ARKEN

Trouble in Chinatown

Jurek Blaszak drove them into Chicago's Chinatown. They traveled down West Cermak Road to get to their destination. Jordan looked out the window the whole way. He had been to Chinatown a few times for work, but he'd never stayed for any length of time.

"Have you had a lot of encounters with Chen?" He asked. Blaszak shook his head, "Not him personally, but the Blue Vipers have been trouble for a while."

Kiera spoke from the back seat, "Are we close?"

"We are," Blaszak reassured, "two more blocks."

At the corner of West Cermak Road and South Wentworth Avenue was a restaurant called Ming Lo Pēngrèn. Blaszak pulled the car up across the street from the restaurant and stopped it. He pointed to the red building. "That's where the Blue Vipers hideout."

"Any idea how many there are?" Kiera questioned.

"About fifteen, including Chen."

"Child's play...think you can handle yourself in there, Jordan?"

"As long as you handle the majority of them."

"Can do."

"I'll be coming in as well," Blaszak said. The three of them exited the car and walked to the Ming Lo building. Blaszak stopped outside the place and turned to them, "I'm going to go around the other side."

He was gone in a moment, vanished around the side of the building. Jordan and Kiera exchanged a look, then entered the Ming Lo building. Inside, they found waiters bringing food out to Blue Viper members. It wasn't long before they were noticed. A Blue Viper with black hair done up in a bun and a black tee-shirt approached them, immediately trying to look threatening.

"Who the fuck are you people?"

"Easy," Kiera said, "aren't we allowed to come in for delicious Chinese cuisine?"

"Well, in case you haven't realized, this isn't a place that serves normal customers, now get the fuck out."

"Okay then, right to the point. We want to see Chen, he around?" The man started laughing, along with his buddies behind him. "I guess you need to be taught the hard way."

The man started to reach behind his back, Kiera thrusted her arm up and blasted a hole right through his head. He fell back and the pair ducked behind cover as a flurry of bullets came at them.

Jordan hadn't been shot at before, he wasn't a fan. Kiera was firing plasma balls that collided with objects around the room and expanded, creating small explosions. This created disorder and kept the Blue Vipers from being able to pin them down with gunfire.

Jordan took the opportunity to sneak around the side. He spotted one of the Blue Vipers and extended his hand, releasing a lightning bolt. It struck the gang member and launched him back into the wall with a lot of force. Two of them noticed him and started shooting, Jordan was forced to duck behind cover as bullets whizzed by. A few of them struck the floor near him, splintering wood everywhere.

Jordan found himself unable to move anywhere as they fired all around his cover. If he made any attempt to try and get out from there, they were going to fill him full of lead.

Jordan was pinned down, but she couldn't help him where she was. Kiera vaulted over the railing to the floor below, kicking over a table for cover. She looked up and saw on the second-floor balcony where Blaszak stood. In his hands was a compact sub-machine gun. He started firing. Two Blue Vipers were immediately killed by the barrage.