Around a table sat a group of people, familiar and unfamiliar faces alike.
"The boy's gotten stronger," Victor, Elizabeth's father, said with a frown on his face.
"Uhm," Mr. Gustavo, who happened to be at the head of the table, sighed. None of them would have expected Alex to change and become stronger.
"Martin and that little girl are dead," a lady said. "What should we do now?"
"We have to kill him now or he will not only expose us, he'll also kill every one of us here," Victor said.
"You are right, but it won't be that easy," Mr. Gustavo interjected, his voice calm but heavy with authority. His fingers tapped rhythmically against the polished wood of the table. "Martin underestimated him, and now he's dead. Rushing in without a plan will only add more bodies to the count."
Victor scowled, his impatience clear. "If we sit around waiting, the boy will come for us. I say we strike first, hard and fast, before he gets any stronger."
A chuckle broke the tension. "You're awfully scared of a kid, Victor." The voice belonged to a man leaning lazily against his chair, his silver-rimmed glasses glinting under the dim light. "But I agree. He's a threat, and from what I hear, he's not fighting alone anymore."
"Peter and my daughter," Victor spat, his jaw tightening. "They're helping him."
"And Peter is your son," the lady added, her smile sharp as she turned her gaze toward Mr. Gustavo. "I imagine that complicates things."
Mr. Gustavo's expression darkened for a brief moment before he spoke. "My son made his choice. That won't change what needs to be done."
"And if Elizabeth's involved," the lady continued, a hint of amusement in her tone, "she must care about him. That's a weakness we could use."
Mr. Gustavo's fingers stilled. "Enough." His gaze swept over the group, sharp and calculating. "We won't make the same mistakes. We'll watch and wait. And when the time is right, we'll make sure he doesn't walk away this time."
"What about the others?" Victor asked.
"They're being handled," Mr. Gustavo replied smoothly. "Focus on the boy. He's the key. Without him, everything else falls apart."
A heavy silence fell over the table as the weight of his words settled.
For the first time in years, they were no longer the hunters, they were the prey.
"We'll be taking a leave," the lady said as she and others got up. "Call us back when you have come with a proper solution to this mess, and you need to hurry about it. We can't be waiting forever, if nothing is quickly done, we will have no choice but to take actions ourselves."
Mr. Gustavo narrowed his eyes. "Are you threathening me?" He asked her.
"Call it whatever you want, the choice is yours to make," the lady said and then left with the others, leaving Mr. Gustavo and Victor behind.
Letting out a sigh, Victor asked. "What do we do?"
Mr. Gustavo was worried as well but he refused to show it, this was the choice he made years ago and there was no way he would be backing out now.
"We have to go ahead with the plan," he said to Victor. "The boy is our key to becoming the world leaders, and if we fail to get him, so will our plan be destroyed."
Victor nodded thoughtfully, the both of them had been together for long and he knew exactly what Mr. Gustavo wanted. He also knew about Alex's secret.
<<<
Some years ago, when they were still young, the trio — Steven, Gustavo, and Victor, had been friends. They were among the group of people that were tested on, and they passed the test together.
The three of them trained hard to get stronger and become top heroes, eventually they did but then, Gustavo and Victor were more ambitious than Steven.
Steven just wanted to be a strong hero, capable of protecting his country and his love ones but his two friends wanted power and fame, they wanted to be on top.
After Steven got married, he waited for a few years but his wife could not conceive. Out of desperation, they decided to adopt one and that is how Alex came into the picture.
Later on, they found out that the boy had no ability like other kids. His parents had wanted to return him to the orphanage but Gustavo told them not to so they refrained from returning him. They had to keep up with him and slowly they began to care for him genuinely.
But they were unaware that Gustavo had a reason for not allowing them to return the child. He had discovered something unusual about Alex. During a routine health check, Gustavo obtained a sample of Alex's blood and ran a private analysis without informing Steven. What he found was extraordinary—Alex's blood held traces of a rare genetic marker linked to an ancient ability long thought to be a myth. The potential for this power, if awakened, could surpass anything they had ever encountered.
Gustavo and Victor believed this ability was the missing key to their ambition, to control and reshape the world under their rule. But there was a problem. The ability was dormant. No matter how much they observed Alex, there were no signs of it awakening. Steven, blissfully unaware of their plans, grew more attached to the boy. He was content with his simple dream of being a protector, while Gustavo and Victor grew impatient.
Years passed. When Steven's wife finally became pregnant, Gustavo saw an opportunity. If Alex remained with Steven, there was a risk the boy's latent ability would be lost or worse, used against them if Steven ever discovered the truth. It was then they devised their plan.
One night, under the guise of a mission, Victor led an ambush. They framed Steven for betraying their organization, ensuring his disgrace and imprisonment. But that wasn't enough. Fearing Steven's loyalty to Alex, they arranged for his wife's death, making it look like an accident. Without parents to protect him, Alex would be vulnerable, ready for them to mold him into their weapon.
But their plan backfired.
Instead of breaking, Alex grew stronger. The tragedy awakened the dormant power hidden within him, a power Gustavo and Victor had underestimated. Worse still, Peter, Gustavo's own son, turned against them, siding with Alex. And now, with Elizabeth involved, the situation was spiraling further out of their control.
>>>
Back in the dim room, Victor broke the silence. "If the boy's power continues to grow, he'll become unstoppable. And if Peter keeps protecting him—"
"Peter is a disappointment," Gustavo cut him off coldly. "But he's still my blood. I will deal with him if it comes to that."
Victor exhaled sharply. "And the others? They won't wait much longer. If they sense weakness, they'll turn on us."
Gustavo's expression hardened. "Let them try. We've come too far to lose everything now. The boy's power belongs to us. And no matter what it takes, we will bring him under control or we'll destroy him."
Victor nodded, though a flicker of doubt lingered in his mind. For the first time, he wondered if they had created something even they couldn't contain.
"Understood," he said. "I believe we will win this time around."