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(Beyond Redemption)

Jun had spent the better part of her morning in the locker room, sitting on a bench. She should have been at home. She should have been somewhere green, grounding herself and meditating. But instead, she was watching the news on the TV mounted in one corner and watching the fights on the second screen mounted on the opposite wall. At the moment, her full attention was on the news. She read the chyron on the bottom of the screen, and her heart sank. A Norwegian doctor who worked at Horizon Laboratories had succumbed to his injuries. The death toll from the overnight incidents was updated from three to four.

Incidents. The word was generic. It could have negative or positive connotations. It could be attached to anything. Why didn't the media call them attacks? Because it sounded deliberate, premeditated. Because it made the public want to find the culprit, the perpetrator, instead of feeling sad for a few moments and moving on with their day. And who was the perpetrator? Jun wished that she didn't know the answer.

She turned her gaze to the screen replaying the fights of the day. The only participants left were men obsessed with power. Men who were willing to kill and even die for it. So what was she doing there? What was she doing waiting for her turn? Continuing on would do nothing to help Kazuya. He didn't want help. It would change nothing.

So why am I still here?

Throughout the day, when Jun wasn't expecting it, there were breaks in the fog and gloom plaguing her mind. And she was hopeful. Maybe the hope was misguided, but it was there. It was like a tiny glimmer that told her that there was still a chance for a positive outcome. The feeling flickered in and out, but it was there. And after everything Jun and Kazuya had been through together, she couldn't just leave. She couldn't give up, not yet.

Four dead, dozens injured.

And the glimmer was gone. But Jun knew it would come back.

"Miss Kazama," a young woman wearing a headset and holding a clipboard poked her head in the door. "It's time."

It's time to face... She didn't even know what. Once that little glimmer was gone, she lost all ambition to even move. Jun sat immobile, her gaze fixed on the screen above.

"Miss Kazama," the young woman spoke with more urgency. "If you don't come with me right now, you'll be disqualified."

If I'm disqualified, all hope will truly be lost.

Jun stood up. She walked behind the young woman and tried to match her light, brisk footsteps as they hurried toward the arena entrance.

The woman held the door open as soon as they arrived. "Good luck, Miss Kazama."

Jun stepped out into the hot, clear afternoon. The sun blinded her vision, and the thunderous roar of the masses dulled her senses. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, the wild emotions around her began weighing her down and muddling her thoughts.

She stepped onto the stone square and took in the appearance of her opponent. Paul Phoenix. He was big. And his emotions had gone from eager to disappointed in the blink of an eye. He wanted a challenge, and Jun knew she didn't look like a challenge. But she was going to do her best.

She adjusted her gloves, inhaled deeply, and closed her eyes, trying to tune out the pandemonium around her. She exhaled, and the noise from the crowd became waves crashing on the beach. Wind blowing through her hair. She could almost smell the salt in the breeze, feel it on her skin. Somewhere in the distance, she heard a voice: "Fighters…" But she couldn't hear all it said because she was somewhere high. Somewhere hot. And she was floating.

Something was wrong. Jun should have been able to move, but instead, she floated up slowly. Her stomach dropped, and her heart drummed in her chest when she heard the rush of the wind whistle in her ears. She was falling, and she couldn't move. She saw him at the top, her father. A shadow, high above her, shrinking fast as gravity pulled her closer and closer to the inferno. Her father watched from the top as the heat and smoke ravaged her throat and stung her eyes. As her lungs struggled to find air. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. And her father watched.

"Miss Kazama."

A man's voice.

A light in her eyes.

Air in her lungs.

Jun looked around. She was somewhere quiet and clean, lying down on a cot. And a man and a woman were looking at her.

"Where am I?"

"In the examination room," the woman said. "How do you feel?"

Jun felt as if she'd just woken up from a restless sleep. A little disoriented, but nothing of note otherwise. She sat up. "I'm fine. Did Paul Phoenix knock me out?"

"No, Miss Kazama. You collapsed."

"I collapsed?" Jun felt the heat rise in her face. "Did he hit me?"

The man stepped forward. "He didn't touch you. You were standing, then fell to the ground, unconscious, when the announcer signaled the start of the fight." He held up a small light and lowered himself until his eyes were level with Jun's. "Have you been drinking enough fluids today?"

"I didn't keep track."

He stood up. "Have you consumed any drugs or alcohol today?"

"No. How long was I out?"

"Seven minutes. Are you on any medication?"

"No. Does that mean I've been disqualified?"

The woman spoke up. "I'm afraid so. Mr. Phoenix was declared the winner."

Jun sighed. Anticlimactic. Beyond humiliating. After everything, the story was over, and the book was closed, just like that. She had disappointed her family and lost Kazuya's respect–

Her chest tightened as the image flashed in her mind. It was Kazuya's father watching her fall. No. He was watching Kazuya fall. Fall into the fire? It sounded like a nightmare, but she had not been asleep. It was a vision of the future, she was certain.

"I have to go," Kazuya had said he didn't want to see her, but she had to find a way to warn him. Jun came down from the cot and stepped lightly onto the floor.

The woman stepped forward. "Miss Kazama, you were unconscious. You need to be examined by a doctor. We have the ambulance ready–"

"I don't need an ambulance. I need to leave."

"We can't allow you to leave. We–"

"Let her leave if she wants."

Kazuya's voice made her blood turn to ice. He stood at the door, dressed in black. His dark gaze fixed on the two medical technicians.

The man spoke. "Of course, Sir." Then he and the woman bowed to him before hurrying out of the room.

She faced Kazuya. The aura around him was as dark and thick as tar. She felt Devil's presence attached to Kazuya like razor-sharp talons latching onto fresh prey. It was feeding the aura, augmenting his anger, his pain, his disappointment. Jun's body turned to lead. He was angry with her. She clasped her hands in front of her to keep them from shaking. There was something genuinely threatening about him. She had the urge to flee, to leave the room and run to safety.

He fixed his gaze on her, head tilted. "I'm warning you now, don't try anything. I won't touch you, but Devil is looking for any excuse to confront you."

"I thought you didn't want to see me." She managed to say despite her parched throat.

"I don't." He took a step forward. "But I want you to tell me the truth."

"The truth about what?"

"How many times did you use your…power on me?" The aura grew, and the tendrils began to grow and slither forward.

It had not even occurred to Jun that Devil could see what humans could not. He had obviously told Kazuya. He had probably waited until the information could do maximum damage to do it.

Jun made sure to look him in the eye. He had to see that she was honest. "Once."

"Why?"

"You were going to hurt your brother."

He took another step toward her. "Why are you protecting him? Have you been meeting with him behind my back like you did with Heihachi?"

"No. I've never even spoken to him. That was the first and only time I've seen him."

"Then why did you protect him?"

"Because he's a person. I can't stand idle while–"

He laughed. "Of course. You're the champion of all living things no matter how low." He shook his head. "Was your plan to control me every time I do something you don't like?"

"No. All I've ever wanted to do was help you. Free you–"

"I don't need help. I am free."

"Free? Free to do Devil's bidding?"

"My actions are my own."

"Was it your choice to kill those people?"

He sighed. "What people?" The question didn't augment the aura; he was just…curious. There was a tone of indifference that chilled Jun to her core.

"The ones at the embassy and the science facility."

He crossed his arms and tilted his head. "And how do you know about that?"

"I saw the damage to your building. After that, it wasn't difficult to make the connection. Did you kill them? Or did Devil?"

He shrugged. "You already know the answer."

"I want to hear you say it."

"I killed them."

There was no hint of remorse, no shame in his eyes, nothing defensive about his posture. He stood looking her in the eye as if discussing the weather. Jun was glued to her spot, feeling helpless as the tendrils in his onyx aura twined with the furniture. As they reached ever closer to her. Her throat was aching, her chest so tight that her lungs could barely move. She didn't try to stop the tears from running down her face because she knew it was impossible.

Kazuya scoffed. "The fact that you're shedding tears for my enemies tells me all I need to know about you, what I should have seen from the beginning." He took another step forward. "You think that was my first time? I told you I wasn't going to change. You knew that."

"You did change," she wiped her tears with her hand. "You've submitted to him."

"Submitted?" He spat out the word as if it was venom and stalked toward her, stopping when he was an arm's length away. "I do not submit. Devil has given me power that you cannot even–" He exhaled, then turned his back to her and returned to his original spot in front of the door. He turned to face her. "What was your goal, Jun? I want the truth."

He already knew the truth. Jun had told him since the beginning. She didn't know if he refused to see it or if Devil had turned him blind to it. But it wouldn't hurt to remind him, to look him in the eye and say it again. "My assignment was to find evidence to arrest you. The second day we saw each other, here at the stadium, I decided that I was going to help you. And that is all I have been doing ever since."

"And I have told you over and over that I don't need or want your help."

"...I know that." She heard her own voice break. "But I-I have to try."

He scoffed. "Because you're the champion of all living things-"

"Because it's you."

It was only a fleeting instant, but she could have sworn that his eyes softened and the tendrils retreated ever so slightly. And there it was again, that tiny flicker of hope.

But Kazuya closed his eyes, and his body tensed. Confusion weaved itself with his anger, and it was like adding fuel to a flame. The aura deepened and expanded. It was like a black hole threatening to consume him.

Jun took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to steady herself. "I know that you don't want my help, but at least let me give you a warning."

His hands clenched into fists, and he gave a short wry laugh. "A warning?"

"If you don't stop the tournament today...if you face off against your father. You are going to die."

His aura grew, and the tendrils snaked around chairs, tables, and medical equipment. "And you know this, how? Did you have another one of your dreams?"

"It wasn't a dream. I saw it when I was waiting for my fight to start."

"When you fainted? When you embarrassed yourself in front of the entire world? It was because you saw a vision of me dying?"

Jun lowered her head. The tendrils surrounded her. They invaded the corners and climbed up the walls like sickly vines. "Yes. You were falling as he watched. And you couldn't move. You couldn't breathe."

Kazuya stared at her for a long moment. Confusion was giving way to acceptance in the midst of all his anger. In the silence, she almost felt hope, but the darkness in his aura became so intense that it extinguished any glimmer of it that Jun had left.

Kazuya spoke in a low, bitter tone. "You are disqualified from the tournament. Gather your things and go. You have no reason to be here." He began to walk toward the exit.

"It's a long fall, Kazuya."

He stopped and turned to look at her. "But I have wings." He walked out the door, taking the darkness with him.

Acceptance. Jun had sensed acceptance in him. What had he accepted? That it's over. The realization felt like a punch to the gut. She closed her eyes and put her hand on the cot for support. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. She felt steady, but there was a strained pain in her chest. Failure was a bitter pill to swallow. It made the bile want to rise to her throat.

Four dead, dozens injured. Countless other crimes: and no remorse.

Maybe it was time for her to accept things too. Maybe it was time for her to accept that she couldn't save a man beyond redemption.

A/N: Twice in one month, woot!

Don't stop me now don't stop me 'Cause I'm having a good time having a good time