The guards looked at each other, clueless as to what to do. Tai repeated, "Where is she."

The tone of his voice could chill even the most evil man's blood. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out the gun he'd just recently put in. Wasting no time, he pointed it at the first guard's head. "If you don't tell me where she is in three seconds, I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Okay!" He spoke, trying to remain calm. However, his facial expression told everyone in the room that he was very far from being calm. "We'll talk, won't we?" He turned the other men in the room. The man standing next to him nodded quickly, however, the man on the floor didn't move.

"Get up." Tai motioned towards him with the gun. "On the couch, all three of you."

Unwillingly, he picked himself up off the floor. However, before heading over to the couch, he brushed himself off and fixed his shirt. With his head high, he sat down next to his partners.

"Where is she." Tai demanded for the third time, walking over towards where they sat. Matt, TK, and Kari followed behind him, just as eager to hear. Matt stood close behind his friend, partly for support, and partly to make sure he didn't actually shoot anyone. The brown haired boy walked towards the first man, the one who had been on the floor. Once Tai stood in front of him, he turned so they were face to face. When the boy didn't receive an answer, he spoke up again.

"Tell me where she is."

Only now did Tai get a response, however, it wasn't the one he'd hoped for.

"I'd tell you where she is," he began, "but you'd probably interrupt our boss. You see, he hates being disturbed when he's having fun with his girl."

"Fuck you!" Tai yelled as he slapped the man across his face. What did he mean, 'his girl'? Sora was not anyone's girl besides his own. What could he possibly be doing? Tai's chest began to tighten and freeze inside him.

The guard smirked at him. "You think I'm kidding? We've spoken to her like you've never spoken to her before. We've seen her like you never have before."

Tai raised the gun in anger. "Shut up!" he yelled.

"Kill me, do it boy." The guard egged on. "I hope you have the guts to take a life. But just remember, killing me won't save your bitch."

A bead of sweat dripped down Tai's neck as the guard went on. However, his mind blanked. He struggled to hold the gun tightly, to remain as assertive as he had been before. He couldn't make himself seem week. Suddenly, without thinking, he pulled the trigger, allowing a bullet to release from the gun and shoot over the guard's right ear, just skimming the edge of his skin. The man grunted, Kari screamed. TK threw a protective arm around her and swung her around to face his chest. Matt ran up next to Tai, as if to yell at him for shooting the man, however, once he realized what he'd done, he didn't.

"THE OFFICE BUILDING ON 76th STREET!" A different guard shouted, shivering on the couch.

The first guard looked over towards him, annoyed. Drops of blood were spilling down from the tip of his ear, but it didn't seem to faze him at all. "I knew you didn't have it in you, kid." He coldly slit his eyes "But now I guess you know where she is, congratulations."

"What's the catch?" Tai asked, lowering the gun only slightly so the man could see his interest.

The guard let out a muffled laugh. "Huh. You're not as stupid as I thought. Catch is you need one of us with you. Without us, you'll never get inside the building."

"So then you're coming with me." Tai said hastily. "Let's go."

"Not so fast." The guard responded coolly. "You think I'd actually let you go with me? If I walk out of this room with you, you'll shoot my goddamn ear off."

"Well then, you'd better think of a way to get me to Sora, and you'd better make it fast." Tai growled, aiming the gun once again.

The guard rolled his eyes. "You might as well put that gun down, I know you don't have it in you to kill me. Now here, I'll make a deal with you. I promise to bring you to Sora, but I want those two to come with me." He pointed to TK and Kari. The girl was still wrapped in TK's arms, a little afraid, admittedly. However, when TK saw his long, gangly finger pointed at them, he squeezed her closer to him.

"They're not going with you!" Matt cut in.

Tai glared. "You can be damn sure of that."

"Well then, I suppose none of us are going." The guard smiled and looked straight into Tai's eyes, as if he was excited to see his reaction.

His reaction though, was the clicking of the gun.

"Shoot me, boy." The guard responded. "Come on, do it, send a bullet right through my head. Kill me."

Tai froze. He knew he couldn't do it, no matter how badly he wanted to- and he really wanted to. The way he'd spoken about Sora made him angrier than he'd ever been before, however, he was still human; he could never take a life.

Finally, TK spoke up. "We'll go."

The first guard smiled. Tai flinched. Matt spun around on his heels. "You're insane! I'm not letting you go, TK!"

"Me neither." Tai concluded, turning his head just enough to see the guards and his sister. "You're not going, Kari."

"Why not?" The two younger kids seemed to say at the same time.

"Because I said you can't!" Tai growled. Matt stood next to him with a harsh look in his eyes. However, TK stepped forward.

"Matt, let me go. Come on, if it's the only way to get to Sora, we need to do it. We don't know what's happening to her."

Kari continued her boyfriend's speech. "Let me go too, Tai. I'm not a little girl anymore, and Sora needs our help. Trust us." She stared stubbornly into his eyes.

Tai tried to match her gaze, but his broke. The determination with which she looked at him made him drop his guard, his defense. "Fine." He finally said before turning to the three men on the couch. "But if anything, anything, happens to her, I won't hesitate with getting revenge."

Two of the guards gulped, however, the main one smiled. "It's planned then." He stood up, ignoring the gun in front of him. "Let's go, Kari and TK." He said their names with a certain attitude, one neither Tai nor Matt could make out. However, a sly look that appeared on his face made them both rethink their decisions. As the group of three walked out the door, Matt saw TK throw an arm over Kari's shoulders. They were strong, he knew, but how could he not worry?

"Hey Matt.." Tai said, pointing to the guards on the couch. "I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you go find some rope?"

Matt quickly realized what Tai was planning. As his friend kept them at bay, Matt searched the house for what he needed. When he returned, he passed the long, tan bundle over to his friend. They smiled at each other as the guards shook with fear. How the tides had turned..

X

Kozue ran his old hand through the girls soft, auburn hair. "The plan's almost finished, dear." He snicked as he walked away from her, towards his desk.

"It'll never work!" she spat back, refusing to believe anything her captor said.

"Oh but it has so far.." The man snickered as he reached for the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Sora suddenly asked, struggling to see the phone from the chair she was tied to.

"Oh, no one important." Kozue sneered as he began dialing numbers. Once he heard ringing, he put the phone on speaker and placed it gently back down on the holster.

"Hello?" the voice on the other line said.

Before answering, Kozue looked back up at Sora and flashed her an evil grin. "Hello Mr. Takenouchi- we've found you."

Sora's eyes opened wide and her mouth hung open. She tried to cover her shocked expression with her bangs, but it was impossible to keep anything from Kozue. Somehow, he knew everything. The girl shut her mouth and looked at the ground to try and hide the tears that formed at the corner of her mouth. What did he want with her father?

"Who are you?" the familiar voice asked.

Kozue chuckled, but remained stern. "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that I have your wife and daughter."

Sora's head jolted up. He'd had her mother all along? Where was she? However, she remained silent; her mouth was glued shut.

"What? I don't believe you. Who are you?" Her father repeated again.

"Well, then listen." Kozue walked over towards Sora, who still refused to look him in the eyes. "You ready, Takenouchi?" The man grabbed hold of Sora's hair and pulled it as hard as he could, yanking the girl's head backwards. Sora let out a shrill cry that completely satisfied Kozue; he walked back towards his desk with a smile of victory on his face.

"Sora… Who are you? What have you done?!" Mr. Takenouchi cried from the other line.

Kozue picked the phone up, thus, turning it off speaker. He pressed it hard against his ear and looked back towards Sora. "Oh, don't worry, I haven't done anything- yet. You see though, you have something I want, and I have something you want. How about we make a deal?"

The only thing Sora could make out of her father's response were muffled words and begging cries. However, she could hear every word that Kozue purposely said loudly and powerfully. The girl's brain was beginning to go numb. She had too many questions, too many worries. Sora glanced around the room, trying to figure out where Kozue was keeping her mother. However, the only two doors in the room were the exit and the one that led to Sora's 'room'. Kozue must have noticed her frantically looking around, because he laughed when he looked back at her.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man put the phone down and began to laugh hysterically. He clutched his stomach, leaned back, and roared.

"What's going on?!" Sora begged.

"Your father!" Kozue exclaimed, "He's an idiot!"

"Don't talk about him like that!" Sora yelled back. She could feel her hands begin to sweat against the rope.

However, Kozue ignored the girl's cry and walked towards the window. "If your father doesn't do what he's supposed to tomorrow night, you'll be as good as dead, girl."

Sora froze. She leaned forward in her chair as far as she could and felt her face grow cold. A bead of sweat formed on the back of her neck and slid down her spine, chilling every bone in her body. Her sweaty hands were now clammy and shook noticeably behind her back. "..What?" The girl struggled to say, fear clearly resonating through her voice.

However, Kozue abandoned his speech when he looked out the window towards the parking lot of the building. "Looks like we've got company.."

As if he was now in panic mode, Kozue silently grabbed Sora by her shoulders and ripped her up off the chair, leaving her hands tied. He threw her quickly in the room behind the door, shut it, and locked it. Once it was closed, Sora's questioning cries were only slight muffles. However, Kozue wasn't satisfied. "Shut up!" He barked as he shut the lights off in the room.

Sora pushed herself up against the door to hear what was going on outside, however, all she heard was the slamming of a door and then- nothing. The girl slid down against the wall and felt herself collapse against the cold, hard ground. Darkness surrounded her- there was no way out. The tears that had so diligently held themselves in the corners of her eyes began to trickle down her cheeks, leaving cold, wet stains on her face. If only her mother could hear her now.

X

"Is this it?" TK asked the guard as he led the group into the parking lot.

"Where are we?" Kari quietly asked him.

However, TK could give no response, he really had no idea. The boy looked around, they were clearly in some kind of business district, but the building in front of them looked dark and abandoned. The parking lot was empty as well- it seemed as if no one had ever parked there. The hairs on the back of TK's neck began to stand on edge, something wasn't right.

"Is this it?" TK repeated, asking more sternly this time.

The guard turned around, clearly looking annoyed. "If you're so curious, why don't you just look at the damn sign?"

TK turned to look at the sign in the parking lot, indeed, it said 76th street. However, the boy didn't have the chance to read the rest of the writing on it. He felt a fist collide with the back of his head and went tumbling towards the ground. He struggled to say something, anything, but he didn't have the chance before he felt the force again. The scene in front of him was fading to black; all he could hear were Kari's screams.

"Stop it! Stop it!" She cried, trying to pull the guard away. However, it clearly didn't work, because before TK knew it, the world went dark, and the screaming stopped.

X

Alright, another new chapter! Once again, I hope you all liked it. I have big, big plans for next chapter, so I promise to get it done soon! Reviews would be extremely awesome, and very motivating ^_^. Until next time, happy reading!

*surflilu.