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 Twenty

Sunday, December 25

1:00 A.M.

Warehouse 14

Smith and Thomas exited the warehouse via a rear staircase and retreated to Smith's truck. As soon as Smith sat down in the driver's seat he started laughing.

"Did you see his response? It was even better than I expected!"

Thomas shook his head and started playing with his zippo lighter. "You don't have any idea what that stuff does, do you?"

Smith glared at Thomas. "What does it matter? I know it is very excruciating and that's all that counts. I hope she suffers for a long time."

"Oh, she will. I've seen other people use that stuff before. The ones that die are far more fortunate."

Smith looked curiously at Thomas. "Really? What does it do?"

"Well, if he saved her before the fifteen second mark, The burning would last for hours, but no real serious damage would happen. After thirty seconds have passed, her internal organs and skin would have started to corrode and she would feel an extremely painful burning whenever she touches something. Anything after that I don't even want to think about describing."

Smith laughed again. "Since I locked the door, I'm assuming that it took Jack at least the better part of a minute to rescue them. It looks like he's going to find out what happens after thirty seconds."

Thomas glared at Smith. "You really are a gutless worm, aren't you?"

Smith stopped laughing immediately. "If I still didn't need your help--"

He was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Hello?"

"How is it coming?" the distorted voice asked.

"W-we had a little delay," Smith replied nervously.

"A delay?"

"Yes. A man by the name of Jack Wallace--"

"Jack Wallace? Do you still have custody of Kasumi?"

"Kasumi?" Smith asked. "Um....no. But--"

"You idiot! You have captured her twice and you can't even keep track of her for two days?! You are even more stupid than I realized. What about Ayane?"

Smith gulped. "If you are referring to the girl with purple hair, I'm afraid she's gone too. Jack has released them."

The line went quiet and Smith knew he was in trouble. "Both of them are gone," the voice said quietly.

"Y-yes, sir."

"How could you let one man destroy your entire operation?!"

"Y-you don't understand, sir. He had help. He brought three other men with him. It was unbelievable. They finished off my men like they were nothing. I had no other choice but to use the Completion on them.

"You used the Completion on Jack?"

Smith swallowed hard. "Um, not exactly."

"Don't even tell me that you used it on the girls."

Smith sighed. "Okay, I won't."

The distorted voice paused, then said, "I need that village, Smith. It looks like I'm going to have to come down there and do things myself."

"Why is the gold so important to you?"

"Gold? Do you honestly believe I would be doing this over something so trivial?"

"Yes?" Smith said in a unsure manner.

The voice laughed and sent chills up Smith spine. Then the line went dead.


Sunday, December 25

1:02 A.M.

Location Unknown

He hung up the phone and glanced out of the large window in front of him. Jack Wallace? I have heard that name somewhere. How is he involved? What are his motivations?

He sat down and powered up his computer. The Shinobi were far more important than Smith realized. He had fed him the gold story to get him motivated, but now the usefulness of that lie had ended. He called the airport and booked a flight to Hong Kong. It was time to start working on Dead or Alive 4. If they had managed to survive the Completion, he would get Kasumi and Ayane once they signed up, and if Jack interfered there, he would deal with him.


Sunday, December 25

1:04 A.M.

Organization Compound 32

Myamoto soon returned with a box of bottled water. He tossed one to Jack and put down the box.

Jack caught the bottle easily and opened it for Kasumi, and then handed it to her. She took the bottle with her quaking hands, and started gulping down the water. Jack was sure that she hadn't had anything to drink since she was taken about two days ago.

Hayabusa spotted Ayane trying to reach for the box of water. He grabbed one of the bottles and handed it to her. She looked at him as she grabbed the water, and they're eyes met. Hayabusa spotted many emotions behind those big amber eyes, but the one he recognized first was remorse. They both looked away at the same time.

Jack took the empty bottle from Kasumi's hand. "More?"

Kasumi shook her head. "No thanks." Her voice was small and weak.

"How long does this stuff last?" Jack asked to no one in particular.

Myamoto shrugged and took an empty vial off of a nearby shelf. "I don't know, but I want to take a sample for examination."

Jack nodded, then he turned back to Kasumi. "Do you feel strong enough to leave?"

Kasumi nodded slowly and wiped away a tear. "I want to try."

She stepped out of the frame, using Jack to keep her balance. He held her hand tightly and made sure she didn't fall, but she was very unstable. As she took a step forward, a unimaginably agonizing pain shot through her swollen hip, making her yelp loudly and fall. Jack caught her before she hit the ground. She cried and cried, seemingly incapable of controlling herself.

"I don't think you can walk. I'm going to have to carry you, but it's going to hurt. Is that okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay. I'll try to be as careful and as fast as I can."

Jack gently picked Kasumi up and quickly made his way down the stairs. He proceed past all of the dead mercenaries and broken computer consoles until he arrived at the elevator. Kasumi felt her skin burning against Jack's arms and her own clothes. She tried her best not to make any sounds, but she couldn't help but whimper, her hot tears also escaping her grasp.

Jack pushed the up arrow button on the elevator's control panel and hoped Kasumi wasn't in too much pain, but she was crying and he knew that she was hurting bad.

"I'm sorry, Kasumi."

She shook her head. "It's okay. There's no other way."

The elevator slowly climbed and soon it arrived back at the warehouse. The doors opened wide and Jack quickly returned to his Jeep. He was grateful the doors were still open and he placed her on the passenger seat. Kasumi winced when she was put down.

"Are you going to be okay?" Jack asked.

"I think so. The burning is starting to go away now."

Jack nodded and closed the door. He leaned against the side of the Jeep and hailed Myamoto who was with Hayabusa and Ayane.

"How are you guys coming along?" he asked.

"It going a little slow, Hayabusa is still helping Ayane down the stairs. She's too stubborn to let him carry her. Where are you guys?"

Jack depressed the button on the radio. "We're outside by the Jeep. Take as long as you need to."

"Okay. We'll probably be there in about fifteen minutes."

Jack put away the radio and glanced at Kasumi. All he wanted to do was give her a big hug and tell her everything would be okay. But he also knew that it would hurt her too much, and hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do.

He decided it would be best to be prepared, so he reloaded his pistol with a fresh clip, pocketing the empty one. He then realized he only had one clip left in his jacket. Well, twenty bullets should take care of almost anything, he thought.

Kasumi closed her eyes and thought about how much trouble she had caused. She had broken the most important promise she had made to herself. She promised herself that after she left the village, she wouldn't make any friends or get attached to anyone, knowing any relationship she would have could only be temporary. She didn't want to put anyone else in danger, and she didn't want anyone to share her fate as a runaway. But when Jack had started being her friend and showing his concern for her, she couldn't stop herself. She felt so alone and all she had wanted was someone to be with. Someone who actually would care about her. Jack had given her so much of his time and affection and she had gotten lost in the fun of it all. But then this happened and she now realized the error of her ways. She knew what she had to do, but could she do it?

"Kasumi, did you hear me?"

She opened her eyes and looked at Jack, tears building in them. "What?"

"I thought you said the burning was going away? What's wrong?"

Kasumi blinked and thought of a quick lie. "Um, it's my hip. Don't worry."

Jack nodded sadly. "Well, what I said was Ayane, Hayabusa, and Myamoto should be here shortly."

Kasumi nodded. The burning had reduced considerably, but it was still there, and her hip was still in very much pain. But that wasn't why she had been crying.


Smith glanced at Thomas. "Just tell me what the stuff does. I need to know."

"The Completion will do many terrible things after the thirty second mark, but the victim will not know what is going on. Unlike the fifteen second victims, the burning will go away more quickly and the initial symptoms will dissipate quickly. After that she'll feel better, in fact she'll feel almost normal. Then the real symptoms kick in."

Smith waited for Thomas to continue. "Then what?"

Thomas shrugged. "It's different for everyone. I can tell you what usually happens, but I don't want to. It's too awful. She won't die, but she'll wish she had."

Smith nodded. "Well, you-know-who wants to come over here and take over the operation. He wants the village. He says there's really no gold there, so there must be something else."

"Obviously."

Smith glared and started the truck. They needed to leave right away. As soon as he pulled around front, he spotted Jack talking with Kasumi near a green Jeep. He was tempted to try to retake the girl, but then Jack spotted him and all hell broke loose.


Jack spotted the truck quickly and he took careful aim at Smith. He squeezed off a shot, but the bullet was stopped by the bullet-proof glass of Smith's truck.

"Damn!" Jack said as he put away his gun. He would have to do this the hard way.

He ran at the truck as it pulled out and caught the tailgate. He heard Smith yell angrily, and then the truck started to swerve from side to side, preventing Jack from climbing any further.

"Let go you bloody yank!"

Jack ignored the passenger's remark and held on tightly. After about five seconds, he decided to let go before Smith took him too far away from Kasumi. She needed him right now and there was nothing that was going to keep him from being by her side. This time, she was going to stay safe. After he let go, he rolled in the street. Then he climbed to his feet, dusted off his jacket, and put away his gun. He then walked back to the Jeep and continued to wait for the rest of the group. Suddenly, something occurred to him.

"Where's Hayate?"

Kasumi quickly hid any signs of recognition. She didn't want Jack to know she knew anything about the Shinobi. "Who's that?"

"To be completely honest, I don't know. I just know that he's Shinobi. I wonder why they are so interested in taking down Smith?" Jack asked.

Kasumi knew that Hayate had only come because of Ayane. Jack could never know about her true origin. He obviously already knew Hayate was Shinobi, so if he ever found out they were related, bad things would happen. He also knew that Ayane was her sister, but he apparently didn't know that she was also Hayate's sister. That could also ruin everything.

"No one knows about the Shinobi's motives," Kasumi said.

"What do you know about the Shinobi?" Jack asked casually. "I hear they're some kind of mysterious group that tend to make people disappear."

Kasumi looked at Jack. "Not much," she lied, "I know just about as much as you do."

"I figured you'd say that," Jack paused a moment. "How do you think Ayane's doing?"

Kasumi looked back to the warehouse doors. "I don't know. She never talks to me. I wish..."

Jack waited for Kasumi to go on. "What?"

"I wish she could just forgive me. She doesn't have to be my friend," Kasumi wiped her face, "but I just want her to stop hating me."

Jack was very curious. "What happened between you two?"

Kasumi sighed sadly. "I have no idea what I did wrong. Before I left the vil--"

She quickly stopped herself. What have I done? she thought. "Before I left home, we were friends, but after that..."

Jack nodded. He noticed Kasumi's hesitation but he decided not to read into it. He thought it would be a good time to change the subject.

"Do you think you need to go back to the hospital?"

Kasumi shook her head. "I think I'll be okay. What about you? Are you okay?"

Jack looked puzzled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because Smith had your apartment bugged. He let me listen to a recording of you talking about me. You sounded drunk."

Jack looked a little embarrassed. "I kind of lost it when you were taken from the hospital. I thought I would never see you again and I guess I was just trying to drown out the pain."

Kasumi was just about to respond when the radio in Jack's hand came on.

"Hey, Jack, we're on our way out. Could you drive the Jeep up to the front of the building. Hayabusa doesn't think Ayane can walk much further."

Jack depressed the button. "No problem."

Jack gave the radio to Kasumi and walked around to the driver's side of the green vehicle. Once he pulled up to the door, he spotted Ayane leaning against Hayabusa and slowly limping towards the Jeep. She looked like she could fall over at any moment.

Jack got out and leaned his seat as far forward as it would go. Hayabusa helped Ayane climb into the back and then he turned to Jack and Myamoto, who had just walked up.

"Jack, I want you to take everyone back to your apartment. I need to see where Hayate went. I'll meet you in the morning."

"Are you sure you don't want to come back tomorrow to find him?"

Hayabusa shook his head. "He may have found something useful, or he may be in trouble. It's best if I stay here."

Jack waved Myamoto inside the Jeep and started it up. He waved at Hayabusa and started on his way back home.

After about five minutes Myamoto leaned forward. "Hey, can we swing by my place real quick. I need to get something."

"I was going to drop you off there anyway."

Myamoto shook his head. "I think it would be best if I hung around your place until Hayate and Hayabusa return. It couldn't hurt to have some extra help, right?"

Jack nodded. "Sure. I guess that's a pretty good idea."

He glanced at his watch when he arrived at Myamoto's. It was almost one thirty, and everyone was clearly exhausted. He wondered what Myamoto was getting, but decided to wait until everyone was at his place before he would ask. Then he looked at Kasumi who had peacefully drifted to sleep in the seat next to him. She looked so beautiful and he wondered, not for the first time, why anyone would want to do something like this to her. He took of his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, shielding her form the harsh winter air. And then he continued to wait for Myamoto.

Myamoto rummaged through the pile of papers on his desk until he found what he had been looking for. He knew he had heard the name Ayane somewhere before and he had a pretty good idea of where he heard it. Then he found the list of names he had gotten from the disk. It had seemed like months since he had looked at the information, but in reality it had only been a matter of days. He gathered the large group of papers into a neat stack and then he placed them in a file folder. After wrapping the folder with a rubber band he walked back out to the Jeep.

"It's about time. What took you so long?" Jack asked.

Myamoto shrugged. "I'm a very unorganized person. I need to show you something when we get back to your place."

Jack started the Jeep again. "Whatever."

Soon, Jack pulled into the familiar lot behind his building and turned off the car. He let Myamoto get out and then he handed him the key to his apartment.

"Go unlock the door. I'll take care of the girls."

Myamoto took the keys and nodded. Jack turned back to the Jeep. He decided to wake Ayane first because she was able to stand on her own.

Jack gently tapped Ayane on the shoulder. "Ayane, wake up. We're here."

Ayane groggily opened her eyes. "Leave me alone."

"Come on. You'll feel better when we get inside, I promise."

Ayane looked at Jack irritably and sighed. "Fine."

Jack helped her to get out. Ayane leaned against the side of the Jeep. She felt so tired she thought she could collapse right there.

Jack made sure Ayane was stable before getting Kasumi. He saw no sense in waking her up, since she couldn't walk anyway, so softly picked her up and shut the door with his foot. Then he began walking towards his apartment building.

Ayane started to limp after him but she soon stumbled and fell to the ground. Jack heard the noise and turned around to find Ayane crawl to her knees and wipe away a stray tear.

Jack walked back to her. "Lean on me. It will make things a lot easier."

Ayane was about to argue, but she realized that she didn't really have a choice. She sighed and climbed to her feet. Then she used Jack's shoulder for balance, being very careful not to jar Kasumi.

They slowly made their way to the elevators in the lobby of his building.

"I'm on the third floor." Jack said. He would have pressed the button himself, but his hands were full.

Ayane pressed the button and waited as the elevator slowly climbed to the third floor. The doors opened and they all made their way down the narrow hallway to Jack's place.

"Myamoto, open the door." Jack said loudly.

The door swung open and Myamoto quickly stepped out of the way when he saw Jack carrying Kasumi in his arms.

Jack took the still sleeping Kasumi back to his room and lay her down on the soft warm bed. After removing her black shoes and placing an extra pillow under her sore hip, he covered her with his thick blue comforter and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Kasumi."

Jack then walked back out to the living room, where Myamoto had already helped Ayane to the recliner.

"I don't think I've ever had so many guests," Jack said. "Myamoto, help me fold out the couch for Ayane."

"Sure," Myamoto said.

When the couch had been unfolded, Jack turned to Ayane and helped her onto the bed. He then walked back to the closet where he had put Kasumi's things and grabbed a thick blanket and two pillows. When he returned to the living room, Ayane had already taken off her shoes and was laying on her back. He placed the pillows behind her head and spread the blanket over her.

"Are you comfortable?"

Ayane gave a simple nod in response.

"Good. Sleep well, Ayane," Jack said as he turned out the lights.

"Thanks." she said.

"You're welcome. Now, get some sleep."

He then walked into the kitchen. Myamoto followed carrying his folder.

"Who is that girl?" Myamoto asked.

"Ayane is Kasumi's sister."

Myamoto looked surprised. "She's Kasumi's sister? That makes this news a lot worse, Jack."

Jack looked at Myamoto with a puzzled expression. "What's the big problem?"

"I have something to tell you and it might not be easy to hear."

Jack filled a mug full of coffee and took a seat as his kitchen table. "That's what you keep saying. Will you hurry up and spit it out?"

Myamoto opened the folder and handed it to him. "See for yourself."