Chapter 23
The forest was no longer safe. Jun knew it. She had felt it for weeks. At nights the air was colder, the shadows deeper, as though the forest itself was shivering in its own little corner of the world. She hurdled over a fallen log as she ran on.
"Jin. Jin!" Her son was lost somewhere in the darkness - alone and defenseless against the approaching evil. The trees all looked the same and, for the first time since she had moved to Yakushima mountains, she was unable to find her way through the forest. Vines curled around her legs and arms. She ripped them away and ran on. "Jin!"
Her voice was a tree that had been cut down, hollowed out and useless, a single stump among an empty plain. It was too weak now to shake the walls of her throat, her lungs too spent to push air through the narrow column of muscle. She stopped in a small clearing to rest with her hands on her knees.
"You won't find him here."
Jun spun around. The shadows of the trees laughed. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to pierce the darkness. There. Two red orbs flickered high above the brush and disappeared as Jun hurled a rock towards them. She heard the rock clatter in the dark. The orbs appeared again to her side. Jun faced it and raised her hands. Ogre stepped out from beneath the shadows of the trees.
"I love it. You would fight to protect your son even though he is not here. What hope do you have of stopping me?"
Jun wasted none of her breath in speaking, but threw a palm strike to Ogre's chest. It did nothing to the massive body of Ogre. She managed to step back and dodge its backhand. She placed her right hand on the ground and cartwheeled backwards, kicking Ogre twice in the face before landing and delivering a forearm to its chin. She felt her body lifted up and back until she slammed into the cedar trunk. The fingers closed over her throat and Ogre brought its face next to Jun's.
"Would you like to know what I will do to him?" Ogre laughed as Jun twisted in his grasp, turning her head from its fetid breath. "I shall strip him naked to his core. I shall flay him alive, peeling the skin slowly to savor his delicious screams until he is able to look inside and find the devil within. I shall help him find out what he truly is and let you watch."
"You stay away from my son."
Ogre pulled her away from the tree and then shoved her back into it. "You are in no position to threaten me. This is my world once again. I have been awakened and will finish what I had begun all those centuries ago. Besides, you could not defeat me. How will your son do more than you if you do not wish him to give into his father's heritage?"
Jun grabbed at the fingers, trying to wretch them free of her neck. The grip tightened, and Jun's head lolled back to stare sightlessly at the leaves above. Light burned from her eyes as she called out to forest for help. Wolves howled.
"Your persistence will earn you much pain," Ogre threw Jun to the ground. Vines coiled around her body, and the mud crept up her body as if alive.
The first of the wolves dashed out from the bushes and leapt at Ogre's throat. Ogre swatted it away as though it were no more than a fly. Two other wolves came in from the side to latch on to each arm in an attempt to drag their prey to the ground. Ogre spun and slammed their bodies into trees; the wolves whimpered and slid to the forest floor with teeth ripped from their jaws. Ogre picked the teeth from its forearm and flicked them away. Only the largest wolf was left. It growled and stood its ground even as Ogre rushed at it.
With a short hop, the pack leader dodged Ogre's foot stomp and bit into its opponent's leg. Ogre fell to one knee but the wolf released his hold and leapt back before Ogre could counterstrike. It went for his jugular, but Ogre jammed his forearm into the wolf's jaw and boxed the side of its head, rolling their bodies to the side.
Jun pushed herself up for a moment, straining her arm to reach out towards the two combatants, but the vines held. Thorns began forming along the surface of the vines, digging into her skin, drinking her blood. She reached out again and the thorns bit into her more fiercely. Tiny buds popped erupted on the vines deepened in color as the blood was drained from Jun's body. She heard the pack leader yelp and fall silent. Leaves and dust swirled around Jun's head as the body of the wolf was dropped in front of her. Its throat had been ripped out, the skin ragged and torn where the fingers had dug into it.
"Oh, God." She could tell by the way the eyes moved that pack leader was still alive. The vines, sensing another body, began coiling around the wolf like the muscles of a snake.
Ogre caressed her face. "Do you understand the power of the night drinker? There is always blood, always death, it is the way of this world. My thirst shall always be satisfied but never quenched. Your son will find this out as you have."
Ogre glanced off into the distance. "Ah, there he is now. Shall we go greet him?"
Jun clawed at Ogre, no longer caring that the thorns were tearing away her skin as she did so. Her skin no longer held any color - the buds exploded open to reveal deep scarlet flowers that dripped blood like a thick syrup.
With a grin, Ogre inhaled deeply of the flowers' scent and the wounds on its body closed. "There is no escape for your spirit, Jun Kazama. Remember that. You are mine forever, but fear not. I shall bring you the company of your son soon enough."
The vines yanked Jun and the wolf into the bushes, and all became still.
* * *
"Stop that. It's making me nervous."
"Well then quit stallin' and pick a direction already." Hwoarang crossed his arms and continued to tap his foot. He had been following Xiaoyu for a while now through the chambers and hallways of the underground temple for a while now. Now they were standing before a fork in the tunnels, each path leading to identical looking corridors.
"Relax, I know where we are."
"So why aren't we moving?"
"Don't you know? When you're trying to find someone, knowing where you are is only half of the solution. You also have to know where the other person is going."
"And I take it you know where Jin is going?"
Xiaoyu didn't answer at first as she looked down one hallway and then the other. "This way," she said as she took the left path. Panda and Hwoarang followed. "Woman's intuition," she answered before Hwoarang asked how she knew.
Hwoarang frowned as he walked behind Xiaoyu. Everyone knew she and Jin were close, at least in her eyes. If Jin returned her feelings then it was in private, but even if her love was unrequited that didn't prevent her from leading him into a trap in an effort to please him. Baek had been distrustful of Jin for his Mishima blood, and although he didn't know where he got the name Kazama from, Hwoarang doubted it would be able to combat the Mishima blood or training. He was the rival of a dangerous man and Jin's allies were his enemies. Still though, he could use this to his advantage. Xiaoyu did seem to have a distinctive talent in finding Jin - once she found him he would be able to finish his fight with Jin and avenge Baek's death.
"Wait. Do you hear that?" Xiaoyu put her hand lightly on his chest as she looked off into the darkness.
Hwoarang tilted his head towards the end of the hallway. He could hear it. It sounded like something roaring with the crackling of fire in the background. What the hell was going on?
"Come on." Xiaoyu took off down the hallway with Panda loping along beside her.
Hwoarang sighed. He was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to get between Xiaoyu and Jin. Her endless energy and pursuit of the Japanese might be too much to overcome when the time came to reveal his intentions to her. He would need all his strength and skill to fight Jin - to fight her at the same time was the sure way to defeat. Well, he would have to find Jin first. He started running.
With his longer legs he was easily able to catch up to Xiaoyu. At least they were heading towards a battle, either he was going to find Jin or someone to warm up on. The thought quickened his feet. He ignored her pleads for him to slow down so she could run beside him. He could hear the fight well now and didn't need her to lead anymore. Another fork in the path, Hwoarang took the one on the right. He could see torch light at the end of the hallway. Wasn't that the arena where he had first fought Jin? He smirked. How appropriate.
As he burst into the light of the arena, he saw Jin's body crash into a wall parallel to the entrance he had just used. Jin's opponent had his back to Hwoarang, but its body didn't make sense. It was much taller than any man had the right to be and built like it was made to bulldoze through crowds of people. It was massive. The air around its body wavered as though its body was giving off a tremendous amount of heat, maybe that's why its skin didn't look right. The skin had an aqua-green tint to it. Hwoarang backed away and leaned against the wall of the hallway. The fighters were at the other end of the arena, if he was quiet they wouldn't hear him.
Xiaoyu jogged up to him. "Thanks for waiting. Did you at least see them? Hey, Hwoarang."
"Keep it down." Hwoarang glanced around the corner and saw the massive being lift Jin by his neck. Xiaoyu followed his lead and peeked out.
She gasped. "Ogre," she whispered. "Panda, go find Julia and bring her here." As Panda wheeled around and padded back down the hallway, Xiaoyu ran out into the arena.
"Xiao," Hwoarang hissed, but she was already headed towards the ogre. He slapped his forehead. Focus. Fear was just one side of excitement. It was a battle, just like any other, and that was what he was good at. Besides, it wouldn't do to have a little Chinese girl show more balls than him.
* * *
Julia peered at the doorway and adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. She was in the living quarters of the compound which had been emptied out an hour ago when the tournament finals began. This particular room must have held one of the larger competitors, and apparently even it found the door frame too confining. The sides of the door were jagged as if something large and heavy had ripped through it. Only the robot was big enough to do that, but hadn't Xiaoyu taken that out of commission? She stepped away from the room and continued down the hall. There would be time enough later to contemplate the ramifications of a heavily armed robot patrolling the compound so long as it wasn't on Heihachi's side.
There was a soft bleating from down the hallway. "Panda." Julia ran towards the sound and knelt down to hug the bear around the neck. "Where is Xiaoyu? Isn't she with you?"
Panda tilted her head further down the hallway.
"I see," Julia said. "Lead on then. We'll help her together."
She followed Panda through the empty hallways until they came to the wavering portal. As she approached, Julia's pendant pulsed briefly as though to indicate that she was going the correct way. The portal's light danced along the walls of the room, bathing the corners in blue and white. Reach out a hand, she ran her fingers gently along its surface. It was like touching a marble tombstone on an October night. She shivered, but pressed forward. Her hand pierced the veil and she felt as though her hand was being pulled from beyond, as if it were falling away from her and sinking within the portal. She stepped into the portal.
The light enveloped her, and the cold crawled along her skin, searching for a way in. The world faded away and there was nothing but the sound of her whipping hair. She was falling, the world nothing but flashing lights and wind. She closed her eyes as her vision blurred from the tears being pulled from the corners of her eyes. She couldn't tell how long she had fallen, only that she was no longer accelerating. The light intensified more, turning the world a bright red through her eyelids. Her weight seemed to be returning, her speed slowing, until finally she felt something solid beneath her hands. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on a stone floor. Blinking, she pushed herself to her feet. Where was she?
"Panda?" Julia turned around. Through the portal she saw the compound guards surround Panda with their guns raised. Panda stood on her hind legs and brought her front paws down hard on one of the devices powering the portal. The portal winked twice before closing. Julia stood alone in the stone hallway which was lit only by red flares which lead towards a hole in the wall. The other fighters must have already passed through this area. Julia adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and followed the flares through the chamber.
Footprints tread upon the dust and broken artifacts. The first room looked like antechamber although it contained bodies that looked like they were wearing modern clothing despite the desiccation of the bodies. All of the recent footprints steered clear of the corpses. Julia approached one of them. It was leaning against the table in the room's center. The first thing she noticed was the head was missing, pieces of it were anyway. Only the back of the head remained on the skeleton's neck. Opening up her right hand and holding it in front of the missing face, Julia closed it. Besides the obvious bullet holes, this corpse's head had been crushed by what looked to be a huge hand. Ogre - this was where it had been held captive.
Julia gazed upward. Spider webs dangled from the ceiling like a shroud that had been pulled apart. The power of the pendant buzzed in her mind and the floor and walls darkened with the body of spiders. The guardians circled her and clicked their mandibles together. Their eyes followed her and a few reached out their tiny limbs towards her like loyal subjects bowing to a passing queen. A path was cleared across the floor leading onward through the temple. As she made her way through the temple, more spiders pulled themselves out of the shadows to follow her into the waiting darkness.
* * *
She could hear the sounds of battle long before she entered the arena. Reaching out a hand, she leaned against the wall. She shouldn't be this tired, but it felt as though storm clouds had rolled across her mind leaving her cold, forcing her consciousness indoors. Julia shook her head, but could not dispel the darkening haze.
'It's just fear,' she told herself. That was all that was keeping her from stepping forward and helping her friends. The edges of the world shimmered and brightened. She took another step and reached out to the wall again as the floor twisted beneath her feet. There was suddenly no air in the world, no sound, no darkness, and no feeling but her chest constricting. Julia could not tell if she was standing or kneeling anymore. Pain erupted in five points around her sternum and pressed inward like fingers piercing her chest. The pain centered around her heart, tightening it in barbed coils and pulling out.
Julia clutched the pendant. It could not leave her possession. It was a chain, a collar, to tame the spirits but a chain must be attached at both ends and without a strong will it would be the spirits holding the controlling end. The pendant scorched the palm of her hand - she could feel its madness. It was the screams of a man held to a stone as an obsidian blade was thrust through his side and his beating heart pulled from his chest. It was the wailing of a child as it was dragged away by its hair from its beaten and raped mother. It was the dry earth lapping up the blood of the dying. It was the wings of crows and ravens circling the battlefield and the pecking at of unseeing eyes and exposed entrails.
Black wings beat around her head as talons rip at her scalp. Through the pain she could see one figure clearly in the distance. Jin Kazama arched his back and laughed at the heavens. Fire erupted from his skin, and the air wavered from the heat. All around where the ebony feathers, floating down and circling like dying birds. Julia swatted at the birds tearing at her body as she pushed herself towards Jin.
Praying that the bowl required only blood and not a human heart to control Ogre, Julia placed the obsidian blade against her right biceps and drew a thin red line. She didn't feel the cut initially, and she was about to try again when she felt a stinging pain as if someone were pinching her arm with sharp fingernails. It brought clarity to her vision and she found herself already in the arena where Jin, Xiaoyu, and Hwoarang were taking turns attacking Ogre from different angles to keep it off-balance.
"Stay back," she yelled to them.
Julia pressed the lip of the bowl beneath the cut. Her blood dribbled onto the hideous face carved within. Closing her eyes to help her focus, Julia continued to push the bowl hard against her arm. Her knees began to buckle. It was as if all her strength was draining out with the blood. She thought she heard the sound of a tongue lapping up liquid from the bowl.
"Julia," Xiaoyu shouted. "You're doing it!"
Julia opened her eyes to see Jin, Xiaoyu, and Hwoarang standing in a half circle as Ogre began to stiffen. It turned to face Julia.
Words came to her lips. "Night Drinker. Devourer of Souls. I call upon you with my blood. Listen to my voice and obey." As Julia approached, Ogre shuddered and attempted to recoil from her. "Kneel and be judged."
Ogre collapsed to its knees. Even lowered in this way, it was still tall enough to look Julia in the eye without raising its head. Its eyes glowered - red coals smouldering in the half-light. Heaving its massive chest, Ogre's muscles strained as if trying to lift a great weight. Ogre peeled back its upper lip to snarl at Julia.
The pendant shone in a turquoise the shade of tropical water. Julia could feel the air being sucked from her lungs and the warmth ripped from her body. It wasn't enough. The blood was barely enough to control Ogre. The pendant was now relying on the strength of Julia's will to command the ancient creature. She needed to put more blood in the vessel or she risked losing consciousness from the strain on her spirit.
Pressing the bowl back against her arm, she made a deeper cut. She gasped as she pulled the blade free, spilling the blood into the bowl. Ogre stiffened more; the arm he had been reaching towards her fell back down to his side. She felt the air and warmth return a little. She raised the knife to plunge it into Ogre's face.
"Look out!" Jin shoved Julia forward as gunfire exploded from the shadows. The knife, when its tip struck the hard tiles, split neatly apart into three shards. The bowl ricocheted on its side, chipping off most of one side's lip, and streaking the floor crimson. Almost immediately, Ogre was back on its feet. In one smooth motion, it scooped Julia up by the neck and tossed her like a shotput.
She landed hard on her side. The pain was sharp and constant, radiating from her ribs where her elbow had jammed into her side when she hit. Rolling over, she watched Jin's body whip around as a bullet clipped his left shoulder. Hwoarang and Xiaoyu had somehow managed to dodge the initial barrage and sought cover behind the stone sarcophaguses.
Heihachi's personal soldiers began to file into the room, firing short bursts at Ogre who roared at them. A man would have died many times over, but Ogre was only driven back from the bullets and eventually even he was brought to his knees. The Tekken Force surrounded the kneeling figure, and only then did Heihachi step out from the shadows.
Julia saw Heihachi's head turn to glance at Jin's prone body, which still heaved for air, but didn't slow down as he walked past.
'Bastard,' Julia thought. 'Doesn't even care about his own grandson.' She began to push herself off the ground when a heavy boot slammed her back down. A gun cocked behind her head and the barrel was pressed to her temple. She laid still.
From her vantage point, Julia saw the rest of the soldiers occasionally fire a few rounds to keep Ogre from getting back to its feet. Heihachi had almost reached Ogre when it suddenly darted forward like a track sprinter off the blocks and grab the nearest soldier and flung him into the others. Ogre stretched out its hand and picked up the eagle bowl, tilting its head back and drained the remaining blood into its waiting mouth.
"Put it down," Heihachi screamed. "Put it down."
His soldiers opened fire but if the bullets reached Ogre, they didn't affect it at all. A dark purple haze surrounded Ogre's body as it convulsed and howled. The muscles grew even more enormous. Horns like a steer erupted from the crown of its head and leathery wings pierced its shoulder blades. The bones in its left arm seemed to melt and the limb slithered and writhed as the four fingers grew together and the thumb thickened until it had become a snake head, complete with fangs and golden eyes.
A haunting groan filled the temple as Ogre's face contorted and stretched out. Its jaw seemed to unhinge as the teeth sharpened. Ogre became heavier and hairier, as it hunched over a pair of clawed feet like an owl's. It opened its mouth and an angry red glow illuminated the retreating soldiers just before fire enveloped their bodies. Torches danced and ran as Ogre's laughter chased them.
Julia felt the weight shift off her back as the soldier looming over her turned and ran. She saw Hwoarang and Xiaoyu peek over the sarcophaguses. Pushing herself up, Julia joined them in battle against Ogre. It was time to end this.