AN: The wait was rather long this time, wasn't it? Without further ado…

Chapter 14: The Date is Set

When the Mishima Zaibatsu announced that a second King of Iron Fist Tournament would be held, it reverberated throughout the world. The media exploded with excitement and Kazuya's refusal to be seen in the limelight made the story all the more juicier. All those who had participated in the last tournament already had some excuse to attend, but the real reason was the prize money which was a thousand times more than it had been previously. Kazuya did this purposefully in order to draw out more fighters.

Thousands of so-called fighters clamored to participate in the tournament, but a strenuous competency program was put into place for exactly this reason. Similar to the preliminary fights that had preluded the last tournament, fighters were expected to prove that their fighting skills were up to standards before they would be recognized as participants.

Devil was in full control of Kazuya for now and there was little resistance from Kazuya. A deal had been struck. Devil had agreed to allow Kazuya the chance to fight when the time came at the end of the tournament. That was all that he had to look forward to, but that was enough. He felt that his long battle against Devil was coming to a close. Better that he got some enjoyment out of it while he still could. He was resigned to his fate at last. He no longer saw any justification in dragging Jun down with him. She was with child and had her own problems to deal with. If she had any sense at all, she'd abandon all attempts at saving him. Surely by now she understood the fruitlessness of her efforts. There was nothing she could do. The closer the date of the tournament drew, the closer Kazuya drew to his spiritual death.

Kazuya, first of all, qualified Bruce Irvin's participation into the tournament. He was given a free pass, but it came of no real surprise to Bruce who had for the last year worked for Kazuya. It was a blessing in the skies as far as Bruce was concerned. Having survived being chased down by a hired killer and a plane crash, Bruce was more than happy to take what he saw was his only escape from a life of running. Protected by the Mishima name, Bruce unquestionably followed whatever orders Kazuya gave him. He had proven his loyalty to Kazuya; keeping behind the scenes and doing the kind of dirty work that even Lee was unaware of. That he would be representing Kazuya in the coming tournament was proof that Kazuya at least recognized his loyalty. Ganryu was chosen as well to enter the tournament completely bypassing any competency tests. He was yet another minion of Kazuya's mostly given the task of acting as bodyguard whenever Kazuya asked for it. It wasn't very often, but just often enough to make him necessary to keep around. Kazuya wanted to surround himself with strong capable men and especially with men who didn't mind getting their hands dirty. The less that Kazuya had to do himself the easier it was to keep the real Kazuya completely in the dark not to mention the practicality of such arrangements.

Then there was Anna. A woman who was both flirtatious and fierce all in the same breath; she had the looks to back it up as well. She used her natural talents to catch the attention of the rather isolated Kazuya after spying on his whereabouts for weeks. By then, word had gotten around of Mishima Zaibatsu's connections to the underside of the business world and of Kazuya himself being quite the dubious character. A man such as that would have need for a woman of her skills or at least this was what Anna concluded. She knew that if she could land a job working for Kazuya her life would be set. No more running around. No more tracking down clients and risking getting caught by the authorities. If she was backed by a powerful corporation such as the Mishima Zaibatsu, she could breathe a sigh of relief. That was why she painstakingly went after him at a near obsessive degree.

She followed him into a diner one day. She had staked the place for three days straight knowing that it was a place that he frequented for dinner in the late hours of the night. In fact, Anna was quite sure that Kazuya had struck some kind of deal with the restaurant to stay open until midnight to accommodate his late work hours. Not too many restaurants would do as much since it wasn't a very profitable practice. She knew what she was doing. Her kimono dress was teasingly revealing and she wore stilettos to accentuate her walk. She was quite a curvaceous woman and she planned to use this to her advantage. She saw the large sumo wrestler sitting at a separate table trying to seem inconspicuous, Anna knew better. He had to be Kazuya's bodyguard; Kazuya hardly ever said anything to the man yet he felt the need to drag him along to certain places. No one else besides those two happened to be there that night anyways. With heels clicking with confidence, she strolled towards Kazuya's table as if it were completely natural. She immediately felt the tension in the air all of it stemming from the wrestler. Kazuya was already looking at her and she made sure to match his gaze. Yes, this man was not to be trifled with she realized, but such realizations did little to deter her—she found it to be all the more intriguing. Few men could incite such a feeling from her at first glance. Anna heard Ganryu's chair scrape against the floor as he stood up. Before he could even begin to move towards her, Anna watched as Kazuya gave the other a sharp look. It was enough to send him back to his seat. Anna smiled approvingly as she gathered Kazuya's attention once again and by now stood in front of his table. Without being invited, she took a seat right across from him. It was a small table; one that only two people could sit at a time. Anna could tell that he was clearly amused.

"So what brings you here, Anna," Kazuya said upon her sitting. He had put down his chopsticks, his meal almost completely forgotten.

It was quite a shock to hear her name and a look of surprise crossed her face for just a second before she regained her composure. "I see you've done your homework."

"Not many things escape my attention."

"Well then, I guess I'll get straight to the point then, I want to—

"Yes."

Anna was confused for a moment. "Yes, to me working for you?"

"What else would a hired killer want from me at such late hours?"

"I promise I'll make it worth your while," Anna replied sitting back comfortably in her seat in a way that made her breasts far more prominent.

"I'm sure you will. Since you've gone through all the trouble, why don't you order something?" Kazuya turned to the larger man nearby, "Bring the server."

"You're really too kind."

Kazuya looked at her strangely when she said this. "I'm sure you'll find yourself recanting such statements in due time. You will be protected by me as long as you prove useful. The moment you're not or the moment you feel the need to betray our agreement, I will have you killed."

"Just the right motivation. I'd be worried if it was any other way."

She tried to stay as relaxed as she could, but a cold fear had found its way to her. No, this was not a man to be trifled with. Kazuya spoke more on his conditions as the night wore on—he was quite a meticulous man. He was all business and almost no pleasure. Every once in a while Anna would find his eyes straying to other areas of her body besides her face but not for very long. She leaned in close when her food came and she had an excuse to. Even so, Anna could sense when she wasn't fully in control and this time she wasn't. It bothered her that he hadn't so much as mentioned that she was lovely or try to seduce her. From her experience, men in his position wouldn't think twice about doing such things. He was an oddity.

Anna finished her food and drank her champagne slowly as her mind took in all the details of their agreement.

"It almost feels like I should sign something."

"You know better than that. As soon as something is signed, that's evidence against me and the police would like nothing more than to find something like that."

"I was only thinking out loud. I'll take my leave now," Anna said standing not wanting to overstay her welcome.

"So soon?"

He hadn't said it in a pleading voice, but the question did bring a smile to her face perhaps there was hope. It was a fact that if her boss was in any way infatuated with her that her position would be made far more secure.

"It is getting rather late. I do sleep sometimes." She turned as a victory smile crept onto her lips.

"Well, don't let me keep you."

Even as she was able to smile, the cold feeling in her chest did not disappear until she exited the building. It was a wonder any woman was able to stay around him for long. Yet she found herself quite attracted to him. But then she had a habit of falling for unattainable men and he seemed as unattainable as one could get.

Later on down the line, Anna asked Kazuya to allow her to participate in the tournament. Initially, he had denied her request, but after giving her reason why she wanted to, he gave in. When she spoke of her sibling rivalry, he grew thoughtful and quiet. He asked if she'd be able to kill her sister if given the chance. When she acquiesced, Kazuya seemed quite impressed and told her that she'd be doing him a favor anyway. Nina still had a contract out on him. No doubt she had entered the tournament for the chance to kill him.

Those three were the only exceptions along with Jack-2 and Prototype Jack both of which were completely machine and merely sent in to balance the playing field. Boskonovitch, one of the scientists that Kazuya had tasked Bruce with nabbing, was in charge of military science. In the past, he had made Jack as well as other little toys that made Kazuya plenty of money in the right markets. One of his pet projects, combining DNA of animal and human in order to create a formidable living weapon, spawned Roger and Alex, both of which would be let loose onto the tournament island when the time came.

Kazuya left others in charge of organizing the tournament. He had hired plenty of other able-minded people to attend to such matters. He wanted to eliminate all that could ever oppose him once he began his full throttle plans of taking over the world piece by piece. He was glad when he learned that the roster of participants had increased this year. It meant less people that would be able to revolt against him. Kazuya could care less just who these people were; he just knew that soon they would be defeated. The participants wound up being Armor King, Baek Doo San, Heihachi Mishima(at this time he was going under a different name so as to conceal his identity), Jun Kazama, King, Kuma, Kunimitsu, Marshall Law, Chaolan Lee, Lei Wulong, Michelle Chang, Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix, Wang Jinrei, and Yoshimitsu.

Even after they were chosen, however, they continued to train, especially the ones who had gone through this sort of tournament before. Endurance was key.

Lee trained on his own separating himself from even Wang who had offered to pass on some of his wisdom. Lee had been in a pseudo-rivalry with Kazuya. He knew as he thought back on things that it was all thanks to Heihachi. His father had wanted it that way and it had come to pass. Yet his want to become a more effective fighter than Kazuya remained in the back of his mind. It was impossible for him to ever hate his brother, not after what he had learned last year about him. He had to be stopped one way or another and that task, he believed, fell on him. Who else alive in this world could even come close to the strength and power Kazuya demonstrated in battle? He would have to confront him and defeat him. Lee felt that if he could prove to be the stronger man that the evil spirit that Kazuya harbored would abandon him completely. Isolated from everyone else, Lee honed his skills as a fighter. Perhaps the silver-haired demon could bring Kazuya to his knees.

Paul was perhaps the most anxious for the tournament. Ever since his defeat at the hands of Kazuya, he knew that he must have a rematch. He was to be the strongest man in the universe. If he could defeat a full grown bear, than a mere human should have been a walk in the park. There was something about Kazuya, though. He was the ultimate fighter, the kind of fighter that Paul dreamed of being, strove at being. He grew angry just thinking about it. This time would be different, he felt. He had improved his fighting technique by attending more and more tournaments around the states. He had come out victorious each time he entered. He felt he was ready.

Lei Wulong found that the chips were simply falling all into place when his last minute decision to try out for the tournament actually panned out. Not unlike Jun, he was a police officer that wanted to arrest Kazuya for his alleged crimes. One too many reports with his name on it had crossed his desk. If anything, he wanted Kazuya to be properly interrogated. He was elusive as well as secretive. He saw the tournament as one of the few ways to meet him face to face. He didn't actually plan on fighting Kazuya but arresting him. He pictured the scene so often in his mind that it was almost like it was destined to happen. It was worth a shot anyway and it suited his unorthodox ways.

Michelle was drawn to the tournament on a very cruel whim on Kazuya's part. The entire situation seemed to be something that Kazuya must have concocted when he was utterly bored. There was a jewel that Michelle wore around her neck that according to Kazuya's sources was the key to unlocking great treasure. Instead of simply having his men grab her unawares and steal the jewel in one fell swoop, he decided to kidnap her mother with little pretense and making it obvious that it was he who was responsible by having his men leave a very frank and to the point note advising her that if she did not participate in the tournament that he would have her mother killed quite slowly and painfully. He did not give her a free pass; she had to prove that she was a competent fighter to even have a chance at saving her mother. Michelle Chang had good motivation to train—it was literally a life or death situation. She found that she hated Kazuya bitterly. She would see him pay for his callousness.

Others were training as well, all with their separate but compelling reasons. Baek Doo San wanted to finish off Marshall Law after being coerced into doing so by a secret organization aware of his spotty past. Marshall Law wanted to avenge his shamed dojo after Baek had, quite frankly, demolished his students in a very short time. Law knew that Baek was no normal fighter and trained accordingly. Nina competed to finally finish her task of assassinating Kazuya. Yoshimitsu was compelled to join by his resolve to rescue a certain scientist from the evil clutches of Kazuya. The trail had grown cold on Boskonovitch, the man who had once saved his very life. The one person that certainly knew his whereabouts was Kazuya and Yoshimitsu had ways for making people talk. Instead of wasting his energy on trying to locate and get him alone where he could quickly dispatch him, he simply entered the tournament. Not only would it be more entertaining, he could also bring the Mishima Zaibatsu under his control and finally send the large corporation down the righteous path once more. Killing three birds with one stone was one of Yoshimitsu favorite pastimes. Armor King and King had their own little rivalry going on, but it was actually a healthy rivalry. Armor King helped his friend King through a very desperate time in his life as drinking problems cropped up. Fighting was his only escape and it was the only way he could continue his contribution towards his orphanage.

Wang was motivated by much the same reason as Lee except that he was willing and planning on definitely killing Kazuya so that the world could be rid of Devil. After Jun reported to him that Kazuya was once again possessed by Devil, he knew that there was no way to ever really separate the spirit from the man so his only option left was to destroy him altogether. After a teenage Kazuya had fallen ill and was bedridden for weeks, Jinpachi had spoken at great lengths to Wang, his closest friend. Jinpachi was a superstitious man. He believed in such things as demons walking the earth and possessing humans. One of the last things he told Wang before his demise was that if Kazuya could no longer control the evil spirit, then it would be better to put him out of his misery rather than allow him to live the rest of his life a slave to the evil ones. Because Heihachi was the root of the problem, Jinpachi felt that if left alive he would make victim some other poor child; he felt it necessary to rid the world of him once and for all. Wang took his requests to heart though he was hesitant. He thought he might be able to get around such things, but it was impossible. It was imperative that this be done sooner rather than later.

And last but not least, there was Jun and she had her own special form of training.

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AN: Took me longer than expected. I suspect the end chapters to these Tekken stories to get longer and longer. There are just so many characters. I try not to dwell too long on the ones that aren't directly involved with Kazuya, but then most characters have some connection to Kazuya.