Geronimo Stilton: INTERPOL-Trouble In France: An Old Enemy Returns

End Of The Line

I stood my ground, not moving an inch to fear yet my heart was racing. My eyes, they were focused on that man a few meters across. He was highlighted red. My skin began to run cold. Shivers traveled down my spine. The air was too cold for me to sweat. My fists were clenched, ready to fight.

"I'd never thought we'd meet again, Danial," Williams began

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing," I replied sarcastically.

"You don't seem surprised, boy... Figured out that I'm a Sith now?"

"Ever since your first ransom video..."

"You're quick to notice..."

"How the hell did you survive McCarran!? We found your arm dismembered in the wreckage of the blast."

He gave a sinister chuckle while shaking his head. "That doesn't mean that the rest of my body was disintegrated. The Protection Bubble you generated in the Force Maelstrom was big enough for the both of us to fit, but I wasn't close enough to you so my entire body would fit in. My right arm was exposed, so was the right side of my face. The blast separated my arm and the heat burnt half my face, and that's how your bubble bursted and knocked you out cold.

"Before your team arrived, I was able to flee and got away as far as I could. I hid... in the same time, rebuilding from what I had left of my organization and it grew bigger than before... I'd say bigger than ISIS. All in a few months."

"How'd you become a Sith?"

"When you foiled my agenda, my hatred towards you grew. All it took... was a spark. I used my hate to fuel my rage. Every single day, I reminded myself of you giving me the pain of not fulfilling what I had intended. Not to mention the face and the arm... Once I had built a cybernetic arm to replace the one I lost, I began my martial arts training so I could become better than you in case the both of us ever meet. And then one day... I made a discovery.

"I had been beating a punching bag with a staff that day as a part of my daily training. My anger was at its peak. Something inside me snapped. I palmed the bag to finish it off, and the second I touched it, it was sent flying across the room and ripped a hole open. I felt something change in me at that very moment... I felt power that I could never imagine myself possess... It was so strong, and I wanted more of it. I was a Sith, the first one ever on Earth."

"And what did you believe in when you adopted the Code?"

"As straight as it gets in the first line. Peace is no more than a lie."

"Bullshit."

"You've seen the wars happening around the world; small ones, big ones, the ones in the Middle East involving your brothers, attacks from other groups... There's NEVER piece in this world anymore!"

"You're wrong!"

"LOOK ALL AROUND YOU, BOY!" I had no trouble of reminding myself of the war scene around me. "The attacks I've launched after I've formed my organization, they were all in retaliation to what the Americans have done throughout history. They were the ones who started most wars and they'd join others' battles just to make things worse. All the civilians they've killed and naming it 'collateral damage', I'm going to put an end to it all by eliminating them from the face of the Earth."

"And how're you supposed to achieve that?"

"Sometimes to end a war, an outside force must be involved to get rid of the faction that started it."

"What, you're starting another war against the Americans like the last time? How'd that turn out?"

He gave out a hearty and devilish laugh. "Underestimating us was a big mistake, boy. We have other ways of doing that."