The Matters of Power

Chapter 54- One Final Night [1]

Sonofagun, that kick still stings. I can barely sense where I'm at currently, but I just gotta...wake up. Bright lights immediately assault my eyes as I try to make heads and tails of my current surroundings. Where am I? More importantly, what happened after I got knocked out? I try to move my body, but they are unresponsive as my wrists and legs are tied together tightly by rope and I'm stuck on a chair. Crap, did the Crimson Group already get me? What happened to the others? Do the other guys know about... this? Hold on, Marcus, this is no time to panic of all things, I gotta be able to escape free from my binds and figure out where the heck I even am. I can't do much physically no matter how much I squirm, they really know how to tie their knots, so I decide to use my psychic powers to try and slowly untie my binds with some success. I can't worry about where Phinn and the girls are if I can't even figure out where I am, so I have to take the chance that they are in a better spot than me. I get so close to untying a sizeable layer of my wrist binds until I open a door swing wide open to my left where a frilly girl and the same guy who kicked me enter. I'm baffled by the appearance of a girl not giving a care in the world being here and if I wasn't exposed to a lot of girly clothes then I would've thought she was a guy. "Oh goodie, he's awake. Quick, pass me a chair, June. I wanna talk to the hottie!" He obeys quickly and grabs a small chair from across the room for her to sit on. Now that I look at her, she doesn't look much older than me, maybe has features similar to Alicia if it wasn't for the absurd number of shiny accessories she's wearing. She crosses her legs and leans forward, "Hmmm... now that I got a better look at you, you look like ya got some good features that I like. Tell me, what's yer name?" The extremely casual attitude she's giving me is irritating me. "Who are you and wha-" Her bodyguard slaps me before I can say anything more. "Answer her. Now." Seems like I have to play their game no matter what. "...It's Marcus." "Marcus? Kinda bland for such a cute guy like you. You go to some school somewhere?" "San Anton High." "Eh? Never heard of it. Anyway, ya have a certain hobby?" "Listen, what's the point of these questions?" I prepare myself for the impact of June's hand, but she stops him just millimeters from my cheek. "It's alright, June. I don't want you to damage his face." 

She pulls out a lollipop from her jacket and puts it in her mouth, "What, isn't this what you do when you meet someone for the first time? I wanted to know you first because you got my attention, and you looked like a far more interesting guy to talk to unlike those other deadbeats that are behind you." I try to look behind me and I can barely see that the other three are also tied up like me, but fortunately they are still knocked out and are still fast asleep. "Unlike them, you got that sort of... uniqueness about you. I would definitely ask you out. What about you, June?" "He's dangerous, Miss. I don't want you to be-" "Oh, come on June, I already told you to stop calling me that, it's so... tacky. Just Mina is fine, alright?" "I still have to follow your uncle's orders Mi- Mina. We don't know much about him other than he actively seeks to disrupt our business." They start bickering back and forth for a while that I start to question whether or not they really are part of a gang and provide an ample distraction to start focusing on loosening my wrist knots. I feel like I could force my way out of these ropes at the right moment, but Mina snaps her fingers directly at my face to get my attention, "Heeelllooooooo... Earth to Marcus. I hope we didn't nearly bore you to death. Tell ya what, I got a sweet hangout spot that you and I can go to and have a blast in. Trust me, I've invited a lot of people to it, and they always had a good time in there. Heck, I just want it to be just the two of us and no one else! Come on, say yes!" June's eyes reveal bloodlust, and he seems to be ready to strangle me no matter what I answer. This girl... she's absolutely crazy for being a part of the Crimson Group, and there's no way this isn't some casual hangout! I try to weave my way into their minds and read them, but I can't hear anything from June and Mina is constantly chanting, "(Mina) Say! Yes! Say! Yes! Say! Yes!" I'm not gonna become some delinquent's chew toy! "...No." "N-no? No?! Are you saying NO?!" Her attitude changed in a flick of a switch, and not in a good way. "Seriously?! You do not get to reject me like this! Just because you got looks and something nice, you think you are better than anyone else?!" She jumps from her chair and grabs my shirt collar. "Well? What do you think?!" "If only you knew just how much I went through in a year." Instead of immediately replying, Mina lets go and thinks in place while sucking her lollipop loudly, thinking so fast that I can barely process her thinking. Finally, she sighs. "Whatever, man. Looks like I gotta wait some more for you to cozy up to me. Junes, get the other people up to the hangout spots, I want to relax in the office before talking to them."

He immediately pulls out his phone and I assume he sends a short message before putting it away, then three other people in suits make their way to Phinn and the girls and carry them out of the room while I'm powerless to stop them. After they leave, two more enter and stand directly in front of me with confused looks. "This is the 'menace' we're supposed to watch over?" "Don't be deceived, men." June remarks as he puts the chair Mina was sitting in besides the wall, "He was sent here to destroy our business. Our specialty. No doubt he will harm Miss Mina if he could get the chance. You make sure he doesn't leave that chair or else it'll be your heads that leave your shoulders." Without saying another word, he follows behind Mina to leave the room and only me, my assigned guards, and silence are left in the room. The silence is quickly destroyed when the taller guard shakes his head. "You gotta be kidding me. This kid? I would have expected maybe one of the gangs here to try to invade, but naw, just some wannabe idol. What did we do wrong?" "Hey, easy there. If our boss is serious about keeping him in bindings and not leaving this room, then that means he's an extremely dangerous guy. He can tell how strong and dangerous a guy is just by glancing at them, you know. If he says he's strong, we gotta watch him..." "I know, it's just..." He turns around to face me, "The way he is right now, it's obvious he ain't going nowhere. You made a big mistake coming here, you know." He starts lightly slapping my cheeks to mock me in my current state, thinking I got no chance of escaping. Little do they know that this whole time I was slowly untangling my rope binds to the point where I can safely say I can break free and slip out of them. I have to be careful though, one wrong step and I'll be back to square one or be dealing with dire consequences. Alright, I need to deal with these two thugs first. "Hey, you don't happen to have any water nearby, do you? That knockout gas might have made me parched from all that time being unconscious." They look at me, surprised. "Ha. Look at that, he's brave enough to talk to us even after pissing off the Miss." "Yeah, right. And while we're out looking for water, you're gonna try to escape and take us both on before we call for help. Nice try, kid, it ain't gonna work out that way. This ain't some superhero moment for you."

They laugh to themselves for being so creative. "Then why are you a part of the Crimson Group? Why could you possibly gain from joining them?" "That's none of your damn business, kid. Dammit, do we have any tape in here to shut him up?" "Umm, maybe if we look around, we can check-" As they're distracted, I take the opportunity to force my way out and deliver the first strike. "Shi-" A straight jab delivered straight to his jaw before he can say anything, and I use my initiative to knee the other's abdomen and finish him off while he's down. "You little shi-" I deftly sidestep the thug's punch and counter with a palm push to his neck that makes him collapse on the ground, allowing me to finish with a foot stomp to the face. I must admit, I did not expect this to go so smoothly even with the disadvantage of being tied up beforehand. I can think about this all I want, but I can't waste any time in this holding room than I need to while I'm in enemy territory. I make sure the thugs are unconscious before heading out to leave the room, expecting to be a complex room-by-room interior. Instead, I'm faced with... a clean hallway, followed by a t-intersection at the end of it, with no threat in sight. Where did they take me?

I can't waste precious time going through every single nook and cranny finding Mina and her bodyguard so I can cut the head of the snake at its very source. Sixth Sense View, please don't fail me now.