DISCLAIMER: The Tekken series under the property of Bandai Namco and Tekken Project under Katsuhiro Harada. Action Taimanin, and the Taimanin Series belongs to Gremory Games and Lilith Soft.


Chapter 11: A Ghost from the Past, part 2


The first match of the second preliminary rounds starts now.

Match 1: Fuuma Kotaro vs. Kuma

As soon Fuuma enters the ring, his opponent is introduced by the announcer.

And to his surprise, he's actually fighting a grizzly bear! The music just suddenly slowed before coming to a sudden stop. Cricket chirping can be heard in the midst of the awkward silence.

"Why am I... Why am I fighting a bear?", Fuuma froze awkwardly as he looked into the official. "There's gotta be a mistake? Why is a bear in the tournament?", he asked curiously.

The referee replied, "That bear is a participant, sir."

"What?"

As soon the announcer shouts, "FIGHT!", Kuma charges at Kotaro as he screams in fear and terror as if he is about to be mauled by an actual bear.
"AAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!"

The Excalibur XX's voice began to speak, "What in the world do you think you're doing, boy!?" Within moments, Fuuma quickly drew out the large sword and parried the bear's arm, before pushing Kuma away.

The sword continued, "Focus! That bear is far more consistent in martial arts than just mindlessly attacking prey."

"Wait... That bear can do what?"

"That bear is Heihachi Mishima's pet bear, Kuma. That animal has been his one and only companion. The old man taught that creature his own style of bear fighting martial arts called "Kuma Shinken".", the Excalibur XX gives his wielder a heads-up analysis.

Just before Fuuma can finally pick up some pace, the Excalibur XX reveals an additional mode for its user. The Excalibur's main blade split into a pair of bladed tonfas.
"How are you able to do that?", Fuuma asked once wielding the Excalibur's new mode: Agile Blade Style.

"I have two modes: Great Sword Style and Agile Blade Style. The first is my standard mode which sacrifices the wielder's mobility over sheer grip and power, this mode allows to split the entire blade into two separate weapons as bladed tonfas."

"Incredible..."

"Now, focus on your match! Move!", the weapon commanded its wielder as he continues to throw down with Heihachi's bear.

Elsewhere in a private jet, the Dutch mixed martial artist Wolfgang is watching the Asia-Pacific preliminaries of the tournament from his laptop. Apparently, he wasn't amused at the ongoing bout between Kotaro and Kuma.

"Jezus Christus! To think this clown is the commanding officer of the Taimanins.", Wolfgang commented in his language. "Most Taimanins are women, I never thought the males were pussies!"

Suddenly, the Dutchman's phone rang... The caller is revealed to be the Polish Prime Minister, Lidia Sobieska, who also happens to be a famed karate champion.
"[in Polish] Wolffy, congratulations in advancing the preliminaries.", the Polish politician spoke.

The Dutchman replied, "[in Dutch] Thanks, I appreciate it. I would be thrilled to throw down with you in the finals. If you make it to the top, that is."
"[in Polish] Hahaha! Let's save that for later.", Lidia continued.

Wolfgang then changes the subject, "[in Dutch] I heard your Brazilian friend rescued a certain Hell Knight when G Corp besieged a Nomad safehouse?", learning of the incident that involved Edwin Black and Kazuya.

"[in Polish] Wolffy, do you know these people?", Lidia continued, this time curious about her Dutch ally's heritage. Lidia knew many things about Wolfgang, and this one is far more complicated.

"[in Dutch] That Hell Knight's name is Ingrid.", Wolffy spills to Lidia. "She's the right-hand woman of Edwin Black. I also forgot to tell you that he's also my deadbeat asshole of a father."

Wolfgang wasn't hiding anything, but promised to his client and close friend Lidia to keep everything he told her a secret. Lidia, on the other hand, already knew firsthand that he's also a beastman with a demon blood. But, that did not stop her from relying on him from hunting down demons, criminals, and terrorists as a bounty hunter with a legendary reputation. In fact, Lidia apparently relates her grandfather's past to Wolfgang's, as they are both survivors of the Holocaust.

Also, Wolffy's past is not for the faint of heart...

As an infant, he was abandoned in the human world during the 1920's. He was found and raised by a Jewish family in Germany, and gave him his current name, which means . But, he had to face the brunt of Nazi Germany's rise to power and brutal regime before and during World War II. One fateful day, he and his adoptive family were captured by the Nazis and sent into Auschwitz. While being forced to watch his family die, and he himself being subjected to brutal torture, the trauma he experienced was enough for Wolfgang to go berserk and awaken his demonic powers. He discovered that he's also a werewolf, and used every bit of his strength to escape the extermination camp.

At the end of the war, he was found by American soldiers. However, Wolfgang had no family or relatives to turn to when Germany became divided into West and East Germany during the early stages of the Cold War. Until she was found by the vampire queen of the Vlad Kingdom, the Blood Lord Carla Cromwell. The vampire queen took the young Wolfgang into the demon world and raised him as her own, all while revealing his true heritage; Wolfgang shares the same DNA as the Cromwell family, and Edwin Black (whose birth name being Edwin Cromwell), the future crime lord of the Nomad, would turn out to be his biological father.

Since then, Wolffy feels nothing but hate by the mere mention of his biological father. As an adult, Wolffy returned to the human world studying martial arts, and returning in the demon world to study alchemy. It took almost 90 years for Wolfgang to master his alchemy powers, and reach his peak physical strength from training in Tang Soo Do, of which he's well-versed at. Additionally, he's been training other martial arts - Karate, Jeet Kune Do, hapkido, aikido, muay thai, among others. Over the course of his mixed martial arts career, he has the record of 77 wins, 13 losses, and 5 draws, and also won seven world championships. Wolfgang also began working as a bounty hunter, having hired by various world governments to hunt down high-profile criminals, terrorists, Neo-Nazi extremists, and even demons, making his job being similar to that of a Taimanin; with the hopes of killing his vampire father.

After Wolfgang tells Lidia his past, the Dutchman vows to kill Edwin Black in the brutal way possible. Which leaves the prime minister concerned.
"[in Polish] He's your father, Wolffy. Are you sure do you want to do it?"

The Dutchman continued, "[in Dutch] I was born by the sins of my father, and as his son, I should be the one to judge him. If G Corp's robots dogpiling his sorry-ass wasn't enough, then I'd be more than happy to beat him to within an inch of his life! And I'm going to do it again, and again, and again..."

Lidia has no words to describe it. But, wishes her friend the best of luck while giving him the objective of contacting with the Gosha Taimanins.

Match 1: Fuuma Kotaro vs. Kuma, continuation

Meanwhile, Fuuma manages to stay focus and unwavering in his bout with Heihachi's pet bear. The Agile Blade Style of the Excalibur XX proved to be effective in delivering quick slashing strikes, allowing Fuuma to maintain his pace against Kuma's brutal strikes, which is now accompanied with Mishima-style techniques.

Fuuma manages to KO the bear with a Wind Art tornado-charged punch that sends Kuma flying into the wall.

"Winner! Fuuma Kotaro!", the referee raised Fuuma's hand.

The Fuuma heir panted, and the fight against Kuma was just the beginning of his true battles.

Fuuma began thinking to himself, "(Fighting this bear was nothing compared to the ones in Gosha that Tokiko had brought to train with. Not only he's able to understand human speech, it seems he's capable of using Mishima-style techniques that I saw from Jin. And while I felt the swing of the bear's arms, I also felt that he's pursuing other lofty goals in mind... He said that he plans to run the Mishima Zaibatsu. Wait, what!? Is this bear seriously planning to run a company?! I know the Mishimas are a bunch of shady people, but this is so messed up.)"

Fuuma was left physically drained from fighting Heihachi's pet bear. But he notes Kuma's ferocity and strength is noteworthy of respect, even so witnessing the bear using Mishima-style techniques.

Winner: Fuuma Kotaro


From his private jet, Wolfgang is smiling after watching Fuuma's win against Kuma.

"[in Dutch] (What did you know... This joker can really put up a fight, yet I need to see it for myself personally when I meet up with those Gosha ninjas.)"

Match 2: Rin Uehara vs. Sergei Dragunov

In the second match, Rin faces off the White Angel of Death, who is no stranger to fighting ninjas. However, Taimanins work differently than the United Nations' Raven Unit, a group of ninjas that act as secret agents.

Ultimately, Rin's determination and pace allowed her to prevail against Dragunov.

"Master Raven sends her regards.", said Rin after defeating the Russian, who is now lying on the floor after Rin knocks him out as she walks out of the arena.

Winner: Rin Uehara

Minutes later before the next match, Alisa observes the battles from the upper box of the arena, reporting to Lars and Lee of the presence of the Taimanins and Jin's devil form not returning.

In another upper box, Lee himself is observing even while in his Violet Suit. The door opens and Wolfgang enters.

"[in Dutch] Yo, did I missed something?", asked Wolfgang.

"I thought you were competing on the Europe B block?", the Silver-Haired Demon replied, haven't caught up that Wolfgang already won the B block in Belgium.
"[in Dutch] Already did. My final opponent turned out to be a pyromaniac. But fighting her felt like another walk in the park.", Wolfgang refered to his recent fight with Astaroth, of which he won to advance for the semi-finals in Italy. Then he starts speaking something ominously cryptic that even Lee could barely understand. "While this tournament is about who gets to reach the guy running it, do you feel something a bit off while this whole fiasco is going on?"

"Come again?", Lee shook his head.

"[in Dutch] I mean, something's a bit off. The Sirius Archer told me that whatever Kazuya Mishima is planning to do, it ain't gonna be pretty."

Before heading to Japan, Wolfgang was called by Claudio Serafino, a member of the Sirius Marksmen, a group of exorcists that hunt demons and supernatural beings with magical powers. Claudio is asking Wolfgang to contact with the Taimanins in Gosha knowing that this is more to the Devil Gene than meets the eye.
Wolfgang continued, "[in Dutch] Have you seen any Taimanins participating in the slugfest?"

"There's a Taimanin that managed to beat the White Angel of Death."

"[in Dutch] Let me guess, the Volt Taimanin. Rin Uehara."

Wolfgang personally knows Rin in the past, and even has the audacity to pester her in most of her missions like a rival character. And being a bounty hunter himself, he's incredibly strong-willed and stubborn with a martial arts skills noteworthy of respect. The only main difference is that Wolfgang has a sense of superiority of his power and incredibly vicious, knowing the fact that he's also a half-demon.

"Excellent. You have tastes for women.", Lee commended.

"[in Dutch] Don't get the wrong idea there, mate. I don't come here to make friends or find a date. I came for a good fight. Now, where's our guy?"

From the upper box, Lee and Wolfgang observe the next battle. That would be Jin and Reina. Wolfgang's mouth curves into a smile as he watches the battle unfold, as another gentleman joins them - an effeminate man with a purple pompadour in a rose longcoat. That man's name is Ambrose, an Incubus. Apparently, when in public places, his wings and horns are kept hidden. Ambrose and Wolfgang had a long history together as partners-in-crime.

"Am I late for the party, gentlemen?", asked Ambrose. "Oh, Wolffy. I thought you're in Belgium. What brings you here?"

"I already won the qualifying rounds and beat Flame Princess to the finals.", Wolfgang replied.

"You mean the Queen of Inferno, Astaroth?! That's insane!", to Ambrose's shock, this is the first time that a monarch demon fell to another demon. "I never thought a seven-time world champion would be able to prevail against one of the, if not, most powerful rulers in the dark world. But, this is the King of Iron Fist Tournament. The real beauty and splendor of this blood sport is who can reach to the top."

The next round is starting at any moment as Jin enters the ring, facing the mysterious girl, Reina.

Two fighters, face-to-face. And somehow Jin doesn't say a word, and felt the ominous aura from his opponent.

"We can finally go head-to-head!", Reina said, "And don't let this face fool you... When I get in the ring I can get pretty rough.", and starts to smile in a rather disturbingly sadistic fashion.

The announcer shouts, "Ready, FIGHT!" as the Jin and Reina start the battle.

Jin is able to throw a chain of punch-kick combos until Reina is able to throw him off balance with a launch kick from the ground. At first glance Reina's acrobatic moves are based on a fighting style called Taidou.

"Take this seriously, would you!"

Meanwhile, Fuuma is back on the bench watching the battle with the other members of the task force.

"This kid is something...", said Maika who is sitting behind Kotaro. "And, the real surprise is that she uses some techniques ripped straight out of the Mishima playbook."

What Maika was talking about that Reina's fighting style isn't Taidou alone. It's a combination of Taidou and Mishima-style.

"Mishima-style karate?!", Kotaro shook his head.

"Look carefully at her moves, Kotaro-kun. Especially that dreaded Wind God Fist.", Shizuru said, who happens to be next to Yukikaze and Sakura right on the bench below him.

Jin is able to recover and counterattack. Only for Reina to dish out her own, stunning Jin with an upwards palm strike, followed by a familiar string of uppercuts sending him upwards, before charging her arms in circles and strike Jin with a technique that only Heihachi Mishima can do - Raijin's Wrath.

Seeing Reina executing a move that can be used by one Heihachi Mishima alone astonished Wolfgang.

"Holy shit!", exclaimed Wolfgang, keeping his composure.

"What's wrong, Wolffy?", Ambrose turned his eyes towards his friend.

"Nothing, mate. It's that girl pulling them Mishima moves out of nowhere were a real showstopper.", Wolfgang finished his sentence before speaking to himself, "(What's with this girl? How the fuck did she pull all those tricks from the Mishima playbook?)"

While standing up, Jin sees Heihachi in Reina, shocking him. "Mishima-style...?", he huffed.

Reina replied, "What's wrong? Did you see a ghost or something? (Have a taste of the technique that caused your awakening!)"

Reina charges as she is about to land a punch on Jin, breaking his block after a Dragon Uppercut.

"What are you?", Jin gets his guard up and the fight continues.


Author's Note:

- Wolfgang is fluent in English, German, Dutch, and Japanese. He's the only character in the story to have a dual citizenship, meaning he's German-Dutch.
- Since Wolfgang is Edwin Black's firstborn son, this means he's the older brother of Kurenai and Felicia.
- Wolfgang's MMA career is made known around the human and demon realms. In that he's looked up as a legend by both worlds.