The front of Shang-Ri La’s had been covered by two gunmen following the encounter inside. By the time they had made it out front, Isamu had already made it to his Limousine with a few of his men still close by. As he started to adjust himself in the seat, Kurisu started to walk over to limo.

“What are the plans for tonight?” she asked him.

“That fool started a fire at the parking garage, so we have to delay the party until next week,” Isamu replied. He pushed has hands into the seat to make space for Kurisu. “I trust you don’t have any reserves about the club. That place was kind of a dump.”

“This type of kill is petty,” she said before resting on the leather seat next to him. “But for what she has done, it's a fitting end.”

After they closed the door, the window had started to lower once more. Tina walked over to the car with the handbag still around her shoulder. She began to light up a cigarette as Isamu leaned forward.

“Take the pickup back to the Castle. If it isn’t too much trouble,” Isamu started to trail off as he looked back towards the club. “Make sure some of the boys stick around to make sure nobody shows up, and make sure nobody leaves.”

“Consider it done,” Tina replied after taking a massive drag of her cigarette. The limousine began to slowly pull away, leaving her alone with the remaining gunmen and the bag of cash. “Alright, we already got two people on the front, you two watch the back.”

The two gunmen nearby had taken their posts with haste, leaving Tina alone with the bag. She slowly began to walk towards a bench that had been sitting across the street while beginning to unzip the bag. At the same time, the two men by the front had taken their post near the steps leading down to the front door.

“I can’t wait for this night to be over,” The first man said as he started to walk down the steps. Near the bottom of the stairs, a small plume of smoke had started to creep out of the front door. The fire inside had started to rage on, so he turned his focus away from the second gunmen to try and find a cigarette in his coat. “I had no idea this woman had gotten the boss so worked up.”

“I don’t know if I would have gone through all of this, but he’s the millionaire and the one paying the bills.” The second man replied, turning away from the streets.

“You’re right about that,” he paused to light up his cigarette before hearing a faint pop from behind him. He jerked his head back towards the top of the steps to see his partner crash into the ground. Blood had poured from the top of his partner’s head following a silenced gun shot. The man had not been able to mutter a word or go for his gun.

By the time he could exhale, Andrew had appeared at the top of the stairwell with a silenced pistol and fired a shot that had struck the man between the eyes. The two gunmen had been neutralized, leaving Andrew a clear opening. He started to rush down the stairs and towards the front door. Upon opening it, he was greeted by a cloud of black smoke and the smell of burning gas.

The dance floor had not yet caught fire, but the fumes had already caused his lungs to burn. He held his shirt over his mouth and quickly began to navigate to the back of the club towards the source of the smoke. By the time he had gotten to the bar, he had spotted Kari trying to crawl away from the flames. Blood had completely soaked her track jacket and formed a puddle beneath her.

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“Son of a bitch,” Andrew muttered as he leaned down to her. He started to lift her from the floor and tried to stand her up on her own feet before saying, “We’re getting out of here.”

Kari tried to keep her legs from buckling. She had been breathing a mix of smoke and air for the past few minutes. Seeing Andrew come to her rescue had surely enough brought her back to lucidity. The first thought to go through her mind was to reach for the detonator still inside of her coat pocket. Before Andrew could get them across the floor, she pressed the switch to ignite the C4 still inside the handbag.

Just moments prior, Tina had finally taken a seat on the bench outside. She had been oblivious to Andrew’s presence even after dispatching the two men out front. By now, it was just her and the other two gun men watching the backdoor while the last few had gone around the block to retrieve the getaway vehicle. The chatter from the last two men had gotten under her skin, but she had chosen to let them talk while she opened up the handbag.

“Jackpot.” Tina muttered after pulling the cigarette from her mouth. She flipped the top over and smiled upon seeing the stacks of hundreds. First, she had let out a quick chuckle and then reached in to retrieve the first. After flipping through the stack, she took a quick glance over both shoulders to ensure that she wasn’t being watched. She then began to tuck the first stack in her bra—trying her best to not draw any attention. Right as she went to grab another stack, she looked down into the pack and noticed the collection of paperback novels beneath.

Panic had struck her as she started to frantically pull them out of the bag. After tossing a few books on the ground, she had noticed a piece of paper with “L.O.L.” written over the front. She pulled it out and took a moment to inspect the note.

“What the fu—” she started to mutter before staring back down into the bag to see the red led of the C4 explosive starting to flicker. Her jaw sank, causing the cigarette to roll out of her mouth just before the led had finally went dim. All at once, the pack had let out a massive blast of fire, turning her into a cloud of red mist as the blast had obliterated everything nearby. A shockwave had sent her remains flying, striking the last two gunmen and incapacitating them.

Just seconds later, Andrew had emerged from the front of the club with Kari still hunched over him. The explosion caused his ears to ring while the shockwave caused the walls of the stairwell to rain dust.

“I think I’m about to die.” Kari said to him after coughing up another glob of blood.

“Just hold on, I got a doctor who can meet us at my place out in the country,” Andrew replied as he guided her to the top of the stairs. “I need you to stay with me.”

His voice had become muffled as Kari’s ears started to ring once more. She kept finding herself slipping in and out of consciousness on the way over to the Bronto. By the time he had laid her down in the back seat, she could barely keep her eyes open. She knew if she were to pass out, she would not wake up.

This was the first time in her life she had truly found herself knocking at death’s door. She tried doing everything in her power to keep her eyes open. After Andrew closed the back door, she heard gunshots starting to ring out once more. Hearing Andrew exchange shots with the oncoming troops caused her to sink lower into the seat. Moments later, the number of guns in the distance started to fade after Andrew managed to take down a few gunmen on the approach.

His magazine had quickly been emptied, only causing him to force his way back into the drivers seat. Mere seconds had passed before he had fired up the engine to make the escape. On the retreat, the Bronto had taken a few more hits from stray rounds, but the thick metal of the exterior had caused them to bounce off.

“I need you to talk to me, stay awake!” Andrew shouted back to her. She had felt her entire abdomen starting to scream as her body shifted around in the seat.

“Isamu sold us out,” Kari said after taking a deep breath. “He and Kurisu staged this entire thing.”