TEKKEN 8

Chapter IV: Infiltrate the Mansion

Lars sat on his boss' throne behind his desk, soaking up the power and authority from his seat. He concealed a smirk on his face, but his efforts made his smile seem grim to those a distance away from him. His blue eyes wandered, gazing upon the rest of the room, where he could hear the rest of the current recruits chatter amongst themselves. Alisa stood next to him. Despite his offer of a chair, she insisted to stand and be on guard if something were to happen.

Jin Kazama glared at his half-uncle, believing that he was becoming too comfortable with his temporary position of power, and it has only been seven minutes since he assigned Lars to replace him until he came back.

"Excellent! You look good on that chair, Lars, but I would look way better. Wouldn't you agree, boss?" Lee grinned, then feigned pain when Jin gave the blunt answer of 'no'.

"Where are you and Hwoarang even going, Jin?" Xiaoyu asked, helping a reluctant Blood Talon fix the necktie of his neat tuxedo. "And why do I have to wear this? It's too tight on me, and Xiao is going to strangle me with this shit!" He added, awarded with a slap from the woman, who told him to stop complaining and to hold still.

"We are going to go to Lili Rochefort's eighteenth birthday party."

"It's Lili's birthday?"

"I thought she was still sixteen."

"Isn't she the tall blonde from the tournament?"

"Eighteen?"

"Bring me back some cake!"

"Excellent! She's finally legal!" Lee cheered, earning another strike from Josie.

Jin shook his head at his recruits' antics. "The theme is a Masquerade ball, which works well with my plan to win her and Asuka's cooperation."

"Asuka will be there, too?" Leo asked, secretly wanting to attend the party as well, but kept silent about it. "Yes. Asuka and Lili has been living together since the last tournament for whatever reason....and eventually became the best of friends."

"Awww, yay! It's about time they made up." Xiaoyu clapped her hands together, remembering the headaches she received from their bickering.

"The party will begin at eight-thirty and will end at midnight."

"That's so cliché." Lars said from the throne.

"Very." Jin checked his wrist watch. 7:59.

"We wouldn't want to be late, Hwoarang. Hurry up." He said, making his way out of the main room, his black, hooded cloak flowing behind him.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up already." Hwoarang rolled his eyes. He waved behind him as he followed Jin out of the Mishima Zaibatsu.

Jin and Hwoarang parked their respective motorcycles in the parking lot of the grand Rochefort mansion. In the night, the porcelain palace glowed a warm golden. The numerous chandeliers they could see from the inside took the breath away from Hwoarang.

"Woah. Isn't that a sight?" He whistled in approval as he nudged Jin's arm. The head of the Mishima Zaibatsu hummed in response. He wasn't as in awe as his rival, he was more concerned about the mission at hand.