Shit, Jin thought, as the elevator made its way up, creating a distinct whirring sound. He quickly looked around the room. The bodies of their opponents were sprawled across the floor, and the floor was covered in debris from their battle. His eyes quickly averted from the floor to the windows.

"Is there some kind of fire-escape outside the window?" Jin asked desperately.

"We're on the 35th floor, Jin!" Ling cried with exasperation.

Julia pointed to the door marked in red across the door to the elevator. "That's the fire-escape staircase, but if we open it, the alarm for the entire building will be set off, and they'll know that we have gone down that way," Julia reasoned with only a hint of worry in her tone.

"Do any of you remember how many are coming up? Do you think we can take them?" As Ling said this, suddenly her side ached, a reminder of the condition that she was in and perhaps her body's own response to the question.

Julia turned her head to face Ling, "Three more that were in the room before are coming up, but there might be additional people who didn't come up beforehand…if it came to that, I could take some I guess," she said feebly.

"No, we have to get out of here," Jin replied, trying to reason with the girls.

"Well…right now, the situation doesn't look like that is an immediate option," Julia responded. She scratched the top of her head while looking at the display above the elevator. It's already at the 10th floor…time is running out!

"Whatever we do…we better decide quickly!" exclaimed Ling as she pointed to the display, as if Julia and her minds were connected.

Suddenly, Jin thought of something. Thinking that his plan would work, he scanned the floor of the penthouse again for the gun that the leader had dropped. He rushed over to the gun and checked the magazine clip. Only one bullet was missing. Good…this should be more than enough. Hopefully, it won't have to come to that, though, Jin worried.

"Guys, get some weapons. Hopefully, we can scare them off with 'em," Jin explained.

"I'm not sure if this'll work," Julia voiced apprehensively, walking over to the knife that her opponent had been armed with. "I don't even know how to use this!"

"I guess you don't have to know how, but look like you do," Ling explained as she jogged over to her friends, wielding the nunchaku and flailing them in a truly foolish manner.

Shit…this isn't going to work Jin thought, as he saw Julia hold the knife as if a flesh-eating virus inhabited the tip, and as Ling played with the nunchaku like a toy. I myself have never fired a gun before. What do I know about guns, other than Ling's damned paintball guns that I still can't hit anything with.

"Guys…as soon as it is reasonably safe, we make a bee-line to the elevator," Jin explained. Why does this plan sound more pathetic than when I thought of it a couple of seconds ago?

Jin looked up at the display above the elevator, reading "32", with an arrow pointing upward.

"All right guys, look the part, and remember the plan." Jin explained, making an effort to sound calm. He continued to stare at the elevator display.

33rd floor…

34th floor…

35th floor…here it is

Once again, the elevator's ding rang throughout entire penthouse. After an additional second of agonizing waiting, the whir of the elevator stopped, further underscoring the elevator's arrival. The shiny silver doors of the elevator separated by a mere 10 centimeters when something was thrown into the room, landing at the feet of the group. As the black tube made impact with the ground, a loud hiss suddenly filled the room. In a second and a half, the room was filled with a thick smoke.

Fuck…a smoke bomb! This is definitely not-- Jin didn't get to finish his thought as a fist emerged from the smoke in front of him and hit him in his jaw, dropping the gun in his hand. Jin fell to the ground, trying to find his unseen attacker. Out of the corner of his eye, Jin saw a foot coming from the smoke, trying to strike him in the ribs. With great dexterity, Jin grabbed both sides of the foot before it made contact and twisted it, throwing his attacker off balance. He heard the thump of his attacker hitting the ground next to him. He quickly snapped his foot back and kicked the man's face. The man screamed in anguish, his face contorted from the pain. He covered his nose with his hands, with blood flowing freely between his fingers.

Jin let out an searching plea, "Guys, where are you!"

Amidst the chaos, Jin heard a response. "Jin, get to the elevator!" Ling screamed.

Jin got up from the ground and ran to what he thought was the direction of the elevator. After searching the wall, he finally found it and entered the small space.

Jin quickly pressed the "Ground Floor" button. As if responding, "Yes Master," the elevator's mechanism began to close the door promptly. Simultaneously, Ling screamed at Jin, "What are you doing!"

Jin faced her, annoyed. "I'm trying to save our fuckin' lives! Do you want to die!" Jin yelled angrily.

Ling pushed Jin aside and fumbled for the "Open Door" button. Some of the smoke had entered the elevator and clouded her vision. Deciding there wasn't enough time for idleness, Ling mashed all of the buttons on the panel, hoping for the right button.

Suddenly, the elevator gave way, heading downward. In addition to the reduced feeling of weight as it went down, Ling's stomach dropped. She faced Jin with a face of pure terror.

"What the fuck were you trying to do?" Jin demanded. "Why in the hell did you want to open the door?"

"Jin," she stammered, with her voice escalating, "Julia is still in the penthouse!"

Jin looked around the oversized elevator in disbelief, although he knew he wouldn't find his new friend, the Native American girl, Julia. Oh my god…

"We have to get back up there!" Jin yelled. He bent over the panel and quickly jabbed at the already lit up "Penthouse" button. To Jin's shock, the elevator continued to go down. He punched the button repeatedly, hoping for a different result each time.

"It's going to go down to the ground floor before going back up!" Ling cried.

"Shit!" Jin yelled in frustration and exasperation, punching the wall of the elevator.


After striking her opponent with a quick jab, Julia heard the unmistakable ding of the private elevator, and suddenly, her face filled with horror. Did they leave? Julia asked herself apprehensively, her mind unsure if she wanted to know the answer. Julia's second opponent saw an opening in her offense, and threw a right hook aimed at Julia's face.

She noticed the man's attack too late, and set up a weak block. Her opponent's punch broke through her block, and she fell over sideways from the momentum and force behind the unexpected punch. With expert agility, however, she quickly placed her feet underneath her body in mid-air and positioned her body in a crouch. Julia took the opportunity to kick the man's unguarded shins, disabling him in a fit of pain. Before the man could react, she launched herself with her hands, feet first, flying upwards towards his chest. He faltered at the unexpected attack and Julia landed on his chest. The man fell to the floor, clutching the breast of his fake uniform in pain as she jumped off of him.

That isn't going to keep him down forever…I have to find a way out, Julia thought.

She raised her arms in front of her, unable to see in front of her. Tears streamed down her eyes as gas became caught between her contact lenses and her pupil. She periodically had to wipe them away, and she knew that if she didn't get out of the smoke soon, the tears would prevent her from seeing all-together.

She felt around the walls, and to her horror, she felt the cold metal of the elevator doors. They really did leave without me, Julia began to panic. She jabbed at the elevator call button, but when the doors didn't immediately open, it only affirmed her worst suspicions. She pounded the door in frustration, as tears of panic rushed down her face.

Get yourself together, Julia. They probably didn't mean it she attempted to rationalize, get yourself out of here…these people are trying to kill you!

Collecting herself, Julia felt around the edge of the walls for the other door. This is the only chance I have. After what seemed like hours of searching through the blinding fog, Julia finally found what she was looking for. The metal bar that acted as a doorknob felt cool to the touch. As soon as you open this door, you better get your ass down those stairs as fast as you can Julia tried to motivate herself. Suddenly, she heard a groan from the man that she had knocked down. Looking back, she saw that he was almost back to his feet, with his fake red and black Mishima Hotel uniform looking tattered and disheveled.

It's now or nothing. Here you go Julia.

She pressed upon the door with all of her weight, and took in the dark corridor. A split-second later, a loud fire-alarm siren rang throughout the staircase. Instinctively, she closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears, but she put her hands by her side quickly and made her way down the long staircase that made a serpentine path from the four walls of the passage all the way to the bottom.

As Julia ran down the stairs, she heard the yell of the man behind her, although she couldn't make out what he was saying with the blaring alarm. At an alarming rate, guests from the hotel, clad in normal tourist clothes, began filtering through to the fire-escape staircase and soon, they began to block Julia's path down to the bottom.

"Excuse me. Pardon me. I'm sorry. Sorry about that." Julia repeated after every brush against a stray shoulder and every foot she accidentally stepped on. The people looked at the young Native American with contempt as she rudely tried to make her way past them.

Hopefully those bastards I used to think were my friends die in that elevator Julia thought as she passed a little kid.

Don't say that…I'm sure they are your friends. It was probably a misunderstanding an opposing voice said within her mind.

Bullshit! How could they not notice I wasn't in there! They obviously thought I was expendable this entire time replied an unfamiliar, vicious Julia. Julia attempted to push that ugly voice away with all of her power. She didn't want to think those horrible thoughts anymore. Suddenly, the voice faded away, and the usual reasonable voice in Julia's head took back the reigns in Julia's mind.

As Julia jumped from the middle step in the staircase to the next landing, she tried to calm herself down. She looked back up the fire-escape, and couldn't see her assailant anywhere. Good…let's keep it that way she thought as she skipped another couple of steps to plant her mud-caked school boots on the next landing. As she passed a door, she looked at the placard next to it. It read "Floor 32". Great… she thought, just spectacular. Three stories down, thirty-two to go…


As soon as the fire alarm began its deafening shout of warning, the private elevator lurched to a stop. Jin and Ling looked around, covering their ears from the loud racket.

After an awkward silence, Ling tried to begin conversation, "At least we know Julia is alive," she muttered.

"Or they killed Julia, noticed that we took the elevator, and are trying to trap us by stopping the elevator with the fire alarm, and it's all my fault because I couldn't take one second to find her," Jin whispered meekly.

Ling looked away from her friend's sad face. Jin looked utterly defeated. He might be right… Even though emotion protested, her head knew that Jin's morbid scenario might be possible. She was about to look back and protest in an attempt to boost morale, but Jin looked…

Pathetic…he's already given up Ling thought. She looked down at her school uniform. Somehow, someone's blood made splotches of stains on her vest and skirt. Oh wait… she looked at her arm, and noticed that the blood was her own. She suddenly remembered that when the fake hotel workers ambushed them from the elevator, somebody had slashed her arm. Without thinking, she applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

After another uncomfortable silence, Jin finally looked up at Ling. "Xiao, I'll give you a boost, and you try to see if any of those ceiling panels will come loose," Jin said with a soft tone. Ling looked up at him with surprise in her face. "I've seen it done in movies all the time," he continued.

"Umm…sure, sounds like a plan, but don't look up my skirt," Ling said with a trace of a smirk to lighten the mood, still startled. She kicked off her school boots and took Jin's hand as he lifted her on his shoulders.

"This is neither the time nor the place for jokes," Jin replied without the slightest hint of jest in his tone. Ling made her way to Jin's shoulders, and, finding her balance, stood straight up with her hands outstretched. Jin held her feet to his shoulders for added support.

"I…can't…reach…" Ling strained, as she tiptoed on Jin's thick shoulders to try to touch the top panels.

"Jump, or something," encouraged Jin.

"I'll fall!" Ling protested.

"I'll catch you if you do, I swear, Xiao," Jin responded.

Still unconvinced, Ling made a small, half-hearted hop on Jin's shoulders to try to reach the panel.

"I still can't reach," Ling explained.

Just as Jin hung his had and was about to let go of Ling's feet so she could step down, she interrupted, "Try stepping on my shoes or something. That might give me the centimeters I need to get up there."

"Umm…I guess so," Jin replied apprehensively.

Ling sat down on Jin's shoulders for stability as Jin made his way to her discarded shoes.

"Have you gained weight, Ling?" Jin grunted without a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Just get the damn shoes, Jin! We need to get out of here!" Ling yelled.

Jin stood the shoes up and stepped on them, immediately subjecting him to an unnatural position which strained his calf muscles.

"Hurry up…this is hurting my legs," Jin protested.

Ling stood up again on Jin's shoulders, and she successfully reached one of the ceiling panels. The first of the shiny green panels refused to budge, regardless of Ling's efforts. However, the second one she touched felt different from the first, and when she applied pressure, it gave way, revealing the dark elevator shaft above them.

"Success!" Ling exclaimed. "Let's get out of here," she exhaled.

Ling jumped from Jin's shoulders and caught the ledge of the top of the elevator. The already unbearable fire-alarm siren blared even louder in the shaft of the elevator, as the echo bounced back and forth between the walls. She pulled herself up to the top of the elevator. As she looked up, she marveled at the dark expanse. Is this really an elevator shaft in a hotel? It looks like we're in a black hole or something…

After Jin threw her shoes through the hole in the ceiling, Ling outstretched her arms, and Jin jumped up and grabbed them. "Holy crap…it seems like you're the one that gained weight, Jin," Ling strained as she pulled him up. As soon as he was high enough, Jin switched his grip from Ling's hands to the edge of the hole she made, and she bent over, grabbed his waist, and heaved him up with a loud grunt.

Out of breath, Ling panted, "Now what?" She fumbled to get her shoes back on.

Jin looked around, quite out of breath himself. He began to feel the concrete sides of the elevator shaft, and was surprised to feel a metallic cold in a recess in the wall.

"Ling…come over here. I can't see anything, but feel this," Jin said.

Ling walked over to her friend and placed her hands were his were a moment ago. "Sheesh…it's kind of cold…and there seems to be a ledge right here." Ling jumped up onto the thin ledge of concrete. "Jin, it feels like the other side of an elevator door!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Just as I thought," he said with a hint of enthusiasm. "We're lucky that the elevator stopped here." He climbed up upon the ledge next to her and began feeling for the crack in the door where the door separated.

"Here it is, Jin," Ling motioned for Jin to come next to her. When he put his hands on the door again, he immediately felt the gap.

"You pull right, I'll pull left," Jin said. Through the darkness, he could tell that Ling nodded in response. "On three: one, two, three!"

Jin and Ling put all of their might into opening the elevator door. It refused to budge from its stationary position.

"Dammit! Why won't you move!" Ling cried.

Jin wiped a collection of sweat from his brow with left hand. "Ready to try again?" he asked, even though is right wrist was screaming from his extended efforts.

On their second attempt, no progress was made. Ling jumped back to the top of the elevator and sat down, panting for breath. Jin stayed on the ledge and continued to pull at the door with no apparent results.

The unfamiliar, dark voice within Jin chimed in again, Why are you still trying? There is no point. You two have been beat by some goons who like to play dress-up.

It ain't over 'til it's over, the more known, more well-liked voice within Jin's voice said.

Stop living in your fantasy world and take a look at the most probable, realistic situation: that chick you met today is dead, you're going to get caught by the bad guys, you're going to be brought to whoever sent them, they'll probably rape and kill the little paint-balling bitch, and they'll torture you for no apparent reason.

Jin's muscles tightened and contracted as his inner self went on his tirade. Strength that seemed to non-existent within his body a few seconds ago suddenly flowed through his veins and muscles. He gritted his teeth as he continued to pull at the elevator door, and suddenly, a crack of light emerged from a small gap between the pieces of the metal doors.

Just as she was going to turn around and tell Jin it was futile to keep pulling at the door, Ling looked up and saw the light illuminate a small portion of the wall in the opposite side of the elevator shaft. Surprised, she quickly turned to the door.

"Holy crap, you're getting it open!" Ling exclaimed. But how in the hell…we couldn't do it together, but suddenly he can do it by himself?

Ling quickly jumped up on the ledge and wiggled her fingers in the crack of the door and began to pull. As soon as she started pulling, she felt something strange. Something definitely isn't right about this… Ling thought, it feels like there is some…I don't know…evil here.

Ling glanced back at the elevator shaft, looking around to see if there was anything watching them. She turned to Jin to ask for his reassurance.

"Jin, do you feel something weir—" Ling stopped herself as she looked at her friend. She stared at him in shock. Horrified, she felt the strength in her arms fade, and she began to pull at the elevator door loosely.

Oh my god…it's coming from Jin, Ling thought, trying to deny the fact herself.

It is…even in this pitch-black elevator shaft, everything seems physically darker around him.

"Stand back, Xiao," Jin snarled in an unfamiliar tone.

Startled at Jin for interrupting her thoughts, she dutifully jumped off the ledge and back onto the elevator unenthusiastically.

Jin had stayed in a slight crouch, attempting to open the door the entire time. His arm and leg muscles strained, but he told them to keep going.

Jin let loose an angry yell, and the door significantly. Only a little more… Jin thought.

You're not going to make it. You're too weak, replied the evil voice within him.

Shut up.

You can't deny the truth. You couldn't save your mom, so it's only natural to assume that you can't save anybody. Not even yourself.

At the last statement, Jin filled the elevator shaft with an ear-splitting yell that rivaled the fire-alarm siren. With all of his might, he pulled the doors apart once again, and more progress was made.

Breathing heavily, Jin commanded Ling. "Xiao, you can fit through here," he yelled.

Removed from the situation entirely in shock of the evil that had surrounded Jin, Ling mechanically complied and climbed up the ledge to pass through the doors. As she made her way under Jin, a cold chill traveled up and down her spine.

This isn't right…this definitely isn't right she thought as she emerged in the other side of the door; in a lavishly decorated floor of the hotel. While it wasn't as fancy as the penthouse, the area still looked amazing with old Victorian gold and white patterns on the walls.

As soon as the artificial light from the lamps on the ceiling hit her, she broke out of her trance. Immediately, she noticed that many of the room doors were open and that people were leaving the floor via the staircase.

Ling turned back to Jin. "I'll get something to prop the door open," she quickly said, and was off going into one of the rooms.

Whatever you get, Xiao, make it quick. I can't do this for much longer.

Ling emerged with a metal bar that held the curtains up in a shower. She slid the bar into the crack of the door and started to use the rudimentary lever to pry the door open.

I can't believe it… Ling thought, as the crack between the doors started to get larger and larger.

"Jin, it's working!" Ling excitedly exclaimed, and she looked at him.

What the hell is that! she immediately thought, as she laid eyes upon Jin's forehead. In the limited light of the elevator shaft, it looked like a pattern of black tattoo marks were sprawled over his head. His eyes, not the vibrant brown that their female schoolmates when crazy over, looked pitch black and empty.

Jin! What's wrong with you!

With one final heave, Jin and Ling opened the door to the point where Jin crawled through, breathing heavily from the task and lying on his stomach. Ling turned Jin around to examine his eyes and forehead.

Jin looked at Ling in total surprise as she turned him over and looked at the shocked expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Ling?" Jin asked eagerly, still panting for breath.

"Umm…what? Oh…nothing…I guess," Ling said feebly.

The marks on his forehead weren't there. His eyes were the familiar brown that Ling had known for the past four years.

Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me…it was really dark in the elevator shaft Ling reasoned. But then…what was the cold chill I felt as I passed him? Oh god…I don' t know anything anymore…

Jin continued, "You don't look too well, Ling, are you all right?"

Ling brushed him off with a fake smile, "Yeah…I'm fine. Let's go, we have to find Julia!"

"Roger," Jin quickly said as he and Ling climbed to their feet, despite the repeated protests from his heaving chest, begging for air to enter his lungs. They quickly ran to the fire-escape door and down the crowded stairs.


Julia breathed heavily as she finally reached her goal. Ground floor…thank goodness. Looking back at the packed staircase, she still did not find her pursuer. It looks like I've lost him…good work.

She walked through the already-opened door and marveled at the lobby. There was a mob of people in the lobby, all screaming and in utter confusion over the situation. Children cried left and right, and parents yelled at the hotel staff, trying to figure out what was happening. Slowly, people filtered out throughout the many emergency exits.

Shamelessly, Julia jumped on the closest table and looked around for Jin and Ling, shouting their names. However, the effort was futile, as the combined noise of the fire-alarm and the yells of the hotel patrons drowned out her voice. After another minute of searching for her friends, she fruitlessly hopped down the table and made her way to the nearest exit. Maybe they'll be waiting for me outside, she thought, although she couldn't convince herself.

When she finally made her way out of the hotel, her mouth dropped open in shock. It was even more of a mess outside. Fire trucks filled the street, congesting traffic and blocking the roads. It looked like all of Japan had come to see the drama unfold as the Mishima Hotel was under a fake fire. Wow…I did this… Julia thought.

"Excuse me, were you in the penthouse when the alarm went off?" an accented, unfamiliar voice asked, seemingly coming from nowhere.

Julia quickly turned around to find a blond man, his hair slicked back, wearing a rather unfashionable blue long-sleeved shirt and khakis. On his hands, Julia found it peculiar that he was wearing gloves. Those look like sparring gloves Julia thought, quickly deciding to choose her words carefully around him.

"Umm…why?" asked Julia.

"Young lady, this is an investigation. The fire alarm originated from the penthouse. I need to find out what happened." the man said smoothly with his accent. "May I see some I.D.?"

"I don't have any…I left everything back in the penthouse…" Julia explained. As soon as the last word escaped her mouth, she immediately regretted it, closing her eyes in defeat to hide herself from the glare of the man. Shit! How could I be so stupid? she asked herself. As she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that the man wasn't in front of her. What the…where did he go?

As if in response to her question, she felt cold metal on both of her wrists. "Pulling a fire alarm in a public building without just cause is a federal offense. Lying to an officer is another federal offense. For now, you're under arrest." whispered the man behind her.


Jin and Ling finally made their way outside of the hotel.

"Look for Julia! Meet back here in 20 minutes," Ling commanded. They both split up, in search of their friend.

"Julia! Julia!" Ling cried into the crowd. As her eyes scanned the crowd, she quickly became discouraged. There are so many people here!

Suddenly, a girl not much younger than herself approached Ling with tears in her eyes. She wore a blue halter-top with some black and blue sleeveless overalls that cut off in her thighs.

"Excuse me…can you help me?" choked the girl in a sad voice.

"What is it?" Ling snapped, regretting her tone as she eyed the young girl.

"I can't find my parents…can you help me find them?" she cried. She let out another sob.

Looking at the girl up and down, Ling couldn't help herself. "Fine…I'll help you look for your parents. But can you help me find someone too? She's wearing a school uniform like mine, so she should be easy to tell," she appealed.

"All right, let's check the other side of the hotel. I've looked through this side already!" the girl quickly said, and before she could protest, the girl snatched Ling's wrist and dragged her through the crowd, making their way around the block to the other side.


"JULIA! JULIA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Jin yelled. This is impossible, there's like a million people outside of this hotel alone. Giving up hope, Jin aimlessly wandered through the crowd, making a half-hearted search effort.

A random man with a notepad in his hand immediately approached him. He wore a white shirt with a collar, a white tie, and his long black hair was tied into a ponytail behind him.

"Young man, you're looking for Julia, right?" he questioned.

"Yes! Yes! Do you know her?" Jin asked excitedly.

"I'm with the police, and I've been searching for lost young kids and bringing them to a point across the street. Hopefully, their parents will find them if they just stand there in one place. Your friend Julia volunteered to watch over the kids while I searched." The police officer flipped through his miniature black notebook.

"Julia…Chang?" the man asked, pointing to Julia's name in his notebook.

"Oh my God! Officer, thank you! Can you take me to her?" Jin spoke a mile a minute.

"Sure, let's go," the police officer beckoned.

They made their way through the crowd and into the other side of the street. There was an equal amount of chaos surrounding this side of the hotel compared to the side Jin and Ling had emerged from. Jin followed the man dutifully. Thank god you're all right, Julia. I was so worried Jin thought in excitement.

Jin and the officer walked across the street, and kept on walking into an area with a relatively empty area. Everyone had gone to see the commotion at the famous Mishima Hotel.

With skepticism finally entering his mind, Jin asked, "Excuse me, sir, are you sure you have the right place? There doesn't seem to be anybody here…"

"All of the children are right in here. I didn't want them to see the chaos surrounding the hotel. I didn't want them to get eager and run away from this location." The man smiled and pointed into an alley.

Something definitely doesn't feel right. But if Julia is here… Jin reasoned, as he made his way into the back of the alley, with the officer following. He saw only four figures at the end of the alley. "Hey…where are the kids?" Jin asked, but he stopped his walk in shock as he made out the figures in the alley.

To his horror, he saw that Ling and Julia's mouths were duct-taped over, making them resort to muffled and pathetic cries. Their hands were also bound behind their backs. A blond man and a short, in comparison, girl, stood over them in surveillance. They smiled as Jin approached.

"What the hell is going on here!" Jin cried, rushing towards his friends. However, before Jin could break into a full run, the officer behind him had grabbed his left arm and with incredible agility, connected his hands together with metal handcuffs in one smooth movement.

"What the fuck!" Jin screamed at the strangers.

"All right boys, let's get out of here!" said the young girl, ignoring Jin.

"Asuka, that's my line…" the blond man said. He took a cellular phone from his front pocket and dialed a number.

"Yoshi, all of us are at rendez-vous point C. We're ready when you are," the man spoke smoothly into the receiver.

After hanging up the phone, the blond man wearing blue unrolled some duct tape and placed it over the protesting Jin's mouth. "We can't have you or any of your friends causing a commotion," said the man.

A nondescript black car pulled up in front of the alley.

"That's our ride. All right boys, let's get out of here," the man said, smiling at the young girl apparently named Asuka. She smiled back at him.

"We haven't got all day, let's go!" Asuka urged the Ling and Julia forward, as Jin was pushed forward by the blond man.

"You may not believe us right now, but—" the accented, blond guy started, but Jin didn't let him finish as he tried to kick his captor.

Easily dodging it, the blond man laughed, "O.K. then, I guess we'll explain later…"

The officer, or rather, the man who Jin thought Jin was an officer, opened the door of the car and pushed a protesting Jin, Ling, and Julia in.

"Should we take off the duct tape now?" asked the long-haired officer as he wriggled into the seat next to the blond man.

"Nah…they might try to get some attention while we're driving. We'll take them to the headquarters. Then we'll explain everything over there." the young girl explained.

"Good plan. You know…I'm starting to wonder whether you needed us, or we needed you!" the blond man joked.

Jin, Ling, and Julia found nothing funny. They looked into each other's eyes with fear, each wondering whether this day was ever going to end.

The car drove down the street and into the horizon, leaving the chaos of the Mishima Hotel behind them.