Well, it's Triple Threat week for me. Why? Because I have 3 major academic events this week.
1. My barrier exam in music this Thursday: if I don't pass it, I don't move on.
2. My oral exam in Spanish on Wednesday: I need to find a topic, and rant about it in Spanish for at least three minutes without any sort of notes or script.
3. The rough draft of my English Critique will be due on Friday: I have yet to settle on a topic.
With all this going on, why did I crank out another chapter? Because if I didn't, I would have felt guilty. I love you guys that much.
Enjoy!
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Ever since he was betrayed by his grandfather Heihachi Mishima, Jin had always clung to the belief that his father Kazuya's blood was responsible for his sinister Devil Gene, while his mother Jun's Kazama blood allowed him to maintain some sort of suppression of such evil. Upon further research, he discovered that Jun possessed a power that acted as a counter-agent to the Devil power that would keep it in check. Not only that, the evil that existed within the Mishimas turned out to be far more extensive than some simple Devil Gene.
Jin had thoroughly believed that despite the evil on one side of his family, the other side would always be untainted with such corruption.
Such a belief, however, was quickly brought to a halt when he met his grandfather Ryoku Kazama: someone who was believed dead for decades only to suddenly return from beyond the grave and wreak havoc upon Jin and his comrades. His skill was beyond compare, and his strength was practically immeasurable: a living nightmare with an attitude to go along with it.
Just when it seemed that Ryoku would emerge victorious before the battle could truly begin, a new combatant entered the fray. It was none other than Heihachi, clothed in wrath and power as the latest Shinkenger, ShinkenLord. Jin didn't know why he had come to save him and his comrades, but Heihachi was quick to challenge Ryoku as the rest of the Shinkenger lay sprawled across the floor of the Mishima Mansion.
Ryoku's appearance had truly shaken Jin in more ways than one: he had begun to question the purity of the Kazama clan as well. What if my mother was only an exception, Jin thought while he watched Ryoku and Heihachi slowly circled the room, sizing each other up. What if both sides of my family tree consist almost exclusively of fiends!?
"You know, it's a wonder why we even bother fighting sometimes," Hwoarang said out loud as he got back onto his feet as Xiaoyu helped him up. "Every time we get in too deep, some newcomer always comes in and makes the save…"
"I've never really thought about it, Hwo," she replied while she ran over to get Steve back on his feet while Hwoarang went over to Kenichi. "Maybe fate just likes to smile on us whenever things get rough." After making sure Steve was OK, Xiaoyu turned to Asuka who had just stood back up and dusted herself off. "Hey, Asuka, what do you think of this guy?"
"I think he's a total nut," Asuka shouted back before walking over to Feng and assisting him in regaining proper footing. "And here I thought all the kooks came from the other side of the gene p-"Asuka quickly covered her mouth as she realized what she was saying. However, even though she did not complete that sentence, it was enough to get Jin's attention.
What did she mean by that, and why did she suddenly become quiet about it? Jin wondered, completely ignoring the battle between his grandfathers that was about to ensure and worrying more about Asuka's slip on the tongue. An instant later, Jin remembered what the maniac Jean Sorel had told him a week earlier in regards to Asuka.
"Go ask your father: he will have all the answers."
No way, Jin muttered in astonishment, his gaze continued to remain fixated on Asuka while she and the other Shinkengers came to his side. It's not possible…
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Heihachi and Ryoku finally stopped stalling and came at each other with violent intent. The two of them simultaneously shot out their fists and banged them against each other, causing blue and green sparks to fly from their hands as a result of such an impact. With their fists grinding against one another, Heihachi and Ryoku's free hands sprung to life and latched onto their opponent. Heihachi's hand was now clutching Ryoku's neck, while Ryoku's hand was latched onto his other arm.
"So what's it going to be, Heihachi," Ryoku said between grunts as Heihachi's grip on his throat tightened. "If you want to keep that arm, I suggest you let go of my neck." Ryoku gave Heihachi's arm a twist and elicited a grunt of pain from the elder Mishima. However, Heihachi was no stranger to being in such a predicament. Lifting his left leg, he placed his foot squarely on Ryoku's chest and kicked him away, forcing the both of them to relinquish their deathgrips on each other.
Ryoku crashed into a small table and crushed it accordingly as he landed on his buttocks. However, the lamp that was sitting on the table surprisingly remained unscathed, landing in the Aiki-jujitsu master's lap. Making use of the item, Ryoku tossed the lamp at Heihachi who swatted it away accordingly. However, that instant was the opening that Ryoku needed to gather his energy and toss a green blade of energy that shaved the floor and left a streak as it rushed towards Heihachi.
However, Heihachi didn't seem worried when he realized that it was coming at him too fast for him to get out of the way. Rather than prepare to counter-attack, he simply crossed his arms and waited for the blade to make contact. The blast collided with him and scattered, but Heihachi showed no signs of visible damage. "Do you now see the power of ShinkenLord, Ryoku?" Heihachi asked rhetorically as he suddenly appeared into front of Ryoku and sent him skyward with a quick uppercut: his Electric Wind Godfist. "If you wish to even hope to match me, you'll have to do better than that!"
Seeing no reason to end his assault with that, Heihachi let loose another Electric Wind Godfist that made contact in mid-air, and followed with a quick left hook concluding with a pair of palm thrusts that propelled Ryoku into the wall. The Aiki-jujitsu master quickly regained his footing and turned his head around to notice the crack he left in the wall before looking back at Heihachi, who was coming at him with his fist raised.
Springing into action without hesitation, Ryoku caught Heihachi's hand mere inches away from his chest, and then used it to fling Heihachi into the very same wall that he had crashed into. "Well, how about that, old buddy," Ryoku laughed while he grinded Heihachi's head into the wall before ramming him into it numerous times. "Has my game stepped up now?" After the fifth ram, Heihachi's head went into the wall and was shocked with the loose wiring within. The electricity surrounded his body as he vibrated violently, and then suddenly his body began to glow and shoot out the very electricity that was bombarding him. Ryoku couldn't believe his eyes: one moment he had his grip on him, and the next moment Heihachi suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
Ryoku wouldn't have to look far, as lightning emerged from the hole in the wall and attacked the madman as if it had a mind of its own. Seconds later, the dancing lightning took physical form to reveal Heihachi pummeling Ryoku with a rapid series of punches and kicks, concluding with a leaping Omen Thunder Godfist and sent Ryoku flying backwards. "What in the hell was that?" Ryoku flipped back onto his feet and caught his breath. "Do you mean to tell me that you can turn yourself into electricity?"
"That is but one of the abilities granted to me," Heihachi replied while he dusted himself off, his taiko crackling with power while he resumed his normal fighting stance. "The power of ShinkenLord is beyond all comprehension, perhaps even my own."
"That's not necessarily a good thing, Hei," Ryoku commented as he cracked his neck before resuming his own fighting stance. "If you're not aware of your own limits, you might get yourself into a mess that you can't find a way out of!" Tossing aside any doubts he might have had, Ryoku rushed towards Heihachi with that inhuman speed that he had utilized against the younger Shinkengers and rammed his shoulder into the karateka. The speed of such an attack caught even Heihachi off-guard, and he was left vulnerable to a devastating punch to the gut and a monstrous palm thrust to the face that sent his soaring backwards in a streak of green fire.
Heihachi landed on his feet and fired off a bolt of lightning from his palm as soon as he regained proper footing. The taiko on his back resumed crackling with electricity while it hummed ominously, as if acting as a generator for Heihachi's ki. The discharge bombarded Ryoku mercilessly, and Heihachi summoned bigger and greater bolts to attack his one-time friend. After shooting a bolt that caused Ryoku to fall on his knees, Heihachi ceased fire and ran towards Ryoku once again.
Ryoku was quick to recuperate, much to the dismay of Heihachi. The elite martial artist rose back up and simultaneously shot his hand upwards, knocking Heihachi off his feet and into the air. Ryoku continued the assault on his airborne foe with a leaping kick that propelled Heihachi further into the air, and used a spinning elbow strike to knock Heihachi away. "So much thunder and lightning so early in the draw, Heihachi," Ryoku shook his head in mock disappointment as he watched his opponent land on the floor and roll into a wall head-first. "I was hoping we'd save the fireworks until the coup de grace!"
"You know my policy, Ryoku," Heihachi shook off the dizziness that very briefly came over him and cracked his knuckles before once again resuming his stance. "I do not believe in holding back: if you're not going to fight with all of your strength, then don't fight at all!"
Ryoku let out a quick, singular chuckle before resuming his fighting stance and advance towards Heihachi. Heihachi spun his fist around in an attempt to strike Ryoku with a backhanded punch, but Ryoku ducked under the blow and spun around to clip Heihachi's ankle with a quick foot sweep. Using the momentum he created with his first sweep, Ryoku performed another to strike the ankle once again before rising back up and stomping Heihachi's head to the ground with a cartwheel kick.
"And here's a dirty trick straight from my playbook that got me a scolding from my father for fighting too violent," Ryoku narrated as he lifted Heihachi off the ground, grabbing him by his taiko. "You're up, Heihachi…" the Aiki-jujitsu master used all of his might to slam Heihachi head-first into the floor. "…and then you're down!"
Heihachi quickly stood back up to avoid being grabbed again, but Ryoku was prepared. His right leg suddenly shooting out, Ryoku clipped Heihachi's knee with a low kick, and then linked the kick into a backhanded punch, followed by a straight fist to the face and a standing roundhouse kick to the side of the head that caused Heihachi to take a few steps back.
"And now, old buddy," Ryoku's casual tone of voice suddenly dissipated as he grabbed onto Heihachi by the throat and lifted him in the air, "this is where I stop playing games and show you what the new-school Ryoku Kazama can do!"
Heihachi's eyes widened in astonishment as Ryoku's body suddenly burst into dark green flame while his eyes glowed an eerie jade color. The other Shinkengers watching the spectacle could hear the wind howling outside as if to herald the event of Ryoku's seemingly imminent victory. Heihachi's roared in agony as his own body began aglow with the green energy while Ryoku's white hair flowed in the wind to give him a ghostly aura.
However, Heihachi's own body started to crackle with lightning once again, and the sky outside became completely black as storm clouds appeared instanteously. The seven spectators turned around to watch the sky suddenly become alive with lightning and thunder while violent gales blew through the doorframe and bombard them. Such a clash of titans, Feng thought as he turned back to watch Ryoku smirk while Heihachi's taiko again sprung to life while the seven jewels on his chest flashed violently. It is like a battle of old gods, attempting to settle a feud that began before the dawn of time!
The lightning ripped through the roof of the Mishima Mansion and struck Heihachi's burning body as the elder karateka began to fight out of the death grip before Ryoku could burn him to a cinder. Even though he had the power of ShinkenLord to back up his already-immeasurable might, Heihachi was still a mortal and he did not know the full extent of how powerful Ryoku's resurrection had made him. This is not the same man that I befriended in the days of our youth, Heihachi told himself while he continued to pound on Ryoku's arm until the madman finally dropped him back down to the ground. His soul has been corrupted by his premature death, and it has turned him into something as sinister as my son. Ryoku…just what have you become?
"I've become my namesake, Heihachi," Ryoku answered his old friend's unspoken question as he watched Heihachi resume his fighting stance. "Why are you so surprised? Remember all the times we would arm-wrestle in high school?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Heihachi slowly circled the room while he watched Ryoku get into a ready position. "57 wins, 57 losses: and all of those losses were because of me, Heihachi Mishima!" The elder karateka cracked his neck while lightning from the hole in the roof struck his body once again. "And speaking of Mishimas, how about you tell me where I can find my son?"
"Hmph, since you've been such a good sport about it," Ryoku sighed before slowly walking towards Heihachi with his fists raised, setting the couch next to him on fire as he bumped into it slightly. "He's in the old Mishima laboratory just outside of where those guys took out my axe-wielding associate." Ryoku turned his head to take a look at the other Shinkengers, not entirely sure if they heard him. Turning back towards Heihachi, Ryoku assumed a proper fighting stance. "Now that I told you, let's finish this up: I'm getting tired."
Upon saying that, Ryoku dashed towards Heihachi with blinding speed and tossed him over his shoulder with a Vacuum Throw. He had planned on continuing the assault in mid-air, but Heihachi instead turned into a bolt of lightning and struck Ryoku violently before rematerializing and sending him flying with an Omen Thunder Godfist that left blue sparks in its wake.
However, Ryoku's burning body underwent a transformation of its own: a transformation into living green fire. The fire changed direction and went flying towards Heihachi, dancing around him as sparks came flying out of his suit. After forcing Heihachi to fall onto his knees to catch his breath, Ryoku once again took physical form to send Heihachi's sprawling backwards with a leaping reverse roundhouse kick: his powerful Siwasu kick.
Heihachi landed on his feet and narrowly avoid a slicing blast of ki, and countered with a lightning bolt with was swatted away by Ryoku. After they exchanged blasts, the two of them rushed at each other with renewed vigor, trading punches and kicks with precision and neither of them striking where they wanted as their opponent's limbs were always there to block and counter attack.
The two of finally made contact when their fists shot out simultaneously, punching each other in the chest. The force of such an attack caused the both of them to stand still for a moment, as if they were frozen in time. After a couple of seconds, they both roared in pain while clutching their chests. Clearly the effects of a blow to the heart had taken their toll on the two fighters, and they were still where they were when the match began: perfectly equal in power, speed, and stamina.
I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep this up, Heihachi thought as he coughed up some blood under his helmet and looked to Ryoku. However, it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that. Ryoku was also coughing up blood as a result of the previous blow and the many, many others that he had traded with Heihachi. Someone was going to have to make an advance soon, or the fight would end in a stalemate.
Heihachi wasn't about to settle for a stalemate.
Taking a deep breath before letting out a battle cry, Heihachi rushed towards the staggering Ryoku and grabbed onto his neck. Lifting him off the ground, the elder karataka smirked beneath his helmet as he watched Ryoku try and break the grip. "It's no use, old friend," he said as he banged Ryoku's head against a nearby table, refusing to loosen his hold. "This is where the fight ends: I'm sure the youngsters over there want to get on with their lives and see this wrap up!"
"Don't hold back on our accounts, you old geezer," Hwoarang shouted to the combatants, eavesdropping on their conversation when they mentioned him and the other Shinkengers. "Kick his ass from here to Seoul!"
"That's exactly what I intend to do," Heihachi replied, seemingly not bothered by the Tae Kwan Do ace's snide remark while he tossed Ryoku high into the air with a single-handed vertical throw. As Ryoku made his way towards the ceiling, Heihachi's right leg began to burn dark blue as a brighter shade of electricity surrounded it. After Ryoku crashed into the ceiling, he plummeted back down to the floor…and right into Heihachi's jumping roundhouse kick: the completion of his relatively-recently devised Mangled Toy maneuver.
Ryoku flew into a couch and landed head-first on one of its legs. However, his burning had not died down: in fact, it looked as if it was burning stronger than over. "Not bad, Hei," he said as stomped out the fire that he had started on the couch before resuming a fighting stance. "But how about I show you my best grapple!?"
Rushing towards Heihachi with renewed vigor, Ryoku latched onto Heihachi and tossed him vertically as hard as he could. As Heihachi was allowed to experience the same journey that Ryoku had made to the ceiling, the Aiki-jujitsu master slowly rotated his arms while the aura that surrounded his body reached his peak as his eyes glowed fiercely. Once both his arms were vertically parallel to each other, he reared back and focused all of his gathered energy into his hands while Heihachi fell back down. However, the floor wouldn't be the first thing he'd come in contact with: instead Heihachi was blasted with a sudden burst of energy from Ryoku and sent crashing into the couch opposite of where Ryoku had landed.
Heihachi regained his footing and dusted himself off before watching Ryoku once again rear back in preparation for another slicing burst of ki. However, Heihachi raised an eyebrow when he noticed that when Ryoku let it go, it stayed in front of him rather than move towards his opponent. It didn't take long to realize what Ryoku was doing when the Kazama-ryu expert began pouring more energy into the stationary blade. He's going to make it even more lethal than normal, Heihachi thought as he entered his Raijin Stance and gathered what was left of his energy. In that case, I'll just have to make sure my attacks show the same evolution.
The holes in the roof of the mansion allowed the lightning storm to come inside and strike Heihachi's body wildly. After three strikes, Heihachi's body was blanketed in a bright blue glow while the jewels on his chest burned bright orange. When Ryoku had finally decided his blade of energy was big enough (he estimated it to be three meters tall), he let it go free and rocket towards Heihachi while it ripped the hardwood floor.
Just when it would seem that Heihachi would be cut in half by the attack, he stomped his foot on the ground and unleashed the power in his left fist on the blade. To the astonishment of the other Shinkengers (who at this point had pretty much given up on interfering with the fight as it was obvious they were out of their element), Heihachi was successfully repelling the blast. However, what was even more astonishing was how Heihachi's other hand completely shattered the blast as if it were solid matter and fired off a lethal bolt of energy that struck Ryoku in the chest.
Ryoku didn't even have time to scream as energy most pure and untamed coarsed through his body and caused him to drop flat on the floor. After a few seconds of uncontrollable spasming, Ryoku moaned, "Damn…I lost…"
Heihachi took a deep breath as he turned to the younger Shinkenger team. Before he could say anything, however, he noticed that something was amiss. "Where is my grandson? I wished to speak to him."
The sextet turned around and noticed that Jin was gone, and so was the limousine that he had used to drive to the Mansion only minutes before. "He must have bolted during the fight," Kenichi hypothesized as he and the other Shinkengers finally powered down though their role in the fight was relatively minimal. "I wonder where he could have gone off to."
"Didn't you listen to either of our idle ramblings?" Ryoku said as everyone else in the room darted backward in surprise. The madman's aura slowly faded as he coughed up blood before continuing. "My grandson is going to face his father in the old Mishima Laboratory. You kids were probably too busy appreciating our fight while your leader actually listened to what I said and left you in the dust to settle his vendetta."
"So Kazuya was behind it all along," Kenichi's voice revealed a very slight hint of rage as he clenched his fist. "I should have known…"
"Well, you didn't, lover boy," Ryoku chuckled while his body began to once again dematerialize into green fire. "I'll see you kids next time!"
And with that, Ryoku teleported away in a puff of emerald flame…
"Well, now that he's gone," Xiaoyu said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, "let's go help Jin! Heihachi-sempai, I don't mean to intrude but…" Before she could finish her request, Heihachi powered down and reached into his pocket to pull out his car keys, which he tossed to the young Chinese martial artist. "…oh thank you, Heihachi-sempai!"
"Just be sure you don't scratch the car: I'm going to let you kids handle this," the elder karateka replied while the remaining Shinkengers rushed outside and went into their respective vehicles. After hearing numerous revving sounds, Heihachi sat down on one of the charred couches and sighed. Normally I would be more than happy to give my son his just desserts, he thought as he looked up at the hole in the ceiling, but it would be much more interesting to leave him to his own son's tender mercies.
And besides…I need to figure out how to go about cleaning up this mess!
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I'm sorry everyone, Jin thought as he continued driving on the freeway while he made his way towards the laboratory that Ryoku had mentioned. Even though he had never been there personally, the young man knew exactly what his grandfathers had been talking about. The laboratory he mentioned was the only one of its kind that was ever owned by the Zaibatsu.
The end of the madness that had gripped the city for the past several weeks was only a car ride away, and Jin intended to exploit it…albeit with ulterior motives in mind that would have been realized best without the help of the rest of the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger.
I have to confront him alone…I have to know the truth!