Chapter 41: End of The Beginning

The moment Percy opened the door, Mitchell just walked past them before Percy or Tiara could open their mouths. He strode into the only room in the studio flat and shut the door close. Hazel stepped inside and removed her shoes with a sigh.

Tiara leaned around her chair and looked at her with curious eyes. Her eyes got even more curious when she spotted the two new faces behind the nurse. Percy stepped in front of Hazel and looked down at her.

"Where were you both?"

Hazel looked up at him and shook her head, "Now's not the time, Percy. We'll talk tomorrow."

"What business did you have with Goren Cheng?" Percy snapped.

Hazel's eyes went round. "How did you…"

Percy picked up the phone and showed Mitchell's number on the call log. "We heard a part of what happened through the call. Did Mitchell actually kill the leader of that sect?"

"Percy!" Tiara intervened, "Goren was joking, a liar like always. Mitchell is a normal guy."

Percy turned to face her with dark serious eyes. "It's always the normal looking ones that break first."

Tiara tensed and then looked at Hazel. "Hazel, tell him he's wrong."

Hazel hesitated, looking back at Miwen who was also looking the other way. That was all Percy needed to understand what had happened. He locked the front door and cursed under his breath. "Aren't you guys in serious trouble? They'll catch you in no time."

Hazel sat down on the table and buried her head in her hands, "Yeah they will. But Mitchell hasn't spoken to us yet."

Percy's focus shifted on the man lying against Miwen's arm. "God, who's that, and what the hell happened to him?" He sighed and stepped forward to help Miwen. He carried V and placed him on the couch.

Percy bent down and pointed at Tiara. "Tell us if he stirs."

Tiara nodded, still confused at what was going on. "Who is this man, though?"

The room door unlocked and Mitchell limped forward. He sighed and smiled at Tiara who was safe and sound. "An old friend of ours."

Tiara raised her eyebrows and looked at V even more closely. "He does seem familiar...but hey Mitchell, we were talking about whether you killed Mr. Cheng or not. Goren was lying right?"

"No," Mitchell finally admitted. He sat on the table next to Hazel. He had gone into the room and locked himself up for a while to get his bearings and decide the next step. Sure, Mr Cheng's people would be hot on their trail now, and they needed an escape plan.

"I killed him, or he could have killed me. I hope you guys understand. Nothing was intended and I should have looked into their activities more."

Hazel placed a hand on Mitchell's shoulder. "You couldn't have possibly known about their new powers. We're just glad that you're alive. Right, guys?"

"Yeah," Miwen nodded.

Tiara and Percy however exchanged a tense glance between them. Mitchell bit his lip and tilted his head. "Tiara, you aren't mad at me, right?"

Tiara looked away. "I don't deserve an opinion here…"

"Huh?"

Percy interrupted and explained how she healed the monster in the game which caused Prince Hao to die. A smile formed on Mitchell's face. "Sorry, but, Tiara, that was kinda stupid," He tried not to laugh.

Hazel giggled and walked over to massage Tiara's shoulders. "Ah Tiara, don't worry about it. It's just an in-game death."

"But still!" the younger woman whined. She turned to Mitchell and for a moment there was silence in the room. "Guess both the siblings committed murder."

"Tiara, can you shut up?" Percy snapped, "You didn't kill me so don't take the credit! It was the monster alright? You're too weak to kill me."

"Ugh, now I'm wishing you died in real life. Such a pain."

"Not my fault you're such an attention-whore! These four are in danger of getting imprisoned and all you care about is how you 'killed' me. Get over it."

Tears filled up in Tiara's eyes. "Is that how you treat me for being at least a little bit considerate about your life?"

Percy and Tiara continued bickering like 3-year-olds and Hazel sighed in the background. "I have no idea how they connected for 4 hours with that kind of attitude."

Mitchell smirked knowingly and turned to Miwen. "You alright?"

Miwen nodded. "Where are we escaping to?"

"Another country, perhaps. This country is too dangerous."

Hazel leaned forward in surprise. "Are you serious? We're actually fleeing?"

Mitchell rubbed his forehead. "I hate it too, Dr. Zha Huang would hate me if he was alive…" He groaned. "But there's no choice! We need to leave before they hunt us down and suck us out of our blood or something! How did they even get those horrendous powers?"

Hazel shrugged, watching Percy and Tiara. "God knows… we need to find that out too."

"Am I still involved?" Miwen asked meekly. She had joined in the mission as a hacker, but now, they probably knew that she was a part of the crime too. Goren could identify her easily. Same for Valentine.

"I can compensate for all losses," Mitchell said as consolation.

Miwen stepped forward and slapped him across the cheek.

Hazel pushed her back with a glare in her eyes, "Miwen!"

Miwen's eyes held no emotion as he stared at Mitchell's stricken face. "Can staying away from my sick mother be compensated by a few dollars?" Her eyes started getting blurry. "She got admitted right before Hazel called. But I left her, you know why? Because you guys gave me a belief that I'd return. Safely." She covered her mouth and looked down at her feet. "How… how can you think that I'll be consoled?"

Mitchell's cheeks went pale. "I didn't know..."

Hazel sighed and hugged Miwen comfortingly. "Don't worry, we just have to stay away until they lose our scent."

Miwen looked up at her through teary eyes. "And how long is that?"

"A couple of months…? Mr. Cheng was their leader and now that he is dead, it could be chaos right now."

Mitchell shook his head, clenching his fist. "He is not the leader. There is someone far above them controlling the Lightning Dragon Sect."

"What?" the other two women breathed in surprise. Before Miwen was invited into the mission, she was taken through a brief explanation of who they were against. Miwen was a bit weary about immortality and stuff, but after hearing the things Mr. Cheng had done, she felt a personal hatred growing too. They had planned to breach the sect and find out inside information through this mission, but what they ended up doing was kill the Leader, at least the one everyone believed was the leader.

Mitchell didn't know which was better, actually. He was relieved that Mr. Cheng was gone to pave the way for the true leader to probably reveal himself. That didn't cut the fact that he took a life, however.

"Mr. Cheng himself said so. A person they call the Last Magnate, he was the one who gave them the power to…" Mitchell hesitated, "control blood."

Hazel narrowed her eyes. "So, basically," she put her hands forward, "Project Dream System, a subsidiary of Dr Zha Huang's almost extinct Eternal Golden Phoenix Sect is working towards achieving immortality, while the Lightning Dragon Sect has the power to control blood. And if we achieve immortality, how is it destructive to them?"

Miwen hummed. "When a person becomes immortal, will there be a change in their code?"

"Huh?" Mitchell raised his eyebrow.

"I mean," she corrected, "Will their blood become resistant to control or something…?"

Hazel slowly gaped. "You might be right! What do you think? Mitchell?"

Mitchell nodded slowly and looked up at Miwen in regard. "A possibility. Since the Cheng Group is huge, they might have been relying on the ability to control people to achieve some domination over the business industry."

Mitchell groaned and buried his hand in his head. "If Dr Zha Hunag was here, he would have known something. About who the Last Magnate is, about the extent of benefits immortality gives."

"Hey…" Hazel touched his shoulder lightly. "I think I know where to go as a hiding place now."

"You do?" Miwen leaned forward. "Can I… go meet my mother first at least?"

Mitchell started to shake his head, "I don't think that's…"

"Please!" She touched his knees as if to beg, "At least just see her from afar."

Hazel looked at Mitchell meaningfully and after a few seconds of thought, he nodded. "When are you guys ready to leave?"

"The moment V recovers," Hazel nodded and they all agreed.

But a final complication remained.

Percy looked back at them and scratched his head. "If you guys are leaving, will we stay here alone? With these vials and stuff until we achieve immortality in this small studio flat?" He chuckled. "Not going to lie, that thought is quite absurd. Also, I don't have a degree in caretaking to deal with this burden here," he pointed back at Tiara, intending that no normal person can take care of the female monster he was paired with.

Tiara looked up at him with bored eyes. "Say that one more time and I punch the guts out through your mouth."

Percy turned around and looked down at her. He smirked, "I'd like to see you try."

In a flash, before the other man got time to think, Tiara swung her right arm and landed a hole on Percy's torso. He doubled over and tried not to show pain on his face. His ears went red from the impact.

"What the hell have you been eating?" He said through his teeth.

"Why," she blinked innocently, "Your meat omelettes of course."

He made a face at her and she made a sillier face back.

"Guys," Hazel rubbed her forehead. "Stop."

They both turned their attention back to Mitchell and Hazel. They were like mother and father to Percy and Tiara by now.

"I'll assign a researcher from the Project to stay here with you guys. He will bring in more supplies and take care of Tiara's needs, as well as record your progress. Don't trouble him while we are gone."

Tiara smiled lightly. "Is he like Dr Zha Huang?"

Hazel snorted. "Hardly."

Mitchell smiled knowingly. "He… is nice. That doesn't mean you're off the hook, Percy. If your Connection with Tiara strains anytime, I'll know. Then you and I will have a very, very long talk. Do you want that?"

Percy scrunched up his face. "Did I mention I don't indulge in conversations with rotten pineapples?"

"Huh?" Mitchell glanced at himself and then back at Percy. "Rotten pineapple?"

Tiara tried to hide her smile as she pointed at Mitchell's hair. "Your blacky yellowy hair…"

Mitchell looked up at his hair and shook his head, "Huh??" He froze when he heard Hazel also laugh and he turned to her with a face of betrayal. "You think it looks like rotten pineapple?"

Hazel closed one eye and pinched her fingers, "A little bit?"

Percy leaned against the sofa Tiara was sitting on with a smug smile on his face. "Don't worry, Mitchell. I've learnt a lot from the game. I'm pretty sure Tiara has too. She is in good hands."

"She better be. If I had a choice, you would be the last person I'd choose for her."

"Mitchell…" Tiara whined. "You're the best brother ever!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up." He shook his head and returned to the room. He was tired… really tired after all that had happened today. His back crashed against the bed and he buried his face inside the pillow.

'What's going to happen the next time we go into the game? Will those monsters still be there? If yes…

How do we defeat them?'

Percy's eyes widened in self-surprise at the strange wording of his thoughts. 'We…' He smiled against the pillow. 'I hope we'll make a good 'We', Tiara. We are both failures in some way after all.'