Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind
Chapter 1: Interview With the Devil
By: Kadeana

Four silent guards with laser rifles surrounded Julia Chang in a protective circle as she was escorted down the halls of a huge prison. It was an enclosure built to incarcerate one powerful being—a being that she once thought she loved. As Julia and her escorts stepped inside an elevator, she let go of a long breath she had been holding. The prison was a magnificent structure. It was a black fortress that had to be several stories high and it looked like an old medieval castle tower.

She could not truly appreciate its architectural splendor because of the reason why she was summoned there.

I wonder if they have truly deluded themselves into believing that they are holding him here, against his will, she thought, as the elevator traveled upwards and brought her closer and closer to his madness. Jin Kazama didn't do anything he didn't want to do. The government—more specifically, The United States government—could not be this gullible.

For his numerous and deviously vindictive crimes, the world sentenced Jin to life imprisonment. The couldn't sentence Jin to death because know one knew how to kill him. The United States took on the task of housing such an unpredictable criminal.

Julia had thought the entire production a puppet show with Jin as the puppet master and nothing had happened yet to disprove her theory.

The prolonged ride to, what had to be the very top—or very close to it—of the holding facility soon ended—to her immense relief. There was only so much elevator a person could take before they started to get vertigo. There was no numbers on the control panel for Julia to know just what floor of the building she was on but she was sure she was close to outer space. And five minutes later . . . Julia found herself in his holding cell.

That is . . . if you could call this wonderful place a holding cell.

It looked and was furnished like a small apartment. He was sitting on a blue cushion, which was positioned in the center of a small carpet, with his long legs crossed. Julia knew better than to interrupt him—in whatever it was that he was doing—so she sat down on the futon and waited for him to acknowledge her presence. She pulled her tape recorder, pen, and notebook out and sat them on the small table.

But after twenty minutes, she looked over at him in annoyance because the exasperating man had not moved a muscle since she had first arrived. You know that I'm here. She couldn't help the frown of displeasure even if she tried but folded her arms in her effort to stop herself from getting up, meandering over to his side, and then snatching the cushion out from under him. She decided to wait ten more minutes but after that time passed he still had not acknowledged her presence. She unfolded her arms, stood to her feet, and walked over to him. She sat down on her knees in front of him and stared into open brown eyes that peered at people and objects she could not see.

She learned from some of his guards that this was a common ritual of his.

I wonder what it is that you see.

Jin Kazama watched a younger version of himself getting closer and closer to the location of—what was once known as—Mishima Jinpachi. I was such a fool, he thought shaking his head. It was ignorance at its most innocent. His swagger was heroic enough but he was still walking to his own ruin.

At that time of his existence, he was known only as Kazama Jun's beloved son and Mishima Kazuya's unwanted bastard.

The child of destiny . . . and the one who vowed to end the Mishima bloodline forever.

He snapped out of his trivial musings and walked forward to start the new scene of the play he was trying to create. Ling Xiaoyu, Kazama Asuka, and Yoshimitsu were out there somewhere and had no place in this scene. It would not do for the young warriors to see him . . . yet.

His younger self never heard him coming, and when he stepped in the abyss where the old temple once stood, he made his move. He rushed forward and elbowed his younger self in the face. He flipped over from the force of the blow and was unconscious before he hit the ground. Jin calmly pulled his younger self out of harm's way.

He then waited for the old creature to make his appearance.

Killing Mishima Jinpachi, once again, made him even more powerful but this time, he could easily control the power because of the mistakes he learned from during their last encounter.

The new stage was officially set.

Five minutes later, Asuka heard the terrible screams as something—or someone—died. It had to be a something because the sound was so inhuman and creepy. She ran full speed in that direction to see what in the hell was going on and if her aid was needed. The barrier mist that previously blocked her path way was now gone. The oppressing purplish haze was now clearing affording Asuka a good view to what was on the other side. Her feet propelled her toward a young man who was lying in the gravel. If you could call him a young man because he looked more like a demon, bat, goat boy.

He seemed . . . familiar to her for some unknown reason.

"Are you okay?" She got down on her knees beside him and hoped that her concern hid her disturbance over his appearance. "Do you need help?" She waited for his answer for a few moments. Hey! I'm talking here! She silently ranted.

She touched her hand to his shoulder and then looked heavenward for guidance. She never noticed she healed him with her touch and he became human once more. He sat up and she started babbling about getting him some help. More than a little disturbed by his change in appearance or species.

But . . . she did notice when he managed to fall forward, his idiot head finding a resting place between her breasts. His head stayed in that position for a few seconds and then he stood on unsteady legs. She got to her feet, pissed beyond her wildest dreams. She tried to play the good guy and look where that stupid crap got her! She took great pleasure out of trying to punch the perverseness out of him and then she stomped off in an angry huff.

Ling Xiaoyu and Yoshimitsu found Jin reeling from that powerful Kazama punch. Xiaoyu ran to him her eyes shinning in happiness. Her beloved Jin was still alive but Yoshimitsu hung back feeling like an intruder on the intimate scene.

"Jin-san, are you okay?" Xiaoyu asked hopefully.

"I think so," he replied. She helped him up to his feet and started to try to wipe the dust away from his shirt.

She sighed, sounding as if the entire world was on her shoulders. "I was so worried about you."

"Where's Panda and Taiachi-kun?" Jin held his head in agony.

"He stayed behind with Panda. Because she got a thorn in her paw," Xiaoyu replied. "Yoshimitsu caught up with me, on my way here." She smiled. "We came to help you."

"I told you to stay away from here." Jin could not keep the anger and frustration out of his tone. She was one person that he did not want to get hurt.

"I couldn't let you face that guy alone, Jin-san." Xiaoyu was horrified at the notion of such nonsense. "Have you lost your mind?"

"You are a normal human being, Xiaoyu-chan. This is no place for someone like you." A normal girl with dreams of a normal life which he could never live.

"Stop treating me like a child!" She released him and folded her arms angrily. "I have the same rights to be here, as you have."

"I will . . . when you stop acting like a child."

She turned away from him and homed in on her partner-in-crime and practically wailed, "Yoshi-sama, tell him to leave me alone."

"He's right, Xiaoyu-chan," Yoshimitsu replied.

"You, shut-up." Xiaoyu pouted, wishing that Tai-san was there to defend her honor. He wouldn't let them talk to her like she was a child.

"Let's go," Jin commanded.

"Hey, Jin-san . . . doesn't this mean you own the Mishima Zaibatsu now?" Xiaoyu asked happily. His earlier rudeness to her honor was forgotten.

"It appears that I do." He sighed and his shoulders sagged as if the world was on his shoulders and it was too heavy for him to bear.

"Hire me!" she commanded hopefully.

"No."

"Yoshi-sama, tell him to hire—Hey where'd he go?" Xiaoyu made a face. Yoshimitsu had disappeared. He was always doing that. Once she thought about it . . . so was Tai. It must be a trait of the Manji-clan. She decided then and there that it was a stupid trait.

The dimensional traveling Jin went to check on her before returning to his dimension. He'd laced her drink with a sleeping pill so she would not be in the way—which was one of her many specialties. The younger Julia Chang was asleep in her bed, clad only in her underwear. He stared down at her for a moment and then picked her up. She sighed, resting her head against his chest. He pulled the covers back and placed her under them. He kissed her lips, placed the covers over her, and then disappeared.

Julia leaned in closer to Jin to make sure he wasn't dead. She placed her hands on his shoulders, bravely preparing herself to shake him, but almost had a heart attack when he came out of his trance and grabbed both her wrists. "Konnichi-wa." His eyes focused in on her. "Shall we begin, onna?"

A/N: This story will be a lot different than my first Tekken story. When I saw Devil Jin's ending, it started new plot bunnies in my head. I ended up finishing this first chapter before my official end of "A Tekken Tale," so I decided to go ahead and posting it. I don't know when the next update will be, but it's coming.

Edit: May 6, 2013