DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY DEAD OR ALIVE CHARACTER. THOSE CHARACTERS BELONG TO TECMO, LTD. AND TEAM NINJA. I AM IN NO WAY INTENDING ANY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND I'M NOT MAKING A PROFIT FROM THE USE OF THESE CHARACTERS. ANY CHARACTER NOT A PART OF DEAD OR ALIVE IS MINE AND MINE ALONE.

Chapter Nine

Friday, December 16

9:27 P.M.

Forest Park

Jack had taken Hayabusa back to his apartment to eat lunch at around one thirty or two o'clock. As they ate, they discussed the information Myamoto had disclosed to Jack over the phone. They each shared almost everything they knew about the woods, arguing only a few times.

A couple hours after nightfall, they were finally on their way to the forest, each man having a clear idea of where they were going to search and what they would do if they found anything important..

Jack parked his Jeep off to the side of the muddy forest path, not far from where Kasumi had gone missing. The rain had slowed and the clouds were beginning to separate, which would make it easier for him to search the area. He glanced at his glowing blue watch and turned to Hayabusa.

"It's about nine thirty, so we're going to need to hurry if we want to find anything tonight. Myamoto said that the transmissions were being directed somewhere into these woods. I think we should split up and meet back here at midnight," Jack said.

Hayabusa nodded. "Good plan. I'll check out the west side of the woods, and you go east. If your friend is right about the tunnels, there has to be an entrance around here somewhere."

Jack took off his wristwatch and gave it to Hayabusa. "Remember, midnight. If you're not here I'm leaving without you."

"If anyone's going to be late, it will probably be you." Hayabusa said as he grabbed the watch. "How are you going to tell what time it is?"

Jack pointed at his jacket pocket. "My phone tells time. Now get moving. We don't have much time," Jack said as he climbed out of the Jeep.

He turned on his black pen light and scoured the woods for anything helpful, not finding any entrances or caves that would lead to an underground base. If Kasumi were here, she could probably find an entrance in no time, but if she were here Jack wouldn't be in this mess. He shook away his sad thoughts and concerns, and concentrated all of his energy on finding a clue of some sort.

Without warning, something flashed in Jack's peripheral vision and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He took out his black 9mm and walked stealthily towards the spot where he had heard the sound, making sure to be extra quiet. The rain had driven many animals into hiding, so he doubted it was just a wolf or something, but what else could it be?

"Kasumi?" Jack whispered cautiously. "Is anyone out there?"

After half an hour of looking for something he wasn't even sure was there, Jack decided to refocus his attention on looking for a tunnel entrance again. Distractions weren't something he could afford right now.

It was almost ten forty-five when Jack stumbled upon a ranger station. He guessed that if someone were to put a tunnel entrance somewhere, he would most likely put it inside an inconspicuous building, like a park ranger facility.

Jack walked up to the door of the darkened cabin and tried the door. It was locked, and this door was much stronger than the ones he had broken earlier. Jack grinned and decided to try a more forceful means of entry. He stood back and fired two quick shots into the lock, decimating it. The door slowly swung open and Jack walked in like he owned the place. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but that was to be expected. After all, there wouldn't be any neon arrows telling him where to look. He walked up to a bookshelf containing all kinds of books on local wildlife and forest fire prevention and knocked all of the books to the floor, hoping to find a secret button. When he didn't, Jack pushed the bookshelf aside and examined the newly exposed wall. There were no cracks or handles that would activate a door, so he moved onto the desk at the opposite end of the room. Quickly, he emptied all of the drawers and moved the desk to check for a trap door or something.

"Nothing," he muttered to himself. "This is just peachy."

Suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked behind him. He slowly raised his hands and began to turn around.

"Don't move." a strong voice said from behind him.

Jack froze immediately, cursing himself for being so reckless.


Hayabusa wasn't having any better luck than Jack. He had noticed several places that could have been entrances, but they were all dead ends. He checked the watch that Jack had given him and noticed that it was already eleven. Calmly, he placed the timepiece in his satchel. He had been searching for almost two hours and had found absolutely nothing.

Hayabusa looked up as something glinted off his flashlight in a nearby tree. He paused a moment before deciding to take a look at whatever was in the tree and give looking for an entrance a rest. Hayabusa thought the whole idea of secret tunnels was ridiculous, but he really didn't have any better ideas, and Hayate was depending on him. But maybe whatever was in the tree would give him some answers.

He climbed the tree quickly with all the skill of a ninja and discovered something strange among the many leaves.

"What is this," he said to himself as he picked up the strange gadget.

It looked like a small camera, but what would they be doing way out here in the forest? Hayabusa pocketed the camera and bathed the surrounding trees with his flashlight. There were several more glimmers in the area and he managed to recover about twenty more cameras from among the wet leaves.

Hayabusa thought about the devices and why someone would cover the forest with them. It made no sense. Then he remembered the list Jack had been reading the night he had met him. Of course! The list of descriptions had been made by the cameras. It made perfect sense, although the news was disturbing. Hayate would be distressed on hearing about this, but apparently the cameras were just to catalogue the Shinobi, not to find them. This must be how Kasumi was caught. She wouldn't have been expecting an attack by anyone but the Shinobi, so she would have been easily captured by these new foes.

Hayabusa decided he should probably to get back to looking for the tunnels. He needed to find this new enemy's headquarters, before it was too late. This strange new foe was more dangerous than he had anticipated. If they could afford to buy all these cameras and place them in the woods, they would eventually find the Shinobi. Unless he stopped them.

Jack slowly raised his hands in the air and turned to face the man with the shotgun.

"I'm looking for something. Do you know if there's any tunnels around here?" Jack asked the park ranger. He felt like a complete idiot.

The ranger laughed. "Are you drunk, man? There isn't any tunnels around here."

"There has to be! I have reliable information that there are large empty spaces underneath this area. It's very important that I find out how to reach them." Jack looked at the ranger's name tag. "Mr. Smith, I think we can work something out."

The ranger shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

Jack argued as the ranger drove him back to his Jeep at the entrance of the park on a small motorbike, but it wasn't having any effect. In fact it only made Jack sound more and more like a fool.

"You can stay out here, but if you go back into the forest, I'm going to call the police."

With those words, the ranger got back on his small bike and drove back into the woods. Jack angrily tossed a rock into the trees after him, and then he grabbed his cell phone from his jacket pocket. It was almost eleven thirty, and he hadn't found any sign of Kasumi, or the tunnels. He decided he would crank up his stereo and wait for Hayabusa.


Saturday, December 17

12:58 A.M.

Forest Park

Kasumi had finally made it to the edge of the woods, and not a moment too soon. Her injured leg was killing her, and the serious gashes in her shoulder, waist and legs had reopened, soaking her makeshift bandages with blood. The blanket had long ago become waterlogged from all the times she had fallen into puddles and mud, making it useless for keeping her warm any longer. She held back her tears as she continued to limp into the clearing, feeling weak and more alone than any other time since she had left the village.

As she made her way out towards the open ground, Kasumi heard the sound of loud American rock music blaring in the distant parking area. Filled with relief, she decided that maybe she could get a ride to the hospital from whoever was listening to the music. Suppressing the excruciating pain she was feeling, Kasumi dragged herself towards the sound.

When she spotted Jack's familiar Jeep sitting in the empty lot, she almost completely forgot about her pain. Desperately, she tried to yell out to him and get his attention, but she was too far too weak and barely managed to let out a scratchy whisper. His radio was too loud, anyway. The Jeep was roughly a hundred feet ahead of her, but she was so exhausted and in so much pain, that it would probably take her at least ten or fifteen minutes to get there.

She hobbled as fast as she could on her good leg towards Jack, feeling overwhelmed with awe and affection. He had come to look for her! She was so happy to have someone that cared about her, and didn't want to get rid of her. She didn't have any true friends, despite her kind and caring spirit. She had made friends with some of the girls on Zack Island nearly half a year before, but that had been only temporary. Before Jack came along she was all by herself. Hayabusa had looked out for her a couple of times, but she never really thought he truly cared. He merely looked out for her to honor Hayate's request, but Jack had come to look for her by himself with genuine concern motivating his actions. It moved her deeply to see that someone would do that for her, even though it seemed like such a simple act.

She tried to call to Jack once more, but again she couldn't raise her voice.


Jack looked at the canvas roof of his Jeep Wrangler as he listened to his favorite band, Lostprophets. He could never find any good American music in Japan, so he ordered almost all of his music off of the Internet. Kasumi had always thought what he listened to was strange for music, but Jack had thought the same about what she liked.

"Kasumi....where are you?" Jack whispered sadly, feeling like he had failed her miserably in her time of need.

It was almost one in the morning and Jack started his Jeep to leave. He couldn't believe that Hayabusa hadn't shown up on time. He seemed so strict to his word. Maybe he had found something, and if he did, Jack would hear about it tomorrow. But for now he was too sleepy to wait any longer. He turned on his heaters and began to pull out of the empty parking area.


Kasumi watched in horror as the green Jeep roared to life and began to pull away.

"Jack, don't go!" she sobbed hoarsely, but it was no use. "Don't leave me here..."

She stumbled on and dived directly in front of Jack's bright headlights. She landed hard on her hip, and nearly screamed when she hit the soggy ground. The sheer, mind-numbing pain she was feeling was enough to make her lose consciousness, but she had to endure just a little longer.

To her relief, the Jeep suddenly stopped.

Kasumi slowly closed her eyes and let out a weak sigh, trying once again to climb to her feet, but there was simply no more energy left in her battered legs. They refused to move and she was stuck lying in the cold wet grass. But she refused to give up, so she kept trying to move even though it was hopeless, drowning out her agony with her will to survive.


Jack turned down his loud stereo, scanning the area in front of him with keen interest. He thought he saw something big move in the distance in front of him, but now it was hidden in the grass. Then he spotted someone struggling to climb to their feet. As he focused harder he saw that it was a girl with long red hair, only a tattered brown blanket keeping her warm.

"Kasumi!"

He turned off his Jeep and left the headlamps on, bathing the area in their bright beams. He immediately saw that something was seriously wrong with his friend, realizing that she seemed to be unable to walk.

"Oh, no!" He jumped out of the Jeep and ran towards her.


Duncan removed the tan ranger hat he had been wearing. The disguise had worked perfectly! The drunk in the small cabin had thought he was a real ranger, and so would his target. Smith had given him specific orders and he was going to carry them out to the letter.

He got off the bike and walked out into the clearing towards the devastated girl who was trying frantically to stand up. She looked much worse than when he had last seen her. Her clothes were shredded and stained bright red with her vital fluids, and he didn't even want to think about what she must've been through.

"Hello!" he called out.

Kasumi stopped her pathetic struggle to move, looking away from Jack, and to the park ranger approaching her. She couldn't answer back, so she simply raised her left arm in acknowledgment. It was obvious that she didn't recognize him.

Duncan took out his silver revolver and walked closer. "Are you all right? You look seriously injured."

The ravaged girl never responded as she tried and failed to crawl to her feet once again. She seemed to be favoring her left side considerably, and Duncan could easily see why. There was a streak of crimson running down her right arm from a dripping blood stained bandage on her shoulder, and he noticed as he drew closer that her midsection and thighs were also bleeding profusely through some shoddy medical dressings. Duncan walked within ten feet of her when she finally recognized him.

"You!" she whispered, half afraid and half furious.

"We meet again. Such a lovely night isn't it? I didn't think the clouds would clear up so quickly." Duncan said. He sounded almost friendly.

Kasumi noticed the gun in his right hand and swallowed hard, tears gathering in her pleading copper eyes, and she felt in the bottom of her shattered heart that it was all over.


Jack continued to run towards Kasumi, ecstatic that she was still alive. The park ranger he had been talking to earlier was now kneeling at her side talking to her. Things were finally starting to look up.

But as he drew closer to her, he didn't fail to notice Kasumi's reaction to the man. He was surprised to see that she was acting terrified of him, and she tried even harder to run away. As he continued his approach, Jack could hear her voice, and she was clearly crying and pleading for her life. He watched in pure confusion as the ranger stood up and looked down at his struggling friend, something dark written on his face. It was at that exact moment that Jack realized something terrible was about to happen.

Kasumi looked away from the ranger and towards Jack, trying to say something, but he was still to far away to understand what she was trying to tell him. Kasumi was frantically trying to crawl to him, desperate to get away from the man towering over her.

Then he watched in horrified dismay as the ranger calmly fired a shot into her with a silver revolver. As the boom from the large gun died away, he heard Kasumi's agonized scream echo through the woods, and then she stopped trying to get up and became very still. He pulled his own gun out as she limply collapsed to the forest floor. The ranger chuckled as he raised his weapon once more.


Duncan had shot her in the stomach and he watched with cold amusement as she writhed in unimaginable and vicious agony on the cold muddy ground at his feet, her blood gushing into an ever increasing pool beneath her battered quaking body.

Kasumi moaned loudly from the burning pain and tightly clutched her abdomen with both hands, making a pathetic effort to stop the red liquid from oozing between her shaking fingers and dripping into the grass.

"Please...." she choked sadly. "Don't....shoot...." her weak voice fading away as she coughed loudly. Panic rushed through her when she tasted her own blood in the back of her sore throat.

Duncan wiped the warm scarlet liquid from his still grinning face and looked down at the quaking girl's grief-stricken form, knowing she was truly broken inside. Her hopelessness was entertaining to him.

He laughed victoriously. "You didn't actually think you would survive did you?"

Kasumi coughed again, causing her to cry out in anguish, this time a small amount of blood dribbling down her chin from the corners of her mouth.

"No...." she sobbed, defeat etched into her voice.

Duncan never stopped smiling as he calmly pointed the large gun at her head, slowly squeezing the trigger--

"Noooo!!!"

Duncan's shot missed and hit Kasumi in her bandaged right shoulder, causing her to scream once again as the hot bullet pierced her skin, making more of her vital juices splatter onto him. He looked up at the raging man running towards him.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Jack yelled as he charged in a pure rage at the 'park ranger.'

Duncan was thrown off guard and recklessly fired his weapon at Jack, hoping to take him out quickly so he could finish the weeping girl at his feet, who was now struggling to maintain her breath.

Jack yelled angrily as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder but it didn't slow him down. He tackled the Duncan at full speed and pounded him in the face with the butt of his pistol, busting his lip and shattering a tooth. Duncan rolled out from underneath the deranged man and spit out his tooth.

Jack had knocked Duncan's gun away and he couldn't find it. Then he watched as this strange new guy charged at him again, seemingly unstoppable. Duncan rolled to the side and Jack sailed over him. But Jack quickly rolled to his feet at the same time Duncan climbed to his, ready to fight. He then punched Duncan in the face with a hard right hook, following it up with a wicked left cross.

However, Duncan was a large man, and he took the punches well. After he steadied himself, he yelled angrily at Jack and tried to kick his legs out from under him. Reflexively, Jack leaped over his furious kick and delivered a solid blow of his own to Duncan's chest, knocking the big man down. Jack recovered his balance and pointed his pistol at Duncan.

Duncan laughed. "Go ahead. I'm as good as dead anyway. I failed."

"If you had any idea how close I am to pulling this trigger right now, you wouldn't have said that. Now get up and fight like a man," Jack said with an ice cold voice.

Duncan felt around for his gun and finally found it. "Screw you," he said as he raised his revolver.

Jack fired one shot into Duncan's arm, making him drop the gun. Then his anger took over and he emptied the every single one of the ten rounds in his clip into Duncan's body, and watched as the large man fell over. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Jack was shocked at what he had just done, but he quickly shook it off and walked over to where Kasumi's crumpled and tattered body was lying in a massive lake of her own blood. She was covered with dark bruises and her midsection was a gory mess, still oozing with crimson. The once white T-shirt she was wearing was now dark red and almost completely shredded apart. Her once long skirt was in the same poor condition, now barely the size of a miniskirt.

She looked up at him with large tears streaming down her face. "Jack...it hurts....so....much. I....I....," she sobbed. She let out a puny cough and wailed loudly in horrible agony from the pain it brought her, even more blood spurting from between her soft pink lips.

Jack knew her chances were small, but he couldn't let her see that she was dying. And he wouldn't accept it, either, even though it was apparent that she was indeed slipping away.

He knelt down by her side and took her hand in his own. "Kasumi, don't worry. You're gonna be fine."

Kasumi tried to squeeze Jack's warm hand, but her fingers were numb and stiff. "I'm going....to....die....aren't I?"

Jack shook his head with tears glistening in his brown eyes. "No. No, you'll be fine. I'm going to get you to a hospital and everything's going to be okay, I promise."

She let out a desperate and frightened whimper as her vision began to fade. "I-I'm sorry....b-but....I can't...."

"Hold on, Kasumi! You can't die on me!"

Jack was filled with a deep, dark anger. Who would do this to a girl like Kasumi? She was innocent and kind, but someone had obviously tortured her for no apparent reason he could discern. So many things could've happened to her while she was held captive, it was hard for him to even think about it without losing himself in a dark seething rage.

Kasumi looked at Jack with a blank expression on her face, her once bright eyes glazing over. "Don't....let....them....," she gasped in sharp, quick breaths, "Don't let them...take...me...again...."

She was pale, wet, and shivering. Jack took off his leather jacket and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, discarding the blood drenched and cold blanket. "You're safe now. Just hang on a little longer."

Kasumi managed to nod slightly.

Then Jack gently scooped her up into his warm strong arms and quickly carried her back to his Jeep, soaking his green shirt with her blood. He was going to have to hurry, for Kasumi's light was fading fast, and soon it would be too late for her.