One of his subordinates approached carefully. "The territory dispute near West Junction is getting worse."
Darius sighed tiredly. "Those idiots again?"
"They’re refusing to pay route tax."
Darius cracked his neck once. "Fine."
His expression hardened imdiately. "Let’s go remind them who owns those streets."
The warmth on his face vanished instantly like it was never there.
~ Thirty Minutes later ~
SCREEEECH~
Vehicles drifted aggressively outside a large warehouse district and eagles Print mbers flooded out rapidly.
Several rival gang mbers imdiately panicked.
"IT’S DARIUS!"
"Oh shit!"
"RUN!"
Darius walked forward calmly while loosening his gloves.
The rival gang leader stepped out shakily. "T-This is unnecessary—"
A single punch from Darius, sent the man flew through two warehouse walls instantly.
BOOOOOOM!
Dust exploded everywhere and everyone stiffened in horror.
Darius curled his fingers into a fist and unfurled afterwards. "You people really love wasting my ti."
The remaining gang mbers imdiately dropped their weapons while his subordinates cheered loudly.
"That’s our vice-captain!"
"Boss Darius!"
"Teach these dogs!"
Darius ignored the praise entirely, simply staring coldly at the terrified n.
"Next ti you ignore Eagles Print taxes..."
Crackling energy surged faintly around his fist.
"I won’t stop at one punch."
...
Later that evening, Darius sat at a dinner table inside his ho while wearing casual clothes instead of gang attire.
The atmosphere was completely different with warm lights, soft music and the sll of food.
His daughter sat beside him laughing while trying to force vegetables into his mouth.
"Dad! Eat it!"
Darius groaned dramatically.
"I already did."
"No you didn’t!"
His son imdiately joined in.
"Mom! Dad’s cheating again!"
His wife burst into laughter from the kitchen.
"You’re a grown man losing to children again."
Darius leaned back dramatically.
"This house is oppressive."
The kids laughed loudly while his daughter climbed into his lap.
"Dad are you coming to school tomorrow?"
"PTA eting?"
She nodded excitedly.
"You promised."
Darius imdiately softened. "Of course I’m coming."
His son looked shocked. "But you missed the last one!"
Darius coughed awkwardly. "I was working."
His wife walked over carrying plates. "You an throwing gang mbers through buildings?"
Darius looked offended. "Very important work."
She rolled her eyes before kissing his cheek lightly.
The massive terrifying awakener who could flatten buildings smiled like an idiot afterward.
...
The next afternoon at a large restaurant in central Misty High, business seed to be booming as usual... until Eagles Print arrived.
The atmosphere imdiately turned tense as custors looked away nervously while workers stiffened visibly.
Darius and six subordinates casually occupied nearly half the restaurant upon their arrival.
One subordinate snapped his fingers loudly.
"Oi."
"Bring more at."
The owner hurried over nervously.
"O-Of course sir..."
Sweat covered his forehead as Darius leaned back lazily in his chair while eating.
No one had dared asked for paynt because everyone knew better.
One of the younger workers accidentally delayed bringing drinks.
A subordinate imdiately slamd his fist against the table.
BANG!
"Move faster!"
The worker nearly dropped the tray. "S-Sorry!"
Darius chuckled while sipping from his glass. "These new gangs are growing balls lately."
Another subordinate laughed. "They don’t respect seniors anymore."
"Seriously."
One man scoffed while chewing loudly.
"Back then newcors knew their place."
Darius smirked. "That’s why I beat the leader of that new River Dragon gang."
The others burst into laughter imdiately.
"Boss nearly folded him in half!"
"He was crying!"
"They need discipline!"
Darius pointed lazily with his fork.
"Exactly."
"These small gangs get one little victory and suddenly think they’re important."
One subordinate suddenly spoke up. "What about that Shadow Reapers gang though?"
Another nodded. "Yeah. They’ve been all over local news lately."
"They clear ruins insanely fast."
"I heard they only have like ten mbers."
Darius chuckled. "Shadow Reapers?"
He leaned back slightly. "We just haven’t run into them yet."
The n around him grinned while Darius continued casually.
"I’ll whip that pretty little gang leader running around like he knows what he’s doing."
The table exploded with laughter.
"Boss would crush them!"
"Especially their leader!"
"News made him look cold though."
"Cold doesn’t matter when your jaw gets broken."
More laughter erupted while the restaurant owner forced himself to smile as he served them.
...
Later that night at a movie theater downtown, bright fluorescent lights reflected across wet pavent outside while crowds slowly exited the building.
Darius walked alongside his wife and kids while carrying popcorn buckets under one arm.
His daughter held onto his massive hand happily.
"That movie was aweso!"
His son jumped excitedly.
"The dragon fight was crazy!"
Darius laughed. "You two nearly scread the theater down."
His wife nudged him. "You scread too."
"Only to show my support..."
She rolled her eyes. "You’re impossible."
The family continued walking together laughing warmly when suddenly, Darius slowed slightly.
His expression changed as his eyes drifted toward a dark alley across the street.
The laughter around him faded from his senses montarily as that sa feeling returned. For over a week now, he had felt it repeatedly... like soone was watching him.
Darius narrowed his eyes toward the darkness but there was nothing there except for shadows, rainwater and dim lighting...
Still, that strange feeling lingered.
"Dad!" His daughter dragged his pants. "Co on!"
Darius blinked once before looking back down at her smiling face.
"...Yeah." He smiled softly again. "Coming."
•••
•••
~ Two Days Later ~
Darius stepped into his house after returning from another ruin expedition and imdiately, the hairs on the back of his neck rose.
Usually, by this ti, his daughter would already be running around the living room while his son blasted gas loudly from the television.
His wife would either be in the kitchen or curled up on the couch watching sothing while waiting for him to get back.
But at this mont, there was only silence.
The house was completely empty.
Darius frowned slightly. "Honey?"
There was no response. He walked further inside and turned the lights on to observe the surroundings better even though he could clearly feel everything through his awakened senses.
His expression slowly hardened as he imdiately reached down to pull out his phone and dialed the driver he had hired specifically to pick up his children from school daily.
Ring~
Ring~
Ring~
There was no answer. He proceeded to dial the number again and still, the sa situation repeated.
Darius’ eyes narrowed and he proceeded to quickly call the school next.
"Yes, Mr. Bentley," the receptionist said politely.
"My kids... where are they?" Darius inquired with a grim tone.
"Your children were already picked up over an hour ago."
Darius froze. "...What?"
"Yes sir. They left at the usual ti."
His eyes narrowed instantly. "The drive ho is twenty minutes and they still haven’t arrived."
The receptionist hesitated. "...Perhaps traffic?"
"No."
Sothing cold crept into his chest as he further inquired. "Who picked them up?"
"...The driver, I assu?"
Darius imdiately hung up and dialed the driver again.
No matter how many tis the phone rang, there was no answer. After calling for the umpteenth ti, he stopped and dialed the school again.
When the school answered again, his voice had beco terrifyingly calm. "I want you to check the caras."
"...Sir?"
"The person who picked up my children. Was it the regular driver? Check now!"
There was silence for a mont before typing sounds rang out.
"...No," the receptionist sounded nervous now. "It wasn’t."
BOOOOOOM!
Darius punched the wall beside him instantly and concrete exploded apart.
The entire side of the living room cracked violently while dust and debris crashed everywhere.
"WHO DARES TARGET MY FAMILY?!"
"DO THEY HAVE A DEATH WISH?!"
His eyes glowed fiercely with amber light as aura pressure burst throughout the house.
Furniture trembled while windows cracked as he slowly stepped forward.
Soone had actually dared to touch his family... all he could feel at the mont was imasurable bloodlust.
Darius imdiately began making phone calls to the right people... powerful connections with tracking specialties.
His influence as a high-ranking Eagles Print executive imdiately went into motion.
Within minutes, people all across Misty High were searching but still his driver’s phone remained unreachable.
His wife’s phone had been turned off but Darius called his wife’s closest friends next.
Unfortunately, none of them knew anything.
One even nervously asked if everything was alright but he hung up imdiately.
His breathing had already beco uneven and for the first ti in many years, true panic began setting in.
He could handle any enemy... any gang... any ruin... any awakened.
But his children and wife... if anything ever happened to them... that was one thing he couldn’t handle.
And whoever took them sohow bypassed every safeguard he had...
His phone suddenly rang and Darius answered instantly.
"What?!"
"Boss," one of his n spoke quickly. "We got a trace."
Darius imdiately stilled. "Where?"
"It’s strange... but the signal pinged repeatedly from a new resort center at the edge of the city."
Darius’ expression darkened instantly. ’A resort? What kind of kidnapping is this?’
"Send everyone there imdiately."
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