The two of us stood, unblinking, for a few long moments as we recognized each other in our confusion. This was him. The guy who had tried to kill Rin not too long ago. It was clearly his face, but his obnoxiously-colored hair had been hidden under his jacket last time. Bright green. How discreet.

Meiko had hired him. Once I thought about it, I realized it made perfect sense that she would hire an assassin from Luka.

Once Rin and I found the bunker in Kettlewell, all thoughts of this guy just vanished without a trace and I never thought about him again. I never thought I would see him again. But here he was, clearly working for Luka.

And he knew I was working with Rin.

He opened his mouth to yell, dashing for the door behind him. I was too quick. I hooked my arm around his neck, pulling him into a chokehold and dragging him back towards the other end of the freezer. His struggling was too much for me to handle. With a grunt, he elbowed me in the side, forcing me to recoil in pain and let him go. I pushed him towards the boxes I had just set down. Now, at least, he'd have to go through me to get to the door.

"How did you find this place?" He snarled. I tried to remember the extent of our interaction in London. It hadn't been much before he fled.

I didn't answer. I didn't need to. If this guy escaped, the entire base would be alerted.

He didn't wait long for my answer anyway. He grabbed the box nearest to him, throwing it in my direction. I dashed out of the way to avoid it and flinched at the deafening bang that sounded once the wood shattered against the floor. Its contents spilled across the ground sloppily. My foe tried to dash after it to get to the door. With an easy swing of my arm, I Ianded a hard punch on the side of his head and stopped him dead in his tracks. I grabbed the back of his collar, throwing him towards the metal shelves forcefully.

With another heavy thump, he hit his head against the metal, collapsing to the ground and falling still. He was still breathing.

When he woke up, we'd be fucked. But I didn't have time to finish him off. Someone was sure to have heard our scuffle.

Just gotta open the door. Just gotta open the door. I wouldn't have time to wait for the others. I needed to move. Where, I had no idea.

Jogging to the closed door of the freezer, I pulled a couple heavy boxes in front of the door as I exited. The guy remained unmoving on the ground a few feet away. When I shut the door, I heard the pile fall against it, essentially locking it from the inside. Even when he woke up, he'd have to clear it before he could leave. I had bought us at least some time.

I jumped across the empty kitchen, my heart pounding at the sudden change of plans, and pulled the garage-like door open with all my strength. The others had to be in the woods somewhere. They had to be. They could see me. I wasn't alone. I wasn't.

There were three doors exiting the kitchen. I was too scared to use the secret entrance to Luka's room. The lever Miku spoke of was still invisible to me. That left two doors, one of which the chefs had exited through. I didn't know where either of them led to. But the back door was open, someone was bound to return to the kitchen soon, I couldn't escape outside. I needed to choose a door.

I chose the one on the left.

Walking through it felt like teleporting into Imperial Japan. The modern kitchen was left behind me and I had stepped onto a light wooden floor, surrounded by paper walls with wooden frames and cherry blossom trees painted across them. The floor was clearly laid out like a grid. There was a room to my left and to my right, each with another hallway on their other sides. This was definitely a place I could be getting lost in.

I had no choice but to go.

I jogged quickly down the halls, following its twists and turns as I tried to think of something to do. What was my main goal? To reunite with the others. What was the team's main goal? To kill Luka. I was skeptical of my skills when it came to handling the criminal mastermind myself, so I opted to search for the others.

But the one place I imagined they could be was in the kitchen. Or outside of it. But why hadn't they entered when I opened the door? Where were they?

My side ached from where that guy elbowed me. It cramped up as I jogged down hall after hall.

After centuries of this, I turned another corner and immediately dodged through a small gap between the sliding door into a side room. There were two guards at the end of the hall, the first guards I had seen since I left the kitchen. Luckily, they hadn't seen me.

The room I had slipped into was small, surely no larger than the average closet. It was dark, too.

I hadn't been in the room for two full seconds when I felt two small hands shove me against the opposite wall. My surprise prevented me from retaliating for the first few seconds. I had clearly intruded on someone else's closet.

What now? My exhausted mind couldn't help but sigh at the constant struggle to stay alive and unnoticed in this hostile environment. I didn't even question why a guard would be in a side closet before fighting back against my invisible assailant.

They were shorter than me. I held up my arms instinctively, blocking a few quick strikes to my face. While my body concentrated on defending myself, my mind listened as the voices of the two guards in the hall, a male and a female, grew louder. They were strolling in the direction of my hiding spot.

Without thinking, I pushed myself off of the wall and slammed a hand over my attacker's mouth. Soft hair tickled against my skin. Their attacks stopped and they tensed under me. Their fighting style was oddly familiar.

A moment of clarity came over me.

"Rin?" I whispered.

She remained tense for a moment and then finally relaxed. I kept my hand clamped over her mouth as the guards walked by.

"-sick of this heat. Even with these fucking paper walls it feels like I'm being boiled alive," the girl complained.

"At least we get to stay inside," the guy offered. "The guys patrolling the roads have probably all been eaten alive by bugs. Or jaguars."

"These stupid outfits don't help…"

The two of them turned a corner, their voices fading away. Only then did I lower my hand.

"What happened?" I asked her, still unable to see her face fully. There was a thin strip of light coming through the crack in the door. Her blue eyes were the only thing it illuminated.

She took a deep breath. "You scared the shit out of me," she admitted, not answering my question.

"Where is everyone? Why didn't you come in through the door?"

"It's a long story." She spoke quickly. "They had dogs. They caught our scent. We… we got split up."

My eyes widened in concern. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know."

A huff of frustration escaped me. "Fuck. What… what do we do now?"

"I don't know." She hugged herself, holding her forearms in front of her.

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you okay?"

"...One of them bit me. It… kinda hurts."

Fuck. "Which arm? Did Anon look at it-"

She flinched away from me when I tried to touch her arm. It was her left that was injured. "She didn't have time," she answered. "I hoped I could find something to clean it in here. But, so far, there's nothing."

"What about your bag? Where is it?"

"I dropped it when we ran. It was too heavy. They would have caught me."

This mission was over before it even started. How stupid were we to think that this could have been so easy? "Did you see where anyone went?"

She hesitated before answering. Her voice was soft and light, breathless. "I think they got Kanon and Yuma."

The sentence hung in the air.

"Like… like they killed-"

"Captured," she cut me off.

I let out a sigh. Of the two, that was at least better. "You guys didn't set off any alarms? The base seems fine."

"It was way out in the woods. Right after you dropped us off," she explained.

I was at a loss for words. The whole plan had gone to shit that quickly. "So… so we don't have much time before-"

"No, we don't."

My mind was such a mess of thoughts that I didn't know what to tell her. "What… what do we do now?"

She hesitated in answering. "...We need to finish the mission. We know where she is. We need to go after her."

"But what about the others? We can't just leave them!"

"We won't," she answered, a soft sigh escaping her and she adjusted her stance. I had a feeling she was in much worse shape than she was letting on. Until we left the darkness of this closet, I wouldn't be able to see. "The guards haven't brought them back, yet. We'll find them after the job is don-"

She cut herself off as another pair of footsteps echoed through the hall outside. We peered through the crack in the wall to see who we were up against. They slowly grew louder and louder until their source appeared with such suddenness that I jumped a bit in surprise.

It was the assassin. He stumbled down the hall in the direction I had come from, his head clearly spinning from our fight. He hadn't seen us.

In front of me, Rin turned from a living, breathing human being to a statue. She wasn't even breathing. It had caught in her throat.

In my haze, I had forgotten to tell her that he was here. It probably would have been good information. I dared not tell her now, when he was only a few feet away from us.

He paused, leaning against the wall opposite of us and breathing heavily. I couldn't stop the grin that formed on my face. I really kicked his ass.

Out of nowhere, Rin did something that I never would have imagined a professional killer to do. Moving for the first time in an eternity, she slid the door open and frantically jumped into the hall. I didn't even have time to protest, grab her, pull her back. With wide eyes, I retreated further into the darkness of the closet as Rin exposed herself.

My heart stopped as the assassin slowly turned his head to look at her. Those evil eyes, the same eyes that looked through the scope aimed straight at her head, widened in surprise to see her standing in front of him.

Come to think of it, Rin had never seen him on that mission. She just knew someone had tried to kill her. She didn't know who it was.

Because she seemed to recognize him from somewhere else.

"...Gumo?"

What?

His shoulders heaved as he tried to catch his breath, looking over the girl standing in front of him. I was right about Rin. She clutched her arm to her chest, blood still dripping from the bite. Her clothes were covered in dark red, splattered with dirt and mud as well.

"What are you doing here?" He panted, staring at her with narrowed eyes. He didn't know I was still hidden in this closet. The way he glared at her made me want to attack; he watched her like someone would watch a rat that had invaded their home.

Rin, in her stunned position, did not notice. "We're… we're here to take out Luka. For you," she paused. "What… why are you here? I thought you were-"

"Dead?" He raised an eyebrow.

Rin's mouth moved like she was talking, but for a few seconds, no sound came out. "I-I… I saw her shoot you… Did she take you hostage? We can take you home! We can-"

"We?" He pushed himself off the wall. A thin line of blood ran down the side of his face.

"Everyone is here. Everyone is here to avenge you. Wh-what happened? How did you-" She didn't even know what to ask.

And neither did I. If this really was the guy who Rin and the others had once been so close with, it was obvious he had a change of heart.

But Rin didn't know that.

He watched her, unresponding. I didn't know what to do. Jump out and attack him? Jump out and pull Rin away? With the oddity of this situation, I doubted she would go with any plan that involved fighting the assassin- Gumo.

But… but the whole reason we were here was him. The only thing between me and my new life, between Rin and her vision of a safe, happy home, was him. His death was the one thing that led us on this wild goose chase throughout the entire planet. To take revenge.

But he wasn't dead. He was standing right here.

Then what were we doing here?

"Where is everyone?" He asked, another flash of anger running through me. Now he has the nerve to talk about the others like he didn't betray them.

Even Rin seemed taken off guard by the question. Her mind was clearing. The same questions were running through her head. She was beginning to doubt him, and it was obvious.

"What really happened that night Luka attacked?" Rin asked. She took a step backward, away from him and towards my hiding spot.

I'm here, I mentally told her. I'm here for your backup.

Gumo hesitated in his response.

Rin was uneased by his lack of an answer. "Gumo…"

Of all the things he could have done, he rolled his eyes. Like this was an inconvenience to him. "Why couldn't you guys just stay in your little bunker and mind your own business?"

I clenched my fusts, resisting the urge to emerge from the closet and punch him in the face.

"Because of you!" Rin yelled. "This is all because of you!"

"I didn't ask for you to do this."

"Because you were dead!"

He let out a laugh. "Well, obviously I wasn't."

She shook her head in disbelief. "But… but I saw her-"

"You should know better than anyone that it's pretty easy to fake someone's death."

She blinked once, then twice. Her posture tensed. "You're working with her," she said with a low voice. "You went with her. Willingly."

His eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you would have figured that out after London."

To this, she had no response. The extent of his betrayal hit her like a bullet. A drop of blood fell from her fingertip onto the wooden floor.

Her head lowered. "...Why?"

He simply shrugged. "Do you know how much money Luka's making? She contacted me a few months before that night with the promise to promote me from a pointless little underground assassin to a bodyguard for the richest woman in the world." He let out a laugh. "Who could pass that up?"

"You gave us up for money? You gave... me up, for money?"

They were… close. It didn't seem like it here.

He at least had the sense to wipe the smile off his face. His eyes scanned her up and down. "...It was fun while it lasted."

Fucking asshole.

Rin said nothing for a few moments. Finally, she rose her head, her voice lowering in anger. Hatred dripped from her words. Her eyes narrowed. "We're getting out of here."

Gumo let out a sigh. "Sorry, Rin, but it's not gonna be that easy."

If he attacks her, I'll jump out.

He grabbed her injured arm. She winced a bit. To my surprise, she didn't resist. Instead, she continued to glare at him. He began to pull her down the hall.

Just as I was about to jump out after her, I hesitated. She wasn't fighting back for a reason. Plus, if she had needed me, she would have yelled for me. But she didn't.

Because Gumo was taking her to Luka.

Rin resumed talking, seemingly just for the purpose of hearing her own voice.

"Money was more important than me, huh?" She asked loudly. Their footsteps turned around the corner. Only then did I cautiously slip out of the closet, perring from side to side for any sign of hostiles.

Gumo responded, but I didn't hear what he said.

"You're disgusting," Rin answered. Her voice echoed down the hall.

I followed it in silence.

I don't think he answered.

"What happens to me now?" She asked. Hugging the wall, I reached the end and peered past the corner. The two of them had just turned to the right down the corridor.

I followed them, using Rin's loud voice as my guide for moments when I felt I had lost them. There were no other guards in the halls. I had a feeling Yuma and Kanon's search party had returned.

Which means we were caught.

Run, I urged myself. Run.

Not without the others. I was determined to get us out alive. Ever single one of us.

But my chances we're looking slim.

"No snide comments when we see Luka," Gumo warned.

Rin let out a laugh. "You've been away for too long. Acting like you never met me."

"You'll listen if you want to live," he threatened. They had wound through the halls for a few minutes before stopping in front if a grand set of double doors. The gates of Hell.

I hid around a corner, waiting.

"I'm so scared," Rin said in a flat voice.

"Get inside," he demanded through clenched teeth. He opened the doors and the disappeared inside.

With my back to the wall, I felt my shaking legs give out beneath me as I slid down to a sitting position. Run. Behind that door was the end. Run. Behind that door were my friends. Run.

How could I save them? In my limited knowledge of the base, I knew of two entrances to the dining room. One was from Luka's bedroom, linking to the kitchen via an escape route. I was so lost in the base, I'd be wandering for hours if I went looking for it. The other was sitting right in front of me.

Run.

Go home.

Tell the police.

Find your friends.

Tell them you aren't dead.

Reconcile with your family.

Run.

With a deep breath, I pushed myself up. My legs shook so much I feared they would snap beneath my weight. I leaned against the wall for support.

Run.

I turned the corner, limping down the final corridor slowly.

Run.

The doors looked over me. They were the only solid doors I had seen apart from the kitchen. Gold dragons decorated their exterior.

If you go in there, you'll die.

I rested a hand on the door. Rin wasn't scared, I tried to tell myself. So why should I be?

That's a lie. And I knew it. Rin's in there right now. And she's absolutely terrified.

I pushed the door open. It creaked as it swung open, just like the horror movies.

The picture it revealed looked just like a scene from one.

The walls were decorated in painted Japanese cherry blossom trees, intertwining across the wooden walls like a malevolent snake. It was occasionally interrupted by several tapestries hung on the wall, depicting classic art that ranged from scenes taken out of nature to elegantly clothes women and men. The entire room was lit with dozens of lanterns hanging from the ceiling, which stretched far above us in a mess of wooden beams and supports. Though we were only on the ground floor, the roof was tall enough for several more stories. Along with the lanterns, windows stretched above the ceiling allowed some light to enter. But most of the sunlight was obscured by the canopy outside.

The floor creaked below me as I stepped inside. Every face in the room turned to look at me.

A dining table stretched across the room. Half-eaten food I recognized from the kitchen was arranged neatly down the long table. The table was low. The chairs were nothing but pillows, one of which sat directly in front of me. On one side of the table, there were four more. On the other, another four. And straight across from me, the final.

On the right side of the table, Yuma and Kanon kneeled on the pillows, their heads bowed and their expressions terrified. Across from them were Rin and Gumo. Anon, Flower, and Miku were nowhere to be found.

Each one of my friends had a guard behind them, the barrel of their guns poking at the back of their head.

Directly across from me sat the evil Queen herself.

Luka sat with a gentle smile on her face, as if this were a get-together for a group of friends. Her elbows rested on the table, her delicate fingers interlacing in front of her.

"You must be Len." Her deep, melodic voice echoed through the room and sent shivers down my spine.

This was the end.


...Yay Luka? At least we finally get to meet her lol

Thanks for reading :)