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It was dawn now. The three had driven all night before arriving in Seattle, Alex McClaine's hometown. The place Kenny pointed to was an old warehouse on the outskirts of town, abandoned for several years. It was built on three levels and surrounded by a chain-link fence and some barbed wire. It had been used by the Nuevas Mexico cartel to smuggle drugs from Central America.                                                                                                                                                              Kenny led the two agents through an opening in the fence until they got inside the complex, where they found several stacked crates and a couple of old vans.

"This place hasn't seen the light of day in a long time" McClaine said sarcastically.

The three went upstairs and sat down at a table in a corner room that had probably been used as an office before the complex closed

"All right, now that we're safe, you can start talking" Lucas said to his old friend

"What do you want to know?" Kenny said resignedly

"I'd say let's start with the mercenaries" Alex suggested, the Mexican sighed then began to tell: "A few months ago, my men found an old WWII submarine on an abandoned beach. It was full of weapons and useful equipment, so I decided to empty it. A short time later, two men in suits showed up at my compound claiming to be from the CIA and claiming an item found in the submarine" 

"What did you tell them?" asked Lucas

"To go to hell, but a short time later my men down in Mexico started getting killed one by one, within a month my organization had been decimated by these so-called mercenaries. So I decided to take all my men and go back to Los Angeles, hoping they would not find me" Kenny said, "and you know the rest of the story" he added.

"So the government is behind this" Alex said dejectedly.

"I don't think so, I did a little research and no one from the Secret Service had gone to Mexico at that time" Kenny revealed

"Are you sure?" asked Lucas

"I swear to god, amigo" said the Mexican

"It's believable" McClaine admitted, "sometimes some secret factions of the government work off-duty for their own purposes" he added

"And the mercenaries are probably the same CIA agents" Lucas suggested, "but what were they looking for in the remains of the submarine?" asked Kenny

"I don't know, but I had them sent here to town, we can go get them" Kenny suggested.  Everyone nodded, they needed to find those items so they could piece together the whole story.

They left the compound when it got dark, that way, thanks to the night, it would be harder to recognize them. They went to an address Kenny's men had given them when the goods arrived. They walked down some streets to a square where the place was located; when they got there, they did not find exactly what they expected. What was supposed to be an anonymous sorting center was actually a large gymnasium where the opening party was being held.

"Is this the place?" asked McClaine

"Yes, but it didn't look like this in the photos" admitted a confused Kenny

"Let me get this straight, you shipped priceless items to a gym under construction" Lucas said sarcastically

"I had no way of knowing they were going to open it soon" the Mexican confessed.

"What do we do now?" Alex asked the team

"That doesn't change the plan, we go in and get what we need, everyone will be busy celebrating anyway" Lucas concluded.

The gym was part of the BRAVE-BOX chain, an internationally renowned chain of boxing gyms that had opened gyms all over the world, and this one in particular was the second one built on the west side of the United States, after the one in LA. The party consisted of refreshments with a boxing show in the ring positioned in the center of the gym and, of course, music.                              The three secretly made their way to the storage rooms where various crates containing the submarine's loot were supposed to be, but when they arrived they found only gym equipment: weights, rubber bands, barbells, but no crates.

"Where the hell are the boxes?" said Kenny angrily

"They must have moved them before we opened" Lucas suggested

"Most likely" Alex backed him up

"We need to find out where they sent the crates" Lucas suggested.

The three went to the gym manager's office to check the shipping records and when they entered they saw a familiar face, Lucas recognized one of the men in suits who had been at the station outside Sergeant Hodkins' office the night before. He was going through the file cabinet and had probably had the same idea they had. After seeing them, the man went for his gun, but Alex lunged at him, preventing him from firing. As Alex and the man struggled, Kenny pulled out his switchblade and stabbed the man in the leg, and finally Lucas used the gun to hit him in the head.

"What now?" asked McClaine as he stood up in pain from the struggle

"I say we take him to the warehouse and interrogate him, these records seem to be a dead end" Lucas said as he rummaged through the file drawers

"All right, this gringo owes me some explanations" Kenny said as he looked at the man lying unconscious on the floor. The noise of the confrontation in the back of the gym drew security to the event, but by the time they arrived, the three were gone.

After a few hours, they had returned to the warehouse with the man they had knocked out and some files they had stolen from the archive in the hope that they might contain clues.            Lucas used his belt to stop the bleeding in the man's leg caused by Kenny's stabbing.They decided to tie him to a chair and leave him there, waiting for him to wake up.

"When he wakes up, we will question him" Lucas explained to the team

"My men should have left some torture equipment behind" Kenny suggested

"We're not going to torture anyone, we are the good, memories" McClaine said, soothing any unhealthy thoughts the Mexican might have

"Whatever you say, but it will be hard to get him to talk without some torture" Kenny admitted

"Don't worry, I know the way," Lucas revealed.

The man woke up and looked around he saw the three men talking to each other, he looked around for something to relieve himself with but found nothing

"Look who woke up" Kenny said, provoking the man,"you're looking for this" he added, referring to a cyanide capsule that had previously replaced a tooth on the man tied to the chair

"I'm not going to tell you anything" the man said firmly

"It doesn't matter anyway, you'll talk eventually, Kurt" Lucas said

"How do you know my name?" asked the confused man, Lucas smiled

"I'm sure you recognized the man next to me" he said, referring to Kenny, "he's one of the worst criminals in the world and he knows how to find what he wants, like your address in Phoenix or your daughter's name, Julia" he added cryptically

"Don't try to touch her" Kurt said

"That's up to you" Kenny said

"All right, I'll tell you everything" the man surrendered, "what we're looking for is a vial of red liquid from World War II" he added

"What's it for?" asked Alex

"I don't know, I just know it was created by the Japanese" Kurt admitted

"You haven't told us who you work for" Lucas suggested, Kurt started to laugh nervously, then said: "You don't want to know". After the man's revelation, the three left the room

"You did good, buddy," Kenny congratulated Lucas

"But how did you know these things?" asked an astonished Alex

"I found a picture of his daughter in his wallet and read the name and address on his ID, I was hoping he would crack" Lucas admitted

"Even torture wouldn't have worked that fast," Kenny said. In the next room they heard a loud noise so the three rushed in, but when they entered they found Kurt dead on the floor. He had freed himself and swallowed the cyanide capsule.

"What do we do now?" Kenny asked the team

"I think I know" McClaine admitted

"We're listening" Lucas said

"I know someone who might know something, since it's Japanese history" Alex concluded.

McClaine knew someone who could help the trio, someone with knowledge of Japanese history who could help them understand what the liquid the mercenaries were looking for was, but there were still several questions that needed answers.                                                                                  McClaine led the traveling companions to the Interway area of the Port of Seattle, where a Tokyo-based company operated that organized and managed the unloading of cargo in Seattle. On the dock of the port was an Asian man who looked like the manager of the company, Alex nodded to him, approached and exchanged a few words with him, then the man went into the port shed and McClaine returned to the two.

"What did he say to you?" asked Lucas

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough" Alex revealed cryptically. The man returned a few minutes later and motioned for Alex to follow. Lucas and Kenny waited about ten minutes for Alex to return

"So we have to wait here all day" Kenny said impatiently

"The person I was looking for is not here" McClaine admitted, "but I know where he is," he concluded. Lucas and Kenny followed the FBI again, albeit reluctantly, to a Japanese restaurant across the street from Seattle's mammoth Discovery Park.

The restaurant was part of a chain of typical Japanese cuisine restaurants called Kynaya.        They had opened numerous restaurants in the U.S., but this one was special - it was the first ever to land overseas.                                                                                                                                                              They walked into the luxurious Oriental restaurant, which had typical Japanese decor, huge windows, and an open kitchen where the chefs prepared sushi in front of all the customers.         It was not yet opening time, so the restaurant was empty. The three were escorted upstairs to a small lounge where a woman was waiting for them. She was definitely Japanese, had long straight black hair, was dressed in a smart suit, and was talking to other waiters about preparing lunch, from which they could tell that she was in charge of the restaurant.

"Isako?" asked Lucas in amazement

"How long," replied the woman

"It happens to be a reunion" said Kenny in surprise, hugging the old friend

"She's our expert," revealed McClaine

"And so you kept in touch" Lucas noted

"Yes, when we each went our separate ways, I went back to Japan and opened my own restaurant. A few years later, business was so good that I decided to come to Seattle, since I knew Alex, and open another restaurant in this city" Isako told the old friends. 

It had been a long time since they had last seen each other, and they also caught up on their personal situations. After an hour or so of eating sushi and other Japanese specialties, the three told Isako the story of the submarine and the mercenaries

"It's a crazy story," Isako revealed, "It's unbelievable that you lost everything," she added.

"I came to you because I thought you could help us with this story" Alex said

"I've heard the story of a red liquid and a submarine before" Isako admitted, "my grandfather was a historian and he used to tell it to me often" she added, then began to tell.

The story was about a Japanese fleet submarine from World War II. During the war, Japan had discovered a type of plant that gave off spores that were unique in the world and only grew in Japan. When the Japanese government learned that the United States was planning a devastating weapon that would end the war (the Manhattan Project), they decided to attack before it was too late. They decided to turn the spore into a devastating weapon.                                A chemical weapon capable of passing through any protective suit or mask, and once inhaled, would attack the nervous system causing excruciating pain that would last until death, which would be slow. They used a submarine that was difficult to detect and would release this toxin, without any antidote, called Vial-X, on American soil. The General of the Third Naval Fleet, Miura Yazaky, was assigned to carry it overseas. Fortunately, for no known reason, the submarine never made it across the ocean and disappeared in the depths of the Pacific. After the war, the Japanese government denied the existence of Vial-X, so much so that they burned every single plant capable of producing the spore.                                                                                                                          When Isako finished telling the story, the three were horrified.

"So they are looking for a chemical weapon" Lucas said

"We have to get there before they do, or who knows how they will use it" McClaine suggested

"How are they going to use it, they will release it in some city and the world as we know it will end" Kenny admitted regretfully as the three thanked their old friend and returned to the depot to await their next move.                                                                                                                                                They were discussing strategy inside the building when they noticed a car that had just pulled up outside the fence. McClaine got out to see who it was, thinking the worst, but Isako stepped out of the car

 "What are you doing here?" Alex asked her friend

"I'm here to help you" the woman admitted

"I don't want to get you involved" McClaine said thoughtfully

"I'm already involved, and then you need my help" Isako revealed

"I found out where the Vial-X was taken" she added. Alex invited her in and Isako revealed to the three what she had discovered

"I don't know exactly where it is, but I know who owns the gym and you won't believe it" the woman announced

"Nothing can surprise me anymore" Lucas said firmly

"Nothing can surprise us anymore" Kenny supported him

"The company belongs to Max" Isako revealed, suddenly there was silence and everyone looked at Alex who put his hands to his face and said ironically

"That's all we need" Lucas was surprised, Kenny smiled and said: "It will be a good reunion.

One thing was for sure, they had to leave and go overseas to join another old acquaintance, Isako managed to arrange a private jet through her international connections that would take them to Italy. As the four of them made their way to the airport, a black sedan followed, and as they rolled down the tinted windows, their faces were clear.                                                                          It was not known who the man driving was, but in the passenger seat was Sergeant Hodkins, who had been saved from Alex's bullet in a life-saving operation. Suddenly, Hodkins received a call

"Did you find them?" a voice asked

"Yes, do we have orders to go in?" Hodkins asked for confirmation

"No" the voice replied firmly, "have them take us to the vial".