Splinter scattered from the expensive wood of the eting table as it shattered under the sole of a luxurious wingtip loafer. Violent winds blasted through the enclosed room, and a bang followed, reverberating throughout the building.
With the exception of Master Tiān, everyone else was up from their seats, the tension coursing through their bodies making it clear they were ready to lunge. Only one of them hadn’t stopped at the last mont.
Rage twisted Kaiser’s youthful face. The fabric of his scarlet suit was stretched to its limit, trying to contain the arm that was now five tis its size, plunged into the reinforced concrete wall right beside the head of another man.
TINGG
The silver coin went up once more, reaching up to their eyelevel before falling down, landing in the man’s palm as his chestnut brown hair settled back into place.
"Tigris."
"Tsk..."
Begrudgingly, Kaiser retracted his arm, then his claws. The golden fur covering his hand grew in reverse as it gradually returned to its normal size. Patting the dust off his navy blue suit, the brown-haired man let his smile widen a little.
"You really should learn to control your anger."
Another explosion shook the room. Heaving a sigh, Master Tiān glanced to his right, at one of the seats that had been empty until a mont ago.
"Pan. Explain yourself."
TINGG
"What is there to explain?"
A flash of light cut through the room, piercing the silver coin just as it was about to fall down, pinning it to one of the walls. Heaving a sigh, Pan rested a hand against his cheek.
"My question has been a serious one." He said. "What do you want to explain?"
"I believe I have stressed the importance of sealing the relic while it’s still dormant. Allowing it to find a host might not have been your failure, but why would you get in the way of its retrieval?"
"Very simple," raising the corners of his mouth into one infuriating smile, Pan replied. "Because it’s more interesting this way."
"More interesting, you say?"
"This isn’t a goddamn ga..." Kaiser grumbled on his way back to his seat.
"Then you should have taken better care when retrieving it."
Though Pan’s reply caused another vein to bulge, a glance from Master Tiān cut the blond one’s fuse, leaving smoke to rise from his head as he sat down.
"Pan," Master Tiān’s expression hardened even more. "This is no laughing matter. The relic could beco a thorn in our side very quickly. If it is allowed to cultivate a proper host-"
An annoyed sigh interrupted him.
"I know what I’m doing, old man." Pan’s narrowed eyes regarded Master Tiān before slowly turning to the white-haired boy beside him. "Things got this bad because you let your guards down." His gaze moved to Kaiser, then the big guy beside him. "We have been playing on easy mode for far too long; most of you forgot what it’s like to have a challenge." Stopping on the little girl, he hamred the nail in. "That is why I moved things around a little bit."
"And you decided all of that on your own?" Isabel said, her ever-present smile now gone. "Since when did you have the right?"
"Since you stopped putting in the effort," Pan replied. "Do you want to repeat myself a third ti?"
"You understand that you are putting all of our plans at risk." Master Tiān said.
"If your plans can be toppled with only this much, then you need to reconsider everything."
"Excuse ..." Once again, Sagi raised his hand as if he were in a classroom. "I’m not sure I’m following here. Are we... are we talking about VOLCAN?"
"God fucking damn it..." Kaiser muttered under his breath.
No one answered the boy’s question directly, so he took that as confirmation, causing his face to go pale.
"You let it get a host?"
"..."
"Since when!!?"
"..."
The panic Sagi showed was shared by the others, although in more subtle ways.
"Pan..." Master Tiān narrowed his eyes into a glare. "I hope you are done with your gas already."
"Almost. I just need to tweak a few things here and there."
"What will you do if this ends up derailing our plans?"
Reaching into the right pocket of his coat, Pan took out another silver coin.
"That is the whole point, isn’t it? Work hard to ensure that doesn’t happen." His thumb flicked the coin, sending it flying upwards. "You don’t have to worry about the Anchor. Even if you fail, I will make sure she’s still there."
The tension in the eting room gradually climbed, quickly turning into a pressure that threatened to crush everything, only to vanish without a trace. The one it was directed at was gone. Despite the number of eyes directed at him, his seat was the only thing left, and the coin he threw never ca back down.
"Fucking bastard..." Kaiser gritted his teeth.
"This is bad, isn’t it?" Sagi whipped his head left and right. "What are we going to do!? We need to handle this before it gets out of hand!"
"It already is," Isabel said. "I assu the relic is still in the east, right?"
"That seems to be the case." Relaxing his gaze, Master Tiān turned to the one responsible for the region. "Do you have any clues on how its power has manifested?"
"It’s difficult to tell." Chimi took hold of her phone and quickly tapped a few screens. "There have been reports about a villain who makes use of multiple armors with different abilities. Number 76 has engaged with them before..."
"Hmm..."
"This is getting tireso..." Pushing his chair back, Kaiser stood up. "I don’t like the way that faker keeps toying with us, so I’m going to go handle this relic business once and for all."
"You failed to retrieve it when it was dormant," Isabel said. "What makes you think it will be any different this ti?"
"It was my fault for relying on mongrels back then." Turning to the brick wall, he spoke to the little girl on the other side. "You have no problem with that, right?"
"Suit yourself." Chimi shrugged. "It has gotten too botherso for to care."
~[ ]~
Engines roared as the gigantic tallic bird ca down from the sky. As the smog thinned out, the massive gacity below ca into sight. A few things imdiately beca apparent. The first was the large empty gap in the center. The other was the crater near the river cutting through the city’s borders.
"Disturbing, isn’t it?"
Taking his eyes off the window, the aging man looked up at the flight attendant standing before him.
"It is." He replied after a mont of thought.
Modern cities have long since lost control over their urban planning, turning into true concrete jungles. Walking through their streets was no different from wandering into an endless maze. The locals might know their way around, but few among them could see the whole picture. That made it difficult to get a grasp of the true magnitude of a disaster. Though video footage might help, it is only once one sees the aftermath with their own eyes that they co to understand, and the high altitude helps to cent the idea.
"This doesn’t seem to be your first visit. When was the last ti you have been to our city?"
The gorgeous flight attendant made small talk as she cleared the table.
"Not since Blue Ember." The man replied.
"Another big incident. You didn’t happen to be staying in that hotel at the ti, did you, sir?"
"I got out before things got too dicey."
"Then you were one of the lucky few." She said. "A lot of EI incidents have happened since then. Villains keep flocking to the city like moths to flas. One would think the strongest being here would chase them away, but..."
"Like moths to fla, huh?" The man muttered. "That sounds appropriate, for the city of new fire."
The plane soon landed, and the aging man moved from the first-class cabin to a luxurious car. As it drove through the road, he did the sa as before, continuing to watch through the window as he headed for his destination. His previous conclusion was proven right—people were already back to living their lives despite only a single week having passed since the shield had been shattered. One would think there would be a lot more unrest, though it might just be that the jungle was far too good at hiding it.
As fortune would have it, not much has changed about the roads of Yellowstar Street. It seed to have been spared the ravages of war, even with how close it was to one of the battlefields.
The car arrived at its destination, stopping at the entrance of a side alley. Seeing a well-dressed man waltz into such an area drew quite a few looks, but he continued nonetheless, walking deeper into the shadows until he reached a dead end.
A door awaited him there. The warm light seeping through its window and the sign resting right beside it told him that the place was open for business. That much was clear even before he twisted the knob and pushed the old wooden door, but once he laid eyes on the old man inside and saw the glass he was polishing with care, the nostalgic feeling he had been looking for finally hit him.
The old bartender looked surprised for a mont, then the corners of his mouth rose, pushing his well-grood mustache up.
"Welco back." He said. "Mr. Pike."
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