The Missing Ace

Chapter 18

Father stealthily slipped past the security, going up to the prohibited upper floors of the theatre to scan the entire room. There were many businessmen and cooperate heirs, but he only needed to hunt just one 16-year old that night as revenge. The memory that burned in his mind, reminding him of his reason to avenge, was bitter. He pulled out his binoculars, searching through the crowd. He saw the oblivious guests of many.

Occasionally some youths who seemed out of place because of their unusual appearance. But what really stumped him was that the interior design of the Music Sphere Hall was to specific and perfect to be an assassin's backyard. It was as if Ivan Braginski had the design entrusted to an assassin. He set his binoculars aside and pulled his two backpacks off his shoulder and onto the floor.

He pulled out the disassembled pieces of his sniping rifle from one of his backpack, putting them together almost in an instant. He set his rifle onto the floor, positioning it well for a headshot. He peeked through the scope, searching for Ethan in the sea of business cooperates. It was almost impossible, but he noticed something else. "The level of security is looser than I had expected." He mumbled to himself.

"That's because Mr. Braginski had high hopes that the hunter would be hunted." He heard a voice behind him. He waited for his stalker to load his gun and pull the trigger. Just a second before the bullet was shot, Father rolled to the left before he was hunted. He grabbed his papal cross and the other backpack, fleeing. "You can run, but we will always have our eyes on you." The voice echoed.

He wasn't scared of his stalker, but he couldn't bare another moment to lose if he wanted to achieve his revenge. Father scanned the blueprint of the building a hundred times over. He knew the way to the attic and sprinted up. Before long, he had found his way up to the attic, where he could see the party down below through the stained glass ceilings.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as time ticked closer to nine. He saw the increase in the media. He smirked to himself as he pulled out a suction pad and a laser. He carved an opening the size of the pad so that he could have a better view of the crowd below him. He scanned the crowd from his new angle, looking for Ethan.

"Time's up, old man." A girl hissed, cocking her revolver at point blank range. Father slowly loaded his revolver silently in front of him before he turned around to see Camille in full uniform for the show. "Well, if it isn't Miss Lapis?" He chuckled. "Weren't you 'killed' by CtR?" He teased. "Drop the act, I know you tried to kill the young Braginski when he arrived at the airport." She hissed.

"Hurry love, we haven't got much time!" Arthur urged. "I wonder where you got that information from!" He snapped. Suddenly, Father swung his legs, hoping to knock her off her feet. But Camille was quick enough to evade by jumping over to the other end of the ceiling.

"Young lady, I hope your prayers will save you tonight." He added, pulling out his revolver, firing. She whipped up a faucet from the floor and used to to deflect each bullet. "I've seen through your moves, old man!" She hissed, charging at him the moment he was out of shells. "I've seen through your moves, Mr. F!" The haunting voice of his past echoed.

Father gritted his teeth, throwing Camille off balance before evading a concussion to his head, rolling over to his papal cross to combat the younger Underworld worker. Each time their weapons clashed, they created bright sparks; indicating how much power they use in their attacks.

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"What is that girl doing?" Arthur mumbled, looking up to the ceiling where he saw flashes of light. He glanced to his watch. It was just seconds before nine. "Jekyll, are you in place?" He whispered. "We're ready." Allen answered. "Good evening everyone!" He called out through his mic. "We're back!" Yukio smiled behind the mic.

Arthur turned to his right and saw Allen approaching Camellia from behind. "I'm Kin." Garnet/Allen dropped his hands onto her shoulders. "I'm Garnet and this is our little assistant for tonight's show." He smirked. Camellia didn't had the chance to turn around when the media started to crowd around the duo.

All eyes and cameras were on them, flashing like they were a paparazzi. Reporters tried to advanced onto them, demanding and overflowing with questions. There were so many, Camellia couldn't catch a single one of them. "Hear my voice, and in three when I snap you will call under my orders... One..." Yukio, wearing his bright yellow waistcoat, appeared in front of Camellia and snapped his fingers. "Now give us some space for the real show." The media stopped and slowly backed away.

"It's just seconds from the main show, so let's do a countdown shall we?" He asked, with the world under his hypnosis. "Five," he began, walking away. Arthur made eye contact with Allen and nodded, slowly backtracking. "Four," The American stepped away from Camellia. "Three," she glanced up to the ceiling above her. "Two," everyone heard glass cracking. "One."

As if on cue, Camille managed to grab Father and slammed him onto the stained glass. The ceiling shattered almost immediately upon impact and they fell through. Whether it was really luck or by coincidence, the magician used the faucet as a hook, clinging on to a grand chandelier for dear life as Father fell. Using the cross, he was able to break his fall by puncturing a hole into the marble floor, just a feet away from Camellia.

Camille let go of the faucet, falling into Allen's arms as Father yanked his cross out of the ground. He noticed the media around him; his cover was blown and now the whole world knows his appearance. "Good evening everyone~" Camille played along to her show. "Well, wouldn't you know? It's the infamous criminal 'Father', live in the Music Sphere Hall!" She laughed. "Let's all give a hand to this unfortunate occasion." Some of the guests applauded.

Yukio glanced around, noticing the Braginski security hastily urging the guests to leave as they cleared the media as well. A drone hovered above the ongoing scene, filming the show. "Camellia!" Angelina shouted when she saw the danger her best friend was in. The assassin saw the brunette and grabbed her into a lock. He whipped out a knife and pressed it against her neck. "Nobody moves!" He ordered, holding the blade against her neck, before showing the hostage to the remaining guests.

Then, security surrounded them as Ivan made his way to the front to see what was going on. Angelina and Magnolia rushed to the front, but they were stopped by the armed adults from proceeding any further. "Drop the security, or the girl is gone, Braginski." Father seethed through his teeth, pressing the blade against Camellia's neck. "And don't say that she isn't of any importance, I've done my homework." He added.

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Matthew watched from the screen of his computer, controlling the drone as he watched the ongoing scene. He comfortably sat beside Father's former hunting spot, with a can of beer nearby. "How's the view?" He heard a middle-aged woman ask. "It's good. Mr. F sure knows a good hunting spot of your playground." The Canadian chuckled, taking another sip of his beer.

"How was Saudi Arabia?" He asked as a woman with short light blond hair in a dark khaki military uniform stepped out of the shadows. "It was very interesting, the terrorists left too many openings for me." She smiled, lying on her stomach as she scoped the ongoing scene. "I should've killed him when I killed his family those years back..." She mumbled. Matthew finished his beer and tossed the can aside. "I hope Artie can get us some champagne later..." he mumbled.

The woman chuckled. "Always wanting something to drink, Mattie..." she commented. Then, Matthew noticed the change of tables. "Oh? Ethan is now hostage?" He pondered. "Ah, I can see that... It's cute to see humans at death's door, begging for a second chance." She smiled. "Could you move a bit to your right?" She suddenly asked. Confused, Matthew did as he was told. Then, she pulled the trigger.