He was dead

One Week Later.

A dozen men were gathered all dressed in black clothing from head to toe. Some carried hand guns strapped to their lower backs, others carried 18 in daggers at their sides. Each man had a distinctive tattoo on their muscular arms: they stood for their names in the organization. Not a single one of these men was inferior to the next, each expert in their own rights. All matter of martial art techniques and weapon expertise existed among these 12 men.

They all stood facing the man in the leather chair behind a large dark mahogany desk. The man's features were shrouded in frost, his right hand rested on top of the desk, his fingers tapping rhythmically-tap tap tap. Each tapping sound only served to send shivers down the backs of the 12 men. Their hearts beating in consort with each tapping sound. A series of gulps could be heard in the room.

"Explain it to me again." Andre said in a menacing voice.

The group of men looked at each other warily, as they waited for their leader to speak. The tallest figure in the front straightened his back and spoke evenly after clearing his throat.

"We found three of our men stationed at Casa Blue with their throats cut and hanging from the ceiling. Their embedded trackers had been forcibly removed and they were bled out. Their right thumbs were all severed." the burly man said. He had a tattoo of a dragon on his forearm. He was known as Dragon as he was the fiercest among all the men there.

"We also found that Casa's database had been hacked, all 10 firewalls were attacked and bypassed." At this point Dragon was starting to sweat. He could see his boss's face turn darker after each sentence.

"What was taken?" Andre's face was darker than the underside of a pot. The raging turmoil inside him threatened to come out.

"Blueprints of Kastle, names and locations of assets in Europe." Dragon felt the change in air the moment he mentioned Kastle. He knew their boss was thoroughly enraged now.

A couple of minutes passed in silence. Each second served to make each and everyone of the men shiver in fear. The temperature in the room had dropped below zero. They couldn't help their frantic hearts from beating fast. After what seemed like an eternity their boss's voice was heard.

"So your men failed. They were bested and now our strongest base's blueprints are in the hands of an unknown enemy?" Andre asked as he slowly pushed his chair back, standing up and turned to face the window behind him.

Dragon did not know how to respond. It was indeed his men who had failed to stand their ground. He had placed three of the strongest under Group K at Casa. Even so they were all strung up and brutally tortured and killed as if they were nothing. It was a huge blow to the groups rank and pride. They were among the elite in the organization and they were taken down like flies. He had thoroughly lost all face.

Andre faced the window and didn't speak for some time. His base here in New York was his favorite. He could oversee thousands of acres of land from his view point.

He clenched his fist in his pockets and turned his attention back to the anxious men.

"Tell me Dragon, what punishment should befall you?" He asked his face akin to the face of a demon.

Silence.

"Not only is this the third base that has been discovered in six months, each one has been guarded by your men. Is that not too coincidental?"

Silence.

"I don't believe in coincidences, Dragon. This was your last chance."

In what seemed no less than three seconds Andre had appeared in front of Dragon, his movements were so quick an untrained eye would certainly miss them. In the next moment all you would see is the blood that sprang out of his neck where Andre's jade embedded dagger slid across it.

Dragon's body fell sideways, the dark red blood flowing out of the deep cut pooling underneath his body. He never even had the chance to register what happened. His eyes were still wide open and his mouth was agape.

He was dead. Just like that.

The remaining men had each lowered their heads in shame, their eyes trained on Dragon's body. The blood was running out in both directions seeping underneath some of their boots.

Andre pulled out a black handkerchief that had a gold A engraved in the corner and wiped his dagger clean. Blood had splattered his face and neck dying his tanned skin. He looked like a lion after devouring its meal with the blood staining his face. He methodically wiped the blade making sure not to miss a spot before turning back to his desk. He set the dagger down and took a seat.

"Clean it up and head to the hall to receive your punishment. Your new leader will be assigned soon. Dismissed" Andre said leaning on his desk folding his hands under his chin. His vicious eyes left no room for argument.

The men silently began to clean up the body. Not one of them daring to make a sound. Their leader was dead and they were about to be severely punished. They were innocent but their boss did not care. His word was law, he said you are to be punished then that was that. He could order you to kill yourself and you had no right to decline. That's what it meant to work for a demon.

After the men left, Andre was left alone in his office. The smell of bleach and iron was strong. He looked at the floor in front of him and frowned. Whether or not Dragon was involved in a plot to overthrow him he had to be exterminated for his incompetence. He had given him a chance after the first two attacks because he was the son of his father's oldest friend. However he could not let it happen a fourth time.

Someone was out to get him and he was in the dark about who it was. No matter how much he searched, what contacts and assets he used to try and find the culprits he had found nothing. Whoever was conspiring against him was indeed formidable, they left no trace, no evidence-nothing. It was like they were ghosts.

They had his full attention now. He wasn't so easily beaten, they had no idea what monster they were dealing with. He had to show them why he remained at the top of the food chain for so long. It was time to retaliate.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number he hadn't called in many years.

The phone rang twice before a click was heard.

"You're activated 001. New York one week." He hung up not waiting for a response.

He stood up and headed to the small bathroom inside the large vacant office. He washed his face and neck wiping it thoroughly to remove all traces of blood. He removed his shirt and stared at himself in the mirror above the sink.

A large scar about 5in width and the size of his hand stretched in front of his left rib cage. It was faded but you could still see the ghastly scar. He ran his calloused fingers over it as he stared at it in the mirror. His mind wandered back to 7 years ago.