Meanwhile....

Somewhere else, maybe near or maybe far, the doors to the Club Kitsune where being kicked in.

Like a tidal wave of carefully controlled **** the team moved through the basement level club. They were not exactly what you would call SWAT nor were they Special Forces. This group of cold eyed people where the sword that people like Maria wielded when they faced threats that could not be dealt with by a simple arrest.

With practised ease they moved through the club, sending the scared patrons and staff face down on to the ground and drawing a red faced and round bodies woman from some office in the depths of the place.

“What is the meaning of this!” She bellowed, seeming completely unfazed by the weapons level at her.

From among the group of armed figured one stepped forward, the bulky BDU and armour meant that it was impossible to tell gender until a slightly rough but undoubtly female voice game from the armour.

“A woman entered this establishment 30 minutes ago,” the figure explain, the voice commanding. “Where is she?”

The fat woman looked the figure up and down, seeming to be sizing them up as she considered her response. When it came it had a air of someone trying to seem more confused than they really were.

“You knock down my doors, scare my staff and harass my customers because of a single woman?” She straightened up some more as she spoke, the effort bringing her nearly level with the eye line of the figure. “She will no doubt be enjoying the company of another of a patron's.”

The figure said nothing, letting the silence drag on. In the silence the fat woman had the time to really consider the tiny black oblivions that where the barrels of the guns leveled at her. Suddenly the bare brick work of the wall behind her, so carefully lit and dressed to give just the right rustic air, suddenly brought to mind firing squads and shallow graves.

When another figure stepped forward from the crowd she could feel icy sweat starting to run down her spine. It moved to the one who had spoken, whispering in her ear for a few moments.

Then suddenly, wordlessly, they all turned and left. Sweeping back out of the club with the same perfectly organised movement that they had entered with. Leaving behind them scared and confused people.

Club Kitsune would never recover from the events of that night. It closed a year later due to lack of business, after all, few people like the idea of being raided by the police why they are getting off.

However none of that mattered to Maria and so it doesn’t matter to us.