21:Downfall of KadVan & Sons

"I may only be F+ rank but I'm not weak enough for you to be able to easily kill!"

"Kiddo you have no idea how unbelievably weak you are. I'm only E rank but even if there were twenty of you and only one of me. It would be an unfair fight for you. If we fight, it would be the same as a caveman fighting against someone with a gun. That's how unfair it would be"

... The hell?

E rank only? And she claimed she could defeat twenty clones of Zephyr all at once as well?

She was even treating Zephyr like he was a child! Calling him 'kiddo', he was twenty one one years old for goodness sake!

And considering it as a caveman against someone with a gun! Zephyr felt his pride get wounded by that statement alone!

"Take that back! "

"And why should I listen to some fallen scion?"

... Double ouch.

"We did a background check on you. Honestly I must say you're more dissappointing then I had thought originally."

If the earlier statement of comparing Zephyr to a caveman stung like a bee. Then the revealing of his background hurt like a fist straight at his face!

Stuttering, Zephyr tried to refute her arguments as much as he could. Only to be shot down by every single one of them.

It was like a mental game of ping-pong except she also held a pistol in the other hand and would shoot at Zephyr with it everytime he tried to hit the ping-pong ball back.

"You led your fathers company to it's down fall. "

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT MY FATHER DISSAPEARED!"

Zephyr was yelling at her now. The interrogater kept quiet and simply watched on as his colleague continuously goaded Zephyr into getting more and more frustrated.

"But it is you who led the company when he dissapeared isn't it? Sure it wasn't as stable without him around but YOU were the leading cause of KadVan & Sons downfall."

She emphasized the you part as much as she could. Smirking the whole time.

"IT IS NOT MY FAULT! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THOSE DAMN BASTARDS SELLING THE COMPANY OUT FOR A QUICK BUCK WHEN I TOOK OVER THEN THE COMPANY WOULD BE THRIVING"

She smirked again. Raising a palm and placing it into the table. She pressed a secret button causing metal bands to appear around Zephyr's arms and legs. Restraining him in place on the metal block.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Gwenford. You've had enough fun now."

The CEA interrogater interrupted her. The smirk being wiped off her face.

"Wait a bit honey. This brat needs to learn his place"

Placing a palm onto Zephyr's face, he angrily tried to shake it off to no avail.

"I'll show you what really happened kiddo. "

Whoooosh

A flood of mental energy surged into Zephyr as she forcefully mind linked with him. Unlike the mind links that Zephyr used however. This mind link was one way only, and was much more complex.

Zephyr screamed out in pain as he felt his mind get overloaded with info. Soon however, each piece of information slowly coagulated together.

...

Zephyr found himself in his father's office again,watching from above. He could see himself sitting down with his two siblings on either side of him.

In front of the three of them was a man who Zephyr was deeply familiar with.

Quinn Veppelin Kadvan, brother to Quincy Veppelin Kadvan and Zephyr's uncle. A man who was considered the right hand man of his father. A person who Zephyr had taken care of, and most importantly, trusted.

"Your father is missing. We've been looking for several days now and have hired several groups to find him with no luck. At this current moment, we need someone to be acting CEO of the company. "

Silence ensued as the three siblings all looked at each other. A look of understanding flashed in each of their eyes.

Jade, his older sister. Immediately spoke up.

"I'm not doing it. Im still in my prime years of my modelling career and I'm not gonna give it up just to be CEO. Plus, I don't even know how to manage a company!"

His younger brother, Finn spoke after her.

"I also don't want to do it. I'm still studying to get my second PhD and I'm almost finished.I don't want to give that up. "

The two of them looked at Zephyr now. As he was the only person who hadnt yet said anything.

Pursing his lips, Zephyr reluctantly agreed after a brief moment of deliberation.

"I'll do it. I'm the only one whos not in a job or education right now and I have the most experience in managing the company."

Quinn smiled a warm smile at him.

"I knew you would accept Zephyr. Now then, Jade, Finn. May I have a moment with just Zephyr now?"

The two of them stood up and left, leaving only Zephyr and his uncle Quinn alone now.

Zephyr, the real one. Was screaming the whole time while watching. He was practically begging at this point, he should have known. He should have seen the signs earlier.

'QUINN IS MANIPULATING YOU'

"QUINN WAS MANIPULATING YOU"

At the same time as he screamed out loud again. A different voice echoed at the same time as he did. A voice that Zephyr recognised to be the CEA's forensic sketch artist psychic lady.

The whole area went blurry and Zephyr could see colours shifting. When it became normal again, Zephyr found himself at University of Holym. The largest university of Zephyr's home planet and the university his brother graduated from top of his class with a PhD after studying for around 3 years.

Zephyr was always jealous of his younger brother. Despite being only three years younger. He had achieved extreme growth in his academics and skipped entire grades.

For today however, Zephyr would smile and cheer for his younger brother.

Zephyr remembered this day however. Not because of how proud he was for his brother. But because of the betrayal he felt.

"This is when your brother left you. To join the Space Explorers of the CEA. A smart choice by him. "

After the graduation ceremony, when Zephyr finally found Finn. He almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what had happened.

A CEA job scout was there, talking with his little brother and even handing him a business card!

His brother had been offered a job in the Space Explorers of the CEA. His double PhDs in astrophysics and astrochemistry had really impressed them and his brother, had almost accepted the job immediately when they offered it to him.

Zephyr felt so damn envious, and yet he had kept his smile up on his face.

Joining the CEA was an opportunity that would never come twice for planetary level plebs like Zephyr's family and Finn joining would grant him interstellar level citizenship.

To say that Zephyr was envious would be an understatement. He was extremely jealous!

His brother would gain access to technology and knowledge that was way more advanced then what they had. He would get healthcare and body optimizations and he would also gain access to implants and prosthetic body parts on a whole other level compared to them.

Besides all those. He would also get an extremely large salary, and he would be able to use the prestige of the CEA to basically be a god amongst lower level areas.

Zephyr didn't even blame him that much. If he was offered a chance to join then he would take it in a heartbeat!

But still. Even though he would have done the same, even though it was the best thing to ever happen to his brother. Zephyr hated him, because he had abandoned the company and had practically cut off all contact with them after he joined.

Why? Because he couldn't be seen interacting with peasants. Because it was embarrassing to have them as a family.

That was why Zephyr hated his brother so damn much.

The colours shifted again and Zephyr found himself in his favourite gun shop.

"Your brother found success and you were so jealous afterwards. In your fit of anger, you decided to splurge what little cash the company had to relieve your anger. You claimed it was for the company but everyone knew you were just throwing a tantrum. "

Zephyr kept silent as she narrated what happened next.

He wasn't exactly proud of what he did.

The company was already barely scraping by and Zephyr had basically thrown away the last chance it had.

All because he had a temper tantrum.

He still remembered how he felt vividly when he carelessly bought whatever he wanted. He felt joyed, so carefree. He felt complete.

That day, he bought loads of ammo, mod attachments for weapons, and whatever else he wanted. Even if he never used them ever, he would buy it.

The colour shifted again, this time to a scene that Zephyr knew all too well.

His apartment, standing in front of the home shooting range was Zephyr shooting as many targets as he could with a pile of red hot weapons on the floor. Each broken beyond repair.

His sister leaned against the wall behind him, simply watching Zephyr. Not making a single noise or movement.

It had been around 6 months now since that happened.

The start of his journey, where it all began. A few hours after that, he had fought his first ever fight and a few hours after that as well. Was the first time he would ever leave the planet.

He missed it dearly, the park where Zephyr could meet pets ranging from cats and dogs to giant centipedes. His favourite cafe that knew him and his order by heart from how often he went there. His favourite bakery, which sold the most amazing desserts...

He hadn't even eaten anything sweet in half a year now. All of his meals had been bland tasteless goop which was made solely to fill the stomach and give the nutrients needed.

But most importantly, Zephyr missed home. Not his apartment, but the home that he used to live in with his father, mother and siblings.

Zephyr, the real one. Opened his mouth after several moments of silence and asked her a simple question.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Zephyr couldn't see her, but he had a feeling. No, he knew that she had a almost maniacal smile on her face. He could imagine it as clear as day.

"Because it's funny torturing you peasants! That's why."

Funny?

"I'll probably get warned again but seeing the expressions on peasants faces as they realise how writhlesd they are makes me so damn happy. Th...

Zephyr's mind had blanked out at this point. That one word seemed to echo in his head over and over again getting louder and louder each time.

Funny? Funny?

She was doing this to Zephyr because it was funny?

At this moment, Zephyr felt as if a window had shattered inside him. One that was already cracked and close to breaking.

Zephyr started breathing heavily. His eyes seemed to go bloodshot a bit.

Funny?

His nails dug so deep into his palms that they started bleeding but Zephyr didn't even notice it at all.

He felt angry, so angry, so damn angry. Angry at his brother leaving him, at his sister for abandoning him, at his father for dissapearing. He felt angry at the CEA. But he felt angriest towards her for showing him these memories. Memories he tried so hard to simply forget. Let bygones be bygones he had thought.

No, Zephyr made up his mind.

If his first goal was to start his own business and make money. Then Zephyr finally found his second goal.

Revenge. He had made up his mind on the spot then.He would find his brother and he would laugh in his face when he was successful, he would buy all the most expensive jewelry and destroy it in front of his sister,he would force his uncle into debt and make him go bankrupt for manipulating him! But most importantly. He would prove that they were wrong in leaving him!