During the whole attack on Slough, Ben Clove had decided to retreat back into his grand mansion that he had bought when he had first arrived in Slough. A place that was located deep in the woods away from the life of the city and built-up areas.
It was a gated community filled with guards from old gangs of the past. Not everyone had joined up with the Howlers but the city itself was under the Howlers' rules. At the same time, there were always those that preferred a cushy personal security job that would only entail them being in danger once in a while.
For a while now, Ben Clove had been pacing backwards and forwards in his office. He was still technically the Mayor of Slough, and he was afraid that at some point the enemy would come to him.
He hadn’t been keeping up with the situation, only getting reports once in a while from his phone. He refused to watch the live stream like everyone else had, afraid for the bad news to come.
When he thought about it more, he wasn’t even sure what he would prefer to have, either way, he was either being controlled by the Howlers, or he was being controlled by the Phoenix Gang.
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard through his double doors, clearly coming from inside the mansion itself.
“What is going on!” Ben went behind his desk. Even though he was an Altered, for anyone to get through all of his guards, they had to be incredibly strong to a degree.
Lifting his head, he peeked his eyes over the desk, to see the double doors bust wide open as a body was flung and hit the desk.
“Dad, where are you hiding!”
Standing in the doorway, with her clothes partially covered in blood, was none other than Xin.
“Xin?” Ben said, a little more relaxed now, as he started to stand up.
“I knew you would be here, while the entire town is suffering you decided to hole up behind all your guards, you could have at least taken people in, or fought against those that were attacking your people!” Xin shouted.
“Wait, Xin… how did you get here, shouldn’t there be a large force of people through the city… and why are you hurt… is everything okay?” Ben asked.
“Yes, everything is okay.” Xin shouted again, frustrated.
When Ben took a peek behind her, he could see that all of his guards had been taken out, seemingly by her. He knew Xin was stronger than before, especially due to her position in the AFC, but he was seeing it firsthand, and her anger was pointed toward him.
“However, none of it is because of you!” Xin continued. “The Howlers Gang, Gary, they took out the Phoenix Gang, they cleared them out of this city. So you don’t have to cower behind that desk anymore.”
“But with everything you’ve done, I don’t think you even deserve to have a place behind that desk!”
Ben was shocked, for one that Xin was shouting back at him, but then either that the Howlers were able to be triumphant over the Phoenix Gang, how was that possible, and did she just mention the words Gary? Ben thought he was still in prison.
“Xin… but even the power you have now, it was because of what I have done to get you here. I gave every penny that I have for you, I did all this to give you what you want… how could you treat me like this!”
“Because… Because I was proud of you!” Xin said. “I understood your position and the things you did to better our life, and even the fact that you were the mayor of an entire town like this.”
“But then, I learn of what you’ve done, how you don’t care for the people, how when things get hard you run away to your castle here… seeing all of this, while I see people who were brought up in this town from the bottom be the ones that protect it… it makes me embarrassed and frustrated for you to be called my father!” Xin shouted again.
For a moment, there was silence between the two of them.
It was the first time Ben had actually heard those words, that his daughter was proud of him, and he understood the key words of was. When getting into the position he never thought of it as a genuine mayor position.
It wasn’t just him, but many of the others had their pockets deep with the gangs, it was the only way to get in a general Mayor position in the first place. Yet when he got here, when the Howlers were cleaning up things.
Rather than thinking about the good of the city, Ben had always felt resentment for taking everything away from him. For everything that had been built up that should have belonged to him.
Now he realized though, if he was in the situation, if the Howlers never existed, he would have never been able to build it up the same way, as the Howlers had been able to do.
The phone that was placed on the table for updates, interrupted the silence. It continued to vibrate against the wood.
“Pick it up.” Xin said. “It could be important.”
Seeing whose name was on the phone, and after receiving the news which he had, he didn’t hesitate as he answered.
“Hey big boy.” The voice said on the other end. “The city is in ruins at the moment, there is a lot to be done, and I’m going to need your help. I’m sure you kept a piggy bank of your own safe for times like this right?”
“Wait, are you talking about using my own personal funds, I can’t do that!”
“Dad!” Xin shouted back.
“I mean… What is the request?”
The voice paused for a second.
“We need to help rebuild this city together… and stronger than before, before another large threat gets us. I need you to come see me, it’s time for change.” Kai stated.
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