Reforestation

Set during/post the 7th Iron Fist Tournament. Overwhelmed with work on her reforestation project, Julia takes a walk in the rich forest of Kyushu to clear her mind. She gets more than she bargained for, as an avalanche of events is sprung into motion.

I have been reading fan-fiction on this site for years and finally decided to write one on my own! It was inspired by SP2 Julia's story-line release and also by some of Scenario Campaign dialogues from Tekken 6. I will try my best to combine whole Tekken story into this fan-fiction.

In my personal life I have visited and traveled in all of Japan's main islands and have fallen in love with the south - Kyushu, Okinawa and Sakurajima volcano island, so I thought it would make an interesting location for the fanfic. The fan-fiction may begin light-hearted but it will get dark later. Please do not read if you are sensitive to mature themes, like sexual abuse, trauma or murder.

...

Chapter 1: The damsel-in-distress

Lee Chaolan always believed that Tokyo and Kyoto are overrated. When establishing his state-of-the-art technology company, Violet Systems, he has surprised his investors by choosing Fukoka province as the location for the company's Japanese Head Quarters.

Located in the most southern of Japan's main islands, Kyushu, Fukoka province offered a beautiful setting, with it's rich forest and greenery, spreading around the Onga River all the way up to Mt. Aso in the south, Beppu in the east and the Genkai-nada Sea to the west.

Being a multi-billionaire businessmen also helped in this decision, as Lee did not fail to notice that property prices near the city of Fukoka were MUCH lower than near Tokyo. Not to mention less pollution, and pristine nature all around the premises. AND a huge city with very well developed network and public transport nearby.

Taking all these things into consideration, he build the Violet System HQ on piece of land he purchased located few kilometer's east of the city of Fukoka, and made a deal with the city's council to build an additional railway connection for Violet System's blue and white collar employees, who need to commute to work daily. After all Violet System's was one of the bigger employers in this region now.

It was almost midnight and after a whole day of work he was busy relaxing in his office. Excellent, thought Lee, his lips glazed lazily over a glass filled with the finest quality champagne, as he pondered over his accomplishments.

The turbulent set of events which lead to the conclusion of the 7th King of Iron Fist Tournament, has sure helped his cause. People were desperate for stability and jobs, and were looking for companies and conglomerates that are ethical and trustworthy, since everyone was tired of G Corporation's and and Mishima Zaibatsu's antics.

Lars Alexandersson and Jin Kazama were currently busy in sharing their control over Mishima Zaibatsu in order to use its wealth and power to rebuild the war-destructed areas. They launched and supervised philanthropic campaigns all around the world, especially in developing countries struck by natural disasters, which were unleashed upon the world during Azazel's awakening. They were also busy destroying the remaining Mishima Zaibatsu's labs, since the technology used there involved human experiments and should never exist in the first place.

The two Mishima men were definitely not friends, they still felt deep hatred towards each other, which, Lee thought, would never go away, since this is the curse of the Mishima's - to fight and hate each other, but decided to temporary work together for a greater good. They engaged other fighters to help them in their native countries, like Hwoarang, the Korean fighter, Eddy Gordo, the Brazilian Capoera master and surprisingly... the one and only - Miss Nina Williams, who decided to turn the tide a little bit, and while keeping her assassin missions on the side as an additional source of income, she agreed to help using her vast network of mafia and former employer's connection's for greater good.

In the meantime Lee carefully designed his own PR campaign, to advertise Violet Systems as an industry and robotics giant, that is eco-friendly and supports smaller projects related to environment protection. This has helped him to accelerate growth and begin to build customer trust, AND of course to actually help the nature.

Violet System's Research Labs near Fukoka's HQ were one of such projects. Located little bit deeper in the park that the HQ building itself, the smaller plant was connected with the HQ by underground tunnel, making it easy for employees to travel between the divisions for meetings.

Lee has always favored a very personal approach when it comes to his employees, and often he would wander around and inside the HQ and Research Lab's premises, saying Good Day and Hello! to his employees in person. Research Lab consisted usually of young talent's, gifted students and young graduates from all around the world, under tutelage of more experienced scientists and professors. The teams worked on eco-friendly technologies, like water recycling methods, saving of endangered species or reintroduction of almost extinct species back into the eco-system, air pollution relief and most importantly - reforestation of the world's deserts.

The Reforestation project, mused Lee, from pipeline dream into a full-blown operating facilities in less than a year... All thanks to a very particular and determined young woman, who against all odds launched an online campaign and managed to get the initial costs covered by crowd-funding,... simply incredible!. The young woman's name was Julia Chang and she was a known Iron Fist Tournament veteran. Lee remembered her adopted mother from the 1st and 2nd Tournament, and was not surprised to see that the daughter turned out as strong and kind-hearted as her.

Julia was determined not to let her homeland, Arizona, turn into a desert, and she has sought Violet System's help in financing her research in it's later stages. In the begging, she arranged a co-working space between G Corp Research Facilities subsidiary in the US and University of Phoenix in Arizona, and the initial project draft was created, and the data gathering begun. At that time she has invented and patented a program called GENOCELL, which was used in genetics, and in particular, used as a gene modification monitoring software.

Because of this, the whole drama with Mishima Zaibatsu was started, since they have stolen the research team's data and GENOCELL along with it. Dr Abel, the head of what should be called Mishima Zaibatsu's Most Fucked-Up Research Division, wanted to use the program to combine human DNA with Devil Gene samples to create new life form.

Thank Kami-sama that this has not happened, thought Lee, as he left his office and headed to the underground train station leading to the VS labs. The world was on the edge of a catastrophe because of Mishima Zaibatsu's experiments... . He headed into the elevator, took the ride to the lowest floor and entered his private 1st class couch. He suddenly thought to himself Hmm, now thinking about it, Julia has never actually told me how she managed to retrieve the stolen data... .

...

Despite it being close to midnight, inside one of Violet System's Research Labs the light was still on. A young woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes was typing furiously on her keyboard with a frustrated look on her face. Since Violet System's has helped her with managing her online campaign for The Reforestation Project, all has been going great, but from time to she had to deal with some annoying internet trolls leaving dumb comments on the project's official social media accounts.

I will need to ask Lee to approve a new position for a website moderator in the next budget, she thought to herself, I cannot handle managing the research in Arizona remotely, plus gathering more data here, PLUS dealing with some idiots online... . Suddenly, she noticed that one of the comments was left by someone with a very particular nickname - "Ganryu-donno".

Oh Spirits! Please don't let it be who I think it might be... . With a mortified look on her face she recalled how the old, sweaty sumo wrestler, tried to get her attention during the 5th King of Iron Fist Tournament. Julia's pretty face visibly winced, as she remembered how he came back crawling on his knees in front of her during the 6th Iron Fist Tournament, her stolen research data in his one hand and an engagement ring in another.

Julia thought to herself, World was on the verge of disaster with the GENOCELL program falling into the wrong hands, only to be saved and recovered by one love-struck, old pervert, who chased me because I reminded him of my Mom from 20 years ago... .

Feeling the cringe was becoming unbearable, she decided to call it a day and closed her laptop, a little too hard.

- Had enough for today Miss Chang? came a voice from the doorway. She turned around quickly, only to see Lee Chaolan leaning against the wall with an amused smirk on his face. He had his purple suit and his decorative satin coat on, looking rich and very out of place in a dark labo room.

- Mr Lee! Hello, yes actually, answered Julia in fluent Japanese,- I was just getting ready to start my weekend, but had to deal with some internet trolls first, she smiled apologetically.

- Remind me to approve a higher budget to hire someone who will deal with this mess professionally, I don't want my number one protege to loose her Friday evening over a bunch of trolls, Lee smiled, - now i came to fetch you personally, because the security guys have already left the building and only my badge will work to open the front door.

Julia smiled and gathered her backpack and jacket quickly. As they begun to walk towards the entrance hall together Lee suddenly noticed,

- Miss Chang, you have cut your hair. I must say you look very cute, but I am intrigued - that was after all VERY long hair and it is an important aspect in Native American culture if I am not mistaken. Why the change if I may ask,... met some special who prefers it short perhaps? Lee fired the personal question with the most innocent look on his face.

Julia blushed slightly at the comment, Lee was a known womanizer and it made her slightly embarrassed,

- Erm, no actually I donated my hair, she replied.

- Donated? What do you mean donated? asked Lee curiously. He has never heard about "donating hair".

Julia smiled slightly and answered shyly, - It was natural and long hair, so it can be used in making wigs. I have found a hair saloon that donates the cut hair to a company that makes wigs for cancer treatment patients, you know, if they loose hair... I mean, mine will grow back in no time, but if I can help someone instead of just letting it go to waste...

Lee laughed and smiled at her, - Ohh, Miss Chang, I must say I am surprised and not surprised at the same time! Surprised, because I have never heard about such initiative, not surprised, because you always think about others!

They were now at the entrance hall ready to leave and part ways, when suddenly Lee leaned over, WAY too close and WAY to creepy to her face and shoot,

- As much as I and your colleague's here love this kind-hearted and selfless approach of yours, you must not forget about yourself Miss Chang! It is Friday evening and you are 21, living in the bright city of Fukoka! Dress up nicely and find some lucky Japanese man who will spoil you whole weekend! ... Or maybe even longer than that!

Then Lee suddenly with one swift motion, took of the rubber bands of both of her braids and her now shoulder length hair fell loose.

- Now Miss Chang, much to my sadness, the time has come to part ways! Let the autumn breeze run through your hair and enjoy your walk home! Have an EXCELLENT weekend! Lee winked at her and proceed to flash his famous win-pose as he left trough the door.

As soon as she was alone she face-palmed hard at the situation. Oh Spirits! What the hell was that... Mr Lee is nice but sure he can be such a creep sometimes... . His comment about "finding a Japanese man" made her think of THAT particular fat, old, stalking Japanese guy and she shuddered at the thought.

- Oh Spirits! If it will ever be a Japanese man, please do not let him even closely resemble Ganryu! With this last thought, Julia headed out into the outer premises of the building.

...

The fresh night air and gentle breeze made her suddenly feel alive again. Usually she would go for a walk around the premises during her lunch break, but this Friday was so busy that she simply did not have time. She stayed whole day in the inside, underground facility, feeling more like a canned tuna with each passing hour.

Initially, she begun to head in the direction of the Violet Systems metro line, but on a whim decided to change her destination. She knew she is completely alone here at this hour and that there is a small system of onsen hot springs nearby, just right behind the labo building. Only a few of the employees knew about this, mostly Japanese locals, and it was no secret that people would hop there from time to time for a relaxing bath before or after work.

On her way to the onsen Julia was thinking about all the latest events in her life. During the 6th tournament, she visited an elder Apache woman who owned a vast piece of land in Arizona, that could be used for the reforestation project. The woman was gifted in the supernatural and has told her that Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima must never cross paths, or else a great evil will be unleashed upon the Earth. It marked the forthcoming of Azazel, The Rectifier who by unmaking the current world with natural disasters, would give beginning to a new world. In the end, Jin Kazama has decided to sacrifice himself to defeat Azazel and was presumed to be dead, only to be found later by a secret United Nations army and afterwards recaptured and rescued by Violet Systems.

During the 6th Iron Fist Tournament, Julia has met an intriguing Egyptian woman named Zafina, who remarkably shared the same goal as Julia. Zafina was intrigued about how the old Apache woman knew about the prophecy and Julia promised her that one day if their paths will cross again, she will bring her to Arizona to talk to the woman.

Their encounter during the tournament was actually a scheduled fight, which ended in a Double K.O., as both women were equally gifted and strong. Both Zafina and Julia, felt they share a connection, and even thought they were raised world apart and lead completely different lifestyle, their hearts and minds were in the same place.

Less than few weeks after the 6th tournament Julia's childhood friend has gotten into a car accident. She was a luchadora wrestler going under the alias of Jaycee, very well known in the wrestling world, and enormously popular. She had a whole 3 month tour of fights scheduled ahead and cancelling it could end her relationship with the sponsors forever, leading to end of her career on the ring eventually.

Julia was similar in height and build to Jaycee and a very strong fighter, so she promised she will take over the mask temporarily. The same day she has sought out the remaining twin brother of the late Armor King I for training purposes. He was positively surprised and saw the wrestling potential in the young woman, so he immediately agreed to take her in to begin practice.

In less than 3 weeks, Julia has managed to master some flag wrestling moves, and mixed it with her own style, and headed out into the ring for the first time. She managed to take down the notorious Craig Marduk and score a draw in a match with the famous wrestler King, for which she has received standing ovation from the whole stadium. In the following 3 months, she had to divide her time between managing her reforestation work and fighting wrestling matches every few days, in different parts of the world during the tour. She was exhausted by the fights, amount of work and constantly having to hide her identity, and she became sloppy in her fighting style.

Too many times she has forgotten herself on the ring. Instead of using the softer wrestling moves with less damage, which were also more theatrical to please the audience, she was knocking opponents with her elbows and Kung-fu. At the end of the tour, the fights were ending way too quickly because of this, and the crowd was not pleased. They came to watch an amusing wrestling match, which should at least last some hours, and not a quick K.O. with one swift move.

Julia realized she will give Jaycee a bad name if she keeps doing this. She managed to come back to normal wrestling mode at the end of the tour, and was glad to see that the real Jaycee has recovered enough to resume back her activities.

The whole wrestling saga has in the end been an interesting experience for Julia, and she definitely had no regrets. Well, beside one - the famous wrestler King.

Julia mentally cringed as she remembered he was going crazy to discover Jaycee's real identity and was stalking her constantly when she was under the shower or in the changing room. Finally, one day he got lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her face and hell broke loose. King was in such a shock to see his old tournament friend Julia behind the mask and got really pissed at her that she managed to almost defeat him. His macho attitude had in the end pissed off Julia, who felt hurt that instead of being supportive and proud of her, he chose to behave this way just because his ego could not handle it. They stopped talking and Julia was still sad about it, but well, as they say true friends will celebrate one's victories together, so in their case the friendship was not actually a real friendship, thought Julia.

After the wrestling tour, Julia has gotten seriously busy with her reforestation project. She has managed, with the help of Violet Systems and the company's weird CEO Lee Chaolan, to launch an online campaign for the project which proved to be successful. They took some months to set the project ready in Arizona and Julia could head to Japan on special work visa to continue data gathering here. Kyushu was a perfect choice for their HQ after all, thought Julia, since its rich forest and unique eco system could help to understand how to develop similar tree system in desert lands or areas deforested by extensive agriculture, like the Amazon which was shrinking every year.

Deep in her thoughts, she has finally reached the small hot spring clearing. The moon was full so it was all beautifully lit, with the steam of the onsen engulfing the whole area, it seemed almost magical.

Violet Systems' employees had a lot of facilities available for their personal use including a gym in the lab division basement. Julia would often do strength training and some cardio in the morning, before starting her work day, so she had spare clean clothes and a towel with her in her backpack.

She looked around nervously, making sure that there is no one peeking, I am being paranoid, she thought to herself, surely no one beside me is mad enough to take a bath in a hot spring at midnight on a Friday evening... . She stripped herself off her clothes and stepped into the onsen.

She begun to relax immediately as the warm water engulfed her tired body. She relaxed and leaned back against the rocks behind her, bending her head slightly outwards and closing her eyes. She couldn't help but let a small relaxed sigh. It has been a while since she visited the clearing, she put a mental reminder to herself to do it more often as of now.

The only sounds surrounding her were the sounds of the forest, gentle breeze and small animals making noises in the trees nearby. Fireflies have begun gathering around the hot spring, the hotaru as the Japanese called them, combined with the forest sounds, it gave the clearing an eerie vibe.

Julia opened her eyes and soaked the serene scene. Her thoughts begun to wander towards her homeland, Arizona, and her barren lands with a harsh climate. Even though the island of Kyushu was so different in terms of landscape and culture, somehow she felt oddly at home here too. It was thanks to the friendly and welcoming locals and some friends who stayed in Japan or who lived there after the 7th Iron Fist Tournament, like the German spelunker and adventurer Leo Kliesen, or the crazy vigilant girl Asuka Kazama. She would travel north to meet up with them from time to time, since they really bonded during the last tournament. Despite that, Julia still of course missed her tribe, her childhood friends and most importantly her adoptive mom Michelle.

Ahh Mom, I wish you were here with me now... 3 more months and I can come visit you for Christmas, I cannot wait!, thought Julia with a warm feeling in her heart. Despite living abroad, her situation was very favorable, since Lee let her fly home every 3 to 4 months to visit her family and tribe. The official reason for visit was of course to supervise how the planting process of the modified trees is doing back there, but Lee would let her always stay longer than necessary, so she could spend time with everybody.

Julia's thoughts wandered to her mother. Michelle Chang, the daughter of Bernard Chang, a business man from Hong-Kong and a Navajo woman from Arizona named also Julia, whom he fell in love with at first sight when he met her.

Bernard was actually working for Heihachi Mishima at that time and was sent to Arizona to spy on one of the tribes living there, in search of the legendary Native American pendant.

The said pendant, was rumored to have the power to control a deity-like being, to which the tribe simply referred to as Ancient Ogre. The being, which Heihachi named Toshin in his own language, was allegedly slumbering somewhere in Native American ruins on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. Unknown to Heihachi, the owner of the pendant was actually the Navajo woman, whom his spy has met and fell in love with.

Bernard Chang in the end had to choose between his loyalty to the Mishima Zaibatsu or his new found love interest, and he chose the latter. For that Heihachi made him pay the highest price - he was hunted down and executed by the Zaibatsu spies, leaving Julia, soon Michelle's to be mother, alone and expecting a dead man's child.

Michelle, being raised by her single mother, hated Mishima Zaibatsu and its leader Heihachi Mishima with passion, after hearing the full story from her mother Julia. She vowed that they will never come close to harm her family ever again and trained to become a powerful warrior, in order to be able to defend her land in future.

Heihachi, who has never quite given up on searching for the pendant or the location of Ogre's body slumbering in the ruins, has from time to time send some spies and soldiers to Native's land, only to have them quickly dispersed and defeated by the young Michelle.

Angry and tired of the soldier's constant failures, Heihachi decided to strike in Michelle's most sensitive weak spot - her mother Julia. He managed to arrange a successful kidnapping of her mother and threatened to harm her if Michelle does not disclose the location of the pendant. Michelle, who was brave and not easily intimidated, saw an opportunity to free her mother from Zaibatsu's grasp, during the newly announced King Of Iron Fist Tournament. She made her way up to the tournament finals and after beating up some Tekken Force soldiers, she forced them to reveal the location of where her mother was kept. She managed to successfully rescue her mother and bring her home safely.

Unfortunately for Michelle, she has attracted the attention of two Japanese individuals during the tournament - a sumo-wrestler named Ganryu and an ex-Manji clan member Kunimitsu. The former was so love-struck by Michelle, that he took a position of Kazuya's bodyguard during the second tournament, in order to get close to Michelle, since Kazuya wanted him to get her interrogated (which obviously did not end well for poor Ganryu, who got every bone in his body broken that day). The latter, Kunimitsu, was aware of the rumors circulating around the Native American tribe's secret treasure, and wanted to take it for herself. Since she was expelled from the Manji clan for stealing, Michelle was on her guard during the fight and protected the pendant from her prying hands.

After the second tournament has concluded and resulted in Heihachi taking the conglomerate back from his son Kazuya, whom he was rumored to have killed, Michelle came back to Arizona and decided to destroy the pendant. She did so completely alone, in a remote mountain location, so that no one beside her will know where and how it happened.

At least Mom was aware that such power should never reside in hands of anyone, thought Julia to herself, as she relaxed in the hot spring. And that fateful day she had found me... And who has left me there to die in the first place? Who were my biological parents? I will probably never know... Maybe it is for the better... . The thought have always brought sadness in her heart.

Where did she come from, and why was she left alone up there, on the border of the Apache and Navajo land in such remote location? Were her parents good people? Had she the right to judge them for what they did? Were they even together or was her biological mother abandoned and without means to support herself decided to leave her newborn child to die?

On that fateful day, as Michelle was making her descent back into the tribe's village, she suddenly heard a newborn crying. At first she was spooked out, since she grew up with all the legends about skin-walkers and other scary Native folklore stories, but she quickly regained her senses and run over to identify the source of the cry. It was in fact a real newborn baby, crying her little lungs out with all strength she could muster.

Shocked beyond belief, Michelle took the baby to the village and called Child Protective Services and nearest hospitals. The baby was abandoned and turned out not to be registered anywhere, there came also no missing child notifications from worried parents. After few months of legal custody battle, Michelle and her mother Julia have gained full custody of the baby and decided to name her Julia as well, as an honor to Michelle's mother. They bonded with little Julia very quickly and could not bare the thought of sending her to foster home. As the little Julia begun to grow up, it became obvious that she was a mix between Native American and Caucasian, however her origins have remained mystery to this day.

Deciding that she has had enough of the overthinking for today, Julia snapped out of her daydreaming phase and decided that she has stayed in the onsen long enough. She sighed and stood out of the warm water and begun to dry herself as best as she could with the tiny Violet Systems gym towel. Since her hair was shorter now, it would dry more quickly, making the process easier. It was still warm in Kyushu, since it was late summer/early autumn period, so she was not too worried about getting a cold by walking at night with wet hair. She quickly searched her spare clothes and undies in her backpack and begun to put them on.

As she was done putting the last piece of clothing on - white tank top with big Reforestation logo plastered on the front, she suddenly got a feeling of being watched.

It was the primal gut-feeling of something being out of place, of not feeling right.

She suddenly felt goosebumps covering her whole body, from head to toe and begun to look around and taking in her surroundings.

Easy there girl, there is nothing out of ordinary here, you are tired after whole week of heavy work and a little paranoid, that's all!, thought Julia to herself reassuringly, however the feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach grew stronger and stronger with each passing second.

She looked around the clearing, trying to make out all the tiny details. The fireflies were humming gently and flying undisturbed, the steam clouds released by the onsen looked exactly the same as few seconds before, when all felt normal, all trees and bushes were exactly in the same spot, no leaves disturbed by movement. Her breathing begun to calm down as she listened to the sounds of the forest.

And then as her eyes shifted to the left she has finally saw IT - a pair of yellow, silvery eyes, almost golden in color, staring at her through the darkness.

OH MY GOD! thought Julia, and tried to scream but instead all she managed to produce was a startled cry. She stepped back instinctively and backed up against the tree trunk behind her, never letting her sight wander off from the pair of eyes shining in the dark.

Julia was raised in Native American tribe, with deep connection to nature. She was familiar with nocturnal animals and was not scared by wildlife at all, but now her heart was pumping loudly in her chest, because whatever was the owner of those eyes was NOT an animal. Instinctively, she felt the owner of this eyes is NOT a human either. It felt more like a lingering presence, emanating an aura of evil and menace, ready to harm her at any given moment.

Only Spirits know what this thing is! thought Julia and she slowly begun to slide into her fighting stance,

It stalked me like prey, observed me since the beginning of my midnight visit here... I had my eyes closed and was buried deep in my thoughts so I did not notice! She was now calmer, focused and ready to fight back any potential attacks.

Or this thing didn't want to make itself known back then yet! It wants to harm me for sure, I can feel its killer instinct getting stronger!

This particular night the moon was fool, shining brightly on the night sky, illuminating the small hot spring. However, few moments before, dark, heavy rainy clouds begin to gather on the sky, obscuring the moon slowly. In seconds it got darker and darker and now the only source of light was gone behind the clouds, adding to the horror of the situation.

First drops of the night rain begun to fall from the sky. When they connected with Julia's skin, the sudden cold send a shiver down her spine.

OK big boy, you have a whole hot spring basin to cross over before you reach me, thought Julia and with small steps she slowly begun to back away in the direction of the labo building. The creature remained in its initial spot and did not move at first.

Never breaking the eye contact, Julia was backing off slowly and when she gained a distance of about 50 feet away from the onsen's edge, she has decided its time to start RUNNING NOW and FUCKING FAST.

With one swift motion she turned around and in a flash started her sprint. Years of discipline and daily martial arts training has left her body in an outstanding condition and she was definitely above average when it comes to physical prowess. However, as it turned out, it was nothing compared to THIS THING.

Julia detected a sudden movement to her left side with the corner of her eye and in a flash she was violently yanked backwards. The creature grabbed her by her hair with enormous strength and speed, and begun to walk casually back to the clearing, dragging shocked Julia on the ground behind him like a rag doll.

Julia let out a muffled cry of pain, as she could feel the creature's sharp nails digging into her scalp.

She was blinded by her own hair, wriggling furiously, trying to break its hold on her. Panic begun to really kick in now, as she felt her own blood dripping down her face from the freshly formed wound on her head. She could literally hear her own heart racing wildly in her chest as the creature was dragging her back to the hot spring.

She realized they are back at the onsen, when this THING has decided to toss her back in the water only to grab her head again and put it underwater.

HE IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO DROWN ME, OH MY GOD, thought Julia, trashing frantically underwater, completely panicked now, unable to think rationally anymore. She started to grow weaker and weaker with each passing second, the hot onsen water stinging her eyes and burning her throat,

No... please... it cannot end now, not like this..., were her last thoughts, before she started to feel her limbs go numb and her mind slipping away.

Suddenly, as if realizing that she is about to die, the creature yanked her back to the surface violently. He fully released his grip on her and she climbed up a little, half limped, half hanging over the hot spring's rocky edge, face down on the stony ground. She was breathing hungrily, taking big gulps of air, fresh blood running on her face down to her neck.

After recovering from the initial shock she suddenly let out an uncontrolled sob.

She did not want to show her weakness in front of anyone like that, but this could have been her last moments and she did not care anymore. The assault happened so fast and she felt completely defenseless for the first time ever in her life.

Dealing with thugs and other skilled fighters through the years, she could always defend herself and rely on her fighting skills and speed. This was the first time ever in her life that she was caught off guard completely, unable to lift a finger to fight back, and could have ended up getting murdered within seconds, alone in a foreign country, by THIS thing.

Tears streaming down her face in full now, she couldn't bother to keep the strong facade anymore.

What the hell has just happened!? What is this thing and why did it try to drown me, only to yank me back to surface almost immediately mere seconds later!?... , thought Julia, shaking uncontrollably as she sobbed quietly, the creature unmoving, still crouched in front of her. Unbeknownst to Julia, the biggest shock of the day was still yet to come.

Suddenly, she felt the creature reaching its clawed arm over to her and touching her back very gently, in a comforting gesture.

Julia's eyes shot wide open.

- GOMENASAI, came a voice, sounding like a rough deformed human voice, mixed with an almost grotesque animalistic growl.

Julia still lied face down, now paralyzed with fear and anticipation of what just happened. Very slowly, she lifted up her head and gathered her remaining courage to look at the creature.

She was faced with what appeared to be its boots, or rather what has remained of its boots, since its huge talons have torn them to pieces. One arm was hanging on its side and one was still on her back. Huge sharp claws have ripped open what appeared to have been red gloves or arm guards. The creature had remnants of human clothes on, black pants and black biker leather jacked.

Slowly lifting her head up further she realized why the leather jacket is ripped open - THIS BEING HAD WINGS. HUGE BLACK, FEATHERY WINGS.

THE DEVIL GENE!, suddenly full on panic mode set in Julia again and she felt a sudden surge of adrenaline shooting through her.

The creature resembled the abominations that Dr Abel and the Mishima Zaibatsu tried to create using her GENOCELL program. She saw the prototype images of the beings, huge black wings, protruding horns, sharp teeth, abnormal strength and fighting ability.

It cannot be! panicked Julia, This twisted research facility was destroyed completely! I made sure myself that the data is erased completely from all backup storage existing in the Zaibatsu, so no one could ever create such wicked project again! Lars and Alisa have triple checked that no other unregistered research facility branch had a copy!

Finally, she lifted her head up completely and found herself staring directly into the creature's face.

Long black horns protruding from both sides of its head, black patterns resembling tattoos scattered all over its face and neck, and the eyes, shining with that distinctive golden-silvery glow.

The creature tilted its head to the side and stared back at her curiously. Then, the realization crept upon her slowly,

She knew that face...,

SHE KNEW THAT HAIR,

... and sure as hell she recognized the remnants of those RED ARM GUARDS, because their owner has put hist fist into her face more than once, while wearing them during the 3rd, 4th and 5th Iron Fist Tournaments.

Then she begun to scream

...

TBC