I know how some of you guys wanted a full-on Jin vs Kazuya, but there's been one underlying theme in all of this fic, and I wasn't about to violate it. I'll let you figure out what that underlying theme is as you read on.
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So it's finally begun, Ryoku mumbled to himself as he approached the old Mishima laboratory. The Aikido master was slightly worn out from using his new teleportation technique, to say nothing of the strenuous battle he had with his old rival Heihachi Mishima nearly an hour ago. However, he still had enough juice left for his technique to take him all the way to within two miles of the laboratory, which he casually walked in order to help pace himself.
Somehow, he made it to the laboratory before the other Shinkengers did, which was something he found a little bit laughable considering he walked on foot while they had vehicles to ride in. I guess traffic held them up a bit, Ryoku reasoned as he walked to his destination. However, it wasn't nearly as amusing as the battle between father and son he could feel brewing as he watched the laboratory over a hill that was near its location.
His ambitious "son-in-law" had finally come face-to-face with his own son, and it promised to be anything but a happy reunion. He could feel the evil energy steaming from the two fighters even though he was a good forty meters away from the entrance of the laboratory. I've been curious to see what it's like when Devils fight, especially when one of them happens to have Kazama blood.
"Father…"
Ryoku turned his head slightly at the familiar voice to see an equally familiar sight: a stunningly beautiful Japanese woman with short black hair held together with a white hairband wearing a white trenchcoat, a golden strapless dress, dark sunglasses and black slippers. "Huh…I didn't expect to see you," Ryoku said out loud as he sat down while Jun looked onward to the lab. "What brings you all the way out here?"
"It's begun, hasn't it?" Jun lowered her head slightly, as if she were shying away from such a dramatic event. "Kazuya and our son are locked in combat." To Ryoku's surprise, Jun continued walking forward. "I have to put a stop to this…"
"You will do no such thing," Ryoku said as he stood back up and put a hand in front of his daughter. "I want to see how this will turn out, and I'm not going to let you spoil my fun."
"There can only be one turn-out: more needless hatred and violence," Jun argued, although there was not a hint of aggression in her voice. "I do not wish to see either of their lives fueled by this any-UGH!" Suddenly, Ryoku's ki-infused fist came crashing into Jun's solar plexus. So surprising and intense was the blow that her sunglasses flew off to reveal her shock eyes as the wind was knocked out of her.
"Sorry, kid," Ryoku said as he let Jun fall to the grass-covered ground to black out, "but I'm not about to give up on my ambitions just because you don't want to see your man-toy and illegitimate spawn roughhouse a little bit." The Aikido master turned his head west to see a motorcycle and a navy blue Rolls-Royce pull up at the laboratory. The other Shinkengers had arrived. However, it would be interesting to see how my grandson's comrades will fair trying to break the roughhousing up: Jin might be so far gone, they might have to side with Kazuya just to calm him down!
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The cycle of hatred between fathers and sons within the Mishima clan had long been an indomitable juggernaut that showed no signs of slowing down. Jinpachi Mishima, Kazuya's grandfather, had tried to stop it in the name of peace, while Kazuya's father Heihachi had recently taken steps to stop it in the name of honor. Kazuya himself, on the other hand, embraced the cycle of hatred and used it to fuel his inhuman fury…
…an inhuman fury that had just now possessed his own son Jin and turned him into a full-blooded Devil. I will not try and stop what cannot be stopped, Kazuya thought as he watched Jin assume what appeared to be a pale resemblance of his usually fighting stance. This battle was destined the instant he was born, and destiny is something that cannot be trifled with!
"My body is ruined," Jin said with a voice full of rage and fear as he lashed out at his father with a swipe of his dark claws. "Look what you've done to me: your own flesh and blood!" Kazuya barely had time to bend over backwards to avoid the blow, but he couldn't stop the standing roundhouse kick that sent him spiraling to the ground. "I'll make you bleed until you beg for forgiveness!"
"Let's get one thing straight, son," Kazuya growled as he lifted his index finger while it crackled with dark purple energy. "I'm capable of a lot of things, but I will never beg, lest of all to you!" The finger's power peaked and fired off a thin beam of ki that struck Jin in the chest and pushed him all the way to the other side of the room. "I wasn't even using half my power with that attack: I could have punched a hole through had I been trying."
Using his wings to propel himself back towards Kazuya, Jin latched onto his father's throat as he came into contact with him and continued flying forwards with Kazuya being dragged along with him. The flight continued until he reached the other side of the room, at which point Jin lifted Kazuya up and slammed him into the wall. With his fist dripping with power, Jin punched Kazuya further into the wall as it cracked and revealed another room.
Kazuya returned the favor by grabbing onto his son's throat and strangling him as he got back onto his feet. Lifting Jin off the ground by his neck, Kazuya's leg shot out and kicked Jin in the hip numerous times, all while still holding him in the air. After the fifth kick, Kazuya's tossed him completely through the cracked wall and into the neighboring room.
Jin dusted himself off and took a moment to examine the room: there was an operating table like the room before it, but next to the operating table was a monstrous device full of appendages tipped with knives and scalpels. Even more disturbing was that the table and the blades were still coated with blood. The sight of the blood reacted to Jin's fractured psyche accordingly and caused him to jump backwards, right into Kazuya.
"I suppose it's a good thing that you have finally learned to retain your own state of consciousness while being transformed," Kazuya mused as he sent his son airborne with an Electric Wind Godfist, "because I doubt I'd be getting such a delicious reaction to the horrors of this room if I were dealing with your darker half." Not finished with his assault, Kazuya continued pummeling his son while he dangled in mid-air with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee before sending him spiraling away with a standing roundhouse kick.
"You wouldn't be getting any more or less mercy if I did let him out," Jin spat back after landing on his hands to spin back onto his feet. Ducking under Kazuya's spinning backhanded punch, Jin pumped his fist and launched his father into the air with a quick uppercut that left red sparks in its wake: the signature effect of his Thrust Godfist. Returning the favor done to him seconds before, Jin continued the assault in mid-air with a right hook, a left palm thrust, a powerful straight, and a cartwheel kick that propelled Kazuya into the ground with Jin's foot landing on his chest.
Jin grinded his heel into the dark red jewel on Kazuya's chest as he kneeled down so that he was face-to-face with his father (although the helmets they wore prevented him from seeing his father's literal face). "How does it feel to be on the other end of this kind of torture, father?" Jin hissed before lifting his foot off the ground to soar high into the air. "How does it feel to be attacked by someone who won't let up or back down?" Once he felt that he had flown high enough, Jin's wings took him into a nosedive while his right hand glowed with power in preparation for his High Pounce.
However, the brief interval between the preparation and execution of such a maneuver was all the time Kazuya needed to recuperate and roll away just in time to avoid being impaled by his son's claws. The sinister karateka received an added bonus when he realized Jin's hand punched a hole through the floor and had become stuck in it. With his body crackling with dark power, Kazuya crouched down and began spinning like a top towards Jin. Once he was in range, Kazuya knocked Jin loose by sending him flying away with a Lightning Screw Godfist.
However, it would take far more than that to stop an enraged Jin Kazama with a fully powered Devil Gene. Using his wings to right himself in mid-air, Jin's flight changed direction and instead came rocketing towards Kazuya, snatching him off the ground like a hawk would snatch its prey. With his father in his grasp, Jin flew upwards until he hit the ceiling and then swooped back down to smash Kazuya's head into the floor while he landed gracefully a few meters away.
Kazuya flipped back onto his feet and instinctively turned around with a spinning backhanded punch that struck the advancing Jin in the neck. With the intention of taking the element of surprise to his advantage, Kazuya spun around again and crouched down for another Spinning Backfist that knocked Jin off his feet, and then spun around for a third and final time to send his foe spiraling away with a standing roundhouse kick. Kazuya took the opportunity to blast Jin with a few rapid bolts of energy from his finger before letting his son fall to the ground.
Jin landed flat on his back, but quickly spun back onto his feet to swat away another volley of blasts and countered with one of his own: a rapid series of bursts eminating from his hand. Kazuya was able to dodge some of them, but once Jin hit his mark, the frequency of how many times he connected became greater as Jin eventually pinned Kazuya down.
I'm doing it, Jin thought as he watched his father try and get back up, I'm actually winning! There will no escape this time!
"I hope you're not considering this battle won," Kazuya said suddenly as if to give respond to Jin's thoughts, which shocked the young man enough to ease his barrage and give Kazuya another opening. "It will take much more than that to defeat me!" Standing back up and throwing arms up into a blocking position, Kazuya began running towards Jin despite the hail of blasts raining down on his body. Ramming Jin with all of his might, Kazuya knocked his son over and grinded the heel of his boot into his neck.
What he didn't expect, however, were Jin's wings folding so that its razor-sharp feathers could slice at his boot, causing him to release his hold on his on. Jin stood back up and roared as the ruby that sat just above his visor glowed fiercely before firing off a ray of crimson power that took Kazuya off guard and blasted against his body like a fireman's hose, pushing him far into the darkest reaches of the room.
Jin's wings once again began flapping wildly, kicking up strong winds as they beat against the musty air. However, Jin wasn't attempting to blow Kazuya away: shooting out of his wings like lethal darts were the same razor-sharp feathers that slashed his ankle. He couldn't see Kazuya due to the corner he landed in and the poor lighting, but Jin didn't need to see him: he could feel the evil that radiated from the ShinkenSlayer armor.
Jin smirked beneath his helmet as he watched sparks shoot out from Kazuya's armor with every feather that struck it, lighting the darkened corner for an instant before it became dark, waiting for another hit. After Jin stopped beating his wings, he ran towards where he had been aiming with his claws raised.
Unfortunately, he became so engrossed with attacking that he forgot about how dark the corner was and tripped on a wire. Struggling to maintain balance, Jin flapped his arms wildly before Kazuya came out of the dark corner and kicked him into the wall. With a rare hint of humor, Kazuya said, "Ole," before pulling Jin's head out of the wall and sending him flying with a leaping Thunder Godfist.
Jin once again used his wings to right himself in mid-air, only this time he didn't come back down immediately. Instead he focused his dark red energy into his hands and locked his wrists together. With a mighty shout, Jin shot out his palms simultaneously to fire off a dark red ball of ki that left a streak of lightning in its wake. "SHINKEN ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE: TEKKENSHU MAELSTROM!"
Kazuya watched the blast come at him with rapid speed, but he showed no signs of panic underneath his helmet, but instead opened up his arms as if to welcome the blast with open arms. Like a child running into his mother's arms, the blast came into contact with Kazuya while the elder martial artist embraced the blast. Kazuya used all of his power to keep the blast from advancing further, and then threw it back at Jin as if it were his own.
Such a technique took Jin off-guard, leaving him helpless to stop Kazuya from turning his own power against him. Jin was knocked from the sky and fell to the floor headfirst. It would take a lot more to defeat him than just that, and Kazuya knew that full well. Running towards Jin at blinding speed, Kazuya picked up Jin by the neck and carried him over to the operating table. Maybe a little mental warfare is in order, he thought as he strapped him to the table. These clamps are made out of something harder than titanium: I doubt even he will be able to break through.
"What are you doing?" Jin screamed as he struggled to break free. "Get me off this thing!"
"I think not, son," Kazuya said casually as he picked up a small circular saw from a nearby table. "I think I'm going to do some more damage: I understand that Sorel once cut off your wings by using a sawing motion, and I'm interested to see if your reaction will be the same if I did it again."
"That is just sick and wrong, asshole!"
Kazuya turned around at the sound of the unexpected voice and was blasted with numerous bolts of energy. Jin lifted his head as high as he could and saw the rest of his fellow Shinkenger in the doorway, armed and ready for battle. However, what they received from him was not thanks or greeting, but a red blast of energy from his forehead as the buckles across his body exploded in a flash of light.
"Get away, everyone! This is my fight and don't interfere!"
However, the time he took to say that was all the time Kazuya needed to cut at Jin's armor with not a circular saw, but with a glowing finger that melted its way through the armor like a knife through hot butter. Jin howled in pain as his chest felt the heat that was being given off by his suit. If not for the other Shinkengers suddenly tackling Kazuya all at once, he would have cooked alive.
"Keep him occupied, guys," Asuka shouted as she got off of the dogpile and ran to Jin. "I'm going to make sure Jin is OK!"
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"Asuka," Jin said between breaths while his body once again dripped with dark power, "you have to get out of here now! This is something between me and him!"
"In case you haven't noticed, this battle has been between him and all of us these past few weeks," Asuka retorted as she kneeled down to Jin's level, which was down on one knee. "Aren't you always the one who said that we need to do everything as a team if we want to survive!?"
"This is different, Asuka: you don't know him like I do!" Jin lifted his clawed hand and frantically shoved it in his cousin's face. "Look at what he did to me! My hands are claws, I have giant black razor sharp wings, and I have goddamn HORSE HAIR sprouting out of my arms!" Taking his hand away so that both his hands could point at his head, Jin continued. "And look at me! I have horns growing out of my head! Do you think I enjoy being like this, Asuka? If this happened to you, wouldn't you want to deal with the scumbag personally!? You don't know how I feel!"
Asuka bit her lip beneath her helmet when she heard that and lowered her head, almost in shame. "Actually Jin…I know exactly how you feel…"
"…what do you mean?"
"During the last King of Iron Fist Tournament, our mutual slimeball Jean Sorel attacked Kenichi and me, and then he used some weird voodoo spell to turn me into a bloodthirsty freak. I almost killed Kenichi with my own two hands, and if it weren't for Yoshimitsu coming to help, I probably would've."
Asuka lifted her head back up and grabbed onto Jin's shoulders. "Do you want to know the moral of that story? My friends and loved ones were there to help me. Kenichi and I are closer than ever thanks to what happened, and it's because we realize the strength of our unity!"
Suddenly, Jin felt a warm, comforting feeling enter his heart. The bristly hair on his arms dissipating in a purple haze, and the maroon color of his suit brightened back to its normal bright red. She's right: if I let myself go loose, I'll be no better than Kazuya. I might even become worse: Kazuya never stood for anything!
But I still don't know her connection to Kazuya, and I'm going to have to find out myself and confirm if it means what I think it means considering Sorel's power…but this time, it'll be as it should be: as a team!
"Come on, Jin," Asuka gave Jin a pat on the back as the claws and horns disappeared on his body, leaving only his black wings to furl back up into his back and vanish from view. "Let's show that asshole what a real Kazama can do!"
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"What a disgrace," Kazuya grimaced underneath his helmet as he tossed Kenichi into the small pile of groaning bodies he had created. "None of you incests are worthy of calling yourself my enemy!" Charging his energy into both of his hands, Kazuya shot out his palms and blew the other Shinkengers away into the new room like tumbleweeds. Watching them slowly crawl back onto their feet, Kazuya's glowing finger pointed skyward, and a crackling dark purple ball of power emerged from the tip of his finger like a balloon inflated by helium. "Prepare to be exterminated like the vermin you are!"
However, before he could hurl the ball at his opponents, Jin and Asuka came up from behind and brought him to his knees with a pair of kicks to the spine. Running over to their comrades, the two Kazamas helped them up and prepared for battle. "After all the lectures you gave me about leaving the team in the dust against Astaroth," Hwoarang said between breaths as he dusted himself off, "you up and do exactly that!"
"Jin, you have to remember we're not just you're comrades: we're your friends." Xiaoyu added as she walked up to Jin and gave him a quick embrace. "If there's something bothering you, don't be afraid to share it with the group!"
"We've come a long way together, mate," Steve walked up next to Jin and nodded his head in approval. "Before all of you guys were mere acquaintances: faces that I occasionally spoke to during the tournament. Thanks to you, I've made friends that I can gladly entrust my life to." Steve gave Jin a pat on the back after Xiaoyu released the red-clad karateka. "I'm glad to see you're not a bloody hypocrite."
"Enough talk," Feng butted in and assumed a fighting stance. "This is final villain, and we must all of our teamwork to defeat him." With his hands glowing orange while all three jewels on his chest hummed with power, Feng ran towards Kazuya with murderous rage. "Let's do it!"
Slightly groggy from being in such an extensive battle, Kazuya lifted his finger and shot another volley of dark purple energy bolts at the Kempo master, but not even the stings of the bolts could stop his fury as sparks flew out from wherever the bolts struck while Feng continued onwards without slowing down in the slightest. Once he was in range, Feng reared his hand back and struck Kazuya's chest with his palm. "Behold: my Hand of Judg-"
Kazuya interrupted Feng by grabbing onto his wrist and slowly removing the glowing palm and kicking him away with a boot to the stomach. Kazuya looked at his chest to assess the damage: there was a mark left, to be sure, but nothing to be concerned about. However, when Kazuya prepared to continue his assault on the bronze-clad warrior, Feng stood back up and outstretched his arms to allow Kenichi to propel himself off his shoulders and take to the air with his katana raised high.
"What an idiot," Kazuya mumbled as he raised his hand to catch Kenichi's blade. "I thought you were smarter than that, Masamune: a mere blade cannot harm me." However, Kenichi pushed the hilt of the katana upwards and the blade ran up Kazuya's palm, cutting it and forcing him to let go. Putting his katana back in its sheath, Kenichi lashed out at the surprised Kazuya with numerous hand chops to the neck and torso. At first the blows were blunt, but Kenichi's hands shone with white light and became as sharp as the katana he wielded. Sparks flew out of Kazuya's suit as the slashes continued to rain down upon him. When Kazuya finally began to notice enough of a pattern to block, Kenichi flipped over his head and kicked him in the back…
…sending him to Steve, who shot out his fists and began to pummel Kazuya's stomach with a rapid series of gut punches. The fists chipped away at his abdomen with such force and speed that Kazuya was helpless to stop it. All he could do was grunt in pain while the fists became so fast it was like they weren't moving it all. After a few seconds, Steve concluded the flurry with a powerful uppercut that knocked Kazuya into Hwoarang's way.
Hwoarang caught Kazuya with his foot and started to juggle the experienced martial artist in the air like a child with juggle a soccer ball by bouncing him off his knees. After he became tired, Hwoarang used his knee to launch Kazuya straight up into the air and jumped up after him to kick the karateka in Xiaoyu's direction.
"This is for everyone you've hurt, you bully," Xiaoyu exclaimed as she shot out both her palms simultaneously to knock Kazuya towards Asuka. "Asuka-chan, heads up!"
"All over it, Xiao," Asuka nodded as her leg began to glow with pink energy. "Show's over, asshat: time for your curtain call!" With all of her power into the said leg, Asuka knocked Kazuya away yet again with a leaping Siwasu kick…
…right into Jin, who had been channeling his own power into his left fist, waiting for the opportunity to unleash his most devastating physical attack. With his punch flying true, Jin hit Kazuya with enough force to shatter a titanium block with ease, sending his father careening away with his Eighth Gate of Hell. Kazuya smashed through many walls and entered many rooms on his journey that was propelled by that attack, and when he finally landed, he was six rooms away from the group.
What a monstrous blow, Kazuya thought to himself as he willed his body into motion and stood back up. Clearly I underestimated the strength of their comradeship…I don't think that I'll be able to emerge victorious and have enough left of this building to consider it a victory. However, as soon as he was back on his feet, Jin was already there to pin his neck on the wall with his foot. Damn…looks like I've just been checkmated.
"I've won," Jin began as he bent over to get his face closer to Kazuya's, whose face had just become visible again as his ShinkenSlayer disappeared in a burst of purple energy, "so I think it's high time that you answered my first question that I asked when I got here."
"You are the victor, my son," Kazuya replied with a hiss. "I am at your mercy, and I doubt anything I say will make you hate me more than you already do."
"I spoke to Asuka a moment ago, and she told me that during the last tournament, Sorel attacked her and turned her into a monster, and judging from all the rumors going around it probably has something to do with you." Jin's voice became eerily quiet as he leaned over further, pushing the heel of his boot further into Kazuya's neck. "Sorel's powers seem to have a lot to do with the Devil Gene, so I must ask you this: how is it that Asuka has that power? Did you and your cronies at G-Corp experiment on her and then wiped her memory of it, or is it something more?"
Kazuya let out a low, dark chuckle as he listened to Jin's rather extensive question, "I believe the real question you are asking me is…'What is your connection to young Asuka Kazama?' To be perfectly frank," the smirk faded as Jin loosened the grip on his neck, "I think you already know…"
Suddenly, the wall that Kazuya was being pinned to exploded unexpectedly, causing both Jin and his father to go flying backwards (forwards in Kazuya's case). Quickly dismounting each other, Kazuya and Jin stood back up to see what happened, and saw a familiar sight: Ryoku Kazama, burning with his dark green ki and the wind howling outside. "Sorry I had to break up that touching father-son moment," Ryoku said with a sneer as he grabbed the two men by the throats and tossed them outside, "but I just couldn't wait any longer: I wanted some action!" Ryoku turned back around to the hole in the building to see the other Shinkengers coming at him, and tossed them outside, as well.
"What is the meaning of this, Ryoku?" Kazuya clenched his teeth as he struggled to get back up. "Am I to believe that you have betrayed me? Why would you do that: I thought we saw eye-to-eye…"
"And that's EXACTLY why I'm giving you the cold shoulder, dearest in-law," Ryoku replied while he watched Kazuya and the Shinkengers get back on their feet. "You see, I have really big plans, and the Mishima Zaibatsu is going to help me realize that dream. Therefore, I'm going to take out you and your children out of the picture." His ki swirling ominously in his hands, Ryoku raised his arms into the air. "After I do that, it'll jut be a simple matter of taking down Heihachi and filling out the right paperwork!"
Throwing his hands down at inhuman speed, the ground beneath him erupted in an explosion of green energy that was so forceful that it knocked the Shinkengers out of their suits and sent everyone around him flying in different directions. Ryoku let out a deep, manly laugh as he admired his handiwork. "Now let's see," he said as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation while listening to the groans of eight different martial artists. "Who should I crush first?
However, Ryoku's thoughts on such a violent act were interrupted upon hearing footsteps on the dusty ground. Turning around to see whose footsteps they were, and an eyebrow at who he saw: it was none other than Jun, his daughter who left unconscious just minutes prior. "Daughter dearest…just what are you doing here?"
"I have come to put an end to this father," Jun replied coolly while she removed her sunglasses and put them in her trenchcoat. "When this began, I dreamed of us being a family again. However, I now what a fool I've been, and how your being here is nothing but trouble. I will do whatever it takes to stop you…even if it costs me my life!"
"Are you sure you can?" Ryoku laughed before assuming a fighting stance. "All you do is follow around others, like sheep! However, maybe if you try with all your might…you just might be able to take me down!"
