A/N: So, here's another warning and emphasis on this story's M Rating. This is an intense chapter. Very strong, coarse language and violence in the later part of this chapter. This is probably the most triggering chapter yet, but the encounters are vital for the characters' development. If you do not wish to see the grotesqueness of what unfolds, you can stop reading after the second line break in the chapter. There will be a short recap in the next chapter explaining what happened in lesser details. I just wanted to give this warning before you continued. Read responsibly and at your own discretion. I will be removing this warning soon.

With that said, here is Chapter 37.

Freddie's eyes fluttered open. The linear fluorescent T5 tubes on the ceiling were nearly blinding. He could hear the faint beeping from the heart rate monitor as he came out of his unconsciousness.

"Daddy!"

Freddie stretched his eyes wide and blinked at the sound of his daughter's voice. He turned to his right to see her standing beside the hospital bed, her little hands holding onto the bedside railing. Her Eevee was perched on her shoulder and his Weavile was standing on her toes beside her, staring intently at him as well.

His vision starting to clear, Freddie tried to smile for her.

"Hey, baby."

"Daddy, why did you leave me? Did you fight a bad guy? Is dat why you're all beat up?"

"Niema, give your father a chance to get his bearings. He's been through quite the ordeal," an older masculine voice said.

Freddie turned his face to the left to see his father Cedric sitting in one of the visitor's chairs.

"Dad?"

"Hello, son," he replied tearily.

"Dad, don't cry."

Cedric brought his right hand to his mouth before wiping his face.

"We thought you were dead, Freddie…We thought they killed you." His voice cracked. "We were so worried."

"I'm gonna be fine, Dad. It was nothing."

"Damn lie it was nothing. Look at your face, your body. Bruises and cuts everywhere. And your arm. You damn near nearly bled out."

"Dad, not in front of Niema." Freddie warned. "Where's Mom?"

"I sent Darrell to drive her home and keep an eye on her. She's not keeping too well herself after all this."

"Darrell's here?"

"We called him on our way to the station. He flew up immediately. Out getting some coffee right now but he'll be back."

His estranged family was back in his daughter's life. All because allowed himself to get jumped. Freddie sighed.

A knock on the door sounded and Freddie and Cedric turned to see a woman dressed in a pantsuit with silvery blue hair and green eyes enter the room.

"Mr. Freddie Seno?"

"Yeah?" Freddie said unevenly.

"I'm Gloria Mamoru. I'm with Child Protective Services."

"What?"

"I need to talk to you about the events that transpired yesterday at the Cinema."

Cedric stood up. "Now, look here, this isn't a matter for CPS to get involved with."

"With all due respect, Mr. Seno, I need to talk to your son about what happened."

"No, you do not. Can't you see the state he is in? What is wrong with you? No child abuse has taken place here. My son's a good father and -"

"Dad," Freddie interjected. "Take Niema and leave us alone, please."

"You want me to stand aside while she railroads you?"

"I'll be fine, Dad. Let me take care of this," he tried to reassure.

Though he was hesitant, Cedric nodded. "Come, Niema. How's about you and I go get some ice cream from the vending machine down the hall?"

Niema turned back to face her father. "I don wanna leave, Daddy. I needa take care a you."

"Thank you, baby, but I'm the one who's supposed to be taking care of you. Go with Poppop for now. I'll be okay."

"You sure, Daddy?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Sadly, Niema walked over to her grandfather and held his hand and the two exited the room, leaving Freddie and Gloria alone.

Once she was out of his sight, Freddie fixed his eyes on Gloria. "What's this about? Why is CPS getting involved?"

"It is our understanding that you left your minor child alone in the plaza's movie theater."

"I did not abandon my child. I was attacked last night, can't you see that?"

"Why did you leave her alone?"

"I wasn't leaving her. I went to check on my car and was attacked. I fully intended on coming back."

"You say that, but you didn't tell your daughter what you were going to do?"

Freddie felt his anger rising. "Yes, I did! She either forgot or wasn't paying attention to me when I told her. I did not abandon her."

"I'll say it again, you left your four-year-old daughter unattended and alone in the movie theater at the plaza."

"What is with you? Are you deaf? I just told you what I was doing. My car alarm went off, I went to investigate what was going on."

"You never contacted anyone during the time you were missing to let them know what happened."

"I was freakin' attacked! I couldn't contact anyone because I was knocked out, bleeding out, and thrown in the dump. As soon as I regained consciousness, I contacted someone to let them know where I was and about Niema."

"Which was hours after you last saw her. Mr. Seno, even if you were going to the bathroom, leaving your young child unattended for even a second could be consequential. This situation could have been a whole lot worse if the janitor and manager did not act and call the police. Your daughter could have been taken, kidnapped, attacked herself and even dead if management did not intervene."

"What are you trying to say, that I was being negligent?"

"Abundantly so, yes."

Freddie wrung his hands in the air. "This is ridiculous!"

"You need to take this seriously, Mr. Seno. You left your daughter all alone. Even if you weren't attacked, any of those things I just listed could have happened to her. There could have been a predator in that theater waiting for a moment like you presented to make their move. Leaving your daughter alone in that theater was not only negligent, it was careless. You failed to act with prudence and so we must get involved to ensure the safety and benefit of the child."

"My daughter is safe with me. I was attacked. I don't understand why you are blaming me for my own abduction. I did not just up and leave my daughter! I know the law. You cannot just take her from me."

"For now, Mr. Seno. But rest assured, we will be monitoring you closely to assess the safety and well-being of the minor child. Consider this case screened-in."

Freddie's glare had no affect on Gloria, who wore a hardened stare of her own. "I did nothing wrong. Who even called CPS? The police?"

"Even if I wasn't ethically and legally bound to keep that information private, I would not tell you. The report was made and I am following up on it. That is all you need to know."

"I did nothing wrong! I did nothing wrong!"

Gloria closed her eyes before aboutfacing. "We'll be in touch, Mr. Seno."

And with that, she exited the room.

Freddie was fuming. He did not understand why the caseworker was being so hard on him. He didn't do anything wrong. Any reasonable person could see that he didn't do anything, that he was not neglecting and abandoning Niema when he went to check on his car. Yet, she was saying that it was his fault if something happened to Niema because he was attacked. Talk about blaming the victim.

This was only going to be the start of it. He just could not catch a break.

Lunick quietly typed on his laptop as he sat behind one of the tables in the lobby. The double doors slid apart as Iyori entered the building.

She smiled when she saw Lunick.

"Lunick-sama! You are back!"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "After three months of intense therapy and hospitalization, I'm well enough for desk duty."

"Still, that is much progress. I am sorry I could not visit you often in the hospital. The Professor has me working overtime with extracting and analyzing the various DNA profiles and sequences from the amalgamated Pokémon."

"Don't sweat it, Iyori. I know how busy you are. I didn't take offense."

"Where is Solana-san?"

"She's out on a mission of her own in the Lyra Forest." Lunick finished typing on his laptop before pulling out a binder filled with an array of multicolored folders. He began flipping through them. "Since you're here, Iyori, maybe you can help me with something."

"Of course, Lunick-sama. I will do whatever I can."

"You see, I'm working on closing out some of our old cases to lessen our caseload. One of note that we haven't resolved yet is yours."

"Mine?"

"Yes. It's been roughly half a year since the apartment building in the Crystal Waters complex on the west side of Fall City collapsed from the fire. You've been doing well working here as an analyst these past few months. You have a Pokémon of your own now that you are taking care of. You're adjusting and reacclimating nicely. It's been some time now. Do you think you're up to talking about the fire?"

Iyori nodded somberly.

"I promise I'll be as gentle as possible," Lunick took out a blue folder from the binder, opened it, and took out his notepad. "All right. First off, our investigators believe the fire started in your building, specifically your apartment. Would you agree?"

"That is correct."

"What can you tell me about it?"

Iyori sighed heavily. "I was attacked."

"By whom?"

"My ex-boyfriend."

Lunick jotted it down. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend. But you did say in the hospital you used to date someone. Is this the same person?"

"Yes."

"What can you tell me about them?"

"Do I really need to?"

"I know this is difficult, Iyori, but it's important we gather as much information as possible so we can close this case."

"Yes, but you have not caught him yet. He can still hunt me down and find me. Kill me."

"You let us worry about that. Once we know who he is, we can make sure he doesn't bring harm to you or anyone else again. Now, what else can you recollect about that day?"

Again, Iyori sighed.

"I…Had just gotten home from the market. He was there inside waiting for me, asking where I'd been. I showed him the receipts but for whatever reason he did not appear to believe me. He then started beating me, throwing me against the walls of my apartment. All the while I am begging with him, pleading for him to stop."

"I'm sorry that you went through that. Your medical reports didn't mention anything about bruising or bleeding from blunt force trauma but I suppose with the injuries and burns from the fire, it would have been hard to distinguish or overlook."

"I am not lying."

"I didn't say you were. Please, continue."

"I was begging him to stop. That if he didn't, I was going to call the police. He argued that no one would believe me. That I was just some weak little girl who needed him. I fought back and managed to scratch his face, further angering him. Then he started to laugh, sadistically. Said I wasn't worth his fists and that all trash was meant to be incinerated. He then doused my house in isopropyl alcohol and acetone before lighting a cigarette and tossing it on the floor. My home was engulfed instantly."

Lunick continued to write. "So, he used two kinds of accelerants. That would at the very least double the rate at which the fire spread and inevitably increase the amount of damage. No wonder it was a three-alarm Code 3 alert."

Iyori hugged herself and closed her eyes. "It was horrible. Ali tried to kill me eight times and he would have succeeded had it not been for your rescue."

"Ali? Is that his name."

She reopened her eyes. "That is the nickname I gave him. His full name is Alejandro Vasquez."

Lunick stopped writing. His eyes stretched wide as he slowly looked up at Iyori.

"Come again?"

"Alejandro. That's his name Lunick-sama."

"It can't be," Lunick instantly pulled back out his laptop and began running Alejandro's name through the system. "There's just no way."

Iyori crinkled her brow in confusion. "I am sorry, Lunick-sama but…do you know who he is?"

"Oh, I'm well-aquatinted with him," Lunick breathed out as Alejandro's extensive rap sheet started materializing on screen. "Half a year and no one thought to run a criminal background check on this guy?"

"I am confused. How do you know him? Why have you allowed him to roam free this entire time? Why has no arrest been made?"

Lunick closed down his laptop. "There was nothing linking him as the same person who burned down your apartment. But now everything makes total sense!" He shot out of his seat and started heading for the base's double doors. "We're gonna have to finish this another time, Iyori. I need to rush over to Summerland right now!"

"What for?"

"If a bunch a receipts were enough to set Alejandro over the edge with you, then Leilani is in some serious danger."

"Are you sure he feels the same way?" Asked Percy.

Leilani irritatedly played with her pencil as she sat behind the counter with Percy, manning the front desk for mission requests until Cameron came back from his meeting.

"Why is everyone questioning Murph's authenticity when it comes to this? Murph loves me. I've waited for this moment for seven years and no one is there for me."

"Look, Leilani. You're my partner. No one knows how long you've been pining for Murph more than me. I care about you, you're like the little sister I've never had. It's not that Solana and I are doubting Murph. We just don't want to see anybody else get hurt. This year has been helIish enough already."

Leilani slammed her pencil down. "Murph isn't the one who needs to be questioned!"

"Leilani, he ran to you, had sex with you, just two hours after breaking it off with Aria. He was emotional, livid, carnal. You said so yourself. He was unrestrained and wanton. Does that sound like the Murph we all know and love?"

"He wanted me. That was clear from the moment I opened my door. Even if he was fuming from his breakup with Aria, that does not mean he was using me as some emotional crutch. Murph would never hurt me that way."

"Not intentionally, of course not. But he was overwrought from what he had just witnessed at Aria's house. I'm just saying take it slow, Leilani. You do not want to set yourself up to get hurt."

"I am not a rebound! Murph would never do that to me."

"Not intentionally, but Leilani -"

"No! I'm not listening to this! You know what, Percy?"

Before Leilani could finish her sentence, the double doors to the base slid apart.

Leilani sighed. "Let's just take care of this request and talk about this later. Or not. I really don't want to…"

Leilani trailed off as she looked away from Percy to the front entrance and her eyes grew big and her mouth agape as a chill ran down her spine from what she saw.

Percy followed her gaze and his eyes momentarily grew large as well before they hardened into an irate stare.

"Alejandro?" Leilani squeaked.

The Latino young adult glowered as he stared hard at them. "No, please. Keep talking. I want to hear all of it."

"Alejandro, wait…I…I just…"

"Just what? Just slept with someone else?" He growled. "Most women would kill to have big titties and an ass like yours and you're out here shaking them for every man to see, huh?"

"It's not what you think."

"I knew you were lying, I knew it! Not that I needed your little confession because I found this," he took out Leilani's bedsheet from the bag he was carrying and tossed it on the floor. "You didn't even change the fucking sheets! You nasty ass bitch!"

"All right! I've just had about enough of you!" Percy cried as he rushed from behind the counter towards Alejandro.

"Percy!" Leilani screamed.

Alejandro drew his fist back and clocked Percy with one blow to the left-side of his face. He instantly fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Percy!" Leilani shrieked.

"Poli tohd!" His Politoed cried out as he ran to his ranger's side.

Alejandro then raised his fist and threw a backhand punch to the control panel near the base's doors, causing the sliding doors at the entrance to lock, trapping them inside.

He continued to growl as he approached Leilani.

Lucario moved from his meditative posture on the right side of the base and leapt in front of Leilani, taking a defensive stance in front of her.

"Loo!"

Alejandro was unbothered. He walked up to the Pokémon and the two started to exchange blows, with Alejandro effectively silencing him by landing a rolling kick to the fighting-steel-types torso, sending him crashing into the left side wall.

"Lucario!" Leilani cried.

"I told you to tell that thing to respect me." He snarled.

Leilani tried to run past him but he quickly grabbed her by her arm and slammed her back against the wall behind the counter.

"Where do you think you're going?" He moved closer, cornering her against the wall. "You look scared. Are you afraid of me?"

Scared is exactly what she was. Leilani felt weak in her knees. Her heart quivered. It felt like it wanted to burst right out of her chest.

He pressed himself against her, earnestly rubbing his crotch against hers.

"Stop it."

"Or what?" He threatened, pulling out a large silver switchblade and pressing it against her throat.

"You don't want to do this."

"You have no idea what I want."

"I know what you need. Religion."

Alejandro chuckled dryly. "God has never done a damn thing for me. I seriously doubt he even exists."

"That's your problem. You trust no one and you make nothing but enemies because of your horrid behavior."

"Are you giving me attitude?" he said as moved his left hand from pinning her arm to the wall to around her throat, squeezing lightly. "You know I don't like attitude."

He traced her face with the top of his blade. "You've always been so beautiful, Leilani. Too bad you run that mouth of yours so goddamn much."

"Screw you, you sick vicious bastard!"

Leilani was immediately backhanded. Startled, she brought her trembling hands to her stinging lips and cheek. She tasted blood. She then felt Alejandro grab a fistful of her braids and slam her against the wall one more time.

"Ah!" She cried out.

"You wanna say that again?"

"I'm sorry."

He put his left hand on her hip and he once again pressed himself against her.

"Who was it?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Yes, you will," he growled. "You just spread it for any man who so much as looks your way, don't you?"

"You're crazy! A crazy son of a -"

With his left hand, he began choking her while he pressed the knife against her right side. Gagging and gasping for air, Leilani pulled and clawed at his arm, hand and wrist to no avail. His hold didn't loosen. She raised her knee but Alejandro pushed the knife into her side, dispelling any thought she had of kneeing him.

"What was it you were about to say?" He asked daringly. "Disrespect me again and I'll gladly kill you and not give it a second thought. You understand me?"

Leilani felt like she was about to black out. She nodded as best as she could.

He let go of her throat and Leilani immediately collapsed onto the ground, coughing and gasping for air. She was hurting in so many spots.

"Who was it?"

Leilani didn't answer. She just continued to cough.

Enraged, Alejandro once again grabbed her by her braids and smashed her body against the wall.

"AHH!" Leilani screamed.

"Who the hell did you fuck last night?!" He bellowed.

Leilani panted. "Keep yelling and whining like a baby. Throw your temper tantrum. I don't care anymore!"

Alejandro raised his blade and held it firmly against her throat.

"You're really testing me, Leilani. But one way or another, you're going to give me what I want."

He once again started to grind himself hard into her pubic, turning her stomach. She kept her legs closed tight. Alejandro tried to part Leilani's legs with his knee, but her muscular strength in her thighs kept her thighs and legs closed. Alejandro slashed the knife against Leilani's right side. She cried out from the searing pain. She didn't have to look to see if she was bleeding, she knew she was. She could feel the blood ooze from the cut in her skin.

"Open your thighs," he whispered angrily.

Reluctantly, she did. She closed her eyes and willed herself to detach her mind from her body as Alejandro positioned himself between her thighs. He started rubbing himself against her more forcefully. Unwelcomed tears streamed down Leilani's cheeks. The more she stiffened and grimaced, the more he got off on her. He began grunting and sucking air through his teeth. God, how she hated this man!

He lowered his left hand to her behind and squeezed her firmly. He grunted, he moaned in pleasure. The more he rubbed himself against her, the more Leilani wanted to bite, scratch, and lash out at him. As if he sensed what she was thinking, Alejandro pressed the blade against her throat and was satisfied when she relaxed her thighs and let him nestle between them. Then taunting her, he slid the blade down across the protuberance on her right breast, which on its own perked up and made itself visible through her work tank top. He flicked it with the tip of his blade, not caring that she squirmed because he was hurting her.

Leilani turned her head away and tried not to think about what he was doing to her, trying to force her mind to go somewhere else as he bent down and slobbered on her neck.

"Damn, you feel good!" He took the knife into his left hand behind Leilani's back and thrust his right hand under her tank top, releasing her breast from the protection of her bra. Mercilessly, he squeezed her until she screamed out in pain. She grabbed his hand.

"I'll cut it off!"

"You're hurting me!"

"I can hurt you a lot worse than this," he squeezed her harder and continued to rub himself vigorously and angrily against her. Leilani bit down on her lower lip to keep from screaming out loud. She could feel his disgusting erection through her pants. It was bad enough that he beat her and wanted to kill her. But molest her? Rape her? Just how evil was he? He grinded harder and harder until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it!" She screamed. "Please, stop!"

"Take your pants off!"

"No!"

"Do it now!"

He grabbed the waistband of her olive shorts and was about to stick his knife down into them.

"Wait!" Leilani shrieked. "Wait! I'll take them off! Just let me do it!"

"Shut up!" He growled as he tugged at her shorts and started tearing them away.

"Leilani!" A muffled voice screamed.

Alejandro turned his head and Leilani tearily looked past him to see Lunick pounding aggressively on the glass, trying desperately to break it.

That's it!

Lunick's sudden arrival provided enough of a distraction for Leilani to take advantage of Alejandro's brief weakened hold on her. She raised right arm and elbowed him in his throat before kicking out at him, but he quickly blocked the kick and grabbed her leg by her knee. He grabbed her around her waist and threw her down on the floor.

"Leilani!" Lunick vehemently screamed.

This was bad! Majorly bad! He had to get in there. He still hadn't recovered all of his strength from his injuries and there wasn't much he could do without hurting himself. But he needed to act, and act quickly. Leilani was in the process of being raped and killed right in front of him! He swore he would protect her; that he wouldn't let any woman go through what Solana did. He wasn't about to let that happen to Leilani too.

He anxiously looked around his surroundings, looking for anything he could use to break the glass doors. Spotting something, Lunick hastily ran to it.

Inside, Leilani tried to crawl away from Alejandro but he grabbed her legs and pulled her towards him. He tore at her pants, ripping the seam between her legs and tearing it in half. Leilani kicked and bucked like a wild Rapidash. She caught Alejandro in the ribcage with a vicious kick that made him grunt a gush of air and bend forward. She quickly followed up with a powerful blade kick to his face which sent him falling backwards.

Leilani didn't wait to see the blood that seeped from the gash on his chin. She hurled herself over the counter and grabbed the thick manual at the edge of the counter. With all her strength she hurled the heavy book at Alejandro's head. He ducked and grabbed his knife from the floor, lunging at Leilani right afterwards. He grabbed her around her waist and she screamed. He lifted her off her feet and threw her like a rag doll across the room. She landed hard on her left hip on the tiled floor. She tried to get up but agonizing pain shot through her tailbone, across her behind, and down her left thigh. She couldn't get up.

Breathing like a raging Tauros, Alejandro pounced on Leilani and held her down.

"You're dead!"

"Aren't you tired of threatening me?"

"I'm making good on this threat, believe me."

"I'm sick of being your punching bag. You don't own me. And you don't scare me anymore. You cannot control me anymore."

"Bold talk for a bitch who's about to die."

"You're a disgusting asshole. I hate you!"

He spit on her face. Leilani shook her head fervently and screamed at the top of her lungs. She kneed him in his stomach four times until he buckled and then she elbowed him again. He was knocked to the side and Leilani forced herself to her feet.

Alejandro seethed. "I'm going to gut you! I will squeeze the life from you with my bare hands! I will cut out your heart and shove it down that fatass' throat!"

"Go to hell you crazy malignant bastard!"

"You're dead, bitch!"

"Come at me, motherfucker!"

Alejandro quickly closed the small space between him and Leilani. Her screams didn't deter him in the least. He grabbed Leilani and slammed her into the ground. Dropping to one knee, he brought his murderous hands up to her neck, but Leilani wasn't going down without a fight. Ignoring the pain, she flailed, punched, clawed, and scratched, anything in an effort to keep him away from her neck. He then rammed his fist into her gut, doubling her over against his arm in agonizing pain.

He pulled his pistol from his jacket and held it against Leilani's temple as he unzipped his pants and released himself with his left hand, thoroughly disgusting Leilani.

"On your fucking knees!" He bellowed.

Leilani strained to sit up and looked at Alejandro with pure hatred.

"You want it this way? Fine!"

He then started squeezing the life out of her with one of his hands and pulled down her underwear with one finger with the hand he held the gun. Leilani continued to claw at Alejandro's arm with only one thought in mind - get his DNA under her fingernails.

No! I refuse to go out like this!

Digging deep to this primal place inside her, a flame ignited inside Leilani as she curved her fingers and scraped her nails down his arm.

Though he was bleeding from the scratch, he didn't flinch. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and wedged himself between her thighs.

As her throat was being crushed, Leilani gasped for the last bit of air she could steal.

"Aaaaaaa!" Alejandro screamed and howled. A sharp, jarring pain exploded in the left side of his back. He jerked his hands off of Leilani who gagged and croaked incessantly as she tried to get air back in her lungs. Above her, Alejandro, ranting, frantically reached under, then over his left shoulder, trying to reach the spot where the stabbing pain was coming from.

Leilani, still coughing hoarsely as she tried to quell the soreness in her throat and feed her oxygen starved lungs, didn't know why Alejandro stopped strangling her and was amazed and relieved when he jumped off of her howling like a tormented Electrike. Leilani tried to get up but she couldn't. She rolled onto her belly and strained to lift her head to see what Alejandro was so upset about and was astounded. Protruding from Alejandro's back was his own knife!

"Raaaaaaaaaw!" He roared as he flung his arms madly over and under his shoulder trying to reach the knife which was midway between his shoulder blades and the center of his back. "God damn it! Raaaaaaaaw!"

Alejandro's primal scream pushed Leilani into trying to get off the floor despite the debilitating pain in her lower back.

"Leilani," she heard a voice say softly. She looked up to see Lunick standing in front of her, extending his bloody hand towards her.

"Lunick?"

"Are you okay? Relatively speaking, you know?"

Alejandro continued to desperately strain to try to pull the knife out of his back.

"Lunick," she breathed. That's when she noticed the deep cuts on Lunick's hands and arms. She then realized the base's security system was alarming and saw that the glass double doors were shattered in the center. A large broken log was splintered in the center near the entrance. "Lunick…you're bleeding."

"I'll be fine. I'm worried about you. Did he…Did he -"

"No. You stopped him before he could."

Lunick sighed in relief.

"I've already contacted the police, they'll be here shortly. We need to hurry and get you to the hospital ASAP -"

Before Lunick could finish his sentence, he was slammed in his back with a ladder. It cracked and bent as it made contact and Lunick cried out as he dropped to the floor.

"Lunick!" Leilani cried.

Frustrated, Alejandro threw the broken ladder and wrapped his arm around Lunick's neck, choking him.

Ignoring the immense pain in his back, Lunick started jabbing him in his stomach with his elbow multiple times, trying to loosen his grip. Lunick then forced himself to push him backwards, slamming him against the wall, the impact pushing the knife deeper into Alejandro's back. He wailed as Lunick bent down and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Alejandro's face and catapulted him into the side wall with an explosive bang. He charged at Alejandro just as he regained his footing. Rapid fire punches, bone crushing arm and leg blocks punctuated with loud grunts from both Lunick and Alejandro made Leilani cringe. She had to end this.

She looked ahead of her and saw the gun that Alejandro had dropped. Painstakingly, she dragged her limp body towards it, relying on the strength of her upper arms to move herself forward.

Lunick wasn't in the mood for a long, drawn-out fight. His body hadn't fully recovered and hurt like hell and now he had the added pain from the ladder breaking against his back and the cuts from the broken glass and split log. He knew he was running purely on adrenaline at this point. He needed to bring it to a close. He dropped down to one knee to avoid Alejandro's roundhouse kick, then came up with a two-fisted slam to Alejandro's left side which had Alejandro crying out in excruciating pain. Lunick then grabbed him into a headlock, snatched him off his feet into a backwards throw and slammed him hard into the tiled floor on his back. The knife was driven all the way to the handle into his back. For a moment, he looked thunderstruck, before he gritted his teeth and pulled Lunick down with him, forcing him to the ground.

Lunick felt himself weakening. He couldn't keep this up. He was running out of energy and his body trembled from pain. But he would not allow himself to give up. He forced himself back up just as Alejandro punched him in his jaw before kicking him hard in his injured abdomen. Lunick was sent flying back and hit the rear wall, slumping down to the ground afterwards.

Leilani continued to scoot towards the gun. She stretched her arm out, the tips of her fingers brushing against it.

Alejandro turned to face Leilani.

"I'll fucking kill you!"

Just a little further!

He limped over to his bloody switchblade which was dislodged because of the fight and picked it up.

Almost!

As he hurriedly limped towards Leilani, Lunick pounced on him from behind.

"Leilani, run!" He ordered.

But Leilani couldn't move. This was her last chance. Her only chance.

She brushed the barrel with her fingertips and it spun slightly closer to her.

"Leilani!" Alejandro roared as he tussled with Lunick.

Almost!…Got it…!

She snatched the gun, and forced herself to sit up as she aimed it in their direction.

Simultaneously, both Lunick and Alejandro yelled.

"LEILANI!"

BLAM!