.
(The Main Event: Part One)
The warm, dry breeze flew through Jun's hair as she descended onto the sparkling white sand. The quiet, dreamlike scene should have been comforting, but she could not keep her body from shaking and her heartbeat from pounding in her ears. When her feet touched the ground, her eyes scanned the endless dunes surrounding her. A notable change drew her gaze high above. There was now a window in the middle of the sapphire sky. Through it, she saw a quick glimpse of the city from a bird's eye view, then a different, less vibrant sky and wispy, white clouds.
"What's happening?"
You can see what I see.
Angel's voice enveloped her, reverberating from the dunes themselves. It was unsettling. It made the vast, empty desert feel claustrophobic and constricting. Jun wasn't in a dream that she could wake up from. She was trapped in her strange and inexplicable reality.
"Do you know where they are?"
I will find the location soon enough.
"What will happen when we arrive?"
We will fight.
Angel's voice had a hard edge that caught Jun off guard.
"Fight? Physically?"
If this battle could be won with diplomacy, I would gladly use it instead of force. But I've confronted Devil enough times to expect anything less.
A heavy feeling settled in Jun's chest, and her heart pounded harder and faster. She balled her hands into fists, trying to keep them from shaking. The heat rose to her neck and face as she voiced her fear. "Will Kazuya be safe? Will I?"
I will take every precaution I am able. However, I would be lying if I guaranteed the safety and well-being of either of you.
Jun sighed, then lowered herself onto the ground and sat cross-legged. There was an unexpected comfort in the warm, soft sand. She wanted to lie down on it, to bury herself and wear it like a blanket. But hiding would do nothing to ease her fear or her guilt. Hiding would not protect her from the dread she felt in her bones. What if, instead of helping Kazuya, she got him killed? What if she died in the process? Would Kazuya care? Would he even know?
There is something I will guarantee: the instant you wish to sever our bond, I will accept without question. However, for all our sakes, I ask that the request only be made after careful consideration, not out of pure impulse or fear.
Angel's words should have been a relief, but all they did was add a layer of doubt and nearly unbearable pressure. Jun was not trapped, and she wasn't powerless, but if anything, it felt like too much freedom and it made her wish she could have more guidance. There was a way out of her situation, and it was tempting to take it now and go back to the safety of her home, to her ordinary life. But the thought was fleeting. Jun refused to turn her back on Kazuya. But in the heat of battle, what would she do if he was hurt or in danger? Jun prayed that she could resist the temptation to break the bond and that she was wise enough to recognize if it needed to happen.
Lee shifted carefully, trying to relieve the pain in his ribs. It didn't work. The seat was reclined much too low, but if he could set it at a ninety-degree angle, he hoped it would ease his discomfort. He reached down and released the lever, then clenched his jaw and held his breath as the sudden change in incline sent a stabbing, searing pain radiating to his ribs. When the pain returned to dull and throbbing, he closed his eyes and leaned back.
He heard Anna sigh. "You don't look good. I shouldn't have brought you with me."
He opened his eyes and tried to sit a little straighter. "Don't worry about me. I've been worse."
She turned and gave him a brief glance before fixing her gaze back on the road. "I know. I was there."
Lee looked outside at the green fields as they passed. Once, Anna had been his only light during dark times. She was by his bedside when he woke up after being beaten into a coma by his own brother. He wanted to remember it with fondness, but it seemed that now, every time he and Anna had a conversation, it led to bitter memories.
He wished that Anna had been there just for him. But she had split her time between him and Kazuya, trying to impress the new leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu to earn a spot in his ranks. Lee wished he could stamp away the mote of jealousy still lingering in his heart, but he supposed that time was the only thing that could make it disappear. What is it about Kazuya? He had asked her once, and she said she didn't know. She was always chasing after him for whatever reason. But now Lee was chasing after Kazuya again, just like after the first tournament. So maybe he needed to stop judging Anna so harshly.
Anna tapped her nails on the steering wheel. "How close are we?"
He looked out the window to get his bearings. They were flanked by green fields on both sides, but there were no longer any farmhouses or outbuildings to be seen.
"There's a road that goes south coming up in a few minutes. Once we start heading in that direction, it's about forty-five minutes to get there."
"Forty-five minutes?"
"It's a windy road."
She muttered something under her breath, then exhaled. "Why did they pick that place? What is so special about it?"
"I have no idea. It's usually a popular hiking spot, but it was closed to the public a few months ago due to volcanic activity."
"Volcanic–" She sighed. "So we're driving to an active volcano?"
"Yes."
Her jaw tightened. "Of course we are."
They were both silent for a few minutes. Lee tried to focus on the fields on the side of the road, but he started to feel dizzy and fixed his gaze on the hood of the car instead. "Make a left there." He instructed when an intersection came into view.
Anna slowed the car and then turned left. "Forty-five minutes…"
They left the farms and green fields behind as the road cut into a hill, becoming narrower, one side flanked by evergreen trees and the other by a vertical wall of dirt and rocks covered by a wire mesh.
Lee didn't think he could take forty-five minutes of silence. He needed to talk to keep his mind off the pain and discomfort. Being stuck in a car with Anna usually meant he couldn't shut her up. The situation with the Zaibatsu had to be worse than he initially thought. He needed to find out more to gauge the situation and figure out if there was even a chance that Kazuya would take him back.
"How can you be the only one still loyal to Kazuya? What about Ganryu?"
Anna shook her head. "I don't even want to hear that moron's name. He's the reason we're in this mess."
"What did he do?"
"He betrayed us."
Lee's heart began to drum in his chest. "How?"
"That's confidential."
He was moving straight into the lion's maw. What if Kazuya found out that Lee was the reason for Ganryu's supposed betrayal? What if he already knew?
He chuckled. "Are you really going to keep me in the dark?"
Anna exhaled softly, her brow furrowed. "He went against orders, then disappeared. That must have put doubt in the guards' minds about Bruce and me…Or maybe he inspired the mutiny."
"I thought they just quit."
"They waited until Bruce was gone and I was busy, then they followed Yamada out of the stadium and drove off in Zaibatsu vehicles. They didn't quit. They switched sides."
"They followed Yamada?"
"Yes. And I'm sure he's following someone else's orders. I think you can guess who."
Lee focused on the road again. Had his actions caused the Zaibatsu to collapse from within? He was the reason why Ganryu went against orders. And Yamada had been working with him. That man was a follower, not a leader. But he wasn't stupid. Yamada had said that he wasn't really loyal to Kazuya. He was merely sticking by the winner's side. He had to have excellent self-preservation instincts to survive a regime change and stay on Kazuya's payroll as one of his top security officers. What if Yamada had seen the tides change and betrayed not only Kazuya but Lee as well? Had he gone to Heihachi after Lee canceled the hit on him? Or had he been working for Heihachi the entire time?
The answer to those questions didn't even matter right now. Lee needed to focus on how to make himself indispensable to Kazuya. And then, he had to find a way to keep Ganryu and Yamada quiet. Forever. If either of them talked… He gave Anna a sidelong glance. He knew she wouldn't kill him, but she probably wouldn't stop Kazuya from doing it.
A throbbing headache began in his temples and slowly spread. If only he had an aspirin and some water, he could think clearly. He closed his eyes but kept the conversation going hoping to gain some insight on how to approach Kazuya.
"Did Bruce drive Kazuya?" After a few moments of waiting for a response, he opened his eyes and looked at Anna. Her hands were tight around the steering wheel. "Did he turn against him too?"
"No!" She snapped as she turned to him. "He would never." She shook her head as she fixed her eyes on the road again.
Only days earlier, she had been trying to depose Bruce. Now she was defending him? "What happened?"
"Your questions are really pissing me off. I know you're trying to get information out of me."
"I'm not."
"I should just kick you out. I'm sure I can find the place on my own from here."
"You'd just leave me in the middle of nowhere?"
She shrugged. "I saw you put that fancy new phone in your pocket. I'm sure you can call someone."
"I'll never get reception here."
She scoffed. "Then Kazuya's right. Those stupid phones are useless."
"Sorry. I'll stop."
"Fine." Anna exhaled. "Tell me. What's your grand plan to get back in Kazuya's good graces?"
Lee looked out the window at the trees as they blurred by, his vision unfocused. "I don't have a plan, but when Kazuya sees that he has no one he can trust, he'll have no choice but to trust me."
Anna was silent for so long that he thought she wouldn't respond. After what must have been minutes, she spoke as she looked straight ahead. "I'm done giving you warnings. At this point, you're just refusing to learn."
Lee closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat as well as he could. Anna was wrong. He wasn't refusing to learn. He was finally learning. It had cost him his place in the Zaibatsu, and it had cost him the tournament. He had learned that to get to the top, he had to let go of compassion, guilt, and even morals. He had one more chance, and he wouldn't waste it.
Kazuya's bare feet touched down, his talons digging into the rocky ground. His wings began to retract into his body, and he rolled his shoulders to ease the discomfort as the flesh in his shoulder blades tingled and burned like a healing wound. He adjusted his red, studded gloves, then watched as his fingers lost their purple hue. Soon, his vision could no longer detect all the little details and tiny patterns on his skin.
Heihachi was nowhere to be seen.
Kazuya scanned his desolate surroundings, then turned his gaze to the top of the volcano. The plume of dark smoke escaping through the vent made the air hazy and heavy, leaving a lingering smell of sulfur. There was no vegetation or water in the immediate area, only rock-strewn dirt covered in a layer of gray ash. Not one of nature's most breathtaking wonders.
He looked at the top of the volcano again. The old man thinks he's going to get rid of me for good.
Imagine the look of utter shock on his face when we deal the final blow.
When I deal the final blow.
Devil huffed. I do most of the work, but I get no recognition.
I don't need your help to kill him.
He's an angry beast with nothing to lose. Don't be so sure. Devil's voice trailed off until it was mercifully quiet inside Kazuya's head.
There was nothing to do and nothing to see but ash everywhere. So much damn ash. His white pants were already covered in it. He paced back and forth staring at the horizon every now and then. He didn't know how long he waited, twenty minutes, maybe more, but he finally saw a black sedan advancing on the dirt road in the distance. Kazuya crossed his arms and faced the vehicle. It stopped a couple hundred feet away, the passenger door opened, and Heihachi stepped out.
A sense of satisfaction made Kazuya's lips twist into a crooked smile as Heihachi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. There was a question hanging in the air that Heihachi would never dare to ask. How did you get here? Kazuya had seen that look on the old man's face time and time again.
The first time was on the night Kazuya climbed back up the ravine. By the time he reached the house, the rain had already washed away all the blood. Heihachi watched the drenched five-year-old Kazuya walk into the dining room. His face remained impassive, but his eyes...the look in those eyes would have turned Kazuya's blood to ice mere hours earlier, but after surviving the fall, he met the stare unflinching.
The old man had rested the tip of his chopsticks on the edge of his plate, his jaw set, the crease in his forehead deepening. The look on his face told Kazuya that the question was dancing on the tip of his tongue. How did you survive? But he never asked it. The housekeeper had then walked in and started fussing about getting Kazuya washed up for his meal. Hehachi looked down at his plate and continued to eat.
Over the years, Heihachi held his tongue every time Kazuya did something that did not seem possible. He never asked: how did you get here so fast? How did you climb so high? How did you break that? How did you survive? Heihachi never asked because he didn't want to hear the answer. He didn't want to admit that in his low and cowardly act of trying to kill a defenseless child, he had inadvertently created a god and sealed his own fate.
Heihachi closed the car door and adjusted the top of his black gi. He fixed his cold, stony gaze on Kazuya and moved with a slow, measured gait. It was the same look, the same walk that he had seen a thousand times since he was a child. Kazuya almost laughed. It had been intimidating once, but now, it was pathetic.
Kazuya stood stock-still, his heart racing, his veins coursing with adrenaline, ready to propel him at his enemy. He was so close to ending the old man once and for all. He could almost feel his fist striking flesh, bones snapping on impact, his knuckles stained with blood, and Heihachi gasping for breath.
Heihachi stopped about two arm lengths away. "I didn't expect you quite so early." His voice was even, casual, but Kazuya could hear the vitriol beneath the layer of calm.
"Does it bother you?"
"It actually worked out for the best. You were so eager to come see me that you didn't even notice I've already won."
"You haven't won anything."
Heihachi crossed his arms. "I have your men on my side. All of them. Bruce Irvin should be in the custody of Interpol by now; if he's not, I'll hunt him down when I'm done with you. Then, I'll do the same with the Williams girl."
Devil hissed. He's lying. Trying to seed your mind with doubt so that you will lose your focus.
Kazuya tried to keep his face impassive as he studied his father's demeanor. He had to be lying because what he was saying was impossible. How could everyone except Bruce and Anna have turned against him?
"Your men scared of you," Heihachi spoke slowly, each word deliberate. "They say you're a monster. That you can fly…" He sneered. "Is that how you got here so fast?"
Let's rip that smirk off his face.
He was telling the truth. Kazuya stood immobile. Heart racing, blood pounding in his ears. That was why he had picked the site so far from the city, to lure him away from the Zaibatsu.
"You were such a meek child, the opposite of what a Mishima should be. Unworthy and incapable of leading. I've tried to toughen you up, make you a real man, but you've always been a lost cause. You put on displays of brute strength to show your power. But brute strength is not power. Power is taking all your men and turning them against you. People look at you, and they fear you. They think you're strong, but I know that deep down inside, you're still that weak little boy I threw–"
Kazuya's fist found its mark as rage propelled him forward. But the blood on Heihachi's face, and the indignant look of utter shock and fury, did nothing to satisfy Kazuya's bloodlust. He became a vessel for the anger that bubbled under his skin every day and let it boil over. He rained blow after blow on his father, kick after kick, as Heihachi defended and dodged. But Kazuya didn't let up. He moved faster and hit harder, fists and feet finding their mark time after time until Heihachi stumbled.
Heihachi caught himself and began his own assault. He was aggressive and relentless as he advanced toward Kazuya. Now he was blocking, dodging, and being driven back until one of Heihachi's punches caught him on the side of the ribs. Kazuya blocked the next one. There was no way in hell he would let him land one–
Heihachi's head hit him square in the forehead. Before he could see straight again, a knee collided with his ribs, and almost immediately, his feet were swept from under him. A searing, stabbing pain in his lower back made him grit his teeth when he hit the ground. Squinting, he saw a blur of a fist and rolled to the side, then catapulted up.
The old man was faster than he had any right to be. Blocking, dodging, and dealing devastating blows that would have deterred or incapacitated anyone else. But Kazuya kept hitting, kicking, and punching through the pain in his back and the metallic taste in his mouth. And he was driving the old man back, forcing him closer and closer to the looming mountain.
Kazuya kicked, and Heihachi dodged instead of blocking. As he missed Heihachi, Kazuya felt the force of his uppercut under his chin. His jaw shook, and his skull vibrated as the pain radiated and pulsed in every joint and every crevice in his face. And he was on the ground again. He rolled to the side and tried to get up. He coughed and tried to spit out the ash and dirt in his mouth. It was in his nostrils, in his throat. His hair was matted with blood and sweat. He did his best to ignore his blurring vision and pushed himself up. His equilibrium felt off, but he stood up because it was his only option.
He pushed forward and went for a kick, but Heihachi grabbed his leg and pushed him back. Kazuya lost his balance and fell again. Heihachi brought his foot down hard on his ribs. Kazuya clenched his jaw as the pain wracked through him, and his lungs struggled for air. Through the ash in his eyes and the sun's glare, a shadow darkened what little he could see. He forced his eyes to open and squint over the glare of the light. Heihachi loomed over him. Panting, dirty, blood on his face, the top of his gi torn.
"Two sons." He spoke each venomous word through labored breaths. "And neither of them can fight worth a damn. Pathetic."
The image of Lee defeated, on the ground, with Heihachi towering over him, flashed through Kazuya's mind. I'm not like him. He had to get up, and he had to fight because he was better than Lee. I can't be defeated like him. He was going to win because he was better than him. He had to be.
I let you have your fun. Now it's my turn.
Kazuya didn't have time to react as Heihachi brought his foot down and stomped on his ribs again. In the midst of the agony, he found himself falling through the dark abyss.
A/N: I was doing a semi-decent job with the updates for a while, but then two things happened. 1) May and June are my busiest months 2)I honestly felt intimidated when I realized what part of the story I have to write. So I procrastinated a little. I'm even more intimidated by the next part because it's such an iconic event in the series and everyone has their own interpretation of it. I hope I can do it justice. Thanks for reading.
