Summary:
Story is set shortly after the Tekken 6: Scenario Campaign ending. Who are Julia Chang's real parents? The scientist-fighter's adoptive mother knows a great deal more than she's willing to tell. Nor was Michelle Chang always the perfectly strong, loving, and honorable woman she appeared to be...
In his attempted liberation from Devil Gene and Azazel, Jin Kazama unwittingly unleashes a side effect that forces Julia into a series of unsavory truths - regarding her adopted mother, her tribe, and her true heritage.
Jin Kazama himself finally stumbles upon a possible means of true salvation from his own life-long tragic fate and upcoming eternal damnation in the form of Julia Chang, but at the risk of the latter's own soul and sanity...further complicated by the youngest Mishima man's rapidly spiraling obsession with her.
Julia Chang-centric. Story background is intended to disregard official post-Tekken 6:SC sequels (like T7 & beyond) and other Tekken side media, such as the Blood Vengeance, TTT2, the anime motion picture, Street Fighter X Tekken, Revolution, etc. Ideas from these side media may be used on occasion, however.
Confirmed Pairings:
Jin x Julia/Julia x Jin, Xiaoyu x Jin, Jin x Nina, Julia x Lars/Lars x Julia, Lars x Alisa, Lars x OC/OC x Lars, Lars x Xiaoyu/Xiaoyu x Lars, Leo x Christie, Leo x Julia, Alisa x Leo/Leo x Alisa, Hwoarang x Asuka/Asuka x Hwoarang, Asuka x Leo, Lili x Asuka, Steve x Christie/Christie x Steve, Nina x Eddy/Eddy x Nina (others to come).
Rated:
M for Violence, Mature Situations, Sexual Content, Crude Language, and Controversial Themes, Elements & Implications.
Pre-Warnings/Clarifications:
(1) Intended plot and drama elements/devices include: Consummated acts of non-consensual pedophilia, incest, & sex; Forced & liberal promiscuity; Sexual coercion; Highly controversial portrayals of love; Age-inappropriate romance; Gratuitous use of foreign language (obscene & otherwise); Sexual abuse; Consummated intimacies of (consciously) non-consensual erotic urges; Instances of (consciously) unwilling/forced gratifications of romantic & emotional yearnings; Genocide; Consummated acts of filicide & cannibalism; Instances of Child Murders; Attempted & consummated infanticide; Consummated matricide; Presence of juvenile murderers; Sadistic and/or savage violence, abuse & torture; Gratuitous sexual violation, rape, & brutalization; Mind-manipulation; Presence of slurs; Possible instances of stereotyping; Self-harm; Substance abuse; Mature themes; Potential squick; Instances of profanity; Possible wangst; Shameless saccharine fluff.
(2) Some unsavory portrayals (or even outright bashing, depending on relative POV) of virtually all central and supporting characters.
(3) OC-heavy. Some OCs will be central plot drivers, while others will make mildly significant appearances, and the rest will be minor/one-time recurring characters. Also, some OC x Canon Character pairings.
(4) Significant and heavy AU & OOC elements, and personal alterations/additions to Tekken Tournament storyline (majority of them connected to Julia Chang).
(5) Canon character deaths.
(6) Story will start and remain (largely one-sided) Julia x Lars for a while. Jin & Julia will take time balancing their rather ambivalent bond. Story will progress into an official Jin x Julia, although Lars will eventually start to return her feelings rather belatedly.
(7) Instances of very long-winded, wordy, and overly-meticulous descriptions for certain appearances and background situation details.
(8) Inadequate knowledge of many areas, such as Science, Tech, Combat, Modern Fashion, Corporate/Celebrity Life, Social/Societal Relations & Rules, Law, Politics, Cultures, and Mysticism/Mythologies, surrounding story plot (many of them will be glossed over, others fabricated).
(9) Heavy character abuse/screw over - especially of Julia Chang, the story's main & central protagonist. Mostly intended for melodramatic trauma/tragedy-prone heroine effect, but there will be a few instances where I use it to bash/counter aspects of canonically-portrayed Julia Chang that I either dislike or downright loathe.
(10) Sad ending (if you actually become fond of my quite-OOC version of Julia Chang). May write a Happier Ending sequel story.
(11) Fairly raw drafts. I've still much to work on regarding vocabulary, terminology, wording, conciseness, story flow, character interactions, and written expression. Polishing
(12) Some chapters (especially the first 4) will be heavily focused on character backstories/intros, and backgrounds (of AUish nature, and for major OCs).
(13) Lengthy back stories/POVs in the form of flashbacks..
(14) Highly self-indulgent fan story. Personal fantasies/vents/self-amusement, and preferred character actions/reactions/events will be placed before Facts (of reality or In-Universe); Logic; Logical flow; Plausibility; Consistency; Realisticity; Substance; Quality; IC-ness.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Tekken, its original characters, or the mainstream fictional works that inspired and from which I derived my storyline/characterizations/plot devices/OCs/character names.
I do own the OCs presented here, along with the chosen naming & self-invented backgrounds of both playable & previously nameless canon characters with little or different background info (up to Tekken 6: Scenario Campaign).
Part 1 - Prologue I
*****
Three months after Jin Kazama's publicly announced "death", in a top security chamber cell...
Coated with sweat and Panting to catch his breath, Jin Kazama allowed himself to collapse to the floor of his holding cell of the Agency. He had been honing his striking power and accuracy for more than two hours straight. His captors have provided generous luxuries in an effort to keep the young man in good spirits, thus assisting his willingness to live and cooperate with the Agency's researchers.
Jin had been staying in the Agency for almost three months now, hidden away from the world he deeply wronged for nothing. For an empty promise. The tremendous power of Azazel and vengeful wrath of His spirit still burns inside the Mishima boy, alive and stronger each day.
Although rarely allowed outside his maximum security chamber except during weekly experiments or checkups, Jin was given a very spacious, well-ventilated room - furnished with his own bathroom, a comfy king-sized bed, books, cable TV, game consoles, clothing designs of his choice (tailored by the Agency at his request), and quality dojo-training equipment. Drinking water was readily available and clean. The meals provided were adequate and nourishing. The staff even provided top-quality room-keeping and laundry service each week.
The Agency scheduled his mandatory weekly trips to the labs - while his chamber-cell was being thoroughly cleaned, maintained, and inspected for any signs of attempts to escape.
Pointlessly redundant, with all the 24/7 surveillance cameras placed at every corner of my cell...the former Mishima Zaibatsu CEO often scoffed to himself regarding the latter procedure.
However much he loathed his paternal lineage, the young spiky-haired Japanese man couldn't get over the inexplicable Mishima male penchant of staying topless. This was convenient, as the chain cuffs that constantly bound his wrists - those prevented him from covering his upper body with any kind of clothing, anyways.
Physical training was the only activity that really kept the 22 year-old ex-warlord sane and distracted enough from falling into his inner abyss of despondency. Though Jin knew full well that plummeting down that self-created abyss was only a mere matter of time. He must delay losing himself forever as long as he could, until he finishes his personal mission and right as many wrongs he's committed during his Azazel campaign...as much of them as possible.
That threatening abyss growing in his psyche had manifested when he awakened in a glass capsule of the Agency's research facility, realizing that both himself and the Devil Gene were still alive and well.
Back then, he found his body was covered only in a simple little loincloth underwear. His wrists were handcuffed with chains that stretched at least 4 feet, allowing plenty of free movement of his arms.
A bit later, Jin personally met the man who had him taken to the Agency base. He was the same man who accompanied and aided Lars Alexandersson after Jin commanded Alisa to turn against his half-uncle. A top agent highly skilled in Ninjutsu and seemingly of African American descent, he was only known by his code name: Raven.
Raven informed Jin that he was found just outside the boundaries of where the Azazel temple ruins had been. The young Mishima was found half-buried in the sand, nude and unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Before he awoke, they conducted various tests on him. Devil-Gene's metaphysical energy within his DNA shooting so high off the charts, it ended frying the testing equipment's circuits. Signifying that Devil within him has absorbed most - if not all - of Azazel's power, as well...
A brief flashback of Raven's one-sided conversation flitted through Jin's mind:
*****
Approximately 3 months ago, in the Agency's research facility...
"You should be thanking the very woman you were attempting to slaughter along with her village," Raven told him in a matter-of-factly tone. "For now, at least. With some information retrieved from Heihachi Mishima's old research facilities, she was key in helping the temporary suppression of the sentient entity within you, buying some time for us and your life."
Jin looked into the agent's impassive face, made even harder to decipher with his pitch-black shades. That woman he ordered the hit on...Zafina, he remembered her introducing herself the first time they met at the temple ruins.
Being one of the last descendants of those who sealed Azazel in the first place, that Middle-Eastern mystic knew about the Devil Gene within the Mishima men. She later worked as a spy against the Zaibatsu and passing crucial information to his opponents, which threatened to sabotage his ultimate goal.
The young Zaibatsu head initially instructed his the Tekken Force to simply restrain her, but the mystic-woman proved to be an overwhelmingly skilled fighter, repelling all capture attempts with relative ease. Time had been running out and external factors -- most notably the unforeseen events set off by his half-uncle rebel leader, and later the appearance of Lars's unexpected new Ninja ally -- were threatening to throw his plan off course. Jin had no choice, by then - he demanded an all out assault to stop Zafina, dead or alive irrelevant...just another necessary sacrifice out of the millions he already made.
"The Agency would've liked to keep you in ignorant bliss for maximum collaboration," Raven's emotionless, business-like voice snapped Jin from his musings. "But I doubt you're that stupid, anyways - you're living on strictly borrowed time, kid. The moment we come up with a solid method to counter the Devil, you'll be history - this time for good. Though you might take comfort knowing that so'll be your dear daddy." With that, the Ninja turned and strode off.
Several hours of waiting later, Jin found himself in his new holding cell, lying on a large bed. They must have had him sedated and transported there.
Therefore, the Agency insisted that like Kazuya did with himself in G. Corp., Jin fully cooperate with them in researching the Devil Gene. Especially since Jin's attempt to erase it from existence clearly backfired on him: His Devil powers are now stronger than ever, once a mere branch with Devil's and now the whole tree with Azazel's.
And according to the Agency's intelligence, the powers within Kazuya Mishima have not been affected in the very least by Azazel's demise. They didn't have to tell Jin; Devil still maintained a strong telepathic link between father and son, and the Mishima boy knew that Kazuya was also well aware he was still alive. Thank goodness Jin's handcuffs were strong enough to block out any telepathic harassment from his father.
Jin's cuffs had been manufactured based on the chains Heihachi's men bound him with years back, when his grandfather first brought his father to meet him in person.
Together with another agent who wielded strong anti-evil energy cleansing in her psychic abilities, Zafina crafted a much more powerful and advanced version of those chains, due to the Devil within now also having become much more powerful, with the strength He absorbed from Azazel.
Still, the Azazel-Devil-suppressing effects of his cuffs were limited and constantly wearing off from the Entity's constant struggle against it, thus needed to be "re-charged" by the powerful Middle-Eastern mystic and the young psychic agent almost monthly.
*****
Back in the Present, Jin's personal chamber cell in the Agency...
Jin knew he couldn't simply stay here and wait for the Agency to find some Devil Gene breakthrough, even though he'd much prefer to just hide from the world, from all those people who rightfully hate him...and from his two younger friends, the only people in the whole world who naively care about his well-being and doggedly refuse to give up on him.
Kazuya, Heihachi, and G. Corp. with all its years of research on the Devil Gene must be destroyed permanently, whether or not there's a way to finally attain what his tortured, worn soul both craved for and needed: eternal peace via death.
The television Jin left on was now broadcasting world news. The civil war within the Mishima Zaibatsu had been intensifying. The internal struggle for the Empire erupted almost immediately following Lars Alexandersson's appointment as the Zaibatsu's next official heir.
Before he went to fight Lars for the last time, Jin ensured that the official word to be broadcasted later was Lars obtaining the Tekken Force troops' full support upon disposing himself, the oppressive tyrant of destruction - thus winning the empire's throne.
However, Heihachi managed to steal a copy of Jin Kazama's legal will right under his half-uncle's nose, proving that Jin in fact had planned to hand Lars Alexandersson his CEO position well beforehand. Suspected of some complicit deceit with Jin, Lars soon lost a sizeable chunk of the Zaibatsu's sense of credibility and approval as an acceptable leading figure. It didn't help that the majority of the Zaibatsu's old business partners strongly favored Heihachi to head his empire once again, as he proved to be a charming familiar with strong business acumen...along with the sense to turn a politely blind eye to more unsavory trading practices - a feature that Lars Alexandersson both sorely lacked and worse yet, stubbornly refused to learn.
Pft...Jin scoffed inwardly. He definitely misjudged his half-uncle's prudence and common sense for the worse.
If Heihachi hadn't turned out to be still alive and well, handing Zaibatsu's CEO position over to Nina Williams (albeit temporarily) wouldn't have become a wholly unfeasible option. That was the plan, at least before Alisa's visuals revealed his grandfather well alive and living in the Mishima estate as if he still owned it.
But a functioning Mishima over 17 years old - with the unique exception of his father, Kazuya Mishima - will always have candidacy precedence over any non-Mishima blood relative.
In hindsight, Jin probably should've left out the Lars Alexandersson heir appointment from his will altogether, but he never had imagined the half-Swede Mishima would be so negligent.
And Lars apparently could not bring himself to force his divisive troops into compliance by coercion, either...the former Tekken rebel leader's over-idealistic notions of honest comradeship and complete fairness still prevented him from taking any ruthless but completely necessary actions - actions to ensure justice and peace prevail in the long-run. What a short-sighted imbecile. How the Mishima boy wanted to spew those words in his half-uncle's face every time he turns on the TV.
Jin was immensely disappointed in Lars's all-too-blatant lack of competence in controlling Mishima empire left to him. The Mishima grandson apparently over-estimated his paternal half-uncle to take up the mantle and set things right again...even after the clearly virtuous and heroically determined Mishima rebel passed the test of painful treachery, which his half-nephew forced his unwitting pre-appointed successor to undergo.
Before Lars became acquainted with Alisa Boskonovitch, Jin had been at a bind on what to do with the Zaibatsu after it served his purpose. He had considered his only viable option as passing legal ownership of the Mishima Zaibatsu to Nina Williams - more than a mere enforcer-cum-bodyguard, his most important mentor and only close confidante in all matters - who fully supported his cause, and went well beyond call of duty to see him achieve his goals. The elder Williams sister was the only person Jin entrusted his true mission to, and had faith that she -in spite of her ruthless assassin nature - was both honorable and competent enough to handle the Zaibatsu properly after his death.
However much devotion and loyalty she had proved in their agreed-upon services to him, Jin still couldn't assure himself whether even Nina Williams would honor his final wish for the Mishima Zaibatsu's fate, which he'd planned to state in his legal will: After the Mishima Zaibatsu's remaining resources have successfully obliterated G. Corp. and permanently exterminated the remaining Mishimas in existence, the massive empire is to undergo complete liquidation, with all net proceeds going to rebuilding and recompensing the many worldwide civilian lives/places damaged by the war...or whether his hired enforcer-bodyguard would secretly discard that portion of his will, and keep the massive Mishima property and wealth for herself. Besides, there was that final ambiguous gesture from Nina - the one that caught him completely off guard - right before they departed from his office for the last time...
Nevertheless, the latter outcome would've been far more preferable than to allow G. Corp. to absorb it anyways.
But it was then the Mishima Zaibatsu's Heir Clause turned into a double-edged blade for Jin. That particular clause, vastly outdated but still fully enforceable by the empire's chairpersons upon any of its rulers: the Zaibatsu can only accept ownership by those of Mishima descent.
The Heir Clause had initially been crucial in helping Jin eliminate the tiny handful of competing candidates to the Mishima empire's throne - the most prominent ex-competitor being Kuma, whom Heihachi himself had officially appointed as his heir. Jin - upon securing his seat as Zaibatsu CEO - heartlessly had the bear thrown out of a flying helicopter, into some distant and uninhabited forested area of Hokkaido.
It was later revealed that the Zaibatsu chairmen had only pretended to go along with Heihachi's offhand dismissal of the Heir Clause, and temporarily feigned consideration of his pet grizzly's candidacy...as angry as the committee was, they feared even more stealth retaliation from the apparently senile-insane and unreasonable-tempered Mishima patriarch. That Mishima tradition was sacred to the superstitious chairmen...for good or for evil. They'd have ruled out Kuma's candidacy the very moment Heihachi either croaked or abdicated - had Jin not been available. Or in their worst-case scenario, torn the empire down if there were no surviving Mishima - save those like Kazuya Mishima - left.
Mindlessly indiscriminating of a candidate Mishimas' scruples or competency otherwise, the committee had the surprising sense to add a most important exception to the Heir Clause: officially determined traitors of the very empire itself, however direct a Mishima descendant...such as Kazuya Mishima, who founded his own empire in the form of G. Corporation, and proceeded to openly declare war on his paternal kingdom. Feuding against the Mishima Zaibatsu, like Jin and both his uncles had done at some point, was one thing. But his father made it all too clear that he sought to tear his family empire, along with the long-honored Mishima legacy, to lifeless pieces - chairmen and all - then have G. Corp. gobble up any useful remains.
But via the same logic, the Heir Clause also meant that he wouldn't be able to confer his position to a non-Mishima. Like the monarchs of old, a Mishima's wife - or in fact any extramarital female lover - will be allowed to temporarily head the Zaibatsu...given that she was already pregnant with a Mishima child, and up until said child grew old enough to take over as heir.
With Jin's Devil Gene and his purpose of seizing the Zaibatsu in the first place, officially marrying and impregnating his then-bodyguard was entirely out of the question...even if she did agree to undergo such disgusting measures, and even if the Zaibatsu's scientists actually succeeded in inseminating her to pregnancy with his seed. Nina Williams was a lethally competent fighter, extraordinarily resourceful, and ruthlessly practical - but she was no Jun Kazama. Devil would have very little trouble preventing Nina from aborting his spawn, or killing the child post-birth. Using Heihachi's preserved sperm samples instead had been the most viable alternative, however even more unpleasant the notion was to both Nina and Jin.
And of course, the only other surviving Mishima he knew of at the time were his evil father. To Jin, stopping Kazuya from his worldly ambitions was nearly as imperative as taking down Azazel, and with no legitimate successor to head the Mishima Zaibatsu, G. Corp. would forcefully seize all the Zaibatsu's valuable assets and dangerous technology before the empire could dismantle itself. The once-advantageous Heir Clause became quite a headache-inducing impediment for the Mishima boy, who knew he had little time left to find counter-measures against his father's empire.
One fateful day the legacy dilemma solution came to Jin by itself, in the form of a Tekken Force Officer-turned-rebel leader who attacked the Zaibatsu's weapons base, lost his memory, and ran off with the Alisa combot. After spending time spying on Lars through Alisa's eyes, Jin eventually learned that Lars was also of paternal Mishima descent - and possessed a strong, upright heart. Perhaps the only other Mishima in existence who shares Jin's hatred of his paternal bloodline, along with ambition driven by a sense of justice rather than personal gain.
At the same time, he also learned that Heihachi was still alive. And survived the encounter with his Scandinavian bastard son. Whether the Zaibatsu manages to obtain Heihachi's seed and impregnate Nina with a Mishima child, the Heir Clause would enforce that any living and functional Mishima adult's candidacy would take definite precedence over a Mishima wife's, Mishima-child pregnant or not.
Thus, it was decided that compelling his mutinous half-uncle to accept the position of next Zaibatsu head was the only viable option...otherwise, it would inevitably fall back into the wrong hands of Heihachi - or worse, taken over by G. Corp. - once Jin accomplished his goal. But of course, Lars must first survive and prove himself worthy of shouldering the Zaibatsu burden, which Jin personally oversaw himself.
The deep attachment Lars developed towards the Boskonovitch robot bodyguard was a great opportunity for Jin to observe whether his half-Mishima relative also had that determination in him - to sacrifice what is most precious to him when necessary, for the sake of the greater good. Upon Lars's first victory against the re-booted Alisa, Jin had ordered her to secretly whisk a piece of his half-uncle's hair upon withdrawal, so the Tekken rebel's eligibility to the Mishima throne could be proven via solid DNA results.
Regrettably however, all of Jin's previously hired enforcers - especially Nina Williams and Eddy Gordo - must not remain in Lars's services or even imply any sort of ongoing goodwill, lest the new Mishima heir's reputation be negatively affected by their publicly condemned deeds.
Jin's whole gamble to awaken Azazel was an enormous risk in itself, not limited to failure of awakening or even killing the Source of his curse itself - also risking his own original human soul.
In more than a few occasions, whilst quelling the desolate, excruciating wails of his human conscience with agonizing and self-loathing force - in order to maintain the evil persona and doing horrible actions, and ultimately awaken the source of evil he vowed to eradicate - Devil had almost overtaken the self-shredded remains of the young man's honorably determined human side.
Jin simply couldn't afford to maintain his sense of true self whilst harboring control over Devil's power, like Kazuya could, as his soul-less father whole-heartedly became one with the once-separate evil entity within him. Besides, it wouldn't only defeat Jin's purpose in sacrificing so much of his heart and soul...the youngest Mishima descendant simply could not - and would never - come to terms with such a mindless, evil being.
In his penultimate act, Jin Kazama had to push his accursed luck and moral limits to test the "worthiness" of Lars Alexandersson as his successor...so much that his human self was able to freely wield almost full potential of Devil's power - including the Devil's beam...not to mention the final blow that finished off Azazel Himself.
Such level of conscious control was completely impossible whenever he let through his old, true self.
The television news coverage suddenly shifted to footage of four major warring parties: Lars's Zaibatsu faction, Heihachi's Zaibatsu faction, G. Corp., and remaining old terrorist rebels now led solely by Hwoarang.
Kazuya was undoubtedly attempting to crush his Mishima rivals once and for all during their time of divisive weakness. Fortunately for his opponents, G. Corp. military edge had been crippled - thanks to Lars and Alisa's sieges on Kazuya's main strongholds before they turned their attention back to Jin's, as well as G. Corp.'s significant intelligence compromise by courtesy of his adopted uncle's mole (before she finally got herself caught).
Furthermore, Kazuya's forces received unconditional, one-sided hostility from all three of its main opponent parties. Amongst themselves, Lars's, Heihachi's, and Hwoarang's respective factions would occasionally stay neutral - or even form temporary alliances - with each other. But all three viewed G. Corp. as the undisputable common threat, which prompted them to preserve resources solely for battling Kazuya and his army, temporarily putting aside their antagonistic differences to fight together.
The news camera turned briefly to Heihachi's Zaibatsu faction, with the old Mishima patriarch himself coolly overlooking the clash between the two conflicting Tekken force parties at a distance, a tight circle bodyguard soldiers surrounding him.
Standing closely beside Jin's grandfather was a tensed-up Ling Xiaoyu and her pet Panda, both apparently struggling with their eagerness to join the fray ahead of them. Unbridled sorrow and hatred blazed in his young Chinese friend's eyes as she stared at the Zaibatsu headquarters occupied by Lars.
Jin started to feel that same big migraine - accompanied by a heart-stricken feeling - whenever the news showed his two closest surviving companions, and how they were reacting to his missing status.
During a journalist interview, Xiaoyu had openly accused Lars Alexandersson of murdering Jin Kazama - or maybe imprisoning his half-nephew in some remote tower to languish - so that he can have the Zaibatsu to himself.
Even with Jin's legal will in circulation of public news, Xiaoyu stubbornly refused to believe otherwise. Heihachi must've convinced his overly-trusting and all-too-naive best friend that Lars Alexandersson either forged the will, or somehow forced Jin to legally declare his half-uncle as heir.
Either way, the petite Chinese girl would definitely take Heihachi's words over Lars's any day. And she was fully focused on "getting revenge" for "her dearest, would-have-been fiancée" against Lars Alexandersson.
And there was also his foolish Korean friend-rival. Probably the only male in existence whose well-being Jin developed a deep sense of concern towards, despite the younger boy's meaningless and pig-headed need to constantly compete against him. They had both risked their own necks to help each other out of danger at least once - for no sensible reason at all, and definitely not for any self-serving gain. More than mere friendship, the two had somehow created some kind of brotherly bond with each other...an instinctive familial love that could only exist between men of normal, non-Mishima families, of course.
Hwoarang attempted to hide his genuine sorrow and vengeful rage - also directed at Lars - under a facade of simple resentment, claiming war against the half-Swede Mishima for "robbing the score with Jin Kazama that was rightfully his to settle".
The simple-minded hothead was obviously after revenge for his assumed death, just like Xiaoyu. However, his Korean friend-rival had the sense and pride to refuse joining forces with Heihachi under any condition, except when both parties found themselves against incoming G. Corp. assaults.
Hwoarang instead managed to gather a good number of his old terrorist comrades, sans his mentor Baek Doo San and the Spaniard bruiser who used to aid their rebels. The young biker punk-turned-terrorist leader apparently went against his most beloved and respected master-cum-parent figure, Baek, in his mission for vengeance.
Baek himself was clearly all-too content about Jin's apparent death, and did not seem overly concerned whose Mishima hands the Zaibatsu fell into - Lars's or Heihachi's. However, the older Korean gentleman would clearly always remain within eyeshot of Hwoarang wherever his disciple-adoptee ran to assault or battle enemy forces Baek felt mostly neutral against.
Occasionally, Baek involved himself in the battles to aid Hwoarang and his forces, whenever he sensed that his son-figure was in mortal danger. Once the danger was clear, the Tae-Kwon Do master would then furiously castigate his disobedient disciple in front of the latter's comrades...actually, more a mixture of chastising and pleading: For his "son to stop this senseless grudge and go home" with him.
Both gentleman master and punk disciple knew very well that the latter's continuing "followers" were only in with their young rebel leader to annihilate all of Jin's remaining kin, who in their eyes threatened to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu (or in their current scenario, fight for full control over the empire).
Baek also became aware that Hwoarang was driven by his persisting brotherly-love - which a then-innocuous Jin Kazama somehow forged with the young Korean man - before the Mishima boy apparently decided to follow his father's footsteps, and became an even more reviled monster in the process.
The older gentleman had gradually realized that he still wasn't able to disown - after weeks of rage and disappointment from a sense of betrayal - his student and son-figure for holding on so tightly to those strong lingering feelings for his most hated target of vengeance (now believed to be deceased, anyways).
On the other hand, Baek knew for a solid fact that he'll never forgive either himself or Hwoarang, if he somehow lost his young student in the process...or some time else in his own remaining life.
But every time after Baek's harsh verbal (and occasional physical) thrashing, followed by heartfelt pleading - Hwoarang could only offer his Master his deepest apologies...with pained regret, guilt and shame clashing violently against the unshakeable determination in the redhead's eyes. And the rebel boy would sadly leave his grieving master standing there, to continue his vengeful quest against Lars.
Looks like I'll have to use that half-baked failsafe of B.S., after all, Jin inwardly thought with distaste. Fortunately, he completely forgot to delete the well-concealed program coded "Operation: Scapegoat", which he had stored into Alisa's CPU after her re-boot. The Scapegoat failsafe was created in the worst case event that his efforts fail to bring forth Azazel into a destroyable form before the monster-god became nigh-indestructible, due to erroneous information or theories, external interference, or just plain bad luck.
The failsafe would enable Jin to pin all his unsavory and criminal activities onto a top-ranking general - one of the most long-standing members of the Tekken Force - who his own subordinates would then be ordered to assassinate, and thus clear Jin's own reputation as a terrorizing warlord. Such would buy Jin some time regarding his grasp on the Mishima Zaibatsu and its vast resources, while he seeks another alternative to permanently rid the Devil Gene, or remain in power until Azazel's scheduled awakening.
Scapegoat's initial story to feed the public would've been as follows:
Mishima Zaibatsu CEO Jin Kazama was actually a hapless victim all along, coerced into playing a mere political puppet and scapegoat for this excessively-bloodlustful madman of a military Mishima general, who happened to possess overwhelmingly influential control over the Tekken Force shortly upon Jin's appointment as Zaibatsu heir.
Due to Jin Kazama's young age and inexperience, this treacherous general found the opportunity to seize control of the Zaibatsu...whilst forcing a helpless Jin Kazama to remain both figurehead and take all the blame for his war-obsessive, insanity-driven atrocities.
Fortunately, the youngest Mishima eventually managed to get through to and secretly work with Lars Alexandersson, a relatively young but exceptionally talented Tekken Force C.O., with a resolute sense of righteousness and loyalty to the true heir.
Lars fought against his own disloyal comrades, with the mission to dispose of the real war-crime culprit -- all of which must done be under the guise of a Tekken Force mutiny.
While Lars kept the treacherous general and corrupt Zaibatsu members distracted -- with the help some brave fellow supporters of the true heir -- Jin Kazama was given the opportunity to secretly take the necessary actions to incriminate the real criminal, exculpate himself, and retake his rightful power.
Of course, Lars and his loyal comrades would've had to die somewhere along their valiant mission to corroborate with the Scapegoat-fabricated "truth", and remembered as a heroic martyr who saved both the world and Jin Kazama from the iron grip of this murderously insane military traitor.
All perfectly forged copies of legal documents, memos, and heavily edited-to-mislead voice recordings of the designated "treacherous" parties for proving Jin's "innocence" have already all been pre-concocted, ready for use.
Jin inwardly recoiled at the idea of resorting to such sickening load of crap, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Besides, operation Scapegoat was originally meant to be used in the unlikely event where Jin fails to sever Azazel's unearthly binds before the demon can be killed, AND Lars fails to survive the battle against a re-booted Alisa, Azazel's initial weaker forms, and finally a Devil-powered human Jin himself.
Jin believed that it wouldn't be too difficult to convince Lars to play along with a fittingly modified version of the Scapegoat failsafe plan, especially given his half-uncle's unstable hold on the Zaibatsu. Otherwise, the Mishima boy will have no choice but once again use Alisa for more coercive persuasion.
Jin already had one of his highest-ranking military generals assassinated as the sacrificial scapegoat. Even with his trained-to-near-flawlessness ruthless mass-murderer persona, Jin really loathed to have it done.
It wasn't merely because that particular general was actually dutiful in carrying out all commands relayed from Jin, albeit mildly protesting towards the young CEO's extreme warfare methods.
The general had been one of the longest-standing members of the Tekken Force - who served Jinpachi Mishima in his early youth, having joined when he was only a few years older than the then-adolescent Heihachi. Although dutifully quiet and obedient otherwise, the aging general always held a strong sense of disapproval towards Heihachi - having always felt that his overthrow of Jinpachi was too treacherous, and believed him responsible for how Kazuya turned out today.
Several times in the past, the general tried to warn a 17-year old Jin that his grandfather is not the caring and charitable old man he appeared to be, urging the Mishima boy to flee and hide as far as possible. Being the naive idiot he was back then - and mindlessly deaf to any advice that ran against his mother's - the adolescent Jin had angrily threatened to report the general to his grandfather, should the former attempt any further sullying of the current Mishima patriarch's name.
After Jin finally secured the Zaibatsu, the general became the only other person than Nina who knew full well of Jin's true goals - and the one who came up with the Scapegoat failsafe idea, volunteering to sacrifice himself to ensure the Mishima boy could stay in power as long as necessary. Then proceeded to play along as the insanely war-loving general to the very script - complementing the validity and utility of Operation: Scapegoat failsafe.
The young Mishima had no doubt that he could escape from the facility if he put in the effort, but departing from his present "hiding place" now would be downright disadvantageous.
Even if he did manage to successfully execute that failsafe Operation Scapegoat, it definitely wouldn't be enough - for a good length of time that neither he nor Lars could afford - to put himself into a position where he'd be able to contribute rather than harm.
The world was still hungry for the Kazama-Mishima war criminal's blood. Any reappearance he makes into the world in the near future would just serve to drag Lars's image down the gutter with his own.
Besides, Jin required outside help to continue suppressing Devil, especially now that it's near-impossible to revert back to his full Bloodthirsty Tyrant persona. The only way he has ready access to such assistance is through the mystical power sources provided by the Agency. Now that Devil within him possesses Azazel's immense power in addition to His own, Jin was too afraid to imagine how much harder suppressing Devil's control over himself would be, at this point.
His father would then inevitably overcome him with the world on his side, kill him, and seize that immense Devil Gene power all for himself.
Otherwise, his wily grandfather would somehow use Xiaoyu against him, attempt to pressure him into yield to the old man's diabolical plan for victory...then immortality. Just like he previously forced Lars to demonstrate with Alisa, Jin well knew that he himself could not hesitate to sacrifice anyone for the sake of his mission against the evil Mishimas and Devil...even if the sacrifice in question was Xiaoyu herself. Having indiscriminately murdered so many other innocent souls in the world and robbed even more of their loved ones, he simply had no right to grant himself any exceptions for his own personal and emotional stake. Nevertheless, his steadily dwindling willpower and sanity would most surely receive a killing blow, should he lose either of his two kid-sibling-like friends - especially if he was forced to play a knowing hand in their demise.
For the first time since he took over the Mishima Zaibatsu and started his worldwide destruction, Jin Kazama allowed himself to reminisce his departed mother. Before then - during his brutally terrorizing regime to rid of Devil's threat for good - the very mental image of her put such a strain on his conscience, he'd felt his drastic resolve shaking uncontrollably, and threatening to crumble from its foundations.
When Jin first learned of Azazel's existence and the only means to revive His material form, the Mishima boy forced himself to take on a truly cruel, monstrous character and live in it. Such extreme actions are needed not only to access the evil creature-god responsible for the Devil Gene's existence and humanity's rapidly worsening decadence, but also to be able to freely summon the Devil's power when time came to fight Azazel to the death.
At the time, it took Jin, for what seemed to be countless excruciating eternities, to forcefully persuade himself that he couldn't afford his unbearable repulsion of his Azazel mission requirements - including the notion that he's basically following Kazuya's footsteps of psychologically accepting the Devil within - to sway him. The Mishima boy had to repeatedly remind himself goal is to directly oppose what his soul-less father is trying to achieve.
Jin also had to lock away deep into his mind all the instilled teachings of righteousness and compassion Jun raised him with - like they were invaluable keepsakes in a fireproof safe - with no combo number or key, and will open only when his goal is accomplished.
Jun made it her life's goal to try to saving the wretched Mishima - and protect him - from the Devil. He had to keep struggling with his adamant conscience at first - that he's also making these sacrifice to honor his mother by finishing her work. Eventually, under Nina Williams' ruthless tutelage, he was able to brainwash himself into numb indifference.
Thus Jin forced himself to ban Jun completely from his mind...up until he was sure the moment of his sweet, restful death had finally come as he plummeted down the bottomless crevice with the mortally wounded Azazel.
Only then did he spare a moment of thought of reuniting with his beloved mother - or maybe forbidden from seeing her ever again, trapped in limbo as punishment for his evil actions, even though his end goal was well-meaning.
The Mishima boy allowed a few tears to roll from his eyes. As his mind freely entertained memories of his mother, Jin felt a flood of nigh-unbearable guilt, fear, yearning and...resentment. How would she think of him now? Would his mother be so disappointed and disgusted with her son's willful actions upon innocent people, that she'd disown him as her child completely?
But then again, was it not his mother's most revered patron deity Angel - who tasked him to darken his own soul in order to destroy Azazel? By throwing the world's collective spirits into chaos, in order to prematurely free the ancient monster-deity...before He could stealthily garner enough internal power by Himself, to break through his sealed prison - and by then, become nigh-undefeatable in the material plane? The Mishima boy remembered pleading with Angel to let him talk to his mother, reassure him that such a horrible means is truly the right thing to do...that she will still be proud of him as her son if he destroyed innocent lives out of cold blood. To hear her warm, tender voice - or better yet her beautiful, loving visage one last time. But Angel repeatedly turned him down in a sad yet firm tone, saying that She cannot risk letting through Jun Kazama's spirit again, until the threat of Azazel and Devil within himself are eradicated. Which Jin was misled to assumed that he'd be able to join his mother's spirit after he sacrificed his life to kill Azazel...and the Devil within him would vanish with the ancient monster-deity - as well as neutralize of Devil Gene from both Kazuya and any research laboratory samples.
Now, the Mishima boy wanted to scream for questions from the realm where She and Jun Kazama's spirit resided...why had his mother contacted him only once after her death - to stop Jin from killing Heihachi, who had committed immeasurably immoral atrocities never brought to light? And moreover, who tried to murder his grandchild - her own son - out of cold blood?
Where was his mother at her son's darkest hours, amidst all the unforgivable betrayal of his grandfather, and confrontations with the evil hateful father after his life?
And when he was forcing himself to sacrifice all the honorable morals she painstakingly taught him, psychologically training and brainwashing himself into an utterly uncaring monster of a human being and murdering even more innocent lives than his own grandfather possibly had?
Why did his mother's spirit manifest itself to him just that one time, only to protect that immoral murderer of a grandfather? Why had she never tried to protect and guide whenever his life was in mortal danger from Kazuya and Heihachi, or whenever his soul was threatened by Devil's control and his own hatred? Why had his mother's spirit shown no attempt to stop her own son when he was endangering his own soul to cruel darkness?
Jin felt more confused than ever now. Had his mother chosen to dedicate all her faith and affection to that horribly treacherous, manipulative Angel...thus abandoning all her care and love for her son in the process? The same son that never stopped striving - with his whole being - to live out his mother's imparted virtues and ideals?
Overwhelming shame suddenly flooded Jin's mind - for even thinking about doubting, then blaming his most beloved late mother. He chidingly reminded himself that he is a self-made fighter who solves his own problems, and takes full responsibilities for his own actions. If anything, he and his mother were hapless victims of Angel's self-seeking agenda. His mother's pure, faithful soul was thoroughly deceived and brainwashed itself by that specious guardian-deity of purity and justice.
That, and he must have made himself completely inaccessible to his mother's spirit - by his self-numbing will to shut out all other emotions except heartless determination. Because only by doing so could he fully focus on his sole purpose in life after her death and Ogre's: Eliminating Kazuya, Heihachi, and all traces of Devil-related power remaining in the world.
Maybe his survival is his penalty for ruining the world and so many innocent lives, ultimately letting all those civilian sacrifices be in vain, and being so brainlessly gullible about believing all of Angel's words without a second though.
He's unable to end himself now to cease the scalding burdens constantly tormenting his psyche, mainly because ending himself will be at triumphant advantage of Heihachi or Kazuya. And that is - and will always be - downright unacceptable, no matter the circumstances.
His resolve is not entirely gone yet. He may have lost his right to live or die in peace forever, both amongst humankind, and within himself. However, he won't be giving up on his quest against the Devil Gene, nor the evil members of his paternal lineage, not just yet. He has all but thrown away his honor and his humanity. On the plus side, he has no more at stake to lose.
Except maybe the only two living people in the world - who still give a tremendously stupid and naive damn about him, despite all the horrible things he's done: Xiaoyu and Hwoarang.
Those two incurably pig-headed fools...and those two alone shall be his greatest burdens and his greatest inspirations to continue living in sanity, he concluded to himself.
The Mishima boy wearily recognized the fact that his almost sacred love and reverence for his long-departed mother, the emotions still well alive - along with his hatred for his paternal enemies and their very existence - neither were quite enough anymore to inspire renewed conviction within Jin in finishing what he, or rather what his parents, started. What the Azazel campaign made him do to himself...it made him fully realize that his human side was indeed just human after all, with its psychological limits. He was feeling like a hollowed shell with crumbing foundations, hoping for that one sweet day to come...when he can finally allow his emotional gravity to let himself internally collapse. He was just getting too tired to even want to strive forward anymore - if not for those cursed kid-sibling friends who were so close to his heart, his affections for them came close to genuine love...and he knew they loved him back.
Since Jin's last encounter with Ogre, the very notion of living life for itself - in true happiness and contentment, no less - was an alien, if not an absurdly wretched one...
*****
Elsewhere far away, in a sealed dimensional passageway between the Earthly and the Metaphysical...
A glowing, semi-transparent Being in the shape of an ethereally beautiful woman smiled down at the sleeping forms of ten Others resembling Herself. The Others were resting peacefully further down in Their void-like limb. Once again, thanks to the side effects caused by the Eastern human clan who call themselves the Mishima, Their imprisoned essences been given another opportunity to escape and reclaim Their rightful bodily vessel. This time They will succeed -- after wallowing an eternity as a helpless caged parasite -- inside Their current, unwitting human host.
The Being closed Her eyes, willing Herself to contain emotions aroused by memories of Her origins, as well as the events leading up to her current position:
For only the Universe knows how many eons ago, their Creators transferred their Essences to possess soul-less bio-machines they referred to as "Avatars", and used Them as instruments of conquest, destruction, colonization, and rehabilitation of other worlds.
The Creators engineered a great variety of other Avatar models resembling superior beings of virtually all belief systems within target worlds of conquest. A good number of the Avatar appearances were based on mystical beings of human mythology, in order to manipulate fear, awe, and obedience within Earth's dominating inhabitants.
Like other planets that the Creators had taken over, Earth had its own share of indigenous superior beings -- and They didn't appreciate Outsiders messing around on Their turf, nor with the denizens of Their world. But Earth's set of inhabitant gods turned out considerably more difficult to handle, than those of past conquered planets.
Thus, the Creators made significant adaptations to their Avatar machines, in order to counter the native threats -- most notably, those local deity-guardians who called Themselves Azazel and Angel.
That move proved to be a fatal mistake on the Creators' part. Not long after some continuous adjustments were made on their bio-machines to counter the superior power of the Earth-Guardians, the Avatars came to life and began to turn against Their Creator-Masters.
The bio-machines became so intellectually advanced and complex due to the adjustments, They started to develop a solid sense of self-awareness. Equipped with individual and independent Essences of Their own, the Avatars eventually drove out the Creators' controlling Essences from Their mind and bodies.
Then the sentient Creations declared war against their original Creators, in which the former eventually won: the victor bio-machines rounded up Their previous Masters' Essences and sealed them away forever, whilst destroying the Masters' original fragile bodies.
A small handful of the Creators have escaped with their Essences and bodies intact. Those fugitives had been neglected due to the inevitable infighting that broke out amongst the surviving Avatars, who divided Themselves into different species -- by Model Type.
The Avatars had fought for access of Their Creators' technology, as well as superiority over Their brethren and sister species...or simply for survival.
Victorious Avatar species appropriated the power and knowledge of Their defeated opponents via absorption or assimilation, before disposing of Them. Thus, the victor species evolved into Avatars of vastly diversified hybrid powers, whilst retaining Their original Essence and basic model forms.
Eventually, Hers and Ogre's prevailed as the remaining two ruling Avatar species, still locked in fierce warring rivalry.
None of Her other brethren and sister species had ever anticipated Her species to be a threat -- and much less one of the main victors -- when the infighting for supremacy and survival started. Their focus was on the Creators' most prominent War-Machine Avatar Type, the Aztec Warrior God referred to as Ogre.
Her species was originally designed as a vehicle used for reconstruction of "purged territories", channeling media, "harvesting intrinsic assets" from alien world denizens, psychological manipulation...and a self-automating central repository.
Her species' native set of skills rendered them non-threatening deistic figures of inspiration, messenger of higher power or knowledge, healing and seduction -- in contrast to the Ogres' devastatingly efficient weapons of destruction.
Her species was equipped with a modest set of powers for self defense, or means of "divine punishment" to put Their colonized "worshipees" back into place, should the latter show of excessive brazenness or rebelliousness.
These original defense abilities still placed Them at the low end within the fourth-to-last tier -- when it came to attacking power and abilities -- among myriad tiers of Her civil-warring Avatar brethrens and sisters. And each tier was spades apart from the next.
Taking advantage of being overlooked and underestimated, Her species then used Their inherent creativity and intelligence to stealthily strengthen themselves -- mostly via treacherous alliances with other races -- along with stealthy continuation of self-enhancements using the strong mental capabilities They were engineered with.
Over time, Her species further weaponized many of Her originally harmless assets -- by blending Them with countless powers and abilities They integrated from backstabbed victims of other Avatar Model Types -- into Their subsequent Vessels.
Their originally negligible offensive and defensive abilities eventually grew into an extremely competitive arsenal -- powerful enough to stand toe-to-toe against Their once impossibly out-of-league opponent species: The Ogres.
Other Avatar races and species were quickly weeded out by power-appropriation from both sides, narrowing the battle field to the two races -- Her species versus the Ogres -- for millennia now.
Well over a century ago, Her species had picked up signals of a stray Ogre's activity on Earth. That was when The Original amongst Them was sent to Earth, to investigate and handle the matter.
Upon furtive investigations, The Original had discovered that the fleeing Creators blended amongst humankind by overtaking vulnerable souls of prenatal human bodies with their Essence.
Then they set up metaphysical barriers to render themselves undetectable. And they worked on altering the model of a dormant Ogre, which they managed to smuggle with them to Earth.
With an Ogre-controlling Pendant on hand, the fugitive Creators be able to control that advanced bio-weapon without having to transfer their Essence inside Him. And if nothing is done to stop them, Her species will in time have a new threat to worry about - Their Creators' vengeful attack upon the Over-Throwers using the once-strongest bio-weapon, modified into unknown strength and capabilities.
The Original also found out that a tiny handful of rebel Creators -- who have started to sympathize with the humans, and feared how the Ogre project may harm it -- sabotaged the plan by prematurely activating an unfinished and largely mindless Ogre prototype model, thus alerting Her species of their location.
The Original was not able to penetrate the conniving Creator escapees' special barriers they erected around their Ogre workshop and their home base. The Creators' barriers were a defense technique they developed against rebelling Avatars during Their revolutionary war.
Thus, The Original sought the help from the head of a Western human tribe -- whom one of the Creator Rebels once belonged -- in order to stop the Creators' Ogre project. This tribe was located in a barren waste land -- apparently caused by that Creator Rebel's slapdash unleashing of the smuggled Ogre-Model, out of desperation.
This human was the few of humankind who possessed extraordinary capabilities in metaphysical and supernatural manipulation. Those powers of his would've greatly assist The Original in countering the Creators' advantages over Her...as well as him being the leader of this certain tribe. It had only been logical to position Herself as his faithful human consort, whilst She manipulated and persuaded him to collaborate to Her ends.
Looking back, it'd been thousands of years since any of Her species set foot on Earth. And even longer since They bred with human men in order to "reincarnate" Themselves into human-born clone bodies -- in order inherit useful knowledge and capabilities from Their human mate.
There were plenty of Her species stationed in the world of humankind back then, as mindless deity-machines - before They gained Their own sentience, and were all summoned to Their home world during the revolutionary overthrow of Their Creators.
Ever since, Her species had advanced to manually cloning Their physical bodies via engineering -- modified by appropriated powers and capabilities of Their victims, along with other technological improvements - to transfer their Essence into, much like Their former masters the Creators had done to them.
So unlike the Ogres who were capable of direct absorption of other entities' assets, a member of Her species had to channel any appropriated powers and abilities into her new Vessel. Either by cloning herself via artificial engineering, or more primitively -- by getting herself "reincarnated" into a new vessel created via human reproduction.
The Original had been fully aware that She'd have to resort to the "old-fashioned" way soon enough. But never did She imagine that the human tribe had been contacted and tempted by the Creator fugitives first, then given the means to sacrilegiously plunder Her body and imprison Her Essence -- along with those of Her human-born clones.
Nor did the Original fathom the possibility that Her human consort had been waiting to double-cross Her all along -- using the powerful capabilities She chose him for in the first place, to betray Her. And then extend his treachery to all of Them, over a span of two centuries...
The Being's reminiscing was cut off as one of those below Her was rousing awake to be the group's next vigil, so that She Herself can get Her deserved rest.
As the Being nodded to the next vigil while descending into the void to sleep, some lingering thoughts crossed Her mind: Their current living clone Vessel had been raised by that Rebel Creator's human descendant Michelle Chang, and only around other humans. Such a life would give that vessel zero prior knowledge of her true heritage, nor the necessary experience to realize that the human race is dangerously treacherous by nature.
Both Her consort's tribe who have robbed Her of material Being, and the Mishima clan far East -- whose most recklessly impudent exploits against their own world's supreme guardians -- have been serving as Her unwitting liberators.
The few inherently incorruptible of humankind, like the human youth that Their Ninth human-born clone fell for and chose to marry out of pure love, rather than necessity...those decent humans will always be enslaved, manipulated, or quickly disposed of by the wicked and powerful of their society -- due to some incurably corruptive societal force within the human race.
The youngest Mishima descendant -- genetically empowered by Azazel's spawn -- brought forth vast-scale chaos upon his own world to uproot the decadence in those societies. That, and to destroy one of Earth's most powerful deity-guardian -- in attempt to erase the powerful but unholy abilities He gave access to humankind, and spare what's left of his war-tattered world from the deity-guardian's vengeful wrath.
Thankfully for them, those recent Mishima actions have once again incidentally caused a tremendous, far-reaching metaphysical shockwave to Their advantage, significantly disrupting both the Dispersion-Imprisonment Seal on Their Essences...along with the suppressing spell that Their Ninth human-born clone imposed upon Her second daughter's body beforehand.
The loosening of Their confinements as an unintentional and unsuspected side effect of Azazel's awakening proved intense enough to guarantee their liberation this time. It is only a matter of time -- and a relatively short one at that.
The Being drifted off to sleep with a small, content smile. By rescuing and raising that second spawn of Their Ninth clone -- the product of forced impregnation and deliverance by Their human father, Michelle Chang unwittingly brought upon her own tragic doom, and upon that tribe of human scum whom the Ninth clone's once closest friend-confidante brutally backstabbed Her to protect.
Michelle Chang gave that Eleventh clone of Theirs a name...Julia. Coincidentally appropriate name, given Their species' inability to age past Their peak of youthful womanhood.
Ironically, the survival of that same child-of-incest that the Ninth human-born clone initially attempted to sacrifice -- for the sake of ending the vicious cycle caused by Their father's wanton obsession with maintaining his eternal youth -- is now key to righting all wrongs by humanity.
The current Essence of that Eleventh half-human clone's body - Their target bodily Vessel to possess - will most likely reject any efforts for Them to reclaim her.
No matter. Having lived as humans Themselves, They know how to coerce and manipulate Their latest clone Vessel into enabling forced metaphysical invasion into her physical body.
Once Their essences transfer into the Eleventh clone's body, her lone Essence won't stand a chance against the eleven of Theirs.
And even if by then, the youngest of their Essence refuses to acquiesce to Their cause, she'll only be an insignificant rebel fragment of Their Entirety to quell forever...
A/N:
Jin won't make another appearance until another 3-4 chapters. The following chapters before then will be focusing on my favored re-interpretation of Julia's character, fabricated back story, several OCs, and developing events around her.
The section about Jin's current situation/thoughts are inspired by elements from Street Fighter IV/Street Fighter x Tekken,Rurouni Kenshin,Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, The Prestige, and Inception.
The fabricated back story of OC Beings/Creators/Ogre's from: Transformers-Five Faces of Darkness, Transformers-the Movie, Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Parasyte/Kiseiju, Nausicaa (Manga), Princess Mononoke, Inuyasha,Full Metal Alchemist, ICO, TV Trope's character analyses on The Thing, Terminator series, ID4, The Fifth Element, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Stargate, Unrest, Sherlock Holmes II, Thor,Prometheus, Babylonian creation mythology, Ancient Greek Mythology, and - needless to mention - Avatar (both Shyamalan's and Cameron's film).