Mason was a rather tall man with a square face who wore a smart suit.                                                        As he did every morning, he stopped at a coffee shop near the office before going to work. Isako was waiting for him when the Englishman walked in, sat down at the counter and ordered a long coffee.

"Can I steal you for a second?" the woman sitting next to him with a still warm cappuccino suddenly asked

"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested" Mason said, his eyes fixed on the paper of the day.

"You don't even have time for an old friend?" the woman asked insistently, Mason closed the newspaper and finally noticed the woman sitting nearby

"Isako?" Mason said incredulously, "what are you doing in London?

"Looking for you" the woman revealed

"Really?" the Englishman asked quietly

"Isn't there a quieter place where we can talk?" suggested Isako

"I would love to, really, but I have to go to work" Mason revealed as he finished his coffee, took the newspaper from the counter, and headed for the exit.

"Wait" Isako said, grabbing his arm, "please, it's important" she added, Mason sighed, then said, "Alright, let's go to my house. The two of them got into Mason's McLaren GT and drove to his house at full speed.

His apartment was in a ten-story building. It was an ultra-modern building, full of glass windows, and had the best security. When they arrived, they went up to the top floor, where his penthouse was located. Mason noticed that his door was ajar, exchanged a glance with Isako, and drew his revolver from his jacket.

"Do you always carry that with you?" asked Isako, startled

"You never know when you might need it" Mason admitted boastfully. The Englishman opened the door wide and pointed the gun at the men in his dining room, but to his surprise it was the group.

"Hey, put that thing down" McClaine said worriedly

"Yeah, you don't want anyone to get hurt" Kenny said smiling

"What are you doing here?" asked Mason confused

"We're with her" Max said pointing to Isako

"I told you we needed to talk" the woman admitted. The Englishman reluctantly tucked his revolver into the holster hidden in the smart jacket he was wearing.

"How did you get in?" asked Mason of the others

"An old Quantico trick" McClaine revealed

"What do you want?" asked Mason annoyed

"We have a story to tell you" Lucas concluded. The group told Mason the whole story about the Vial-X and the mercenaries.

"That's why we need you" Lucas concluded, and the Englishman sighed

"Will you help us?" asked Isako

"I know who is looking for you" Mason exclaimed, stunning everyone

"What are you talking about?" asked Max for the whole group.

"In the last few days, I noticed several requests on the Dark Web about this "Vial-X"" said Mason, "I checked who the requests came from and ...." he added.

"And what?" asked Kenny on pins and needles

"It turned out to be a rather strange name: the Dragon" admitted Mason

"Are you sure it's really the Dragon?" asked Kenny to be sure

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure" said the host confidently

"Have you heard from him yet? "Max asked the Mexican

"If the Dragon is after us, we are all already dead" Kenny announced grimly

"Why, who is he?" asked McClaine

"He's just the most dangerous mercenary in the world, and he also owns a billion-dollar drug ring with his group: Los Dragones" he said, "If he wants us dead, it's only a matter of time before he kills us all" Kenny added

"So what does the CIA have to do with this?" McClaine asked the group

"I don't know, but we have to find out, and we're going to need your help" Lucas said, referring to Mason. Mason was thinking about what to say to his old friends when a red laser appeared on his shirt."Get down!" Lucas shouted as he dove toward Mason to protect him from the weapon's pointer. 

Suddenly the conversation between old friends turned into a nightmare. Several volleys of bullets smashed through the penthouse windows, everyone ran for cover but the volleys didn't stop, no one knew how to escape when the landlord got an idea.

"Follow me, I have a panic room" the others didn't ask twice and followed him. The panic room was located in Mason's bedroom and was designed to hide in case of danger. To enter the room, there was a retractable door that opened with a fingerprint reader, and the reader only opened with Mason's fingerprint. The group hid in the huge titanium and concrete panic room and waited for the next move.

"At least we bought some time" McClaine observed

"Now we're trapped guys, we're locked in here" said Kenny, who suffered from claustrophobia

"Relax Kenny, we'll get out of here" Isako reassured him

"Don't worry guys, there is an emergency exit in this panic room" said Mason, who opened a hatch that was on the floor, allowing the whole group to escape through ventilation ducts.      The duct came out right in the boiler area of the building, the group found themselves in this damp place where Mason had ingeniously modified the duct so that the exit was in the boiler area, just a step away from the parking lot. The group left the parking lot and escaped from the building, passing through all of London before arriving at a specific location: Peckham, a well-known London neighborhood.

Here Mason had bought, years earlier, a large box that he had used as a shelter in case of escape, and the group found themselves there. As soon as they entered the pit reserve, they were guided by Mason to his. It was really spacious, there was a sleeping area with a double bed and a private bathroom, as well as a large computer station with very large servers next to it. It was also well lit by the backup generator.                                                                                                                          The group rested for a few hours, Lucas, on the other hand, spent them pondering his next move and admiring the dangerous and coveted Vial-X in its tempered glass vial. Suddenly he received a call on his disposable phone. He noticed it was an odd number, so he gathered the team together and put it on speakerphone

"I had underestimated you" said a deep voice coming from the speaker of the cell phone

"Who are you?" asked Lucas 

"Who I am is the least of your problems" said the voice ominously

"What do you want from us?" interjected McClaine

"You have something that belongs to me" said the voice "your sergeant was not able to bring me that serum so I will have to think about it on my own" he added

"We're not afraid of you, pendejo" said Kenny, the man behind the phone began to laugh then said

 "You're still the same Mr. Sanchez, shallow and scared" Kenny's face paled, everyone looked at him worriedly until Mason understood

"You are the Dragon aren't you!" said the Englishman.

"Very perceptive Mr. Philippe" said the Dragon, "but you can call me el D."

"We don't care who you are, you won't get away with this. We will not allow you to release a chemical weapon" said Lucas firmly

"I may have had a few setbacks, but that doesn't mean I won't get my due" said D. "I'll show you what happens to those who don't do what I ask" he added. The Dragon hung up, then the video called the smartphone Mason used for emergencies, on the screen was Lt. Hodkins tied to a chair under a neon lamp that was flashing nonstop.

"Lieutenant?" Lucas said confused

"I'm sorry, Jackson" Hodkins admitted in a shaky voice, then a gunshot was heard and a second later the lieutenant was dead.

"I told you, no one can disobey me" El D said, "next time I'll come after you myself, so run while you can" he concluded, hanging up the phone.                                                                                                    Every member of the group was horrified, it seemed to be over, now the Dragon would hunt them down, and no one had ever escaped the Dragon's clutches. 

"How did he know you?" Lucas asked of the Mexican

"I wasn't always like this," Kenny exclaimed, "A long time ago, after Phoenix, I went back to Mexico and took over my father's cartel, and after a few years of reign, my men heard this name: The Dragon" he added

"And then?" Alex asked

"A man came, a paper pusher, and told me to give up all my territories to the Dragon, I laughed in his face, but a short time later we started a big gang war. Los Dragones were ruthless and heartless, with their group of mercenaries, they even managed to kill my most trusted men until they won. The Dragon decided which territories were ours, and we lived under his control for years, until they disappeared" said the Mexican

"In what sense did they disappear?" asked Mason

"I don't know, rumors said they left for something bigger, now I understand why" concluded Kenny

"I'm sorry" said Isako, hugging him

 "Did you ever see his face?" asked Lucas

"No, those who see his face are not lucky enough to tell about it" he concluded.                                    After Kenny had warned the others of what the Dragon might do, there were many doubts, but no one backed down, despite the violence, a force had brought the old friends together and no one was willing to give it up. Now there was only one thing left for the six to do: figure out their next move.