XXII The Work Of A Thief.

"You have got to see this, My Lord!" he held out a tablet.

The headline alone made Shaw lose his composure for a moment. That moment of realization and denial at things that he has lost, at the consequences that he was yet to face.

'THE GOTHAM TOWER FALLING BY ARASON!'

Written in bold on the top center of the page. Shaw clenched hard on the screen causing the screen to crack under his pressure. His man standing next to him with sweat covering his brow as he stared at the white tiles of the lab.

Laughter. Shaw laughed as he tossed the tablet back to the man who was blinking at his boss's reaction. This man's building was crumbling to ash in the middle of Lauxdale and he was here torturing someone to hell with laughter echoing in the place.

A psychopath. That was all the man could think of. "M-My lord," he stuttered. "Everything about that boy was in the tower. Everyone who has seen him is dead. The whole system is down, we are not even sure if we can recover any of the lost data! The whole server has melted down by the fire."

"The fire didn't leave anything untouched?" Shaw questioned. Why didn't he think that this was indeed an accidental fire first? Because accidental fires don't set everything and kill everyone in its sight. According to this article, not even one injury. All deaths.

As a person who has done a lot of dirty deeds himself, Shaw knew that this was the work of someone covering for himself. "I guess that boy won this one," he snorted in amusement as he ran a hand through his short-neatly combed hair. The white was starting to grow at his temple.

"What are your orders, My Lord?"

"Stand by," said he. "It isn't like we have anything that leads us to him. Crane, where is he?"

The servant gulped hard. "H-he was in the tower, My Lord," he couldn't bring himself to bluntly say that he has burned to death.

The glass shattered within a perimeter of 5 meters around Shaw. Everyone got to the ground as they protected their faces. Shaw stood there with anger flooding out of him in waves, shattering everything. Event he capsule that Jake was locked in rattled from the force but thankfully it didn't break.

To a certain extent, he could be understood. First, he lost Drace. The good for nothing son who died trying to summon Orathan, the prince of hell – who also happened to be the cause of all of this. Second, he lost his eldest son as well, his only heir was now also gone. To a level he mourned for them, no matter how cold he is, he was still their father. They carried the same blood and he believed in the saying of Blood is thicker than water.

"At first I thought this might be a boy having fun with his newly brought toy," Shaw growled, his voice was vibrating in his own bones. His face darkened as he said the words. This was no longer something to be taken lightly.

"Orathan has found a right master to serve," he added. "We wait. He will soon make his move and reveal what is it he truly wants."

He glanced over at the Capsule with Jake inside it and grinned. "Once it's complete nothing will stop me."

~~~~

"What the fuck?" said a boy that can't be much older than 20. His brown hair causing a mess on his head as he stared at the small T.V screen lying in the middle of the dimly lit warehouse.

"West, is this your doing?" he scoffed as he turned sideways to look at a boy that looked slightly older than him. "How could you do that without letting us in man!" he giggled as he patted West's shoulder.

"Julian," said West, gently pushing his hands away to allow himself a moment to think. "This wasn't me." He raised his head to look at Julian standing beside another girl who was as confused as he was.

"EH?" Julian exclaimed as he took a step back. "How is that even possible? Who else would set the Gotham tower on fire if not you! The leader of the Rebellion in Greater London?!"

West stayed quiet as he rested his head on his balm. Julian had every right to question his answer but that was the truth, he wasn't the one that set the tower on fire. "I don't know who did that but they are powerful,"

He glanced again at the T.V screen taking in the handy work that the fire did to the tower. Windows shattered, some floors even collapsed. The whole thing threatened to fall down at any moment.

"Even if I wanted to do that," said West. "I can't. We don't have the resources or the man power to do such a job. Let alone to a building in the middle of Lauxdale."

"Do you think it was done by the Bromley's?" the girl finally asked, shifting the weight of her body to one side.

West shock his head. "Can't be, Scarlet," he said. "They are too far away to just gracefully hide after doing that."

"You have got a point," Scarlet said. "To be able to pull such a heist you need a lot of manpower not to mention a place to return to after the deed is done. Could there possibly be a new rebellion that we don't know of?"

"I can't say but that seems to be the case," said West.

"Or…it can just be an accident like they said," Julian suggest though he knew that that could hardly be the case.

"Impossible," West stated. Living on the streets for all this time, doing any job that he has been offered for a couple of dollars, all that didn't just go down the drain. It gave him knowledge, he would know the work of a thief when he sees it.

And this…if this wasn't the work of a thief then he doesn't know what is.