章 8: Chapter Eight: Wilted Flower

Tannen got into his car again, wondering what he should do now. Maybe Chun Li was right; he should visit his mother. It had been quite a while since he last saw her.

He doesn't live in that house. Not anymore. After his new job as a bounty hunter, he rarely spend time at home and always moved around. Being an investigator had too many restrictions and not enough elbow room. If he wanted to find what happened to his father, he would do it in a way that he wanted to. Even if it meant going against law enforcement.

It was nighttime, so his mother was probably in bed by now. He would have to drop by tomorrow. So, Tannen drove to a hotel nearby and slept there instead.

It was seven in the morning, and Tannen arrived at his old house and made his way to the front door, ringing the doorbell. As he waited, Tannen glanced down at the flower garden that he and his family grew together. What was once full of life and color now dried up and withered away.

The door slowly clicked open, "Tannen?"

It was his mother, now with bits of grey hair and crow's feet. She looked paler the last time he saw her. Meilin hadn't aged well after the disappearance of her husband, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check up on you mom," he answered. "Are you doing fine?"

"I'm fine. Come in," she answered in a coarse voice, opening the door wide open.

Tannen took his hat off, stepped inside and looked around. It was dark but at least it was clean. Chun Li still lived with their mother, so she must have done the chores around the house and took care of her. He could still smell the incense lingering around the air. It seemed that his mother had prayed not too long ago.

"Is everything fine with you? Did you eat enough food?" She asked, walking back into the kitchen. The chicken congee that was she was making was almost done.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine," he followed her. "Did Chunners leave?"

"Yeah, she left for work half an hour ago."

The smell of congee made him hungry. One downside of living alone is that he couldn't taste his mother's cooking everyday. He watched his mother as she slowly stirred the pot. "Mom, let me do it; you can sit down and rest."

"I can't let you do that," she shook her head, refusing. "My little baby finally visited me, so let me do the cooking at least."

"As your son, I think I should help," He took the laddle from her hands and gently moved her to the table. "You should rest your body a bit."

"Oh, if you say so," she sat down reluctantly.

It was a moment of peace, a comforting silence between the two. Tannen hadn't cooked for a while and mostly ate store food. Once the chicken congee was done, Tannen poured the contents into two bowls and walked over to the table, sitting down next to her.

"You should step outside more; get some fresh air," Tannen advised. "Staying inside for too long is not good."

"I told you I'm fine; your sister is doing a wonderful job helping your mother out," she said while she ate her food. "I just wish you could have stayed with us, Tannen. I know you graduated and got a job, but you could still live here. With us."

"You know my job requires me to move a lot," Tannen said.

"I know. It's just that I miss you so much. I want my baby boy back."

"I'm not a kid anymore," he said softly. "But, I'll make sure to visit you more if that's what you want."

"I just wish you and your father were both here again; we would be eating like one big family like before."

"Chunners is a detective; I'm sure she would find his whereabouts," Tannen had to give her hope: something that she desperately needed.

"Yes, I know he is out there somewhere," Meilin clenched her fists. "The spirits says that he is still alive - I just know it. He just needs guidance that will help him come back."

Ever since news came out about his disappearance, she would pray every day, hoping he would come back safe. He began to worry about her mental health. She began to talk to 'spirits', occasionally talking to herself at times. He wouldn't know how she would react if his father was truly found dead.

Tannen, himself, had already accepted the fact that he might have been buried six feet under somewhere; he just wanted to find out who did it.

His phone suddenly rang in his pocket. It was from an unknown number, "I have to take this. I'll be back," Tannen got out of his seat and left the house through the front door.

"Speaking," he said after he checked that he was alone.

"Hey, It's me," Tannen recognized that fearful voice. Mr. Fu. "I did what you asked me too. They'll be coming here tonight at eight PM."

"Good. Just don't fuck things up that will rouse their suspicions. Get the drugs like you normally do."

"After that, I'll be free, right?" He asked.

"Just do your job," Tannen quickly hung up the phone and dialed Chun Li's number. He waited for a few moments before she finally picked up.

"What's up?"

"They'll be coming at eight; clear whatever schedule before then."

"Thanks for the heads up," Chun Li said. "By the way, where are you at right now?"

"Mom's house," he briefly answered.

"I know you're usually a busy guy, but please just give her some company, at least for today. She really needs that," Chun Li asked, almost urging him.

"You don't need to worry about that. Just come back home at seven sharp," Tannen hung up the phone again and walked inside.

For most of the day, he had spent time with her, kept her talking and even prayed with her - something that would keep her mind off from depressing things. Tannen wasn't a religious man by any means. He didn't believe in spirits or God, but he was willing to pray just for her. For his mother, it helped her cope better.

• • • • •

The day went by in a blur. His mother had already fallen asleep in comfort silence. Tannen hadn't felt that much peace in his life since his childhood days. It felt nice; something he didn't know he needed.

He kissed her on the forehead and quietly closed the bedroom door. Then, Tannen checked his watch. It was almost seven; Chun Li should be here any minute now.

Tannen quickly noticed bright headlights pierced through the window blinds, brightening small areas of the living room. Just on time, he noted. He stepped outside the house as Chun Li got out of her little boxy car.

"I'm surprised that you actually stayed," she crossed her arms.

"She's my mom, too. You'd think I would abandon her?" He walked towards the passenger side. He would be going with Chun Li in her car.

"And who was it that has been taking care of her the whole time?" She asked.

"I can't always be there to care for her, Chun Li. I'm barely in the city, myself."

"I'm working my ass off too, y'know," Chun Li argued. "You don't have to visit us everyday, Tannen. All I'm asking is for you to call her, let her know you're fine. Is that too hard to ask from you?"

"Let's just go," Tannen said, sighing to himself.

They both got into the car. Chun Li backed out of the driveway and drove off. They arrived at the same bar again, and the clock was ticking half an hour before Ashura's arrival. Chun Li had hid her car across the street.

"You think he's going to follow through with it?" Chun Li asked.

"Only if he wants to live."

Soon, the clock struck eight PM, and a black van slowly pulled up to the entrance of the bar. Chun Li, who got bored of waiting, instantly noticed them.

"Hey, Tannen," she tapped him on the arm. "I think that's them."

Two men dressed in plain clothes stepped out from the van with small packages in hand. They seemed like ordinary people by the looks of it; nobody wouldn't be able to tell if they were criminals or not.

They were most certainly members of Ashura.

Mr. Fu hastily went out of his store to greet them with a black suitcase. One of the men took the suitcase to confirm the authenticity of the money before nodding his head to his partner.

Not before long, the transaction was completed. Mr. Fu sighed in relief as the two men entered the van and drove away. He knew that Tannen was somewhere around, but he didn't know exactly where.

"Follow them; not too close, though," Tannen ordered.

"I'm a detective, I know what I'm doing," she shifted her car back to drive and slowly tailed them.

They slowly weaved through traffic and turned corners before they reached an enormous abandoned building riddled with broken windows and rust. The van parked outside with the other cars, and the two men entered the building.

"So, that's where they were," Chun Li said, turning off her car.

Chun Li knew Ashura may have some connections to her father. He had been going against them for years in drug raids and made arrests to several of their members. If she could capture the leader, then she could find out what he knew about her father. After all, Ashura had been in control of the drug shipments across all of Asia.

Tannen and Chun Li sneaked around to the back of the building where they've located another doorway. Chun Li tried to open it, but it was completely locked. If she broke it open, she could alert everyone inside. However, the building had broken windows, so she could sneak through one of them.

"I got an idea," Tannen whispered. "I'll create a distaction; you sneak in through the windows to find the big guy who runs this place."

"That sounds too risky," she said.

"It comes with the job. Now go on and let me have my bit of fun."

"Don't blame me when you get yourself killed," Chun Li sneaked through a broken window, leaving Tannen behind.

Tannen smirked to himself as his fist was enveloped with red ki. Most martial artists, even Chun Li, shout out their 'special attacks' first before they would do anything.

Honestly, who the hell does that besides children and how were they not embarrassed? He still remembered when Chun Li first did that during their training once. He couldn't stop laughing at her. It was the first time that Chun Li wanted to kill him.

"I guess It's showtime," he threw out a devastating punch, smashing the metal door off its hinges. Echos of clashing metal rang out as the door crashed to the ground, spewing sparks as it slid to a stop. All the men in the building were instantly alerted

"Who the fu-" Tannen knocked a guy out with a single punch before he could say anything. He was left with missing teeth and a broken nose.

Soon, more men came at him with guns and quickly fired a storm of bullets at him. Tannen quickly rolled out of the way and into cover.

Once they were out of ammo, Tannen popped out from his cover fired off simple Ki blasts and dropped them like flies. When you're a man with some unusual memories that happened to be sealed away since birth, you gain some rather unique abilities. Tannen wasn't complaining, though. They were very useful.

He made his way to a large drug laboratory. Rows of tables filled to the brim with drugs, and workers in white hazmats suits poured unknown chemicals into viles and tubes. They immediately stopped when Tannen entered the laboratory. It was complete dead silent.

More men stormed into the room armed with both blunt and sharp weapons. Tannen smirked - seems like he was going to have some more fun. All of them charged together, swinging their weapons only to hit empty air.

Tannen ducked and swerved, broke arms and snapped legs; one man was unlucky enough to have one of his eyes gouged with his fingers. Over the years, Tannen's fighting style became more brutal and effective, only used to end fights quickly. He never liked to carry things on more than it had to.

Quick and simple is what he liked the most.

"That was boring," he brushed a bit of dust from his clothes. Lying on the ground were over a dozen men. Tannen was rather nonchalant about it all like he was throwing away Tuesday's garbage.

"Then, play with me," a bulky, almost seven foot man ducked under the entranceway and slowly approached him. His body was riddled with scars and his muscles looked like they could crush metal. He was Damdo.

"The hell did you eat to get that big?" Tannen asked.

"Your mom."

Tannen sighed through his nose, "You had to go there, didn't you?" Tannen cracked his neck. "You're dead."

Meanwhile, Chun Li ran through the dark, empty halls, filled with dust and debris. She heard gunfire behind her, but she knew that her brother was safe. He was a man that one should never go against, even with a gun.

Chun Li ground to a halt as a masked man with blonde hair appeared out from the umbra of darkness to greet her.

"Hello, beautiful," his voice was laced with a thick Spanish accent. On his right hand was a long and sharp metallic claw. "What brings you here in this wonderful night?"

"Who are you?" Chun Li asked, crouching into her combat stance.

"I am Vega," he answered.

"You're Vega?" Her eyes widened with surprise. "You're one of Shadaloo's operatives! What're you doing in Hong Kong?"

"It would be a shame if I had to cut a blooming flower before it's fully grown," his claw glimmered under the moonlight. "But if you leave this place now, I might leave you with your body intact."

"Not a chance."