Kudos to all of you who have made it this far. I am pleased to announce that the dirty stuff is over! From here on out, it's just genuine story. The conclusion is very near, so keep on reading and reviewing!

The minutes went by slowly as Nina sat there, breathing erratically. She took many deep breaths, tilting her head back and trying her hardest to stay calm. She had to step up now... and there was a good chance she could be seriously maimed. But was it a risk worth taking? Would she choose death over being married to that barbarian?

A few more precious minutes passed before Nina opened her eyes and shot to her feet. At that moment, her decision was made; she was going to fight. She REFUSED to let herself be remembered as Heihachi's favorite piece of meat.

"Weapon..." she muttered to herself as she searched frantically. Her high heeled shoes, maybe? Suddenly she remembered... the bathroom mirror! She wasted no time making her way into the bathroom and grabbing the largest shard of glass she could find from the broken mirror. This is what she would kill him with! Her dilemma now was one she took pleasure in contemplating: would she stab his eyes out or slit his throat?

An hour went by as she trained in her Koppo and Aikido arts in the seclusion of the bedroom: she had to be physically prepared if her surprise attack didn't work. There were few men alive who could match Heihachi's Mishima Style Karate, but Nina had intuition on her side. She knew that if she put her mind to it, she could find a way to get one over on Heihachi just long enough for her to escape. But there was still one obstacle to overcome: Kuma.

"That damn bear... I've got to separate them." Nina contemplated aloud. "That won't be too hard... not if I can seduce Heihachi and get the two of us alone."

A small smirk formed on Nina's face; she had it all planned out. This was it; she was getting out of this hellhole.

LATER

"NINA BABY, I'M HOOOOOOME!" Heihachi bellowed as he stomped through the mansion. Nina gulped as she heard his thunderous footsteps getting closer and closer. Her heart was beating as fast as a machine gun; she had never felt this tense, not even in the midst of carrying out a high paying hit.

The door swung open and there stood Heihachi, a wedding dress and a pair of pretty white shoes in his hands. He also had a white wedding veil tucked under his arm.

"Kuma, beat it!" he ordered his pet, who got up slowly and slinked away from the door with a yawn. Heihachi grinned and shut the door, then walked up to Nina and planted a big, sloppy kiss on her mouth.

"So, Mrs. Mishima... wanna try on your dress?"

"Perhaps... but I don't want you to see me." Nina replied in a sultry tone.

"Aw cmon now, you don't believe in that superstitious bullshit, do ya?"

"Just wait right here."

Nina took the dress and went to the bathroom, shutting the door behind decided she WAS going to put on the dress; she wanted Heihachi to see her in it when she killed him. Stripping off her black attire, she slipped on the beautiful white dress, white arm sleeves, and silk gloves that came with it. She looked down at her body: the dress complimented her figure quite nicely, and it went down to her ankles save for the left side, which was uncovered and exposed her entire left leg. Finally she slipped on the white high heels that Heihachi had bought her. Not putting on the white veil yet, she opened the door and approached Heihachi like a model on a runway.

"What do you think?" she asked, striking a few poses. She made sure to carefully hide the glass she was holding in both hands.

"WOOOWEEE! Do I pick a good dress or WHAT?!" Heihachi whooped. "Man, I am just so excited! I gotta tell you Nina, marrying you might be the best choice I've ever made. We can sleep in the same bed, I can show you off to all my business partners, we can have kids that aren't as awful as my stupid current son-"

"Not so fast, big boy." Nina cooed. "I don't believe you've put a ring on my finger just yet."

"Heh, maybe because I haven't bought one. B-but I can go find my old wife's ring!"

"Let's not worry about that for now."

Nina approached Heihachi slowly, getting almost face to face with him.

"Would you put the veil on me?" she whispered. She extended her right hand, holding the veil out. Heihachi smiled and reached over to grab it. This was her chance!

"DIIIIE!" Nina squealed as she swung with her left hand, sending the glass shard whizzing towards his throat. But Heihachi was fast, and with a cocky smile, he caught Nina's wrist as the shard was a centimeter from piercing him.

"Tsk tsk tsk... so this is what you were planning." Heihachi said in a low voice. With a sharp squeeze of the wrist, the glass shard fell from her hand and broke to pieces.

"Ngh! You bastard! Damn your reflexes!" Nina spat.

"HAAAHAAAHAAHAA! What did you expect, Nina? No one, and I mean NO ONE, has the ability to kill me! I've said it once and I've said it again... I'M HEIHACHI MOTHERFUCKING MISHIM-AAHHHHHHHHH!"

Heihachi's boasting turned to a booming yell of pain as Nina brought her high heel down on his big toe. As Heihachi's mouth opened wide to scream, Nina forcefully shoved a handful of crushed glass she was concealing in her right hand into his mouth. Heihachi was so startled that he didn't couldn't dodge Nina's next attack: a spinning backhand right across his jaw.

"GAAHHHHHH!" Heihachi cried out, blood flying from the impact of the crushed glass against the insides of his mouth. The pain of the glass plus the impact of the attack sent him sprawling to the floor. Nina quickly yanked the door open and darted down the hallway; freedom was within her grasp!

"K-KUMA! GET HER!" Heihachi yelled, spitting blood and glass from his mouth.

Nina ran faster than she ever thought capable; she wasn't gonna let anything stand in her way, not after making it this far. Hallway after hallway, stairs after stairs... freedom was so close she could taste it. Finally... the door!

"Almost... shit!"

Nina quickly slid to a halt as she came face to face with her final obstacle: Kuma. He had beaten her to the entrance and was standing guard, ready to rip her to pieces if she tried to escape. Nina's heart pounded as she got into stance, the adrenaline flowing through her. A smile formed on her lips; no force in the universe would cause her to fail now.

"Heh... no problem. You think you can take me, you stupid brown ball of shit?" Nina taunted.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAUGH!" Kuma roared as he charged at Nina on all fours. He raised his paws high and brought them down for an overhead strike, but Nina rolled out of the way with her catlike agility. But Kuma was relentless, and he managed to close distance before she even had time to recover.

"AH!" Nina grunted as Kuma swiped with his left paw. Nina managed to evade, but his paw got the bottom of her dress, tearing a decent sized chunk out of it.

"HYAAHH!" Nina yelled as she threw a high kick, striking him in the forehead with her high heel. Kuma stumbled backwards, but was hardly fazed. With a deafening roar, he charged forward and grabbed Nina, trapping her in a crushing grip.

"HNNNGH!" Nina wheezed; she was completely immobile. She was helpless as she took the full force of Kuma's next attack: a skull splitting headbutt that made Nina's vision go black.

"Uhgggg..." Nina groaned as she nearly passed out. Kuma lifted her high and tossed her into the nearby wall like a sack of potatoes. Nina grunted as she fell to the ground with a thud.

"No... not like this..." Nina muttered as she forced herself back to her feet. Kuma approached slowly, like a predator closing in for the kill. One more blow, and Nina was a goner.

"RRAAAAAAAGH!" he roared, raising his paw high and going for a horizontal slash. Nina's instincts returned to her, and she anticipated the trajectory of his attack. She could dodge it!

"Now!" Nina cried out as she ducked, his paw whizzing past her head and claiming a few hairs. Gathering all of her strength, she delivered a smashing kick right between Kuma's legs. Kuma's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he immediately froze in place.

"RRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr..." Kuma groaned, his voice becoming a pitiful whimper. He fell to the ground like a domino, still as stiff as a statue. He didn't budge once.

"I... won... I won!" Nina proclaimed, still having a hard time standing. Her back felt like it was broken, and her head was still spinning like a whirlwind. It took every ounce of her willpower to stumble out of the front door.

When she took the first step outside and was kissed by the cool night air, she couldn't help but close her eyes and breathe in the taste of freedom. The air had never felt fresher.

"Finally free..." Nina whispered. The joy in her eyes couldn't be hidden. She shot out of the mansion like a bullet, the smile on her face not subsiding for a second.

As she sprinted through the courtyard, she turned around and looked at the empty doorway: why wasn't Heihachi chasing her? There was no way her attack rendered him incapacitated. Nina suspected something was up, so she pressed on with wary eyes. Her head had finally stopped spinning, so her perception was back to it's original keenness. But as wary as she wanted to be, Nina was so desperate to leave that hellhole behind that her legs kept moving and didn't stop. Despite her back pain, massive headache, and lungs burning with exhaustion, she ran and ran without stopping to take a single breath. Even if she wanted to stop, her own legs wouldn't obey her.

Hours passed as Nina stumbled down the streets, her body wrought with exhaustion. No matter what, she pressed on. Even if she had to crawl, she wouldn't stop moving until she was miles away from Heihachi. Every time she wanted to collapse, she just remembered all of the awful days she had spent with him: the times she had to cater to his whims, his sick desires. She thought of all the demeaning costumes she had to wear and the scripts she had to memorize for his dirty roleplaying. The massages... the baths... but NO MORE! She wouldn't go back; she would rather die.

"I have to find... somewhere..." Nina panted, finally falling to the ground. She got on her knees and panted for minutes, her insides feeling like fire. She coughed and wheezed like she had inhaled black smoke; she honestly thought she would pass out from shortness of breath!

Suddenly, several shadows appeared behind her. Nina gasped and forced herself to her feet, then turned around to come face to face with several soldiers clad in black and red armor. The commanding officer had blue instead of red.

"No..." Nina whispered. That's why Heihachi hadn't chased her: he was busy ordering a search party!

"Take her down. Non lethals only." the black and blue soldier commanded. The grunts all whipped out stun rods and charged towards Nina.

Nina squinted her eyes and got into stance as she analyzed the situation: there were 15 guys, all armed with stun rods but also sheathing combat knives as well. If she could just get one...

"Rrrrrah!" the first soldier yelled as he stabbed with the stun rod. Nina parried and locked his arm firmly between hers and gave a sharp jerk upwards, snapping his arm and causing him to drop the stun rod. She then took advantage of the man's pain to grab the knife from his belt and run it through his neck.

"Uhh... uhhh..." the man wheezed as Nina brought him to the ground and pulled the knife from him. She charged forward and dodged a second stun rod, then grabbed the attacker and slit his throat from behind. Two guys thrust with their rods, but Nina used the dying soldier as a shield to take the impact of the attack. She then shoved the nearly dead soldier into the two guys, knocking them to the ground.

"Six o clock!" Nina cried as she sharply turned and just barely dodged a stun rod. She ran the knife through her attacker's chest, then sharply shoved the blade upward and carved through his heart like a turkey. She ripped the blade from his chest and swung around, slicing through the throat of a soldier who had closed from behind. 3 down, 12 to go.

"AUUHHHHH!" Nina cried out in pain as two stun rods struck her in the ribs and gave her a jolt of electricity. With a hiss, she backhanded one soldier with the handle of her knife and knocked him down. The second guy gave an overhand swing, but Nina blocked with the knife blade, then swatted his rod away and ran the knife upwards through his chin and pierced his brain.

Nina was too slow, however, and the other man recovered and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the ground. He brought his foot down on her knife hand, immobilizing it, and then stabbed the rod directly into her ribs.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Nina screamed as the electricity coursed through her, engulfing her body in pain. She gathered her strength and delivered a chop to his knee joint, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground. She rolled on top of him and, grabbing his head in both hands, gave a sharp twist and broke his neck. Three more guys closed in with their rods raised, so she rolled the dead man's body on top of hers to block the incoming attacks. As the three rods pierced the dead man's body, she drove her knife into the closest man's kneecap.

"AUGH!" he cried as he fell onto the ground right next to Nina. He was helpless to avoid the next stab directly into his jugular.

"YOU BITCH!" the next soldier cried as Nina rolled out from underneath the corpse and lunged towards him, stabbing the knife through his pelvis.

"AUGH! YOU DAMN-" but before he could finish his curse, Nina shut him up with a blade through his throat. He fell to the ground as he choked to death on his own blood.

There were now 8 guys left, and they were looking pretty pissed.

"Can we kill her now? a soldier asked the black and blue armored commander.

"Negative." he quickly replied. "We have to obey Mr. Heihachi's orders, or we're ALL dead!"

"Sir... we could be dead in a few seconds."

"I'd rather be killed by this bitch than by Heihachi's iron fist. Surround her!"

The seven red grunts all rushed Nina at once. Nina groaned with exhaustion as she raised her knife: she had to thin them out somehow! She noticed another combat knife on a dead soldier at her feet. A stun rod too!

"These will do." Nina muttered. She quickly drew the knife from the dead man's belt and, turning the handle upward, she threw the knife with expert precision into the throat of the leftmost soldier. He fell to the ground and the other six kept coming.

Nina grabbed the stun rod and thrust it into one man, incapacitating him. She blocked a swing with her knife and slashed another man across the throat, then another right through his jugular. But there were too many soldiers, and the remaining four kicked Nina to the ground and started stomping her wildly.

"Augh! AUHHH!" Nina cried out as she took the full force of their boots to her ribs. The pain was nearly unbearable, and it took every ounce of her strength to roll to a safe distance. She fell down a few times before getting back to her feet.

"Shit..." she cried out as the four soldiers rushed her. She didn't have any choice but to throw her knife into one of them to thin out the herd. As he fell to the ground, the remaining three soldiers all rammed their stun rods directly into Nina's stomach.

"AUUUUUGHHHHHHH..." Nina wheezed. She was nearly at her limit; she felt her muscles shutting down along with the rest of her body. This was it...

"NO!" she cried out. She wasn't going back! She WASN'T!

She raised both of her hands and straightened them out, her fingers rigid. With a desperate yell, she speared the left and right men directly in the throat, causing them to fall to the ground with a choked gasp. She then headbutted the last man, cracking his helmet and breaking his nose. With all three men laying on the ground, Nina wasted no time finishing the job by swiftly breaking their necks. All of the black and red guys were now dead: all that was left was the blue guy.

"You bitch...this changes things." he said, getting into stance. "I'll make you pay!"

He charged forward and started raining punches on Nina. Nina dodged and parried a few of them, but one finally came through and caught her in the chin.

"Agh!" she yelped as she was knocked to the ground. She tried to get up, but a kick to her pained ribcage sent her rolling backwards.

The man came running forward and tried to kick her while she was down, but Nina caught his leg and then used her foot to trip his other foot, sending him falling to the ground. This was her chance!

Nina quickly got on top of the man and trapped his leg between hers. With both hands, she grabbed his captive leg and gave a sharp twist, the air suddenly resonating with the sound of snapping bone.

"AUUUUUUGHHHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" the man cried out.

"This'll end your pain... and shut you up." Nina said with a smirk. She fell backwards onto the man and started elbowing his throat repeatedly. The man's body flailed violently as his windpipe was crushed from the numerous impacts of Nina's elbow. Even after the man was dead, Nina kept going. All the anger and wrath she had in her... all the pain and humiliation she had suffered... she wanted to unleash every last bit of it.

Nina kept on elbowing the man's windpipe long after he was dead until finally she collapsed from exhaustion. She just laid there for a while and looked up at the stars as her entire body coursed with pain from her wounds and the burning sensation of overexertion. She was immobilized, but for some strange reason... she couldn't tell why. Was it her wounds? Or was it just the realization that this nightmare was at long last over? Whatever the feeling, Nina couldn't get up if she wanted to. In fact... she felt like laughing. She did just that.

"Ha... ha ha ha ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Nina laughed wildly until tears streamed down her face. She was almost hysterical at the realization of what she had just accomplished. She was free! But it wasn't just that; no, it was something entirely different.

Suddenly a helicopter flew overhead, a searchlight beaming from it.

"Shit..." Nina mumbled as she came to her senses in a flash. She got to her feet and ran for the nearest cover. She got away just in time before the light shone on her.

"I have to find someplace to lay low, but... where? I have nowhere..."

Nina leaned against the bushes and fell to the ground. She was still so weak she couldn't stand but for a few seconds.

"S-steve...? No... I mustn't get him involved. But who... who..."

Suddenly it came to Nina. There was still someone! It was a completely desperate move, but Nina's options were very limited. It wasn't very far from here, but it was probable that the place was desolate now. All Nina had was hope that that wasn't the case.

A MYSTERIOUS APARTMENT, ONE HOUR LATER

It took nearly an hour to get to the place in Nina's condition. She was desperate to find the place already; not just because of her wounds, but because this was a dangerous part of town and she had doubts about her ability to defend herself from thugs. She stumbled through the dark alleys until finally she found it: an old, run down apartment complex where only the brave few dared to stay.

"Gotta hurry..." Nina wheezed. She was getting lightheaded; soon she would pass out, and this was not an ideal place.

She barged through the building, not bothering to say a word to the fat chain smoker at the front desk.

"Cmon...cmon..."

She searched frantically: 201, 202, 203... finally she found 208. She should be here!

"Anna! Anna!" Nina called out, hammering against the door repeatedly. No response.

"Open up, dammit!"

Nina quit knocking and started bashing her shoulder against the door. Even if Anna wasn't here, her apartment had everything Nina needed.

"Come on! Please..."

After a few more barges, Nina stopped. She took a deep breath and counted to 3; she had to get in here, no matter what.

"1...2..."

Just as Nina prepared to break the door down, it swung open and Nina plowed right into the arms of a very familiar person.

"GAH!" Anna cried out as she threw Nina off of her and scurried to a safe distance. "What the hell? How did you find me?"

"Shut... up..." Nina wheezed. She tried to get to her feet, but she couldn't.

Anna's instincts were kicking in almost immediately, screaming at her to find a weapon and end this right now. But as soon as she got a good look at Nina, something in her told her to hesitate. Nina didn't come here to settle their rivalry; she came here for help.

"Nina? What's wrong with you?!" Anna asked, slowly inching towards her sister.

"Don't worry about it!" Nina yelled, swinging her arm at Anna to keep her away. As soon as her eyes locked with Anna, Nina started to regret coming here. She didn't want her help: not in a million years. Right now she just wanted to turn around and walk back out the door, but... it was too late.

"J-just... give me a..."

But Nina didn't finish her sentence before collapsing to the ground.

Anna's killing instincts had faded away at this point. Right now, she was just confused as hell and, admittedly... concerned.

"Nina? Nina! What the f... why would you come here of all places...?"

Anna closed her eyes for a second to process everything that had just happened. The woman that she loathed with every fiber of her being just came barging into her home wounded. What was she supposed to do? She should kill Nina and be done with this feud that's lasted for decades! She was foolish enough to collapse in her home like a wounded animal, completely vulnerable! But the more Anna contemplated it, the more her body stiffened up. Something inside her was holding her back...

"Nina, you have a lot of explaining to do." Anna finally said with a sigh as she closed the door and dragged Nina to the couch. Anna just left her leaning against the couch as she went to the sink and ran some hot water over a rag. When the rag was nice and wet, she went over to Nina and placed it right on top of her face.

"AGH!" Nina yelped as she suddenly jolted back to consciousness. She looked around frantically, taking in her surroundings. She was still here: it wasn't a dream after all. She looked up and came face to face with her hated enemy.

"Wow, you were passed out for two whole minutes. Is that a new record?" Anna said in a mocking tone.

"Shut up!" Nina yelled. She tried to get to her feet, but still couldn't.

"Could you make yourself useful and get me some medical supplies?" Nina asked.

"Don't you want my help?"

"Let's be clear on something. I didn't come here for you. I came here because I had nowhere else."

"Heh... but you still came." Anna teased. "Now... will you please tell me what you're doing in a wedding dress?"

"It's stupid and I don't want to talk about it. All you need to know is that it's completely stupid. That's why..."

"Why what?"

"That's why I... I need your help." That was perhaps the most reluctant thing Nina had ever said in her life. "He has to pay for what he's done."

Anna was really curious now. Who could Nina be talking about? And why was she feeling so... strange? She felt an intense heat rushing to her head: it was anger. No matter how much she hated her sister, the thought of someone hurting her made her furious.

"Tell me who did this to you." Anna commanded, her voice more serious than ever.

"Why do you care?" Nina wheezed.

"TELL ME!"

"Hei...hachi...Mishima..." Nina said before breaking out in a violent cough.

"What did he do to you?!"

"You don't wanna know..."

Suddenly Nina passed out again, leaving Anna with a horrified expression. What could she have meant by that? Could it be... no, it couldn't! Nina was too strong to be abused like that...

"Nina... hang on." Anna said, her voice no longer aggressive, but of genuine concern. She leaned over and scooped Nina up into her arms, then carried her off to the bedroom. Anna had never felt so conflicted in her life, but strangely... this felt right. For the first time in a long time... she felt like a sister.