“What the fuck is going on?” Tae Kuo muttered, then narrowed his eyes as he whispered to Gloria: “Hey, do you see what I’m seeing - I mean sensing? I think these ones that come in are tangled in something pretty dark. And I - ”

  “I see it.” Gloria nodded, frowning. The new group of men in black that came in all carried clouds of dark mist on their heads and shoulders, invisible to the civilians but more than obvious to her and Tae Kuo. Even Kelvin and Kevin, two civilians that had some involvement with the paranormal, could tell in an instant that there was something unsettling about this new group of men. “Oh my god - this is not good.”

  “I don’t care what you’re doing right now.” The head of the new group of men in black spoke to those behind the reception’s counter: “We are sent by the City Security Committee, and we are here to apprehend a suspect.”

  The doctor’s eyes shifted between this new group and the group that he was trying his hardest to block from the operating area, then retorted with a stern tone: “You guys need to get your mission straight! No matter who you are working under and who you’re trying to arrest here. You need to wait outside!”

  The head of the new group frowned and fixed his eyes on the group of men in black in similar uniforms to them: “Which group are you? I’ve heard no report of another group on this.”

  “We’re Crane 5.” The leader of the first group responded: “You?”

  “Viper 4.” The leader of the new group replied, his tone was still cold and plain: “I’ve never heard of your group. Not from active duty chatters or logs anyway. Who’s your suspect?”

  “We’re mostly on standby. We’re sent for one Mick Cramer, police officer from 17th Precinct of the PCPD.” The leader of the first group of men narrowed his eyes and lessened his grip on the doctor blocking the door.

  “We’re also after one Mick Cramer, police officer from 17th Precinct.” The leader of the new group exchanged looks with his men: “Who’s your handler? What’s your case priority code?”

  “Our handler is Green Dragon 9. ” The leader from the first group nodded: “What’s yours?”

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  “Our handler is - ” The leader of the second group was just about to answer, before the men in black from the first group all sprung into action and fired taser prongs from a device hidden in their sleeves. His group of men were not prepared, and three of them were hit by the prongs. The leader himself and the man behind him on his right dodged just in time and avoided dropping on the ground and twitching.

  The leader of the first group lunged at the leader of the second group, a set of heavy brass knuckles appeared on his right hand. But just while his right hand was still swinging in the air, the leader of the second group leapt straight and unleashed a palm strike at the leader of the ambushers.

  A fiery palm mark shot from the leader of the second group and struck his opponent straight in the chest. The rest of the men from the group swarmed over, whipping out batons, brass knuckles and even metal pipes.

  Screamings, fighting and chaos ensued. The people in the waiting room all backed off from the fight, not knowing what happened. A nurse tried to go to the counter to call for help, but was deterred by the fight.

  “Back off and ready to run.” Gloria whispered to the rest of her team.

  “We need to get Mick first.” Kevin insisted.

  “I know. But I think the first group is trying to save him too. ” Gloria frowned: “What - what’s his family like and background?”

  Kevin and Keryn exchanged looks: “His father!”

  “What’s the theory? Why is his father involved?” Kevin asked.

  “Mick’s father is some big shot official from the South-Western District. He must have pulled all the strings he had to have someone rescue Mick the moment he surfaced. So - ” Keryn narrowed her eyes at the chaotic fight: “I think - when the time is right we can wait till they wrap up the fight and - ”

  “We can’t let them take Mick away like this.” Kevin shook his head: “At least not before he’s properly treated - ”

  “They could only stabilize him, we don’t know if regular doctors can do much anyway.” Tae Kuo fixed his eyes on the leader of the new group, who just kicked an ambusher on his stomach and sent him through the room and landed on a chair. “If we can work with them - ”

  “That’ll depend on how much they know, and IF they want to actually save him, or if they simply want to bring him to his dad.” Keryn narrowed her eyes: “We can’t let them just take him. We need to follow them at least.”

  “I’m not sure they can.” Kevin rubbed his fingers and scratched his nose and face: “None of them even know basic Qi mastery - they’re amateurs - ”

  “Out of the way!” The leader of the second group unleashed another palm strike, a fiery shockwave blasted two ambushers away. But at the same time, the last man by his side was struck down by two batons to the face. “You’re committing a felony! Who the hell - ” His sentence was cut short, as the leader of the second group lunged at him again with his fist held high.

  Yet just when another palm strike was about to unleash, a small pellet curved through the air and landed right on a pressure point on the barking man’s neck, interrupting his Qi flow and disrupting his attack. His eyes opened wide and blood shot from his nose, and he barely had a moment to react before a fist with brass knuckles struck him in his left cheek.

  The first group of men in black frisked the second group, taking away their guns - real guns and swarmed at the door, growling at the doctor and nurses again: “Open the door, we’re not asking again!”