Aye, where to start... firstly, sorry for going AFK for so long. My strawberry panic fanfic hasn't died, but I felt the need to write this after playing TTT2(and playing Michelle extensively), and reading a fanfic Titled "Around the Mountain" by TheNewBrawler. Needless to say that this fic was strongly influenced, and I'd suggest that once you're done here, you should check it out. He tells a story twice as good with only half as many words.
Tekken, and all affiliated characters are owned by Namco Bandai, and not me.
"You're going back?!"
Michelle Chang couldn't help but raise her voice when the petite Japanese woman of her unknown affections spoke her plans. Jun Kazama smiled softly at Michelle, although it did little to hide the sadness in her eyes.
"I have to confront him again, Michelle. There's still good in him. I just know it."
She speaks of course, of Kazuya Mishima, the current head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, and the man who beat her to within an inch of her life, saved only by Michelle being in the right place at the right time.
"You might see good in him Jun, but it makes no difference if he doesn't see it for himself!"
Michelle's protests were falling on deaf ears, or perhaps stubborn ears in Jun's case. In the short few months they had spent together, Jun's stubbornness was one of those qualities Michelle would normally be able to relate to somehow. But right now, when Michelle needed the raven haired Japanese woman to see reason, it was pissing her off.
"I have to try Michelle…"
"But why?"
Jun paused for a moment, causing Michelle to swallow her breath. She'd put Jun on the spot, and instantly regretted doing so.
"Kazuya was the first person to ever show me kindness as a child. For him to have changed so much, means that something inside his spirit is broken. If I have a chance to mend it, then how can I not take it, if only to return the kindness he once showed me."
This time it was Michelle's turn to be left speechless, as Jun looked up at her with that stubborn determination that she now couldn't help but find endearing.
"At least let me come with you."
Michelle took several steps towards Jun. If she couldn't talk her out of what would only end up being a suicide mission, then she could see to it personally that Kazuya brought her no harm. After the past 3 months she spent with Jun, she would do anything for her. She could at least do this much.
"I'm sorry Michelle, but this is something I have to do personally. You can't come with me."
The tears began to well up in Michelle's eyes, as she observed her best friend gaze at the sunset overlooking the Arizona desert. The last of the sun' light reddened the sky and sand alike, whilst above them, the stars began to reveal themselves one by one. Michelle's lip quivered as she dug in deep to fight back the onslaught of tears. There was so much she wanted-no, needed to say to Jun, but her voice was unwilling to move with her mind.
"The time I've spent with you here has been wonderful. I'll miss this. Both this place. And you….."
That was too much for Michelle. She immediately closed the gap between them, and threw her arms around Jun's shoulders. She couldn't hold her tears back any longer, Michelle buried her face in Jun's shoulder, and let her tears dampen her shirt.
"Damn you Kazama. It's not fair. You can't leave! Not like this…."
Michelle's words were weak as she continued sob into Jun's shoulder. She huffed slightly when she felt Jun wrap her arms gently around her back. A slender finger stroked the bare of her back between her tank top and her denim shorts.
"This won't be the end for us. We will see each other again. No matter what."
Jun's gentle words in Michelle's ear somehow soothed her tears. Against her will, Michelle relaxed her embrace with Jun, allowing her to break off. With a farewell, she watched helplessly as Jun retrieved her bags, and hopped into a taxi to whisk her out of her life.
.
That was the last time Michelle saw Jun. Almost 20 years ago to this day…
.
Dressed only in black sporty underwear, the woman whose physical body lagged at least a decade behind her chronological age lay sprawled out on a double bed in a luxury apartment far away from the dusty shack she called home in the Arizona desert. She was here in Japan supporting her adopted daughter Julia in the Iron Fist Tag Tournament. She loved her daughter more than most things, but lately she found herself struggling to sit through her matches. Watching Julia fight was no different to watching a stranger with her acrobatic lucha libre style she took up in place of the style Michelle had taught her since she was 10. That pink and white piece of fabric she called a costume wasn't helping her case either. She looked ridiculous, but Michelle hadn't the heart to tell her. It made Julia happy, and helped her worry less about her forest restoration project. And considering the endless nights Michelle helplessly watched Julia work herself to the point of exhaustion, that could only be a good thing.
Her choice of partner was another thing Michelle found odd. His name was Craig Marduk, an MMA fighter from Australia. The guy was built like a monster, and had the in-ring temperament to match it. But somehow, his brutish and straight forward style seemed to complement Julia's affluent acrobatics in the ring. The synergy they shared as a team was enough to topple the favourites Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law in their previous fight. Outside the ring, the aggression faded, transforming him into a happy yet boastful jock. He had just enough chivalry where it really counted, but nothing more. He wasn't exactly a deep thinker either, with his main choices of conversations consisting of workout routines, previous fights, or a mixture of both. Luckily, he was smart enough to shut up whenever Julia started talking about her forest restoration project. Michelle recognised the look in their eyes whenever they looked at each other. They were obviously trying to hide it, but Michelle could tell they were smitten with each other. But why him?Maybe Julia had picked up some greater insight into a person's character that Michelle lacked(or lost), or maybe the wrestling was actually making her dumber somehow. Either way, Michelle didn't get what Julia saw in him. Sure, he was gentle around her, and seemed to have a genuinely caring personally somewhere underneath all the bravado, but still….
Of course, Michelle had her own reasons for tagging along with Julia and her partner, although she wasn't too sure on what those reasons were. She told Julia that she felt she needed a change of scenery after not travelling for so long, and that was partially true. What she didn't tell Julia was that she'd been plagued by recurring nightmares recently. Jun Kazama remained a constant feature in her dreams, choking and drowning in sickly purple ichor within a rotting garden. Sometimes Jun struggled, sometimes she'd allow herself to sink willingly, but it always ended with Michelle waking in a cold sweat. The only knowledge Michelle had of Jun's life after they parted ways in Arizona, was what Heihachi Mishima had told her while he had her captured for the pendant her adopted daughter now wore. Heihachi told her that she had given birth to Kazuya's son. The mental images in Michelle's head still sicken her. The idea of Jun willingly giving herself to that monster was inconceivable, regardless of Jun's insistence that Kazuya 'still had good in him'. Now her son's face is plastered on every newspaper she reads, wearing his mother's gentle facial features like a distorted mask that lacked any real emotions. Heihachi told her one other thing. That she'd been killed by Ogre, the legend the local Indian tribe foretold of, not long after giving birth to Jin. Initially, Michelle refused to believe him, but seeing the world the way it was now, there was no way she couldn't. If Jun really was still alive, she wouldn't have allowed her son to become what he is today.
Back home, she constantly felt uneasy. Being in tune with the land's spiritual energy, she noticed subtle differences in its flow. It felt unusually course, like something was interfering with it. Whatever was disturbing the land's spirit was somehow affecting her too through the nightmares. She thought that maybe being away from home would clear her mind, allowing her to meditate on what could be disturbing the land with more clarity. In truth, coming here had actually made it worse. In the short few days she had been here, she'd gotten merely half a healthy night's sleep. Her nightmares stalked her constantly here, and when she awoke, there would be the sound of faint sobbing. The sound was too distorted in echoes to make out who or what it belonged to, but it always followed after a nightmare. She kept these things to herself, but Julia knew something was wrong, and Michelle would only be able to deter her with "I'm fine"for so long.
Michelle rolled over to one side to check her alarm clock. It was barely 4 in the morning. The sun wouldn't begin to show for another 2 hours yet. It didn't matter, it wasn't like she was going to get any more sleep anyway. She slowly crawled out of bed, and lazily made her way to a small kitchen compartment. Her eyes blurred up momentarily as they adjusted the light blurring from the fridge. She retrieved a chilled jug of water, before pouring herself a drink in the dark. As her eyes became reacquainted with the darkness, just cast her thoughts back to Jun. The time between their parting and the now had not been completely empty for Michelle as far as 'intimate' relationships went. There was a one night stand here, a failed partnership there. And yet none of them made her feel the same way Jun did. In many ways, Michelle still blames herself for the current state of the world. If she had the strength to say what she wanted to say to Jun back then, things might have been different-for everyone. Having swallowed her last mouthful of her drink, she decided on a shower, before changing into a blue tanktop, some tight denim shorts, a pair of cowhide boots, and a large sleaved zebra scarf she wore loosely like a poncho. She still had at least an hour left before the sun came up. The only thing she could do is kill time with some early morning television, with the fruitless hopes of it possibly quelling her troubled mind.
.
Later that night….
.
On the surface, the day had passed along relatively uneventfully, consisting of Julia hitting mall after mall and diving in and out of clothing stores, each visit leaving Marduk with yet one more bag on his arms. A girls shopping trip is normally considered the bane of all would-be boyfriends, yet Marduk seemed to relish the trip, viewing it as some kind of alternative training exercise. By the end of the day, his forearms were covered in bag straps, and though he tried not to show it, carrying that many bags for so long began to weigh in on him physically. This was even more obvious when they returned to the hotel. He watched a crack team of bell boys go back and forth between the hotel and the overflowing taxi boot with a look of relief etched into his face. Currently, the three of them sat enjoying dinner in their hotel's restaurant. Marduk and Julia were mowing through their T-bone steak and chicken salad as though they hadn't eaten in several weeks. In comparison, Michelle had barely touched her wedges. Instead she gazed out at the ever darkening clouds, signalling the onset of night time. She'd not seen a clear sky ever since they got here. Each day was always miserably overcast, but today the clouds looked unusually ominous, an endless blanket of thick, deep grey moving at great speed despite the lack of wind. And then she heard it again. Distorted sobbing ever so slightly above the noise of the restaurant. It was much clearer than the times she'd heard it before, but no one else, not even Julia seemed to notice or even hear it. Michelle closed her eyes, attempting to shut the rest of the world out so she could focus her attention on that damned sobbing. She deducted that its source was not far out of the city limits, and then she heard it once more, this time undistorted, and clear enough to break Michelle's focus. The sound of the voice turned her veins to ice. It came from a grown woman, and one she recognised all too well.
Jun….
"Mom?"
Michelle looked up to find both Julia and Marduk's attention on her. Julia wore a look of genuine concern on her face, whilst Marduk simply looked slightly confused. Michelle immediately put on her 'I'm fine' face, out of instinct if nothing else.
"What's up sweetie?"
"Are you OK? You looked like you were about to pass out."
"It's just been a big day, is all."
"Yeah, I hear that." Marduk chimed in. "But this T-bone has really hit the spot for me."
With a hearty laugh, Marduk continued to rip into his steak. Julia ignored him, and continued to gaze at her mother. Michelle knew that Julia wasn't buying her excuses. The girl was incredibly insightful, sometimes too much for her own good. Eventually, Michelle would have to fess up about the nightmares, and the negative energy she'd been feeling off of the land-assuming Julia didn't have some idea already. Suddenly, Julia's cellphone rang.
"Lee, this is my private number, so this had better be an emergency….. I see. What kind of situation?... Where?... Oh. Well how much time do we have?... I could be there in twenty minutes... Then where are you?"
Julia disconnected her phone, and abruptly left the table to run outside. Michelle and Marduk quickly followed suit. Outside, there seemed to be a commotion on the streets. A sleek looking black helicopter had just landed in the middle of the road, proudly bearing the Violet Industries logo on its sides. The side panels folded out to reveal the helicopter's innards, and out stepped a tuxedo clad Lee Chaolan. She saw Julia step out of the crowd to meet him, and Michelle rushed in after her. Unknown to Julia, she heard most of their phone call. If Michelle wanted to get to the bottom of this, she had to be on that helicopter.
"Julia, wait up!" Michelle called out.
"Mom?!"
"Ah, Ms. Michelle Chang. It's been too long." Lee Chaolan greeted with a bow. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I don't know what sort of deal my daughter has made with you, but I need to be on that helicopter with her."
"Mom, what's gotten into you?"
"I overheard your conversation. You're going to the old Mishima Estate, right?"
"Yeah…."
"I'm sorry Julia, but there's something I have to see for myself over there."
"Hey wait a second! There's no way you guys are leaving me here!" Marduk boomed out.
"Ah, excellent…" Lee said, rolling his eyes. "I take it the brute will be joining us too?"
"This brute, is Julia's partner. And yeah, he will be coming along. Is that gonna be a problem?" Marduk replied aggressively, as he towered over Lee.
Lee looked over at Julia, who gave him a quick nod. "Ugh, fine. Now let's be gone before the Zaibatsu realises we're parked right under their noses."
With its passengers secured safely, Lee's heli left as quickly as it had arrived, unknowingly headed to the source of Michelle's nightmares.
.
.
"So, wanna explain what you're doing with Violet Industries?" Michelle quizzed.
"After I left the G-corporation, I lacked the funds to continue with my forest restoration project. And that's where Lee stepped in. He offered to finance my research, in return for assistance and expertise on the sorts of things conventional science can't explain."
"Things like this?"
"Yeah….."
Michelle looked at Lee with discerning eyes. The man was on his cellphone, casually discussing his schedule over the next few days. He spoke of charity events, diplomatic meetings, and all manner of good-willed acts typical of genius playboy billionaire philanthropists out of comic books. Michelle's memories of him were far less pleasant, however. Lee Chaolan was once Heihachi's right hand, and back then Lee wouldn't have hesitated make someone disappear for just looking at him the wrong way.
"Mom, I get the feeling you don't trust Lee, but he is a good man, and thanks to him, my research has been making real headway."
"It's fine, Julia." Lee interjected, slipping his cellphone into his pocket. "Your mother has every reason to be suspicious of me. I was a different man back then, with different goals. And they weren't very nice ones….."
"None of that matters right now." Michelle replied, sensing proper remorse in Lee's voice for his actions in the distant past.
In the short break of silence that followed, the ghostly sobbing returned to Michelle's ears. The old Mishima Estate couldn't be much further now, because Michelle could now feel the spiritual disturbance in its full volume. She was all too familiar with the dread the dominant energy force imposed. She'd felt this before, the first time being when she rescued Jun from Kazuya. She'd felt it numerous times since, whenever a pivotal moment in the Mishima family's history of violence took place, Michelle would feel its spiritual echo-even from all the way in Arizona. Julia called it 'The Devil Gene', and it was here in spades. Its ominous energies overwhelmed Michelle's spiritual senses, threatening to choke her mercilessly. But there was something else alongside the cursed energy. It felt sick and corrupted, as it spiralled out of control along with the Mishima bloodline's curse. Being this close to it now, Michelle could tell that the corrupted energy alongside the Devil Gene belonged to a spirit of immense power. It belonged to Jun Kazama, there was no doubting this now. Michelle's heart was mixed with joy and sadness. Joy over being reunited with Jun. Sadness over the state she might find her in. Her last words to Michelle all those years ago in the desert played back in her head.
Was this the 'no matter what' you had in mind, Jun?
"Mom?"
Once more, Julia interrupted Michelle's train of thought. She recognised the look in her daughter's eyes. There was no way she would be able to dodge her questions this time, not after forcing herself onto a helicopter bound for heaven knows what.
"You've been acting strange ever since we've gotten here. And now this? Mom what's gotten into you?"
"I….."
"It's the spirits, isn't it?" Julia said calmly, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"You feel it too then?"
"Yes. This distortion in the air. It's been saturating us ever since we've been here. There's no way this isn't unrelated. Mom… I get the feeling that something bad's about to happen."
Michelle gave her daughter a warm smile. Somehow, all the science and research Julia buried herself in hadn't dulled her spiritual senses. She'd been noticing for possibly as long as Michelle has, and not only didn't show any signs of it disturbing her, but managed to compete in a tournament as well. Michelle looked upon her daughter with pride. There were only a few things Michelle had managed to get right in her life. Adopting and raising Julia to be the woman she is today was definitely one of them.
"Sweetie. I'm not about to let that happen." Michelle reassured with a wink.
"No. WE'RE not going to let that happen." Julia returned.
Michelle let out a soft giggle in response, as she suddenly noticed Marduk setting quietly in his seat. He hadn't said a word ever since boarding the heli with everyone else. She couldn't blame him. All this talk of forest restoration and spirits would be enough to make anyone's head spin. To his credit though, he looked be actually trying to keep up with the conversation. She had to wonder whether Marduk would try to really listen whenever Julia went on a tangent about her research, or just zone out and pretend he was listening(something Michelle was guilty of doing more than a few times).
"Sir, we've arrived at the old Mishima Estate. Ummm….. you might wanna take a look at this…" Lee's pilot spoke through the intercom.
With a press of a button, the left side panels folded up, allowing a steady gust of wind to fill the passenger compartment. Everybody instinctively grabbed onto something as they lay their eyes on the nature of the threat they faced.
"Oh god…." Lee gasped.
Amongst the endless sea of forests should've stood a feudal Japanese castle surrounded by a large compound. What lay there instead could only be described as a condensed mass of storm clouds. Coloured in deep dark purples and greens, the clouds violently overlapped and rolled over each other, its pulsating mass occasionally expanding to consume another circumference of trees around it. Everyone reacted to what they saw differently. Lee Chaolan barked orders at his pilot in an attempt to get an idea of what was happening in front of him. Julia, like Michelle could feel the malevolent presence of the devil permeate the area around them. Marduk simply gawked at the supernatural storm facing him, unable to comprehend how such a thing was possible. Michelle simply looked on with steely eyes, now fully aware of why she was here.
Her Jun was somewhere within the storm. Her sobbing, seemingly intended for Michelle's ears only, grew stronger the closer they got to the storm. Michelle didn't need to ask why she could feel the devil alongside Jun. It was obvious that a son wasn't the only thing Kazuya left her with all those years ago. She couldn't have willingly accepted this cursed power from him. The ceaseless sobbing made that clear. Michelle had to temper her boiling blood on the thought of Kazuya forcing himself onto her Jun. But the past couldn't be reversed. Right now it was the present that needed tending to. On the surface, it appeared that the devil was in complete control of its host, bending her to its destructive whims. But Michelle felt Jun's will hanging on by a thread, keeping the true destructive power of her curse in check. But she was losing this fight. If someone didn't do something soon, the external consequences would be dire for everyone. In her heart, Michelle knew that she was the only one who could bring an end to this favourably. She had to act now. Everything from her own personal closure with Jun, to the fate of the world now rested on her shoulders. She looked to her daughter, as she mentally prepared to undertake the hardest task of her life.
"Julia, do you remember me telling you about that woman in that photograph you asked about?"
"Yeah, her name was….. Jun Kazama, right?"
"She's in there somewhere." Michelle spoke sadly, pointing at the ever growing mass of clouds in the distance.
"That should be impossible." Lee Chaolan interjected. "I heard she was killed not long after the second Iron Fist Tournament. But if the antics the names Mishima and Kazama have been attached to over the years are anything to go by, then you may as well throw all logic out the window."
"I have to save her…." Michelle hadn't taken her eyes off the storm.
"Wait a second!" Marduk spoke for the first time since getting on the helicopter. "You're not actually planning on going in there, are you? I mean, for all we know, this Jun girl might be the one behind this mess!"
Marduk was met with an angry glare for having the gall to suggest that Jun was intentionally causing this destructive storm. In his defence, the brute didn't know any better. But it was Jun he was talking about, and in Michelle's eyes, ignorance was completely inexcusable.
"He might be right Mom." Julia included, saving her partner from a potential barrage of expletives. "I can feel the Devil Gene just as you can. What if she really has turned?"
"I can still feel her, Julia." Michelle replied, seemingly calmer on the surface towards Julia. "She's fighting it, but she's losing. If I don't go to her now, then the Devil Gene will use her to cover the world in this darkness."
"Surely there's another way, Mom."
"There is. Kazuya or Jin could get to her first. But knowing their fixation on power, they'll no doubt try and use her for their own ambitions. I cannot allow that to happen." Michelle finished bluntly, renewing her gaze over the storm. She couldn't blame Julia for wanting to find a better solution-it was a sentiment Michelle shared with her. It was a small mercy then, that her daughter wasn't fully aware of what had to happen in order to save everyone.
"Lee, how close get you get me?" Michelle asked.
"We can descend here, but no closer. And landing is definitely out of the question."
"That's…. fine."
Michelle felt the weight leave her feet for a split second as the helicopter made its slow descent. Lee's pilot had be exceptionally skilled, as it felt no different to taking an elevator-minus the fierce wind in her face. Once more, Michelle turned to her daughter. Eyeing off the pendant on her neck, she gently lifted it from Julia's neck.
"Don't worry. You'll be getting this back." Michelle said, as she hung it over her own neck.
"The pendant. Do you think it'll help you?"
"It might. It definitely won't hurt to have it on me. Just in case."
Before Julia could ask just in case what, Michelle embraced her in a tight hug. Tighter than she'd ever hugged her before. It took Julia a short moment's confusion before instinctively returning her mother's show of affection. Leaving Julia behind would easily be hardest thing about what Michelle had to do. Ever since she found her as a dirt covered, abandoned roadside orphan, she had guided and watched her progress through life. There were still so many things she wanted to experience with her daughter, but this was where their roads parted ways. If Julia was to have the future that Michelle dreamt of for her, she had to give up her place in it, and be content with watching from afar. It took all of Michelle's willpower to hold back her tears. Her eyes had become glassy, which didn't go unnoticed by Marduk.
"Craig." Michelle used his first name before he could say anything. "When this is all over, Julia's gonna come to rely on you a lot. Just… be there for her, and whatever you do, don't break my little girl's heart, OK?"
"Mom?"
Michelle wriggled out of her now confused daughter's embrace. The helicopter had stopped descending. It was time.
"Wish me luck." Michelle winked at Julia, who caught a brief glimpse at the tears welling up in her mother's eyes.
She turned around, and gave Lee one last nod before stepping out of the helicopter, and landing gracefully on terra firma.
"Why are you talking like this Mom? You're gonna save Jun and come right back, right?"
Without another word, Michelle started walking.
"You are coming back, right?"
Michelle kept walking.
"Mom?!"
Michelle kept her eyes fixated on the dark cloud mass above her. She couldn't bear to look back at Julia now. She feared that doing so would break her conviction, and right now she still needed to be strong. And it almost did the moment she heard Julia's boots hit the ground hard. She didn't get far though. Both Lee and Marduk jumped out after her, cutting her pursuit of Michelle short. Still, she kept her pace.
"Damnit, let me go. I SAID LET ME GO! MOM! MOOOOM!"
Michelle's tears finally broke the floodgates, flowing ever faster with each of her daughter's frantic screams. She was under no illusions that doing this would be easy, yet her willpower strained like never before against the instinctive urge to run back to Julia. But still she pushed onward, towards the darkness, and towards Jun. Michelle was now close enough for the wind to drown out Julia's voice, and Jun's ghostly sobbing now held the same volume as thunder at close proximity. This sharp reminder of why Michelle was here was enough to re-ignite her resolve. She stopped only a few feet away from the storm. Its ever consuming cloud mass had seemingly halted in Michelle's presence. Taking her pendant in her hand, Michelle gripped it tightly, and closed her eyes.
Hang on alittle longer for me, Jun….
Michelle took her last steps in the real world, and entered the abyss…..
My main notes will be at the end of the second chapter.