'Tis time

"Really? Is that how you see it?" He asked rather rhetorically and continued, "why do you care about my actions towards them? What are you, their papa?"

"No, not really. I am, however, their comrade. We've done a few missions together. I don't want to make this place more uncomfortable than it already is." I explained. 

"Then they should quit. This place isn't for snowflakes, but soldiers." He continued his pace. We followed from behind

"You're right." I dropped the act of trying to defend them and changed the topic, "so, why did you call us? If it's about the mission, why don't you tell us in the classroom?"

"Okay, that place isn't a classroom, but a meeting room. Why did I call you lots– I wanted to show you something."

We walked in silence until we stopped at a door where only those with a high clearance card could enter. Wo scanned his card and the door opened with a hiss.  We got in and welcomed by four yellow pears on the table. 

"Is that?" I was puzzled and shifted my eyes towards Wo.

"They're Fruits of Advancement. They'll be your reward." He stated.

"I know what that is. Why us? What's going on? Is there an extra mission you want us to take?" I pondered, feeling a bit alarmed.

"You're sharp, Sunny. I like that about you. It's an S mission. I want you to take down Vie and his colleagues." He informed us calmly. 

"What did he do?" I frowned slightly. I know the guy. 

"Who's Vie?" Goo Han asked. 

"An Honor that manipulates gravity. He's powerful." I explained. 

"And dangerous." Wo continued my statement and continued, "In the last few days, we've been investigating him and found out he had children in his basement. It was unknown what he did to them, but we already determined it was not sexual behavior.

"A child escaped from his basement causing the death of a family of four with only one person surviving. We found out the child has power, but his power doesn't come from the great tree. It's man made."

We fell silent as we digested the information. However, I pushed that thought aside first and asked, "is the child okay? What about the survivor of the family?"

"Not well, the survivor is in a therapy session. Seeing his family die before his eyes caused a great blow to him." He explained.

"What did the organization compensate him with?"

"Some money and free therapy sessions is what the organization can offer. We can't press charges against Vie and his men, unless we find proof."

"What about the child?" I asked another.

"He's in a coma. His brain and body was shocked after using his power. His organs ruptured, but his body recovered naturally. It'd take two weeks for him to recover completely." He explained.

"Just another abuse of power by the Honors. Nothing new," said Eve casually. But then, her tone changed when she said;

"But doing such a terrible thing to innocent children. They're dead! Wo, give me everything that I must know so I can take down these scumbags!" She said in a concealed rage.

Ginto chipped in, "Vie is different than the rest of the Honor. He is an integral part of humanity to take back the surface from the shadow. If he's gone, then humanity would lose an arsenal."

"Don't worry about that. We already take care of it. All you have to do is to get into his home, get evidence, and get out."

"If Vie and you are fighting, who's gonna win?" Goo Han asked without a warning.

"I might get into a bit of trouble."

"Would you win?"

"Maybe." I gave a half assed response before realizing something, "wait, where have I heard this before."

"Speaking of which, isn't this mission too easy? The reward is Fruit of Advancement. This thing is worth more than all of our lives combined," said Eve, a bit bewildered.

"My life is priceless." I refute.

"You're right. The reward is too good to be true, but whatever Vie is doing down there worth the reward, so be careful." Wo said and added, "If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."

"Sir Wo, why am I here? I'm not as great as these three." Goo Han pondered.

"You are Sunny's chain, to keep him from going crazy."

"I'm not William Butcher..." I said. I also noticed Eve and Ginto nodded in agreement to Wo's words. 

I added, "I'm not going to lose control and kill the innocent."

"It's not them we're worried about." Eve spoke.

. 

. 

It was a quiet neighborhood. Me and the rest were inside a black van. It smells like nachos here. 

Aside from that, the rest were silent. It was definitely not because they're nervous, rather, they don't know what to talk about.

"Are you nervous?" I asked Goo Han. This was his first mission that didn't involve searching for missing animals or capturing petty thieves. 

"What if I messed up? Isn't this too sudden?" He asked nervously.

"You'll be alright. I've seen you doing your mission. What you have to do right now is simple, guard the entrance and let us know if he's back." I replied.

"That does sound simple. Alright, I'll do my best for you." He nodded with determination.

"Good." I patted his shoulder a few times.

Afterward, the van stopped. The driver opened a small hatch and said, "You got ten minutes to get the evidence before he's back."

Ginto was the first to open the door and get out, others followed. 

"Alright."

We were a few meters away from the target's house. I took a huge puff of vape and breath it out. I controlled the smoke so it immediately covered the entire neighborhood, making it foggy for our tracks to be covered.

People might think a fog in an underground city was suspicious, but this city has a technology that imitated real weather. Hence, they'll only think this came from that machine.

We sneaked into the backyard and saw a few bodyguards.

"Are you sure this is the right place? It says here a house, not a mansion." I frowned.

"That's not our target." Eve grabbed my head and forced my head to turn to the right. A wooden house, still in the same yard as the mansion, entered my vision.

"Why is there a house and a mansion next to each other?" I asked again. 

"That house is Vie's old house. When he soar through the roof, he didn't want to renovate his house because it has memories of his childhood. So he built a mansion next to it. He spends most of his time in this house rather than in the mansion. I guess that mansion is just to show how wealthy he is." Eve explained.

"I'm amazed you know that much." I praised wholeheartedly.

"Of course, I came prepared. So, what's the plan?"

"I'll take care of bodyguards while you and Ginto get in for the evidence. I'll catch up. Goo Han, after I take care of the rest, I want you to guard the entrance and tell us if Vie is back or not, understand?"

"Understand."

"Okay, let's go."

I took a puff and made a staircase of smoke to get over the electric fence. We jumped in. Eve and Ginto walked to the house while I walked nonchalantly towards the guards. Goo Han silently watched on the back, knowing full well his ability is useless in this situation.

As I walked closer, one of them noticed a silhouette approaching. He told other guards and they raised their weapon.

"Hands on your knees and stop walking! This is private property!"

"Easy fellas." I raised my hand and open them wide, showing them I didn't bring any weapon with me.

They got closer to me, pointing their useless toy which was attached with a flashlight at me.

One of them observed me briefly and opened his mouth, "You're Sunny...  F***! We've been discovered!"

He pulled the trigger and almost immediately, the smoke which I used for the staircase, flew towards me at an insane speed. It transformed into a wall and coiled around me.

Like a chain reaction, they also pulled the trigger. Hundreds of bullets tried their best to pierce the smoke, yet all effort was evidently useless. Bullets pathetically fall to the ground.

They ran out of bullets and quickly reload, but I'm not kind to let them do that. I make the smoky wall to grow spikes and in the blink of an eye, they grow in shape and size, immediately penetrating the guards body like they're made of sponge.

I heard their growl in pain, but I ignored them. I could feel their struggle to escape from the spike. I waited patiently until their movement ceased to exist.

The white smoke covered in blood– the ground wasn't an exception. When it was over, I changed the smoke's shape to a small ball of cloud.

I looked around, ten people had a large hole in their abdomen. Blood spilled endlessly with their gut visible. I looked at their corpses emotionlessly before walking back to the wooden house.

Goo Han walked next to me, not saying anything. This rather felt wrong.