The Jin Saga 2 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Russia

In a remote facility in Russia, Dr. Bosconovitch greeted the cold, imposing, dark clad form of his current employer, Jin Kazama. "Welcome, Mr. Kazama. The modifications you requested are complete. If you'll follow me…"

The two walked quietly down a small corridor. These men had always been mere acquaintances and only recently spent more time discussing matters. Dr. B knew something was amiss, but work was work.

"I hear you've declared war on the whole world. Is that true?"

"I declared independence and war on anyone who opposes me. If the whole world has an issue with that, then yes, I suppose I did."

"You certainly have a flair for the dramatic," the scientist remarked.

Their brisk walk ended as they reached the main room storing the item of interest.

Dr. Br pressed some buttons to open a container, revealing a female android inside. The model had a voluminous mass of blue hair tied in a ponytail and closed eyes as if asleep. She wore a long-sleeved black button-shirt, long black gloves, and a blue pin-striped vest that matched her hair. Her legs were covered in black pants with disguised mechanical rockets for black boots.

"She'll respond to your voice signature," Dr. B said as he handed Jin a thick, white manual. "You can find a list of the most basic commands on page 6."

"Melissa, wake up," Jin said as he examined the page.

The robot booted up and looked to her visitors. "Greetings, Father and Master Kazama," she said with a polite bow.

"Father?" Jin asked to Dr. B.

"What can I say? I miss my daughter," the old man admitted sheepishly as he scratched his head nervously. Word of Jin's newfound coldness had spread to the furthest reaches of the world, including here.

The imposing figure in the heavy black coat looked to Melissa and flipped through some pages. "So long as it is not a weakness in her operations," he said without looking at her.

"I have been built precisely to your requests, Master Kazama. Is there a way for me to prove my worth to re-assure you?" Melissa offered.

"Do your job and do it well."

"Certainly, sir. I look forward to my first assignment." She reached into her shirt pocket and put on a pair of dark sunglasses.

"What's this?" Jin asked Dr. B., gesturing to her.

"I look cool, right?" she remarked with a mildly proud smile. They went well with the rest of her attire. That much was true.

"Oh, she, uh, asked for a pair when she saw a photo of you wearing them as well. It would seem that she aims to impress you, sir, beyond just following your orders. I didn't see any harm, so…"

"How amusing. Have you uploaded all the necessary documents as we discussed? All the other arrangements?"

"Yes, but do we really have to destroy this facility, Mr. Kazama? I like my work here."

As if in response, the facility shook and the young CEO's cell phone rang. "Jin, we've got company," a concerned voice of Eddy Gordo said through the line.

"Understood. Stall them." He hung up and looked to his two companions. "Doctor, our enemies will see to the destruction for us. We need to leave. Now."

"Master Kazama, allow me to be of assistance," Melissa offered.

"Only if you can stay out of sight, Melissa."

"Understood."

With that, Melissa's legs and back opened to reveal small rockets gliding her to the exit.

Outside in the snow, Eddy faced a pale-skinned man with a scar going across his mouth. The man, Sergei Dragunov, refused to say anything at all but was clearly an enemy as he continually tried to grab and beat Eddy, putting the Brazilian man on the defensive.

Suddenly, Dragunov ducked to avoid what he could only assume to be two small rockets coming his way, to then be buried with a large upshot of snow. He could hear a whirring sound trail off from the winds.

"What was that?" he heard a perplexed Eddy ask as the enemy soldier worked his way to stand again.

"Just get on," a chilling voice commanded.

Dragunov lifted himself as quickly as he could out of the pile and paused upon seeing the black-coated Jin Kazama standing and staring at him. Devil could sense it from within. He is looking for me. Jin kept his hands in his pockets as the cold winds passed over him, slightly narrowing his eyes for a moment. Another who dared to seek the power that belonged to him? The Russian man reached for his weapon in his coat pocket and aimed. He was supposed to take the creature alive, and a shot wouldn't kill it but hopefully trigger a transformation. Kazama's lack of movement and gleaming arrogant brown eyes, daring to go ahead and shoot, worried him though. The devil inside the young man eyed the prey hungrily. He would have licked his lips were it not for Jin assuring him the enemy found the current gaze more frightening. A kill here was plausible and excusable. Self-defense. All the other man had to do was fire. Jin would not hesitate then. He might even let Devil do the honors.

Dragunov glanced to the plane and back at Jin. He had placed a bomb on the plane as a contingency plan, yet his best chance was now. They knew the devil could survive bullets but not explosions. They needed him in a transformed state. The Russian soldier fired.

Just as the bullet was about to strike Jin's forehead as one had done two years before, it paused in its path and spun as if the small swirling winds around in front of its path commanded it to halt. Then it fell to the floor of the ramp where Jin stood.

"Oh," Jin said slowly, "it seems your weapon is faulty." The gun started to shake in Dragunov's hands, shifting its aim to its wielder. The winds around them both picked up considerably with a flurry of snow obscuring their bodies.

The Russian man continued to struggle with the weapon in his hands and realized he no longer knew where Jin Kazama stood. Then he felt his back brush up against Devil's chest, and the evil creature had wrapped his mutated arm guard around Dragunov's neck. "Looking for me?" he asked with a wild grin he knew no one could see. He began to squeeze the life out of the soldier all while the gun still violently shook. "I'll teach you the true meaning of fear. How do you want to die, insolent human?"

Dragunov only continued resisting. He could not lose confidence. That was exactly what this monster wanted. He just needed to stall and figure out what to do next. Their reports had said nothing about powers like these. He suspected it was no coincidence that the weather had intensified to give the monster free reign and remain hidden to everyone else. He bent down to use all his weight to hurl the demon off his back, but Devil's grip was too tight. Instead, they both rolled with Dragunov finding himself face down on the ground, having Devil on his back, still strangling him.

"I can fly you fool. I don't release my prey so easily."

The weapon had finally stopped struggling at least. Or so he thought, but the gun slipped away suddenly out of his hands as if someone invisible had picked it up. Again, it aimed at him though surely the devil risked being shot as well…not that it mattered to this beast.

"Now where were we? Oh yes…how to kill you. Your commendable silence tells me I get to pick. On the one hand, choking is more painful and slow. On the other, a shot to the face is more just. Or maybe I could just snap your neck. Should I ask the boy?"

The boy? Who was the boy? The gun had moved in quite close by this point and fired a round that struck the Russian man exactly where he had aimed on Jin moments earlier. Divine retribution it is. The killer released his grip and his transformed state, his attire changing to what it was before. Jin used his foot to roll over the lifeless body and see his victim better. The winds calmed. He stared down at the dead man for a moment. "You brought it on yourself," he told Dragunov. He is not yours to steal. What a rush. We should do that more often.

Jin ignored the evil voice and returned to the plane. "Master Kazama, are you alright?" Melissa asked.

Eddy followed with a question of his own as well. "What happened?"

"He tried to kill me, and I defended myself. Let's go," plain, cold words replied from their leader's voice.

Eddy looked uneasily at the body outside. The man could have been unconscious or dead, but he doubted Jin would ever tell. He wondered why Jin surrounded himself with people like himself and Nina as bodyguards when it was clear the young CEO posed a much bigger threat to anyone who attacked him than an attacker would be to him. Perhaps Eddy just answered his own question. He shook off his concerns to focus on his job. "This girl, um…"

"Melissa," she told him.

"Melissa here found a bomb on the plane and disabled it, thought you'd want to know."

"You're correct," Jin agreed.

Eddy looked at their newly acquired companion directly. "Melissa, thanks for whatever it is you did back there. You saved my butt."

"Your butt? Excuse me, but the rest of you is still intact too, sir."

Eddy laughed, feeling his mood lighten. "You're a funny robot girl. Nice sunglasses. Jin has a pair just like them. I'm Eddy, by the way. Nice to meet you too." He left Melissa and Jin to their own devices.

"May I?" asked Melissa, referring to an empty seat next to him.

Jin nodded with indifference.

"Are you alright, Master? Your body is emitting a considerably cold temperature, even for being in this weather. I could have killed that man for you as your protector."

"I needed you out of sight. You and I have a lot to discuss but later."

"As you wish," she conceded.

And so it was later that their flight had ended, they journeyed to headquarters through an underground tunnel, Melissa briefly met Nina, and she went with Jin to a small conference room without windows that was rarely used. "Scan for bugs," he had written on a small sheet of paper. They found two recording devices and disposed of them. They went to two other rooms before finding one that had no bugs and again, no windows.

From the roof of a nearby building, Raven reported to his superiors, "He knows he's being watched. We can't replace the bugs until tomorrow. Whatever he's about to do, it can't be good. I can't see him, and I can't hear him. I'm not even sure what room he's in anymore." Command ordered him to simply wait. Waiting, always waiting while this man ravaged the world with war. Raven was gravely concerned. How long had Kazama known? It couldn't possibly be since the night he saw them both on the roof...could it?