Behind Nichkhun was a conflagration of what was left of the car chase just seconds prior. Chansung stood a few paces behind him already in an offensive position. In front of him were the Fortuna directors who had sadly survived the collision, with them were their own set of body guards. Nichkhun didn’t care for what they were called, all he knew was that they needed to die. All of them.

What made this set-up much more interesting though, was the presence of Wooyoung, Taecyeon, and Jay behind his targets. The bewildered expression of the latter two’s faces were enough for a ghost of a smirk to appear on Nichkhun’s pallid face. Surprise was a severe understatement for what those two felt right now.

Between the heat of the fire behind him and the fiery gazes of the people before him, Nichkhun drew his sword ready for his assault.The Fortuna directors did not appear to be worried- they were much too confident with the new batch of monsters they had created. Nichkhun cared not for what the purposes they have been created for, all he wanted was revenge for what happened to June. He could feel it now, the blood of these men on his Krabi quenching his thirst. The knowing and understanding would have to come later, death was what was imminent.

Wooyoung's hard gaze bore into Nichkhun, though the blonde paid no attention to it. This frustrated the inspector. Nothing was worse than a competitor whose attention was elsewhere- it was downright insulting. While Wooyoung perfectly understood why the other would pay no heed to him, it did not retract from the long standing rift between them. Nichkhun would have to face him now regardless of other things that might preoccupy him at the moment.

Wooyoung was first to charge despite questions and protests from the other two members of his corps. Taecyeon and Jay were left to fend for themselves for when Wooyoung attacked, so did the Fortuna bodyguards.

Sword to sword, the distinct clanging of metal pierced the moonless night air. A tremolo of thunder loomed overhead as if to foreshadow the night's end results. Wooyoung headed straight for his former partner, who was already in the midst of a heated battle with another bodyguard.

Nichkhun's Krabi glinted under a flash of lightning as he exchanged swords with a guard known as Kim Kibum. Wooyoung wasted no time as he jumped into the fight himself and Nichkhun grabbed at his scabbard to block the sharp-edged sword, a shinken, that was towards his side.

A faint smile appeared on Nichkhun's lips as he stood at a standstill in between two hostiles. To his right, Kibum stood with a katana, and to his left stood Wooyoung. Kibum was first to strike this time, lifting his sword high up in the air and slicing it down in one smooth curve. Nichkhun easily parried the attack with his scabbard, using the momentum to kick Kibum away as he entertained Wooyoung's sword. It was times like these that Nichkhun regretted not bringing a wakizashi with him. He was not one to double wield, but the shorter sword, one meant for parries, was a must in the situation he now found himself in.

Nichkhun’s left hand and scabbard became busy with an assault on the bodyguard, Kibum, and his Krabi was busy fending off Wooyoung's offense. The younger man had definitely improved, the thought had somehow wormed its way into Nichkhun's mind. With every play of their blades, Nichkhun felt not only the training Wooyoung had undergone, but also the slight desperation to his attacks. At that point, Nichkhun compared him to Rai, if only for the use of their entire bodies as they attacked.

On the offensive and using the whole of his body to generate the force behind his movements, Wooyoung left no room for hesitation as he struck down at Nichkhun. The bodyguard, however, was becoming a bother, and the inspector lunged forward, sneaking in a kick to Kibum's gut. With the other man staggering in pain, Wooyoung returned his attention to Nichkhun who smirked in turn.

“He isn't your enemy, I am.”

Wooyoung's audacious statement created an uneven grin that split Nichkhun's face. “Now, now, Wooyoung, no need to be hasty.”

Hasty, Wooyoung believed himself to be not. He waited years for this moment, he was not about to let anything stand in his way. Be it duty to his sworn profession, or the disgruntled voices of his so-called comrades behind him, Wooyoung was to exact retribution on Nichkhun- he would give his life for it.

Kibum, however, was relentless and he attacked again, blindly slashing his sword towards the two other men before him. Both Nichkhun and Wooyoung intercepted easily, the former dodging, and the latter parrying the attack.

With no words or even acknowledgments needed, Nichkhun and Wooyoung both surrounded Kibum on both left and right, delivering heavy strikes and watching as the Fortuna monster fell into pieces on the ground. Nichkhun smirked remembering an old practice exercise he and Wooyoung had done before- at this very moment, he knew the younger man was thinking of the same.

“Seems like some things are harder to forget,” Nichkhun teased.

A scowl was Wooyoung’s answer along with the sheathing of his sword. Around him, he was vaguely aware of the others still in the middle of their own fights, there would no one to interfere, at least for now. “You’d be surprised at what people are willing to forget.”

“Is this the part where we exchange witty banter as a reflection of our superior swordsmanship? The sharper the tongue, the sharper the blade?”

Wooyoung’s brows drew together in annoyance. Nichkhun was toying with him as he always did. “Take me seriously, I won’t go easy on you.”

Nichkhun laughed. “I thought maybe two years without me was good for you, but it seems like nothing’s changed at all.”

Angered, Wooyoung lunged towards Nichkhun and drew his sword mid-run. Nichkhun remained still instead, waiting for the right moment to block Wooyoung’s attacks. The younger man may have gotten stronger, but Nichkhun still knew how to push his buttons- things never change, he reminded himself. While change may have been inevitable, people didn’t change that easily.

Jay and Taecyeon watched in morbid fascination as a ghost from their past grew to larger-than-life proportions before their very eyes. Nichkhun was alive, he had been alive all along! The thought glazed over Taecyeon’s mind as he and Jay bolted after Wooyoung who had ran after what they had thought had been a ghost. Had Wooyoung known all along? Why would he hide that fact? Taecyeon’s mind was running in circles much faster than he was able to keep up. Behind him, Jay had fought off two of the bodyguards, with the other detective’s assistance of course.

It has been so long since Taecyeon had been out in the field and in this type of situation. Did he miss it? If he were to be honest, then yes he did. However, there were other things in his mind right now, and that was foremost, his fiancee.

Still, it did not change the fact that he had been itching for a real fistfight for quite some time now.

Pushing thoughts of Nichkhun aside to concentrate more on his immediate survival, Taecyeon ducked in time as his opponent, the one they referred to as Kangin, delivered a punch to his direction. Jay was preoccupied with Hangeng, and both officers found themselves back to back as the two Fortuna bodyguards circled them.

“This actually reminds me of that one time Changmin and the Disciplinary Committee were running after us for sneaking into the cafeteria building after hours,” Jay mused aloud, his eyes focused on Hangeng leering before him.

“That was an unfair trial, Khun and Wooyoung were there too but Changmin never made them clean bathrooms,” Taecyeon replied, sizing up Kangin who remained unmoving.

“It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. Always has been.”

With no need to count off, both men attacked at the same time, both using brute force against their foes. The bodyguards were putting up a good fight, and for Taecyeon who had desk duty for almost a year, his fight instincts were not as sharp as they used to be.

Jay, however, made up for what Taecyeon lacked, and the shorter man rammed his shoulders against Hangeng enough to stun the latter, giving Jay enough time to run back to Taecyeon.

Dodging was never his strong point, neither was avoiding attacks, so it followed, that whatever Kangin put out, Taecyeon took in. With his arms together blocking his head, Taecyeon’s eyes could only see below him as he crouched lower, clinching his body in to lessen the damage he was incurring. At the back of his mind, he knew he couldn’t just stand there, so as soon as the punches stopped, and Kangin’s foot moved backwards, Taecyeon released an explosive amount of energy through a right hook to his enemy’s face. Jay was next to him in an instant, grabbing Kangin from behind and forcing him into an awkward sleeper hold.

While Kangin thrashed about, Taecyeon turned his attention to Hangeng who jumped at him from behind. The Schatten officer threw the body guard off his back and to the concrete floor where he finally overpowered him and drove several more fists at his face. Taecyeon was feeling the weariness creep into him, and he was certain Jay was getting tired as well. Their enemies seemed as if they could go on forever, and Taecyeon couldn’t help but worry.

With the last of his strength, Jay held tightly onto Kangin’s neck until the bodyguard eventually crumpled to the floor. When Jay was sure the Fortuna experiment was not going to be standing up again, he limped over to Taecyeon who still had Hangeng under him.

“Bash his head on the pavement,” Jay breathed, kicking Hangeng’s side with his good leg.

Taecyeon froze at Jay’s instructions, and it was during this moment of hesitation that Hangeng overpowered him and threw him across the ground. Jay leaped to restrain Hangeng, but a kick to his gut sent him flying to Taecyeon’s direction as well.

Chansung was helpful by nature, and even when it was the so-called enemy in need, he was not one to deny assistance. Besides, he was already finished taking out both Henry and Zhoumi, as they were called. Because of the Beast Killings, Chansung knew better than to bring his nunchakus, or any blunt-edged weapon to fight these monsters. Taking a lesson from Nichkhun and Rai, Chansung’s katana easily swiped through heads as soon as he found the chance to. Hangeng was pretty easy, Chansung was not beyond kicking a man when he was down- or in this case, chopping his head off with his back turned to him.

He ignored the remaining Schatten officers on the floor and focused his attention on Nichkhun and Wooyoung’s fight. In some ambiguous sense, it was almost as if he was watching Nichkhun and Rai fighting, if only for the uncharacteristic rawness in the way the inspector was fighting.

The match came into another standstill as Nichkhun and Wooyoung’s sword found each other’s necks. With arms outstretched, one miscalculated move would mean a fatality.

Jay helped Taecyeon up, and both men limped towards the pair. “Is it really Nichkhun?” Taecyeon asked, unsure of his own words.

“I thought you were...” Jay’s voice trailed off as they got a closer view of Nichkhun’s face.

“Dead?” Nichkhun supplied, thoroughly amused. “Well, Wooyoungie here did report me dead, didn’t he. Thought he could kill me off.”

Taecyeon, could not, for the life of him understand why this was happening now. He knew that there should have been some grander reason for them to want to kill each other, but what could that reason be? Nichkhun and Wooyoung were as close as Taecyeon and Jay, and try as the detective could, Taecyeon could not find reason for him to even want to kill Jay.

Did it involve June? If it did, should Eunhee choose Jay over him, would Taecyeon want to kill Jay? But all this had occurred after June was killed. Did Nichkhun think Wooyoung had anything to do with her death? Wooyoung? Country bumpkin Wooyoung was incapable of that, even now Taecyeon believed Wooyoung incapable of harming someone he cared about.

Was it displacement instead? Nichkhun finding no other way to relieve his torment, had taken it out on Wooyoung instead? When all the pent up energy had nowhere to go, an altered state of mind had caused Nichkhun to be unable to think properly.

Or was Taecyeon thinking about this from the wrong perspective? That instead of Nichkhun attacking Wooyoung, it was the other way around. But what could cause Wooyoung to attack his hyung that way? Could it have been Nichkhun who was responsible for killing June? And Wooyoung, knowing this, Wooyoung, who may very well have had secret feelings for June, be the one avenging her death instead?

Or perhaps Taecyeon was over-thinking the matter too much.

“What could they have done to each other to want them kill one another?” Jay voiced out the question boggling Taecyeon’s mind. “I can’t even think of anything that would make me want to kill you. Not like this.”

It seemed as if the initial shock of seeing Nichkhun alive had died down. “Something, whatever it is, I don’t know if we should stop them or just leave them alone. I don’t want any of them to die. Even when Nichkhun may be the enemy now,” Taecyeon muttered, unable to keep his eyes away from the building tension before him.