Chapter 4
That night Lance initially did just as he had been instructed; arrive with no one else, park discretely by a factory no longer in use, and walk nearly half a mile through the woods to reach the warehouse on the other side of it.
Looking up into the sky, he saw a light fly through, blinking a few times as if it was just an airplane. But given what his armor watch said, he knew better than to assume that. He had to admit he was impressed by how well Octus could mimic an airplane's lights.
On his way, he ran into Kristin, who was conveniently alone so that he could inform her of Ilana's plan, which he briefly considered taking credit for.
"Hey, you came."
"Yeah, sort of. Look, there's a way out of this. Trust me. I've got backup and—"
"Backup? So you told other people about this?" Kristin said. "Non-members? Lance, you've just gotten more people into trouble."
"No, I haven't. Just follow my lead and start copying me once I snap my fingers," Lance said. "It's going to be our signal."
"Signal? For what?"
"No time to explain."
"Why not just leave now?" Kristin asked. "I mean, if I'm supposed to trust you, you've got some escape plan, right? Something that will guarantee that Neil won't come after us?"
Yeah, why NOT do that? Lance wondered. Oh, wait, I know…
"These people have to be stopped, Kristin," he said. "It's not enough to just get you to safety. If they're anything like you've described them—and I trust you now even more than I did before—then these gang needs to be killed and its members in custody. That's what the plan is about. So just do what I say, not because I'm trying to be like Neil, but because I'm trying to lead you out of this mess." And so he walked on ahead, hearing Kristin follow him. Eventually the warehouse was within sight, as were Neil and his cronies.
"You know, your words…" Kristin suddenly started.
"Later," Lance urged. The pair joined Neil and the others at the back entrance of the warehouse, which was left unguarded. Lance supposed Mike and his gang didn't frequent this area, and he didn't blame them after that incident with Thanatos. From the side Lance could see a parking lot where the front entrance of the warehouse was, where Mike Chan's notorious pink car with the white dragon on it was. Just seeing that familiar car gave him a twinge of anxiety.
"Yeah! You made it!" Neil declared, slapping Lance on the shoulder, who immediately recoiled from his touch. Neil then withdrew a pistol from his coat pocket, surprising even the other gang members.
"You didn't say to bring anything lethal!" a stocky girl whispered in protest. "What kind of fight is this?"
"That's fine," Neil reassured her. "It's whatever sort of fight it turns out to be. Now get ready for signal." The group looked through the windows of the factory, confirming that the White Dragon was present with his gang. Lance, however, stayed back with Kristin.
"Just stick by me and we'll get through this," he told her. His watch suddenly vibrated, and a message appeared on the screen.
Only one firearm detected. Neil. Proceed with caution.
Octus. Lance was going to be ok.
"Who cares what time it is?" Kristin rasped. Lance simply didn't respond.
"Ready…" someone, presumably Neil, declared. His hand was on the doorknob, and other gang members were poised to knock down the windows to go through them.
"Set…" Lance was appalled by Neil's lighthearted take towards this, although he could have been deliberately using a race motif.
"Go!"
He grabbed Kristin and charged forward, searching for his enemies.
Mike and his cronies were on them in seconds, with two already attacking Lance himself. Given the shortage of weapons, he quickly assessed that this would be hand-to-hand fight. He proceeded to kick one guy, but then the other kneed him in the stomach for an immobilizing blow. Lance's intended target punched him in the face when the opportunity arose, and Lance recovered with his own punches. He struggled to retreat when he realized that he was bleeding out a bit too much, but one of Mike's minions got him in a headlock and punched him some more with his free hand, finally slamming Lance down on the concrete.
Naturally, this didn't shake him up too badly, although it certainly hurt.
Lance leapt up before the guy could deliver some sort of finishing blow, delivering an uppercut to his jaw and kicking him in his ribs. Finally he slammed the guy to the ground just as he had done to him seconds ago. With the second minion rushing at him with a knife, Lance kicked the guy in the shin, stunning him long enough for him to knee the guy in the stomach, then kicked him down.
With two enemies out of commission, Lance rushed over to Kristin, who was dealing with just one person. She was trying to hold off, blocking his blows expertly, but she could only hold off for so long. Lance, horrified that he had been separated from her somehow and that she had had to fend for herself, rushed over to help, only to be pinned down on the floor from behind by another of Chan's minions. He flipped Lance over on his back and began to punch him in the face. Through his battered eyes, Lance could tell that it wasn't some gang member, but Mike Chan himself, evidently savoring this unexpected turn of events.
"It's been a while, baby boy. Jail's been rough on me. Good thing I got out, or we wouldn't get to have this little reunion. How've you been?" he asked with a sneer. Mike kicked Lance in the ribs from where he stood over him and laughed aloud, knowing that Lance was too weak to respond.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Kristin was losing. The guy she had been fighting before was replaced by a much larger hulk of a man, who seemed generally impervious to her attacks. Lance watched in horror as he picked her up like she was nothing and slung her over his shoulder. As Kristin tried to get free, the guy delivered another blow, smacking the side of her face. Blood ran down her cheek, prompting Lance to try and wriggle free. He could not escape the crush of Mike's foot, however.
"Oh? Is that your girl? You two make a cute couple. You never told me about her."
"Leave her alone," Lance said, "Or I'll kill you!"
"You're in no position to make threats, baby boy," Mike replied, delivering yet another blow to Lance, this time a kick in the head. Lance knew there was one option left now.
Weakly snapping his fingers, he slumped down on the floor, forcing his eyelids to flutter shut and slowing his breathing. Mike looked quizzically at the snapping of the fingers, but didn't seem to get the message, since Lance could hear Kristin groan, evidently trying to make herself appear unconscious like he was.
"You keep an eye on'em," Mike said to one of his henchmen as Lance kept perfectly still. Then he seemed to disappear. Once the coast seemed clear, Lance tried to get up, only to be brought back down. Looking up, he saw that the burly one that had been pummeling Kristin earlier had been the one assigned guard duty.
"You ain't goin' nowhere, kid!" the minion said with a snort, but then he let out a yelp. Kristin gave a shriek and tackled him, landing on his shoulders and causing him to stumble forward enough for Lance to finally roll out of the way. Relieved to no longer be useless, he struggled to his feet, only to find himself not needed as Kristin kicked her legs into the guy's back and sent him crashing forward, jumping backwards to get off of him and land on her feet.
"Wow…" Lance gave a shudder. Thank goodness Kristin was with him.
"Lower body strength is more my thing," she admitted. "Now what about this plan?"
Looking around to hear gunshots amidst the fray of skirmishes, Lance decided that it was ok to go through with it all.
"Ok," he told his wristwatch and ignoring Kristin's strange looks, "We're good. Now get rid of these guys for us!"
"On it," was the reply.
"Devon?" Kristin asked. "How do you have his number?"
"I don't," Lance admitted sheepishly.
AN: Please, just let me keep you in suspense for just a little bit longer! Although I will admit I'm not really building up to much besides the conclusion of the episode. No big revelations…yet ;)