The Meeting

Francois Agrest stands on the top balcony of his Mansion. He gazes over the city of Paris with a cold look on his face. His mind is bothered by the dramatic turn of events since his return. Crime has significantly increased; mugging became robberies, petty fights became total shootouts, and vandalism became mass property destruction. What torments Francois the most is the thought that even his very own son is no longer safe under his care.

Francois' mind recalls the scene of Aiden lying on the stretcher after the attack. His son was severely bruised. It all happened under his nose. In his own home. How can he allow this to happen? His hands curled into a fist.

"Sir?" A maid snapped Francois from his thoughts. "They are here."

Francois slowly nods as he continues to stare at the horizon. "Guide them to the boardroom. After a while, Francois sighed and went it. As he walked down the hallway, he made a call to the head of security to make sure that every corner of the mansion is guarded. A looming atmosphere fell upon him when he reached the portion of the hallway where his son was found heavily injured. He stopped and touched the fixed surface of the wall that cracked. Again, Francois felt guilty. After a moment Francois wiped away the tears in his eyes and kept walking towards the boardroom.

Two butlers were stationed in front of the boardroom. As Francois approaches, they both bowed and opened the doors. Inside were men and women engaged in some sort of discussion. But when they noticed Francois's presence, they all quieted down. Everyone rises from his seat and bows to show respect. The room was so quiet that Francois' footsteps echoed as he walks towards his seat at the end of the long table. It was only after he has taken his seat that everyone else sat down.

With piercing eyes, Francois' gazed over the faces of those seated around the table. "Gentlemen, Ladies. I believe you all know why I called for this meeting."

" Mr. Agrest, we do and we have anticipated for this day to come", utters a woman in a blue suit with a badge on her left chest. Her temperament appears cold and composed. She slowly rose from her seat and continued, "Our streets are becoming more dangerous with each passing day. Crimes have increased in both number and intensity. Conditions have reached the point where we can no longer keep our streets safe nor control them."

She was about to continue but was interrupted by a man with messy hair.

"You think you got it, hard? My territories are being violated and my men are endangered by continuous attacks from members of a group responsible for the countless shootouts and lootings. The business has gone bad." He was breathing hard as he spoke and hit the table with his fist at the end of his talk.

The woman then snapped back. Don't you think that these attacks and shootouts are getting larger because of the shady nature of some of your transactions"? How can you be so brave to raise that complaint in this meeting? We all ought to contribute to eliminating these crimes, not fan the flame so gets bigger and complain when we get burned! If it wasn't for Amelie, I would have locked you in jail already.!"

"You got it all wrong." The man rose from his seat and pointed to the woman who spoke earlier. "Had your law enforcers been less corrupt, you could have eliminated all these crimes with ease and kept this city safe and protected."

Then a heated argument erupted between the woman's group and the man's faction again.

"Enough!" Francois said as he rubbed his temples and stared at them. He did not shout but the majesty of his voice imposes command on all present. This caused both parties to immediately calm down. Decorum was reestablished, Francois gestured for a maid to fill his glass.

He took a sip of the beverage. His eyes were still on his glass when he pointed to a man on his right side, "Harold, please tell them."

Harold, who was silently observing the proceedings, stood up and walk towards the large screen. " I have the answer which you all seek." Everyone focused their attention on Harold, except for Francois who silently stared at his drink. Harold clicked a button and an image flashed on the screen.

As soon as the image appeared, everyone gasped. The room was enveloped by deafening silence.

" Yes, he is back!" Harold points to the screen. "He's alive and is back with strength greater than before"

Everyone looked confused and shocked.

The woman stomped her hand on the table as she looked at Harold in rage. "Is this a joke? How dare you mention that man's name in this room and even show his image!" Her face was very red and her breathing turn heavy. The young man beside her placed his hands on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Nobody is joking Amanda." Francois then threw the card on the table." He is really...back."

When everyone saw the card, they all backed away as if the card carries some deadly scourge that could infect and kill them. An atmosphere of fear dominated the room. Their faces reflect fear and sadness. Some closed their eyes, as memories they wanted to forget resurfaced in their minds. It was the same card that the Hawk had used. Leon's hands were shaking as he stared at the card.

When Francois saw their reactions, he gently placed his glass down, as he looked at everyone's faces and saw in their eyes the fear they wished to never feel again. He reaches for the card and placed it back in his pocket.

" I called all of you here because he had returned. Didn't you just see how he played with you? He wants you to believe that he is dead. He wants you to believe that he is not real, hence he cannot harm you!" Francois continued." But the Hawk's tactics have become cleverer. While you came here bringing your complaints and tantrums, he has been planning for his next moves. Bigger, more catastrophic, and eviler than before! We have all been tricked. And now, what do we have against him?"

Nobody speaks. When Francois saw that nobody dares to speak, he continued, "this is exactly what he wanted you to feel. He wants you to feel scared and confused. The more scared you are, the more confused you become. The more confused you become you either become complacent or paralyzed – then he wins!!!"

Amanda looks at Francois, "We beat him before, we now know his weakness!"

Hearing this Harold responds, "No, I don't think we can just fight him as before. Time changes everyone. The Hawk is back even more dangerous than ever.

Another deafening silence enveloped the room.

"So, what can we do? We can just let him loose and cause havoc?" Leon asked

"You can't be serious," Amanda exclaimed.

Francois gave Amanda and Leon a glare that silenced them. " Do you think you can beat the Hawk by focusing on what we can't do? Did I not mention earlier that it's what he wants you to become? Be confused and be paralyzed? Get the Hawk out of your minds!!!, Francois shouted.

Amanda's eyes have slightly turned red. "We don't have enough time but he won't wait until we are ready! He has now made his moves and I think we must make ours."

"Exactly!" Harold replied, "We can make this scenario lead us to our next move!"

"What do you mean?", Leon is confused

"We have to act and we have to act fast. And because of this, I propose that we must now select and train our candidates." Francois stated with conviction

"Francois, you yourself know that they are not ready yet, no matter how hard we train them, they will not be ready."

"And when will they be ready Leon? Didn't you just see that our opponent has already made waged the war? We are in a race with time and as far as I know, the Hawk already has a huge lead." Francois snapped at Leon

Francois sits back on his chair. He rests his head on his hand. "Look at us, a bunch of old people stuck to their desks retired and can barely lift a rock without risking a sprain"

"Francois," Amanda says with sympathy in her eyes. "we cannot afford another disaster."

" We are already in a disaster and we need to act now! If we don't, we will have to sacrifice many lives again", Francois as he looks at the empty seats.

" I understand Francois, but we don't really have any qualified candidates and enough manpower," Leon says.

No Leon, don't give me that excuse. We have to call them now and qualify them now. Otherwise, they will never have that chance.

"I found one," Harold said which got everyone's attention. " I found one with great potential."

'Well, now that we got one, what about the others?" Leon said as he slumped back in his chair drinking his glass.

" None so far in the police department, they are many gifted and well-trained, but none are good enough," Amanda says as she sips from her whiskey.

Then you have to look harder Amanda, Francois snapped.

" I have one but he is still under training," Leon says. And Leon then turned to Francois. " What about you Francois? Is your son ready?"

"He is. He has to be!" Francois said while staring at the card which he took out from his pocket.