Kept you waiting, huh?
—
Kazuya vs Lung! The Dragon and the Devil (3)
Kazuya delivered another punch to Lung, sending him through the facade of a building. Of course, he cared little for property damage or the well-being of others. His opponent couldn't care less either. Not in the midst of a fight like this. Of course not. No true warrior would be deterred by such trifles!
Kazuya pursued relentlessly. He followed Lung through the dust cloud and the rain of debris. It wasn't that Lung was an exceptionally strong opponent that needed overwhelming, it was just Kazuya's nature. What he sought, what he needed, were absolute and crushing victories.
It wasn't in his nature to hold back under any circumstances. Not even to toy with his food.
He didn't transform for just anyone, but it wasn't because he was holding back. It would be beneath him to display his true power when it wasn't necessary. That's all.
On the other side of the dust cloud...
"This is what happens living in Brockton Bay, damn all my ancestors, if I had the money to move..."
The idiot had energy to complain about his fate, but not to turn around and run. Apparently, he had been watching television. After Kazuya sent Lung flying express to his parlor, he had jumped and turned around. But that was it.
Like he had said before, the damn idiot hadn't moved an inch. Oh well. He cared little, but it was irritating to see people who weren't just weak, but seemed to lack the slightest instinct for self-preservation.
Jun had stood up to him without fear, but she had possessed the strength to back up her arrogance. Strength that he...
Why am I thinking about this now? Whatever. It's useless.
Lung got up from the stairs. That is, what was left of them after he crushed them with his massive body. Smoke billowed from his mouth, literally and figuratively. Dense black smoke seeped between his teeth. His face was feline, and with each passing second, it became more alien.
"You're strong, I have to admit. I don't understand why I haven't heard of someone like you. And why, instead of earning respect and a fearsome reputation, you're leading a gang of small-time thugs. That power is worthless in hands like yours."
"Words are unnecessary."
"You're right, but you want me to shut up because you have nothing to say in your defense. Well, not that I cared anyway. Do me the favor of dying soon. Every second you resist like a worm is a waste of time for me. My enemy is someone much stronger than you."
Lung laughed. As if the idea of someone stronger than him couldn't fit in his tiny brain.
Kazuya launched himself at Lung, flying low. Like a dark star and without hesitating for a second. His opponent wasn't anything out of this world. Taller than most, but that was it.
Lung extended his palms in front of him. Fire burst from his open palms as if they were flamethrowers, and Kazuya rejected the fire as if they were nothing but wax petals in his path. Pushing them aside and extinguishing them with his arms. He had caught him off guard the last time, but that wouldn't happen again. Lung couldn't prevent him from reaching him.
Kazuya grabbed him by the neck and dragged him down the hallway, through the walls, taking the shortest path, the straight line. They ended up outside. Someone whimpered. It was the man from before. Lying on the ground, curled up. Pathetic.
He had no way to fight against what was happening, but that was his own fault. If he was weak, what stopped him from training? Nothing except his own laziness like a worm's. The power of the devil was, of course, overwhelming. But Heihachi had defeated him in the past being a mere human.
Heihachi wasn't a good example of anything, but it's not like he was the only extraordinary normal human. There was Paul, that American. He hated to admit it, but once he had tied with him. And all he had on his side was his willpower and training.
Nowadays, he was a washed-up guy who even lost against bears, albeit bears trained in the Mishima style, but that's another story.
How did he handle Lung? Well, with ease. He had grown, but that only made it slightly more difficult to lift him. Also, spinning him around and throwing him like a frisbee.
His massive body turned a parked car nearby into a very compact metal cube.
"You're a tough sandbag. At least I can commend you for that. But..."
Lung lunged towards him.
He shot fire from his hands and mouth indiscriminately. He seemed to believe that if he couldn't reach him by aiming, then luck would do the job for him. But all he was achieving was destroying the neighborhood. The only thing Lung's fire moved was Kazuya's hair.
More precisely, it was the air displaced by that power discharge, naturally.
"Don't get cocky."
A single punch was enough to knock down the opponent who only looked like a monster. But that was just the beginning, of course. He shot the laser from his third eye. The laser cut through the ground, sending debris flying. The dust raised described the laser's path before the wound on the ground.
When the laser reached Lung, the poor idiot was sent flying. At least ten meters in an instant. Yes. In an instant, Kazuya was there to meet him with open arms, albeit positioned above his head. Preparing a punch like a hammer.
The hammer blow sent Lung back to the ground. He couldn't do anything to dodge it in the air, despite also having wings. Then, he gathered strength in one leg. The torrent swirling around him was like a storm of dark purple. It descended upon the fallen monster like a black star, leg first!
The explosion was blinding, literally. But brief. Lung was still alive, but perhaps not in a condition to fight. Kazuya made his body roll on the ground, kicking it as if it were a garbage bag. It was a figure of speech, of course. He wasn't going to let one of his sneakers come anywhere near a garbage bag. Lung wasn't so different, deep down, but right now, he didn't care. His blood was too hot to worry about anything except the battle.
Kazuya crossed his arms, disdainful. What resembled a smile on his face was also highly contemptuous.
"Is that all you've got?"
He got the answer. No. The answer was no. Although with some difficulty, the monster rose from the ground. Still laughing.
He seemed to believe that this had only just begun.
Kazuya frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly. Maybe he was right.
Of course, he didn't consider him a threat, but perhaps he would serve for more than just a warm-up. Well, there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, he welcomed it! Kazuya had been born into this world to fight. He had never had any other option, anyway. So true opponents against whom he could test himself were always welcome.
The world was very simple. It was divided into those who took advantage of others and the people who were taken advantage of. That's why power was needed. Only power could help you get what you wanted, keep it, and move forward.
Modern civilization did nothing but sugarcoat and disguise that simple truth. Ultimately, everything boiled down to the survival of the fittest. Political power, physical power, mental power. It didn't matter to him. Kazuya wanted it all.
Everything!
That's what Jun never understood... So compassionate, so willing to help everyone, even me. What good did it do her?
She lasted a few years thanks to the steel she hid. She was a wonderful, strong woman. But in the end, she died in a predictable way. If she had the strength to abandon her son, she would still be alive. But she had let herself be carried away by sentiments like "he's my son," as if she couldn't just make another one.
Finally, her virtuous way of living had rewarded her with a horrible death at the hands of Ogre.
Jin had survived, but what good was it to her? She could no longer be with her beloved son whom she had sacrificed everything for, obviously.
The same went for Grandfather Jinpachi. He was a great man. Kazuya would never allow anyone to disrespect him. However, it was the truth.
Betrayed, his company stolen. Buried alive for decades under the temple. A victim of his own power.
The world doesn't reward people like Jun and Jinpachi, but people like Heihachi. People like... Like Kazuya.
As much as the idea made him want to vomit blood, it was simply the truth. Kazuya had learned a lot from his most hated enemy. In the end, he had been his best teacher... But he would make sure he wasn't rewarded either.
He would take his teachings and use them to crush him, to kill him. For that reason...
"Die already. Get out of my way!"
The fight resumed.
Their fists collided. The air trembled. Screams echoed across the ground, and also through their bones. Lung's punch had shattered Kazuya's right arm. He had become stronger.
But Kazuya didn't stop for a second. So what if his right arm was broken? His left one still worked perfectly fine.
As long as he was still alive, still able to breathe, there was no reason to stop or even slow down by a fraction of a second. Pain was just pain. A fleeting sensation he had no control over, an existence above him. And any wound would heal in time.
Most of the time, faster than any opponent expected.
Lung exploded for the second time. The shockwave sent Kazuya flying into a fountain. It shattered, of course. His knees sank into the water. The fountain water extinguished the flames before they even had a chance to spread. He hadn't intended to send him there, of course.
Kazuya stood up. He shook his head as if to say "annoying". Then, he fired the laser from his third eye. Not directly at Lung this time. Not this time. Instead, he aimed at a distant car, causing it to be propelled towards Lung.
The monster split it in half in mid-air, of course. Without even turning around. Big, perhaps. Stupid, not so much.
Unlike the previous car he had reduced to rubble, there was a person inside this one. Not for long, though. They burned simply by falling near Lung. At least their screams were silenced quickly.
Not by Lung himself, but by the flames. The worst pain wasn't the one that made you scream at the top of your lungs, but the one that left you so weak and injured that you couldn't even scream.
It was a death befitting of an insect. People were becoming aware of the battle and fleeing as quickly as possible. Or at least turning off the lights, hiding, and praying for it to end. That guy had simply been unlucky to be chosen by Kazuya, or rather his car, for an attack that had served no purpose.
He had never expected anything different in the first place. So it was a waste in many ways.
It was no wonder that guy had died just by getting close to Lung. He had become the center of a natural disaster. Even the water in the fountain was starting to boil, even though he was still relatively far away. He could see the bubbles rising.
Okay, I'll admit it, at least in my thoughts. You're a worthy opponent. So I'll give it my all. I'll do whatever it takes to make this place your tomb.
Just as he began to appreciate that the swarm of insects had stopped bothering, another annoyance had to arrive. He parked the motorcycle in the middle of the square. He was covered from head to toe in a peculiar armor, mainly blue. He got off the seat and from somewhere pulled out a halberd colored like his armor.
"Enough!"
"I decide when it's enough," Lung said.
"So now you can't talk." What? He was perfectly understandable. What was wrong with the people in this place? "Miss Militia, Assault, Battery, and the rest will be here soon too. You must believe you can handle us again, but you're not the only one who can get stronger. And it seems you're not doing too well against that man."
Kazuya had only one question.
"Who the hell are you?"
Kazuya vs Lung! The Dragon and the Devil (3): FIN