Chapter Text
Chapter 23: Showdown in Osaka (Part 4)
Tensions have risen to unprecedented levels…
There she was, Asuka Kazama, barely clinging to consciousness, without Reina knowing, or Heihachi, and everyone else in the foyer, even realizing it yet, resting in the young Mishima’s grip, being held high into the air by the neck, with Reina loudly calling out to her father.
„Father! Here she is. The woman of the hour. So, what do you propose, we do with her now? Should I kill her? Couldn’t find the proper moment to get rid of, so what will it be? I could snap her neck right now, if I wanted to, just say the word.”
Even if she didn’t exactly follow through with the assignment, the elderly Mishima was quick to jump on-board, and speak his genuine praises, clapping for his daughter for a small round of applause, explaining all the while, rising the steps to get to her:
„Ahhh, magnificent. So, you managed to defeat her, after all, despite you having been at a clear disadvantage of being a Devil Gene bearer! THAT’S my girl! All my training wasn’t in vain, after all. Now then…”
As he approached his daughter up the steps, Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Alisa and Lars shared very troubled glances. They knew this wasn’t meant to happen. Was Reina too much for Asuka to handle, after all? But right now, they all, almost telepathically, made a vow to ignore Heihachi, and just get Asuka to safety. They will not abandon her, no matter what. They may not know her for long, but they have all grown so attached to her, even Lars and Hwoarang, and both got it tough trusting others, coming from military service and all, and bearing life experiences, that are tough to believe for most.
However, Lars had to act quickly, because, now they all know, since Heihachi was “gracious” enough to remind them that wanting Asuka dead, was never part of the plan. He wants her alive, just so he can abduct her, and use her body as a new host, knowing he will be gaining an unfair advantage over Jin and Kazuya, once he manages to genetically alter the Kazama DNA to his benefit, and become practically untouchable, once the experiments succeed. And even if they don’t, they know the old Mishima very well. He would just discard Asuka like yesterday’s garbage. They will not allow her to be soiled, not in her body, or her soul, just by having this decrepit, old raisin use her body, as though it was a mere set of new clothes for him to wear. And as such, the illegitimate Mishima thought to himself:
“Whatever happens, Jin is not allowed to see Asuka in this miserable state, because if he does, the effects will prove catastrophic for all of us… But if only, I can get close enough to snatch Asuka out of Reina’s grip… Heihachi has done quite the number on me…! We can’t just let them win like this…! I won’t allow it, not after we have come so far…!”
At the same time, Hwoarang goes, his forehead veins pumping, being so rage-driven now, it was terrifying for even Yoshimitsu, who was also getting ready to speed in and free the young Kazama. He shared braincells with Lars at that moment, as he spoke in his mind.
“Heihachi…! I swear to—If you lay your dirty fingers on her, I will not bear any guilt in expressing the innate desire to get out my best set of knives that I got, and chop you to pieces, so that I can feed your corpse chunks to stray dogs on the streets…! But damn it, I can’t just rush in, it’s way too inviting, almost as if he is wanting us to rush in without a plan, thinking this is going to be easy… Damn you…! What do we do…?!”
He gazed over to Yoshimitsu, nodding in his direction, as in to say, “We will be counting on you, when the moment presents itself, speed in, and free her”. The ninja immediately understood. He gets into position, slowly positioning his blade, as though he was getting ready to behead the Mishima, on-sight.
And as they were all prepping for an emergency rescue mission, Reina and Heihachi were talking about Asuka. And the latter was trying her absolute hardest to not make it obvious that, she was still mildly conscious, so she pulled the good old-fashioned trick in the animal kingdom: Playing dead. Heihachi, this whole time, wasn’t suspecting a thing. He was far too focused on getting his plans in motion, he didn’t pay close enough attention to notice, the Kazama was merely duping him.
However, their conversation would hit a deep note, as Reina couldn’t help but ask, with Asuka’s words from their last encounter still ringing in her mind, unable to hide a hint of insecurity in her actions:
“Father… I failed to kill her… Are you disappointed in me? Tell me the truth.”
His calming, fatherly tone of voice did very little to ease up her inner tensions, even with his hand gently patting her on the top of her head.
“What’s the matter, Reina? You look scared out of your mind. Is something bothering you, my dear? Why should I be disappointed?”
She couldn’t take it anymore; she had to know. She dropped Asuka, right down onto the step next to her, wanting straight answers from her father.
“I didn’t kill her as you told me to do! THAT is what’s bothering me! And now you’re here, treating me as if I had done nothing wrong, when I still failed the assignment, regardless of the comfort you may end up providing for me! You always taught me to follow my goal, to never stray away from it, and whenever I had done so, you would punish or scold me for it! And NOW, suddenly, it’s no big deal to you?! What’s going on with you?”
That made the elderly Mishima sigh, knowing he might have given her the wrong impression, whenever he trained her to stick to the plan, and never stray away from the given procedures. He now found it to be his responsibility to set the record straight, knowing he truly owes her concise answers, now. With a wry, weak smirk, he puts a hand on her right shoulder, telling her:
“…Alright. You got me. Originally, I DID say that, if Yggdrasil was not to follow through with our given conditions, someone is going to be sacrificed for their disobedience. We had settled on Jin becoming the sacrificial lamb. One troublemaker less to deal with, so I thought. However, since Asuka has made the conscious decision to drop by on her own accord, offering up her own life in place of his, let’s just say, plans have changed a little.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Reina. Regardless of who gets to live or die today, either way, we must rebuild base here, in Osaka. It’s the model ideal spot for us, given the current position we are in. As it is now, the Mishima Zaibatsu has attracted way too much public attention in the last two or three years. You probably already know the gist by now. Mostly due to how Jin, during his reign as CEO, has subtly exposed the internal affairs within the Zaibatsu, by laying bare several, wide-reaching contingency plans that we had, that were never supposed to reach public eye and ear.”
His tone growing comically annoyed, his forehead veins pumping way harder, realizing how much Jin had truly played him, for the long-term. Sure, he might be taking the initiative to take advantage of the crumbs he had left behind, but how often he had proven to the public that the Mishima Zaibatsu does indeed have the resources to help those in need, it truly left a stain on the company’s reputation, and several arising questions about the leadership or management of the company. And since Heihachi had led the company for decades, it left him utterly humiliated. Especially with the details now slipping out:
“What, did you believe, Jin’s “charity events” truly came from the bottom of his heart and soul?! Of course not! It was nothing short of a ruse! To expose us as incompetent hacks, who couldn’t even tell the difference between excrement and apple sauce! That brat… He sure was way smarter than I had given him credit for…! Reverse psychology. Nothing more. Even while he was busy playing wannabe-tyrant, he still decided to go for the “unsung hero” act, just by sending food and water to starving villages, especially in war-torn regions. Not even wars that he was a part of, oh no, you got to have that sweet public approval, by also sending out the Tekken Force, hoping they would get applicants, right after having saved the lives of those who were affected by natural disasters. Genius.”
Reina adds, being mildly confused about how displeased her father looked, only seeing opportunities in these facts, since that still ended up being an unintentional setup for her father to exploit:
“…But why are you so angry about that? Shouldn’t we view Jin’s actions as opportunities for ourselves? I mean, regardless of intent, he still provided us, albeit indirectly, with more resources. Why would we need a joint venture with another company to do all this work? Am I missing something?”
“Oh, my dear Reina, I WISH I could be enthusiastic about this, but I CAN’T! There is a good reason why. It’s purely human logic. You spread alms to those in need, everybody, even them, will start expecting me. I lead this company, on the merit of pure intimidation, to show the shareholders, and all the outside parties involved that we – The Mishima Zaibatsu – lead with an iron hand. We don’t give out alms, WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE?! SANTA CLAUS?! We lead with fear! Everyone else is cowering in respect of our might! But because of my brick-headed grandson having felt the itch to act all noble, it now paints me and my company as a joke! By the time that accursed Devil Gene had truly begun rotting his mind, he had given enough public fodder for the politicians and journalists to turn us into a public laughingstock! Suddenly, he had set an example of a Mishima, that was actually “worth following”! Sure, he had made many enemies, but these stunts he pulled made him appear far more desirable of a leader than me, or Kazuya! And the audience is laughing in our faces!”
That comical outburst, paired with Heihachi’s eyes becoming cartoonishly bloodshot, his bald head becoming as red as a tomato, and his muscle veins pumping in pure, unadulterated fury, all over his body, made Reina, and everyone else in the foyer, have comical sweat drops forming on the back of their heads. The heroes on Yggdrasil’s side, specifically Lars pointing out, while standing in a perfect, symmetrical line next to each other:
“…He DOES realize, we can clearly hear him now, right?”
And Xiaoyu commenting, looking deadpan, and plain embarrassed at this sheer lack of subtlety.
“I guess, the older you get, the less aware you become on how loud you can be…”
Even someone like Alisa was not exempt from this reaction, as Yoshimitsu completes her at the end…
“…So, we really didn’t need to spy on him, after all? You could have just thrown my head up there, and I could have recorded their conversation without them noticing.”
“No, dear Alisa. Why interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake? That’s bad manners!”
Katarina even comically added, looking pretty confused out of her mind:
“Geez. I knew Mishimas were a handful, but I’d really hate to have this guy as my father. Not only does he have serious anger issues, but he is also remarkably dense when he starts talking. This must be age slowly catching up to him.”
As if they all shared the same braincells, Hwoarang had to add to the conversation as well, looking both angered, but mostly lost, too. Especially considering that, he and Heihachi used to be at odds with each other, when he still went to Mishima Polytech, with him as the principal. But now, he is having the exact same impression as everyone else: Your body becomes weaker with age, and that’s sadly, unavoidable, even for Heihachi.
“And here I was thinking, he couldn’t be anymore annoying than he already was, being a principal and all.”
…However, his expression quickly changed to pure, sadistic glee, the smirk bordering on psychotic, telling them all:
“…But hey! You know what? Good riddance. If he wants to make our job easier, go right ahead.”
This made everyone turn their heads, with Xiaoyu especially, looking puzzled over what he had just said. But then, it dawned upon her gradually. With Katarina even taking notes, realizing he was actually not too far off-base.
“What do you mean, Hwoarang? “Make our job easier”, how?”
“Think about it. Jin clearly told us that, even while he was the CEO of his grandpa’s company, he couldn’t ever bring himself to harm the innocent, even though, it would have been the easiest and quickest way to awaken Azazel. Why else do you think it took so long to wake him up? Jin would never have gone there, only his Devil Gene. Which means, he wasn’t lying when he said he had held all kinds of charity and college scholarship events, investing in all kinds of technological sectors that the Zaibatsu would normally, if ever, flow money into. He knew exactly what he was doing. Not only wanting to clown on his gramps but also leaving him to deal with the PR disaster, so either way, his sacrifices were not in vain, after all! Not to mention, even providing humanitarian aid, in times of war, this just sounds like him, man. And the proof of all this is Heihachi’s reaction. If he looks this riled up, borderline undignified, and we already know, that having a conscience was never his strong point, no matter how much Jin did, in the end, it was just enough, that he had managed to not only dismantle the Zaibatsu’s infrastructure and money flow, but he also crippled Heihachi’s resources and manpower. And now, he is now forced to rely on other big-name companies, just to return to full strength. Why else would he want to take control of Osaka, with the assistance of Rochefort Enterprises? If that ain’t an opportunity, I dunno what is!”
Xiaoyu completes his line of thinking, with a realization of her own, that made her heart leap to new heights, realizing that, no matter how evil he ended up getting suckered into, unintentional or not, his big heart had always remained in-tact throughout all of it. And the Zaibatsu being this much in a tight pickle, because of his charitable character, it meant one thing:
“…Jin has accepted accountability for crimes; he didn’t even commit. And Heihachi is now vulnerable. And now he has returned to Osaka to ask the Yakuza for assistance, because Asuka’s town just so happens to be their HQ. But now with public opinion turning against the Mishima Zaibatsu, definitively, we are no longer at a disadvantage. Or at least, not so much anymore…”
Her eyes grew watery and warm. Her Jin had always stayed true to himself, despite the crippling odds, not ever having been in his favor. She was always right to believe in him, and now, she had undeniable proof, in the form of Heihachi’s displeased face. It just reminded her of the good ol’ days, as well. Where they would fight together Yankees on school property, always ending up hospitalized, but so much closer and happier afterwards.
“Oh, Jin… You had every opportunity to reach your goal through shortcuts, and you always denied it… Because, unlike that son of a bitch, you had never sold your soul to anyone, not even your Devil Gene… Which means, the pain you must have endured in silence was beyond description, if it meant that you resisted your own powers… If only, I can ever make it up to you… But…!”
She began glaring at Heihachi, obviously still being in an emotional clutch, because of her grandfather, but it showed: Despite his help, she doesn’t respect him and never will. Not anymore. And she knew, she had a record to set straight with him, and once the time arrives, she will accept full responsibility for having betrayed him like this.
“…Save your apologies for later, Jin, you have nothing to say sorry for… But I do… And once I have made amends with my own decisions, which only lead to me betraying your faith in me while you weren’t looking, I will NEVER let you down, again…!”
But Heihachi managed to swallow his anger, still not even realizing that, Asuka was eavesdropping on his and Reina’s entire conversation. It made the young Kazama smile, because now, she had clear confirmation that Jin and his team weren’t lying to her. If Jin’s actions in the background had truly caused this old, shriveled raisin to start growing this restless, then at the core of it all, he might have truly lit a match. For dismantling this monster’s power. Now, she just had to wait until the right moment presented itself for her strike back. But for right now, she must keep playing pretend, and stay “unconscious”, as right now, it’s a stalemate.
…But if only, the heroes had known, in how much hot water they currently were in.
Because we swiftly cut back to Jin, who had made it his responsibility to take care of Feng Wei, while Law had already made quick work of Lili, since, with her stamina completely depleted, she couldn’t uphold her vampire essence…
…but things were looking grim for the older Kazama, who we now see, being brutally impaled through the chest, by Feng’s forehead horns, which had grown out of his skull, as a reaction to a hidden power, that he had been purposely holding out on, just to give the heroes a false sense of security. There Jin was, blood running down his torso, pinned against a buddha statue, via dragon horn, right through his chest, somehow having missed his most vital organs, safe for his lungs. Looking like, he was close to losing consciousness, from the mere pain alone, his eyes having rolled back into his head from trying to bite through the pain.
This is exactly why the Mishimas and even the Yakuza fear and respect Feng Wei. As, compared to all the other parties, he has no clear allegiance. He is a one-man army, and for good reason. Before this entire ordeal, Feng had broken into the Mishima Zaibatsu to attain the “Secrets of God Fist” scroll, since no one was really there to stop him, and now, after having read the scrolls, he had awoken to powers that, while the war between the Mishima factions was raging on, he had invested time in mastering, hoping to step forward, and overthrow the entire family, through his own two hands. Not to save the world or anything, just to assert his dominance, and remind them: You don’t require “nepotism” in familial power to make a name for yourself. And right now, this was the receipt.
And his voice having grown significantly raspier, almost sounding more like an animalistic growl than humane speech, he tells Jin, as, heartless as he was, heaved the Kazama into the air, his long, jagged forehead horn still holding him in-place, the blood dripping down onto his face…
“It’s a shame. We could have just left it at a painless death. But it would seem, just like the rest of your bloodline, you Mishimas sure enjoy biting off more than you can chew. When will your clan ever learn that one’s power is not defined purely over who you are, and where you come from? There is no such thing as “inheriting power”, it’s what you make of the gifts, that you were given at birth. Hence, I see no external value in bonds, or any type of familial connection… Everyone’s for themselves, last man standing…! These are the rules that have defined humanity since the dawn of time! Eat, or be eaten! And since you were arrogant enough to assume, I could be beaten that easily, now you pay the price…”
…and just to prove to him, how demented of a man he truly was, he licked up all the blood that has dripped down onto his cheek, with his exponentially longer, almost reptilian tongue. Telling him upfront, savoring the blood he had just tasted on his lips:
“Hmph… Is this supposed to be the ever-fearsome blood of the Devil Gene, I heard so much about…? You disappoint me, Jin Kazama. Honestly. Pardon my rude intrusion, but that was just me saying Hello.”
He lets out one gravely, booming and unsettling chuckle. Meanwhile, Jin’s rage was completely starting to boil over. And he could hear his Devil alter ego speaking to him in his subconscious, having grown significantly more restless than ever.
“You idiot! What were you thinking?! This reptilian-skinned son of a bitch NOBODY is making you bend a knee?! How low you have fallen! Honestly, I could put up with a lot of your empathy-ridden nonsense, but this is seriously pushing it! KILL HIM! What are you waiting for?! He obviously wants your head on a spit, don’t just hold back like that, when he is out to get you, and everybody else in this building! I am going to patch you up first, before you bleed out on me!”
This made the young Kazama grow so deeply annoyed with his alter ego, as he scolds him by saying:
“Don’t you DARE! I know what you plan on doing! This has happened to me before, don’t think I am not seeing what you have running in that rotten mind of yours! I am dancing on the edge of life and death, and now you witness a golden opportunity to take over my body, the moment I am this close to losing consciousness! You heal my wounds, and then you take over, immediately! Who do you take me for?! Over my dead body, will I allow you to rip away my autonomy, one more time!”
“In case you didn’t notice, genius, if I don’t this, you are most definitely going to kick the bucket, and if that happens, our connections break! I CAN’T allow this! It’s the rules I have been given birth to!”
“And how can I trust you to not take advantage of—”
Through all the panic, and the heat of the moment, Jin realized something. Something he is not even willing to share with his alter ego, since, even after all this time, relying on his Devil Gene begrudgingly, just this once, he decided to take a leap of faith. And he would have almost forgotten why they were all truly here for.
…Asuka.
He just remembered in how much agony his alter ego, and himself was in, the moment Asuka had come into physical contact with him, back on the Yggdrasil cruiser. Just to be petty, he decides to hold out on his plan, admittedly taking some sadistic form of glee in knowing that, should their theory hold water, that Asuka potentially has the same healing- and supernatural restraining properties like his mother, he knew, if he was going to suffer, so would he. And that was the plan.
“…Alright, you know what? Fine! Take control of me! If it will save, not just mine, but everyone else’s lives, so be it!”
That made his alter ego smirk, wide. A smirk, so wicked, it could strike fear in anyone, foolish enough to challenge him.
“…Hmph. Just this once, you’re speaking my language, Jin Kazama…!”
And as Devil Jin dissipates into unholy, blue flames, we witness Jin clutching his head from both sides inside his subconscious, letting out one animalistic, mirthless shriek, craving blood, murder, mayhem...
…We then cut back to reality, where the young Kazama was still being held at razor’s edge by Feng, except this time, he was ready to let loose and allow the Devil to take over his body. Just this once, he knew, this was the smarter thing to do, with his red-glowing eyes signalizing that he allows the power to consume him, as they spoke. He knew it was risky, but they had no other options left. Losing here is not an option, and if Jin dies, his alter ego will die with him. And this is not something that either of them was looking for. They had made a contract, so even through all the pain-filled groaning, tightly gripping the spear-like end of Feng’s forehead horn with his right hand, he hoarsely rasped out:
“You… Bastard…! I am not going to forget this…!”
“Oh, I am sure you won’t. If I am looking at your performance as of late, one would kindly assume that the great Jin Kazama, the previously feared tyrant of the entire world, has become sloppy! What comes next, I wonder—"
This is when Feng froze, realizing that something was up. He felt a presence, so oppressive and blood-curdling, it even made him – A Yakuza boss -- look up, realizing that Jin’s skin was growing paler, as the devil markings began expanding all over his body, and his own forehead horns started growing out of his skull. Pretty much reminding that, his fight-or-flight response has to kick in, otherwise, he is dead meat…
…is what you would normally expect someone to have, but not so much with Feng Wei. In fact, he had been praying for this to finally come down to. A Dragon, going up against, the Devil himself. It both made the hairs on his neck stand up, while also motivating him into busting loose as well. A fight to the death, that was exactly what he lived for.
“Oh. What do I see…? I can sense the animalistic urge within you to just tear me to pieces, and be done with it… Your Devil Gene, oh, I can see it brewing inside you… Good. I was starting to get bored. Now then, if we are going to play THIS game, I am on. You won’t see me backing out, now that things are really starting to get interesting.”
“You… You have no clue, what you are getting yourself into, you moron…!”
“Hm? Why is that…?”
“…Because…”
The air stilled around them, as we see one cold-blooded, demented smirk forming on Jin’s face, that distorted everything about him, wings flocking behind him…
“…It’s me.”
Meanwhile, Law was busy carrying a now barely conscious Lili, right through the burning hallways, since the previous fights did not just end without collateral damage. Now, it was a matter of life and death. He needed to get out of here, and he knew that. But it also didn’t sit well with him, to just leave a girl behind, while this entire building was accidentally set ablaze, the temperatures increasing with every passing second. He hurried as fast as his tired legs could carry him, providing a piggyback ride for the young aristocrat on his back, to bust right out of this joint.
“I better hurry up. I am afraid, this building is not going to hold out much longer at this rate…! However…”
…But we do get a comical jump cut to Lili on his back, who had about three, big swollen pumps on the top of her skull, with a cartoonish set of waterfall-like tears, running down her cheeks. With Law comically getting mad, his eyes turning white, forming shark teeth, as he shouts:
“…Care to explain to me, why it’s suddenly MY job to carry you out of here?!?! Couldn’t your stupid butler do that for you?!”
He still felt bitter over their entire interaction. Never in his life, had he met an individual as delusional and conceited as her. During their entire fight, she had kept going on and on about “It wasn’t my fault your son is such a weakling”, and “Had he trained more, maybe he wouldn’t have to sit out the remainder of his lifespan in a hospital bed, hmph!”. His fraternal instincts had repeatedly warned him that this girl spells nothing but trouble. And if it weren’t for the spreading inferno, he couldn’t have cared less about her fate. He would have just left her in the compound, if it meant some peace and quiet for his family. He muttered, looking angry, still, and not even the comical kind any longer:
“No matter how weak someone is, it doesn’t give you the right to trample on others, purely for your own morbid form of self-entertainment. You should be ashamed of yourself. And I hope that, one day, karma will come around to bite you in the heinie. Because, as things stand, especially with what happened to Asuka, and the dealings you made with the Mishima family… You best believe, you WILL get your just desserts. And this time, I am confident in my predictions. I bet your father will most definitely love to hear, what kind of messed up games you have been pulling right behind his back. And if not, the Devil shall come by and take me—"
With morbidly comedic timing, Devil Jin breaks right through the wall, just to smash Feng’s now reptilian-scaled body right down onto the concrete-tile floor, with made Law stop dead in his track, his blood freezing in pure terror, realizing quickly: This was Jin. Now, he had every reason to be scared.
“Oh, just my luck! Now THIS?! On top of everything else?!”
But somehow, Jin, despite having allowed the Devil Gene to take over, had some form of free will left. Enough to comfort Law, by reassuring him:
“Don’t be… Afraid…! You must get out of here, Mr. Law…! I will take care of this guy—Unless you want to die in the flames, or at my hand…!”
The last phrase came out more like Devil was talking through Jin, causing the poor restaurant owner to look terrified to the bone. But common sense took over, immediately, and understood that, the Devil Gene is a force of nature, and yet despite all that, the leader had managed to keep it under control well enough to give him free passage, back outside. He wasn’t taking any chances if Jin had left the door open for him.
“…Fine, Mr. Devil! I am outta here! It was an honor to make your acquaintance!”
Feng, being a petty one, felt flames rising in his belly, before unleashing a full-blown flamethrower strike on the two escapees…
“I told you, Law! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE, WITHOUT ME HAUNTING YOU!”
…but Jin shielded both Law and Lili, by enclosing himself in his black wings, blocking the flames, before deflecting them all, by spreading his wings back up.
“Not if I can help it!”
As we cut back to the foyer, we see that it was yet another stalemate. Now Heihachi realized, he had made a critical mistake, sending his own men away like that. Because now, Yggdrasil has arrived with reinforcements, holding him and Reina, who was dragging Asuka behind her, as though she was a ragdoll, at gunpoint. Sure, under normal circumstances, Heihachi could be deflecting the bullets…
…in fact, this is what Reina was referring to nervously, as they held up their hands, knowing this doesn’t exactly look good for them, anymore.
“Hey, father… Any good tricks up your sleeve? Will “catch the bullets with your mouth” business still apply here, too? Oh, please do share your great wisdom with me!”
That made the older Mishima get comically pissed off at his own daughter, eyes turning completely white, and growing shark teeth, as he shouts at her, with his forehead veins pumping:
“Oh, great idea! It’s not like multiple rifles are pointing at us! Who do you think I am, a hero from a comic book?!?!”
“Tsk, forget I ever asked, then.”
With Katarina now pointing her dual-wielding revolvers at the two, Yoshimitsu getting into position to speed in with his blade, Alisa drawing out her chainsaws, and Lars and Hwoarang getting out their own set of rifles, the leader of Yggdrasil explained to the Mishimas:
“You two… Don’t think for a second, that we are just going to let you two escape like that. You are holding hostage the one and only person that can potentially return balance to this otherwise rotten world that you, Heihachi Mishima, have contributed to shaping it the way it is now. Do yourself a favor and drop the girl. No one else will have to get hurt anymore. No more lives need to be senselessly wasted, all over a petty, familial conflict.”
“What he said! If you know what’s best for you, old man, you better return Asuka, right now! We don’t care about your demented plans, just hand her over, then we might be willing to talk again… Or not, depending on my mood, because my patience is running thin right now!”
Says the auburn-haired biker and ex-soldier, his forehead veins pumping, still. Because Heihachi just always had that “magical” effect on him to immediately increase his blood pressure to concerning levels, whenever he opened his mouth in his presence. He wasn’t having any of it, and if it meant feeding this bozo with more lead, he would be more than happy to deliver on that promise.
However, then, Heihachi said something that, immediately caused Lars to get insane headaches, as though, he was gradually unlocking unpleasant memories within his mind, that were long since lost, ever since he and Alisa had crossed paths on that fateful day. Paired with a cruel smirk on his lips, too, that just added more insult to injury.
“Come on, Lars. Or should I say… Raizo Mishima…?”
The effect was immediate. That name, for unknown reasons, gave the illegitimate Mishima insane, throbbing headaches, as though he was also being electrocuted on-sight, dropping to one knee, with one hand covering the right side of his face, dropping his rifle in the process.
From his perspective, we see flashing images of dirty, abandoned jail cells, the smell of chlorine, the taste of rubber gloves from the doctors, hospital lights, green, unnatural glows from a capsule…
His own fighting spirits wavering, as he had begun feeling so helpless, almost like a child, when confronted with the impending punishment from an abusive father. It doesn’t help that, Heihachi, merely proceeds to come down the steps, as if he was taunting Lars, by acting as though, he was his “real father”. And as he walked, he proceeded with:
“Don’t you be giving me attitude, when you haven’t even finished your assignment yet. You do know what I mean, right? No food for you, unless you kill off the target, that was the plan. No kneel… And beg…”
Alisa grew deeply concerned now, because she had seen this reaction before, every time she and Lars were alone together, and she wanted to press on about his memories. And every time she said the word “Mishima”, it had brought him migraines.
“Oh no, not again…! Lars! Please, get back up!”
“Alisa… Everyone… I am sorry…!”
Katarina grew panicked as well, and immediately wanted to know, both her journalist instinct, but mostly her empathic human side kicking in:
“What’s going on with him?! “Raizo Mishima”, what is he talking about?”
Hwoarang, Yoshimitsu and Xiaoyu were just as concerned. They had never seen Lars behave this way before, let alone reacting so sensitively to a name that was foreign to them. With the Korean ex-soldier rushing to shield Lars from Heihachi…
“Leave him alone, you son of a—”
“Hwoarang, don’t!”
“Silence!”
…only to get brutally kicked right back into Xiaoyu’s arms. With Yoshimitsu preparing his blade, not wanting anything to happen to Lars, because this situation was growing dire now, especially when they witnessed the older Mishima kneeing the younger Mishima in the stomach, which he was too injured and exhausted to block or dodge, causing him to fall flat on the tile floor…
…and then having him getting violently pulled up by the hair, the older man’s breath warm against his face, with him asking in a malevolent tone of voice:
“Any last words… Number 4…?”
“Ugh…!”
Alisa speeds in, wanting to save Lars, but then, Reina abandoned his post, not wanting her father to get hit by her chainsaws. And she did this, by leaving Asuka behind and bouncing off the stairs to fly forward and kick the robo-girl down onto the tile floor too, pushing her down by the throat with her right hand.
“Don’t even think about it, pile of junk…! Don’t touch him!”
…but things were just about to grow even more dire than they already were, when…
…from right above them, like two dropping meteors, were two combatants, who come crashing through the glass roof of the foyer, with one of them being a reptilian-skinned Feng Wei, forcing down the neck of someone awfully familiar to everyone present.
It was Jin. Fully consumed by the Devil Gene. Who was tightly gripping Feng’s wrist with both now clawed hands, with blood dripping out of the Kazama’s mouth…
The sight of this horror package alone, caused Jin’s team to stare on in cold-blooded tremor, with Xiaoyu slapping her hands over her mouth, her tears threatening to fall…
“No…! Jin… You didn’t—”
Hwoarang, having already borne witness to this monstrosity firsthand, now felt his blood run cold, as he forced himself back on his feet, ready to fight again, even if he didn’t really want to.
“Not this again…! I was hoping it would never come down to this… But alas, the universe loves to prove me wrong…!”
Heihachi could only smirk, stating, as he lets go of Lars, being far more interested now in how Jin is going to handle this entire situation going forward:
“Hmph! So, the truth finally comes out… Let’s see if these clowns are still willing to be on his side, now that they see, what he has been hiding from them… Hmhmhmhmhm…”
And that is when Asuka, now fully recovered, stood back up to see, if she can catch Heihachi or Reina by surprise…
…but what she saw, made her blood run cold. Feng Wei. Now looking less like a human, and more like a blend between a man, and a dragon from the orient…
…and Jin, fully having embraced his Devil Gene. Her eyes now wide open, her hazel irises dilating in sheer panic. The black wings, the pale skin, the claws… Now, she finally got a clear view of what exactly her relative has been wrestling with, all these years. She felt her heart sinking, while being deafly afraid, and no one would be able to blame her.
“…Is this… Jin…?”
TO BE CONTINUED…