As the seconds ticked by, nothing happened.

Jiyong was still on his way towards Wonwoo, Seungri following him like a dog, and Seunghyun's grip was still too tight around Jisoo's arms. The Wielder could feel his hands slowly grow numb at the pressure. Fearfully, he peeked at his team members and took in Seokmin's puzzled expression and Mingyu's confused frown. The thought that he wasn't the only clueless person in the room made him feel a little bit better.

And then, finally, Jihoon stepped forward. "You're outnumbered. Hands up or we'll shoot."

Everything came to an abrupt standstill. All attention turned to him.

"What the are you talking about?" Jiyong finally snarled while Seungri looked around, unease in his expression. Seunghyun had tensed behind Jisoo and the Wielder bit back a pained groan.

Jihoon nodded towards Minghao and with a sharp click, that rang through the tense silence like a gun shot, the handcuffs of the group at the door unlocked and dropped to the ground.

"What the hell. Guards!" Jiyong was visibly fed up with the groups' antics but the guards remained motionless - much to his anger. He turned towards Seunghyun for an explanation and Jisoo teared up at the building pressure. He wasn't sure whether his bones would hold out much longer. The thought made him shudder.

"It's probably an ability," Seunghyun said after a long moment of silence, his voice unsure, and Jiyong's face immediately darkened even further.

"Then ing do something against it; that's what you're here for!"

"I can't. It's not an active one."

"Meaning?"

"The ability is not being used right now but its influencing them. Like Seungri's ability."

"You useless piece of-" The tattooed Wielder took a step forward and Jeonghan wordlessly raised his hand. At once, the guards aimed at Jiyong and he stopped, grimacing.

An uncharacteristically dark smile played on Chan's lips while he casually strolled into the middle of the kitchen. All eyes focused of him.

Jisoo's chest tightened in worry for his youngest Bonded. His mind spun while he tried to figure out what Chan was planning. Although the younger was good at martial arts, he was still a Guardian without an offensive ability. It would be dangerous for him to take on any of the experienced gang members in a fight.

Another beep rang in the Wielder's ear, breaking his train of thought. Daehyun's tense voice followed. "He's going in."

It happened almost too fast to comprehend.

Seunghyun screamed in pain when Jongup materialized next to him and rammed an elbow in his face while almost simultaneously ripping Jisoo out of his tight grip. Surprised, the Wielder stumbled and fell, multiple cuts opening on his skin due to the clutter and shards on he ground, but adrenalin masked the pain and he hurriedly turned around when Chan dove past him. "I got him! Now!"

While Jongup tried to restrain the Forcebearer to the best of his ability, the young Guardian was clinging to Seunghyun's leg, holding on for his dear life even when harsh kicks to his side made him wheeze. Suddenly the Forcebearer stopped fighting back although his muscles kept tensing and he continued to spew curses.

Jisoo flinched when something warm touched his but a quick glance revealed that it was only Seokmin, who had used the confusion to hurry to his aid.

The rest of the group had moved as well, apart from Minghao who was completely focused on keeping Seunghyun as tightly bound as possible. Jun and Hansol were cornering Seungri, an almost identical smirk on their faces, while Jeonghan - joined by two of the guards - carefully moved closer to Jiyong, eyes fixated on his knife. Mingyu allowed Wonwoo to help him climb back to his feet and Seungcheol vanished into the hallway together with the remaining guards and Jihoon, who was hissing into his earpiece.

Jisoo gently pushed Seokmin's hands away as soon as he could feel his ability at work. "I'm alright, take a look at the others first; they need it more. But take it slow."

"Yes, Sir." Seokmin winked and left a quick kiss on his cheek before he went to check on Shownu's group - but not without using the contact to sneakily heal the cut on Jisoo's throat.

The Wielder's lips twitched into a shaky smile before he climbed back to his feet, wincing at the pain that ran through his body. For a moment, he examined the situation in the kitchen before he opted for checking on Mingyu, since he still couldn't figure out the plan the other group was following. He had just climbed over the sad remains of a chair when Seungri started yelling, struggling to get out of the grip of Hansol's and Jun's clones while the Warriors watched him closely.

Mingyu greeted Jisoo with a concerned hug and immediately offered the Wielder his jacket. Jisoo gratefully accepted; hiding his bare and bloodied upper body made him feel at least a little bit safer. The warmth of the tall Warrior helped even more. "What are we going to do now?" he asked and worriedly glanced around.

"I'm sure the others know what they're doing. Let's just wait and see," Mingyu said, one arm still wrapped around Jisoo's waist.

Not reassured by his answer, the Wielder's fidgeting only worsened. Wonwoo raised an eyebrow when Jisoo kept stealing nervous glances at him. "What?"

"Uhm... do you think y-you could cut Seungri's and Seunghyun's bonds? If they can't use their abilities, everything w-would be much easier, right?"

A thoughtful look crossed Wonwoo's cold features while Mingyu's face immediately lit up at the idea. "I can try. But it's much harder to get rid of a mutual bond compared to a forcebo-"

", hurry up! I can't hold him much longer!" The group turned to Minghao who had paled in exhaustion, sweat dripping down his chin. At his words, Seunghyun began to fight his invisible restrains once again with full force.

"Damn it!" Mingyu ran over to Chan and Jongup to help out, his face contorted in pain from his earlier fall.

Using the distraction, Jiyong slashed at the nearest guard with his knife, who collapsed at his feet, hands clamped over a deep gash in his side.

"Jeonghan, watch out!" Jisoo screamed in panic when Jiyong hurled his knife once again, hitting the second guard straight in the stomach. He had to look away when the guard crumbled to the floor, horror