The Cursed Child

Strange cases have occurred regarding the Mishima family war. We've just learned weeks ago that Jin Kazama, who was believe by many to be dead for a long time, is really alive but now there's more to the story than that. According to recent information has been leaked out, it turns out that Jin Kazama has a son named Kazuki who is said to be a ninja. This information was leaked out after the conclusion of the King of Iron Fist tournament, in which Jin and Kazuki were both participants. The source of this information seems to come from G Corporation, which is headed by Kazuya Mishima, Jin's father. Jin himself has not publicly confirmed or denied these claims and it's not known where Kazuki stands in this war. We'll keep you updated with more information about this subject.

This news has spread all over the world. Many people were shocked by this new revelation. Some people believed it, some people didn't, and others simply didn't care about the Mishimas due to their reputation.

Inside of the DOATEC Tritower, Helena Douglas watches the news on her TV screen. Though she cares nothing for the ongoing drama with the Mishimas, there is something about this news that has caught her attention.

"A ninja named Kazuki?" said Helena. "Isn't that Kasumi's son?"

"'Kasumi's son'?" said Bruno as he walks in. "I didn't know she had a son."

"Yes, and she told me that his name is Kazuki. He should be around the same age as you, Bruno. But she never told me that his father is Jin Kazama. In fact, she never mentioned anything about his father at all. Now I know why; she may have been trying to protect him from this world."

"But I thought you said that Jin once attacked DOATEC years ago during his war against the world. How can one of our most trusted allies fall for someone like him?"

"That's something only she knows. Right now, the one thing that worries me right now is what kind of danger that this could bring to her village and clan?"

After seeing the news at the Violet Systems headquarters, Lars, Lee, and Alisa all look at Jin, who is sitting down and looks at the floor, clearly disturbed that this information has leaked out.

"Jin, is it true?" said Lars. Jin can do nothing but sit back and even though Jin doesn't give an answer, everyone still knows what the answer is. Lars sighs and says "Your son's life is in danger. Kazuya and Heihachi will both be after him and I don't think he's ready for that kind of battle like you are."

"That's why I didn't want him to find out about this." said Jin. "At least, not find out from anybody else other than me. Kazuya would want him for his devil powers and Heihachi would just want him dead…or something else. I can't let any of that happen to Kazuki."

"That poor boy!" said Alisa. "He's already wrapped up in this war just because he's related to the Mishimas. There has to be some way to protect him."

"I could send some of my men to bring him here for safety." said Lee. "I don't think Kazuya or Heihachi would have such an easy time getting through us."

"That won't be necessary." said Jin. "His mother told me that the Mugen Tenshin Clan will keep him safe and I can trust her on that. After all, they did manage to break into the tournament and make it out without any harm. So, I'm sure he's well protected."

"We can only hope for that." said Lars. "As far as I know, they've never fought Kazuya or Heihachi before. I just hope they're prepared for the possibility of facing them in the future."

At the G Corporation headquarters, Kazuya watches the news on his screen, proud that his information has spread across the world like he wanted. Now his next step is to find where Kazuki is residing and bring him in for his power.

As he sits watching the news, one of the soldiers continues to search on the computer for more information about Kazuki.

"Mr. Kazuya sir!" said the soldier. "I've checked through the information that was given when he entered the tournament. It turns out that the fighting style that he uses is called Mugen Tenshin Ninjutsu. In order for him to be trained in that style, he has to be part of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan. One of the ninjas, a female named Kasumi was also the winner of the first Dead or Alive tournament."

"Hmm!" said Kazuya. "A clan like that will definitely put up a fight if we ever come across them. Nevertheless, find out more about their location. It's where Kazuki lives, I'm sure of it."

"Yes sir!" said the soldier.

Mugen Tenshin Village

The widespread news about Kazuki has also reached the Mugen Tenshin Village. The news that Kazuki is related to the Mishimas has caused him to be treated differently. Everyone is now looking at him in fear and treats him as an outcast.

Hayate is the only one who has stuck with him, mainly because he fears for Kazuki's safety. The day after the news breaks out, Hayate meets up with Ayane in the village where they discuss their current situation.

"This is not good." said Hayate. "Everyone in the whole world knows about Kazuki. Now it's just a matter of time before someone comes to our village to find him. This is really bad."

"Well, what did she expect when she gave birth to a cursed child?" said Ayane. "One of the Mishimas at that? Kasumi should have known that this was going to happen."

"This is not Kasumi's fault, Ayane. If there's anyone who should take responsibility for all of this, it's me. I should have never let him go to that tournament."

"It wouldn't have made a difference, Hayate. He was probably going to find out anyway. Either way, I expected nothing less than trouble whenever it comes to a Mishima. I knew he should have been exiled."

"Ayane…are you even listening to yourself now? Do you realize how you sound?"

They then hear something moving behind them and as they look, all they can see is a leaf falling down to the ground. Hayate knew that Kazuki was there and heard them.

He looks at Ayane and says "Ayane, as of today, I have nothing else to say to you anymore. How can you talk about the Mishima family fighting each other when you still harbor hatred for your own? I'm going to help Kazuki, no matter what. If you're not going to protect him from the Mishimas…then I guess this is where we part ways."

Hayate walks away as Ayane yells his name but he ignores her and continues to walk. Ayane then begins to weep.

Kasumi meets up with Ryu Hayabusa in a hidden village that she sometimes resides in. This was the village where she was kept safe by the legendary blacksmith Muramasa twenty years ago.

"Ryu…is Kazuki okay?" asked Kasumi. "I know this has to be a difficult time for him now that he knows the truth. Now the whole world knows. How is he taking this?"

"Hayate has told me that he's been quite distant from everybody for days now." said Hayabusa. "The rest of the village are in fear of him and want nothing to do with him. Don't worry! Hayate will stand by him no matter what…and so will I."

Kasumi nods, trusting what Ryu has said.

"At this point, I can only hope that Kazuki gets himself together before anything happens to him. Right now, he's in no condition to fight anybody."

"He has Hayate and Ayane and I'm sure they'll protect him at all costs. I trusted them to do that when I brought him to the village. I know they will."

Meanwhile, back at the Mugen Tenshin village, Kazuki stands at a waterfall, thinking about his past. As he closes his eyes, he reminisces the happiest times in his life with the clan, trying his best to forget about everything else after that but Ayane's words are still fresh on his mind. He then opens his eyes and angrily looks at his fist. With an explosion of anger, Kazuki smashes a large rock to pieces with just one punch.

"Kazuki?" said a female voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Lady Ayame?" said Kazuki. "I mean…umm…"

"You don't have to call me that," said Ayame. "I'm your grandmother, remember?"

"Yes. It's just that…I don't know what to do now. This village doesn't even look at me the same way anymore. I don't think I can even look at myself the same way either."

Ayame puts her hand on his face and says "I'm looking at you right now and what I see is that same boy that I raised since he was a baby. It doesn't matter if you have Mishima blood, you still have our blood as well. You are our family and nothing will ever change that."

"Thanks La…grandmother. It's good to know that you haven't turned your back on me. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Ayane. I now see why she seemed like she never cared about me. She even calls me a cursed child."

"I'm sure it's because she was seen as a cursed child herself."

Kazuki looks up at Ayame, as he hardly knows anything Ayane's past. "Really?"

"When Ayane was born…I was ashamed. She wasn't born out of love and I couldn't face raising her with Hayate and Kasumi so…I had her sent away after she was born. I didn't even tell her I was her mother until many years later. I've regretted that for years. But when they brought you to the village, I saw an opportunity to redeem myself. I decided to raise you to make up for not raising Ayane. You were my grandson and you had my blood and that's all that mattered to me. I raised a child for a third time…just like I should have done with her."

"I see." said Kazuki. "I never knew any of that."

"So Kazuki, always remember this; our family bond is stronger than any shinobi code. Don't be ashamed of anything like I was. As long as you have our blood in you, you should have nothing to worry about."

"You're right." said Kazuki. "I shouldn't be ashamed of anything, no matter what the others say. I'm a ninja of this clan and I'm thankful for that. Thanks for your advice, grandmother."

In the woods nearby the village, Ayane stands beside a tree, still in tears about what happened earlier.

"I don't understand!" said Ayane. "How can Master Hayate care so much about that cursed child? Is it because he's Kasumi's son?" She then looks at the sky and began to think about how close she is to Hayate throughout most of her life and began to wonder if this is the end of it all. However, as she begins to think about their childhood, she remembers how Hayate was one of the few people didn't turn her down, even after knowing the truth. She now sees the same thing happening with Kazuki, with Hayate once again being there for him while everyone else, including Ayane herself, has shut him down.

It was at that point that she realizes that the way she was treated by people in her childhood is the same way she's treating Kazuki, her own blood, and begins to believe that that's the reason why Hayate is mad at her.

She then takes out her sword and says "Maybe Master Hayate was right. If I help Kazuki…will Hayate accept me again?"

Later on, now at nighttime, the Mugen Tenshin Clan holds conference in temple where Hayate discusses the current situation with his father Shiden and Kazuki about how it should be handled.

"All it means is that it would be far too dangerous for Kazuki to be out there by himself." said Shiden. "As his leader, it is your duty to make sure he's not anywhere by himself. Enemies will be watching him everywhere."

"Yes, father." said Hayate. "I'll even put my own life on the line for him, no matter what." He then looks at Kazuki who is looking down as if to think about something. "Kazuki? Are you listening?"

Kazuki looks up and says "Yes, I heard what grandfather said…but there's something about this that I…"

At that moment, a ninja runs in during the meeting in a panic.

"Master Hayate! We're under attack by a group of robots!"

"Robots?" said Kazuki as he stands up.

Hayate quickly jumps to his feet and says "It looks like they've began their attack on us already! Come on, Kazuki! Let's go!" He quickly leaves the temple as Kazuki follows.

As they go to the front part of the village, they see some of it is on fire and a lot of their ninjas lay beaten on ground by a bunch of Jack robots, lead by a man in a black suit. "What a pathetic clan of ninjas!" said Kazuya Mishima..

Infuriated by the sight of this, Hayate and Kazuki charge for the Jack robots. Despite being bullet proof robots, the ninjas manage to destroy a lot of them with powerful punches and kicks, not even bothering to use their swords. They are soon joined by Ayane, who has been battling against some of the robots already.

"Ayane?" said Hayate.

"We stick together." said Ayane.

"That's right!" said Kazuya. "Bring as many as you can! You're gonna need this in a battle against me!" In reality, the ninjas are outnumbered by the Jack robots.

"You'll pay for attacking our village, Kazuya!" said Hayate.

"Go ahead and take your best shot." said Kazuya. "You'll die either way. Then I'll collect what I've come for and burn this village down."

"What does he mean by that?" said Kazuki. "Collecting what?" Hayate and Ayane, however, do know what Kazuya means and they both stand in front of Kazuki as if to block Kazuya from coming.

Just then, however, a huge explosion sends many of the robots flying away. Everyone looks to see what caused the explosion. Before they can figure it out, Kasumi appears by the ninjas.

"Kasumi?" said Ayane. "That was you?"

"Mother?" said Kazuki.

"I will not let Kazuya or Heihachi attack my family!" said Kasumi. "I'll make them pay for ever doing that!"

Kasumi first attacks Kazuya, with very fast punches and kicks. Kazuya avoids them and eventually catches Kasumi's leg.

"That's all you got?" he said. "You've got to do better than that!"

Kasumi quickly escapes and lands next to the other ninjas as they all assume their fighting stances, ready to take on Kazuya.

To Be Continued.