Baek felt his heart drop into his feet when he saw Hwoarang lying on a hospital bed. He had been contacted as Hwoarang's next of kin by a UN soldier. Apparently, Hwoarang had been caught up in a firefight and had been injured during the scuffle. Baek gritted his teeth in anger at himself. Hwoarang had told Baek about his desire to get even with Jin Kazama, even going as far as wanting to challenge Kazama in his Devil form.
Baek observed his student, who was mostly fine minus some cuts and bruises. Despite those minor injuries, Baek feared for his student, whose right eye had been bandaged. The doctors had told Baek that they had saved Hwoarang's eye, but they were currently unsure if his vision would be alright.
Baek held his student's hand as if to try and let him know he was there. He wished he could have been there to keep Hwoarang safe. Hwoarang was like a son to Baek, and although he was an amazingly capable fighter, he was still young and brash. Baek was the closest thing Hwoarang had to family, so as soon as he had heard of Hwoarang's accident he rushed to his side.
"Excuse me?" Baek was startled when a man appeared at the doorway. Baek observed the man, who had neatly cropped dark hair and wore a military style uniform.
"Who are you?" Baek asked with suspicion. The man held out his hand.
"My name is Shaheen. I was there they day Hwoarang was injured. I was supposed to be his opponent in the tournament but by the time I got there he was like this. I helped get him to hospital." Baek was shocked but took the man's hand and shook it.
"Thank you Shaheen. I'm Baek, Hwoarang's mentor. I'm glad that someone showed kindness, especially in the current world we are all living in." Shaheen smiled warmly and nodded.
"Indeed. How is he?" Baek shook his head.
"His injuries are minor apart from his eye. He'll live but the doctors are uncertain if he will regain his vision in that eye." Shaheen exhaled in sorrow.
"Why did you come here Shaheen? Do you know who's responsible for this?" Baek asked.
"Poor guy. I'm sorry Baek I'm unclear on what happened to your student. At the market place, there was some sort of commotion between Hwoarang and the UN soldiers. They may have been another party involved, but I have no idea who it could be." Baek motioned for Shaheen to take a seat near Hwoarang's bed and the other man nodded in thanks.
"Well I'm glad that you were there. I don't think those UN soldiers would have been too bothered by some collateral damage." Shaheen nodded.
"I'm afraid you're right. Whatever happened resulted in Hwoarang's injury. I spoke with their leader – she looked like a Ninja. She ordered her men to bring Hwoarang here." Baek sighed, looking at his wounded student.
"I guess I should count my blessings that someone was decent enough to help him." Shaheen nodded.
"I just wanted to see how he was doing. Because of his injury, I've been put through to the next round in the tournament." Baek pondered Shaheen for a moment.
"Hmm, well good luck. You don't strike me as the competitive type. What interested you in entering the tournament?"
"Well, I lost a close friend of mine recently, and his death is connected to G-Corp. I want to find out the truth. G-Corp is supposed to be the "saviours" of this world, especially since Jin Kazama has gone missing. Despite that, their activities seem to be somewhat suspicious." Said Shaheen. Baek laughed.
"You are not wrong there. Kazuya Mishima use to run the Mishima Zaibatsu many years ago, and clearly any corporation serving him is considerably dangerous to any who might get in their way..." Shaheen looked at Baek alarmed.
"Do you think Kazuya could be involved with my friends death?!" he exclaimed suddenly. Baek sighed.
"I couldn't say. But I do know that it is entirely possible. I suggest you take care Shaheen. The truth behind this War is likely to be a lot more sinister than we could have ever imagined. And it's innocent people like Hwoarang who get caught in the cross fire."
Shaheen nodded, and watched as Baek observed his student with a forlorn look on his face. If Shaheen was going to get answers, then he would need to come face to face with Kazuya...
Katarina was stunned.
She stared at the space where that... thing had just gone. It had charged at the soldier who was there just moments before, sending them both flying off the roof. The soldier had tried to shoot Katarina, nicking her arm. Luckily, it was only a graze, and given what had just happened, she didn't even feel it. She was even oblivious to the cold rain that had started to pour from the heavens.
What had just happened? What... who was that creature? Gigas was the name she had seen on her match up. It had seemed to recognize her, almost surrendering once she had taken off her shades and it saw her face. She had a gut feeling she knew, but it was almost too much to bear.
Katarina snapped herself out of her thoughts. She picked up her shades and ran to the wall, looking for shelter from the rain.
She needed answers.
Her fight had occurred on the helipad of the G-Corp tower. She remembered reading somewhere that G-Corp had developed the Jack Robots, used during the world-spread wars as G-Corps main army. Could they be responsible for developing the thing she just fought?
Speculating wasn't going to get her anywhere. Katarina headed inside, reaching a stairwell and lift that could take her anywhere in the building. There were no guards to greet her as she shut the door behind her, leaving the harsh rainfall behind. Katarina pressed the lift and it opened immediately. Stepping inside, she looked at the number of floors to choose from. Luckily for her, the floors were labelled and her finger hovered over one titled "Research and Records".
If there was any record of the thing she just fought, it would be there. Katarina put on her shades as the lift descended – they had been a gift from her old-man. She really hoped that her hunch about Gigas was dead wrong...
Anna reapplied her make up for the fourth or fifth time. She had honestly stopped caring. It seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the swelling grief inside of her from controlling her composure.
She should have been on her honeymoon. With the man she loved. Not back at G-corp to clear out his desk. She looked around the room, at the empty office space with all it's hi-tech equipment and modern industrial steel. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
Anna looked sadly at the cardboard box filled with the usual brick-a-brak; a dehydrated potted plant, a smart fountain pen, an ID card, some loose papers and a framed photo of Anna and her fiance together. It was almost too much to bare that this small box of random items was all Anna had to summarise her fiance's lost life.
The wedding was supposed to be in Italy, held at the grand Sirus Cathedral. Anna had been preparing to walk down the aisle. She had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing her love at the altar. However, when she went to retrieve her wedding dress, she found it was missing. The next thing she knew, gunshots and screams could be heard from the cathedral. Her blood ran cold but she rushed to the scene.
She couldn't get that image out of her head.
Her fiance lay dead at the altar, a bullet neatly between his eyes. Several others had been shot too, and blood was scattered across the white marble floor.
Anna saw a glimpse of someone wearing white running away. The figure looked back for a split second.
Nina.
Just the thought of her sister made Anna incandescent with rage. Nina had assassinated her fiance and several members of his family, on Anna's wedding day! It was like Nina wasn't satisfied with sticking a knife in Anna, she had to twist it too.
It was likely Nina had been hired to kill Anna's fiance. He had been a G-Corp executive and knew vital secrets about the company. That being said, Anna couldn't help but wonder why would someone target him when the World was still in such a state of Chaos.
Anna shook her head and focused. She just needed to clear out her Fiance's desk, then she would enter the King of Iron Fist tournament. She knew that Nina would be likely to show up, and even if she didn't, Anna was hopefully she could track her down. Anna made a promise to herself, that she would use her grief to fuel her rage and avenge her fiance by killing Nina. That bitch would die a slow, painful death.
Anna finished packing up and held the box close to her. At least she had something to keep of his.
Suddenly, she heard a commotion coming from the other room. What was that?
5 Minutes earlier.
Katarina found the records room with ease, but was at a loss on where to start. The room looked like a computer lab, with a large screen acting as a wall and numerous towers in each corner. She guessed they were like storage units for data.
If she was going to find out who or what Gigas was, she would need to access one of these computers. Katarina jabbed at the touch screen and the monitor came alive with light. The G-corp logo flashed on screen and she touched it.
Login in...
"Great..." Katarina looked around the room, seeing if she could spot any scrap of paper or post-it note with some login in details, but to no avail.
"Damn it!" She hit the desk with her fist.
Katarina then noticed a small circular pad on the desk, with a small light within it.
A card reader!
If she could find an employee's card, she could use it to get into the system.
A quick search of the room yielded no results. She was probably going to have to search a nearby office of some kind. Katarina bit her lip. She really couldn't hang around long as she was sure G-Corp wouldn't appreciate her snooping around.
"Let's do this..."
Katarina approached a nearby door, easing it open a crack to peak inside. It was a more traditional office space, with desks uniformly spaced around the room. The thunder storm outside caused shadows and light to flash across the room through the floor length windows. Katarina entered and began searching the first desk she came across. She came up empty by searching through the drawers. After several minutes, she was still having no luck.
"Damn it!" She was getting agitated. Without warning, the door on the far side of the office opened and a guard walked in, equipped with an assault rifle and military level gear. Katarina swore and crouched down, hoping that he hadn't seen her.
"Oi! You there! What do you think your doing? This area is restricted!" Damn, she'd been discovered.
Katarina stood up and tried her best to look inconspicuous.
"Oh really? I'm so so sorry! I just got so lost around here! I don't suppose you could tell me where the exit is?" The guard looked at her with suspicion and actually raised his weapon at her.
"Don't move!" Katarina froze and put her hands up in surrender. The guard came closer, keeping his gun aimed at her chest.
"Why have I done something wrong?" The guard gave her a menacing look.
"Take off your glasses!" Katarina sighed.
"Sure thing." She slowly raised her hands to her face, and removed her shades, holding them out to the guard. He attempted to take them.
Now was her chance.
Katarina dropped the shades, distracting the guard for a split second, allowing her to aim a powerful kick to his arm holding the gun. He gasped as her kick sent the gun flying across the room, clareting against a desk before falling behind it. Katarina followed up with a well placed jab with her foot, making use of her high heels to send the stiletto spike right into the guards shin. He howled in pain, but responded by trying to punch her with a swift right hook. Katarina deflected the attack and kneed him in the gut, winding him.
"Not so tough without your toy now are you?" She grinned as the guard fell to his knees.
To her surprise, he jumped forward, tackling her to the ground.
"What the fuck?!" she yelled as he brought her to the floor. He tried to pin her down, holding her arms in place.
"You are under arrest! Stop resisting or I will... AHH!" Katarina headbutted him in the nose. She gave a thought of thanks to her old-man, who had taught her the Savate techniques, including how to literally use your head. Katarina got out of the guard's grasp and quickly stood up. She stomped on the guard's head, knocking him out cold. She took a few deep breaths to let the adrenaline cool in her body.
Katarina smiled. She did love a good scrap.
"Let's see if this douche has a card." Katarina searched the man, but came up empty.
"Shit! How does a security guard not have a card for this place?"
"Because he doesn't have the required clearance." Katarina was startled by a woman's voice. She looked up and observed her.
The woman was dressed in a glamorous but dark dress, decorated with black feathers. She wore a feathered headpiece and veil over her brunette bob cut. Katarina noticed the woman's makeup had run as if she had been crying. She held a cardboard box for some reason. Katarina swore she had seen her before...
"Who the hell are you?!" Katarina asked. The woman simply shrugged.
"It doesn't matter. I suggest you get out of here before more security shows up." Katarina picked up her dropped shades and placed them on her head, putting her hands on her hips in defiance.
"Sorry Black Widow, but I need some information. I think I remember who you are – Anna... something. You work for Kazuya Mishima, the head of G-Corp right?" Anna bared her teeth.
"Not any more, now get lost!" She was clearly not in the helping mood, much to Katarina's frustration.
"You must be pretty clued up about the dirty dark secrets of G-Corp. Maybe you could tell me about something called Gigas?" Anna paused briefly, but approached Katarina menacingly.
"I told you, I don't work here any more! Now go away!" This woman clearly wouldn't budge. Katarina took in Anna's appearance, noting the running makeup. Maybe she could appeal to Anna's sympathy.
"I take it you're not in fancy dress then – why are you dressed like your going to a funeral? Did you lose someone? Was G-Corp responsible? Well guess what sister, I'm in the same boat!" Anna looked taken aback, seeming to calm down somewhat. Katarina continued.
"Look, my name's Katarina. I came to this tournament to find my father, and I just had a very strange encounter with a massive... thing that was basically the Hulk painted red. Except... it seemed to recognize me. It even protected me from a guard! I don't know why but I have a hunch it could be my dad!" Anna was dumbfounded.
She took in Katarina's outlandish costume – her white coat decorated with peacock feather motifs, her black bra with her breasts bordered by two derringer pistols, her pinstriped trousers and high heels. Clearly this woman wasn't here on business, but Anna needed no more proof that the woman was a participant in the tournament than the unconscious guard on the floor.
Anna sighed with emotional exhaustion.
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it? And why would your father be here of all places?" Katarina smiled.
"All I need is an access card. I can use it to log onto the system and find out info on Gigas. Please, I have to find out. My father went missing a while ago, that's why I entered the tournament to try and find him!" Anna was sceptical. Why on earth would G-Corp be interested in this woman's father? Anna had overseen the development of the Jack Robots, but as far as she knew, G-Corp had no interest in human experiments.
It didn't mean G-Corp wouldn't have tried it though...
"Alright. I'll help. But then you have to leave, you've caused enough damage." said Anna, picking up her Fiance's box. Katarina scoffed.
"Hey your guy aimed a gun at me first! Not to mention his buddy earlier took a shot at me!" She pointed to her grazed arm, where a thin streak of scarlet had stained Katarina's white jacket. Anna did find it strange that the guards were so trigger happy.
"Well if Gigas is a G-Corp asset, then perhaps they were trying to protect it." Katarina frowned as they returned to the records room.
"Asset? I can tell you use to work here! What ever that thing was, it was obviously once human!" Katarina shuddered. If Gigas really was her father, then he had been put through some awful experiments to make him into that thing. Anna paused for a moment. She had become a bit cut off from the world when she joined G-Corp after the 5th tournament.
"Anyway, what makes you think it's your father?" asked Anna. Katarina sighed.
"Gigas seemed to hesitate, which was weird after he just tried to smash me to death during our fight. It was like he recognized me or something. Not to mention he protected me from that guard! If it was just some random "asset" as you put it, then why would it react to me like that?" Anna had to admit, it did sound strange, but she remained stony faced as she retrieved a small white ID card from her Fiance's box and tapped it to the card reader on the desk. The computer screen came alive as access was granted.
"Be quick." She barked at Katarina. Katarina smiled sarcastically and looked at the screen.
"Where should I even start?" Anna sighed.
"Here, let me." Katarina stepped back as Anna stat in the chair, using the touch screen to navigate G-Corps files.
"What's with the box?" Asked Katarina, absent mindedly cleaning her shades on her jacket. Anna froze for a second, but continued her search.
"It's... nothing." Katarina reached over and grabbed a framed photo.
"Wow is this the guy you lost? Too bad he was quite the stud from the picture." Anna snatched the photo and threw it in the box.
"Mind your own business!" She barked. Katarina's face softened.
"I'm... sorry. I should have guessed you weren't here dressed like that for casual Friday." For some reason, Katarina's observation made Anna smile. It was almost an alien feeling to her.
"Ha, nothing gets past you does it. But you are right, I did lose someone. That man in the picture was my fiance."
Katarina smiled in sympathy. "I'm sorry for your loss. Gotta admit though, I've never seen a widow dressed to the nines like you before!" Anna shrugged as she continued to look for files on Gigas.
"I'm in mourning, doesn't mean I can't do it in style. Katarina laughed.
"Well lady you've definitely ticked that box!"
Anna found a folder named "GIGAS" and clicked on it.
"Here." She said, pointing at the screen. Katarina grabbed the computer screen and scanned through the documents under "GIGAS".
"What's this one?" She asked Anna, clicking on a folder marked "PG001". As soon as the document opened Katarina recoiled.
Her fears has been realized.
"PG001 – Project Gigas no1, and he was the human subject they used." said Anna sadly. When did Gcorp start messing with human test subjects?
Katarina scrolled down the page, reading over the document. It told her that her father, Pedro Alves, had been selected for the project after test results had been intercepted – that detailed Pedro's physical prowess and suitability for the project.
"Jesus Christ – it's him. They experimented on him!" Katarina tore herself away from the screen in horror.
Gigas was her father! She had come to the tournament to win the prize money to help in her search for him, but inadvertently found him here and now!
"It's my turn to say sorry." Said Anna. Katarina took a deep breath.
"Well at least I know he's alive. But why did G-Corp do that to him?" Anna looked through the files again, finding a folder marked "PROPOSAL"
"It says here, that Project Gigas was ordered after the success of the Jack Robots. The higher ups in the company wanted to experiment with living test subjects in order to create an alternative "biological" soldier. It seems your father was selected due to his preferable physical traits and combat experience." Katarina turned angrily to Anna.
"Those bastards! Was it Kazuya who ordered it?! I'll kick the shit outta him!" Katarina began to storm toward the door, but Anna grabbed her.
"Trying to take Kazuya on would be suicide. I'm sorry about your father, but the actual people behind the experiments won't be here. There are all sorts of different G-Corp facilities across the World for all sorts of reasons. I can help you track them down." Katarina rage dulled a little, replaced with curiosity.
"Why would you help me? I though you were one of G-Corps finest?" Anna shook her head.
"I worked for them to get even with my sister, but I didn't sign on for human experiments! Besides, I know what it's like to have a loved one torn away from you. I can at least point you in the right direction." Katarina scrutinized Anna for a moment. Clearly, Anna had cut ties with G-Corp, and even if she had ulterior motives, maybe Katarina could use her to find Gigas.
"Alright then. What should we do now?" Anna smiled. She typed away at the keyboard briefly, uncovering the location of Gigas's creation.
"Here we go. It seems that the project was initiated in a facility not far from here. I can give you a lift if you like." Katarina raised a brow.
"Sure. I'd appreciate that."
It was then that a shrieking alarm ran through the building, making both Anna & Katarina jump out of their skin.
"What the hell is that?! A fire alarm?" Yelled Katarina, barely audible over the alarm. Anna felt dread spread through her.
"No, something worse! We need to leave right now!" Anna grabbed her box and motioned Katarina to follow her. Anna knew that siren meant something bad was on it's way, and she didn't want to be around when it got here...