Bruce, I am coming for you. I promise.' She said as she haf-listened to Kazuya rebuild his army. Walking away discretely, she entered a deserted room and dialled Boskonovitch's line, secured from the protection of the G Corportation.
'Yes, Miss Anna?' said the man on the other line.
"I'd like you to research on this man, I'll send you a picture after this call. Everything that needs to be known, give them to me, ok?" She said quietly
'I understand Miss Anna. Will do.' Boskonovitch said as he accepted the photo. His eyes widened at the man in the picture. "This can't be...!"