The Jin Saga 2 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Research

Experiments had been done by Heihachi to replicate the devil gene's effects. Steve Fox, Nina's son, had resulted in a scarred arm but no discernible difference otherwise given his strength passed for above average but not on the scale as a devil form.

Genocell was a compiled work of data stolen from G Corporation with a purpose of allowing a subject the ability to suppress and control the devil gene. Aside from its name and description, the data had been erased by Julia Chang around the time of the fourth King of Iron Fist tournament. Alone in his office, this time with drapes covering the window, a black and purple aura like liquid smoke swirled around a seething but analytical Jin Kazama trying to decide just what this meant. A glass of water on his desk shattered, attracting his attention and out of his quiet fury. He glanced at the miniscule destruction he had just caused. That was new. Telekinesis? The shattered pieces lifted into the air momentarily before he set them down. He was admittedly quite fascinated, his anger cast aside. How long have I been able to do that? He wasn't really meaning to ask Devil, just sort of pondering aloud in his own mind, but his internal companion replied all the same.

Since the day you defeated that fiery Korean boy. I've been able to do it since destroying that forest.

So it was. He had dreamed of using telekinesis to cause an explosion, hadn't he? Not to mention the real fire during his transformation. The smoky aura had dissolved as he contemplated the next step regarding the loss of data. Genocell's intended use was to extend to other people, but he had no interest in allowing this power to be used by others, even his own minions. This idea put quite the wrench into his hopes. Was this why he was being watched? The prospect annoyed him. He cleaned up his shattered glass as he continued his reverie.

Both he and Devil considered the possibility that a weakened devil form to be a likely side effect as well. Control of this nature had to come at a price. If Kazuya were in fact already using Genocell, and suffered such a side effect, it would explain his loss at Honmaru and no-show at the most recent tournament. Undoubtedly, he would have been interested in the power from Jinpachi begging to be stolen if he had heard its call. Then again, it could simply be that Jin was stronger.

The young man's primary goal was to remove the devil gene. He had not considered weakening it and the consideration did not last long. He had recognized his value for power, and prospective weakness for his devil form had no part in that. If the evil power were fated to be his, he would have it at its pinnacle height and all to himself at that. He could sense Devil's pleasure in agreement at the greedy thought. The human part left inside did not often allow his mind to venture in a direction that suggested the devil gene could be kept.

It would not have worked. She saved you the trouble of a dead end. You're too far gone.

Jin knew that Devil was probably right and not lying in his firm belief that what he said was true. Still, neither of them could be one-hundred percent certain without proof. He could pursue having the data recreated and mission altered to instead focus on only him and removal. But that would just make it a completely different project with hardly anything to do with its predecessor. He'd finish traversing the research first.

Further reading into the Mishima Zaibatsu's records retold Jin's own story that he mostly knew, as it logged one of the only known devil gene activations to have taken place: when he was shot by Heihachi. He did his best to read the information with detachment. It was here that he confirmed for the first time that he had indeed killed one of the Tekken Force soldiers that night. I should have killed them all. Find out who they were.  I will gladly finish the job.

That is not my goal and a waste of resources. They were always mere tools and have changed to my hands now. Let's keep reading.

The information about discovering Kazuya's body was new but light. Jin already knew everyone thought he was dead. He and Devil hadn't had much reason to discuss the exact circumstances of how the spirit ripped in half from the one in Jin's father though they soon would. Learning about the volcano drop was enlightening. Evidently, it would have been fatal to Kazuya's body without assistance from G Corporation.

Devil's silence was deafening. Jin closed his eyes to enter the landscape of his mind. Here, Jin stood wearing black pants and a black button-down shirt but no black coat. They were both on the edge of a high cliff next to a river of flowing lava.

"You have nothing to say on this matter?" Jin asked.

Devil stared down into the chasm below, his left side in profile view to his human half. "Don't do it," he advised simply without looking at Jin. The words weren't stated as some kind of threat as Jin had expected. The creature was trying to mask his fear.

"So, this," Jin gestured to the lava. "That would kill us."

Devil continued staring at it and turned his head right, still not meeting Jin in the eyes, to follow the lava's path to some unseen place. "I doubt it. I'm sure it would hurt like hell again, but I find it hard to believe your body couldn't handle it. Your powers are different than Kazuya's."

"Only one way to find out," Jin challenged, folding his arms. He didn't really mean he would do it, take their body to a real volcano and just leap in, for reasons he suspected Devil was about to reveal.

The personified evilness knew Jin's intent just as well, but he finally turned to meet his human side's eyes. "I would not allow you. I'd transform instantly and rest assured wicked child, I would not stop there. In fact, I think it's time you relived it so you know just what it is you are suggesting." Devil shoved the human form down into the orange and yellow river.

Jin felt his body go limp and then being carried, step by step. He couldn't see, only sense the movement. Then he fell, hitting some rocks along the way to the bottom. The body transformed. He could not see it, but he knew…the bat-like wings on his back and skin were a leathery purple. Searing pain passed through the young man's whole body. It was like being burned alive yet unable to die. He ripped himself from the host, grasping at escape, feeling incomplete and lost, looking back only once at the rest of the damaged devil being left behind.

A metallic clawed hand reached in and pulled Jin up back onto the rocky terrain. The human figure struggled to breathe, hunched on all fours as he glared begrudgingly at his evil counterpart. Devil saw a moment of restrained anger pass in Jin, as the boy defied the urge to lash back and said, "So, that's how it happened."

The evil half maintained a blank and serious gaze, nodding quietly without a word. It was not like the being to be stoic. That was Jin's nature. The young CEO opened his eyes in his office. Well, that settled it. No volcanoes, at least not on purpose. Someone else could test the theory if they were strong enough to knock him unconscious and would still have to hope some pack of mortal fools didn't dig up the body.

Still perusing the documents Nina left him, Jin found some speculative notes about possible demons that could be associated with his devil gene. The notes made mention of his black-feathered wings, suggesting a possible fallen angel.

Azazel.

The name was not at the top of the list, but Jin's eyes instinctively found it quickly enough in the list of A's. He didn't close his eyes, this time as Devil decided to manifest as just an apparition in his office. The words continued to pass in thoughts only. "That's you, isn't it? A fragment of him."

"I told you I don't have a name and that I cannot lie to you."

"So you divert the question to not answer it. Yes, I can see that."

"Maybe I was a fragment of Azazel, sure. Maybe Azazel is calling me through you, not denying that either. But you can see me now. You can hear me now. You're not the only one in this body that changed. When I tell you I am not Azazel, that is true. I am not. I could have been, but now I'm just ‘Devil' or ‘wretch' or whatever you feel like calling me. I like your name, Jin, just fine."

"We're still different enough. Were you a fragment of Azazel before you changed me? Before Kazuya even?"

A long pause ensued. "Don't you dare pretend to forget what I just told you. Yes. You could even have considered me a fragment of a fragment. I'm well past being a mere fragment by this point. You've nurtured my growth quite nicely."

Jin looked around his office with contemplation. "We cannot stay together if this is the path you have chosen for us. My goal is to end you because you have destroyed me."

Devil stared coldly at his host for a moment before his mouth twisted into a smirk. "Go ahead, fight Azazel. Call on my power. I'll be more than happy to help. You don't have to worry about that part." The apparition leaned down, resting his clawed arms, palms down, at the desk to face the sitting businessman. "But when that's done…"

Jin sighed in exasperation, leaning his head back into his chair's headrest. "How can you be so sure? I know you can be at least partially severed. We just relived it together."

Devil removed his arms from the desk and backed away a few steps. "That was over twenty years ago, kid. I've changed since then, and you weren't even born. I checked, in case you forgot. I doubt you are even mortal by this point and that I can be removed from this body. The answer, as I keep telling you, is in your blood."

Not even mortal? It was not the first time Devil had alluded to the possibility, but Jin would not dare believe it. The frustrated CEO examined the Genocell summary again. His opinion had not changed. This idea was a suppressant that risked weakness; he needed something to remove the devil gene entirely. Even if Chang hadn't destroyed the original data, he may have done so himself given the chance. The original objective differed too much from his true desire. "No Genocell," he decided. "Azazel and I will destroy each other. You have overconfidence in this body but so long as it's put to the same use, so be it. Stay the course." Devil said nothing as the apparition of him faded, bearing a satisfied sneer.

The rest of the world soon felt the evils plaguing Jin Kazama's mind as he followed Devil's advice upon declaring his own nation and war to those who opposed him. He seized energy and technology resources for himself. He named his country Mishima after the Mishima Zaibatsu that was to hold the country and to have the surname of his family he so despised to be despised by his victims as well. The hatred and fear by so many filled him up, invigorating his demonic powers.

His actions caught the attention of his own father at G Corporation. Anna Williams had joined the elder Mishima, seeing Kazuya as the natural opposition to Jin and thus her sister. Upon Kazuya's instructions, she did some digging on just what they could find out about his suddenly power-hungry offspring: "Your son kept a rather low profile most of his life. He lived alone with Jun Kazama for 15 years and after she disappeared, he sought out your father for help. The time after that is the most info we could find on him in his lifetime up until his little war. Heihachi took him in, trained him, and Jin went to school. The girl you met at the fourth tournament was a schoolmate of his and seems to be his only friend, ever, and as you well know-"

"She was looking for him."

"Jin beat Ogre's true form and disappeared after that. The Mishima Zaibatsu has kept a very tight lid on the rest of the details of what happened that night. All I could find was a stat of two injured and one dead Tekken Force soldiers. No names, no injury descriptions, no cause of death, just that."

Kazuya raised his eyebrows with interest. Perhaps Jin had already killed someone then.

"Then he just disappeared for two years. Heihachi scoured the world looking for him and couldn't find him, so your son must be pretty resourceful to stay hidden for so long. Ling Xiaoyu, that's the girl you met, thinks he may have sent her an anonymous email warning her about Heihachi."

"If true, that means he cared about her, at least at some point. Hmmm. Keep going."

"Apparently, he changed his fighting style during that time. You know the details of the fourth tournament. You were there, he was there, you fought, robots attacked, Honmaru exploded, Heihachi died, etc. Your usual Mishima family affair," she remarked dryly as she flipped to glance at another page of notes she held. "Then Jin disappears off the grid again for two months, only to resurface at the fifth tournament. He put another boy in the hospital, went on to win the tournament, and you of course know that he's currently mucking up the planet."

"What'd you get on the other boy's injuries?" Kazuya asked.

Anna showed him some photos with Devil Jin's victim having several bandages covering parts of his body. "He's Korean, near the same age as Jin, goes by Hwoarang. The kid's lucky to be alive after this beating."

"This one is the key but follow-up on the girl too."

Anna strutted out, and the G Corporation leader leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes. "What are you really after, Jin, or is it simply that you have already been lost to your devil?" he thought to himself.