An Unwanted Destiny

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Adrien was comfortably sitting on his chair in his office in Seattle. It was laughable how easily men sold their honor and pride for money. Gaining his freedom again was a piece of cake. No matter how many times the head of a hydra is cut, it will grow back again to its place, until it devours its opponents. That is what the Wyvern does not understand. Sebastien was standing right next to him. Adrien looked collected and calculative. No doubt, he was preparing his next move. “Somehow…Somehow, they still manage to outsmart me. Dane’s out of the game, at least for now. It’ll take him some time to recover from his mother’s death…Muhammad, that fool has betrayed them and is an unimportant enemy for now…all Ezra has left is Tanen and her daughter. If I take care of them, then he will probably come and surrender to me himself!” Adrien even laughed at the thought. He had almost won. That’s right. He could not give up now. Not being so close to his target. Get the artifacts, that were his orders. That was what he had to do in order to see that person again… “Well, no more thinking!” Adrien said. “Sebastien, looks like that idiot Steve got killed…we got betrayed but it Is an unimportant loss. I have a plan for you and your men…” Back at the mall’s underground… “It’s no use panicking now, is it?” Marge said. “We’ll just go to the roof and see what’s going on. All of you” she said, pointing at the agents, “you return to the heart quarters. Sam, Brendan, you come along with me. It’s going to need more than one agent to beat those…hooligans once and for all.” Ezra, Sarah and Dane looked confused. “Then you will probably need our strength too!” Ezra suggested. “Besides, how will you reach the top of the mall? I doubt there is a secret stairway or something…” Marge laughed for the first time. “No, not stairway. You kind of underestimate us…” she then clicked on a hidden button on the floor. A brand new, modern elevator appeared in one of the walls of the parking area. Miss Tanen’s people probably had been inhabiting this abandoned place as their hideout for a long time. Sam, Brendan and she went in and waved to the three kids. The other agents had already run where she ordered them to. Sarah had a bad feeling about this. She knew when her mother was faking it. “Hey Dane, Ezra…I need to go to the city square to check about something! Stay here, it’ll only be a minute! Someone needs to guard the hideout!” She said, and with those words she left. Now Ezra and Dane were the only ones left. Surprisingly, even Dane was too quiet. Ezra knew that he would not be himself for a while. He knew that if something similar happened to his family, he would probably try to commit suicide, for the least. Dane was really strong, and for that he admired him. “Something is odd…” his friend finally said. “It seems like everyone tries to keep something secret from us…” Ezra had the same feeling. However, he could not risk having his friend more traumatized than what he already was. “Hey Dane, look! Agravaine’s in our parking!” Ezra said, pointing at the other side. “Oh, no, not this guy again…” Dane said and looked towards the direction that Ezra was pointing at. Then he was hit on the head unconscious by his best friend. Ezra had to protect him, even if it meant hurting him. He had to go check on everyone. “Sorry man…you’ll understand. I hope.” Sarah ran towards the park. It was only a hunch, but if Adrien was really back then everyone would be in danger. If he was back, she knew exactly where he would be. And she was right. He was standing at the big “H” in the middle of the Seattle park, which was formed by three different colors of flowers in different columns. H stood for Hydra, of course. Adrien looked amused. “Finally…I thought you would never come.” He said. “What took you so long? Does mother not let you stay outside when it’s getting late?” Sarah shrugged. “At least I have a proper mother…”she said, and with that word she took out her gun. “You come with me, or you die here. Whatever your plan is, I don’t think I’ll participate…I’d kill you here, but I want Dane to have the pleasure of killing you himself, for doing that to his mother.” Adrien looked more and more excited as time went by. “What are you talking about? I only helped my friend grow up and become independent! Quite a drastic measure, but effective, don’t you agree?” Sarah looked at him, disgusted. “Now that I think about it…maybe you should die here.” Adrien laughed. “Come with me, Sarah…we need your talents! You are going to have everything you wish for…after all, me, Muhammad, Ezra, what difference does it make?” “You and Muhammad are trash! Complete trash! You are giving everything away for the shake of power…but Ezra is different. He has nothing to do with you. That’s why I’ll never leave the side my mother is on…” She held out her gun, about to shoot. “I wonder if you are right…” Said Adrien. At that comment, he let out a hysterical laugh. “I’m sure that Ezra Is not as different from us as you think…you’ll soon see! More importantly…wouldn’t your little team need you while my men are assaulting your hideout?” He said. “So that’s it! You wanted to distract me, that’s why you came here! “ She said and instinctively looked back at the mall. “If anything happens to them…” she said, turning to look at Adrien. Much to her surprise, he was gone in a single instant. “Never mind him…I must head back!” The sight Ezra saw once he reached the roof, using the secret elevator, was terrible. Probably the most one-sided battle than ever before. Marge, Sam and Brendan were against ten or maybe twenty Hydra men. What’s more, they were surrounded. If he did nothing, then more innocents would die. This time, he would not stand by and watch this happen. He knew how to deal with this. No matter what, Adrien needed him and would never hurt him. He rushed in front of Tanen and the other two agents. “That’s it, playtime’s over guys!” He said, trying to sound strong. “Just head back now, nice and easy, before our reinforcements arrive! “ Said Ezra. He hoped he had sounded as determined as how he was inside his mind. It was the first time he was doing the right thing, and he was enjoying it. His heart beat fast and his adrenaline levels got higher and higher. Until he was shot. Sebastien, who was leading the attack, directly shot Ezra on his arms and legs. Unimaginable pain ran through his body the moment he heard the sound. Everything went black, as he saw the red dots of blood get larger and larger on his shirt. He was about to lose his senses, as he heard loud bangs and Miss Tanen screaming to him. “We only need him alive. If he’s injured, then that makes it easier for us to carry him around.” Sebastien coldly stated. Tanen and her agents took the preemptive and killed around half of the Hydra agents, while they were still distracted. However, their allies also shot at the unprotected Wyvern agents. Brendan had fallen. Sam and Marge had been shot, but they have been trained for a long time to kill every emotion and pain until they eliminate their target. They kept shooting, and only Sebastien was remaining alive. Marge saw Sam fall too. She was alone. It was probably her last stand. At least she had to get Sebastien, Adrien’s right-hand man. She aimed directly to his head. Unfortunately, she was out of ammo. Then Sebastien threw a throwing knife that pierced straight through her heart. She was dying. Blood was coming out of her mouth and she could not breathe. She fell on the floor. “Die here.” Sebastien said. He walked towards Ezra. “The last thing I can do…” she said, taking a knife out of her pocket with trembling hands, “is to entrust reclaiming the artifacts to the new generation. They will definitely do things better than us…“ She gathered her remaining strength and threw the knife at the man that had turned his back on her. The knife got him on the head. “Mas….ter…sorry.” He did not even struggle. Adrien’s right-hand man was dead. Ezra was regaining his senses. The pain was still great, and he knew he could probably not move. He heard a voice on his head, calling for him. Was he dead? He opened his eyes, having trouble on his first efforts. He was not. He was still on the same rooftop. He saw miss Tanen. She was calling for him. The undefeated, strong and determined Marge Tanen of the past now was lying on the floor, in a pool of blood. Ezra instantly remembered Tai Ghong’s words. “I have foreseen that death will uphold to one of your friends, if you are not the one who finds it….” They echoed deeply in his mind. Someone else had found the stone. And now, Marge Tanen was lying almost dead, looking at him with her lifeless, big eyes. Sarah’s mother was dying, and it was his fault. “Give that to Sarah….she…knows what to do with it.” She said and held out the necklace she had never removed from her neck until now. Ezra tried to crawl to where she was and took it in his hands. He did not realize he was crying, until he saw the tears fall on the beautiful necklace. Miss Tanen smiled reassured and closed her eyes forever. Ezra had lost yet another friend and ally, and the world was in danger more than ever before. He removed the knife from miss Tanen’s body and strongly held it into his hands. He was there, shot, now holding miss Tanen’s body with the knife on his other hand. He stood there, unable to move or talk. He just cried like a little child. When suddenly he heard a gentle “ding!”. The elevator had come up again. He tried to turn around and see who it was. Sarah Scarlet was standing in front of the elevator. And she was looking at Ezra holding a knife in a pool of her mother’s blood, frozen.