Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Journey Inside A Dangerous Mind
Chapter 10: Fourth Tournament Concluded
By: Kadeana

Few things in life could please Devil, since Jin Kazama decided to banish them both to their—admittedly impressive—prison tower . . . but as his skin regenerated after being burned from his body, he decided that he had found his favorite diversion. Most humans—okay, pretty much all humans, including the one he was sharing a body with—would think that his diversion was inappropriate, but humans were, is, and would always be . . . stupid.

He was trying his very best to kill Isabella.

And the entertaining part about all this was the very original ways she came up with to stop him. He was sure that he'd been death rayed, shot by a rapid fire gun of some kind, almost crushed by a giant that he couldn't see, and many other delightful invisible attacks that brought him such joy. And the kicker of all this fun was, she was sitting with her back turned to him playing tea party with her stuffed animals. It seemed as if she was oblivious to his quest to try and destroy her.

Isabella could defend herself without paying attention to what was going on around her. Which meant her defense had to have a consciousness all its own.

How was that even possible? And who could teach him how to do it?

It was no use asking the little girl to teach him. Human children were even dumber than the adults, if that were even possible. So there was no way she could be able to explain this to him without confusing the hell out of them both. But he was having such fun, this little detail did little to damage his good mood. Besides, they—meaning him and Jin—would figure it out eventually.

And that is where Julia found him, at the top of the tower, plotting his next move to test the little girl's abilities. Julia looked at him in blank disbelief and it was if he could see the imaginary gears in her hear turning at warp speed trying to figure out what he was doing—and if she figured it out he and Jin would never hear the end of it. He's pose was a strange one. He was crouched low to the roof, with one powerful leg stretched out to the side and the other leg propped up his chin as he stared at Isabella with a gleeful grin.

For Isabella's part, and what had to be a very bazaar scene, she was sitting on the floor, with her back to him pouring her teddy bear some imaginary tea and yapping away at the stuffed animal about some nonsense or other.

"Should I even ask what you're doing?" Julia's question turned Devil's grin into a scowl.

He glared at her and the huge bag that was resting against her thigh—by the way of a long scrap resting on her right shoulder. Where did she think she was going? Camping? "What are you doing here?"

"A psychotic dictator ordered me to be here to interview him . . . or I wouldn't be able to visit my daughter." Her answer surprised a chortle out of him but her attention had swiftly turned from him to Isabella so she missed his merriment.

He wondered if the brat's defenses would attack Julia and if they did, would she be able to live to tell the tale. The woman was a strong one, he cringed at the memory of her kicking him between the legs and almost launching him out of orbit, but he didn't believe that she could live through an attack that was meant for him so he decided not to risk it. He would use someone else to test that. Maybe one of the prison guards.

Devil. Well, there goes the prison guard test subject idea. Jin and his need to not use living crash dummies was so boring.

He reluctantly got out of his attack position and stood to his full height. "Creature-chan, I'm hungry." Isabella grabbed her old dirty stuffed toys and stood as well. She turned and was in the process of getting ready to run after him but she noticed Julia and apparently stopped short of her plan to follow him. Her thumb went to her mouth again.

Creature-chan? Julia didn't know what to think of that choice of nickname. "Hello, Isabella." Julia walked forward and stopped just short of getting into the little girl's personal space. "How are you doing today?"

"We like it here because he entertains us." Her southern accent was just adorable but that answer worried Julia too much to compliment Isabella about it.

"We?" Julia prompted slowly. That sounded a lot like in answer Jin would give. She hoped Isabella added that Stacy Hart person and her stuffed animals to that we list and not just herself—and her own version of devil. "Who's we?"

"I'm hungry."

Julia decided it was best not to interrogate Isabella and smiled mysteriously as she reached into her tote bag to hunt for the lunch she had packed for Isabella. "Isn't that a coincidence because I brought P, B, and J sandwiches." She didn't even flinch when Devil was suddenly behind her and peering over her shoulder to see what else was inside her bag of goodies. There were other sandwiches but she took a shot at trying to guess Isabella's favorite and almost everyone liked peanut butter and jelly.

"Pajamas?" Isabella looked confused.

"Peanut butter and jelly, dumb ass." Only Devil would think that type of language was okay to use in reference to a child. "Her Jin side is obviously showing."

Julia didn't outwardly show her satisfaction over his grunt as the heel of her boot ground down on his toes. She ignored his angry curse of pain to concentrate on Isabella's reaction to Devil's words. Bella was amused by the entire exchange, trying futilely to stifle an awkward giggle and she finally gave up trying.

She was showing emotion that she didn't have the ability to convey when Julia first met her. She was even looking up at Jin—who was still looming over Julia's shoulder and ever at the ready to snatch her bag for himself if he saw something he wanted—with admiration. Devil really was in a good mood for some reason.

"I ain't never heard peanut butter and jelly being called that before."

"And I have never heard a weirder accent than yours."

"Mine ain't weirder than yours."

"Julia-chan, I've been waiting to ask you this all damn day . . . What in the hell is an ain't?"

"She is from the south, so that is southern slang used instead of have not, is not, et cetera." Her response was automatic because she was just stunned. The two of them seemed to be getting along quite well. Isabella thought his personality funny but she had no idea why Devil was being so . . . agreeable and Jin . . . had not manifested himself at all, yet.

Not even as Jinvil. Come to think about it Jinvil was speaking less and less. Did that mean Jin and Devil were at odds with each other in such away that they couldn't speak as one?

Her fingers found the lunch bag but she squeezed it a little to hard, but when she realized what she was doing she loosened her grip on it, opened it, and then fished around for a sandwich and a small container of fresh cold milk. She had packed a lot in the bag.

"She sounds like she is from another planet."

"Apparently . . . she feels the same way about you."

"Are one of them sandwiches for me?"

"Are one of those sandwiches for me." Julia could only correct her, still in stunned mode, as the bazaar scene unfolded around her. How did this happen? Did this mean there was something sinister about her daughter that Devil liked?

"Creature-chan, you need to take an English course."

"And you need to take an exorcism course," Julia replied. He, of course, found that amusing which made her realize he had developed a pattern for laughing at the insults she hurled at him and especially the ones directed at Jin.

Julia pulled out a sandwich—checked the label to see what kind it was—and a bottle of milk from the bag and held it out to Isabella. She hesitated, shyly, for only a moment and then dropped her stuffed animals and grabbed the offered food items. "Thank you." She retreated backwards several steps as if she didn't know what to do with herself but then turned her back to them both and then sat her food on the ground, rushed back to get her stuffed animals and then retreated back to her dining area. Her stuffed animals were scattered around her as she ate with her back towards them.

She was used to eating alone and Julia didn't like that one bit but the astonishing part was that she decided to eat on the floor, closer to where they were, instead of going back go her little makeshift table. She was sure that Isabella wanted to be close to Devil but, Julia had a hunch, not too close to her. "Does she understand who we are to her?"

"She cares even less than I do, about what we are to her."

"What were you doing earlier?"

"Teaching her interpretive dance."

Well that line of questioning was going nowhere fast. "Have you discovered who attacked this place yet?"

"Why are you being so civil?"

Devil had his nerve being suspicious of her motives when his own civility was highly suspect. "Making sure there is no threat of getting blown off this roof by your enemies isn't being civil. It's being smart."

"It was the Boogeyman."

"You and Jin are the the Boogeyman." Devil seemed to concede that point with an amused grin and then both his eyes turned brown signaling that Jin was about to finally make his appearance.

"Nina has been following up leads but so far everything has been a dead end," Jin replied.

"Should I be worried about her safety here, Kazama-san?"

"No, and from what I have observed of her abilities, if something happens, it might be smart for us to hide behind her."

Him? Hiding behind someone? He obviously only meant her when he said us but was trying to soften the blow to her ego. "Right." Julia watched Isabella's back as she ate her sandwich. "Are you ready for the interview?"

"If I remember correctly . . . we left off with Yoshimitsu," Jin replied.

If he remembered correctly? She couldn't help pinning him with a dry look. The interviews seemed so important to him, he probably had every one of them transcribed in his memory. She decided not to waste her time calling him on that.

She raised her arms high to stretch her muscles with her face turned toward the sun. "It's a beautiful day and I would prefer to do the interviews up here."

"Who cares what you prefer," Devil declared. "It's hot and I'm tired of being up here . . . so I'm doing the interview inside."

"Fine with me."

"Why aren't you still mad at Jin?" Devil was determined to know. "If I were you, I would be plotting different ways to make his life difficult."

"Like you don't do that already," Jin muttered to Devil's amusement.

"Why should I be mad at him? He proves himself true to whatever type of code that he lives by. The fault is mine . . . because I always seem to forget that."

"Is it the code of the wandering psychopath?" Devil asked.

"We go inside," Jin replied as if neither of them had just insulted him.

"What is wrong with you?" Devil asked in exasperation.

"I don't know . . . but I'm beginning to understand." If they were expecting him to explain farther . . . they were end for a huge disappointment.

"I don't want Isabella to hear about our history, yet." Julia's eyes found Isabella again. She had turned in her direction to try and feed her teddy bear some of her sandwich. "Where is her caretaker?"

"That awful woman from yesterday hired someone else to look after her . . . because we sure as hell wasn't doing it," Devil muttered. "That new caretaker is scared of me too . . . so she is currently cowering in fright in their room."

"If you have been the one handling everything . . . then there is no mystery as to why she is terrified," Julia said sighing. Instead of laughing, as she was getting used to him doing, he looked as if he was about to argue the point and then stopped himself. That made Julia a tad bit nervous because making him angry was not wise. "I-I want to meet her. I don't want just anyone having influence over her." If his dangerous expression was anything to go by, he didn't take that well either.

Great! Now Devil was angry with her. The day just kept getting better and better.

"The ones that ultimately have control over her are her friends . . . And some of them, you certainly wouldn't approve of." Jin had officially taken over the conversation.

"Friends? What friends?"

"She manifests her powers in the form imaginary friends. These friends protect her from harm by creating in absolute defense and offense around her."

"Wait, are you telling me that her powers can manifest themselves as living beings?"

"Yes, but only she can see them. Heroes and villains she liked in storybooks and television programs are now her bodyguards."

Julia couldn't stop her mouth from falling open in shock. "Are you telling me—how is that even possible?"

"I don't know, and good luck trying to get her to explain her abilities to you."

"That's different."

"And that's . . . in understatement."

"So once she learns self defense . . . I wonder if she will lose that ability."

"She might already know self-defense. Devil never got close enough to find out. He was too happily distracted by her other abilities."

"That's a good time, you two. You should try it," Devil declared.

"I'll let you two eat your lunch, and then we can start the interview."

"Your terms are acceptable." Jin looked around for his bento and realized that it was gone. His lunch was obviously a casualty of Bella and Devil's game. "Well . . . this is an unpleasant development."

"There's more sandwiches in the bag."

"You know I hate how peanut butter feels in my mouth."

"I'm sure that's how crap feels in the mouth," Devil muttered.

"Yes, I remember. It's a variety of sandwiches inside my bag. I didn't know what she liked so I tried everything." Everything just happened to include Tonkatsu sandwiches but he would have to find them himself. She wasn't about to do it for him.

"Good thing you're an overachiever." Jin grabbed the offered sandwich bag from her and started looking through it.

"You're one to talk."

"What do you mean by that?" He found the marked sandwiches and then held the bag out toward her. She all but snatched it from him.

"You go above and beyond the call of duty for everything."

"It's the only way to get things done to the best of my ability."

"Exactly . . . so don't mock me for having the same trait."

"You're mistaken my intent, Julia. I wanted to nurture that side of you, and was willing and able to provide you with everything you needed to help you."

"I didn't need you to provide me with anything, except yourself, and without any strings."

"You had to ask for the one thing that we couldn't grant." He unwrapped his sandwich from the clear paper and took a huge chomp out of it and preceded to eat the sandwich in record time. "Is there another one in there like this?" She nodded and passed the bag back over to him before Devil could snatch it. "That was, actually, pretty good . . . even though it's not completely authentic." Only he would complain that she didn't cut it into fours instead of being grateful she gave it to him at all.

Speaking of Devil. Her earlier comments had gotten under his skin and that wasn't a wise position to be in when him and Jin seemed to be at odds with each other. He might decide to use her as target practice to piss Jin off. "Devil, I can't help but assume that I offended you earlier." The last thing she needed was to be on his proverbial 'Kill Bill' list.

"The princess actually cares that she offended me." That served to amuse him which wasn't what she was going for. "Well this is amazing." He found the sandwich he wanted and threw the bag back at her.

She caught it and smoothly put it back into the larger tote bag. "I thought that you found my insults amusing."

"I do, dearest princess, but it irks me when people treat me like the plague . . . and put this dumbass I'm sharing a body with, on a pedestal of sacrificial goodness."

"I distrust you both."

"And we love that the most about you."

"Why should people's natural distrust and fear of you, upset you?" She was genuinely puzzled. "Because I remember when you first awakened, you got off on that type of reaction."

"Because most give Jin a pass he doesn't deserve."

"Not lately."

"You're lying, princess."

"Jin started his dark path when he continued to keep his alliance with Heihachi after being warned against doing so. He continued it even after I told him about my mother being kidnapped. And the crimes you two committed as Jinvil are on both of your idiot heads."

"Whoa, she's almost as cold blooded as Nina when ripping you to shreds, Kazama-kun."

"Almost?" Jin busied himself by opening his other sandwich. "Why didn't you cut this into fours?"

"The same reason why all the others aren't in all fours," she replied distracted. "Where's Nina, anyway? I thought she would show up after what happened here."

"Doing what she does best," Jin replied. "Protecting my assets."

"Protecting your ass included?"

"Nina was definitely displeased that somebody got passed her security procedures and attacked this place. She'll hunt them down for me . . . since I'm imprisoned here." He concentrated on his sandwich.

Julia rolled her eyes heavenward. "Imprisoned . . . right." It was more like self imposed exile. She watched him inhale that sandwich faster than the one before it.

"What is with this condescending attitude?" Devil demanded amused. Apparently, they were good now.

After lunch—Jin finishing every sandwich in her bag that wasn't peanut butter—and after Isabella was safely tucked away in her quarters, Julia and Jin sat in their usual positions in his new domain—she sat on futon and he sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor.

The table was in between them with her notebook and tape recorder resting on it.

"When we last talked, we were talking of Yoshimitsu-san. You noted that he was different than before. How so?"

"He seemed . . . youthful, almost. Where as before I figured him for a very old soul. And his way of greeting me was . . . different." Almost like he'd taken lessons from Xiaoyu on proper ways to greet people.

"Kazama-san? That is you . . . isn't it Kazama-san?"

"Yoshimitsu-sensei." Jin was instantly on guard because the armored warrior had caught him completely off guard, and to be perfectly honest, he almost scared the crap out of him. Jin was in a secluded part of the forest, sitting on an old tree stump, very near to the arena the Tekken Tournament would start in, contemplating the meaning of his cursed existence.

"Wow, with that hood on . . . you almost fooled me."

Wow? "Have you come to say 'I told you so'?"

"No, I actually came to apologize."

"You were right."

"That's not something to be proud of," Yoshimitui said. "And just between us, Kazama-kun, your jii-san has to be a lunatic of some kind. So his actions were nothing personal against you."

Did he just call me Kazama-kun? His tone, also, made it seem as if he was imparting some wise advice that Jin should take to heart. "Whatever could have given you that idea?" He couldn't help but mutter. There was something off about this entire scene.

This was not the Yoshimitsu that he knew but somehow it was. Which didn't make any sense to him.

"Never again let your guard down in reference to anything that has to do with him. If you do I'll personally finish you, myself."

"You're welcome to try," Jin replied, "because, you'll be doing us both a favor."

"Aww, Kazama-kun, don't say that."

"But only after I finish him."

"Are you stupid or something?" Yoshimitsu was wagging his index finger in front of Jin's face like he was disciplining an unruly child. "If he couldn't finish you with a gun shot to the head . . . how, pray tell, are you going to finish him?"

"You shouldn't talk so much. You'll definitely give your secret away." Not that Jin had actually figured out the the secret it could be one of two options—

"Apparently, I already have!" He started spinning so fast that almost made Jin dizzy just watching. "Escape plan initiated."

Did he just say, escape plan intit—before he could finish the thought, Yoshimitsu surprised him by throwing a smoke bomb near his feet, causing Jin to fall backwards off the tree stump on his back coughing and rubbing his traumatized eyes.

"He did not say 'escape plan initiated?'" Julia was trying very hard to remain the picture of a calm reporter but her lips twitched as she tried to force back her amusement.

"But he did." Jin's lips upturned into a ghost of a smile as he watched her cover her mouth in her attempt to keep her composure but her shoulders shaking in merriment gave her away. "And then he was gone. As I was getting to my feet and trying to wipe the blindness from my eyes, just like in my first meeting with him . . . I heard his voice all around me. And he said, 'Wow, you didn't fall did you, Kazama-kun? My apologies. I didn't mean for that to happen.' He then laughed at me,which made his apology a lie."

And with that hilarious picture in her head . . . her rich laughter broke free. "You know . . . it's rude to laugh at another person's misfortunes."

"You saying that he was different is the understatement of the year."

"I think that on a subconscious level . . . he wanted me to know he was different."

"So . . . is he a different being altogether? Or does his personality evolve along with his powers?"

"I can't answer that."

"Fair enough." Her inquisitive expression stated plainly that she was dying to know the answer and the mystery of it would plague her for months. "This interview isn't about him, after all . . . But I can't help being curious about the other contestants in the tournament."

It was endearing to him how her thought pattern was on the same wavelength as his own. When Yoshimitsu had been talking to him, he had been trying to figure out that very thing and that was why he got so surprised by the smoke bomb. Although, evolved would not be a word that he would use in relation to the personality change. De-evolved would be a more appropriate term.

"He never spoke around me, but in battle, he used the exact same style as before," Julia said lost in thought.

"Yep, he was just uglier." Devil had stressed this point in their last interview and was determined—as important as it was—for it not to be forgotten.

"Your father made his return, from the grave, during this tournament. How did that make you feel?"

"Just that I . . . there was now another that I would have to end to sever the Mishima line forever. And it brought up the annoying point that Yoshimitsu had made. Killing a Mishima is easy, for another one. . . but the dead Mishima staying that way . . . seemed to be another challenge, entirely."

"It was a fools errand, until you cracked the code, Kazama-san."

"And what a joy filled event that was . . . right, onna-san?"

"Wrong," Devil snapped. "You're still here."

"And without me 'still being here' you would cease to exist," Jin replied.

"A mere technicality."

"Ling Xiaoyu." The name brought Jin's attention back to Julia. He was amazed that she didn't join in with Devil to annoy him but this way they could cover more ground in the interview time. "She knew something had happened to you . . . and was desperate to save you. Why didn't you let her try?"

"It was too late for anyone to stop the inevitable. The Jin Kazama that could be swayed by her and insignificant things like amusement parks died when he was shot by his jii-sama."

"Why didn't you just tell her that instead of avoiding her?"

"Avoidance was easier."

"Maybe for you . . . but not for her."

"All I could do was warn her about my grandfather. But irony of ironies . . . he actually likes her and was truly no threat to her."

"That wasn't all you could do."

"There is certain topics I do not want to discuss. Xiaoyu-chan is now one of them."

"But when we first started this interview you singled her out as a major player in this story. It's only natural I would broach the subject."

"Then why don't we talk about you instead?"

"My role in this particular tournament was short and sweet. We met, you defeated me, and I left."

"We waltzed, you tried to lead, and I dominated."

"Huh?"

"I was romanticizing your words."

"Lets move on to Heihachi." Well, she was no fun today. She had managed to stay calm throughout the entire interview so far. Even when he deliberately tried to bait her into reacting.

"Jin defeated him and just when I was about to awaken and kill Heihachi . . . Jin's annoying battleaxe of a mother showed up and suppressed me."

"I can honestly say that is the first time I have ever heard anyone speak negatively of her."

"I can't stand her. She is such a damn nag."

"I think he is confusing himself with my mother," Jin muttered.

"Devil, when did you get so comfortable with the world to let this side of your personality surface?"

"When Jin decided to work with me, instead of fighting." He grinned evilly. "And since I didn't have to be constantly on my guard against him . . . I could relax."

"Same here," Jin replied. "When I stopped trying to suppress him . . . he stopped trying to do the same to me."

"You guys seem to be at odds with each other now. Why is that?"

"I don't want to be here and he does."

"But, that was obvious before but you were still united, then. Now, Jinvil barely surfaces to annoy me anymore."

"What on earth is a jinvil?"

"When you two are truly in harmony with each other you, more often than not, form this one personality . . . that is one of the most obnoxious beings alive."

"Well, don't look at me," Devil muttered. "He's the one that is breaking the bond that we created."

"You two need to get it together. This may not be a big a priority as these interviews seem to be to you . . . but it should be. There is someone out there that has declared war on Jinvil. And the unknown identity of that someone disturbs me . . . and should disturb you."

"What?"

"No person on this planet is brave enough to attack your tower. There is no person stupid enough to attack this tower. You showed modern man true fear. So whoever attacked this place isn't scared of you . . . and was intelligent enough to do so while I was here, so they could provoke a real response from you."

"Julia."

"Earth can't handle another being with your power and former mindset."

"And here I thought that you would be rooting for the other guy."

"Well, apparently, the other guy has even less respect for my existence than you do."

That sobered him. "You could be overreacting."

"Could be . . . but what if I'm right? If you are serious about pretending to be imprisoned in this tower . . . in an effort to atone for your past crimes. I'm much rather keep you around than the other guy . . . who could be much worse." Insulted and complimented in the same breath. That rare art form was one of Julia's many skills that he missed over the years.

"We could just let him take over and continue to pretend as if we're imprisoned," Jin muttered. "And leave everyone to their own fate."

"But we both know you won't do that," Julia replied. "That is not your style . . . and even if it were, whoever is out there . . . seems to be concentrating on you first. So he, she, or it . . .would just force you to make a move."

"Do you know something that I don't?"

"No, it's just the same general feeling of dread I had right before you declared World War Jin."

"Well, that can't be good. Because we know how that turned out."

"Just get it together and remember your vow."

"We'll try."

"Is there anything else of interest you wanted to cover about the fourth tournament before we move along to the fifth?"

"Only to state the obvious. That I failed to achieve my true goals . . . and left both my father and my ojii-san to their own fates . . . instead of ending them. Which resulted in the supposed death of my ojii-san."

". . . And the resurrection of another Mishima," Julia prompted.

"Obviously . . . we were roaches in another life."

"In another life?" Julia asked which amused Devil to know end. "Because, I'm quite sure it's this one."

"So . . . we start with the fifth?" Jin asked choosing to ignore them.

She nodded and then replied, "It's the one that ignited the dark cycle of your life."

"The kick ass cycle," Devil declared.

"That's one title you can call it." Julia's sardonic tone and expression implied that her title for this change was something a lot more derogatory.

Author's Notes: So Devil didn't get around to asking his 'why can't I exist' question but from this chapter, I think the reader can see that it something that bothers him. The 5th tournament is the last one that I will be following the action game storyline but then . . . Jin's reign of terror begins.