The Mall Incident

Amily's POV

I walked up to Taejoon who was sitting down in a chair at one of the conference rooms at HQ.

"So..." I said, "You had a run in with The Cruel Dragon Sect?"

He leaned back and groaned, "Oh maaan, that was a pain in the ass to deal with!" He said, "I was able to subdue her with a crane, don't ask how that works, just accept it. Good thing I got out of there before Tatsuya showed up with his men and Paperbag's."

I narrowed my eyes and scanned him, this just had happened last night and he didn't seemed scathed. He was able to fight a member of the Cruel Dragon Sect without receiving many injuries? From what I've heard of them, they're really vicious fighters. Nobody fights them without them getting a good hit or two in.

I suppose it is a testament of Taejoon's strength. He may not act like it, but he is one of our mightiest.

"Tatsuya, one of the sons of the Yamato Family..." I said as I placed my hand on my chin, "What could the Yakuza be involved with this?"

Taejoon shrugged, "Oh that's easy, they were transporting the cargo and sold it to Paperbag." He said, "The real question is how the hell are the Cruel Dragon Sect involved in this? Did Liu Dongcheng happen to be in South Korea? That sniveling little snake could be up to no good..."

I looked at him, "Perhaps the Sect and The Yamato Family are working together somehow." I proposed, "They somehow had a piece of Royal Order Armory belonging to The Dreadfyres.."

"Hmm...I don't know.." He said, "She said that Paperbag managed to convince her father to consider allying with him. So I assume she was sent to oversee the deal go down. Try to gauge Paperbag and all. He wasn't there so maybe it was in vain."

Maybe he was right. But a couple of things didn't add up.

The biggest one was what the hell is a piece of House Dreadfyre's armory doing here in South Korea and what that bastard is planning to do with it. Could it be that he needs it against Mujin? Or there is something more to it.

House Dreadfyre....One of the Noble Houses from the West. It is said that in medieval times, they were very prominent, giving birth to very powerful warriors.

I sat down in one of the chairs next to him, "Taejoon..." I asked, "What do you think? Do you think they'll send That Man to retrieve those weapons?"

I saw as he shuddered slightly, "Oh shit, I hope not." He said, "I know he's on our side, as far as the law and crime spectrum suggests, but he is not someone I want to fuck with. Seriously, He comes to our country and he'll stop at nothing to get those weapons back. Trust me, it is not something we need right now."

I nodded, "Agreed." I said, "I suppose we hope Apex keeps him at bay."

He scoffed, "He's the only one capable of doing so." He said, "Everyone listens to him, not us. Even if we're fellow Guardians..."

I looked at him, he looked a bit annoyed at the fact. Seems something was troubling him greatly and it involved Apex.

He then sighed, "But man, is it me or this situation is a bit more chaotic than we thought." He said, "Paperbag, Mujin, The Cruel Dragon Sect, The Yamato Family, and House Dreadfyre...Seems we're going to be fighting on multiple fronts. This is starting to get out of hand. Much bigger than a run of the mill thug killing heroes."

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, "I have a bad feeling about this, Taejoon." I said, "If we don't quell this fire now, it will engulf the entirety of the country and spread even further."

I then felt a sudden gust of wind hit my face.

I opened my eyes and saw Engine atop of the table crouched down and looking at me with a smirk in his face. He had a bag of chips on one hand and drinking from a cup on his other. He was too close to me.

"Yo, Amily!" He said cheerfully, "Came to check on you, how you doing?"

I gave him a serious glare, "Why don't you back out of my face, you little shit?" I hissed

He then disappeared and appeared sitting down in the chair across from us.

"Ha!" He said as he tossed some chips in his mouth, "Guess you're alright, you cranky girl!'

I saw Taejoon out of the corner of my eye place his feet on the table as he pointed at Engine.

"Hey, bastard." He said, "How many times I tell you to bring me a bag of chips and a cup of coke if you're going to just burst in like this?"

Engine fetched something from inside his pant's pocket. He then tossed a chocolate bar at Taejoon who caught it in his hand.

"Oh don't be a nag, Taejoon." He said, "Besides, you called me so I came. It is unusual for 3 Guardians to meet up almost regularly."

Taejoon opened the chocolate bar and took a bite out of it, "This will do." He said, "Anyways, what do you got for us? I know you were itching to do some running out of the country."

Engine placed his cup down and adjusted his goggles, "It is the damnest thing, man." he said, "I met up with a messenger from the prestigious House Dreadfyre..."

My stomach sunk a little. I am not used to dealing with such big names, especially ones that are out of this country. Hearing the name of that House multiple times in one day makes me a bit nervous. Especially because of the stories I have heard from their most prominent member.

"What did they say?" I asked

"They have quietly reported a piece of their Royal Order Armory stolen." Engine said, "And the funny thing is, guys. They were planning on sending That Guy."

"Ah fuck, just what we need." Taejoon said annoyed

I sighed, "This is bad."

Engine shook his head, "Oh but wait. For some reason, they decided to wait it out." He said, "They won't involve themselves yet unless The Head commands it. And from I hear, he does not want to be involved with anything related to this country. So they will give us a couple of weeks to resolve this issue and seize the weapons."

Taejoon raised an eyebrow, "Or?"

"Or, they'll actually send him." Engine said, "From what the messenger said, he was a bit fired up and was looking forward to some action."

I shook my head and rubbed my temple, "This is giving me headache." I said, "Superhumans, underworld criminals, Yakuza, Chinese Sects, and now a Western Noble. How many nuisances could this country get in the span of a week?"

"This is starting to look planned..." I heard Taejoon say, "You don't think that Paperbag wants to involve all these parties? For what? Just to take Mujin down?"

"That is awfully ballsy of him if I am being honest." Engine said, "To involve The Cruel Dragon Sect and The Yamato Family is one thing, but The Dreadfyres is another thing. There will be nothing but mayhem."

I nodded, "Agreed." I said, "The outside world will look at this in confusion too. We have to do something about it."

I saw as Taejoon sighed, he had just finished his chocolate bar. He leaned against the table and rubbed his face. I could tell this was also stressing him out. It was a very dire situation to say the least. We had to do something quick. Cyberknight had told us to be on hold for the time being while he gathers more information to make the next move.

"By the way, Amily." Taejoon said, "Are you sure you're alright? You seem too calm right now."

I looked at him, he was looking at me with a serious expression as he leaned against the table.

"I am fine." I simply said

"You sure?" He asked

"Yes." I said firmly

Truth is, I found it very hard to stay calm after everything that had happened. But after letting out a bit of steam, I managed to compose myself. I was still mad, no, enraged at what happened. But if I loose my temper like I did at the meeting, then it will show that I am not worthy of being a Guardian. Years of hard work to just throw it away in an instant, I could not face my grandfather.

I noticed as Engine was about to say something, the door swung open and Pildo, Michael's manager, barged in.

"Guys!" He exclaimed, "There's been an incident! It requires your attention at once!"

Taejoon stood up in alarm, "What is it?"

Pildo leaned on the table and panted. He looked as if he was running for a while. I saw the urgency on his face and wondered what had happened. Perhaps something with Michael?

He looked at us, "The mall...There was an attack!" He said, "Its Manti-Gore!"

I widened my eyes, "What?!"

"I don't know the details but from what I was told, Paperbag's men were spotted at the Mall and had a run in with Mujin." He said, "But all of the sudden, Manti-Gore appeared. DeadWire showed up and clashed with him!"

DeadWire? LiveWatt's brother? That guy won't be able to handle someone like Manti-Gore, we have to go and settle this ourselves.

I looked at Engine, "Hey-"

Before I could continue, he sped out the room. He knew what to do, he is to go and make sure the mall is evacuated.

"Amily, you got this?" Taejoon asked me

I looked at him with a surprised look, "What about you?"

He patted his clothes and put his shades on, "I have a feeling Paperbag will be around the area looking at this." He said, "Something tells me he set this spectacle up for his amusement. That and someone has to apprehend Mujin. He is not someone to let go easily."

I stood up and nodded, "Very well."

"Don't worry, I know you can take him." He reassured me. "He may be a monster, but he's beatable for sure."

I made my way to the door, "I know." I said,

"I'll kick his face in."