The rooftop was a work in progress. Industrial lights flickered in the heavy wind and rain. Puddles pooled up in low spots of recently hardened concrete. Ladders and scaffolding littered the rooftop along with tall piles of lumber, bags of concrete mix, steel beams, and other sorts of the construction project. Some beams and panels were screwed and cemented into place while others were strewn about.

  The center of the rooftop had a large square opening where a pulley system suspended ropes down the deep crevice ten stories down to the bottom floor. It appeared to be what would in time turn into an elevator shaft.

  Jin stood casually and puffed on a damp cigarette as he waited for MC and those who would accompany him. He looked up at the dark sky above and took in the feeling of rain splashing down on his face. He was prepared for this long awaited and carefully planned moment and wanted to savor the time because while MC had been working hard, he had been doing the same.

  MC emerged from the dark stairway and stepped out onto the roof with the silence of a ghost. Jin turned to face him, seemingly having sensed his presence. He stood just past the elevator shaft in the center of the floor. A gust of wind blew past and threw his overcoat around as he inhaled a breath from the glowing cigarette. He tossed the damp white stick aside and exhaled smoke that quickly dispersed into the billowing wind.

  “So, you were able to find me after all?” said Jin just loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain.

  “Jin, this time is going to be different. I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. You’re going to die tonight. Years of work have gone into preparing me for this moment. I’ve dedicated all this time and effort for the sole purpose of killing you. Only then, will I be able to move on.”

  “It pains me to say this, but I’m glad to hear that,” said Jin, with a grin. “I can tell just by the way you handle yourself that you’ve changed since the last time we met. You’re more serious. More mature.”

  “Enough talk. Let’s get this over with,” said MC.

  “As you wish.”

  In the blink of an eye, MC grabbed both pistols from his sides, roughly aimed, and began to shoot. Bullets erupted out of the guns and the rain created a dense steam as it coated the hot barrels. MC stopped firing and saw only Jin’s coat laying on the ground. Where did he go?

  He felt an instant sharp pain as Jin kicked him square in the side of the ribs, sending him flying and skidding across the floor. He’s still so fast.

  MC recovered, catching himself in a crouch, then instinctively ducked behind the cover of a chest-high stack of plywood. He put one of the guns away and grabbed a flash bang from his sash. His arm flung it up and over the pile of boards and into the sky. It erupted mid-air, dousing the area in a bright flash for a fraction of a second. It wasn’t likely to do much other than startle Jin and it was most likely that he had expected a move like that anyway.

  Staying low, MC moved to another spot of cover, this time a partially constructed wall of rebar and thin concrete. He looked around as he moved, but Jin seemed to have vanished. Blam!! A bullet pierced the wall right next to MC’s head and he sprung into action, running behind the wall as bullets plunged through. Each one piercing the wall and trailing right behind him. MC ducked and slid head-first into the open as he came to the end of the wall. With a tight grip on his pistol he aimed for the position where the bullets had been coming from. He fired twice at Jin as he slid through puddles. Both shots missed. He somersaulted out of the slide and ducked behind more cover. He pressed the action on the side of his pistol to extrude the empty clip onto the ground and replaced it with a fresh one, taking note that he only had two more to spare.

  Jin closed in and surprised MC from around a corner. Even in the puddles of the roof, Jin was dead silent. The swish of his arms as they cut through raindrops was almost undetectable. MC threw his hands up forming a cross just in time to block a punch. The force of it sent his feet sliding back on the wet surface. Jin followed up with more close ranged attacks. His raw power was like a fight against The Vampire, but with a more structured and rehearsed technique. What once seemed like a random assortment of flashy moves were decipherable now. MC was able to pick out each attack as they came and blocked while predicting the next attack, but he was on the defensive. Despite relentless effort and training, Jin was still very powerful.

  A fakeout caught MC by surprise and Jin struck a pressure point in his left shoulder with expert precision. He blocked out the pain as he was used to, but felt a strange tingling in his arm. He tested his grip and felt his muscles unable to perform.

  My arm isn’t responding the way I need it to. Seems my wrist, hand, and forearm are ok, but my shoulder feels like it’s hardly moveable now. He only hit me once, but it sure was a bad one. I need to turn this fight around. I have to get on the offensive.

  The next attack came straight away. “What’s the matter, MC? Giving up already.”

  “Never.”

  MC ducked under a punch and moved to the side of a strike from Jin’s knee and did a handstand. His legs were much more powerful than his arms. As he spun and kicked at Jin, he pummeled his flawless defenses to no avail. He sprung off his hands and did a backflip reaching into his sash and pulling the pins off two flash bangs and tossing them with a flick of the wrist. Jin shielded his eyes with his arms as they both detonated right in front of him. There was no doubt that his ears were severely impacted.

  MC landed in a crouch, placing his hand on the ground for balance. Jin was already back on the offensive closing the gap again despite a loud ringing in his ears. MC stood up as quickly as he could, but Jin was faster. The barrel of a pistol touched MC’s chest. He tightly wrapped his hand around the barrel of the gun to prevent it from firing. With his other hand, he struck it from the side with Jin’s wrist, sending the gun flying across the floor. That was a close one.

  Aiko was the first to arrive at the location. She parked close to the building next to two cars that were already there, tires sliding the car to a halt. She burst out of her car hearing gunshots from the rooftop above as she ran to the entrance. She should have waited for Emi and other backup, but paid no attention to rationality. All she knew was that she needed to get up there and help MC. She plunged into the dark entrance of the building and started making her way up the winding sets of stairs, pistol in hand.

  Jin came in with what seemed like a new found fury. His momentum between attacks flowed powerful and unpredictable like a current in the ocean. MC palmed a punch headed straight to his face, but the power of the blow smashed his own hand back into his forehead. Jin used the opportunity of MC’s imbalance to deliver a series of quick, but heavy strikes to several specific points on MC’s body. MC felt a loss of control over muscles in various places all over his body. He needed to get some serious distance between them to take inventory of injuries and recover for a moment, but he couldn’t get away.

  The sound of footsteps coming from the stairs to the roof interrupted the battle. Aiko emerged from the staircase. The fight between MC and Jin paused briefly as they both mentally calculated a new variable into the battle.

  “Aiko, what are you doing here? Get out of here now!” he said without taking his eyes off of Jin.

  “Took you long enough to get here,” said Jin.

  “What are you talking about?” questioned MC.

  “You weren’t the only one who received a call to action today.”

  “You bastard. Leave Aiko out of this!” yelled MC.

  “Shame that you don’t understand that she’s just as big a part of this as you are. This is bigger than just you and me. This is about the entire city.”

  “Enough with the shitty metaphors. I don’t care.”

  Aiko quickly analyzed the situation and saw MC’s shaking legs struggling to keep him up.

  “I can’t let you do this alone. If you died I’d never forgive myself.”

  “This is too dangerous. Get out of here.”

  “No. I can’t let you do this alone. You still don’t understand that you’re not the only one with the same goals. You have allies you can count on. We all want the same thing. If we all work together we can achieve our goals together.”

  “This is my fight. Stay out of this.”

  “Oh please. You’re fight? The detectives have been hunting Jin and taking on the Black Diamond since before you were born.”

  “She’s got a point, kid.” said GM, emerging from the stairway behind Aiko.

  “GM, you’re here too?”

  “Come on now, I can’t let my team member go into a fight like this without backup. She’s right about what she said. We’re all in this fight for the same reason. We want to support you and end this issue that’s gone on for far too long.” GM paused and looked MC up and down. “And from the looks of things, you could use a hand.”

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  Far below, the group heard what seemed to be the sounds of several cars arriving at the building. There were sounds of tires skidding and doors clunking loudly.

  Jin straightened up. “So MC, it looks like all these people are here to help you reach your long awaited goal. Do you really think they’ll make much of a difference? I know you’re far stronger than any of them, and we can both tell that this fight isn’t going well for you. Even with this pause in our fight, you’re hardly even catching your breath.”

  “I don’t care about any of them. They can do what they want.”

  “Really? It seems you’ve spent quite a lot of time together with these people. In fact I remember that detective girl from long long ago. Funny how you guys are still linked together after all this time. I guess I could have seen that coming. You two were inseparable when you were kids, but now you’re saying that you don't care about her. Something doesn’t add up here. Is it one of those one sided things?”

  “Don’t pretend like you know anything about me. You could never understand me. Now come on Jin, we’re finishing this now!”

  MC leapt into the air and spun around, delivering a series of kicks blocked by Jin’s forearms until his leg was seized in a tight grip. Jin spun in full circle and let go. MC flew straight into a brick wall that toppled down onto him.

  “MC,” Aiko screamed. She took a step to run over to him, but GM put his arm out to stop her.

  “Wait. If you run in to help him right now you’ll die,” he said. “Let me go in and if you see an opportunity, you can step in and help.”

  “Alright, I’ll do what I can,” she said, drawing her pistol.

  GM unsheathed his katana.

  “What’s the matter, GM? asked Jin. “No gun?”

  “You know me. I’m old fashioned. Besides, a gun would take the fun out of this.” GM readied himself and rushed towards Jin.

  Jin drew a combat knife from his hip and rushed right back at him, seeming to enjoy the thought of a blade on blade battle. He knew he needed to keep moving and stay close to GM, otherwise Aiko would have an opportunity to shoot at him.

  The cold steel collided with a quick spark. GM swung his blade. It swished in the air, cutting through raindrops. Each strike had lethal precision and killing intent, however Jin was not only able to dodge the attacks, he struck back at GM. The combat knife, being only about ten inches long, was much lighter than the katana, but GM held strong against his speed. Surprisingly, his skills with the blade were more practiced than Jin’s.

  Aiko couldn’t do anything but watch with her pistol drawn as the two struck metal together almost faster than her eyes could see. Each attack ended with a clang and the occasional yellow and orange sparks instantly extinguished by the rain. She took aim, but didn’t dare to get any closer than she was. She felt that if she moved even a single step forward it would be like stepping in front of a semi truck.

  A sweep of the leg forced GM to jump and change his attack to a plunge with his legs tucked and sword aimed straight down. Jin predicted ahead and rolled across the ground, jumping back up when he was clear of the attack and re-engaging. He came even faster now. He was already learning GM’s attack patterns. The pace of the fight quickened.

  GM made an attack and their steel bounced off of eachother. He spun around and his coat was thrown around in a whirl. When he faced Jin again, his katana was in his right hand while his left hand gripped a pistol. It was almost point blank, but Jin saw it coming.

  Jin swiped GM’s forearm away and the bullet fired into the ground. The defensive swipe was followed up with an attack coming straight for GM’s throat. He had no choice but to drop the gun and defend with both arms bracing the handle of his katana. They pushed close together with blade on blade, Jin bracing the back of his knife with his free hand. The weight of GM’s blade won the argument and pushed Jin back. In one sweeping motion, GM’s blade finally struck its target, slicing Jin across his chest. It was not a deep cut, but if he’d been an inch closer organs would be spilling onto the ground.

  Jin staggered back making sure to keep cover between himself and Aiko. He touched the wound on his chest to assess the damage. “Not bad. I didn’t think you’d be able to land a hit like that on me.”

  “Then you’ve severely underestimated my abilities with the blade.”

  “With you as a master, it’s no wonder MC was able to become so powerful. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to take this fight a little more seriously now,” said Jin. He spun the knife around in his hand so that the blade was facing down like a kunai knife. His body tense and ready to deal deadly damage.

  GM was fast to act and ran the blade straight through Jin’s shoulder and pinned him to a wall. Jin delivered an inhumanly strong kick on GM’s stomach and he flew back landing next to the pile of bricks MC was still under. When he looked up, Jin was gone. His bloody sword rested on the ground.

  I see. That knife changing stance and big talk was all to get me to think he was doing something else. He deliberately let me land that attack to separate us. Is he going to try and escape?

  GM stood in silence and scanned the area around him trying to pinpoint Jin’s location. “Aiko, where’d he g- behind you!” GM yelled, but it was too late. Jin delivered a quick strike to the back of Aiko’s neck and she collapsed to the ground. She was no match for his speed and stealth.

  “That’s not good,” said GM. At least he didn’t deliver a lethal strike to her. I’ve got to get MC back in this fight. I’ve barely been able to keep up and I’m going to need his help. He rushed over to the pile of bricks and started pulling them off of MC until he saw his face. He was a bloody mess. He coughed and spat blood as GM pulled his body from the rubble. “On your feet, MC. You’ve still got some fight left in you.” MC stood weakly and looked up to find the enemy. Surprisingly, Jin hadn’t attempted an escape yet. He was in the center of the area next to the elevator shaft. He’d tied Aiko with the rope from the pulleys, binding her arms to her sides and dangling her over the deep shaft. He held the rope of the pulley in his hand. With his other hand, he pulled out a flash bang grenade. The same kind that MC used. He’d been concealing it. He pulled the pin with his teeth and threw it at MC and GM. It was a direct impact in front of them. Its area of effect was much too large to dodge in time. GM was stunned, unable to see or hear anything.

  “MC, is this where we say goodbye once again?

  Aiko stirred, waking up from unconsciousness. “Huh, where am I? I can’t move!”

  “This is your final test. I’m going to drop this girl down this hole and if you don’t save her, she will die. The choice is yours.” Jin let go of the rope and ran for the exit door.

  “MC!” Aiko screamed.

  MC froze not knowing what to do. He’d come so far for this moment. To kill Jin. Jin was injured and he was pulling a desperate move. This could be his only chance to kill him. To avenge his parents. To right the wrongs of his world. He needed to end the nightmare.

  He watched as Aiko’s body plunged down into the depths and the pulley system began spinning wildly, dragged down by the weight of her body. He watched in slow motion as Jin ran for his escape. Each step took his goal further and further away. His mind told him to go after Jin, but his heart told him to save Aiko.

  He sprinted as fast as he could and grabbed the rope. It slid through his hands stripping skin and flesh as it went. He gritted his teeth and gripped tighter holding on with everything he had. Was he too late? Would his grip hold out enough to stop the lethal descent?

  Jin darted away into the darkness of the stairway, but MC didn’t even bother to look his way. The rope was slowing, but not enough. His hands had lost all strength. He changed tactics and put the rope in his mouth, biting down as hard as he could. He felt it sliding through his teeth. He sunk his teeth into the rope and finally felt it slowing. He let his arms fall limp at his sides and with the rope clenched between his teeth he slowly backed up. Step by step, he pulled Aiko to safety. GM, now able to slightly see, grabbed the rope and helped MC pull Aiko back up and out of the shaft.

  She was a mess. Tears had run makeup all down her face and she was shaking uncontrollably. GM grabbed her from out of the crevice and untied her on solid ground.

  “Y… you saved me again,” she said, looking at MC.

  “I’ll always be here to save you,” he said with a smile.

  She hugged him as tight as she could. His bloody hands still limp at his sides. He closed his eyes and cherished her.

  “I knew you’d make the right choice, kid,” said GM. “I didn't doubt you for a second. You might not have realized it, but I knew you loved this girl. Anyway, not to spoil the moment, but the detective force is out there with the building surrounded. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not going to be enough to stop Jin.”

  “Right. Let’s follow and provide backup,” said MC. He took quick mental note of his body. While his mind was still full of fight, his physical self was on its last stand. He could hardly lift his arms at all and his mouth was bleeding from the rope sliding through his teeth. He felt a mix of both minor and severe injuries on almost every portion of his body.

  “That won't be necessary,” said Jin, returning from the dark entryway.

  Shock came over he group and for a moment, MC didn’t believe what he was seeing.

  A thick tension struck the air. What’s he doing? Is this some sort of trap?

  Jin slowly emerged from the stairway and walked forward revealing The Vampire behind him.

  “Figures,” said The Vampire. “After all that training you still almost managed to let Jin escape.”

  “Vampire? What are you doing here?” asked MC.

  “I caught wind of this situation and decided to check things out for myself. Turns out if you follow about ten detective cars all flashing their lights and sirens, you end up at some pretty interesting scenarios. I’m glad I came because I’ve caught quite a big fish.” He pressed a shotgun to Jin’s back.

  “Now this is what I’ve been waiting for. The grand finale. You and your allies have really got me this time, MC.”

  “It’s funny. I was actually half expecting you to show up, Vampire,” said MC. “It would have been pretty out of character for you to hear about this and not come and join in the chaos.”

  “You got that right.”

  MC quickly went and collected his, Aiko’s and MC’s guns and they all aimed them at Jin although MC was hardly able to grip his and was unsure if he could even fire it.

  “I’m glad this time’s finally come. I’ve been waiting,” said Jin. He started slowly walking backwards with his hands raised.

  “Stop moving,” commanded The Vampire, but Jin just carefully kept walking.

  “Hold on, Vampire. Don’t shoot,” said MC. “He’s not going anywhere with us all on him like this, but what are you doing, Jin?”

  He just kept slowly walking until he approached the edge of the rooftop.

  The team all thought the same thing at once. Is he really going to do what I think he’s going to do?

  The detective team on the ground saw Jin’s figure appear along the edge of the roof and shone several bright spotlights from the ground. It illuminated raindrops and cast a shadow over Jin’s face.

  Everyone watched him as he broke the moment with an unexpected statement. “Thank you all. Please take good care of eachother.” He closed his eyes, smiled, and leaned back off the building with his arms outstretched. His body careened through the air like a stone until it struck the hard ground far below.