*As the sun was starting to set, Jin, Gael, Hibana and the others were loaded up into a van and driven to the Migung District. The Migung District was one of the older residential areas in the kingdom. Buildings built on top of other buildings and electrical poles towering over the area. The area was known for being hard to navigate if you weren’t a resident there which is why so many people nicknamed it The Labyrinth. As the van traveled down the narrow roads of the district, Gael looked out the window where he could see a few stands, a grocery store, a pharmacy, and a few family-owned restaurants/cafes. The van soon drove up a hill and came to an apartment complex that was six-stories high. The van drove to the back of the complex and entered a garage. Once the garage door closed behind them, they all exited the van with their backpacks as Crystal and another female member of Dawn Nexus led them inside*
(Crystal): Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Nexus HQ as well as your new home starting today. We have beds, a party area, and a gym. You’ll find the beds on the second, third and fourth floor.
(Jin): What about the other floors?
(Crystal): Oh those are the executive offices. You don’t need to worry about those floors and don’t even think about going up there without permission. I’ll be taking those bags now.
*Everyone hands their backpack to Crystal who takes them all*
(Crystal): Very good. Hey, Hanzo!
*All of a sudden, a man with short green hair and magenta eyes comes falling from the ceiling and lands right by Crystal. The man was human and wore a green ninja garb with black sandals, a black scarf, and a black mask covering half of his face. On his back were two twin katanas*
(Hanzo): You called, milady?
(Crystal): Be a dear and bring out the cart.
(Hanzo): Yes, milady.
(Crystal): Everyone, this is Hanzo, my second in-command and personal bodyguard. If he looks intimidating that’s because he is. Be sure not to get on his bad side if you want to keep living.
(Hanzo): It is an honor to meet you all. I look forward to working with you.
*Hanzo bows and goes to retrieve the cart. He returns a few seconds later with the cart and Crystal opens up one of the backpacks*
(Gael): Hey! I thought you said they would explode if we opened them.
(Crystal): Oh that was a lie. Sorry, not sorry.
*Crystal empties the contents of the backpack into the cart where everyone sees that they were carrying blank pieces of paper*
(Gael): And now you’re telling me I risked my life for some blank pieces of paper!?
(Hibana): No you mutt, look closely. Those blank pieces of paper are bills, the same bills used to make credits.
(Crystal): Good eye. I said you were doing a cash run and I meant it. There’s a special kind of wood and ink they use to make credits. We have the ink, but getting the paper is hard. Luckily, we managed to secure a valuable ally on the inside.
*As Crystal was talking, Hanzo was emptying out the contents of the other backpacks into the cart*
(Crystal): Take it up Hanzo, I’ll be up there shortly. As for the rest of you, you’ve had a long day so why don’t you head on over to the party area and meet your new family.
*Two Dawn Nexus members show up to lead the new recruits to the party area where loud music is playing, drinks and food are out for everyone to enjoy, people are dancing and playing games. Jin, Gael, Hibana, and the recruits enter the room and begin to mingle with the others. Jin, Gael and Hibana stick close to each other as they move to get food and drinks*
(Gael): Okay, we’re in, now what do we do?
(Jin): Contact the others and let them know where we are.
(Hibana): That’s not gonna work.
(Jin): Huh?
(Hibana): They’ve set up some kind of radio jamming signal. Big one too, it’s almost covering the whole district.
(Gael): Damn, they’re good.
(Jin): We’ve got to unjam that signal and let the others know where we’re at. I bet they’re jamming it on the upper levels. Let’s look for a way to sneak up.
(Gael): There’s too many eyes on us. We need a distraction.
(Hibana): I’m on it. Wait for my signal and make your move.
*Hibana walks away from the boys and heads over to the TV where members of Dawn Nexus were playing a fighting game. One of the members just got done winning and rose to his feet to gloat*
(Dawn Nexus member): YEAAAHHHH~! Who else wants a piece of the king?
(Hibana): Oh sick! Street Brawler 2! Hands down the best game in the series!
(Dawn Nexus member): Interested in playing the king, newbie?
(Hibana): Oh, I’m interested and I’m willing to put credits down for this.
*Hibana slams three hundred credits on the table getting a collective ohh~ from the crowd surrounding her*
(Dawn Nexus member): Alright, have a seat. Don’t think I’ll go easy just cause you’re a girl.
*Hibana sits down, picks her fighter and the fight begins where she decimates the Dawn Nexus member in fifteen seconds flat. She performed a number of combos back-to-back giving her opponent no time to recover or counterattack. What the Dawn Nexus member didn’t know was Hibana was a hardcore gamer and she just happens to be a former Street Brawler 2 3-time champ. The Dawn Nexus member was stunned at his defeat*
(Hibana): I’ll be taking your crown now.
(Dawn Nexus member): Rematch. Now.
(Hibana): Sure, but it’ll cost you three hundred credits. That goes for everyone else and if you beat me you get the whole pot.
*Hibana’s distraction worked as many people gathered around to either watch or challenge her. Jin and Gael used this distraction to sneak out of the room. After exiting the room they began walking down a dark hallway*
(Gael): Alright, so what’s our next move?
(Jin): Well we can’t take the stairs they got guards watching it, so we’ll have to find another-
(Dawn Nexus member #2): Hey! Stop right there!
*Jin and Gael froze in place and turned around to see a dark elf member of Dawn Nexus approach them*
(Dawn Nexus member #2): What are you doing down this hallway? This is a restricted area.
(Jin): Oh, uh, sorry. We were looking for the restroom and got lost.
(Dawn Nexus member #2): Impossible. The restroom is right outside the party room, you can’t miss-
*Gael leaps in the air and hits the dark elf with a spinning kick upside the head to knock him out. Before the dark elf hit the floor, Jin grabbed him to avoid making a noise*
(Gael): Sorry, but we have to move now. More are coming this way.
*Jin looked around and saw an open broom closet off to the left side*
(Jin): Over there.
*Gael and Jin quickly ran to the broom closet with Jin dragging the body of the unconscious dark elf with him. Gael closes the door and locks it remaining as quiet as possible to avoid detection. Closing his eyes, Gael focused on the auras of the members of Dawn Nexus to figure out where they were. Jin in the meantime was busy tying up the unconscious dark elf with supplies he found in the closet such as rope to tie him up, a sponge to gag his mouth and a rag to tie over his mouth. Once Gael could sense the coast was clear he let out a sigh of relief*
(Gael): Okay, we’re clear. Let’s keep moving.
(Jin): Wait, I just found our way upstairs.
*Jin looks up prompting Gael to do the same thing where he sees the entrance to a vent*
(Gael): Sure hope they’re clean.
(Jin): Does the doggy not want a second bath today?
(Gael): Just shut up and give me a boost before I leave you behind.
*Smiling, Jin gives Gael a boost to reach the vent cover and open it. Pushing it to the side of the vent he climbs inside. Once Gael is safely inside, he reaches his hand down for Jin. Jin jumps up to grab a hold of Gael’s arm with his hand and Gael pulls him up. One thing that amazed Jin during his short time with Gael was how incredibly strong he was despite being smaller than him and not really having excessive muscle mass. According to Jade, demihumans are naturally strong when compared to humans or elves even if they don’t look it. Jin doubted this a little, but once Ryuuji revealed how she could bench press more than him all doubt left his mind*
***
*Minutes had passed since Jin and Gael entered the vents and used them to reach the upper levels of the once apartment complex*
(Gael): Man, we’ve reached the upper levels, but still no sign of the jammer.
*All of a sudden, the two were drawn to the sound of a machine coming down from below. Rushing over to an open vent they looked down to see a translucent cube tub filled with green liquid. A large plate of credit bills was being submerged into the tub*
(Gael): What the hell is this?
(Jin): I think this is how they make the counterfeits. The green liquid gives the bills the right coloring.
*After a few seconds, the bills are pulled up and laser pointers begin moving across the bills*
(Gael): Now what’s happening?
(Jin): I see. They infused the ink with the laser. The laser marks all the bills with precision that way there are no mistakes. Combine that with the right coloring of the bills and you have the perfect counterfeit bill that would fool even experts.
*Once all the bills have been marked correctly. The plate of credit bills is finally lowered to the ground and inspected by Crystal who picks up a bill and smells it with joy while Hanzo stands off to the side leaning against the wall silently with his eyes closed*
(Crystal): Ahhh~, the smell of perfection. Let’s get the next batch ready.
*All of a sudden a deer demihuman girl runs in*
(Dawn Nexus deer member): Crystal!
(Crystal): What’s up, Isabelle? The men making passes at you again? Not that I can blame them.
(Isabelle): No! One of us just got knocked out by two new recruits and now they’re loose in the building. I think they might be knights in disguise.
*Hanzo opens his eyes and quickly walks over to Crystal*
(Hanzo): I told you bringing the new recruits here so soon was a mistake.
(Crystal): You know, I told you has an older brother, he’s called, shut the hell up. Round up all the new recruits in the lobby and search the floors. If these guys are knights, they’ll make their way up here.
(Jin): Crap! We’ve got to find that jammer and quick before they discover us.
(Crystal): Hmm, what’s up there?
*Crystal could sense something in the vents and pulled out a pair of nunchucks. She threw the nunchucks at the vent hitting it on the sides. All of a sudden, Jin and Gael heard a cracking sound and looked around where they saw the vent was slowly turning into ice. Jin and Gael soon fell through the vent and landed in a pile of credit bills*
(Crystal): Isabelle, be a dear and get those nunchucks for me.
(Isabelle): Yes.
*Crystal walked over to Jin and Gael along with Hanzo and a few other members of Dawn Nexus surrounded the two. Crystal stared down grinning mischievously at Jin and Gael*
(Crystal): So, care to explain yourselves?
(Jin): Hey, this ain’t the bathroom. Gael, you led us the wrong way.
(Gael): Me!? I was following you!?
*Jin and Gael bickered with each other as they stood up*
(Jin): Well if you’ll excuse us. Me and my idiot associate here will be on our way.
(Gael): Yeah, good luck finding those knights.
*As Jin and Gael attempt to escape they get stopped by Hanzo who pulls out a black energy saber sword which stops them in their tracks*
(Crystal): Nice try, but no.
(Jin): An energy saber?
(Hanzo): You’ve seen one of these?
(Jin): Once, but it was a different color.
(Crystal): So you guys are knights. Such a shame. I had such high expectations for you. Kill them without making a mess, please.
*As Hanzo prepares to slice through them, a small black ball appears in Jin’s hand through his sleeve and he throws it on the ground. All of a sudden, the room is filled with a thick black smoke. Hanzo swings his energy saber only to hit nothing*
(Hanzo): Clever strategy.
*Using Gael’s powers, Jin and Gael easily reached the doors and escaped the room where they ran down the hall and made their way to the stairs. They made it to the fourth floor where they fought through a couple of Dawn Nexus members before reaching the stairs to the third floor and going down them. Once they’ve reached the third floor hallway they came face to face with Hanzo who cut holes through the floor in order to reach them quickly. Realizing they have no choice, both Jin and Gael prepare to fight. Jin takes his brass knife knuckles and Gael creates his bo of light. Hanzo takes out his second energy saber and Jin and Gael run toward Hanzo. Gael runs along the wall to get behind Hanzo while Jin goes for a frontal assault. Hanzo blocks Jin’s attack with one of his sabers and blocks Gael’s attack with his second saber*
(Hanzo): Impressive. Without even communicating, you both synced up your moves and tried to attack me from the front and behind.
(Gael): Well, we have a good teacher.
*Jin and Gael unleash more attacks, but Hanzo is able to block them all with his sabers. He finally kicks Jin away and turns his attention to Gael where he’s able to cut Gael’s bo in half and delivers a headbutt to Gael to stagger him. Gael recovers and throws one half of the bo at Hanzo who dodges the attack with a sidestep. Gael charges at Hanzo where he fakes him out with an attack and instead slides through Hanzo’s legs. Hanzo quickly turned around hoping to slash Gael only for his attack to get blocked by Jin’s large shield. After blocking the attack, Jin bends down low and tries to sweep the legs of Hanzo only for him to backstep away from the attack. Gael jumps off of Jin’s back with a ball of light energy in his hands and fires it at Hanzo who manages to deflect it towards the window. Jin then charges forward at Hanzo and hits him with the shield. Jin continues to push forward until his momentum gets stopped by Hanzo where the light on the shield was green*
(Jin): Impact shield!
*A power blast erupts from the shield which sends Hanzo flying backwards through the door that leads to the staircase for the second floor. Hanzo lands back first on a brick wall writhing in pain while Jin and Gael rushes past him to reach the second floor. They made it down to the second floor hallway with little resistance and finally made it back to the lobby where Crystal and Dawn Nexus members were waiting for them and Hibana was being held hostage*
(Crystal): I was wondering if you would make it this far.
(Gael): How’d you get down here before us?
(Crystal): The elevator, duh. Now stand down unless you want your friend here to get hurt.
*Having no other options and wanting to keep Hibana safe, Jin dropped his shield and put his hands up along with Gael*
(Crystal): Good boys.
*Crystal nods her head telling the Dawn Nexus member that was holding Hibana to let her go. Hibana quickly runs over to Jin and Gael just as Hanzo and a few more members of Dawn Nexus came down the stairs*
(Crystal): I must applaud you three. No knights have come close to infiltrating Dawn Nexus like you guys did, so I’ll give you one last chance. Join up with us and no harm will come to you.
(Jin): No thanks. Being a knight is in my blood.
(Gael): I’m on probation and don’t wish to get beat up by a scary sis.
(Hibana): I’m far too smart for this gang and you guys suck at Street Brawlers 2.
(Crystal): *Sigh* Fools to the end.
*All of a sudden the horn from a car can be heard approaching the building. Headlights can be seen coming from the front doors before a hummer comes crashing through. Some of the members of Dawn Nexus quickly move out of the away to avoid being run over. When the car makes it to the lobby, Jin, Gael, and Hibana use this distraction to quickly jump behind the counter for cover. The passenger side of the window comes down and then an assault rifle pops out. The shooter begins firing wildly as the car begins to spin around in circles. The members of Dawn Nexus duck but a few of them aren’t quick enough to avoid getting shot and electrocuted. When the car finally stops spinning around, the assault rifle stops firing and gets pulled back in. The door opens and the shooter gets revealed to be Raika who jumps out of the car with the assault rifle in hand*
(Raika): Knock, knock.
Author’s Notes: Oh yeah! Get ready for some hard-hitting action next chapter as Shadow Eye takes Dawn Nexus. Don’t have much to say about this chapter. It’s our final pitstop before the action and I think you’ll all enjoy the next chapter very much. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.