The two men stared blankly at each other. Shindo could see what Oscar's eyes showed: fear, worry, sadness. Now that reality started to settle in for Oscar, he could lean forward as he slowly put his shaky hands on his forehead.

"Is... Is it true, Shindo?" Oscar asked. Shindo slowly nodded, confirming how grave of a situation this was to Oscar. Yet, even though his face was astonished, and his eyes were fully openned, his body language was surprisingly calm. At least calmer than what Shindo expected from him.

Yet, this was not the place to talk about this.

"Tim, I left the money on the table." Shindo slipped twenty-five dollars in the cupboard. "We'll be leaving early. You can keep the change!"

In the span of a few seconds, Shindo had dragged Oscar outside of O'Shays, and managed to find a bench near the bar where they could sit. Once they managed to sit down and calm down a bit, Oscar finally spoke to Shindo.

"Oh god... Who-- who was that, Shindo? Are they fine? Are they...?"

Oscar trailed off, his breathing intensifying. Shindo slowly put his good hand on Oscar's shoulder in an attempt to calm his co-worker down

"It was a villain, Oscar. Maybe one of the villains that escaped. And..." He paused to inhale some air. "And, he wants to trade Ben and Angela for me."

Shindo's declaration spurred another silence between the two men. The weight of his words made Oscar tremble, as he was mentalizing that he may lose someone he trusted, someone he could call friends.

At that thought, the vibration slowly crept up Shindo's arm...

However, he must hold on. He can't break. Not now. Not when this situation demanded him to be strong. Not when Oscar needed him to be strong.

"Listen carefully Oscar." Shindo shook Oscar’s shoulder lightly to get the man's attention. He was trembling, but he needed Oscar to be as calm as possible for them to plan their next step.

"They are alive. I heard their voices in the background. He is only holding them hostage."

A lie. Shindo had to lie to Oscar. He knew he hadn't heard them at all, but Shindo needed Oscar to think straight now, and it worked. Shindo's back ached with pain as he saw how his lie caused a physical wave of relief to spread over the trembling man.

Oscar simply looked at Shindo and had an apologetic look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's just..." Oscar started saying, but sShindo shook his head with a weak smile.

"I know. However, if we panic, we may lose them Oscar." Shindo replied. "So please listen carefully to what I'm about to say.

Shindo leaned forward in a serious manner, and started to explain to Oscar what they should do. Oscar shook a bit as he stared at Shindo. He may look a bit calmer than before, but Shindo knew that look. He could see his mind racing, as his eyes went to Shindo's right arm and then back to O'Shays.

Maybe he was formulation an argument of sorts, but Shindo couldn’t worry about that. He needed to brief Oscar on the best possible action at the moment.

"So, to cap it off, I will go there to release Ben and Angela. Alone." Shindo finished saying in the calmest way possible.

Oscar breathed and waited for a few minutes to digest the plan Shindo had crafted. Once he did, a determined light glimmered from his eyes. "I'm coming with you, East."

Shindo sighed. "No Oscar, no. You can't come."

Oscar stood up. "But you will be facing a villain! Alone at that!"

This is when Shindo gave a sad smile to his friend. He wanted to say so much to him, but only a few words could come out.

"I have to go, Oscar." Shindo stood as soon as he said those words.

"But—."

"Oscar." Shindo looked straight into his eyes. "If you come with me, there is the possibility of you being used as a hostage. I cannot risk another friend."

These words shook Oscar's being, as he probably hadn't considered this option. However, as shaken as he was, he wasn't looking at Shindo's face. His eyes pierced into his right arm, which was limp because of the vibration.

"Besides, I told you already that I will try to entertain the villain, while you call for the police and the heroes. It is the best plan we have."

With these words, Oscar exploded into tears, stopping Shindo in his tracks.

"Still! Are you really going to go alone, Shindo? Even if I get to the police, they can't contact any heroes because of the other loose villains! And your right arm! Since when was it limp! You haven't been using it at all since we left the bar. I can't, I..."

The men looked at each other. One was on the verge of tears, the other resigned to his fate. Shindo understood what Oscar wanted to say, and it was true. If it came down to a fight he was at a disadvantage. His arm was immobilized by the pain, and no hero support means that there was a risk of death.

Shindo had aready analyzed this and understood this. However, he had a fall back plan if it truly came to fighting back in self-defense. A plan that so utterly ridiculous it couldn’t even be considered a plan at all. It was a gamble. A slim gamble for when all things went south. A double-edged blade of a plan, as there was one more thing that Oscar didn't know about this situation: There was a really high chance that Diva was profiling Shindo right this moment.

The informant may have disappeared from Shindo's sight after their encounter, but her presence was everywhere. It is obvious that the woman knew of this, and of course, she would want to see the man in action.That is why, Shindo must only show what Diva knows about him. He must only entertain the villain, try to make a trade with him. Say any word necessary to distract the villain. He must never fight, or he will risk losing the last semblance of his life.

This was too high of risk, and too low of a reward. But who said that a low reward wasn’t truly worth it?

"Oscar, I know." Shindo turned his back towards Oscar. "Go to the police center. The faster you go, the less risk I have of dying. Meanwhile, I'll go to pay my debt back to Ben."

He did not wait for Oscar to run. He simply dashed towards the workshop.

His back ached, but Shindo tried to ignore the itching pain. His limp arm threatened to rip itself off as it vibrated. Yet, he still ran forward. He only ran. He ran, a step at a time. Until he lost his breath.

What if it was too late? What if Shindo had made the wrong decision? Should he have run in a hurry? Or had they been killed before the villain even made that call?

In the midst of his turmoil was when his phone rang again. His right arm vibrated faster than ever as he saw who was calling him at this hour. He opened the call making sure the other end heard the exact moment he spat on the ground.

"Manny, why the hell are you calling me at this time?" Shindo spoke, catching a bit of his breath.

"Well, I thought I had to tell you some important news, East.” He bellowed with asattisfied huff.

“Cut the chitchat, Manny Judge! Get to the point!”

Manny chuckled.

“I was simply doing some check ups in the security feed and saw Ben and Angela being taken hostage."

"Then why didn't you call the police or HOC if you saw them being taken hostage?" Shindo asked heatedly.

"Oh no, my first thoughts were to call you, East. Aren't you a specialist in this type of thing, Shindo?”

Shindo gritted teeth at Manny's words. He started to walk across Larey avenue, two blocks away from the workshop.

“I clearly remember that you helped stop a villain last week, with only your words!"

Manny’s sarcastic tone put Shindo's mind in a whirl. He was risking the employee's lives, only to rub it on Shindo’s face? The disgust Shindo felt momentarily quelled his aching back. That was until he heard the amused laughter coming from the other end of the line.

As the laughter rang from the other end of the line, Shindo could feel a snap on his head. This-- This pig of a man made him go through four of the hardest years of his life, after puttinng him and his friend through a hell week, he risked the lives of the few? This... This... THIS STINKING PIG! He will pay! Shindo doesn't know how he would do it, but he would personally destroy Manny’s life for risking Ben and Angela's life.

But that came after he figured out how he would save them.

"You truly are a pig, Manny" Shindo seethed his anger. He was one block away from the store, but he saw faint scorch marks on the walkway.

“Yo--”

“You know what? You can go fuck yourself, Manny. I will not hear your disgusting voice in a while."

Without waiting, he closed the call with The Hog. He stood still and breathed out all the anger he felt. Manny may be a bastard, but at least he made himself useful by confirming that Ben and Angela were really taken hostage.

With this new knowledge, Shindo's flame was rekindled. He was right in front of the workshop. The damaged state of the store showed a forceful entry, obviously made by the villain. Defined scorched foot prints went into the store, while a security camera stayed right on Shindo's silhouette.

The stage had been set. The CCTV zoomed in, as if Diva had set the spotlight on him. He had crossed the point of no return. He kindly flipped off the security camera, acknowledging Diva’s existence for a second before slowly putting his good hand on his left pocket.

He slowly opened the door with his foot, only to be greeted by a familiar figure who started clapping at his arrival. A smile was splattered on his face, as a sadistic glint escaped his yellow eyes. He slowly stopped clapping, opening his arms while his smile widened.

"Hello, cocky guy. Or should I call you Shindo East? It's been a week since we last saw each other, so why don't we catch up?"

the heat wave he emanated elevated the temperature of the room, as his smile grew eerie with glee.