“We have to talk,” Irene said softly, walking nearer to Seulgi who was sitting in the bench of the subway. “This time with words, not with fist, ya?”

Seulgi looked up at her, still clearly hurt. “What’s there to talk ‘bout?”

Irene placed a feet on the bench, somehow making Seulgi feel a little more intimidated, as she started to talk. “Listen, I’m sorry about what happened a few days before. I didn’t want to fight you--.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Seulgi sighed. “Doesn’t matter anyways, I don’t like this trip.”

Irene frowned and put her feet down, sitting down beside her. She wanted to continue talking about what happened, but this new topic piqued her interest. “What’s bothering you?”

Seulgi looked around at the gang, watching them all excited and live for the meeting. She was feeling incredibly different than everyone else--not only upset about losing her chance of being a lieutenant twice, but being worried. She then gazed at Irene. “I have an odd feeling about this little meeting.”

Irene nodded, looking back at the others as well as she spoke. “Yeah well, I heard ya.”

Seulgi cocked her eyebrows up. “You feel it, too?”

Irene chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m focusing, but I heard Peniel mentioning he ain’t too pleased either. He has a rotten feeling as well.”

“Why we even going to this get together?” Seulgi spat out, cracking her knuckles.

“Because Joonhyung said we’re going. This is going to be a big item, we ain’t gonna miss it,” Irene spat right back.

For a moment, Seulgi remained silence.

“We’re going to check it out and bop back, clean and simple. There’s a truce, so ain’t nobody going to pull anything during the meeting.”

They both stared into one another’s eyes before Seulgi diverted her eyes and sighed, watching the train stair to make its stop. “Whatever you say, warlord.”

Irene sighed and stood up before patting Seulgi’s arm. “C’mon, at least if we get into some trouble, we know we can kick their asses.”

Seulgi couldn’t help but to look up at the lieutenant, her expression softened and a soft smirk coming to her. “You right, that’s true.”

“Alright, people let’s go!” Joonhyung said motioning all of them to go inside the train.

With hollers and cries of excitement everyone made it inside the train, quickly glancing at the graffiti decorations inside of it. Seulgi and irene were the two last people to make it inside, watching everyone chat with one another and grab hold of anything. Not many people were there waiting with them, and not many people were inside anyways, so when they were in, they were in by themselves.

As soon as the train ride started, most picked a seat, bouncing excited to it.

Joonhyung and Irene sat next to one another discussing and talking, perhaps on what’s there to be done after the meeting or before it. They both were a little uneasy as well, and essentially were coming up with a back up plan as everyone was live and playing around as the ride went on.

Joonhyun ruffled his bleached hair before patting Irene’s arm. “Listen, Irene, I don’t think ’s going to go down, you hear?”

Irene looked into his eyes, listening carefully and nodding her head.

“My girl told me she had a bad feeling, though,” he sighed and crossed his muscular arms over his chest, relaxing against the seat and sinking a little.

It was a bit different from him. Irene knew he was a very chill person, one to always sink in the chair a little bit for maximum comfort. After all, he was confident that together they could make it anywhere. But when it came to leading the pack as it is, he never relaxed this way; he was always sitting up straight, keeping his eyes peeled and high on his toes if were to go down. There was something bothering him a slight bit.

“Peniel told me he feels this is a little risky, too,” Irene admitted, crossing her arms and looking over at Seulgi, who was very entertained talking to Wendy and Joy.

“If something happens to me,” Joonhyung started suddenly, adjusting in his seat a little. “You’re leading them back home, you dig?”

Irene nodded. “Of course.”

“I don’t want y’all to wait for me, just make it home.”

With a quick shared glance, they both gave on another a nod of mutual understanding before falling in complete silence. Watching the others play around and talk.

Peniel and Baekho were both joking around and laughing, Yeri and Joy were having a heated competition of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ while Taehyun, Wendy and Seulgi were talking to one another quite seriously. Irene stood up and walked through the others to get nearer to the conversation.

“He’s the one and only,” Wendy said, giving Irene a quick wave. “We’re talking about Lee, the leader of the Riffs.”

“Yeah, I know nothing of him,” Taehyun admitted, crossing his arms.

Irene sighed and scratched her head. “I know that he’s the boss of the biggest gang in the city, what’s there to know about?”

Wendy chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it. A lot of people say he’d done some scary , but I haven’t really heard something concrete.”

“The legend makes the man,” Seulgi chuckled, cracking her knuckles again. “I know ain’t nobody going to be there.”

The Van Cortlandt Park was desolated from the outside, but the Warriors bravely and confidently marched their way into it and walked around.

Joonhyung was up front, Irene was next to him and the others were behind, just in random formation, talking to each other very briefly to avoid the occasional 'hush' from Joonhyung. However there was a big question everyone had, since the park was so empty, so the first person to voice it was none other than Seulgi herself.

"You sure this is the right place?"

"I'm sure," Joonhyung replied confidently, looking around before walking into a mini tunnel, with the warriors following behind.

The chilling breeze hit behind them and it was perhaps not the best idea to not wear anything or very little. Joonhyung was topless beneath his vest, so was Baekho and Seulgi (except she had a bra on). The rest of them had shirts on; Irene had a tank-top, Yeri had a sleeveless shirt, Joy had v-neck shirt, Peniel had a wife beater and Namtae had a sleeveless turtle neck.

They all liked to show muscle even if it meant bearing the weather.

"I don't see anybody," Peniel retorted, a groan to his tone.

"Yeah, where are we?" Wendy then joined it.

Before they got eager with the talking, Joonhyung hushed. "Shh, be quiet."

They obeyed like docile puppies, resorting to trusting the man rather than questioning him more and getting into trouble. They went up a bit of a hill and walked through the park's fine grass and beautiful trees, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears sharp for any sound.

That was the principle of any soldier. If your eyes ain't good you better use your ears, and if your ears were funky you had to rely on your eyes and instinct. A great Warrior would be sensible enough to use all of those senses and most importantly not cloud their thoughts with ridiculous stuff--at whatever time it is.

Problem could arise from behind the tree, from up of it, from the corners. Joonhyung knew this well and he made sure to keep his Warriors in sharp state. Even if it meant to scare them a little bit.

The abrupt movement Joonhyung did--as if to elbow Irene--made everyone jump back and it made Irene instantly jump further and get in a fighting stance.

A brief silence came over the crew before Joonhyung chuckled and went back to normal. "I'm joking, I'm joking."

Irene then laughed and nodded, loosening up but even then she was preparing for whatever shenanigans Joonhyung had in mind.

"But seriously, y'all better keep on your toes, who knows what can happen in this reunion," he said firmly, resuming to walk and leading the way.

"Yeah," Seulgi began. "I don't trust this 'truce', the whole thing stinks."

Peniel sighed. "Not to be pessimistic but I don't like it either."

"I know you don't, so the moment this thing is done we're bopping our way back clean and quick, we clear?"

"Yes," everyone said in unison, continuing to walk through the park and finding a gate open, probably where the conclave was being held.

Everyone stared at it for a moment and from a far saw the different uniforms, the big amount of people. Joonhyung nodded, understanding that this was the real deal. "Different colors, this is it."

"And here I thought no one was going to be here," Seulgi bitterly chuckled.

"Stick close, if goes down I want you to make it out lightning fast, OK?"

Everyone nodded and then proceeded to walk down to where the conclave was being held, making it in the nick of time it seemed. Everyone was gathered around, talking to one another and keeping as close as possible, but no one was wasting anyone for tresspassing--no one was trying to pick up a fight, no one was getting hot, no one was lipping off.

It was a miracle.

"I've never seen this kind of in all my years," Joonhyung said softly, almost to himself.

"I figured Dinosaurs were hostile," Joy joked, earning a laugh from everyone even from Joonhyung himself.

"C'mon, let's get closer," Joonhyung said, leading the way and pushing through the crowd of people slowly and as politely as possible, making it down on that stadium like playground.

Finally, the Warriors had settled nicely, even managed to get a good view of the Gramercy Riffs guarding the center, where some sort of wooden platform stood lonely completely. It was definitely Cyrus' place to stand and talk, being so heavily guarded by so many tough looking pals.

Then, in the midst of the light chatting and the occasional cricket that could be heard, Cyrus appeared and stood in the middle of it all. The Warriors watched quietly, intently, paying attention to every detail and every gesture. They could not rest easy that's for sure, but they were closely listening.

"Can you count, ers?!" Cyrus shouted out loud with the powerful voice that could put a megaphone or a microphone to shame.

In that moment, everyone went quiet.

"I say the future is OURS. If you can count."

There was a bit of a pause, Cyrus slowly and confidently walking up to the platform and stopping right in front of the wooden ladder.

"Look what we have here before us. We got the SoHo Hi-Hats sitting next to the Jones Street boys!" Cyrus had an amused smile now. "We have the moonrunners, right next to the Van Cortlandt Rangers. Nobody is wasting anybody. That's a miracle! And miracles are the way they ought to be!"

The Warriors looked around briefly, hearing few people here and there cheering for the idea in a quick moment, but Joonhyung kept his eyes right on Cyrus, frowning a bit and leaning against the railing, watching him get up to the platform.

"You're standing right now with nine delegates from a hundred gangs. And there's over hundreds more. That's twenty thousand hardcore members. Forty thousand counting affiliates and twenty more--not organized, but ready to fight."

"Holy , that's a lot," Irene said to herself mostly, grabbing Joonhyung's attention for a brief moment. "I think that's like sixty thousand..."

"That's wild," Joonhyung mumbled.

Cyrus, now arranged in his platform, spoke louder. "That's SIXTY thousand members. And there's not but twenty thousand police in town. Can you dig it?!"

A thunderous 'Yeah!' was heard from almost every member in the reunion.

"Caaaannnn youuuuuu diiiig iiiitt?!"

A louder cheer, this time longer, with actual energy was heard which even made Irene jump a little bit. The cheering went on for a little bit before Cyrus--who had a smile now--motioned them to calm down a little bit.

"Here's the sum total. ONE gang could run the whole city. Just one. Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen. We tax the crime syndicates, the police... Because WE got the streets, ers!"

Once again the incredibly, ear piercing cheer was heard again, this time The Warriors were prepared for it. Seulgi was scowling and frowning, crossing her arms and not sharing the enthusiasm everyone seemed to have, while Joonhyung just watched with a soft smile.

"I don't think I've ever seen thousands of gangs cheering for one guy before," Irene softly commented, looking at Joonhyung.

"Yeah, I've not seen that either, it's interesting," he replied, chuckling and patting Irene's shoulder.

The rest of the gang had some reservations about it, just like Irene and Seulgi, but they dared to say nothing until they discussed it further.

The whole idea seemed possible, everyone was thirsty for power. But at the same time, a bunch of people that could potentially double cross one another all working for the same leader? This had a rotten feeling to it, which bothered Joonhyung as well, but there was nothing to question yet, they had to take in as much information as they could and soak it up--bop back to Coney.

The cheering died down again in commands of Cyrus.

"The problem in the past has been the man turning us against one another, we've been unable to see the truth. Because we've been fighting for ten square feet of ground. Our tiny little turf. That's crap, brothers. The turf is ours by right, because it's our turf. All we have to do is keep up the general truce. We secure our territory with one borough at a time. We secure our territory... our turf... Because it's all our turf!"

The people went crazy more than before if that was even a possible thing to do. The cheering went for a long time, way longer than what the Warriors expected it. Cyrus was basking into the cheers, being able to realize his wild dream of taking over New York, which was now looking more probable than ever before.

It seemed that it was the way it was going to be. But unknown to everyone, there was a gang closer to the platform that had different plans. The Rogues, they were known, fanatics of leather and biker attire--they were tough like them, too. However, their leader was known for being quite peculiar. And in that night they'll know why.

If the crowd would've been silence at that time, they probably could've heard the cocking of the revolver, the manic laughter. They could've prevented a big tragedy to the Riff, but it was too late.

A loud gunshot was heard--louder than any of their cheering, it silenced the masses in an instant.

It wasn't a warning shot.

Joonhyung instantly perked up. ", they shot Cyrus," he said.

The Warriors all saw it, especially seeing Cyrus' pained expression as he was falling from the platform he was on, landing right on his back. Everyone was registering it still, as if they all thought it was a collective hallucination.

When they all realized it was the real deal, people started to panic and run around like a bunch of cockroaches without aim. As if it couldn't get any worse, bright lights shun around the playground and the deafening sound of sirens was now replacing the cheering, even managing to muffle a bit of the cacophony of panicking all around them.

"Everyone down the railing now!" Joonhyung commanded instantly and jumped the railing, having the Warriors follow behind. He couldn't even properly look at the direction to go, but since everyone was going on way, it'd be fitting for them to go the other way. "The other way, against the crowd!" He shouted, pushing the Warriors to go run.

"C'mon, Namtae," Irene grabbed his wrist and yanked him in the direction they were running, pushing him to go first.

"Keep your down! Down!" Joonhyung instructed, watching them run standing in place.

Irene stuck back however, turning to see Joonhyung and almost expecting him to follow them, but instead he walked elsewhere. She saw him jump to where the Riffs were, then he disappeared in the crowd.

"Irene, c'mon!" Seulgi shouted, dragging her as they ran.

That's the last time Irene would see Joonhyung, but she didn't know this.

Joonhyung pushed through the panicking Riffs. "Out my way," he said walking towards where they were dragging Cyrus. He didn't know why, but he had to know what happened, he had to help. He especially had to know who did it. It was this craving for information that had walked him into his demise.

"It's them!" Someone with a shrilling voice shouted close to the Riffs, on purpose. "It was the-the... Warriors! I saw 'em!"

Joonhyung, who was looking down at Cyrus' dead body, turned around with a frown in his head. The guy had unruly hair, he looked like he had been sweating, his face was partially red and had a bandana over his forehead. He looked like he was nuts. "You're crazy, man. I didn't do nothin'!"

"We saw you!" The guy grabbed the nearest friend he had and yanked him in.

"Yeah, that's him!"

"He's the one! He's the Warrior!"

That shrilling voice was pissing Joonhyung off. It was like that annoying kid in kinder who accused everyone and screamed over and over that it was them just to get people to believe him. However, this was a lot more serious, because he genuinely sounded like some sort of psychopath.

"The Warriors did it! The Warriors!" He kept chanting that as if it was a mantra, soon jumping the railing.

Joonhyung got ready for whatever the kid was going to try, and just as he thought he tried to tackle him but only managed to get tossed back.

Not only was he acting like an immature imbecile, but he was lighter than anything. Joonhyung was still standing. And for good measure (and a bit of pleasure) he grabbed the man and head butting him square in the face, finally letting him hit the ground. But when he turned around, he saw the Riffs surrounding him.

It wasn't just a few people either, it was a lot of Riffs. Joonhyung only breathed deeply and gulped, knowing that this was not looking good.

With the cops pouring in and the people getting busted left and right, some made it out and some were stuck in there.

The Warriors managed to wood that covered one of the exists, managing to make a speedy escape out of that zone, making sure to take the darkest route with the most trees to cover them and keep them stealthy. They ran for a while, for a long while, they had no real idea where they were going, but they only stopping when the cops cruised by and they had a pretty good spot to hide on, but it wasn't private enough for them to reunite.

When they saw the entrance to the graveyards they jet right through to it, running like all living hells.

As soon as they saw a darker area they dashed there without question, just in time as well as they heard the police cars starting to patrol around the neighbor--hell, they even heard an helicopter right above them, but they thanked the dense trees that covered them. 

“Everybody down!” An authoritative voice instructed the running warriors as they met up with the tombs, growling from the very depth of that usually feminine and calm voice.

They had been running for a while now, their bodies glistening with sweat against the pale moonlight. Everyone, except Joonhyung.

They didn’t know where he was, but everyone just hauled out of the meeting as soon as the blue uniform was clearly seen. They all picked different tombs to hide on, some even opted for trees, but they all casted a very dense and thick darkness, perfect for any wrongdoer to hide on. Joohyun had expertly picked the base of the statue--wide and tall enough to shelter her sitting body as they heard the cops’ siren get nearer and nearer.

Their hearts were on their throats, everyone finally settled into their hiding spot and holding their breath as much as we could, not moving even a finger as the cops passed by with their vehicles. They did not even do much of searching there--maybe some of them are superstitious? No matter, the better for the warriors.

As soon as the blue and red lights were far away and gone, the sound of silence took over. The night was as dead as the people in the graves. For this, Joohyun got up from her hiding spot and soon everyone followed.

“Everybody make it?” She asked, out of breath and panting.

“Just Joonhyung’s missing,” Joy quickly replied, looking around and getting close to Joohyun.

Wendy emerged from the dark, panting as well--almost harmonizing with the other’s pants. “Fuzz must’ve got him.”

“Did any of you guys see him get busted?”

Everyone shook their head.

“I saw him for a moment then he wasn’t there no more, I was hauling ,” Wendy coughed.

Joohyun nodded and looked over at everyone, just as sweaty as she was. “Namtae, why don’t you look around to make sure we’re okay?”

Taehyun seemed about to protest before Joohyun’s constant stare send shivers to his spine. He just nodded and walked away, climbing up on the statue to have a good look at the dark perimeter, trusting his other senses to locate any nearby pests.

“Okay so, what are we going to do now?” Yeri inquired, wiping her sweaty hands against her trousers and wiping her forehead.

Irene looked seriously at all the warriors, her breath slowly settling down nice and easy, feeling the adrenaline in her body starting to fade. With her firm voice, she walked forward. “We’re going back.”

“Mind telling us how?” Peniel replied, still breathing heavily and glistening with sweat. “Coney must be hours away from here.”

“It’s the only choice we got,” Irene reiterated, clean.

“Yeah, real simple,” Wendy breathlessly began again. “Except every cop out there is looking to bust our heads.”

“There’s something else we should be worried about,” Irene spat back.

“Like what?” Baekho coughed out, still hunched down and catching his breath.

“The truce,” Joy said softly, almost as if she had just realized it. “Is it still on?”

Everyone was frozen to the bones, even if the night itself wasn’t that cold. Everyone looked at one another with concern, meanwhile Seulgi emerged from the back of the group. She had just gotten done recovering, lying nuzzled against a tombstone a little longer than anyone else, mostly just to avoid Joohyun talking big and tall. But now, she had to listen, because this was not getting easier as they reasoned on about it.

“If it ain’t, we’re going to have to bop our way back!” Peniel reasoned quickly, shifting in his stance.

Silence came over the group quickly, Wendy shook her head and sighed. “, I wish we was packed.”

Irene kept quiet for a while and looked around as she thought the situation over. Maybe it was not a good idea to venture their way back like that? But the sooner they did it the better, because if they stayed there they were liable to get busted by the cops, to get beaten for trespassing territory. It was going to be a disaster, and it could get worse.

But was it impossible? In Irene’s book, nothing was impossible.

“If the truce is off then anything get can between that train and us,” Irene began sharply, getting everyone’s attention again. “If you get separated, make it to the platform in Union Square, which is where we change trains. Try not to get your asses busted and run like hell.”

Seulgi had enough, rolling her eyes and coming forth. “I only have one question.”

Everyone looked at her, Irene directed her attention to her. She looked as sweaty and tired as everyone else, Irene could not fathom how the girl had the choice of wearing nothing under that vest besides a bra. She was feisty of course, and had those abs that she wanted to show off, but sometimes the weather could get a little too cruel. Thankfully she wore jeans and boots, that should keep her warm if the weather gets to her.

After getting that discreet once over done with, Irene tilted her chin up. “What is it.”

Seulgi chuckled. “Who named you leader?”

Of course this was about leadership again.

“I got as much right to take over as you,” Seulgi lifted her chin defiantly.

“Joonhyung’s choice,” Joy began, getting between the two as Seulgi was walking closer. “Irene’s warchief--.”

“Well, Joonhyung is probably getting a nightstick shoved up his ,” Seulgi spat back, staring down at Joy until she slightly backed away. Then, with a teasing smirk, Seulgi shrugged her shoulders. “, I bet you can’t even find the subway!”

Everyone was tense, looking into one another to propose a plan to stop Seulgi before her and Irene got into another inevitable -whooping.

Irene’s face remained unamused for a moment before anger started to come through. “Maybe we ought to talk about this later, no?”

“Oh, what’s wrong with right now?!” Seulgi’s tone rose up, followed by the soft hushing of the other Warriors. “I want to be warlord.”

Irene was not going to entertain the woman with chatter, knowing that she did not listen. For this she got on her side and tilted her chin up. “Make your move.”

Seulgi got into position as well, but she was hesitant. She was staring deeply into the other’s eyes, with a lot of determination and malice, but what she got in return was a message that was only demeaning.

There was pity in those eyes.

She did not think she was that good of an adversary to even warrant a proper, furious gaze!

“Hey, Seulgi, lighten up,” Yeri said, sounding tired.

“Big girl, Irene’s warchief,” Peniel chimed in.

“We gotta stick together,” Wendy finished, placing her hand on Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Guys!” Taehyun suddenly spoke up from the top of the statue. “Train’s right over there! I can see it.”

Irene looked at the other warriors briefly before staring back at Seulgi, who seemed to slowly relax her stance and look more and more domesticated by the second. “Let’s move,” she sharply said, turning around and walking forth.

Naturally, the remaining warriors tagged along, Joy right by Irene’s side and the rest behind them all bunched up. Of course, Seulgi was the very last one to start moving sticking to the very end of the pack and just internally cursing to herself for not being brave enough.

Maybe… this was not the time?