Mel pulls the Takada maneuver on Matt. Hehe.


After leaving the hotel, I nearly tripped over a man cross-legged on the floor.

Cursing my clumsiness, I turned around to apologize and instantly felt horrible. I'd stumbled over a poor beggar dressed in all black and knocked over his small tin of coins, which he was now silently bent over.

"Oh, I'm really sorry," I babbled, sinking down to help him. Behind his shaggy curtain of gold hair, I couldn't tell if I'd been forgiven or if he was about to deck me across the face. Finally I realized that it would be infinitely more helpful for me to give him some money, so I dug into my back pocket for my wallet. As soon as I found it and had it open, he deftly snatched it out of my hands and stood up.

"H-hey!" I made a lunge for it, but he sidestepped me easily, grinning. A flash of amusement shown in his blue eyes as I made another lame attempt to get it back. I considered just letting him keep it, as he probably needed it a lot more than I did, but recalled that I had valuable photographs in there.

"Please, you can keep the money, just let me have the pictures!" I begged. For some inexplicable reason, triumph brightened his expression and he sprinted away.

"Wha- get back here, you thief!"

I probably looked incredibly stupid as I tried to keep up with a luggage bag in tow. Quite frequently, I rolled over toes and had to turn around to hastily apologize.

My eyes scanned the crowd for the blond scoundrel, but he had disappeared. Defeated, I sighed and turned around, hoping I wouldn't be late for my flight.

A low whistle sounded from an alleyway, so I peered in, curious. There he was, waving my wallet like a kid would shake a chew toy in front of a dog. I narrowed my eyes and stepped briskly toward him, slightly flushed with anger. Carefully, I edged closer, until we were about a foot away from each other. I held my hand out, sternly, and he dropped the Triforce emblazoned object in my palm, still smiling. I started to retract my arm, but he swung his arm up and cuffed mine to his.

I was slightly in shock, and it didn't help when he gave a cheerful tug and said, "C'mon, Matt. No more games. We have to get going."

The absolute stranger then procured a motorcycle from the shadows and got on, dragging me with him.

"Wha- why would I follow you? I have no idea who you are! And how do you know who I am?!"

He shrugged. "You'll get the death sentence if you're caught and convicted, which you definitely will if you go back to New York. I think you should come with me."

I was at a loss, so he sighed and reassured, "Your father hired me some time back, that's how I know you. Please trust me."

I scowled and muttered, "If I should trust you, why am I handcuffed to you?"

He coughed and mumbled, "That's something I'll answer later. Let's leave now."

"Well, um, what about my stuff? And I don't even know what your name is."

Patiently, he replied, "I have necessities for you. You programmed your laptop so it will destroy itself when your enemies get hold of it. Your phone is in your pocket. My name is Mello. Ready to go?"

Shakily, I climbed on and squeezed the sides of the machine with my calves. "I think so."

"Hold on to me," he advised, so I wrapped my arms around his waist awkwardly so a length of chain remained for him to move his wrists to steer. The engine growled reassuringly, with the strength of a lioness defending her cubs. I would be alright.

Mello swerved violently to pass the cars in front of us.