*Devil Released*
AN: Short and sweet and to the point. Only one more chapter left before the finale. Thank you to all those who are still reading. I really hope this story met expectations.
"Impossible!" Lars exclaimed, clearly startled that the being had rose up from his ashes.
Lei-Fang gasped; even she had been taken aback as she herself witnessed Lars's intense power over the demon. While she had been able to put down his minions that were threatening to intervene with Lars's battle, there was no way that she could handle Azazel, himself. Surprisingly, Lars had made the fight look easy. She assumed that if Jin and Lars team up, they could potentially have a fighting chance, despite the obvious disparity in power and strength between them and the demon.
"Good," Jin murmured to no one in particular, "I've been waiting for this."
"At this point, a thought suddenly hit Lei-Fang. With Azazel still alive, Jin's to sacrifice himself could still occur. As ironic as it was that Azazel referred to himself by the title of the "Rectifier," it completely fell into his plans. Jin's idea of making everything right was eliminating himself from the equation: he would take down Azazel and die alongside him.
"Jin!" Lei-Fang frantically reached out to him, "You can't do this. Please! If not for me then do it for your son! Think about Toshiro!"
"I already have Toshiro in mind," Jin spoke softly, almost lovingly.
"His sudden change of tone stunned her. Throughout this whole ordeal, Jin had remained emotionally distant, never offering her any type of affection.
"At this point, he turned to face her and he cupped her chin, tilting her head up to face him.
"It's a shame. I had hoped that when this time would come that I would not show any signs of weakness. I did not anticipate having you here to witness this event, but what is done is done," he lightly caressed her cheek as he spoke, "Lei-Fang, I'm sorry that I could not be the man that you need and the father that Toshiro needs. I hope that one day you will find it in your heart to forgive me."
Before she could speak, he leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against hers.
"I love you," he whispered thickly before abruptly pulling away, leaving her gasping for breath and reaching out for him.
"He turned his attention to the menacing being and began walking towards it, as if drawn in by an undeniable force. He walked quite idly, almost as if he was on a leisurely stroll along a road. Ironically enough for Jin, this final walk of his life would probably be the most pleasant.
"I told you before. Only someone with the Devil Gene can defeat him," he spoke to Lars as he edged closer to the demon.
"Azazel looked down at the man walking towards him, "I exist in a higher plane than your earthly laws. Now no one can stop me."
"No one…" Jin began, coming to a sudden halt, "Except me."
"Azazel seemingly let out a snarl, "Fool! You will destroy yourself as well!"
"Jin seemed unfazed by this admission, though both Lars and Lei-Fang visibly reacted. They both stiffened at the demon's words, which also served to confirm the validity of Jin's scheme.
"Let's put an end to this!" Jin proclaimed as a purple aura suddenly surrounded his hands.
"He lifted them up, drawing in his power, before unleashing a dramatic show of strength, knocking Lei-Fang to the ground, putting Lars on guard, and even rattling Azazel.
"After helping Lei-Fang back to her feet, Lars shouted out to Jin, "What are you doing?"
"Jin, please! Stop this!" Lei-Fang cried out to him, hoping that he would listen to her pleas.
"Ignoring the pair, Jin once again resumed his walking, surrounded by the purple aura. He remained calm, cool, and collected, his face a blank slate. Seeing his advance as a threat, Azazel began shooting out lasers from his eyes. They were easily deflected from him since the purple aura served as a barrier between Jin and the deadly attacks.
"Suddenly, Jin let out a loud scream and he ran towards the monster. Azazel continued shooting lasers to try to deter him, but it was no use. They would not harm Jin and they seemed to only fuel his rage.
"No!" Lei-Fang shouted as she began to run after him.
"Stay back!" Lars reached out and wrapped his arms around her.
He was doing his best to hold onto Jin's struggling wife, but Lei-Fang proved to be stronger than she looked and she managed to slide away.
Jin delivered a devastating punch to the monster, breaking his armored chest. The one attack was filled with all of his strength and will. The two plunged into the chasm from which Azazel came.
"Jin!" Lars called out running after Lei-Fang. It all happened so quickly.
Lei-Fang reached the spot just as a blinding light shot up from the hole, pushing her back several feet and into the waiting arms of Lars who had come to her side.
"Jin!" both of their cries echoed off the walls of the hole.
They waited for a moment, hoping that Jin would respond and climb back up from the hole relatively unscathed, but as each second passed, it became more and more apparent that it was not going to happen.
It was at this point that all of the fight left her and Lei-Fang succumbed to the overwhelming emotions that were building up inside of her. She fell to her knees beside the hole, her head bowing weakly
"Oh, Jin…WHY? Why did you do this?" she sobbed, her body visibly shaking, wracked with the loss of her husband.
Lars placed a hand on her shoulder, but could not find any words of solace to offer her. Instead he looked away. He couldn't bear to see this woman in pain because of such a selfish act. He and Jin had their differences when it came to running the Mishima Zaibatsu's Tekken Force, but Lars would never have wished this fate upon the young man, especially when he had a wife and child. Lars concluded that Jin must have been quite desperate if he was willing to forsake his family to be rid of this Devil Gene in his blood.
From the short amount of time that he had spent around the Mishima clan, Lars was well aware of their cursed existence. They were a family forever at odds with one another; a family who had dabbled with the supernatural for ultimate power and was paying the price severely. He had to take a moment to thank his mother for keeping him away from his birth father, Heihachi. She knew exactly what she was doing when she opted to raise her child in Sweden instead of Japan. Lars could only imagine the life of strife that he would have if he were in constant contact with Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin. He soon was alerted to footsteps approaching from behind. He turned and noticed a seemingly calm Nina Williams walking up to the two.
"You knew, didn't you?" Lars asked her.
Her expressionless eyes spoke volumes already. Jin had opened up to her about his plans of committing suicide and Nina had done nothing to stop the troubled leader.
"Yes, but what's done is done. Jin put everything he had into this one moment."
Nina shrugged her shoulders, her eyes darting from Lei-Fang's crumpled form back to Lars, "It is not for me to judge whether he was right or wrong. Maybe you're such a saint, you think you can, but somehow, I doubt it."
When this did not elicit a response from either of them, she went on. Nina indicated towards Lei-Fang, "He did speak often about his family though. At first he was scared. He felt an obligation to his family to provide for them and to be there, but as time went on, he soon realized that he could not do that in the capacity that he would hope for with the Devil Gene still present. This was the only option left to him and if it meant that his soul could finally find peace, he was more than willing to take it."
"How could you?!" Lei-Fang suddenly turned around and spat out at Nina as the tears continued to flow, "How could you allow him to do this? Why didn't you stop him?"
"I was tasked with protecting Jin from danger due to others, not from danger due to himself," the blonde haired assassin simply answered, "I've fulfilled my duties."
"Seeing that the job had indeed been done, Nina realized that she had completed her assignment. With nothing left tying her to the Mishima Zaibatsu, she turned and walked away towards a waiting helicopter which would whisk her away to whomever her next charge would be.
"It was at this point that Lars realized that both he and Lei-Fang would need to leave, too. There was nothing left for them here besides a lifetime of bad memories and nightmares. He knew that Lei-Fang would take some convincing, but it would be in both of their best interests to get out of here while things were relatively quiet.
He lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, "Come on, Lei, I'm going to take you home."
To his surprise, she didn't fight him. Instead, she stood, shoulders down, head slumped, and walked off towards the direction of their vehicle. The fighting spirit had finally left her and she was left as another victim of the Devil Gene and Mishima bloodline curse. She had never been one to believe in prophecy, but this Zafina woman had successfully converted her. The world may be safe from a supernatural threat, but her own world has come tumbling down around her. She would have no choice but to go home and mourn the loss of her husband and be faced with the task of raising Toshiro, the young boy with Mishima blood flowing through his veins. It was at this point that she vowed to protect him, even if it cost her own life, from the awful effects of the Mishima bloodline curse; this despicable bloodline will end here with Jin, just like he always wanted.
As Lei-Fang trudged away, Lars set his sights on Alisa, approaching the fallen android girl purposefully.
"Alisa?" he called out to her, hoping for some type of response although he knew deep down that there wouldn't be one.
Some may question as to why Lars felt so strongly for a mere robot, but overtime she became so much more than just scraps of metal bolted together with an advanced AI system installed. Oddly enough, with each passing day, as Alisa recorded more and more data, she seemingly became more human. She became a friend and a very useful ally throughout this journey. He could never fault her for her betrayal since she was superseded by Jin's orders. The least he could do for her now is take her to see Lee Chaolan, an expert in robotics that he met during his campaign to stop Jin. Hopefully he could fully restore Alisa to working condition again. With that thought in mind, Lars scooped Alisa into his arms and walked off leaving this temple behind for good.