The Black Swan Behind

254 Visiting Jita Kyoei Base

“Are you sure you want to fight them all alone?” Ian asked Calvin.

Calvin nodded confidently, “I also need to study their strength. You don’t have to worry. Leave this to me.”

Troy shrugged. “Well, If you say so,”

Ian patted Calvin on the shoulder, “I’ll take my car and leave a bike for you here.”

Then the two men exchanged vehicle keys. Ian didn’t want his car to be there when Beast Empire came and got into a fight with Calvin. They definitely would destroy his favourite car.

Before Ian left, Calvin also left Emma’s cell phone to him for fear that it would be damaged while he was fighting.

“Call us if you’re too knocked by them that you can’t walk anymore,” Troy said as he started his motorbike engine.

“It won’t happen,” Calvin chuckled.

Then, Jita Kyoei left the place. Right after their departure, as Calvin had been waiting for, the Beast Empire subordinates came to the scene.

.....

It was a collection of men driving cars and motorbikes. There were probably around fifty of them. Calvin smiled, cracking his fingers.

“Time for a night workout,”

**

The Black Swan girls had returned to base. Emma’s arrival was immediately greeted by her friends who were worried about her safety.

Despite knowing that Emma was strong, it didn’t deny the fact that Emma was really kidnapped by Beast Empire’s men. She had to restrain herself from attacking back so that the impromptu mission went smoothly.

“Did they ever harass you?” Poppy asked directly. That was the first thing that popped into her mind; the thing she was most afraid of.

Emma shook her head. “Thankfully, they didn’t. Thanks for worrying about me girls.”

“How did it actually happen that you got kidnapped by them, Emma?” Britney asked.

“Um.. that...” Emma had a hard time explaining it from the beginning.

Then, a laugh broke the worried mood. “Let me guess. You’re dating Calvin?”

Emma stared blankly at Kathy. Ever since Calvin suddenly came and said unnecessary words in front of them, Emma could already guess that Kathy would use the scene as material to tease Emma. And it looked like she was starting to do it.

“Calvin? You mean Calvin Lee?” Britney asked with raised eyebrows.

“Which Calvin is a better fit for our Emma, ??Britney?” Kathy replied with a slight shake of her head.

“Gosh.. I know that you two do look close, but I didn’t think that this incident could happen when you two were hanging out,” Britney said with a chuckle.

Emma sighed. “Come on guys. Stop teasing me. We’re not dating.”

“All right, all right. I know it’s a matter of your privacy. I’m not going to talk about it anymore.” Britney said with the rest of her grin. “Then, how did you get kidnapped?”

Luckily, not all of Emma’s friends had the same nature as Kathy’s, so the tease didn’t last long.

Then, Emma began to tell the chronology of how she got kidnapped. From the moment she saw a girl chatting with a man, who turned out to be a member of the Beast Empire, until she ended up in a minivan to be taken to the human warehouse. She also did not forget to tell how the men treated their victims.

“At that time, I didn’t have much choice. If I didn’t move right away, the girls’ fate would be in danger. That’s why I had to leave Calvin and go on a mission. Sorry for making you guys have to come so suddenly like that.” Emma said.

Kathy shook her head. “There’s no need to apologize, Emma. If the girls were kidnapped, they wouldn’t necessarily be kept in the human warehouse back then. They might just be given to Beast Empire’s customers. It would be worst if you got a chance to save others, but didn’t use it.”

“Agreed,” Poppy nodded.

“Anyway, where’s Rachel?” Emma asked as she remembered her best friend who looked limp earlier.

“I already took Rachel home. She’ll go to the hospital tomorrow to have her leg checked.” Ava answered.

“Oh.. I’m really worried about her. I hope she’s okay.” Emma muttered.

“Rachel did fall pretty hard from that car. She’s the bravest girl I’ve ever known. When I saw her in action, I felt like I was watching an action movie.” Ava said with an amazed face.

“That’s why I chose Rachel as the head coach. She is the best example for all the members.” Emma said.

Suddenly, there was a short ringing sound. Poppy immediately stood up and took a cell phone from her desk which was not far from where they were sitting together. It was Black Swan’s special phone which was always held by Poppy as the group’s manager.

“Hey, Black. It’s me, Troy Roner from Jita Kyoei. Continuing what we were talking about. Where and when can we meet to talk about it?” Poppy read the contents of the message. Her face looked confused.

“Woah.. So fast, Troy!” Kathy said.

“What happened? How could Troy suddenly send a message like this?” Poppy asked.

“Troy Roner? Isn’t he the president of the Judo club on campus?” Britney asked.

Emma nodded. “He is. Troy is the leader of the Jita Kyoei group that I often talk about. Earlier, Calvin suddenly came with many Jita Kyoei guys. Troy offered to cooperate again to finish off the Beast Empire group.”

“Well, so It’s true as Rachel said. Beast Empire recruits martial arts studio students. That must be the reason Jita Kyoei wants to beat them up.” Poppy said.

“Tomorrow, I will have a meeting with all core team members to discuss whether we need to cooperate again with Jita Kyoei or not,” Emma said, considering that Rachel was in a state of injury now.

**

Jita Kyoei had two headquarters. The old radio room was in the Jardin University campus and the other was Martin’s small café.

The men would gather in a special room in the Punk-Rock cafe when they were off campus.

“Black already texted me. They’re coming here,” Troy said to all his friends.

“Come here? When?” Ian asked.

“Tonight.”

“Do they trust us so much that they dare to come directly to our base?” Nicko said to himself.

“I don’t understand what’s on their minds. I don’t know which is true: either the leader acts like he knows us very well or he really has no fear at all.” Ian muttered.

“Then, how’s Emma, ??Calvin? You don’t look as frantic as yesterday,” Martin asked.

“I called Rachel. She said Emma was right back home.” Calvin answered with a sigh of relief. He still remembered how worried he was when he didn’t know about Emma’s condition.

“Looks like Emma will only tell her female friends about her house. But I was relieved that at least someone could find out how she was doing, even though her cell phone couldn’t be reached.” Calvin continued, referring to Emma’s cell phone which was still in his hand. He would return it when he met her on campus on Monday.

“This is going too far. Even our female friends are victims now,” Nicko said as he rubbed his lips. “I’m worried about my sisters. This city isn’t safe for girls anymore.”

“There is something that made the Beast Empire abduct girls even more. They looked like they were being chased by demons, so they dared to carry out kidnappings in such a short span of time. Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to find it. Beast Empire’s information defence is so strong that it is hard to penetrate. They are very closed off,” Frank explained.

“And Black could find out that much information about that group,” Troy said, shaking his head slowly.

Frank nodded, “Their informants are indeed epic.”

**

The sun was starting to set. All of Jita Kyoei’s core members, plus Calvin Lee, were still gathered in a room, which was Jita Kyoei’s official headquarters.

Troy rose from his seat as he read the message that had just arrived on his cell phone. “They’re here.” He walked out the door.

“Can’t they go in on their own?” Martin asked with a look of disapproval. According to him, Black was too arrogant and spoiled.

“They don’t want to go through the café, so they have to use the back door,” Nicko said.

“That weird mask-headed is sure to terrify all your café guests, Martin,” Ian added.

“Assholes. Are they so famous that they have to keep covering their faces like that? Those guys are too much. They just want to look cool,” Martin snorted again.

The door leading to the back of the building opened. Troy showed up with two men in black behind him.

“Sit down,” Troy said while moving his chin towards a grey sofa that looked shabby and a bit dirty.

Emma and Linda sat on the sofa. Usually, Emma was always accompanied by Rachel if she wanted to have a meeting like this. However, because Rachel’s leg was slightly sprained, she decided to take Linda along so Rachel could rest and recover.

“Oh, you’re not coming with your normal-height friend?” Martin asked.

Emma looked at Martin sarcastically. That brat’s mouth really needed to be taught a lesson someday. “Whoever goes with me has nothing to do with you. I don’t even think that you are a normal person either,”

Calvin looked at Martin and shook his head tiredly. Then, he turned his gaze to Nicko, who was sitting next to Martin. He gave a signal for Nicko to immediately take the troublesome guy out of the room.

“Dammit! Why do I so sleepy now? Anyone up for some coffee? I’m going to the café.” Nicko got up from his seat while holding his neck, as if he felt sore in that part.

“No, thanks,” Calvin answered, followed by a nod from the others.

Then, Nicko patted Martin on the shoulder. “Come have coffee together. Let’s go out.”

“Huh? Why me?” Martin complained with a confused face.