Mateo had a light shower to remove the scent of dog breath and dust particles clinging on to him. Confident that the soap used was strong enough to do its job, Mateo decided not to spend as much time as he usually would and rinsed himself. Stepping out, he grabbed a towel from the rail and began drying his body, ignoring his lustrous hair which would take most of what little time he had left. Putting on a fresh set of bandages, which he deemed useless, on his chest, he began applying some ointments on his slightly sore muscles while dumping the rest into a bag for the expedition. Finally putting some clothes over his undergarments, Mateo left the room, bag in hand and went to the front door of the mansion where their transport vehicle was parked.
A black military Humvee was the ride chosen for this expedition, and just like everything else the family bought, it had some personal modifications. Unlike other Humvees, this one was reinforced with titanium, making it both bullet proof and blast proof. With solar panels lined up beside the gattling gun on the roof, the Humvee was configured to rely on electricity in the event that its fuel got finished, an event that never happened since it had double the fuel capacity of other Humvees.
With nitro cylinders and a twin turbocharger, the monster of a machine had an estimated cost of just over $100,000, making it one of the most expensive worldwide.
Entering the monster car while preparing an apology, Mateo was shocked when he found out that except his father, Julian, there wasn't anyone else in the car. Julian, upon seeing his son was eager to continue in their "information exchange", but the look on Mateo's face said it wasn't a good time.
Choosing the seat next to the driver, Mateo pondered over how he was second to arrive, which would only be possible if he rather was early, because the rest couldn't all be late. Deciding to redo his math, he added the 20 minutes spent in the dungeon, to the 5 spent running to his room together with the 10 minutes spent bathing and getting ready, he should have spent 35 minutes, unless his math skills were worsening.
Unable to take it anymore, Mateo asked his father for the time the meeting ended, and after seeing it was 25 minutes past, he began forming new theories. Until he found one that fit.
"Time flows faster in the dungeon than outside!" blurted Mateo who was eager that at least one of the fictional theories had been proven true. The dumbfounded Julian who had been watching and listening to Mateo mumble and murmur for the past 5 minutes was about passing a comment until, "Of course dear, we already know that a day outside is equal to two days in the dungeon." Maria sweetly said, choosing to sit between her first and last born who had arrived a minute earlier.
With a sheepish smile Julian responded to Mateo's questioning gaze by telling him that the time conversion was found out during the period Mateo was passed out. He finished by saying, that was where he chose to read in order to cover a lot of chapters, unknowingly bringing relief to Mateo who was puzzled about his father's reading speed.
With everyone ready and the weapons loaded at the back end of the vehicle, Julian drove out the automatic operated gates, meeting the Windsor Humvee outside and following it, the destination, Laguna Beach, one of California's most famous beaches.
Driving from their Malibu residence to Laguna Beach would usually take an hour and a half, but when you had an ex colonel with a disregard for the law at the wheel, the journey time would be cut in half. Turning on the siren, Julian expected the semi crowded roads to clear but instead what happened next shocked him.
The bystanders, those in the houses and those driving all turned towards them, anger visible on their countenance. Soon they began surrounding both Humvees, pounding on them while the braver ones threw rocks and eggs. Surrounded on all sides and unable to move, Julian decided to open the roof hatch in an attempt to hear the reason they were stopped by the crowd.
Explaining to his family and to the Windsor's that they had been mistaken as government troops by the people due to their method of transport and the sirens, they brainstormed for a while until Julian decided to just tell the masses that they weren't government officials. Opening the hatch to deliver the message, Julian was met with a hail of stones flying towards him, and they would have hit him had Wilson, who had been observing the situation, mot pulled him down in time.
Angered at the near injury his father had, Wilson held back no longer and activated the crowd control mechanisms modified into the Humvee. First, tear gas spilled out of the vents, hitting those closest to the car the hardest and creating space around them. Next the external speakers started giving off high frequency noises, leaving hhe rioters clutching their heads and screaming in pain. Lastly, the speakers switched sounds to that of a gun firing bullets, causing the fearful rioters to scatter away in fear of being hit.
Wearing a satisfied smile, the sadistic looking Wilson deactivated all mechanisms and made way for Julian, who had had enough time to recover, to get back to the wheel and drive to their destination. The rest of the journey was smooth sailing since both cars had decided to display machine guns on their roofs and leave the sirens on, scaring any potential rioters.
With a global panic ensuing, not many people had the heart to come to the beach, leaving it relatively empty compared to usual. Reaching the shared location, they found a beautiful girl standing in front of a rocky cove. After a bit of light conversation, they found out that the girl, Amber, was the one they spoke with earlier who showed them this dungeon's location.
The only problem was she didn't want money as payment, her payment option was much worse.