[hr][hr][i][h1]The Ballroom Party.[/h1]
[sub](collaboration between [@Mr Allen J], [@Spoopy Scary], and [@tsukune])[/sub][/i][hr]
[b][code]Oakdell Harbor, White Coast_[/code][/b]

The moment the Black Hound showed up in the ballroom and started to spray the place with bullets from his M60, Shizuka immediately pulled Mika closer to him, and the two of them ducked behind a pillar - wide enough to cover them nicely. [i]Great timing[/i], he thought sarcastically. First the red-dress bitch, and now this. There was no way they could continue to go after Biyu in this situation - one glance at Mika's face told him that they had no other choice but to abandon the plan for the time being. At least until he could find a way to get out of here (and with this girl in tow).

Mika was terrified... the worst possible outcome has occurred. But, they had to focus. Mika couldn't keep Biyu in her thoughts - right now, with the lives of her family at risk... that old bat was secondary at this point. She would have to focus to channel her telepathy to the area around herself... she eventually picked up Meifeng and Lihua, and created a telepathic 'network' with the four.

'[i]Auntie, Cousin, where are you?[/i]'

Meifeng was confused to hear Mika's voice in her head, but she just rolled with it. '[i]Trying not to get filled with hot lead, but we need to come up with a way to get Jiao-Long and the others out of this. Any ideas? Because I'm stuck.[/i]'

'[i]I have an idea...[/i]' Lihua mentally thought. '[i]But, for it to work, we need to regroup... subtly.[/i]'

'[i]Well, Jiao-Long did say there was a basement, right? Right?[/i]'

'[i]Shizuka, this will be a risk, but... phase yourself and Mika through the floor.[/i]' Lihua sent the telepathic message.

It sounded like Lihua had a plan of sorts. '[i]...What do you have in mind?[/i]'

'[i]Phasing the four of us through the floor into the basement... I can maybe create an escape route for the Liu family.[/i]'

Shizuka was beginning to see what Lihua was planning to do. He quickly pulled Mika down to the ground. '[i]Mika, hold you breath,[/i]' he sent a telepathic order to the girl. '[i]And brace yourself.[/i]'

Nodding her head, Mika took in a sharp, yet gentle, breath, and hoped for the best. Without wasting another second, the pair fell through the floor to the basement below. Shizuka had to go slightly below the basement ground to break the fall better, before they resurfaced onto the basement level - which was a dark and dusty room made out of concrete, turned into a maze by various water heaters and plumping.

"Here." He stood up, then bent forward a little to give Mika a hand. "Can you link up with Lihua and Mei telepathically again?"

Nodding her head, Mika was quick to reply. "Yes... but, Meifeng is on the second floor..." she trailed off.

He would have to get Lihua first, then think about how to get to Meifeng later. "Give me the exact location where Lihua is now - I'll go get her first."

Grabbing Shizuka's wrist, it would have been easier to lead him to Lihua rather than just trying to give him her exact location. Mika and Lihua... they were bonded on a mental level, finding her was easy. Eventually turning a corner, Mika pointed directly at Lihua's location.

While it was indeed a faster and clearer way to show him Lihua's position, Shizuka still felt a little unnerved about allowing someone to mess around with his mind. [i]Forget about that[/i] - right now he had more important things to do than some petty privacy shit.

"Thanks," was all he said before he broke the mental link with Mika, and began to move to where Lihua was.

[hr]
Lihua was praying to whatever God that'd listen that they didn't find her back here... she was getting the feeling that the Hound was going to be less receptive of her. She looked over to the bartender who was also taking cover back here, and put a finger to her lips.

'[i]Auntie, Shizuka is on his way.[/i]' Lihua heard the mental voice of Mika. '[i]Be prepared.[/i]'

Peaking upwards, Lihua was quick to reach up and snatch a bottle of red wine before anyone could notice, and she replied to Mika.

'[i]I am ready.[/i]'

Thanks to Mika's accurate telepathic locator, Shizuka was able to pop above the bar ground next to Lihua (it would be extremely awkward if he had appeared [i]inside[/i] that woman's body). He quickly covered the shocked bartender's mouth and silenced him with a look before he turned his attention to the Zhao woman, glaring at the alcohol in her hand. [i]Jesus - she still has the time to care about booze even when everyone's about to go to hell here?[/i]

Grabbing Lihua's shoulder, Shizuka said in a low voice, "Ready?"

Lihua nodded her head - and they disappeared beneath the bar floor, moving to where Mika was waiting for them.

When Lihua hit the ground, she was quick to pop the bottle of wine open with her fingers, before she was quick to down it - sloppily letting some of the wine escape her lips and run down and stain her nice blue dress. Wiping the alcohol away, she was quick to look down Shizuka, and gently put her bottle on the ground so that it doesn't make anymore sound. Alright, their merry party was just missing one member: Meifeng. The problem was that she was on the second floor... and she thought about just launching Shizuka towards her, but that plan was so cartoonish that it's destined to fail.

"Alright... We need to extract Meifeng..." Lihua said as she tried to come up with a plan. Given that the Family probably want Meifeng dead before the Liu family... it was in Lihua's best interests to recover her. "I need a plan that doesn't get her filled with bullets..." She pondered on it tilting her head and putting a hand to support it. She took a few steps away from the two, before her upper body whipped back over towards them. "...Or make the Hound decide to start executing hostages."

"Well, it'd be much easier for me if she can get down to the ground floor..." Shizuka shrugged. "...But it's impossible to do that without ticking the poodle off."

It was irritating... being forced into a corner like this by the Hound.

She turned towards Mika, and said, "Mika, send Meifeng a message, ask her about how it looks up there."

Nodding her head, Mika closed her eyes and focused on Meifeng's mental aura, before sending her a message. '[i]Auntie is trying to devise a plan to get you down here with us... and she wants to know how it looks.[/i]'

When Meifeng received the message, she perked up. Well, she thought about it, and she was under this table, hidden. Out of the direct line of sight, long as she doesn't do anything stupid, she'd stay that way. But, was it really smart to risk getting spotted when she's safe up here? Well, relatively safe - but that wasn't the point. Meifeng knew it was smarter to stay put until the moment's right.

'[i]Sorry, Mika, but I think I'm going to stay right where I am. It just isn't worth the risk...[/i]' Meifeng sent the mental message, and Mika received it instantly.

Nodding her head at Lihua and Shizuka, Mika relayed Meifeng's message to her, "Meifeng has decided to stay put, only so she doesn't draw any attention."

While Lihua would have loved to get her out of the line of fire, she realized that it was for the best. Letting out a sigh, Lihua put her hand on her hip.

"Okay, I have a plan, but with the three of us, it'll certainly be challenging," Lihua began her explanation. "Shizuka, I just need you to distract the Hound, even for a second. While I break the ground beneath the Lius, and get them out of there... But, with the Hound practically on top of my brother, that'll be... [i]difficult[/i]."

She stared Shizuka down, scanning his body language, to determine the [i]real[/i] answer to her next question.

"...Can you manage that, Mr. Takashiro?"

Shizuka carefully considered Lihua's plan; he knew that he was the only one out of all of them who could actually stand a chance against the Hound - from all their previous encounters with that bulldog, it couldn't be any more obvious that regular physical attacks had zero effect on him and his reinforced armor. Besides, there was something else he wanted to try. "...I'll do it," he finally answered with a sigh.

Lihua could only grin.

But there was one more thing he had to add on. "And stop addressing me so formally. It's just weird, especially from [i]you[/i]."

"No," she simply, and bluntly replied.

Shizuka rolled his eyes. "Then don't call me by my first name, [i]ever[/i]. Make up your mind, woman." But he couldn't help smirking at her, some of the pent-up tension being relieved from him.

"...Can we focus?" Mika said, irritated by how irrelevant this conversation was. With every second they were wasting, the Hound was still holding her father hostage and could kill him.

Shizuka merely disregarded the girl's comment and said to Mika in a curt tone, "Continue to keep the telepathic link with Mei. We need her to give us the signal to get this insanity starte---"

...When a child's scream suddenly pierced through the dusty air, cutting him short. He raised an eyebrow at the invisible wave carried by the scream that barely tickled the young man. "Eh, I guess it has already begun."

"...Honghui?" Lihua asked, recalling the boy's ability from last night.

[hr]
Back upstairs, Jiao-Long was tending to Chunhua's injuries while trying to stall for time long as he could.

"...So, I'm waiting for an answer, Mr. Liu," the Hound said to him.

Jiao-Long was hoping his family was up to something, he wasn't sure what - because of this bastard's damn jammer - but he was going have to put his faith in them.

"I don't even know what this machine is..." Jiao-Long said. "What even is it?"

The Hound's eyes flashed red, and Jiao-Long could hear the Hound groaning. "...I have no patience for your blatant stalling, Mr. Liu... and I was under the impression that you were a genius." The Hound slung his machine gun over his shoulder by it's strap. "You've just elected for me to do this [i]the hard way[/i]," the Hound said as he lunged forward, and snatched Jiao-Long's arm, violently yanking him over towards the Hound.

Chunhua put out her hand and tried to protest, "Ji- Jiao-Long..."

"...And since you've made an effort to be difficult, I'll have to bring someone... as [i]insurance[/i]..."  He turned towards Honghui, and marched towards the child.

"Wait, please, I'll do anything!" Jiao-Long said as the Hound dragged him - the man's grip was [i]inhuman[/i]. Jiao-Long couldn't even hope to break free.

"Pleease..." Chunhua slurred, still breathless from the Hound's boot.

Every step that the Hound took, Honghui desperately climbed backwards. First falling out of his chair, then crawling on all fours. The Hound... it frightened the child, almost like the Devil was right here in his face. His massive body, mixed with his glowing red eyes, and the fact that he was terrorizing his father. The child was getting further away from the Hound - when two goons from the Intimidation Unit came by and grabbed Honghui by both arms. Holding him in a grip that he couldn't get away from. Honghui started crying as he thrashed around helplessly.

"Get away..."

The Hound ignored the child as his hand reached out forward to grab Honghui, and that's when the child had reached the peak of his fear - wetting himself, as he was shivering in fear with tears down his eyes. Right when the Hound was about to grab him, that's when something else reached an apex.

"...[i]GET AWAY![/i]"

Honghui shouted - no, [i]screamed[/i] - at the very top of his lungs.

His voice seemed to carry a psychic presence - his mind had sent out a near-invisible wave of mental energy that he had pent up. The fear of the Hound was enough to allow him to awaken it. By sending out this wave, it carried some force with it. Knocking over some glasses on a table, and briefly blowing the partygoers' clothes.

By the time the wave had faded, however, its true effect became apparent.

People began falling unconscious by the boatload. Simply letting out sharp sighs as they fell to the ground. The psychic wave's effect was overpowering the minds of those with weak wills, and knocking them unconscious. However, only the strong-willed people are able to withstand it.

Which were in the minority.

The Hound was completely unaffected by it, Veronica was barely phased by it, Blake was more amused than anything... Tabitha was also completely un-phased other than getting annoyed it ruined her hair.

However, its effect on the entire Liu family was simple: all of them were knocked unconscious. Jiao-Long fell unconscious in the Hound's arm, Chunhua barely had any strength to begin with, and the Liu sisters merely passed out (even Lin, who should be normally resistant to other cerebral abilities).

Honghui had exerted himself so much that he was left without any strength, and like his family, he fell onto his back, unconscious.

"...Holy shit," Meifeng said as she walked over to the edge of the railing, and looked down... honestly, she had zero fucking idea of what just happened. But, the problem was that the Hound was still standing... and all he did was shake his head, as he step over towards Honghui. Well, the Intimidation Unit was knocked unconscious, and that meant she didn't have to worry about getting shot in the ass! Well, she knew that a head on fight with the Hound was not the smartest idea, but like [i]hell[/i] she was going to stand by and let that bastard lay a hand on her youngest cousin.

Abraham watched incredulously as nearly all of the guests in the estate fell unconscious following the child's scream. Now, he had no idea what the hell just happened, or even much of an understanding of what this meant - other than the child's potential as a Metahuman - but there was definitely [i]one[/i] thing that was certain. [i]N.O.[/i] was would be [i]very[/i] interested. On top of whatever mission he had to conduct here, he was also suggested to keep an eye out for these special types of powers, and in addition to that, notify them of, well, notable events. Abe figured that a child screaming causing most of an entire ballroom to go beddy-bye and the Hound's attack on the Liu estate might both qualify. If he had to ask one question, though, why wasn't he one of them?

The inside pocket of his coat held a bug. Abe's hand reached into it, and it pressed a button, activating video and audio functions, and placed it next to the wall beside him, and converted that data into a signal. Rather than sending a signal to a particular source, it emitted a unique and subtle type of long-range signal that could be picked up by anyone looking hard enough. That could inform his employers without giving them away. Now all Abe had to do was wait for an opening that he could take advantage of. This Hound guy was packing serious heat, and decked out in some of the heaviest armor money can buy.

Meifeng hopped over the edge of the railing, ready to fight to the death - she was tired of the Hound and his idiotic rampages. Tired of all this conspiracy theory bullshit. Tired of her family getting threatened by freaks with codenames. Just sick of all of it. Today was the day that Meifeng would clash with the Hound...

[hr][hider=Ace Combat: Assault Horizon OST - Dogfight][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67v5mEbGu0U[/youtube][/hider][hr]
...And the day that the Hound was finally slain.

Mid-descent, Meifeng had summoned water out of her pocket dimension, and with a sharp strike of water, hit the Hound in the back. The Hound was quick to whip around, reaching for his assault rifle... only to hear it drop to the ground. Meifeng kicked it away assisted by a jet of water.

"...Clever," the Hound said as he turned to face Meifeng Zhao, and his scanners locked onto her face.

[quote][code]MEIFENG ZHAO.

Captain in RAVEN. Survivor of the Verthaven disaster and leading member of RAVEN. Possess water manipulation, and a seeming hydrokinetic storage ability.

Threat Level: Moderate.[/code][/quote]
The Hound's eyes flashed red as he was quick to carry Jiao-Long over his shoulder rather than just dragging his limp body around.

"Meifeng Zhao," the Hound said, hand drifting towards his revolver. "...You should have stayed behind cover."

Quickly whipping out his revolver, Meifeng only had a second to react. She slammed her fist onto the ground, and surrounded herself in a pillar of ice - enough to stop the Hound's first round, but the second threw it over the edge. It only took a quick second before Meifeng carved arrow-heads made out of ice, and sent them flying towards the Hound.

It was trivial, the Hound merely swung his arm and shattered them all with his frightening strength.

However, that was just a distraction, Meifeng pulled her pistol out of her purse, and aimed down the sights... aiming for one target, and one delicious target alone. She would have to be careful, or else she would hit Jiao-Long. The Hound was quick to recover, before Meifeng fired one shot, and that one shot hit the Hound in the waist - doing zero obvious damage to him.

"Bullseye!" Meifeng said with a smile as she ducked behind a table.

The Hound holstered his pistol, and reached towards his waist... grabbing the signal jammer that he had proudly displayed earlier - but with a bullet-hole through it. The Hound had crushed it in his hands and threw it to the ground.

The Hound knew she was just... distracting him. Honestly, he should drop Jiao-Long and kill her instead, but he had a job to do... and he had a faint respect for the girl.

[hr]
There were bullets above them, and Lihua was honestly terrified of what that meant. For all she knew, the massacre could have begun. There was a static-y sound in the comms, and she had a feeling what happened.

"Meifeng, what is going on up there?" Lihua asked.

"...Well, I don't know myself, but a lot of people are currently unconscious," Meifeng said. "...And it's me, the Hound, and all this collateral damage waiting to happen," She groaned in irritation as the Hound kept her pinned down with his revolver as he walked back towards Honghui.

"Can you get your ass up here?! He's after Honghui, and all I can do is tickle him!" Meifeng said.

She looked at Shizuka, and nodded. "Let's go." In response, Shizuka simply grabbed the arms of the two women and pulled them above ground, then released them.

Lihua was quick to duck down - while Mika switched to another power of hers. It was time for Mika to put herself to use, to show these two that she's more than just mind. A white aura surrounded herself as Mika slowly extended her hand forward. She created a white, near-transparent, bubble of her own mental energy around them. And they needed it - a stray shot from the Hound hit the shield, and bounced off. Mika yelped in surprise - almost dropping the shield.

Lihua scanned the area to the best of her ability, and saw the Hound with her brother over his shoulder... and that made this more difficult because they ran the risk of injuring Jiao-Long by shooting at him wildly. Tripping the Hound also ran the risk of injuring Jiao-Long. They need to get him to let go of Jiao-Long...

Then a devious light-bulb activated in Lihua's head.

"Takashiro," Lihua said to him. "Remember my distraction...?"

"Yeah, yeah," was Shizuka's unenthusiastic reply, pulling out the survival knife from his back and spinning it by the hilt in his hand once. He didn't have any qualms to go with whatever crazy plan Lihua had in that [i]brilliant[/i] head of hers, but he had something else [i]better[/i] in mind. "...But I'll need you to use your power to stall the Hound. Trap him in concrete or whatever to stop him in his tracks, even if it's just for one second."

It wasn't going along with her own plan, but she had faith in Shizuka. Enough faith to trust him. She focused on the Hound for a moment, before she took in a deep sigh, closing her eyes. In a flowing motion, she brought her hands from her waist, up into the air as she was lifting an object up. She was manipulating what little concrete was underneath the Hound's feet, and quickly bound one of his legs in concrete. Effectively restraining him. The Hound was too busy focusing on Meifeng, and when his foot was caught, he stopped for a moment.

At the same time Lihua started to work on her power, Shizuka quickly slipped beneath the ground, phasing to the position right under where the Hound was trapped. Then he suddenly resurfaced just behind the Hound, the knife slicing through the Hound's head in one quick flash. No, the blade didn't even leave a single mark on the Black Hound, because the knife simply ghosted through his skull harmlessly... but it was more than enough to distract him from the things around him, including Jiao-Long.

Shizuka wasn't aiming for the Hound - he was going for that dumb helmet of his. A service for his comrades - by putting the Hound's precious computerized helmet [i]out of service[/i].

Without wasting another second, he went for the unconscious Jiao-Long...

"...Oh no, you don't," With the helmet out of commission, the Hound's voice distortion technology was disabled. He didn't know who was attacking him, but he had a defense for that. He reached towards his belt, and pressed a button. An electric charge was suddenly sent through his entire armor - not powerful enough to cause lasting damage, but enough to stun for a few moments.

[i]Oh fuck[/i], Shizuka swore internally, annoyed at the [i]un[/i]necessary precaution instead of relying fully on his Darth Vader mask. He was forced to pull back to avoid the shock, then disappeared into the ground once more before the Hound could catch on him.

Hmph, that should buy him some time. With his helmet disabled, the Hound had always carried other means of communication. He pressed a button on his armor that sent a remote signal to Zenith. A portal had opened behind him, and he twisted his body the best he could towards it.

"Damn it!" Meifeng shouted as she hopped over cover, landing on two mounds of water that she skated across the ballroom floor towards the Hound. Trying to desperately get Jiao-Long free...

...But, it was too late, the Hound threw Jiao-Long's unconscious body into the portal, before it closed behind him. Meifeng came to a stop, clenching her fists as the Hound slammed his fist against the concrete that was around his foot, and shattered it into pieces.

"Jiao-Long!" Lihua shouted, losing her composure for a moment. Damn it. The Family now has Jiao-Long, and his intellect, at their disposal. She clenched her fist, she was going to get him back. No matter the cost.

"Damn it!" Meifeng said, before she faced the Hound dead on. "Alright, Houndie, I'm going to give you one chance to give me back my uncle." She dropped into stance.

"...I'd be careful, Meifeng," Lihua said as she took Meifeng's side. Folding one arm over her chest, and had one finger graced up against her cheek. "If he got what he came for, he would have left by now..."

"That is correct," the Hound said as he reached down towards his belt, and pulled out a canister of Meta-suppressant gas.

"Aw, damn it!" Meifeng said as she was quick to run towards cover.

"Well, isn't this fucking great..." Abe muttered as a frustrated scowl plastered over his face. Just like that, the Hound was able to steal away his ticket for an easy ride into RAVEN. He didn't have the time to go through all the bureaucratic bullshit! Jiao-Long was a [i]key[/i] ally in this fight, and now he's gone! He was glad RAVEN's agents were here, since his training usually involved in capturing a hostage, not rescuing one - but that meant jack if they let [i]this[/i] asshole get away with whatever it was that he wanted.

Between the distractions provided by the Hero of Prague, the rooting by what looked to be another terrakinetic - likely Zhao Lihua - and Danny Phantom ghosting around the Hound's head like an annoying fly, Abe had time to convert the surface of his body into solid rock underneath his clothes. He had to figure something out. [i]Shoot him?[/i] There's a chance he'd miss. The wrist was a small target, and a snub nosed ruger wasn't known for precision aiming. Rooting him down? He could still detonate the canister. Throwing him through the air? Entertaining, but that didn't solve the canister issue. One idea came to mind, but his control over earth excelled in power where it lacked in fluidity. Zhao Lihua could probably pull it off, but they likely weren't exactly reading the same book, never mind the same [i]page[/i]. Hell, she didn't even know he existed! Still, this was the only idea that seemed like it wouldn't backfire on him. Setting his hands against the tile, he moved slowly to gain some theoretical 'leverage' as he dug the concrete out of the ground and uprooted the tiling above it. [i]Now, where is she...[/i]

Lihua had retreated far back. Her old bones were not suited for up front fighting like the other young-ins. Especially against the likes of the Hound, it was best that she would support Meifeng from afar. She noticed that Honghui had disappeared - and she instantly knew what had happened. Oh, that Takashiro, she would really need to give him much more credit. Lihua was quick to pick up on his plan, and figured that she'd buy some time to keep this snarling dog distracted while Shizuka would get the important people out of the way. Then... if she had to guess how this would end, the Hound would realize that he has no stakes here, and leave - that was the best case. He may persistently pursue the Liu family, and she hoped that Shizuka would get them far away from here, but there was only so much he could do. Such was life.

As Lihua retreated back, she fell into Abe's line of sight. [i]There, now's my chance.[/i] Mirroring the way he grabbed hold of Jiao-Long's attention, he made a sharp whistle toward her direction. The moment she fell behind cover and looked around to see who it was, Abe began signing directions to her. He set the small boulder in his lap, and waved his hands in and out on either side of his head - ASL for [i]pay attention[/i]. The moment he was sure he captured her attention, he continued: [i]He is... going to... throw... rock[/i] - one fist tapping the top of the other - [i]You...[/i] The next sign didn't have a real definition, but it was just as possible he was demonstrating what the plan was. He pointed to the Black Hound, raised a fist, and wrapped his other hand around it. He raised his hand and flicked the air next to his forehead. The sign for asking if she had understood. He wasn't sure if she understood signing, but assuming her reputation didn't precede her, then he had to at least hope she got the general idea.

While Lihua was focused on trying to come up with a plan that could take that canister out of the picture, there was a whistle that would have been lost if this fight had been more chaotic. She turned her head, and saw a tall man wearing a suit. He was still standing after Honghui had knocked everyone else out... clearly, he had something that everyone else didn't, or else he'd be on the ground right now. Instead of using words, the man had elected to use sign-language. Clever, because the Hound would catch on otherwise. He did a series of hand gestures to convey a message. She kept one eye on this mysterious man, and the other on the Hound - focusing more on the Hound because of obvious reasons. What had caught her eye was how he raised his fist, and covered it... Ah. She got his plan [i]perfectly[/i].

Lihua nodded her head, answering him with ASL: [i]understood[/i].

Meifeng was taking cover behind a pillar, a stray shot slammed into the side of it and blew out a large chunk. She was [i]glad[/i] she wasn't on the receiving end of that giant ass revolver - one shot would be enough to kill her. Now, she wished that she brought the containment foam, but she never expected the God damn [i]Black Hound[/i] to show up at the party. But, first, she had one problem: that God damn gas. If he set it off in here, then everyone's screwed. That gas would fill the room, and it's bed-bye for her and the Liu family... and Meifeng regretted not bringing a damn gas mask. Ugh. Everything was spiraling out of her control. Going utterly tits-up. She needed to get that canister out of his hand, and do it fast.

The best Meifeng could do was encase it in ice! Yeah, that sounded great... if it didn't rely on Meifeng air sealing it - oh, or [i]hope[/i] the Hound doesn't just break it with his retard strength!

The Hound was about to throw the canister, but his stride was broken when his foot was bound to the ground. He looked at the ground, and groaned in irritation. Ms. Zhao was becoming to be a pain in the ass. Even from this range - several meters away - she was fully capable of her terrakinesis. He would rather not waste time, and he cocked his arm backwards to throw it. Abraham whipped around cover, body made of stone, with a small boulder resting in his hand that would otherwise be too heavy for any normal human too carry. He swung his arm back, and with a little extra juice from his terrakinesis, launched it across the ballroom with a powerful throw, shooting towards the Hound. If Lihua could make it work in time, even the Hound would have a hard time breaking out of this thing. It might just slow him down enough that they would have the advantage over him.

The Zhao matriarch was perfectly capable of what Abe had in mind. Her eagle-eyes were focused on the stone, and had to time it [i]perfectly[/i]. She held her breath as time seemingly slowed down for her. Right when the Hound was about to throw it, Lihua slammed both her fists together, and crossed both arms in front of her chest. The stone broke open around the Hound's hand, then quickly wrapped around it. It was easy binding it to his hand, and now he was unable to move the canister. No matter. The Hound held the stone binding in front of him, and cocked his other fist back, and sent a mighty punch that sent a boom through the room. He broke through most of the boulder with ease, all it took was one more solid hit...

Meifeng wasn't having any of that, she was quick to sprint out of cover and catch the Hound off guard. The Hound was quick to notice, and use the boulder as a mace. Meifeng quickly slid under it on her knees, and she could feel the [i]force[/i] of what would have been a death blow. However, Lihua managed to slow him down, at least. Her arm bound by the boulder went straight down, and hit the ground, and he found it difficult to lift it. Because Lihua was preventing it from moving from sheer willpower. Even his mighty strength wasn't enough to lift it. When Abe started working in unison with Lihua, there was no escaping his dreadful anchor.

Which meant Meifeng was free to utterly [i]wale on[/i] the Hound. She grinned as she channeled the anger of all the people the Hound murdered as she drew water out of her pocket dimension, and threw a valiant punch assisted by a near tidal wave that sent the Hound sliding backwards. Breaking him out of the stone fixture that had bound him to the ground, but not helping with this situation. All he had to do was punch it one more time.

[hr]
Both Blake and Veronica were, for the sake of concealing their own identities, staying out of it. Fortunately, Blake had full faith that the Hound could recover the targets; unfortunately, he was currently bound to a rock. Ah. Quite annoying, but fortunately, an easily solvable problem. He raised his hand up into the air, and it was surrounded in a wavy tan aura, and he swiped his hand across - channeling his own power, and shattering the rock into pieces.

[i]Now then, Hound...[/i] Blake thought to himself. [i]...Play your part.[/i]

[hr]
The orb of stone had fallen off the Hound, but the canister he had over his hand was still in tact, albeit damaged. He was dead set on killing them, but, he realized something...

...He was surrounded by enemies, and he didn't have to even fight them. His objective was not to kill these people, but to recover Jiao-Long and a family member to [i]convince[/i] him. With his signal jammer offline, that meant the LEOs were definitely on the way, and the Hound wasn't equipped for a massacre like the mall. He was equipped to intimidate. He had a secret weapon that turn the tides of this battle. At least buy him some time to grab one of the Lius. After the Black Hound had mysteriously broken free from his restraints, Abe broke into a mad, seemingly slow sprint to join Meifeng in the brawl. Totally comprised of stone, each heavy step shattered the tile beneath him as they propelled him forward. As he gained momentum, so did he gain speed, but the Hound's plans required him elsewhere, away from this fight. He reached into his armor, and suddenly threw a black, circular, device with a small canister with a glowing red liquid - the same device that he had affixed to Haruka in the mall - into the air towards them.

"Mika!" Meifeng shouted as she dove for cover, and the device was suspended into the air by Mika's telekinesis. A glowing white aura caught it as she was desperate to keep it in the air. Everyone tried to run for cover. Lihua had created a stone dome for herself to shield her from the blast, while Meifeng dove behind one of the pillars. Abe, in his stone form, couldn't create the kind of cover for himself that Lihua had and was forced to join Meifeng behind the pillar, and used his body to potentially shield off some of the effect from the coming explosion.

He pressed a button on his detonator, and the device was set off - sending a bright-red wave of energy in all directions. This energy would suppress any superpower in all that it touches, for a few minutes, of course. Mika uselessly attempted to create a shield that was nullified by the anti-Metahuman energy, and did little to stop it. But, it was less of trying to disable everyone's powers, and more of getting them to scatter like roaches while he gets his target. And it was the perfect distraction for the Hound.

All the while, the Hound was running back towards the table... only to see that the entire Liu family was [i]gone[/i]. Ah, it was a guise for Takashiro to get them to safety. He should have known better.

However, Shizuka was not fast enough... his eyes laid on the one person he had forgotten about.

Chunhua Liu.

[hr][hider=The Garden of Sinners 5 OST - 11-M12][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXrSKTTyMIQ[/youtube][/hider][hr]
Shizuka scowled as he was forced to duck back down to the basement to avoid being caught on by the Hound. At least he got the helmet and removed the Hound's greatest advantage against them, which should be of some help to Lihua and co. - hopefully. While he let his body to recover a bit from the continuous use of his power just now, his mind was reconsidering the situation and the options he had. He would have to give up on saving Jiao-Long because it seemed like the Hound (i.e. the Family) were in desperate need of that man. He had a very good idea why the Family would go to this length just for [i]one old man[/i]...

[i]...Save the explanation for later.[/i] Right now, there was something else he could do to save this situation, even if it's just a little bit.

He moved to position himself just below the table where the rest of the unconscious Liu family were; rumbling noises and gunshot sounds from above echoed throughout the dim basement - and that made him broke out a smirk. [i]Good, just continue to keep that dog busy while I do this.[/i] Taking in a deep breath, he popped back above ground and quickly yanked the nearest Liu - Honghui - down to the basement with him, then followed that up with the Liu girls, Lin, Jia-Li and Huifang.

One more to go.

He resurfaced for the fifth time to get Chunhua, but narrowed his eyes to see her gone from where he had last seen her... Then it was turned to horror when he looked up at the towering back of the Black Hound walking away from the table. He had someone over his shoulder.

And that someone was none other than Chunhua.

[hr]
As the smoke cleared, one thing had become apparent. The Hound had ceased all hostilities. Meifeng was hoping that this was his escape as she dove from behind cover. Lihua also dropped the shield, and stood straight up. But, the first thing that the two Zhaos saw was the Hound... and their jaws dropped.

[i]He has Chunhua.[/i]

The Hound immediately pressed an emergency button on his armor - the same one he used when he recovered Jiao-Long - and a portal opened behind him. He quickly turned towards it. "...It was a fun spar," he mockingly said. "But, I got what I came for."

"No!" Meifeng shouted as she uselessly dove towards the Hound - Lihua was about to throw whatever of the concrete rubble around her that she could, and Abe quickly whipped around with a snub-nosed ruger from inside his coat pocket and aimed for a shot between the Hound's eyes... but, then the Hound stepped in, and then the portal closed behind him. Meifeng had hit the ground, and ended with a skid. She slammed her fist against the ground in anger. They couldn't buy enough time for Shizuka! "Damn it!" Meifeng shouted.

Lihua let out a sharp hiss as she quickly pulled herself together. Their plan had fallen apart so thoroughly that it was [i]amazing[/i] they got out in one piece. One thing's for certain, while they did delay him, the Hound got exactly what he wanted. Ugh. This was annoying, but there wasn't much that they could do right now other than go after the Family... something that Lihua felt the need to participate in, only because she was no longer standing on the sidelines. She was going to save her brother, no matter the cost.

"Calm yourself, Meifeng," Lihua said. "We at least saved Honghui and the sisters," she added.

"But, we also---" Meifeng said, before she remembered one thing. "...Well, while Houndie has uncle and auntie Chunhua, he sure as hell ain't going to have him forever."

"Let us regroup with Shizuka, and we'll come up with a plan," Lihua said, before she pressed her earpiece. "Takashiro, what is your status?"

She got no answer.

[i]Damn it.[/i] Lihua thought to herself. She was hoping that Shizuka was alright. There was something else coming to mind. Someone that had helped. Before Lihua turned towards the man that had helped.

"I'd like to thank you for your assistance, regardless," she said, and the man caught Meifeng's eye immediately.

Abraham was just finished swearing under his breath as putting his gun away in his coat's inside pocket, with his skin turning back to normal as the rock seemed to recede to nowhere. He looked back to Lihua and there was no particular gratitude or optimism to be found in him. "You can thank me once we get Jiao-Long back," Abe grumbled. "When we [i]do[/i], call me Abraham. Anyway, I'm gonna take a [i]wild[/i] guess and say that was the Black Hound?"

"Yup. Grade-A asshole," Meifeng said. Putting a hand on her hip. She had no idea of who this guy was, but if he was willing to help them against the Hound, then maybe he earned her allegiance.

"That's it for him then?" Abe noted sarcastically. "So he's well equipped, but the Black [i]Bitch[/i] himself doesn't seem like anything special."

"Believe me," Meifeng said. "He's a pain in the ass - nobody can kill 'im - and he shows up at the [i]worst[/i] moments, this was just proof of it." Even though he wasn't that challenging against them, he did successfully take both Jiao-Long and Chunhua, and that meant he was priority in Meifeng's eyes.

"Nobody, eh?" Abe mused silently. "Remind me to tell you a couple stories about a meta named Titus... [i]but long story short,[/i] that doesn't mean I can't beat 'em."

"Yeah, ain't that true?" Meifeng said with a laugh, as she recalled what happened to Luis... Unlike this 'Titus' fellow, Meifeng wasn't fond of bringing him up. She threw a thumb over her shoulder at Lihua, and said, "But, we have to go find the [i]real[/i] hero here - hopefully, he didn't get killed..." she trailed off, recalling that this dog didn't roam alone.

[hr][hider=The Garden of Sinners 3 OST - 05-M06][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTKZlLay79c[/youtube][/hider][hr]
Not only did he fail to secure Jiao-Long, but he also had to lose Chunhua to the Hound.

Shizuka could only grit his teeth and return back to the basement, looking at the remaining Lius still unconscious on the floor. Now wasn't the time to lament about the things that were out of his hands; he would just have to get these four out of the ballroom area fast, then regroup with the Zhaos. The Liu parents could wait - he was certain that the Family wouldn't kill them yet, because it would be stupid to do so and lose such an important asset for the 'machine' they were making.

However, there was no way he could carry three grown-up women on top of a brat boy all alone out of this place. He knelt down on one knee, and shook the shoulders of Lin, Jia-Li and Huifang as hard as he could. "C'mon, wake up," he muttered. "Open your eyes..."

"...What---" Lin groggily said as her eyes slowly opened. Her mind's eye was also opening, letting her telepathy poke into the minds of those around her. Even though she was stunned, she could look into Shizuka's mind, and figure out what had happened. Honghui! She thought that her telepathy was enough to shield herself from his strange ability, but maybe because she was so close to him that it bypassed her shield? It didn't matter, they were in this dusty basement. She looked around as her sisters awakened.

"Oh, what the hell happened...?" Huifang said, rubbing the side of her head as the tomboy sat up. "Where the hell am I? What the..."

"Huifang, calm yourself," Lin said as she scooted over towards her sister, before she looked at Shizuka. "...We are in safe hands." She smiled warmly.

At this point, Jia-Li had already awoken, she looked around, and then asked, "...Where is father? Where is mother?"

Relieved that the girls had all awoken and appeared to be fine, Shizuka stood up and moved to pick up Honghui. "We can't stay here - we have to leave now before they find us down here. Let's go---"

"[i]...I never thought I'd meet the man that the Spirit of Fire was speaking so[/i] highly [i]of,[/i]" a mysterious voice (speaking in Japanese rather fluently) came from the shadows, accompanied by the tap of a cane against the stone floor. "[i]But, what's most surprising is that you're[/i] interfering[i]...[/i]"

Shizuka froze - while he didn't recognize the voice of the speaker, the one key phrase that was spoken was enough to tell him who this person was affiliated to. His held the Liu boy closer to him.

"[i]...I don't know what you're talking about. I'm only here as Mika's date, that's all,[/i]" he responded in his native tongue and kept his voice even, arranging his face to make a confused expression before turning around slowly to face the speaker...

A light appeared as the mysterious woman raised a finger, and simply generated it. A simple usage of her ability. She illuminated the entire area around herself, and showed her less-than-pleased face to Shizuka and the sisters.

"[i]Nonetheless,[/i]" Biyu said, disregarding the comment. "[i]The Liu family affairs do not concern you - especially since you should be worrying about your own blood.[/i]"

She then looked at Honghui in his arms, and put her hands out. "[i]Polaris has business with you that doesn't concern the Lius in the slightest. So, politely return Honghui to me, and go about your way.[/i]"

Shizuka stared at Biyu with a narrow look, still holding onto Honghui firmly in his arms. Not only was he suspicious about her conversing with him in Japanese (probably so that her granddaughters wouldn't understand what they were actually talking about), she seemed to know an awful lot about him and his family - well, Jiao-Long did say that Biyu was a high-ranking member in Polaris as much as in the Family. "[i]...What do you mean by that?[/i]" He had a bad feeling about this... he would have to talk to Holly about it after he was done with all this bullshit.

"[i]Ah...[/i]" Biyu was about to get rather [i]mouthy[/i], but she would rather not waste time here. What she wanted was separate from what Xing Huo wanted, after all. "[i]...You'll find out soon enough.[/i]"

But, she was done with this rhetoric... she tapped her cane against the ground, and stared him down. Giving him an offer he couldn't refuse, "[i]...But, if hand over my grandson, I'll tell you[/i] everything [i]you need to know[/i]."

Shizuka was getting pissed at this old fart. She sure knew how to corner him - he would have to choose between two families: his own, or the Zhaos. It was one, [i]or[/i] the other. His old self would have picked his own family without a second thought, but the him now could think much [i]further[/i] - that it was just an easy way out to sacrifice the Zhaos, and that karma would come back to hurt his family again, worse than before. While he might not be buddy-buddy with Lihua (yet), he wasn't stupid to throw away the little trust they were slowly (but surely) building up with each other. Besides, Lihua would be a great asset for him in the long run, with her expansive experience as a former NEST agent - what's more, she was once a top intelligence officer, and intelligence was Shizuka's area of expertise (also, she had owed him [i]a lot[/i] of favors). There was also Meifeng and her uncontrollable wrath against the Hands, which was already bad enough for him to deal with... so bad that he didn't need to put [i]himself[/i] on her kill-list too. With his hands tied down because of Honghui, he couldn't slap the suppressant collar onto this decaying hag and complete the plan he was here for. He also could easily see what Biyu's real goal was: if he handed Honghui over to her, it would be [i]the end[/i] for the Lius - and the Zhaos.

[i]...Wait, there is a way.[/i] It would be risky - Biyu was indeed a sly bitch as Lihua had warned him numerous times during the night meeting before the party - but it was worth a shot. Besides, if they wanted to escape from here, he would need to get rid of Biyu first. Most people of his age wouldn't pay much attention towards a seemingly frail lady like Biyu, but Shizuka knew better than to underestimate someone just because of their appearance. While he might have the upper hand in terms of physical strength, this rotting fox was obviously no different from him - the type who knew how to make use their brains to overcome disadvantages in power, with everything they could use to turn the tides to their own favor.

[i]Well then, let the battle of wits begin.[/i]

"[i]...Alright,[/i]" he said in resignation, and walked slowly towards Biyu. As he moved his arms forward, seemingly to hand Honghui over to her, he grabbed onto the old hag's wrist and channeled his power into her body, preventing her from using her light power to teleport out of the basement. "[i]Now[/i] talk[i].[/i]"

Right when Biyu thought he was playing into her hands - just to get some consolidation of his own - he pulled this trick. The first thing Biyu did was try to break free... but, it was pointless. She was an old woman, and he was a young man in his prime... it truly was an up-hill battle for her. So, best that she played along. But, that didn't mean she had to tell him [i]everything[/i], or even anything [i]useful[/i].

"[i]Alright, you've got your way, I'll tell you everything,[/i]" Biyu said, as she stared him in the eye. "[i]When I first heard of Polaris... I was just a little girl. My family only had the roof over our heads. And to support us, my father joined the military and served it for years... I don't know what that did, but he suddenly gained a lot of money and power. Enough to earn us a big home in Shanghai... and eventually, I was married into the Liu Family... the older Liu Family... Different from the people you see here today.[/i]"

She intended to drone on, and on, and on... about literally a story she was pulling out of her ass.

"[i]Years later, I realized that he was apart of Polaris, and so was I, by extent. They entranced with their ambitions... and they gave me a good reason to play along...[/i]"

Shizuka was feeling more and more irritated as Biyu rambled on - he knew he wasn't going to get anything useful out of this cunning hag, but he would give her one last try. "Whatever. [i]Just give me the names of the current leaders in that goddamn cult you worship so much.[/i]"

"[i]...And I said that I'll tell you[/i] everything." Biyu grinned. "[i]I'll get to that after... hmmm... two decades being the Liu matriarch. Or my many adventures of Polaris.[/i]" She couldn't hold back the laughter... but, this boy could go die in a fire. What she wanted was Honghui. Though, she was hoping that, by annoying him, she could create an opening. And she could see it. Biyu was quick to attempt to snatch Honghui away from Shizuka, whipping her whole body around in an attempt to get him to break contact. All she needed to do was to get away for one second, and she'd teleport far away from him and leave him looking stupid...

...But she didn't expect Shizuka to simply snatch Honghui back through her body - [i]literally[/i] - then he finally broke contact with Biyu and stepped back with the boy, away from the old bitch. He had been waiting for her to make that move. "[i]If I can't get what I want, then the same goes for you,[/i]" he smirked at her. "[i]It's only fair, yeah?[/i]"

Biyu lost her composure. Gritting her teeth and staring at Shizuka with her eyes wide. Instead of clenching her fist, she spawned a light in her hand... but, it wasn't any regular light. It was an orb that appeared to be a miniature sun in her hand. The flames of the sun were dancing as Biyu held this baseball sized orb. The heat it gave off could faintly be felt by Shizuka, which didn't tell good things about what it would do if it hit him. "[i]...I'll kill you![/i]" Biyu shouted in her native language, cocking her arm back like she was going to throw it---

And her eyes landed on Honghui.

Then the orb disappeared; she regained her composure, and brushed her hair. "[i]...You are certainly a troublesome one. I don't even know what use Xing Huo intends to get out of you...[/i]" Biyu bitterly said to Shizuka in Chinese. Simply dropping that [i]stupid[/i] facade. "[i]...They should just kill you and your useless brother before you become an even bigger pain in the ass.[/i]" She scoffed.

She knew when she faced defeat, and would rather retreat and come up with a better strategy than uselessly charge at Shizuka. Potentially injuring the child that she wanted in her care. She took a few steps away from Shizuka, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"[i]One last thing... That power of yours...[/i]" Biyu pointed her cane at him. "[i]...Do you[/i] really [i]think it belongs to you?[/i]"

Not even giving Shizuka a moment to ponder, a bright flash of light engulfed Biyu. This light was so bright that it would hurt like [i]hell[/i] to stare into it. Almost like a flashbang... but, much worse. By the time the light had faded, Biyu was gone.

Shizuka had instinctively raised an arm to shield his eyes, while his other arm still made sure Honghui was wedged to him, in case Biyu tried any more funny tricks. That moment when she had summoned the light orb in her hand almost threw his plan off the grid (he totally didn't expect her to lose her cool like that), but thank goodness the still-sleeping boy in his arms saved him from getting roasted by a mad witch. Even though his eyes managed to avoid the blinding flash, the sheer heat from her power had made the basement too warm for them to stay any longer.

[i]I know[/i], he thought about what the last words Biyu had said to him. [i]And that's why I want to get to the bottom of all this, to know the[/i] whole [i]truth.[/i] There was also one more thing that she had revealed to him, in the midst of her bitter defeat - a name. [i]Xing Huo.[/i] From the sound of it, it must be the name of the Fire Spirit she had mentioned, and this person was very interested in him. [i]But why?[/i]

With a tired sigh, he finally turned to the confused faces of the three Liu sisters. "...Save your questions for later - we really need to get out of here. [i]Now.[/i]"

As they were moving out of the basement, Shizuka briefly looked upwards. Seemed like the fight upstairs had concluded - no more sounds of smashing stones and shooting guns. He pressed his earpiece. "Lihua, Honghui and the Liu sisters are all safe with me. Requesting for meet-up point so we can regroup with you."

"I guess the main hall should be good... we have to break the news to the Liu Sisters regardless," Lihua spoke over the comms, letting out a sigh.

"Understood."

[hr]
Everyone involved had gathered in the center of the ballroom, near the cake table, and at this point, the effects of Honghui's power were beginning to wear off. One by one, everyone slowly began to awaken. They were all probably confused about what had happened, or they were complaining about how their suits or dresses were ruined. But, that was irrelevant to the ones that were fighting desperately to keep the Hound away. They needed to come up with a plan if they were going to go after the Hound, and get Jiao-Long and Chunhua back.

It didn't take much guessing for the Liu sisters to figure out what happened.

"Father and mother... are gone?" Lin remorsefully said, looking off to the side. "...I cannot understand what father had that the armored man wanted so much that he had to ruin a [i]birthday party[/i] to get it."

"His talents are useful to the Family," Lihua said, letting out a sigh. "They would stop at nothing to have him... so they sent their favorite dog after us..."

"Will you be able to get our parents back, auntie?" Jia-Li asked, giving the Zhao matriarch puppy-dog eyes. "I mean... you're the only person who really can, really." Jia-Li awkwardly shuffled her feet.

It was easy to see why Jia-Li (and the rest of them) felt that way, they [i]were[/i] family, and despite their [i]years[/i] of petty squabbling... It began with them, and it sure as hell would end with them. She closed her eyes, and inhaled.

"...Yes," Lihua said, as she exhaled. "...I'll have to break a personal vow to do it, but I [i]will[/i]."

Meifeng put her hands on the side of her head as her face went slack from shock.

"And what about me?" Meifeng pointed two thumbs at herself. "A living legend, in the flesh."

Whereas Abe wore an amused smirk, Shizuka rolled his eyes at Meifeng. [i]Who gives a shit about heroism when there are more important things to deal with now?[/i] "We don't need to rush to save Jiao-Long and Chunhua," he finally spoke up. "The Family won't kill them yet, and we don't even know where they've been taken through their portal. But we have to do something to keep Honghui safe, out of the Family's reach if possible." Biyu's action just now in the basement was clear to him that Chunhua wasn't their real target but Honghui, who was the best hostage choice to pressure Jiao-Long to do the Family's bidding.

"But at the same time, we don't know what the Family's workin' on, Shizuka," Meifeng said, as an echo to what Lihua said in the bar.

"All I know is that the Family's working on a dangerous machine... which they are desperate to get the most brilliant scientists all over the world to work on it," Shizuka said quietly. "And they're in desperate need for Jiao-Long's expertise, so badly enough to crash this party. That's why I'm certain they won't hurt them for now." Then he glanced at Honghui. "But they might try to get his only son to threaten him better."

"I'm surprised that, by now, you haven't hit the bastards with a localized e-bomb," Abe commented dryly. "Tech seems like their biggest strength."

"...For now, it is for the best that the Liu family leaves Baybridge," Lihua said. "Because it is becoming more and more apparent that you all are in danger here." And more importantly, the Liu estate has been compromised. It wouldn't surprise her if it was burned to the ground the very next night. What Lihua also wanted was for the Lius to take Lijuan out of here.

"Auntie..." Lin was about to protest, before she nodded. "...Very well. I know of a place we can stay in Black Fall."

"And if you are looking for father, then I am going to help," Mika stepped up, nodding her head after she realized she was done being useless and standing by.

"Yeah, Mika, no," Meifeng said. "We're going up against the A-listers here... Wait..." It suddenly occurred to Meifeng as she whipped her head around towards her mother. "What are [i]you[/i], a civilian, going to do to help bring Jiao-Long back?"

"...Something I [i]really[/i] do not want to do." Lihua said.

With a quick scan of her mind, Mika [i]immediately[/i] knew what Lihua meant, but chose to keep it to herself.

"Yeah, that's really reassuring, Mom," Meifeng said.

"Well... I'm as deep in this shitstorm as you all." Shizuka let out a mirthless chuckle. "Biyu almost tried to kill me just now in the basement." He glanced at the Liu sisters, who confirmed what he had said with a nod. He wasn't surprised at all that both the Family and Polaris would love to have a piece of him - just like what Biyu had said, that he was probably one of the most troublesome to deal with among those who were fighting to bring them down, a wild card that had foiled their [i]perfect[/i] plans twice so far.

"Wait, you ran into Biyu?" Lihua asked, raising an eyebrow. "What exactly did she want...?"

"Honghui," was Shizuka's curt answer. "She most likely wanted to hand her own grandson over to the Family by herself to suck their dicks." He chose not to tell the girls about the other bit of information - about Polaris, which only concerned him and had nothing to do with the Lius or Zhaos. Besides, they already had their hands full with the kidnapped Jiao-Long and his wife to spare a thought for him, an outsider who was just unfortunate to get dragged into their family business. There was no need to get them involved in [i]his[/i] own family affairs too.

"But first, let's wrap up this party or whatever. Get everyone out of here." He gestured at the ruined ballroom. "There's no point in continuing... not in this state."

Once again, Meifeng was still annoyed that her little cousin had to go through all this shit on his [i]birthday[/i] of all days. Her eyes landed on her little cousin - they really needed to get him to DOVE so they can examine his ability. Because, truth be told, the ability to instantly knock out a room full of people save for a few was a [i]dangerous[/i] one indeed. Even if it appeared to be nonlethal. As Shizuka spoke, Meifeng looked around the room as the rich folk composed themselves.

"Yeah, let's get a move on, emergency services should be on the way---"

Then her eyes landed on the table they were all standing not too far away from. Specifically, there was a man cutting into the birthday cake. The man that was talking with Jiao-Long - yeah, the tall man with the black hair, and the green eyes. The one that was built like a fuckin' [i]statue[/i] (which made Meifeng curious what his profession was).

When Meifeng looked at him, her face contorted into a look of disgust as he was seemingly uncaring about what had happened. It wasn't long before everyone else caught on, and they were all staring at Blake. Silently.

He was frozen in place the second they noticed him... while Veronica was facepalming with both hands, wishing that she had a third.

"Oh, um..." Blake said, hoping to sneak a piece of the cake. "...This is very inappropriate, I know."

No one said a word to him, only because they were so utterly amazed that a single person can worry about cake at a time like this. Blake just continued to cut himself a piece of the cake, and put it onto a plate. He took a bite out of it. Shizuka merely narrowed his eyes at him, with a hand on Honghui's shoulder.

"Mmmmm... the Lius certainly know how to pick a cake!" Blake said. "I'll have to find out where they got it - Oh, um, after Jiao-Long is returned safely, that is," Blake said as he walked off towards the exit.

"...Okay, that was weird," Meifeng said, before blissfully brushing that off. Abe, behind the crowd, was slowly turning his back around with his hand pressed against his face to keep himself from cracking out into hilarious laughter. [i]The audacity! This is rich![/i]

However, Mika had probed into his mind during the whole triad, she couldn't help but take a step back, hoping to hide herself from him in the crowd, and put a hand over her mouth. This man... he was no ordinary party-goer, but he was in fact one of the leading members of the Family; The Blessed Three.

She leaned in towards her family, and waited for Blake to leave earshot before she said.

"...That man is the one who orchestrated Father's kidnapping," Mika said.

Meifeng clenched her fist. "You sure, Mika?"

"There is no doubt about it..."  Mika said. "His thoughts are [i]all about[/i] how successful his mission was."

"Is that right?" Abe muttered to himself as he watched the man escape the scene, cracking his knuckles. It was good that they had a telepath on their side. That was easy info gathering right there, and now Abe knew who needed to go if he wanted to end them once and for all.

"That explains," Shizuka chimed in, sounding more irritated than anything. "The dark aura I felt from him when I spotted him talking to Jiao-Long, and why that slut at the door intercepted us when we tried to go after Biyu." Then he frowned. "I wonder if Biyu was also a part of this shitshow..."

"If he's the shitbag responsible for this..." Meifeng cracked her knuckles as she marched off after Blake. "Then I'm not letting him get off that easily."

Letting out a sigh, Lihua followed after Meifeng, fully trusting Mika's telepathy. "I will join you."

Before they could march off, Mika said, "Be careful... he is the supreme leader of the Family... a member of their Blessed Three..."

That was the second time that Meifeng heard that name. She, personally, was more than happy to kick one of their esteemed leaders asses, and show them how 'Blessed' they were.

While Meifeng was marching after them, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "...Don't worry, ya'll, I'm going to bring this bullshit to an end - just for ya'll - I promise."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Abe quickly interjected, putting his hands up. He can appreciate swift action and getting antsy for a fight, but the last couple of years had him trained to savor the hunt, and wait for all of his targets to out themselves before moving in. Even if it meant someone getting hurt. He was surprised to see RAVEN agents lacking in such... foresight. "Kill 'em now, and the rest of their leadership goes into hiding again. If you should wait until we've got visual on the three of em, you bag them all. They're cocky now, so they're gonna be a little careless. And if they need Jiao-Long, then it won't matter even if they rough him up, he'll still be alive by the time you get there."

"He has a point, Meifeng," Lihua reiterated. Personally, she was more than content with following whatever choice that Meifeng went with - but, if they went after Blake, they only have one shot at this. Ah... a classical high-risk, high-reward, situation. Lihua herself would have just waited, because they could do more damage in the long-run then confronting him now. "If you go after him, you have one shot, and one shot alone. So choose wisely." Damn it, Lihua needed more alcohol for this. "Regardless, I am behind you, whatever decision you make."

Shizuka shook his head at Meifeng, feeling a mixture of annoyance and amusement at her usual tactics of charging blindly into the devil's arms without a plan. "We can't have you, the [i]Hero[/i], to die first before we can even try to save Jiao-Long," was the only thing he had to add, on top of whatever Lihua (and that tall stranger) had said.

Meifeng put her hands on her hips, and considered this carefully. She closed her eyes, and put a hand on her chin. While her pride was telling her to go after him, it's better to play it safe. She sighed. "...Alright, I'll hold the fort here," Meifeng said. "And who knows, the bastard will probably show himself again somewhere else."

Shizuka tugged at his dress shirt collar and pulled off the bow tie. Now his neck felt so much [i]better[/i]. "Anyway, I think my job is done here, and I need to start digging for more intel about the info we know so far. I'll take my leave first."

Lihua turned to Shizuka, "Very well, you've done more than enough for my family." It was one of those moments where Lihua smiled. "I am eternally thankful."

"Yeeeeeah, Shizuka," Meifeng said, putting her hands behind her head. "We owe you one."

"You can pay those favors back to me..." Shizuka let out a short laugh as he turned to leave. "...After you get your own family back together in one piece."

[hr]
"Ah, wasn't that an excellent celebration, Veronica?" Blake said as the two walked side by side towards their limousine.

Veronica rolled her eyes up into her head. "I [i]guess[/i]," she grumbled.

"Could you be a dear and get more of that cake?" Blake said with a cheerful smile. "I'd [i]love[/i] to share some of it with the secretaries."

The secretaries... The concept of them made even Veronica shudder. They were either servants eternally devoted and loyal to the Blessed Three, or they were [i]brainwashed[/i]. What made the latter worse was that most of the brainwashing was done by her own sister. Veronica distantly wondered how that was affecting her little sister's mind - being forced to brainwash perfectly normal and sane people... that would drive even her insane. She peered at Blake, and spay out,

"...And get more of their attention?" She gave him a narrow look. "I'm sorry, but getting that one slice was stupid. Do you [i]want[/i] them to know who you are?"

Blake looked at Veronica, as if he was in utter disbelief. Before he started laughing.

"Ah, Veronica! That's why I love you!" Blake said with a smile on his face. "...But, even if they realized who I am, what are they [i]really[/i] going to do about it?"

"Hmph."

"Trust me," Blake said, as he approached the limo, and one of his female secretaries opened up the door for him. "Even if they came out here and confronted me now, it wouldn't make any difference, because now that I have Jiao-Long... the machine will be done in no time!" he said as he slid inside, snapping his fingers.

Veronica slid in the limousine herself, and heard mention of the 'machine' again. "You're banking everything on this machine... What does it even do?"

The limousine went into motion, and Blake slid back with his hands behind his head.

"Ahhh..." Blake thought about telling her here and now. "...I think I'd rather show you."

Veronica gave him a glance... he was willing to share information of their potential doomsday device with her?

That was surprising.