Our safest bet was that Mei Ling was in Kowloon. Too many clues and hints let us know that. However, finding her seemed to be a problem within itself. I remembered how long it took us to find Kaoru and I faintly wondered if this was going to take just as long. After meeting with Mei Ling for the first time, days afterwards we could not find her again. Jo was so bored with trying to look for her, he jokingly said,

"Maybe I should try running out into the street so she can almost hit me again."

Toki, Aoki, Akio, Jun and Gabriel, along with myself all sat in the lobby of Jia's building that night. Everyone began to laugh as Akio said,

"Good idea Baby. Just keep jumping into oncoming traffic until the right car stops."

Toki laughed as Jo smiled, shaking his head as the North Star then came in. Everyone but Toki got up to greet Kumo as Kumo gave us a slight nod and asked if Jia was around. Gabriel said he was as he offered to bring him upstairs as the rest of the North Stars sat down in the lobby to wait. Aoki, Toki and Akio sat by each other as Jun sat on the small sofa on his own. The trio all glared at Kurid who had made the mistake of crossing Toki already. Jo sat on the arm of the sofa they sat on, close to Akio, Toki in the middle Aoki on the other end. I stood, allowing the North Stars to sit as Floran, Inamie, Haku and Kurid sat down. Neesa had accompanied Kumo upstairs as we sat silently. Akio then said to Toki, in plain English,

"That the one."

"Yeah."

Kurid glared at Toki as Toki glared right back. Inamie and Floran sighed, thinking it was an immature game, like Jun and myself. Jo seemed to be involved in this as well as Akio said,

"Baby, why don't you take him."

The trio laughed as Jo said,

"Thanks, just give me all the light work."

They all laughed as Kurid got up and said,

"I'll show you light work!"

The trio and Jo all got up as well as Floran and Inamie grabbed Kurid and sat him back down. Jun then gestured for Jo to sit back down as he did and the rest of the trio followed. I crossed my legs as I waited for a while, bored with the nights out comings so far. As everyone talked among themselves, my partner sitting too far for me to have conversation with, I heard someone coming in. It was the owners of the game, Toshimasa walking slightly ahead, the click of his cane being the only sound he made as Xiao Tien followed, his shoes soft, making no noise as his dark hair framed that white porcelain colored face. Floran and Kurid glanced over as Floran said,

"Whoa..."

Akio, Aoki and Toki all got up at their sight as they surrounded the them and lavished them with attention as always. Toshimasa blushed with color, tucking his black hair behind his ears as he thanked Toki and then Akio and Aoki as Xiao Tien basked in it, flirting back as the North Star merely watched. Jun then walked over, breaking it up as he said,

"Xiao Tien, Toshimasa, I'd like to introduce to you the North Star associates."

"Ah, yes, Jia mentioned them before. We had left Hong Kong when they arrived." Said Xiao Tien.

The four stood up as Toshimasa and Xiao Tien walked over to the sitting area of the lobby.

"Floran, Kurid, Haku and Inamie, these are the Owners of the Game, Wu Xiao Tien and Nabatone Toshimasa."

They bowed their heads to them as Xiao Tien smiled slightly as he said,

"Aren't they cute."

Kurid wasn't pleased with the idea of being called cute, but Floran seemed to be melting, a small smile appearing on his youthful features. Inamie was expressionless as usual as Haku smiled slightly. Toki then took the China Doll's hand as he said,

"You need to see Li?"

"Sure."

He gave him a seductive smile as Aoki offered to take Toshimasa up as Akio along with Toki stood by Xiao Tien as they both escorted him up. The North Stars sat back down after the two were gone. Jun had sat back down as we continued to wait.

Time dragged on for a while until we were all called up to Jia's office. We all gathered, standing among each other, Toshimasa and Xiao Tien having the only two seats in front of Jia's desk as Jia himself sat at his desk. Toki sat on the corner, as usual, his leg drawn up and his foot resting on the arm of Jia's chair. Kumo stood by Jia's desk, his arms crossed as he waited for everyone to come in and settle down. Once we had settled, Jia said,

"Okay, Kumo and I decided on two things."

We all waited as Jia said,

"We'll split up and the Yuuki twins will go with the 36 Moons. And all of you will go out, nine sets of eyes will work rather then seven. Also, including the North Star...we should be fine."

Kumo nodded as he said,

"And I'll be going with my North Stars."

"I would actually prefer you didn't Kumo. It could be dangerous."

Kumo smiled slightly at Jia as he said,

"Sweet of you to care."

Jia smirked slightly as he said,

"Nah, seriously. Stay. We have divine company."

Xiao Tien, who had taken the new habit of wearing oversized fur coats anytime there was a chilling breeze, let the shoulder of his coat fall down, his black hair framing his already perfect face as his hazel eyes narrowed slightly in seduction. Toshimasa, who was oblivious to the obvious come on looked off to the side, his black hair falling over his eye, his cane still in his hand. Kumo raised one fine eyebrow as he said,

"Yummy."

Jia smirked again, a devious look rivaling Toki's, as he said,

"You damn straight."

Kumo laughed slightly as Jia then sent us out to do our job.

Split up like before, leaving the New Territories out since that was already heavily guarded, we walked. It was growing to be a long night, no one finding Mei Ling. The woman was well hidden just like Kaoru was. I figured it shouldn't be that hard, especially if she was repeating Kaoru's steps. We went back to Ai with the Yuuki twins who asked what they knew of that woman. Ai knew nothing, stating everything had been quiet since Kaoru. He did connect us with a drug leader though. Toshihiro who translated said,

"He said one of the drug lord around here could know something since Mei Ling could be connected to drugs for funds."

We nodded and went through the club strip of Kowloon, searching for the drug lord by the name of Hei-Sou. Once through the club element, Jo, went ahead with the Yuuki Twins and Akio as Jun and I stayed behind, looking around. People watched us since we didn't exactly blend in, but we stayed put, watching, waiting for word from our associates. Eventually Akio gave us the word to come back as we went to part of the back room where Hei-Sou sat with his party, whores and all. He looked up at us as he said,

"Who are all you?"

"Don't worry about that." Said Jo.

Hei-Sou knew he was dealing with something far over his head and if he didn't want to die for opening his mouth, he sat up and said,

"What can I do for you?"

The Yuuki twins stepped forward as Yasuhiro said,

"What do you know of Thang Mei Ling?"

"Bitch use to work for Kaoru. That fucker moved me out of my territory, sayin it was his and what not. I had permission from someone to work on that land!"

"Who gave you permission?"

"They said they came by order of the 36 Moons. Some yakuza head that came in and smashed the Black Hand. To keep my shit floating I had to cut a percentage of my profits in it."

Akio nodded, knowing that, that was the deal for every low life scum that wanted to pimp and sell drugs. Jia was given a percent cut. Jo then nodded and said,

"So what about Mei Ling now?"

"She's an evil, evil bitch. She'll slit your throat if the chance arises. She'd eat her own young if they became a liability. The woman has no fear and even people workin with her think she's not all there."

"You got an idea of where she could be now?"

"Aiya....wish I did. Rumors float sayin she's by some bar near some massage shop near the South."

We nodded as Yasuhiro then said,

"Why a bar?"

"They said that Kaoru owned it."

We thanked him and then left, on our way South. We called everyone else to know where we were going further South.

After getting some more connections and word of mouth, we went up to the bar Mei Ling was rumored to be in. Jun and Akio decided to split up at this point, everyone coming in together was too obvious so The Yuuki twins and Jo went through the front, Akio, Jun and myself stayed outside. We would wait for a fair amount of time and then followed inside. After about twenty minutes, we went in and sat at the bar since the other three were at a table near the middle of the floor. Akio ordered a drink, watching the bar tender carefully as Jun looked around. Jo was already having a drink, Yasuhiro having one as well as Toshihiro stayed sober, keeping a look out as he sat back in the chair, his arms crossed over the front of his black suit coat, the gray shirt underneath lifting up slightly. Yasuhiro, who wore a gray suit with a black shirt underneath, set the glass down and looked around, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before he nodded slightly and then went back to looking. I ordered a drink as well and held it in my hands for a while, looking at the brownish, tan liquid as we then heard someone moving about. I turned slightly seeing Mei Ling exit from one of the doors near the side of the bar. She walked in the room, her long black hair tied up, a knee length leather coat on with a white button shirt with black dress pants. She walked with crowd of triads following, at least ten. She came towards the bar and ordered a drink in quick Chinese as she then waited. As she set her hand down on the counter, I noticed her well manicured nails and on her ring finger, was something tattooed around it. She moved her hand as she got her drink and much like a man, took her shot quickly and then slammed the glass down. She then wiped her mouth quickly and then left. Akio, Jun and myself followed her out, the Yuuki twins and Jo following not too far behind as we watched her get in a car and drive off going towards the West. We headed in that direction as we called our associates in Hong Kong Island and the Outlying Islands as well as through the rest of Kowloon as we kept walking.

It was three in the morning as we reached the West end of Kowloon, meeting up with Toki, Aoki and Haku. We all met up as Haku told us his associates, who were further up, had seen Mei Ling enter a hotel.

"So that's where she's been staying." Said Akio.

"It's a safe assumption." Said Toshihiro.

After some quick planning, we split up again, different pairs as we went towards the hotel. This time, it was Toki, Aoki, Jo and myself as everyone else would back us up in case anything happened.

The hotel itself was unsecured which not only shouted, please kill me, but also screamed trap. It was almost as if Mei Ling was waiting for us. As we stood in the lobby, Aoki lit a cigarette with Toki as Toki said,

"I smell a trap. Anyone else?"

Jo nodded as I said,

"It's like she's waiting for us."

"Then by all means, lets not disappoint." Said Aoki.

We went up the stairs rather then taking the elevator once Jo snuck a look at the check in's. Mei Ling had not used her name, but rather Takamasa so we knew where she was anyway. The stair climb was long and almost tedious but after reaching the twelfth floor, we finally arrived and went out. The entire floor was quiet, no guards or anyone else there. Like I said, it was like she was waiting for us. I started getting a bad feeling, my skin running a chill as I felt everything suddenly darken. I stopped mid step as everyone looked at me and questioned my actions. I shook my head as I said,

"I'm getting a bad feeling."

Aoki and Toki looked at each other as Jo said,

"Mikkie, we gotta do this."

"I know...it's just a sixth sense."

I waved it off as we kept going though I knew something was wrong.

Aoki reached the room Mei Ling was in as he stood on the other side of the door frame. Toki stood in front the door as Jo went to the other side. We thought for a moment before Toki looked at us and shrugged as he knocked on the door. Jo shook his head as he said,

"The best at his game and he knocks on the door..."

Aoki smirked slightly as the door opened slightly and that's when we rushed in. Mei Ling seemed to be prepared as she stood there, still dressed, gun in hand, something else in her other hand. The guards rushed at Toki and Aoki as Mei Ling watched Jo and myself walk in. She smirked at us, recognizing us as she tucked her gun away under her coat as she switched her wrist out, revealing it to be a knife. Jo, of course, never unarmed took out his own blade as he said,

"What you think that's gonna scare us?"

She stood still as one of her guards came up beside me and tried to take me down. I turned as I fired, a clean shot to his face, dissolving any face he had left as it blew back at me. I wiped my face clear as the fight continued on, gun shots now going off as Jo started to help Aoki and Toki. I could hear more people rushing in the middle of the fight, everyone but Mei Ling fighting. When I saw the Yuuki Twins and Jun come in, I felt slightly better until I saw Mei Ling get in the fight herself. For a woman, she fought hard, even in her heels and elegant outfit. She used both the switch blade and her gun, trying to shoot at everyone who got too close.

I lost track of her as I continued fending for myself, watching my partner's back as I tried to keep myself out of harms way. During the fight, I was shoved back, since I was basically smaller then everyone else and I hit the wall behind me hard enough to knock my head against it. It dazed me for a few seconds, but it was enough. As I rubbed my head, ready to go back, I felt the knot at the base of my head where my hair was gathered being pulled back as I saw Mei Ling, the knife in her hand, ready to jam it through my throat. I only had a second to react and I brought my arm up to block it as I turned my head, expecting the pain only to feel nothing. When I looked back, I saw Toki standing beside me, his hand grabbing at the blade in her hand. She looked surprised as blood began pouring from between his clenched hand. She let go of my hair as I then slammed her back against the wall, which she fell back into with a thud. As she raised her gun at us, a shot went off, hitting her in the arm as she screamed. She dropped the gun as she looked over, as did I, seeing Aoki and Jo both standing there, guns raised. I didn't know who fired but Mei Ling took that chance and ran out. The army Mei Ling had, whoever wasn't dead began to flee as well, following their leader as Toki cursed loudly and opened his hand which was still holding onto the blade Mei Ling had let go of as Jun went over to him and saw the damage.

"Ah fuck...Toki..."

The tip of the blade and at least two or so inches of it had gone through Toki's palm. Any deeper and it would have pierced through the other side. Toki sighed, looking at the wound, blood still coming for, puddling at his feet as he took out the knife quickly and dropped it just as fast as he cursed again and his hand began to shake. Jun knelt down, turning over one of the dead as he tore the end of his shirt and stood back up as he wrapped it around Toki's hand and said,

"Okay, we gotta leave."

"Mei Ling is hurt, we have a chance to get her now." Jo said.

"Then you people go after her. I have to take Toki back and stitch him up."

"Fuck that, I'm good."

Jun glared at him as he held up Toki's hand and said,

"See your hand? That's your hand, with a very deep hole in it. You see it shaking? That's because some nerves were probably damaged. You wanna let me take care of that for you? Or would like loosing the whole hand to gangrene?"

Toki rolled his eyes as he said,

"Fine..."

Akio then said,

"Okay, all of us, let's go."

Jun and Toki went off in a different direction as the rest of us followed the blood trail Mei Ling had left behind. She headed to the stair well, blood leading her way as we heard her cries of pain echoing through the stairwell. We moved fast and ran down the stairs, hopping over the last couple of ones running after her. We met back up with her guards who were still alive as they fought with us, straining to keep us away from Mei Ling. As we reached the end of the stair well, she managed to get out, all of us doing battle down the stairwell still as I used my height to my advantage and ducked and dodged through the rest of them and followed her out. She stumbled out, holding her arm, blood flowing down her hand as she left a blood print on the walls and doors of the hotel lobby. She gasped, reaching outside as she turned and saw me. She was not afraid as she continued outside and continued to walk, sort of run down the street. She made it to the subway, me not too far behind her as she grabbed the hand rail and almost slid down it and got to the floor. She wobbled and tried to get to the last cart. She missed it and then looked over to see me as she began to run after the train. I wondered what she was doing but I followed her anyway until she reached the end of the platform and then she jumped. I followed her, going down the same path, her heels crushing the gravel underneath as she gasped loudly, tired and in pain. She finally stopped and started climbing up against an maintenance area as I followed her, gun in hand. She pushed against the door and flung herself in. I calmly went after her, pushing the door open and going in after her. I felt her attack me afterwards, her screaming, her nails scraping against my face. I smacked her with the side of my gun, shoving her off me as she hit some metal pipes behind her. She got up again, proving to be a worthy opponent despite the fact she was a woman as I then shot her. She leaned against me as she gasped and then said,

"You...bastard..."

She looked at me with hate in her eyes as she crumbled to the gravel and laid motionless. I checked to see if she was dead, feeling a faint pulse on her neck as I then looked around, wondering where this lead to that she came through here. I decided to ask the Yuuki twins later as I turned and left, going back up the train tunnel and calling my associates along the way.