Two Sides of The Same Coin Volume 2: The New Dawn

Chapter 3 - Introductions and Premonitions

"Ace", Leader of the Wild Cards
It seems our employers insisted that only I head into the dining hall much to the protest of my team. It really doesn't matter if all of us go in or not, I can take the entire place down by myself.

"You're late", Luka Madroni checks his watch as I follow him into the dining hall. The dining hall is adorned with all manner of portraits and the table is filled with food as the plates are all placed in the appropriate spot. The waiters are standing to the side waiting for the last of the guests to arrive before they start serving; Luka directs me to my seat as the rest of the heads are seated in order: The head of the Sanchez Cartel, Emiliano Sanchez; The head of the Petrov Syndicate, Josef Petrov; The head of the Scott Gang, William Scott; The last of them is the head of the Tonari family, Kenji Tonari.

They each shoot a stare until Kenji Tonari speaks up, "You're not a very professional mercenary are you?"

I nervously laugh, "I hope each of you forgive my tardiness. I ran into a bit of trouble I had to take care of".

William Scott scoffs and points to the chair in front of me, "Just take a seat will ya?"

I sit down as the five heads of each crime family look at me from across the table, it seems they're each taking a glance at who their money went to. Josef begins to laugh, "I hardly believe this is the leader of the infamous Wild Cards. Doesn't look as tough as I thought".

There's a smirk forming on my face, "Now, now Mr. Petrov. Looks can be deceiving. If you take a look at my little resume, I think you'll be surprised".

A waiter brings glasses of wine and a file containing picture of our exploits much to the shock of Josef, "My God...it really is you..."

I take sip of the glass of wine, "Anyways if it's not too troubling...What is this meeting all about?"

Emiliano Sanchez snaps his fingers and a television screen is brought in on a car, a waiter turns it on and footage of a masked individual appears on the screen, "We came to discuss your target, his name is Azrael"

"Well that's quite the name isn't it?", I use the knife to cut a piece of fish and pop it into my mouth.

Emiliano continues to explain, "We first heard of him about two years ago, he usually hit us in areas where it didn't affect us but now...", the footage cuts to a group of masked individuals ambushing a Tonari drug convoy, "It seems he's gotten himself a team to help him".

I chew on my food, "Wow that's impressive. Lemme guess, he's been interrupting your supply runs".

Emiliano looks at me with a serious glare, "Precisely".

I take another sip of my drink, "Why did you hire us? I'm sure any other merc could handle people like them".

Luka is passed the remote as he switches the footage, "Unfortunately, some of Azrael's teams aren't normal people", the footage is split into four separate screens showcasing the talents of each focus. One screen shows someone using heat blasts to take out an armored car, the second screen shows an armored warrior taking gunfire as the bullets bounce off of him as his arm transforms into an arm cannon of sorts, the third screen shows a girl wielding magic to create a shield and release magic blasts, the final screen shows Azrael as electricity emanates from his body.

I put my fork down and gaze in excitement, "Oh now this is rather interesting".

Luka puts down the remote, "Indeed. We're not worried about the rest of his team, it's just him and the three shown on screen that stop us from sending our men after them. We wouldn't stand a chance but...", he points to me, "That's where the Wild Cards come in".