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Uncertainty
Kazuya's vision was a blur of red as he traversed the damaged hallway in G Corporation. He tried to tune out the cacophony of yelling and shouting around him. The blaring of the alarm overhead. He pushed past frantic staff and rushing soldiers, his shoes cracking and crunching broken glass as he walked. Debris and useless people hindered his movement, and he had the urge to blast them all into oblivion. But he resisted because he was only a few doors from Jun's room.
When he neared B11, he saw a hole where the door had been. He stepped through the jagged doorframe and scanned the room, sweeping his gaze over the broken and upturned furniture. A part of him hoped that Bruce was wrong. He wanted to see Jun emerge out of some corner. Maybe she was hiding in the closet. But the door had been torn off its hinges, and there was no sign of Jun.
His jaw was clenched so tight that it hurt to speak. "Where is Yamaguchi?"
When he didn't get an answer, he spun around and grabbed the first soldier he could reach, pulling him by the throat. "Where is Yamaguchi?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and, in his mind's eye, saw himself snapping the arm of whoever it belonged to, but Bruce's face came into focus.
He spoke in a quiet but firm tone. "This isn't going to help anyone."
Kazuya exhaled slowly and released his hold on the guard.
The man stepped back quickly. "I'm sorry. I don't know where he is."
Bruce gestured to the soldier. "Go make yourself useful out there, kid. No harm done."
"Yes, sir." He said before rushing out of the room.
Bruce took a step forward and spoke so only Kazuya could hear him. "This is not the time to make enemies."
But they already had enemies. Someone had betrayed him. Someone from within.
Kazuya scanned the room again. "What happened?"
Bruce looked over his shoulder, then back at Kazuya. "Three of those things came through the wall. They made a beeline for this room. Then they went in, grabbed Jun, and got the hell out."
"Where is Yamaguchi?"
"In the control room. He says he's trying to sort out this mess. Wouldn't let me in on that little meeting, though."
"We'll see about that." Kazuya walked out of the room and into the hallway, with Bruce matching his hurried strides. "What happened to Anna?"
Bruce shook his head. "She was keeping guard by the door and got hit by one of those damn robots. Sent her flying." He cursed under his breath. "I was at the other end of the hall, but it happened so quick." He sighed. "I was useless. By the time I reached her, the things were already on their way out. She's still unconscious, as far as I know. "
Jun was gone, and Anna was hurt. Yamaguchi was going to pay.
Two guards were standing by the control room door. One of them stepped forward when he saw Kazuya approaching.
"Mr. Yamaguchi is in a meeting. No one is allowed–"
Kazuya shoved him to the side, and the guard lost his balance. The second guard went for his sidearm, but Bruce had already drawn his gun.
"You know you don't get paid enough. It's not worth it."
The guard stepped aside, and Kazuya opened the door. When he stepped inside, he saw Yamaguchi and the rest of the G Corp board members sitting around the desk. Kazuya walked straight to Yamaguchi. Gasps and words of protest erupted in the room when Kazuya picked him up by the front of his jacket and pulled him over the table.
Bruce's voice overpowered the noise. "Everyone else, get the hell out."
As the sound of chairs scraping on the floor and footsteps rushing out faded away, Yamaguchi's face paled. He looked up at Kazuya with wide eyes.
"I know how this looks, but we had nothing to do with it."
Kazuya tightened his grip on Yamaguchi. "Where is Jun?"
"I don't know." Yamaguchi made a useless attempt to push away Kazuya's hands before giving up. "All we know so far is that we were attacked and that she was taken by the robots. We don't know why or how anyone knew she was here."
"You sent me out to be attacked." Kazuya tightened his grip on the jacket, pulling him closer as Yamaguchi tried to shrink away from his face. "Why did you try to kill me?"
He shook his head, sweat beading on his brow. "I-I didn't. We would never."
Bruce stepped forward. "The thing I want to know is, who sent the intel about Jin Kazama? Who told you that he was there?"
"The staff at the warehouse sent us some footage." He pointed to the screens behind Kazuya. "We were trying to retrieve the footage, but it's gone."
Bruce chuckled. "How fucking convenient."
Yamaguchi shook his head. "There is nothing convenient about one of our facilities being leveled and–" His eyes widened at the sound of the door being flung open behind Kazuya.
Bruce stepped back and drew his weapon as the sound of heavy footsteps filled the room.
"Mr. Mishima," a stern voice came from the direction of the door, "release Mr. Yamaguchi and put your hands up."
Yamaguchi shook his head. "No. Lower your weapons. We can solve this without violence." He turned his gaze to Kazuya. "We can talk through this misunderstanding and find a solution."
Kazuya looked into the man's eyes. He was nervous. Afraid. But it was a natural human response. It didn't mean that he was lying. He couldn't be stupid enough to lie to his face. Kazuya straightened his posture, released Yamaguchi, and gave Bruce a slight nod. Bruce surveyed the room before holstering his weapon.
Yamaguchi exhaled and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, then addressed the soldiers in the room. "Put your weapons down and leave us."
The same stern voice came from behind Kazuya again. "But, sir–"
"That's an order," Yamaguchi said, squaring his shoulders and straightening his jacket.
"Yes, sir."
Kazuya heard the men retreat and then leave the room. He crossed his arms and looked at Yamaguchi when the door closed.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Yamaguchi nodded stiffly, then turned around and picked up a tablet from the desk. "Our security team received a call from the staff at the warehouse. One of them called from their personal phone. He said that they were being attacked by what looked like a man with black wings and horns. They said he was inside the facility, so we looked at the live security footage and saw what looked like the shape of a humanoid with what seemed to be wings."
Kazuya took a step forward. "Humanoid? What seemed to be wings?" He grabbed Yamaguchi by his jacket again. The tablet clattered onto the floor. "You told me it was Jin. And now it turns out that all you saw was blurry camera footage?"
"The description given to us by the staff matched. And given the circumstances, given your reckless actions, who else could it have been?"
"An army of goddamned robots trying to kill me." He pushed Yamaguchi away.
Yamaguchi grunted as he hit the floor. Then, he scrambled to a sitting position and put up his hands in surrender. "I am as surprised as you are. The last thing I expected was an android attack. I don't know who sent them. I don't know how they knew Jun Kazama was here, but I will find out. I lost men and property tonight. This is personal to me, too."
Bruce's hand rested lightly on the gun holstered at his hip. He gave Kazuya an expectant look but remained silent.
Kazuya looked at the frightened man on the floor. As much as he wanted an outlet for his anger, Yamaguchi was not the right target. Why would G Corporation be working with the Russians? They were competitors, not allies. And why would they want to get rid of Jun. He was sure he would have to keep the over-eager scientists away from her. Yamaguchi and G Corporation were the best resources he had to find Jun. Even if he didn't fully trust them, he had no choice but to work with them, at least for now.
He pointed at Yamaguchi. "I want your best men on this immediately."
Yamaguchi stood on shaky legs and adjusted his jacket. "Yes, of course. We were already discussing strategies when–"
"And I want access to all details and information no matter how insignificant they seem."
"Agreed."
Kazuya turned his back on Yamaguchi and walked out of the room. When he stepped into the hallway, he was met with a dozen armed soldiers watching him with a wary gaze.
Bruce sighed. "He's fine. We didn't touch him. Go check for yourselves."
One of the soldiers hurried forward and opened the door. Once he looked inside, he turned to the rest of the men in the hallway and nodded.
Kazuya heard Yamaguchi speak. "Tell them to get back to their posts."
"Hey," Bruce held up his phone. "Looks like Anna's awake. I'm gonna check on her."
Kazuya nodded and followed Bruce in silence as they walked to the medical floor.
Who knew that a Jin sighting was enough to lure him out? Of course, Yamaguchi knew that, as did a few others at G Corporation. But it didn't make sense when he added the Jack robots to the equation. The only other person who knew that Kazuya needed Jin was Heihachi. And maybe the old man was working with the Russians. He had to have allies everywhere. But would he take Jun? Why?
"Where are you going?"
Bruce's voice pulled him out of his trance. He was standing in front of the elevator, and Kazuya had kept walking. He walked back a few steps and stood next to him. When the doors opened, they both stepped inside.
Bruce leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Do you believe him?"
Kazuya put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor. "I don't know yet."
"I don't think he has a reason to lie, but we've been betrayed by the people we least expected before."
That had been when Kazuya had owned the Zaibatsu. When he gave all the orders and made all the decisions. When he had power. Now, what did he have? Nothing. He was a guest. And all guests eventually wore out their welcome. But Yamaguchi could not be stupid enough to betray him.
He followed Bruce out of the elevator in silence. When they arrived at Anna's room, a doctor approached them.
"Hello." She bowed. "Miss Williams has been asking to see you."
"How is she?" Bruce asked.
"She suffered a concussion and a sprained elbow, a couple of bruised ribs. Honestly, after what happened, she's lucky that's the extent of her injuries."
"So, she's fine," Kazuya said.
The doctor shook her head. "She's not fine. We need to monitor her overnight. If we don't have any concerns tomorrow, we'll release her, but she will need rest for a few weeks."
Bruce nodded. "Can we go see her now?"
"Yes, but don't upset her. She needs to relax, and she needs to rest."
When they walked in, Kazuya expected an overly bright room, but it was very dim. He saw Anna stir on the bed when they closed the door. She was in a reclined position with pillows propping up her back. It was strange to see her looking pale, and in a hospital gown instead of an eye-catching outfit.
She exhaled. "Thank God, you're both alive. I thought the nurse was lying to me."
Bruce walked up to the bed. "You know a few robots can't keep us down. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit." She looked at Kazuya. "I'm sorry. I tried to get Jun out, but those damn things are so fast and so strong. They broke through the wall, I just…I'm sorry."
Bruce shook his head. "This isn't your fault."
She closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow. "Your clothes are dirty. What happened with Jin?"
"He wasn't there?"
She opened her eyes. "Was he gone by the time you got there?"
"No. He was never there."
"So they were just trying to get you out of here?"
Bruce spoke in a quiet, almost gentle tone. "That's what we're going to figure out. But right now, you can't worry about it. You need to recover so you can help me kick ass when we get to the bottom of this."
Her jaw tightened. "That means someone is trying to get rid of us. We don't even have a place secured here, and you're adding Jin Kazama to our problems."
"He wasn't even there. He might have nothing to do with this."
"Or he may have everything to do with it." She closed her eyes. "You can't expect anything good to happen when you keep a mother away from her child."
Kazuya stepped forward. "Jin isn't a child, and he doesn't even know that she's alive. He gave up on her."
Anna looked at him with steel in her eyes. "It doesn't matter that he isn't a child. If I found out that my mother was alive and someone was keeping her from me, I'd leave a trail of dead bodies just for the chance to catch a glimpse of her again. What do you think Jin is going to do?"
"You do not lecture me."
Anna turned her face away for a moment, then, with some difficulty, sat up straight and looked at Kazuya. "You're like thirty years older than me now; you're supposed to know better. You are doing things that you know Yamaguchi will never approve of before our position is secure in this company."
Kazuya didn't know what to say. It was jarring to hear her speak that way. She was assertive, aggressively so at times, but she had never looked him in the eye and condemned his actions.
Bruce chuckled. "I think that's the brain injury talking."
"No," Anna affirmed. "I wanted to say it earlier." She shook her head, then gingerly touched her fingers to her forehead. "And what you're doing to Jun and to your own son is selfish and cruel." She laid back on the pillow. "My head is killing me."
Kazuya walked out of the room. He could not believe that Anna, of all people, was lecturing him on morality. She was an assassin. Had she forgotten all the crimes and murders she had committed under his orders and of her own accord? The things she had done could not even compare to what he was doing. He was trying to keep Jun safe. How was that wrong? It was one of the least selfish things he had ever done.
Yes...right behind dying to keep her safe.
"Shut up."
He couldn't worry about Anna, and he couldn't worry about Jin. He needed to focus on finding Jun and figuring out who had betrayed him.
A/N: If it seems that Kaz is a little too cautious, and he's lacking some teeth, it's because I imagine him thinking things through a little more than he would have when he was young. Also, in my headcanon, Anna has a soft spot for mother-children relationships, so if she and Kaz were to have a falling out, I think it would be over that.
Next time I update we will already know where Jun has been all these years! I'm nervous! I hope you all have fun playing the new game. And if the story disappoints you, I hope the gameplay makes up for it.
