The Union returned; their numbers vastly diminished from their usual size. Hudson stood in front while the other three followed behind him. Hudson crossed his arms and moved in, not wasting any time waiting for an explanation. On his face was a firm look of both rage and exhaustion as he positioned himself in front of Quang. Despite the inches in height disparity between the two men, Quang remained steadfast and held his position. A huff of warm air escaped from the Union leader's nostrils as he exhaled. His fist clenched tighter while his eyes narrowed in on Quang.

"You and your friends have made a big mistake!" Hudson shouted. He lifted one hand, pointing a shaky finger into Quang's face. Quang remained motionless, ignoring the finger and keeping his eyes focused on those of Hudson. "You three are here looking for trouble?" he continued, quickly jumping his attention between each intruder. "Well, you're gonna get it!" Hudson then turned to one of his men. "Thomas!" he barked without turning away from Quang. "Go get my hammer out of the building!"

There was a short period where the only sound was the harmonized chirping of birds in the distance. The Union members all looked towards each other, trying to figure out which one of them was Thomas in the limited lighting. "Thomas?" Hudson turned around and counted his men, pointing at them one by one.

"Thomas is taking a break," Vic replied. "But if you want to wait to go and get your weapon, be my guest! I'm always down for a fair fight." With one thumb he gestured towards Fátima. "Your partner here has gotten herself hurt so she's out of the picture." He took a long stride towards the Union leader who watched him approach with still enraged eyes. "And between you and me," Vic whispered but still more than loud enough for Fátima to hear, "she wasn't much of a threat anyway."

"Somebody just get me my damn hammer already!" Hudson outstretched one arm behind him but kept his eyes on Vic. One of his men scurried towards the memorial. As he waited for the other man to return his weapon, Hudson faced Vic again. "You three are here to cause some trouble, aren't you?"

"You can say that," Quang replied.

"I've got a feeling that there's no way I'm going to be able to convince you to stop by another day."

Vic shook his head. "No sir! We're already here. Don’t feel like making another trip."

Hudson sighed. "I'm working with a very important customer on a very important project. If you—"

"Ingwersens," Selene said bluntly. Hudson tilted his head towards, his expression shifting from frustration to worry.

"Huh?"

"That project you're working on? It's for the Ingwersen family. Your friend told us."

"Of course. I knew Ben had a big mouth." Hudson smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead. "So I'm guessing you three are here to tear down our hard work, huh?"

"It's only fair!" Quang snapped. "Unless you've already forgotten what you did to my family's restaurant and Rodney's studio."

"Yeah, but those can be rebuilt! I don't think you understand just how dangerous these people are! We've got a tight deadline. I'm willing to make a compromise with you." Hudson paused, watching Quang pull his nunchucks out from under his arm, readying himself for an attack. "Dealing with you three is going to take up a lot of time. Time that we don't have. I'm willing to let you guys walk off this construction site, but only if you'll do so peacefully. Once we’re done, feel free to do whatever you want! Just at least let us do our jobs."

"Sounds like this project is important to you!" Vic said. He stood in between the Union leader and Quang. He butted Hudson with his chest and made him stumble back a step. He then lifted one of the rods of his three-section staff and prodded Hudson with it. "Wouldn't it be crazy if someone... or maybe even a group of people... came walking in like they owned the place and just... started breaking stuff?" Vic said with a smile, holding back a snicker as he finished his statement.

Stolen novel; please report.

Hudson stretched out one hand, lightly pushing Vic back a step. "I get it. But Rodney's still kickin’, right? The Nghiems are still making pho. You think you-know-who is just going to let us get away with missing the agreed upon deadline?"

"Maybe your time could have been spent better elsewhere!" Selene said. "You know, like not smashing up other's places!"

Hudson groaned and shook his head in a drawn-out manner. "I can tell there's no convincing you. So we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." Hudson looked behind him and saw his subordinate running towards him, cradling his hammer between his arms. "Boss!" the Union worker said with exasperation. He gave the weapon to Hudson while looking back at the building. "The memorial!"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"There's paint... all over the walls!"

"What?" Hudson said as he held onto the length of the hammer with both hands.

"Like someone just chucked the bucket against the wall! It's everywhere! On the equipment too!"

The Union leader slowly turned back around towards the group of intruders. He lips pressed against each other while his hands dug into the handle of the hammer. Hudson then took one step closer, ready to raise his weapon towards Quang. Vic jumped in between them, still smiling as he positioned the middle section of his staff the front of his body. Hudson stopped mid-swing, staring at Vic.

"Don't say I didn't give ya an offer!" Hudson shouted with the head of his hammer raised and angled towards his side. He began to follow through with a downwards slam. Vic responded with an abrupt shoulder tackle, hitting Hudson in his gut. The big man grunted, hunching over and pressing a hand against where he was hit. The rest of the Union scrambled, surrounding Vic and brandishing an assortment of tools. Vic swung his weapon in a horizontal arc in front of him before catching the other rod in his free hand. He spread his legs as well as his sanjiegun and scanned the other three Union members in front of him. Each remained just outside of the reach of his weapon, but far outside of a threatening distance. They trembled, holding their make-shift weapons with shaky grips.

"Who's next?" Vic called out. The Union members stole glances at each other before looking back at Vic. "If you can't make up your minds, I'll have to decide myself!"

"You three need to do something!" Hudson exclaimed as he fixed his posture. "We don't have time for an all-night brawl!" He then looked at Quang, keeping his hammer in one hand. "You," he said as he pointed towards him with his free hand. "You were the one that went inside the memorial and got paint everywhere?"

A flash of red traveled in front of Quang as his hands exchanged holding his weapon. He stopped after letting it dangle behind his shoulder with one hand while the other arm wrapped in front of his chest and held onto the other baton. "Guilty," he replied.

"The Ingwersen family has a knack for making people disappear. I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into. All I gotta do is tell ‘em where you and family lives and that’s it!"

“Sounds like the same song you’ve been singing for the past few years."

The Union let out a frustrated growl. “I’m done!” Hudson went in for a sideways swing with both hands. The weapon traveled in a long and flat arc. Quang jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack. He felt the air rush past his jacket as the weapon whizzed by.

"Quang!" Selene shouted. She began to move forward until a hand grabbed onto her shoulder.

"Wait a second there," Fátima said. Selene jerked her shoulder away, freeing herself from the kendoka's loose grip. "We've got some unfinished business," Fátima continued. She got into her usual kendo stance, pointing the tip inches away from Selene's face.

Selene looked at the curved end of the sword, slowly moving her eyes along its path before staring into the white of the other woman's eyes. "What about your arm, Fátima? You were making a big deal about it when Vic wanted to challenge you."

Fátima only shrugged the injured shoulder. "I'll be fine." She then looked to her students. She tilted her head in the direction of the road. "Go and see if... you know who is still here. I've got a feeling that Vic might be a bit of trouble." Selene, Fátima and her followers all turned to Vic. A metallic clang rang out as he deflected a pair of pipe attacks from two separate angles and two separate individuals at once. He counter attacked and struck both of his aggressors' arms, making them drop their weapons and belch obscenities. "And make it quick!"

"Yes Fátima!" Spencer gave his master a salute before running away from the site with the others trailing behind him.

"You know who?" Selene asked. She lowered her posture and put up her tonfas in a manner that protected her body. She looked Fátima in the eyes. They were cold yet calculating. The kendoka adjusted her injured arm again, repositioning her wooden blade and gave Selene more room to maneuver.

"You'll find out soon enough," she said coldly.