September 13th marks the birthday of yours truly! Happy 20th birthday to me!
Well, I don't have much to say today, so I'll cut right to the chase.
I promise this will be the last filler episode! Next couple of eps will feature the trademark sixth hero! And if you've read my last fic...you might be seeing a familiar face under that helmet (a lot of you guys, both at TZ and seem to like him).
Enjoy!
This goes out to all the people who died on 9/11.
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Even though the Lizard-men's attack on the Tokyo Airport three days earlier made the arrival of the world's leaders an unpleasant one, the Mishima Peace Conference continued as planned thanks to the efforts of the elusive vigilante group known to the press as the "Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger." Even though no one could pinpoint their whereabouts or their identities, the way they had fought off Astaroth at the Marunouchi Building and his reptilian flunkies at the Tokyo Airport brought forth a sense of ease and thus allowed the world's leaders to go about their business with security.
Overseeing the event from his private training facility located somewhere in Mt. Fuji, Heihachi Mishima spoke to the world leaders in between his intense sparring sessions with his pet bear Kuma. Even though Heihachi would normally descend from the mountain to speak to the leaders there, given how he was preparing for a war with G-Corporation, he couldn't let his guard down for an instant.
However, Heihachi was still the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, and he wasn't about to shirk from his duties. Thus, he had the leaders themselves come to his facility in Mt. Fuji for one day to discuss whatever it was they wished to discuss, while the ambassadors from the UN stayed within the city to meet with the peacekeepers supplied by the Mishima Zaibatsu. After that one day had passed, the Conference would enter its final stages with all of the leaders and ambassadors coming to the Tokyo Dome for the main conference.
One of the negotiators supplied by the Mishima Zaibatsu was a young Chinese woman by the name of Ling Xiaoyu. Recently, she had been helping Jin Kazama in his investigation of the links between the attacks that Astaroth or his Lizard-men instigated. They were definitely making progress, but duty called when Heihachi asked Xiaoyu to meet with one of the Zaibatsu peacekeepers. You are one of the most compassionate women I know, Heihachi reassured the hesitant Xiaoyu over the phone before she left to meet the peacekeeper, you should be fine.
The only problem is that I don't know too much about politics, Xiaoyu thought to herself with cynical nervousness as she entered the café where she was supposed to meet the peacekeeper. But Grandpa Heihachi believes in me, and that's good enough for me!
The café was located in near a park that had a section of it entirely devoted to the conference. Some people said that it was a very inconvenient place to hold such an event, but Heihachi insisted otherwise: this way, people can see for themselves just how the process of negotiating works. Just as the King of Iron Fist Tournament was held across numerous locations, so was the Mishima Peace Conference.
After looking around the tables for a couple of minutes, Xiaoyu found her quarry: a medium-built man with a deep tan wearing a light blue business suit reading a newspaper while sipping a cup of coffee. All across the coffee table were numerous beige folders, each with a name of a different county written at the top, and sitting next to his leg was a black suitcase. However, Xiaoyu found the most interesting aspect of this man to be his dark hair: it stood up almost a foot in the air and then once it reached its peak, it drooped down slightly. It wasn't gelled up like Paul Phoenix's hair, but had more a resemblance to what Xiaoyu could only describe as "celery-like."
That's definitely the guy, Xiaoyu took a deep breath after taking one last look at his exotic hairdo before approaching the coffee table he was sitting at. Don't worry about a thing, Xiao…just believe in yourself. You can do this…
"You must be Ling Xiaoyu," the man said unexpectedly without breaking his gaze from his newspaper just as Xiaoyu was about to say something. "My name is Ahmet Kundackchi: I'm the Turkish diplomat appointed by the Mishima Zaibatsu. Please sit down: we have much to discuss."
"Thank you very much," Xiaoyu bowed her head in respect before taking a seat. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine."
"I'm sure as well," Ahmet put down his newpaper and folded it so that it was so longer in his way, and then reached for one of the many folders. "I think it would be wise if we started with Japan: being as how Heihachi told me that you are relatively new to this, beginning the overview with the country you are most familiar with would probably be beneficial."
"It's no problem at all, Kundackchi-san," Xiaoyu again bowed her head as she pulled out the backpack that she brought with her and took out a laptop computer. "Jin went over most of this with me last night. We can start on any country you want!" Opening the top flap of the laptop, Xiaoyu turned the computer on and waited for it to boot up. Once it had done all of its booting procedures, she opened up a word processing document and prepared to type.
"Hmph…children and their toys," Ahmet thought out loud as he opened up his folder that was labeled with the word Japan. "I remember when all I had to use was a piece of paper and something to write with while taking notes." Taking out a few sheets of paper, he handed the top two in the stack to Xiaoyu and she began clicking away at the sheet's contents to send to Heihachi via his private network. "However, being a negotiator is more than doing secretary work, little miss. You must also be prepared for the unexpected…"
"Hm?" Xiaoyu looked up from her laptop and raised an eyebrow upon hearing such a cryptic comment. "What do mean by that?"
"Let's say you were assigned to fix a border dispute between, say…" Ahmet looked at his folders strewn across the coffee table as he tried to find a nice example. Spotting two names that would make sense, he continued, "…suppose it was the United States and Mexico, just for theory. The United States claims that Mexico is little by little invading the south, but Mexico says that the United States is going too far south and is settling in Mexico without their consent. All of the sudden, you are forced to decide who is right and who is wrong. What would you do?"
"Hmmm," Xiaoyu thought about it for the moment, and responded with her trademark childish simle. "First I would define where that internationally-recognized borderline actually is. Once we do that, people would be able to see who is at fault and the problem is solved. No one loses land nor gains any: everyone's happy!"
"That's a logical answer, to be sure," Ahmet smirked as a he took another sip of his coffee. "It's also one I'd expect from a rookie. Unfortunately, most people aren't that sensible: sometimes the right choice isn't the choice that the sides are looking for. Occasionally they become willing to fight for the right to call themselves 'the one who is not at fault…'"
Ahmet's response made Xiaoyu a little tense. She really hadn't thought about what would happen if two countries wound up waging war upon each other once the conference was over. Not only would Heihachi and Jin's credibility be questioned, but the Mishima Zaibatsu's reliability as a whole. "I…I don't what would happen then unless I was there, Kundackchi-san," Xiaoyu said quietly, embarrassed that she did not have a good answer. "If that does happen, I just hope the decision I make is the right one."
"Fortunately, I doubt we'll be that situation this year, but it's good to know that you're ready to take responsibility, eh?" Ahmet let out a loud laugh, finding Xiaoyu's timid response humorous. Once he regained composure (and made sure that Xiaoyu's feelings weren't hurt by his little bit of fun), Ahmet handed the next set of papers to Xiaoyu for her to once again record into the Zaibatsu's database. "I can see what Heihachi asked you to oversee this part of the conference: you may be new, but seem to have good grip on things."
"Ah, thank you," Xiaoyu blushed slightly after hearing such a compliment. "Heihachi and Jin both said that you are one of the best peacekeepers the Zaibatsu has! It's an honor to hear that from-"
The Chinese girl stopped what she was doing as she looked beyond Ahmet and to the park that was behind him. There was billowing smoke in the distance. The Turkish man followed her gaze and saw the smoke as well. "That's strange: even if someone was having a barbeque, the smoke wouldn't be that thick…"
It looks like it's coming from the area in the park where I'm supposed to meet a lot of the other people in the conference, Xiaoyu thought while trying to hold back her panic as she saved her work and closed her laptop quickly. "Kundackchi-san, I'm sorry about this but I need to go now! I promise I'll come back as soon I can!" Stuffing her laptop back in her pack, Xiaoyu left it at the coffee table and rushed out to approach the smoke.
Ahmet casually waved goodbye as she made a mad dash out of the café, and then his calm smiling face acquired a more stern expression while gathering all of his folders and placing them in a neat stack before placing them in Xiaoyu's backpack. Meanwhile, I will conduct my own investigation, the diplomat mused to himself as he picked up the backpack and his suitcase and went over to a nearby alleyway.
Once he felt that he had enough privacy, he put down the backpack and opened up his suitcase. Ahmet admired its contents for a moment before removing them: the case was filled with pieces of magenta armor. Segments for the arms, torso, legs and feet were taken out of the suitcase as the Turkish diplomat quickly placed them on his body. Within seconds, his body was sheathed within the plating of the "Tekken Forces."
All that remained was the final piece of the armor: a magenta helmet with a dark yellow visor acting as the eyepiece, with the overall shape of the helmet forming a snout near the mouthpiece. Placing the helmet over his head, the circuits of the suit hummed to life as the yellow lights within the helmet lit up giving Ahmet's face an eerie glow.
OK then, the Tekken Force member picked the backpack back up and ran out to where Xiaoyu had headed off to. I think it's time for Tekken Force Captain Ahmet Kundackchi to enter the field!
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The Jindai Shokubutsu Park: best known for its botanical garden. One can enjoy the greenery of the trees and the beauty of the flowers all year round. It used to be a nursery for street trees in Tokyo. After the war, it was opened to the public as "Jindai Ryokuchi" or "green lung." In 1961, the name was changed to "Jindai Shokubutsu Koen". And it became the only botanical garden in Tokyo at that time.
Now, it has 100,000 trees and shrubs representing approximately 4,500 varieties. It is divided into 30 blocks according to variety, rose, azalea, ume plum, bush clover, among others. It is designed to be able to learn the knowledge of the trees and plants while you enjoy gazing at them. Furthermore, the institution is working on protecting species which have been grown in Japan for a long time. It also has the exhibitions and other activities related to gardening to redound to citizens' interest in the trees and plants.
One of those "other activities" included the Mishima Peace Conference, where most of the city-based meetings would be held while the world leaders headed to Mt. Fuji. However, it would appear that something went awry. Xiaoyu arrived at the scene to find a devastating wreck: the podium was reduced to burning wood, and chairs were strewn everywhere. Attacking during a time of peace…how cruel, Xiaoyu's spirits continued to drop as she assessed the damage. Is our enemy that heartless?
Screams began to fill the air as Xiaoyu turned around and looked to a few dozen meters away. Once again getting her legs into action, the young woman ran over and saw a familiar sight: seven plum-clad behemoths that were around seven feet tall with mechanized arms and red-eyed faces devoid of emotion. Those are Jack-4 units, Xiaoyu continued to dash towards the area of chaos. I guess G-Corporation wants to smear the reputation of the Zaibatsu by causing trouble during the conference.
Finally reaching the Jacks' location, Xiaoyu tossed herself in front of the group, thus allowing the bystanders caught in the crossfire to get away safely. And now that they're out of the way, Xiaoyu assumed a fighting stance as the Jacks took notice of her and approached her, it's time to show them some manners!
The robotic giants looked at each other for a moment, almost as if they were siliently discussing what to do next. After a few seconds, they quietly nodded to each other and then turned back to Xiaoyu to assume a fighting stance. There were seven of them, and only one of her. It shouldn't have been a problem.
The Jack-4 group made the first move with one of them coming at Xiaoyu with a wild punch, which the Chinese girl dodged effortlessly. Preparing to counterattack, Xiaoyu ducked down and got into her Phoenix stance. Moving to the side as a different Jack brought its fist downwards, Xiaoyu rose back up and sent the attacking Jack into the air with a rising palm thrust: her trademark Wave Crest technique.
"OW!" Xiaoyu cried out loud as she shook her hands violently while kicking away the airborne Jack. "Their hides are even tougher than the Lizard-men's!" She managed to get a look at where she hit that said Jack as it landed: there wasn't even a dent. Xiaoyu quickly backflipped away from one of its allies' punches, and then resumed a fighting stance with her morpher crackling with yellow power. By the time one of the Jacks caught up with her, her ShinkenYellow suit had already formed across her lithe figure. Her helmet materialized simultaneously with a powerful Storming Flower strike that shattered the abdomen of the attacking Jack.
The Jacks' eyes glowed ominously as they observed Xiaoyu's transformation. Even though they were incapable of feeling emotion, they stood still for a moment as their sensors recorded the unknown technique. Xiaoyu, realizing what they were doing, ran towards then and began attacking one of the Jacks.
However, before she could land a blow on one of them, one of the Jack's heads suddenly exploded behind her. Xiaoyu leapt up in surprise and watched the decapitated robot's body stand perfectly still. The Chinese woman looked at the body in curiosity and scratched her head (or rather, the part of the helmet that blocked where she would normally itch) in confusion. Wow…did I do that?
"Merhaba, little miss," a voice called out from behind Xiaoyu and the Jacks. "I hope I'm not spoiling your fun!" The seven combatants all turned around to locate the source of the voice, finally resting on a man clad from head to toe in magenta armor, with a pair of silver handguns in each hand smoking from being fired. "However, I'm afraid that this is now a problem for the Zaibatsu to confront. I can't let you face them alone!"
That voice…it's Kundackchi-san's, Xiaoyu noticed that one of the Jacks began to advance on the Tekken Fighter so she quickly shot out both of her palms, shattering the robot's back armor and revealing the circuitry within. Sticking her hand into the opening that she produced, Xiaoyu ripped out numerous wires as her victim began to spasm from the gremlin within. After a few seconds, it ceased to move.
Rushing over to where Ahmet stood with his guns ready, Xiaoyu stood next to him and faced their quarry. "Kundackchi-san," Xiaoyu said to the Turkish diplomat, realizing that Ahmet had already figured out that she was ShinkenYellow, "just a moment ago, you were a negotiator from Turkey: was that just a cover-up?"
"Oh no, I'm still a diplomat," Ahmet said between shots as the Jacks began to advance upon the duo. "But I'm also a member of the Tekken Forces: remember, we don't just solve conflicts, we make sure that they don't happen again. You could say that I'm a…peacemaker." He paused for a moment before finishing his sentence as he kicked one of the Jacks away with a forward kick. Placing his guns into their respective holsters that were located in slits in his upper leg armor, Ahmet assumed an unarmed fighting stance as the Jacks finally reached them.
A peacemaker…I remember Heihachi telling me about them a couple of years ago, Xiaoyu thought to herself as she flipped over one of the Jacks and landed on the shouders of its comrade behind it. They are a special group within the Tekken Force: not only are they top-class fighters, but they are also skilled in politics. Sometimes they can quell conflicts with only one person in their entire group, and without shedding any blood at all! Looking at the head of the Jack she was mounted to, Xiaoyu's hands crackled with power most fierce and slapped the Jack in its temple. Even though it seemed like a light slap to a bystander, it still crushed the Jack's head and the body ceased to function as Xiaoyu jumped off of its shoulders.
Now there were only four Jacks remaining. Splitting up, two of them advanced on Ahmet while the other two engaged in battle with Xiaoyu. "Am I to assume you would gang up upon a woman?" Ahmet noticed how the Jacks still outnumbered them. "My Sayokan style and I might have something to say about that!"
Motioning one of the Jacks to come closer, Ahmet got into a defensive position as his intended foe reared back its fist in preparation for a killing blow. Taking advantage of the snare, Ahmet wrapped his arm around the gargantuan's punching limb and placed his hand on the Jack's face, pushing it downwards as hard as he could. The Jack's main circuits lied within its head, and it desperately tried to move its neck around before this human broke it off. Ahmet held on as long as he could, then he swung himself and his quarry around to whack the second Jack with its own comrade.
The two Jacks reeled back as they collided into each other, denting their plum-colored bodies upon collision. After regaining their bearings, the two robots nodded to each other and double-teamed Ahmet once again, this time hitting their mark and sending the armored man flying backwards…right into the Jacks that were attacking Xiaoyu. Realizing where he had landed, he quickly scrambled back onto his feet and rejoined Xiaoyu just as she destroyed another one of the Jacks with her most powerful technique: the Phoenix Strike.
"Xiaoyu, remember when I was telling you about how some people are willing to fight for the right to call themselves 'the one not at fault?'" Ahmet said to the Chinese girl as their backs rubbed against each other while facing the circle of robots that were after their lives. "Take a good look at what we are doing now: fighting against someone who won't back down. If it wasn't for us interfering, who knows how much more damage these guys would have done. Remember: times of peace are ideal, but we must always be vigilant and prepare for war to achieve them."
"Kundackchi-san," Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow beneath her helmet as she assaulted her current foe with a flurry of aerial kicks while Ahmet sent his opponent flying backwards with a powerful straight punch. "Is there any reason why you're lecturing me about this?"
"…it's because Heihachi asked me to," Ahmet replied truthfully as he ducked down so that his legs did the splits to narrowly avoid getting his head punched off by a Jack sneaking up behind him. Using the slick surface of his armor to his advantage, he spun his legs around the ground and swept the Jack off of its feet before spiraling back up and facing Xiaoyu. "He's been considering asking you to join the Tekken Force Peacemakers after you get out of school."
Heihachi…wants me to be a Tekken Fighter? Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that. Does he really have that much faith in me? So engrossed was she in hearing such a reply that she barely had enough to roll away from a Jack's forward kick. Once again gathering her ki, she began circling the Jack with her Hypnotist Walk, and then kicked the Jack's head clear across the field with a falling Deadly Orchid kick. And here I thought he just saw me as his assistant…
Suddenly, Xiaoyu's spirits rose as she and Ahmet looked at the final two Jacks. "Kundackchi-san, thank you very much for teaching me about being a peacekeeper," Xiaoyu bowed her head quickly before gathering her yellow ki in her hands and rearing back. "So how about we finish this up so we can get back to the café and finish our discussion!"
Ahmet gave a quick thumbs-up before reaching for his upper leg armor and removing his two handguns. However, instead of firing then, he lifted open a panel on the gun in his left hand to reveal a narrow opening in the back of the pistol. Then, to Xiaoyu's surprise, he stuck the nozzle of the gun in his right hand into the other gun. The two guns whirred for a second, and then hummed in unison. Admiring his newly-created rifle for a moment, Ahmet regained his senses and pointed it at the Jack duo.
Xiaoyu continued to glow with energy, while Ahmet's rifle began to increase its humming noise. Finally, after the Jacks realized what they were doing and charged, the two fighters unleashed their respective attacks.
"SHINKEN ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE: TEKKENSHU MAELSTROM!"
"T-MAGNUM CUSTOM…FIRE!"
Xiaoyu's hands erupted forth a bright yellow sphere of ki leaving lightning in its wake, while Ahmet's "T-Magnum Custom" fired off a wide crimson ray of raw power. The two Jacks attempted to block the attack with their powerful arms, but even their steel could not stand up to such untamed energy. The robot's bodies began to fire off sparks while their armored hides started to melt.
"And with that…" Xiaoyu stuck out his left hand with her fingers forming a "v" shape while the Jacks fell to the ground.
"…mission complete!" Ahmet completed her sentence snapped his fingers in victory as the Jack's internal motors finally detonated and caused the robots to burst in a fiery plume. After the fires had begun to fade, Ahmet detached his two handguns and placed them back in their holsters before turning to Xiaoyu. "So anyway…what answer should I give Heihachi, little miss?"
"…you can tell him that I'll think about it when the time comes," Xiaoyu replied with her youthful energy as she followed Ahmet to a nearby tree where he left her backpack. "But for now…my place is with Jin!"
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Later that night, I had seen on the news that the Jack units had attempted to throw a wrench in Heihachi's peacekeeping charade. Looking back upon it, it was probably better that I was preoccupied with the matter of Red Crow and Rusty Wing. I have always had a problem with my anger, and I would have most certainly sent Astaroth or his Lizard-men to dispatch of the mechanized oafs. However, that would most certainly bring the Shinkengers and G-Corporation one step closer into figuring out what I was up to, and that would have been unacceptable.
However, it would make little difference in the long run: I had accessed my son's banking accounts shortly after I heard about the incident, and saw that he had purchased five tickets to Kyoto: it was obvious that he had discovered a link between all of my operations and he intended to head to the old capital to investigate the main headquarters of Genesat, the company that Astaroth had attacked at the Marunouchi Building. Genesat was a subsidiary of G-Corporation and I was almost certain that Jin had begun to catch on.
Fortunately, my prize servant had already been completed.
He was a dark figure, around six feet in height dressed entirely in dark blue: it was almost as if he was clad with the sky of night. His shoulders and knee-pads were in the shape of human skulls, and his mouth was covered with a grated silver mask. Two glowing crimson orbs acted as his eyes, while his head was covered with a hood. Tied across his back was his two-pronged golden shuriken Rusty Wing, rotating as if it had a mind of its own. At his hip was his shimmering katana Red Crow, shining like its bloodlust had caused it to become brighter than the sun.
"My lord," he said with a wispy voice as he gracefully jumped off the operating table and got to his knees. "What is your desire?"
I smiled that night as told him, "I desire bloodshed. We will head to Kyoto tomorrow morning, and you shall satisfy that desire…Forbidden Ninja Kamikaze…"