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(Aftermath)
The darkness was all-consuming, absolute. Kazuya had been violently yanked out of his body and now felt gravity pulling him down with increasingly savage force until he was falling at breakneck speed. The air whooshed around him as he flailed his arms trying to grab onto something but found nothing to grasp or even touch. An involuntary groan escaped his lips when his body slammed into solid ground and he felt the air leave his lungs. He lay on his back for a moment trying to catch his breath. He was fully aware of what was happening, Devil had taken control and was in the parking lot.
A window opened above and Kazuya saw the scene in the parking lot through Devil's eyes. The demon seemed to be on the ground, slowly sitting up. It was difficult to see through all the smoke, there was the orange glow of a fire somewhere beyond but he couldn't see much else, it wasn't Devil's focus. He heard deep, garbled voices and the distorted sound of traffic in the distance. Anna rose slowly next to Devil, much too slowly, at first he thought that she was injured but quickly realized that everything was happening in slow motion. Anna moved inch by inch until she was on her knees crouched as low as her body could go, she held a small handgun, she pulled back the hammer and put her finger on the trigger. He saw her arm move forward as her left hand pushed on Kazuya's body, an unspoken signal to duck down.
What a dedicated employee, Devil's raspy voice echoed around Kazuya, putting her life on the line to keep you safe. But if you think about it, if she was good at her job in the first place this never would have happened. If you're wondering what happened, someone just tried to blow you up. You need better help, I should save you the drama of having to fire her.
Kazuya watched through the window as Devil reached forward and lightly rested the heel of his palm on the nape of Anna's neck, his fingers grazing her brown hair. Anna's back tensed but she didn't move.
Devil's voice dripped with malice. I would make it quick, snap her neck right here and now. No one would even suspect you, you could blame it on the explosion.
No!
Kazuya sat up, his heart racing. He shut his eyes tightly and attempted to control Devil just as he had on the day when he tried to harm Jun. He pictured Devil's hand sliding down Anna's back and away from her, he tried to hold the image in his mind's eye but fragments of memories interrupted his thoughts. He was suddenly a little boy, falling, grasping at nothing. The window closed leaving him enveloped in darkness.
That is not going to work. Devil's voice brought him back to the reality of his black prison. If you don't want me to hurt her I won't, she's not so bad... But I am in a touchy mood today... I'll leave it up to you, if you treat our partnership with the respect that it deserves, I won't touch her.
What do you want?
In a way I understand, you're young, kids like to test limits, to rebel... Just promise me that you'll be a good boy from now on and I'll let you have this one, but understand that if it happens again, I will kill your friends.
It was a feeling of utter defeat, of humiliation. He had thought he could best Devil, that he could control him, but now Devil was the one in control and had made him relive his most painful memory.
What do you want? Kazuya asked again.
I want our plans to stay on track. I want our merger with G-Corporation to be a success so that we can expand, I want this tournament to be the greatest spectacle the world has ever seen and most of all, I want you to get the revenge that you so deserve. So really, all I want is what's best for you.
That is exactly what I was doing.
I is such a selfish word. You're alive because of me and I'm going to get the credit that I deserve. You will not push me around, as you see, it doesn't work and if you do it again, I will kill your little mystic bitch slowly right after I kill everyone else. He groaned. All this smoke is making the air foul, I hate that.
Kazuya felt himself being pulled upward. He knew he was back in control of his body when the acrid smell settled in his throat and made him feel sick to his stomach. He thought he heard voices but it was difficult to tell with the ringing in his ears, it made him feel disoriented and vulnerable. A small hand pushed on his chest, he wanted to see who it was but the brightness of the sun and the sting of the smoke forced him to shut his eyes tightly.
When strong hands pulled him up by his arm, he opened his eyes slowly and stood upright. A man in a dark suit urged him into a black sedan. Fuchida, Kazuya somehow remembered the man's name, he looked over his shoulder and saw Anna following closely looking alert and focused. He surveyed his surroundings and saw the limo engulfed in smoke and flames before entering the vehicle. He sat in the back seat followed by Anna, he noticed that she put as much space between them as the seat allowed.
"Leave now," she spoke in a firm, calm tone. "Our people here can take care of the two that are hurt and..." She shook her head. The driver nodded and took off immediately. "Are you all right?" She looked at Kazuya then put the safety back on her gun and slid it into the lace holster that was now visible on her upper thigh, the slit in her skirt had torn and the stitching was coming undone. He didn't answer, he simply fixed his eyes on her face. A trickle of blood was barely visible under her bangs above her right eyebrow, her hair was a bit disheveled but other than that she bore no marks. He turned his head toward the window, they had left the parking lot and were driving down the street. Anna sighed at his lack of response. "Give me the phone." She extended her hand toward the front seat and Fuchida, who as in the passenger's side, reached over his shoulder to give her the car phone.
Kazuya watched the scene outside his window. Northbound traffic was slowing down while the southbound lanes were at a standstill, cars began to slowly move to the side of the street as the faint sound of sirens was heard. It became louder and clearer and in mere moments police cars followed by other emergency vehicles moved in the direction of the stadium as quickly as they were able.
The fact that someone had tried to kill him suddenly sank in. It certainly had not been the first time, it had happened when he was only five years old and again when he fought Heihachi at the first tournament. The attempt on his life coupled with Devil thoroughly defeating him put him in a strange mood, he could only call it strange because he didn't know what to feel. Anger certainly, but who should he direct it to? Jun for making him think that he could control Devil? For her role in enraging the demon? Anna and Bruce for failing to secure the stadium? Or himself for putting his trust in others?
He looked at Anna and listened to her phone conversation. She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "Yes, he's fine, I'm sitting right next to him. Traffic's a bitch right now, we're taking the side streets so I don't know how long we'll be. Does stadium security have any more information?" She sighed again. "We can't trust anyone, Bruce. No one leaves the building and only employees come in, security personnel-" Her jaw tightened. "No, Bruce, I'm not telling you how to do your job and I'm not yelling at you, I can barely hear myself think with this goddamned ringing in my ears." Her eyes met Kazuya's and her expression quickly softened before looking away. "I have nothing else to say, we'll be there soon." She pushed a button on the phone and ended the call then handed it back to Fuchida. She leaned back in her seat. "You should really invest in some of those cellular phones."
"They've proven to be unreliable." His voice sounded lower than usual, he felt his temperature rise as he looked at Anna, the near-serene look on her face made him want to push her out of the vehicle. "You seem very calm."
Anna shrugged. "I work well under pressure."
"This happened while we were at the stadium, not before, so don't try to blame it on Bruce."
She crossed her arms lightly under her chest looking somewhat insulted. "I'm not blaming anything on anyone, I didn't even say anything."
"If you had been doing the job that I hired you to do instead of acting like a goddamned teenager going to a party-"
"You're angry and I'm the only one here, I get it. But don't put all the blame on me, there is security staff everywhere and cameras monitoring every damn corner of the stadium so there's plenty of blame to go around. Besides, I was getting rid of that Interpol agent just like you asked."
He turned his eyes to the passing buildings. "You do everything I ask and yet, you have failed to make yourself useful since you've been back."
Anna inhaled slowly. "I am doing my job, so I don't know what else you want from me."
He twisted his body in the seat to face her and looked piercingly into her eyes. "Tell me who's responsible for this."
She looked back at him, unflinching. "I can't know that until I look into it."
He was losing his patience, giving in to his anger, if Devil had wanted, he would have been able to easily take control. He spoke through clenched teeth. "Guess, humor me. Who seems the most likely culprit? Heihachi? The Russians? Lee?"
Anna shook her head and moved her gaze toward the front seat. "It wasn't Lee. There are too many possibilities, you have too many enemies, you've pissed off too many people and-"
He stared at her until she turned to look at him again. "How do you know it wasn't Lee? Why are you defending him? What did you find out this morning? Did he tell you where he was the past two weeks?"
Anna gave him a look that was between fear and annoyance. "I didn't get a chance to ask him, you summoned me and-"
He scoffed. "So you failed, yet again."
She turned her body to fully face him. "I only had a few minutes with him."
"I need to know where he went, that could tell us if he's responsible for this. Do whatever you have to do to find out."
She sighed. "I will do everything I can but don't expect him to give me a confession, it won't be that easy."
"It should be that easy...for you."
She cocked her head to the side and brushed her fingertips over her gun. "Why?"
"Because you have a past with him, use that. Exploit it if you have to."
She slowly clenched her fist. "How exactly do you mean? You need to be clear."
He sighed impatiently. "I'm sure you know exactly what I mean and I'm sure you know exactly how to get what you need and what you want from a man. Do whatever you have to do."
He noticed a soft blush creep on her cheeks as she spoke softly but firmly. "I am not some hired whore."
"You are whatever I need you to be. I don't care what your methods are, I just want results."
Anna shifted her body and faced forward, Kazuya's eyes bore into the side of her head a moment longer before doing the same. There was complete silence as the car pulled into the parking garage at the Mishima Building. He could almost feel the discomfort of the two men sitting up front, they had obviously heard the entire conversation, but he didn't care that they'd heard him speak to Anna that way. She had no idea how close Devil had been to killing her, she had cheated death twice that morning and she didn't even know it. She was supposed to be the bodyguard and yet, he was the one protecting her, the least she could do was prove herself useful.
As the driver stopped the car in front of the elevator Kazuya saw three armed security guards approach. One of the guards opened the door for Kazuya. Anna didn't wait and opened the door herself then stepped out of the vehicle at the same time as Fuchida.
"We retrieved your purse, Miss Williams." Fuchida handed Anna her bag.
"How thoughtful," Anna said as she reached for it. As Kazuya made his way toward the elevator he heard her lower her voice. "If either of you breathes a word of this conversation, I will kill you both." Fuchida audibly gasped. "Yes," Anna hissed, "I said kill."
Don't make me kill her, Devil's voice echoed in his head, she's starting to grow on me.
Kazuya stepped into the elevator followed by Fuchida, the driver, and the security guards.
"I'll wait for the next one," Anna spoke through a cordial and obviously false smile. It was just as well, he could barely stomach looking at her.
Good help is so hard to find.
Kazuya wanted to be alone, for an instant he considered letting Devil take control, letting him take flight so that he could sleep in the dark void where no one would bother him.
Devil laughed lightly. No, no, you made the mess, you clean it up. His soft cackle echoed in his head before fading away.
Kazuya looked condescendingly at the men in the elevator. I'm surrounded by idiots. The worst part was, that Bruce and Anna had utterly failed him, his most trusted employees. Were they truly worth saving? He was almost sure that it was the anger and exhaustion talking, still, as the elevator made its ascent, he found it impossible to keep the thought from his mind.
A/N: Well, it finally happened, a short(ish) chapter. It was part of a much longer chapter but I was able to find a place to split it.
I know it's been a while since my last update, what can I say, life and stuff. If you're worried that I'll abandon this story, don't be, I'm writing because I enjoy it and as a personal challenge to myself. But I do have a family and responsibilities and sometimes circumstances that I can't control, so sometimes it will be a while between updates, but I'll always come back as long as life allows. Next chapter is written, so it will be coming soon. Thanks for reading!
