Chapter 12: Birdcage - Demonic Hunting Ground (3)

1

[What if I don't want to?], asked the bear. The piece of fish it hadn't yet swallowed fell from its mouth and got lost in the grass as it spoke. Its roars scared away a flock of birds.

"I'm not asking. Come here or I'll come to you."

Kazuya was demanding, but not entirely unreasonable. He had come here in his demonic form out of necessity, having no other means of transportation in this world but his own wings, but there was no need to maintain it against a stupid animal that wasn't even his opponent.

He returned to his human form. Maybe this way the bear would muster some courage.

It didn't.

It remained petrified. It didn't come to him, but it also didn't move from its spot, as if it feared he would pounce on it the moment it moved a muscle. Which was true, of course.

He had made it very clear. Either the bear came to Kazuya or Kazuya would come to it.

"You asked for it. When this is over, I'll have turned you into a brave warrior."

[Wait!], shouted the bear, standing up, raising its paws above its head. It was as if it were facing a firing squad.

But that hypothetical squad might have a shaky hand, he did not. Never. He didn't know the meaning of mercy.

Kazuya...

"ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

He set off.

He took a few steps forward so quickly it was as if he were running, no ordinary human could even follow his movements with their eyes. The bear looked around as if he had disappeared. Kazuya stopped in front of the bear just long enough for it to realize his presence, that no, he hadn't disappeared into the forest, but had come for it head-on just as he had said he would.

Only to bend his knees and punch it in the chest. The bear opened its mouth, its saliva flew. Briefly, it wondered if it would vomit the fish it had managed to swallow before Kazuya burst into its life on black wings.

It didn't, and the next thing to fly was the bear.

The force of the impact lifted its feet off the ground and sent it flying ten meters back. The bear hit the trunk of a tree, which split in half and fell to the ground. If not for that, it would have kept flying for a while longer, maybe even out of sight.

Kazuya approached the animal, which was writhing on the ground, gasping, with half the tree on top of it.

For the bear, that weight would have been nothing if not for the impact of his punch, of course. If not for the fact that it was still recovering. But he didn't care.

"Get up. I didn't give you permission to rest."

The bear looked at him with wide eyes.

It should consider itself privileged. That was one of the many things he would teach it while waiting for Azazel to return to finish the job. Any damage he did to this world and its inhabitants would only benefit him.

He didn't have to kill and intimidate on his own, he didn't have to impose his iron will directly. He liked it, of course. He loved it. But sometimes it was just as good or even better to let people realize that the best thing was to kneel before him and kiss his boots.

Kazuya smiled.

He couldn't wait especially to subdue that arrogant bitch.

For a woman, she had too much pride, but not the power to back it up, just like Jun. Of course, he had defeated Jun as it couldn't be otherwise, but the fierce fight had heated him in every possible way.

For some reason, the bear began to tremble more violently.

Kazuya frowned.

He hadn't even done anything else yet. He would beat that weakness out of it. By the time he was done with it, it would face Heihachi without a second thought.

And it would lose in a tenth of a second, but the important thing was that it wouldn't hesitate to try. Doubt was the first defeat.

2

Kazuya had always been disgustingly rich.

Privileged was another matter. Heihachi had thrown him off a cliff before he had hair on his balls and things had only gotten worse since then. His life was full of constant battles to reclaim what should be his by right.

But, back to the point, he had always been disgustingly rich.

And when you were disgustingly rich, you asked questions that didn't even cross the minds of normal people. For example, could a bear climb the wall of a cliff?

His apprentice had its claws full testing that.

[Can I stop?], the bear asked, hanging from the cliff wall by its front claws alone.

"Learn not to ask stupid questions. In fact, don't ask any questions at all. Just shut up and obey."

[What did I do to deserve this?]

"Don't let it go to your head. I chose you because you were the first thing I saw when I entered the forest, that's all. But you'd better meet my expectations."

The bear whimpered but continued trying to climb the cliff wall, dragged down by the waterfall's waters. It supposed it needed the motivation of feeling special, blessed with his attention, to endure such harsh training. But Kazuya wasn't going to give it that. Why would he be gentle with it? That led to nothing good.

The iron fist was forged in the flames of hell.

Jinpachi had treated him differently, and he admired and respected him for it. But the truth was the world didn't work that way. Due to his good heart, his grandfather had his company stolen and was locked up like an animal for years, assumed dead by the rest of the world. And when he escaped, he did so consumed by a dark power, only for Jin to put him out of his misery.

That was the reward he received for his good heart.

Kazuya had learned the lesson years ago, defying death even thanks to the power of his hatred, but if he had any lingering doubt, it would have been scattered to the four winds due to the bitter end of the fifth Iron Fist Tournament.

"Less whining and more working. Stop the whimpering. If you have to make a noise, roar."

The bear roared. It jumped, covering a few meters. It dug its claws into the rock once more to avoid falling.

It slid down before stopping, but it didn't lose ground. The problem was that its roar sounded a bit weak.

"Louder. Show me your pride, your fighting spirit!"

[But I don't want to fight], whimpered the bear, but it obeyed, of course. They hadn't been together long, but he had already taught it one thing well at least: it better obey him or it would pay for it. If he told it to jump, it had to jump, not stop to ask how high.

This time its roar sounded more like it should. Kazuya nodded.

"Enough. Continue."

It did. It almost reached the top, but lost its balance and fell back into the water. The water splashed with the impact reached the height of the treetops surrounding them.

Unfortunately for it, almost meant nothing.

"I'm not going to give you any reward for almost making it," said Kazuya when the animal looked at him with expectant eyes. It should have known better, it shouldn't have made him waste his breath. "Get to work. When I'm done with you, your body will be as solid as that cliff and you won't know fear."

Whimpering pathetically, the bear nevertheless immediately obeyed, turned around, and swam to the wall to start again. With each failed attempt, it would become harder to reach the top, but it would make it.

It better, he thought.

3

Dauntless returned to the Protectorate base in Brockton Bay. He decided to enter Piggot's office through the window. It was faster and, anyway, Kazuya had already made a good hole there. He thought it was the best decision, a matter of common sense.

Piggot didn't like it, however.

He had been in the Protectorate long enough, working under her orders, to distinguish her usual expression from true irritation. But at least she chose not to say anything and get to the point. She could be trusted to do that too. She was a professional.

"What was Kazuya doing?"

Piggot wasn't the only one who had been waiting patiently. They undoubtedly had better things to do, but everyone was gathered. Dauntless licked his lips. He probably had a ridiculous expression on his face. They couldn't see it, that's what the helmet was for, but that wasn't the point.

How to say it? Well, he could only blurt it out, right? How else was he going to say it?

"Trading blows with a bear."

"A bear?" Piggot raised an eyebrow. "And the animal didn't explode with the first punch?"

"No ma'am. Because I think he was training it. Well, I don't think. He said it loud and clear, talking to the bear."

No one knew what to say.

"I want to meet that guy," Clockblocker said.

"Was it cute?" Vista asked doubtfully.

Dauntless didn't think too much about it.

"It was a huge beast, but it complained so much it almost made me feel sorry for it."

He was wasting time with that while hundreds of kilometers away Dragon was fighting to prevent a monster, a possible fourth Endbringer, from reaching the Birdcage. They admired him as a local promise, the strongest hero in Brockton Bay, with the potential to one day surpass the Triumvirate. But in the end, he wasn't all that.

Everyone had a limit. You could only save the people within your reach.

"What do we do?" someone asked. Distracted, he didn't even notice who.

"Leave him alone, of course," said Piggot. "If he wants to waste time... training a bear, let him. I can't believe I said that. I need my headache pills."

4

[How am I doing, master?], asked the bear. Night was approaching. Of course, the animal was exhausted, but it managed to stay on its feet and held its head up proudly.

Kazuya looked it in the eyes slowly.

"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it."

Birdcage - Demonic Hunting Ground (3): FIN