Chapter 15: Northern Lights, Part 2

"How did he do that?"

"You mean talk?"

"Are you all stupid or what? He just killed Ethan!" The woman put her hands to her head.

"Yes, we've all seen it," replied Kazuya as he suddenly flew to her and punched her in the head. The woman went through at least one wall; beyond that, he lost sight of her.

He chose her as the first target of this second round mainly because she was the loudest of them all.

Jimbo followed him closely, of course, launching himself against Dragon's dragon.

It could hardly be called a fight. The bear tore that pile of junk to pieces as if it were a children's toy. It didn't even last a minute. Kazuya would have said good job if he hadn't looked surprised afterward.

"It was so easy, even though I can't even scratch my Master's body. Master, was this a training dummy?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I figured. I guess I passed the test."

"Not yet."

"Yeah, right. Well, these don't seem very strong either."

"Wow, I can't believe I'm being trash talked by a bear," said some idiot. How was he supposed to know which one? Those stupid costumes weren't that different, and besides, their faces were covered. He was going to have to kill them all, if only to reduce the number of people to keep track of.

Well, he was going to have to kill them anyway. There was no remedy now. Although he didn't want to either.

Anyway, the point is that they fought, and Ciara stayed behind them, waving her arms and doing other weird things, believing she was contributing. But at least she stayed back, safe. He didn't want her to get killed. Damn, it would take too long to find another girl to raise.

By the way, perhaps it didn't need to be said that Jimbo had gotten rid of the dragon machine by throwing it out the window, just as he did with that Ethan guy, so it didn't obstruct the fight at all. Maybe, but he would say it anyway. It seemed like a good time.

The guys in strange uniforms (they weren't costumes, that was something) shot at him with weapons he didn't recognize, spraying him with a lot of white foam. Kazuya didn't feel like finding out exactly what that shit did, so he did what he could to dodge it, while it painted the walls and filled cracks everywhere.

It was a rather narrow space to maneuver, but he managed anyway.

The small amount that splashed on his shoes apparently didn't do anything. Except annoy him, of course, which was already quite a lot. He liked those shoes, and now they were dirty and sticky.

He couldn't remedy that, but he could make them pay.

He hit one of them in the chest, right over the heart. He didn't grab anything because this time he didn't hold back. It simply exploded. Even before his iron fist touched the heart of that prey animal.

A lance of electricity hit him in the chest, electrocuting him before bouncing back to its bearer's hands. That asshole in the Greek armor. The one who had tried to stop him during his tactical retreat after killing Lung. He couldn't remember his stupid 'superhero' name, and he had never learned his real one, though it would surely be as stupid as the guy.

Kazuya screamed, firing his demonic ray from the third eye, which left many of those soldiers with the weird weapon that shot foam of all possible things headless or without half their body. But the stupid Greek guy simply raised a shield and not only stopped the ray but bounced it back at him.

Kazuya dodged without thinking, despite having Ciara right behind him. Just as he had ordered her, of course, she was a good girl. But by some strange luck, the ray missed, never reaching the defenseless girl. Good, luck was on his side.

For a change.

"We can't do it, not against the three of them, there's no way."

It was the most intelligent thing any of those costumed idiots had said since he'd known them and probably since they had the audacity to come into the world. A mistake of nature that he himself could remedy, one by one. That sounded very much like Azazel, but well, the creature wasn't wrong about everything. Only about getting in his way.

He grabbed a grenade thrown by that woman who was a walking armory and threw it through the glass of some office. It exploded shortly after. He had gotten rid of it because against real opponents those things were useless, but he supposed he should have taken a page from Jimbo's book and thrown that shit out the window, at least he would have heard a few screams of agony.

Speaking of Jimbo, he was having a great time, rolling and plowing through everything that got in his way, waving his claws and actually his entire body, as if he were dancing rather than fighting. Maybe he was having too much fun. They would talk about it later.

Or not.

Actually, it wasn't that big a deal, as long as he kept destroying their enemies, let him enjoy it his way. He did too.

Not in such a childish way, but well, Jimbo was a small child. Or not. It was just an impression, what did he know about the age of bears?

He grabbed the weapon of that annoying woman, breaking it over his knee into two halves. Then he grabbed the woman herself by the neck, but he didn't strangle her or break it like a dry branch, though he was perfectly capable of doing that.

"Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men..."

First of all, he decided to stop and pull her right arm until he tore it off.

Blood came gushing out as if spewed by a sprinkler. The air filled with agonizing screams.

"Couldn't put Humpty together again," Kazuya continued, ripping off a leg and then throwing her away like a broken toy. "Shit, Paul always finds a way to annoy me. Stupid American song. Why did it have to be catchy?"

"Miss Militia!"

Oh, so that's what she was called, well, she hadn't thought about it too much.

Some of those strange soldiers turned around, stopping their firing of that damn foam, running to support her and get her out of there. He wondered if she would receive medical attention in time. For approximately a tenth of a second. Because he didn't give a shit.

Naturally, he would mercilessly destroy anyone who stood in his way, but he wouldn't bother chasing down any insect that barely managed to save itself to finish the job. It would be like saying he believed them to be a threat when nothing could be further from the truth.

Kazuya's charge was abruptly halted. A mechanical hand grabbed him and dragged him through a wall, making a new hole with his body. The enemy was another dragon-shaped machine, undoubtedly Dragon's work. Kazuya didn't believe in coincidences.

"Oh, I thought she was inside that thing. Maybe I should have watched the combat recording after all."

The machine flapped its wings and dragged him upwards with it. He supposed it intended to move him away from the civilians on the ground and the poor idiots he would easily massacre in the Protectorate building. It had to be very stupid to believe it could handle him alone when Jimbo had destroyed it in the blink of an eye, but perhaps the point was that she wasn't risking anything. So at the very least, she could buy time for the others without risking her life. And at best, she could stop him without anyone else having to die.

Things didn't go as Dragon planned, but not because of Kazuya. Before he could free himself from the machine's grip, something happened. He saw a blur. The vibrations of the machine after the impact were also transmitted to his body, as the dragon fell to the ground with its wings folded close to its body.

He assumed Jimbo had come to rescue him, though he didn't need any rescue. Adorable...

I mean, stupid. He should have stayed with Ciara, who needed help. He'd like to say those masked idiots wouldn't do anything to her, but this crazy world had locked up that little girl in the first place. He couldn't take it for granted.

The robot released him before hitting the ground, undoubtedly not on purpose. In any case, Kazuya ended up flying in a different direction. He couldn't regain control in time.

"Ouch," Kazuya said as he burst a fire hydrant with his head. He rose a few meters above the ground on demonic wings, trying to pretend nothing had happened here. "Good job..."

Jimbo, he was going to say, only it wasn't Jimbo. It was a woman. He didn't mean Ciara. Ciara was a child, to begin with. It was a woman he knew very well. A woman who still haunted his dreams, a woman he still sometimes saw out of the corner of his eye when a shadow stirred.

"I can't believe it... you were still alive?"

Yes, it was Jun. As beautiful as the day Heihachi had defeated him and thrown him into the volcano. She really hadn't aged a single day, somehow. What the hell was she doing here? Well, he didn't know what the hell he was doing here in the first place. It had just happened.

"Kazuya..." The woman assumed a fighting stance. "I swear this time I'll save you."

Nice show of affection, though she was assuming he was the problem here. She was right, but well...

"I don't seek salvation. Disappear from my sight!"

Easy, Kazuya, he thought. You're as cool and edgy as back then. I'm sure I'll have her eating out of my hand in no time.

Kazuya assumed a fighting stance, but nothing began. Not yet. Because Ciara landed behind him. How had she gotten here and what was that green energy surrounding her clothes for a second?

Had someone with powers helped her down? But why?

"Have you cheated on me, Kazuya?" The rage boiled beneath Jun's calm voice like lava.

"I'm one of the most handsome, powerful, and rich men on the planet."

Jun clenched her teeth and fists.

"And on top of that, you took care of her, and left Jin to his fate?"

Kazuya blinked.

"Who?"

Women. They should come with an instruction manual, who understood them?

Before he knew it, Jun was on top of him, her fist flying towards his face.

"Yes, maybe I'll forget to save you, like you wanted!"

Northern Lights, Part 2: FIN