Chapter Forty
In the Rec room, Tyroth was sitting on the sofa reading a fantasy novel in front of the TV where a documentary on life in rural America was playing.
Behind him at the pool table were Cam and Barry and Bill the Duck was at the football table with Vincent the Owl.
Tyroth bounced his leg up and down as they were crossed and he was so engrossed in his book he didn't notice Jun and Dahlia walk in.
"Hey Tyroth" Dahlia smiled at the dragon in a friendly way making him look up.
"Hello Dahila, Jun, how can I help you?" he asked carefully bent a page in the book he was reading before putting it down then stood to face the wolf and tiger.
"We're not interrupting are we?" Jun asked to which Tyroth shook his head.
"Not at all, What can I do you for?" he gestured for them to sit on the chairs to which they did.
Dahlia sat down and Jun sat close to her holding her hand.
Jun looked at the dragon then chewed his lip as he wondered what to say to him about what he wanted to do regarding the Mafia.
Dahlia looked over at him with the eyes saying 'Tell him'.
Jun nodded then looked at the dragon practically forcing the words out.
"I had something I wanted to talk to you about." he said.
"I'm listening Tiger." Tyroth replied tapping his fingertips together and leaning his elbows on his knees.
"It's about the Chicago Outfit." Jun said, his blood boiling as he said those words.
"I see…" Tyroth mused.
"I've been doing some serious thinking when it comes to them." Jun said "After what they did to me and Alex, Dahlia." he corrected himself "And I want to take them down."
Tyroth frowned.
"You wish to take down the Mafia?" he asked.
"After what they did," Jun justified "All they've done and what they could do...someone has to stop them!" he said in a low voice at the end and he was ready for an argument yet to his surprise, Tyroth nodded and looked sympathetic.
"I understand your feelings Jun." he said "After what they did to you."
"And as much as I hate to admit it..."Jun went on "I can't do it alone."
Tyroth was silent for a moment then he nodded.
"I know...and I knew you would come to me at some point saying you wished to confront the Chicago Outfit."
Dahlia looked at him in surprise.
" You did? " she asked.
"I did yes." Tyroth answered "Yes...it didn't take a genius as I know the feeling, having your life stolen from you."
"We learnt about you and Sephie in those group sessions she held and what happened to you."
Tyroth nodded.
"Not my fondest memories at all, despite all that happened afterwards." he said "Anyway, I knew that you and Jun wanted to find out more about the Chicago Outfit as I knew you'd want vengeance and I got Hacker on the case to see what he could find out about the Chicago Outfit and their hang outs."
"You did?"Jun asked, his head shooting up "And? Any news?" he asked desperately.
Tyroth stood up.
"Why don't I take you to his quarters and he can show you?" he offered gesturing with his head to lead them out of the rec room and to Hacker's quarters.
"Sure, please" Dahlia said standing up with an eager Jun.
"Follow me."Tyroth said and walked out of the room into the village to which the wolf and tiger followed him.
Jun was feeling rather excited whilst Dahlia looked worried as she had no idea what Hacker must have found.
They walked across the village and through the tunnels leading to the exit where they heard some music being played as well as some whirring sounds and they soon arrived in Hacker's quarters.
Jun had already briefly seen the room before when he had sneaked topside the other night, but Dahlia was rather amazed at what she saw.
All over the room were computer screens and televisions, most of them covering footage from many parts of the City topside as well as some scrambling coloured screens and some had news reports going on from all over America.
In one corner of the room was a bed as well as a couple of mini fridges and a microwave where the wolf could smell the strong smell of burritos, hot pockets and other junk food one put in a microwave along with coffee and sitting at a desk with many computer screens and keyboards was a mutant spider humming to a song playing in the background and and typing the keyboards with his many arms as well as sipping an energy drink.
"Hey Hacker." Tyroth said gently knocking on the door and the large wheeling desk chair turned to reveal the mutant spider and Dahlia moved closer to Jun as his appearance scared her slightly.
"Hey!" Hacker said in a bright tone "Looks like I got company here!"
Dahlia forced a smile and waved and Jun did the same.
"So what can I do you for?" Hacker asked.
"They have a few questions regarding the ones who killed them." Tyroth said "Did you manage to find out anything since I gave you the information Hugh passed on?"
"Hmm, the Chicago Outfit huh?" Hacker asked.
"The very one." Tyroth said.
"You have any news on them?" Jun asked in a desperate tone but Dahlia squeezed his paw reminding him to be patient.
"I've have a little bit on them, yes" Hacker confirmed as he turned back to the monitors and started typing into the keyboards.
"Then please, show our guests what you found." Tyroth said as he walked over with the couple
"Sure thing." Hacker replied as he searched his databases and Jun and Dahlia took a chance to look around the room properly.
"Wow! Amazing space.…" Jun said impressed.
"Tell me about it…" Dahlia whispered softly.
Tyroth turned to the couple whilst Hacker continued looking for his findings on the Chicago Outfit.
"Hacker has been working hard, and he has access to all he can."
"I can see that." Dahlia said as she looked at the many screens around the room.
"Are these?" Jun pointed at the screens showing the city of Chicago. "Set up all around the city?"
"They are yeah!" Hacker confirmed "I managed to hack into the systems so I can scan the city, comes in handy especially when Hugh gives us tip offs to where recent crime happened."
"Impressive" Dahlia said.
"Yeah! There's no telling how much you've probably caught on these things." Jun murmered.
"True. And the Chicago Outfit can be a sneaky lot, but I'll see if there's something on them on one of these cameras!"
Hacker said as he went through them all.
Tyroth, Jun and Dahlia did the same yet after a few seconds Jun noticed something on one of the front screens.
"Hold on, what's that there?" he said pointing at said screen.
"What did you see Jun?" Dahlia asked and Tyroth also looked over.
"What do you see Stripes?" the dragon asked then Jun pointed at the screen where he saw there was a poster on a street wall.
"That poster there, on the wall." he confirmed.
Tyroth narrowed his eyes as he looked.
"Zoom in Hacker." he said.
"I'm on it." Hacker confirmed as he proceeded to zoom in on the poster on the wall on the monitor.
As he did so Jun clicked his fingers as he saw what it was more clearly.
"As I thought. Its a poster advertising an underground fight!"
Dahlia looked over at Jun.
"You don't suppose?" she asked looking at the tiger who eyes narrowed.
Tyroth also looked hard.
"And the Mafia were at the fight club you two were at." he said.
"Exactly! And think about it, this is the mafia we're talking about." Jun said "I can guarantee that there's nothing they don't have their hands in. I can bet that at least one person at this is going to know something about them."
"That's a big possibility!" Hacker agreed.
"It's a good place to start!" Tyroth said then he looked at Jun.
"I'll have a talk with the Knights and we'll set about infiltrating the place, Jake and Devina will be the best candidates."
When the tiger heard that, he was slightly appalled and wanted to speak up about joining, but seeing the stern look on the dragon's face, he bit his tonuge and nodded.
Yet Tyroth did cock his head at Jun and his face softened.
"I can sense your thirst to want to join in as well Jun." he said to which Jun's shoulders shagged, there really was no hiding anything from the dragon.
"That obvious, huh?" he asked then he caught Dahlia looking at him sideways, that same look of 'Don't be rude.'
" I have my ways of knowing, but yes," Tyroth replied "I know how much you want to go after them, and you want to go in there all guns blazing, I have felt the same about those who took mine and Sephie's lives, but trust me when I say, we must do this properly." he added sternly.
"Yeah, I get it." Jun sighed and he felt Dahlia squeeze his paw in comfort and support.
"Dont think for a moment I don't understand Stripes, because I do." Tyroth said in a softer tone placing his large paw on Jun's shoulder and Jun looked at him gratefully.
" I hear you." he said giving Tyroth a small smile and he squeezed Dahlia's paw back.
"Hey, no worries Jun!" Hacker chimed in brightly "We'll get this squared away, you'll see!"
"Thank you, both of you." Dahlia said with a smile at the dragon and spider to which they both bowed respectfully.
"I'll gather the Knights and you two can join us in our meeting." Tyroth said.
Jun's eyes widened.
"We can do that? Even though we're not part of the Knights?" he asked.
Tyroth nodded.
"Well, think about it Stripes. You were the victims of the Mafia and you have every right to be part of the meeting regarding them."
"Yeah!" Hacker joined in shrugging with all his arms "You need to be there so you can describe them and all right?"
Dahlia chuckled.
"He's got a point hun." she said "And despite my feelings, I too want Antonella to pay for her crimes against us, and to Jason."she looked saddened as she thought of the fighter who had been innocent of everything and had been killed by the mafia because he knew them.
Jun frowned in determination and looked at Tyroth.
"Alright count us in!" he said.
Tyroth clasped his paws together pleased.
" Great!" he said then he looked to Hacker and pointed at the screens.
"Take that screen shot and research the area then print off the details, I'll gather the knights to meet in an hour."
"I'm on it boss!" he said saluting with his top right hand then started to type and mutter to himself.
"Great job!" Tyroth said then he looked to Jun and Dahlia.
"Meet me back in the mess hall in an hour, then we'll have a conference!" he said.
The couple nodded at him.
"We'll be there!" Jun said wrapping his arm around Dahlia who also nodded in agreement as well as looked thankfully at them for their help and assistance.
Jun and Dahlia have spoken to Tyroth and he has agreed to help them.
Stay tuned to see how the meeting goes with the Knights next chapter!