Muffled Voice “I already told you! I can’t!”

A voice says beyond a pair of swinging doors. Suddenly, a man comes flying through the doors and slams into a pillar. He yells in pain. He is a heftier man with a small beard and a scar going across his right cheek. He is wearing swim trunks and landed in an indoor pool room. He wipes some blood from the side of his mouth.

Gene “You know, this isn’t how you interrogate people.”

Kevin comes through the door flipping a match out and a cigarette in his lips. He looks a bit roughed up too but not nearly as much as Gene.

Kevin “Yeah well, you hit me first so.”

He leans over Gene who is trying to sit up, nervously.

Kevin “Now I’m going to ask you again. Who put a hit on Michael, Gene?”

Gene “Okay, okay, look. All I know is it’s some big shot. Someone who can pull some strings. Someone we know!”

Kevin looks intently.

Gene “But I don’t know how far up it goes, I swear!”

Gene puts his hands up nervously, afraid to be hit again. Kevin stands up and puts his hands on his hips.

Kevin “Alright. Thanks Gene. For always being the biggest rat I know.”

Cuts to the front entrance of a high end hotel. Kevin comes out and approaches a car with Jazmine leaning against it.

Kevin “Did you find something useful?”

Jazmine “No, but now we’ve got another problem.”

They get in the car and put on their belts. 

Kevin “What could possibly be worse than what’s happening now?”

Jazmine “Jade’s come back.”

Cuts back to Michael’s apartment. Jade sleeps comfortably in Michael’s bed snoring loudly. Michael sleeps on his couch with his arms behind his head. He is then disturbed by the doorbell. He gets up groggily  as the doorbell continues to ring more and more. 

Michael “Ugh, again?”

He yawns as he reaches for the door handle but just before he can open the door it clicks then explodes. Michael is sent flying as the door is obliterated. He hits the wall immediately and coughs up blood from the force. He begins to fall forward losing consciousness. Before he hits the floor, he sees a shadow of a large man standing in front of him. The large man then grabs Michael by the neck before he hits the floor. The man lifts him off the ground, straight out in front of him. 

Francis “Michael! Can’t say it’s nice to see you.”

Michael “Francis! What are you doing here?!”

Francis “I caught wind that someone here had a bounty on their head. A huge one! But I didn’t think it would be you.”

Francis smiles viciously at him.

Francis “So don’t take this too personally.”

As he says this he hears steps coming towards him. He turns looking down the hall to see Jade, now all dressed and holding a large hammer made of the jade rock, running towards him and she swings the hammer full force. It lands directly into his side. There is a large crunch of his bones. He reacts harshly before being sent flying into and through the wall. He drops Michael who starts coughing, rubbing his neck. Jade’s hammer disappears and she crouches down concerned for Michael.

Jade “Michael! Are you okay?!”

Michael “Yeah, I’m fine. Neck’s just a bit sore. Francis doesn’t seem like he’s getting up anytime soon though.”

He looks at Francis in the hole in the wall, unconscious.

Jade “Why did he come and attack you?”

Michael “He said something about a bounty. All I know is…”

He rustles around the rubble a bit collecting a few things.

Michael “We can’t stay here.”

Cuts to the road with Jazmine and Kevin driving somewhere. 

Jazmine “Did you get Gene to tell you anything?”

Kevin “Yeah, I did. He said that the one who put the hit out on Michael is someone high up the chain.”

Jazmine “How high?”

Kevin “I have no idea. But I know a guy who probably does.”

He smirks. They pull up to an underground bar named the ‘Rebound Ground’. They park outside and Kevin looks up happily.

Kevin “Yep. Just as good as I remember.”

Jazmine looks unamused. They walk down the steps to a large metal door in the dark alley.

Kevin “Just stick with me. I know this place like the back of my hand.”

Jazmine looks around intrigued. Kevin taps on the door with his knuckle acting like he’s being watched and has to be secretive despite not needing to at all. The slider opens on the door and a man peeks his eyes through.

Bouncer “What do you want?”

Kevin “We’re here to see the big P…”

Jazmine rolls her eyes at the silliness Kevin is performing right now. The Bouncer opens the door and steps to the side letting them in. They walk in and the Bouncer is much larger than Jazmine expected. He is roughly 229 centimeters tall and built like a mountain. Jazmine makes brief eye contact with him and notices he has a huge scar over the right side of his face removing his eye entirely. 

Kevin “This place can be a bit much sometimes but don’t worry. We’re going straight to the back.”

They walk through some beads hanging down over a door frame into a large room with a bar in the center. There are not many people here currently. Jazmine looks surprised as she looks around.

Jazmine “Interesting…”

There is a man drunk at the bar, a couple having fun in a booth and a large muscular woman staring her down. They walk through as Jazmine follows closely behind Kevin. 

Jazmine “Everyone kinda just minds their business back here, huh?”

Kevin “You should see it when it’s busy. But not so much back here.”

Kevin opens a door seemingly leading out back but it opens to an even larger warehouse room with people working all over the place from moving products to pushing information, etc. An older man approaches them.

Paulie “Kevin, my boy! How are you? What did I do to deserve such a visit?”

He hugs Kevin.

Kevin “Paulie, my friend! It is in fact good to see you. But we’ll have to catch up later. Right now I need your help.”

He pats Paulie on the shoulders and looks down a bit.

Kevin “There are some bad people after Michael and we’re not sure where to go next.”

Paulie “When is that boy not getting into some kind of trouble? Alright, come with me to my office. We’ll talk more there.”

He says rubbing his chin.