Jaese calmly knocked on the door to Gabriel Estrada’s house, then waited for someone to answer as he eyed the empty driveway. After a few moments, a elderly woman opened the door.

“Hello, how may I help you officer?” She said politely with a smile.

“I’m looking for Gabriel Estrada, does he live here?” Jaese asked.

“He does, but I haven’t seen him since last night. He went to get his younger brother from a friends place. Is everything alright officer? Did something happen?” She asked Jaese.

“He hasn’t come back here yet?” He asked her.

“No... I was beginning to worry...” she added.

“He’s not in trouble, I just wanted to ask him some questions is all, can you ask him to call the police and ask for detective Richard if you see him?” Jaese replied.

“Alright, and be sure to send them straight home if you see them, tell them their mother is worried.” She replied.

“Will do, m’am. Take care.” He waved, turning and walking back to his car while pulling out his phone to call Richard.

“Gabriel didn’t head home. I’m thinking he knows who did this and is going after them.” Jaese said.

“Gang unit says a Chinese gang up in Wash Town has been losing a lot of its competition recently, and Mendez’ group was one of them, the bodies in the house.”

“Where can I find them?” Jaese replied.

“You’re just a uniform without a partner Jaese, going after gangsters on your own isn’t part of your job. If you’re heading, I’m coming with you.”

“Alright.” Jaese replied. “Tell me the address and I’ll meet you there.”

[Gabriel]

Gabriel arrived in front of a Chinese restaurant with different Kanji characters making up its sign name. It was small, crunched between many other small shops and buildings on the busy street, but the restaurant had a closed sign up and the curtains on the front windows were all shut to block the view inside.

He walked to the door and swung it open, surprised to find it unlocked, then stepped inside. Despite it reading closed, the tables were all full, more specifically full of women. All early teens and young 20’s, all of them in their underwear, different ethnicities, smiling and talking to each other and playing different games at the restaurant tables, some eating or looking at their phones.

“Where can I find Tai?” Gabriel asked one of the girls near the entrance as the door shut behind him.

“Oooh, are you one of his new friends?” She asked.

“Oh, is that a friend of Tai’s?” Another girl asked as they all seemed to suddenly take notice of him.

“We promised to take good care of Tai’s friends.” Another moaned as they started moving in closer to him, kissing his arms.

“The hell is going on?” He said angrily.

“We do anything he asks!”

“I just can’t resist Tai!”

“Even if you aren’t him, Tai told me to, so I just, I can’t help it!” The girls began to swarm him, undoing his pants and pulling his shirt back as he felt lips and tongues touching him in different places.

“Get off!” He shouted, pushing some of them away. “I’m no friend of Tai, so get the hell off of me.” He added, and with this, almost instantly the girls seemed to lose interest.

“How boring.”

“He’s not even Tai’s friend.”

“If you aren’t Tai’s friend, I don’t want you.”

“What the hell is going on here...” Gabriel said to himself in disbelief as he watched them all sit back at their tables and go back to what they were doing. He then looked to see a path to the back of the restaurant. He went through the empty kitchen and into a back room that was empty save for a round table and some chairs, one chair filled with another barely clothed girl.

“Oh, a friend of Tai’s? I’d love to please a friend of Tai...” She smiled, immediately standing up and walking towards him.

“What is with you girls? Why’re you acting like this?” Gabriel asked her.

“We do anything Tai asks, we can’t resist him, he’s just so charming and romantic... So what would you like me to do for you?” She smiled as she began rubbing her hands over his arms.

“Can you tell me where Tai is?” Gabriel asked her, remaining calm and ignoring her advances.She moved behind him and tried pulling his jacket off, but he firmly pulled it back forward, causing her to let out a strange gasp.

“Tai went to see those strange guys for their big recruitment meeting. There were so many friends that came, it was really exciting. You missed quite a big party.” She smiled while kissing his shoulder.

“Where’s this ‘meeting’ taking place?” Gabriel replied.

“Hmm, I’m not sure... They had a note I think, would you like me to get it for you?” She asked.

“Yes, please.” He said as politely as his anger and confusion allowed. She nodded, smiling at him before walking across the room to the table and picking up a small sheet of paper, then came back with a seductive walk, each foot placed directly in front of the other as she handed the paper out to him.

“He quickly grabbed it out of her hand to see an address written on it, with ‘NWO Meeting’ written at the top.

“NWO?” Gabriel asked, and the girl simply shrugged.

“Alright, thanks.” He said, turning to head out of the restaurant, but paused before he got out of the room.

“Why’re you helping me so easily?” He asked.

“Because you’re a friend of Tai’s, of course.” She smiled.

“What if I told you I’m not his friend.” Gabriel replied, and her expression instantly changed, eyes and brows squinted in anger, a sneering expression.

“Then you can die!” She shouted suddenly, turning to grab a knife from the table then charging at Gabriel while screaming, but Gabriel simply side stepped to avoid the blade in her hand and punched her square in the nose, knocking her back off her feet unconscious.

“Good to know.” He said coldly, making sure she was out, then left the room and closed the door, but as he headed back through the kitchen he spotted two girls standing there, staring at him with evil glares. They had no weapons and didn’t move, only glared. He calmly walked forward around them, no reaction from either, and as he got into the main floor of the restaurant he noticed all of the girls sitting at the tables were frozen solid, glaring angrily at him, No laughing, no talking, no doing anything, just angry stares that felt like they were piercing through him. As he got near the front door, he heard the backroom door swing open, stepping out side and shutting the door behind himself.

[Jaese]

“I just arrived at the restaurant, it looks like its closed.” Jaese said into his phone as he stopped his car on the side of the road a few buildings down, trying not to get any unwanted attention.

“Alright hang tight, we’re on the way, don’t do anything until we get there.” Richard replied on the phone.

“Wait a sec, someone is coming out of the restaurant.” Jaese said, seeing the door open, and seconds later Gabriel walked out of the building. “It’s Gabriel Estrada, what’s he doing here?” Jaese asked.

“Probably the same thing we are, can you tail him?” Richard asked.

“I’m on it... Not gonna be easy, I’m still in my squad car.”

“If he just went in that restaurant to get revenge on Tai for killing his brother, we’ll need to pick him up fast. Be careful and wait for an update before you make a move on him.” Richard replied. “We’re still about 10 minutes out from the restaurant.”

“Got it.” Jaese replied, starting up his engine as Gabriel crossed the street and headed up the sidewalk to the first intersection onto one of the central streets of the city. He pulled out his cell phone as he walked, and once he got to the intersection he stood at the light a bit as if waiting for someone or something. Jaese parked the car a good distance away and waited, glancing at the time on his dashboard clock repeatedly.

Three minutes passed with nothing happening until finally a yellow taxi arrived at the corner, Gabriel climbing in quickly. Seeing this, Jaese instantly fired up the engine and followed after the vehicle.

He couldn’t make out where the taxi was going exactly but he made sure to keep a safe distance to not get spotted. The longer the car drove the more Jaese started to wonder if he’d been spotted though.

Just as they started turning off the main road, Jaese’s phone rang again and he quickly answered.

“What happened at the restaurant?” Jaese asked instantly, seeing Richard’s name on his phones display.

“Shi-shit man, Tai wasn’t there, a bunch of crazy girls were, first they were seducing us then they were trying to stab us.”

“They working for Tai?” Jaese asked.

“I don’t know, we’re calling in back up to take them all in for questioning.”

“You alright?” Jaese asked worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, a few cuts. Other guys in my unit, not so much. Look, stay on Gabriel, follow procedure, get some back up.” Richard ordered him.

“Got it.” Jaese said, hanging up his phone and then turning on his police radio. “This is Officer Jaese, I’m in pursuit of a P.O.I. relating to the house murders earlier today, one Gabriel Estrada. He’s traveling westbound on,” Jaese paused to look out the car window at the street signs. “Corland Road in a yellow taxi, requesting back up.” Jaese said, placing the radio receiver down after he finished speaking.

“Copy that.” The operator replied. As he followed, they got further and further from downtown and deep into the industrial section of the city, surrounded by large warehouses and factories. It got increasingly difficult for Jaese to not get spotted as the traffic in the area died down significantly, to the point where Jaese was sure Gabriel was on to him, but eventually the taxi stopped out front of an abandoned factory building with no other vehicles parked there, and Gabriel got out.

Jaese quickly parked out of view of the taxi as best he could to avoid being seen as Gabriel paid the driver and the taxi drove off.

“Suspect has left the Taxi out front of an abandoned warehouse on Stecklin Street.” Jaese reported to the radio.

“Copy that, hang tight, backup is on the way.”

“This is unit 17, we’re about 5 minutes out.” Another officer reported on the radio.

“Copy that, holding.” Jaese replied as he watched Gabriel carefully from inside his car. Gabriel stood outside the building for a moment, looking up at it, then he shuffled his jacket and walked forward towards the building.

“Tai!” Gabriel shouted as he stepped inside the factory, shutting the rusting metal door behind him and making a loud clanging sound. “Where you at, Tai. I know your here, one of your little girls told me.” Gabriel said, hesitating to say this as he remembered their strange behaviour.

“I told you someone was coming.” A deep voice spoke from behind Gabriel, causing him to jerk his head around.

“Yeah yeah, we all know your detection is the best.” Another voice said, Gabriel turning forward again to see someone standing there that was not a moment ago.

“Who is he?” Another voice spoke, now from his left side. They seemed to be appearing around him out of thin air, but Gabriel didn’t recognize any of their voices, and they were all wearing strange cloaks over their bodies to hide their faces.

“He’s an NPC.” Another spoke, and soon enough Gabriel found himself surrounded by 9 people, but he couldn’t see a single one of their faces.

“How’d an NPC find us here?” another asked.

“I’m not no NPC or whatever. I’m here for Tai.” Gabriel said, clenching his fists. Despite being outnumbered he showed no sign of fear.

“You know this guy, Tai?” One asked, turning to the person on his left. This caused Gabriel to turn to the person as well.

“Hmm, I dunno.” Tai said, pulling his cloak back to reveal his face. He was Asian with short black hair and broad shoulders and a perfect jawline.

“Don’t mess with me, you aren’t Tai. Now where is he? ” Gabriel replied angrily.

“Oh, but I am Tai.” he replied, and his body suddenly let off a bright flash of light, blinding Gabriel for a moment. He reactively put his hands up to cover his eyes, and when he lowered them he saw Tai standing there. A short little asian teenager with a thin build wearing baggy clothes.

“How th- what the hell did you just do?” Gabriel shouted in shock, his expression changed to confusing as he furled his brows. Tai, as well as the others around him, responded by letting out tiny chuckles and laughs.

“Ah, I recognize you. Yo, this is Gabriel! Remember he used to run Mendez’ gang?” Tai said, turning to some of the other cloaked people.

“Yeah man, he’s the one who beat you and Lee up to send you a message.” One replied.

“Yeah, haha. Man were you scary back then, huge muscles, crazy fighting skills man. You made Lee piss himself.”

“Shut up, I didn’t piss myself.” Lee replied from behind Gabriel.

“Your boy tried to send us a message the other day again, just like you did before. Didn’t go so well for him, did it guys?” Tai asked, causing them to chuckle.

“How did you find this meeting?” A high pitch voiced screeched, coming from a dark cloaked man who had not been partaking in the conversation thus far.

“One of your girls told me, said she’d do anything for a friend of Tai.” Gabriel said as he threw the paper she handed him to the ground.

“Yo you didn’t remove that charm spell on them before we left?” Lee asked Tai.

“Nah man, I wanted them there when we got back to have some more fun.”

“You’re an idiot.” Another guy said.

“Shut up man, it’s no big deal, it’s just you, right?” Tai asked Gabriel.

“Yeah. Was it you who hit Mendez’ place last night?”

“Yeah, just returning the favor, You know, ‘sending a message’.” Tai said, causing his friends to laugh. “So why’d you come here lookin’ for me by yourself?”

“My little brother was at that house. Had nothing to do with Mendez’ gang.” Gabriel said angrily, this time no laughter, the circle of 9 stayed quiet. “I’m here for your life.”

“Hah, well, that aint going to happen.” Tai said, taking a few steps closer to Gabriel. “In the past, you could probably walk in here and take us all out like nothing. Shit, you remember those moves he pulled on us?” Tai said to Lee.

“Yeah, he was crazy strong man.” Lee smirked.

“But the worlds a bit different now.”

“No, the world’s exactly the same.” Gabriel shouted, then lunged forward and took a swing at Tai’s head, but instead only hit air. Tai disappeared completely, causing Gabriel to glance around until spotting him standing behind him.

“You’re wrong, it’s very different. Guys who used to be scary, strong, rich, beautiful, that doesn’t matter anymore.” Tai said as the others watched silently.

“Now it's our time to rule.” The high pitched voice called out. “The New World Order, a guild for those with true power.” he followed his words with a cackle, then his hands started glowing blue as ice began to form under his feet. Moments later small snowflakes began to fall from the ceiling. Gabriel looked up in confusion, there was no hole in the roof for snow to come from, let alone that it shouldn’t be snowing at all.

“Now, how about some pay back for kicking my ass before?” Tai said, and as Gabriel turned to Tai, he disappeared and reappeared in an instant, floating in the air above Gabriel, then super-man punched Gabriel in the head, the force behind the punch was unreal, and Gabriel could faintly see sparks of electricity coming off of his fist the milliseconds before he was hit. Gabriel flew backward off of his feet and slammed into a pillar holding up the old factory building.

“All those years of working out for muscles, all for nothing.” Tai laughed. “I almost feel sorry for these NPC’s.” He grinned as he walked forward, preparing to punch Gabriel again.

Jaese waited patiently for something to happen, waiting for more officers to arrive, but seconds felt like hours as he tapped his dashboard nervously, eyeing the front entrance of the factory. He focused on it hard until he spotted something familiar, tiny specks of white snow falling down from the afternoon sky, landing on his windshield and the pavement around the building.

“It’s snowing again, he’s here! I’m going in!” Jaese shouted into the radio as he popped open the dashboard of the police car and grabbed his gun, then swung the car door open and ran towards the building, ignoring the orders from the radio. His body rushed with emotions as he swatted his hand at the snowflakes. They were cold, wet, he could see them, feel them. They were real, he wasn’t crazy, it was snowing. It was snowing just like it snowed the night at the bank.

He gripped his gun tight as he got to the factory’s front entrance and swung the metal door open.

“Freeze, nobody move!” Jaese shouted, not expecting to see what he saw. A circle of 8 cloaked people standing around an Asian boy, who was standing over Gabriel laying on the floor of the factory with his face covered in blood. He then noticed the Asian boy’s fist also covered in blood.

“You’re all under arrest.” Jaese shouted to them as Gabriel turned to look at Jaese, coughing up blood but unable to get any words out. Jaese quickly glanced between the 9 others, but none of them seemed to care that he was pointing a gun at them.

“Tai, was it?” The high pitched voice screeched, Jaese recognizing it immediately as the voice of the man that attacked them, the man that killed Chris.

“Yeah?” Tai asked, turning to face him.

“Not just a random NPC, but also cop found this meeting. I’ve decided against letting your party join our guild.” He said, then turned and started walking away, as did 4 others from the group.

“Wait, yo, they’re just NPC’s. It was a tiny slip up, I swear.” Tai replied to him, sounding a bit desperate.

“We aim to rule over the new world, we don’t have room for slip ups. Goodbye.” He said, and his cloak began to suddenly glow blue.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Jaese shouted, firing off a shot out of anger, After he shot, he knew he shouldn’t have, but something in him pulled the trigger for him, almost against his will. It made the man’s cloak stop glowing instantly, and he turned and looked at Jaese.

“You... YOU INSECT, DARE SHOOT AT ME?” He screeched angrily.

“It was definitely you, you were there at the bank, you made it snow!” Jaese shouted angrily.

“An insect lived? It’s so hard to stomp them all with my boots sometimes. A few always slip through the cracks.” He shouted back, then revealed a long wooden staff from under his cloak, it’s tip glowing blue. Before Jaese could react, a sudden chunk of ice appeared and shot out across the factory floor, piercing into the center of Jaese’s chest and knocking him off his feet.

“See, that one wasn’t even my fault, he was after you.” Tai pleaded with the angry blue cloaked man, as sirens began ringing in the distance. He simply turned and glared at Tai, showing sharp red eyes under his cloak.

“More insects...” he grumbled angrily, his staff starting to glow blue again.

“Yo, city guard is with them.” One of the cloaked men shouted.

“For real?” Tai replied.

“Don’t doubt my detection skills man, he’s comin hella fast.”

“We’re leaving, NWO.” The blue cloaked man said, and within an instant 5 of the cloaked people disappeared. Jaese could only watch from the floor, he was gasping for air, his voice was gone, his chest felt both cold from the ice and warm from the blood coming out of the wound.

“Yo, finish them off at least man.” Lee shouted to Tai. Tai nodded and made a sword suddenly appear in his hand, preparing to swing it at Gabriel’s head just as Gabriel managed to sit up and look Tai back in his eyes.

“No time, he’s here man!” the detecting cloaked man shouted, and just then the steel door of the factory swung open, allowing the sounds of police sirens to flood into the room. Standing in the door way however was not a cop, it was a large man with shaved blonde hair wearing a black suit and black sunglasses.

“Shit, go guys.” Tai ordered, and within seconds, all remaining figures disappeared, leaving Gabriel coughing up blood and Jaese bleeding from his chest with the man in the suit. Gabriel used the last of his strength to run around a Pillar and a pile of old factory machinery to avoid the man in the suit, while Jaese could barely turn his head to see him, but he didn’t see much. The suit stepped towards Jaese and held an open palm over Jaese’s head, which briefly gave off a strange black glow, and then within seconds the man in the suit vanished as well, and with him vanished the ice in his chest and the snow that had been falling around him.

“The hell...” Gabriel said in disbelief as he pushed himself to his feet, wiping blood from his face as he glanced at Jaese bleeding out on the floor, then turned his head out the front door of the factory to see the police cars pulling up. Gabriel ran in the opposite direction, out of a back door in the factory. As he got out the back door, the first officer arrived beside Jaese and knelt down.

“I’ve got an officer down, we need an ambulance.” The officer shouted into his radio. “Hang in there Jaese, help is on the way.” He called out as he put his hands over Jaese’s wound.

“N... Not pretending...” he managed to mumble, before he completely blacked out.