"You can't win, son, and you know it," said Heihachi, as he adjusted his belt.
"I can't, but I sure as hell will try," answered his son, Kazuya, who was barely standing at the other side of the room, bleeding by his broken nose.
Heihachi grinned. Lee, his right hand man, was standing behind him, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching the spectacle. Surely the old man intended to badly injure his offspring.
"That's what I like about you, Kazuya," he said. "You're very optimistic."
"Go to hell," answered his son.
"You first."
Heihachi attacked again, running towards his son. He jumped and threw a flying kick directly at Kazuya's face. Kazuya, all winded out, could barely escape the blow. He ducked to one side. Heihachi landed on his feet.
"Nicely done," he said.
Kazuya was going to try again. Try to elevate his ki. He stood his ground, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Blue energy surrounded his frame. Small electric bolts coursed his hands, chest and head.
"You think elevating your ki will help you?" Heihachi laughed. A great laugh. "Don't make me laugh!"
Lee was anxious. He wanted the old man to finish his son off soon. He had more important matters to discuss with him.
Kazuya's ki kept elevating, but it was still too small to compete with his father's.
Heihachi just stood there, watching, waiting.
Kazuya opened his eyes and uttered a guttural scream, as he prepared to launch a new attack towards his father. He ran towards him.
Heihachi threw a punch, Kazuya ducked and immediately countered with a rising uppercut. He got his father on the chin, and sent him flying through the air with him. Heihachi went sprawling to the floor, as his son landed on his two feet, smiling.
Blood began to flow from the corner of Heihachi's mouth.
"Never thought you could hit me like that, son," said Heihachi.
Lee looked overly excited.
"I hope that got your attention," answered Kazuya. "Now for the killing blow."
"Heh!"
Blue energy flowed through Kazuya's arms again, as Heihachi stood up. Kazuya screamed and went for the kill, but the old man was faster, moving out of the way and slashing at his son with his right hand. Kazuya staggered backwards, as his white shirt, now slashed open, began to dye in a bloody red.
"Damn you!" he screamed.
A gash ran all the way from Kazuya's right shoulder to the lower left part of his abdomen. Blood was seeping wildly.
"That shows who the faster of the two is," mocked his father.
"You... you will never control..."
"This little charade has bored me already. You are not a worthy opponent for me." Heihachi turned towards Lee. "Finish him, please. I can't stand beating children."
Lee smiled. "As you wish."
The white-haired Japanese walked towards the injured Kazuya. Heihachi's son threw a punch charged with blue energy directly at Lee's face. Lee grabbed the punch in mid-motion and twisted his arm. Kazuya screamed in pain as his wrist snapped.
"You disgust me," said Lee.
He picked Kazuya up and carried him towards the big, glass window.
"Say goodbye to your dad, punk."
Heihachi turned around and saw what Lee was about to do. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again.
Lee threw Kazuya towards the glass window, which shattered and swallowed the only Mishima heir, and showed him his death. Kazuya fell from thirty stories high, and fell to his death thirty stories below, when the concrete floor smashed his head and pulped his brains.
Heihachi walked to the smashed window, peeked outside, and walked to the door of his office.
"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Lee?" he asked the man who just murdered his son.
* * *
Present day, United States of America.
Mai Shiranui was sitting in an uncomfortable couch. Try as she might, she couldn't get comfortable. She was in the offices of retired-wrestler-now-turned-lawyer Steven Williams. He was a broad man, and he won most of his cases as he did his matches: by intimidating his opponents.
Mai, dressed in a pair of denim jeans, a white cotton tanktop --which could barely hold her enormous breasts-- that read "BEEYATCH", and her long, red hair tied in a ponytail as usual, felt completely underdressed in the presence of that intimidating man. Not that she cared or anything, she just felt weirdly out of place.
Williams, a bald-headed Texan with the friendliness of a rattlesnake, was dressed in an expensive Armani suit.
"I don't give a rat's ass what he said, Andrew," he said to Andy Bogart, Mai's boyfriend.
"If you could stop with the Andrew bit, I would appreciate it," Andy said.
"I don't care what you appreciate or don't. The bottom line is I don't care if you're dirt and toenail with Paul Phoenix. I told him months ago that I wouldn't fight again in no goddamned tournament."
Andy was trying not to hit the lawyer. In part it was due to the fact that he looked tough as nails. It seemed as he could beat Andy in a fight any day of the week.
"Hey, but I'm just telling you what Paul said," Andy said.
Mai was sitting there, biting her lower lip so that not a word would escape her mouth. She knew that if she spoke, it would be to insult the bald-headed Texan.
"I don't care what he said. What? Do I have to write it out to ya?" Williams took a pen and a paper and wrote I DON'T CARE in big letters and showed it to Andy. He just shrugged his shoulders and stood up from the chair.
"Ok, I think you can't be convinced then," Andy said.
"You're damned straight. Now get the hell outta my office before I kick your ass!"
Mai stood up so fast her breasts bounced up and down. She seemed a little ashamed of that, but nonetheless walked towards Williams.
"You need one hell of an attitude adjustment, mister."
Williams pointed a finger at her face. "I don't care what you think, missy. Now get your friend here and leave my office."
Mai looked stunned. She grabbed Andy's arm and walked with him towards the door of the office.
"What's with his attitude?" she asked Andy as soon as Williams slammed the door at their backs.
"Don't know," Andy answered. "He used to be one hell of a fighter."
"So what are we going to do now? We need another member for the team."
Andy shrugged as he pushed the button for the elevator. "Don't know. Paul assured me that Williams would join us."
They entered the elevator as soon as the doors opened. A red-haired man was standing there, dressed in a leather jacket and black jeans. He was leaning against the wall of the elevator with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
The doors closed.
"What are we going to do?" Mai asked. "The tournament's next week!"
"I know that," he answered.
Mai looked at the attractive redhead. He was extremely gorgeous. She smiled.
Andy looked at her and got a little jealous. He wasn't the jealous type, but this man was extremely handsome.
"Mai!"
She turned around and faced her boyfriend.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The redhead brushed a flock of hair from his face. "So you are Mai Shiranui and Andy Bogart? I've been looking for you two."
Andy got suspicious. "Who are you?"
The stranger opened his eyes. He had beautiful purple eyes. "You can call me Hellstinger."
"Hellstinger?" asked Mai. "That's a weird name."
Andy stood in front of Mai. "And why were you looking for us?"
The doors of the elevator stopped and an elderly woman got in. She looked at Mai's chest and rolled her eyes. Mai didn't even noticed.
"I know you two are joining the King of Fighter tournament and are short of a member for your team."
"How do you know that?" asked Andy.
"I've been following you for a long time."
The old lady turned around and looked at Hellstinger. He just winked at her. The doors of the elevator opened up and the old lady got out.
"Yeah? And what do you want with us?"
Hellstinger smiled. It was a warm, friendly smile. "Hey, I just thought you two were two of the greatest fighters of all time, so I wanted to join your team. I've been following you all the way from Japan."
Mai blushed. She didn't know why, but she did, anyway. "Oh, Andy, isn't he cute? He followed us all the way from Japan. What do you say we let him join our team?"
"Mai," spoke Andy as if to a child. "We can't go around accepting people in our team if we don't know how they fight."
The elevator's doors opened up again, and the three of them got out.
They walked all the way from the elevator to the reception desk, when suddenly, two armed thugs entered the building.
"Alright!" screamed one of the thugs. "This is a robbery! I want all of you on the floor, now!"
Mai gasped. "Oh, Andy."
Hellstinger just smiled. "Ain't that a luck? How appropriate. You just stay here while I show you some of my power."
He walked towards the thugs, smiling. Blue energy began to seep out of him. It snaked all around his body. His clothes tore up and he was left naked for about two seconds. Two seconds Mai used to check all his body. Then, from out of nowhere, a couple of wings appeared from his back. They were leathery, vampiric wings. His body was covered in a purple armor.
"Who are you?!" screamed one of the thugs.
"I am your doom," answered Hellstinger.
"Yeah, right!" screamed the other thug as he pointed his gun at him. He fired against Hellstinger, but he just stood his ground. The bullet seemed to strike an invisible force field. The bullet melted as soon as it touched the force field.
"What the fuck are you?" asked one of the thugs.
Hellstinger spread his wings and took off. He flew fast at his attackers. He was more like a blur than a man, cutting the air between himself and his foes. He seemed to appear behind them, and with some quick moves he disarmed both thugs.
"How the... ?" asked one thug.
"You little piece of shit! I'll kill you!" said the other. He took a pocket knife out and turned around fast towards Hellstinger, cutting an arc with the knife. Hellstinger raised his hand and the blade cut all the way through it. He didn't even flinch. The thug smiled, seeing some blood run out from him. The other one took a knife out also, and stabbed Hell stinger in the ribs. As with the first man, he didn't move.
"Now we got you!" said one of the thugs.
"You think?" asked Hellstinger, calmed as ever. He had his eyes closed, and he was smiling.
As he opened his eyes, both blades broke, and the thugs fell on their asses. The blades dissapeared from his body, and his wounds healed in an instant.
"That was fun," he said. "But now it's time I finished this game of ours." He threw a roundhouse kick, connecting right across the face of one of the thugs. The other one crawled across the floor, scared shitless.
"You... you're a monster!!" he screamed.
"Heh heh!"
Hellstinger pointed one finger at him. At his fingertip, a small, red ball of energy formed. It shined and threw small bolts of light everywhere.
"Say goodnight," he said.
The small ball of energy was shot from his fingertip towards the scared thug. It hit him in the back of the head and exploded. The headless thug went sprawling on the floor as chunks of his head and blood splashed everyone who standing around. As his body fell to the floor, it began to twitch.
A sexy blond secretary began to scream.
"God!" screamed Andy. "You didn't have to kill him!"
Mai covered her mouth to muffle a scream. Everyone in the lobby was scared of him.
Fixing his red hair and with a smirk on his face, Hellstinger just walked out the door.
"So, am I in your team or what?" he asked.
* * *
A door opened up somewhere. A tall, red-haired man entered the room, where another man was sitting behind a desk. The room was dark.
"Is everything up to pace?" asked the man behind the desk.
The redhead walked towards him, shoulders hunched, a grin on his face. "Yes," he said. "You'll have them here soon. If our operative is able to do his part."
The man behind the desk leaned forward. The redhead could see his features in a weak light. "He better not screw up, or I'll have his head."
The redhead scratched his head with long, manicured fingernails. "If he does screw up, let me take care of him."
Smiling, the man in the desk just nodded.
"Thanks," said the redhead, and he was about to leave the room when the man called him. He turned around.
"What about Williams?" he asked.
"He'll be dealt with tonight."
The man behind the desk crossed his arms over his chest and reclined in his chair. "I don't want him messing around in my business."
"And he won't."
* * *
(Later that night.)
Having arrived to their hotel room, Mai was sitting on the bed, while Andy took of his shirt.
"But Andy, you saw his fighting style. He can help us out win the King of Fighters Tournament," Mai said.
Andy closed his eyes, remembering the powerful chi he felt when Hellstinger transformed into fighting form. He then remembered the red ball of energy shooting from his fingertip and hitting the back of the thug's head, making it explode in a thousand pieces. In his mind, he saw the thug sprawling on all fours, dropping as if he were a rag doll. "But Mai, he's a ruthless killer. You saw how he killed that thug."
"But Andy, he WAS a thug. He meant to hurt people."
Andy threw the shirt on top of a chair and sat down besides Mai. She looked at him with big, pleading eyes. "Mai, I can't mix myself with a ruthless killer."
Mai was beginning to get frustrated. She wanted to win the King of Fighters Tournament badly. And she saw the power Hellstinger possessed, and knew they would win the tournament with him. Or was it that she was obsessed with the handsome warrior?
"And what do you intend to do to Geese Howard when you find him?" she asked.
That was a low blow, and Mai knew it, but she had had enough of Andy's hard-headed attitude.
"Well, I..." he couldn't finish.
"You intend to kill him, am I right?"
"That's a whole different matter."
Mai stood up from the bed and grabbed Andy by his shoulders. "It's the same freaking thing, goddammit!"
Andy's mouth dropped. Mai never acted this way. She realized what she'd done, and let go of Andy. "Oh, Andy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
He stood off the bed and went to the bathroom without saying a word. He slammed the door after him.
"Damn, I'm such an asshole," she said and dropped on the bed. Something was ticking her off. She didn't know if it was Andy's attitude or Hellstinger's eyes. He had such beautiful eyes. She noticed she was smiling as she remembered Hellstinger. Like a lightning bolt, she sat up on the bed. What's wrong with me? She thought. Am I falling in love with a complete stranger? I'm in love with Andy. Or am I?
* * *
"Ha-du-ken!" screamed Ken Masters as he threw a vicious fireball at Paul Phoenix. Paul saw the approaching fireball, took a step forward, and as the attack was about to hit him, he sidestepped and rushed forward, elbow outstretched. After his attack, Ken Masters was left wide open, and Phoenix's elbow hit him square in the chest. Ken fell on his ass, as Paul did a 360 degree forward flying kick. He missed the attack as Ken rolled to the side.
Ken stood up fast, and prepared to attack. "Sho-ryu-ken!" He did a dragon punch uppercut at Paul, and hit him in the chin. Paul flew through the air, did a midair turn and fell on his feet. He was bleeding by the corner of the mouth.
"Nice punch, Masters," he said with a grin. "It barely hurts," he lied.
"I still have it," said Ken, raising his arms as in victory.
Paul walked to him and patted him on the shoulder. "You did well, kiddo. But that last punch was a bit too soft."
He smiled and punched him soft on the ribs. "Hey, old man. If I had hit you harder I would have killed you."
"Yeah! You wish!"
They were in Law's Dojo, practicing their moves for the upcoming King of Fighters tournament. Law was somewhere else with his son.
"So, Paul, is your team complete already?"
Paul smiled. "Yeah. With Cammy and Robert Garcia we can't loose."
Ken threw a fake punch. "But when you fight against us in the finals (if you really make it to the finals), Chun Li, Ryu and me will kick your asses, and you know it."
Paul walked to a bench, picked up a towel and dried his sweat from his face. "Keep dreaming."
"By the way, do you think Stone Cold accepted Andy's invitation to join his team?"
Of course they were talking about Steven Williams, formerly known as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin when he was a wrestler and then a Fighter. "I don't think so. And he's not going by that name now."
Ken was confused. "Then why did you send them there?"
"Don't know. Maybe Andy could convince him to join."
"Knowing Steve, he must have kicked his ass out of his office."
They laughed together as Ken picked his towel and dried his upper body. Then they both went to the showers and took a long, good bath.
* * *
There was a knock on the door when Mai was falling asleep. She stood up from the bed and walked to the door. As she opened it, a drop-dead gorgeous American blond entered the room. She had a very muscular, slim body, and breasts rivaling even Mai's.
"Mary!" screamed Mai as she recognized her friend, Blue Mary, sometimes girlfriend of Terry Bogard.
"Hello, Mai," she answered. "May I come in?"
"Sure!" answered Mai as she stepped away from the door and let the American bounty hunter enter the room.
Blue Mary walked and scanned the room. "Where's the boyfriend?"
Mai blinked twice. "Oh, Andy, you mean? He must be in the bathroom."
They both looked at the bathroom door just to find it open and the lights off.
"He must have left," said Mary.
* * *
Steven Williams was alone in his office when he heard a noise. Everyone had left the floor, except him, so all the lights but his office were off. He turned around fast just to see nothing at all.
"Damn," he muttered.
He went back to what he was doing. He was downloading some important information from the internet for a recent case he got. As he pressed ENTER in his keyboard, he heard the same noise again. It sounded as someone chuckling. This time, when he turned around, he saw a tall, dark figure standing by the door.
"Shi-nai," whispered the figure as he pointed a golden gun at Steven.
"Shit," said Williams.
The dark figure fired at him, but he moved out of the way in time. The bullet struck the chair he was sitting in. If he hadn't moved, the bullet would have pierced his throat.
Williams was ducking under the desk, muttering to himself.
"You can't hide from me, orokana," whispered the man.
Japanese, thought Williams. What the fuck is a japanese assassin doing in my office?
The dark man walked towards the desk and knocked the computer off it. It crashed right by Williams' feet. That's when he thought he had to act or he was going to die here. He rolled from where he was crouching. The dark man saw him and fired at him again. This time the bullet struck besides Steven's head.
The dark man smiled as Williams stood up to him. He got a new gun from under his black trench coat. It was a sawed off shotgun, golden as his other gun. He pointed that it at him.
Williams had no way out and he knew it. He was going to die right here.
"If you're a man, drop those guns, grow some balls and fight me!" he threatened. He knew his threats were falling on deaf ears.
"As you wish," came the dark man's reply. He put his guns away and inserted his hands in his pockets. As he slowly walked towards the light, Williams recognized him. His red hair, his red face-paint markings, his aquiline nose, the round glasses, his dark, shredded trench coat. And by the way, this was a big, thin man.
"Vermilion!" he said.
Vermilion smiled. It was a wicked smile. "So, you recognize me at last."
"Who sent you and why?"
The thin man walked towards him. He was nearly seven feet tall. Pretty big for such a thin man. "Why do you want to know? You won't leave this office alive, anyway."
The big man ran at him. He turned all blurry and he left a trail of ionized air behind him. With one move of his hand, he tied Williams in four thin, metal strings. Each string was tied to each one of Steven's extremities. Then, a high voltage current of electricity ran all through Steven's body. He was rocked back and forth by Vermilion's Puppetmaster move. He got his gun out and was about to shoot Steven when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hold it!"
Vermilion turned around just to see Andy Bogard standing behind him.
"This is none of your business. Leave right now or I'll kill you both."
Andy took his Kopo-Ken fighting stance. "If you're going to kill someone, then I make it my business. Come on and fight me!"
Vermilion retracted his four strings and pointed his gun at Andy. Steven fell to the floor as a discarded rag doll. "Shi-nai!" He fired his shotgun, and a big roar filled the office.
As soon as he fired, Andy shouted "Dai-anken!" and he jumped towards Vermilion's attack with his elbow slammed forward. Ki surrounded his extended elbow, and all of Vermilion's attack was disintegrated instantly.
"Hmm. Nice counter."
Andy took his Kopo-Ken stance once more. "Get the hell out of here before I really have to hurt you."
"Oh, I forgot. You're the most pathetic of the Bogards."
Vermilion prepared to attack once more, drawing his other golden gun out of his trench coat. Andy moved to the side and attacked once again, this time screaming "Zan Ei Ken!" A projectile burst forward from his hand towards Vermilion.
"You're so stupid," said Vermilion as he slammed his open hand forward, fingers outstretched upwards. Andy's projectile slammed in a barricade of ki from Vermilion. "You'll have to do better than that."
Vermilion became a blur of motion as he closed his distance between himself and Bogard.
* * *
Steven Williams was just coming to himself. He had been shocked pretty badly, but not bad enough for him to be out of commission. As he knelt on the carpeted floor of the office, he saw Andy Bogard fire a projectile made of ki power and the tall man deflecting it with his bare hand.
They're gonna ruin my office if I don't do something, he thought. So he stood up and shook his head to get rid of his dizziness. When his head was cleared, he saw the big redhead become a blur as he punched Bogard square in the face with his left hand. Andy flew backwards and slammed against the door of the office. The door cracked and broke under the weight of the blond warrior.
Williams took off his tie and his expensive Armani suit. He threw it to his desk.
"Hey, punkass, why don't you take on a real man?"
* * *
Vermilion had hit Andy Bogard with a great amount of force that had sent the younger of the Bogards flying through the air and smashed himself on the door behind him. He was about to unleash his O.K. Corral move on Bogard when he heard Williams speak behind him.
He turned around to see the bald Texan standing behind him.
"Back for more?" he asked.
"I'm gonna whip your ass!" answered Steven.
"Williams, you fool!"
Williams smiled. His cold, blue eyes glittering in the dark office. "It's not Williams anymore for you, asshole. It's "Stone Cold" Steve Austin."
* * *
Andy stood from the floor and brushed all of the debris in his chest. He took his Kopo-Ken stance once again as he entered the room. He saw Williams standing in front of Vermilion, smiling.
"Get out of here, Williams. This is my fight."
Williams saw that Bogard had stood up once again. "It's not your fight, jackass. It's my fight. He came here to kill me and you interfered. So back up now or I'll have to kick your ass after I'm done with Candy Ass here."
"Orokana," said Vermilion as he blurred himself once again and attacked Austin. He threw a fast punch at his face and connected. Stone Cold fell to the floor hard and he began to bleed from his mouth.
Vermilion kicked the fallen Austin in the stomach, as more blood spurted from his mouth.
"Kore de owarida." Vermilion took his guns out and pointed them at Austin.
Andy saw Vermilion point his guns at Steve, and he knew he had to act before Vermilion killed him. He ran at him fast, elbow outstretched, surrounded by his ki. He nailed Vermilion square in the lower back. Vermilion sprawled forward, falling on top of Austin. He dropped both his guns.
"Get off me, jackass!" screamed Austin as the tall gunner fell on top of him. He pushed him off of him and stood up. Vermilion was trying to get up from the floor, but couldn't. The blow to the back had been pretty hard. "Try to kick me again in the floor, asshole!" Austin kicked him on the stomach, hard. "Get up!" He grabbed him by the hair and stood him up. He pushed him towards his desk and slammed his head against a corner. Vermilion's glasses cracked as he hit the hard wood.
Andy was coming towards Austin, but he just pointed at him. "Don't get involved here or I'll continue with ya!" Andy stopped his advance.
Stone Cold grabbed Vermilion again, this time by his arm. He pulled Vermilion towards himself and clotheslined him. As he fell to the floor, he kicked him in the face, then the chest, and then the head again.
"Motherfucking asshole!" he said as he was kicking him. "Coming to my office and trying to shoot at me! Who do you think I am? Vince McMahon? You pussy!"
As he was going to kick him again, Vermilion grabbed his leg and tripped him. Vermilion stood up fast and with a roundhouse kick, tried to take Andy out, but he easily moved out of the way. Vermilion attacked again with another fast roundhouse, which Andy grabbed in midair and leg sweeped the tired gunner. He fell on his back and stood again.
"I'm going to kill you both!" he threatened. "You'll both die!"
Austin stood up behind him and in a semi-crouching position. When Vermilion turned around to face him, Austin kicked him in the stomach, grabbed him by the neck and did his special move, The Stone Cold Stunner. He almos t broke his neck.
Vermilion laid in the floor, unconscious.
"Why did you do that?" asked Andy.
"Why the fuck do you care about him?" he replied.
"Now how are we going to know who sent him?"
Austin smiled and wiped some blood off of his mouth. "Well, we'll just have to wait until he wakes up, then."
* * *
