Hello again...it's been a while. Sorry that it's been so long since I've uploaded, but sadly I don't have the free time that I used to when I first began writing this story. Don't worry, I'm still very interested in continuing this until the end, plus I do have somewhat of an outline for this story. Thanks for all the reviews to show that you're still interested in this, I'm still surprised that people actually liked it and only thought it would be a niche story not many people would read, so again thanks for your reviews!:)
After several months...here's Chapter 34!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters; they are all property of Namco.
With each step towards pursuing his goals, he felt like he was losing himself, slipping further into the darkness. It had been a long uphill battle, one with multiple setbacks and obstacles which he had to overcome, but now he was tired. He was tired of fighting this endless battle with himself, with him, and now he just wanted it all to end.
'I can feel his energy radiating strongly from the desert…he's taunting me, challenging me to a fight,' Jin thought, as he slowly trudged closer to the battlefield.
'Let me guide you…you need me,' the devil's voice coaxed him. 'We will prevail.'
'I just want it all to end…' his despondent thoughts echoed as he neared closer to exiting the gates of the security tower. The sounds of gun fire and war cries seemed dull and distant in his mind as he slowly continued to give in to the darkness.
'Let me in…and I will guide you to conquer all that oppose you,' the devil promised, slowly slithering his way into assuming complete control.
His vision seemed to become more narrow and blearier as his mind seemed to be fading further into the darkness to give in to the devil inside him.
"Jin! Stop right now!" a voice nearly screamed out to him from behind.
The voice was sharp and loud enough to pierce his thoughts momentarily, but it still sounded like a distant, distorted echo in his mind. 'Wait…what's…what's going on?' he thought hazily as he was suddenly reminded of something, but what?
'Give in to me…' the demon's voice coaxed, attempting to pull him further away from himself.
"Jin?! What the hell are you doing?!" the woman's voice continued to scream out to him.
His mind wanted to register the voice, wanted to respond to her somehow, but the devil's will continued to shut her out. 'Ni…na…'
'She's nothing to you,' the devil spoke convincingly. 'She's standing in the way of your true goals.'
As if on cue, he felt someone's hands pushing into his chest in an attempt to shove him back away from the security gates. A blurred figure stood before him, like a mass of conjoined colors that his mind couldn't quite discern. From the figure came an indistinguishable, dulled voice yelling at him. Everything sounded strange, like he had been submerged underwater, and his vision seemed to be giving away as well.
Nina finally caught up to him and attempted to block him from leaving the confines of the secured facility. She had been screaming for him to stop but to no avail. It was as if he had gone completely deaf. She breathed heavily in frustration and anger as she stood her ground to prevent him from leaving.
"Jin? Are you out of your damn mind?!" she shouted at him angrily. Despite the austerity in her tone, she was terrified and deeply worried. "Come with me…I need to get you out of here!" His strange behavior wasn't completely lost on her; it had to be this cursed place getting under his skin. Just as he said his dreams suggested, that strange, mythical creature was probably getting into his head. His blank, vacant eyes seemed to stare right through her as if she were some spectral being. The lights were on, but no one was home.
Again, the voice sounded so far away and muffled, and the face seemed unrecognizable at this point.
'Kill her…' the voice within him suggested casually.
Without hesitation, his body followed the command. His hand quickly reached out to the figure and seized it by its neck. Only his goals mattered now, and this obstruction in his path had to be destroyed. His hand squeezed tighter and even slightly lifted his prey from the ground while pinning it against the wrought iron gate before him. The distorted voice became louder, and he could feel the prey trying to slip away.
'That's it...kill her…devour her!' the demon laughed in amusement. He was on his way to destroying the bridge to his humanity to tap into his true self.
She was utterly taken aback and blindsided by his actions. His strong hand tightened around her throat and instantly transported her back to that night in his office, but she was far more frightened this time. His eyes didn't possess that otherworldly glow this time and his teeth weren't slightly fanged. Was this actually Jin himself harming her?
"Jin…please…" she gasped out between labored breaths as he gripped her neck and pinned her against the gate. She pounded her fists against his arm and tried to pry his hand away from her neck while her legs kicked wildly at him. He remained unmoved by her attempts as he continued to stare at her with those dull, soulless eyes. "Please…fight it…" she choked out as it became harder to breathe. She weakly fumbled with the zipper on her bodysuit in hopes of executing a last resort plan to get the situation under control. She felt herself losing consciousness as his deadly grip on her neck never loosened.
He could hear a faded voice in the distance, but his razor-sharp focus was only on his prey. The devil cackled insanely with glee and gratification in his mind as he somehow slowly released him from his mental hold.
'Look at her…isn't she beautiful?' the demon guffawed madly.
His vision, which had been previously distorted and blurred by the devil's possession, slowly began clearing. The borders of his sight decreased in darkness and the shadowy, obscure images finally sharpened and became more recognizable. His heart began drumming faster and his breath quickened as he was horrified at the sight before him.
'No…no…' Jin thought in shock. 'W-what did you do!?'
'You mean what did 'you' do?' the devil laughed again in that same irritating, mocking laugh. 'You're still doing it!'
'Let go! Let go of her!' he screamed in his thoughts. He could feel his hand squeezing around her throat as she now weakly tried to kick him away while trying to grab something from her bodysuit. This was a strange new phenomenon; his mind was now more cognizant of his actions, but his body was under control by the demon. He panicked as this reminded him of that horrific nightmare he had where the demon forced him to see all the carnage he was causing with no way of gaining control.
A voice from behind him screamed his name loudly. He could almost recognize it and almost intended to turn his head to acknowledge it until he realized his body was still under his control. Suddenly, a blunt blow to the back of his head caused him to stumble forward and fall to his knees, and thus finally releasing a hold of the demon's prey.
Nina fell onto the sandy concrete on her hands and knees after she was finally freed from his grasp, barely clinging to consciousness. Her breath was ragged as she coughed and gasped for air and she felt very lightheaded while her throat throbbed in pain. Her heart was pounding erratically, and her mind was still reeling from the events, but right now her only focus was to breathe. She flinched when she felt someone approach her and place their hands on her shoulders to help her up. She looked up with her bleary vision and was surprised to see Eddy.
"Are you okay?!" he asked nervously, his voice was strong and loud enough to pierce through the excitement of battle just beyond the gates. "What the hell happened?!" He had no idea what he was walking into. He was on his way to assist his team beyond the security tower when he noticed them from afar. Shocked and confused, he rushed over as quickly as possible to defuse the situation occurring between the two. Had they had a disagreement, or had something else occurred between them that would result in such a shocking outcome? Either way, nothing should've warranted that reaction from him and he had to stop whatever it was. He was still baffled by Jin's behavior. His eyes traveled over to his crazed employer and he glared at him with no attempt to conceal the indignation in his eyes.
The back of his head was throbbing in pain as he remained on his hands and knees with his face pointed towards the ground. The muffled noises around him had become crisper and louder, instantly transporting him back into their current predicament. Bullets rattled and the other heavy artillery exploded in the distance all around them, creating a loud cacophony of death and destruction. He stared at the ground blankly while he processed everything, or rather replayed everything in his mind. Having those horrid past few minutes replay over and over was complete torture to him; he'd much rather blackout during the devil's possession so that he had no recollection of the disgusting acts committed by that heinous beast. His eyes focused on his right hand and a wave a sickness filled him. It took a lot for him to hold back the bile that was threatening to rise from his gut.
With a few deep breaths, he finally summoned the courage to lift his head and face his reality. His almond eyes froze and widened as he looked at his two comrades. The eyes of the Brazilian man seared through him like a red-hot poker; he had never seen him boldly stare at him in such disgust, though he suspected deep down that he had always held a certain contempt for him for involving him in this war under a false contract. His eyes then focused on her. A tightness formed in his chest as well as his throat as he observed the blonde as she recovered from his near deadly assault on her. He hurt her. The stinging in his eyes forced him to blink and look away from her again in shame and disgust. A hard lump formed in his throat, making it a bit difficult for him to breathe.
'There's nothing left for me to do but to end this…I must die,' he thought depressingly with resolve. He slowly stood up and straightened his posture. Despite being wrought with guilt and disgust, he looked over to his comrades. "Take care of her," he said sullenly to the Brazilian man.
Eddy looked to Nina and then back at Jin with disdain. He stood as well and took a few steps toward the young man. "Is that all you have to say?!" he shot at him with clenched fists. "What the hell is with you, Jin?!"
Jin stood silently as Eddy was intent on chewing him out. He absorbed his anger and let him vent; his anger was completely justified, and he deserved the full force of his rage. He remained silent as he stared off in the distance and watched the battle soar beyond the gates. Tekken Force soldiers were holding off the assault from G Corp pretty well so far, but he could sense him out there somewhere, waiting for his arrival. 'I'm too weak to control it…I hurt her again…' his thoughts continually drifted further into despondency. 'I'd rather die than to allow myself become like him.' He was so lost in his thoughts that he was completely caught off guard when Eddy stepped towards him and gripped onto his shirt tightly to command his attention.
"Are you just going to walk away from this? Aren't you going to take responsibility for all of this bullshit you caused and for dragging us into this madness!?" He continued to yell irately. A flood gate had broken open in him, and he finally mustered up the courage to tell him the truth about how he really felt underneath his mask of compliance.
"Eddy…that's enough," Nina finally spoke up in a strained voice to disrupt the heated exchange between him and Jin. She slowly rose to her footing after regaining her breath and her composure after her near fatal encounter with her employer, or rather the entity within him. She let her eyes fall onto the troubled young man with conflicted emotions. As if he could sense her gaze on him, he turned his eyes to meet with hers very briefly until he lowered them and turned away from her. It pained her to see him like this; his eyes, from the short glimpse she witnessed, were slightly red as if he were trying his hardest to contain his emotions.
It was hard to focus with everything else going on around them, but they needed a plan to get out of this situation safely. The task would be much more arduous than she originally thought now that Jin was becoming more unstable to be around, but he seemed to have calmed down after Eddy knocked him back to his senses. What could she do now? Even with the dangers of her duty, she still had to perform her job. She took a step towards him as prepared to reason with him.
"Don't!" he yelled in a gruff voice as he noticed her approaching him. "Stay away from me! Both of you!" Jin snapped lightly as he turned away from them. The sight of her nearing him made his heart drum nervously. His gut wrenched as his actions constantly lingered on his mind, thanks to the devil not having the courtesy of rendering him unconscious before setting out to do his dastardly deeds. He buried his face into his palm as he tried to center his thoughts before he allowed himself to slip into the devil's playing field again. He was overwhelmed and extremely anxious due to the entire ordeal, not even counting the battle raging in the desert between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp.
Nina sighed in frustration as she was reaching the end of her rope in regard to her patience with him. Despite his orders, she had to act on her own accord within the guidelines of her logic to keep him safe. He was not mentally fit to be in such a dangerous environment. She had to rein him in. Again, she slyly reached into her bodysuit and discreetly retrieved a small syringe from her pouch. She sighed before she inhaled and exhaled deeply. 'Jin…hopefully you'll forgive me later,' she thought as she bravely took a few steps towards him to enact her last resort plan. With the syringe in hand, she quickly but quietly approached him from behind with her thumb ready on the plunger. Once he was out, she and Eddy could evacuate the premises and hopefully travel back to the MZ headquarters. As she readied herself to enact her plan, a loud, piercing noise soaring through the air followed by a large explosion completely disrupted her. Before they all could react to the first blast, it was swiftly followed by another.
She spun around towards the guard tower behind them. It was completely covered in smoke and flames before it eventually began to give away. 'Oh shit!' she thought in a panic as the large tower began falling towards them. Before she could react and shove Jin out of the way, he had already acted and quickly grabbed her around the waist before they dove and rolled away from the falling wreckage. They hit the ground roughly, but most of the impact was blocked by Jin.
Moments passed before they stirred. The dust settled and everything seemed quiet before their disorientation dissipated and sucked them back into reality. He stared up into the sky above as he laid on the ground, still slightly stunned from nearly being crushed to death by falling debris from tower. The blonde on top of him groaned slightly as she slowly pushed herself up from his chest and looked down at him. She seemed surprised that he was silently staring back up at her despite the unease he felt being near her after what had transpired between them earlier.
She was moments away from executing her plan, but it seemed that fate had other plans. Upon realizing something, a slight sneer appeared on her face. 'No…that definitely wasn't fate,' she thought sourly. The odds were continuously stacking against them by the minute, and had she not been bound by her duties, she would've made her escape long ago. She noticed that he seemed to have calmed himself a little after his previous episode. Had he finally come to his senses? She only hoped that he had and realized their perilous situation so that they all could evacuate together.
"Hey, are you guys alright over there?!" a voice called over to them.
Upon hearing Eddy's voice, she quickly sprung up from Jin and stood up. She extended her hand out to him, and he took it without hesitation as she helped him up, not that he seemed particularly injured or unable to stand on his own. Eddy had found a small pathway between the fiery rubble and quickly made his way towards them again after they had been split apart to avoid being flattened like a pancake. She was glad that he made it without injury.
He approached them in a slight panic. "If they're already attacking the base, then that means they've must've broken through our defensive lines!" he exclaimed in agitation and anger.
"No, not yet," Nina said calmly. "It's more like a personal invitation to a lousy party I don't want to attend." Her blue eyes squinted as she stared in the distance beyond the gates and into the battlefield. She couldn't see that far into the distance, but she knew she was out there somewhere. 'I don't have time for your pathetic games, Anna.' She looked over to Jin and noticed that his eyes were intently locked onto something in the distance over the battle grounds. Her heart rate increased a little, fearing that she was going to lose him again to the other entity residing within him.
He clenched his fists tightly as he could feel the currents flowing through him. He could feel the presence of another like him growing closer. It was never going to end. After already battling and contending with the demon within himself, he had no respite before being forced to confront another foe.
'What are you going to do?' the devil spoke within him. 'Are you going to run like a coward, or are you going to face him?'
Jin gritted his teeth in anger as his fists clenched even tighter. Once again, he felt his thoughts being shrouded in darkness as he was sinking his claws into him again. He wanted to finally put an end to this, but part of him wanted to be rational.
"Jin?" the blonde's voice flowed over him to interrupt his conflicted thoughts. "Please…we have to leave."
He looked up at her and tried to curb his flaring anger. He could see that she was cautiously keeping her distance from him as she was doing her best to reason with him. Her eyes held so much emotion; they were filled with fear and worry for him, and he hated seeing her so affected by his current state. 'She's right…I should listen to her,' he thought, trying to level himself with his bodyguard's rationale. 'If we stay…things will only get worse from here.'
'Running away again? Pathetic!' the demon mocked. 'End it here…it's what you wanted all along, and if you run now...you'll only prove to him that you're unworthy of this power.'
'I'm not running away, and I don't care what he thinks!' Jin fired back in his thoughts in anger. 'I can't lose control…not here.' He knew what the demon was trying to do, and he didn't want to fall prey to him, but his words were seeping into his mind like a caustic poison. All the while, he could feel the threat of his father's presence becoming more oppressive as if he were intentionally trying to drive him mad.
'Why not? You're the only one in your way to control this power…you need to embrace it,' the devil's tongue persuaded. 'You will not defeat your enemies without me.'
Jin finally relaxed his hands as he breathed heavily while looking up again to fix his gaze over the battlefield. The battle was still raging on, but as time passed, more bodies of fallen soldiers were littering the desert. It was strange that he was still accompanied by his two comrades, who had completely put their duties on hold to essentially babysit him while awaiting their next orders. It was all in his hands.
Jin turned his head to look to the blonde again. Their eyes met and they just silently locked eyes as if they were privately communicating with each other. He could almost see a small glimmer of hope in her eyes that he would let her protect him and whisk him away to safety. He knew what she was saying to him without words, and the sane part of him wanted to leave with her and board a jet back to headquarters. He wanted to be back in the solitude of his office…with her. He wanted to quietly observe her doing mundane, daily things, he wanted to listen to her speak to him casually about topics concerning anything but this damned war, he wanted to be enveloped by her warm embrace at night to help him forget everything.
'Your time is up…choose wisely,' the devil reminded him.
Nina watched him carefully, trying to discern his mental state. She wanted to approach him, but she was now fully aware of this risk she'd be taking. There was only six feet between them, but it felt like a mile. His eyes seemed consumed with sadness and regret, and her heart began thumping nervously once again. Strangely, she began to notice a faint purple aura flowing around him and her mouth fell slightly agape in shock.
"Please…forgive me…" he spoke to her in a deeply remorseful tone before he quickly took off running towards the gate and leapt over it in a single bound.
"Jin! No!" She shouted out with widened eyes and a look of incredulity on her features. Watching him recklessly run off towards the heat of the ongoing battle nearly sent her into a state of high anxiety. As she ran towards the gate as well, she was stopped when someone reached out to grab her by the arm. She whipped around angrily to face the man.
Eddy had only observed everything once again, not particularly knowing how to wedge himself between their personal affairs. The main thing he has deduced was that Jin had gone off the deep end and it was best for them to figure out their best course of action before doing anything too reckless. "Whatever the hell is going on with him, we can't worry about it now!" he tried to convince her. "I don't want you to get yourself killed trying to stop whatever it is he's doing."
Nina pulled her arm from his grasp with a small scowl. It became more clear than ever that her duties and stakes in this were wildly different from his. However, she didn't blame Eddy for wanting to abandon this mission, for he had no real obligation to Jin and his cause. She wouldn't mind it if he did escape safely, especially knowing the truth about his dead-end deal with Jin. "You can leave if you want, but I can't abandon him…not like this," she informed him with determination in her voice. "Call more reinforcements and tell them to send an evacuation team and get as many men as possible the hell out of here!" After saying this to him, she ran towards the tall wrought iron gates and skillfully scaled up them before jumping over to the other side, leaving the conflicted and confused man on his own.
Her plan sounded tempting and he sure as hell was tired of this endless battle, but he was no coward and he refused to give up on everything he sacrificed so far. "This is fucking nuts!" he muttered to himself before getting ready to foolishly throw himself into the fire once again.
I have such an interest in Jin's slow descent into madness and wanted to showcase a little more about what I think he goes through mentally when trying to battle against the evil within him. How will Nina handle seeing his alternate side? Next chapter will have more action, but I have to map out and choregraph the fight scenes...oh and there will be some extreme violence ahead, just a warning!