Part 07: Inciting Incident

ACT 1: Inciting Incident

Josh's perspective:

"What is the situation like?" Josh asked the driver who came to their rescue.

"Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself?" The driver said, lifting his sunglasses to his forehead. "That police officer was really grinding your gears, huh?"

"Who are you?" Neva asked, as he remembered that he had not introduced himself.

"Right, I am Florence's assistant. His second best man. Blu Waters."

"Your last name is Waters?" Rahul yawned, as he winked and gave a thumbs up.

"That's right." Blu said, as he looked outside the car window. "The situation is bad. We have lost five of our best men." He stopped the car at a red light, as Josh opened up a notebook.

"I am looking for someone by the name of Randall Tang." Josh said. "The main reason why I took this case to help you, is because Florence was one of them who took him down at the convenience store."

"If you want information, you could have looked at the reports regarding the case." Blu said, as he continued driving. "It seems like you have a different purpose here."

"I have no ulterior motive." Josh replied, laying back in his seat. "It's not like the police force trusts us enough to give us all the information."

"Hmm, I guess." Blu said. "But Randall has already been caught. I do hope you put the priority of clearing the wolves as your first."

"Of course." Josh assured him. "I'm sorry about the people you've lost. Haven't any other proprietors assist you in battle?"

"If they would respond… Florence did not need to contact you this urgently." Blu said, as they finally made it to their destination.

Blu swerved the car outside, parking a few kilometers before the condominium. The amount of Wolf Dozers surrounding the place was huge, as the trio were astonished by the numbers.

"How did you even drive out of that?" Josh asked as Blu smirked, giving a thumbs up again.

"This car is made up of heavy reinforced steel, able to penetrate through hordes of Dozers." Blu said. "This baby saved me a lot of times from disasters… but… I think this time, we might not be able to rush through.”

“Then we just have to do it the hard way!” Rahul opened the car door, as the Wolf Dozers took notice of them.

“That guy…” Neva cried, as she too got out of the car. The wolves piled up like a wave, as they all charged at Rahul at once.

“Scrap time!” Rahul charged his gauntlets, clashing them together as a surge of electricity blasted across the air. The dice spun to a sum of 14, as he took them down one by one with his fists.

Neva released her fan blades, slicing the Dozers that were punched up into the air.

“That… that is crazy…” Blu was astonished about the power that those two had. At least 50 wolf Dozers were destroyed in a matter of two minutes. “This is almost unfair…”

“That’s how the DEA works.” Josh said, as they both opened the car doors and stared at the destruction. “We work every bone in our bodies… because we have no choice.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t make it sound like we send you here to die.” Blu smiled, as the air around him started to condense into water at his fingertips. A device was strapped to his left wrist and a hose connected to a cannon-like weapon on his right.

“I am not as strong as Florence.” Blu said. “But I am still one of his strongest men.”

“Flo Residences…” Josh knew about their special ability to harness water but not in the way most would use it. “...when it comes to absorption, you guys are definitely the masters.”

“Heh, thanks for the compliment.” Blu said as a Wolf Dozer pounced on him while it was about to strike it with his claw.

“Flo Absorption!” Blu said as a huge blob of water formed on his left hand. It absorbed the force of the Wolf Dozer, as it was pushed back. The impact was transferred to his right cannon, as it started to glow.

“FLO! CANNON BLAST!” A large blob of water was fired from the cannon, destroying the Wolf Dozer into pieces.

“Wew.” Josh whistled, as three Wolf Dozers leaped from his back.

“LOOK OUT-” Just as Blu yelled, Josh lifted his arm back, and held one of the Dozers by its head, spreading the acid from his glove over its body. He swung the acid-covered Dozer, smacking the other two Dozers, simultaneously killing them all in a single attack.

“Not too bad yourself.” Blu said. “But… isn’t that acid a bit too overpowered?”

“Hmm, really?” Josh said, as ten other Dozers slipped through the forest that surrounded them.

“It does have a major weakness though…” Josh said. “It is pretty good against one target, but bad against many.”

“Then we are in a grave situation…” Blu said, as all ten Dozers charged at them at once.

“Josh!” Neva yelled, as three Dozers surrounded her. “Get out of the way!” She spun her blade, as it splitted into three, destroying all of them in one swoop.

“Flo Absorption!” Blu fired his palm against the ground, as a barrier of water circled around them. “Bubble!” The wolves were all pushed back, as they were all thrown to the ground. The force was absorbed into his cannon, as he fired at three Dozers while the other seven charged at them.

“Tch, my weapon is too slow.” Blu cried as Josh attacked the remaining Dozers with his glove, running and dodging their strikes.

“Potency, 30%!” Josh striked his palm forward, firing an acid shot through three incoming Dozers.

“Thank goodness.” Blu said, as Josh was already exhausted from all that running.

"Their numbers don't seem to go down." Josh said. "Do you guys know where they are all coming from?"

"No." Blu responded. "Does it have something to do with the guy Florence captured?"

Josh pondered about what could have caused such a large amount of Wolf Dozers. It felt like he was being watched and someone was leading him into a trap.

"Rahul, Neva! I'm counting on you to finish everything off!" Josh yelled, as he dashed through a group of Dozers crowding at the entrance of Flo Residences.

"Hey! Wait!" Blu cried as Josh released acid from his palms.

"You can absorb anything, right?" Josh asked, as he fired his acid at Blu. "Then make it rain!"

"Heh." Blu absorbed the acid into a water blob, as it transferred to his cannon. The Dozers sensed Josh's presence as they ran towards him in unison.

"Rahul, Neva! Move out of the way!" Blu stretched out his arm and pointed it towards the sky as the two leaped away quickly.

"FLO! ACID RAIN!" Blu yelled, firing a water blob into the sky. The water spreaded out like a wave, and rained down the acid mixture that he absorbed.

The Dozers that were in the path of Josh were obliterated and he successfully made it into the Condominium.

Josh noticed many of the Flo Residences' supporters were injured and five were covered in a black sheet.

"You are here… leader of the Dozer Elimination Association." A man with two long mustaches running down his upper lip was kneeling down at the ugly sight. "So far… those things aren't coming in… but…"

He slammed his fist against the wall, leaving an imprint with how much frustration he had held against the Dozers' destruction.

"I am Josh Chan. I am here to defend against the Wolf Dozers." Josh said formally, as Florence stood silent.

"Their sacrifices were not in vain."

"Yeah." Florence got up and escorted him to the top floor where they could see the whole surrounding area. The amount of wolves coming from the east and west, shutting this place tight.

Dark clouds were forming on the horizon, and Florence seemed to be less afraid now. He called for his men and told them to surround the perimeter.

"Sir, what are your orders? There are many wolves coming around…"

"Maintain defensive formation." Florence assured them. "So that's what you were aiming to stall… Captain Derek…"

"Was Derek one of the five men that died?" Josh asked as Florence nodded.

"You've seen the weapon we specialize for." Florence said. "The rain is always to our benefit."

"I see." Josh said. "With the rain… your weapon is the most powerful."

"Absolutely." Florence said, as water cannons were heard firing left and right. The supporters were clearing the Dozers, using the force of the raindrops. The rain poured harder, and the supporters were not hindered but overjoyed.

The Dozers stood no chance, against the might of the rain.

"Mother Nature is on our side." Florence said, as he sat down on the chair. "I am sure you have questions about Randall Tang. Who he is working for… but I have to be honest and say… he is a persistent man… who gave no answers."

"Who were the other two proprietors that assisted in taking him down?" Josh asked. "What actually happened there?"

“The proprietors from Watertown and Parc Centros.” Florence said, pulling himself closer to his desk.

"And for Randall Tang, I have no clue about his motives. All I know was that he got his claw from what he calls the Wolf Tamer." Florence stroked his mustache.

"The Wolf Tamer?" Josh asked, as he wrote it down in his notebook. "Did he confess to anything else?"

"That's the infuriating part… because that's all he ever says." Florence had his hand on his forehead. "Well not like it matters anyways, the ones who suffer will always be people like us."

"I suspect this is all orchestrated by this Wolf Tamer." Josh said. "Have you ever heard of the Underground Market?"

Florence's eyes widened as he recalled a memory where he was told about this.

"I've heard about it from various people." Florence said. "A place full of illegal trades and money laundering. But the centerpiece of its menace lies in its untraceable networking."

"You seem to know a bit then." Josh said.

"Of course." Florence said. "My eldest son… was killed because he was a part of it."

It took a while before Josh processed those words.

"Maybe it was a cursed fate that ended up killing five of my best mates." Florence said, staring at the scene outside of his window. "But it is not something I can atone for."

"What happened to your wife?" Josh asked.

"My wife lost her life when she was shopping at Waterway Point two years ago." Florence recalled. "A ceiling panel hit her from the 3rd floor, crushing her to death."

"My eldest son was there at the time but he was saved by her hugging him tightly. I was not present at that moment as I was busy with proprietor handovers."

"Handovers?" Josh said.

"Yes, my father owned this place." Florence said. "It was inevitable as his only son."

"If your wife was part of Flo Residences… then…"

"Yes, sadly the absorption did not save her." Florence said. "She did use the Flo Bubble to protect herself but it wasn't strong enough. In an air conditioned place, the air was dryer and it didn't bond enough water together due to the lack of moisture."

"I guess your son hated the weapon that you have?" Josh asked as Florence sighed.

"It is understandable." Florence said. "He never respected me ever since that incident. But as a proprietor, I could only do my best to protect this place."

"I'm not just taking care of him… I'm taking care of hundreds of other people."

"Then… his death was because he was involved in the Underground Market?" Josh asked, as Florence flipped open a sketch note that had a website link on it.

"This link was one of the keys into this market." Florence said. "It is no longer accessible by anyone else. I do not know the details as before I knew about this, he had already up and left. The link expires after an arrangement has been made."

"Is there no way to track the IP address… or what the contents were?" Josh asked.

"Hacking isn't my speciality, Josh." Florence said, as loud sirens were heard outside. "And it looks like we are busted."

"Put your hands up, Florence! You are under arrest!" A woman's voice was heard, as they were surrounded by cops. "Move to the window where we can see you!"

"What?" Josh said as he realized there was a tracking and audio chip planted on his shirt.

"Well done, Josh." Florence said.

"I… it wasn't my intention, Florence!" Josh said, as the speaker yelled once more.

"DO NOT MOVE AN INCH OR WE'LL SHOOT!" The woman's voice echoed through the rain, as Rahul, Neva and Blu were surrounded. A team of soldiers wearing blue uniforms charged up towards the top of the condominium and pointed their guns at them.

"I finally got you to admit it, Florence. You've been keeping it a secret all along about your son." The woman walked up with handcuffs and on her back was a large sniper. She pressed a button as it shrank into a small telescope.

"Seems like this was your motive all along." Florence shrugged his shoulders as she ordered the soldiers to put away their guns.

"Josh Chan, the leader of the DEA… assisting the proprietor of a condominium. How intriguing." She said as she adjusted her glasses. She sat down on the couch as she ordered Florence to pour her a glass of wine.

"What is the meaning of this, Ms. Peng Goh?" Florence asked, as he signaled one of his men to pour the glass for her.

"I don't have time to waste on you." She said briefly. "What is your business with the DEA?"

"As you can clearly see, I have lost five of my men in the incident against these Wolf Dozers." Florence said, as she sipped her glass of wine.

"Tasteless." She placed her glass down. "What is the number one rule for all proprietors?"

"To help one another out." Florence said.

"Clearly, you like to waste time." She looked at him in annoyance. "Josh, why don't you tell me?"

"How would I know, Ms. Goh?" Josh said firmly, as he leaned back on the glass window. "The DEA acts on our own accord… What does the Head of the Punggol Town Council want with us?"

"Acting like a bunch of dumb dogs." She said, spinning her telescope with her fingers. "Florence, you are killing these Dozers on sight. Is that what the government hopes to achieve? Rule no.1 of a proprietor is to subdue a Dozer."

"If you are planning to go rogue with the DEA, I suggest you'll stop trying. You do want to keep your position, don't you?" Her voice was stern, and they both knew she wasn't playing games.

"And second of all, I have done the background checks of all the proprietors under Punggol.." She said, standing up and placed a photo of his son on his desk.

"Investigations showed that he bought a Corrupted Dozer weapon and has perished from using it too much." She looked him straight in the eyes. "I wonder what happened for him to do such a foolish thing?"

"Who knows? That worthless son only thinks about himself." Florence eyed away from her.

"He was last seen in Waterway Point, firing away at the ceiling. Yelling over and over again. Come out now, Dozer! Face me!" She said, as Florence shook in fear. "But in the end, he was apprehended by the proprietor of Watertown. In the process, he suffered the same fate as his mot-."

"Shut up! What's the point of telling me this?" Florence yelled aggressively as the police officers reacted by pointing their guns at him.

"The case of Randall Tang." She said clearly and loudly as tears flowed into his eyes. "This maniac only says 'The Wolf Tamer is here' over and over again and it is making me sick. Your son had a similar experience with these Corrupted weapons. How are they getting these links?"

"How the hell would I know?" Florence yelled in agony. "My son died before I could say goodbye… because I wasn't there for him… ever since the beginning."

"The links… you must know something." She said, grabbing his collar.

"Leave me alone." Florence said, grabbing her arm tightly. "I've told every officer that questioned me about his death… I don't know anything."

"Sucks to have a father like you who only cares about his property, huh?" She let him go as he coughed loudly and knelt on the ground.

"We are out of luck then." She said, "If you really gave a crap about this place then why don't you tell us something that could benefit the investigation?"

"The wolves are attacking non-stop." Florence said. "There is nothing much that can be done. This Wolf Tamer must have kept himself really hidden…"

"Josh." She said suddenly, turning towards him. "Wilbert Ho… that criminal detective went there?"

"Yes. I've sent him there." Josh admitted, not wanting to get arrested for lying after seeing what just happened.

"Wilbert Ho… another psychopath that is involved in this chain of Corrupted Weapons." She said, touching her lips with her telescope. "There was a missing boy, wasn't there?"

"Yes, Mdm." Josh said. "A boy who visited Wilbert's daughter too… hmm, it was not said why he visited her."

"Perhaps he never made it there in the first place." She said as Josh realized something odd.

"How did you know I sent Christian there?" Josh asked.

"I have my intel…" She said, releasing her sniper as all the guns pointed at Josh. "But… I shall ask you to come with me to meet Randall."

"And what if I say no?" Josh asked. "I made a promise to guard this place."

"You do have two other friends to keep this place safe, no?" She said as Josh felt like he had no other choice but to follow her instructions. "Besides, you do want to meet the killer, right?"

"Josh… don't go." Florence said, as he slowly got up. "This whole entire setup is a trap for you."

"Oh? Finally decided to spill some beans?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Josh asked.

"A note that was in the pocket of my son after his death." Florence said.

"Impossible… we've definitely checked every part of your apartment and his belongings…" She pointed the sniper at him. "Know that lying to the Town Council is punishable by the law."

"It simply said 'A monster is near.'" Florence's face turned to dread. "It was a note handed over to me after the investigations but nobody batted an eye to it."

"Tch, to think you had something important." She said, snatching the note away from him. "I'll use this to extort Randall…"

A sudden phone call was heard as Josh quickly picked it up. It was from Christian, and it sounded shaky like they were in a tense situation.

"Josh, I am hiding in some bushes at the moment." Christian said. "Long story short, that missing boy hasn't been found. I am taking care of Wilbert right now."

"Wait, slow down. Take care?" Josh asked worryingly.

"Yes. Wilbert has adapted into a Human-Dozer. We've got no choice." Christian whispered quietly as if he was in some sort of trouble. "The security cameras at Wilbert's place were changed, and the footage from the cameras were just static. Something isn't sitting right with me."

"It was as if… everything was meticulously planned…" Josh said as Florence and Peng Goh overheard his conversation.

"I'll call you back later with updates." Christian said. "That Margaret is pulling some imagination crap-" A beep was heard as Josh hung up the phone.

"Take me to the Punggol Police Station right now." Josh was biting his lip as Peng Goh felt a chill running down her spine. The way he was staring into space, told her whatever he was thinking.

"Florence, take care of your little shop." Peng Goh said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Blu, lend us your car." Josh said hurriedly when both of them ran out of the entrance.

"What is going on?" Blu asked, not understanding what was happening up there.

"To the Punggol Police Station urgently." Peng Goh said, as they got into the car.

"Rahul, Neva, take care of things here for me." Josh said, as they drove off, leaving Flo Residences in the hands of the others.

"What the hell just happened?" Neva cried. "Who is that woman who got us surrounded?"

"Who cares?" Rahul said, as a few more Dozers appeared from both sides. "Leader probably had something to do."

"Tch, he's always running off like that…" Neva said, as she sliced up four Dozers that came her way. "And you are way too into this."

"They don't stop coming." Rahul said, punching a few more out of the way. "And my radiation crystals are running out of energy."

"Same." Neva said. "They will run us over eventually."

"A horde of 20 more Dozers are approaching!" One of the supporters yelled from a distance. "The rain is still going! Protect the fronts at all costs!"

The supporters fired at the Dozers with their water cannons, destroying them one by one. Their firepower has definitely improved, but Rahul and Neva were reaching their limits.

"Rahul, how many punches can you pull?" Neva asked, as she tossed her blade at her enemies.

"About 2 more spins of the die." Rahul said, punching one Dozer to the ground. "I had not used my gear for this long before… but I can feel the Dozer awakening from within the suit."

"They said it was by feeling…" Neva caught her blade back as she took a quick glance for any more threats. "But if we charge our gear in Flo Residences, we should be fine."

A massive quake shook the ground beneath them, as the supporters were all frantically looking around.

"What is going on?" Neva asked.

"Something big is coming." Rahul extended out his arms and took a deep breath. He clenched his fists, as he made another spin on the dice.

"10." Rahul said. "That's all I've probably got… before… I start to hallucinate."

A large Dozer, the size of a leopard, had silver blades protruding all over its skin. It seemed to have adapted a porcupine into its body.

"Is it a special Dozer?" Neva asked, as her twintails blew in the wind.

"Can't tell…" Rahul said, as steam blew out from his shoulders. "Only one way to find out."

He charged at the Dozer, as its spikes started to protrude even more. He slammed the ground, causing debris to fly upwards. He punched them nine times, as they destroyed a couple of the Dozer's spikes, leaving an opening.

"Let's leave it all on THIS!" A bright purplish spark emitted from his gauntlet as he struck the beast with full force. "Sparkling PUNCH!" A loud thunderous strike tore it apart as the Dozer was obliterated into ashes, tumbling and hitting the side of a wall.

Rahul knelt on the ground, feeling the consequences of his actions. It was done, he could not use his gauntlets any longer. But he knew it was worth it, for that last attack.

"He did it!" The supporters cheered as Neva ran towards him in awe.

"Get out.." A voice spoke in his head, as he saw a figure moving from a corner of his eye. Neva was standing right behind him as he jumped back in fright.

"What… sorry… I…" Rahul said, as his head started to tingle. "It's the side effects… it's coming… out now… the Dozer's thoughts…"

"Calm down, Rahul-" Neva saw a sudden movement and pushed him away, as a spike injured her left shoulder.

"KYAA!" Neva screamed, as the Dozer was still not down. In fact, its shell was healing as the Wolf Dozers around it started to get attacked by this particular Dozer that Rahul defeated.

"Run… get help!" Rahul held his arm down, struggling to get up. "I… I am at my limit."

"NO. I won't… abandon you." Neva said, pulling the spike out from her shoulder and tossing it to the ground. A white dust formed in front of her, and it shaped into three figures. One of the figures had a bun on her head, and she recognised her instantly.

"Zi Ming… is that…" Neva cried out to her but she saw that she collapsed onto the ground and ran towards her.

"Why…" That figure spoke as Neva took a few steps back, knees shaking from fear. "...didn't you save me?"

"I…" Neva cried as the cloud suddenly dispersed.

"NEVA!" Rahul yelled, as two spikes were aimed at her. Neva was frozen, and she could barely move an inch. She was feeling cold, reaching out to the figure which was already long gone.

"Zi Ming… I … will now join-"

A splash of water was heard, as she regained her senses.

The spikes stopped midway, blocked by a large water blob that had formed right in front of her.

"To harm a helpless girl, is something I cannot look away." Neva saw the back of a man, and the bright blue reflection that lit up from the sunlight.

"If the rain had stopped just a few minutes before, I might have been too late." Florence said, as Neva fell to the ground on her butt.

"Are you the proprietor of Flo Residences?" Neva asked, as Florence took aim at the Dozer with an opened right palm.

"Yes, I am Florence. Josh entrusted me with you after all." He formed a gun with his fingers as two water needles fired back at the Dozer, piercing through its tough lead skin.

"Looks like this might be a challenge." Florence said, blowing the tip of his finger like he had just fired from the barrel of a revolver. "Neva, Rahul, go and charge your weapons. I'll face this beast myself."

Neva and Rahul ran back towards Flo Residence, and took an elevator which reached the floor where the Hub Crystal was located.

Rahul rummaged through his bag to take out the charging cable. It was required for some Dozer weapons to have a cable and could also be in the form of something else entirely.

Neva frantically dug through her fanny pack and pockets, but could not find the charged jeweled necklace. The jewelry was shaped like a pipe, made of blue crystals that can absorb energy from the Hub Crystal itself. It was to be inserted into the middle of the shuriken Dozer weapon, which would then charge the crystal embedded in the middle.

“This is strange.” Neva cried, as Rahul noticed how frantic she was.

“Did you forget to bring your necklace?” Rahul asked, sitting down and looking out the window at Florence below.

“This is bad… that necklace was already charged.” Neva sighed. “I could have sworn… I put it somewhere in here…” She emptied out most of her things, but could not seem to find it.

“It’s fine, I can lend you a spare.” Rahul said, having one of every spare type of charger in his bag. “It is good that I single handedly recorded all of the Dozer charger types you guys have. Except for Ilyas’ sword. That thing charges on its own…”

“...No… This might be worse than I thought…” Neva cried, as she plugged in the spare necklace charger into the Hub Crystal.

“What’s up?” Rahul asked, still realizing how shaken she was.

“She couldn’t have!” Neva cried, hugging her knees tightly and lowering her head to her chest. “I have to go…”

“Wait… what?” Rahul cried. “Where?”

“My little sister.” Neva bit her lip. “She went to school with it…”

“That is a problem?” Rahul cried. “The school is safely guarded by proprietors and professionals who deal with Dozers. In any way, she will be fine…”

“If the necklace wasn’t charged, it would be.” Neva cried anxiously. “That stupid kid!”

“Slow down.” Rahul assured her. “I can call Christian for backup, though they would have to take a detour.”