Angel in the Dark Sky
Summary: Kunimitsu and Bryan has sided with Kazuya. Yoshimitsu and Lei are working together to stop them. With constant battles in the urban streets of Tokyo, who will succeed in the end?
Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or its characters. End of story.
Chapter Two: Unpleasant Encounters
It was almost 9:00 when he left the office. Lei was in the process of exiting the building when Hayate caught up to him.
"Hey, where're you going?"
"Hmm...Maybe I shouldn't tell you since you can't keep your mouth shut." The shrewd detective replied thoughtfully yet rudely.
Hayate crossed his arms. "What you did was wrong and you know it. It's not my fault you always get yourself in trouble."
Without a word, the Chinese turned and walked out the double-doors. Now the Japanese was really annoyed. Once again, he followed Lei out the building, just in time to see the other man enter a white, tinted car. At the same time as Lei was about to turn the keys, Hayate's right hand swiftly reached through the rolled-down window of the vehicle and grasped Lei's hand before he could do so.
"What the hell's wrong with you, Lei?!"
Lei gave him a dirty look, his hazel-brown eyes locked on Hayate's darker ones.
"You novice detectives are such goody-goodies. Keep up the good work. We need more guys like you." he said with a hint of sarcasm. Promptly, he jerked Hayate's hand off of his and proceeded to run the engine, then drove away.
He didn't regret a thing he said.
That was the sad truth.
Detectives like Hayate act by the book: they're stuck with one way and fail to see the big picture. For 20 years working as a detective, he became very successful and respected not only because he was good at what he does, but also because he did what he believed in.
Despite how stubborn he was.
Caught up with his current state of mind, he didn't even notice that his destination was already in view.
Hotel Leanne
A few minutes later, he parked his car along the side of the building. He didn't bother parking it in the parking lot since he wasn't planning on staying too long. Lei made his way to the top floor of the hotel. If he remembered correctly, his secret 'informant' would be in room 315. He found the door with the number on it and knocked a couple of times. The door opened and revealed a blonde woman standing under the door frame.
"I didn't think you'd come, detective."
"I'm here to ask you a few questions. May I come in?"
Nina opened the door wider and allowed Lei to step inside. It was quite a small room, with only a couch and a bed on the far side. To the front were the wide glass windows, which occupied much of the wall. Needless to say, the room was small, yet well-bathed in sunlight. Lei also noticed the bulky luggage that lay on the bed.
"Are you going somewhere?" Lei questioned out of curiosity.
"Yeah, I have a plane to catch tonight." she passively replied as she plopped down on the couch.
"Did you know about Steve's death?"
For a moment, everything was quiet.
"I didn't kill him." she stated with much hesitance.
"I don't believe you."
"Steve was my son! Why would I kill him??!!"
In contrast to Nina's sudden frustration, the detective remained relaxed and continued to push her further on the issue.
"Perhaps because you were assigned to assassinate him?"
Oddly enough, Nina turned to face him from where she was sitting, a mischievous look on her lovely face.
"That doesn't matter, especially when the mafia has been wiped out, which means there was no reason for me to do so."
Okay, this was really starting to get confusing on Lei's behalf. He was so sure it had to be the mafia. He couldn't really think of anyone else who would be responsible for the crime.
"Then who's behind all this?"
Nina's eyes trailed up from the base of Lei's sleeveless shirt to his upper right arm, the exact spot where Lei's bandaged wound was.
"It's the same fellow who shot you."
Bryan Fury...
Lei impulsively grasped his wounded arm. "How did you know...?"
"I have my 'confidential' sources like you do. But that's all I'm aware of. I don't know why they killed him."
"'They'?"
"I was told he was with that masked girl. They seem to be working with each other. For who, I don't know."
For a moment, Lei just stood there, bewildered. What Nina revealed to him didn't make sense. Why would Bryan kill Steve? Obviously he wouldn't have done it without reason. Come to think of it...it didn't matter whether he had a motive or not. Bryan would kill anyone for the thrill of it. And of course, there was the fact that he was also with her, which made it even more baffling. Somehow, there had to be a reason and Lei was sure of it. He would just have to figure it out himself.
"Alright," he said, heading for the door "I'll be leaving now. Good luck on your trip."
"Be careful. Bryan's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve." she warned.
"I'll keep that in mind."
When he departed from the hotel, only then did he take notice of his grumbling stomach. He hadn't eaten anything since last night it seems. Before anything else, he decided to head over to the nearest coffee shop which was only a walking distance from where he had parked his car.
Lei didn't eat much, consuming only a medium-sized chicken salad drowned in sweetened iced tea. Food wasn't really his best interest and the shop's menu didn't offer much. Taking a pause from eating, he picked up an abandoned newspaper and opened it. Judging from the content of the tabloid, it seems Tokyo is suffering from repeated incidents of street brawls. Lei swore this was the tenth since the fourth tournament ended, which was a month ago. Everything's messed-up alright. All these incidents, including Steve Fox's death didn't quite connect to each other.
The Chinese exhaled, placing the rather disappointing newspaper on the table. He finished what was left of his salad and sipped the remaining drops of his drink. The clock had already struck noon and still he had yet to gather a reasonable amount of information. His best bet would be to find Bryan Fury and force him to spill. Problem was, he didn't know where he would be. Even if he finds him, unlikely that he can push the American to talk, in reference to what happened the other night. Bryan would only think of Lei as an insect he could easily step on. And that really pisses Lei off.
Upon reaching the small establishment, his cell phone rang. Lei unhooked the little noisemaker from his belt before answering it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lei, listen. The Chief wanted me to tell you something really important."
Lei frowned at the sound of the familiar voice. "Why the hell are you calling me?"
"I was just going to give you some new info regarding Steve Fox!"
"Then get to the point."
Hayate made a huffing sound from the other line which was very evident. "Steve Fox's body reportedly disappeared from the morgue just this morning. NO one saw who did it. Apparently, the culprits wanted the body for some reason."
"Okay, okay, I'm on it."
"Hold on! Look, I've been trying to come up with words to say to you and I've figured it out..."
"Think it over again."
With that said, Lei pressed the 'end' button, putting a halt on their conversation. Hayate's all talk alright. But at least this time he was actually of good use to Lei. As of now, Lei's chance in finding clues would be at the morgue. He was on his way back to his car, passing by the mouth of a narrow, darkened alley, when he heard a faint cry. It sounded weak, but Lei could have sworn it was a cry of desperation. Curiously and cautiously did he make his way into the eerie pathway.
It was quiet again.
Lei had a panicky feeling inside him due to the sudden change of the environment. It didn't help when he eventually saw something when he reached the end of the alley. Three dark-clothed people stacked on top of each other. Dead.
The detective was alarmed, but before he could move another inch, he was vigorously pushed onto the ground, not far from the heap of corpses. It has happening all too fast for him, not knowing what hit him. Or who.
"Well, well, look who bumped into us."
Swiftly, Lei turned his head and saw none other than Bryan Fury and his partner in crime, Kunimitsu.
"I guess that one gunshot wasn't enough to keep him at the hospital." The masked kunoichi sneered.
Bryan began to approach the fallen detective. Lei, still in a state of shock, scrambled to his feet, trying to keep away from him.
"Maybe a few more should be enough to keep him at the morgue, like that British kid."
"You can try, Fury, but I won't let you so easily!" Lei snapped, finally finding it in him to show aggression.
"Show him how easy it is to snap him apart, Bryan." Kunimitsu cheered.
Lei switched into his fighting stance and so did Bryan. In his mind, Lei knew it was stupid to try and beat both Bryan and Kunimitsu. He can't even beat Bryan so obviously beating Kunimitsu was out of the question. So now, he was left with no choice but attempt to escape from here. Lei glanced at the masked kunoichi standing behind Bryan and he could tell, even with her mask on, that she was watching intently at his every move.
Adjusting his attention back to Bryan, the Chinese charged towards him. Although not his usual fashion (he was always on the defensive side), Bryan readied himself and blocked a couple of Lei's Razor Rush punches. In a blink of an eye, Lei switched into his Dragon Stance and slipped in a high and low kick. Bryan failed to block low and fell down, did a Tech Roll, before rising from crouching position with an uppercut that connected into his Fisherman Slam move. The impact caused Lei to cry out in pain, leaving a fissure on the cement. Both fighters have swapped positions, with Bryan's back facing the end of the alley.
Without thinking, Bryan advanced forwards in attempt to finish him off, not noting the way Lei was laying face down, his feet facing Bryan. No sooner did Bryan found himself falling once more when Lei did a Rave Spin from the ground. The instant Bryan stood up from the ground, this time he didn't let the American insert an offensive move. Lei grabbed him by the shoulders and did a Double-Foot Launch, causing Bryan to harshly recoil backwards and actually slammed into the brick wall behind him as Lei somersaulted backwards in the air.
The extremely alert Kunimitsu sensed Lei's true intentions. He was actually trying to somersault over the masked kunoichi so he could escape. Right away, she did a Lunge Jumpkick which interrupted Lei from doing so.
"You may be fond of fleeing from your opponents, but this time, you can't get out of here alive."
Kunimitsu noticed Bryan walking towards them seemingly unharmed from their fight. It was as if Lei's attacks were nothing but air. Lei, who was now sprawled face up on the pavement, was raised by the throat, a gun pressed against the right side of his head. Bryan looked up into Lei's eyes as the detective did the same, with pleading eyes.
"You wouldn't want to hurt me, would you, Bryan...?" Lei whispered in a breathy voice that only Bryan can hear.
Bryan narrowed his eyes. With such a long pause, Kunimitsu was quite suspicious all of a sudden.
"What are you waiting for? Pull the trigger and end this nonsense!"
Lei's eyes widened when he heard the soft creaking of the trigger. Was he really going to...?
Out of the blue, a huge cloud of smoke appeared, blinding all three of them as Bryan felt the gun jerked from his hand as he spontaneously released his grasp from Lei's throat. The detective gasped, sensing an arm around him as he found himself airborne once again, this time in a very swift motion. Kunimitsu threw a kunai in the air unbeknownst to Bryan, targeting the unidentified form that escaped over the buildings with Lei.
The kunai missed by a mile.
"Curses!" Kunimitsu growled. "I'll get you next time Yoshimitsu!!!"