"Dragon....wake up!!"

Issei's head hung there, it was....patchy in actuality, it seemed he had changed, in the time of his torture. His hair was white, seemingly due to such intense stress, the way he had given up, the delusions that he had gone through, it was almost like he had suffered under Eto's loving punishment...

"Jason...do you ever wonder where Nico died? The time they ordered you to kill him...everything changed..."

"We don't speak about that Issei, we promised..."

"And you promised to protect me, have you done that Yamori?"

Growling he rushed forward and gripped Issei tight, his nails digging into his exposed shoulder as Issei laughed, finally looking at him with that...eye of his, it dawned on Jason, the dragon wished for this. For him to look at Issei, to look at the work Noroi had done to him. 

"You see that, right? Yamori, do it...kill me, please..."

Jason shook his head at that, Issei never asked that question, what was going on with him? Everything he had been through, all of this, of course beyond the doors, beyond the very place where issei was being held, there were guards and there was Noroi, Ayato, and Tatara. 

All of them ready to defend Issei, the dragon, as he was called by those in the current building. He was coming back to them, to bring stability to the Yakuza and if it meant breaking him all over again, it was what needed to happen. 

"You? The dragon of the tail? You were Noroi's better, how did you get so soft? Tell me, Issei, is she worth all of this?"

"Nola-"

"Not her, Eto Yoshimura. The one who you never laid a hand on, you were the one that continued to give off this loyalty, but here you are now, a near six months later and you suddenly, you're a different man."

Issei never bothered to correct Jason, he had his reasons but they were tied up elsewhere. This had been...terrible, the fear he felt, that feeling of being the whipping boy. He wondered how others dealt with it and now he had to deal with being a freak, a one-eyed bastard. 

Who was going to listen to him now? A freak like him? Shaking his head, Issei tried to get right with this and knew what this could mean, he was weak now. In the eyes of the Yakuza, of those who believed themselves superior, he was weak and no longer an asset that could be wielded like a weapon. 

"I'm a romantic Yamori, please, like you could ever know what she has done to secure herself so high in that organization. I respect the climb but we all fall, it is the way of the world and its will, death comes for us all eventually, now Yamori, you have a choice, either kill me, free me or leave me. Either way, you are going to be playing a role, right now..."

Issei now stared at Yamori, making sure that they met, the darkness in one side did not help but really, he was ready and felt like this was for the betterment of Yamori. Only to stop himself as he heard some noise outside, followed by some giggles.

"I see...Yamori, what are you going to be doing?"

"I shall see you soon Issei, for right now, enjoy your time alone...it should be enough to give you some...clarity..."

"NO! YAMORI! NO!"

Yamori never stopped and walked out, Issei never liked this, bowing his head as he grit his teeth, the silence was getting to him as the voices grew and then the laughter followed....he was sure that this was going to be the end. 

Only he was hoping, for a moment, all he could do was let out a broken laugh...

"And so falls...the dragon...."

His voice broke with sadness then as thoughts continued to rush to him, never stopping. It was difficult for him now, to realize that he had brought this on himself, the moment where all of this came from was the moment he decided to proclaim himself Dragon. 

This, his new face, was this his karma? Punishment? Issei didn't know the answer and for a while, he did not want to even figure it out...not right now.

The parking lot they had pulled into was a rather barren one, one that hadn't been used in ages. Noted by the copious amount of cracks in the concrete, cracks that had been filled with numerous different weeds. There were a few warehouses in sight and a handful more that you couldn't see from the angle they were situated in the parking lot.

"Which one?"

Nola sat up from the back and scanned the area in front of her. She couldn't see anything, well nothing that seemed to indicate that there was a stronghold in the area. One that housed the infamous dragon... she kind of just assumed that they would be walking into a hornets nest. One you needed to fight your way in and out of, while trying not to get stung.

"You can't see it from here, I made sure to park just out of sight. Cause if we lose the element of surprise, we are screwed." Baki chimed in from the front seat.

Nola in the meantime, already had her gun out and was fiddling with it. First making sure it was loaded and secondly making sure the safety was off. She also made sure to have a few extra rounds on her, probably wasn't going to be enough but it was going to be enough until she was able to get her hands on another gun. She just assumed that she would pick one or two up off of one of the guys she was destined to shoot. Was something that she already had played out in her head. Shoot a guy, take his gun... Use his gun to shoot another guy then take that guys gun.

A small smirk crept onto her face as she pictured herself basically swimming in firearms, almost as if they were trophies of the dead. She had never been one to keep keepsakes off of her victims but this may have been the proper time to start...

"Okay, so what the hell are we waiting for?"

Nola reached for the door handle and went to push the door opened, when Baki turned about.

"STOP!!!!"

It caused Nola to do exactly that, actually damn near scared the hell out of her. Wasn't what she was expecting in the slightest.

"What?" She asked after a moment of catching her breath.

"We go back there now it is suicide. The two of us alone aren't enough to handle what is back there."

"If Issei is back there, then suicide mission it is. We are here and the only way we aren't leaving without him is if we are both dead. So if you have a better plan than that, you need to tell me. Otherwise I'm getting out of this car and I'm going to find him."

"Death wish for sure..." Ernesto calmly chimed in, which caused Nola to involuntarily backhand him.... "Ow... what in the hell was that for?" He cried out.

"No one asked for your opinion, Ernesto... So shut the hell up..."

"There's a payphone just around the corner, let me put in a call to a few guys we have here in Las Vegas. Won't take them long to get down here and I know they will gladly help with this endeavor, so just hold tight. Don't go anywhere... I will be right back..." With that, Baki got out of the car and headed off in the direction she assumed the payphone was at.

That just left Ernesto and Nola in the car, it was quiet and a bit awkward. She could see that Ernesto wanted to say something but also knew that if he did he might get smacked again, so he just sat their quietly. It was a bit too quiet for Nola, a quiet that she broke up with a bit of humming, while she impatiently waited for Baki to return.

"You know...this could have been easy, you could have stayed at home..."

Issei's voice echoed out, he was...speaking to himself and yet the image that played out in his said a lot more, like he was trying to get right with it but that stopped the moment Eto skipped into the torture chamber, oh for love of all that was holy, Issei wasn't really feeling up to this, he really wasn't.

"Issei...how come you still have so much fight? After all, we've done together, you're going to continue fighting for what?"

"My people..."

"Why do you choose them?"

"Because they chose me, Eto."

Growling, Eto leaned forward and tilted her head to the side as she sat in Issei's lap, barely paying attention to the fact that the doors opened and soon entered her precious person in Noroi who was silent behind his...odd mask. 

Yet he followed orders and who was Eto to deny him his fun if he could easily begin to dismantle the enemy from there, he was someone that she would continue to support in whatever way possible.

"Get off of me-"

"Shh! Issei, right now, the grown-ups are talking and we can talk about your adorable precious Dixon later. She is such a spitfire, I cannot wait to see her in action, I've heard things. I hear she's like a goddess in blood, do you think she'll join us, revealing the truth is what we do, after all, Dragon."

Growling, Issei shook his head but Eto gripped it tight and made sure that he couldn't move as she turned to face her various advisors. 

"We've found out that Ernesto got ran down by Baki Hanma and Magnolia Dixon, they're in Las Vegas. This is not going to be heading our way, we'll have to resort to Plan B..."

Eto whistled for a moment, thinking it over and not even believing that Plan B was even viable, Issei was the one they needed. His team were the ones that could have been a hindrance. 

Of course, Eto was interested in Magnolia, she was the one that Issei wished to protect, the dragon of the strip. How...lovely for her, scowling, Eto did not hide her hatred for the woman, she had found a way to do something Eto could not, how? She was going to find that out, with whatever means. 

"No, we keep it here. Magnolia and Baki, they won't attack with just those numbers, we have a solid fifty guards, at the very least, they'd need some very heavy artillery"

Noroi, Yamori, Bin Brothers, and Ayato all nodded. The execs of Aogiri, of course, they were all ready to follow her to the end. Of course, out of all of them, Noroi was the only that mattered. 

One person did not nod however and that was Tatara. She could never get a lock on his emotions, shaking her head, he was always someone that she could never figure out but for right now, he was going to be fodder.

"Noroi...prepare the men, Bin's make sure that everyone has the required weaponry. Yamori and Ayato, listen to Tatara, you are going to the frontlines to prepare for the initial assault. If Magnolia and Baki wish to play the game, let them sacrifice a few pawns...I have the king..."

Raising a brow, Tatara understood, she was going to sacrifice him. Smiling underneath his half-mask, she was helping him, now Tatara knew that he could approach Issei's group on the neutral ground....

"Noroi...I swear, I'm going to be the one that guts you..."

Turning his head, Noroi and Issei stared at one another before nodding the tall man continued on his way. Noroi was okay with the promise, Issei delivered them and like always, he would be prepared for it.

Right now, Noroi was going to plan a trap....little did they know, it was going to happen within moments.

Continuing to hum, Nola still sat in that car patiently waiting for Bakis return. Normally she considered herself a rather patient individual but in this instance she was crawling out of her skin. Not only was she sitting in a car with someone she considered less favorable but she also knew that Issei was a mere stones throw away from her.

Was almost as if someone was dangling him on a string in front of her, just out of her reach.

"What the hell is taking him so damn long..." Nola blurted out. She wasn't talking to Ernesto, was just thinking out loud. Though Ernesto took it as if she was actually talking to him. Causing him to clear his throat a bit before talking.

"I assume he has had to call more than one person, probably a small army. At least I hope he is for your sake, cause if you don't have a small army you're screwed." He finished with a subtle chuckle, one that implied that he hoped it was the latter.

Turning her head slowly towards him, Nola gave him a small smirk. "You'd like that wouldn't you? I'm sure my death would bring you pleasure... huh?"

It was a question that he wasn't supposed to answer but one that he opened his mouth to like he was going to. Raising her gun towards his face, almost point blank in the back of the car, Nola took in a deep breath.

"Might want to think about what you are about to say before you say it. Cause I would love to have a reason to put a bullet in your head right now... Oh please give me a reason."

Almost instantly, Ernesto closed his mouth and turned about. Making sure to break eye contact with her by looking out the window on his side of the car.

She pressed the gun into the back of his head before slowly pulling it away.

"Just as I thought...."

Placing the gun to her right side, Nola once again began humming. A humming that she kept on doing until she could see Baki returning toward the car. He was emotionless, couldn't tell by any means if he was able to contact people or not. Her eyes followed him from all the way until he made it back into the car. There was a bit of silence as he got in and got situated. One that Nola had to break up.

"Well?"

"Now we wait... shouldn't be too long, maybe 20 minutes tops before the guys get here. Then it will be time..."

"20 minutes..." Nola sighed... seems the whole being patient thing had a shelf life. "You sure we can't just go ahead with this now and when those guys get here they could just jump in and help?"

She could see his eyes in the rear view mirror glancing towards her, before he shook his head to the side.

"No! We wait..."

"Are they here Niko?"

Bowing his head, Jason looked out over at the Las Vegas skyline, standing on this roof was doing more than a few things. It was giving him a clearer mind, for a moment, he knew that he could do this. Issei may have been the dragon but with how things were going, he was going to be lost, with how this was changing, it was going to be an ending of differences between him and Eto.

Being the dragon, he wondered how he had won people to his side. Magnolia Dixon, Baki The Grappler, Lola Spratt, Grayfia Lucifuge and Kiba Yuuto. All those people, they were people of great renown, men and women who fought with and beside the Dragon for moments to come that would be known throughout the six cities. 

If it were Jason he would have lost them the second he joined Eto, the crazy bitch. Whilst he had his own organization within the fold of Eto's, he too knows that the business at hand was one that he couldn't truly be invested in, Eto was greedy. 

"Yes, Yamori, what are we going to be doing, the others need to know. We joined you because we thought you saw something in Yoshimura's daughter, we don't. We see the tyrant and her alliance with Noroi's group."

Group? Jason thought to himself, it was more like a cult that answered only to Eto, Noroi did not speak, the man might as well be mute with what he knew. Even he, Jason, was scared of the man that Noroi represented. He was the embodiment of Eto's will, her desire and drive. 

"We ally up with Magnolia and Baki, they will possibly know what is to come, when the fighting starts, we grab our men and leave. I have no need to truly end up a bastard skewered by the likes of Dixon. That family, it's not something I wish to relive anytime soon. Once things settle, we contact the dragon and we move to ally ourselves aside him, maybe even assimilate, we survive."

Bowing his head, Niko followed after his leader, while Jason never answered if he had done certain things to Issei, like remove his eye, he wondered who did. It was something that Yamori wouldn't have done if he was trying to get in the good books of Issei and Magnolia. 

"Jason, are you ever going to tell me about Nico? You know, the one you named me after, just with a K. I have a feeling, it's not a story, I'm going to like..."

"No, let the dragon tell you, I do not want my bias ruining the great man that he is. Either way, we have to get read, these are the final moments, what happens next, it's going to be the definition in the history of the Yakuza, you know why?"

Inquiring with a raise of his brow, Niko did nothing more, following after Jason as they would prepare for what was to come, it would be one of the better decisions that they made...

Sure enough it was about 20 minutes later that people started to show up. Baki stepped out of the car as the first pair of guys walked up, from where she was sitting in the car it seemed like he was quite friendly with them. Hand shakes and a subtle grin on his face was the key indications of that.

There was a slight comforting feeling behind it, from Nola's perspective. It was reassurance that he had contacted the right people, people that would fight by his side until the end. It's a trait that is usually hard to find in people, most act all tough... until the bullets start flying and they run with their tails between their legs. Sure those guys could still do that but these two didn't seem like the type.

She watched them and their interaction closely, still sitting in that car. Wasn't until all three glanced towards the car that Nola decided it was time to show her face. Was time to mingle per se...

"Stay here and don't you even think about running. Remember, I'm a good shot... even at a distance." Nola stated to Ernesto before opening the car door and stepping out. Closing it behind her, Nola could still feel the eyes of the guys on her.

"What?" She chimed up as she made her way over to where they stood.

"Nothing really, was just telling them who you were. You know it's not often someone like you is involved in something like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh... well..." He hesitated to answer the question, instead just decided to change up the topic a bit. "Nola... this is Tommy and Jack. We go back a bit."

Nola gave both me a look over, the both of them had a scrappy type look. They were put together but had the look of having some rough edges to them, whatever that was. There was an issue though, from what Baki had implied what was waiting for them, the four of them clearly wouldn't be enough.

"Well, nice to meet your acquaintance... but where is everyone else? Or is it just us?"

It was almost in unison that both men laughed.

"Honey... don't you worry, we have more coming." Jack said... was a comment that Nola wasn't overly keen on and one that she quickly snipped at.

"Listen! I'm not your fucking honey... I'm not some random girl you try to pick up at the bar. So yeah that's the first and last time you call me that. Okay?" She said with a smug look on her face. One of which caused Jack to glare towards Baki as the air between them all suddenly got rather thick.

"Okay... my apologies...." Jack said basically asking. "We've got about nine guys on the way, all we could round up in short notice."

Nola smirked and nodded towards him. The eleven of them and then her and Baki... that made thirteen... She wasn't sure if it was ideal but it was better than just the two of them. Was something that they were going to have to make work. Now it was just a matter of waiting... again... for the rest of them to show up.

"Where is Jason, Tatara?"

The Chinese man lifted his head to meet Eto's eyes, while many of them worked with Eto, some didn't do so with blindness like Noroi or Issei, formerly. All of them had goals to either kill the Owl that was Eto or surpass her, that was once his plan due to the business with his brother and Issei, yet learning about the man, he learned, he was just a weapon wielded by the Yoshimura Clan. 

Scoffing, Tatara knew what Eto saw him as, a tool. It was clear when she had kidnapped Issei without thinking of the pull that it would have, just now, they got calls regarding New York. A few of Issei's friends had stormed their properties and taken over in the name of the dragon, it was odd for him to witness, to know that the dragon got that much support in so little time. 

"He is with his White Suits, you know, the people he leads. They are preparing, we know that they're going to attack, when is the question. I don't want to come back and witness the end of everything we've built for a single man, right?"

Humming, it seemed like Eto was willing to make it all crumble before their very eyes. The obsession with Issei was not a normal one, it was not something that people wished for in a leader, it was suicide and Eto intended to drag them all down with her in the blaze of glory towards her goal, Issei. 

Of course, Tatara knew Issei, the man was a soldier and a leader. He didn't know the qualities he possessed, some things were never realized until the end but this wasn't going to be it for the dragon. Already, the Chinese man knew that much, Issei was going to live. It wasn't his destiny to die, not yet at the very least. 

"Hmm, I'm not sure I like that, have the bombs been prepared? I don't want Dixon and Hanma thinking this is going to be easy. We're the seekers of truth, are we not?"

Humming, Tatara didn't know about that, while they were formerly about that, once the monies started to come in for Eto, she switched up her plans. She tried making plays, whilst some paid off, it left their underlings with little ways to bring about income. It left them in a state of....restlessness in trying to secure money. 

Of course, the head of the organization did not care, she came to secure her own future. She wished to be hailed as the one true dragon, in a way, Eto wished to ally with us or to destroy his very legacy. Even if she did not see what she was doing, she was going to die, soon. No one was going to be leaving this unanswered.

"We are but how we do that is a different matter. A new era is going to be born here today Eto, an era of the Dragon..."

Smirking underneath her hood, Eto out of nowhere seemingly produced a long knife and proceeded to stab Tatara in the gut, meeting his eyes as they were not draining of life, not by a long shot. In fact, it seemed like the man had been preparing for such a thing. 

"My loving Tatara, should we go meet Issei? He must be lonely, after all, you are the one who wishes to support him. Did you think I wouldn't know?"

Smirking, Tatara didn't feel the pain that much as Eto twisted the knife. It was different now, what he said, it got to her. She was going to be the catalyst for this event, what happened next, it was her fault. 

"Heh, Eto, I can't wait to see you fall when you meet the dragon..."

With those words, Tatara closed his eyes, the blood rushing out as he knew that fighting forever was not something he had always done...

It didn't take long for the rest of the guys to show up, was mere moments after Jack told her how many were on the way. Sure enough, there nine others that came. All of which came together and all of which came with what looked like a small arsenal on their person. Each branded a Tommy Gun, extra ammo, a handgun and a blade. They were definitely prepared for this... a bit more so than Nola was. As she only had her pistol and her knife. 

A knife that she never went anywhere without... oh the stories that knife would tell, if it could talk. It was a blade that had seen the insides of a few people... Was a thought that made her smile.

"Alright guys! This is Baki and this is Nola..."

The words brought Nola out of her thoughts as she directed her attentions onto the group.

"You listen to them like you listen to us." Tommy made sure to make clear before turning things over to Baki.

"First off, thank you all for coming on such short notice. Just know that it's appreciated by the both of us but that's enough of the sappy stuff. This isn't going to be a walk in the park, in fact there's no guarantee any of us will make it out of this alive. So if anyone has second thoughts on this, now is the time to leave."

Baki paused for a moment and made sure to look into the eyes of everyone. No one budged, no one even blinked.

"Great! Well then... let me give you a quick rundown. There's a warehouse about a half mile from here, a warehouse that contains a rather important individual inside of it. One that is their against their own will. He is the mission at hand, he needs to be freed from that wretched bitch that is holding him hostage. It won't be easy though."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I wish I had some good intel for you all but I don't. I have no idea how many guys she has, I have no idea where in the warehouse he is. All I know is that he there... Gentlemen... we are about to walk into a hornets nest. The only good thing we have going for us, is the fact I do know that there's only two ways in and out. A door on the front next to the loading dock and a small back door. That's about all I've got."

He looked over towards Nola, wondering if she had a few words that she wanted to add. Which she did...

"No mercy guys, if it's not Issei it dies. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Since there are two door, we need to split up. Let's do 8 up front and 5 out back." Nola pointed to six different guys, including Jack. "You six will be with Baki and myself. The rest of you will go with Tommy."

It was then that she remembered about Ernesto still being in the back of car.

"Oh and that shithead in the car back there will come with us too."

Nola watched as Jacks eyes glanced past her. "Uh... what guy?"

"The guy back..." Nola turned about towards the car, the back door was wide opened and the seat was vacant of anybody. "Fucking hell!" Nola clenched her fist to her side. They had paid so much attention to the guys in front of them that they were oblivious to Ernesto in the car. Was something that he realized and used it to his advantage, as he was able to sneak away undetected.

Knowing him, he was already on his way back to Los Angeles... Although it was rather infuriating, it was something that she was going to have to deal with at a later date. Right now there were more important things to do... To rescue Issei.

Turning back towards the guys, Nola put one of her infamous fake smiles on.

"Well, that's rather unfortunate... though it doesn't change anything. Time to get this show of the road, come on."

Nola started walking in the direction of the warehouse, a motion in which everyone else followed.

"You're still a fighter, son?"

That voice, it wasn't his own and no one was around him, a broken chuckle left him once again. He really was different right now, this was what waited for him in the care of Eto, for once, he was pleading with whoever was listening to his thoughts....

Someone save him.

Issei didn't feel that much pain anymore, Eto had long since made it clear, he was above that now. The things she did, it didn't make him happy, he didn't know what to feel but it all felt...horrid. 

For a moment he had to grasp at his sanity, to fight with it, his hair was reaching levels where he didn't even realize what was going on anymore. The stress had got to him, specks of white dusted his formerly chocolate brown hair. It was different now, a new stage in his life but he was thankful that it had reached its limit. 

That is until the business with his sanity started to get out of control, the people he saw, former friends, lovers, and family. His father, mother, and then Kiba. All of them wished for him to give up, to say goodbye and stop fighting, he didn't know what it was but something had felt like he was drowning. He wanted to let the water in, to become forgotten. 

"Issssssei....wake up."

His head swayed side to side, it was not something that was going to hold him for a while. He wasn't being lazy, after all that had been delivered unto him, he was broken, for the first time in his life, Issei felt like that end of the dragon was near. The head of the dragon was broken as Eto Yoshimura desired. 

Of course, someone had to stop that wallowing, they gripped his hair and made him meet their eyes. 

"You know....I wondered where you would have been all this time..."

A soft chuckle escaped the person opposite Issei, it was quite clear that this was a different matter, a summoning of the dragon was something that even the bravest of people couldn't really do. 

"Aye, I've been surviving. Are you ready to go?"

"Ayato...why?"

Shrugging, a sad smile was seen on his lips. For family, Issei understood that more than anybody, even if Ayato was one of the people that could know that. It was not always something that he could manage to do, Issei didn't have any family left. He chose them, Baki and Lola, they were his family. 

"I'm helping you now, then I'm leaving. I'm going back to Kuoh, Touka is asking for me, I've been doing this to protect her. You know that, whatever anyone's thoughts on that are, I could care less, are you ready?"

Before Issei could voice his agreement, they both stilled when they heard that mocking laughter. It was not something that filled them with that much confidence and Ayato quickly flipped over Issei, along with jumping up and landed on another side of a pillar. 

"Ayato, Tatara, Jason and Niko. All of you are such traitors to the cause, we have the dragon and you wish to let him go, this is our chance to bring him back home. I doubt you even know what we were really meant to do, eh?"

Eto and Noroi stood by the door to Issei's chamber of torture, of course, this was the final showdown. It was going to be a fight and Eto was glad that her plan was going to work...

A smirk now played at her lips as she heard the sounds of the bombs going off, the ground shaking beneath her very feet....this was going to be bloody and no one was stopping her from finally completing this task. 

"Noroi, go handle Magnolia and Baki. I'll deal with Ayato..."

Bowing his head, the tall man made his slow steps towards the chaos as he placed his signature wide-smile mask on his face. 

"Now Ayato, what do I do with you?"

Her crazed chuckle did not stop Ayato cool look before Eto took off in a mad dash and within moments, she was halfway across the room knife in hand as finally, the dragon would be hers and only hers....

They had turned the corner, the one that exposed the warehouse. It was eerily quiet, one of those moments when you knew something was up, knew that something just wasn't right. Taking another step out, Nola stopped in her tracks and threw up her left hand. Halting the steps of everyone behind her, everyone but Baki, whom took an extra step to her side.

"What?" He said in a slight whisper towards her.

"Something isn't right... something feels off..."

Odd thing about Nola, she had this sixth sense. Was something that she could never explain but was something that had saved her ass more than once. Needless to say that she had that feeling all over again and it was stronger then it had ever been. Was a pitting feeling in her stomach, almost as if someone had a tight grip on it and was squeezing harder by the moment.

"Looks like they aren't expecting us, looks like we have the element of surprise."

Nola slowed turned her head towards him and looked up into his eyes.

"That right there is what is worrisome, think about it. Do you see anyone? Do you see any cars? Hell... do you even hear and bird?"

It was rather quiet and rather barren. They were either about to walk into an ambush or Baki was wrong and Issei wasn't here.

"This is either an ambush or your information is wrong and Issei isn't here."

"Oh he is here, trust me...  Baki said in a soft but stern voice. "This place has always been the go to for Eto, he is here."

Nola nodded. "Okay, he is here... Then we are about to be ambushed...." Nola glanced behind her at the couple of guys waiting for direction before turning back towards Baki. "Only way to know this for sure is to go out there...." her eyes motioned to behind them, insinuating to send a couple of those guys out there to test the waters. 

It was a look that Baki understood and nodded himself back to her. Turning about he pointed a pair of guys. "You two, up front. I need scouts, so you two will go up and slowly scope the area out."

The two guys were younger, they were eager boost their position in this thing of ours but were also rather dumb. "You got it!" They said in almost unison. With Tommy guns in hand, the pair slowly walked around a couple crates. From where she stood, Nola could see their heads going left to right, almost as if they were on a swivel.

They were within about 15 feet from the door when Baki looked down at Nola.

"Where is this ambush?" He smirked then it happened. A series of explosions that blasted through the area surrounding the warehouse. The force from the blast, even from where they stood sent Nola flying off her feet, landing backwards onto a couple of old pallets. Her ears immediately began ringing, was not being able to hear the rain of bullets being directed to where the two men once stood. They were clearly not there, not in one piece that was.

Took her a moment to gain her bearings, as she slowly lifted herself off the pallets. Once upright, she gave a quick look around, everyone besides Baki was doing about the same she was. Trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened.... Baki on the other hand already had his gun out and was sending rounds towards the warehouse, while using the side of another warehouse as cover.

It was then that she snapped back into reality, shaking off the confusion of the blast.

Pulling her gun out, Nola sprinted towards Baki, flattening herself up against the warehouse behind him. There was no time to gloat that she was right, was something that would need to wait until much later. Right now the most important thing to do was to return fire. Pulling out her gun, she quick made sure it was loaded before pushing herself off the building to stand on the other side of Baki.

Taking a quick survey of the area, which was rather hard to digest. The dust and smoke from the blast still hadn't settled, making it damn near impossible to figure out where anyone was shooting at. Taking a moment, Nola put herself back up against the warehouse, taking a moment to devise some kind of plan...

"NOROI! What do we do?"

Multiple cannon fodders, in his opinion, took to following him as he walked up and found himself staring at the coalition of men that had joined in the rescue operation for Issei Hyoudou. Tilting his head, Noroi pointed out towards the men, they all shuffled forward, ready to execute their part in the plan. Believing that this was for the greater good, of course, it was not in their plans to be used as fodder, yet it would be what Noroi used them for. 

Of course, they were good enough that they consistently chopped down some men but easily, they were repelled by the wave of bullets. Noroi looked around, the tall berserker of a man already knew that Jason and Niko had abandoned the cause but why? He cared not to know, for now, he stood and watched as he looked down at his timer...

For a moment, it continued to count down before he noticed the emerging Baki Hanma and just as planned, the timer went off, leaving Noroi to nod his head towards one of his men who immediately sprung into action. 

More carnage came, bullets rained down upon Magnolia Dixon and Baki Hanma, of course, the two still had an impressive number of men but from where? Noroi knew that regardless of the group that Issei had brought, they would not be that useful, shaking his head. The man remained silent as he watched Baki and Dixon work, they were good. 

Tilting his head, he jumped down and landed on the warehouse floor, many of the fodder lay at his feet. For a moment, Noroi turned his head, hearing out for his remaining men. He heard their shallow breaths and he nodded, and like that, another bomb went off...

It brought the ceiling crumbling down onto the remaining men of Baki and Magnolia, they were all alone now. Surrounded, Noroi shook his head and stepped forward, holding out his hand before Baki fired off multiple shots. 

"NOLA! GO NOW!"

Noroi barely paid any mind to Dixon, his mission was Hanma and he followed those orders, his men, the remaining ones stepped forward, training their sights unto the Dixon. Of course, the silence was there and Hanma knew that only one of them would be left standing. It was going to be a moment that neither forgot, either he died or the Grappler did and Noroi was ready for either...

Once more, the sounds of guns cocking filled the silence as Noroi stood opposite Baki, the man seemingly stared back at him with anger. Noroi did not see with the mask but his other senses were...impeccable and he was ready to make sure that this was going to be suitable.

Noroi bowed his head, hearing a sound of rushing steps before his men gasped and one voice spoke, a voice that should have been beside them, actually....

"Baki, Magnolia, and Noroi."

Turning his head, Noroi heard Tatara, of course, he sounded weak, beyond that even.

"Tatara! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

A soldier of no known repute spoke with ease, of course, Noroi thought it was taking away from the moment at hand. Their mission. 

"Noroi...you're still going to fight for her?"

The silence was what he got in response, Noroi never spoke, not even to Eto but even his loyalty, it held no equal compared to Eto. 

"Fine, then old friend, prepare to die..."

And next, blood was spilt.... 

In this moment there was no way any plan was going to make sense, there was no way anything laid out was going to be able to be executed. There were only two options; turn about and come back with more people or go the you only live once route. It was pretty obvious what needed to be done, there was no way that Nola was about to leave. Especially knowing that Issei was basically within arm reach. It just wasn't going to happen, the task at hand for her was to get him out and that's exactly what she was going to do. Well either that or die trying...

With a deep breath in as she stood against that warehouse wall, Nola reached into her waistband, pulling out the second gun she had. She held them upwards in front of her and pushed herself off the wall.

"Baki, cover me!"

She didn't even give him the chance to think about what she had said before she calmly stepped past him, into the dust and gunfire. Knowing she only had a limited amount of ammo, Nola knew she couldn't go in guns blazing. Though also knew that Baki and the remaining guys behind her had plenty of it. She needed to pick her shots accordingly, make sure each of them counted but how....

Standing there for another few seconds, Nola closed her eyes as the sounds of the bullets whizzed by her. She wasn't scared in the slightest, in fact this was the calmest that she had been in quite some time now. All it took was mayhem and the potential for death for her to be in this state. There was a sort of clarity that popped into her head... she opened her eyes slowly to the same cloud of dust and gunfire but everything was different.

She could see shadows through the dust and the sparks of the muzzles as the bullets left each gun. A subtle smile crept onto her face, one that had a sinister underlay to it. Lifting her arms up, Nola pointed the two guns in front of her. From the corner of her right eye, she caught glimpse of that muzzle fire. Turning quickly, she fired a single shot in that direction. A loud thud promptly followed... she kept her focus on that same spot and watched as a shadow ran towards it. She pulled the trigger once more, there was no loud thud this time about but the shadow did drop out of sight.

"Nola.... NOLA!!" Baki yelled as he unloaded a round of bullets from the Tommy Gun he was branding. "Find cover...."

Yes, she heard every word that he said and yes of course she did not listen. Instead she calmly walked over to where she had fired that few bullets. Sure the pistols were nice but she wanted more firepower. That's exactly what she found, a pair of slightly used machine guns. Yes she had to pry them from the hands of a few dead guys and yes there may have been a bit of blood on them but they were exactly what she was looking for. With her pistols tucked back into her waistband, Nola now lifted the Tommy Guns to her sides.

As calmly as she walked over, Nola walked right back to where she was. Bullets still zoomed by her, she could have swore that she had felt a couple whiz by her ears but maybe that is just what she wanted to hear. Either way, it didn't matter. Standing there was another quick second to gather her bearings and pick out where the remaining fire was coming from. Didn't take her long to see those muzzle fires again. This time was a bit different though... There was no one shot per... She unloaded both guns, spraying the bullets about... Her hands and body shaking from the force of the guns.

She kept those triggers held inward until there wasn't a single bullet lift in either gun. Then tossed each of them down in front of her. There were no more muzzle fires coming from in front of her...

Turning about, Nola made her way back over towards Baki. Patting him on the shoulder and waving off the other guys, Nola glanced up at him.

"Save the bullets... pretty sure I got all the ones outside."

He stopped shooting and just like she had just done, waved off the other guys to stop. There was a moment of eerie silence. One that caused Nola to smile once again.

"See... all gone. Now let's go in and get him, shall we?"

Different is what he felt, after all this time, his life was still in her very hands, was it always meant to be this way? He didn't know but he had survived that far, he had gone to that limit of his business plans. 

Finding himself a princess, a crimson one at that, becoming a wanted man, becoming someone who had plans scattered throughout cities, is this how he wanted all of it to end? No. 

"Kukukuku! Eto....look at us!"

Turning her head, the purple-clad woman took her attention away from the door, either Noroi had died or he had succeeded in the mission of bringing her before the one that truly controlled the Dragon, yet here he was, tormenting her somewhat. He was always defiant, even back home, he maintained that spark, a fire that did not stop burning... 

"Look at us? We've elevated from where we once were, back when we were eleven you mean?"

"No, from the year when your father died, he left you alone, with Noroi..."

Silence reigned over that torture room, Ayato's body off to the side, mutilated, as Eto's hood fell back revealing her bloodied face. It was not different from any other time that she had seen him, he was used to the blood, it always served to remind him. 

She was like him, a monster that had been caged too long. While he had learned from Ddraig to control his temper, to reign it in like no other, he knew that it had limits like everyone else. Eto never learned that all...

"And look at what I made of myself, who I became, the one, the only, Eto Yoshimura of the Yakuza. I am bringing you back home Issei, why don't you recognize that?"

"Home? You're deceiving yourself, you sent over hundreds to just die for your cause, your father figure in Noroi is probably dead, Tatara, my friend and brother, you stabbed him and left him to bleed out. Eto, you're not reuniting me with my family, you are destroying it. Admit. It."

Eto's bold smile did little to reassure him, it left him with that chill heading down his spine, only to then freeze as the doors to the torture room open and in stepped Tatara, a dry bloodied white overcoat. He seemed like he had been through hell itself....

"Tatara, how are you here?"

The white-haired man had not answered, instead, he threw a mask at Eto's feet and it slid towards her like a pistol being wielded in a duel. Time stilled for the leader of Aogiri...

"Noroi. Where is she, Tatara?"

And yet again, Issei, with that glimmer of hope in his eyes looked up at the door that Tatara stood in front of, holding his stomach and yet it seemed like he would have been fine. The two met eyes and nodded, Issei would be escaping, that is the tiny amount of hope that he felt, it was what he needed at the very least...to get by this...

Nola didn't give Baki much of a choice to move forward into the warehouse. As before he was even able to respond she had began her walk towards. Was a rather quick walk, as she only had one thing in mind and that was getting Issei out of there. Sure, she kind of figured there would be some more resistance inside, possibly a trap or two but it was something she would deal with when she was faced with it.

Plus, at this point. She kind of figured there wouldn't be a secondary round of explosions. Anything more in that regards would probably have sent the warehouse crumbling down on top of everyone, including Eto. Sure she didn't know the woman that well but Nola was pretty confident she wasn't suicidal. She seemed rather much the person who only looked out for herself and dying in a cave in didn't seem like it was going to fit.

"Slow up!" Baki spoke up from behind her as he jogged up to and in front of her. "Let me go in first..."

With a simple nod, Nola slowed up her steps, letting him take the lead inside. Slowly he pushed the door opened to nothing but silence. You could probably have heard a pin drop that's how quiet it was. Peaking his head inside, she could see him take in the entire place. He pushed the door opened completely and took a step in. Giving the area one more look over, Baki motioned for Nola.

"Place is clear."

Nola took a few steps in and gave the place a look over, it was eerily quiet...

"Baki... go check out that back area. I will have a look downstairs."

"But... we shouldn't break up, we should stick together."

Nola shook her head from side to side. Yeah he was probably right, it was probably the smart thing to do but there was no time to be logical. The longer this took the more of a chance Issei wouldn't be there.

"No, you go there. I will go downstairs. We need to find him."

With a bit of hesitation, Baki gave her a nod and slowly headed towards the back room. Making sure he was actually headed in that direction, Nola paused to watch him. Until she was satisfied he was going where he needed. That's when she slowly headed downstairs... It was a dark stairwell that lead to a dark opened area. A series of dim lights hung in a row down the middle of the space. With the brightest one positioned right over a chair. A chair that contained a person but not just any person, Issei!

Not being able to keep her composure, Nola blurted out his name.

"ISSEI!"

Which caught the attention of not just him but the individual that had come out of the shadows to stand next to him. Eto....

She chuckled... "Ms. Dixon, we finally meet..."

Nola took a few steps closer, causing Eto to pull he blade out and directed it towards Issei.

"Not any closer or I will cut him."

Nola gave her a smirk, she knew that was a bluff. If she wanted him dead, she would have done it back in the hotel or anything between them and now. Issei was her prize and a dead prize isn't a good one. Not one that she would have wanted anyways. So Nola did the only practical thing, she took a few more steps closer.

"STOP! That's close enough, don't try me."

"You won't do it... you can't..."

Eto gave her a glare and shifted her eyes down towards Issei. It was just enough lapse in judgement that Nola needed as in one motion, she reached into her waistband pulled her gun out and fired a single bullet. Now her accuracy wasn't the best in such a quick motion but it was accurate enough, catching Eto on the side of the neck. Causing her to drop the blade immediately as she grasped the wound which was gushing a stream of red blood down her body.

Nola watched as she dropped to her knees next to where Issei sat before she made her way over towards them. Standing there now in front of Issei and looking down at Eto, whom was trying to muster up whatever energy she had left in her to speak. She went to open her mouth in which Nola promptly raised her gun to the woman's head and pulled the trigger. Implanting a bullet right into her brain.

"Shhh, no more out of you..."

Turning towards Issei, Nola quickly untied him from his chair and then stood in front of him with her hand extended.

"Come on, it's time to get you out of here. Time to put this all behind us."