Crisis

(3rd Person View)

"This is bad, Lady Hyejin." Lee told the CEO, "Two cities, two cities were attacked around the same time."

They were in her office at HQ, Lee stood in front of her desk with a folder of files in his hands. Hyejin merely sat in her chair across from him, sipping coffee from her mug.

"Golden Spear attacked Seoul and destroyed a building in a matter of minutes!" He exclaimed, "He retreated shortly before Blood Drive engaged, but still, it is a matter of security! How are the people of Seoul going to feel safe when their Hero cannot keep a building from getting ruined? And not to mention our Mall incident here, Manti-Gore and Wraith! In the same building! It is a miracle they didn't destroy the mall and a couple of other blocks worth of buildings!"

He paced back and forward as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. It seemed he was a bit more stressed than usual. It is not uncalled for, though, as the entirety of the nation is in a bit of a panic. With the attacks that had just happened the day before, the people were starting to feel unsafe.

The heroes were starting to work overtime since the street-level criminals were beginning to feel bold. They had been a lot more crime rising as of late.

Lee stopped and looked at Hyejin, "Forget the buildings." He said, "What would we have done if they have gone further? What if Wraith had gone on a rampage and added more to her body count?! We just avoided a tragedy by a hair!"

Hyejin continued to drink from her mug as she looked at Lee with a serious expression. Lee, however, kept ranting.

"We ought to do something. I have put all of the heroes on high alert, higher than before." He said, "We have one of our Guardians severely injured, the others are doing things off on their own. We have to mobilize them at once! We have to be stricter than before-"

Hyejin cleared her throat, preventing Lee from finishing his sentence. He immediately stopped and looked at her with a surprised expression.

Hyejin merely looked at him and fixed her glasses, "It seems, Mr. Lee, that the appearance of Wraith has you on edge." She said, "Take a deep breath before continuing your little rant."

Lee then took a breath and let out an exhale.

"Apologies, Lady Hyejin." He said fixing his suit, "I am just saying that-"

"I understand." She cut him off, "As for the Seoul incident, it is unfortunate we lost a cafe building. However, our Vampire is on high alert. Do you really think that the people of Seoul will lose faith in him?"

Lee shook his head, "N-No..."

"Golden Spear is indeed a powerful foe." She continued, "But Blood Drive can handle him. And as for the Mall incident. Manti-Gore is MIA. We need people to find him. Wraith attacked him and left him injured. Wraith is someone we cannot take chances with, we need our heavy hitters to be on standby just in case she reappears."

Lee nodded, "Yes." He said, "I contacted Energy. She has increased her patrol routes and is on the lookout for any flying superhuman that enters our airspace. The South Korean military is working with her on comms as well. And may I suggest one thing, Lady Hyejin?"

Hyejin looked at him, "Yes?"

"If we want our heavy hitters to be on standby for Wraith....then I suggest we go and get him." He told her

Hyejin sighed and stood up, placing her mug down. The steam of the fresh coffee was still coming out.

"Agreed." She said, "Ready a helicopter, Lee. I think it is time we go and get that problem child. I am going to meet with Michael and Taejoon."

Lee nodded and reached for his phone, dialing a number as Hyejin walked past him and made her way to the door.

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"Wraith, huh?" Michael asked Taejoon who sat in a chair across from the Archangel

Taejoon nodded, "Yup." he said as he leaned back

Michael whistled, "Damn." He said, "That is something you don't hear every day. The Rampaging Bitch paying a visit to a mall in South Korea."

Hyejin, who sat at the head of the table, merely sighed.

She fixed her glasses and looked at them, "Listen." She told them, "This is starting to get more serious than we could've hoped for. We have S-Class criminals involved in the mix now. We cannot afford to slip up."

Michael nodded in agreement, "Yea." He said, "I heard word of some weird underworld movement over in the country so I went to check it out. Turns out that some of the gangs Mujin is allied with had a meeting with the Yakuza. And I thought it was odd considering that Paperbag is the one who is working with the Yamato Family."

Taejoon looked at him, "He's probably paying them to join their side." He said, "He's got the money to have Manti-Gore and Golden Spear in his ranks, maybe he wants more gangs, try to spread out a bit more."

Hyejin rubbed her temples, "Oh man. I haven't been this stressed out since the time Taejoon's uncles tried to invade Jeju Island...." She muttered

Michael heard this and looked at her with a confused look, "Say what?"

She waved him off, "Nothing. Forget it." She said as she fixed her glasses and looked down at a paper she had on the table, "Listen, we cannot allow the gangs to start a war. There are so many bigger gangs than those allied with Mujin and then there are Mujin's rivals. If word reaches them that Mujin is struggling with a nobody, they will make a move against him. And let me just remind you two about something; say what you will about Mujin, but he is not weak. And he will not look weak in front of the other gang leaders. He will do anything to maintain that reputation even if it means starting a war against them and attempting to crush them all before he deals with Paperbag."

Taejoon nodded in agreement, "Yea." He said, "Before Apex decided to deal with them, Mujin and his allied gangs were the strongest forces in the underworld. No superhuman criminal group came close to them. Mujin is definitely as brutal as the others. He is The Dragon of Busan after all."

Michael placed his hand on his chin, "I heard of this." He said, "I am more used to dealing with Superhumans and didn't bother with the gangs. But I suppose Apex targeted them for a reason."

Taejoon rubbed his head, "So I suppose it wasn't Paperbag that worried you at first, Mother." He said, "It was the possibility of the other gangs getting riled up at his actions. Mujin for sure did."

Hyejin nodded, "Yes. But now Paperbag is the most dangerous." she said seriously, "He managed to get ahold of the Dreadfyre armory. Those weapons could be very catastrophic. And we also don't know who else he could have on his side. If two S-Class criminals and the Yamato Family isn't enough, he may have the Cruel Dragon Sect backing him up as well. This is starting to get worse."

Michael frowned, "All of that just to go to war with Mujin?" He said, "I don't think that is just it. You think after Mujin, he'll take the other gangs?"

Taejoon leaned forwards and placed his arms on the table, "He'll either destroy them or force them into submission if he utilizes the power is amassing." He stated, "Crushing Mujin may be a showing of his strength so the other gangs know what he is capable of. With the weapons, the yakuza, and those two with him, I am sure it'll be enough to take Mujin down. No matter what the goal is, it'll get ugly."

Hyejin was about to speak when they all noticed a white figure emerging from the wall. It was White Ghost who walked over to Hyejin and bowed.

"My Lady." She said before taking a seat

"White Ghost." Hyejin greeted, "You're back from your mission?"

White Ghost nodded as she leaned on the table.

"Yes." She said, "And I have some not-so-good news."

Hyejin frowned, "What is it?"

"I am sure you may know by now that Paperbag somehow got ahold of a piece of the Dreadfyre's armory." She said, "Well, the way the yakuza and the Cruel Dragon Sect got ahold of it is a bit unsettling."

Taejoon looked at her with curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"House Dreadfyre had a breach of security. Which is the reason for them keeping things very silently." She explained, "Someone managed to infiltrate them and got away with stealing a portion of their weapons. And my source confirmed that the ones that could be responsible were The Cruel Dragon Sect."

"Who's your source?" Michael asked

"The King of Ansan, Taesoo." White Ghost replied

Hyejin sighed, "How does that brat even know this?" She said

Taejoon nodded, "Yea how does that meathead even know something like that?" He said, "He's just the head of Ansan gangs. I mean, he beat them all into submission and purged all the crime from the streets by using his own power, I'll give him that. But for him to have that type of information, it is highly unlikely."

"Wasn't he the only one that Apex didn't touch?" Michael asked, "I always thought that it was because he wasn't worth it."

White Ghost shook her head, "You lot haven't been to Blood Drive's turf that much and it shows." She said, "Yes, Taesoo involved himself with the Ansan gangs at a young age and did minor crimes like vandalizing and illegal street fights. But at the end of the day, He's a good guy. He could be a hotheaded idiot at times but his strength is something that both Blood Drive and Apex respect. He did clean up the streets by himself and was invited to be a Hero. He clearly refused."

She then reached for one of her pockets and pulled out an envelope and gave it to Hyejin.

"He somehow has a connection to one of the best information brokers in the underworld." She said, "And he swears his information is right. I went ahead and investigated to confirm what was in that envelope and let me tell you, He is not wrong. Forget Paperbag, we are in much deeper shit than we thought we were."

Hyejin opened the enveloped and pulled out what seemed to be some photos. She then widened her eyes.

"No." She said as she started to tremble a little

She then tossed one of the photos on the table and both Taejoon and Michael leaned over to see it.

It was the picture of a man walking out of a cab, the cab had Korean characters on it. The man looked Japanese and had dark black hair and a scruffy beard, he also had a long and thin scar across his cheek. He wore a black suit and wore a couple of jewelry, on his wrist and fingers. It didn't take long for Taejoon and Michael to recognize him.

Michael cursed, "Aw fuck that."

Taejoon grabbed the photo and crumbled it into a ball and threw it across the room.

"What in the hell is that fucking psychopath doing here?!" He growled,

"Yamato Takeru!"