Pre-Warnings/Clarifications:
(1) This chapter starts with Julia Chang's life several weeks after Jin's final standoff with Azazel.
The previous chapter (Prologue 1) starts with Jin after being discovered several weeks after defeating Azazel and going down with Him. It then explains Jin's situation & POV while in the Agency's captivity for almost 3 months.
The next chapter (Prologue 3) opens 3 months after this chapter, focusing on Julia's situation.
In-story timeline-wise, Julia will be meeting Jin shortly after Prologue I: 3-4 months after Jin's fight to the death with Azazel, from the chronological perspective of both.
(2) Lee Chaolan may sound somewhat OOC. And Julia will, compared to her canon portrayals.
(3) As a chapterly reminder, I'm planning for this fanfic to disregard post-T6SC official developments, including T7 & its characters (at least so far, as trying to integrate them will significantly de-motivate & discourage my storywriting incentives at this point). Thus, I'm currently going to actively ignore T7-related facts, which will likely render the Tekken in-universe facts of this story canonically obsolete, contradictory, and/or highly inaccurate.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Tekken, its original characters, or the mainstream fictional works that inspired and from which I derived my storyline/characterizations/plot devices/OCs/character names.
I do own the OCs presented here, along with the chosen naming & self-invented backgrounds of both playable & previously nameless canon characters with little or different background info (up to Tekken 6: Scenario Campaign).
Part 1 - Prologue II
*****
Several weeks after Jin Kazama's publicly announced death, in a realm between the subconscious and metaphysical...
Julia Chang again found herself staring at the backside of that beautiful goddess-like Being, standing no more than six feet away from her, whose lustrous, silky-liquid hair cascaded gracefully down to her knees. The Being's arms were placed casually by Her sides as She seemed to stare blankly right ahead. They were somewhere dark and misty, with moonlight brightly illuminating Her surroundings to their fine details. The BeingHerself had a mystical glow of silver, tinted with some pale purple, which covered a quarter-inch radius of Her form...it must be some supernatural aura, or a very highly-developed neon gel applied, making the "aura" look flawlessly realistic and deistic, Julia concluded to herself.
They were in some small bedroom-sized chamber...or some place surrounded by white smoke so swirly and puffy, they looked like cumulus clouds. The cloudy smoke covered the floor, the wall, the ceiling that acted as a skylight for the unusually large and bright moon above. But the figure in front of her was very visible, only thinly veiled by light mist.
Like before, Julia cautiously approached the Being. Whatever the floor was made of, it felt very moist and airy. The first time Julia found herself here, she concluded that they must be in a very high-tech virtual playroom of some sort, catered to the insanely wealthy.
The woman's hair color and skin tone shifted subtly as she got closer.
The shining, silky-liquid flat hair took on a darkest navy-blue from where Julia stood.
The Figure's skin appeared to be a perfect creamy porcelain where Julia was originally standing .
However, when Julia got within 3 feet of the Being, Her skin gradually took on a deeper and more radiant tone, until Her skin tone started approaching Julia's own tawny complexion of deep orange-amber honey.
And Her limp cascading hair fluffed up enough to reach half Her upper thighs, - its color and texture now resembling Julia's waist-long, plain, and straight maroon locks.
That soft, unearthly glow of bluish silver emanating from the Figure's flesh changed to a bright golden-orange.
The Figure was clad in a very long white gauze sash-shawl loosely wrapped around her upper arms, and some silver skirt worn under a floor-length full-body robe made of wholly-transparent sheer material.
The robe looked like pure water somehow converted into fabric form -- limpid and sparkling like liquid diamonds under the moonlight, but with definite draping, cloth-like folds hanging about.
The sash-shawl was at least three times as long as the Figure's height. It also glowed brightly like the Figure's flesh, but with a silver-white light - looking like wisps of clouds shrouding a luminous moon. The strangest part is that the whole cloth was floating and rippling softly by itself, putting in Julia's mind an image of a magic flying carpet in Arabian fairytales. Julia at first suspected some hidden air vent beneath Her was doing the trick, except the Being's hair and robe remained completely still.
When Julia got less than an arm's length away from the glowing Being, She suddenly started to turn to face her...slowly. Her face was partially concealed by long center-part bangs justlike Julia's, and Her eyes were closed.
The Being was indeed meant to be female -- one graceful, all-around stunning, and perfectly well-endowed feminine body...at least those who caught Julia in skimpy, form-fitting clothing or seen her outright naked claimed so. It looked just like Julia's own figure, during the few occasions when she bothered to glimpse her unclothed body in the bathroom door mirror.
The glowing Being private areas were sufficiently covered by gorgeously crafted garments, complemented by fine jewelry.
A very long, thick white scarf -- embroidered by golden thread with ornate depictions of swirling clouds - was used as a flat breast-covering strap cloth that hung down from between the fleshy mounds, just above the feet.
Her lower body was covered by an ankle-length skirt of pure pale-silver, bearing exquisite patterns of ice-crystals sewn by white threads on its hems. The skirt was lined with ruffles at the edges. The skirt was split open from the middle of Her thighs, hugging the Figure's curvaceous hips down to the knees, and tapered into a flowing, open flare. Feet-length, golden long silk cords into macramé knots and florally-braided tassel-ribbons secured the skirt as a belt.
Golden chains, along with diamond, opal, and pearl beads - crafted into various shapes and sizes, then woven into ornate but elegant designs - adorned Her neck in stringed necklaces, pendants, and a choker. She also wore a wrist cuff, bracelets, an anklet, and large, dangling earrings crafted by the same precious metals and gemstones.
One necklace strand was attached to a little mirror-like ornament, pinned in the middle of Her chest.
When the Being was fully facing her, She gracefully brushed aside its bangs, and opened Her eyes - unusually colorful and vivid hazels, just like Julia's.
Julia found herself staring at a quite...modified version of her own face. As if someone took a copy of her facial features, then resized and rearranged them into flawless symmetries and beautified proportions,via a magical CG graphic artsoftware.
The Being smiled at her -- it was a beautiful smile, but definitely not a friendly one. Something about that smile and the gleam in Her eyes sent shivers down Julia's spine. She parted Her lips and spoke in a melodious, chime-like voice --girlishly sweet, silvery...and nothing like her own plain womanly voice:
"Dear Twelfth Incarnation, we meet at last. Fate has finally decided to free us all. Then you and your beloved Michelle Chang will get the wish you both have always dreamed of."
As the words left the Being's mouth, Her facial features abruptly shifted into a what seemed an almost an anti-thesis of Julia's - ethereally exquisite features of an unimaginably lovely oriental girl who looked almost a decade younger than Julia herself. The Being's hair abruptly puffed up considerably more, this time into strange spirally locks, ranging from the lightest to deepest of violets and purples - Her multi-colored hair hues arranged in a horizontal gradient. Those hazel orbs became a deepest sparkling purple. And Her skin once more shifted to a pale tone - a rich ivory shade, and Her aura reverted to its light-purple blaze.
Julia stumbled backwards in astonishment. For a moment, they just stared at each other in complete silence. Although now wearing a completely different face, skin tone, and hair, the chilling smile that tugged on the Being's lips and gleamed in Her eyes remained exactly the same expression.
This glowing CGI-clone is some stupid mind screw attempt, Julia inwardly told herself. It's either some state-of-the-art hologram of a heavily graphic-altered photo of myself, or a humanoid robot made to resemble some sex-goddess interpretation of me.
With that in mind, Julia put herself together, and tentatively reached forward to touch Her shoulder. The Being neither flinched nor made any movement to stop her, only directed its gaze at her approaching hand, still smiling.
When her fingers made contact with the Being's aura-like glow, everything around her started to shake and spin uncontrollably.
The Being and the chamber were suddenly gone. Horrific visceral images and sensations flooded Julia: she was in some sort of fire-lit cave, tied down on some platform At first, she could only see the cave ceiling strewn with stalactite. A second later, the large hands --large hands that belonged to men -- came for her.
Several of them were holding knives and saws. One hand grabbed her hair in a painful grip, forcing her head to stay still...then she saw and felt the knife plunge deep into her breastbone, making a thorough, merciless cut down to just below her navel.
One hand violently tore bloody entrails from her body, and another worked on sawing off her limbs. Sounds of agonized screams and the howling of an infant shook her eardrums.
*****
In material reality, resident studio room of Violet Systems...
Julia found herself gasping for breath as she awoke. She was sprawled diagonally across her sofa-bed, pillows and covers thrown in disarray. Soft sunlight peeked from the curtains. It was around dawn. And the third time this week she startled herself awake since this strange recurring nightmare began - which was several weeks ago.
Sitting up, Julia gathered her pillow and linen to put them back into their rightful place. She pulled the covers over herself, clutching them at her chest.
Her employer-friend Lee Chaolang suggested that Julia go find herself a good psychiatrist. It was those dreams that was making her look so dreary the next day, so much that even Lars Alexandersson noticed during his last to Violet Systems. And Julia didn't like that at all.
Maybe she should consider Lee's advice, if only to help with the persistent and painfully bittersweet feelings she holds for the half-Swede Mishima, who had charged in G. Corp.'s research facilities to rescue her from Kazuya's men.
She is now a woman going on to twenty-two years old. It's just not right for an adult - especially a scientist - to let such emotions affect her like a lovesick teenage girl. Especially since the first and last time she felt personal attraction towards another man of Mishima descent...
Julia collapsed back on her bed and closed her eyes again, languidly allowing her mind to stray to the past three years of her life:
*****
Almost 4 years ago, in the Tekken Tournament center...
Since she was eighteen, Julia Chang had fought with plenty of powerful male combatants during her participations in the Iron Fist tournaments, and even proved a formidable opponent for a good number of them.
In fact, one of those male opponents was the very charismatic and exceptionally strong Lee Chaolang, whom she lost to, but later befriended.
She also got acquainted with the wrestler King, who she believed was the kindest, most gentlemanly and heroic a fighter could ever get.
On her quest to save Michelle from Heihachi, Julia was initially dismayed when she found Lei Wulong as one of the participants, and had attended for his own investigational purposes. Other than her adoptive mother and aunt, the Hong Kong cop was the closest and dearest parental figure in her heart.
It would be a huge dilemma if the two were pitted against each other by the tournament's random matching system -- neither could afford to forsake their own personal missions for the other.
Lei offered an acceptable compromise that since his investigation directly involves Heihachi, he'll definitely work on locating and saving Julia's adoptive mother -- should they be forced to fight each other, and he wins.
In subsequent Tekken tournament participations, the compromise took on a considerably less difficult "fair game" nature, as Julia's stakes of losing were not nearly as high as they were the first time -- rescuing a loved one.
The young scientist also watched other matches, either on television or live. There was another Kempo practitioner, of pure Chinese descent and sported his hair in a single long braid.
He was vastly more versed and refined in their many similar martial disciplines than she could ever hope to be. She'd have loved to fight him just to see how much ways she had to go with Kempo, but they never got the opportunity to cross paths or fists.
Lei later informed her that the man was Feng Wei, a dangerous criminal obsessed with the perfection of his fighting mastery, and killed his mentor in order to achieve it.
There were a few young men who couldn't be more than a few years older than herself, if not younger. A hot-headed, punkish Tae Kwon Do fighter -- presumably of Korean descent -- who boasted amazing combat agility and speed. His fighting style possessed an almost aerial-like quality. The young Korean punk had his collar-length hair dyed red, combed back by riding goggles. This boy clearly held a penchant for denim jeans, along with cowboyish chaps, vests, and boots -- which Julia considered a sign of good fashion taste.
Another one was a Caucasian middle-weight boxing champion whose speed rivaled -- or perhaps even surpassed -- the Tae Kwon Do Fighter. The blond boxer seemed to have an extraordinarily preternatural sense of precision and timing in his strikes. He gave Julia the impression of being level-headed, mild-mannered, and quite mature for his age, though at the same time came off as somewhat of an introverted loner as well.
She later learned through Lei that this young man was a Brit named Steve Fox. Steve befriended Lei after the cop assisted him with some troubles concerning Heihachi's Mishima Zaibatsu experiments.
Julia was naturally curious about the blond British boy's connection with the Zaibatsu, but she perceived that Lei wanted to keep his young British friend's issues confidential out of respect. Thus, Julia refrained from attempting to pry or snoop out of respect for both men.
And finally, there was Jin Kazama.
She had seen the Mishima men on the arena -- there was an enigmatically alluring mix of elegance, majestic prowess and provocative ferocity in the way they fought. If not for her grudge against Heihachi Mishima, Julia could have freely admired the uniquely fascinating strength and skill of the Mishima clan.
Julia first saw Jin Kazama three years ago, during her initial participation in the tournament to save Michelle. Worry over her kidnapped adoptive mother afforded Julia little attention to anything else, but she did pay some to Jin Kazama. Having done prior research on the Mishimas, Julia knew him to be the Mishima grandson whom her mother's kidnapper himself graciously took under his wing, after the boy had lost his own mother several years ago.
Jin Kazama was wearing the fancy schoolboy uniform of the Mishima Polytech Institute that day, which contrasted his masculinely developed features and gave him a rather innocent boyish charm. The prodigal grandson must be fighting in the tournament as casual recreation or some extracurricular activity, Julia had bitterly assumed back then.
Later that day, the young scientist-fighter decided to spy on her enemy's grandson for a bit while he was alone on a temple balcony of the tournament site. She was startled to see a certain grief, rage, and pain of loss so openly shown on his face as he stared off into the distant horizon.
That expression resonated in her heart, soundly reflecting her own fear of what may become of Michelle. That very moment, Julia felt a one-sided connection of deep empathy towards Jin Kazama, completely forgetting the fact that him being the grandson taken in by Heihachi automatically makes Jin her enemy.
Their one-sided moment was abruptly interrupted by a petite Asian girl sporting cute high pigtails and wearing a female version of his school uniform. The school girl skipped in from another entrance, cheerfully calling his name. Julia was further surprised to see the anger and pain in his eyes vanishing, and lit up by tender warmth as he faced the schoolgirl.
Although Jin kept quiet amidst his female friend's -- or girlfriend's -- incessant chatter, his lips curved into a genuine, appreciative smile at her company. The scene left Julia feeling confused and conflicted. She quickly snuck away to recollect her focus on her rescue mission.
Despite surpassing her own limits in her fights, Julia quickly lost less than halfway through the tournament to Lee Chaolang -- ironically Heihachi's own adopted child. Though luckily for her, Lee held a deep grudge against his adoptive father and offered to help her with finding Michelle Chang, if only just to spite Heihachi.
With Lee's assistance, she managed to locate Michelle, whom Heihachi had already set free, safe and unhurt. As adoptive mother and adopted daughter made their way back to Arizona, Julia's mind briefly wandered back to the quiet, melancholy Jin Kazama.
When Julia returned in the next tournaments for her Arizona reforestation projects, she found herself pitted against Heihachi's grandson early on. According to surrounding gossip, Jin had been disowned by Heihachi right after the last tournament. Julia sensed that the spiky-haired boy's demeanor had changed drastically, for the worse.
There was a chilling sense of hardness and hatred from the boy that seemed to have eaten away the unexpected warmth she'd witnessed a year ago. No longer clad in that tidy and rather adorable schoolboy uniform, Jin was now shrouded in a plain, loose-fitting purple hoodie with flame patterns. Still, the coldness, malice, and soul-less ambition that Julia saw in Heihachi and Kazuya's eyes were completely absent in Jin's. Instead, the Mishima boy's possessed a profound sense of determination...a determination which Julia saw some kind of unbreakable selflessness and purity. That look stirred something in her heart, much deeper and infinitely more profound than the last time when she was spying on him.
When she and Jin came face-to-face for the very first time on the arena, he regarded her with nothing but antagonistic irritation under his hooded visage.
"Don't stand in my way!" He had growled to her threateningly.
Initially taken aback by his hostility, Julia quickly composed herself to fight. He obviously doesn't want anyone's sympathy, and I can't help him anyways. The young scientist forced herself to throw aside irrelevant thoughts and lunged headfirst towards her opponent.
To Julia's surprise and confusion, Jin Kazama did not employ any Mishima-style karate techniques during their match, whilst she'd seen him fighting with his paternal martial art all throughout the last tournament.
Instead, he was using regular Kyokushin Karate mixed with another unfamiliar fighting style (which she would later learn was the Kazama style martial arts), throwing Julia off from the start. The Mishima boy's attacks also seemed a great deal faster and more fierce than she'd seen him fight in the last tournament.
Before she knew it, the young scientist was flat on her back and hurting badly all over. She forlornly struggled to get up as Jin moved to leave the arena. But he suddenly halted his steps, turned to face her, and uttered two words in a gentle, solemn voice: "Forgive me."
Julia abruptly stilled at his completely unexpected words and tone, locking eyes with him. She caught the flash of a softened, sincerely apologetic glance as he looked away again and strode off. Julia let herself collapse on her back again. She was of course very disappointed that she lost so early and easily, but the disappointment was oddly mitigated by the words and glance her victorious opponent left her with...so different from his vicious demeanor just moments before.
What was with this boy? Julia wondered in puzzlement to herself. Had abandonment by his deceased mother, then voluntarily by his grandfather triggered some sort of borderline personality disorder within him?
Overcome by curiosity, Julia tried to ask Lee -- who she could safely consider her friend at that point -- about Jin's background story, but all she got from him was his very sour opinions towards both the Mishimas and Kazamas...and anyone else in between.
Upon learning that a possible relative of Jin -- a teenager named Asuka Kazama -- had participated in the tournament, Julia went out of her way to befriend the younger girl, with the ulterior motive of learning more about Jin.
The young scientist's close relationship with Lei definitely helped the girls' initial acquaintance. The cop happened to be working with helping Asuka pursue that same over-ambitious Chinese Kempo artist Julia had admired earlier...apparently, the man destroyed the Kazama dojo and injured Asuka's father quite badly in the process.
Jin's younger cousin had a definite temper and attitude problem, but Julia admired Asuka's non-discriminatory bluntness, and later found out that the Kazama girl had her heart in the right place.
It didn't take too long for Asuka to warm up to Julia's friendly advances, even though it did require quite a few bruises and an exhaustive series of sparring matches -- which the demanding Kazama girl insisted was necessary to "win her respect".
The scientist-fighter later managed to charm her way through several Kazama relatives --mostly Asuka's father -- with a clueless Asuka's help, and learned a great deal more about Jun and Jin Kazama's background.
Having managed to pry out the detailed story of the Kazama-Mishima's string of tragedies, Julia found her heart aching for the long-suffering Mishima grandson.
She also considered how lucky she is in comparison for being able to have her mother-figure still alive and well, and simply ostracized by her own tribe -- as opposed to being actively hunted down.
Most of all, Julia narrowly escaped her own life-long curse -- a very mundane one in contrast to Jin Kazama's -- and managed to adapt herself into a fairly normal life, with no self-imposed moral burden or lonely social isolation.
Well, she still did harbor enormous grief and hate towards Mr. Rochefort -- of which she ought to start trying to counterbalance with at least some graciousness instead, for pulling her from the gutter out of some unconditional charity.
But then, the obscenely wealthy Monaco Tycoon is also the same man who ruined her life from the inside out in the first place. Not to mention the cause of the long-faded but still permanent scar etched on the once-perfectly loving, trusting, and inseparable parent-child relationship with Michelle Chang.
And then there was her inadvertent bloodying of her 11 year old little hands...no matter how Lei, his family, and then Michelle justified the circumstances. Julia had consciously forgiven herself, no doubt. But her deep subconscious apparently had not, as it demonstrated a number of months ago, at the worst possible moment...
More than once before Jin seized the Zaibatsu, Julia had almost given into her tremendous temptation to approach the Mishima boy...if only she could do something to help him, help ease the burdens that life so cruelly and unjustly stacked upon him. She felt she qualified in comprehending the deep pains of loss and betrayal -- thus could be a potential empathetic confidante -- more than the average normal person, at least.
In time, she could perhaps even open herself up to the tormented boy, and he would reciprocate with genuine comfort and companionship to her soul...
But the young scientist never could work up the courage to approach Jin Kazama, much less try to get him to open up to her.
She feared too much the possibility of receiving the Mishima boy's cold rejection and scorn, especially after being graced with his parting gesture that warmed her heart...and made it throb with sweet longing.
Besides, it seems that the lonely, tormented boy wasn't all alone anyways...he already had a girlfriend -- that petite, pigtailed schoolgirl, whom Julia found out was a young Chinese named Ling Xiaoyu, who was getting her official education in Japan and thus spoke mostly Japanese instead of her mother tongue.
Later yet, Lei informed Julia that Ling was actually the maternal granddaughter of the great Wang Jinrei, a legendary master achiever in Xinyichuan, and a good friend of Lei's. Ling herself was an exceptionally agile, skillful fighter despite her young age and small form, firmly mastered a good number of formidable Wushu styles -- especially Baguazhang and Piguaquan.
Since Julia saw him at her second tournament participation, Jin didn't smile at anyone anymore -- including his adorable, spritely little girlfriend. Still, the coldness and anger left his eyes, and a shred of kind concern gleamed through them whenever they fell upon Ling Xiaoyu.
After a period of constant self-discouragement, self-deprecation, and struggle with covetful jealousy, Julia gradually abandoned the notion of trying to befriend the reclusive Japanese boy, and stopped her occasional stalking of him altogether. She obviously wasn't the type he'd warm up to, anyways, unlike Ling, whose faithful optimism in cheering him up seemed inexhaustible.
The Chinese ingenue would bring warmth, light and a sense of normalcy in Jin's dark and burdened life. Plus, the brooding Japanese boy didn't need another messed-up person, like herself, in his life - he was already overwhelmed by messed-up people and issues...all of them relentlessly pursuing him for his life or sanity.
That, and Jin Kazama obviously had no time to spare pity on anyone...nor did he want any for himself. He was a young man on a mission...and single-mindedly so.
When news first came that Jin Kazama wrested control of the Mishima Zaibatsu from Heihachi, Julia was initially exhilarated, having believed back then that one of the most powerful empire of the world had been taken over by a truly benevolent and conscientious heir -- who'd work to make the world a much better place to live in.
Maybe one day she can even seek Jin out to help her with her dreams of reforestation. After all, Jin's mother was a wildlife protector and a nature-lover herself. Jin apparently loved pretty much all of what his mother loved, save his own father and grandfather.
Last but not least, given the nature of the boy's new social status, maybe -- just maybe -- she'll have a chance to acquaint herself with him on a more personal level...those Jin-related imagined scenarios she occasionally indulged in always had her both blushing with embarrassingly sillyromance-sickness, and an almost giddy anticipation.
Despite both Lee and the Kazamas' expressed contempt towards Jun for consorting with the obviously irredeemable Kazuya Mishima, Julia decided to go with her own impression of Jin Kazama and privately found excuses against their harsh accusations towards Jun...Kazuya must have somehow tricked -- or even forced -- Jin's mother into copulating with him for his own evil, selfish purposes.
During Jin's official coronation as new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Julia made sure she had enough time from work to watch the whole live coverage of the event.
She would've been so very happy for Jin to see him being able to smile again, but that final smile Jin Kazama directed at the camera during the ceremony...there was just something very wrong with that smile. It left her with a sickening feeling of perplexity and unease.
When Jin Kazama started brutally terrorizing the world for no apparent reason, a heartbroken andutterly crushed Julia struggled with reality of what the Mishima boy had become...or worse, what he actually had been all along. After witnessing firsthand the young Zaibatsu CEO's tragically destructive influence on the world, the bitterly disillusioned young scientist finally managed to dispose of her broken hopes from her conscious awareness. She pushed herself to do all she could to aid Lee Chaolang in stopping the mindless tragedies being caused by Jin and his most hated arch-nemesis father, Kazuya.
Julia recalled how she initially couldn't help falling into temporary denial...then feeling crestfallen to the core, upon viewing occasional spy footage of Jin Kazama while she was working for Lee. The new Zaibatsu CEO's eyes always held nothing but icy cruelty, ruthless ambition, and undeniable malice -- all traces of honorable humanity she saw in him apparently vanished once he got his hands on immense power.
The young scientist eventually reached a personal conclusion that Jin Kazama yielded to his immense hatred towards his tragic destiny once he acquired the wealth and power he could abuse. His atrociously murderous actions against the world are thus some kind of misplaced blame and revenge over all things wrong in his life. Her previous reverence-like admirationand romantic yearnings towards Jin transformed into piercing betrayal and disappointment; her sympathy for him into deep disgust and resentment.
Still, there was one criminal feat she couldn't help feel a heartfelt gratitude (inwardly, to herself) towards the suffering hero-turned-monstrous dictator for...which ran both against her conscience, and of course had been purely incidental on Jin's part: The young Zaibatsu CEO's attack on Rochefort Enterprises' most valuable resources, leading to its CEO's severe health and stress problems.
Julia knew it was a low cause to rejoice over. But the young scientist allowed a moment of inner celebration over the unjust plunder and ruin of Mr. Rochefort's fortunes -- as a purely vindictive, nevertheless effective and powerful catharsis -- so she could possibly start moving on from her 13 year-long grudge.
Fortunately, it didn't take too long for her to get over all those feelings, and effectively numb herself intoviewing Jin Kazama as an immoral madman to be brought to justice -- just like his father, the "Hero of the World", whose mega-corporation she managed to infiltrate as Lee's undercover agent.
More than once, Julia had gotten herself out of mortal danger without losing her coolmore than once- including being held at gunpoint by the corrupted Dr. Abel, then shot at as she destroyed her biggest hopes of reforestation in fear that it could potentially used for exploitive propagation of the Devil Gene.
The Devil Gene. That was what Abel termed the bizarre inheritable mutation of the human gene - or maybe it was artificially altered DNA to resemble the appearance and abilities of mythical deities -- that granted currently inexplicable powers to Kazuya Mishima. And as she later learned, Jin Kazama as well.
The young scientist brushed off any lingering anxiety of such ordeals like pencil shavings.
However, her quite-recent hostage situation G. Corp. was somewhat of a new experience. Total imprisonment and threat of cruel torture-interrogation invoked the assumed long-gone feelings of genuine helplessness and hopelessness.
But the worst part of the ordeal: being mentally bludgeoned by the extremely rude and untimely revelation that the crippling power from her horrible childhood deed was still very alive and present, after a full decade...
For the very first time after childhood, she was truly a damsel in distress expecting no one to help her in time, and completely incapable of saving herself...until the mixed Asian man clad in Tekken Force commander uniform sped in, defeated all her captors with an achingly familiar prowess, then gently freed her with kind, reassuring words.
There was just something about that Mishima soldier...his merciless thrashing of her captors, the contrastingly tender way he helped her out of her confinements, and that look in his eyes.
All of it felt strangely deja vu, accompanied by an overpowering tugging sensation in her heart and warmth flooding her entire being. Then Julia remembered that she should be worried for herself. The soldier was wearing Tekken Force uniform after all, and she doubt she'd fare that much better in Mishima Zaibatsu custody.
Luckily, her rescuer was that former Tekken Force officer-turned-rebel leader, whom Lee casually mentioned to her a while before she was found out by G. Corp.
Lars Alexandersson was his name.
It was only after Lars helped her out did Julia get a good look at the tall, slender girl-robot who fought alongside him. To her astonishment, it was a mechanical replica of Dr. Geppetto Boskonovitch's late daughter - still quite recognizable as the face of his deceased human daughter, despite the robot's physical and aesthetic enhancements.
Julia had seen the photo of the Professor's beloved child on his working station several times during her short-lived internship with Dr. Boskonovitch, before she decided to invest all her focus on environmental biology instead. The robot girl's name was Alisa Boskonovitch -- just like her original human counterpart's -- and was an extremely advanced combot that Lars came across during one of his assaults on the Zaibatsu base. The female gynoid had been accompanying the Tekken rebel leader ever since.
*****
Back in the present, Julia's Violet Systems studio residence...
The young scientist opened her eyes again, stretched her limbs, and rolled out of bed.
Lars is planning to visit Lee again later this afternoon; Julia would hate to miss a half-minute of the half-Swedish Mishima's presence due to falling behind her daily workload. Especially since Alisa is currently put in charge of overseeing the Zaibatsu while Lars is gone, and would not be there to compete with her for Lars's attention.
Lars returned to Violet Systems almost two weeks ago, seeking help for a seriously damaged but still repairable Alisa Boskonovitch. Several days later, the half-Swede returned anxiously to check on the robot girl's progress.
Witnessing Lars's open relief and joy interacting with his now fully functional mechanical companion, Julia could not shake off the aching disappointment that clamped her heart, nor a feeling of bitter envy towards the innocent and clueless girl-robot.
Although Lars's visits were cut short by his hectic work, he'd occasionally make time for friendly chatter with her and Lee.
Lars talked about his lengthy, roundabout travels with Alisa before Jin forced the gynoid to turn against her human travel companion, and described his battle against an ancient supernatural demon who called itself "Azazel".
According to Jin's claims, Lars explained, Azazel was responsible for the existence of Devil Gene, which was in turn the motivation behind Jin's atrocities as Zaibatsu CEO.
His half-nephew slaughtered and ruined countless lives just to awaken this Azazel, so he can destroy the demon and eradicate the Devil Gene in the process. Stirring up large-scale sorrow and strife was the only way to free the monster-god from His millennia-old bonds - simply so He can be destroyed before He regains His full wrathful power.
Thus, Julia had pondered to herself back then, Jin Kazama's real intentions weren't monstrous in themselves; in fact, the young man apparently thought he must become evil himself, believing it is the only way to destroy a greater evil.
So Jin Kazama wasn't the pathetic omnicidal hater-of-life that she had previously concluded of him, after all. It didn't make him less of an unforgivable extremist in her eyes, especially after all the innocent lives he sacrificed in such a callous, indiscriminate, and obviously remorseless manner.
That, and hearing from Lars how his half-nephew forced him to fight the robot girl he had grown to trust and love - and in the process, abusing Dr. Boskonovitch's most precious creation that he entrusted to help the troubled young man all ways possible.
As a professional scientist of hard science, Julia was by default inclined to treat supernatural phenomena with as much reasonable skepticism as she could. However, that doesn't mean she couldn't make room for personal spirituality and beliefs.
Julia allowed herself guilty comfort that spirits of deceased ancestors and benign nature entities do exist, and are faithfully protecting her - it was a belief Michelle, her adoptive aunt, and Lei's family passionately instilled in her - from toddlerhood to adulthood, thus had become somewhat of a personally consecrated one. She felt she'd be disrespecting both families by denouncing the belief as mere superstition, even in private.
The young scientist accepted the tribal legend that there is a demon-god known as Ogre, especially after Michelle got involved with Heihachi trying to catch it - though she tends to believe it is some extraterrestrial bio-weapon instead of a real god.
Julia was forced to acknowledge the fact that there is such thing as the Devil Gene with all its superhuman physiological aspects, due to her encounters with Dr. Abel and her time studying it in G. Corp. facility.
Still, she sticks to her own theory that the Devil Gene and maybe even this Azazel creature are simply highly evolved mutations of human genes, or other creatures.
She has yet to be convinced of the Kazama family's talk about paranormal and psychic powers. She can't even bring herself to openly accept Lei's family's firm belief of such, after living closely with them for a good portion of her life - not yet.
And Jin's whole idea of awakening, then killing some highly-evolved creature to erase the Devil Gene...such a shame the world was plunged into needless devastation, just because a tragedy-prone young man drove his own sanity into following supernatural myths.
At least both Jin Kazama and his psychological burdens that drove him into murderous insanity are finally at peaceful rest, now...
Pushing away all thoughts related to Jin Kazama and Lars Alexandersson, Julia slipped off her loose, chest-length tank top, and put on a bra. She rummaged her closet to find the right set of clothes which will best accommodate her physical sense of comfort, while meeting Lee's minimum standard of feminine stylishness for his female employees.
It was one of the few annoying downsides for working under her womanizing boss. Julia felt most comfortable working in simple, loose-fitting denim jeans & jacket, oversized sweats, sportswear, or even cargo wear, with flannel shirts, training shirts, or plain t-shirts. Above all, large, plastic-framed nerdy-looking glasses provided maximum psychological comfort and peripheral vision. When she was alone exploring the great outdoors, she'd indulge in cowgirl shirts, hats, chaps, and boots...still too shy to be seen wearing them.
But virtually all her preferred apparel were deemed way too shabby, out-of-fashion, or dorky-looking for the Violet Systems owner.
Although her friendship with Lee and the nature of her work gave Julia the luxury of casual attire in Violet Systems, her silver-haired employer staunchly insisted that she dressed in more "feminine" lady-like, and form-fitting outfits. That, and either get herself contact lenses or a pair of proper "fashionable womanly" specs.
Clad in a pink vest over a striped white blouse and capri jeans, Julia absent-mindedly pushed up her small, rimless glasses up her nose as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She made a note to grab coffee and breakfast in the employee cafe-lounge, as she left her specially customized built-in apartment within Violet Systems, and headed down to her working station in the company's laboratory.
A/N:
Julia's empathetic feelings towards Jin concerning mother figures & pain of betrayal, Julia's AU-ish close acquaintance with Lei, Julia's long-time grudge against Lili Rochefort's father, Julia's 10 year-old "atrocious" deed will be explained next chapter.
More in-depth insights of Julia's deep crush on Jin (formerly nascent & now broken) and then Lars (redirected & openly romantic) will be explained in the chapter following the next.
The Doppleganger dream sequence details were inspired by Sailor Moon, Detective Conan, Rayearth,Tekken Tag Tournament series, Street Fighter x Tekken, Final Fantasy 7, Fushigi Yuugi, Card Captor Sakura Movie II,Inuyasha, "Oh God!" by Alon Chou - Expose 6 (Ballistics),artwork of Gilbert Williams, Super Mario Bros. II & Aladdin, Hercules (Disney),Twilight,Talking to Dragons (Wrede), and most importantly - Ayashi no Ceres, Doraemon, & Wikipedia's information on Apsaras.
The disembowelment dream sequence was inspired by a Masters of Horror episode.
My interpretation of Julia's fashion preferences are mostly based on attire seen in The Breakfast Club and Robocop 3.