(Hello fans of Tekken! What's up? Nothing much? Cool, because you're in luck. Something is very UP with me. Chapter nine of The Return, that is. It's finally UP! This time around, you'll get to see more of Kazuya, acting like his old self, as well the whole cast, including Lee, Jane, Reike, Kunimitsu, and more. Also, did I mention that JUN KAZAMA will be coming back this chapter? Well she is. So get ready for the drama and the romantic stand-offs! Now, before the story starts, I would just like to take a quick second to discuss canon. As many of you are aware, I am trying to stay as much in sync with official Tekken canon as possible throughout my story. By "canon" I mean the Tekken games; Tekken One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. I am also using some elements of TTT2, but just a few minor things. When reading this story, it is important to remember that the official six Tekken games are the true canon I follow. This means that all of the following forms of Tekken media are NOT being used in my canon; TTT1, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, The 2010 Tekken live action film, and Tekken: The Motion Picture. Technically, I did borrow the idea of Kazuya's mother's locket necklace from Tekken: The Motion Picture, but other than that, this animated movie is not included in my canon. Now, do not get me wrong. Tekken: The Motion Picture is (in my opinion) one of the greatest animated films ever made. I absolutely love that movie, and highly recommend it to anyone who has not seen it before. This intro is turning out to be a little too long, so I'm just going to cut it off here and get on with the story. Thanks for reading!)

Thomas N. Sears- Thank you for reading and for reviewing! I really want to illustrate Kazuya like as much of a stern and dark character as possible. I hope you continue past chapter two :).

Nina Kazama- I agree, last chapter was supposed to be chock full of surprises and humor. I'm especially grateful that somebody thought Asuka's "meow" was funny. Thank you so much for reviewing, and keep up the good work on your other stories Nina!

Kara- Hahaha, Yep, Kunimitsu being a lesbian kind of took me by surprise too. I had no intention of making her like that when I started the story, but when I reached the middle of that chapter, it just kind of came to me. I guess, to me, it just seemed to fit with her personality. Thanks for reading and for reviewing!

Annonimos- That's some interesting thoughts! You might be closer to figuring out my plans than you think… Hahaha but I'm not making any promises. This story seems to take a direction of its own as I write it, meaning I have only a vague idea of how I want each next chapter to go. But thank you so much for being such a loyal reader and reviewer! It means a lot to me, really :)

moneygreen932- Damn. I can tell just from the depth of your reviews that you would be an interesting person to have a discussion with :) Everything you said about Kazuya and Jun's conflicting personalities is spot-on with what I was trying to illustrate, so thank you for picking up on it! Also, your analysis of Angel makes a lot of sense. I had originally intended to leave her out of the story from now on, but after reading what you had to say, I might be rethinking that decision… Thank you for reviewing!

The Return

Chapter Nine

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

Here we go…

*RING! RING!*

Jane reached forward and picked up the phone receiver with one hand. Bringing it up to her ear, she put on a big smile and answered the man on the other end.

"Good morning Mr. Mishima!" She said cheerily.

"Jane…" Replied the stern voice of Kazuya Mishima.

"Yes?" She answered robotically.

"My schedule." Said Kazuya as he took a sip of his tea.

Jane quickly tucked the phone receiver behind her ear and opened a large binder that lay on her desk. Currently it was morning, at the exact time Kazuya called every day. This same routine, down to the second, had been Jane and Kazuya's daily order of operations for years.

At exactly 9:30, Kazuya's alarm would ring. Then, after getting out of bed and changing into his black and purple business outfit, he would enter the office. At precisely 9:47 every morning, he would press a small brown button on his desk's control panel, and a servant would enter the room, carrying with her a tray with a single cup of tea on it. After tasting the tea and watching the servant leave, Kazuya would reach back down to the control panel and press another button at exactly 9:49. This button would call Jane, his secretary. The phone would ring exactly two times before she picked up, at which point Jane would wish him a good morning, which meant they were right on track for her to say, at exactly 9:50 AM;

"Right now it is 9:50 AM on the dot. Your breakfast has already arrived I presume?" She asked.

Kazuya said nothing. Just like he always did.

"Very well." Said Jane, who knew Kazuya's silence to be an affirmative. Then, just when she was about to begin explaining Kazuya's daily schedule, Jane broke tradition and said something else. "Um, Mr. Mishima, before I begin your schedule, there is a matter that requires your attention immediately."

If Kazuya was surprised by this change of pace, he did not show it. Kazuya simply paused on the other end of the line, probably to take a sip of tea, then spoke. "What." He said flatly.

Jane placed her hand on the mouse for the desktop computer she was sitting on, and scrolled down to some open tabs on the bottom of the screen. "Well, sir, it would appear that an unmarked vehicle entered our garage last night at 3:13 AM." She said.

"And…" Said Kazuya, sounding bored.

"The vehicle was not scheduled to arrive. Our computers show no information on the vehicle as well. it is a relatively nondescript black car that was being driven by a strange woman. She had a man with her who appeared to not be moving, or conscious at all for that matter."

"And…" Said Kazuya, who was already getting a good idea of who this woman was.

"She didn't have any identification or licensing anywhere, and our records failed to show any mention of her existence whatsoever. Reike went down to investigate, and he arrived there at 3:30 AM. Reike says that this girl asked to speak with you personally. And after she refused to answer any more of his questions, Reike decided to put the girl and the vehicle on temporary lockup while he waited for you to wake up, sir. They have been there waiting for you ever since, sir."

Kazuya said nothing. Jane thought he was taking another sip of tea, until suddenly his voice broke the silence.

"Get Reike on the line." He demanded.

Jane, not expecting this sudden request, hurriedly leaned forward to reach the phone console. She pressed the "ADD CALLER" button, and then another button labeled "CAPTAIN REIKE". As soon as she pressed the button, Jane and Kazuya heard a ringing sound on their ends of the line.

They waited for a total of about 5 seconds before the ringing stopped. A brief muffled sound could be heard, and then a familiar voice spoke.

"Hello?" Said Reike, who was several levels below ground in the parking complex of the Mishima Zaibatsu Tower.

Without even acknowledging Reike's presence, Kazuya continued his line of discussion. "Jane, do you have any idea who this girl is?"

"No…" Said Jane slowly, not sure if she was supposed to answer yes to the question.

"Reike?" Asked Kazuya.

"I am not familiar with this girl either, sir." He said.

Kazuya was silent. This time, he probably was taking a sip of the tea. "Good." He finally said.

Jane and Captain Reike breathed a sigh of relief. Strange visitors to the Mishima Zaibatsu Tower were not an uncommon sight, and usually when they arrived, Kazuya tried to make sure that nobody knew who they were.

"I have new orders for you, Reike." Explained Kazuya.

"Yes?" Replied the Captain.

"Approach the woman and repeat the following phrase; 'This forest accepts no predator.'"

Reike, despite being surprised by his boss's strange request, complied immediately. "Yes sir." He said. Then, taking the phone away from his ear, the captain walked diligently out towards the mysterious car.

Now it was just Kazuya and Jane on the line. After several seconds of tense silence, Jane spoke.

"Do you know this woman, Mr. Mishima?" She asked carefully, trying to strike up a conversation.

"It is not of your concern." Answered Kazuya stoically.

Jane nodded her head and abandoned her questioning. Picking up Kazuya's daily schedule binder, she placed the booklet on her desk and opened it to the current page. There, laid out on the large sheet of paper, were all of Kazuya's activities for the entirety of the week. Although most of the scheduled activates were just workout sessions and business meetings, a few interesting topics were scattered throughout.

Just then, however, Jane heard a voice on the line. It was Captain Reike, back from his mission.

"Mr. Mishima?" He asked.

"Yes." Replied Kazuya.

"I gave the woman your message, and she appeared to be ready with a message of her own." He said.

Kazuya said nothing.

Picking up on Kazuya's silence, Reike continued his recounting. "I said; 'This forest accepts no predator.' And she replied with; 'This predator accepts no forest.'"

Jane was puzzled. As far as she could tell, the two sentences were nothing more than a meaningless contradiction of each other. Just then, however, she remembered how her boss had a fondness for secret passwords and codes. Perhaps, she thought, this might be just one such password.

Then, as if in response to Jane's musing, Kazuya spoke.

"Let her in." He said. "Take her to sub-level twelve. Reike, I want you to personally escort her there. Then escort her to the Inquiry Centers."

"Got it." Answered Reike.

Reike was about to put the phone down, when he heard one more order from his boss.

"Listen to me, both of you." He said as seriously as possible. "This phone call never happened. Neither of you have any memory of this event. Nobody saw who was riding in the car. In fact, no vehicle ever even entered the building at all. Understand?"

"I… I understand sir." Said Reike, who was a little surprised by Kazuya's sudden demands.

Jane was surprised as well. "Um…. Yes sir, Mr. Mishima. I understand entirely."

"Good..." He said darkly. "The last eight hours have been lunar. That is all."

Jane was surprised. Whenever Kazuya said something was "lunar", that meant he was initiating a top-secret protocol, and not simply making nonsense.

Kazuya Mishima was obviously a very, very, dark and mysterious man. In order to keep his empire afloat, he has needed to employ many unconventional tactics over the years. Some of these tactics fall into categories that other people may refer to as "unethical" or "illegal". For Kazuya, these words were meaningless. If Kazuya wanted something to get done, it would get done. Period.

But obviously this mantra can come across negatively to the public, which in turn would lead to civil unrest and rebellion. In order to keep the public in the dark about all his nefarious going-ons, Kazuya needed a way to make sure nobody found out about the things he did. That was how the lunar protocol was born.

The order, which can only be given directly from Kazuya Mishima himself, was a secret protocol that worked to erase and obliterate any traces of data associated to a specific event. This meant that certain people had to be killed or silenced, certain files and records had to be trashed, and false information had to be planted to cover it all up.

Essentially, when Kazuya declared that something was lunar, it ceased to exist.

During Jane's time with Kazuya, he had called for events to become lunar only a handful of times. The first time Kazuya had declared something lunar was about two years ago, during the Great War. At the time, Kazuya was the head of the G Corporation, and Jane was still his loyal secretary. In order to fight against his son Jin and the Mishima Zaibatsu, Kazuya worked with top scientists to develop the most powerful weapons and technologies in the history of warfare.

One day, towards the beginning of the war, some of the G Corporation's satellites gathered information that Jin was hiding in a local town in Northern Japan. Kazuya's scientists had been developing a new biological super weapon, so the order was put out for an impromptu test. After the chemical agent had been deployed on the poor village in Northern Japan, and killed every living thing within two miles of the drop site, it was discovered that Jin was nowhere to be found. Kazuya had just murdered a whole village of innocent farmers and their families.

If news of the massacre reached the public, the G Corporation would lose much credibility and support. To avoid this disaster, Kazuya implemented the first lunar protocol. He informed the members of his staff, and instantly the entire event never happened. All records and information about the chemical attack were disposed of, and all the G Corporation soldiers who knew about it were either killed or moved far away. Additionally the ruins of the village were leveled, to be replaced with a garbage landfill. From that point on, no one in the G Corporation was allowed to speak of it ever again, and for the most part, no one did. Thanks to Kazuya's intensive cover-up, the world never even found out about the horrible attack, much less did anything about it.

And after he saw how successful the first lunar protocol was, Kazuya decided to carry it with him into the Mishima Zaibatsu once he achieved control. Since then, he used it many different times, for a variety of reasons. Once, his personal jet plane was sabotaged, and he almost died in the resulting explosion. This event was erased by the lunar protocol. Another time, a small rebellion of Zaibatsu soldiers who were loyal to Heihachi Mishima rose up to challenge him. After killing them all, the event was erased by the lunar protocol. And most recently, Kazuya organized an agreement between several countries in the European Union that made them recognize HIM as their leader. This agreement, while still being in effect, was erased from the public eye through a lunar protocol.

Truly, the lunar protocol was a powerful decree.

"What am I supposed to do… sir?" Asked Captain Reike timidly, thanks to the fact that he was still very new to his job, and unsure of how things worked.

Without even pausing to think, Kazuya gave Reike a list of deadly serious orders. "As I said, escort the vehicle to sub-level twelve. Do this alone. From there, the girl in the car will inform you of your duties. Listen to everything she says, and treat her with the utmost respect. Do not tell anyone else about it, and do not mention this event ever again for the rest of your life, upon penalty of death. Understood?"

"Um… understood." Said Reike. After a few brief moments of silence, Reike hung up the phone and went to carry out his orders.

Next it was Jane's turn. Since Jane was much more experienced in dealing with Kazuya's demands, she required no explanation of the lunar protocol. She was around when the very first one was given, and in comparison to that, this lunar operation was hardly difficult at all. While Kazuya was giving orders to Reike, she had already begun working on erasing data from the Mishima Zaibatsu computer network. Not very much data had been created in the first place, so it was not long before all of the data had been deleted entirely.

"Just finishing up now, sir." Said Jane as she closed all her tabs and dropped a few pieces of scrap paper into a nearby shredder.

Kazuya waited silently as his assistant finished doing her job. Unlike most of the other employees under his control, he had a lot of faith in Jane and her abilities. Instead of checking on her progress to make sure that she was deleting everything, he simply knew that she would do it right.

Once she was done, Jane slid her binder back to the center of her desk and prepared for Kazuya's schedule. "The last eight hours are now lunar, sir. Are you ready for me to read your schedule?" She asked.

"Yes." Said Kazuya, who leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his tea.

And just like that, Kazuya Mishima was able to erase eight whole hours of time.

"Well," began Jane. "At 10:30 you are scheduled for a workout session in training room 3B. This should be over by about 12:30, and at 1:20 your personal helicopter will be arriving on the roof to take you downtown."

"Why." Asked a bored Kazuya , who already knew that the reason would be something stupid.

"Your new Mishima Shopping Supercenter has finally been completed, and you're supposed to be the guest of honor at the opening ceremony. There will be music and food and a huge crowd of people attending. But I know you don't like any of that, so you're only slated to give the opening address, then you can sit down for the rest of the time. There will probably be a lot of businessmen there ready to talk with you." Explained Jane.

Kazuya, despite not wanting to attend the superficial ceremony, knew that he probably should attend. "Very well." He said. "How long."

"The party lasts until midnight, but you can leave around 7:00 if you'd like. That's when most of the important activities will be over with."

Kazuya said nothing. Jane could tell that he was going to leave the event as soon as he could get an opportunity.

"Anyway," she continued, "The helicopter should get you back here at the tower by approximately 8:30, which gives you enough time to change and reach training room 8A for scheduled combat practice with Mr. Chaolan and his team."

"Does he have anything good for me." Kazuya asked lazily, referencing the disappointing Kevlar body armor he fought against last time he visited Lee and his men.

Jane gulped, fearing that Kazuya would get mad at Lee for failing him again. "Well, sir, as far as I am aware of, no major breakthroughs or improvements have been reported…" She said cautiously.

On the other end of the phone, Jane could hear Kazuya scoff. Clearly he was not amused.

"How long am I there." He asked.

"Normally your training sessions last for several hours, but it seems that this one will have to be cut short." Quickly said Jane. She was hurriedly searching through her binder of information to find the correct data and give her boss the information he needed.

"Why is that." Asked Kazuya.

"Well sir," Said Jane, looking down at the full day planner of Kazuya's activities. "It appears that you have a private appointment in your office tonight at 11:30."

On the other end of the line, Jane swore she heard Kazuya spit out his tea in shock.

Worriedly, she asked if her boss was in trouble. "Mr. Mishima? Is everything okay?" She inquired timidly.

Kazuya could be heard picking up and adjusting the phone to his ear. Up until this point, he had been using the speakerphone function on his private phone, but now, it seemed that the situation demanded a more personal connection.

"What did you say?" He asked in a deadly serious tone.

Jane began to feel nervous. "All I said, sir, was that you have an appointment tonight at 11:30…"

"Who." Demanded Kazuya.

Jane looked down at the paper. "It doesn't say, sir."

"What DOES it say." He demanded.

"Nothing... sir. All the normal information that is written down for appointments doesn't seem to be here…" Replied Jane.

Kazuya was silent. Jane could tell he was deep in thought. And she had learned after years in her job that it was one of the worst times to interrupt him when he was thinking.

So she waited patiently, until after several seconds, he spoke.

"When she arrives, send her up immediately. Do not call me to notify me of her presence. Do not observe her as she enters either. Do not wait for our meeting to be done. Do you understand?" He shot rapidly.

Normal people would have trouble keeping up with the speed of Kazuya's words, but Jane was a seasoned veteran. Years of working for Kazuya had taught her two things; how to listen carefully for all orders, and how to fake it when you can't listen properly.

"Yes sir." She said, this time employing a mix of both techniques.

"Good." Said Kazuya. He was quiet for a few seconds, which led Jane to believe that he was done talking. But just then, when she was about to hand up, she heard him speak.

"This appointment is lunar. Nothing more." He said coldly. And with that, Kazuya Mishima hung up his end of the phone.

After hearing that her boss had hung up, Jane slowly put down her phone receiver and thought about what she had just heard.

Obviously, this 11:30 appointment must be the same woman from the 11:30 appointment that happened a week ago. She thought.

Jane took out a dark black highlighter, and carefully crossed out the appointment on her daily schedule. The words "Appointment; 11:30 PM; High Office" slowly turned to black as the highlighter glided across them.

Whoever that woman is, Kazuya must care about her a lot. Maybe not in the same way that normal people care for each other, but she definitely is still important to him. I wonder if this girl is the one that he was dancing with at the gala…

Jane closed the binder, and tucked it away in her backpack nearby. Heaving a small breath, she pulled her chair closer to the desk and glanced at the clock. It read; 10:05.

Unfortunately the whole mystery just became lunar. I suppose that means I can't ever talk about it again. Hahaha, darn. It was just starting to get interesting too… She mused.

Jane reached to the far side of the desk and picked up her cell phone, which lied there silently. She held it up in front of her and saw that she had one new message. She opened the message and was greeted by a surprisingly non-work-related text from her new boyfriend.

"HEY BABE! 3 I'm sooooo lonely up here by myself. When can we see each other again? –Lee"

Jane smiled. The text was a complete waste of company resources, and definitely came across as cheesy. She rolled her eyes, then put the phone down and made a mental note to herself to remind Lee of his duties. She really liked him and all, but if he kept goofing off during work hours, then Kazuya would have his head. And he knew it.

Just then, Jane noticed that her phone was low on battery life.

"Oh… where did I leave that charger?" She muttered as she turned around in her chair searching for it. After a few seconds of searching, she located the charger on a countertop across the room.

Jane quickly stood up to go get the charger. And as she stood, she elbowed her nearby cup of coffee off the desk and onto the ground.

It fell, and dark black coffee spilled everywhere.

"GOD DAMMIT!"

(10:26 AM)

(Mishima Zaibatsu Tower, Parking Garage sublevel twelve)

"Oh… you're such a gentleman." Said Kunimitsu sarcastically.

Reike ignored the comment, then contorted his arms as he heaved the heavy man's body onto his shoulders. The man, being completely unconscious and nonresponsive, leaned entirely on Reike's shoulders, causing him to immediately regret his decision.

"Thanks for taking the old guy off my hands." Said Kunimitsu, in apparent appreciation of Reike's good deed.

Just a few seconds before, Kunimitsu had been carrying the man on her shoulder, dragging him along the hard stone floor beneath the Mishima Zaibatsu building. The man's name was Asukon Kazama, and he was the target that Kunimitsu had been sent to retrieve from a local suburb a few days ago. She had defeated the man's daughter in hand-to-hand combat, then kidnapped him after knocking him unconscious with horse tranquilizer.

After loading his body into a getaway car, Kunimitsu had driven about a hundred miles to her destination; The Mishima Zaibatsu. There, she was to enter the lower level parking garages, and await further instructions from her employer. After waiting several hours, Kunimitsu had been told that Kazuya was awake and aware of her presence, and allowing her to enter. She drove the car down into another private garage floor, then parked it and removed her captive. Waiting for her outside the car was a handsome young man who identified himself as Captain Richard Reike of the Mishima High Guard.

Captain Reike told Kunimitsu that he would be guiding her to her destination, and that he personally had reported to Kazuya about her arrival. Of course, Kunimitsu couldn't care less who was escorting her where, but she complied nonetheless, and removed the unconscious Mr. Kazama from the trunk of her car. After dragging him about a hundred yards across the parking garage, the young Captain had graciously offered to take the man off her hands.

Of course, Kunimitsu couldn't refuse an offer like that.

"Well…" Said Captain Reike. "He's a lot heavier than he looks, eh?"

Kunimitsu nodded. "Yep. It's probably all that takeout food he keeps ordering for his family. The stuff is absolutely terrible for your health you know."

Reike laughed. "Wow, I never would have pegged you as someone who worries about diets and health." He said jokingly.

Kunimitsu, who had been walking stoically forward during the majority of the conversation, suddenly turned to face her companion. "Are you trying to say I'm fat?" She asked angrily.

Reike laughed again. "Haha no, of course not." He assured. "I'm just saying… you've got the whole 'mysterious ninja girl' thing going on. I thought you people were supposed to be all about death and sneakiness, right? I mean, the people who come in here are mercenaries and soldiers mostly, so I guess it's just strange to see one of Mr. Mishima's contacts talking about something like fast food."

Kunimitsu turned back to face forward. Of course she didn't care if the man was calling her fat or not, but she enjoyed making men squirm over simple conversations. Apparently, however, this man was different.

"I suppose you're right about that." She said. "People often tell me that I don't quite fit the bill for a ninja."

"Why is that?" Asked Reike sarcastically. "Is it because of the mask? Or the attitude?"

Kunimitsu laughed. "Both, really."

"I can see where they're coming from." Said Reike.

"Ninjas are supposed to be all dark and mysterious all the time. And quiet, too. They're supposed to be really damn quiet. Can you imagine what life would be like without talking at all?" Asked Kunimitsu in a falsely endearing tone. "That would be terrible."

"I guess it would." Replied Reike, who quickly adjusted his grip on the man over his shoulder, and continued walking. As they walked they passed by rows and rows of identical cars and SUVs. This was the lowest level of the Mishima Zaibatsu Tower, and it housed mostly army equipment.

The two companions walked on in silence for a few moments, until Kunimitsu spoke. "How much farther is it?"

"The destination is sub-level Nine-F, which is mostly holding cells. Judging from the fact that we're only three stories underneath it, and that there are a series of elevation units on the far side of this room, I believe our estimated arrival time should be anywhere from within the next seven minutes to anywhere within the next ten minutes, depending on our continued pace." Replied Reike while staring straight ahead.

"Whoa there cowboy…" Joked Kunimitsu. "I don't need your mission briefing. A simple 'five minutes' would have sufficed."

Reike shrugged. "I guess I'm just used to being in military settings. When you've got a position like mine, a simple 'five minutes' never suffices."

"Good point." Said Kunimitsu lazily.

Again, the pair was silent. For Kunimitsu, the walk was just another boring job of her day. For Reike, the walk was just another boring order of his day.

However, Kunimitsu, mostly out of boredom, broke the silence again.

"God…" she sighed, "this job must suck."

Captain Reike adjusted his head and glanced at the strange girl with the fox mask. "It's not as bad as you'd think." He said. "I mean, the hours are long, and the stress is real, but there's never a dull moment."

"Never a dull moment?" Questioned Kunimitsu, who shot Reike an amused glance.

After thinking for a second, Reike responded. "Okay, expect for this one. THIS is a dull moment." He said with a smirk.

Kunimitsu faked a laugh and turned back to face front. "There's got to be other dull moments. Come on, Richard. You're making me feel bad! Surely you don't mean to say that I'm dull, do you?" She joked, again attempting to make her companion feel ncomfortable.

"Please," Said Richard in a serious tone. "Call me Captain Reike."

Kunimitsu held up her hands in mock surprise. "Whoa, I thought we were friends, Rick!" She said.

Rick stopped in his tracks, causing Kunimitsu to take another step before realizing what had happened. When she noticed that the man had halted, she stopped and spun around to face him. Just before she said something, he interrupted her.

"Please," He repeated. "Call me Captain Reike."

Kunimitsu crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow in the sassiest way she could. Unfortunately her mask completely blocked her face from Reike's view.

"Are you seriously going to be this much of a stick-in-the-mud? Ricky, I thought you were cool…"

"Please." Repeated Ricky, who maintained keeping calm. He even had a half-smile on his face. "Call me Captain Reike."

Kunimitsu rolled her eyes and leaned all her weight on one hip. Again, the sass was blocked from view.

"You know, for a moment there, I totally thought you were going to be cool. Don't tell me you're just going to stand there and get pissed at me for abbreviating your name, are you? Well are you, Reikey?"

Reikey smiled. "Please." He said. "Call me Captain Reike."

Kunimitsu sighed and brushed a stand of her red hair out of her eyes. "You… suck." She said.

Reike nodded his head in sarcastic agreement, and abruptly started walking again. Kunimitsu saw Reike pass by her on the way to the elevators, then quickly caught up with him.

"They should call you Captain Characterless…" She remarked.

"I think Captain Reike will do." Said Reike cheerily, who seemed to be enjoying the ridiculous conversation he was having.

Just then, the duo arrived at a large set of steel doors. Reike pointed with one hand at a small button next to the door, which Kunimitsu then leaned forward and pressed. At once, the door slid open, revealing a small elevator compartment.

"Ladies first." Said Captain Reike slyly.

Kunimitsu stood stock still, and looked at Reike with a death stare. Then she flashed an overly exaggerated smile and proceeded to enter the elevator. Reike followed close behind. Once the three people; Reike, Kunimitsu, and Mr. Kazama, were safely inside, the door slid shut.

Kunimitsu crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall of the elevator. Reike pointed to a vast array of buttons, and spoke. "Be a doll and press the one labeled 'Sub-level twelve' will you?"

Kunimitsu laughed at the man's demand. "You can't make me." She said sassily.

Reike groaned. He shifted his grip on the man he was holding, then bent down and reached for the button controls with his left index finger. After straining to maintain his balance, Reike was able to successfully press the button, and send the elevator to the desired location. Immediately, it began to move upwards.

"Thanks a lot." He scoffed.

"No problem, buddy!" Said Kunimitsu with a huge, smartass smile on her face.

Eventually, the elevator car stopped, and the doors opened up. Now instead of being in a dark parking garage, the duo seemed to have reached a long, metallic-colored hallway. The hallway stretched on for what seemed to be forever, with a few doors dotting the sides of it.

Kunimitsu took one look out of the elevator and sighed. "How much farther…?" She asked lazily.

"A simple two minutes" Replied Reike.

Kunimitsu laughed. "Now that's more like it, Dick!" She said enthusiastically.

Reike, not even pausing to turn around, walked briskly out of the elevator and addressed the rude girl behind him. "Please." Said Dick. "Call me Captain Reike."

Kunimitsu caught up with Reike, and walked alongside him. "You do realize that I'm never going to call you that, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." Answered Reike. "I've kind of accepted that fact by now."

Kunimitsu nodded her head and continued walking. "So why does it matter so much what I call you? Can't you just loosen up a bit?"

Reike turned to his female companion. "When you're in my line of work, you can't afford to loosen up." He said darkly.

Kunimitsu looked at Reike quizzically, then rejected his answer. "I'm calling BS on that one." She said.

"Why?" Asked Reike in confusion. "Mr. Mishima has a very strict set of rules of all of his employees. One little slip-up could cost me my job. Or worse…"

"Or worse?" Kunimitsu paused. "Speaking of 'or worse', what ever happened to the old Captain of the Mishima High Guard? Last time I was here, the Captain was some stuffy old guy named Sokol or something, right?"

Reike let out a short laugh. "Oh yeah. There's a perfect example for you. Sokol was Captain of the Mishima High Guard for over a year until last week. Kazuya decided to spring a surprise inspection on my entire company. Usually Sokol gets a little time to prepare for these inspections, so this time around, let's just say that Kazuya caught him with his pants down…"

"You mean Kazuya saw him failing to comply with his standards?" Asked Kunimitsu.

Reike smiled deviously. "No…" he said. "He LITERALLY caught him with his pants down. Sokol was spending company timing screwing one of the female interns, and Kazuya just got lucky enough to make his surprise inspection at the same time that Sokol was getting it on. Obviously that didn't end well…"

Kunimitsu burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Are you serious? That ugly old guy? That's hilarious!"

"Yeah I know. My company couldn't stop laughing about it. And we still are. Every time one of us looks at a pretty girl, we all warn that guy not to 'pull a Sokol'."

Kunimitsu looked like she was genuinely laughing and smiling now, whereas before she was mostly faking it. Her composure relaxed, and Reike's along with it.

"So, what did the big bad Kazuya Mishima do to the poor guy when he found out?" She asked.

Reike adjusted his grip on the unconscious body and looked off into the distance like he was thinking. "Um… to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure. Some of my men have heard rumors that Mr. Mishima ordered him to be thrown into a river and shot. We're not quite sure on the details, but the poor bastard is definitely dead. That much is a fact."

Kunimitsu nodded her head and smiled. "Yep." She said casually. "That sure sounds like good ol' Kazzy."

Reike looked at Kunimitsu strangely, then faced back forward, Kunimitsu, however, noticed him looking at her.

"What?" she asked. "Why did you look at me like that? Did I say something?"

Reike shook his head. "No… it's just strange to hear someone referring to Mr. Mishima like that. All the men around here are way more careful with their words than you are."

"What? You guys seriously don't call him Kazzy? Not even behind his back?"

"Nope. It's only 'sir' and 'Mr. Mishima' around here. If we dare to say anything else, we're screwed."

"Sounds like you're scared of him." Said Kunimitsu condescendingly.

"We are." Confirmed Reike. "He's the single most powerful man on the face of the earth. He owns three fourths of the entire world's economies. He shoots electricity out of his hands for god's sake! How could you not be afraid of that?"

Kunimitsu waved her hand dismissively and said "Pshhhh." like she didn't care. "All those stupid Mishimas do that stuff. I swear, it's like they're all the same."

Reike looked at her with another surprised expression on his face. "The way you talk about the Mishima family, it seems like you just don't care about the repercussions at all. That's so odd…"

"Is it?" Asked Kunimitsu endearingly. "Tell me, Reike. Which is more natural? To be scared to death of a man so much that he controls every aspect of your speech and life, or to be unafraid of men who try to take precedence over your free thoughts and actions."

Reike looked at the ground as he walked. "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Yeah. It seems ludicrous." Said Kunimitsu. Suddenly the conversation had gone from joking and sarcastic to philosophical and serious in the blink of an eye.

"Well there must be something that you're afraid of." Said Reike quietly. "Everyone's afraid of something."

Kunimitsu turned her masked face upwards. "Not me." She said proudly. "There's nothing for me to be afraid of anyway."

"Not even fear of dying?"

The fox girl nodded slowly. "Not even fear of dying. Fear of death is pointless."

"Pointless?" Asked Reike.

"Yes. Pointless." She confirmed. "Do you want to hear my reasoning?"

"Sure." Agreed Reike.

Kunimitsu looked off into the distance as she thought about what she wanted to say. "Let's get into hypotheticals; let's say that in three years, someone is going to punch you in the face. You are aware of the exact date and time at which you will be punched, which will hurt very, very much, and you know for a fact that there is no way to avoid it."

"Okay…" Said Reike, who was quite unsure of where the girl was going with her example.

Kunimitsu took a deep breath and looked directly at Reike. "Would you spend those three years living fear of the punch?"

Reike looked back at her. He then turned forward, and thought about his response. Finally, he spoke. "Well… you said that it can't be avoided no matter what, right?"

"Yes."

Reike frowned slightly. "Well, in that case, I suppose there is no reason to fear it. If it's going to happen either way, then fearing it would just cause me to have three miserable years."

Kunimitsu looked almost happy at his response. "Exactly!" She exclaimed. "That's why fearing death is pointless!"

"I don't see the connection." Said Reike.

"Just think about it." Said the fox girl, who was turning out to be surprisingly deep. "Death is going to come to us all. At some point we are all going to die, regardless of our actions. It is inevitable."

"Of course."

"So…" She continued. "Death is like the punch. You know it is coming. You know that you will be unable to stop it. You know that it will hurt…"

"…but yet for some reason, you choose to fear it." Finished Reike. Who was starting to understand the girl more clearly now.

The girl was making a completely logical argument. Ever since he was a boy, Reike had always feared death in all forms. But now, now that he thought about the true nature of death, he began to realize that fearing it was pointless.

"So you do understand what I'm trying to say. Right?" Asked Kunimitsu, interrupting the man's thoughts.

Reike nodded his head slowly. "I… do. You make a good point." He said honestly.

"Thank you." She replied.

Just then, Reike realized that he had arrived at the destination. A lone metal door was placed in the side of the wall, with a simple sign next to it that read; "Inquiry Center". A small keypad was positioned next to the door with a mix of buttons on it, evidently meant to be a passcode module.

"Well," Said Reike, "this is our stop."

Kunimitsu looked at the door and then down at the keypad. "I suppose I'll need to take the old man off your hands for a couple seconds, right?" She asked.

Reike smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah. If you wouldn't mind."

Kunimitsu nodded and held out her hands. Reike turned around and leaned backwards, lowering the unconscious body of Asukon Kazama into the hands of his companion. Once Kunimitsu had a firm grip on the man, Reike let go of him and allowed the body to rest entirely on Kunimitsu.

"Oh god…" heaved Kunimitsu as she struggled with the weight of the man. "He's heavier than he looks, eh?" She joked, repeating what Reike had first said back in the parking garage.

Reike smiled and turned to the keypad and began pressing buttons. "Must be that damn takeout food…" He muttered slyly.

After pressing a few more buttons, the keypad glowed green and gave off a low ding noise. The door slid open automatically, and the next room was revealed. It was a small room, with one window on the side and another door next to that window. Beyond the window was another room, slightly larger, but much stranger looking.

That room had entirely white walls, with no appliances or decorations other than a single metallic chair and a single metallic table. The chair was bolted to the ground directly behind the table, facing the window. The table was bolted down as well, and other than those two pieces of furniture, the room was empty.

Anyone who has ever been in the military or seen a police TV show for that matter would be able to identify the room as an interrogation chamber.

Reike walked briskly into the room, and over to the second door which led to the interrogation chamber. What he was standing in at the moment was the observation room, where people could look in on the interrogation without the subject being aware of their presence. This was thanks to the window being tinted darkly one way. Kunimitsu slowly followed her guide into the room, dragging the body of Mr. Kazama as she went.

"Just put him down in the chair." Said Reike as he opened the interrogation door and pointed to the metallic chair in the middle of the room.

"You got it, Richard." Said Kunimitsu, who pretended to not notice that she was offending Captain Reike. She entered the room, and plopped Asukon Kazama into the chair, where he slumped over onto the table. He sat there like a blackout drunk who had just returned from a long night at the pub. Once she was done, Kunimitsu turned around to face Reike.

"Please." He said with a smile. "Just don't let Mr. Mishima know that you call me Richard."

Kunimitsu could not help but smile back.

"Looks like I finally made a friend." She said happily.

(THIRTEEN HOURS LATER)

(11:26 PM)

(Mishima Zaibatsu Tower, High Office)

The door slid silently open as Kazuya stepped out of his changing room. Now he was wearing his favorite black and purple outfit, which was usually reserved for everything but workouts and formal events. Walking briskly through his bedroom, Kazuya opened a second door and entered his office.

It's been a long day… that stupid party was exhausting my patience. Just like I thought, it was nothing but stuffy old businessmen and idiotic partiers. I refuse to attend any more of those ridiculous celebrations from now on.

Kazuya walked directly towards his desk, and crossed his arms as he waited for the chair to automatically pull out for him. As usual, it did, and Kazuya sat right down. Next the chair began to pull itself in closer to the desk, so Kazuya could reach everything there. Right now, however the desk was empty.

Kazuya was expecting company.

It's been a full week since I've seen her. I knew that she would come back, I just didn't know how or when. Turns out both of my questions have been answered…

Now that he was sitting in the proper position, Kazuya leaned back in his chair and relaxed. He crossed his arms back over his chest, and heaved a sigh.

In a few minutes she will return to me. And I will be ready. Last time I was a fool... I let my emotions control my behavior, and I said things that I normally would never have said. But now that I am aware of her presence, she holds no surprises for me.

The clock blinked once, and then changed to 11:27. Kazuya glanced at it briefly, then returned his gaze to the front door.

I have more questions for you this time… He thought. And if you think that you can come in here acting like some damned foolish child again, you are gravely mistaken. There will be no dancing. There will be no joking. This is serious.

Just then, a small blue light flashed near his office door, and a subsequent beeping noise sounded off. Apparently, someone was at the door.

Kazuya scoffed.

You're early… he thought.

Again, the beeping noise sounded. Instead of opening the door, Kazuya glanced lazily at the clock. It read: 11:28. He leaned forward in his chair, and uncrossed his arms. Then he focused all his attention on the door in front of him.

Holding both hands in front of him with palms facing each other, he prepared to revisit his ghost.

This time, I am the one in control… Jun.

And with that, Kazuya clapped his hands once.

Immediately, the door slid open.

End Chapter Nine

(I thought this chapter was pretty solid, but probably not my best work. I really just wanted to give Reike and Kunimitsu more character development, because they both seem like people that deserve to be a more serious part of the story. And, oh god! I can't wait for Jun to meet Kazuya again! I realize now that I might have been a little misleading when I said that Jun returned to the story in chapter nine, because technically she did not. But for all intents and purposes, she is pretty much back. Next chapter will start off immediately with Jun and Kazuya, so if you feel like you got cheated out of seeing Jun this time, do not worry, she'll be in the next chapter. Promise. Anyway, after writing that long intro, I've really been thinking more about the three main Tekken films; Tekken Blood Vengeance, the 2010 Tekken live action film, and Tekken: The Motion Picture. As far as I'm aware, these are the three main Tekken films, so if you know of any others that I missed, please tell me so in the reviews section. Now, I've seen all of these films at least once, if not twice, and I enjoyed all of them. However, if I had to pick one that I liked the LEAST, I would definitely go with the 2010 live action film. In my opinion, the movie screwed up Kazuya's character, and really turned the whole franchise on its head. Inversely, I thought that Tekken: The Motion Picture was the BEST of the three. It's portrayal of Kazuya was spot-on, and kind of acts as a basis for me while I'm writing my own stories. While it does get a little strange at some points, and it is unusually bloody, I still think it's one of the best animated films ever made. Again, if you like this story right here, then I would highly, highly, highly recommend that you try and see Tekken: The Motion Picture. The whole thing is on YouTube, all the way through, meaning it's totally free and ready. Damn… this closing AN is dragging on too. If I had more space, I would honestly spend hours talking about those movies. I have a lot to praise about Tekken: The Motion Picture, a lot to criticize about the Tekken live action film, and also a lot to say about Tekken: Blood Vengeance. In fact, I think I'm going to ask you readers about it. Here's the question of the day; "Which of the three main Tekken films is your favorite and why?" Please write your answer in the reviews section! I'll address all of your responses in chapter ten, so let your thoughts be heard! As always, thank you so much for reading my story!)