Looming threat

TIME : 7:05PM

LOCATION : DISTRICT 12, HOUSE NUMBER 6

Sai and Ilara are seated in the living room going through files scattered all over the center table, the décor of the house is quite exquisite for an apartment owned by detectives but it's quite understandable as Ilara's parents always knew how to spoil their daughter, always wanting the best for her and making sure of that, although they never did approve of Ilara becoming a cop or worse, of her relationship with Sai, her father was even more expressive in his disapproval of her relationship; Sai had never been invited for a family gathering neither was he ever acknowledged as Ilara's lover, Sai had taken it upon himself to prove his worth to Ilara's parents before taking their relationship any further.

With several antique paintings on the wall and other expensive fittings in the sitting room ranging from lighting to cushions and even the tables, the room was quite lovely.

"What have we got so far??"

Sai asks, dropping the file he was holding.

"Well so far, Jace has ratted out his employers; Karan and Armstrong , apparently Crow is not working for Cheng but is working with him, doing business on behalf of someone else."

Ilara replies, going through the file has she does so, Sai gets to his feet and starts pacing the room.

"So there's another gang in town and Crow is their representative, he is doing business with Cheng and all this time we thought he was just another one of Cheng's associates, what else do we know??"

Ilara looks up at Sai before returning to the file before her.

"Well Jace doesn't really know what the merchandise is but it apparently seems to mean a lot to the people Crow represents and according to him, the exchange of merchandise between Cheng and Crow would be taking place soon, very soon if I must add."

Sai nods his head and turns to Ilara.

"Which would mean that the night that we saw Jace and Crow talking was just bait to make us think something else than what was really happening, we need to find out where the exchange is taken place and…"

Sai is cut off by the sound of sirens going off at the front of their apartment after which a knock is heard on the door, Ilara rises from her sitting position and goes to open the door, she unlocks the door after which the door is forcefully opened from outside, pushing her back a bit.

"Hey what the hell…"

Sai doesn't have the chance to finish his sentence before the police officers that had barged in say to both him and Ilara.

"Detective Sai, Detective Ilara, I'm sorry but you both are under arrest on several charges of fraud, insubordination and unwarranted violence to suspected criminals as well as the kidnap of Mr. Jace Secktor, I advice you both to be silent for anything you say shall and will be used against you during your case hearing in court."

Sai and Ilara are dumbfounded by what they had just heard.

"Wait what??... You guys have to be mistaken, we haven't done any of that, honest."

Ilara says, the officers turn a deaf ear to their objections as they put both Sai and Ilara in handcuffs and promptly take them away…..

TIME : 9:09PM

LOCATION : NINOS HOMOT

Dan makes his way back to his place of residence with frustration and confusion written over his face.

"What did he mean by he is working for a higher power…does that mean that Crow is not who he has been making himself out to be??.... I mean he even kept his variant identity secret, who is he really working for??.... And he even knew who I was, which would most likely mean that Cheng and his associates have somehow figured out my identity, which basically puts Hermit and his family in danger, I need to make sure they are safe."

Dan picks up the pace has Ninos Homot comes within sight.

"I wonder what else they are hiding, Cheng is a cunning man and he seems to have figured out who I am, I need to be more discreet with my plans henceforth… But first, Hermit."

Dan walks into the terrace and makes to knock on the door but finds the door partially open.

"Strange, Hermit never leaves the door open this late… Something's wrong."

Dan opens the door with caution and steps in.

"Hermit… Is anyone home??"

Dan calls out.

"Ah, Dan….. So glad you could join us, here come take a seat."

Dan walks into the dining room and is shocked to see Hermit and his family tied to the dining chairs with Karan sitting at the helm of the dining table and two guards behind him.

"How did you find this place??"

Karan manages a smile.

"You know it is quite rude to ignore a gentleman's request… how about you take your seat."

Dan tries to move forward and attack but is immediately caught from behind by Armstrong who seemed to have gotten bigger and more muscular than before.

"Karan asked you to take a seat…. Why do you have to be so stubborn??"

Armstrong asks has he then tightens his grip on Dan forcing a shout out of him

"Dan!!"

Kina, Hermit's older daughter calls out has she struggles to get free.

"Aww, would you look at that, they can't bare to see you in pain… upon the fact that you are the reason their lives are currently in danger."

Armstrong says with a chuckle has he proceeds to apply more pressure on Dan forcing more shouts out of him.

"Please just let us go, we haven't done anything to warrant any of this."

Hermit pleads with Armstrong , Karan rises from his seat and starts to walk towards Kina.

"Would you like to know what you guys did to us to warrant us treating you like this??... Well everything is all thanks to that man over there, Dan Ruso, apparently he thought he could do whatever he liked and he'd be untouchable, so he decided to go against the most powerful man in Calos city all because of a childish vendetta, well thankfully we were able to find him before he actually did some damage… so we are here to put an end to his little game."

Karan stands behind Kina and moves his hand across her face.

"Such a beautiful face.. It would be a shame if anything happened to it."

Karan picks up a table knife and places it at Kina's neck, Dan sees this and struggles further to get free from Armstrong 's grip.

"Karan, you better let them go or else I'm gonna rip your head out of your shoulders."

Armstrong crushes Dan further with even more force, causing his bones to crack under the pressure, Dan is unable to withstand the pain and shouts out even further in agony.

"You don't seem to understand that you are the one in a precarious position at the moment, you are not in a position to be making demands or passing out threats, anyways I guess I'll just have to show you the situation of things at the moment."

Karan uses the knife in his hand to mark Kina on her right cheek, running the blade through her cheek, causing the poor girl to cry out in pain.

"Karan please just stop hurting her, please."

Hermit pleads as he tries unsuccessfully to free himself, Karan stops after he had made the incision and dropped the bloodied knife.

"OK then how about a bargain… I honestly do love a good bargain."

Karan says has he then takes his seat again.

"What do you want, just tell us already" Mila, Hermit's wife, asks with fear and sadness in her eyes.

"Of course, here's my proposal; For your lives and safety, Dan will have to fight Armstrong in a one on one bout, if he wins then all of you go free but if Armstrong wins…. Well you already know what will happen."

Dan stares at Karan with anger in his eyes.

"let's do this then."

Dan struggles to keep his composure has he readied himself for an encounter with Armstrong.

"Are you ready boy, because this fight determines the fate of that lovely family standing over there."

Armstrong says pointing at Hermit and his family as they stood tied up with fear written all over their faces.

"Dan please win this."

Kina calls out before one of Karan's guards moves to cover up her mouth, Dan sees this and is even more enraged

"I'll kill you."

Dan clasps his hands together and yells out.

"furumetaru no shutsugen ( full metal emergence)."

Armstrong is riled up by this.

"This is gonna be so much fun."

Dan charges towards Armstrong and collide fists with him, causing an intense shock wave which affected Karan and the others with him with the clash.

"You've got fire boy, let's see how much it burns."

Armstrong remarks as he raises his other hand to punch Dan but Dan counters with a punch of his own causing another shock wave.

"You'll pay for trying to crush me."