Chapter 1: The Aftermath (Part I)

A thunder roars in the sky, with the rain falling like a waterfall upon the woods of Yakushima... in the center of it all, lies the home, of a lonely martial artist, that was hiding from the world, that is out for a search on him, like a pack of starving wolves, asking for his death. The young Kazama, Jin, cursed with the fearsome Devil Gene, hides deep within the woods of his own home, wanting to escape the chaotic state of the world, that he had previously thrown down into hell itself. Not long after the 7th King of Iron Fist Tournament, where none of the Mishimas managed to claim total victory or leadership over the infamous Mishima Zaibatsu, all members of the bloodline that still drew breath, quickly faded into obscurity and to this day, Jin hasn't heard from any of them involved, since.

As the rain falls on his buff frame, Jin is currently busy, working up a sweat in the forest, without any care for someone or something. As he trained his spirit and mind, his mind began clearing up, realizing what exactly it was, that plagued him day in and day out. It was bothering him for weeks now, and it has nothing to do with his cursed gene… loneliness… seeking for compassion… for someone, who could probably be there for him… that's what he is looking for…

MONOLOGUE

"It's been a few months now, ever since that accursed bloodbath that names itself a "tournament", seemed to have finally found an end. But even then, my soul refuses to find any kind of rest. And I could not grasp why. So far, I have always managed to find a way around something as unnecessary as past conflicts, but this... this is an unusual case this time."

Jin is shown, standing in front a mirror, looking pretty miserable and worn out. Not even being able to face his own reflection in pride, he just shatters the glass with a simple punch, not feeling the slightest hint of pain.

"My first thought was that my Devil Gene seemed to have these negative effects on me again, fooling me into thinking, I was being myself the whole time. At least, that's what I thought at first glance, but… doubt began blooming within me, realizing I was wrong… deadly wrong. I am plagued by nightmares, that never ceased, that kept reminding me of myself having done, like it was necessary for me to do all that, in hopes of paying for my sins… and finally exterminating my cursed bloodline…"

Then Jin is shown laying in his bed, looking at the ceiling without any thought whatsoever.

"I gave up on trying to stop my family from causing more trouble to others long ago… and I ended up being like this… feeling like I achieved nothing with all this trouble I caused myself… and this feeling was guilt… deep and honest guilt… an emotion, that I never expected to come up, after this accursed and constant conflict between me and my family… and I had to be honest to myself… I messed up big time… and my former friends probably hate me now more than anyone else…"

Jin is then shown training in front of his house in the garden, while the rain keeps falling on, but it doesn't bother him.

"I said to myself, that I didn't want anyone to come near me, otherwise I might harm them greatly, if I should lose control again, but… when I think back correctly, I deeply regret this decision of mine now… I realize now, how much of a delusional fool I was making myself of until to this point… mother… oh, my beloved mother… you taught me so many things, that could have helped me, but… instead of honouring your teachings and you yourself, I simply spit on your grave, by simply starting a war and do it all for my own selfish needs… Lars was right… Azazel wasn't the problem and so wasn't the Devil Gene… it was me. I was the real evil… curse this!"

Jin then becomes horribly angry and punches through a tree, which falls to the side and pants, while then starting to look somewhat sad… he then sits down on the wet grass and buries his face inside his hands.

"Now, I got to feel the pain, I caused to the whole world… it was like… getting to wear a whole mountain on your back… I couldn't describe, how much it hurt… for the first time in my life, I felt regret for having done all this… how bitter I am… all I am, is just a despicable little piece of filth begging to be washed away… the pain was so unbearable, so much to the point, where I mentally broke down… and from this day on, I lost every kind of sense of reason for anything…"

Jin is then seen putting on his red-black hoodie outfit from the last tournament and then leaving Yakushima to go to the city, not caring where he goes.

"I didn't care, where I go… simple put: somewhere, where nobody even bothers looking at me… I am unworthy… unworthy of being even considered as a human. But then, I saw a pub. A place, where the more darker side of the society normally goes to, heh… the irony is stunning…"

MONOLOGUE (END)

Jin enters the pub, and a few people, who looked pretty much like bad news, glared at him and he simply goes pass them towards the bar and sits down. He asks for a glass of beer with ice and the bar-keeper let the glass slide in front of him. He thanks him and then starts to drink. He then sighs and looks down, playing with his glass. While he drank, a cloaked young man watches him from a corner of the bar and he looked pretty serious. Then the bar-keeper starts to talk with Jin.

"Heh, pretty bad weather outside, huh?"

"…"

Jin simply nods.

"Ah, the silent type, I see. Well, alright. Drinking away your sorrows?"

"…you can say it like that."

"Oh, heh… then let me not disturb you."

"Thanks. I need some peace anyway…"

He then keeps drinking and then asks for a second glass, which he immediately got. And while drank, the cloaked man sits down next to him, which surprised Jin a bit and the voice of the man sounded nearly familiar to him.

"Is that really you... Jin?"

When the stranger called his name, his eyes shot wide open a bit in surprise, but he remains cool as usual and simply asks in a neutral voice.

"…who wants to know that?"

"You can call me… 'The Blood Talon', if you will."

That made Jin spit out his beer in shock, when he then took a second look at the man, he then removed his hoodie and this came as a big shock for Jin… right before him, is one of his friends, who is his rival… Hwoarang. But he wasn't really happy to see Jin. Instead, he looked very serious, but he wasn't angry.

"Hwoarang?! What are you doing here in Yakushima?!"

"I thought I'd never find you, but anyway. We have to talk."

"I am not interested in talking with you."

The Korean then becomes angry, at how quick his friend was to reject him, the literal second they made eye-contact.

"Oh, so that's now how this goes, huh? Simply rejecting someone, without even saying 'hello'! THAT'S the friendliest greeting I ever got from you! Bravo, does more come from you?!"

"Hwo, I already told you, I am not interested. And why did you even bother coming here for me? You should hate me by now, so… what is the purpose?"

Then Hwoarang became silent, but then he stands up from his chair and makes a gesture for Jin to follow him, in which he obeyed. Both leave the pub and then he follows Hwoarang back to the forest to talk under four eyes. Jin simply folds his arms and looks serious as always, when they arrived in a little clearing, where Hwo parked his motorcycle.

"What do you want from me?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've been looking for you, because we still have a score to settle!"

"Don't tell me, you've come all this way here, only to have a match with me again, only because you aren't accepting your loss from the last tournament."

"No. I didn't only come for this… Jin, let me ask you these questions, and I want proper answers… why? Why did you have to ruin the lives of so many people, while you were the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu?!"

"Does it even matter anymore? It's over, Hwo. I can't change what I did! So if you only came to me for something THIS irrelevant now, then better leave now, because you're only wasting your time."

"I won't leave, until you give me answers! Why did you start a freaking war?! What was the whole purpose of that? Did you only do it, because you enjoyed watching other people suffer?!"

"…"

(At this point, Hwoarang completely lost his patience and grabbed Jin by the collar of his hoodie and starts to shake him and look angrily in his eyes.)

Hwoarang: "ANSWER ME, GODDAMNIT! STOP BEING SO STUBBORN AND GIVE ME FREAKING ANSWERS! I DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY HERE FOR NOTHING, I WANT TO HELP YOU GET BACK ON YOUR FEET, FOR GODS SAKE!"

When Hwoarang said that last sentence, Jin's eyes wide and he pushes Hwo away and looked at his former friend in a somewhat arrogant way as he folds his arms again.

"…help me? Heh, what can YOU do to help me? You never helped me, so why now?"

Hwoarang pants and looks at him in a somewhat sad way, and Jin could see, he tries to keep a stone-hard face, as a tear is about to run down his cheek, but he keeps speaking in an emotional tone.

"B-Because… you're… you're… YOU'RE STILL MY FRIEND!"

When Jin heard that, his eyes wide and he feels guilt again, which causes his face to turn from serious to somewhat sad.

"W-Wait… d-did you just really… m-m-mean that with… t-that you still see me… a-as a friend?"

Before Hwoarang could answer however, Jin was surprised from behind with a sneak attack from a wild animal. Something slashes through his jacket, causing him to scream in utter agony and trying to clutch the wound on his back, forcing him to get on his knees. Hwoarang became shocked and caught a glimpse of Jin's attacker… it was the bear, Kuma, who growled victoriously and raises his two large paws for another attack, but Hwoarang reacts fast and pulls Jin to safety away from the bear, which angered him and he starts to growl, which seemed like he attempts to communicate with the korean biker.

"(Why do you defend him?! Jin Kazama deserves nothing more than a painful death! He shall feel the same amount of pain, that all the people have suffered through because of him!)"

"I don't give two shits about what you gigantic fleabag think about him! He is my friend and I won't let you murder him!"

"(Hand him over! His spirit screams for death!)"

"Over my dead body! If you want him, you have to get through me first!"

Kuma then angrily growls and rises higher.

"(Then prepare to die with him! He will have company on the way out of the world of living!)"

Kuma runs on all fours to Hwoarang, who just put the injured Jin near a tree and leaned him against it and the battle began. Jin starts to mutter.

"Hwoarang… don't do anything you will regret…"

Hwoarang then attempts to kick Kuma on the head, but he blocks it quickly with his right paw and rams the korean Taekwando prodigy against the next tree, but before he could succeed in harming him, Hwoarang got out of his grip just in time, before they could reach the tree. He then kicks the bear in the back, making him fall on the grass. He then attempts to grabs Kuma by his neck, only to throw him into the next corner, but when he got more nearer, the bear quickly scratches him with the claws on his feet, which made him scream in pain and fall on knees, but as tough as he is, he doesn't want to fall on the ground and so he keeps fighting. The bear quickly rises from the grass and attempts to squash Hwo, by falling with all his weight on him, but even though he is wounded, he jumps to the side, avoiding the bear in time. Kuma growls frustrated and then attempts to cut Hwoarang with his claws, but he manages to counter all of his slashes with his kicks and the speed of their clashes increases, until Hwoarang reached a bush, where he nearly falls in, but then jumps aside, to dodge Kuma's rolling attack. He pants exhausted, but screams a battle cry and let his foot slip under the belly of the bear and uses all his strength to raise him up in the air, only to then throw him against a nearby rock, where the beast smashes against with full force. The bear groans in pain, but slowly gets back up and growls louder.

"(Damn you…)"

Hwoarang starts to smirk, while jumping up and down to keep his feet warm for more action.

"What's the matter, lazy-bones? Can't keep up?! That's some strength, I give it to ya, but I am faster than you fat-ass will ever be and you will never catch me!"

This made Kuma really angry.

"(Fat-ass?! FAT-ASS?! No one dares to insult the bear of the Mishima Zaibatsu and laughs!)"

Kuma runs on all fours with higher speed than before towards Hwoarang, who prepares himself for him, but then Kuma stops abruptly towards him and then let himself fall with his back on the ground, to spin around like a rollerblade. Hwoarang got careless for the fraction of a second and before he knew it, Kuma sends him flying up in the air with a 'Break'n' move. And then catches the bear Hwoarang with his huge claws and attempts to squeeze the korean red-head to death.

"(My apologies, but you should have given Jin over to me, instead of defending him, like he is any damn worth it… now you're going to pay dearly for it.)"

Hwoarang struggles in getting free by repeatedly kicking the bear in the gut, but Kuma was taking the hits like they were nothing and so became the red-head defenseless.

"L-Let me go, you stinky bear!"

Kuma then growls.

"(Too late! I will squeeze the life out of you for this disgrace you have committed a few moments ago!)"

Hwoarang screams in agony, as the beast squeezes him in his arms, but before he could finish the job, he gets punched really hard in the belly… it was Jin, who attacked him with a fully charged 'Avenger'. The attack was so painful, that Kuma let go of the korean biker and let himself fall in Jin's arms. The bear collapses on the grass, and Jin quickly brings Hwoarang near a tree and leans him against it. He checks him entirely to see if he was alright and he was, despite some bloody bruises and scratches, coming from Kuma's claws.

Hwoarang opens his eyes a few moments later, and sees Jin taking care of his wounds with bandages, who were packed in his bike. He groans a little, because Jin even cleans his wounds, before bandaging them and it burned, but he didn't mind. Hwoarang was surprised to see his former friend give a damn for him and so he speaks.

"Jin… one question… do you also still see me as friend…?"

The Kazama then looks pretty melancholic, before answering his partner's question.

"To be perfectly honest… yes… but I doubt, that YOU still see me as friend… after all, I never cared about you before… or helped you… the only thing I ever did to you, was causing you trouble and the same goes for your master…"

"No Jin, do not doubt it. Believe it or not, despite everything you did, you're still one of my friends and one of my strongest rivals yet… yeah, we didn't get along well at the start… but I have still respect for you left… seeing how hard you fight for what you think is right… but I am still curious… why have you started a war in the past?"

Jin looks down and let out a loud and pain-filled sigh.

"You really want to know… because I think, you will think, that I might be insane or something…"

Hwoarang chuckles and punches Jin lightly against his cheek in a toying way.

"I won't think that, no worries, I already think you are bit not right in the head. Nothing surprises me anymore about you, or your twisted family at this point, hehehe…"

This comment made Jin really chuckle, but then he looks serious.

"Fine. Let's start slowly… first, do you remember the 5th tournament?"

"How could I forget that? I managed to beat you there! Man, that felt good, seeing you lay on the ground beaten!"

"Hehe, yeah, you're right… you got me there, this time around… but that's not the point… you know, the one who hosted that one tournament was the one, everyone believed to be dead… and that is Heihachi's father, Jinpachi Mishima."

Hwoarang was baffled, because he couldn't believe, that even Heihachi's father was still among the living.

"Seriously now?! Even the father of that old fart was still alive?! Just how old can Mishimas become?! Are they immortal?!"

"Don't worry, Mishimas age like normal humans, but that wasn't the case with Jinpachi. Could you imagine, that he was imprisoned under Hon-Maru by Heihachi for many years, and he didn't die at first, but then did, when he became really old?"

"He was imprisoned and didn't die immediately?! Then how was it, that he came out of Hon-Maru, alive and well?! He should have been over 100 years old by then!"

"I was also baffled by the fact, that he was still alive, but… when I fought with him, he was possessed by a demon, which revived him and brought him back to the world of living. I thought at first, he also possessed the devil gene, but I was proven wrong by the fact, that my gene didn't react to his at all. That spirit was nothing like anything I have seen before and his power… was really astonishing. I didn't have any chances of winning and only won out of pure luck, because that old man was playing in a totally different league than Kazuya or Heihachi… and after that victory, I thought everything will be fine and much easier, once I take over the Mishima Zaibatsu… but as a matter of fact, it wasn't easier, if anything, everything became even more difficult for myself… because after I beat Jinpachi, I felt something urging inside of me… a dark feeling, that turned out to be something, that made me do all these horrible things to the world…"

"Wait, let me guess… your Devil gene got more control over you, because you killed Jinpachi?"

"…from where do you know that?"

Hwoarang then looks serious himself.

"…because I saw you… in your devil form… and you nearly killed me."

That message shocked Jin deeply and he began to feel dreadful.

"Uhhh… did I… do that?"

Hwoarang nods. Then Jin starts to rub the sides of his forehead with his thumbs and shakes his head.

"So that's the reason, why your entering in the 6th tournament was delayed… you were still recovering from your wounds, that were caused by my devil form! Oh god… I-I deeply am sorry for this, Hwo… I-I didn't know…"

Hwoarang then puts a hand on his friend's shoulder and taps it.

"Hey, it's in the past pal, no biggie. Besides… if it wasn't for you, I would have never become stronger, because I was at my best in the sixth tournament."

Jin then looks at him in a neutral way again and goes on.

"OK then… where was I? Now I remember. Like I said, after I became the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu, I began to feel the effect of my devil gene grow stronger with every passing day, until… where it began. My devil gene went crazy, and the cause of this, is this one being, sleeping in the deepest bounds of hell, in a tomb in the far away Egypt… Azazel. He was responsible for making my devil gene react to his call and he brought me to the point, where I became literally insane… and this could explain my temporary transformation into my devil form, and the beating I gave you in that form back then… and then, I went to egypt myself to find out more about Azazel and as it turned out, this creature will awake, if two stars clash… Kazuya and I are the two stars this woman was talking about. Mine and his devil gene is the key to awake him and not only that… negative energy. That was also playing an important role in that game. Here is the deal: To finally get Azazel into his physical form, I had to gather enough negative energy from around the world, so that this task could become achievable and this is the reason, why I started the war… I wanted to cause as much as ruckus as possible, so that this monstrocity can finally wake up and I can finally free the world, so that it can finally see true peace and myself from the devil gene… in which I succeeded only half-way… I managed to destroy Azazel entirely and he will never return again, only… my devil gene was still there… you have no idea, how much this made me angry… I realized at this point, that there will never be any cure for me… and I nearly gave up, until… this one man came. This italian soldier, who was an exorcist… he had the ability to block the devil gene from awakening and you also won't believe… who I met…"

At this point, Jin's voice broke, as he became really sad and was at very brink of breaking down crying.

"My own mother, whom I believed to be dead… she fought with me and Lars… against Heihachi and Kazuya… but there was no winner, because… we all had to stop Kazumi from transforming into her devil form… it was a very fierce battle, and it could have all ended… it everyone of us dying in the lava… but we were in luck… I managed to transform into my devil form one last time and… finally defeated Kazumi, with every last bit of strength I had left… after that, she disappeared… in a green light… and left me and the others behind in question… I saw Heihachi, crying for his wife… he blamed me for everything… he stood up in pure fury and said, that he wanted to kill me, but… Jun and Lars held him back from doing so… I heard, how my mother said… that he has harmed me enough… and Kazuya… what can I say…? He went away and nobody noticed… nobody knows, where he is today… but to be honest, I think it's better this way… after everything ended, I was brought to the hospital, where I got treatment by the troops of this italian exorcist… and I had the chance to see my mother one last time… I wanted to embrace, but she was too far away from me… so near and yet so far… but she didn't leave in a cold way… she smiled at me in a forgiving and angelic way and said… that she has freed me from my sins and that we will see each other again… she looked forward to it and promised it… and then she left me… right after I recovered from my wounds, I returned back to Yakushima, where I remained to this day… rejected from responsibility, any kind of worth for life and the society…"

After Jin said the last sentences, the korean biker could see two tears running down his cheeks. All these painful memories, were too much for Jin to handle and so he silently begins to cry… the whole story has saddened Hwoarang significantly and he looked sad too.

"Wow… so this is the full story… man, I didn't know that you had to suffer that much, only for finally becoming free… come here."

Hwoarang slowly pulled a silently crying Jin into an embrace and hugs him, like a brother. Jin then first hesitated to hug back, but then he gave in and hugged back.

"Hwoarang… I am really sorry for everything… I was foolish into thinking, that I could handle anything that happened in the past all by myself… and when I remember correctly, my mother taught me… that true friendship and compassion can overcome everything… and she was right… I believe it now, as I could have had it a lot easier… but I was too afraid and too selfish… I was blind, blinded by my own fear, in hurting anyone I care about the most… rejecting is no solution… and it never was… never will be… and now look at me. I am unworthy of even being considered as human… I bet even my mother thinks, that I am on the same level of 'lost cause', like my father…"

"Well, you seem to have learned something… now we are on the same wavelength... you see, I also didn't have it easy… I was literally born in dirt. I never got to know my parents and I was left on my own, ever since I could think… you had the luck, to have a mother, who loved you and raised like any real mother would do… and I think, your mother doesn't hate you, if she did, she would have NEVER said, that she looks forward in seeing you again someday, so… don't worry…"

Suddenly… they hear rustling in the bushes and both quickly stood up to check out the bushes. Jin wipes his eyes dry and becomes serious again.

"Wait… don't get too close to it!"

Then they stopped shocked in their tracks to see a horde of little bears running out of the bushes and stopping right in front of the unconscious Kuma. They stood in a position, that could be understood as defending him from more harm, which made Hwo laugh.

"Don't tell me, that you little furballs are the children of this gigantic fleabag!"

"Be quiet, don't underestimate these creatures! They appear to be Kuma's off-spring and underestimating them will be a costly mistake!"

"Oh come on, you can't be serious, how could these little babies hurt us? They are just as much as useless as their father!"

While he keeps insulting the bears and discusses with Jin, they didn't realize, that the tiny bears have come together and formed a formation, that looked like they were trying to become one huge bear… which happened, as the bear became larger and larger, until it nearly reaches the height of a tree… and then both fighters turned their heads slowly in the direction of the huge bear and became baffled, even Jin.

"You've GOT be kidding me! Do they seriously believe, that they will beat us with a ridiculous technique like that? We already beat their leader, so what makes them think, that they can win now?"

Jin: "Don't be foolish! These bears are avenging Kuma, and it's clearly obvious that you made them upset and now they became even more powerful, by combining all their strength into one, so better concentrate now on combat instead of keep making things worse, by insulting them!"

There was a silence between the two, until… Hwoarang then starts to smirk confidently, as he now feels pure nostalgia. All this now reminds him of the time, when he and Jin were fighting together in the past and also kicking ass. He now looks over to his friend and smirks confident.

"Heh, I don't know about you, but… I am having a déjà-vu here. How about it? Let's take on these little bastards together, for old time's sake! What do you say?"

He offers the Japanese a confident a bro-fist, which Jin looked at in a questionable way and glared at his korean friend for a while, but then… he chuckles and then returns the bro-fist, which made Hwoarang grin widely.

"OK then, let's go and kick some furry ass!"

Jin and Hwoarang then look at the gigantic bear in a serious way, before getting into their fighting stances and then running towards it.

The gigantic Kuma is preparing himself to hit the two fighters with one of his huge paw, and when he landed the hit on the ground, it made it explode, but both friends jumped out of the way, just in time to prevent from getting hit. Then Hwoarang yells out for Jin, while trying to beat the little bears out of the formation to make the huge bear lose his balance.

"So Jin! What's the plan? If I would guess, the chance is high that you were about to say, that we have to force him into losing his balance, by beating out as many as little Kumas as possible, am I right?!"

When Jin heard, he looked a bit impressed and nods.

"That's… actually not a bad idea, let's do it like this then."

Both then start beating out as many Baby-Kumas as possible, and by the time they were done with his legs, they realized, they should go higher.

"Jin! We have to get higher in order to hit the more upper part of his body!"

"I had the same thing in mind, but how shall we get up there?"

"I thought about waiting for him to hit us with one of his paws, so that we can climb up on his arm, allowing ourselves to hit him more precisely on a greater height!"

"Good idea!".

Then they proceed with Hwoarang's plan and so far, it went well, until something unexpected happened. Just when they beat the last few little Kuma's from his belly, he then starts to shake brutally in order to let the two let go of him, while the two reacted by clinging onto little Kumas, but it didn't really help… and it all ended with the huge Kuma in hitting the two young fighters against trees, which hit them in a painfully hard way and they had to let go of him… both collapse on the ground, bleeding from their foreheads, and covered in dirt, but they refused to give up. Then Jin had to realize in a shocked way, where the huge Kuma was heading to.

"He is going right into the town! We have to stop him, before he destroying it!"

Hwoarang then whistled and looked unimpressed.

"That gigantic fleabag sure has got a lot of nerve. At first, he tried to destroy us and now he is taking out his entire frustration, caused by his loss against us, on the townspeople. Tsk, tsk, tsk, not nice. Not nice. Doesn't matter, we have to beat him anyway, so what are we waiting for?!"

"You just took the words out of my mouth. Let's go!".

"Let's get on my bike! This is faster!"

Both then jumped on Hwoarang's bike and drive off to follow the bear.

TO BE CONTINUED…