Pre-Warnings/Clarifications:
(1) Chapter includes an implied instant of violent sexual assault. Except for minor & generalized descriptions/implications, graphic details of the process will be omitted - for reasons other than censorship, that will be revealed in Chapter 6. An explanation on why the Agency allowed Julia to be brutalized like she was is in the next chapter.
(2) Julia's plan to escape contains elements that may appear ridiculously unfeasible and glossed-over. I'm hoping readers will find it forgivable, as researching & learning about the basics computer-related workings - especially viruses - make my head hurt.
(3) As a chapterly reminder, I'm planning for this fanfic to disregard post-T6SC official developments, including T7 & its characters (at least so far, as trying to integrate them will significantly de-motivate & discourage my storywriting incentives at this point). Thus, I'm currently going to actively ignore T7-related facts, which will likely render the Tekken in-universe facts of this story canonically obsolete, contradictory, and/or highly inaccurate.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Tekken, its original characters or the mainstream fictional works that inspired or 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 I Ch3: Bleakness of Failures
JULIA & JIN AS CELL-ROOMMATES: DAY 10
*****
Jin's chamber cell, 18:58pm...
Although he sat facing the TV on the far opposite side from her, Jin constantly kept on stealing glances at his cellmate, who was crouched in the corner of the cell door, with her black blanket folded neatly in her lap. His cellmate was either too busy fiddling around with her new pair of much more tolerable-looking glasses - a set of small trapezoidal black-frames - notice his stealthy observation. Or, for some very alert-worthy reason, she suddenly stopped caring about being in his direct presence. Although global news was broadcasting Xiaoyu and Hwoarang's situation again, Jin forced his attention from being occupied by the TV.
Just last night, the girl appeared constantly tense and distraught merely by staying in the same utterly open, non-separated space with him...even while she slept, huddled in that same corner, as far from his bed and frequently used space as possible. Now, she looked suspiciously composed, with hints of nervous excitement.
The Mishima boy also noted that immediately upon their 18:30pm evening meal delivery, the girl had oddly scarfed down her lunch within 10 minutes. Before then, she'd always take at least 30 minutes to finish her meal - nibbling each bite and chewing each mouthful carefully as if gnawing on over-stiffened jerky meat, while distracting 90% of her fretful consciousness on reading her huge stack of notes.
At 19pm sharp, his cellmate suddenly put her glasses on and stood up, blanket clutched tightly in one hand. Jin stopped casting sneaky glances and turned to outright stare at her. Then to his great surprise, she turned to stare straight into his eyes with a calm expression that held an ambivalent mix of joy, anxiety, relief, vindictiveness, anticipation and a tinge of sad sympathy.
"You know, I never understood Ling's tendency to don custom-tailored velvet cheongsams for serious combat. Those gowns are not only damn expensive and movement-restrictive, they're meant for luxury fashion or festive occasions...plus they're decades out-of-fashion for her fashion age. I do wonder if Ling would willingly to wear posh ceremonial kimonos to fist-fights too. Or would she fear culturally offending her most revered, princely Jin Kazama?" The girl suddenly piped up in a matter-of-factly tone. For the very first time since they learned of each other's existence, directly initiated conversation towards him - even though it was clearly meant to be one-sided.
"I've heard that your Chinese girlfriend has grown a great deal more comfy with modern Japanese culture, its language, and its cutesy Lolita styles, to the point that she might as well naturalize herself as a full Japanese citizen. And she likely plans to do so too, by marrying a full-blooded Japanese boy."
The girl then gave him an indecipherable half-smile while she stood there motionless, but Jin could sense she was suppressing the impulse to edge closer towards the cell door.
"What do you think, Kazama? No doubt her motivation is to impress you, remind you how unique she is. In case you forgot - Ling has no Japanese blood in her veins, yet she learned your native tongue perfectly...and has all but forfeited her own as token of her heart's devotion to her dearest idol, who happened to be of Japanese desce-"
"-stop yapping garbage, Stray." Jin suddenly shot to his feet and began striding quickly to her, his eyes brimming with burning annoyance and pique. "You honestly think I'm stupid? You're going to tell me why you're trying to stall-"
Jin's sentence was cut off by his own startled, pained grunt. He was reaching out to grab the girl, planning to shake silly her till she gives him a satisfactory answer - but some powerful electric current suddenly hit his finger tips before it got a foot within her, and instinctively forced him to withdraw his hand. Wincing and clutching his burnt finger tips, Jin looked up and saw his cellmate smiling with smug triumph through a prison-bar-like wall of electric sparks, which surrounded a small circumference of the cell's inner doorway...and just large enough to open the door.
The electric currents "prison bars" were activated via generators sunk-lined into the ground and ceiling - buried in tiny holes, too small and deep for him to destroy timely...unless he utilized the devil beam, of course. But his wrist cuffs prevented him to summon enough Devil power to open his forehead eye.
The girl suddenly stroked the left hinge of her black-framed glasses, and her lenses suddenly lit up with a myriad of visual data.
"Bet you didn't know the chamber cells had this function here, Kazama? I just found out, too. Its official name is...'EPEA' - 'Emergency Protected Escape Activation'. How unimaginative." She chimed in singsong mockery as she stroked and tapped on her lenses. The cell door suddenly unlocked itself, and she hurriedly leapt out of the room.
"Later, Jin Mishima. I would apologize for the inconvenience this causes you, except I rather be honest with my feelings."
With that, she shut the door with a cautious quietness. Before Jin could even respond from his shock, the bars of electricity abruptly switched off. He then heard the loud click of the cell door in the complete darkness of his cell chamber. The spark currents were down, but the cell-door lock had re-activated itself.
Jin was suddenly jolted out of his stupor when the southwest Wing-wide alarm started blaring...just how long had he stood there staring like an utter idiot? He swore furiously through clenched teeth, as he quickly made his way to grab his media-cum-communicator device on the bed. The darkness was no obstacle to him - he could still see everything perfectly, with what little Devil power still lurking free within.
The Mishima boy picked up his handheld device and dialed personnel to free him, so he could stop and drag that godforsaken Stray back here. But the dial tone never came.
SIGNAL BLOCKED. The media-cum-communicator monitor displayed in big, infuriating letters. Fuming, Jin was about to hurl the device across the room...when he heard a loud, sharp hissing noise emanating from all around him.
He suddenly sensed that the air had become much heavier and thicker. Some heated gas that smelled of strong alcohol was shooting through the air vents, and started swirling all around him...
*****
Agency Hallway - Southwest Wing tunnel to South underground hangar, 19:06 pm...
Julia quickly ducked into a crevice when she heard shouting and running towards her general direction. She felt nervous all right, but was far from frantic as she threw her black thermal blanket over herself. The Scourge virus successfully allowed her to almost single-handedly control the base's environment, and a good chunk of staff equipment as well...all the while feeding her Data Display and Command Visor - which were disguised as mere corrective lenses - a clear diagram map to her destination of escape. The Agency wasn't able to detect anything special about her glasses when they scanned all her belongings on Day 1.
That was because she altered the internal structures of her specs to massively re-align upon activation of Scourge - converting it into the wonderful data receiver and extremely powerful, low-detection remote controller device it is now.
Julia silently uttered another heartfelt thanks to Dr. Boskonovitch...she'd never have gotten this far with top-notch engineering and gadgeteering - had the kind Russian inventor not sought her out as a pupil, entrusting her with his most treasured and secret ingenuities. Well, she can't deny...her in-depth study of Alisa's mechanical workings in Lee's labs - when they were fixing her after Lars's pummeling - helped her quite a bit, too.
The search team nearby dispersed within a minute. Julia soundlessly emerged from her hiding place, rolled up her blanket, and speedily continued her journey towards the base's hangar by following the glowing virtual reality map on her lenses.
Via Scourge, the young scientist had turned up both sanitizing aerosol gas to the max and the base's thermostat to body-heat level, ascertaining via her scientific knowledge that such combination of temperature and gas type will not create poisonous side effects or cause bodily harm.
The total black-out she caused before she exited Jin's cell was inadequate in helping her avoid pursuers - they'd get to her pretty quickly via search animals and infrared sensors. Turning the heat up and activating thick sanitizer will significantly impede both threats...plus, she engineered and self-tailored her black colored anti-infrared thermal blanket precisely for such situations.
Yes, she caused herself some disadvantages - like breathing difficulties and eye discomfort...but both were mild enough for her to ignore. Her pursuers surely wore masks to help their physical expediency, but because the virus blocked all the vicinity's central data unit transferring to any device except her own, they couldn't see anything an inch ahead of them - nor receive any data for guidance or visibility assistance. And to top it, all intercommunication channels have been temporarily blocked off from each other. While she could see as far as she wanted to, and receive all the data she wanted. The Agency had plenty of emergency backup power, but Julia had created the virus to access backup power, too...selectively redirecting any emergency power source to any area, at her whim.
The young scientist resisted the urge to laugh in pure victory...she still can't afford to let down her guard or tense focus right now. Not until she successfully flees to Lei's place.
Her Scourge prototype turned out to work better than she ever hoped for. It would only be traceable to Luce Martus's tablet PC, which he unwittingly enabled her to plant on Day 1. After the following 10 days, her virus invention apparently succeeded in infiltrating the base's central operation systems without detection. In a big way, this was her gift to the Agency and Jin...she has no intentions of ruining or even crippling the Agency, but causing just enough distractions and inconveniences for her to escape. Once she does, she'll render the virus dormant again.
It should take some time for them to extract and clean out her Scourge virus from their base-wide systems. And once they do, she trusts that they'll find plenty of uses for it...and with the greater good in mind.
But right now, she needs to get her hands on as many of the Agency's jets as possible and get them to exit the base, all via autopilot - with her riding in one of them. And she had to hurry - it's highly likely that the Agency already caught on to where she was headed. These people here were no fools - way more competent-minded than G. Corp. security, no question.
If she hadn't forced away most of the Agency's prioritized attention and resources into minimizing potential damage of equipment from the gas and heat, they'd undoubtedly already set up an inescapable trap already waiting at her destination.
A very fortunate coincidence for her too, that there were more than two hangars within the Wing - spread quite far from each other to boot, and the Agency would have to further spread an already modest allocation of slapdash re-capture squad sent after her.
A few minutes later, the young scientist finally snuck within range of the Wing's four hangars. Keeping herself hidden out of sight, Julia surveyed the hangar entrance - it was an automatic sliding door, and five security personnel were already posted there, tightly alert.
Julia resisted the urge to chuckle with glee. If this was all the trouble standing between her and her freedom, then her luck today would almost be too good to be true. Almost. She reminded herself. Don't tempt fate.
The young scientist tapped and stroked her glasses. The hangar door beeped to life and suddenly slid open by itself, startling the surrounding guards. Julia took their off-guard moment to knock two of the security staff out, and grabbed one of the defeated guards upright, using him as a human shield, while steadily backing away from the approaching three. She saw the remaining guards whipping out their tasers and tranquilizer guns...then merely smiled at them expectantly.
Half a second later, the sprinklers within the area activated themselves, pounding a heavy deluge upon all six of them. Julia flung her human shield against two of the guardsmen as hard as she could, then tripped the third with a hard sweep. She quickly picked up one of the tranquilizer guns from the floor, and promptly shot all three to sleep. The young scientist swept her soaked bangs from her face and allowed herself a moment of congratulatory laughter, before she hurried to descend down the hangar staircase...
...and was suddenly rudely jerked to a stop mid-step, causing her to yelp in pain and dismay. A horribly familiar grip had suddenly gotten hold of a braid, and was violently yanking her through the hangar doorway, back into the base tunnel.
Jin Kazama...The young scientist didn't even have to turn around to know it was the Mishima boy, but what the hell is he doing here? Had he somehow broken himself out of his cell?
Cursing herself for forgetting her Swiss Army knife, Julia grabbed her trapped braid and pulled back with all her strength - hoping that the water made her hair slippery enough to slide right out of the Mishima boy's hand. No such luck - he had a vice-like grip on it. Gritting her teeth, Julia finally spun around to stare straight at the silhouette of a large, powerful male figure. Jin's usually slick-spiked hair was flattened the sprinkler downpour.
Damn it! Damn him! Why the hell's he bothering with me?! The young scientist almost burst with tears of scorching resentment as she felt her almost-giddy hopefulness plummeting to pieces. With a loud cry, she swung her fist at Jin's face in blind desperation and anger. The Mishima boy easily caught it, and used it to jerk her whole body towards him - hard enough that she lost her balance completely. Before she realized what was happening, a swift blow to her abdomen had knocked the wind straight from her insides...
JULIA & JIN AS CELL-ROOMMATES: DAY 11
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 12:21 am...
Julia groaned in discomfort, squeezing her shut eyes even tighter. The bed was very soft and warm, but there was a dull ache radiating from her stomach, plus her head was wrapped in something tight and coarse. Also she sensed an unfamiliar bareness on her chest and hips. Why was she completely naked?
And wait a minute...her bed wasn't this big or comfortable! Had Lee suddenly decided to forsake his sense of chivalry and their mutual vow of platonicism, somehow convinced her to get hammered, then bedded her at his private luxurious penthouse while she was over-intoxicated?
The young scientist's eyes snapped open in consternation, and found herself looking straight into the face of Jin Kazama, who was staring calmly at hers with his usual unreadable expression. The Mishima boy was kneeling on the floor at the head of his bed, with his elbows propped on the mattress, and leaning slightly forward. Only then did everything hit her at once - where she was and who she was living with for the past 10 days.
"Finally awake, Stray? About time." The Mishima boy remarked.
Julia gasped in horror as she realized she'd been stripped stark naked...apparently by Jin Kazama himself, of all people. Face as crimson as a beet, the young scientist clutched his bedcovers more closely around her body as she subconsciously scooted away from him, suppressing a child-like urge to burrow completely under the sheets. The tight, coarse thing wrapped around her scalp loosened and fell on her lap...it was a towel. Her still-damp hair had been wrapped snugly with a thick long towel. Jin Kazama's fully asexual. He's asexual. He's asexual. The young scientist avidly repeated in her head like a mantra to keep her burning mortification from exploding.
Jin scoffed. "Your clothes and hair were completely drenched. I didn't want my bed ruined." He replied with the most uncaring nonchalance.
The young scientist blinked several times as she started recollecting what last transpired...Jin had caught up with her and kneed her unconscious in the gut, completely ruining her long-awaited and long-deserved chance to escape.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously and lips started quivering as her aghast mortification morphed into downright bitter fury. Her visible shift in temper only prompted an unpleasant smirk from the Mishima boy.
"Why?" Julia blurted out. "Why did you stop me from leaving? It was none of your damn business!"
"What? You forgot that you willingly traded yourself into detainment here, Stray? You're not leaving until you fulfill your terms." Jin replied impassively with the smirk still on his face. "Besides, I didn't go off pursuing you on my own - the Agency made me go all the way down there to fetch you."
As if on cue, the cell door was suddenly pushed open, and the leader guard strolled in and stopped by the foot of the bed. Julia saw that Lawson was carrying her thermal blanket in one hand. Immediately following Lawson's entrance, various maintenance crew emerged and started working on the cell door with various tools.
"Impressive work, Chang. We got nearly everything back to working order around here by now, but it'll take a bit of time for us to flush out your virus completely. Unless you'll provide us with a way to do so quickly?" The leader guard asked dryly. Julia shook her head...she knew no way of ridding her own virus weapon invention, either - other than gradually purging it from the infected areas.
"Your infector had been thorough enough to render all the electronic cell keys useless, not to mention all staff communicators." Lawson continued in an almost congratulatory tone.
"I had to blow off Kazama's prison lock with a mini-detonator. Good thing I thought of coming down here and sending him to find you when I did, or it'd been a lot more troublesome if you managed to get out."
"Does the Agency make a habit of letting loose its most dangerous prisoners? Hoping that they'll obediently perform their tricks like some tamed circus animal, and just go back into their cages afterwards?" Julia asked cuttingly.
The leader guard sighed impatiently. "Don't act stupid, Chang. I know that you know very well that Kazama doesn't have anywhere else to go, or any reason to give us any shit. And he's a thousand times more effective than any search dog, especially when it comes to quarry he himself's interested in."
Lawson then gave the two youngsters a small wink. "Never thought Mishima Jr. could be such a sweet kid, either - hoisting you all the way back here over his shoulder, changing you out of all your wet clothes, then toweling you off all nice and dry before tucking you cozily into his own bed."
Julia would've been blushing again under the leader guard's teasing, but dawning reality was corroding deeper and deeper within her. And I'm inescapably fucked now too, thanks to Mishima Jr. She thought grimly to herself, her downcast expression in a sourly depressed frown.
"Lock and door fixed, sir!" One of the maintenance staff shouted from the cell doorway, thankfully interrupting Julia's awkward moment. He tossed the leader guard the new key scanner, and left with his crew.
Lawson spun around to leave too, but suddenly halted as if he realized he forgot something.
"Oh yeah..." Lawson half-turned and brusquely threw Julia's special thermal blanket right into her face, then tossed her visor-disabled black-frame glasses onto her lap. "Here're your little blankie and binoculars, dork-girl." His tone was lightly tinged with endearing respect. "We already modified out the futuristic play menus in those bottle lids, by the way."
With that, the leader guard strode out and locked the door behind him, leaving Julia in dreaded isolation with her cell-roommate.
The young scientist was still staring with forlorn dullness at the locked door, when Jin's voice cut into her awareness.
"What was that thing you planted into the Agency's system? Where did you get it from?" The Mishima boy demanded in a hard tone.
Jin climbed onto the bed and sat facing Julia from the side, leaning even closer her. He was undoubtedly trying to intimidate her into answering quickly and satisfactorily.
But as of right now, she was too despondent with her failure to escape - and especially its upcoming consequences - to be emotionally affected by her cell-roommate's coercive attempts.
"...it's a prototype virus weapon of my own invention. I call it the Scourge. It was derived from some of Dr. Boskonovitch's early blueprints for comprehensive system control of virtual environments." Julia replied softly after several moments. She kept her eyes trained on her lap. "I started developing it months ago, with the aim of using it against G. Corp.'s most vital operational bases and data systems. It can easily be planted into an unguarded device that connects to a system-wide database...like I did with Martus's tablet. I was pretending to be fully anxious about what 'blackmail' he had, when in fact my real purpose was sneaking the virus into his PC without anyone noticing."
"The Agency thoroughly scanned Violet Systems the night before they brought Lee Chaolan here. They found no trace of such a virus weapon." Jin pressed on after a pause.
"I kept Scourge strictly off the record, and from everyone else - especially from Lee and Lars. I worked on it solely from another personal device, separate from my workstations...that compact device you saw me with, the first day I busted in here with Lars and Alisa." Julia responded in a distracted voice.
Jin leaned back a little in a more relaxed position, giving Julia space. "And why all the secrecy?"
"I'd need to be present to plant and activate the Scourge, but there's no way they'd allow me anywhere near G. Corp. grounds...ever since I failed to escape after my cover was blown." The young scientist couldn't help wince to herself at the last part.
"I'd been planning to sneak onto Kazuya Mishima's property once again when the time ripened...perhaps with some backup escort then, such as Alisa. Besides...I have only one chance to plant that virus in successfully."
The Mishima boy was silently contemplative for a minute or so, then crossed his arms and gazed intensely at Julia again.
"You might as well answer the question that sent you to the medical center, Stray...how did you get my father's company to re-admit you, after you deliberately destroyed the GENOCELL project years back? And right in front of the Devil Gene head researcher, no less?" Jin demanded tonelessly.
Julia heaved a cross between a sigh and a huff. Huh...what's Kazama gonna do if I refuse to answer again? Give me more serious facial injuries? She wondered as she slid off the bed and headed to her luggage, wrapping her thermal blanket around her naked body.
"...Dr. Abel - the then-head researcher of G. Corp. - himself destroyed all evidence that he was present during the GENOCELL database destruction, including the surveillance footage of the incident."
Rummaging through her clothes for a bit, the young scientist pulled out her spring-green bathrobe and quickly wrapped it nice and snugly around herself.
"Abel apparently feared for his life - feared becoming the target of blame for failing to stop the saboteur, or at least messenger who'd be shot for bearing the bad news. Because the real culprit, me, had long fled from G. Corp.'s reach back then...as had most of the GENOCELL research team, right after they heard of the project data's destruction. The remaining research members were all terrified of being forced by Abel or G. Corp. to take the fall, and bolted right after. I conveniently camouflaged myself as one of them.
"And to save his own neck, Abel dared not reveal any knowledge or even hint of my involvement in the project's sabotage. It was written off as an unusual and most unfortunate self-malfunction of the GENOCELL database. After Abel's untimely death not long after, I re-applied to G. Corp., under the pretense of wishing to support the then-'World Hero' Kazuya Mishima's efforts to overpower your warring Zaibatsu rule."
"Hmph. Wasted opportunities. My greedy and impatient adopted uncle just had to send you into my father's company that second time. And had you not been so stupidly negligent about your cover and kept your reputation clean with G. Corp., you'd still have been able to plant your virus weapon much easier now." Jin commented unpleasantly.
Hypocritical much, Kazama? We wouldn't be in this fix in the first place, had you not used the Zaibatsu for your meaningless failure of a world-wide destruction campaign! Although Jin's comment sent a wave of indignation through her, Julia didn't bother retort. Furthermore, had she not re-entered G. Corp. and gotten herself into that Damsel in Distress situation at that time, she wouldn't have discovered her Thou Cannot Kill problem and gotten acquainted with Lars - who played a major role in motivating her to invent the Scourge virus in the first place.
"Speaking of 'wasted opportunities', Kazama...you are aware that you've condemned me to a guinea pig's fate? By botching my planned escape and dragging me back here? My life and functionality are no longer guaranteed. I may die or become permanently incapacitated from some experimental procedure any day, any time now. I guess you've considered my usefulness obsolete, since the Agency got their hands on my virus prototype now." Julia accused in a bitter and dismal tone, briefly casting a morose glance at the Mishima boy.
With that, the young scientist spun away and trudged to her usual corner at the farthest end of the room from him, plunking herself right against the wall. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in them.
She knew someone like Jin couldn't care less if they eviscerated her alive - but she just couldn't help keep the resentful blame towards him and depressing fear for herself contained within anymore.
After a few minutes of quiet stillness, Julia heard Jin's derisive scoff. "Keep your self-pitying, paranoid whining to yourself, Stray. All I did was save you time and energy by stopping your escape. As for that 'perfect' escape plan I interfered with, the Agency would've easily tracked you down with their vehicle tracers before you'd find anywhere to hide...unless you're somehow ignorant of such basic common sense."
The Mishima boy paused for a moment. When he spoke again, his tone was noticeably softer and less cold. "The Agency won't put your life or well-being at risk...even if you didn't possess the hacking specialties I need from you. You're too precious and unique a specimen for it to lose."
It almost sounded like Jin was actually trying to console her. But Julia didn't feel an inkling of solace at his tone or words.
It was the Mishima boy who was ignorant, about everything in his countering argument. The Scourge would've allowed her to override the vehicle tracer functions - long enough to safely reach civilization. As for her "invaluableness" as the Agency's "one-of-a-kind specimen"...she already finished reading all the Agency's notes about her heritage - she knew with a grim resignation what the Agency's researchers had in store for her.
The people running the Agency are no Mishima. She can trust their motives to be genuinely well-meaning...towards the world as a whole. But towards her alone - as a single individual? The Agency pros and their superiors are as objective as any competent leader...long-term ends justify almost any unsavory means.
Jin Kazama's 'specimen captive' status was vastly more important and protected than hers. In a large-scale war that may well determine the fate of the world, Jin's innate knowledge and identity of the Mishima Zaibatsu cannot be substituted by anyone else...well, ever since Lars proved himself inadequate in leading the family empire.
But the importance of her own status here...the fact that the Agency retains loyal services from intelligence-rivaling experts like Laroft and Pak are proof enough that her intellectual skills and knowledge are in fact expendable.
And now this organization has her Scourge invention. She's definitely been demoted to a mere specimen to test to its limits...or beyond.
Julia closed her eyes as the gravity of her situation and the ensuing miserable despair seized her full awareness and her senses. What's the point of carrying on now, when all that awaits her is inhumane pain and torment?
No, stupid Julia, not all is lost yet. A chiding voice within her rang out. If I manage to survive long enough...fate may present another opportunity for my freedom. Fate's given me tons of crap, but always seemed to provide a savior when I was in real danger, too.
Like when Lars suddenly popped up out of the blue to rescue me from G. Corp. - just when my fate of slow, painful death appeared all but sealed.
And then a decade back, when Lei and Wuji caught me at my darkest.
Not to mention Michelle insisting on adopting me when my birth mother left me to die, and Rochefort intervening to provide me a new chance at life, whatever their true motivations were...
Still, the young scientist allowed herself to tremble and a weep soundlessly for a few minutes or so. Whatever ruthless and respite-less ordeals the future holds for her, she'll vent some of that misery now. She refuses to fall into a meltdown directly in front of anyone, if she could help it...
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 1:02 am...
Julia stirred from her light doze at the sound of the cell door opening. She lifted her face from her knees and peered her red, puffy eyes up at the cell chamber's entrance. Two security staff in dark crimson uniform stood at the doorway, neither of them their usual escort guards.
"Ms. Julia Chang. If you would follow us please? One of our agents has requested to discuss with you matters relating to last night." One of them announced tonelessly.
The young scientist exhaled a deep breath, then grunted as she slowly picked herself to her feet. "May I ask exactly who is requesting my presence?" She asked in a wary and worn half-whisper.
The crimson-garbed staff shook his head. "I'm sorry, we haven't been anything about the requested meeting, just that he or she wishes to meet in the Southwest Wing's Weapons Development Center."
Weapons Development Center? Julia felt her taut senses instantly relaxing. The base's weapons specialists want consultation and info about the Scourge virus, that's all. I'll tell them anything they need about it. Wish they could've waited until after breakfast time, though. Feeling her depressed mood uplifting a little, she was about to walk out the door with them, when she realized she was still wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
"Please excuse me just one minute." The young scientist hastily went to her luggage and snatched out several articles of clothing. She threw on a pair of underwear, jeans and T-shirt, using her bathrobe as an on-body modesty screen while changing. Then she slipped on a pair of slippers.
As Julia was leaving she cast a curious glance at Jin. He was lying motionlessly in bed on his side, facing away from her. Surely the noises and talking stirred his super-sensitive senses from slumber, but he didn't bother to acknowledge her leaving the room this time round.
*****
Agency Research Lab: Weapons Development Center - Testing Chamber 2A, 1:16 am...
The weapons development center was well lit and bustling with staff activity.
But to Julia's confusion, she was led into a weapons testing chamber - a completely empty and spacious arena, enclosed by explosive-proof thick glass and monitoring cameras lining around the 30 or 40 feet high ceilings.
The two crimson-clad escorts asked her to wait in the chamber, as the agent should be arriving any minute...and then they secured the lock on the chamber door.
Something is very wrong, here. Julia felt cold sweat running down her forehead and torso. Whatever they called me in here for, it's certainly not related to technological inquiries or consultancy. She suddenly heard a whirring noise from behind her and spun around in alarm. A slim and medium-height bespectacled man, wearing an old black T-shirt and black trousers, emerged from a secret back door of the testing arena - shutting it seamlessly behind him. Despite his very unintimidating stature, Julia felt a familiar set of sharp chills running down her spine.
"Martus..." Julia whispered in a quaky breath.
Luce greeted her with a cold smile as he unhurriedly approached her. "Ms. Chang. First I am sorry for the delay to get us more officially acquaintance as your new...overseer. Work got a little crazy you see, and then you pulled that little stunt using my tablet, making me appear a bit...awkward in front of my superiors." His tone darkened. "I sincerely apologize for underestimating you. But I assure won't happen again."
It took a moment for Julia to find her voice again. "...what do you want with me, Martus? Is this meeting going to be about professional matters, or your personal vindictiveness?" She inquired with bold hostility.
The interrogation specialist merely sneered. "Why the former, of course. The policy here is usually all work and no play, and I faithfully go by it like any other good employee. But fortunately for me, impudent ignoramuses like you turn all work into just play."
Luce's cold smile suddenly took on a feral edge. He took off his glasses, folded them into his pocket, and abruptly shifted to a subtle fighting stance. "Ready or not, here I come." He announced in the most casual of tones.
Before Julia registered what was happening, Luce rushed forward to her, executing a series of exquisitely efficient and brutal sucker-attacks. And before she knew it, she was on the floor gasping for breath amidst the excruciating injuries covering her body.
Luce let out a deep sigh before walking to her prone form, and stood hovering right above it. His narrow physique appeared boyishly frail and slight - he was at most two inches taller than Julia was, and his bodily frame couldn't be more than an inch wider than her own. But his attacks were devastatingly quick and powerful. It didn't help that he surprise-initiated their "match" with his most deadly blows, largely incapacitating her ability to counter or defend herself from the start.
The interrogation specialist shook his head, making tsking sounds. "Hasn't Kazama already given you a lite lesson about real combat only a few days ago, dear Ms. Chang? It's non-gender discriminatory. No fairytale chivalry involved. Pity his attempts at education proved to be in vain, just like with poor little Julius Chang Wright and his foolish mother...your sacrifice to Rochefort over your late stepbrother had been all in vain."
Luce knelt by her legs and pulled out a big box cutter. He pushed out its 1-and-a-half in inch wide blade - sharp and jagged at the edges, then worked on cutting off all the cloth covering her hips and upper thighs.
"Shall we get to formal introductions, Ms. Chang? I know the quickest way for you to understand what you really need to know about me, how I work, what I'm about...by a fairly efficient showing-not-telling demonstration."
Startled, Julia attempted to get up. Then she coughed up blood before collapsing back down with a thud. As the room spun around her at vomit-inducing speed, she realized that Luce had left her right arm broken, heavy internal ruptures all over her abdomen, and a severe concussion.
After he was done stripping her hips and thigh in complete vulnerable nakedness, Luce suddenly rammed a finger into Julia's womanhood without warning. His lips curved into a cruel smile when the young scientist yelped in pain. She was too tight and dry.
"I've been told that Nadiya has already informed you about Mrs. Amaranto, Rochefort's second-favorite child 'companion' back then. Though I'm betting that softie omitted the part about poor little Divina's 12-year old gang-rape experience. Where do you think she got that 15-year old biological daughter at her mere 27 years of age?
"Divina Galit ran away from home and lived on the streets for almost three years, before she got on the bad side of a local juvenile gang. They violently raped her - each one of them, gave her a brutal beating, then threw her body into a dumpster.
"She somehow pulled through the ordeal alive and well, but was forced back into her parents' custody after the garbage pickup men sent her to the hospital. That's where Malaya Galit really came from - child of a gang rape. And that's what you seem to be missing in your 'traumatic ordeals' resume, Ms. Chang. Rape of the brutally violent variety." Luce continued in a frighteningly conversational voice.
"You're obviously familiar with violations and pain from Rochefort's insensitive intrusions, but the Monaco socialite obviously never got off from pain-infliction itself. I'll help fill in for that. Then you'll have a better excuse for those melodramatic, self-induced psychological shut-downs of yours."
Julia's eyes went wide with horror as Luce playfully fiddled with his box cutter, pushing the blade to its maximum length of 6 inches.
"Oh yes, you need some major 'loosening up' before we get to know each other more...directly, via some rough intimacy play." The interrogation specialist breathed in sadistic anticipation. "My little magic wand here will make you all hot, wet, and ready for me..."
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 1:58 am...
The two crimson-uniform security guards carelessly shoved Julia's grievously injured body back into Jin's cell chamber, causing her to fall on her face with a weak grunt. A few seconds later, she heard the click of the light switch and felt brightness penetrate her closed eyelids.
"...what's going on?" Jin's sharp, demanding tone cut into the young scientist's awareness.
"You just leave Ms. Chang alone and put up with the stench for a few hours, Kazama. This is part of an official experiment." Julia vaguely heard one of the crimson guards replying in a stern voice.
"They can't keep her in anywhere else, because her presence might distract or disturb personnel - everyone's seriously behind schedule because of her virus attack. But staff will be coming first thing in the morning, to pick her up again and clean her stinking mess up." Then there was the sound of the cell door promptly being closed and locked.
With a pitiful groan, the young scientist barely managed to roll on her back, head tilted slightly upwards. She dully recalled what had transpired in the last half hour...
After Luce was done with her, the two crimson guards arrived and brusquely dragged her out of the Weapons Development Center's testing arena, and right into Laroft's lab. None of the staff appeared alarmed or even disturbed by her severely wounded appearance - Laroft herself was there, and ignored Julia completely this time around...seemingly determined to avoid eye contact.
No one bothered to clean Julia just a little, or administer any kind of medical attention to her...and did nothing to try slowing down the gushing blood from her wounded openings. They didn't even have the decency to cover the completely cut-and-stripped bare lower-half of her body with some piece of cloth, plastic bag - anything. The young scientist was merely dumped onto the examination table, had scans taken and small samples sliced from her, then dragged straight back into Jin's cell room.
The metallic smell of her own blood - mixed in with the odor of her sweat, urine, and vomit - was so heavy and overwhelming, she'd be retching if she had the energy or health. Luce's blows had caused involuntary loss of control over some body functions. And each step she was forced to take made her already throbbing head so dizzy, she felt like throwing up - except nothing but blood came from her stomach.
The young scientist felt constantly on the verge of bursting inside with scorching indignation, but was simply too fatigued with pain and helplessness to display any of it.
Julia's train of thought was suddenly cut off by a rapidly increasing difficulty of breathing, and an increasingly painful pressure building from her throat to her chest. In hindsight, rolling on her back was a stupidly careless move on her own part, especially with nostrils flowing non-stop with blood. Her painful haze and concussion must've caused her to forget basic First Aid 101.
As the blood clot accumulated in her throat, she realized she didn't have the energy to sit up or turn back onto her stomach to prevent choking. The solidified mass of blood had blocked up her windpipe, and was starting to asphyxiate her. She felt so worn out and hurt everywhere...but her survival instincts took over her numbed mental state.
The young scientist forced her over-exhausted and distress-stricken mind to function...working out that she must apply the Heimlich Maneuver against herself with her good arm.
The Agency made it clear that her life was all but indispensable to them - it simply tossed her back into the room completely untreated, and with a cell-roommate who wouldn't care less whether another puny, pathetic life lived or died. Maybe she was deemed a disposable experimental specimen to start with...maybe they are others like her, whom already have been located and detained by the Agency, to continue experimenting with. Maybe she had misjudged the Agency's morality, relative to G. Corp.'s and Heihachi Mishima's research labs...
Julia soon located the area where she had to apply the pressure and force out the clot from her windpipe...it had already sustained severe and excruciating internal injuries from Luce's brutal assault. Her mind was clouding up from lack of oxygen and weariness. Perhaps she's meant to die a painful and pitiful death after all...
Stop being a useless loser, Big Sissy!Her little foster sister's voice suddenly barked from within her psyche in a reprimanding tone. Are you going to make me dig you up and massacre everyone involved in your self-pitying death? Qigong...apply an upward strike using the Qi-force basics that I taught you! With a grunt, Julia slowly and instinctively curled her hand in the appropriate position.
Yes, that's it...now push upwards 10 degrees left as hard as you can.Her mind heard Lei Wuji instruct. Julia couldn't afford to hesitate - she promptly slammed her fist upward against the spot as hard as she could.
The young scientist felt herself intermittently gurgling and gasping in agony...while she was simultaneously spewing out the lodged blood clots, along with even more large spurts of blood from that harsh internal strike she dealt against her already deeply-ruptured internal organs.
The expulsed mess had splattered and spilled all over her face, her body. Thanks, Wuji. Though I might die of blood loss anyways. She wryly thought to the inner voice that took the likeness of Wuji's.
Julia had freed her airway to breath of solid chunks, but seriously worsened her blood-loss condition. Now the blood from her deeply ruptured stomach was flooding into her windpipe and once again threatened to asphyxiate her - via internal drowning, this time. She feebly pushed her head to flop it sideways, so the blood would flow and accumulate into her mouth instead - then she could cough and drool it out.
The young scientist suddenly realized Jin's presence was close around her. She languidly peered from the corner of her eye to blurrily see Jin standing close to her recumbent form, towering right over her - he probably witnessed the whole wretched spectacle.
Julia couldn't see his face, but couldn't care less at this point. Whatever, Kazama. Watch, get amused, or be disgusted all you want. Can't give a f...her eyelids fell shut and she blacked out.
*****
Agency Research Lab: Paranormal Species Division - Conference Room 1A, 2:04 am...
"Dr. Laroft! Doctor!" One of the research head's assistants threw open the conference room door with panicked look on his face. He stopped in his tracks when the head researcher - in the middle of a heated discussion with other researchers - threw a death glare at him.
"I-I'm so sorry to interrupt, Doctor, b-but this is really, really urgent. It's about Jin Kazama..." The intruding assistant stammered.
Laroft's enraged glare turned into a frown of alarm and confusion. "Why? Has the boy suddenly undergone some sort of major mutation?"
"No...no. Actually, Kazama's gotten berserk. He's dangerously close to breaking out of his cell chamber, after we made it clear to him over the communicator that Chang won't be getting any medical attention for another two hours or so. After we informed him that strict withholding of medical services were direct orders from you, he swore that he'll be down here soon, then tear the whole lab apart. He demands a private word with you, face-to-face, concerning the way Chang's been treated...and being treated." The assistant finished in two breaths.
Laroft turned a little pale. After a wordless moment, she slowly rose from her seat with a soft "excuse me", while she made her way out the conference room and shut its door behind her. The research head then turned to her jumpy assistant.
"I assume security has already done all they can about Kazama's misbehavior?" She inquired sharply.
The assistant nodded frantically and replied in a tiny voice. "Y-yes...and actually none of them dared to do anything other than try to talk Kazama down. You see, Doctor, they've been strictly ordered not to physically displease Kazama in any way...and that includes shooting him with any kind of sedative."
The research head stared back at the assistant in disbelief and apprehension. She slowly took out her cell phone and dialed the number to her superiors.
"Doctor Laroft." A man's voice sounded from her phone.
Laroft breathed a deep breath. "Sir...Jin Kazama is acting out of his boundaries. He's threatening to break out of his prison chamber, if we don't administer proper and immediate medical attention to Julia Chang. But as you know, the experiment protocols dictate that we wait for at least 2 more hours before she's allowed any kind of treatment."
The research head's voice grew anxious.
"Under these circumstances, it appears we have no choice but to forcefully subdue Kazama until Chang's observation period is over. I'm requesting that security personnel be ordered unload maximum concentrate X-86 tranquilizer darts into Kazama to calm him down a bit. Or even better, use the drainer function on his wrist cuffs. Times like these are why he's wearing those damn things 24/7 in the first place, isn't it?"
"We know full well what is going on with the two, Doctor. However, we need to minimize any damage of whatever goodwill existing between Kazama and the Agency as of now. Physically subduing him whenever he becomes violently agitated with worry will certainly put a bad dent on that sense of goodwill. We've discussed the matter amongst ourselves, and decided to ask you to handle it...peacefully." The man's voice replied.
Laroft's face became as white as a sheet and she started quaking hard. "M-me? H-how, sir?"
"Persuade Kazama to wait, of course. Stall him until Chang's experimental observation period expires. We trust you're familiar enough with your favorite male specimen to get through to him." The man said dryly.
"S-sir! This is my life on the line! If he gets angry enough to resort to violent means, I'm finished!" Laroft almost wailed in her hysteria.
"We'll be monitoring your activity closely, Doctor. And we will activate the drainer function on Kazama's cuffs if emergency arises. You can bring several men armed with the X86 tranquilizer rifles along, if that'll make you feel better." The man's voice reassured from her phone. "Oh, and you may want to bring along a media player with footage of Luce's 'meeting' with Chang...he might be curious about what happened, and it'd give us more time to stall. Just keep the footage on a disposable device. Good luck." With that, the phone went dead with a click.
The research head stared at the floor, and was taking long deep breaths to calm herself. She then turned to her nervous assistant.
"Go download the Test Arena footage onto an empty media player device and bring it here. And fetch me my brandy bottle while you're at it."
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 2:11 am...
Jin gritted his teeth and glared heatedly at the door after he delivered another blow against the cell door. His bleeding knuckles have become numb from punching the unrelenting door...but he wasn't going to give up yet. His extra-sensitive hearing told him that one of the hinges were slightly starting to give.
The Mishima boy turned to the prone figure of his cellmate lying a few feet from him, and his expression immediately morphed to that of anxious worry. He had done his best to wipe her up with warm water and wash towels. He gently stuffed clean towels against her non-stop bleeding wounds, then carefully bundled his bedcovers around her to keep her as warm and comfy as possible. None of his efforts helped with her bleeding, though he could sense that she was alive and her life was not in danger...yet.
Jin had little idea why he was being so openly concerned towards her...but for the moment, he didn't care to wonder why. All that mattered to him right now was she get proper care for her bad injuries, and finding out just what the hell those people had done to her.
A familiar woman's voice suddenly sounded through the cell door, from the hallway. "Jin Kazama. Step at least six feet away from the entrance. It's Laroft, and I'm coming in with a squad of armed guards."
Jin paused briefly in surprise, before a devious smirk made its way on his face. That idiotic woman just warned him exactly what he needed to know. He'll pretend to relent...then the moment the door opens, he'll take out the armed squad so quickly, they won't know what hit them. He'll then take the research head hostage, bring along his cellmate to the medic center, and force them to provide the girl with emergency care...
"I know what you're thinking, Mr. Kazama. Don't even try such a stupid move. The higher-ups will order activation of the strength drainer, should you try to attack any of us. Remember that little utility on your wrist cuffs? Laroft's harsh voice attempted to hide her nervousness. "Just step back and stand there like a good boy, okay? I'm here to negotiate and explain. Give us both a satisfactory deal."
The Mishima boy stopped smirking...he actually had forgotten all about that godforsaken strength drainer on his cuffs - so far the Agency had used it only once - via a demonstration trial on the first day they fitted the wrist restraints on him.
The drainer was a potent hybrid of high-tech and metaphysical energy-absorber, capable of rapidly sucking almost all the strength from his body - physical, mental, and emotional. The drainer did leave his basic necessary functions well intact...his brain functions and vital organ workings.
Jin huffed and reluctantly backed away from the door as it opened.
Laroft turned on the lights, then looked at Jin's attempts to tend to Julia's body with displeasure. The research head then turned briefly towards one of the guards.
"Unless he's trying to kill me, do not attempt to tranquilize him unless I'm out of your shooting range. The concentration of sedation chemicals in those X86tranquilizer darts are lethal to a normal human body, you got that?" She hissed. The guard nodded solemnly. The research head sighed and took small, apprehensive steps into the room. She stopped several feet from the Mishima boy.
"Jin...listen to me. You know that Ms. Chang is no ordinary human...this is part of an experiment to see how well her self-healing rate holds out. We have solid scientific backup supporting the theory that she will pull through alive and well-" Laroft started, but cut herself off when Jin took an intimidating step towards her.
"First of all, it's 'Kazama'. Secondly, I don't care about your theories, nor your perceived importance of your sick 'experiments' on my cellmate. Send someone down here right now to at least stop her bleeding. Otherwise, drain function and tranquilizer shots or not...I can do some unpleasant bodily damage before either is initiated." Jin stated icily.
Laroft turned pale and gulped, but managed to keep her composure. She closed her eyes to think and calm herself.
"All right, Kazama. I can arrange for medics to take care of your cellmate right now." The research head reopened her eyes to give him a hard look.
"But you know what? The Agency's just going to have her go through this experiment again - and that next time, they'll keep her in a place completely out of your reach. That is, unless you get some kick out of putting Ms. Chang through a similar ordeal again. I understand you have a penchant for terrorizing your roommate, though maybe you want to cut the poor girl a brief break this time round. Heavy physical and psychological shock within too short a duration can easily backfire - she may become too broken and unstable for you to manipulate."
Jin felt openly taken aback...Laroft's last few statements were like giant anvils hurled right into his face. He was completely at a loss for words for a moment.
"...what did you do to her, anyways?" The Mishima boy finally demanded in a soft but menacing voice.
The research head wordlessly reached into her pocket and tossed him the video media device containing Julia's experience in the Weapons Center's testing arena. Jin briefly cast a perplexed glance at Laroft's nervous features, before turning on the device and viewing the footage.
The Mishima boy's eyes widened, then narrowed dangerously as he watched. As he was watching the footage, Jin was startled to feel real nausea building up within, an impulsive urge to look away, and rage over the abused girl tearing at his heart. Where was this pitiful squeamishness and humane anger coming from? He oversaw plenty of brutal executions and gory massacres during his reign as Zaitbatsu CEO in public, and hardly batted an eye!
When the video was done, he crushed the handheld device in his hand, not realizing that he was panting and sweating slightly. After a minute or so, he redirected his heated stare back onto Laroft.
In a blur of movement, Jin suddenly had Laroft pressed against the wall, his hand firmly around her neck. Not tight enough to choke, but to cause plenty discomfort. He strategically positioned himself close enough to research head, so the guards wouldn't be able to aim at him without high risk of shooting her too.
It took a moment for Jin to find his voice. "...you could've simply shot or stabbed her in some of her vital areas for your 'survival' experiment." He murmured in subdued lividness. To his surprise, Laroft let out a derisive chortle, even as she desperately tried to pry his fingers from her throat.
"...what exactly is this girl to you, Kazama? Weren't you trying to 'break' her yourself via cruelty, just a few days ago?" Laroft spat in his face. "Now you're acting almost as if she means something to you...personally. Can you really afford to harbor personal feelings at this point?"
Jin's lips drew into a tight line. He managed to restrain himself from tightening his grip. "...that's none of your damn concern. She...is my invaluable human tool against G. Corp. I'm determining what her psychological state is to be."
"Of course. So you'll give Ms. Chang right back to us once she's served your purposes, including your unsuspecting fall girl for all your wartime massacres? Then we get to keep up her psychological torture at our free disposal, until she's reduced to an empty, catatonic shell of a person. Finally, we'll incinerate all traces of her existence. And you wouldn't give a second thought about that?" Laroft let out a short amused laugh as Jin's pursed lips twisted into a feral snarl.
"Well? Why don't you say something to refute me, little boy? Were you not the bloodthirsty war tyrant who terrorized the world, and caused deaths of thousands of innocent men, women, and children?"
With a loud growl, Jin suddenly unhanded Laroft - causing the research head to lose balance and collapse onto her behind - then turned his back to her. The Mishima boy breathed heavily in silence for a minute or two.
"...I thought you felt personally close to my cellmate, doctor. You certainly seemed to go out of your way to do so every checkup session." He finally muttered tonelessly.
Laroft grunted and coughed a little as she picked herself up. She rubbed her slightly bruised throat. "Oh, Chang's pleasant company, all right. But work is still work. Shouldn't you of all people be familiar with necessary emotional detachment?" The head research retorted in a hoarse voice.
"And just so we're clear - your cellmate is our property. Not yours, Kazama. We get to prioritize how she is to be utilized here, not you...my fucking god, how you keep forgetting that you're still a mere humble prisoner here! Completely dependent on the Agency's sense of generosity towards you! The management here should have you groveling, teach you a thing or-"
The research head's rant was interrupted by her ringing phone. Heaving a breath, she picked it up. "Hello?"
"That's quite enough, doctor. Get a hold of yourself." The man's voice told her sternly over the phone. "If Kazama has been placated, then go back to your regular duties."
Laroft sighed. "Y-yes sir. I apologize for losing it." She turned off the phone and looked at the Mishima boy, who was still standing there with his bare back turned to her.
"Kazama...we'll be picking Chang up for some examinations within two and a half hours. Then she'll be sent straight to medical to get all her injuries treated. So if you'll excuse us..." The research head spun around to exit.
"Wait." Jin had soundlessly snuck right behind Laroft in a blink of an eye, causing her to jump. "You're staying here with me...with my cellmate. Until her survival is confirmed, and she's allowed proper treatment for her wounds."
Laroft let out an exasperated sound. "Kazama, I have important work to do! I'm already far behind because of you and-"
"-I promise you further delay for weeks, even months, if you don't comply. I'll give you a taste of what my cellmate is going through right now. And I can do so within several seconds...well before I'm shot or drained by my cuffs." Jin told her in a calm, steady voice.
The research head felt her earlier courage and boldness departing quickly. "Y-you threatening me, Kazama?"
"No, doctor. I'm promising you." The Mishima boy replied coldly.
Laroft was silent for a few moments, then cursed under her breath. She turned to the guards at the door, who were still tense and alert. "Hey, you lot. Relax that stance, it's going to be another 2 hours or so - don't want to get cramps now, do you?"
The research head then leaned against the wall and fished out a cigarette to light, trying to calm her own nerves a little.
*****
Agency Base - Southwest Medical Center, 6:41 am...
The head surgeon approached Jin, who was leaning against the wall opposite the patient bed. "We've stopped Ms. Chang's bleeding, Mr. Kazama - both the internal and external. She has a bad concussion, but nothing that we can't fix within two days. Her abdominal ruptures are already healing by themselves at an amazing rate, but the adhesions will remain quite tender for at least a week due to the depth of the internal wounds."
The leader escort stood up from his seat in the room. "You hear that, Kazama? If you actually do care about Chang's health, no more shoving or smacking around for at least a week. Now we know she's all right, let's get going back to your humbly demolished abode..."
"Hmph." Was all the Mishima boy said, his expression its usual stony impassiveness. He stood upright. "I want to see her before I go back." Jin demanded in a hard tone as he strode towards the patient bed and stood right at the head of it.
The medical staff pulled open a flap of the surgical tent, revealing Julia's form - well bandaged, cleaned, and hooked to various IV drips and equipment. She was deeply drugged by anesthetics, and slept like a baby. His superhumanly-heightened senses informed him that his cellmate was indeed in a steadily recovering state. The color had also returned to her cheeks.
Jin felt hours of tautness leaving his body. He couldn't help it as his gaze softening again as he directed them onto the resting girl's face. Knowing that he won't be able to see her for the next few days, he let his eyes linger a bit longer on the strangely peace-inducing sight.
"My cellmate is not to know that I'd been here - or involved in her 'experiment' phase in any way." Jin flatly warned the medical personnel as he turned away to leave.
Lawson just shook his head with a suppressed smile as he led the Mishima boy back into his cell chamber.
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 11:03 am...
After a few hours of sleep catch-up, Jin sighed and slipped out of his bedcovers, which were heavily stained with the girl's blood. Maintenance personnel promised to bring him clean covers when they delivered his noon time meal. For the next half-hour or so, he's stuck with his own jumbled thoughts.
The Mishima boy remembered forcing the research head to stay with him and his cellmate for more than 3 hours, until the girl's "experimental survival" period was over. He recalled vowing to himself that he'll be causing genuine misery to those involved in her "experiment", should the girl not survive due to the ridiculous withholding duration of medical care.
When the experimental duration finally expired and research personnel finally came to pick his cellmate up, he insistently demanded to tag along. To his exasperated dismay, they carried the girl to the labs first for purely research-related procedures for another half hour. A frazzled Laroft constantly had to cajole him that they'll be sending the girl straight to medical immediately after.
When his cellmate finally did start receiving the intense care she sorely needed, Jin felt himself letting out a deep breath that relaxed more than just his muscles. When he personally ascertained via his superhuman senses that the girl was in stable condition, he was finally able to return to his cell chamber and get some shut-eye.
Why? Why was his heart and head still pounding so angrily at him, over some inane sense of self-blame over the girl's sorry condition? If only he had let her escape...she said so herself earlier on, before they took her away to her grievous torture - he had damned her by bringing her back in.
He had thought the iron exterior he built around his heart was enough to shield him from the most unpleasant sights or displays of suffering and misery - from any person of any gender or age - that were not his own friends.
Watching the Rochefort footages slowly and insidiously incited a lurid curiosity within him.
He felt a something stabbing at his heart as he saw what was done to the little child version of the girl, but furiously suppressed and denied the feeling of sad sympathy for a total stranger.
The Mishima boy couldn't deny it any longer. That day he struck her face bloody and bloated, his main motivations had been personally emotional. If he was actually aiming to break the girl from within - that much physical force had been indisputably counter-productive...what such a method required, as he'd been fully aware all along - was completely non-subjective and callously brutal psychological assault, via subtle gestures and relentless verbal manipulations. Instead, he ended up all but pouring out his own heart to her - through words, fists, and forcing her to look at her own battered reflection.
The main emotional impetus was because of that mind-boggling sense of petty jealousy from nowhere. But the even deeper reason, the rage from the fact that he felt irrepressible sympathy and concern for the girl. He later took that anger out on her, when he beat her up with vicious but heartfelt diatribes and punches to the face - desperate to prove to himself that he was still the stoic, unsympathetic monster he had become.
Ever since she threw those attempts back into his face with her odd methods of passive resistance, Jin's once-casual persona of cruelty and spite had become an increasing struggle to maintain.
Not long after girl's steadfast refusal to retaliate to his physical and verbal abuses, the vexing truth finally pierced into his consciousness. He'd become pathetically and disgustingly obsessed with familiarizing with her in the most vicarious ways possible. And the addiction-craving was too overwhelming to control, even after he realized it.
His wretched, utter loneliness and desolated hollow psyche had starved his mind insane...for any company who potentially shares a modicum of empathy. All along that has been his true motivation to keep her closed-in with him, and he didn't even realize so until now.
He initially made himself believe that inexplicable urgent desire to force her into his living quarters - it was merely his practical, opportunism-honed intuition at work, when such hadn't been further from the truth.
He never even suspected that said desire actually stemmed from his personal emotions and humanity - both of which he thought was already crushed beyond repair, and their remnants limited solely to those two idiotic friends fighting to 'avenge' him.
An hour later, Jin had finished his lunch and got a clean bundle of bedcovers, but the desire to resume napping had left him.
Jin knew too well what it felt like to be viewed as a mere specimen - to be milked of all usefulness, then immediately disposed of. He was handed such vile treatment by those were supposed to be closest to him...or what he always stood for - Heihachi, Kazuya...and Devil's arch nemesis, Angel. The latter - a self-serving charlatan of purity and justice, who'd been falsely leading him and his mother on all along.
He all but stooped to Kazuya's level whilst he took the reins of the Zaibatsu - numbing virtually all his emotions, quelling the agonizing screams of his conscience and his heart - constantly assuring them that it was the last stand, and all the Mishima evil will be wiped out for good...and that meant himself, too.
But he's still well alive, and he is not Kazuya. He cannot be like his father ever again, even if he tried with all his heart. As for Heihachi...fortunately, Jin can still afford some of the necessary ruthlessness and shrewdness his grandfather displayed - the Zaibatsu is going to need it, when he retakes the reins from his incompetent and inexperienced half-uncle. Though it's not as if he'll ever enjoy it like the sick old man did, and he'll never do so out of selfish gain.
Just like with his half-uncle and the great-grandfather he was forced to slay...immorality and self-serving ambition were simply against his nature - however strong the Mishima blood ran in his veins. However hard he tries to convince himself that he's already rendered his human side into an unforgivable monster, the truth was undeniable. Deep within at the core of his being, he was still one of the Mishima anomalies who cares about righteousness...and for better or worse, he always will be.
The Mishima boy now fully and consciously realized that he wouldn't use the girl's potential supernatural powers for his own opportunistic purposes, even if optimal opportunities to do so flash right in his face - he not only refused, he simply wasn't capable. He's no longer capable of even trying to treat her as a mere pawn.
The Agency will no doubt try to continue brutalizing the girl...to them, she's some precarious human tool to exploit, then kill off. The research head was right - it is not his position or concern to interfere with his cellmate's personal plights. But he refuses to give her more difficulty than she already has to deal with, either...other than convincing her to work with him against Kazuya and Heihachi. Which was what she'd been doing with his uncles all along, anyways.
Besides, the girl is his invaluable human tool against G. Corp...he can't afford to risk the Agency breaking her psyche beyond repair. From now on, he'll ensure that the Agency won't cross the line with their abuse of her, like they did this morning. He'll demand to be present the next time she's taken out of his sight for another "experiment" session, and he'll use himself as leverage should the Agency refuse his intervention.
And when he leaves the base to return to the Zaibatsu, he'll smuggle the girl with him, so she'll continue to continue working for him...and stay under his protective watch. The initial arrangement to make her his wartime scapegoat is now totally out of the question; he'll simply have to find some other unfortunate wretch to take the fall...or modify that part of the plan altogether.
When Jin's own time comes, he'll somehow convince his half-wit half-uncle to officially marry and impregnate the girl - even if they both staunchly refuse, he'll have her artificially impregnated by Lars Alexandersson's preserved semen, via stealth or force.
That way, she'll stay under constant protection, out of harm's reach - backed by Lars and the whole Mishima Zaibatsu itself - long after he's gone. Yes, the girl will continue to remain an invaluable resource with her unusual intelligence and technological skill, not to mention a sensible and trustworthy figure, to help Lars maintain the family empire at the top.
If the girl becomes the Zaibatsu head's wife, she'll be bestowed with a considerable powerful and influential rank over the whole empire. If she indeed becomes the Zaibatsu's Madam, his cellmate would undoubtedly be sensible and clever enough to sway Lars, or manipulate the subordinates into steadfast unification. Then gradually rebuild the family empire towards a philanthropic direction, using her healthy sense of pragmatism and all-round intelligence to ensure its success.
The girl was no Nina Williams, but Jin was more than certain that she'll do just fine.
No, it's not because he personally cared about the girl's well-being as much as he did with Xiaoyu or Hwoarang. She adamantly refuses to try to know him personally, much less trust him in any way. He'll be protecting his cellmate for solely practical reasons...
JULIA & JIN AS CELL-ROOMMATES: DAY 15
*****
Agency Base - Southwest Medical Center, 6:33 am...
Julia woke up with a gasp, her eyes flying wide open from a particularly jarring nightmare. Her dream involved that beautiful but terrifyingly unholy forest, Michelle, those "Doppelganger" beings - all ten of them appearing at once...and the alleged alien Creator in the form of that Vietnamese teenager, Vo Thi Binh. But the elements in this time's dream were far, far more lurid and ominous. She couldn't stop quaking and panting for almost a half-minute straight.
It had been two and a half days since Julia regained consciousness. The Agency allowed her to stay and rest in the medic center while she recovered some more, but they'll be sending her back into Jin's cell chamber this afternoon. The young scientist managed to persuade staff into delaying the discharge until later tonight.
Julia was told by the head surgeon that she miraculously managed to survive hours of heavy bleeding, and still came through almost brand new after some mild fixing on their part.
One of the medical staff went out of his way to tell her how callous an asshole her cell-roommate was...according to what he overheard from Dr. Laroft, Jin complained non-stop about the unpleasant odors her severely injured body was giving off, and relentlessly insisted they keep her bodily fluid-soiled form out of his cell chamber...anywhere but his personal living space - and strongly suggested the garbage chute for the temporary time being.
Julia didn't know why hearing that tidbit about Jin's attitude surprised her so much, or made her feel so sad and hurt deep within. Why? Why does my subconscious hold onto the ludicrous notion that Kazama gives half a crap about my well-being? I'm seriously getting messed up for real. She angrily bit her lower lip to cause the tears from forming in her eyes.
The young scientist was later visited by an oddly cantankerous Laroft, who curtly informed her about her unusual survival endurance and the self-healing properties that vastly improved from last time - the time when Jin himself had beaten her up. Then the research head departed in a huff, bemusing Julia...the blonde's day must not be going well. Still, after all the cold apathy Laroft had shown to Julia after Luce brutalized her, the research head had the nerve to vent her bad mood on the young scientist herself?
Sighing as her desire to resume sleeping left her, Julia inclined her bed, then took out her notebook and writing utensil from under her pillow. The leader escort had been so kind and thoughtful to have one of his men retrieve it for her from Jin's cell chamber, so she'd have something to do other than lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for two days straight.
Lawson also stealthily tipped off to Julia that Luce's superiors deemed his "acquaintance" methods a little overboard...even personal. And although the interrogation specialist will get to keep his position as Julia's general overseer, she shouldn't be meeting Luce again for an unspecified period of time. The young scientist was greatly relieved to hear so, though she doubted that her reprieve will last very long. She had to start taking action again...beginning with Jin Kazama.
Julia needed to get the hell out of forced-living with the Mishima boy in that privacy-demolished cell room. He's seriously screwing up her senses and psyche, even when he's not trying - and more often than not, he went out of his way to harass her for no good reason. With Jin's constant presence, there'd be no way she can effectively deal with upcoming threats from the Agency...and beyond.
The two days she regained consciousness and mental coherence, Julia had been scrambling her brain for a solution to persuade Jin - or the Agency - to have her moved to another living space, long-term. After all this time, she could only strategize one plan - a highly tenuous and almost hopelessly risky one, at that. On one hand, this plan may well infuriate and upset Jin enough to request her removal. On the other hand, her planned provocations might put the Mishima boy in a blind enough rage to kill her.
The young scientist knew she couldn't trust the Agency to timely intervene, should Jin really attempt to take her life. The way they handled her with Luce and after was more than proof of so - and ironically the major reason why she's decided to take this risk with Jin.
Facing a wrathful Jin Kazama, one-on-one, with no weapons or outside support - Julia had only one haphazard and desperate gamble as backup. If she can't defeat him by catching him off guard, at least she'll die trying with all she's got.
And if death is the worst outcome for her, it's still preferable to being imprisoned in constant misery, abuse, and dread. It'll well be worth the risk.
Julia flipped her blank notebook to its crisp, untouched first page. The young scientist closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then she reopened them and started jolting down her thoughts and notes with an almost insane ferocity. If she's really going through with this suicidally dangerous stunt tonight, this entry can be her private elegiac obituary...
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 18:46 pm...
Julia was sent back to the cell chamber just in time for supper. Her cell-roommate welcomed her with his usual stony stare, which she immediately averted in bitter anger.
I just don't get it. The last few times I saw Kazama's eyes, I heard his voice when he was hurting or terrorizing me...I could've sworn on Michelle's life that there were signs of definite remorse and some twisted sense of concern. But apparently, he's a completely uncaring sociopath when someone else is doing the hurting. His whole Azazel ordeal must've caused some serious split in his psyche...or was he born with it and fooled everyone about his persistent defiance of immoral temptations? The young scientist wondered sourly to herself.
Jin's gaze fixed tightly upon her for the next few hours: While they ate their dinner and cleaned up; As she took her long-needed shower in the demolished bathroom and hastily threw on her underwear and sweats, while her body was still wet from not toweling off; Even when she settled back into her little corner farthest from the Mishima boy's frequented territory, draped her now-dried thermal blanket around herself, and occupied herself by idly flipping through her notebook pages - ignoring him completely.
*****
Jin's cell chamber, 21:40 pm...
Almost 3 hours later, Jin finally ceased his unrelenting observation of her and went about his own business - showering himself, cleaning up his own messes, prepping for bedtime, then slipping his body under his bedcovers and turning off the light. Within minutes, Julia heard his evened, deep breathing - he was sound asleep.
Body tense with trepidation and anticipation, Julia gingerly brushed the pocket of her sweatpants with her fingers. She had slipped all the required items in there: A lighter she plucked from one of the medical staff smoker's uniform; Her Swiss army knife; A small, crumpled roll of scrap paper; Two vials of a highly flammable chemical she whisked from the medical center; And an injection of her TSK-16...
After taking two quiet deep breaths, the young scientist soundlessly crept towards the television set. Willing her hands to suppress their trembling, Julia deftly uncapped the vials of flammable liquid. She stuffed the rolled-up scrap paper into one of the glass vials, and poured the contents of the other vial into the TV's ventilation slits. She cut the TV set's external wires with soundless quickness and undid the main holding screws with her Swiss army knife's various tools.
Julia then grabbed both sides of the TV frame. With a fierce grunt, she tore the set right off the wall and hurled it towards Jin's bed. She immediately snatched the paper roll-stuffed vial, lit it with the lighter, and smashed it against the still-airborne TV.
There was a deafening booming sound, and the king-sized bed burst into a mountain of flames, filling the room with blazing light and heat.
The emergency sprinklers, however, remained inert. Instead, the air vents had turned themselves onto HIGH, so as to suck away harmful smoke fumes and flow in a plenty supply of fresh oxygen.
The young scientist exhaled heavily. That was a sure indication that the Agency won't be sending anyone down here to intervene on her behalf, should she fall into mortal danger from the mass-murderer Mishima boy. The organization has likely been waiting for this moment since it locked her here - the chance to observe its two prized supernatural specimens' current potential...or see if her supernatural potential can be forced out, by their duel to her death.
Julia suddenly heard Jin's voice speaking quietly, less than a feet from behind her.
"I've had thousands of attempts on my life in the past 6 years, Stray. And this one is by far the most pathetic." His tone was full of annoyance, though it also held a tidbit of amusement.
The young scientist didn't show any signs of surprise or fear this time round. She calmly walked several steps forward to put adequate distance between herself and Jin. Then she spun around so that she stood face-to-face with her cell-roommate, and threw a direct antagonistic glare at him. Her stomach felt sick with anxiety, but there's no turning back now.
"You destroyed my private space for no reason, Kazama. I've merely evened the score." Julia suddenly slid into an offensive stance. "Since you have nowhere to sleep for the time being...how about we settle that little bargain now? You told me that you'll request my move-out if I defeat you. Or are you willing to do so without the fighting part?"
Jin made no gesture to fight or defend himself. Instead, he gave her a contemptuous smirk. "And what if I say 'no' - to both requests? I know you're trying to goad me into kicking you out - but it won't work. And you'll have to wait until I'm in the mood to engage a match with you...which won't be happening for a while."
The Mishima boy then turned his back to her and started to walk away. "You think you're the only one capable of sleeping well on the cold, hard floor? Your utterly stupid plan to change my mind about rooming arrangements failed like any utterly stupid plan would."
The young scientist drew a deep breath between her teeth. Here goes nothing.
"I know why you've never felt remorse over those innocent lives you took, Kazama. Deep down inside...you don't hold yourself responsible for those tragedies, do you? You instead blame your slut of a mother, Jun, for bringing about your wretched existence."
Her words successfully stopped Jin dead in his tracks. She could see his whole body stiffening dangerously in rage.
Willing her voice not to falter, Julia forced herself to continue her provocative taunt in a grating tone, and readied her Swiss army knife in her pocket.
"Your 'venerable' mother insisted on bringing you into this world, knowing that you'll be living a life of hardship and pain. Why? Because she's the only one insane and wanton enough to fuck your incorrigible father...and then birthed you out of spite when he abandoned her, raising you to hate all that he embodies. What's more, she deliberated directed you to your filicidal grandfather to ally with, of all people. Surely Jun Kazama had been fully aware what the old man's about, yet all too happily risked her own child's life - merely to slake her own petty vindictive-"
Within a flash, Jin had sped over and slammed Julia's back against the wall, causing her to yell out as the pain shot up her spine. His hand clutched her neck in a painful throttle.
The Mishima boy leaned his face threateningly close to hers. "You take back that sewage that you just spewed out...or else I'll silence you permanently." Jin growled hoarsely, his face contorted in an almost bestial-like rage.
The violent surprise impact almost caused the young scientist to lose grip of her knife...but thankfully she found herself still holding it. With a muffled yell, she plunged a small blade as hard as she could into the arm choking her...into a spot she knew would cause serious reflexive pain.
As Jin grunted and let loose his grip, Julia quickly pushed herself a safe distance from the wall and her opponent.
The young scientist then promptly resumed an offensive position and brandished her knife. She briefly observed Jin wincing with gritted teeth, while he inspected that satisfactory stab wound she made. The injury wasn't serious or particularly incapacitating, but will slow that arm down at least a little.
"I'm not taking anything back. Come and try shutting me up, you bastard of a filthy slut." She called out in a daring tone, immediately drawing the Mishima boy's rageful attention back to her.
With a snarl, Jin dashed forward and knocked the knife right out of her hand. He immediately proceeded to dish out non-stop flurries of fierce attacks, but Julia was physically and mentally anticipating them.
The Mishima boy's speed and ferocity left no opening for counter-offense, but she was still surprised how effectively she was able defend, dodge, and parry off all his blows - even if only barely.
That is, until Jin suddenly faked a hook to her temple...and when she fell for the feint, he delivered a swift kick to her abdomen. Although Julia managed to regain her footing from the blow, she involuntarily doubled over to her knees as agonizing pain shot through her torso. She started to wheeze and cough up fresh blood again. The Mishima boy's kick had torn open some of the still-recovering internal ruptures.
After a minute or so of coughing up blood and panting heavily, she became aware of Jin's bare feet standing a half-foot away from her sight. Instead of backing away like her instincts were urging her, she weakly looked up at Jin as she wiped her bloodied mouth. His eyes were still blazing wildly with fury, but there were tinges of a softening emotion - a mix of indrawn surprise, hesitation, and slight regret - that were countering the violent impulsiveness in his expression. He had unconsciously relaxed his combative stance somewhat, and made no indication of initiating another attack...yet.
Julia then realized in retrospect that despite his savage rage, he'd been holding back all this time - even that kick to her stomach probably wasn't half as heavy as he could've made it, considering how angry he was.
However, the young scientist knew she couldn't afford to wonder about his perplexing show of self-restraint and emotional hesitation - nor mull on how she felt about them right now. She had only one chance to make the right next move. Sucking in a deep breath, she sprung up and rammed her head right into the Mishima boy's crotch as hard as she could.
The young scientist quickly rolled and crawled near the burning bed as Jin groaned loudly in pain. Her cell-roommate cursed furiously as he half-collapsed and clutched his nether regions.
Julia fumbled her pocket with shaky hands and retrieved her TSK-16 syringe. Jin's blow to her stomach had largely weakened her ability to move as effectively as before. Right now she has no choice but to rely on her psyche's distorted killing instincts to override the pain and injuries...damn it. The Mishima boy had already recovered and approaching her with single-focused intent of harm. She looked around frantically for something to distract him with, she needs only seconds to administer the drug and have it take effect...
Grunting in pain and anger, the Jin made his way around burning bed, where the girl had crawled behind after she surprise-head-butted his groin. He was a tad surprised that she didn't take the opportunity to attack him during his...temporary incapacitation by her low blow. No doubt she was smart enough to know that any attacks and blows - by her comparably inferior level of physical strength and speed - wouldn't do enough worthwhile damage to his body.
Though she was paradoxically stupid enough too, to think she can escape and hide from the painful lesson he's going to teach her, for defiling the memory of his beloved mother in that unforgivably vile manner.
Jin quickly located the girl. She was sitting up with some sort of needle in her grip, and staring intensely at him as he approached her menacingly - she was obviously expecting him. Her left foot suddenly swept up when he came within range, kicking some burning embers straight into his face. He quickly closed his eyes and turned his face away, shielding it with his hand. By the time he had recovered and reopened his eyes, he found that the girl had staggered to her feet. And her whole demeanor had drastically transformed. From an injured and vulnerable human fighting desperately for her survival, to something else entirely.
His cellmate was suddenly radiating with a raging killing intent...so palpable it pierced his senses with a freeze-burning sensation. Wherever this rage came from, it was obviously so overwhelming that it numbed her feelings towards pain and injury completely. And whatever the source of that overwhelming rage, it wasn't directed at him at all - instead, it seemed to have rendered her into a blindly omnicidal state.
The girl suddenly let out a scream - one full of fury, anguish and grief from the depths of her soul - and started to thrash out against him with reckless fervor...as if she was single-mindedly determined to pound the life out of him.
Jin was momentarily disadvantaged, having been taken aback in astonishment by the girl's abrupt attitude change and then her unexpected physical viciousness. Grunting as he recovered his fighting instincts, he delivered a controlled hard-punch against the girl's shoulder, meant to incapacitate and shove away...instead, his fist hit some invisible wall-like force inches from her body.
There was a loud crackling noise akin to that of electricity. Flashing sparks that resembled prismatic facets and broken mirror shards emanated brightly from where his fist made contact. Then his fist was painfully thrown back. It felt as if the blow of his fist was re-directed right back to him - exact striking precision, exact application of force, and full strength.
He suddenly noticed that the girl's eyes were no longer their beautiful iridescent hazel. Her orbs had suddenly turned into pure liquid pools of pitch black...and there were strange, symbol-like markings glowing in her irises.
The Mishima boy only had a moment to pause in his stupefaction, as the girl resumed her raging attacks as if nothing strange had happened.
Jin gritted his teeth. His cellmate now wielded some kind of supernatural attack-reflector shield, and she was still intent on taking his life in her indiscriminately killing rage-induced state. He had to get serious too, or he himself will become endangered.
Grabbing the girl's arm, he attempted to dislocate it from her shoulder...but his applied force only generated more prismatic sparks at the location of pressure, and left her arm completely unharmed.
Snarling, he threw her over his shoulder and slammed her body mercilessly against the floor. It felt like he was trying to slam a thin piece of wax paper to the ground with all his might...the moment the girl's form hit the surface, it momentarily burst into a blinding aura of those strange sparks. And there wasn't so much as even a thud as her body gently reached the floor like a feather.
Jin stared wide-eyed as his cellmate promptly got to her feet. With a ferocious cry, she slammed her body hard against his torso. The force of her body-slam threw him across the room, and collide-bounced him off a wall - leaving a cracked dent in it - and then caused him to fall face-first onto the ground.
The Mishima boy groaned as he picked himself up. So not only does the girl's metaphysical shield reflect attacks, it can absorb and accumulate any natural forces used against her, then allow her to reapply them in any form she wishes? If someone found a means to control her - or that supernatural force within her - she'd make an amazing superhuman weapon...
A heavy slumping sound - followed by the sound of the girl's quivering and erratic heavy breathing - immediately caused Jin to abandon those thoughts. He saw that the girl had collapsed to her side, huddling in a fetal position, and trembling violently all over. Her labored breathing held pained gasps. Her face was twisted in physical pain and extreme discomfort.
The Mishima boy cautiously approached his cellmate and stopped a few steps in front of her quaking form. Then he knelt down, inspecting her body with his Devil Gene-enhanced supersensory abilities. All traces of supernatural abilities in her body - save her unusually speedy self-healing - were gone.
The girl was now suffering from severe fatigue and fever-like symptoms, but there was no illness or biological infections in her body. And no more rage or other overwhelming emotions shaking her psyche. There was still a bit of minor internal bleeding where he had kicked her earlier, but the injury he initially inflicted had been quite restrained and most definitely mild...the re-opened inner lesions were already starting to recover with increasing rapidness. When he leaned closer to talk to her, she weakly slid open one eye...her orbs were no longer black, nor possessed that bizarre glow anymore - they had returned to their original hazel.
Shit. Julia weakly thought to herself. Side effects still too strong. That's what I get for being chicken and constantly putting off test trials. After the TSK-16's temporary bloodlust rage-stimulated trance had ended, the full load of side effects hit her whole body - aching fatigue, severe inner chills, and exacerbated abdominal pains from her injury due to her uncontrollable trembling. The fever-like side effects shouldn't last more than 30 minutes, but she's too tense all over to simply black out and sleep off the discomfort.
It was only when the drug's rage-inducing effects wore off did the young scientist regain her senses and became aware of the uncanny events that occurred within the past few minutes. Something in her drug brought out some supernatural capability within her that defied natural law - some kind of force-alchemy...and for some reason, the image of the girl-goddess Being's hyaline-like armored parts in her previous Doppelganger dreams came to mind.
When TSK-16's intended effects were active, Julia wasn't capable of thinking rationally, or perhaps any thinking at all - she didn't wonder what her newfound ability was or where the heck it came from...and she somehow instinctively knew how to use it in her murderous rage-induced mode.
One thing for sure...the Agency has seen the whole thing, and they'll want to run more related tests. But then again, Jin's probably still fuming over her uncalled-for comments about his mother. Or perhaps has perceived her as a dangerous enough threat to eliminate. Maybe he'll kill off her off right now - at her current helpless and extremely uncomfortable state - and spare her plenty of miseries, if he could only do so before the Agency stops him...
"...what is wrong with you?" The young scientist dully heard Jin demand in his impassive voice. She opened one eye, and saw him crouched right beside her, regarding her with intense scrutiny.
Julia tried gritting her teeth, but they wouldn't stop chattering. "Ah-ah-I-I de-defeated y-you. S-so g-guh-get l-lost." She grounded out feebly.
Seriously, if he wasn't going to finish her off, he could at least her alone in her feverish pain, until the side effects wore off by themselves. Though he'll most likely use this opportunity to exacerbate her suffering for insulting his mother...being the vengeful asshole he is.
The young scientist momentarily sighed in relief when she heard the scraping of his bare feet tapering off in the distance...he was going to leave her alone. But a mere seconds later, she heard him walking towards her again.
She felt his large hands sliding under her knees and shoulder, gently but firmly urging her body into a more recumbent position. She then felt him lift her into a steady cradle and hold her against his warm body. Without realizing what she was doing, Julia instinctively snuggled as close to his body as she could.
Amidst her pain, fatigue, and discomfort, the young scientist suddenly noticed the rise in heat and brightness ahead. Jin was walking in the general direction of the bonfire-bed, as he carried her in his arms.
"I-I'm f-f-fire w-wood n-now?" Julia managed to stammer through her uncontrollable internal chills. She would've chortled in bleak humor if she had the energy.
"...shut up, you idiotic Stray." Jin hissed angrily. Puzzlingly enough, the Mishima boy actually sounded upset and offended that she entertained such a notion. Moments later, she felt her carrier settle against the wall, a few feet from the burning bed. As he sat down, he repositioned her body so she was huddled sideways between his spread, propped-up knees.
Jin suddenly threw a large black cloak-like cloth - Julia realized it was her special thermal blanket - over his body, tucking her body cozily into his, and using the blanket to cocoon the two of them together. He then held up her head tenderly, resting it between his bare chest and bicep. She could faintly hear his strong heartbeat over the thundering pounding in her ears.
The Mishima boy then leaned his head down. "...better now?" He inquired in a soft, soothing whisper.
The heat from his bed that I set ablaze...he's trying to keep me warm? Julia thought in wonderment. Involuntary tears of confusion and poignancy threatened to form in her eyes.
"K-Kazama..." She started, and began to wriggle. The Mishima boy gingerly tightened his grip to stop her feeble struggling.
"Shhh...it's okay, now. Just relax." Jin cooed. The young scientist never imagined the Mishima boy's deep, masculine voice was capable of such a comforting and tender tone.
"I take back all what I said concerning you and Rochefort...but only about you, not anyone else I mentioned. You can wait until you wake up next morning to do the same for my mother." She could hear a slight smirk as he said those words, but there was no trace of warning threat, anger, or any kind of displeasure in his voice.
"Now go to sleep like a good girl. You'll be safe, I promise..."
The young scientist's mental faculties were buzzing in a muddle of confusion, yearning, and denial. Relax and sleep, Julia, relax and sleep. Nothing else you can do. You're too weak to break away from his hold, anyways. Just pretend he's Lars...no, pretend he's the Jin Kazama you believed in. The Jin Kazama you loved and admired from afar, three years ago...
Jin watched as the girl in his arms closed her eyes and dozed off with a peaceful look on her face. He also noticed that her trembling had ceased completely, and the tautness left her body. He let out a deep breath out of relief and satisfaction.
Damn that sleeping-baby expression of hers...it always invoked an inexplicable comfort and serenity deep within.
Damn those vibrant hazel eyes of hers, too. Because as endearing as his cell-mate appeared in slumber, Jin would still much rather have her eyes open - if they were once again close to his, and somehow full of that open affection and desire directed straight at him...instead of Lars Alexandersson.
Those irresistible, breathtaking orbs, which he finally forced her to let him have a close and prolonged gaze at in the decimated bathroom, under pretense that he was terrorizing her.
Her vivid hazels...he'd been secretly dying to get a good look at in the first place, and when he finally did - they were far more enchanting than he'd imagined.
Her irises bore so many beautiful shades of earthy browns, leafy and grassy greens, complete with golden-orange specks resembling patches of sunray...not to mention that abundant pool of purest aqua blue surrounding her big pupils.
As the Mishima boy stared indulgently into her idyllic orbs, he almost felt like he could dive right into the soft cozy warmth of a gentle sun-lit forest, fully refresh himself and wash away his worries in that pristine aqua lake.
It was also right then that the pleasantness of her unique human scent hit his senses - mellow fragrances of nature, invigoratingly coolness, and a both peace-inducing but uplifting sense of relaxation...reminding him of one particularly enjoyable early summer morning hike in a lush mountainous area, where there'd been an intense storm two nights before that thoroughly cleansing the whole environment and atmosphere - the soft breeziness had felt so nice and perfect...the fresh, crisp smell of dewy grasses and leaves had filled the air.
Several times he almost lost himself as he was engrossed in savoring wonderment...luckily, the girl's frightened countenance kept his own impassive facade in check. He honestly didn't know if he could've released her from forced eye contact when he did, had her expression not become so increasingly distressed.
And damn her. There's no way to deny it...she wasn't merely invoking some appearance or sensory-based want from him anymore. She's making him genuinely care about her on a personal level - like Xiaoyu and Hwoarang - but worse. She had been trying to avoid drawing any attention or interest from him all along!
Before his intrigue of her hazels got the better of him, the Mishima boy had initially been grateful for the girl's persistent avoidance of eye contact - and any contact in general. The way her eyes looked whenever she was within his presence...they were like a mirror to the depths of his soul - sans the enormous self-hatred and loathing he felt for himself.
In her eyes he glimpsed a burning anger, bitter betrayal, lost confusion, loneliness, emotional rejection, broken admiration, self-denial, mistrust, forlorn hopefulness...then there's that immense inner struggle between a desperate longing to forgive and a conscientiously willful refusal to.
But the girl's beautiful soul-windows never held an inkling of hatred, loathing, or even contempt directed at him...instead, they conveyed purely mournful resentment and raging disappointment - inextricably intertwined with terrifyingly soulful, insightful empathy and compassion - that she herself appeared to feel just as troubled and perplexed for harboring.
Those emotions alone her psyche staunchly had for him were unforgivable by themselves. Then came the horrific realization that he had not only become addicted with those eyes, that look...but began to crave manifestation of those emotions into her actual interactions with him, so there'd be a means to start connecting with her in-depth. And the intensity of those desires grew rapidly each day.
Jin had desperately attempted to amend such an intolerable situation by emotionally stomping on the girl's already deeply wounded psyche with attempted callous spite - hoping to draw enough hatred from her, so she'd despise and loathe him like anyone with a half-decent sense of righteousness, and knew what he was really about.
Once he quashed her undeserved feelings towards him, he'll be able to rid his own towards her. In the end, he failed miserably on both accounts...in the end, heonly managed to act out his jealousy and frustrations in a violently chastising manner. And he's still hating and inwardly beating himself mercilessly, for hurting the girl more than she already needed to be.
His whole Azazel ordeal had truly rendered him a fragile and pathetically useless shell of his original determined self.
Self-denial...that's why he persisted on having them share a room, then demolishing the physical and symbolic barriers she used to hide from him. Deep inside, he'd been desperately trying to disprove and dispel to himself the fact that the girl was getting under his skin...and they always backfired. Horribly.
Worst of all, he can't bring himself to kick her out anymore, even though a major part of him sorely wanted to at this point: Fulfill his part of the bargain to request her out of his living space...and giving her what she'd been trying to achieve since Day 1 - getting out of his direct presence.
He needs her within eyeshot or earshot at all times...do everything within his power to protect her from the Agency's inhumanely harmful experimental ambitions.
The Mishima boy allowed himself a small smile. He promised that he'll request having her moved to another room, should she defeat him in a fair fight...which she did. But he never said anything about himself moving in with her. That demolished bathroom is becoming an eyesore anyways, and he no longer has a proper bed or television.
Jin then recalled the girl's bizarre reaction upon viewing the Rochefort footage of herself being sodomized by that sick man - she seemed to have eliminated all negative emotions from her brain upon seeing the traumatizing memory.
Lars was horrified and sickened by the footage's contents - like any normal person should, while the girl's reactive mood was akin to a sage lost in deep meditation and inner peace. Alisa's sensors confirmed so, too.
Yet due to his Devil Gene-enhanced powers, he was able to sense something very wrong, deep within the girl - the core of her psyche - it was screaming with agonizing rage and pain, whilst in direct contrast her body all but detached itself into a wholly peaceful mode of a sheltered infant.
The torment had been burning her soul away with hellishly slow agony, until she somehow snapped herself out of it by the time she returned to the Agency base.
But there was no question that the girl will permanently lose her sense of self and sanity, should she be forced to vicariously relive her ordeal with Rochefort enough times. Something he was certain the Agency would not hesitate to exploit, in order to control or manipulate the girl for their own means.
Should he fail to protect her from losing her sanity, he'll make sure she is mercy-killed...he'll delegate the task to Alisa, should he not be around to do the deed himself. The girl's fate-worn soul needed peaceful rest, something she cannot achieve whilst alive. Something the poor girl rightfully deserves and can afford.
Unlike his thoroughly guilty and unforgivable self...once he fulfills his missions on Earth or at least die trying, his human soul - with all conscious memories, emotions, and personality intact - is doomed to be sealed by Zafina into some limbo-like subspace forever. Along with Azazel-Devil's sentient spirit as his eternal tormentor-cum-prison mate. Jin had fully agreed to those conditions himself. It'd be a most just end for someone like him...considering all those innocent lives he knowingly hurt and ruined during his anti-Devil Gene conquest...
As if she heard his thoughts in her dreams, the girl suddenly shifted tighter against his body, almost clinging to him, and buried her face deep into his chest.
"Don't...don't leave...please." She whispered imploringly, a stray tear falling from her eyes.
Jin stared in surprise at the sleeping girl in his lap, before brushing away her tears with his thumb and delicately easing her clinging form back into a relaxed position.
After their first encounter in the Agency base, she kept on reminding him of that wretched little stray puppy he tried to save but failed - his single miserable and traumatic memory of an otherwise joyous childhood - when his mother was still around to love and guide him. The puppy's death was his first true taste of emotional tragedy and understanding of permanent loss in his then-carefree, naive life.
The Mishima boy knew the girl didn't believe any of the insulting words she said about his mother...she spoke them solely to provoke him, just like he did with her so many times earlier during the 2 weeks and 1 day they've roomed together. But she no doubt believed that his constant addressing her as "Stray" was meant to be a derogatory nickname.
Well, she shouldn't have invoked that bittersweet childhood memory in the first place...besides, he'd originally wanted to establish as much personal distance from her as possible.
"Stray"...that was the name 8-year old Jin Kazama ingenuously dubbed the abandoned bloodhound puppy he found whilst exploring the forest around their home. Home-schooled and only occasionally visiting human civilization with his mother at the time, the little Mishima boy had been all but sheltered from the more malicious aspects of society...and thus naively innocent of the negative connotations associated with the word "stray". He gave the puppy that name simply because it had no owner or caretaker.
When little Jin first found Stray, it was whimpering and sniffing mournfully at its canine mother's carcass...already infested with insect scavengers. It had apparently realized that she was gone, and there was no one left to love and care for it. The little Mishima boy then noticed how the puppy was sporting a bleeding wound on its back leg, and looked dangerously emaciated. Sickened and heartbroken for the little puppy, the 8 year old boy was still forlornly wondering what to do about the tragic sight before him, before he heard his own mother calling him in for supper.
During dinner, little Jin secretly stuffed all the meat - the only portion he enjoyed from any home-cooked meal - on his plate, into his pocket. He devoured all his vegetables that night...to Jun's pleasant surprise. Like most other children, little Jin had some childish nit-picky eating habits that he didn't outgrow until adolescence...habits that often earned him his mother's stern scolding, or even his most feared smack-on-the-head by her almighty palm.
Pretending to have to use the bathroom, little Jin snuck out of their cottage right after he cleaned his plate. He sprinted with his small legs as fast as he could, back to where he found that hound pup. The little Mishima boy eagerly tried to coax the sickly thin puppy into eating something, but was only met by its fearful and hostile growling. It backed protectively against its dead mother's body, its fur bristling dangerously. The 8-year old then boy ventured to pet it, to show that he meant it or its mother no harm...and was rewarded by a deep bite that punctured his finger bones. Feeling exasperated, confused, and deeply hurt, little Jin angrily kicked the puppy and ran back into his cottage with tears stinging his eyes.
Despite the bleeding and pain, little Jin initially tried to hide the bite-wound from Jun by "borrowing" her working gloves. But it wasn't long before his wound started to fester - badly, and his mother's keen nose picked up the smell. His mother had forcefully snatched her gloves back when he stubbornly refused to take them off. She took one look at the bite-wound on his hand, and sped into the storage to grab their first-aid kit. Upon being severely interrogated by Jun about the source of the wound as she applied various disinfectants, little Jin stuttered in a fearful voice that he'd been trying to climb that rusty abandoned fence she repeatedly forbid him from touching - and scratched his hand badly.
After emergency disinfecting, his mother speed-drove him to the nearest hospital's emergency room that night, and had his hand promptly treated. Jun let out a big breath of relief upon being fully reassured by the doctors that her son will be just fine, and the bite-wound should leave no permanent damage.
But before they got into the car to go back to their cottage, his mother cuffed him soundly on the face. She then chastised him harshly for disobeying her warnings about dangerous objects - or lying to her through his teeth - both equally intolerable behavior.
When little Jin went to bed that night, he couldn't sleep. The thoughts of that sick little puppy wouldn't let him. Sure, he was still furious at it for giving him that painful and very inconveniencing wound when all he wanted to do was help it...not to mention the serious trouble it got him in with his mother.
But the puppy's eyes continued to haunt him. It looked so lost, so sad, and so lonely. It had no one to help or care for it. At least he still had his mother, their cozy little cottage, and plenty of food each meal.
The next day at lunch, little Jin stared at the mouthwatering chicken on his plate, that he saved for last...then snuck them into his pockets again when he thought his mother wasn't looking. He ran to the site where he found the puppy...and saw that only its mother's decomposing body remained.
Anxious to the point of tears, the little Mishima boy desperately started calling out for the "Stray" to come out and not be afraid. He scattered the pieces of his lunch chicken all around him, hoping to lure out the pup. After more than a half-hour or so of nothing, little Jin sat down a nearby rock and started to cry. He really shouldn't have kicked that puppy out of anger...now he had scared it away to heaven knows where, causing it to be more lost than ever.
When he finished his 5-minute sobbing, the dejected 8 year old was about to leave, when he heard a soft rustling sound. The puppy had quietly emerged from a bush, but froze when it saw him, looking ready to flee again.
This time, little Jin intuitively started backing away, to prove that he meant no harm or contact towards the small creature. The puppy then pounced on the nearest piece of chicken, snatched it with its teeth, and scampered back into the bush.
Little Jin felt a tad disappointed at the puppy's heightened mistrust towards him, but his sense of relief overwhelmed him nonetheless.
The food-sneaking to feed the puppy became a routine for the little Mishima boy during the following few days...he'd consume less than half his share of meat every meal, then save the rest for the puppy.
He eventually got it to approach him by sticking each piece of meat on the end of a stick. And one day, as he was retrieving the meat from his pocket...that stray puppy limped up to him. It licked and nuzzled his hand lovingly. Little Jin had been momentarily stunned by amazement and joy at the gesture...then he tentatively used his other hand to pet its head, eliciting a gentle whine and wagging of its tail.
The moment was then interrupted by Jun, hands on her hips and regarding him with a stern expression - she'd been secretly following him for the past few days to see what he was up to.
His mother had then ordered him to stand in front of her. Little Jin walked fearfully towards his mother with his head slightly ducked - expecting a smarting smack or two. The puppy walked closely beside him, as if to provide some comfort and company during his punishment.
But instead of feeling Jun's heavy palm against his face or head, he heard his mother asking in a calm voice why he never told her...adding warningly that she'll be able to tell if he tries to lie again, and doing so will earn him some heavy smacking.
With his head still bowed down, little Jin admitted in a timid voice that Jun had always been extremely strict about "wasting food", and valuing every morsel they afforded on the table. But this little puppy's mother had died, and it didn't have an owner to help feed it.
To the 8 year-old boy's surprise, he felt his mother gently caressing his soft spiky hair. She softly informed him that she'll never get angry at him for acting out of kind compassion...as he is doing with the puppy. She then asked in a merry voice whether he'd want to adopt the puppy as a family member...but they'll have to take the puppy to a vet first, of course.
Weeks later, little Jin was virtually inseparable from the little puppy, whom he simply named "Stray". Housebreaking it proved to be a bit difficult at first, but Jun had her mysteriously effective ways to get through to the puppy. It slept in little Jin's bed, bathed with him, played with him. It napped patiently while he was doing his homework, house chores, or training in martial arts with his mother. It became his close little sibling and best friend.
Unfortunately, when winter came, Stray had caught a serious feverish illness. The vet doctors informed them that the puppy's immune system was too weak to withstand a reviving surge of infection from its old wound, and there was nothing they could do to save it.
Little Jin had initially been unable to accept the fact that Stray was going to die - in a silent tantrum, he angrily locked himself in his room all day with his puppy, then witnessed with tearful helplessness as the quivering puppy whined sadly at him and slowly succumbed to its illness.
The little Mishima boy had mourned for more than a week after they buried Stray in their backyard, refusing to leave his room except to use the bathroom. During that time, Jun had acted extremely lenient and understanding towards his sullen behavior - she gave him almost two weeks off from chores and homeschooling, brought his meals to his room, and only required him to maintain basic dental and bodily hygiene each day.
That is, until one night his mother went into his room for a little lecture. She informed him about having dreams about Stray's spirit, since the puppy had died. His beloved pet's spirit was still with him...it couldn't bear to depart to its mother's side, because it was so worried about his gloomy condition. Its spirit had telepathically asked Jun to thank little Jin for all the love and happiness he gave it. And that it was still sorry it bit its best friend-cum-owner's hand that first day, out of panic.
Considerably uplifted by his mother's story about Stray, little Jin finally snapped out of his depressed rut and resumed his daily routine with newfound perkiness. Whenever the 8 year old found himself sad and missing his little puppy, he told himself that he must cheer up so it wouldn't worry over him...and easily comforted himself over the fact that it was happily reunited with its mother...
What an ignorantly blissful little fool he'd been back then. But when the girl arrived in his life, those childhood memories and feelings of his late adopted pet had bounced back into his heart.
There were many aspects about the girl - her background, the way she'd been abandoned by his uncles, the way she tried to avoid him and survive in hostile captivity - that invoked a strong bittersweet nostalgia that he angrily tried to ward off at first...then came to terms with, like all the other feelings he realized he'd developed towards her.
But tomorrow, Jin will be resuming his insufferable facade towards his cellmate - to negate the tender concern he showed her tonight and prevent any further bonding between them.
He cannot afford to develop deeper feelings for the girl - she may die any day...by the Agency's doing or his own hands. And even if she pulls through alive and well, deep down he's painfully aware that he may start balking on his decision to be sealed away forever...should he become more emotionally attached to her than he already is.
The girl mustn't fall for him, either - he's not about to create another Xiaoyu to hurt, worry about, and endanger. His days are very numbered before his self and soul must disappear from the face of the Earth forever - to be eternally damned by the unholy spirits of Devil and Azazel.
And the gods forbid that this girl ever starts caring for him - enough to risk herself in helping or protecting him from his enemies. Due to her very nature as a developing superhuman of unknown potential, she needs to be kept far away from the likes of his father and grandfather - both of whom will relentlessly pursue her as prized guinea pig to cut open, prod around, rearrange, and sew back up indefinite times.
Especially if she falls into the hands of G. Corp...a fate that'll make death seem like a heavenly blessing, and guaranteed to be levels worse than anything the Agency had in store for her.
The Mishima boy was still mulling and brooding when he dozed off into a fitful sleep...
*****
Deep in Jin's sleeping subconscious realm...
Jin suddenly found himself sitting on the sand, in that empty desert again...the place where Azazel's ruins had appeared upon their host's liberation. It was also the same place he was first tipped off about the Devil Gene's creator, Azazel, before the ancient god-creature made Himself known to Jin via telepathy.
In that fateful dream more than two years ago, when Devil's arch-nemesis - Angel - had manifested Herself to him for the very first time since he learned about Her existence from his mother.
Not long before his great grandfather Jinpachi's emergence from his unearthly prison - and Azazel's personal announcements of His existence as a voice in Jin's mind - Angel had personally introduced Herself in one of Jin's dreams. She told him all about Azazel, the enemy She most feared...and how the creature-god insidiously continued to mislead the human race into darkness, even in His sealed prison, in anticipation that humanity's growing spiritual corruption will eventually empower Him enough to free Himself from the ancient mystic guardians' seal.
Further, Angel had claimed that killing Azazel was the key to eliminating Devil's evilness from the world. On top of that, only Devil's strength can permanently destroy Azazel's material form. Thus, in order to wield enough Devil power to kill Azazel without losing his human side, Jin must allow enough cruelty and immorality to breed within his psyche.
But seeing how the Devil Gene was still thriving in the material plane, within Kazuya and himself - and in his case, now loaded with all of the deceased Azazel's power that he alone must bear for eternity, no less - She'd apparently been deceiving him for Her own ends all along. If that charlatan Angel lied about Devil's earthly existence being terminated upon Azazel's death, how can he believe anything else She's claimed to him?
A telling fragrance of olive leaves and roses suddenly filled the air, followed by a gentle flapping sound of giant wings. Jin drew in a sharp breath...it was Her.
A stunningly beautiful winged blonde female being, who wore a golden circlet and a white jeweled tunic with red ribbons, descended right in front of him. She gracefully tucked Her huge snow-white feathered wings behind Her back, as Her bare feet touched the surface.
"Jin Kazama...it's been awhile." The Angel-like being greeted in Her seraphic voice. "I do apologize for my lack of visits and my belated thanks to you...Azazel-Devil's power within you makes it hard for me to come through, unless you manage to suppress His spiritual presence enough-"
"-I have nothing to say to you." The Mishima boy interrupted Her, his tone full of scalding hatred and hostility. "The supposed guardian deity of purity and justice...in reality, you're more despicable than Devil. At least He didn't keep trying to deceive me or mother to obtain His self-serving ends, then toss us aside like garbage. So get the hell out of my sight."
Angel only chuckled good-naturedly in response."Ironic. So you think I'm just like you now, son of Jun? Lying, terrorizing, and blackmailing to achieve one's own ends...and then thoughtlessly throwing used pawns aside, as if they were unfeeling disposables. If that's true, I'm simply no better than you, aren't I? And in other words, we're both morally worse than Devil...our common arch-nemesis."
Jin sprang to his feet in anger. "This was all your doing!" He retorted vehemently. "I've been merely a pawn to you all along. You tricked my innocent mother into bearing me and sending me to my wicked grandfather, just to have me go through hell most of my life! Burdened with a monster's bloodline and a Devil's curse! I've defiled my hands, my human soul, my heart to take out your most feared enemy...then you thanked me by leaving me to be condemned by the world over my sacrifices. The Devil Gene is now stronger than ever within me, and still well alive within Kazuya! You outright lied about Devil Gene's elimination upon Azazel's!"
Angel sighed and shook her head. "You're mistaken, Jin Kazama...I never lied to you - or to your mother - not once. The Devil's Master was a suppressed force that guided corruption among humanity - even whilst He was tightly sealed.
"Azazel had to be eliminated for humankind to regain a chance of salvation...no matter how many good souls must be sacrificed to do so. You wouldn't have sacrificed your own shining soul to cruel evil, only so you can liberate yourself from Devil and rid His evil power from your father. You are not that self-seeking.
"Deep within, your main motivation was to bring salvation to a world decaying at its core. Your feud with Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima left you only too familiar with how society tended to bless the immoral and corrupt."
The winged blonde then shot him a warm smile. "And about the Devil Gene's 'elimination' upon Azazel's material destruction...you simply misinterpreted my prophecy regarding Azazel.
"In your blessed favor, Azazel's liberation and death were also the main catalysts in obtaining a special Key, which will forever banish His and Devil's evilness from your psyche...along with the spiritual presences of both. It has already fallen right in your hands.
"So please be patient...within a month's time, the Key will turn on its own. And then you will be a wholly independent human soul once more, free to choose his own destiny and path..."
*****
Jin's cell chamber - present reality, 23:55 pm...
Jin slowly awoke from his dream. The flames from the blazing bed had died down into gentle embers, but the girl's thermal blanket and their huddled bodies kept him perfectly cozy. He scowled to himself in resentment...that Angel creature was bluffing shamelessly as a half-hearted attempt to excuse Her selfish treachery. The key to true freedom from Devil Gene's evil influences, right in his hands?
The Mishima boy looked down. His eyes fell upon the girl, still deep asleep within his embrace, and had once again snuggled closer against him. His scowl dissolved from his face, and was replaced by a gaze of insuppressible tenderness. Seeing her peacefully sleeping expression always seemed to soothe his senses, and it helped him all but forget about that unpleasant dream with Angel.
He was about to resume sleeping himself, when a soft rustling noise roused him as he was drifting into slumber. It was a notebook, lying in the distant corner that the girl always lingered...the wind from the vents was lightly turning its pages.
He now recalled it was that notebook, which the girl had been flipping through earlier today. She'd been bearing a forlorn and revolted look on her face, as she perused it again and again.
That notebook suddenly roused his curiosity and concern. Maybe it involved clues about what the Agency was planning for her in the future. He'll have to whisk that notebook away and investigate its contents while she's still asleep...
A/N:
About Julia's criticizing & disparaging monologue about Xiaoyu's choice of regular/fighting wear...in-story, Julia's mainly using it as a front to stall Jin - and to spite him back via insulting his "girlfriend", as some payback for the verbal abuse he'd been throwing at her & her loved ones.
But yeah, it's also because I found a modernized young Chinese woman wearing a qipao as her default combat attire - especially one who is immersed in Japanese culture, no less - annoyingly stereotypical on Namco's part, yet again. I know Anna Williams regularly dons one too, but Anna is not of Chinese descent, and appears to wear it solely for fashion purposes than anything else.
Julia's (failed) escape sequence was inspired by James Bond movies, with help of .
Julia's visor-convertible specs were inspired by Sailor Moon, The Dark Knight & Iron Man.
Julia's scene with Luce and ensuing aftermath were inspired by Ayashi No Ceres, New York Ripper & Man on Fire (Quinnell).
Julia's prismatic attack-reflecting/"force alchemy" shield was inspired by Doomed Megalopolis, Akira, Sailor Moon (Anime), Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto,Full Metal Alchemist & Transformers: The Movie.
The final Julia x Jin scene was inspired by Hana Yori Dango (Manga).
