Zi Yang and Jeff walked in circles as they glared at each other, not letting their eyes off one another for even a second. As each second passed, the atmosphere got more tense, neither of them knowing who would initiate the attack, or when.
"You've been doing so much criminal bullshit behind my back, Jeff Connor." The police inspector spoke up, "Don't you feel a single ounce of shame? You were once part of the police force. You used to go by the law, and now you're against it. What a plot twist."
"Too bad the police or the court can't serve any justice at all." Jeff talked back, "They're letting the bad guys run away scot-free, while the victims have to pick up the broken pieces without getting any proper answer or closure. I'm here to help them seek redress."
"We don't need outlaws to help this society, mister." Zi Yang replied, "We might not finish the job quick and fast, but we follow the rules. That separates us from wild animals like you."
"It's people like you that put others in danger." Jeff shot daggers at him, "If we, the so-called outlaws, didn't arrive here early, the lawmakers would've been killed by the crime syndicate. In other words, dead in the police's hands. That wouldn't look good for you, would it?"
"You need to learn how to keep that damned mouth of yours shut. You don't know anything, boy. Don't think because you have weapons, some backup dancers, and that little small brain of yours, that you can stop crime entirely. Surrender yourself already. While you're at it, bring Eli Ayase and Umi Sonoda along with you."
"Me? A boy? Don't know anything?" Jeff raised his left eyebrow, "Me and the girls…we stopped the robberies, we took down the gambling houses, and we saved the lawmakers. Heck, we even gave you Jimmy Natas, one of the most important people in the crime syndicate. What have the police done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This whole operation is even led by you, and still you guys can't do shit. You really are such a dumbass and useless inspector who can't even do your own job properly or even lead a team."
"Now you done pissed me off, Jeff Connor." Zi Yang clenched his fists, "You don't talk trash about me like that. We'll see who the useless one is."
Jeff shook his head in disappointment, "I don't have to prove my worth to you, but bring it on, bitch."
On the third floor, Maki held a masked man's left wrist and twisted his arm as he yelled in agony. She then pushed his wrist against his back and stepped on the back of his kneecaps. He fell onto the floor, screaming in pain. She then let go of him and kicked him away.
"The last man defeated. In this room." She sighed, "Man, this bastard has a lot of men to spare. Where the hell did he get all his men from? It's like he has a fanbase."
"He never makes it easy for us, does he?" Umi remarked.
"Anyways, let's go meet up with Jeff." Eli stated, "He must be waiting for us. We better get out of here before the police arrive. It won't be a nice scene if we come into…" The trio then heard the sound of a gunshot, followed by a grunt and a body dropping onto the floor. Eli and Maki got into their fighting stance while Umi took out a gun.
"Shit, that's the po-po." Umi cursed under her breath, "Hopefully, Kotori isn't here yet."
"The po-po?" Maki questioned, "The heck is that?"
"A term for the cops."
"Keep your voice down." Eli whispered to the two of them, "Someone's here." She leaned against the wall while she listened carefully for footsteps. As soon as an arm appeared beside her from the hallway outside the room, she grabbed it and pulled the person in before wrapping her arm around the latter's neck. Kanan rushed in and pointed her gun towards Eli, and Maki got ready to beat the police inspector.
"Wait, wait, wait. T…this is a misunderstanding." Umi voiced out, "Eli, let go of Kotori. Please." Eli looked at who she was attacking and realized it was Kotori. The blonde woman instantly let go of the officer and apologized to her.
Umi then turned to Kanan, "Madam, I…"
"I get it, Umi." Kanan lowered her gun, "Kotori told me about it. She wants to support you. Technically, I should be arresting you three now after all that has happened. However, personally, I won't do that. I don't support the superintendent's idea, and seeing that you girls are helping the public, I'll allow you to get away for today."
"Thank you, Madam." Umi bowed.
"It won't help you much as Zi Yang and the police would still be after you, but it's the least I could do. I've sent the rest of the officers to the second floor so that they won't see you up here. They're assisting me in handcuffing the masked men."
"Damn, that just got anti-climatic." Maki remarked, "I was expecting a showdown of sorts. Saves us the trouble of going through one big brawl."
"So, you and Kotori are aiding us, right?" Eli asked, "We still have some lawmakers to save and some baddies to take down."
"You're right." Kanan nodded her head, "Where are they?"
Back on the first floor, Jeff took chairs nearby and hurled them at Zi Yang. The latter dodged all of them and jump-kicked Jeff on the stomach. Jeff flew back a few metres before hitting his back on a wall. Before Jeff could stand up, Zi Yang pushed him to the floor and punched his face a few times. Jeff huffed and puffed as Zi Yang whipped out a gun and aimed it at him.
"It's over, Jeff Connor." Zi Yang glared at Jeff, "Surrender yourself now, and you'll probably have a lighter sentence than what you're originally serving. Or else, don't blame me for shooting you."
In retaliation, Jeff booted the side of Zi Yang's left leg and fisted him in the chest, causing Zi Yang to stumble backwards. Using this chance to recover, Jeff swiftly got up and kneed the police inspector on the chin before chopping his wrist, making him drop the gun.
Zi Yang charged towards Jeff and tried throwing a few punches at the outlaw, but Jeff managed to swerve to the right and did a roundhouse kick on Zi Yang's left ear. Zi Yang fell back a little, but he was able to regain his composure.
"We shouldn't be fighting each other, Huang Zi Yang!" Jeff screamed, "The lawmakers need our help! The crime syndicate is trying to kill them all! We need to save the lawmakers!"
"Who do you think you are? God?" Zi Yang asked angrily, "You think you can save all these people with your determination and your illegal methods? Please, you're no Superman. Don't try to act like one."
"I should be asking you this instead." Jeff retorted, "Are you God? Do you think whatever you do is always righteous? Get off your high horse, you arrogant wannabe genius. You will never be one with that stubborn mind of yours."
"You sure know how to provoke me, you lil shit." Zi Yang cracked his knuckles, "I would definitely love seeing you suffer in jail. If I don't apprehend you today, I'll be a total disgrace to the police force."
"You never listen, don't you?" Jeff sighed.
Meanwhile, in the innermost left room on the third floor, Eli was fighting another masked man. She punched him on the stomach and kneed him on the chest. She then slammed his head on a table nearby, which made the man fall down onto the floor. For the finishing touch, she stomped her heels on his back, causing him to groan in pain.
On the other hand, Maki was trying to dodge another masked man from slashing her with a knife. She saw a bookshelf in the corner of her eye and quickly took a book. As he was about to stab her, she defended herself with the book, making the knife penetrate it instead.
Seeing that the man was having difficulty taking out his weapon from the book, she reached her hand out for another one. Once she felt she got a hold of a volume, she whipped it out of the shelf and continuously whacked his head with it for a few seconds.
She stopped for a while before delivering a final heavy, hard-hitting blow to his face with it. He plummeted onto the ground, unconscious. That was when she took a look at what she was holding and was surprised that she was grasping onto a dictionary this whole time.
Umi and Kotori were ushering the lawmakers out of the room while fending off any maked men in their way. The couple then told the lawmakers to stay put until all the remaining ones were found before going down together to the van.
"We're done with this room." Maki told Umi, "There's one room left. Please, let there be no men in that goddamn room, or I'm gonna lose my mind."
"Where's your higher-up, Umi?" Eli asked, "Isn't she supposed to help us?"
"She's busy clearing up the mess we made downstairs." Umi replied, "She's personally handcuffing every masked man we defeated."
"You sure she could handle that alone?" Maki questioned, "Do we need to go down and help her?"
"No worries, she's really good at fighting." Kotori answered, "Nobody could probably escape from her sight or try to fight her. Besides, she has officers with her." Eli and Maki nodded their heads in response. They proceeded to go into the last room. Umi followed the two women while Kotori brought the lawmakers to the now-empty room and instructed them to stay there.
Back on the first floor, Zi Yang jabbed Jeff in the stomach. Jeff stumbled back until his back hit a wall. Just as the police inspector was about to strike Jeff on the face, the latter rolled to the right and kicked Zi Yang's back onto the wall.
Zi Yang quickly turned around and booted Jeff on the chest. Zi Yang went on to punch Jeff on both sides of the face a few times, giving Jeff no time to react at all. Afterwards, Zi Yang jump-kicked Jeff on the stomach. The impact was so strong that Jeff's body broke the door open and the lock was shattered as he flew into the room. He landed on the floor with a loud thud and a groan.
Zi Yang went in and picked Jeff up by the collar, "I've tolerated you enough. It's time to end you off before sending you to rot in prison!" He then whacked Jeff on the face. Jeff booted Zi Yang back on the face. Zi Yang yelled in pain as he fell backwards onto the floor. Seeing that Zi Yang was distracted for the time being, Jeff quickly scanned his surroundings to see if he could use anything as a weapon. He saw a dismantled queue pole nearby. He took the steel base and gripped it tight.
As Zi Yang got up and was about to attack Jeff, Jeff constantly slapped Zi Yang on the face, left and right, with the base. Even when Zi Yang tried to defend himself, Jeff kneed him in the groin. That made Zi Yang defenseless, and it enabled Jeff to continue smacking him with the base. Jeff then did one final jab on Zi Yang's neck, causing the police inspector to fall down to the ground in defeat. Jeff threw the base away and glared at Zi Yang.
"Huang Zi Yang, I hope you had enough of beating me." Jeff uttered, "I'm trying to save the lawmakers and bring down a part of the crime syndicate. In the long run, I'm helping the police force and preventing casualties. But no, here you are, wasting our goddamn time, thinking that fighting me will solve the problem and make yourself look proud. You're always ruining everything." Zi Yang looked away from him.
"We have a bigger issue here, and you chose to fight me instead because of your ego and your pride!" Jeff continued, raising his voice as he took a step forward, "When will you stop being a stubborn, prideful, egotistical prick, and actually see that your methods aren't always fuckin' great? Because of your 'ethical' approaches, you can't even solve a murder case properly, much less this big shummuck. You remember Ray? He was our friend. You killed a man who could've changed himself for the better after serving his time. That's why I quit the force. I can never agree with your ways of dealing with situations, especially after you shot Ray dead. In fact, I was disgusted by you and your actions."
Zi Yang let out a disgruntled sigh, "You done preaching, young man?"
"Shut up, Huang Zi Yang." Jeff rejoined angrily, "Don't think you're more knowledgeable because you're older than me. You should stop being so fuckin' arrogant and listen to other people for once. You always think you're right in everything, and everyone should follow you! Your shitty know-it-all attitude is what caused your wife to leave you!"
Upon hearing the word 'wife', Zi Yang slumped his back against the wall. Suddenly, it became very quiet around him. He usually would start talking or fighting back when he was insulted, but this time was different. He was emotionally affected by what Jeff had just said. He started feeling very depressed.
On the third floor, Eli and Maki gathered all the remaining lawmakers together, while Umi and Kotori were at a corner, holding hands.
"Thanks for the help today, Kotori." Umi said, "We couldn't have finished this way faster without you and Madam's help."
"Don't mention it, Umi-chan." Kotori grinned, "I wanted to help you anyways. You girls better get going now and bring the lawmakers to safety. Me and Madam will deal with the baddies, along with Sir. Be careful, though. Sir is on the first floor, so he might be able to see you. Watch where you're going."
"Understood, Kotori." Umi replied, "You too be careful."
The both of them hugged each other for a few seconds before Umi went off with Eli, Maki, and the lawmakers. Once they reached the first floor, Eli told Maki and Umi to guide the lawmakers to the van parked outside at the back exit. With that, Eli started searching for Jeff. It did not take long for her to find him in a room with a distraught Zi Yang, sitting and leaning against the wall.
"What are you standing there for, Jeff?" Eli asked, "Let's get out of here. We got all the lawmakers. We need to move before more of the police arrive." Jeff took one last look at Zi Yang before following Eli.
On the third floor, Kanan handcuffed the last masked man in the innermost right room. Police officers started escorting the other masked men into the police penitentiary trucks. She got out of the room and stood beside Kotori, who was waiting for her.
"How's the progress?" Kanan asked.
"The masked men on the second floor have all been arrested." Kotori reported, "The officers are now coming up here to take the rest of them. Madam, thank you for letting Umi-chan and the rest go today. It really makes me feel happy that I could help Umi-chan."
"No problem." Kanan responded, "I know what situation you and Umi-chan are in…" Her voice slowly trailed off as she realized something out of the blue. If Umi, Maki, and Eli were present earlier, that meant Jeff was here too.
"Oh shit." Kanan muttered. She quickly went down the stairs to the first floor to try and find Zi Yang. She knew that her partner would go into a one-on-one fight with Jeff to the death, and she refused to let that happen. However, she couldn't find Zi Yang. She ran up to the second level and looked for him, but to no avail. She asked the officers around if they had seen him, but none of them did.
"Where could Zi Yang have gone to?" Kanan thought worriedly.