"Attention ladies and gentlemen; contestant Hwoarang went missing! If anyone has any information about his whereabouts, please inform the tournament staff immediately."

The message was announced very loudly through the intercom in the morning, waking every contestant from their sleep. Some people were content about the disappearance, some remained neutral. Lili was devastated, but she managed not to expose her emotions and kept a straight face about it.

Lili wasn't the only person experiencing problems with a teammate. Bryan was so close to strangling Steve with his own hands. Christie was pissed at Eddy for witholding information from her about her granddad. Anna Williams constantly complained about her teammate's incompetence.

Sergei and Raven though were the team in the worst condition. Both men were sleep deprived and close to fainting; they had not slept one bit since they had been announced teammates. They were both people who disliked sleep -their past occupations made it an obligation for them to be able to function with the least amount of sleep possible- but this amount of sleeplessness was too tiring even for them. The truth was, they were both scared of each other. They did not hurt each other (yet), but they knew they could if they ever got the chance. Threatening looks and aggressive grunts were exchanged between them regularly to remind each other of their power and capabilities. It was as if they had a Cold War of their own; they did not say or do anything, but they were both aware of each other's potential and motive to kill.

This wasn't the first time Raven and Sergei were teamed up to work together. Years, years ago from now; there was an incident in Soviet Russia, involving two agents from SPETSNAZ...

Sergei Dragunov was a young lad, barely 16, when he first got involved with the corrupt company "Mishima Zaibatsu". He was an agent of SPETSNAZ, the Special Operations Forces, and he went on his first mission to travel to Japan to spy on Mishima Zaibatsu and find out about its plans to crash the Russian economy. He was matched with an agent codenamed 'Raven'. Raven was well built for his age, strong and violent; which was a perfect match for Sergei's wits and quick reflexes. They became great teammates and travelled to Japan together...

Sergei was buried deep in thought when a knock on the door disturbed his flashbacks and brought him back to the present day. He walked to the door, half staggering, and opened it to see a man dressed in a uniform standing with a notebook and a pen in his hands. The man waited for Sergei to say something first to start speaking; and seeing after an awkward silence that he would not initiate the conversation, flipped open his notebook and asked a question:

- Good morning sir. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about contestant Hwoarang's disappearance?

"No." Sergei answered coldy, motioning to close the door. The guy in the uniform put his foot between the door and the wall to prevent Sergei from closing it, and stepped inside without asking for permission. "I'm sorry sir, but the Iron Fist Tournament has given me an order to search through the rooms of every contestant. In case there's a case of kidnapping concerning contestant Hwoarang's disappearance.".

"I did not kidnap contestant Hwoarang." Sergei answered shortly.

"Yes sir, I believe you; but I have to check your room." the man answered, taking a step towards the closet in the room. Sergei stepped in front of the man, blocking his way. "If I had kidnapped contestant Hwoarang, I would not hide him in my room. I would've shot him with my rifle and dissected him; then hid his body parts, each in a different location.". He took a step towards the man, forcing him to take a step back. "I have served in the Russian army and executed the technique I just mentioned to you on several men." He moved his face closer to the man's, staring into his frightened eyes with a cold glare. "Are you in the mood for being tortured or killed? Because you have got exactly three seconds to turn around and leave my room before I shoot you and dissect your body parts.". The man mumbled an apology through his trembling lips, then hurriedly turned around and left the room. "придурок" Sergei muttered under his breath, closing the door after him.

Meanwhile Lili was trying to learn as much as she could about where Hwoarang could be from the other contestants. She didn't have much luck trying to ask Julia; and all Bryan had given her as advice was to ask Baek where he could be. Frustrated, she returned to her room and slumped on her bed with a feeling of hopelessness creeping up on her. She buried her head in her pillow and pulled the blanket over her, seeking comfort in the softness of the sheets. She then suddenly rose up, yelling at the ceiling:

- If I knew how to contact Baek, I would've contacted him ALREADY!

She was surprised at how much she had raised her voice; her eyes began to water. "No. ...No." she muttered, then furiously rubbed her eyes. She tried to hide the concern, the sadness, the shame she felt because of Hwoarang's disappearance. It was hard for her to admit, but she had really grown to like the guy. "That IDIOT." she said, angry at him for making her feel things, angry because he had been the only genuine person and her only friend in her life besides her father; and now she had lost him. She left her room, wanting to clear her mind, and she started walking towards Dragunov's room.