"Still no sign of Heihachi's body, nor Akuma's , Sir!" reported the soldier back, carefully staying perfectly still.
He wasn't bringing good news after endless days of seeking and as he was nailed by the polychrome and sinister look of his boss, for a moment he feared to be incinerated right on the spot.
"So you're telling me they're both vanished, aren't they?" he hissed, crossing his hands in front of his face.
"No, no, no, Sir! But Akuma might be anywhere and your father's body could have been destroyed." hurried to answer that poor man who was standing before the devil himself.
"Destroyed. Tsk, I wish that old man's body had turned into a pile of ash. What a pity would be I didn't incinerate it myself." he thought maliciously, while a sadistic smile peeped out on his expressionless face.
"Keep looking for Akuma. Find out all about him! I want to know who he really is, where he comes from and what powers he has. Now get out!"
"Yes, Sir!" replied his subordinate, running out of that office.
Was Heihachi really dead? Who really was that creature that appeared from who knows where and claimed to have been sent by his mother to assassinate them? Maybe it was a Hachijo? No matter how hard Kazuya tried to remember what little he knew about his mother's family, he realized every time he wasn't very knowledgeable about them. After all he had lost her when he was only 8 years old and most of his childhood had passed under the protective wing of his grandfather Jinpachi when he was not abused by the man who had brought him into the world. Whoever Akuma was, he was able to stand up to that beast of his father, which only he and his son Jin had managed to do so far. Although he was 100% human, the leader of the Mishima was undoubtedly endowed with unimaginable strength.
"I hope you're dead, you bastard...Otherwise you won't be so lucky next time, Heihachi..."
Even a few kilometers away the same tension could be perceived, albeit for slightly different reasons. The former Tekken Force's officer lowered the newspaper he was reading and looked out the window thoughtfully. And so that monster of his father was really dead? Lars highly doubted it. If so, who was managing the Mishima Zaibatsu? His first thought immediately went to Nina, the one he had tried to convince to intercede for him with Jin, to stop him from starting that war. But that cruel and heartless woman had simply ignored him most of the time, to the point of threatening him to fire a bullet in his forehead if he had continued. Yet she had failed her mission precisely because of them and even though he didn't know him personally, the Swede was well aware that his father wouldn't give her any more chances and tolerate such a failure. She may have been dead and buried at the time for all he knew. But the real question was another one: who took Heihachi out? If it had been his half-brother, anyone would have known because that Anna Williams would have told the world's press how her leader had bravely defeated the tyrant who held the Earth in the grip of war. There was definitely more going on and he would have given all his ranks to find out what.
"I brought you coffee!" Alisa chirped, entering the room, while holding a steaming cup in her hands.
"You're kind, thank you Alisa!" Lars smiled at her, folding the newspaper. "Any news?"
"Negative. Jin's conditions remain the same, nothing new after that brief hint of recovery." replied the cyborg, sitting next to her friend.
Lars sighed heavily before blowing on the cup. How long did he need to recover? Honesty he wasn't exactly looking forward to confront his nephew, but considering what had just happened, he needed to wake up quickly. Of course, there was a risk that once awakened Jin would pick up from where he left off, but he was quite certain that given the circumstances he would prefer to fight against his relatives first. After all isn't your enemy's enemy your friend?
"Are you sorry?" Alisa asked out of the blue, staring at a not defined point of the glass table they were sitting at.
"For what?" He replied confused.
"For your father. I mean...He's gone..."
Lars wanted to answer by spitting poison on his parent, but he held back: his friend's innocence, despite being a robot, went far beyond imagination.
"No, I don't care. He was just an evil, ruthless tyrant, the world doesn't need someone like him, and neither do I. Besides, I'm not entirely convinced he's really dead!"
"Are you serious? Do you think he's still alive?"
"I don't know... But taking him out is not easy at all and I wonder who might have done so. Kazuya certainly not, which would imply the presence of a third person. And if that person was able to beat Heihachi, it's definitely another problem that we're gonna have to deal with!"
Alisa nodded to his reasoning. Actually who could have done it? Yet at that moment peace was strangely reigning, and it made her feel good.
"I miss dad..." she said out of nowhere, looking outside the window with her hands under her chin.
The Swede raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help but smile at that statement. Her cerulean gaze crossed for a moment the emerald of hers and without adding anything else he looked back at the huge window too, hoping with all of himself that soon everything would be resolved for the best.
Once her eyes opened and saw the room, she soon realized that she had no idea where she was. Those yellowish walls and that tiny little window covered by a washed-out green Venetian window were certainly not part of her room. Where on Earth was she? She tried to get up slowly, but a sharp twinge in her abdomen forced her to lie down again on the mattress. What was going on? She couldn't remember very well, it was like she woke up from the worst nightmare ever: the only thing her mind could pull back were five men beating her wildly and the fear she felt at the time when one of them hit her in the belly, right where her... She shuddered to remember what had happened. It wasn't a bad dream, unfortunately...It was all true. The anguish came back on her, together with the irrepressible impulse to cry all the tears in her body.
"Nina! You're finally awake!" a voice exclaimed, betraying a certain concern.
The blonde turned her face slightly to the right and it was then that she noticed the presence of the tall and muscular boy sitting in the armchair, who was rushing to approach her.
"Thanks God! How do you feel?" he asked.
"S...Steve..." she managed to whisper, observing his anxious expression.
"I'm here!" he said, gently placing a hand on her forehead to check the temperature. "Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you in pain?"
Nina was taken aback by the flood of questions and especially in front of his son who was acting like he was the parent.
"Wha..What happened, Steve? Where am I? Why are you here?" she asked faintly, trying not to be dazzled by the light of the room.
"You're in the motel where I live. What the hell were you doing asleep on a park bench? Are you really that sick?"
The concern and apprehensive tone with which he was addressing her was unsettling. The last time they saw each other she had treated him very badly, denying his kinship, yet he hadn't hesitated to fight the Tekken Force to let her escape and now he had saved her life.
"N..no. I'm fine!" she grumbled again, trying to get out of bed, doing her best to ignore the pain she was feeling.
"Wait, I'll help you!"
Before she could protest the strong arms of the boxer had kindly helped her straighten up and now they were supporting her as he watched her getting up. He stood by her for a moment, making sure that she was stable on her legs and then walked away slightly, without losing sight of her.
"Why Steve?" she asked, nailing him with her cerulean irises.
"Why what?" he replied confused.
"Why did you save me? Twice!"
The boy remained silent for a second, before returning that icy look totally identical to his.
"Because whether you like it or not, I'm your son! And as such I won't let anyone harm my mother!"
Those words struck her deeply, that for a moment she felt like fainting. How could he love her when she tried to kill him and told him all those horrible things in that church weeks ago? She had never wanted him, he was born from constraint and she had never felt a shred of affection for him! But was it really so? Why wasn't she able to murder him a few years ago? Come on, she wasn't able to be a mother, anyone next to her would end up getting seriously hurt. Every person for whom she had positive feelings had been brutally ripped from her, and although now she owed her life to him, she wasn't willing to build any kind of relationship.
"You...You're not my s..."
"Oh, stop with this bullshit, Nina! Biologically, I am, and it's undeniable. Look, I'm sorry that they did what they did to you and that I came out of it, but I didn't ask for this! And your being so repulsive towards me is just a mask. I know that under that skin you hide feelings too!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING!" she shouted furiously, pointing her finger at him. " WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO INSINUATE THAT? I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE, OKAY?"
For a moment, Steve watched the murderer. He couldn't believe that she was so ruthless and heartless, no, she was lying to him and herself because her pride was way too big to admit the opposite, especially in that moment of fragility where it was obvious that she was going to collapse at any moment. So he decided to play it smart.
"Wow... Working so long in contact with that bastard Kazama must have turn you into a beast too! After all you're right, I'm nobody, I'm just your son, why bother? I just thought that you were still preserving that shred of humanity with which you had spared me, but obviously even without that demon to serve, it's dead and buried. Congratulations to him, he created another monster!"
He shouldn't have said that! Hearing those words spoken with a certain boldness by one who knew nothing about anything behind that war and who didn't know why Jin had disappeared from circulation literally drove her furious!
"You...You...Don't you dare...Never, ever again... To make such insinuations, otherwise..." she blew fiercely.
"Otherwise what? You shoot me? All right, suit yourself!"
"You are an impudent ignorant! You have no idea what he has done for us, of the reasons for which that war was unleashed. He saved us all and you're just a fucking ungrateful fool" she shouted, seriously starting to see red.
If she had a gun, she probably would have ended the murder that was ordered years prior.
"Oh really? Now Kazama is a hero! Wow, what a big news!"
This last statement hurt her even more than the blow she had received hours before. Everyone ignored the sacrifice that Jin had made for the sake of the whole of humanity, and he was still seen as a cruel and ruthless being. The whole world really deserved to die.
"Jin is not a monster! He is…" but she couldn't finish the sentence because tears broke her voice.
She hadn't even realized that tears were flowing copiously from her eyes and were scratching her porcelain cheeks. She looked at the boxer's face who continued to stare at her impassive. Steve, her son... He didn't know what was really going on. Between the sobs Nina approached the window peering outside and realizing that it had started to rain heavily. The weather reflected her current mood as she realized that only her and his mother Jun had known the real Jin, while everyone else hated him. She looked again at the boy, who kept fiercely looking at her back. Nina slowly lifted the flap of her shirt and put her hands on her belly, without interrupting eye contact with him for even a second.
"I'm pregnant, Steve... And Jin is the father..."
Author's note: hello people, I'm back already :D It's past my bedtime, but I'm still posting. Wow, Tekken 8 announcement did the miracle and pushed me to start writing again and guess what? I'm almost done writing this story. Ofc I need to translate the whole thing first, but I'm just few chapters away from the epilogue. Well, Nina is seriously in trouble so let's see how she will deal with this new challenge. Many things are going to change and many odds are ahead. I hope you're enjoying this story, even if you're not fan of the pairing, my goal here is showing people my own version of the characters. Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for simply reading. I'm really putting myself here. See you soon!