The Hand Retaliates...

[Midland Circle Financial, New York]

"Can anyone of you tell me what is happening?" Sowande asked furiously as he arrived in the meeting room. Three people were already present inside the room.

"Please calm down and take a seat" the only woman in the room known as Alexandra Reid said while gesturing towards the seat. Sowande frowned but followed Reid's command and took the seat.

Sowande might be someone arrogant but he knew that he shouldn't mess with someone like Alexandra Reid, even more so when she was the leader of your group. After all, since Alexandra Reid was their Supreme Leader she was intelligent, cunning, and ruthless.

She was herself responsible for the deaths of hundreds and millions of lives including innocents just because they were a means to an end for her. During the collapse of cities and societies since the Hand was active, it was Alexandra Reid who made the plans for their destruction.

Alexandra Reid never regretted her actions though and still thought that they were necessary for her plans and those cities needed to fall so that she could move forward with her agenda. Reid also saw the rest of the members of the Hand as expendable pawns and it was very known among their group.

She has always been completely apathetic to the deaths of her own comrades though she never thought of the other members as her comrades, for her they were only a means to an end who could be sacrificed if it meant that her own agenda was being forwarded.

Sowande knew about Alexandra Reid's nature and her intentions that is why he avoided standing up against Reid. Sowande could be easily described as a twisted individual. He took pleasure in causing as much pain as he can to his enemies. He also exudes a large amount of confidence.

"Reid, I was really busy with some of my business... Now, will you tell me what was the emergency that required all of our presence?" Murakami asked in an annoyed tone. Murakami was a person who liked to pull strings from the shadows and he almost never showed his face in the public. Murakami was always known for his overconfidence and thrill-seeking nature which is why he always displayed outright defiance to Alexandra Reid.

Murakami was a thrill seeker as evidenced by hunting games such as the rare but dangerous Moon Bear, which Murakami had personally slain as a trophy despite coming close to being killed by the animal. He had already tried to take over the control of the Hand but apparently failed.

"Gao was killed..." Alexandra said and a gasp was heard. Everyone turned towards Bakuto. Everyone in the group knew that Bakuto was a gentle and righteous man. His faction in Hand also trained troubled individuals and gave them a purpose in life.

Unlike the other members of the Hand, he didn't like using violence as the primary solution to all of his problems. He always felt that he was much more outgoing than his associates, but if it was necessary then he didn't have any qualms over killing innocents who dare to stand in his way. But no matter how heartless he seems to be he was the only member of the Hand who had feelings for something like companionship.

But like the other members of the Hand, his mindset was also twisted. He despised traitors but still gave multiple chances to re-join him. He was strongly against corporations who controlled the society.

It was somewhat contradicting since he himself demanded complete obedience. As of now... His biggest enemy was Nemuri Kayama who was single-handedly controlling the world economy.

"What? How?" Bakuto asked with a depressed look on his face. He was the only one who had expressions like that on his face. He was feeling bad after hearing the death of their companion.

"I knew that something like this would happen if you stayed in control!" Murakami roared angrily while pointing his finger towards Alexandra Reid, who didn't even bother to react.

The lone woman in the room simply shrugged in a dismissive manner. "She died due to her carelessness. If she wasn't so arrogant... then she wouldn't have died" Reid scoffed in a dismissive tone and veins started to pop on Murakami's and Bakuto's head. Sowande decided to remain silent and watch the new development from the side.

"How dare you say something like that?? That is why I always said that you are unfit to be our leader" Murakami said with a smug grin on his face. Murakami wasn't bothered by the death of his companion but he saw this as a chance to become the Supreme Leader of the Hand. In fact, Murakami also had similar thoughts like Reid regarding Gao's death.

"No matter how many times you say that it would be completely meaningless if you are unable to defeat me in a one-on-one fight" Alexandra Reid said in a mocking tone. Murakami was so enraged after hearing that the armrests of his chair cracked.

Bakuto knew that it would be really bad if the two of them fought this time, so he decided to step in. "Murakami, you need to stop. Alexandra, don't pour fuel into the flames, we have much more important matters to discuss now" Bakuto said and Murakami decided to glare at Bakuto.

"I agree with Bakuto, fighting among ourselves isn't going to help us... Not when one of us has just died and we need to find the person responsible for this..." Sowande spoke up for the second time since he arrived. Murakami reluctantly backed down and Alexandra simply smirked when she saw that.

"Do you know who is responsible for killing Gao?" Bakuto asked looking towards Alexandra Reid.

"Yes... It was Nemuri Kayama who was responsible for Gao's death. I don't know how she did it... If she did it on her own or if she hired someone but I know that it was her for sure" Alexandra Reid said in a cryptic manner and everyone else in the room frowned.

"How can you be so sure that it was Nemuri Kayama when you don't even know how Gao died?" Murakami asked with a sneer on his face.

"Because it was Nemuri Kayama who took over Gao's business as soon as Gao died" Alexandra Reid said and Bakuto gritted his teeth in anger.

Nemuri Kayama was his biggest enemy and now she has also killed one of his companions. He would never forgive Kayama for this and Kayama was going to pay with her life for all the crimes she has done. According to Bakuto Kayama's first crime was controlling the world economy and her second crime was killing Gao.

"By the way, where is Gao? Is she still recovering?" Sowande asked curiously but Reid simply shook her head in denial.

"Her body is gone... From what I know, Gao's body was incinerated" Reid said with a massive frown on her face. The other three had horrified looks on their faces.

"How did she find out about our secret?" Sowande stuttered out in fear. This was completely unnatural for him to feel fear and it has been so long that he has forgotten when was the last time he had felt fear until today.

"How did she find our secret?" Murakami asked in a low tone.

Reid shrugged once again. "I don't think that she knows our secret. She might have incinerated Gao's body to get rid of the evidence" Alexandra Reid said in a dismissive manner.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Bakuto asked dangerously after a few seconds. Now they were confident once again when they heard from Reid that Kayama didn't know their secret.

"There is nothing else we could do at this moment... We simply kill her. She had dared to act against one of us... That alone is punishable by death" Murakami growled in anger but Sowande and Bakuto were still waiting for Alexandra Reid to speak up. When Murakami noticed this... He once again growled in anger, this was another sign that Alexandra Reid was still their Supreme Leader.

"This time I agree with Murakami... Nemuri Kayama must be put down, she has caused a lot of trouble for us, it would be better if we deal with her now before she could strengthen her position much more" Alexandra Reid said and this time everyone nodded their head in agreement.

Alexandra Reid gave the responsibility of killing Nemuri Kayama to Bakuto, after all, he was the one who was most affected...

[POV Nemuri]

Hah... It's really relaxing to find out that everything is going according to the plan and you have nothing to worry about. Since the others were still asleep I had decided to leave them be for the time being... but now that they are awake, I need to collect the five of them.

I don't want Doom though but unfortunately, they came in a package deal. Acquiring Gao's business was also awesome and easy... I felt really good after acquiring her business... That Ancient hag didn't know how to manage the drug business.

Even though the US Government thinks that it was me who told the press that we were being held against our wills but they can't act out against me since they have no proof and I have made them sweat for long enough... I would simply give them a deal that neither side could decline...

I finally arrived in front of my car... For a few seconds, I stared at my car... So shiny... So beautiful. I opened the door and entered the car. After getting settled in the seat... I finally pressed the ignition button... after, a small pause...

*BOOM*

("Say cheese!!" cliff-kun said cutely and took a picture of you)