Chapter 2

Author's Note: And here's Chapter 2! In this chapter I decided to challenge myself by adding some fighting scenes. (After all, you can't really write a Tekken story without adding a few brawls here and there.) In addition to putting in action scenes, I'm also working hard on keeping the characters with their personalities. I honestly have no idea how Sergei and Anna would react with each other. Anyways, please enjoy this next chapter!

Snow was lightly falling from the darkened sky as Sergei was making his way to his target's last location: The Underground Battle Circuit. He had waited for nighttime to approach before heading out seeing as how it would be much easier to find Anna when the battles had started. He stopped in his steps as he pulled from his front pocket the picture of Anna which he had torn from her profile page. He studied the picture in an attempt to memorize her face so that when she was in his sights, recognition would hit him immediately.

Short brown hair cut into the bobbed style, muddy brown eyes, a pair of thin, lightly painted pink lips, and snow-white skin… Sergei made a list of her features in his head then ran his eyes over the photo once more to see if he had missed anything. Nothing was skipped from what his eyes told him. Yet even with her face clearly set in his mind, Sergei, for some odd reason, found that he was still staring at her snapshot. He quickly stopped himself when he realized that he was more specifically staring at her lips. Quickly, he returned the photo back into his front pocket and continued heading back to his destination.

"Snow again, huh…?" Anna whispered to herself as she gazed out at the falling flakes just outside of her window. For the time being, she was spending her days at an extravagant hotel using the money she had "earned" to pay for the expenses. Then at night was when the fun began. She had been playing ring girl at some illegal underground circuit for a while now, bidding on a fighter of which she knew was going to win, and then taking the loser out on a "date" as she had promised.

Taking a glance at the grandfather clock sitting in the corner of her well-furnished room, she saw that it was about time for her performance. Rising from her seat beside the window, Anna reached up into the air as she stretched. While stretching she managed to spot the people walking down on the streets below. Due to the weather, all the civilians were dressed in fur coats, hats, or a sweater which is why it amused Anna when she saw one man walking among the crowds wearing only a military outfit.

Although she couldn't see his face very well from her room, she did manage to see his jet black hair and noticeably grey skin. Judging by the way the other civilians around him refused to meet eye contact, she could discern that he was both well-known and feared, or he had an intimidating gaze. Anna watched as he disappeared from her line of view then closed the curtains as she prepared to get dressed.

It took longer than expected for Sergei to locate the underground battle arena. He had thought it would be placed somewhere far from the main part of town, preferably on the outskirts. Yet here this one stood, located in a town alleyway, right under the nose of the government. Sergei watched from behind a corner as hoards and hoards of druggies, fighters, and what appeared to be businessmen, entered the doorway that Dragunov was sure led to the fighting grounds.

Just as he was prepared to enter the door himself, he stopped in his tracks. He looked over his clothes and realized that if any one of those men noticed a Special Forces soldier was in there, chaos would break out which would only result in him losing his target. He rounded the corner that he had been hiding behind and smoothly slipped off his sleeves, revealing his black T-shirt underneath. At least with this look, he would appear more inconspicuous. Then, with sleeves dangling down beside his legs, Sergei made his way to the door and pulled it open.

As soon as the door was opened, the smell of cigar smoke hit him like a punch. Without a doubt, Sergei knew that he had reached the spot. He took one step into the small room that acted only as a doorway and looked down the stairwell. From where he stood, he could hear the muffled shouts of men and the sound of loud, reckless music.

Taking his usual, uniformed strides, he descended down the stairs while the raucous got louder and louder. As he reached the bottom step, he was greeted by two men, both of whom were of a muscular caliber. They were blocking yet another door which unquestionably led to the fighting grounds. These two, obviously enough, were playing as bodyguards, making sure men like Sergei wouldn't enter.

Sergei stared at them with narrowed eyes while they eyed him mischievously. After looking over their new guest, one of the men whispered snidely, "Sorry military boy, but you're not going to be heading any further."

Although the man's voice was hardly audible over the noise from the other side of the door, when the men before him began to ball up their fists, Sergei knew exactly what they wanted. At this moment it would be much easier to just pull the gun on them, but that would only cause a scene if anyone inside were to hear. No, Sergei had to do it the hard way. Pulling his glove down onto his hand, he took his Sambo stance and prepared himself for the bodyguards' first attacks.

The taller and slightly slimmer man made a lunge towards Sergei, preparing to strike the soldier in his stomach. With ease Sergei caught his arm and turned him around, forcing him face-first into the cement flooring. He continued to pull the man's back, anticipating a pop when he had dislocated his shoulder. Right as he was close to succeeding, the other man came rushing at him, this time his attack point was Sergei's head.

Releasing his grip on the other man, Sergei rammed his shoulder into the attacking man's stomach causing him to stagger back a few steps. Rising to his full height, Sergei ran at the staggering man in return and delivered a blow to the back of his head as he was hunched over, causing him to suffer a concussion.

With one man down, Sergei need only finish his business with the other one. Turning his gaze back towards the man who was now on his hands and knees, the Russian Sambo fighter grabbed ahold of his wrist and hauled him back up onto his feet. Desperate and enraged, the bodyguard, with his free hand, tried to take a swing at him which only proved to be fruitless as once again Sergei caught it. He was turned around and pushed up against a wall, his face being smothered by the bricks the building was built of. That was going to be the least of his concerns however when he felt his arm wrenching further and further back behind him until there was that satisfying pop Sergei had been waiting to hear.

He let out a cry of agony as pain began to surge of pain raced through his body. "You bastard…!" He muttered angrily. Sergei paid him no mind and let him drop to the floor as he held his limp arm in pain. All that was left to do now was knock him out. As the man turned to face the soldier who was still hovering behind him, he received a boot to the face, rendering him unconscious.

After putting the two men up against each other, back-to-back, he tied both of their left hands together using the cable he had stashed on his person. Running a gloved finger over the cut that ran along his bottom lip, Sergei gave them one last look before heading inside.

The moment he pulled open the rusty door, the music and shouting that had once been contained behind it now erupted into Sergei's ears. The place was filled with people of all kinds; gamblers, drug traffickers, and fighters of all nationalities. For a normal person it would seem impossible to focus with all these people and noises, but Sergei was different. He remained calm and composed despite the situation he was given and made sure that nothing would get in the way of his objective.

Running his eyes over his surroundings, Dragunov noticed that the mass of people were surrounding a single fighting ring. In the ring stood a slender woman, brunette, wearing a revealing ring girl outfit. Sergei narrowed his eyes. Target found…

Standing in the middle of the worn out ring, Anna was waiting for two fighters to participate in the next fight. She was getting impatient of waiting so began skimming the crowd for possible combatants. Leaning over the top rope, she caught sight of a black-haired man maneuvering his way through the many people, the whole time his steel-blue eyes set on her. Their eyes met and suddenly Anna felt herself get lost in those cold empty pools. She snapped back into reality when she suddenly felt fingers wrap around her ankle. Glancing down, she found herself staring into the ugly, rough face of the man she had tied up the other night.

Seeing that she was the woman from the night before, the brute hauled himself onto the ring to join her. "Remember me, darling," he asked huskily as he approached her.

Anna meekly backed away until she found herself cornered into the turnbuckle. "I-I've never seen you before," she replied back innocently. The crowd around them began to erupt in boos and cheers when the brute grabbed ahold of her wrist and leaned into the ring girl.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me the other day," he snarled into her ear.

Rather than hear a plea, whimper, or apology, the man instead heard a giggle come from her. Playing along, she placed her free hand on his shoulder and replied back in her sensual tone, "Is that so? We'll see about that…"

Before he could comprehend what she had meant, he suddenly felt pain gather below his belt. He looked down just in time to see the woman's knee retreating back from his groin. Looking back up to her face, he received a cute wink from the woman before he watched her exit the ring and scramble through the crowd in an attempt of quick escape. "Get her guys!" The man hollered out to the sea of people. Amidst the crowd, a group of seven to ten men nodded in the direction of the brute then took off after Anna. "That bitch is gonna' get it," he muttered under his breath.

Just as he was ducking his head under the top rope to prepare to leave, one of the announcers from below stopped him midway. "Hold it there," the man called, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Where the hell do you think," He shouted back, retreating back into the ring, "I'm going after that bi—"

"But you have an opponent." The announcer interrupted, signaling in the direction behind the man.

The brute looked over his shoulder and was greeted by a pair of steel eyes. Turning around fully, the man scoffed at the full sight of his next opponent. "What, him? Ha!" It was true that in comparison, Sergei was much smaller than this beast, and perhaps that was why he seemed so confident in himself. One look at him though and the soldier knew that size was all he had. The bigger man rolled up his fingers then said cockily, "He just wanted a shot at playing hero for that woman." He broke out in laughter while at the same time preparing his fighting stance. "I'll show you where playing hero gets you."

Sergei pulled on his gloves then waited as the reckless oaf came moving in, his fist raised in preparation for a punch. Effortlessly, Sergei latched onto his arm and took him to the ground. Tugging onto the limb with all his strength, the soldier managed to release it from its socket, causing the crowd to cheer. Rolling away from the lout, Sergei got back onto his feet and watched how the man reacted in horror at the sight of his useless arm. "You bastard!"

Learning absolutely nothing from his last technique, the man rose to his feet once more then in a flurry of rage, he launched himself towards Sergei, this time catching him and pinning him under all his weight. He looked down at the dark-haired man's face and saw that despite his current position, his face remained blank and expressionless. Enraged by the look Sergei was delivering him, the brute raised his good arm, ready to distribute what he hoped to be a finishing blow to the Special Forces officer. However, before his fist could reach Sergei's face, he suddenly found their positions switched.

In one swift movement, Sergei had pushed himself off his back and tackled the heavier man down. Now sitting upon the man's stomach, Dragunov began a senseless beat down on the man's vulnerable face and skull. After suffering multiple strikes from the Russian's elbows and fists, the lout eventually went unconscious after he was dealt the final blow from Sergei's right fist.

Casually, Sergei rose to his feet then began heading toward the direction Anna and the others had gone, leaving the brute bloodied and bruised in the faded ring behind him. He had wasted too much time dealing with him. By now Anna could be gone when she had been within his reach only a few minutes ago.

He continued to push through the rowdy crowd until he reached a door that was much like the one he had come in from. Turning the knob, he pushed it open and found himself staring at an unconscious man writhing in pain. Sergei recognized him as one of the brute's men who had been chasing after his target. Due to his condition, Sergei could estimate that he had been attacked quite recently. Anna was still nearby.

After kicking another man into a pile of garbage cans, Anna once again took off running, the cold night air biting at her bare skin. In her haste she had left her fur coat behind in the underground leaving only her meager bikini top and mini skirt to provide her warmth. She stopped to catch her breath and began to think of how she would get out of this. There were still four men up and about if she had counted correctly and from her knowledge, they had split up to look for her. She preferred it that way seeing as how she would be able to defend herself easier in these conditions. Her only problem however was that she had gotten herself lost in this maze of alleyways.

As she was leaning against the building deep in thought, she could faintly hear the crunching sound of footsteps on the snow. They were uneven and reckless, and soon she realized that there was more than one pair of feet that was making the noise. They were getting close. Before Anna could make a run for it, she suddenly felt someone grab onto her wrist. "Well look who I've found," the thug sneered.

Anna glanced up at him and gave him a smile, "Why, hello," she greeted slyly.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Anna landed a punch to the side of his jaw then, as he staggered back, she planted a kick straight to chest. He landed flat on his back with a thud, but before Anna had a chance to admire her handiwork, she found herself, once again, caught by the enemy. Two strong hands had managed to grab hers from behind and before she could argue or yell, she felt all the air escape from her lungs. She fell onto the snow while she heard the sick laughs of the men who now had her surrounded.

Anna had left such a clear path in the snow; Sergei would be amazed if the group of thugs had failed to locate her. As he was following the print of her heels, along the way he had also come upon unconscious bodies. It was when he came across the third body that he began to realize that maybe he was underestimating her. Perhaps she was more than just a lovely face. He took the final turn into yet another alleyway where he heard a commotion breaking out.

Standing at the opposite end of the pathway were three thugs and a limp Anna kneeling on the ground before them. Sergei watched as they intimidated his target, groping and teasing her all the while. It wasn't until he made his presence known that the men stopped.

Anna had no knowledge Sergei had arrived until the men around her pulled their hands away from her stopped their threats and insults. "And who the hell are you?" She heard one of them ask.

Hearing no reply, Anna turned around to find the soldier from before approaching them. Able to get a close look at him, she found that the man was quite handsome. The seriousness and solemnity his face held sent chills down her spine and those eyes lured her in. Before she knew it, she found herself making her way towards him but was stopped when one of the hoodlums yanked her back. "Where do you think you—"

The man was interrupted by the sight of the soldier's gun aimed straight at him. Without having to be told, the thug released her and held up his hands in defense. "Hey look man, we're only doing what we were told. If we knew she was your…"

As the man rambled on, trying to justify his actions, Anna had reached Sergei and unexpectedly pressed herself up against his broad chest, stunning the soldier and causing him to lower his gun. He took a glance down at her and recognized the brown hair, muddy brown eyes, and…lightly painted pink lips that he had memorized from her profile. Except even though it was most definitely his target in his grasp, there was something about her that the photograph couldn't capture.

As he continued to gaze at her, Anna buried her face into his shirt and shut her eyes. Despite how cold he appeared the man seemed to be radiating warmth. As she was enjoying the warmth, she suddenly felt him shift and before she could react, she found herself being thrown aside, landing in the snow covered floor. Glancing back up at him, she found that the soldier was now busy occupying himself with the thugs.

After pushing Anna out of the way, Sergei delivered an uppercut to the first thug within his reach then flipped the other one over his knee leaving only one more standing. Learning nothing from the soldier's recent attacks, he came rushing in towards him, his pocketknife drawn. Nimbly, Dragunov ducked under the blade then used a shoulder block to knock the ruffian back. Before he was given the chance to recover, Sergei sent him flying into a nearby wall with a kick.

Anna watched him with awe as he finished off his last opponent, a gentle smile spreading across her lips. She rose up from the ground and slowly began approaching him from behind, her gentle footsteps crunching against the snow below her. When he was within her reach, she reached her hands out and began running them over his arms. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered innocently, pushing herself back up against his body. "Is there any way I can repay you…?"

Rather than wait for an answer that she wasn't going to receive, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her soft pink lips against his…