Slowly, Hwoarang pushed the heavy plate of concrete off himself and the two girls. He then collapsed back onto the ground, breathing hard and clutching his bleeding arm in pain, next to Julia and Asuka. Who were both unharmed.

"Hwoarang," Julia muttered weakly, trying to help him. "Are you okay?"

Asuka coughed as the dust around her started to settle. She stared around the room in a horrified daze.

It was in complete ruins. Not a soul was about.

"Oh no…" she whispered feebly. She scrambled to the heap of rubble on her hands and knees. Her face was caked with ashes and her dress was torn beyond repair. Her breathing grew jagged as her eyes darted around the room.

"Oh my god…"

She desperately pushed the pile of rocks aside with both hands.

"JIN! XIAO! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Julia ripped off a piece of her dress and bandaged Hwoarang's arm with it. He smiled gratefully but meekly and then looked over at Asuka as she crawled further away. Julia pulled him to his feet.

"Jin!" Asuka cried, trying with all her might to push over a boulder. She struggled with all the little strength she had left, unwilling to give up until she found her cousin. "Jin! Xiao! Where are you…?" She finally pushed the boulder aside and unsteadily stood up, looking around wildly.

Suddenly, she saw something moving.

A plate of concrete was moving. She ran quickly to it, pulling it off as hard as she could. Julia and Hwoarang immediately went over and helped her. At last, they pulled the enormous plate aside to reveal the two other survivors; Jin and Xiaoyu.

They also had taken cover just in time, and Jin had protected Xiao with his own body, therefore earning himself several injuries but Xiao was unharmed. Asuka jumped down to them and threw her arms around Jin.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed hoarsely. She hugged him tightly, causing him to let out a groan of pain. "Oh." She released him, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, Jin."

Jin smiled and let out a sigh of relief, looking at Xiao over her shoulder.

"You alright?" Julia asked Xiao as Hwoarang helped her up. She was a little shaken, but nodded. She gasped as she looked around the room.

"Wha…what happened?" Asuka suddenly remembered. She quickly grabbed Jin's arm.

"Someone's trying to kill you and Xiao," she said breathlessly. Jin was surprised; he had never seen her so shaken up before.

"What?"

"Someone's trying to kill you!" Asuka repeated, more loudly with a note of panic in her voice. "You guys have to go now." She glanced at Xiao. "Be-before they come back…" Xiao and Jin were utterly confused. Hwoarang stepped in front of Asuka, a serious look on his face.

"That bomb was intended for the both of you," he said firmly. "Go now, or they'll come back to finish what they started." Jin frowned. He raised an arm in front of Xiao as she was about to question. She looked at him dubiously.

Suddenly, they were showered by the sound of bullets. Two masked men in black jumped down from the ceiling. The five fighters braced themselves.

"We're not the target," Asuka said, rising up her fists. "But we'll help." Julia and Hwoarang nodded in agreement.

"Damn it," one of the intruders cursed. "We didn't count of this many of them surviving." The other man uttered a laugh, eyeing Julia eagerly.

"That just means we'll have more fun," he commented, laughing horribly. There was something about the way he talked that frustrated Julia, something that really, really frustrated her.

Without warning, she charged towards Gunman 2 and aimed a kick to his chest. Surprisingly, he dodged it with ease, and instead Julia received the blow.

Her head was swung back, her hair ripped free from the bun, and she stumbled back onto the ground, rubbing her cheek. Julia took a deep breath, stunned at the gunman's agility.

"Looks like we're gonna have to play hard." She attacked again, grabbing his shirt collar. Without even reacting, Gunman 2 immediately kicked her hard into the chest, throwing her back. However, Julia didn't let go, and instead the chain Gunman was wearing around his neck ripped off after her.

Julia crashed into the back wall, sliding down onto the floor. Hwoarang jumped out and attacked the gunman as he tried again to approach Julia. Hwoarang countered, but it was hard to catch him; Gunman 2 was very talented at martial arts. He even wondered why the man had a gun with him.

Meanwhile, Gunman 1 had charged at a greatly weakened Jin. He opened fire, causing Xiao and Asuka to be quick on their feet and unable to help Jin. Asuka stopped and somersaulted into the air, forgetting completely that that meant her guard would be let down to him.

Bang!

The girl in the blue dress let out a cry of pain, falling hard onto the ground. She began to hyperventilate, clutching her chest. Hwoarang rushed over to her.

"Asuka!" He took her in his arms. She was trembling with pain. Hwoarang looked back up, only to see Gunman 2 aiming his gun at him. He leapt out of the way just in time, still holding the injured girl.

Bang!

The young Korean landed on one knee, panting for breath as his heart raced at a thousand miles. He glanced over his shoulder to the other side of the room.

Julia fell backwards against the wall, onto the ground. Her eyes were closed, her teeth were clenched in pain and he could see her chest rising and falling rapidly. She was still holding onto the gunman's neck chain in a tight fist, but slowly, her hand began to open.

"Julia!" Hwoarang shouted, horrified.

She laid still.

Hwoarang had no time to react as Gunman 2 attacked again. He quickly dodged the attacks, scrambling over to Julia. He gently laid Asuka next to her.

After making sure they were both okay, he stood up and turned to face the gunman.

Calmly, he took out a pair of motorbike goggles from his pocket and slid them on top of his head, pushing his red hair back. He slowly raised his fiery almond eyes up to the intruder.

"This time," he muttered, ripping off his torn jacket. He readied himself. "This time it's personal!" At that, he attacked, taking Gunman 2 by surprise with his violent kick.

Gunman 1, on the other hand, was still at an advantage in his fight. Xiao began fighting back hard, Jin right beside her, but the gunman was good.

With one might punch in the stomach, Jin was thrown ten feet away into the wall of rocks and rubble. Xiao, though less powerful, she was much quicker, and was able to dodge his attempted death blows.

"I'm sick of this!" she shrieked angrily. "This was supposed to be a great party and you people had to kill it!" She had the man cornered, so she readied her final attack. She raised her fist and shot it straight for his head, but Gunman 1 jumped out of the way just in time, her punch instead ploughing into the pillar of solid stone behind him, causing it to crack at the point.

Xiao let out a frustrated yelp, and spun around to him.

"Hold still!" she shouted irritably.

Jin regained consciousness, and he watching helplessly from the distance. The gunman was trying to keep Xiao on the same spot. Why?

Then Jin realized.

The pillar. It was going to collapse.

He quickly tried to get up, struggling as his body rubbed against the hard jagged rocks.

"Xiao! Look out!" But she couldn't hear him.

The gunman kicked her hard in the chest, sending her crashing into the pillar. It slowly began to fall forward, but Xiao didn't notice. She got back up and charged at the intruder. Jin broke free and rushed over.

"Xiao!" The gunman was cunning.

Bang!

He shot a single bullet into her knee, forcing her to stop right on the pinpoint spot. Then, and only then, did she realize it was coming down.

"XIAO!" Jin ran as fast as he could, but it was too late.

The three tonne, three foot wide pillar of solid stone came crashing down on top of her. It forced her down, crushing onto her body below her shoulders.

She didn't even scream, merely letting out a shaken gasp. Her eyes were still open, she was still alive, but she was struggling hard to breathe, the pain slowly killing her. Jin watched with pure horror. The merciless gunman smirked sadistically as he stared at Xiao at his feet.

Jin rushed to her and tried to lift up the pillar by himself. He was still weak, only able to pull it up just enough to allow Xiao to breathe before he heard the sound of a gun cocking at his ear. He froze, tilting his head to see the gun at his head.

The gunman smiled.

"That was way too easy," he said, almost bored. "Looks like you were easier to beat than Miss Caroline thought." He took the gun in both hands, ready to pull the trigger.

Suddenly, police sirens rang out through the room. Both gunmen stopped and looked outside, panic-stricken.

"Let's get outta here," Gunman 2 shouted, and he ran out. The other man nodded.

He shot Jin a venomous glare, then darted out after his partner.

Jin lifted the weight completely off Xiao, taking her into his arms. He glanced at his friends.

Julia and Asuka were both unconscious and badly hurt. Hwoarang was left breathless and severely wounded. He sank to his knees before collapsing, blacked out. Jin stared down at the girl in his arms.

Xiao wasn't unconscious, he knew, but her eyes were closed, and she was trembling uncontrollably. Jin pushed a strand of hair out of her face, feeling his breath quicken.

"Xiao…" he whispered, slapping her face gently. She didn't open her eyes. "Xiao, wake up…"

She didn't wake, but instead a soft pained groan escaped from her parted lips. Jin looked down at her petite body; she was all bruised and was beginning to bleed. He lifted her off the ground, holding her closely.

"You're going to be okay," he said calmly. "I promise." He gently pressed her face into his chest to silence her moaning. It killed him to hear her in so much pain, but he couldn't stop now. He couldn't.

Without a single glance at his fallen comrades, he sprinted out of the house, past the police officers who had just arrived.

He knew the others were hurt too, but they would understand.

Nothing else mattered at the moment; he just needed to get Xiao to a hospital fast.

That was the only thing that mattered.