Journey Inside a Dangerous Mind Ch 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or the characters within the series. This awesome series and the wonderful characters within it are the property of Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Journey Inside A Dangerous Mind
Chapter 9: A New Dangerous Inmate
By: Kadeana

At that moment, Devil mourned the time that he advised Jin to up his game in trying to gain Julia's forgiveness because this was just too damn much for him to bare.  He could not possibly allow that little creature to stay with them but he knew that was exactly what was going through Jin's head because . . . he was in Jin's head and that was a thought Jin wasn't blocking from him.

The defiance to let the creature stay had all but disappeared when Jin watched Julia's reaction.  She was now hugging the little creature to her chest openly crying.  The creature was returning the hug awkwardly, seemingly unused to human compassion.

"No way, Jin." He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head in finality.

"It is perfect."  He unfolded one of his arms and clasped his forehead as if he had a headache.  "Why didn't we think of this before?"

"That kid is a monster!" He released his forehead to point at the offending monster in horror.

"Did you come to that conclusion when she was hiding behind Hart-san's legs in fright?" He rested both of his arms at his sides.

"We hate kids!  They suck!"

"We like Julia."

"Not if it means we have to put up with that horrible creature."   After saying this Devil directed his unforgiving gaze onto the evil woman but he wasn't too upset to notice that the air of control she was pretending to have was visibly slipping away. "Witch, why would you think it would be a good idea to bring it here?"

"B-better here that in the hands of your enemies."  To her credit she tried to rally behind her fake courage, folding her arms and raising a red eyebrow to enhance the effect.

"You . . . are my enemy."  Devil wanted to preen with evil glee over her reaction.  She looked as if Jin had told her he was going to rape and pillage her family.

"We cannot keep that weapon with us any longer."

"Weapon."  Both Jin and Stacy stilled at Julia's gentle deceptive tone.  She stood back to her full height and put herself between them and Isabella.  While reuniting with the creature, Julia had apparently been listening to their conversation.

"Nice choice of words, you cowardly tramp," Devil snapped.  Here we go, he thought unhappily.

"She is a child . . . my child." Julia sounded calm but anger sparked in her eyes.  "Talk to her and of her as the living being she is."

"Of course." Stacy's tone was humble but her dismissive manner was anything but.  "Forgive me."

"She doesn't know Julia very well, does she?" Jin asked.

"Obviously, not."  It was Devil's hope that she continued to treat Julia in this superior manner.  Maybe Julia would kick the crap out of her since Jin would not allow him to do so.  "Don't you dare warn her."  When Julia's hostile gaze fell on him Devil's hopeful expression's faltered.  "What the—?

"How long have you known, Jin?"

"That promise of pain look is for you . . . not me."  He find himself hoping she would kick Jin's ass too.

"I inquired about the situation only after you presented it to me."

"And the thanks we get is this asshole dumping the creature here with us," Devil muttered. "The horrible afflictions we must endure for an ungrateful onna . . . like yourself."

"You can't leave her here with him." Jin felt relieved that Julia had turned her back on him to confront Stacy.  "I won't allow it."

"At least someone here agrees with me."  Devil was relieved to have an ally in all this.

"You have no say in this matter at all, Julia Chang."

Hell, yeah . . . that evil bitch is brave. Devil hoped Julia would punch her teeth out.

"What did you just say?"

Devil was about to repeat what Stacy said—adding his own colorful spin to the dismissal—but Jin stopped him.

"She will stay within this facility with Jin . . . or she will be handed over to another agency who can handle the situation."

"The situation is fraud and kidnapping," Julia replied. "You people don't even care what you put me through . . . do you?"

"Why would they?" Jin asked.  "All they saw was a weapon to be used against me. And when I stopped myself . . . the urgency to make the perfect weapon ceased to be a priority."

"Kazama-sama, if she leaves the safety of this place . . . and then falls into the hands of others . . . You  know that the mission for her to be the perfect defensive weapon will be prioritized once more."  Stacy was trying her very best to sell the unwanted project to him.

"I don't care."  He watched from the side of his eyes as Julia reacted to his words.  First she looked as if he hit her and then her looked morphed to resentment.  She looked like her teenage self.  "But she does."

Stacy finally decided that Julia presence was worthy of her attention but the foolish woman looked less than cowed by Julia's dangerous expression.  "Does she stay here or do I hand her over the UWO?" UWO was the abbreviation of the title, United World Organization.  Its single goal was to find a way to get rid of Jin for good.  "They, desperately, want her . . . and I can assure you that they won't be as gentle with her as our organization has been."

"Why make us believe she was dead?  Why?"  Julia searched for any kind of guilt or sympathy from Stacy but found none and so spoke accordingly, "And if you ignore me again . . . I promise you that you will regret it."

"If I were you, I would take her seriously," Jin warned much to Devil's horror.  "The last time I saw her angry like this she broke my shoulder bone with a well placed double punch.  I survived it . . . but I doubt you can."  Her nervous glance over at Julia made him decide that she had finally understood the danger she was putting herself in.

"I hate you," Devil decided.  Jin was unbelievable.  How could he even deny him such a simple pleasure of Stacy being beaten?

"We had nothing to do with the way she was taken from you."  Jin had to give her credit.  The odious woman could put up a brave front.  "She was already acquired by NATO months before being intrusted with my superior."

"I can't believe that you people were idiotic enough to believe that that little creature could stop us," Devil said in amusement.

"This little girl destroyed our entire facility with just one of her many imaginary friends.  It was completely blown off the grid."  She looked as if she was still in shock over the loss of her precious facility.  "She is your biggest threat."  Devil snorted in disbelief.

"I didn't know he was gonna do it," Isabella whispered.  "He just doesn't like you very much, Miss Stacy."

"Nobody likes her," Devil snapped.

They lapsed into silence for a moments and then Julia said, "Jin, you shouldn't be so gullible to believe that your strength won't be surpassed one day.  Didn't you surpass the ones before you?" Julia turned to look at her seemingly small, fragile creature with—if she had any common sense—with some reservation . . . and Devil could not help looking at the creature with renewed interest himself.

Unnerved by their perusal, the child put the tip of her thumb in her mouth as if to suck it.

"I'll ask you one more time," Stacy said.  "Will you keep here with you, Kazama-sama?"

"Everything about you makes me angry, so be quiet," Devil commanded.  "We have decided she will remain here, but you'll have to find somebody else to look after her.  We think you will do the job nicely since you're the one that brought her here."  Stacy opened her mouth to speak.  "Don't say anything that I don't like . . . unless you want to pay the toll."

She closed her mouth and remained silent a few seconds and then finally blurted, "I have to discuss this with my superior first."  Stacy seemed to visibly shrink from the force of his glare.  "I'll return with with his answer—"

"You intruded upon my meeting with Julia.  So an atonement for that unforgivable sin you shall be given charge of her until our interview is over." This time Jin's glare halted her efforts to disagree. "You two are dismissed."

"Isabella."  At the sound of her name the little girl rushed around Julia and hurried to Stacy's side like a loyal puppy. "Where in this tomb should we go?"

"You have a big mouth for such a scared little weakling," Devil muttered.  "Next door there is a room that is an exact replica of this one.  You can retire there.  The guards will escort you."  Why on Earth was Jin letting him take charge of this situation?

"Wait!" Julia pleaded as the two walked toward the exit.  Only Isabella stopped to look back at her.  Her thumb returned to her mouth once more.

"Julia, let it go, for now," Jin commanded.  "She'll be here after the interview is over."

---

"Belle," Stacy said. Isabella, extracted her thumb from her mouth to offer Julia an awkward wave and then she turned her attention back to her commander.  After Stacy Hart spoke quietly to the guards through the intercom, the door slid open and the two stepped over the threshold and out of the room.  The doors closed behind them leaving Julia with a being she was quickly realizing she still didn't understand at all.

"Kazama, do you know how much I want to seriously hurt you, right now?" She watched him reach down and pick up her tape recorder from the table.

"I found your tape recorder among the debris . . . but your notebook was lost."

"Are you kidding me?"  But he proved that he wasn't by holding it out to her as if nothing in world was out of the ordinary.  "React to what just happened?" She knocked his hand away but that didn't seem to deter him.

"I believe that we were discussing Yoshimitsu, before the terrorists attack on my fortress."  He looked down at the recorder as if to see if he could use it instead of her.

"She is alive . . . and she is here." He actually spared her a blank look before his attention went back to the all important recorder.  "React." Please.

"I hope that none of your important notes were destroyed."

"Jin."  She was trying to remain calm but his reaction was threatening to push her over the edge of sanity—which meant she would be joining him into a deep plunge of insanity.

"We don't care," Devil replied exasperated. "You already know this.  Now this day has been very traumatic for us.  And so on behalf of Jin and myself . . . shut the hell up and then just do the damn interview!"

Even Devil . . . could show a reaction where Jin or would not.  

How could she be so wrong about him?  "And why can't you understand?  I want to be with her.  The answer of my question, that had me doing these interviews, in the first place . . . has been answered.  There is no reason for me to continue this nightmare."

"You do realize that interviewing me is the only way you'll ever gain access to my domain?"  Devil sneered.  "That means I am to assume that you are content that she is alive and well . . . but do not want anything more to do with her."

"Jin."  He would deny her entry and they both knew it.  "I can't do this today."

"Tomorrow would be for the best."  Jin finally had something to say on the subject.  Jin begin to tinker with the tape recorder.

---

"Women and their emotions piss me off," Devil muttered. "Who knows what the hell one of those will do or say next!"

"Forgive me if I say the same in reference to you."  Julia turned suddenly, almost slapping him in the face with her hair.  He watched her until she disappeared on the other side of the door.

"Did she just call us a girl?" Devil found Julia and her insults amusing to no end.

"Yes."

Devil chortled over Jin's emotionless reply but remembered he was at odds with Jin and sobered quickly.  "You're stupid, Jin." He shook his head in disgust.  "You showed absolutely no emotion in reference to that creature.  I'm starting to believe that you're going out of your way to sabotage any type of relationship with Julia."

"What type of emotion was I suppose to show?"

"Seriously, Jin."  Did he have to do everything himself?  Something wasn't right with Jin and he was just now realizing it.  "You lost something didn't you?  When we faced old man, Jinpachi, that second time."

"You just realized that now?  Actually, I started losing certain emotions when you first awakened."

"Well, we've got to fix this.  I am supposed to be the sociopath in this equation . . . not you."

"Have you ever thought, unwanted comrade, that some of the emotions you thought were strictly coming from me . . . were coming from your side, as well?"

"Now I know your are a sociopath!"  He knew those words would haunt him for days.

"Sorry, I will do better the next time."

---

Stacy stood in the little apartment trying to get her fear under control.  How was she able to talk with him . . . to even be in his presence for so long without screaming in terror?  She wanted to draw herself into a ball, on the futon Isabella was sitting on, and cry like a little child.

"Stacy, who were those people?"

"Hopefully . . . new friends."

"They were weird."

"You have no idea."

"Huh?"

Stacy didn't know whether she should be content with the fact that the prospect of moving inside this place would protect herself and Benjamin from their other enemies, or afraid that they would be living in a tower with a monster.  No, make that two monsters.

"Is this my new room?"

"I think it may be our new room."  Stacy did not want to get in contact with Ben yet.  He had no idea that she had the courage to conceive of such a desperate plan.  She decided that she was too much of a coward to face him.  She had to recover from the confrontation with the Kazama, first.

Her legs started to shake so violently, that she fell to her knees and to her credit little Bella rushed to her side.

"Stacy, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not."

---

Julia finished mucking her horse's stall with a ferocity that she was sure that disturbed Gabriel—who usually did the job for her—but she had taken the task over in hopes of trying to get rid of the pent up negative energy that was threatening to consume her.

But nothing seemed to help.

She had already taken Thunderbolt for a hard ride but even the company of her stallion could not give her welcome release.

"I-is there something bothering you, Julia?"

Gabe sure is observant.  She gave him props for, finally, speaking up.  It was probably a serious chore for him to do so and it only took two whole hours for him to work up the nerve.

"I met my daughter, Isabella, for the first time today." He knew most of her history because of her efforts to get him to open up about his own history but usually all her actions only earned her was a curious stare. "Actually . . . Jin and I both met her."

"Then why are you so unhappy?" The spoke's person of her stray animals violet gaze was so innocent.

"Why should I be happy?  She was kidnapped so they could train her to defeat Jin.  And now she is a prisoner in that place too."

"Imprisoned?" She nodded. "With Jin Kazama?" She nodded again relieved that tone and expression hinted that he understood that this was not a good thing. "Why?"

"The organization that had been keeping her, suddenly grew a conscience.  Instead of passing her over to another organization . . . they placed her in Jin's care."

Jin.  His actions should not have the ability too surprise her anymore but he some how found new ways to anger her.  A long lost daughter had been presented to them both and his only worry seemed to be that he could not salvage her notebook for their ridiculous interviews.

"That's . . . bad?"

She could not help sending an incredulous look Gabriel's way.  "How can you not know . . . or understand Jin's history?  You're either from another planet . . . or you have memory problems."

"It is the safest place for her."

"The safest place for her is with me."

"Julia, her father can manipulate you with ease.  And she will be better at it than he is.  You are safer with her being with him."  She watched him lead Thunderbolt back into his stall.

His words repeated themselves inside her head.

She could not help but think of Isabella's eyes.  They were so much like Jin's.  Behind those soulful browns could not be a being as cunning as Jin . . . could there?