Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!, its characters, and its setting as well.

PROLOGUE

"Go upstairs now!"

"But Father…"

"NOW!"

Phoebe trembled as she nodded on her father's command, terrified. She grabbed her mother's hand, who was still dazed, staring dumbly at the two thugs lying unconscious on the floor whose blood running from their broken noses stained her precious carpet. She then gazed at her husband who was holding a wooden practice sword, the sort that he and Phoebe used during their kendo lessons. He was blocking the doorway as held his ground against the intruders.

"Mother, let's go," Phoebe tugged her mother, grabbing her on her wrist, but she refused to budge from where she stood.

"Mother, please!" she then had to literally drag her mother upstairs. Stumbling on the way while struggling to scamper to relative safety, they made their way to her room which was on the other end of the hallway. Downstairs, she could hear the commotion as more men forced their way into their house, only to be met by her father who was still standing on his ground, refusing to stand down and make way for the intruders.

Phoebe and her mother must have stumbled twice before they made it to Phoebe's room. Once inside, they then locked the door and set the door chain. They hugged each other, whimpering and trembling in sheer terror as they hear the noise of the fracas below come nearer and nearer. Behind the locked door, Phoebe could hear more muffled curses, groans, and shouts coming from men and her father, dotted with the wound of his wooden sword whacking and crunching through the intruders' bodies.

Phoebe never imagined something like this would happen. Sure, Hillwood wasn't the same city she grew up with. With crime rates soaring and urban decay setting in, it was no wonder that their neighborhood wasn't the same safe place to be back when she was little. Robberies and break-ins within their neighborhood were commonplace, but she knew this wasn't a normal break-in or robbery. There's something else to it…

Half an hour ago was a night just like the others before that. Kyo and Reba Heyerdahl were happy to have their only daughter Phoebe back from the University for spring break. They were having their usual dinner, Phoebe excitedly telling her recent academic achievements in college. Kyo and Reba listened to her as they exchanged loving glances. They couldn't be happier and prouder having Phoebe as their daughter. A straight-A student, intelligent, refined, and polished woman.

They were laughing at Phoebe's joke when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Kyo said, still snickering as he headed to the door. He peeped into the security hole. His eyes popped wide open, and his face darkened as he realized who were outside. With a deep sigh, he opened the door to face the men waiting outside.

Phoebe noticed that it was taking his father too long talking to whoever was outside. She headed out of the dining room to check who were his father was talking to.

She saw a group of well-dressed Asian-looking men; all clad in well-pressed suits and leather shoes. The one that stood out from the group was a bald middle-aged man in black suit, who was doing most of the must be the head of the group, Phoebe thought, for the other men stood behind him. They must be around five or 7 behind him. They were talking in Japanese. They must be Father's old friends or acquaintances, or friends from their local Japanese association in the community where her father was an active member, she thought.

But judging from the tone of their voices, their conversation didn't sound friendly or cordial. The bald man say something in a condescending tone, to which would elicit a stern reply from her father. Japanese wasn't really her first language, but straining her ears she manages to catch snippets of their conversation.

"…you think I'll never find you...hide...your sins…"

"How did you...me…cover" her father asked, seemingly astonished.

"The stench of your past sins...not easily removed...brought me here..."

"I do not wish to do anything with you, or the clan, Saburo,"her father raised his voice.

The man chuckled a bit, "You seem to be quick in putting all of our past behind, my brother."

Brother? "Father has a brother?" Phoebe thought. She never recalled his father mentioning that he has a brother, let alone a long-lost brother. Besides, the bald man did not resemble his father in any way.

The bald man peered over her father's shoulder, and caught the sight of Phoebe who was standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Is that her?" the man asked Kyo, leering at her. The bald man looked a little older than her father, wearing a thin mustache.

"Leave her out of this," her father snarled, clenching his fist.

"She has your eyes. She should have been mine. You know that," the man replied coldly.

"Phoebe, take your Mother to your room and lock the door," he turned to her, commanding her in English.

"But Father, I don't…"

"Just do what I say,"Kyo snapped coldly. Phoebe went back to the dining room to her mother and explained what she saw at the door. She seemed to to have not understood half of what she's saying, looking confused as they headed out of the dining room to check on Kyo.

Then suddenly there were screams, muffled sounds of bodies crashing on their carpeted wooden floorboards. Kyo was fighting off the thugs with a wooden practice sword hanging on their wall together with all other ornamental weapons that decked their hallway. The men were all rushing to him, armed with baseball bats, wooden planks, and switchblades. Kyo, being an experienced fighter, dodged and parried their attack and quickly countered with a swift blow, adding to the pile of thugs lying on the floor, who were either unconscious or reeling in pain.

The only one who did not join the fray was the bald man. He was calmly watching the fracas, even smiling a bit as if admiring Kyo's fighting prowess. Kyo was not a violent man, but tonight he was a fierce warrior bent on not letting anyone go past his doorstep. This is his house, his domain, and they will have to leap over his dead body before anyone would get in.

Kyo knocked the last thug down, thrusting his wooden sword right into his groin, sending him writhing on the floor. It's done, alright. Five or six thugs now lie on the floor as he carefully stepped over them, his hand still firmly holding his wooden sword. He was sweating bullets and heaving his every breath. He did not come out of this unscathed. He had a bruise on his shoulder from a guy who swung a baseball bat at him, and a cut on his cheek from a switchblade attack that he had barely fended off. Kyo eyed the bald man, who was then looking at him, admiring him for the work he did to his men.

He then clapped slowly, and headed to Kyo. He didn't notice Reba and Phoebe, who witnessed the whole melee, standing few steps behind him. Reba hugged Phoebe closer, whimpering as her eyes welled with tears. Kyo stood his ground, holding his wooden sword.

"You scum! You may take your men now with you, and never come back," Kyo snarled at the bald man, who simply gave him a smug look."This," pointing his sword to the thugs who were lying on the floor, "Is the price you pay for intruding in my life."

"I believe you are the one who's in debt, Shinoda," the bald man replied. "But you know very well the consequences of your betrayal. I had never forgiven, nor I had forgotten."

And as if by cue, a black Dodge Ram truck filled with armed Asian-looking men in suits zoomed behind him and came to a screeching halt. They alighted from the truck and stood behind the bald man, waiting for his orders.

"Shit," Kyo cursed under his breath as he stepped back inside, quickly locking the door. He turned to Phoebe and Reba who were still clutching each other, trembling and whimpering.

"Go upstairs now," he commanded Phoebe.

Phoebe hesitated. What exactly was happening? Who were these men? What do they wanted from them? If this was just a simple break-in, they would not spend much time conversing with her father, or simply gave up instead of bringing in reinforcements. Does her father have anything to do with these thugs? Impossible, she thought. Her father, albeit an experienced sword fighter, would not even hurt a fly. She wanted answers from her father. She wanted it now.

And why does the bald man kept on calling his Father "Shinoda". That's not his name, nor she could remember him telling her that he used to go by that name.

"But Father, why…"

"NOW!" Kyo roared back to her.

Reba and Phoebe held each other closer. The sounds were approaching, marked with occasional gunshots that startled them, almost making them jump off their feet. Phoebe buried her face unto her mother's chest.

"This is not happening…"

Phoebe tried to drown out her terror with happy thoughts: the day she graduated at the top of her class, her dates with Gerald before he left for the Middle East for his tour of duty, her adventures with the gang at PS 118, the night she gave her virginity to Gerald, her first day in the university…

BANG!

Reba and Phoebe let out a scream. The gunshot was frightfully near her room. Phoebe feared the worst, but was relieved to hear her father's voice, yelling as he tried to fend off his attackers. Then she heard a dull thud. Her father must have sent another thug on the floor. The sound of the commotion was getting closer and closer, until they could hear them as if they are just right outside the door.

"Phoebe, get under the bed," Reba told Phoebe, her voice shaky.

"But Mother…" she whimpered.

"Do it now!"

Phoebe once again obediently nodded and crawled under her bed.

"Stay there…and whatever happens, do not make a sound…stay quiet." Phoebe nodded. She covered her mouth with her hands, muffling any whimper or sob that might come out. She has no idea what might be happening outside. She shut her eyes and concentrated all her attention to the sounds, trying to make sense out of them.

She thought she heard her mother rushed to her closet, opened it, and took out something.

TSCHK!CLICK!

A shotgun? She never knew her mother hid a shotgun inside her closet. Did her mother even know how to use one?

The commotion came to a halt. Outside, she can hear her father and the bald man engaged in a heated conversation. Their voices were low, she could only gather snippets of their conversation.

"Rose…taken away…bite the hand…betrayal..." the bald man said.

"I did what I…was mine…never for you…" she heard Kyo roar back.

The bald man laughed, "…the nerves to betray…spit back to…"

Their exchange was long and heated, their voices filled with venom. Phoebe didn't manage to catch or fully understand every word. Their exchange is beyond common Japanese so poetic yet filled with hate and contempt. Even with her fluency with Japanese, she still has to figure out what they exactly meant.

Based on what she gathered, the exchange has something to do with his father being an ingrate, having no honor, being a snake egg who hatched only to devour its parent, and so on. It doesn't make sense to her. Why would someone hate her father so much? He is a honest man who supported his family, that's all. There is no way he would be associated with anyone of ill-repute, especially with these thugs.

Or could it be? Is there something that she doesn't know about her father, something that he hid from her? It couldn't be. Her father was an open book and would not hesitate to reveal anything…even something as dark as this…

"You do not deserve an honorable death, but consider this my last act of kindness for you!" the bald man hollered, snapping Phoebe out of reverie. Then she heard a sword being unsheathed.

"And I would rather be buggered by a sword than to receive kindness from you!" her father hollered back, then a sound of sword being unsheathed.

What followed was a series of clangs as two steels clashed with one another. As the sound of sword clashing rang out, Phoebe could hear her mother trying stifle her sobs.

"Owwww…" it was Kyo's pained howl, then a dull thud, as if he fell on the floor. Then an eerie silence followed.

"Die," was the only word they heard after, followed by another dull thud. Then silence.

Then the door knob started to jiggle madly. A loud banging on the door followed. Then another silence.

BOOM! *tschk* BOOM! *tschk* BOOM!

Three shotgun slugs tore through the heavy wooden door, punching holes through it.

Phoebe saw her mother point her gun on to the door through her shadow. As her mother was ready to defend her, she felt she needed to do something at least. Phoebe felt her pocket for her cell phone. She felt nothing. Dammit, she must have left it downstairs, she thought. Now they are alone and isolated, under the mercy of these maniacs. God knows what they did to his father.

The door then slowly swung open with an eerie creak. Phoebe could only see the feet of the man standing on the doorway. He was wearing a pair of expensive Italian leather shoes and black slacks. He was still holding his bloodied katana (samurai sword), blood dripping from its blade and staining the carpet. Her mother was still suppressing her sobs as the man stepped closer to her.

"Dammit, mom! Shoot him! Shot him now, Mom!"Phoebe mentally screamed as she saw the man drawing nearer to her

"Don't come any closer, not a step further…" he mother warned the man before her voice broke into sobs.

The man didn't seem to hear her. He drew up his blade, which caused her mother to let out a little shriek. Phoebe then saw a bloodied handkerchief fall into the floor, and heard the sound of a katana being sheathed back to its saya (scabbard).

"Rose, still beautiful as ever. It's been a while," the man said in English with a heavy Japanese drawl. It was the voice of the bald man. "That night...you never returned...I was expecting you..."

"What the hell did you do to him?!" her mother screamed at the man.

"Gave him what he deserved. His debt had been long overdue, and I just see to it that he would pay for it," he replied."If it wasn't for you, and everything we had back then, I could have made it slow and painful. But it was quick and painless."

"You monster!"her mother screamed at the then heard her mother's shotgun click.

"Me, a monster?" the man sneered at Reba. "You know me better, Rose. He is a bigger monster than I you have the guts to pull the trigger? Last time you tried, I believe you chickened out and ran away with that snake."

"Dare me, Saburo," her mother said threteningly. "I wouldn't think twice before blowing your brains out."

PHOOM!

What happened next was so fast that Phoebe wasn't able to keep track of it. There was a loud gunshot, then a commotion, then a sound of bodies thrashing around, knocking off the lampshade and sending it crashing on the floor, then sound of bodies thrashing on the bed. Then there was silence, and faint whimpering of her mother...

"Mō itami wa, Rōzu-san. Tada no yume..."the man said in a thin cold voice.

"We best take our leave," he said. "Goodbye, my rose."Then the men stepped out of the room and headed out of the house.

Outside, Phoebe could hear the sound of car engines starting, and driving off.

Then there were minutes of silence. Minutes seems to turn into hours. Her mother was silent. Reba sat on Phoebe's bed. Is it safe to come out? She crawled out of her hiding place under the bed, and...

"NOOOOOOO!"

Phoebe screamed as she saw her mother, bleeding from her stab wound on her chest, the sheets being soaked with her own blood, blood gurgling out of her mouth. She's barely alive.

"Phoebe...your father...ugh!" she moaned, her words being cut off as she coughed out more blood. Phoebe became panic-stricken, knowing what to do first. She walked back and forth, fidgeting, before deciding to head out of her room to look for her father.

He's lying on the hallway, soaked in his own blood. Phoebe rushed to him, held him, and realized that his head was...

"No, It can't be…no…"

Phoebe's scream echoed through the hallway, and to the dark empty streets outside