the thug is followed by remi and maki, who draw weapons and hold up the kidnappers. all goes well, until a muscular figure sweeps out of the shadows, with dark, almost slate-gray skin and long red hair. with shocking agility for a man his size, he leaps away from their every attack, throwing a hail of poison needles -the same as that which killed their prisoner- at them, knocking the girls unconscious.