In the two months that followed Kazuya Mishima's defeat at the hands of his son Jin Kazama and thus the unsuccessful conclusion of his bid to take over Tokyo, the Cold-Blooded Prince spent much of his time in seclusion training for the next King of Iron Fist Tournament, whenever it would be announced. Even though Kazuya knew that Jin was not exactly a lightweight, it did not change the fact that both his son and his father Heihachi had both defeated him consecutively.

Kazuya, a person of great physical prowess with an ego to match, had been given failure after failure to contemplate his losses and try to discover ways to rectify the mistakes he had made. After his latest defeat, he had hoped to go back to the basics and rediscover what he had lost on his path for vengeance to regain his pride as the most powerful of the Mishima clan, and by proxy the most powerful of all martial artists.

However, Kazuya was never one to completely put the past behind him. At the beginning of each week after his second loss to Jin, Kazuya visited the burned-out laboratory that had once been his hideout where he created monstrosities to attack the city with and cloak the civilians in a wave of terror. Even though he had destroyed the laboratory with his own hands, the Cold-Blooded Prince returned to its charred shell to remind him of his previous loss so that he would not make the same mistake again.

However, it would seem that someone else had decided to pick up where I left off and try to conquer the city, Kazuya mumbled as he parked his car and left it through the door. Unlike my creatures, however, these beings can only be attacked via special shards with supernatural properties not unlike the Kazama power.

The day Kazuya returned to the city, he was immediately made aware of the threat posed by the ghost-like Wisps and their mysterious leader Nagalya thanks to a chance encounter at the Mishima Heavy Industries main facility. Jun Kazama and Lee Chaolan had been combating the fiends for a full week, and they were having little luck as to learning of their purpose for being active save for what Nagalya had told Jun during the first attack.

When Kazuya learned that it was the President of G-Corporation, who was at the moment his most immediate nemesis, that gave Jun and Lee the means to combat the Wisps, the Cold-Blooded Prince remained surprisingly calm though he still had his doubts. The threat posed by the Wisps is so great that even the leader of G-Corporation fears it to a point that he had to make alliances with his enemies. Jun is far from naïve, though: she knows that as soon as the Wisps are dealt with the alliance she formed with him will deteriorate like a sandcastle underneath a wave. For now, I will play the game that she has been placed in…

Stepping into the shell that once acted as his laboratory, Kazuya took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of evil that still hung over the place. Even before he had begun experimenting with sorcery and magic, the lab had also been used to monstrosities that were scientific in origin back when he was the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu. That was when he was at the height of his influence, where everyone bowed down to him and gave him the respect he rightfully earned in the first King of Iron Fist Tournament.

However, Kazuya had learned the hard way that respect is only as good as the one who receives it, and he had been dishonored several times over and therefore lost that respect along with his influence. If he were to redeem himself and prove to the world that he was more than a martial artist with an unfair advantage in the Devil Gene, he would have to choose his allies more carefully and alter his methods.

Of course, that doesn't mean I have to fight for the side of angels with nothing but a cheerful smile, Kazuya thought as he shuddered at the image of him being a defender of the innocent now that he was an active participant in the fight against the Wisp's invasion of the world of the living. What I am doing is simply a means to an end: someone is plagiarizing my work, and I am putting a stop to it: nothing more, nothing less.

As he walked through the foundation of the laboratory, Kazuya felt something bang against his shoe, which caused him to look down at what he had bumped into. Maybe I am doing this because I feel that I have to redeem myself for the failures I have suffered, he mumbled as he reached down and picked up what looked to be a charred femur, though he knew it wasn't from anything human. Both Jun and Sorel preached to me about the power of emotion, and how utilizing it to my benefit can be instrumental in pursuing my ambitions. Perhaps if I do this, I will feel some sort of sense of fulfillment.

Before Kazuya could contemplate the matter further, the sound of footsteps entered his ears. Someone is here, he mumbled as he closed his eyes and focused his senses to detect the interloper's ki. The intruder is definitely a fighter, judging from the intensity of his ki. However, it's not the same as the woman from before.

"Kazuya Mishima," an unknown female voice shouted out while Kazuya turned around to face the intruder. "It's fitting that I find you here, in a burned out place like this!"

The owner of the female voice was a slim individual wearing a white tuxedo, with her blonde hair kept short in a very boyish configuration. I do not believe I have seen this person before at the tournaments: surely I would remember such an androgynous fighter, Kazuya thought as he folded his arms. "Tell me, young…lady," he said with a pause, as he was not entirely sure if the individual was indeed female. "Who might you be?"

"My name is Leo," she responded with rage dripping from her mouth like foam from a rabid dog. "You killed my mother: prepare to be defeated."

"If you want me to shake in fear at your retribution, you will have to be more specific," Kazuya replied with a smirk, amused at the woman's arrogance in thinking that someone such as her could possibly defeat him. "I have killed many people over the years, and if you want me to remember your mother you will have to give more details."

"My mother was a member of the board of directors of G-Corporation: you killed her during the Marunouchi building incident three months ago." Leo spat back while Kazuya stifled a yawn. "Does that ring any bells, Mishima?"

"As a matter of fact, it does, though I am curious as to how you know about my involvement in that attack. Information such as that was supposed to be top-secret," Kazuya answered with a raised eyebrow as his interest was now piqued. "However, I will find the answer to that myself at a later date." With that goal made clear to Leo, Kazuya turned around and started to walk away. "There are many people who want revenge on me for various reasons: you will have to wait your turn for your chance."

"Come back here, coward!"

Kazuya stopped in his tracks at that insult and slowly turned his head, his mutated left eye glowing both blue and red. "What did you call me?"

"I called you a coward: you tell me to wait in line, but the truth is that you're frightened to face me one-on-one without preparation," Leo was the one with her arms folded as she goaded Kazuya into dueling her. "If something doesn't go your way, you run away scared until you can figure out a way to deal with the problem. It's just like when you hid from Heihachi for twenty years: you knew you couldn't handle him, so you sought refuge with my mother's organization."

"There is a big difference between being a coward and being wise, young lady," Kazuya said with a growl as he clenched his fist. "You would do well to remember that. This is your last warning: walk away now or risk permanent injury at the hands of Kazuya Mishima, the Devil made flesh and the true heir of the Mishima Zaibatsu!"

"I had a feeling that would get your attention: now I can defeat you knowing that you gave it your all," Leo replied with a smile as she assumed her fighting stance. "I'll let you make the first move: attack from any angle and I will counter accordingly.

"You're awfully confident for someone who is about to have their pretty face turned into a swollen, bloody mess," Kazuya commented with a cruel smirk as he ran towards the girl with violent intent burning in his eyes. "Don't blame me if you wind up dead, insect!"

With his fist crackling with his natural electric blue ki, Kazuya lashed out at Leo with the intent to send her into the black void of unconsciousness with one swift strike to the jaw. However, Leo caught the fist and used Kazuya's forward momentum to toss him over her shoulders with a flowing fireman's carry. Interesting: that kind of counter is usually reserved for Chinese martial arts, Kazuya thought as he rolled with the throw and returned to his feet. It was a very skillful counter, nonetheless: it's nice to know that she's not all talk.

Sidestepping a forward palm that was emphasized with a simultaneous foot stomp, Kazuya managed to grab onto Leo from her left side and picked her up with ease before flinging her downwards like a throw rug. The ground cracked from the sheer impact of the throw, but Leo quickly rolled back onto her feet with the only effects of such a powerful grapple being a quick rub of where she had landed.

With a confident smile, Leo quickly advances back towards Kazuya until she was right in his face, and ducked under Kazuya's spinning backfist to knock the Mishima-ryu practitioner off of his feet with a sweeping leg that was immediately followed by a spinning backfist of her own to send Kazuya flying into a pile of debris. "Don't underestimate me just because of my looks," Leo said while Kazuya quickly got back on his feet, referring to the comment he had made earlier. "As long as I have my willpower, I will emerge victorious!"

"If that is the case, then I will have to simply break your will to fight," Kazuya responded while he suddenly lashed out at Leo with a Flying Slash Kick that knocked the androgynous girl back a few meters. "This can either be a quick process, or a long and painful one. It will be entirely up to you."

Kazuya slowly walked towards Leo as she struggled to get back on her feet, patiently waiting to knock her back down again with his crackling fist prepared to knock her out cold. Unfortunately for him, Leo's struggling was actually a snare to lure Kazuya in close enough for her next attack: a sudden fist thrust to the stomach emphasized with a loud stomp that sent Kazuya even farther away than his kick sent her.

Running after Kazuya's flying body, Leo was ready for another go before Kazuya could even fully stand up, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him towards her. With her opponent right next to her, Leo used the back of her arm to hit Kazuya in the chest, and then pivoted the arm to punch him in the face before using her elbow to send him sliding across the ground. I couldn't even see those attacks coming, but that's definitely some form of Hakkyoku-ken, Kazuya muttered as he stood back up just in time to send Leo sprawling with a mid-section Soul Thrust punch. She is quite skilled for her age.

Using a quick sidestep to evade a Leo's own thrust punch, Kazuya struck Leo in the jaw with a quick left hook and caused her to back away slightly. Seeing his opportunity, Kazuya grabbed onto the collar of her tuxedo and rammed his forehead into hers to send her crashing into the ground. Downed from the sudden headbutt, Leo was left vulnerable to Kazuya's stomp and subsequent heel grinding.

"You are persistent: you should be happy that I have spent this much time on a worm like you," Kazuya said with his ice-cold voice before removing his foot to let Leo get away. "If you want more, then come on! I'm in a bad mood and could use some therapeutic pain infliction."

Complying with Kazuya's new challenge, Leo came at Kazuya elbow-first with such swiftness and ferocity that Kazuya did not have time to react. The attack hit him in the chest and stunned him long enough for Leo to use a second elbow attack to strike his chest before shooting out her left palm and pushing him off his feet like a schoolyard bully. Before Kazuya could even think about rolling away, Leo used her own foot stomp to step on Kazuya's stomach.

When Leo tried for a second stomp, Kazuya caught her foot and stood back up with it still in his grasp. Kazuya allowed himself a smirk when he saw the young fighter hop around like a fool trying to keep balanced, and made her efforts a lot easier with another flinging toss to the ground. This time, Leo landed on her head and shoulders and she voiced her pain with a quick shout.

"It's nice to know you're as tough as people say you are," Leo suddenly said as she flipped back onto her feet and cracked her neck. "I can see why my mother's organization wanted you so badly." Charging her reddish-pink ki and resuming her fighting stance, Leo allowed herself a confident smile. "This is where I get serious. Prepare yourself, murdering scum!"

With her left leg suddenly shooting upwards in a crescent motion, Leo knocked Kazuya off his feet and into the air where she jumped up and extended the attack with a spinning kick from her right leg which sent Kazuya spiraling further upwards to a point where Leo actually landed before he did. The androgynous martial artist capitalized on this gravitational advantage by knocking her foe into the remains of a door with a thrusting punch.

Kazuya crashed into the door with such impact that it crumpled underneath his weight, and Leo was there to greet him back to solid ground with another foot sweep/backhanded fist combination to send him further away. The Cold-Blooded Prince landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet with enough time to try and go for a midsection hook punch, but Leo blocked it and punched Kazuya in the face before rearing back and launching both of her ki-infused palms into Kazuya's abdomen to send him flying back a few meters.

Once again landing on his feet, Kazuya managed to get in a quick jab to Leo's nose as soon as she had come close enough, followed by a second jab which was in turn followed by a side punch that knocked Leo down long enough for Kazuya to lift his foot and stomp on her chest. However, Leo grabbed onto Kazuya's ankle and tripped him. The Cold-Blooded Prince fell flat on his back while Leo stood up and stomped on his chest to return the favor.

Lifting Kazuya off the ground with an arm drag, Leo once again used her potent one-armed triple-hit grapple to send the Cold-Blooded Prince back down to the ground where he eventually came to a stop at the remains of a stone wall. With Kazuya pinned to the wall, Leo charged her ki once again and used her entire upper body as a weapon: she rammed her shoulder and her hip into Kazuya's body and send him crashing through the wall like a giant monster crashing through building in an old Japanese science fiction film.

"Rest easy, mutter: you've been avenged," Leo said with a whisper when Kazuya landed along with a bunch of other debris. "I have brought honor back to our family, and now I can go home and contemplate a well-earned victory…"

"…are you quite done?"

Leo's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned around to see Kazuya brush off the heavy debris like they were pieces of paper and dust himself off. "T-that's impossible. That was my most powerful flurry: I put all my energy into that last attack to go along with it!"

"Apparently that wasn't enough to defeat me," Kazuya replied with a smirk before charging his own ki and advancing towards Leo with a slow walk before gradually evolving the walk in a full run. "Let me show you what real power tastes like, worm: take notes once you exit the coma you are about to enter!"

Ducking under Leo's desperate palm thrust, Kazuya swept Leo off of her feet with a low Hellsweep kick, and immediately followed it with a Slaughter Hook punch that struck the young fighter before she could even hit the ground from the last attack to send her spiraling into a pile of ash.

Leo coughed and gasped as the ash affected her breathing, which gave Kazuya ample time to launch her into the air with a crackling standing uppercut: Kazuya's favorite technique known as the Electric Wind Godfist. With his foe airborne, Kazuya continued the assault with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee before mercifully knocking her away with a standing roundhouse kick.

"I will not accept this," Leo said with her frustration evident in her voice. "I refuse to lose to a halunke like you!" Using all of her might, Leo's leg shot out in an attempt to strike Kazuya in the side of the head. However, Kazuya easily blocked it and answered in kind with a head kick of his own immediately followed by a punch to the chest, a shin kick, and a punch to the stomach that send her spiraling away once again.

Waiting for his foe to stand back up, Kazuya crouched down and watched as Leo struggled to get back onto her feet. Once she did, she was immediately launched several meters away with a leaping Thunder Godfist. "This battle is over, worm," Kazuya said as Leo landed with a sickening thud. "If anyone asks about you, I will tell them that you fought with all of your skill but it just wasn't enough to put me down."

Walking past Leo with nothing but contempt for the insolence that that the girl had showed him, Kazuya heard a light groan which caused him to turn his head and see the girl slowly getting back onto her feet. "You are still conscious? That is impressive indeed," Kazuya commented as he turned around to face Leo. "It would seem that you're not just bluster, after all."

"I…am not through…with you yet," Leo muttered through tired breaths as she reached into the inside of her tuxedo. "I swear…vengeance…will be mine!" Suddenly taking her hand out of her jacket, Leo pulled out a silver revolver that she immediately aimed at Kazuya. Before she could pull the trigger, however, Kazuya reached down and snatched it away from her like a parent taking away a naughty child's favorite toy.

"You would pull a gun on me: the mighty Kazuya Mishima that survived being thrown off a cliff and returned from an active volcano?" Kazuya asked rhetorically as he pointed the gun at Leo's head. Staring into the young girl's wide eyes, Kazuya granted her an evil grin. "Congratulations, Leo: you might have what it takes to kill me, after all…"

"What are you waiting for, arschloch?" Leo asked as cold sweat dripped down her lovely face. "Pull the trigger, if you have the courage. I prepared myself for this outcome: I am not afraid to die…"

"You should be: dying is not an experience that a person should strive for, and I should know that more than anyone," Kazuya replied while his grin faded into a thin smirk. "I probably should kill you now: it would be the wise thing to do. However, I think I will hold off on your execution…would you like to know why?"

Taking Leo's silence as a yes, Kazuya gave his reason. "Unlike several of the other people who have tried to wreak their vengeance upon me, you are not picky about ideals and morals. You are willing to sell your soul to whatever demon you come across in order to exact your retribution…in this case, the demon is this fine firearm that I now hold in my hand."

"Y-you are wrong," Leo managed to stutter out despite the fear and anger she was seething with. "I still have my honor. It's just that…that…"

"It's just that you wanted to win no matter what," Kazuya finished Leo's sentence for her while he emptied out the bullets in the chamber of the revolver and put them in his pocket before handing the gun back to Leo. "You are defeated: consider yourself fortunate that you still have your life, and your face. Perhaps we will meet at the next tournament, and you can have another chance at your revenge."

However, Leo did not move to take the firearm: in fact, it was as if she had ceased moving at all. After a few seconds of silence, Leo slowly stood back up and walked away with a strangely blank expression on her face. Following Leo in curiosity, Kazuya found the source of her sudden silence: a woman in a brown trenchcoat with white skin and long navy-blue hair tied back in a ponytail with a golden dragon ornament on the end of it. Once Leo and the woman where next to each other, the woman whispered something in the young girl's ear before gently pecking her on the cheek and letting her pass.

"I had a feeling you would show up here sooner or later," Kazuya said while the woman walked towards him. "Jun tells me that you have telepathic abilities: I would appreciate if you didn't use them while I was talking to the person you use them on."

"I was getting impatient waiting for my turn, so I sped things up a bit," Nagalya said with a shrug before putting her hands in her pockets. "I have been wanting to speak to you, Kazuya: I thought I could drop a few extra hints for this game that you're about to play with me and my Wisps."

"I have no problems with that," Kazuya replied before folding his arms and getting down to business. "You have spoken to me so far as if we have met before, and your aura does seem awfully familiar. Tell me why that is."

"…do you remember Dragoon, the Jeet Kune Do incubus?" Nagalya asked with the allure in her voice suddenly gone.

"Of course I do," Kazuya nodded his head before continuing. "Dragoon was the result of mixing my dark sorcery with Jun's blood to create a lifeform that had everything I could want in a lieutenant: brains, agility, strength, and technique. However, one thing that he did not have was a killer instinct. He strayed from the mission I had assigned to him upon his creation and fell in love with a human woman. This goaded Astraroth into killing him, and thus ending the experiment."

With that summary fresh in both of their minds, Nagalya took off her trenchcoat to reveal her double dragon helix that consisted of her top and the chainmail stockings that covered her legs. "Take a good look at my body, Kazuya," Nagalya said as she dusted off her metallic red gloves and let the allure in her voice return. "Do you see anything familiar?"

After a few seconds of silence, Kazuya raised an eyebrow. "Your genders are obviously different, but the skin tone and facial structures are unmistakable: am I to believe that you are Dragoon come back to life?"

"Not quite," Nagalya said before pointing to the maroon-and-rainbow colored eye ornament on her choker. "Shortly after Dragoon's demise, my master focused all of the energy that was released at his time of death into this eye decoration. When the two fused together, it resulted in me: Dragon succubus Nagalya. That is why you recognize my aura, and how I recognize you."

"So…you are sort of like Dragoon's sister then," Kazuya observed, slowly nodding his head in agreement to his own conclusion. "However, it seems that you are not as loyal to me as your brother. Tell me more about this master you referred to."

"I have been specifically told not to speak his name until he has fully awakened," Nagalya replied before taking her trenchcoat and putting it back on her nearly-naked body. "I will tell you this: he shall be the one who will destroy this world and nearly everyone that lives on it. When that happens, the ranks of the Wisps will swell to untold numbers, and we will rule over whatever survivors remain from his rampage. That is the purpose of my mission: to usher in a new age of darkness and cleanse this world of the evil known as life."

As soon as Nagalya finishes saying that, she suddenly fired off a bolt of dark purple ki in Kazuya's direction that forced him to throw up his arms and brace himself. After fending off the bolt of energy with a textbook block, Kazuya looked around and saw that Nagalya had used the distraction to escape. So, she's even attempting a dark resurrection just like I did with Astaroth and Ryoku, he mumbled before turning around to leave.

As soon as he stepped out of the ruins, Kazuya looked up to the top of a nearby hill and saw the graves of the two aforementioned fiends that he had brought back into the world of the living only to see them die again. I will not have the same thing happen again: I will prevent this resurrection from occurring even if it costs me my life. If I have to fight on the side of angels, then so be it: it shall be worth protecting my pride!