A/N: After a long process of editing, I finally finished chapter 6. This chapter was actually very long at first so I split it into two parts, the second one I labeled as chapter 7 (in progress).

I thought about replying to every one of you who reviewed but I didn't so...thank you to all the reviewers!

Now I have to go buy presents for my friends. Read on!

Chapter 6: Infiltrate the Zaibatsu

The sun had risen 4 hours ago yet not one of its rays could penetrate through the thick, gloomy clouds. The sky was blank; colorless. Lei was lying on his side facing the clear windows of his bedroom. From his understanding, it won't be a sunny day after all. He had remained on his bed for the past 15 minutes since he had awakened, contemplating. He pondered about what he had dreamed that night. It was very familiar and it had the same effect on him just as it did before. But one thing bothered him.

It had been a long time since he had the same dream--many years, to be exact. Lei wondered what it could mean, at the same time feeling sad as he did so. The demons of his past had come to haunt him; his memories of Bryan Fury made him depressed. Why now? And to think he had gotten over it.

Hastily, Lei got up from bed and went straight to the bathroom. His face was burning hot for some reason. Immediately, he turned on the 'cold' faucet and splashed the cool water on his face. He then caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror before him. He touched his face consciously; the skin remained just as youthful as they were years ago. It must have been a curse, he thought, watching everyone else around him age while he on the other hand remained imprisoned in a never-changing body.

As much as he had wanted a different past—and to be—with Bryan, there was no turning back now. Perhaps it was time to set all of those aside—for now. All this time he wanted Bryan to forgive him, for whatever he had done wrong to him. But Bryan had become so distant and so cold that perhaps his wish would remain only a wish.

Loud footsteps could be heard within the dimly-lit corridors, echoing. A sea of red was seen in a split-second when she trotted down the narrow pathway. Her Eden-green eyes glimmered in the darkness, which was made visible without the mask. Her creamy-white skin seemed to glow ever so slightly. A few more steps and she was face-to-face with the door that separated her and Kazuya Mishima.

The CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu was sitting neatly on his leather chair, typing on his laptop. Kunimitsu barged in without knocking while Kazuya chose to ignore her.

"Kazuya, there's something important that I need to discuss with you." Kunimitsu said in a serious tone of voice.

"Tell me what it is and I will decide whether it is important." He simply responded as he was typing on.

The former Manji ninja bravely stepped forward until she made contact with the hardwood desktop.

"It's about Mr. Fury."

"If that is the reason why you rudely interrupted me, then I will discuss this with you some other time. You may leave."

As Kazuya's hands reached for the pile of folders to his right, Kunimitsu suddenly pushed her hands against the laptop's monitor screen, instantly closing it shut. It was a good thing Kazuya removed his fingers from the keyboard or they would have been smashed, literally. Still leaning on the closed laptop, Kunimitsu narrowed her eyes, focusing them onto Kazuya's, making apparent that she meant business.

"Bryan has been acting suspiciously lately. In the future, he may be the one who will backstab us in the end. I don't trust him and neither should you!"

"You are in no position to tell me what to do. As of now, Bryan has been very obedient and I have never had any problems with him. It seems to be you whom I have difficulty most."

Kunimitsu couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration.

"You don't even know there's a traitor in you group of bodyguards and you expect them to protect you at the party!"

"I'm curious. If there is a traitor, how do I know it's not you?" Kazuya asked thoughtfully, raising a brow.

Kunimitsu remained agitated. Kazuya remained tranquil. She understood that she had to keep cool so she could gain somewhat the upper-hand in this argument. Or at least convince him.

"You like to play with words. But we'll see who will be played like a fool eventually."

She smirked before departing through the open door, before slamming it shut afterwards. Walking away from the office, Kunimitsu kept that same smirk on her face. She found her conversation with Kazuya very humorous for the sole fact that he acted as if he knew everything when he didn't, especially when he refused to believe Bryan was plotting something behind his back. Sure, she's capable of eliminating Kazuya and Bryan altogether. The only thing that prevented her from doing so was her fondness of complicating things and at the same time playing around with people. Patiently, she would wait for the prime opportunity to strike back and finally take away Kazuya's power over Mishima Zaibatsu. Eliminating his Tekkenshu and replacing them with bloodthirsty ninja...Yes, that was her dream.

One day, that dream will be fulfilled.

As expected, the weather had become even more wretched. The wind and rain bombarded the streets and the roof where Lei stood. The stormy clouds prematurely turned day into night. Lei tugged on his hood to protect himself from the cruelty of the weather. Just as he had thought things would turn out for the better, he was having doubts. If only Yoshimitsu would show up sooner, then maybe these negative thoughts would vanish.

A sudden gust of wind swept past him, sending chills along his body. Wulong heard the noise of incoming footsteps from behind. He turned to find the unfathomable Yoshimitsu, seemingly from out of nowhere. Two other masked accomplices trailed behind him. Judging from their appearances, it was safe to assume that they were human.

"So you came after all."

"I never back out on my word." Lei said, bursting with honor as he did so.

These mysterious figures fearlessly stood under the rain with no means of protection, letting the rain reflect from the surface of their clothing. Lei took this as a sign of great power.

"Such righteousness indeed." The Manji leader nodded, his statement sounding more like praise. "Come, let's go inside the building. We don't want you to get soaked out here."

Yoshimitsu ushered them inside the building, which turned out to be nothing but an empty shack. A single light bulb emitted the only light source in the room. The group sat on the floor, under the dim light, forming a circle around the roll of paper that Yoshimitsu laid out. It appeared to be a floor map of a building.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. Our mission is to get the gene stored in their lab in the Zaibatsu. And, we decided that you shouldn't attend the party after all. Instead, we want you to go inside the Zaibatsu in a different manner."

"Okay..." Lei said, uncertain if he even understood what was said to him. "So you want me to go undercover?"

"Yes."

"Impossible." Lei scoffed. "You can't imagine how tight the security is."

"Actually, we researched on their security mechanism for some time now. It's not as complicated as you think. It's very possible, as long as you are well-equipped."

"Which I'm not." Lei said as he scanned the map laid out in front of him.

One of the masked figures handed Yoshimitsu a black box, which he then passed on to Lei. The detective gave the ninja a quizzical look before opening the container.

Yoshimitsu smiled beneath his mask.

"You should have everything you need in there."

Inside was a lock pick, a PB 6P9 pistol equipped with a silencer, a gun holster, and a small container that looks plausibly that of a pair of...contact lenses.

Lei stared at it. "My eyes are quite alright. I'm not that old."

This made Yoshimitsu and even the other two ninja chuckle.

"They're not contact lenses, Lei. They're a specially-enhanced type of night vision lenses. It automatically enables night vision in darker places and disables in lighter places. Dr. Boskonovitch considered them one of his best creations."

"Wow." Lei muttered in amazement, for lack of words.

The two unknown ninjas engaged in a private conversation.

"What about his clothing?"

"A shinobi shozoku, perhaps?"

Lei could barely hear their conversation except for the words 'shinobi shozoku'.

"Perhaps, but that will not be necessary. He can't wear one anyway because he's not one of us." Yoshimitsu said, assessing Lei's all-black outfit. "What a coincidence."

Lei merely shrugged. "I picked it out randomly."

"I can tell you're not in a very 'happy' mood right now." The Manji leader remarked. "What time is it, Lei?"

"Uh...quarter to five?" Lei replied, checking his watch as he did so. He still held the box in his hands.

"Good. You should have plenty of time to make up an excuse to your boss for not going to the party tonight." Yoshimitsu said, hearing a slight groan from Lei. "The mission will start at eight tonight. By then the guests should be settled in. We'll rendezvous by the rear exit—look in your map, Lei—at seven-twenty. That way I'll have plenty of time to explain the procedures to you."

Lei raised a hand in question. "Am I...going to do alright?"

"You got your equipment and—you do have wits, don't you?"

Lei rolled his eyes in reply.

"Then you're set."

Just as planned, the four met near the rear exit of the building where the shadows thrived. Lei, fully equipped, wondered why Yoshimitsu wanted him to do the 'major' part of the operation and not one of his accomplices.

"Kiyoshi will go and find the control panel of the building. Yasuo and I will make our way to the roof and make sure it's clear enough for the helicopter to come get us after. Just keep your headset on so I can guide you." Yoshimitsu assured.

"Why not come with me?"

"You ask far too many questions! Keep calm and you'll do fine as long as you keep in mind my instructions."

Yoshimitsu then sauntered across the ground, which was left damp after the storm passed by, to the side of the building. There was a ventilation shaft just a knee below him in which the cover was slightly loose. He took advantage of this and pulled it off slowly, exposing an opening big enough for Lei to fit through. Without another second thought, Wulong bent over and crept into the narrow shaft.

"Lei," Yoshimitsu whispered "be very careful."

Regarding his accomplice's advice, he crawled his way inside the narrow passage. As he went deeper, he noticed he was beginning to see his surroundings in green. The night vision had enabled itself so it must have been quite dark by now.

A crackling noise emitted from Lei's headset broke the silence.

"Can you hear me?" He recognized it as Yoshimitsu's eerie voice.

"Loud and clear." He replied.

"Good. Are you at the second intersection?"

"Not yet."

Lei then resumed going straight. There seemed to be no end to this narrow passage. He finally came across the first intersection. There were ventilation fans on both sides so there wasn't much interest there. Lei continued on. When he reached the second intersection, he heard the familiar noise of party nearby. He followed the sound of chattering and music to the right until he spotted light in the distance. Lei crept a bit faster towards it and realized it was another ventilation cover below him; only this one's bolted really tight. The opening had a grilling on it, enough for Lei to take a good look inside the party hall where the banquet was being held. The honored guests were dressed in their finest attires, drank the finest wines and ate the finest hors d'oeuvres.

He didn't receive any message from Yoshimitsu at the time being so he stayed there a while longer.

Lei skimmed through the crowd of unfamiliar faces until he spotted someone who was familiar to him. He pressed his face closer to the metal grilling and he felt a tinge of happiness growing inside him upon casting his eyes on Bryan Fury. His former partner was dressed in a black suit and his typical careless hair was nicely groomed. This was probably the first time Lei saw Bryan dressed like a gentleman. His usual angry expression was not present on his face. He seemed fairly composed, somewhat like Kazuya Mishima.

Bryan turned to look up to him (at least that's what he thought) and a smile surfaced on Lei's face. He reached his hand forward as if to touch him, but all he could feel was the cold iron that separated him from Bryan.

"Lei?"

Wulong snapped out of his imaginations and answered blankly to Yoshimitsu on the other line. "I'm at the second intersection."

Lei dared to look back down but this time Kunimitsu, who looked dreadfully stunning in a black strapless satin gown, appeared beside Bryan. She spoke to him in the most graceful manners, her dark-gloved hands moving in fluid motions. Lei watch as that same hand sneaked its way around Bryan's arm and he couldn't refrain from feeling a bit jealous of this.

"You have to move a little faster, Lei. Kiyoshi and Yasuo are almost at their designated areas."

The Chinese sighed, with the image of Bryan still fresh in his memory, before moving forward once again. Somehow this task suddenly became tedious for him. Now that he saw Fury, he wanted more of it.

"Yoshitmitsu, why did you come to me for help of all people? There're a few other people who would qualify for this job."

"I'm surprised you brought up this subject again but knowing you...As I have said before, I can't approach the police or any other authority. With my appearance, they'd sooner arrest me before Kazuya and his men."

"I know but...couldn't you have asked one of your other men to do this?"

"Remember that day when I saved you? My party and I fought with Kunimitsu's ninja and a handful of my people were injured badly. Only two of my best men managed to recover."

"I guess you thought I was pretty expendable." Lei said, sounding almost resentful.

"Oh come now, Lei! Do you really think I would use you? I promised I'd give something in return. Besides, you're agile enough for the job."

"Nice try."

Upon hearing the mention of their deal, Lei thought about what he desired in return but wasn't sure if he knew how to say it in words. He feared, among other fears, of Yoshimitsu's reaction if told him. Crawling deeper into the darkness, various memories from his bittersweet past played in his mind. Lost in his confusion and fears, he felt the silent walls closing in on him.

There might not even be an exit.