Jack slowly opened his eyes. He could sense that someone was leaning over him, but he couldn't tell who. He blinked repeatedly until his eyes focused. He recognised those blonde braids and those blue eyes. He smiled.

"Ashley!" He whispered, sitting up for the first time in days.

Without saying a word, they hugged each other tightly. Jack could feel Ashley's tears fall onto his shoulder. He pulled away.

"You escaped!" He said.

"I know," Said Ashley, laughing slightly.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Said Jack, his slightly longer red hair falling into his eyes.

"I'm here," said Ashley, "And I have no intention of going anywhere."

"So you and Ashley escaped together?" Asked Kimiko.

"It was more along the lines of she broke me out," Said Jermaine, "and she contacted you. I would still be in that dungeon without her."

"Eight years ago I never would've thought that Katnappe would be the one to be the hero," Said Clay.

"I know," Said Jermaine, "And I never even knew that Raimundo had disappeared. It was only when Ashley was so amazed as seeing him that I found out he'd been missing."

"Well," Said Kimiko, standing up awkwardly, "he's decided to go and stay with Master Fung, so if you want to speak to him, now's you chance."

She left and Jermaine looked at Clay.

"Don't ask!" Said Clay and left it at that.

Raimundo looked up at the building and then groaned and turned away. He was tempted to say goodbye to Kimiko, but he knew he couldn't. It would just start of another argument.

"Raimundo!" Called a voice fro m the entrance.

Raimundo looked down again and saw Tammy running towards him.

"Tammy?" He asked.

"If you're leaving," she said, "I'm coming too!"

"Tammy, no," Said Raimundo, "you're needed here. You've got a life here. You should stay. Don't give it up because of me."

"I'm not needed here," said Tammy, "I've already got a replacement and … I want to go with you!"

Raimundo sighed and then smiled at her.

"If you insist!" He said.

"I'll pack my things. Wait here!" Said Tammy.

Raimundo leaned back against the wall.

"Raimundo!" snapped a harsh voice.

Raimundo looked up. Kimiko was walking towards him.

"Where's Tammy?" She asked.

"Packing her things," said Raimundo.

"Excuse me?" Asked Kimiko.

"She's decided she wants to come with me," said Raimundo, shrugging.

"She can't go!" Said Kimiko, "We need her here!"

"Apparently she's already found a replacement." Said Raimundo.

"No one can handle her work except her." Said Kimiko, "She's our best communication's expert!"

"I'm afraid it's not your choice," Said Raimundo, "She wants to come with me, I said that if she insisted then she can come."

Kimiko breathed out sharply and glared at him.

"You don't really want her to come with you, do you?" Said Kimiko.

"Of course I do," said Raimundo, "Otherwise I wouldn't be letting her come."

"You're bringing her along to be spiteful!" Said Kimiko, "You can't get your way around here so you're taking her along to get your own back because you know we need her here!"

"I didn't ask her to come!" Said Raimundo, "But I'm glad she is! It's one thing to try and keep her around because you really need her, but it's another thing to try and stop her from coming because you're jealous of us!"

"I'm not jealous of you!" Shouted Kimiko.

"Then why can't you just be happy for me?" Asked Raimundo, "I'm just trying to live my life again! In case you hadn't noticed, I lost eight years of it making sure you didn't fall into that time rip!"

Kimiko glared at him.

"You need to stop thinking that everything revolves around you," She said, "It's about time you grew up for real!"

"I already have," said Raimundo, "But I was just about to say the same thing about you. You're so busy pretending to be this big important leader 'Nihon', that you've forgotten that you're really just Kimiko Tohomiko, that young Dragon of Fire. You're just a small little girl trying to pretend that you're not afraid anymore."

Kimiko blinked slowly and looked up at him.

"I am scared," Said Kimiko, "Is that what you want to hear? I'm terrified because everyday I wake up wondering if today is the day that Chase, Wuya and Omi are going to find us. Every night I have nightmares that they find us and kill them. Every last one of them and every night I used to have nightmares that they kill you and Yuuji. I'm so scared that days I don't have the strength to get up and drag myself to the office to find that Chase Young is that little bit closer to finding us out. So you think I can't admit that I'm scared? Well you're wrong, because I'm telling you now that every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every year, I'm so terrified I could just break down into tears."

Raimundo watched her closely, but didn't say anything.

"You can go or you can stay. It's not going to change what I think and I'm going to ask Tammy to stay, but it's her choice. If she doesn't want to stay then she can go with you, but eventually she's going to realise that you don't really love her and then she'll come back anyway." Said Kimiko, "but I'm am going to wish you luck and I hope that you stay, but I'm not going to ask you to. I still need someone to help me run this place and it's got nothing to do with anything that happened eight years ago."

Kimiko turned and Raimundo leaned against the wall and he watched her leave. A little further up the road he saw her stop Tammy. Tammy smiled and listened to what she had to say. She even looked sad at one point. Raimundo realised that Tammy also wanted to stay, but she also wanted to go with him. Did she really like him that much? She hardly knew him!

Tammy approached him and smiled.

"What did 'Nihon' have to say for herself?" He asked.

"She asked me to stay, but said that she wasn't going to make me stay here." Said Tammy, shrugging, "I said I was going with you."

Raimundo looked into those emerald green eyes and saw a certain sadness filling them.

"You don't want to leave," He said.

"I'll be sad to leave, but I want to go with you," She said.

Clay suddenly ran out of the building and looked relieved at the sight of him.

"Rai, we've got an emergency on the surface!" He said.

"Why are you telling me?" Asked Raimundo.

"Because we're the best for the job my friend," Said Clay, smiling.

Raimundo looked back at Tammy.

"You don't mind going back to the desk job for another couple of hours do you?" He asked.

"Of course not!" Said Tammy, running towards the headquarters.

"So what is it?" Asked Raimundo.

"Not sure yet, we've been signalled." Said Clay.

Raimundo rolled his eyes.

"Do you really need me for this?" He asked.

"It's either us two or they send out a group from their defences and lets face it," Clay winked, "We're could beat them no prob."

Raimundo shook his head and smiled before following Clay to get dressed in the ninja gear.

Omi stood tall in front of the small town. He looked around and signalled for the soldiers to follow him. The buildings were neglected and he could catch glimpses of people ducking back behind their curtains inside the houses as they attempted to hide, but he would only speak with them if he needed to.

He looked slowly from one side of the town to the other. This was where the lightning signal came from. He knew it was a mystical power; there was no real storm here. Which house had it come from though? He glared from building to building. Then he saw a small figure crouching down the side of one of the houses. He fixed his cold eyes upon the young person. He was in his teens; maybe a little older than he had been when he first started serving his master Chase Young.

"You, boy!" He said sharply.

The boy flinched and then stepped out into the light. He had brown hair and eyes and a determined look upon his face. He didn't want to appear weak in the face of these people.

"What is your name, boy?" Asked Omi.

"Yu … Yutaka!" Said the boy, attempting to sound normal, but there was a quaver in his voice.

"Yutaka," Said Omi, "I am Omi, chief of the Chase Young guard!"

"I know who you are!" snapped Yutaka.

"Then you know not to lie to me." Said Omi, "Do you know of any Rebellion settlements around here?"

"No!" Said Yutaka.

Omi fixed him with a cold stare. He couldn't be sure if this boy was lying or not. For some reason, he wanted to trust this boy's judgement, but then again, he could be saying this to protect the Rebellion. If he had never been told that there was a Rebellion settlement here, then he would not be to blame for lying.

"I'm going to ask you once more," Asked Omi, "Do you know of any Rebellion settlements around here?"

"I told you, no!" Said Yutaka.

Omi thought he sounded less certain this time. However, this must be overwhelming for him to be faced by a group of the Chase Young guard.

"Go," Said Omi and Yutaka began to run up the path.

He entered a house to their left and was gone.

"We'll start our search here," Said Omi.

He called out through out the silent village.

"People! I am Omi of the Chase Young guard," He announced, "Send out one member of your house hold to e questioned or face the consequences. Be assured, all members of this town will be questioned!"

No one came out of their houses, but more people appeared at the windows.

"If you do not come out, I will send my soldiers in the collect you by force!" Shouted Omi.

Slowly, more people appeared at the windows and the front doors began to open. People began filing onto the streets and lining up in front of the soldiers and Omi. He looked down at them and he felt a slight pang in his heart. These people were suffering and he felt sorry for them; this was a dangerous and forbidden emotion. He was supposed to be fearless leader! How could he feel so bad for causing these people misery when they had not raised their hands to join Chase Young when they still had the chance?

He approached the first person coldly and looked straight into his eyes. He was in his early twenties, had blonde hair that fell into his blue eyes which showed a glimmer of fear his defiant face was refusing to yield.

"What's your name?" Asked Omi.

"Akira Jonouchi." Said the man, not blinking in the slightest.

"Akira, have you ever noticed anyone unusual in your village?" Asked Omi.

"How do you mean 'unusual'?" Asked Akira.

"I mean people from The Rebellion!" Snapped Omi, "People who defy the word of Chase Young your ruler!"

"There is no Rebellion around here!" Said Akira.

Omi moved a little along the line, picking out the youngest members.

"Name?" He asked

"Katsuya Fukuda," Replied the man who was in his late teens and had black hair and eyes.

"Katsuya," Said Omi, "Do you know of any Rebellion around here?"

"There is no Rebellion around here!" Said Katsuya.

Omi spat on the ground and swore loudly.

"You people are lying to us!" He shouted, "We have reported sightings of Rebellion members entering and leaving this village!"

He turned to a girl in her late teens with braided black hair and blue eyes.

"Name!" He snapped.

"Ritsuko Toriyama," Said the girl quietly.

Omi spoke slowly in a warning voice.

"Ritsuko," He said, "Do you know of any Rebellion around here?"

"No!" Said Ritsuko, "There isn't any Rebellion around here!"

"You're a liar Ritsuko Toriyama," Said Omi, putting a finger under her chin and lifting her face to look into her eyes.

"No I'm not!" Said Ritsuko, "Who would I lie to you? Who do we have to protect? Why endanger the lives of our friends and families to protect strangers?"

Omi turned away and joined his hands behind his back.

"But what if they are not strangers?" Said Omi, "What if you were at one point in league with them, but when they changed their base, you decided that you wished to remain behind? What if, you are in fact still in contact with them and all you wish to do is delay us until they get here to fight us?"

No one said anything. Along the line, the old woman with the Thorn-Of-Thunderbolt well hidden within her home, closed her eyes and prayed that someone had noticed the signal.

"Who fired the lightening signal?" Said Omi harshly, spinning around to face them.

There still came no answer. Omi decided that now was the time for drastic measures. This was what he had been trained for. He pulled Ritsuko Toriyama out of line and pulled a gun out. He aimed it at the back of her head.

(A/N) sorry for not updating last weekend, I've been having the three weeks from hell, which you wouldn't believe. Anyway, I had a go at a one-shot horror story that I have uploaded to apologise for all the times I've missed out on a deadline.

Tell me what you think. Lots of luv, Becky.