Destiny Changed

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.

To all the Tekken Fans

Chapter 12

Lee Chaolan believed only in the power of money. Living with Heihachi and a competitive foster brother had made him that way. He was extremely ambitious. It was that same characteristic that made Heihachi understand how dangerous Lee was. Heihachi wanted an heir not his own replica. That was why he sent Lee away as soon as he got rid of Kazuya. Lee understood that Heihachi had never intended to make him his heir. How could he inherit the Mishima Zaibatsu if Heihachi had never seen him as a real Mishima? It was obvious that Kazuya was the one Heihachi would chose, it was also obvious that he never meant to be a replacement only a teaser, a mere pawn. And so Lee ended up hating the family that had taken him in. He had a good education and was trained to be a good fighter, but he had never been a part of the family. It was only natural that he would use everything he had learned as a weapon against the Mishima. His goal was to show everyone he was better than Kazuya and to punish Heihachi for all the misery he had put him through during his childhood. Now it was payback time.

Coincidence or not, the next match would oppose Kazuya and Lee; old grudges were about to surface and blood would be shed.

Kazuya was supposed to be dead but a few months ago Lee had discovered that his foster brother was still alive and that G Corporation had been hiding him.

Destiny was giving him one more chance to face Kazuya. After that, he would definitely defeat Heihachi.

In the meantime the heat wave was affecting almost everyone on the island. Christie was used to it, actually in Brazil the temperatures were really high during the whole year. Julia was used to it too but she didn't like it much. That sunny afternoon was particularly hot. Xiaoyu and Miharu didn't even want to leave the hotel but they absolutely wanted to watch the fight between Kazuya and Lee Chaolan. Xiaoyu was curious about Jin's father and she wasn't the only one, everyone seemed to be quite interested in that match.

Paul was on the front row. It looked like he too held grudges against Kazuya Mishima. Julia and Xiaoyu were also there, trying to control a very disturbed Christie who wanted to talk to Kazuya before he entered the arena.

-'He won't talk to you, Christie.'-Julia said. Her voice tone sounded like a warning.

-'Why not? He has nothing to lose…It's not like I'm going to ask him money.'

-'I know but Kazuya is not a reasonable person.'

-'Listen to her…'-Xiaoyu pleaded.-'Jin told me his father can't be trusted and that he is…a bad person.'

-'I don't doubt you but if there's someone who might know where Eddy is I can't ignore it.'

In the end they managed to convince Christie to talk to Kazuya after the fight. When both fighters showed up no one cared about the heat or the incredibly annoying guy who was collecting autographs from the eliminated contestants.

-'Jin looks a lot like his father.'-Julia verbalized her friends' thoughts.

-'He is scary.'-Xiaoyu whispered. Miharu agreed. Kazuya Mishima was an older version of Jin, only more serious and frightening.

-'So…he's the devil?'-Hwoarang asked approaching the girls while they were watching the brothers fighting.

Julia stepped on his foot to remind him that Christie and Steve were there too.

-'That hurts…'-he complained, but eventually he got the message.-'He looks quite human to me…'-Hwoarang whispered.

-'Don't let him fool you…he's not human anymore.'-Julia said.-'The other guy doesn't have a chance.'

Indeed Chaolan was once again completely humiliated by Kazuya. At first it seemed that they were at the same level but soon Kazuya showed his superiority. The fight lasted ten minutes and twenty seconds. Lee gave his best but he knew that his foster brother was incredibly strong. In the end he couldn't handle Kazuya's extraordinary strength. Even his most powerful kicks were useless. After being announced the winner Kazuya approached Lee with a grin on his face.

Lee clenched his fists remembering how much he hated that grin.

-'If you're not working with Heihachi, I suggest you get the hell out of my sight.'-Kazuya warned.

-'Why are you letting me go? Last time you said you'd kill me.'

-'It's your brother's wish. He wants to spare your life. Besides you don't have any use to me.'

-'You'll regret it.'

-'I'll be waiting for that day, little brother.'

Julia, Xiaoyu and Miharu were surprised to hear Kazuya calling Lee little brother. They certainly didn't look like each other.

-'Lee's adopted.'-Paul explained.-'The Mishima family has many secrets.'

-'They barely spoke to each other.'-Xiaoyu noticed.-'Is that normal? Even if Mr. Chaolan is adopted, they're still brothers; they must share a few childhood memories.'

-'Not everyone had a happy childhood.'-Hwoarang said before leaving.

By that time Kazuya had already disappeared and Christie was releasing her fury on Julia.

-'You said I would be able to speak to him after the fight and now he's gone!'

-'He's not going to leave the tournament.'

-'But he's never around. It looks like you don't want me to talk to Kazuya nor Jin.'

-'What would you say? I mean if you spoke to Kazuya… "Hi…Did you kill Eddy? Do you know where he is?". Kazuya will never speak to you. He won't let you get in his way…he will kill you if he has to.'-Julia's words had finally reached through her. Christie didn't know why Julia was being so pushy, but there was something in her voice that made Christie believe she wasn't joking.

-'You know something, don't you?'-the Brazilian girl asked.-'About the Mishima family…'

-'All I know is that they're dangerous…including Jin…'

-'Why are they so dangerous?'

-'I can't tell you that. I promised someone I wouldn't talk about it.'

-'I could see that Kazuya Mishima isn't a normal guy…I could feel the hate between him and Lee Chaolan. But I still want to find Eddy.'

-'I know… But I'm trying to help you…'

Christie didn't reply. In that moment it was hard for her to formulate a clear thought about things and that's why she decided to leave.

Eddy had entered the Iron Fist Tournament 3 to punish the man he thought had killed his father. But it looked like he hadn't succeeded and now he was missing. The Mishima family was involved. Kazuya was for sure but she didn't know about Heihachi and Jin Kazama. Maybe Julia and Xiaoyu were involved too. Maybe they were spying on her and reporting back to them.

Christie was quite confused but one thing she knew for sure, from now on she was going to investigate on her own. She couldn't rely on strangers and she couldn't trust anyone. For Eddy's sake she was going to focus and act alone.

Lee was also thinking about acting alone. In that endless game he knew he was only a side player but there was no way he was going to let Kazuya take over the Mishima Zaibatsu again. The first time it happened, Lee had joined his brother and had deeply regretted it because he never had a solid position inside the company. Actually he was merely seen as his brother's secretary. At that time Lee decided to pick Kazuya's side because Heihachi was said to be dead and he also thought that one day he could defeat Kazuya once and for all and take his place. Things didn't go according to his plan because Heihachi was still alive and took over Kazuya's place right after the Iron Fist Tournament 2. Lee lost everything that day. His position in the Mishima Zaibatsu, his role as Heihachi's foster son and the chance to be his rightful heir. Although Kazuya was dead, Heihachi refused to accept Lee as his heir and punished him because he had been working with Kazuya all along.

Blinded by vengeance, Lee planned to kill Heihachi more than once, but never succeeded and then, many years after he was banned from the Mishima family he discovered that his foster father had a new heir. A kid, Kazuya's kid to be more precise. Even dead, Kazuya had managed to destroy all his possibilities of controlling the Mishima Zaibatsu. After that Lee gave up and bought a mansion in the Bahamas.

But now things were different. Kazuya was alive and Lee knew his brother was planning something. He probably wanted to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu and kill Heihachi. Killing Heihachi was actually vital in order to control the Zaibatsu. But this time Lee didn't want to pick a side. Enough with that…He didn't want to be a side player he wanted to be the main character. Was that too much to ask? After all those years suffering countless humiliations he sure deserved one more chance.

This time Lee had a plan. Instead of taking immediate action he would wait patiently. It was just a matter of time until Kazuya and Heihachi had to face each other. One of them would fall and the other would be weakened. Then he would take that chance. As for Jin…he was just a kid and it looked like the boy didn't want to be the Mishima's heir. That was the cherry at the top of the cake.

Meanwhile Jin was staring the stars thinking about what to do next now that he had taken care of his problem. He was supposed to face Bryan Fury that night. It wouldn't be too hard to win but since the Devil was after him, Jin couldn't risk being caught in the arena. So his only chance was to make sure Bryan would never show up. To ask a psychotic cyborg to quit a match was a stupid thing to do so Jin had to take the issue to the next level. Therefore sooner or later, someone would find an unconscious Bryan in his hotel room.

By that time Jin had already been announced as the winner of the match. He didn't stay in the arena more than ten seconds.

It wasn't easy for Xiaoyu to see that Jin was so distant from her. She barely saw his face. Julia tried to explain that he hadn't watched Kazuya and Lee's match because he knew the Devil would feel him. He had to take precautions if he wanted to stay alive. Julia's words were no consolation though. Actually Xiaoyu was even more worried about Jin. What if Kazuya caught him and she could never see him again?

The morale was really low when the fighters started to leave to have some sleep. Next morning a new match would be announced but the events of that night would quickly overtake most of them.

After a failed attempt to get Hwoarang drunk again to tell more secrets about Jin and the Mishima family, Christie had to call it a night. He was getting suspicious and she was tired.

When Christie finally left, Hwoarang watched Xiaoyu and Miharu going to the elevator. He thought about following them to annoy the girls but it wasn't funny without Julia. He scanned the hotel lobby but she wasn't there.

A few minutes later he decided to return to his room but he noticed a hooded guy entering the hotel. Julia followed him and they took the stairs. Hwoarang knew it was Jin but when he got to the stairs both Jin and Julia were gone.

In the meantime Jin was now in Xiaoyu's room. He decided to take Julia's advice and talk to Xiaoyu one last time. She was surprised when she opened the door.

-'I don't know who's going to be my next opponent…but if it's Kazuya I'm probably dead.'-he said trying not to look into her eyes.

-'You said that you might win against him…'

-'I'm not so sure anymore.'

-'Why?'

-'I've been thinking…what if this is my destiny?'

-'To be killed by your father? No…I don't think so Jin…you're better than that.'

-'I spent fifteen years with my mother. She never talked about my father…she knew what he was and she knew what he'd do to me.'

-'She was trying to protect you, but that doesn't mean your destiny is to die.'

-'She was much better than me and she died. She was caring and friendly and I learned everything I know from her. When she died…a part of me died too.'

Xiaoyu was silent. She didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Jin loved his mother and his life had changed considerably after her death. Forced to live with someone he didn't know had made Jin a quiet and introverted person. Xiaoyu knew that he had tried to fit in but in the end he couldn't.

-'I'm sorry…'-the Chinese girl said, almost in tears.

-'Living with the enemy is harder than I thought…'

-'You need to forget about Heihachi…he's not your enemy anymore…'

-'I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about me…the devil inside of me.'

-'You keep telling that you're evil but so far all you've done nothing wrong.'

-'But I think about doing things…horrible things…'

-'Why?'

-'I don't know…there are images in my head…about people dying. I can't stand it anymore.'

-'Jin, you need to be strong. You need to focus…'

-'I can't Xiao…But I need you to be strong for me.'

-'What do you mean?'

-'If Kazuya kills me and takes my powers I need you to promise that you won't try anything to avenge me.'

-'What?'

-'And you won't let Julia continue this nonsense about fighting the Devil and unveiling the Mishima's secrets…ok? Just live your life and try to be happy…'

-'I can't do that.'

-'I don't want you to die because of me. I want to leave this room tonight knowing that you'll build an amusement park and that you'll be happy in the future.'

-'It's not that I can't promise you…I just won't be able to be happy without you.'

Those words had a strange impact on Jin because his life had never been important to anyone, expect to his mother.

Xiaoyu knew that this time Jin was saying goodbye for good and as an uneasy feeling of near panic was setting inside her heart, she approached him and they kissed.

A few seconds later Jin left in silence leaving behind a tearful Xiaoyu with the promise that no matter what he would treasure that kiss forever.