~ A second resounding clang followed the first one and Andrew grabbed Takyle with one hand and Jaden with the other, pulling them back away from the door.
"Quiet!" he hissed. "I think someone's coming."
"Prepare to defend," ordered Takyle, pulling her arm loose from Andrew's grasp and laying a hand on her dagger in its sheath.
"Step away from the door!" a man's voice ordered from outside. "Face the wall and place you hands on your heads!"
"Ah hell," muttered Andrew."Boss?" Takyle shook her head.
"Stand your ground," she said quietly, eyes fixed on the door. Andrew and Jaden drew their daggers and Jaden moved around to the opposite side of the entry. There was more noise on the other side of the door and what sounded like locks being removed, followed by a moment of silence.
Out of the corner of his eye Jaden saw Takyle make a slashing movement across her neck with her torch. Jaden and Andrew nodded their understanding and switched off their flashlights, plunging them all back into darkness. Jaden held his breath.
With a bang the door flew open, flooding the chiseled room and the waiting trio with light. Four huge men stood in the opening with guns that looked capable of bringing down an elephant, and it was immediately obvious that resistance might not be the smartest option.
"Stand down," Takyle ordered as the men rushed in. Jaden's knife was quickly wrested from him and his arms were pinned behind his back by one of the unnaturally burly men.
"Hell dude, you don't have to be so rough, I'm not fighting back at all!" he heard Andrew protest. A third man grabbed Takyle's wrists and twisted them cruelly until she cried out and dropped her dagger and flashlight. Jaden thought that Andrew was going to come unglued.
The fourth man looked on silently as his three compatriots subdued Team 6 and then he stepped forward.
"Who do we have here? Team 6 is it? Scrappy bunch aren't you? Not that it did you any good."
"Who are you?" Takyle demanded.
"You just don't worry about that, missy. Now I'd like you to give me your map."
"What map?" asked Takyle, indignantly.
"I think you know what map. The only map you have. What did you do with it?"
"If you want it so bad, why don't you try to find it," she said. The man shrugged.
"Have it your way." A short distance away, the man holding Andrew wrenched his wrist up behind his back a good deal further than seemed natural. Andrew drew a quick, pained breath and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking through clenched teeth.
"Hey Takyle, you wanna consider going ahead and playing along with them before She-Hulk over here breaks my arm?"
"Yeah Takyle," taunted the fourth man, giving her a hungry leer; slowly running his eyes down her body and then back up again to her face. "A pretty little thing like you should know that you have to do what you're told, or you might get yourself in trouble with Daddy." The other three men laughed lecherously.
"Don't even think about it, you son of a bitch!" growled Andrew, with so much menace in his voice that it didn't even sound like his own. The fourth man fixed his cold gaze on Andrew and walked over to where he was being held. As Andrew struggled against the man gripping his arms, their leader drew back his fist and punched him hard in the face. ~
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