"Hey, don't scare her." Said Nicko. "You'll be fine. We'll always protect you." He smiled kindly at Emma to calm her down.
Emma smiled back and nodded. But in her heart, she still thought those men might be nice to her because of her pretty face. But Emma hoped that they were being sincere to her. Could it be the friends she finds in the city of Handway that will become her true friends?
"Come on in. We have to hurry." Troy had opened the small gate that was still attached with a loosely chained in front of it. "Do not be noisy."
They crept into that dark and deserted location. There were a lot of rusty old fishing boat wrecks laid strewn across there. The sea air made the location even colder until steam billowed in front of their faces every time they exhaled.
Until a building that looked like a farm barn with tin metal walls could be seen. In front of the building, there were many parked black motorcycles. Although the motorcycles looked almost the same as another motorcycle in general, Emma could recognize that they were the same motorcycles that had come to her and Calvin earlier.
"That's right, the motorcycle..." Emma whispered. The bikes had an additional modification that Emma had only just remembered and noticed. It was a yellow line reflecting light on their exhaust.
"Prepare yourselves, guys. We're going into the wasps' nest." Martin laughed. He was the guy who seemed like the craziest of all his friends. He had a gap between his two rabbit teeth.
Then, they sneaked back to the entrance of the warehouse and hid behind a collection of motorcycles parked in a row. There was one guy standing guard in front of the closed door. But he was facing the other way, with his back turned on them.
Troy gestured for Frank and Martin to clear up the unguarded guard. The two of them quickly settled down and hit the guy's hump until he fainted instantly without having a chance to make a sound.
Placing Emma in their midst, the group immediately approached Frank and Martin who had already peeked at the entrance.
"Shit! This is really bad.." Martin muttered.
"What? What is happening?" Emma barged in to take a peek, "What?!"
The girl covered her mouth with both hands while her clear eyeballs trembled. As if she was about to burst into tears, Emma had never seen anyone she cared about in such a tragic state.
Calvin was sitting in a metal chair with his legs tied. His hands were also tied behind the back of the chair. The cloth attached to his body was only a pant. He was shirtless in this cold air. And ask no more.. his body and face were already battered. Blood kept gushing out from his lips and the sides of his eyebrows.
What's worse, the group called The North Vikings were still beating him as if he was a punching bag.
"Intruders!" A scream made all of them turn around.
Finally, Emma and her friends' existence were known.
Having no other choice, Troy broke down the barn door and they all went inside. Their sudden appearance took everyone by surprise. The silence made the rumbling sound of the wind outside clearly audible.
The nine people stood in a circle, their backs to each other. Because right now, they were being surrounded from the outside and inside of the building. Slowly, all members of the group of The North Vikings came out of every room of the base to see what was going on.
The leader of the group, the guys named TJ stepped up to face them. Troy was standing in the front. He recognized the face.
"Troy Roner? Owh.. Jita Kyoei's group?! This is crazy!" His laughter boomed. He still couldn't believe his own eyes.
"We come for Calvin Lee. Let him go." Troy said coldly.
"Calvin? Are you guys related? I thought he was working alone as a lonely hero? Hahaha.." TJ laughed.
"We are not looking for trouble here. We just want to bring Calvin back. After all, you've finished him already like that." Ian Added.
"Woah.. Tobias Ian? And that.. Frank Duk? Even Martin Brafo is here too?" TJ clapped in admiration. "All the important members of the legendary Jita Kyoei group have come here for Calvin Lee? Where have I been all this time?" he continued in surprise.
"Stop your bullshit. Let the kid go. We're not messing around here." Ian said.
But TJ's laughter echoed along with the rest of his group, who were already seen holding the wooden block in their hands. The guy stepped closer to Troy who had an angry look on his face.
"Why would I do that? Our job isn't done yet." He turned to Calvin who was sitting a few steps behind him, "Calvin Lee, haven't said what we asked for yet."
He walked over to the poor guy who was sitting half-conscious. Then he hung his palm to the side. One of his members immediately threw a medium-sized wooden block that landed right in his grip.
"Your friends are picking you up, Calvin. Don't you want to come home to play with them? You just have to say.. 'I will not messing with gangster jobs again'." He whispered.
Troy and his friends were shocked. So, it turned out to be the reason why Calvin was arrested. It turned out that the guy's behaviour had made the gangsters so fed up that they wanted to immediately end his annoying and useless movements.
"That idiot.. I've told him, he'd be in big trouble," Ian muttered in surprise.
Emma, who was standing beside Ian, immediately gulped. Her small body was blocked by the big bodies of the guys. She could only see Calvin's appearance from between their bodies. No one noticed the girl's presence among the Jita Kyoei members.
"Oh no.." Emma mumbled as soon as she saw TJ preparing to hit Calvin's head with a wooden block.
Calvin didn't answer TJ's question. Instead, he gave him a vengeful glance and spit blood from his mouth to TJ's expensive-looking boot.
TJ's eyebrows arched up and his eyes widen. Calvin's attitude pissed him off. After being beaten almost to death, the guy still refused to obey at all.
"You asked for it!" He growled with a big smile as he swung the wooden block towards Calvin's hump.
"NO!!"
A woman's voice made everyone immediately turn their heads in surprise. No exception for all members of Jita Kyoei and Calvin himself.
The figure of a girl in a grey blazer and all-black clothes was already standing in the middle of the chaos. Troy was surprised by how Emma had managed to get past him until now that the girl was standing proudly a few steps ahead of him. She was literally standing amid a pack of wolves who would easily tear her tiny body apart.
"Don't do that. I beg you!" Emma said with an emphasis in her voice.
"Is.. She.." Ian muttered.
"We shouldn't have brought women. I knew there would be a surprise." Martin laughed, very amused.
Calvin gulped down his saliva which tasted like a rock. His eyes trembled at the sight of a girl standing a few meters in front of him. Emma looks like a duck standing in a wolf's cage.
"Wait a minute..." TJ muttered. Then he turned to Calvin and back to Emma, "You're the girl in the car, right? OH!.. So, it was you!" He laughed sarcastically.
"F*ck! You both are a bastard! You know!? Calvin promised to come with us and not fight back as long as we let you pass. But it turns out that you guys already planned this, didn't you? You already planned to bring Jita Kyoei here.. I know you guys are weak. But didn't expect this brat hero to be so cowardly." The guy said again.
"No. It wasn't planned. Please don't touch her." Calvin finally spoke up.