Kneel Down

From the looks on their faces, it was clear to Ji-Ae how much pressure M21 and M24 felt, just from being near Rai and Frankie.

Slowly, she inched closer to her companions, without being noticed by M21 and M24; now that Rai and Frankie were here, there was no need for her to be on the opposing side any longer. Still not noticing her movements, M21 and M24 shared an understanding glance, and then they charged at the blonde and raven head.

M21 grinned and slashed at Frankie, who masterfully dodged his claws. At the same time, M24 threw a fist towards Rai, and a loud explosion ensued. Jumping back, M21 boasted, "kekeke. Your friend is gone now. Beaten by a powerful dude like him... This will go easier than I thought."

Frankie was, like usual, unfazed and Ji-Ae had to hide her smile behind her hand. As if Rai would be defeated that easily. Even with most of her memories missing and still scrambled up, she knew how powerful Rai was and the number of times people had underestimated him.

"What are you doing?" M21 continued his taunting. "Come on, we have one left..."

His voice trailed off and his eyes widened at the sight of M24's fist being stopped by the slender hand that belonged to Rai.

Rai's powerful voice broke the silence, and even Ji-Ae felt a shiver up her spine. "Kneel down!" Rai's eyes glowed and his whole demeanour was domineering.

On its own accord, M24's body plummeted to the floor, and he found himself on his knees.

"Where are you looking?" Frankie appeared behind M21 once again and then his arms seemed to explode when they came into contact with the black and violet power-threads, that wound themselves around them. "How dare you look away from me? That's humiliating."

Without giving him a chance to find his bearings, Ji-Ae appeared before M21. Raising her sword, that she kept strapped to her side, and just as she was about to bring it down upon the male before her, he spoke, "Ji, why are you doing this? Weren't we once friends?"

"Friends? Our friendship ceased to be when you left me to my fate in that place." Her voice shook and her eyes sparkled from the unshed tears that could be seen there. "I could escape from that place, through sheer luck. And thanks to what happened in that place I lost my precious memories, and even worse was that I lost him." Her eyes slid over to Rai and her breath hitched when she looked into his eyes.

"I will never forgive you!" She moved behind him and her heart calmed at the sound of his cries of pain. More gushing slashes now appeared beside the ones that Frankie made.

Stumbling towards Rai, she felt her chest shrink and the weariness she had been feeling seemed to overtake her body. She made it to where Rai stood and then collapsed into his arms. He hugged her close, and she buried her head in his chest. "You did well, Ji-Ae."

She squeezed him tighter and revelled in how comforting being in his arms was, and as they embraced, she could feel warm memories struggling to break through to the surface of her mind.