Mavado and a group of mercenaries also loyal to the Red Dragon were heading back to the base that now belonged to the newly formed White Dragon clan. Mavado only visited the hideout with a handful of Red Dragon spies to assess if the location given by Hsu Hao from No Face was true. After seeing Jarek, Tasia and Tremor, Mavado concluded that it was accurate enough and headed back to the nearest Red Dragon headquarters to prepare his assault overnight.
Once more did Mavado find himself entering the forest area surrounding the hideout which allowed concealment of both the structure itself and the Red Dragon attackers. Mavado this time was leading much more warriors with him which wasn't too much of a concern for the Red Dragon's subleader as discretion wasn't entirely necessary.
Once they got to a certain point of the overgrown forest, Mavado stopped his men as he saw one of his personally deployed spies patiently waiting for the arrival of more Red Dragon allies. His presence signalled that going past him would put the masses of mercenaries at risk of being spotted by the White Dragon.
Mavado himself wasn't entirely filled in on the whole Black Dragon divide matter. He knew that they had split, thanks to Hsu Hao having listened closely on what Tasia, Tremor and Jarek had been saying after they briefly allied with the Earthrealm defenders in the fight against Shao Kahn and his many Outworld forces. It didn't matter what the specifics were to Mavado though, to him this subgroup was still a threat… and Mavado still had a bone to pick with one man either way.
"Are the explosives deployed?" Mavado asked the spy. "Deployed how I asked?"
"Yes, sir!" The spy proudly confirmed. "Scattered along the ground next to the west fencing."
"Good," Mavado commented. "Take me to our bombers."
The spy nodded and escorted Mavado to a group of five bombers who carried several explosives as they awaited for orders to blow up the hideout. Unlike No Face, these bombers were organized and rather precise in their methods, much like how a demolitions expert is supposed to act, though these bombers were willing to not only blow up buildings but their enemies too. The bombers would gladly die for the Red Dragon and it's causes with many cases of suicide bombings having occured by members of the bomber rank.
"Ready?" Mavado asked the bombers which all gave their confirmation. "Then let us begin."
The bombers immediately got to work by equipping some unique throwable bombs that appeared as relatively regular IED's but the impact of their explosions was much more different. The White Dragon would soon witness what these Red Dragon made bombs were capable of. The bombers charged forward out of the bushes into plain sight and lobbed the bombs over the fence once they were close enough.
Two criminals of the newly named White Dragon saw the approaching warriors and immediately came to the realization by their attire that they belonged to the Red Dragon, the rival clan being familiar to all inside the compound. They opened fire with their always equipped handguns, swiftly shooting one of the bombers in the head, unfortunately just after he had made his bomb throw. Another fell and one was wounded. It mattered not, the bombs had made it over the fence and chaos ensued.
The bombs exploded and as they did they released a poisonous green mist that spread throughout the outside area of the compound. Anybody left vulnerable to the poison quickly intook the substance, immediately choking on the fatal mist. One of the bombers had also threw a grenade against the fence rather than over it so that as it exploded it also triggered the already deployed explosives which obliterated the east side of the fence with ease. A rather short chain-link fence of course lacked strength and protection, but destroying it allowed for easier entrance into the compound as Mavado and his warriors could now just simply walk through and into the poisonous mist.
The mercenaries of the Red Dragon always wore masks that would be able to make them immune to the poisonous mist that was yet to have vanished so such wasn't an obstacle to them as they stormed the base. Mavado soon joined them after equipping a gas mask and his dual sabre swords that he had augmented by adding a large crescent guard at the front of the twin weapons. If the poison stuck around long enough then it would make for a great way to round up and keep the present members of the White Dragon trapped in the single building that stood in the centre of the compound area. Anybody not dead or dying from the mist would certainly be located in the building or just not present at the hideout at this time at all. It was a satisfying thought for Mavado, being certain that everybody across this compound would fall.
"Surround any potential exits," Mavado commanded a large chunk of his mercenaries. "I need about ten of you to come inside with me."
In truth, Mavado didn't believe that he actually needed any company. But for the sake of safety precaution reasons, he was sensible enough to make sure he had backup. He was still rather positive that he could storm the building himself.
Taking the lead, Mavado approached the double steel doors and pried them open with his swords. As he opened up the doors, members of the White Dragon had been waiting and began firing bullets at Mavado and his fellow Red Dragon comrades who were lined up behind him.
Mavado utilized his pair of unique grappling hooks to weave past the bullets as he made his way down the corridor at fast pace and in elegant fashion. His hooks came in the form of little claws with a strong and lengthy red rope being able to extend the hooks out from his two armoured wrist gauntlets.
As Mavado swung down the narrow corridor with his hooks, he also began knocking down the gun firing White Dragon mercs as he reached them. If one stood in his way then he would activate the spikes installed in the soles of his metal boots. This paired with his hooks made a deadly combination as Mavado could use the hooks to gain velocity as he charged feet first into one of his foes. Mavado rolled back, his victim still impaled into his shoe spikes, allowing Mavado to utilize the corpse as a human shield until he had the opportunity to pull his now blood stained boots out as the enemies were either too busy with his fellow Red Dragon members or were reloading after unloading a whole round into the back of their fallen ally.
The ever so athletic Mavado managed to perform a kip-up to quickly get off the ground and back into action. He quickly turned around to check on the situation of his warriors, soon learning that some had fallen in the conflict and others had advanced up to some crates which scattered throughout the corridors as a desperate attempt for cover by the White Dragons.
A nearby White Dragon merc attempted to stab Mavado with their combat knife but ran into a roundhouse kick from the highly skilled warrior. The mercenary staggered back until he was stopped by reaching the wall. Mavado proceeded to stomp his foot on the ground, activating the spikes on his shoe, and ramming his foot into the backed up merc.
Another tried attacking Mavado, this time with a machete. Mavado was still able to counter this attack by blocking it with one of his sabre's and stabbing him in the heart with the other, all while having his foot jammed into the gut of the other White Dragon member.
"Hold your fire!" Came a demand from across the corridor. "Everyone! Hold your fire!"
Mavado faced the sound the command came from. The man who was yelling such orders was immediately recognizable to Red Dragon's second in command. It was Jarek, the co leader of the newly officially named White Dragon. His followers complied though the Red Dragons did not until Mavado struck his hand in the air, signalling for them to also hold their fire.
"What do you have to say, vermin?" Mavado asked.
"We don't have to fight," Jarek stated. "We've lost half our clan and…"
"And who's fault is that?!" Mavado raised his voice. "You idiots not only joined that blasted clan but have now split from them and for what? To get away from Kano? I can't blame you if so, but he was the only man keeping you safe."
"Look, Mavado," Jarek pushed on with his attempts at negotiation. "We ain't enemies to the Red Dragon. Not that we like you lot, but we'll stay out your way… and maybe even help you end the Black Dragon."
"Are you loco?" Mavado questioned. "I don't care about your own little family issues with Kano and the idiotas who walk alongside him. Point is you still helped them. And you know that we'd have just let the Special Forces deal with you fuckers if things weren't personal."
"What's the point?" Jarek didn't properly understand Mavado's mindset in this situation. "Is it really worth fighting? Just for revenge?"
"It's worth it," Mavado was more than convinced. "For him, anything's worth it."
"So much for the Red Dragon being disciplined," Jarek remarked, not seeing a revenge mission as fitting for their description. "Y'know that he would've never died if it wasn't for all this nonsensical fighting amongst ourselves where we're damaging one another while the side of the law keeps growing stronger. Surely you can see that-"
"And who started this fuckin' feud?!" Mavado interrupted, having an outburst of anger. "Don't ever forget that the Black Dragon was created by reckless Red Dragons. Never forget."
"I wasn't around for that." Jarek informed him.
"Well neither was I," Mavado pointed out. "Yet the history is more than well known. Despite that you chose to join the Black Dragon rather than us. You should've known the consequences."
"I'll be honest, Mavado," Jarek claimed. "I lost interest in you scumbags a long time ago. I was more concerned about the likes of the Special Forces and Kano's incapability as a leader. I don't care about any of you lot, and I certainly don't give two shits about the ones I killed… including your lover."
"For that… I'm making you a deadman," Mavado threatened. "Men, attack!"
Gunfire shot throughout the corridor once more as Mavado sprung forth at Jarek with his sabre's, Jarek quickly reacting to the attack by raising his axe up to block the blades. Jarek kicked Mavado in the knee which knocked him down for only a brief moment. Jarek thought this would be enough to get a hit in with his axe but Mavado immediately sprung up and parried the axe before kicking Jarek back, cutting his gut open a bit from the spikes.
A White Dragon who was watching this fight unfold from afar tried to get a sneak attack on Mavado who simply spun around and launched one of his sabre sword's the direction of the merc, the blade precisely impaling them right between their eyes.
Jarek took advantage of this distraction by swinging his axe into the shoulder of Mavado, beginning to cut into it like a butcher with a piece of meat. Mavado quickly fought this brutal offense off by kicking Jarek between his legs, his kicks of course being made worse by his unique set of metal boots. Mavado then spun around while delivering a heel kick to the face of Jarek, sending him staggering to one of the side walls of the corridor.
Mavado went to approach the stunned and vulnerable Jarek as he was pressed against the wall but a bullet suddenly met his arm. It was only a matter of time before one of the two fighters got caught in the crossfire of the two opposing groups of mercenaries. Jarek immediately seized advantage of this by tackling Mavado and ramming him into the opposite wall. Mavado's left arm had now suffered from both its shoulder being cut into courtesy of Jarek and his axe and now a bullet wound, making the limb a target to Jarek who sought to further damage the arm by snapping it over his own shoulder which firstly disarmed Mavado who had been carrying Jarek's axe in his left hand as well as further damaging the arm as a whole.
Jarek followed up on this strategy by pulling Mavado's arm forth in order to perform a judo toss to the ground where Mavado smacked against the stone floor back first. Still holding onto Mavado's arm, Jarek went to get it into an armlock but like how Mavado was attacked earlier, the same occurred for Jarek as a Red Dragon member elbowed the White Dragon coleader in the back of the head and went to get him into a headlock. Jarek reversed and quickly dispatched of the grunt by cutting into him with his axe and beating him to the floor which left them unconscious and bleeding out.
Mavado had gotten up to his feet and went to grab Jarek but was elbowed in the gut and pinned against the wall again. Jarek began wailing punches down on the face of Mavado, but his gas mask was absorbing a lot of the damage coming his way. Realizing this, Jarek tore the mask off that Mavado was only still wearing due to the constant action and the heat of the moment having made him not spare a moment to remove it. As Jarek removed the mask, Mavado reacted by smashing Jarek in the nose with a brutal headbutt. Jarek staggered back as he held his now busted open nose, allowing Mavado to capitalize by picking up Jarek and running forth before jumping while carrying Jarek into a window where both men crashed through the glass and flew outside. Shattered glass cut both fighters open in several areas before they both fell crashing onto the concrete outside where the poison mist had luckily cleared away by now.
Mavado started getting up first, turning to his left to see Jarek writhing in pain on the floor as pieces of glass were impaled into his exposed skin. Mavado meanwhile, was picking off bits of glass he himself had suffered before stumbling over to where one of his sabre swords lay, having been carrying it as the two crashed through the window it had also come outside with them. Jarek however, was far from his axe now, for it remained stuck into the poor Red Dragon member who practically sacrificed themself for Mavado.
As they had precisely followed their leaders commands, Red Dragon members who had been surrounding the area of the outside of the building that Mavado and Jarek had just entered after their dramatic fall through the window. They quickly began approaching the two, looking to finish off Jarek.
"Stop!" Mavado commanded. "Do NOT interfere! He's mine!"
"Yes, sir." The half a dozen mercenaries complied, though the order did come across as a strange one to the group but it wasn't one they were going to dare dispute.
"I've won, Jarek!" Mavado blurted out as he spat out blood onto the face of Jarek as he still lay down.
"Won…" Jarek tried to reply but was interrupted by him coughing up an alarming amount of blood. "Won what exactly?"
"Satisfaction," Mavado answered, though knew that wasn't truly much. "To some degree at least… I won't ever be truly satisfied until all you rats burn… but by killing you I will have avenged my beloved…"
"Then do it already!" Jarek demanded. "Quit the thick monologuing, you bastard gobshite, and finish me off!"
"Gladly," Mavado complied as he pointed his sword at Jarek who was now alas climbing to his feet. "But I wish to take my time disposing of you."
Mavado sliced his sword across the back of Jarek, wanting to make him suffer more as the White Dragon fell back to the ground as Mavado cackled evilly. When not anticipating a fight, Jarek would be equipped in a sleeveless vest that still had the Black Dragon's logo stitched onto the back of it, the White Dragon themselves yet to have a new logo, and it wasn't looking as if they would ever get the chance. Without being in his brick coloured armour, Jarek was left vulnerable to these nasty slashes from Mavado who began ripping his vest off which now completely exposed Jarek's torso.
Jarek tried crawling away which made Mavado even more amused, quickly walking around and standing in front of the beaten criminal. Jarek grabbed onto Mavado's leg to try and use him to help him stand. Mavado began audibly chuckling again at the sight of the man he hated the most in such a vulnerable and injured state. Mavado simply booted Jarek's hand off of him and proceeded to stamp on his hands, the impact of him jumping onto them activating the spikes upon impact.
Jarek cried in agony as Mavado applied more pressure on his feet, letting his spiked soles sink deeper into Jarek's hands, causing him not only a great deal of pain but also kept him in place and prevented him from crawling away. Recognizing that he was stook, Mavado decided to take even more time with torturing his enemy as he got his sabre sword ready and began giving more slashes across Jarek's bare torso, making sure that the attacks weren't lethal but he made sure that each cut hurt badly.
"How does it feel, Jarek?" Mavado asked to which he only received grunts of pain and anger as a response. "Am I being too soft?"
"Agh… fuck off…" Jarek uttered before crying out again as Mavado jumped again and once more did he land his feet on both of Jarek's hands. "I've got dangerous friends… kill me and they'll fuckin' rip you apart…"
"Funny that you say that," Mavado was unphased by Jarek's threatening warning. "My love also had dangerous acquaintances. You're face to face with one of them."
"It weren't nothing personal…" Jarek groaned.
"Again with the attempts of justifying what you did," Mavado noted with frustration in his voice at Jarek's comments regarding the murder of his lover. "Doesn't change that you still killed him. I don't care for excuses or an explanation to why, Jarek. All that matters to me is the end result."
"No winning with you is there?"
"Are you really this stupid?!"
"What?"
"You still don't understand how much he meant to me yet, do you?" Mavado let out a frustrated sigh after asking the question. "How don't you realize? Is it because you've never loved let alone care for anyone but yourself?!"
"No," Jarek denied Mavado's assumption. "There is someone…"
"Who?"
Jarek's eyes faced past the Red Dragon mercenaries who were very organized being lined up as they spectated Mavado torturing Jarek, making sure things were going their commanders way. Behind them was Tasia who was wisely sneaking up on the lined up mercs with her twin blades at the ready. Mavado was too fixated on Jarek to realise that he was giving a signal for her to strike.
Tasia suddenly sprung from her stealthy, slow and cautious state by performing a nimble dash. Her blades cut the heads off of two of the mercenaries as she dashed between them with her blades spread out wide like sharp wings. The other four mercenaries who were present immediately readied their unique powerful electric batons with them having almost pulse blade like ends which made them especially dangerous for they were able to both stun and nastily burn whoever would fall on the receiving end of the weapons.
"Tasia is your girlfriend?" Mavado guessed as he finally stepped off of Jarek's now disfigured hands to face Tasia.
"He wishes." Tasia quipped as she waited for a mercenary to make an attack on her so that she could counter them.
"Then kill her!" Mavado ordered. "I want Jarek to feel the pain that I felt."
Jarek was understandably angered by this and managed to muster enough strength to grab Mavado by the ankles and trip him up onto the ground where he began wailing punches and elbows to his face.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries finally began attacking Tasia, and all at once. Tasia tried blocking one of the incoming batons, only for it to send a shock through her sword which travelled down to her hand, causing the blade to fumble from her hand. Quickly improvising, Tasia decided to change her strategy to dodging the attacks and quickly finding an opening to stab her attackers. Another baton quickly came at Tasia who swiftly ducked beneath the baton and sliced their stomach open. She then spun around to the mercenary behind her and slashed them in the shin as well as kicking them in their other leg which caused them to drop to the floor, allowing Tasia to easily slay them with her sword.
Mavado by now was able to flip Jarek over onto his back with Mavado now on top of Jarek and wailing punches on the tired and battered crook. Mavado relentlessly began punching Jarek in the left side of his head, eventually causing Jarek to bleed so much that half his face was now streaming with blood from the accurately landing punches from Mavdo. Jarek was now too weak and tired to even protect himself by covering his face up, barely able to even clench his fists at this point. The fact that Jarek still remained partially conscious during this beating was impressive alone.
Mavado suddenly realized he had lost his sabre from being tripped to the ground and scanned the area before quickly finding it a short distance away, though it was far enough the Mavado would have to move off of Jarek to reach it. Mavado went to get up, but smartly recalled that he could utilize his hooks to drag the sabre to him. Mavado did so and dragged his sabre back to him, letting the blade cut into Jarek as it was brought to him.
Jarek boldly decided to grab a hold of the sabre's blade as he tried his hardest to pull the sabre away from reaching Mavado's hands, with Mavado responding to this by viciously and relentlessly stomping his spiked boot into the already bloodied head of Jarek. Mavado finally got his hands on his sabre only to immediately drop it as Tasia had finally reached Mavado and had sliced at his hand as it gripped onto the sword, causing him to release his grip in reaction to the sharp pain. Tasia then kicked Mavado off of Jarek, knocking him down for a short moment.
"Leave him alone!" Tasia demanded as she knelt down to check on her ally. "Shit. Jarek?! Can you hear me?! Your face is a bloody mess, mate."
"Your loyalty is admirable, Tasia," Mavado complimented as he got to his feet. "What happened to your pretty face?"
"Oh sod off!" Tasia yelled, offended by the question. "You ask me that after what you just did to Jarek's face?!"
"Matching scars," Mavado pointed out much to Tasia's annoyance. "How romantic!"
"Shut up!" Tasia was losing patience with Mavado and his mind games. "Stop acting like we're a couple."
"You might not be yet," Mavado admitted. "But I can read the pair of you like books. You two are close and at least have some strong bond. Perhaps you're both in love yet haven't confessed… you're welcome for the idea."
"I don't need relationship advice from you," Tasia snarled at Mavado's comments. "You want to kill me or not?!"
"I'd want nothing less," Mavado said with a grin. "I'll give you another scar while I'm at it."
"Empty words from an emptier man," Tasia commented, not intimidated by Mavado's threats. "I don't give a shit what you do to me. You won't get the chance to even scratch me."
"Did one of my men mangle you to get the first one?" Mavado smiled proudly at the thought.
"Not quite," Tasia responded as she stood in front of Jarek so that Mavado couldn't touch him. "Got it from the emperor of Outworld. And 'mangled'?! Is it really that bad?"
"Your fantasies are quite riveting," Mavado mocked as he didn't believe Tasia was telling the truth regarding her scar. "But enough of that. Time to die."
"For you? Aye." Tasia drew her twin katanas as Mavado began approaching slowly, trying to calculate how he could combat the armed and dangerous Tasia.
Mavado took a couple steps forward, making it seem as if he would approach Tasia, only to divert her expectation by suddenly unleashing one of his hooks which went low and impaled Tasia in her foot and dragged her down to her knee. After falling, Mavado then decided it was time to charge Tasia. Mavado ran forth, building speed before drilling his own knee into Tasia's nose. Tasia collapsed backwards, her body now lying atop of Jarek's, causing Mavado to chuckle at the sight of two of his biggest targets beaten up and grounded.
Mavado activated his over hook to snatch away one of Tasia's blades so he was now well equipped for Tasia's next attack. Tasia soon leapt to her feet and ran at Mavado. She swung her sword forward which Mavado blocked, causing their weapons to clash. Mavado was surprised by Tasia's strength as she began pushing him back with her sword. Just when Tasia was about to overpower Mavado, which Mavado excused as him being fatigued from his brawl with Jarek, Mavado quickly came up with the idea of kicking Tasia in the leg which he executed to perfection. Tasia bent down, instinctively clutching her leg with her free arm as she did so. This allowed Mavado to get a quick strike at Tasia with one of her own katanas no less. The sharp feeling going through her chest prompted Tasia to straighten herself and readjust the grip on her katana as another strike came from Mavado, one that Tasia just about blocked and used her shoulder to push Mavado back.
"A fine challenger," Mavado complimented as he readied himself for the next attack that was bound to come soon. "Just a shame that your talents are wasted with these scoundrels."
"Better than a bunch of criminals pretending to be posh!" Tasia insulted while wiping blood from her chest where Mavado had cut her.
"You know nothing of order!" Mavado yelled back, clearly angered by Tasia's insults towards the clan that he was all too loyal towards. "I wish you were open to being educated."
"Sorry to break it to you," Tasia apologized sarcastically. "I was never a fan of school."
"That would explain why you're such a failure today." Mavado harshly commented.
Tasia let out a long sigh as her earlier point about the Red Dragon being proved once more, "We're both criminals, Mavado, stop acting like you're superior."
"But I am!" Mavado insisted. "Let me show you."
Mavado ran forth and feinted a strike that was seemingly heading to Tasia's chest once more. After being tricked into blocking her chest, Mavado now had an opening to quickly slice at Tasia's shins, causing her to collapse to her knees which opened her up to a kick from the front of his boot into her jaw. Tasia fell down, clutching her jaw as Mavado had nearly broken it. She was in so much pain that she couldn't even speak as Mavado began deciding his next attack, considering the most painful option he could commit.
"Sir." Another voice addressed Mavado by his title, this one being recognizable to the subleader.
"Hsu Hao," Mavado was not expecting to see closest ally here. "I told you that I didn't require your aid."
"I'm aware, sir," Hsu clarified to his superior. "I came to warn you. I understand that you were too busy to answer my calls."
"Warn me of what?"
"The Special Forces now know of this location as well," Hsu informed him while he got his own kick in on Tasia. "I believe Kano told Sonya of this place."
"Mierda," Mavado cussed under his breath. "I see. Thank you for telling me, Hsu. Return to them with haste to avoid any suspicions."
"Of course, sir." Hsu Hao would usually take a knee in the presence of his superior out of respect but instead chose to follow Mavado's orders and rushed off to the armoured vehicle he had left in the forest, slewing a few White Dragons using his Sun-Moon blades on his way there.
"Looks like we're out of time," Mavado commented as he turned to Tasia and Jarek. "What a shame… but I suppose I'll leave the army to finish your pathetic attempt at a clan."
"I'm not finished with you!" Tasia shouted as she began staggering to his feet, her wounded legs making it near impossible to maintain a balanced stance. "You're a dead man!"
"So many have told me that," Mavado recalled. "Yet I still stand today. Funny isn't that?"
"I'm done talking!" Tasia had finally snapped and attacked Mavado again. She managed to cut Mavado's cheek with her katana before Mavado grabbed her arm and managed to disarm Tasia from her other katana as well as throwing her to the ground with a judo toss.
"That's enough now," Mavado stated as he threw the weapons he had retrieved from Tasia to one of his mercenaries. "Tie them up. We're taking them to the mountain."
The mercenaries complied and quickly apprehended both Tasia and Jarek before being escorted through the forest. Mavado sent some of his fellow Red Dragons to spread word of their departure to avoid any being caught and interrogated once the Special Forces arrived. Mavado only ordered for this act to be done only for this precaution and not out of any actual care for his workers wellbeing.
"Is that everybody?" Mavado asked as the final group of Red Dragons came running to their gathering in the forest.
"Some are in trouble with the one who creates and controls rocks!" Answered one of the mercenaries, distraught as a result of the sight of Tremor's powers and destruction.
"Then let us go," Mavado coldly decided. "Knowing Tremor he will make sure they're all dead anyway."
"I-" The mercenary went to object but Mavado quickly grabbed them by the neck with his own two hands before giving a deathly stare to strike fear into the merc.
"I have no time to be arguing with you lowly mercenaries about my decision making skills," Mavado said while throwing the one he had been intimidating to the ground. "Know that you're all numbers that aid in enforcing our Grandmaster's will no matter what the objective is."
None gave any responses. Instead they gave glares at their leader and also at the mercenary who he had just floored, their looks of fear and worry being masked by their full body gear.
"Now let us get moving." Mavado gestured for the mercenaries to begin moving as he soon followed, sticking close by the mercenaries who were holding the now restrained and hurt Tasia and Jarek to ensure that neither tried anything to break free.
Meanwhile back at the White Dragons compound that was now recovering from the chaos, only to begin being surrounded by what could spark a new chaos on their home… the Special Forces had arrived.
Tremor was just getting done with executing the poor Red Dragon mercenaries who were unfortunate enough to stumble into his path of destruction. Rocks were flying around the compound. Pieces of the compound's building itself were being ripped apart by Tremor to enact even more devastation on his rivals.
Sonya had led a group of soldiers to the compound where they now stood at the entrance, taking cover behind their armoured cars. Hsu Hao soon came around from the nearby trees to the side of where the cars had been parked to join his Special Forces allies.
"What the hell happened in there, Hsu?" Sonya asked as the destruction was visible even from afar.
"I think there was an attack from some traitors to their group," Hsu said of the explanation that he had been coming up with on his way to meeting with his SF allies. "Remember how Jarek, Tasia and Tremor brought up their split during our… unfortunate time with them?"
"Of course," Sonya nodded. "So does this belong to the Black Dragon or their deserters?"
"Does it matter?" Hsu queried. "Either way they're dangerous criminals who need stopping."
"Fair point," Sonya admitted. "Let's just check this out. Follow me."
Hsu nodded with unquestionable loyalty as Sonya led a line of soldiers sneaking towards the compound gates where they could get a closer look at the events occuring. Sonya audibly gasped at the sight of several corpses inside the compound walls, the sight made even worse by the damaged and blood stained environment. Whatever conflict there had been had concluded but Sonya could tell from the destruction alone that it was very recent, mainly from the fact that the survivors were busy tending to the wounded or the dead.
Realizing there was no threat, Sonya stood straight with her fellow soldiers following her movements. This included Hsu Hao, although reluctantly and very weary that Sonya was feeling empathy for these crooks.
"Th-This is the United States Special Forces!" Sonya announced firmly, quickly able to recover from the beginning brief stutter. "Surrender now and nobody else needs to get hurt!"
"First this and now you?!" Tremor's uniquely gravelly voice was instantly recognizable to both Sonya and Hsu Hao as it boomed throughout the forest.
"Stand down!" Hsu Hao demanded, equipping his Sun-Moon Blades so they were ready to engage with the Geokinesis wielder. "Or must I slam you to the floor a second time?"
"Peace, Hsu!" Sonya commanded. "We don't need to fight! We just need to know what on Earth happened here."
"Criminals are criminals," Hsu argued, at a tone where the White Dragons couldn't hear his discussion with Sonya. . "Taking one in for interrogation is certainly a wise idea but we need to stop Tremor immediately. The man is a walking natural disaster. Must I remind you that he was able to collapse a skyscraper during the Earthrealm invasion?"
"At ease," Sonya further gave her commands, concerned about Hsu's aggressive and uneasy behaviour. "We need to learn of this crime syndicate drama before making any decisions."
"What do you want to know?" Tremor asked, sounding compliant to Sonya's wish of some answers regarding the recent events.
"Who attacked you?" Sonya began the questioning.
"One of our rival clans called the Red Dragon."
"That's absurd!" Hsu objected with the answer. "You're already this new group split from the rest of the Black Dragon, no?"
"We recently decided on the name of the White Dragon." Tremor informed him.
"See?" Hsu turned to Sonya. "His lies that there's a third Dragon clan is ludicrous! What's next? The Blue Dragon?!"
"It doesn't make sense that he'd lie about this clan," Sonya pointed out. "However, how have we not been made aware of this Red Dragon?"
"They have operated for centuries in the shadows," Tremor detailed as he walked over to a corpse of one of the Red Dragon warriors that he had killed to show their attire where their logo was marked on the bodysuit. "Members of the Black Dragon have known of their existence since the birth of the Black Dragon because that clan was created from reckless traitors to the Red Dragon. I'm surprised nobody ever informed you of this."
"What is the intention of this ludicrous myth you have forged?" Hsu still pretended that the clan didn't exist, his efforts being done in a desperate attempt to convince Sonya that Tremor was a liar.
"Look at this man's chest," Tremor instructed as he held the corpse up for all the soldiers to see. "See the logo? That belongs to the Red Dragon."
Hsu only grunted now as he realized his efforts to conceal the Red Dragons' existence were in vain.
"If we were to align with the 'White Dragon' then would you aid us in stopping both the Black and now the Red Dragon clans?" Sonya gave the offer which caused Hsu to let out a quiet sigh of frustration.
"For freedom then yes." Tremor agreed.
"Freedom if you stop your lives of crime," Sonya negotiated. "I've seen what you, Jarek and Tasia are capable of when helping the good guys afterall. Speaking of which, where are those two?"
"They were taken!" One of the clan members blurted out, clearly stressed by the events that had just occurred.
"What?!" Tremor hadn't expected this. Even this was news for Tremor due to how recent the whole encounter had been. "Where did they go?"
"I didn't see," they responded. "But wherever they are they're not here!"
Tremor let out an intimidating growl of anger. "WIll you help us rescue our leaders too?"
"Let's just see how things workout first." Sonya decided.
"Fine." Tremor accepted and approached her and Hsu with a rocky hand being stretched out to the general.
"Glad we could come to an agreement." Sonya said as she accepted Tremor's firm handshake.
Tremor then offered a handshake to Hsu Hao but the Mongolian declined the gesture and proceeded to merely stare at the White Dragon member. Tremor proceeded to stare back, creating a tense moment which prompted Sonya to step between the two.
"C'mon now," Sonya drew their attention. "Let's keep on good terms. Please, Hsu?"
Hsu sighed again but managed to find it in him to agree with Sonya's wishes, "Out of respect for you and if it aids us in our mission then sure. For now."