Jin wakes up and squints around the room. Rubbing his eyes, he tries to get all the dirt out to study the area. He soon realizes what had happened wasn't a dream. He tries hard to remember the last thing he saw before he blacked out. He remembers reaching for Mei's hand when the hawk grabbed him and took him to wherever this was. No… she can't be-. Jin shakes his head, interrupting the image of Mei falling with nothing to save her as she plummets to the ground. He slams his head against the iron bars, struggling to erase the image from his head.

He frantically scans every corner of the dungeon as best as he can. Because of the low lighting, it is incredibly difficult to see any details. The only light is from the torches hanging from the walls. As he stares at the fire, he notices the glistening walls are stained with blood, mold and scratches from the prisoners before them.

He grasps the iron bars, noticing they are rusted, but still strong. He walks around the cell where they all stay, taking only a few steps and immediately reaching the other side. The cell is small, making it even more uncomfortable with the discolored puddles that layered the ground. He overhears a distant cough as he notices two men sitting in a separate cell. The two look as if they hadn't eaten in days or weeks. Their ragged clothes were barely hanging on, unable to keep them warm in this unforgiving dungeon. Jin grips the bars and leans his head on them, slamming his fist on the iron bars, frustrated at not knowing if she's okay.

Junichi turns to Jin, annoyed by the ruckus. "Will you stop? I'm trying to sleep." Junichi says as he returns to sleep. Jin ran to Junichi with what little strength he had. Shaking him with such aggression, he nearly dislocated Junichi's shoulder.

"Junichi, wake up. Junichi!"

"What?" Junichi said, irritated at being woken up so violently. Junichi begrudgingly sits up and looks around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, some type of jail. Those hawks must've taken us here."

"Hawks?"

"Yes, hawks. Do you not remember anything? The storm? The vortex?"

"Okay, I get it. I never picked you to be a prankster." Junichi said while smiling at Jin, pointing his finger at him. "You got me, now seriously, what's going on?" Jin disappointingly stares at Junichi and moves on to the next person.

"Yama, wake up."

"You touch me again, and I will end your life." Yama yells as he shoves Jin to the cell wall. "Oh, sorry Jin, I had a bad dream." Yama said while he stares at the ground and a cold sweat drips down his neck.

Jin looks at Yama, concerned that whatever is going on, might have triggered something from his past. “Yama, are you okay?”

“Huh, yeah I’m fine. Just had a bad dream.”

“Alright, well talk to me if anything’s wrong.”

“Thank you, Jin.” Yama looks around and starts to notice, this isn’t the warehouse. “Where are we?”

"We're trapped. Help me bend these bars."

Yama rushes over to the bars and with the combined effort of Yama and Jin, the bars easily defeat them. Both check their hands to make sure the rusted bars didn't pierce their skin, suddenly filled with doubt that this place had anything for tetanus.

The rest slowly get up and realize the same thing Jin and Yama had. Sora wakes up, finding Yong snoring on her shoulder. Disgusted, she quickly shoves his head off of her shoulder, slamming his head into Wataru. Wataru wakes up from the sudden impact of Yong's head hitting his, rubbing his head, hoping he didn't have a concussion.

Yong stands up to dust himself off, trying to get as much dirt off as possible. Even after falling through a vortex, flying to the castle, and sleeping in a dungeon, Yong's hair and appearance is always so well kept, like he is ready to go on stage at any moment. Sora, on the other hand, just by the look of her, it is easy for anyone to believe all of those events had just happened.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Junichi crosses his arms and shakes his head at Jin. "Give it up, Jin. No one's buying your joke. But I have to give you some credit. You go to great lengths. Kudos to that. But I'm starving. My contract stated that I have five meals a day."

"Quiet, Junichi, before I rip off your arm and eat it for breakfast." Yama screamed. Junichi becomes terrified at Yama's outburst, as his eyeline moves away from Yama's, wishing he was back asleep.

Yama looks down, rubbing his arm, embarrassed by his outburst. "Sorry, I'm starving."

"It's okay, that's nothing. You should see Sora when someone steals her breakfast sandwiches." Wataru said.

"Where I come from, that is an act of war." Sora said, putting Wataru in a headlock. "See." Wataru said, struggling to break Sora's vice grip from his neck.

BOOM!

As the door to the dungeon slams open, a man as big as the large metal door walks in. Strolling over to them with his arms crossed behind him, barely glancing over in their direction. A chain hangs from his waist, dangling two massive blades, swinging and crashing together as he approaches the cell. "So, how'd you do it?" The man said, smirking, as he surveys the room, finding amusement from their silence as his large steel-toed boots clank across the stone-covered floors. "I see no one is in the mood for talking. So that portal opened on its own, I guess?"

He now turns and stares at them. All with expressionless faces, except Junichi, who looks deeply confused, while glancing at the others. "You all are so shy, nothing like what I remember. Especially you." The man said as he turned all his attention to Yama, staring at him with such hate. Yama glares back with the same intensity, not knowing him, but certainly not scared of him either. "Did someone help you? Revive all of you? Some dark magic maybe?" The man decides to stop the staring contest and returns to look at the others around the room. You all realize that you are all useless if you don't tell us anything, right? So, I'll give you guys another chance."

"Hey guys, if this is one of those reality shows, I didn't agree to this. By the way, this guy's acting is terrible." Junichi said, hoping someone would tell him anything.

BOOM!

The door to the entrance opens once again. Wataru and Yong jumped at the loud thud coming from the metal door hitting the stone wall. "They should invest in something to cushion the door from slamming into the wall." Yong whispers to Wataru, immediately nodding in agreement.

Only eyes appear through the pitch-black doorway, staring at each of them with deep disdain. Everyone instinctively decides it is best to scan the room, instead of looking back at the soulless eyes glaring at them. The sound of armor clanking as the man enters the room, startling everyone with each stomp. The armor covers every inch of his body, not showing any flesh or vulnerabilities. What little light there is in the room shines off of him, firing across the room.

"Well, Tazul, what did you find out?"

"No one's talking Gindloc, except for him." As Tazul points at Junichi, Junichi's heart skips a beat. While the two men focus on him, he subtly attempts to hide behind Yama. "He said something about a reality show?" Tazul said while making a shrugging motion, not knowing what that meant.

"Maybe you should show you what happens if none of them provides any information." Tazul smiles and grabs the chain from his hip, letting the blade hit the floor as it sends a sharp noise echoing throughout the room. A dark blue aura shines out of his armor, so bright in the dark room, it's almost like staring at the sun. He rapidly whips the chain, catching one of the men in the separate cell by the neck. Tazul yanks his body through the bars, separating all his limbs. The body makes a squish sound as it lands, while blood splashes out, adding to the blood-stained walls. As the blood continues to pour out, Wataru and Yong run to the end of the cell, vomiting anything that was left in their stomachs. The rest could only stare at the horrific sight in front of them.

Gindloc strolls around the cell to reveal Junichi crouching behind Yama. He studies him as Junichi peeks around, curious to see if he's still there. He glances around the cell and makes eye contact with the man in now the blood-stained armor, immediately turning his head and squeezing his eyes shut as he shakes uncontrollably.

Raising his arm and pointing to Junichi. "Bring him."

The moment the words left Gindloc's mouth, ten guards rush in, opening the rusty cell door. Sora, Yama, and Kenji attack, aiming to take them down. With no hesitation, the guards slam them into the cell wall, knocking their heads back, hitting the iron bars. "What do you want? Let us go." Sora yelled at the guards.

One last guard stepped in, grabbing Junichi by the collar. Promptly turning around, dragging him, as he struggles to break the guard's grip. Scared and confused, he looked at everyone with terror in his eyes. Everyone attempts their best to loosen the guards' grips, but to no avail, as Jin witnesses them losing another person. Jin slumps to the ground and leans against the cell walls, defeated, as he takes something out of his pocket. He gazes fondly at a picture of Mei, running his finger down the photo with utter despair. Mei, I should've been stronger for you, Jin thought as he felt so weak and helpless sitting in the cell's corner, not understanding why this was all happening.