One week had passed since Jonas’ fight with Rodney White. During that time, Jonas had felt awkward about building his connection with his Original Sin because he didn't want to contribute to Pride feeling like he was fading away—until one night, Pride berated him.

"Idiot, do you think I need you to stop your training to spare my feelings? Don't ever let me catch you doing that again. If you're trying to survive in Hell, being strong is the most important thing. Your morality and feelings must come second," after that conversation, Jonas no longer slacked when training his Original Sin. He did, however, worry about Pride's well-being.

To train his Original Sin, he continued his efforts in healing wounds that Yuki so graciously self-inflicted. He also tried to replicate some of his previous successes: making his blood acidic, colorless, or capable of destroying mechanisms such as a lock. After trial and error, Jonas realized that performing feats of Original Sin required willpower, desire, and concentration. It was difficult to make his blood acidic when he wasn't in danger—though he managed to produce some mild stinging or to make his blood colorless when there was no angry Berserker around. However, he did find it easy to use his blood to heal, probably because he had deep feelings for Yuki and wanted to help her, or perhaps he just felt strongly about healing other people.

Jonas was beginning to see the endless possibilities that his Original Sin could bring him. Why focus on making his blood colorless when he could change it into any color? Why focus on making his blood acidic when Jonas could turn it into wine or poison? His imagination ran wild, but thinking of those things was much different from trying to do them. Sitting on a couch with a wine buzz was not exactly the best situation to learn more about Sin Sorcery.

One week after his fight with Rodney White, Jonas held his first meeting between Ahmed and Yuki. The two of them had spoken on rare occasions, and if they were going to fight together to escape the Hurts gang, Jonas knew it was high time they had a real conversation.

The meeting took place in his private room. On the table in front of him, there was an assortment of alcoholic beverages and snacks. Ahmed and Yuki sat on opposite ends, occasionally giving each other looks of indifference. However, when both looked at Jonas, there was a lot of love and life in their eyes. Jonas found the atmosphere rather heavy, and he did his best to make both feel important.

"Thank you for coming. We all know why we're here: my match against Rodney proved that I'm almost ready to take on a guy like Garth or Xiao Lin. Eventually, I'll be on the same level as Thomas Vale. I never planned on fighting Howard Hurts one-on-one; he's a person who requires more than one of us to beat. However, I've always thought if I could fight Garth on even grounds, it would mean I'd be ready to escape. Garth was the strongest person I had ever seen since arriving in Hell, and I thought he represented the pinnacle of strength. Of course, this isn't true. I still think he's a good measure for me."

"Agreed," Ahmed nodded his head and sipped a beer. "He's a brute, but if you could fight him one-on-one, you could fight anyone and have a chance."

"I want the fuck out of this place," this feeling for Jonas was bone-deep, and by the expression on his companion's faces, they felt the same way too.

“The Hurts gang enslaved me over a hundred years ago,” Ahmed sighed. “Most of my time in Hell; I was a normal human without Sin, but even when I gained power, I knew it wouldn't be easy to break out. If escaping was easy, I would've done it already."

“It’s not a one-man task,” said Yuki. “The gangs of Little Wrath City don’t make it easy for their elite fighters to make a run for it. There's too much money involved; Thomas Vale told me the gangs profited in the millions each year. There's no way they ever let that stop."

"Jesus, that's a lot of Sin Stones. However, very rarely do three fighters of our caliber unite together to accomplish the same goal."

“It’s probably happened before,” said Ahmed. “Though, I can assume a lack of trust among slaves would make it difficult to accomplish.”

“Trust,” said Jonas. “Trust is something the three of us don’t lack.”

“I don’t trust Yotama-san,” Ahmed's words were harsh but true. “I don’t mean to offend you, but you’re close to Jonas, not me.”

“No offense taken,” Yuki sipped her wine with pursed lips. “I did try to recruit Jonas because I knew I could get to you—that doesn’t exactly inspire trust.”

“We’re here for a reason,” said Jonas. “It doesn’t matter who started the plan or what our goals were before. All that matters is that all three of us are on the same page and willing to make sacrifices for the escape plan. I'm willing."

“As am I," Ahmed gave him an approving smile. "So what’s the plan, leader."

“Leader?” Jonas grinned and shook his head. “Why am I the leader?”

“I can’t trust Yuki to do it,” Ahmed shrugged. “And she definitely won’t trust me to do it.”

“If you were capable of leading a breakout, you would have done it in the last hundred years that you’ve been down here,” Jonas rolled his eyes because he hadn’t realized his two friends would be so antagonistic toward each other.

“Guys,” he warned. “Let’s not get off-topic.”

“Jonas,” there was a seriousness in Yuki's voice. “I’ve witnessed you accomplish things that no one else could, and that alone is enough for me to believe that if anyone could successfully break out of here, it would be you.”

“That's something we can agree on,” Ahmed stroked his beard.

“There was a lot of luck involved," Jonas reminded them. "If I didn't have such a powerful healing ability, I'd be dead ten times over."

“Have you ever heard the Chinese idiom about crouching tigers and hidden dragons?”

"No, but the movie was pretty good," Jonas grinned, and both Yuki and Ahmed shook their heads.

"It means that everyone has hidden talents. It also acts as a reminder not to underestimate others. My father used to say that the lizard you try to step on might be the dragon that eats you. People might see you as something small and insignificant, but you've got a hidden power deep within yourself, and you can use that power to break free and show the world that Jonas Ariel is a dragon—not a lizard to be stepped on."

"I mean, I might have some talent, but that doesn't mean anything. I still got lucky as all Hell."

"Jonas, you used your healing ability to grow as a fighter, and that's not something you can boil down to luck. The fact you heal quickly has nothing to do with your hard work or the courage it took to stand up to people much stronger than you,” as Yuki spoke, Jonas felt his cheeks flush red. It was embarrassing to hear her compliment him so openly, but it also fed his Ego and made his Pride vibrate in ecstasy.

“You didn’t even know what an Original Sin was when you challenged me to a bet that would have cost you your hand,” Ahmed said. “I’ve been alive for a thousand years, and I can count on one hand the men I've met who were as brave as you.”

“Okay, okay,” Jonas was wearing a stupid grin. “I’ll lead the plan.”

“Very good,” said Ahmed. “Now, we need to hammer out the details.”

"I believe we should do it after my next match," said Jonas. "Howard Hurts and Thomas Vale will watch the fight in the VIP box. While I'm fighting, the slaves and fighters will take out the guards while you two deal with Garth. Once I get back, I'll knock out Brow and help you finish the psycho if you haven't already. By the time Howard and Thomas walk through the doors of the Hurts gang, everyone will be down, and they'll have to fight off dozens of us."

"There are two problems with that plan," said Ahmed. "First, you assume Xiao Lin won't help Garth. Second, you assume that leadership will enter through the front doors when it makes more sense for them to enter the gang from the arena lobby."

"Shit, I didn't think of that."

"No, Jonas is right," said Yuki. "Thomas doesn't usually accompany me during fights, but I've never seen him enter the gang from the arena lobby. I'm almost ninety percent sure that the gang leadership enters through the front—the electronic door with the password."

"And we're sure we don't want to do it early in the morning when Howard and Thomas are gone?" Ahmed asked.

"I don't know," Jonas shook his head. "No one knows when the two of them will show up in the morning, and no one else has the password if they decide to take a day off. If we do it in the evening, even if the two of them fuck off to Neverland, someone in this gang will know the password, and we can find them, torture them, and make our escape."

"That sounds perfect to me," Yuki poured herself a glass of red wine. "Xiao Lin is the wild card, but I still think he loves me."

"And when he learns about yours and Jonas' relationship, how do you think he'll react then?" Ahmed looked annoyed. 'I don't want to leave the plan hanging on if a man has feelings for you."

"Okay, okay," Jonas waved them both down before a fight could start. "I'll talk to Xiao Lin and feel him out. If I don't like the way he operates, we kill him. Agreed?" Both Yuki and Ahmed nodded their heads.

"While Ahmed and I are dealing with Garth and potentially Xiao Lin, we'll still need a distraction for the guards," said Yuki. "Your friends will start a riot, free the slaves from their cages, and get the rest of the fighters barracks up in arms. Hopefully, that's enough to take out the guards."

“But we can’t just escape while they're doing that,” Jonas sounded indignant. “I’m not leaving them behind.”

“Don’t be silly,” Yuki touched his arm gently. “No one is saying to leave them behind.”

“Here’s my thoughts on it,” said Ahmed. “Jonas will be in the arena while we'll be in our private rooms, and the rest of our numbers will be in the fighter’s barracks, correct?”

“That sounds about right,” said Jonas.

“First, our guys start the riot. That should pull all the gang members towards them. Garth will probably want to check out the chaos, and the two of us can sneak attack him. If not, we'll just attack him in his room.”

“That works great," said Yuki. "I'm not worried about the guards beating Jonas' friends. However, I am worried about Garth. We need to kill him before leadership shows up."

"After I knock out Brow, I'll grab his key and try to find my hell phone in his room. If I can't find it within two minutes, I'll just abandon the search and come help you two with Garth."

"Why do you want your hell phone?" Yuki asked. "I think killing Garth is more important than checking your messages."

"My phone has Phillip Glatorius' number. Once we get out of Little Wrath City, we'll need a ride out of the area. He's a very generous man, and I know he'll help me if I ask."

"You're sure?" Ahmed asked.

"Very sure," Jonas smiled when thinking about the Glatorius couple. Their generosity was astounding for two people living in Hell.

"Then grab your phone," said Yuki. "Don't wait too long because Garth is an animal. Ahmed and I may not be able to fight him for too long."

"Don't worry about that," said Jonas. "I'll be back in time to help."

"Then, we kill Garth, deal with Xiao Lin, finish off the stragglers, and wait for leadership to enter through the front doors."

“Then it’s us and an entire riot against those two,” Jonas liked the sounds of those odds, and even though he knew Howard and Thomas were extremely capable Sinners, he couldn’t imagine them being strong enough to take on all of them at once.

“I think this plan is crazy enough to work,” Yuki smirked.

“Well,” Jonas raised a glass and held it to the two of them, and after exchanging looks, Yuki and Ahmed picked their drinks up and clinked them against his. “Once Brow schedules my next fight, we'll make our escape."

“Agreed,” said Ahmed, “Let’s just make sure the others are on the same page. Everyone has a role to play.”