Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, all credits are Namco's.
She didn't have the strength to cry, not even to go home: in her head there was such a confusion that disoriented her so much, to the point to momentarily forget the way to her home. She kept bumping into light poles and pedestrians, tripping over her own feet and staggering like a drunk tramp. Hadn't she been bundled up from head to toes to conceal her identity, no one would have recognized her in that semi catatonic state similar to the one in which she had found herself once awakened from cryogenic sleep. Her mind was completely emptied of rationality, as flashbacks of a recent past and apocalyptic images kept flashing in her dizzy head.
"Hey! Watch out!" screamed a voice.
She didn't even have time to process the message that she was pulled by an arm.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU WERE ABOUT TO RUN A RED LIGHT, DID YOU WANT TO GET RUN OVER?" yelled the man who had just saved her life.
Getting run over? Well, maybe she would have solved all her problems in once and for all. Since when did she think about suicide? Perhaps now under the circumstances it would have been a good option to leave that world quickly and painlessly before someone else provided for her.
"You're welcome..." muttered the man, moving away from her with disdain.
Not even an avoided injury was able to stop her wandering, nor the sunset seemed to arouse her. She'd been walking all day, and now she seriously had no idea where she'd ended up. She realized that she was in the vicinity of a park whose existence was unknown to her, and she entered it without thinking twice. However, when she spotted a bench in the distance she suddenly realized how tired she was: her legs and feet were terribly sore for the too much walking on stiletto heels, and the nausea and dizziness weren't giving her a break. She then crawled towards it and snuggled over it in fetal position, closing her swollen eyes and letting herself slip into unconsciousness.
Steve stopped on the spot, leaning on his knees trying to catch his breath: he was definitely out of practice and letting himself go on wild nights with Paul and Law had certainly not benefited his physique, given also the lack of competitive activity that forced him to remain always in shape. Now that even the opportunity to redeem his career thanks to Morozov had gone up in smoke, after days of idleness and depression, he had decided to regain control of the situation and start working out again. People really believed that Heihachi was dead, but that bullshit didn't convinced him at all, so he agreed with himself that it was better not to lower his guard because the worst was certainly not over. He slowed his pace, but he didn't stop moving, continuing to follow the path in the center of that small park, a tiny patch of green in the middle of all that civilization and technology: he liked that place, he found extremely relaxing being in contact with nature. He missed the long walks in Hyde Park that he used to take every weekend when he still lived in London, the city where he had spent most of his life with his adoptive parents.
In fact, he was born in Japan, in a way that was anything but consensual and happy. He didn't come into the world as the proof of love between two people, he was created in a laboratory with cells in a test tube. The fact filled him with sadness thinking about how little sense his existence made: the first years of his life had been a real agony in that laboratory and, probably for defensive purposes, his mind had removed all the horrible experiments and abuses to which those scientists had subjected him, as if he was a guinea pig. The one who saved him from that hell was Dr Kliesen, who managed to make him escape and subsequently adopt by a couple of English spouses. Emma had been the closest thing she had to a mother, she had always been sweet and kind to him and she was probably the one who named him Steve, when everyone referred to him simply as "NT01", the code of his experiment. He later passed into the Foxs custody, good people living in London, but despite the care and livelihood they had given him, he had never really felt at home with them and had never been able to really consider them as his family. Of course he was undoubtedly grateful to them, but not even from them there was manifestation of any parental feeling: they were a simple couple of high rank, strictly religious and since they couldn't have children on their own, they resorted to adoption to create that stereotyped family they wanted so much.
And then two weeks ago the breakthrough. Being face-to-face with the woman who unwillingly gave him birth, the one who shared part of his DNA, whose blood flowed into his own veins. Even if technologically advanced the Mishima Zaibatsu still used a human being to obtain the material on which carrying out their perverse experiments. A woman like many others, trapped in a deep and induced sleep, which had been brutally violated and forced to carry on a pregnancy without even being aware of it. Every woman had the right to decide whether to have children or not, while she had been imposed. For this reason he couldn't blame her brusque reaction when they found themselves face to face along with the truth: she didn't want it, she was denied the freedom to chose and was used as an object without a minimum of value. Considering who his mother was, the astonishment had been reduced to the minimum: no one would have dared to defy her, he knew she was probably one of the most feared women ever. But still his mother was, and getting her out of trouble was instinctive. Despite her reputation as a cold, ruthless assassin, she still spared and saved his life in the past, so a minimum of humanity had to still live in her. He truly hoped that she cared about him a little, despite having called him "a thorn in her side". Sometimes he wondered if he wasn't too naive and if he didn't trust the humanity too much, but he couldn't help it. That was the way he was.
Sighing heavily he continued to walk, trying to free his mind from that stream of thoughts, eventually being distracted by a loud noise coming from the opposite direction. Soon before his eyes appeared five men in uniform, intent on hanging posters to trees praising none other than the G Corporation.
"Great, Kazuya's goons... Are they still going on with those stupid parades?" he thought bitterly, carefully avoiding the look of those soldiers.
However, they soon noticed his presence and he was harassed by those men, who gave him one of those silly pro G Corp flyers.
"Here, good boy! And remember, the G Corporation will never abandon people in their time of need. Together we can rebuild the world after all that destruction!" declared one of them delighted.
What a load of crap. The boxer struggled with all his might to maintain a neutral expression and nod, hoping that they would leave him alone. Fortunately that was enough to get rid of them and with a quick pace he went towards the exit of the park, it was definitely becoming late.
"Wake up, young lady, rise and shine...And remember that the G Corporation will never abandon the people at the time of ne... WAIT A MINUTE!"
Steve stopped on the spot and turned suddenly, hearing the soldier raise his voice so much. He looked at the five soldiers in front of a woman collapsed on a bench, in front of which he had passed many times before without paying attention to her: probably she was a simple homeless person, that's why he kept going. Instead...
"I KNOW YOU! STAND THE FUCK UP!" growled the man, tugging her by the arm and forcing her to get up.
The woman, apparently without strength, rolled to the ground, losing the hat and sunglasses.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! IT'S NINA WILLIAMS " he shouted in amazement.
"WHAT? MISS WILLIAMS' SISTER?" replied the second one.
"YEAH, SHE IS! BLOODY HER, GET THE FUCK UP, BITCH!"
With a terrible wickedness, the blond saw the woman again being pulled up against her will, while one of the soldiers pointed the torch right in her face to ascertain her identity. She seemed seriously ill, her face was a mask of pain and under her eyes were two huge dark purple circles, but it was undoubtedly her.
"You..." the chief of the soldiers hissed, holding her face in a painful vice. " You're in trouble, whore... After all the soldiers you took out on us and all the shit that you and Kazama caused... Kazuya and your dear sister Anna will be more than happy to have you as a guest tonight!"
Steve froze on the spot. Why didn't Nina react? It wasn't like her, she'd have to knock them all down in a few strokes by now, not to mention she'd never expose herself to such danger in the first place, doing something as stupid as falling asleep on a bench. Something bad must have happened to her. But it was not the time to worry about it. The blond had already turned around and was rushing like a fury to the quintet that were holding his mother hostage.
"EHY YOU... TAKE YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER RIGHT NOW!" he screamed, standing in front of them, while threatening cracking his knuckles.
"What the hell do you want? Don't you know that this woman is a criminal and helped shed blood in this war?" Asked furiously the man, making the woman moan in pain as he tightened his grip on her.
"As if you filthy G Corp bastards were better off, with that vile, evil Kazuya Mishima leading you like puppets. You are probably worse!" answered back, as he stepped towards them. " Now let her go!"
"Is that so? Well, two traitors in one fell swoop, that soon will end up dead in a pit. Pathetic," the soldier concluded, before throwing a punch right into Nina's stomach, causing her to fall to the ground again.
"Son of a bitch..." growled Steve, before forcefully lashing himself out towards the men.
He didn't care if there were five and he was one, they were armed with rifles and he only had his fists. The adrenaline rushed into his veins, while finally he could vent all his repressed anger on those five henchmen, hitting them with powerful fists without interruption. No one, no one could dare even to touch a woman, let alone his mother in that way, he would make them regret having enlisted in the army of that society governed by a man who seemed possessed by the devil. He rarely felt so furious in his life, he felt he could take down 100 men on his own. He stopped only when he realized that he had knocked out all five soldiers with ease. Observing the result of his anger he soon saw the helpless body of the assassin and hurried to meet her to ascertain his condition.
"Nina... Nina... Can you hear me?" he called, gently shaking her shoulder.
But there was no answer, the blow to the abdomen had made her faint. He looked closely at the face of his parent, astonished at how much she seemed to be tried. Something horrible had undoubtedly happened to her to be so badly reduced and unable to defend herself from that assault. He studied for a moment those fine features so similar to his own, wondering how her beauty had remained untouched despite everything. Gently he lifted her off the ground and headed to the exit of the park, where he had left the car. He couldn't take her to the hospital, he would risk a replica of what had just happened: hoping with all his heart that she didn't need any specific medical treatment, he loaded her on the car and drove to the motel where he stayed, she would be safe there...
Author's note: And Steve's back, ladies and gentlemen :D ! Are you happy to see him again? So, this chapter is gonna be crucial for what will come next, as the next ones will directly follow this one; I actually still have to figure out if splitting the next part in two as I originally wrote, or putting everything together. Right now I'm translating and sometimes uptading, or modifying the chapters I've written long ago, as the plot of the story has changed in my mind, also I didn't like some parts anymore, so they needed some adjustments. At the same time when the muse strikes , I'm writing the new chapters, according to the new schedule. I'm struggling pretty much but no way I'll leave this story unfinished (lol, Tekken 8 trailer triggered me so much, I better hurry up!). Thanks for reading and reviewing, I'm very grateful and I hope you're enjoying ! See you soon!