Before The End
Chapter 1: Fallen Guardian Angel
***
Well, at least now the pain in his head had decided to subside…for
now. The last thing he could remember was being shot between the eyes, by his
own flesh and blood; his grandfather. And now, here he was, sitting in a
derelict warehouse, in the dark, all alone. It just didn’t make sense; he
remembered the pain, and everything going black…then waking up, lying on the
floor in a musty old building that didn’t seem to have a waterproof roof. The
rain outside was leaking through, making a terrible noise as what didn’t go
through after hitting flowed down the corrugated iron, which was probably half
rusted out anyway.
He paused. Though his mind was still hazy, his senses were at a
peak. Footsteps; he could hear footsteps outside. Then they stopped. Carefully,
the young boy stood, and found the outer wall of the old building. The flames
on his pants wouldn’t give him away, the pattern just
wasn’t bright enough to show through the night’s darkness. Good, maybe whoever
it was would just go away.
Apparently not...the footsteps got closer and closer, then stopped
again...they seemed so close he might lean around the door and crash into whoever it was that had approached. After a few anxious
seconds, something flew through the door as a black silhouette, and hit the
ground several metres away with a soft thud. Then, the footsteps started again,
only this time, they seemed to get further and further away, until the sound of
the rain drowned them out completely.
His first thought was that it could be a bomb. Not wanting to risk
getting blown to pieces, he ducked swiftly around the corner he was standing
in, and outside into the cold rain. After glancing around, there was no sign of
the mysterious intruder anywhere. The unfamiliar streets were deserted.
After a minute or so waiting, he cautiously crept back inside, and
eyed the thing that was thrown inside. It seemed pretty harmless so far...upon
closer inspection, it appeared to be a regular old school backpack. He put his
slender hands over his muscular upper arms, and shivered. He was only wearing
pants and gloves, after all, and the night was cold. Whatever that pack was, it had to be important. No one would just throw it
in there for no reason and just leave, since they no doubt knew he was in
there. Besides, at this point, he'd grown past caring whether he was blasted to
hell or not. He knelt down on a slightly drier patch of concrete, and pulled
the pack open.
No explosion, no release of toxic gas...in fact,
hardly anything happened.
He tipped it upside down, and let the contents tumble to the
floor. A few soft 'whump' sounds, and a slightly
harder clatter or two. There was a dark object lying over the top of
everything. When he pulled it up, he found it to be a thick hooded jacket. In
the dim light, he could barely make out a sewn on
silver and gold flames pattern. Another dark object was strewn across the other
things that fell to the ground. This too, he raised in front of him; a pair of
trousers with a similar design to the jacket. Both items seemed brand new, and
thick; as if whoever threw the bag in here knew it was going to be cold and
wet. The other items lying on the ground were easy to identify; a dark wallet,
and a paper envelope.
Carefully, he lifted the wallet. Inside it were a few paper notes,
but it was too dark to see their value. Placing it down next to the clothes, he
picked up the envelope, and tore it open. A note, written in
Kanji. In the dim light, he could barely make out the characters; but
they were beautifully written, large, and black on white paper.
Jin,
I thought you could use these items.
Take care of yourself.
He had no idea who this may have come from. It was a mystery to be
solved, but in any case it seemed he had someone on his side. A wave of tiredness
washed over him, and a resounding headache returned with it. He gritted his
teeth, and held his hands to his head, willing the pain away. After a moment,
it finally did ease off. And once again, the cold hit. Glancing around to make
sure the place was still abandoned, Jin took his own
drenched pants off, and put on the new clothes. Everything else, he put in the
backpack. A few moments of wandering about the old warehouse brought him luck;
a slightly warmer, drier area of ground. he couldn't
return home tonight, that would be the first place Heihachi would look. Looks like it was the ground tonight.
He threw the pack down, and threw himself down after it. The hard
ground certainly wasn't a comfortable bed, and the buckles on the bag took away
the image of it being the ideal pillow; but he was so tired, none of it
mattered. After a few minutes of lying there on the ground, sleep came.
But not before a feeling he was being watched came over him.
***
The morning came with a jab of pain. Jin sat up with a start, and
regretted it as soon as he'd done so. His back was painfully cramped from the
hard night on the floor. However, pain was something he was used to, and he
simply scraped himself up onto his feet and stretched. The first thing that
came to his mind was the wallet in the backpack. He found it, and looked at the
notes. There were about ten of them, he'd counted that last night. But he
wasn't expecting the denomination to be hundreds! It was in dollars, too...not
Yen.
Slightly shocked by the massive amount of money, he cautiously
shoved the wallet into the pocket of his trousers, and decided to use it
sparingly. Who knows how long he'd be on the run. And who knows when he'd have
to pay back his guardian angel - whoever they were.
The first thing he did once he left the warehouse was to get his
bearings. The bright morning light was almost painful, but in the distance he
managed to make out a few familiar towers; he was a long way from the city. A short walk away from the warehouse revealed just how far away
from the city he was; there was hardly a soul in sight, nor a window left
intact. The entire place was a mess of graffiti and wreckaged buildings.
A few streets down a little more life began to show itself.
A sleazy area, to say the least. He strode into a
nearby dairy, planning to change a note into something a little more usable. On
the way to the counter, he spotted a morning newspaper; the headlines were odd
to say the least.
"Tournament ends in bloodshed - Mishima missing"
Below was a black and white picture of Heihachi, sitting in a pile
of broken bricks, a hole in the second storey of a building, and what appeared
to be something with massive raven wings flying away in the distance. Looks
like something attacked the old man...and no doubt, he was the missing Mishima.
"What can I do for you, son?"
An old man was standing behind the counter. The raspy but kindly
old voice shook Jin back into reality; he smiled and nodded, and dug out one of
the notes.
"I'd like to change this into twenties, please...and two of those into
yen."
The dairy owner gave him a slightly suspicious look, but did so
nevertheless. As the old man flicked notes about in the cash drawer, Jin's
stomach growled loudly. Two hard-looking women looked over at him from he fruit stand, and tried not to laugh. Slightly
embarrassed, Jin smiled slightly to himself and grabbed a bread roll from a
basket on the counter.
"I'll have this too, please."
"No problem." The old man handed him a few more notes
than he'd given originally, and let him take the roll. Jin put the money in his
pocket, and the bread roll in his mouth, after giving the dairy owner a word of
thanks and a polite nod. Then he exited the shop.
***
It was later in the morning when the bus stopped outside his
regular bus stop in central
The guards would be hell to get past, so he decided to scale the
rear wall; a place he knew they never really looked. Mainly
because it was too hard for most to get up. He, on the other hand, was a
skilled martial artist. A tree was located about a metre and a half from the
wall, and twice as high. Leaping upward, he placed his feet on the tree trunk,
then sprung off and upward, and did the same to the wall. As he sprung off the
wall, he caught the tree trunk with his feet, and sprung up again. He reached
out, and grabbed the iron spikes on top of the wall. A neat swing over the top
of the spikes had him on the other side of the wall, and from there he just
dropped to the ground and landed on both feet at the bottom.
Eventually, by playing it safe and keeping unnoticed, he managed
to sneak around to the back of the garage beside the mansion. It was
nearly pitch black inside, but he knew where the inner door was. Silently
sneaking along the inner wall, he approached the door and prepared to swing
himself around through it. Once he'd sone so, it'd be home free and on to
Heihachi.
But then a shot rang out, right next to him.
Just when he thought he'd be hit once again with a bullet, two
unnaturally strong arms grabbed his upper arm and wrenched him back around
again, slamming him painfully into the wall in an area of complete darkness. No
more than a second later, one of the hands clamped down over his lips.
A clearly male voice whispered almost angrily into his ear.
"What are you trying to do, Kazama, get yourself killed?!"
He tried to pull free, but whoever it was had superior strength by
far. he shook his head, and the hand released his
mouth.
"No, I want to find out what's going on..."
There was a whispered sigh from right next to him. "Don't go
in there. Heihachi wants you dead."
His eyebrows rose. "What!?"
The stranger had no time to respond; the gunman finally found
them, and shot again. Jin ducked for cover...but the shot never hit. Rather,
there was a guttural groan and a sickening thud, then a series of thuds as
someone hit the ground. A second later, Jin felt the handle of a gun being
placed into his hand.
"Get out of here while you still can, Kazama, and take this
with you."
He heard footsteps. His saviour was walking away again.
"Wait...what about you?"
A pause. "I have an
unnatural habit of avoiding death. You don't."
And the footsteps took his guardian angel away again. However, Jin
took his advice, and headed back out of the Mishima compound, avoiding all of
the security. He'd return, when he had a better plan.
***
Sitting with a cold slice of pizza in his hand and an empty pizza
box at his feet, Jin felt just like everyone else in the area; cold and
useless. The only problem was, he was always used to
having a roof over his head. He threw the cold pizza back into the box, and
pulled out the handgun to inspect it. A regular Desert Eagle, with Mishima
Zaibatsu insignia along the barrel. He tucked it away inside the jacket. It
would definitely come in handy for when he'd try and infiltrate the Mishima
grounds again. After all, he wasn't going to let this one slide. Then again,
maybe Heihachi wasn't going to have him killed. Maybe this stranger was
masquerading as an ally, only to have him finished off anyway. Then again, maybe not. At any rate, it was going to be
another cold night.
***
And there he was again, inside the Zaibatsu estate...only this
time, he'd made it inside the mansion. He knew exactly where Heihachi would be;
in his office. That was on the third floor.
Best thing to do would be take the back stairwell, which is what
he did. As he reached the second floor's flight of stairs, someone grabbed him
and hurled him into a dark closet. Before he could retaliate, a piece of paper
was slapped into his hand, and he was shoved back out into the open again.
Bewildered, Jin shook his head about, and looked down at the
paper. Again, it was written in that kanji...the style, somehow, looked
familiar. His mother never wrote quite like that...but there were pieces of
paper he remembered that had that handwriting on it. Shrugging it off, he read
the note:
Still don't believe me, ne?
Then take a look at this.
486iyejnodf9pu0 Kazama
He had no idea what that was supposed to be. Quickly, he glanced
about to see if anyone was still there. Apparently not.
With a sigh, he looked at the paper again; then it hit him.
A minute or so later, he was in his own bedroom, hiding in the
wardrobe with his laptop he snagged from the desk. He'd gone onto the main
server, and typed in the string of numbers and letters. It had come up with an
unfamiliar page, that asked him to 'input data'. So, he
entered 'Kazama', since that was what the paper had instructed. Seconds later,
another page came up...with his photo heading it.
As he read down the page, his eyes widened. So it was true after
all...they were instructions to the Tekkenshu to have him destroyed!
He spent a minute running things over in his mind. So, whoever it
was that kept on helping him truly was on his side. And he didn't even know who
this kind soul could be. He decided it best to try and get out of here, alive.
Perhaps he could use some of the money to get himself to another country and
start a new life for himself. Quietly sneaking out of the wardrobe, he took the
laptop and placed it down on the table where he found it. Then he headed for
the door.
Before he was half way across the room, the door flung open.
Standing behind it, was Heihachi himself.
"Found you!"
Jin had no time to respond before he found himself being thrown
into the floor. This time, however, he was ready. With a swift kick between the
legs, Heihachi was crippled momentarily; long enough for Jin to push him off
and get back to his feet.
"No way you're going to get me this
time, old man..."
He had no idea he sounded exactly like someone else Heihachi had
heard before.
In a mere few seconds, an immense battle exploded through the room
as the two warriors pummelled each other, throwing and pounding one another
across the room, sending splatters of blood here and there. The fight had gone
almost half a minute, when Jin was distracted for a second. Standing in the
doorway, was his exact silhouette. The black figure was the same height, same
size, and with the same hair...the distraction was enough to give Heihachi an
opportunity to gain the upper hand, and he did just that. Jin found himself
unable to breathe, and being pressed up against the wall.
As he struggled, the figure came closer. There was a thump, a
crack, and a loud scream of agony from Heihachi. He fell to the floor, holding
his abused neck.
Trying to regain his composure, Jin watched the battle that
ensued. The figure that was fighting Heihachi kept his back to Jin the entire
time, but from what he could tell, he might as well be his twin. The same raven
black hair swept back into a spike, the same height and size,
but oddly, the same fighting style, save a few moves. He did notice,
however, that Heihachi seemed to recognise him, and did not like him. The man's
wrists were a lot thinner than Jin's as well, and beneath the dark blue suit,
he may have been much thinner too. But he had a speed Jin did not possess...and
apparently neither did Heihachi.
The figure's concentration broke for only a second, and he found
himself being served a painful uppercut to the jaw. He was thrown backward, and
landed with a resounding thud against the wall next to Jin, and slid down,
wincing in pain and holding his jaw line with one hand. The youth quickly
examined the man; and found him in a state of shock. Eyebrows remarkably
similar to his were knitted together in pain and anger - beneath them, fierce
raven eyes. The face was older, possibly closing in on forty years of age, and
bore a scar across each cheek. Somehow, the man looked terribly familiar. And
then it hit him; but not before Heihachi launched himself at the both of them.
This time, Jin was the one to react. He grabbed onto the incoming
fist with both hands, and swung for all he was worth. This manoeuvre sent
Heihachi flying around, out the window, and falling into the large swimming
pool below. It would be a minute or so at least before either of the two still
in the room had to face him again.
Jin looked around again, only to see the mystery man getting up to
leave. He grabbed his wrist, and pulled him back down to the ground.
"So you're the one who's been watching over me..."
The man's voice was somewhat unexpected; a little deeper than his
own, but much sharper and clearer, quiet but dangerous. "Yes, I am."
He tried to rise to leave again; Jin pulled him down again.
"I've missed finding out who you
were twice before; I'm not letting you go a third time."
The man pulled his arm free. "It's best we don't get too
close. It'll give Heihachi more of a reason to have one of us killed."
This time, Jin didn't pull him back as he got to his feet and
headed towards the door. Instead, he stopped him with words. Words
which came out softly, yet confidently; a slight hint of sorrow and fear, but
at the same time, a mild glimmer of hope.
"You're my father...aren't you?"
The suited man turned to look at him in slight disbelief.
Obviously, Jin wasn't supposed to know that. It took a few seconds for him to
formulate a reply.
"Yes."
He didn't make a move to leave. Jin stood. All this time, Heihachi
had been spoon-feeding him lies. How could a so-called hateful, self-centred,
heartless bastard put his own life on the edge for someone he didn't even know?
And why would his mother allow him to be born if the circumstances had been
unpleasant? She wouldn't have. She wasn't the kind of woman to give birth to a
product of rape. He should have seen it earlier; Heihachi had killed his
father, that's why he was never there when he was young. But it would seem he'd
escaped death, or he wouldn't be there before him.
The silence finally got unbearable. And so did the emotions inside
Jin. He couldn't stand it any longer; he threw his arms around his father's
shoulders, and hugged him so tight he almost broke the bones in his upper arms.
The look on his father's face was classic; surprised beyond words,
battling with disbelief and confusion. But it slowly melted away, as did his
stoic resolve, and he put his arms around Jin in response. Jin had by now been
moved nearly to tears, but he wouldn't let them come. That would ruin this
precious time with his thus far unknown parent. "So you're my
father...Kazuya Mishima..."
He nodded slowly. "I had to lay low, since I knew Heihachi
would have fed you shit about me. It wouldn't have done either of us any good
if I'd made an enemy of you merely by name."
It was true, Jin would have never trusted him if he'd known who he
was. He let go of his father's shoulders, and at the same time the arms around
him dropped.
"Listen Jin. You need to get out of
Jin was about to respond, when gunshot shattered the mood and a
bullet soared through the air, right past his ear. Unfortunately, that meant
only one thing; he wasn't the target, his father was. He looked behind him, to
see Heihachi holding a handgun. A soft thump snapped his attention to the other
direction, as Kazuya crumpled to the floor. In mere seconds, the floor had a
pool of dark red blood forming on it, and above Kazuya's closed eyes was a
round wound, gushing blood. Heihachi had shot him. He'd killed his own son.
"No!" Rage spurted through the boy's veins, and tears
formed in his eyes. he'd lost the only person who
actually cared for him, once again. Then, everything went blank.
Heihachi froze as the creature once again leapt at him, knocking
the gun from his hand. A second later, a large raven wing slapped him in the
face, sending him soaring out of the room, and crashing into the wall opposite.
He fell unconscious.
Slowly, everything began to grow a little clearer. Jin looked down
to see black feathers hanging in the air, drifting to the floor delicately. He
felt surprisingly heavy, yet somewhat electrified. Glancing down at his feet,
then over his shoulder, he noticed the wings; so large, they dangled by his
feet at the tips. And over his shoulder, further away, was the sight once again
that stung his eyes with tears. He slowly approached the bleeding figure, but
found himself unable to look at it for any more than a second. His eyes filled
with tears, and he turned away.
"...I love you father..."
After biting back an outburst of anger and emotion, he leapt out
the window, spread his wings, and flew. To where, he didn't know. Just far from
here.