Chapter 18: More Prisoners

Mishima Family Estate, Nara Prefecture, Japan

More work was being done inside the catacombs. There were rumors going around that several prisoners were being used for various experimental tests. If true, King wasn't about to stick around and find out. The catacombs itself interlocked with the estate's lower levels along the hillside. Some tunnels traveled several miles deep underground. It was a gigantic maze. The easiest way to escape the catacombs would be to sneak along the ventilation system on the side of the mining area leading towards the temple section. The hard way would be to be fight straight away from the prison cells, through the Central Chamber room, and out the estate's basement doorway.

King waited until lunchtime to explain all of this to Paul after their shift was over.

Paul: "Oh King what's goin' on buddy? You found a way out of this place yet?"

King (sits down adjacent to Paul at the table.): I think so, but it won't be that easy. Are you claustrophobic?"

Paul (puzzled.): "Eh? What does that mean?"

King: "You don't know. Well, it's the fear of being in close tight spaces."

Paul: "Oh. Nah I'm not scared of shit. What's the plan?"

King: "Well. First we should crawl through the ventilation shaft from the prison cell. From there we will need to travel through the ductwork leading towards the temple section. But once there we have to be careful of surveillance."

Paul: "Sounds like a piece of cake to me."

Just then, there was a disturbance going on at the other side of the mess hall. A tall black man, along with a tomboyish teenage girl were fighting off some prisoners in some sort of brawl. The fight got out of hand, so the guards were force to use their stun rods on these two individuals. King recognized one of them as Eddy Gordo, a recent competitor of the King of Iron Fist Tournament. The other one looked rather weak, but she showed some impressive moves. It wasn't enough to stop an assault from the guards.

King (Looking over other prisoners.): "I know him. That's Eddy Gordo."

Paul: "Eddy Gordo?"

King: "Yea. He's a capoeira fighter from Brazil. He managed to beat me in a match a few years back. Never thought I'd see him here though."

Paul: "Man he must've been against Heihachi or Kazuya to wind up here. Maybe we need to get him out too."

King: "Problem is I don't know where his cell could be. This place is huge."

Paul: "Oh yea. What do we do now?"

King: "I need to find out where they are taking them."

Paul (confused.): "Huh how are you gonna do that?"

King: "Through my heightened sense of smell."

Paul (Impressed.): Whao. Cool."

King went over to the spot where Eddy and the other prisoner had their tussle against other prisoners. He carefully took a big sniff, before a guard noticed what he was doing. King, aware of his suspicion, went back to his seat until it was time to return to work. The work consisted of digging more tunnels and building railroads underground. Also, the mining area was used to look for more fossil fuels and these ancient wooden dolls called Mokujins. For whatever reasons, these carved dummies were needed for was beyond anyone's idea.

King decided to wait until he returned to his cell before making his escape. The scent of Eddy Gordo and the girl wasn't that far from where he was being held. Once the guard finally left from his shift, King made his move. Using his bare hands, the wrestler pulls out the vent door. And carefully crawls inside. It was just large enough for King to crawl into. It would take about 15 minutes to reach the room where Eddy and the girl were being apprehended.

Finally, King crawls near the area of Eddy and the girl. He could hear the girl's voice, who sounded rather boyish talking with Eddy. King breaks off the vent door behind the two and this startles them both. The wrestler falls down from pushing too hard and lands on his head.

Eddy: "What the...who are you?"

The girl: "Wait…I know him, that's King the II. The famous wrestler!"

King (rises up, rubbing his head.): "Yea. Look we can't stay here, we need to go!"

The girl: "Are you here to bust us out?"

King: "Yes, but first we must find Paul Phoenix."

Eddy: "Let's get moving then."

Paul's cell was located a bit further away from were King's cell was. After crawling for another 10 minutes, King could smell Paul's stench. Apparently, Paul was crawling along the ventilation shaft of the catacombs. He meets up with King and the others midway through.

King: "Paul?"

Paul: "He hey! King? I see you busted out your new friends!"

King: "Shhhhh! Not so loud. Look if we turn left, we will be near the mines. So for about another 20 minutes, we should reach the edge at come out the temple area."

After a tiresome trek going upward towards the estate's ductwork, the group of fighters made it to the temple area. King was the first to come out along with Paul, Eddy, and the girl named Leo. The temple section was filled with sliding doors with elaborate paintings of Japanese mythology. It didn't take to hear the sounds of men fighting. This caught the group by surprise so they all ran towards the shrine room. Located at the Western shrine, was a group of metal wooden dummies fighting off a blonde man with a scar of his left arm. These dummies were the current modifications of the Mokujin doll, dubbed Tetsujin. Leo recognized Steve immediately when he fought these dolls.

Leo: "Steve!"

Steve (punches a Tetsujin): "Eh? I don't believe it! Leo! You're alive!"

Leo: "Of course but you didn't have to come for me! I can take care of myself"

Steve: "No! It was my fault that I left you behind in Paris! Now I'm here to make amends!"

Leo (almost teary.): "Steve…you're such a pal!"

King (senses something.): "Everyone get down!"

The temple room was torn apart by raining bullets going through the walls. They destroyed the entire area as daylight crept inside the gloomy space. A large tank slowly creeps its way inside. It looks like there would be nowhere to run for the Tekken fighters. The top opened from the tank and behold was Katsuhiro in military get up. He smiled seeing some of his prisoners escape along with Steve Fox who attempted to rescue Leo.

Katsuhiro: "It's a good thing we have trackers implanted on your prison suits. I'm glad our Tetsujins slowed you down. Otherwise, all of you would have escaped! Now don't try anything foolish!"

Paul: "Damn it!"

Eddy: "You got to be kidding."

Leo: "We were so close."

Steve: "Crap! Not again."

King: "How didn't I see this before? Where was the tracker on our prison suit?"

Katsuhiro: "All of you be quiet! Now since you can't play nice here. I'm going to send you off on a little field trip. Guards!"

The guards came inside the ruined Western temple hall room. They pointed their guns at the fighters. Each one was handcuffed by the wrists and sent off to a truck below the garage area of the estate. King had no idea what Katsuhiro was planning, but he didn't care, for hung his head low in shame. Apparently he couldn't outsmart this man. This really made him feel like shit. Steve was now caught and he actually came for Leo. Who would come save King now?

Dimepiece Studios, Los Angeles, CA

The result of the elimination match between Julia/Armor King versus Lars/Alisa ended in favor of Lars/Alisa. Coming back to America in defeat, Julia Chang took it in stride. She, Michelle, and Armor King did their best at the tournament, but the prize money wasn't meant to be theirs. The money would have been more than enough to boost the funds of the reforestation project of Canyon de Chelly. At least Lee Chaolan's endorsement would be enough to suffice for another month. Thank's to Shadi, a recruiter from Dimepiece studios, Julia and Michelle could earn more money by becoming models for the latest cars. At first Michelle was reluctant to be a model, but since she lost the fashion bet with her daughter, she had no choice but to give in and join the shoot. The first shoot featured both Julia and Michelle in their wrestling outfits. Both women enjoyed their time posing with the Chevy Camaro. When the session was finally over, the Changs went back to their dressing room only discover some unusual guests with Armor King tied up to a chair. They looked like ninjas. The sight of Armor King tied up made Michelle upset and she wanted answers.

Michelle: "What's the meaning of this? Who are you?"

Raven: "My name is Raven, in an intelligence agent here to stop the demon Ogre from destroying this planet. To my right is my partner Kunimitsu. We didn't come here to fight you, only to ask for your cooperation."

Michelle: "Hurting my fiancée is not being cooperative Mr. Raven."

Julia (standing in between her mother and the ninjas): "Mother please. Maybe they mean well by wanting to kill that monster (Ogre)."

Michelle looks at Julia for a moment and decides to trust her daughter.

Michelle (at Raven, folding her arms): "I'm listening."

Raven: "We were told that the pendant around Julia's neck has the power to control the demon Ogre. There are also two crests that act as keys to barricade the demon from entering this world. Unless you weren't planning on taking this daunting task of risking your lives to save the world, I ask you give the pendant to us."

Michelle: "I'm sorry, but as protectors of our tribe's treasure, we cannot let you take this pendant. Julia and I are fully aware of what's happening to the innocence who lost their lives at Ogre's hands. After our business here in LA, we are planning to resume our search for Ogre so we can stop him."

Kunimitsu: "Oh please, in that getup you're not stopping anything."

Raven: "Kunimitsu!"

Michelle (looks at Kunimitsu): "I remember you. You tried to steal this pendant from me when I was the protector years ago. There is no way I would lend this to you!"

Kunimitsu (drawing her blade): "You will pay for humiliating me back then you whore!"

Michelle (angered): "What?!"

Raven and Julia had to restrain their counterparts from ripping each other apart.

Julia (holding Michelle): "Calm down mother please!"

Raven (holds Kunimitsu): "What did I tell you about your emotions?"

Kunimitsu: "Let me go! This is personal!"

Raven:" That does it."

Raven hits Kunimitsu dead on her stomach. The intensity of the hit caused her to black out. Kunimitsu collapsed on Raven's arms. Michelle stopped her aggression once she saw Raven knock out his partner. Julia also turned around.

Raven: "She left me no choice."

Julia: "I still don't understand. Why work with someone who only wants to fight and take things from people?"

Raven: "It's because she has one of the crests of Upachio."

Michelle: "She does? How?"

Raven: "Through my agency, I made a deal with her to gather the crests in order to defeat Ogre. I'm no criminal like she is though."

Michelle: "She probably stole it from someone. There is no way she would have discovered it back in Mexico on her own. Which is why I wouldn't give to her."

Julia: "Raven, if what you say is true. Then I would like to aid you in stopping Ogre, but under one condition. The pendant stays with me."

Michelle: "Julia why?"

Julia: "Mom. This man speaks with conviction. There is no way he would bother to find us if he knew we couldn't help. This fundraiser is important to me, but Ogre is on the loose. As the current protector, I feel I have to do something about this."

Michelle (Had to smile.): "Julia. You are so stubborn. But I have faith in you."

Julia smiles back. Then she goes to the table. She pulls out the top drawer, and gives Raven her working card, showing the ninja her new contact info.

Raven (takes the card): "Thank you. Then we agree. When the time is right, I will contact you Ms. Julia Chang. Don't let me down. Haah."

The ninjas disappeared from the dressing room. Michelle could only hope if Julia had what it took to stop the monster Ogre who recently reappeared in France a few days ago, but the trio still fought in Saudi Arabia. So they were too far away to do anything about the demon. But that wasn't important now. Armor King was knocked out, but it looked like he received no further injuries.

Notes: The second half of this chapter can be found on my other story the Dark Talon of Death and The Scarlet Nukenin, chapter Wrath of the Jaguar. For the next chapter, Julia meets with Shadi at Chanko Paradise for another photo shoot, but a familiar face will fight to steal her.