The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

Branch Leaders and high-ranking members of Skull Gang were all gathered at the meeting room in the main headquarters. James called them for a very important matter.

Since James took over as the head of Skull Gang this was the second time he called for an emergency meeting wherein all the high ranking members of the Gang were gathered in one place despite their busy operations.

The first time he organized a meeting like this was when Jorge Arison was assassinated. This time it looked like there was another serious matter they needed to deal with for calling out their presence.

There were approximately fifty Branch Leaders and higher-ups who were able to show up. They were waiting for James to speak up. No one among them dared to speak first. By just looking at James's face, they could tell that he was not in a good mood.

He was sitting in one corner of that long oval-shaped table. The tension grew by minutes. James was emanating a very cold and frightening aura that made everyone chill by just observing on the side. 

Once he was angry he possessed the same domineering aura of his father. They felt really intimidated. That's why even though James was still young he got the respect and admiration of all the members. Jorge Arison really prepared him well to become the next leader of this organization.

When everyone was already settled down on their seats, James immediately discussed the main agenda of this meeting.

" I seek your presence today because I am about to give you a very important mission today. As we all know, the Dark Knight Organization was the one responsible for my father's death."

After hearing his first remarks, everyone nodded as they were now aware of this truth. Some showed an expression of fury. They wanted to get revenge for their former leader. They didn't expect that Dark Knight Organization would be this cunning and had done the first move to attack them by killing their Leader.

"Just give us your order and we will do our best to fulfill it." One of the branch leaders spoke up to show his support for James's decision and plans. Others also agreed on him.

"Gather our most elite fighters and mobilize them. Tonight, I want you to attack five branches of Dark Knight Organization here at City Z and to other nearby Cities! Destroy them!" James gave them the order using his firm authoritative voice.

There was a glint of vengeance in his eyes when he was saying those words. 

Meanwhile, everyone was rendered speechless hearing his order. It seemed that James wanted to go in an all-out war. And the most shocking thing was he wanted to do it tonight. As in tonight!

They wondered what triggered him to do this. At first, he wanted to do his revenge little by little, snatching Dark Knight's resources and sabotaging their transaction and operation in secret. But now, James had changed his mind and decided to face the enemies head-on.

They didn't know if this was the right thing to do. The members had different thoughts about this. They preferred his first plan more than this new one.

Seeing the hesitation in their faces, James's expression darkened. He won't allow them to oppose his decision. He wanted to do this to satiate his anger towards the Dark Knight Organization. They dared touch the woman he liked! He was doing this not just to avenge his father but also to avenge Elle.

"If you won't agree with my decision then you are now free to leave this organization! I don't need cowards people!" 

They immediately apologized to him as they were threatened by James's words. They asked him not to misunderstand their silence. They didn't dare to oppose him.

With that, James was satisfied with their response. He didn't waste more time as he wrapped it up.

"Do well in this mission and I will give you rewards after this. Don't disappoint me! I want to see a good result tonight. This is all for today. Meeting adjourned!"

...…�������...

Nighttime came and the Skull Gang launched their surprised attack at the five branches of Dark Knight Organization. Dark Knight didn't anticipate this move that's why Skull Gang got the upper hand in these battles.

No Mercy! Skull Gang showed Dark Knight their wrath as they destroyed their five branches at the same time that night. Many Dark Knight's members were killed in the encounter. They were not able to fight back. Skull Gang only got a few fatalities.

It was a complete loss for Dark Knight. It would take some time for them to recover. Dark Lord learned about the bad news that happened to their branches. He was fuming in fury but it was already too late. He couldn't do something to stop it.

In just one night, the underground world was shaken up. Skull Gang's attack made everyone in turmoil. It was a clear indication of waging a war with the Dark Knight Organization. Now, the start of a long power battle between these two big organizations had just begun.

After this tragic incident, the Dark Knight Organization came into realization. Their efforts of killing Catseye was put into vain. They just wasted their time and resources targeting a mere assassin since, in the end, Skull Gang still learned the truth about their involvement in the assassination of Jorge Arison.

On the same night, James Arison left City Z as he went abroad using his private jet. This move was also necessary just in case Dark Knight would try to attack again the Skull Gang Head. But unknown to others, he had also other personal reasons for doing that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** South Carolina's Hospital ***

Sarah and Raymond were worried about Erick. They could tell that something was off since he was behaving oddly in front of them. His food also remained untouched since this afternoon, even the dinner they prepared for him.

He was unusually very quiet. Though his face was void of any emotion, Sarah could feel that Erick was not fine at all. This was the very first time they saw their son acting like this.

'What happened? What's wrong with him? Is he in shock?' The husband and wife couldn't help but ponder within themselves.

Erick seemed like he was not paying attention to his surroundings. He was spacing out with a blank expression on his face. He was there physically but it looked like his mind was wandering in a different place.

Raymond urged his wife to talk with Erick. He couldn't bear to see him like this anymore. If he had a problem or something was bothering him then as his parents, they wanted him to know that they were there for him.

Erick was lying on his sickbed. Though his eyes were closed, Sarah knew that he was still awake. So, she sat down on the side of his bed as she tried to engage a conversation with him.

"My son… Erick?" Sarah called him softly as she touched his hand.

Upon hearing his mother's gentle voice Erick opened his eyes. He sat up and faced her. There was a wave of emotions flashing in his eyes as he looked into his mother's concerned eyes.

In an instant, the wall he tried to build since he woke up today just collapsed. He felt really miserable and helpless. The pain and sorrow were drowning him. He needed to find a release or else he would really go mad for real.

No need to say a word, Sarah already saw the overwhelming sadness in Erick's eyes thus she stretched her arms and pulled Erick into a warm hug. Raymond just watched the mother and son duo quietly on the side.

After a few seconds, Sarah could feel Erick's trembling body in her arms as he began to sob. Erick could no longer hide nor suppress his emotions anymore.

Though she was startled and felt puzzled, Sarah just hugged Erick more tightly as she rubbed and patted his back, trying to comfort him.

Then Erick spoke something in between his cries.

"Mom… Elle….she is Catseye and she is… she is-"

Erick couldn't say the last word 'gone'. He couldn't accept it yet.

With that one sentence coming from Erick, Raymond and Sarah found the answers to their questions. They were shocked by this revelation. However, their feelings towards Elle didn't change. They didn't want to jump into conclusion and judge her right away.

Now, they could understand why Erick was acting like this. He appeared to be hurting so much as of this moment. Sarah and Raymond also felt heartbroken and sad about what happened.

'So the Catseye he was trying to save last night is Elle.'