Vin Jin woke up to darkness and the smell of blood. He was bound. Warren was beside him, unconscious, pale from blood loss. Max and Derrick were in worse shape. Vin Jin could guess what had happened. They had tried to protect Sujin.
He nudged Dae Bujin with his foot. The big man was already awake.
"Do you have a plan?" Vin Jin asked. "You lost too easily back there. We could have won."
Dae Bujin shook his head. "I lost on purpose. I needed to find where they were holding people. I have a tracker on me. My partner will come."
Vin Jin nodded and turned back to Warren. He nudged him repeatedly for a long time. Nothing. He tried Max and Derrick. Same result. He eventually stopped and waited.
Warren woke up first. He opened his eyes and stared at Vin Jin. "Jenny brought me to the medical bay," he said, his voice rough. "No doctor came. Just a big man with long hair. I was already losing too much blood."
"I figured it was them," Vin Jin said. He nodded toward Dae Bujin. "He has a tracker. Someone should be coming."
Warren's eyes moved to Dae Bujin and then back. He didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "Baki-hyung and teacher. What about them?"
Vin Jin had no answer.
Max and Derrick woke up one after the other. Time kept passing and the door stayed shut. Vin Jin looked at Dae Bujin. "Are you sure your partner is coming? What if he got caught too?"
Dae Bujin shook his head slowly. "Choi Sunjae won't be caught by these people. He's the strongest man I've ever seen."
Warren pushed himself up despite his ribs. "We can't just sit here. Sally and Sujin are still missing."
Dae Bujin looked at the iron shackles on his wrists for a moment. Then he broke them.
The metal snapped like it was nothing. He stood and freed the others one by one without a word.
Warren was already at the door. "We find the girls first."
The door slammed open before he touched it. Jaeryeong, Joseph, Jinho, and Heesu walked in.
Jaeryeong smiled. "Where do you think you're going?"
Warren looked at him. "Why did you do it?"
Joseph laughed. "Do what?"
Dae Bujin grabbed Jaeryeong mid-lunge, kneed him twice in the ribs, and put him through the wall. The wall cracked and Jaeryeong dropped. Warren and Joseph traded blows. Warren was slowed by his injuries but he caught a punch, headbutted Joseph, and put him down with three body shots. Vin Jin swept Jinho's legs and stomped his chest when he hit the floor. Max and Derrick doubled up on Heesu and wore him down until he folded.
The whole thing was over in under two minutes.
Vin Jin wiped his mouth. "That was easier than I thought."
Warren was already moving toward the door when four more people walked in. Moon Seong. The blue-haired guy. Two others, one with short grey-blue hair and a katana, one with slicked-back dark hair and gold eyes.
Moon Seong looked at the four men on the floor and smiled. "I didn't expect the others to be this capable."
The gold-eyed one scanned the room and clicked his tongue. "They're still pretty weak."
Warren's fists tightened. "Why did you do this?"
Moon Seong tilted his head. "I can't say I'm sorry."
The gold-eyed one looked at Moon Seong. "Why are we still talking?"
Dae Bujin stepped forward and the gold-eyed one, Hosung, came straight at him with a jumping spinning kick. Dae Bujin raised his arm and blocked it. The sound echoed through the room like a gunshot. Hosung's leg shook on impact. He threw a flurry of follow-up kicks, hard and fast, each one landing on Dae Bujin's arms and body. Dae Bujin didn't move.
Geunjin swung the katana at Dae Bujin's back. The blade hit and bounced off. Dae Bujin turned and grabbed the katana with his bare hand. The edge cut into his palm and he didn't react. He yanked it forward, grabbed Geunjin's face, and threw him across the room. Geunjin hit the wall and the concrete cracked behind him.
Hosung went for Dae Bujin's damaged knee repeatedly. The knee started to give. He jumped with a spinning kick aimed at Dae Bujin's head. Dae Bujin caught the leg in midair, lifted Hosung above his head, and drove him into the floor. The concrete split open. He lifted him again and put him down a second time. Hosung didn't get back up.
Geunjin charged. Dae Bujin snatched the katana out of his hands and snapped it in half with one motion. He grabbed Geunjin by the throat, lifted him, and put him through the wall three times until he stopped moving.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Vin Jin went at Moon Seong. They traded hard and fast, both landing clean hits. Moon Seong was sharp and difficult to read but Vin Jin kept pushing. He took a spinning backfist to the jaw, grabbed Moon Seong on the recovery, and slammed him into the ground. He got on top and didn't stop until Moon Seong's arms dropped.
The blue-haired guy went straight for Warren's blood. He clawed and bit, going for every wound Warren already had. Warren, Max, and Derrick fought him together. He was fast and kept reopening cuts on all three of them. Max took a bad slash across the face. Derrick got bitten on the shoulder. Warren's arm opened up again.
But they kept at him in rotation, hitting him from different sides every time he focused on one of them. Warren's elbow came down on the back of his skull twice. The guy's movements slowed. Max stomped him down. Derrick put a final kick into his ribs and he stopped moving.
All of them dropped. The room was broken up and covered in blood. Everyone was still breathing but nobody was standing straight.
Dae Bujin stood in the middle of it, bleeding from his hand, his knee damaged but holding.
A voice came from the doorway. "That's enough."
Baki and Sunjae walked in.
Dae Bujin looked at Sunjae and let out a slow breath. "You're late."
Sunjae looked around the room. His eyes moved across the cracked walls, the broken floor, the bodies. "Looks like you managed."
Baki scanned the group and said nothing. His eyes found the boys and stayed there.
Sunjae looked at Moon Seong on the floor. "You're all under arrest."