Episode 4: Stacking The Dex

Jacobi Blackwater and his friends try to resolve their friction as best they can but soon find themselves in hot water

 Episode 4: Stacking The Dex

            (Instrumental for “Stressed Out” by Twenty-One Pilots played)

Master Yukrina receded into the board room with each of the boys at his sides. He hunched over the long black table, both his hands firmly placed.

Dex anxiously awaited for his sensei to utter his first words on the matter. He was completely focused now since his problem was gone at last. Said problem was of course Amaya. He contemplated about how easy it was. He didn't even have to do anything. Amaya did a great job of getting kicked out herself. Arrogant brat, he thought.

Finally after a few more seconds, Master Yukrina articulated, "The Spiral. They were a group of six rogue mercanaries."

"You say 'were'," Benson pronounced, a bit confused. "Like they're gone."

He paused a moment, sighing. "Several years ago I fought them."

"You fought all six? Alone?" Russell questioned, awe-inspired.

"I did. I took out their leader, Zhen."

"He must've returned then," Nash stated.

"That's impossible. I cut off his head and took it as my prize. After that, the entire cartel disbanded. Like a headless snake."

"If they're really gone, then what the hell was that nightrider talking about?" Dex queried, uncertain.

"If he was telling the truth then....."

"Then what?" Jacobi inquired, hints of scorn in his voice.

"If they are back, then they're under new management," the Master stated with regards.

Dex halted a moment and chuckled. "Master, we got this." He was completely positive that he and the others could handle 'The Spiral.'

"Aren't you dismissing them quite early, Dex?" Russell interrogated.

"If Master Yukrina cut them down all by himself, it should be like child's play for the rest of us."

"Yes, that was some time ago. And no you're not allowed to fight them alone, Dex." He glanced at each of his surrogate children and uttered, "Do not take them so lightly. Especially in times of quarrel such as these." His eyes sat on Jacobi momentarily and then shot to Dex and Benson. "You have to stay unified now more than ever. Despite your strife."

No one responded.

Jacobi leaned against the back wall on the right side of Master Yukrina. He was leader of Valor and he knew it in his heart that his sensei was right.

"What's the plan then?" Nash petitioned, ready for bed. Or so he hoped. He didn't know if he could shake Amaya out of his tender heart. His friend was gone and never coming back.

"We will discuss it in the morning. For now, I suggest you all get some sleep. Tomorrow you have work to do," Yukrina declared.

"Will do," Benson said, smiling. Then he, Russell, Jacobi,and Dex headed toward the doorway.

"Jacobi, a word please."

Jacobi halted and spun back around.

Everyone else began filing out the room.

Nash gave Jacobi a gesture of good luck by tapping him on the shoulder on the way out.

                            (The song ended)

"What is it, sir?" Jacobi asked, fury on the tip of his lips.

Yukrina sighed and paced directly in front of Jacobi. "I know you're upset about Amaya leaving. Especially given the fact that you discovered her for me."

"Of course I am!" he snapped. "I know she's a bit arrogant and she messed up bigtime but I don't get it! I mean, you gave me the honor of recruiting someone. And not just anyone. You gave me the honor of recruiting the first girl in Valor. You've never done that with any of the others. Not Nash, Benson, or hell even Russell! And when you saw her, you saw something special. The embodiment of Valor. Of what we are."

He paused several seconds just glancing at Blackwater.

He felt like he was breaking through to Master Yukrina but he had a way about him. The best poker face Jacobi had ever seen. He has to see it my way, he thought.

Finally he responded in a whisper, "Be that as it may, she's gone now. There's no coming back at this point."

He scoffed and exited the board room without another word.

The very next morning, Nash made his way into the Valor dining room.

The dining hall was very vast. Five different types of chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The walls were painted in gold leaf. There were several sets of rectangular tables inside. One in black, red, blue, and gold. But the silver one was the one decorated in beige colored table cloths with Valor etched in Japanese. Six goblets of orange juice were placed in front of black vertical back metal restaurant chairs. And on the table was bacon, eggs, buttered bagels on the side, and steamed rice. And the cook of course was Nash Woods. This was perhaps where he put his use of the kukri knives best to use at.

There he was wearing a black bandana around his bleached blond hair careful not to cover up the top. And he also had a traditional apron on.

Russell Riddell paced inside the hall slowly. "Hey," he said as his eyes met Nash's.

"Hey," Nash responded unenthusiastically.

He took this as a sign that Nash wasn't interested in talking to him today. It wasn't his fault Amaya wasn't here anymore. And he didn't wish to see her go.

Within a matter of seconds, Jacobi Blackwater minced inside and made his way over to his seat without a word. He made sure to keep some distance between himself and Russell. A three chair distance to be exact.

"Jacobi, how are you?" Nash sounded out apprehensively.

He didn't respond. He just grabbed his fork and took a bite of bacon.

"Right. Dumb question," he remarked, taking the seat next to Jacobi which left open just one more seat on the right side of the table.

"Jacobi, I know you might blame me for what happened but it wasn't my fault," Russell explained, glancing at his vexed friend. "She just had to stay here like Master Yukrina told her."

"She wanted to help," Jacobi stated, turning his gaze to Russell.

"Did she?"

Before he could reply, Dex and Benson both shuffled into the room.

"Morning boys," Benson said cheerfully, making his way to the chair right between Russell and Nash. "It's such a lovely morning, isn't it?" He pulled Nash and Russell in for a brief hug at the same time and then released them. He was loving every single moment of this.

Dex then sat directly opposite of Jacobi. "It certainly is. Right Jacobi?" he queried, taking a verbal jab at him.

Jacobi knew they were trolling him hard right now and he wasn't gonna bite. He instead began devouring his rice.

It wasn’t working so he decided a different tactic. He spoke in Japanese: “Come on, oh great leader. At least Amaya put up a fight.”

They both immediately shot up, glaring.

"Boys!!" Master Yukrina shouted, barely a foot from them. How he got in here without any knowledge was a mystery to them. Perhaps they were so caught up in conflict. "Is there something you wish to discuss?"

"No sir," Dex retorted, sitting back down. "Just a delightful chat."

He watched Jacobi a few more seconds before his young pupil sat back down. He circled the table slowly with his hands cupped to his sides. "I told you all last night that it was of extreme importance that you stay united during battle. But it seems you still haven't learned yet, have you?"

"We're very unified," Nash cut in. "Look at this unified meal I made for everyone. Something for everyone. Even the rotten A-holes we sometimes call Dex and Benson."

"Careful, housewife. You might just find yourself pushing up daisies," Benson threatened with a chuckle.

"That's real cute. Didn't know you could string a sentence together without Dex grabbing your balls," he battled back.

"That's enough," Master Yukrina silenced. "You see this is the type of behavior that makes me doubt whether or not you could stop the Spiral."

"Sure we can. But first we have to find that guy from last night. You know, the one Amaya let get away, Jacobi?" Dex judged, irritated.

"That's neither here nor there."

"If we get him, we can find out anything we need to know about the Spiral," Russell chimed in.

"Excellent idea, Dex. I agree. You'll hunt down the man who escaped your grasp and find out where his employers are."

"Where would we start?" Nash probed. "I mean we got nothing on them. No name. Just a split second of a face."

"Jacobi?" he asked, halting next to his chair.

He gazed up at Master Yukrina.

"Do you remember him?"

He flashbacked to the moment he snatched off the thug's mask. He visualized the night rider's middle aged white face, his ruffled black hair, and the blue in his eyes. "Yes."

"Would you know him if you saw him?"

"I think so."

"Alright then. We know he was robbing banks for the Spiral. Chances are they're gonna try it again tonight."

"You don't think they would hit up the same bank twice, do you?" Benson sifted with disbelief. "Especially after we nearly got them. No one's that stupid."

"I used to think that until the day I met you," Nash said, grinning.

Jacobi, Nash, and even Russell smirked a moment.

Sometime soon after Dex stood outside the gym on the terrace in the back of the gym. He gazed at the sitting buddha high led fountain in the middle of the garden.

The radiant glares of the sun beamed down on his soft ivory japanese skin tone.

He had his arms folded. Sure he was happy. The hapiest he’d been all week but he pondered over Master Yukrina’s plan. Surely the old man has lost his mind. There’s no way those thugs will show up again! Still, he trusted his master 100% percent. If he said they’d be at the Japan Post Bank tonight, that’s where he’d be too.

A few seconds later, Russell ambulated through the revolvable elm doors. He hesitated a moment before joining Dex. He knew all too well the mood Dex was in. Dex hated whenever Master Yukrina would say something absurd. What he hated more than that was when Russell would open his mouth. And that's the mistake Russell had made at breakfast.

"What's up, Russell?" he questioned in a temperamental caprice.

He gulped a moment and said, "It's almost nightfall. Master Yukrina wants us to get ready."

"What? To run around like chickens with our heads cut off?" he queried, spinning around to face Russell. "Cuz that's what we're doing when we 'foolishly' run back to the same bank and stake out all night."

"We might be wrong."

He paused and scoffed, "Tell me this Russell. While you're coming to me with this, did you check to see if our 'leader' was on board?"

"Jacobi says----"

"I don't give a crap about what Jacobi says! He's not my leader! Nor has he ever!" he roared, pointing his finger to Russell's chest. "Remember that Riddell!" Then he walked off back inside the gallery.

Meanwhile back inside the main gym Jacobi stood dressed in his cherry red ninja body suit. He despised going out on a mission right after Amaya was kicked out but Master Yukrina orders were clear. He had to put his overall feeling of the group aside in order to fight a common foe. Unfortunately for him, his enemies also seemed to be part of Valor now.

He seized his samurai sword from the weapons collections and carefully placed it into the sheath on his back. Then he paced through the gym doors and into the main entrance room. He scrutinized Dex with his crossbow in hand, Benson clutching his Miao Dao sword, Nash twirling another kukri knife, and Russell placing his two throwing blades in the pouch of the lower leg of his black body suit.

"What's the plan?" Nash seeked calmly.

"Follow my lead," he spoke, shuffling past them and exiting.

"As if," Dex muttered under his breath as the rest of Valor trailed him.

So they all took off on their motorcycles to the rendezvous point. Japan Post Bank.

Meanwhile the man from last night was just now arriving back at the Japan Post Bank in a black sedan. He was accompanied by six other masked men arrayed in dark ski masks and stealth ninja suits. He parked his vehicle directly in front of the bank and quickly exited the car. "Come on boys. We got a job to finish," he stated roughly, glancing back and forth across the vacant streets.

"And if Valor shows again?" one of his masked henchman queried, slamming the sedan door.

"We'll finish them too," he said, tossing his mask to the ground and unveiling his distinct middle aged pale face and his ruffled black hair. He extracted a Beretta px4 storm gun. Then he and his crew prowled towards the front door of the twenty foot tall cream colored building. He peered inside the treasury looking for any sign of security. Then he turned toward his guys with a smile and asked, "Did you bring it, Jerry?"

"Of course," one responded, stepping forward and revealing a portable jammer system. "Courtesy of the Spiral. They want this plan to go off without a hitch."

"I'm starting to like those guys," he said, flipping the switch on.

All the lights on the device began glowing and emitting a low high frequency and disabling the security cameras and alarms of the bank.

"Did it work?" Jerry queried, stepping close to the huge transparant metal door.

"Only one way to find out," the boss responded, cocking his beretta and pointing it in Jerry's direction.

"Storan, wait!" he shouted, rushing out of the way.

He blasted the glass door with his gun and created a sound boom throughout the entire avenue. The doorway instantly shattered to the floor.

"What the hell man?!" Jerry interrogated, racing up to Storan.

"Looks like it worked. Good job, Jerry. Let's move in!" he ordered. Instantly, each of the other five guys rushed inside the bank and headed toward the vault. Then he turned to an extremely pissed Jerry. "That means you too," he said, snatching him by the back of his collar and thrusting him forward.

He scoffed and made his way through the bank.

The Japan Post Bank was still ransacked from last night's invasion. Chairs were scattered around the building and there was debri and parchment paper everywhere.

But the vaults were locked up tonight.

"We can't get in!" one of Storan's guys shouted.

"What do you mean you can't get in?" Storan probed, rushing over to the vault with them. "Just do what you did last night."

"That's just it," Jerry told him trying to input a 64587 combo. "The locks have been changed."

"Dang!!"

Just then five japanese police officers garbed in white short sleeve shirts, blue police hats, and navy blue pants hurried in.

"Freeze!" one roared in Japanese as they all pointed their nine millimeter glock 17's.

"Just what I was looking for!" Storan spoke cheerfully. "I thought you guys took the night off!"

"I said put your hands up!" the first repeated in his native language.

"I know hands up," he said sarcastically, snapping his fingers once.

Instantly, each of his guys fired their berettas at the deputies.

Bullets sped through the establishment, missing wildly from both parties.

Storan ducked to evade a richoted shell. "For God's sakes, someone hit someone!" He aimed his gun and blasted one officer in the knee cap.

"Aaaah!" the officer yelled, dropping to the floor, clutching his crimson leg as his blood dripped onto the ground.

Jerry loaded his Beretta and blasted two more officers in the chest.

Both of which dropped to the ground but weren't bleeding.

"They're wearing vests! Aim for their frickin' heads!" Storan shouted, putting a bullet in the head of the officer he shot earlier.

Blood splattered across the white walls. If this kept up, they would succeed in giving the bank a complete Valentine makeover.

The other two officers still on their feet made their way over to Storan perhaps ready to shut him up completely.

Storan rolled onto his feet and fired two more shots at the officers. One sped through the side of one officer's head while the other missed wildly.

His dead carcase dropped to the floor immediately and caused the last uninjured officer to halt in his tracks realizing he was outnumbered. It was now just three policemen. Two of which were injured even though they were shot in the chest.

"This is Officer Willis," one officer on the ground spoke into his intercom in Japanese. "There's a burglary in place here at the bank on Dunbar avenue. Two officers are dead and two----"

A gunshot blared loudly again. This time it was Storan firing a shot directly between the eyes of the stunned officer standing in front of him.

Storan's face was now lathered in the blood of his victims.

Officer Willis glanced over at him, speechless.

"Well, what did you expect?" he scrutinized with a blood-thirsty grin. He scoured to the officer's side and lifted him onto his feet. "I need you alive." He grasped the intercom off in shirt and tossed into a far wall.

Each of Storan's henchman had their gun pointed at the young Officer Willis.

"Jerry, escort Officer Willis to the vault and get the money."

Jerry instantly pushed Willis forward with the tip of his gun until he reached the vault.

There was still one more officer alive playing possum. Acting like he was dead because he knew Storan didn't need him.

"Put the code in," he ordered Willis.

"I refuse," Willis said lowly with his back still turned.

"Do you really wanna **** with us right now?! Put the dang code in!"

He hesitated a moment more and then sighed.

"Are you seriously trying to stall long enough for back-up to get here?" Storan sounded out, strolling directly in front of him. He held his Beretta directly against the center of Officer Willis' forehead. "I will blow your darn brains out!"

He closed his eyes, apprehensive as all hell. "Fine.....I'll do it."

He slowly lowered his gun, leering intensely. "Good talk."

He inputted the code: 38578 and immediately the vault doors spun, clicked, and finally opened.

Inside laid cash on top of cash covering every inch of the steel catacomb.

"Hello beautiful," Storan spoke, amazed. "Alright boys, you can kill him now."

"W-wait a minute," Officer Willis remarked in disbelief.

"Hm? What? You thought we were gonna let you live? Dead man tell no tales."

Then each of his goons ignited shots from all angles of the officer. His body was riddled with oozing dark red blood. Then he dropped to the ground on his back, dead.

"Alright everyone. Get the money!"

Each of Storan's boys hurried inside the vault with black bags and started stuffing the loot in.

"Stop!" a voice yelled from behind Storan.

He rotated slowly to the last remaining officer now back on his feet and pointing his Glock at Storan. "Now you just saw what happened to Officer Willis and now you wanna see Jesus too?"

The policeman remained silent but focusing his weapon on Storan.

"Even if you manage to shoot me---and that's a BIG if with those 'shakey hands' ---each of my boys will take great pleasure in ending you. But be my guest. Take your shot," he dared.

He paused for a moment.

This gave Storan an opening to snatch his gun and hit him over the head with it.

The officer dropped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a slight wound on his left temple.

"And that's murder he wrote," he said, cocking the officer's weapon and targeting the comatose deputy.

"Let him go," a deep masculine voice ordered from the side.

It was Jacobi Blackwater. He stood in his cherry red body suit with his samurai sword clutching behind his fingers.

You might be wondering why Jacobi is here alone. Why aren't any other members of Valor with him in this fight? Well here's your answer.

                     A FEW MINUTES EARLIER

Jacobi, Nash, Dex, Benson, and Russell rolled up to the Japan Post Bank.

Jacobi instantly noticed the black Sedan in the driveway and the shattered doorway. "Master Yukrina was right! They were foolish enough to show up twice!" They all shut off their motorcycles.

"For me? They shouldn't have?" Dex sifted, amused.

"I'm glad you're getting a kick out of this," Nash said, jumping off his motorcycle.

"Of course. There's no dead weight pulling us down anymore," he said, loading his crossbow.

"If only the jackasses were as extinct," Jacobi responded.

"Guys, we're supposed to be on the same page!" Russell reminded, pacing toward them. "Remember what Master Yukrina told us."

"And remember what we told you," Benson stated, getting up in his grill. He extracted his Miao Dao sword from his sheath.

"Threating a teammate, how cute," Jacobi retorted, removing his samurai sword.

"Gee, who do you think we learned that from?!" Dex snapped back sarcastically. "Even Nash knows it! You're the king of threatening the team! "

"To motivate you."

"To what? Tear each other apart?!" Benson joined in.

"I don't need to hear this," he spoke, pacing ahead toward the bank.

"You wanna know why I despise you so much?" Dex queried to Jacobi.

He halted immediately. He was intrigued to find out what Dex's real problem with him was. All Jacobi tried to do since he first became a part of Valor was befriend Dex and he had no clue why he hated him. He whirled on his heels back to Dex Eshimoto.

"I was the very first member of Valor! I worked hard to prove myself each and every day to Master Yukrina! But guess what happened? I wasn't enough! He had to bring in you! Jacobi Blackwater. The name even sounds like a great warrior. And since you've been here, you have bested me in everything! Even with all the hard work and dedication I put in, I just couldn't measure up! And he chose you as the leader! You didn't even really have to work it either! He just handed it to you! And I'm forced to sit back in your shadow!"

"No one forced you into my shadow, Dex! You just needed to come out on your own!" Jacobi fussed back. "You try to blame all your shortcoming on me! It's not my fault. And it certainly wasn't Amaya's!"

Dex remained silent.

He finally realized the real reason why Dex didn't want Amaya in Valor. "That's it, isn't it? The reason you didn't want Amaya in Valor. It wasn't because she was arrogant or insubordinate, it was because she was chosen by ME. The same way I was chosen by Master Yukrina."

He still didn't utter a word.

"I don't believe this. You got a great warrior kicked out over your vendetta with me." He gazed at each of the members of his broken team and sighed. "Look, I'm going in to fight. Now you can choose to join me or stay here. The choice is yours." He paced toward the entrance of the bank.

Needless to say, no one else followed.

            

             PRESENT

"Well, isn't this a surprise," Storan spoke, still clutching the officer's glock. "A Blackwater without an army. Oh, a Blackwater army!"

"I'm not playing," Jacobi said, inching a little closer. He still wasn't close enough to be able to touch him with his sword.

"It kinda feels like you are. I mean, you had your chance to stop us last night and you failed. Member that?"

"That's not gonna happen tonight. Last chance...drop it."

He waited a moment and said, "No." He turned his weapon on Jacobi and fired.

He ducked to the ground behind the counter and the bullet bounced off the lamp post. Then he flipped on top of the clerk counter.

Storan turned his gun right above and prepared to fire again.

This time, Jacobi swatted the weapon out of his hand with his sword.

Then Storan's boys exited the vault with all the money. The second they saw Jacobi they extracted their Beretta's and unleashed several shots.

He twirled in the air and launched himself overhead on a chandelier, hanging with his legs wrapped around the electrolier.

"I had it completely under control!" Storan remarked calmly, chuckling.

Jacobi had barely escaped getting hit that time and on the next shots he might not be so lucky. He had no backup and he didn't know how much longer the chandelier could hold his muscular body frame. He was basicly caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Getting a little warm in here, isn't it Jacobi? You might as well give up. You're completely outnumbered. Even though it is quite amusing watching you 'hang around'."

He was contemplating now. He had to find some way to get out of this. He tossed his samurai sword directly at one of the nightriders and hit him directly in the heart.

The nightrider was sent flying back into one of the walls, Jacobi's samurai blade pinning him. He started coughing up blood profusely and his outfit became completely soaked. Within a few moments, he was dead.

"And now you're disarmed," Storan announced, smiling.

"Do you have to announce every single thing?" Jacobi queried.

"Yeah. It's kinda my thing," he said, picking up his Beretta from earlier and cocking it. "Any last words, Blackwater? Oh, and in case you were wondering...yea, it is too late to say sorry!!"

At that very moment, Dex, Russell, Nash, and Benson rushed in poised to fight with their weapons.

Jerry and the rest of Storan's boys instantly turned their guns toward them and fired.

Each member of Valor evaded the projectiles.

Russell dropped to the ground and slid, tossing several sharp throwing stars at the criminals. Each one hit their target, stunning the goons.

Jacobi then twirled down from the chandelier and landed on his feet. He was mere inches from Dex who had his crossbow loaded to go. "Thought you weren't coming."

"Well, you thought wrong," Dex responded, he and Jacobi standing back to back now.

"Oh, a reunion, so cute!" Storan shouted, trolling them.

"It's over!" Nash shouted, grasping one of Storan's boys and holding his kukri knife to his throat.

"It is? I was just getting started!" he stated, scanning the room and spotting his beretta gun a few feet away.

Instantly, Benson noticed what his foe was up to. He pointed his Miao Dao sword forward and warned,"Don't even think about it."

"You know, I've always admired the strength of Valor," he revealed. "How you all would come together and fight for each other. Until I met the Spiral. Now that is the strongest union I have ever encountered."

"Who are they?" Jacobi queried, losing his patience.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"We grow tired of your games. Whoever you are," Dex declared. "Either tell us what we wanna know or I'm putting a bolt in your nuts!"

He jeered loudly. "Name's Storan. And what if I told you I knew you were coming? That this whole thing was a setup to get you all here?"

"I'd say you're full of sh**," Jacobi responded.

"Ahhh," he said with a wicked grin. "But it's true."

Without warning, Jerry tossed several smoke bombs at Valor.

Directly, the room began to fill with thick green vapors.

Dex's mind immediately thought the substance was a smokescreen because it looked exactly like it. But no this was different. He collapsed to his knees and began wheezing uncontrollably. He couldn't see a thing but he could hear his fellow warriors befalling the same fate. He felt all the strength leaving his body as he began to fade.

Jacobi was declining rapidly. He had been so foolish and irrational. He succeeded in leading his troops into a trap. One that could've been avoided if they had worked together from the start. His grip loosened on his sword and it dropped to the floor.

Clang!

He lost his balance and fell to his knees. He had to let Master Yukrina know they were in trouble. Inside of his cherry red body suit was a panic button directly on his left pec muscle. And he had to hit it before.....

After a few seconds, Jacobi followed his crew into complete suspended animation.

                           ***

The young sixteen year old stood in her living room back in Toyko, Japan, completely oblivious to the dangers her friends were in.

This living room had polished frame-built floors, an open lit fireplace beneath a huge flat screen tv hanging from a black post. There was also an energy star ceiling fan disilluminated in the center of the room, a ruby bridgewater sofa directly underneath and a bright torchiere lamp next to that. Lastly, her katana blade hung horizontal from a japanese golden sheath.

She placed her long cocoa brown hair in a high side swept ponytail. She was dressed only in a slick turquoise kimono robe. She had some difficulty adjusting back to life in Tokyo. Getting to know her father again was greater than any challenge she'd faced while in Valor. At times she felt like she couldn't even breathe around him. Not out of hate, but out of the love she had for him deep down. She really should hate him for hiding her mother's illness from her but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Not now at least. This was her first night back home and she didn't want to fight anymore. Her father was upstairs fast asleep and she was about to follow his footsteps. She walked over to the torchiere lamp on the side of the ruby bridgewater sofa and shut it off. She took a deep sigh and began gallivanting the sleek polished wooden L shaped winder steps, careful not to make a sound.

Just before she vanished around the corner, there was a loud knock on the front door.

First she thought she was crazy. It’s after 3 am, there’s no way in hell someone is at her door!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

There it was again.  Now Amaya knew she wasn’t imagining it. She wasn’t THAT exhausted. She snatched her katana from the golden sheath and paced over to the white entrance way. Whoever the hell this is gonna wish they never---- Before opening the door, she inspected the tiny peephole. “Master Yukrina,” she remarked lowly, completely shocked. She immediately unlatched the door and opened it.

There he was. Her 5'10 former Japanese sensei wearing an all white traditional monk robe and a pair of silver sandals. His bluish gray eyes cast an expression of lucid distress.

"Master Yukrina, what's going on?" she questioned, placing her katana on the floor.

"Jacobi and the others are in trouble and I need your help," he uttered at last.

"What do you mean?"

"Amaya, they've been captured," he disclosed dreadfully.