Note: This story takes place six months after the season one finale, before the start of season two.

Chapter One: A Debt Paid in Blood by a Heart Drowned in Rain

Rain pattered the concrete, layering sheets of water atop one another at an astounding pace. The ever-shifting surface of the running water exploded beneath the blood-soaked man's every step as he sprinted through the stormy night air, terror reflecting behind his frantic eyes. "Oshita…" a low, soothing whisper swept through the night, like wind calling his name. "Why are you running from me, Oshita?"

"Stay the hell away from me!" Oshita screamed, whirling around in a panicked frenzy as he attempted to find the source of the disembodied whisper. He fired off several shots from his pistol, sending bullets careening into the darkness. "You hear me, freak?"

"Oshita…" the whisper seemed close, as though his hidden assailant were whispering directly into his ear. Oshita spun around, firing off shots as he sprinted through the downpour. "Oshita…" the voice felt the same no matter how far he ran… as though it were in his own head.

Oshita tripped over a jag in the concrete as he stepped underneath an overpass. He flung his hand out to try and stop his fall, to no avail. On the way down his palm streaked blood across the wall of the overpass support. Oshita crashed hard onto the wet pavement, and rolled over with a groan. Out the corner of his eye, he could see the streak of blood on the wall begin to bubble, writhing and convulsing as though something were boiling it. Then, the blood began to push itself away from the wall, coagulating into the form of a jagged, demonic hand with clawed fingers. The hand outstretched toward Oshita, dripping crimson along the way. The drops of the blood turned to clouds upon hitting the sheets of rainwater atop the concrete. These clouds began to spread, leeching outward like cancer spreading through a body; slow, ominous, unstoppable.

The red quickly shrouded around Oshita's ankles, pressing onward until the pavement beneath his feet was no longer visible; Oshita was standing in a shallow pool of red, surrounded by nothing but blood. The hand had almost reached Oshita's neck by the time he garnered the strength of will to force his body upwards. Screaming in horror, he threw himself against the far wall, struggling with shaking hands to aim his gun at the hand. When he pulled the trigger, the gun did not fire… and red seeped from the barrel. Crimson began to ooze from the firearm's every crevice, and with each drop that fill, the fear in Oshita's heart was magnified. "What the hell?" He cried, throwing the gun against the wall. The red around his ankles began to crawl upward, leeching up his legs. It burned against his flesh. "Get away from me!" He shrieked, kicking his legs violently. The blood continued to climb, until eventually the burning was so intense that Oshita fell to his knees. The whisper resounded in the depths of his skull; "Oshita…"

A girl suddenly appeared before him, with pale skin and crimson red eyes to match her hair. She wore a pristine red and black dress, standing above Oshita with a strange sense of dominance. She grinned, and blood began to stream from her eyes, as though she were crying red. "What do you want?" Oshita pleaded, "I'll pay you anything! Name a figure, I'll double it! Please!"

"Oh Oshita," the girl spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, yet impossibly loud within Oshita's mind. "You've spent your life with the Yakuza. You should know that the greatest of debts…" suddenly, the crimson hand rocketed out from the wall and sunk its claws into Oshita's chest, plunging with terrifying ease through his flesh and bone. He could feel the hand clench around his heart, every beat pounding against its grasp. The girl's grin widened into a smile, "…are paid in blood."

With that, the hand clenched. Oshita's vision turned red as blood welled up in his eyes, and he vomited fountains of red. Every blood vessel in his body simultaneously ruptured, and streams of crimson burst outward from his skin, seeping onto the ground around him. The hand jerked back, and the last thing that Oshita saw through a sheen of red was his own crushed heart, and behind it the girl's sinister smile. And then Oshita slipped into the cold embrace of death, lying in a mangled, withered heap amidst a pool of red. And the girl was gone.

….

"The forensics crew puts estimated time of death somewhere between midnight and two a.m., they'll have a more exact estimate once we get him to the lab for more in-depth study," Saito explained as Chief Kirihara arrived on the scene. He wore a bright yellow poncho to shield him from the pouring rain, and had large bags beneath his bloodshot eyes.

"You look rough," Kirihara stated as she walked past him, umbrella in hand.

"Haven't been getting much sleep lately," Saito lowered his gaze. "Not since the whole Hell's Gate debacle a few months ago."

Chief Kirihara said nothing in response to this, only stopping for a brief moment before continuing on toward the body underneath the overpass. Misake Kirihara had been on the force a long time, and she had seen a lot of gruesome crime scenes over the course of her career. But this one definitely topped the list; the walls had been painted with blood, and the corpse lay in a crumpled heap, its flesh mangled and torn, red streaked ears, nose and mouth. His eyes had welled up with so much blood that they had completely burst, leaving nothing but gory sockets oozing pus. His chest had been ripped open, and his heart removed entirely. "Who was he?"

"We've identified him as Oshita Nakazawa," Kono answered, his fiery hair damp from the rain in a way that complemented his sullen expression.

"Nakazawa?" Kirihara asked in surprise, "You mean the Nakazawa Crime Family?"

"Yup. Rumor has it that since the old Nakazawa boss got whacked earlier this year, this guy has taken over the gang. They're closely affiliated with Yakuza. Apparently, Oshita has been making some pretty big power plays, pissed off a lot of people in the criminal underworld. Frankly, I'm surprised it took him this long to wind up dead."

"This wasn't a mere mob killing," Kirihara shook her head. "Gangsters shoot their enemies. This…" she looked around at the gruesome scene surrounding them, "This was something else entirely."

"Since the Hell's Gate fiasco, more and more people are learning about contractors. Think maybe some gangsters hired one to off this guy?" Saito suggested.

"Once forensics gives us a more exact time of death, I'll check with Astronomics and see if any stars were active. In the meantime, I want you two to get out and search for leads. Talk to anyone and everyone who may have been affiliated with Oshita Nakazawa, find out who wanted him dead. I'm sure it'll be quite a list."

"On it Chief," Saito nodded, heading toward his car. Kono breathed a deep sigh, preparing to follow.

"Man," he groaned, looking up at the black clouds which filled the sky. "Is this rain ever going to let up?"

"Maybe it's our penance," Saito said as the door of his police car clicked open.

"What does that mean?" Kono raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe contractors aren't the only ones with a price to pay," Saito shrugged. "Maybe the rain is our penance for all those nice days we took for granted."

"What, are you getting religious on me Saito?" Kono frowned, "Where's all this philosophical crap coming from lately? Ever since the Hell's Gate incident you've been a real downer."

Saito remained silent, a distant look in his tired eyes. Finally, he climbed into his car. "Let's get going, Kono. We have work to do."

"Whatever you say."

…

Hei laid his head back, trying his best to find some sort of comfort while stowed away in the back of a coal train. Since he and Yin betrayed the Syndicate six months prior, they had been relentlessly pursued by Syndicate forces intending to silence them. They had to travel under the radar, never drawing attention to themselves.

"Hei," Yin's voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him into an immediate state of calm alertness.

"What is it?"

Wordlessly, Yin extended her arm, pointing to a steel girder on the wall of the train. A shimmering specter resided there, watching them. "Damn it," Hei grunted, instinctively reaching for his knife. "I didn't think they would find us here," he immediately moved for a hatch to exit the train, when he felt Yin's hand gently grasp his shoulder.

"You don't understand, Hei." Yin spoke in a tone devoid of feeling, yet a faint sense of pleading existed behind her empty, motionless eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not an enemy," Yin turned to face the specter. "She's asking for help."

Confused, Hei asked, "Who is?"

"She says her name is Mary now. She did not have a name when we met her."

"Yin, what are you talking about?"

"She and Kenji need your help."

"Kenji?" Hei's eyes momentarily widened as he began to understand. "Kenji Sakurai? The one who you and I helped escape the Nakazawa gang with that doll?"

"Yes. They need help. She and Kenji are in danger."

"Tell her that's not our business. Kenji knew the risks when he ran away with her, and we can't afford to-"

"Hei…" Yin turned around to face him, a glimmer of sadness within her lifeless gaze. "She says we're in danger too."

"Ugh…" Hei stopped, caught off guard. "What does that mean, Yin?"

"Kenji will explain everything if we meet him in Tokyo."

"He's back in Tokyo? Why would he-" Hei stopped again, dropping his gaze to the floor. He then looked at the specter, the shimmering orb of blue watching over them. "Tell her to lead us there."

….

"You sure this is the place?" Kono inquired, leaned against his squad car. He looked up at the ramen shop they had parked outside of, stating, "It looks pretty innocuous."

"That's the point. It's a pretty secretive operation," Saito replied, taking a step toward the shop. "According to that thug I questioned downtown, the guy who runs this ramen shop is Totetsu Miasoki, a drug dealer closely affiliated with the Nakazawa group. He uses the ramen shop as a front for getting his product to buyers and making it seem like a legit business. He had a deal going with Oshita Nakazawa; the Nakazawa family would provide protection for the shop, and in exchange, Oshita got a cut of the profits from the drug racket."

"So why are we making it such a high priority to investigate this guy? Nakazawa had his hooks into plenty of different dealers."

"Because Totetsu Miasoki recently cut the Nakazawa group off. He stopped giving them their cut of the money without any warning… as you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with Oshita."

"You're thinking Miasoki might have had Oshita killed before he got offed himself?"

"I'm thinking it's a good place to start," Saito nodded. The duo approached the ramen shop casually, immediately scanning the place for any potential threats. They found nothing eye catching except for a young woman behind the counter.

"Hello miss," Kono leaned against the counter, wearing the most charming smile he could muster.

"Hey there, what can I get for you?" She asked.

"Actually, I was hoping you could direct my partner and I toward your boss, a Mr. Totetsu Miasoki."

"Oh…" the girl paused a moment, then said, "Mr. Miasoki is out right now, but if you want, you could leave your numbers and I'll have him call you when he gets back."

"He isn't here, huh?" Saito glanced out the window. "Strange, considering his car is sitting in the parking lot."

Kono flashed his badge at the girl, stating, "How about you tell us the truth so we don't have to arrest you for obstruction of justice, alright? I'd hate to have to mugshot such a pretty face."

"She ain't tellin' you nothing!" A voice erupted from behind the counter, and with it the sound of a gunshot. A look of horror flashed across the girl's face as blood began to pool on her apron, and she fell to the floor.

"Get down!" Saito took cover behind the counter, drawing his weapon. He was immediately followed by Kono. The shooter fired off a few more rounds before fleeing out the back door.

"I hate it when they run," Kono sighed, hopping over the counter and chasing after the criminal. He stopped at the doorway and called, "Saito! You coming?"

"You're faster than I am; you pursue him on foot, I'll go around and try to corner him with the car."

With a nod, Kono took off through the back alleyway after Totetsu. The two soon veered onto the sidewalk, and Totetsu fired shots into the crowd ahead to clear his path as everyone scattered in a panicked frenzy. He then arched his arm back and attempted to shoot at Kono, who ducked behind a roadside bench and returned fire. One of Kono's shots pierced the back of Totetsu's knee, dropping him momentarily, but the criminal quickly forced himself to chug forward, at a much slower pace.

When it became obvious that he couldn't escape, Totetsu grabbed a little girl off the sidewalk and took her hostage, turning to face Kono with his gun to her head. "Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air, or I blow this kid's head off right in front of her mother!" Totetsu threatened.

"We've already got you on one murder charge, for that girl in the diner… and we have suspicions about another death relating to you. Do you really want to add a child to the list of charges, Totetsu?"

"Put the gun on the ground, damn it!" Totetsu fired a shot into the girl's foot, inciting the child to scream in agony. "I ain't screwing around!"

"Okay, okay, alright…" Kono carefully placed his weapon on the sidewalk. "See? I'm unarmed. Now just let the kid go, and-"

"Not a chance, cop." Totetsu quickly pointed his gun at Kono and prepared to fire, when suddenly a tire iron collided with the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. The criminal fell to the ground, revealing Saito behind him, tire iron in hand.

"You couldn't have gotten here a little bit sooner?" Kono breathed a sigh of relief.

Saito cuffed the unconscious Totetsu and said, "I'll load this dirt bag in the car. You call an ambulance for the kid, so she can get that bullet out of her foot."

"Saito…"

"What?"

Kono stared at his partner for a long moment, amazed at the seriousness in his manner, as well as his lack of empathy. Saito had never been this intense before. "Nothing. Forget about it. I'll get to work on that ambulance."

…

"You murdered your employee. You ran from police. You injured an innocent child," Misake Kirihara leaned forward in the chair of the interrogation room, sitting across from Totetsu Miasoki. "You're going to prison no matter what, Totetsu. But if you just tell me the truth, and help me out with my investigation… I might be able to shave a couple of years off your sentence. I just need you to be honest with me, do you understand that?"

"I'm an open book, officer," Totetsu grinned, reaching a hand out toward her. "I'm just hoping maybe you'll open something for me…" In response, Misake smashed his hand into the table, feeling bone crack beneath her strike. He reeled back in agony, shouting, "You crazy bitch!"

"You disgust me," Misake sighed, withdrawing a file. "You know what else disgusts me?" She flipped open the file in front of him, revealing the gruesome pictures from the crime scene beneath the overpass.

"Geesh, sure musta' been this guy's time of the month…"

"You don't recognize him?" Misake frowned, "Maybe this will help," she withdrew another photo, this one a picture of Oshita Nakazawa before his death.

"Wait a minute, you mean…" Totetsu smiled, planting his pointer finger on the photograph. "You mean to tell me that this is Oshita's body in that bloodbath?"

"That surprises you?"

"Eh, not really," Totetsu shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Oshita had more than his share of enemies."

"Including you?"

"No. I had no beef with Oshita or the Nakazawa gang."

"Then why did you stop giving them their cut of the drug money? That was your agreement, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah… it was a good deal, too. Oshita ran a great protection racket. But once I found out about the business he was in… heh, I decided it just wasn't worth it, ya know? I wanted to separate myself from the Nakazawa crowd as fast as I could before the wrong person caught wind of our deal and thought I was involved in… that business…"

"What business do you mean, exactly?"

"You mean you ain't figured that out yet?" Totetsu smiled, and began laughing.

"Figured out what? What was Oshita involved with that made you pull out of the deal?"

"Oshita was a player in the Doll Trade."

"The what?"

"The Doll Trade. Ya' know… people buyin' and sellin' dolls under the table."

"Dolls?" Misake's eyes widened, "You're talking about passive mediums?"

"Sure, whatever technical term ya' wanna' put on it. A lot of these big-shot crime guys, they like buyin' dolls."

"For what?"

"Sex slaves, mostly. They'll do whatever ya' tell em' and ya' never even have to listen to em' talk! One hell of a deal if ya' ask me. But I don't like to get involved."

"And why is that?"

"Because of the guy in charge of it all, the king-of-kings in the Doll Trade…" Totetsu leaned forward, eyes darting back and forth. "They call him Narcissus."

"Narcissus? The demigod in Greek mythology?"

"I guess," Totetsu shrugged. "All I know is that's what they call him. Rumor has it he's one of them freaks… what do you call em', the ones with the weirdo super powers…"

"Contractors?"

"Yeah! A contractor. He runs the Doll Trade inside and out, and everybody's scared of him. Anybody who steps outta' line with him doesn't live real long, if ya' catch my drift. He's got so much influence in the underworld that even the Syndicate won't touch him. When I heard that Oshita and the Nakazawa gang were involved, I decided to cut ties, quick and clean. The last thing I need is some freak with powers knockin' at my door; I get enough of that with bill collectors and God-freaks."

"I'm going to need all of the information you have on this Narcissus character. And while you're at it, you can-" Misake was interrupted by cell phone ringing. With a sigh, she stood up and answered quickly; "Kirihara."

"Chief, this is Dr. Shoto, head of the forensics department… we've finished the autopsy on that body you sent in this morning, and, well… you might want to see these results for yourself."

…

"Thank you so much for coming here, Li…" Kenji Sakurai poured a glass of wine for his guests, which he had obtained with a fake name while ordering room service from the dumpy, rat-infested motel that he had taken up refuge in while in Tokyo.

"What are you doing here Kenji? You left the country because it wasn't safe. Why would you come back?" Hei questioned as Kenji set the glass before him.

"Nowhere is safe, Li."

"I'm serious. It was stupid of you to come back here. Do you think your gang has forgotten you ripped them off?"

Kenji took a drink straight from the bottle, swallowing a large gulp before putting it down and looking Hei in the eyes. "She's a doll too, isn't she?" He nodded toward the kitchen, where Yin and Mary were waiting.

"Yes."

"That's why I had to come back, Li… she's in danger. And so are you."

"Danger from what?"

"Have you ever heard the name Narcissus?"

"Not since the Greek mythology unit in grade school."

"Hm…" Kenji took another drink from the bottle. "Narcissus is the codename taken by a powerful contractor here in Tokyo. For years, he's been in charge of the Doll Trade, kidnapping and trafficking dolls all over the world for profit… he was behind the scenes when my gang tried to sell Mary," he glanced into the kitchen again. "She picked that name herself, you know. I asked her what she wanted her name to be, and she picked Mary. And people say dolls have no will of their own. Idiots."

"Where is all of this going, Kenji?"

"Something has Narcissus scared. I don't know what, I don't know why… but he's begun exterminating the product," Kenji looked up to meet Hei's gaze again. "He's having all of the dolls in his possession killed, Li. Every single one. And he's sending out assassins to butcher the dolls that he's already sold in the past, along with the buyers. And he has teams out tracking down other dolls, slaughtering them… he's committing genocide, Li."

"What?" Hei's eyes widened in surprise. "He's trying to exterminate dolls?"

"Yeah. Mary and I were attacked in Borneo, then again in the Phillipines… this guy, Narcissus… he's put out an order for the extinction of dolls. And he's already filling up graveyards with them. Nobody has any idea why, apparently the order just came out of nowhere one day, and anybody who questioned it wound up dead."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to kill off his entire revenue stream? If he's a contractor, then his only interest is in doing what benefits him. How would wiping out dolls possibly be beneficial?"

"I told you, I don't have a clue what his motives are… no one does, but he won't rest until they're all dead. That's why I had to warn you, Li… because they'll come for Yin soon enough."

"Alright…" Hei got to his feet, "How can I find him?"

"Wait… find who?"

"Narcissus."

"No!" Kenji jumped up and grabbed Hei by the shoulders. "Li, that's insanity! I wanted to warn you so that you and Yin could go into hiding, not so that you could go after him! It would be a suicide mission, you have no idea how powerful this guy really is, his influence reaches everywhere!"

"Kenji… how can I track him down?"

"Dude, I'm not helping you get yourself killed. No way."

"Kenji, you once told me that if you find something precious enough to you that you're willing to risk your life to protect it, then you can do anything. Do you still believe that?"

"Ugh…" Kenji froze, dropping his gaze. "Yeah, I do. But Li-"

"Then help me find him."

"…talk to Iorek Iverson. He's an ex Russian intelligence agent who now owns the port where the Nakazawa gang gets all of its shipments for weapons, drugs, and I'm guessing dolls as well. He would be able to tell you where those shipments come in from. Keep climbing up that grapevine and you'll eventually reach the top."

"Thank you, Kenji." Hei turned to the kitchen and said, "Yin, let's get going."

"Wait a minute, Li! I'm going with you!" Kenji protested.

"No. You and Mary need to lay low and not draw attention to yourselves until you hear from me again. And Kenji…"

"What is it?"

"Don't call me Li anymore. That was a cover, and it's been blown."

…

Misake Kirihara arrived at autopsy shortly after finishing her interrogation, and found an anxious Dr. Shoto awaiting her. Dr. Shoto was a young woman, not even thirty yet, but she'd proven herself to be a rather brilliant mind in the field of forensic study and was already considered one of the best examiners in the country. "This had better be good," Kirihara warned.

"Believe me chief, you'll be glad I called you here to see this yourself," Dr. Shoto approached the examination table which held the body of Oshita Nakazawa. Carefully, she removed the sheet concealing the corpse, revealing the mutilation in all of its glory. "You see, chief, it didn't take long to realize that every single blood vessel in this man's body had ruptured and burst. From the looks of things, they all did so simultaneously. I was puzzled as to what might cause that, so I thought I would check the veins for any residual signs of some sort of bloodborn toxin… take a look at this."

Dr. Shoto turned over the body's forearm to reveal the underside of its wrist, which she had cut open with a scalpel. "Notice anything wrong here?"

"Where are the veins?" Misake questioned.

"That's just it, chief. It's like all of his veins were either ripped out of body or somehow dissolved. Same with the arteries… they're just gone. Something forced all of the blood to expel from his body. It's as if his body somehow rejected its own circulatory system."

"Interesting…" Misake pondered this information for a moment, and then when on to ask, "Have you pinpointed a more exact time of death?"

"Yes," Dr. Shoto nodded. "Considering the amount of decomposition and bacterial activity, factoring in the heavy presence of moisture due to the rainstorm, I'd put the time of death somewhere between one-thirty and two a.m., approximately a half hour window."

"Thank you, Dr. Shoto."

"Wait, Misake…"

"What is it?"

"Don't be mad, but… well, I was curious about what could have done this to a person, so I got in touch with Astronomics before I called you… they said that there were no stars active during that time frame."

"Ugh…" Misake's eyes widened, "None?"

"None at all," Dr. Shoto shook her head. "I don't know what killed this man, chief Kirihara. But whatever it was… it wasn't a contractor."

...

Four dolls stood in chains, lined up in a row along the edge of a wooden dock. Rain poured down around them as they stood still, lifeless, emotionless. Iorek Iverson, the owner of the port, approached the dolls with an authoritative step, accompanied by two armed men. "Are you sure about this boss…?" One of the men questioned.

"Our orders come directly from Narcissus. He wants us to kill every doll that arrives in a shipment, without question," Iorek answered, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"But what for? What's the point?"

"If you want to be the one who steps up to question Narcissus, then be my guest. Just hope that this dramatic rain continues, so that it can add a somber mood to your funeral." Iorek scoffed, blowing a puff of smoke into the man's face.

"No, sir. Of course not. I'm just curious, that's all."

"Let's get this over with, eh?" Iorek sighed, "I would like to get out of this rain before I catch cold."

The two men nodded, and raised their guns, preparing to open fire on the dolls. Just as one of the henchmen was about to pull the trigger, a wire launched from the shadows and wrapped around his neck, jerking him backward and dragging him into the darkness. An electric surge then resounded, followed by the man's dying scream.

"What the hell was that?" The second gunman shouted.

"Don't ask, just shoot it!" Iorek commanded.

The gunman fired off a volley of shots into the darkness where the cable had launched from, until his clip was emptied. "Think I got him, boss?"

"Go check, you idiot!"

Hesitantly, the gunman reloaded his clip and then walked into the darkened alley between storehouses, searching for any sign of life. "Itchy trigger finger, huh?" A harsh voice spoke from behind him, and the gunman spun around just in time to feel a hand clasp around his forehead, and then briefly realize the sensation of a lethal electric shock surging through his body, before his heart gave out and his body collapsed.

Iorek heard the man scream, and took another drag on his cigarette. "Very well then."

A red flare appeared in his eyes, and a blue cloak of synchrotron radiation enveloped his body. He held his hands outward, and launched a wave of compressed air so strong that it toppled over both storehouses, leveling the area before him. There was silence for a long moment, and Iorek expelled a brief sigh of relief. "I figured you would probably be a contractor," Hei's voice suddenly sliced through the air like a knife. Iorek whipped around to see the black reaper planted atop a light post at the side of the boardwalk. "The Russian intelligence agency hires a lot of you."

"So, you are the infamous black reaper?" Iorek grinned, expelling a puff of smoke. "I was wondering when you and I would finally cross paths."

Hei looked to the ruined heap where the storehouses had previously been, and said, "That was quite a display. How does a powerful contractor such as yourself go from Russian intelligence service to running a dock for a bunch of gangsters?"

"It's what Narcissus commands," Iorek smiled. "You're lucky I'm about to kill you, black reaper. It will spare you the suffering he would bring if you attempted to face him. Now…" Iorek became encased by the cloak of blue radiation again; "No more talk."

"Agreed," Hei grasped his knife. Iorek fired forth a concentrated ball of compressed air. Hei leapt from the lamp post moments before it burst into shards under the powerful air pressure. Hei fired his knife on the wire, sending the blade careening toward Iorek. He swung his pistol and knocked the blade off course, causing it to stick into the wooden boardwalk. Iorek glanced behind him and saw Yin's specter floating on the water's surface, and grinned.

"I had heard you were fond of dolls, black reaper. Let us see just how much you care for them." Iorek pushed one of the captive dolls off of the dock and into the water, and the chains around it pulled the others in as well. Due to the weight of the chains, all four dolls quickly sunk below the water's surface. After a moment's hesitation, Hei leapt past Iorek and dove into the water after them. Iorek laughed, "Pathetic."

Beneath the water's surface, Hei peered through the murky depths and spotted the fast-fading shadows of the four dolls as they sunk ever deeper. He swam after them, pushing through the depths with all his strength. After pressing on for nearly a minute, Hei came within reach of one of the chains holding the dolls. He gripped the chain tightly, and then with his free hand, reached for his belt. His knife and the wire attached to it were still impaled in the boardwalk above. Hei pressed the trigger on his belt to retract the wire, and immediately it began to reel in, pulling him and the dolls upward toward the surface.

Immediately after breaking into the cool night air, Hei took a long breathe of oxygen before hoisting himself, and then the dolls, up onto the dock. Iorek was nowhere in sight. Hei pressed hard on the chests of each doll, helping them to expel the water out of their lungs and start breathing in oxygen. He then pried his knife out of the wood, and used it to slash apart the chains binding the dolls, setting them free.

Once this had been accomplished, he signaled Yin on his COM Link. "Yin, did you see where Iorek went?"

"He escaped on a large boat, headed south," she responded.

Hei frowned, unable to think of a way to pursue his target. Then, as if on cue, the roar of an engine filled the air. "Hey dude!" A speed boat veered in front of the dock and came to a halt, piloted by Kenjie Sakurai. "Need a ride? This is so much better than my bike!"

"I told you to lay low."

"Hey man, don't blame me," Kenji smiled and pointed to Mary, "It was her idea."

…

Iorek Iverson collapsed inside cabin within his boat, his face turning various hues of purple and blue. His hands began shaking, lungs screaming for oxygen, as he sat on his knees holding his breath. He held his position there for several minutes, his mind turning foggy, swimming through the haze, when he heard his electronic security lock short out, and the hatch into the cabin torn open behind him.

Iorek finally exhaled, frantically sucking in gulps of breath. Wobbling onto his feet, he chuckled between gasps, "It's the price of my contract, you know. I hold my breath. It was just a few seconds at first, but each time I pay my price, the duration grows longer… I'm somewhere around six minutes now. Soon enough it will kill me." He turned around to face the black reaper, knife at his side. Iorek took a shaky step backward, against the far wall of the cabin. "But before that happens… I shall add the black reaper's death to my list of achievements."

He flung his hands forward, unleashing a wave of air. Hei leapt to the floor as the ball of air punched straight through the wall of the boat, and water began pouring inside. Iorek moved to launch another ball of air, and Hei moved to dodge it, barely evading its strike as it plunged another hole in the wall. Hei landed atop a wooden dresser and launched his cable-knife into the floor of the cabin as it rapidly filled with water, and sent a wave of electricity through the wire, electrocuting the water at Iorek's feet. With a cry of pain, Iorek fell to the floor. "That should have been lethal…" he breathed, "You pulled your punch. Why?"

"I need information," Hei approached Iorek slowly, meticulously, the water rising to his knees. "Quickly."

"Heh, heh, heh…" Iorek forced himself onto his knees. "Where I come from, we have a game… it's become somewhat of a namesake for my country... we call it roulette." Iorek began to suck all the air in the cabin into a compressed ball in his hands. "It's a suicide gamble. I suppose, that's what this is… in a way…"

Hei felt the air began to leave his lungs, sucked away from his body and into the sphere of compression held by Iorek. Gasping, he said, "I'll steal away all of the oxygen in the vicinity… and we'll see who suffocates first, black reaper."

Hei fell to his knees, feeling his lungs pound in his chest, screaming for sustenance. There was no air left in the cabin, all of it drained away, like a vacuum. His vision becoming blurry, mind enveloped in a haze as brain cells rapidly died off, Hei reached out a shaking hand for the hilt of his blade, submerged under the rising water, and with the last of his strength, ripped it from the floor. Immediately, the blade was sucked into the vacuum of air, flinging toward the ball of compression.

Blood splattered across Hei's mask, clouding up the water around them, as Iorek was blasted against the wall of the cabin, knife buried in his chest. Oxygen began to fill the room again, and Hei gasped pleadingly, sucking in as much of it as he could. "Y-you… cheated… b-black reaper…" Iorek coughed.

Once he had enough strength, Hei got back on his feet, the water level now above his waist. He grabbed Iorek by the throat and demanded, "Where is Narcissus? How do I find him?"

Iorek suddenly gasped, as though he'd been stabbed a second time. Hei tightened his grip, shouting, "Don't play games with me! Where is he?" A red glimmer caught Hei's eye, and he looked down to see an odd materializing over the blood from Iorek's wound… like a red specter. "What…?"

Suddenly, Iorek's veins erupted out of his flesh, spraying fountains of blood in every direction. Blood shot from his ears, nose and mouth, and soon after his eyes burst, spewing forth streams of red. Hei took a step back, confused and shocked, when Iorek's head began to crane, contorting, breaking his own neck as his head tilted on a bizarre and unnatural angle. When he spoke, his voice was not his own; the baritone, Russian-accented man was gone, replaced by that of a woman, with a sweet, soothing voice. It sounded distant, like an echo. "The black reaper…" it cooed, "I've heard a lot about you. Yin thinks very highly of you."

Hei gasped, eyes wide with surprise. "What are you-"

"Be quiet and listen, black reaper. After all, if I understand human physiology correctly… you're short on time."

Hei looked down to see the water now level with his chest. He could not stay in the cabin much longer. The voice continued to speak through Iorek; "I admire your intentions, truly. And that's why I have decided that if you don't get in my way, I won't kill you. Of course, you'll need to hand over Yin without a fuss. I need a her, after all."

"What is this?" He retracted the cable on his knife, pulling it out of Iorek's chest, and raised it above the surface of the water, pointing it threateningly. "You'd better hurry up and explain yourself."

"My, how adorable…" A powerful force came over Hei, as if his body was suddenly no longer in his control, and he was slammed violently against the wall, arms stretched out spread-eagle. The water was at his neck. The voice was pounding inside his skull now, as if it were somehow screaming inside of his own head. "I will not tolerate your interference in my plans."

"Yin-" Hei began to speak, and immediately found himself cut off.

"Yin belongs to me. If you interfere, you will die. You have been warned."

The force then vanished, and Hei and Iorek both fell beneath the water's surface. Forcing himself upward, Hei found the ladder leading up to the hatch, and crawled onto the deck of the ship, which had now dipped below the water. Hei attempted to swim upward, lungs weak. He had nearly made it when the last of his strength disappeared, water rushed into his lungs, and he began to lose control, drifting away from the surface.

Kenji's hand plunged after him, gripping his arm and hoisting him upward. "I've got you buddy," Kenji said as Hei broke the water's surface. He pulled Hei onto the speed boat, and helped him force the water out of his lungs. "Dude, what the hell happened down there?"

"Y-Yin…" Hei coughed, "Where's Yin?"

"She's standing right over there," Kenji pointed to the back end of the boat. "She's just staring off into the distance. I tried talking to her but-"

"Move." Hei pushed past him, and saw Yin standing at the back of the boat, facing a red specter in the shape of an adult woman. Kenji couldn't see the specter, being only human. Hei put his hand on Yin's shoulder, pulling her away from the strange specter. "Yin, what is that?"

The specter disappeared almost immediately. Yin faced Hei, and after a moment of pregnant silence, she said, "I know where to find Narcissus."