[Retaliation – Part 1]

Kyren hiked his backpack further up his back, looking around in wariness that didn't need faking. Though he trusted his butlers to be keeping tabs on him while he put himself on the line, there were still many things that could happen before either of them could react.

Besides, all Kyren needed was to be recognized as the son of the Greaves-Crawford Household and one-placed bullet to achieve certain death. He might have put on a brave front back during the discussions, but deep down, he had to admit that being out here, infiltrating an underground organization where the laws and rules of a businessman didn't apply, scared the living daylights out of him. He had been fine working behind the scenes for Lyca Trading since he had been locked up in Kyrano's apartment and in the relative safety of four walls that he considered home. But he was now exposed to world-hardened men who were clearly more used at pulling gun triggers and swinging knives around rather than tapping buttons on a computer.

"Get your ass moving." Someone growled in annoyance and a rough push made him stumble forwards –almost hitting into the back of the well-built man leading the way in front of him.

"I-I'm sorry..." Kyren apologized lowly, swallowing his pride.

"You better be damned good at what Mister James wants, or we're going to feed you to the dogs. We don't need sissies like you." The man behind frowned deeply when Kyren turned slightly to catch sight of him.

"I will try my best." He promised, then kept his head down as he dogged the steps of the man in front of him –doing his best to ignore the eyes that were pinned on him.

Kyren kept his mind a careful blank and refused to scratch the itch on his chest. There was very good reason why the skin on his chest was protesting and screaming for attention –the microphone had been taped to his chest underneath his shirt. Kyren would definitely have preferred to be using much better and inconspicuous equipment for his undercover work, but he and his butlers were supposed to be working independently on this self-decided mission. Asking for premium equipment was equivalent to borrowing the power of the Greaves-Crawford Household, and Kyren was determined to bring down James Hague without help from his family.

Kyren found himself following the men who had picked him up from Town Square through a dimly-lit warehouse sitting in the middle of an industrial area not very far from his estate. Cargo and goods stacked on shelves on both sides, towering and only serving the purposes of making Kyren feel much smaller as he walked on the aisles between the shelves.

They reached the back of the warehouse, and Kyren was escorted through a fingerprint-locked door to find himself in a small office.

"Ah, you are here."

The same man who had rested a gun on his head just a week ago greeted with a businessman smile when Kyren shuffled into the room, jumping when the door slammed behind him. Kyren kept his shoulders hunched as he shuffled further into the room, accepting the handshake of greeting meekly.

A few seconds of exchanging gazes, and Kyren came to the safe conclusion that James Hague did not recognize him from a week ago. Not only was his hair cut much shorter than it had previously been, his butlers had done very well to apply some makeup such that his facial shape changed against the shadow casted by his baseball cap. Colored contacts hid Kyren's blue eyes, and he had purposefully worn baggy clothes to hide his true stature.

"Take a seat, don't be afraid. My guys look like they could tear you in half anytime, but they won't move unless I give them the signal to." James maintained his comfortable smile, and Kyren pretended that he did not recognize the evilness behind that smile as he took a seat opposite James from the table, nervously putting his bag on his knees. Kyren adamantly refused to look at the 2 big men who sat in a corner of the office, guns openly left on the table while they entertained themselves with cards. The two men who had picked Kyren up remained standing behind him, guarding the only entrance and exit to the window-less room.

"I can't say you are not the first person who have approached me to destroy the Greaves-Crawford Household together, but you are the first who have given me such an interesting proposal." James continued when Kyren didn't given him any response. "What gives?"

"I know you have done your homework about me." Kyren pretended to dredge his courage to speak, pulling his shoulders back and sitting more straight as if to draw more height. He had taken advice from his savior well on how to act like a pathetic man –something that Kyrano had done very well the week before –and regardless of how much his pride was hurting, his life was on the line. "You know about me and why I am going against them."

"I admit that I have. I didn't expect Ryder to have a son. The last time we met, he came off as a..."

"Strange guy? I know. My father isn't a normal person, and it's all because the Greaves-Crawford Household made him so." Kyren completed the sentence, nodding. The man named Ryder –the person that Kyren was pretending to be the son of –was in actual fact, the same madman who adamantly declared himself to be Louise Greaves-Crawford's butler, and only her butler.

It turned out that while Kyrano had been out in the open and hiding from society, the man had created many personas and aliases for a whole variety of situations. What little insight that Kyrano had allowed Kyren and his butlers to get a glimpse into had already given Kyren the impression that Kyrano was a fully-fledged madman who could probably ruin the whole world if he really wanted to.

The persona named Ryder Flint was one of Kyrano's many aliases. Kyrano had created Ryder's backstory of a man who had been wronged by the Greaves-Crawford Household, and had reached out to many enemies of that Household proposing cooperation. By pretending to share the same intense hatred for Kyren's Household, Kyrano had infiltrated and destroyed many households and organizations from the inside, effectively helping Kyren's family without them ever knowing. Of course, Kyrano had been able to erase all suspicions in connection to Ryder being the reason behind the downfall of many, ensuring his personality's continued success.

"Normal or not, an enemy of my enemy is my comrade." James smiled. "Both of us have done our homework and know about each other. I commend you for your abilities at finding out about me. Now, tell me what exactly you need for me to watch Greaves-Crawford to fall to its knees."

"Not much." Kyren withdrew the laptop that he had brought along with him. "I just need a server with higher capability. I cannot access Greaves-Crawford's internal servers without enough power from the internet cafes. I've done my research; you have a centralized server room in the warehouse next to this one. I don't have to guess to know why you need such strong power."

"I like you." James's smile grew at Kyren's audacity –something that Kyrano had told Kyren of before this mission. "You came here looking like a scared sissy, but you know what you want and what you're good at."

"I'm not here to be liked." Kyren answered firmly just to throw James off his stride. Business 101 –along with the recent refresher course dealing with Lyca Trading –taught Kyren that constantly keeping the other party, be it a partner or a rival, on their toes was the secret to having a breakthrough. James had clearly pinned him down for a scared mouse given the way he had been acting, and Kyren's sudden declaration went against the impression that James had formed. "I am here to ruin Greaves-Crawford."

"Very well." The smile on James's face faltered slightly. "You know me well. Even if I am a child of Hague, I am also a businessman down in my roots –just that my type of business is different from many other households out there. You know better than to expect me to take you up before you prove your worth."

"Of course." Kyren took a pause to set his laptop up, pulling up a program that his butlers had created just for this mission.

Because Kyrano had been rather badly injured from the week before, the man had spent most of his time in fevered dreams and doing his best to fight off infections. During his pockets of consciousness, the man had imparted Kyren and his butlers with the basic resources that he had hidden around the town –a little bit of cash stashed here and there, some equipment that could help their operation stored somewhere.

The way Kyrano had kept his emergency stashes everywhere and the many layers of security that the madman had taken to avoid being linked back to him... it had made retrieval of such items and cash an adventure in and of itself. Kyren and his butlers had taken turns to retrieve the mentioned items, each of them being absolutely careful to keep their face and identity hidden for fear of being found out. It was not only James Hague and his men that they were hiding from, after all. The three of them were still evading their own family's attempts to bring them home.

"What's this?" The curious question came close to him, and Kyren jumped slightly upon the realization that James had left his seat, rounded the table and now stood behind Kyren to get a glimpse of the program written on his laptop. "I don't believe I have seen something like this before."

If Kyren was being super honest, he would answer that he shared the sentiment as the man –at least until a few hours ago. He knew that his butlers had put their brains together to come up with a program on the laptop that they had found from one of Kyrano's stash, and had trusted them to make something that looked convincing enough for a businessman like James Hague –and any professionals that James Hague might have engaged on the side to check the program out. The finished product had been presented to Kyren just a few hours before they had started this operation, and he only wished he could come off as confident enough to pretend that he, the 'son of Ryder Flint', was the creator of this program.

"Just something I created –it is similar to the sample virus I gave to your servers." Kyren made sure his voice was casual as he typed away at the program, watching as the well-scripted codes run quickly. He silent gave thanks to his butlers for being so capable when the interface of the internal server belonging to Greaves-Crawford appeared. "Look."

Shamelessly, he pulled up the organization chart of the company and clicked on the profile of the person who sat highest, who held the most power in the organization –his mother. Louise Greaves-Crawford smiled back at him serenely, but everyone knew that the smile was all business and no affection. The real affectionate smiles... she had given them less and less to Kyren as he grew up. After going through this whole ordeal, and learning how much of a useless young master to the family conglomerate he had once been, Kyren found that he couldn't blame his mother for the decreasing instances of genuine smiles at him.

"Interesting..." James had bent down over his shoulder to catch a closer glimpse at the interface. "It is not often that I come across someone who can get past the firewall to Greaves-Crawford's internal server. Are you sure you are not leaving behind a trace? Their butler of theirs... that madman managed to catch a few skilled hackers I hired even though they assured me they wouldn't be caught."

Kyren could not help as the scoff rose through his chest and came out, disbelieving laughter running through him and strangely helping him relax.

"Their butler is a madman? Haha, you really don't know who the real madman is in the Reyes family." Kyren chuckled, pausing in his typing to wipe the small beads of tears that had rose with the helpless laughter. "That Butler in White is the least of my worries if we're looking to go against Louise Greaves-Crawford."

"Brandon Greaves?" James Hague's voice was heavy with displeasure at Kyren's dismissal of the Head Butler of the Greaves-Crawford Household –the man who the entire world knew by now was the most dangerous individual of the prestigious family if anyone was trying anything funny against them.

"D- I mean, Brandon is a teddy bear in comparison. Have you ever heard of the Butler in Black?" Kyren asked, continuing to type and clearly having no issues with multi-tasking as James's attention moved less from the program on the laptop and more on the conversation topic at hand.

"I have heard of the name. That's the namesake of the dead butler of Louise before she married into the Greaves Household. What about that dead man?"

"Did you know that the Butler in Black was a legend while he was alive, but he became a proper demon after he died? He really reached a new level of supernatural after he died, and nobody knows how he does it." Kyren could not resist his grin, glad that he had caught onto a topic that distracted James Hague. He made the movements seem as smooth as possible –not even pausing a single beat in his typing –but if anyone paid careful attention to his screen now, they would see that Kyren was actually trying to access into the Hague's internal server at the moment.

"What do you mean? Are you implying that the man is still alive?"

"I admit; there were times I wished he was. I'm not sure if you were ever told this, but my father told me stories of Louise Greaves-Crawford and the Butler in Black when I was younger. He was her only weakness and after he died, she has had no weakness since."

"Is her family not her weakness now? Brandon Greaves, and their children."

"Hmm." Kyren pretended to think about it. "If she was given the chance to exchange Brandon and their children for the Butler in Black... I wonder what choice will she make?"

"Still, talk of them aside." Kyren interrupted himself before the conversation topic could continue for longer. "I need access to your centralized server room. To unleash the full version of the virus that I showed you previously, I'm going to need all the computing power I can get my hands on. And like I said, I can't get it from internet cafes."

He thanked the gods internally when James Hague did not seem to question him much, waiting for him to pack his laptop once again before bringing him to the door. He made no protest when the two automatic-rifle-holding men fell into step behind them, tracking their moves.

Pretending to fix his cap over his head, he took the tiny shelter his hands provided to take a quick peek out of the corner of his eyes, catching just the slightest bit of movement behind a few crates. That very short hint of movement worked wonders on Kyren's state of nervousness –it seemed to drain from him as a relaxed warmth somehow set into his shoulders. He had felt alone ever since he fell into the identity of 'son of Ryder Flint', but now he was assured.

He was being watched by a pair of capable young men who had inherited the capabilities of the famous Butler in White and was somehow related to a madman once known as the Butler in Black. Kyren currently wasn't sure if he –the rightful young master and heir to a large conglomerate –felt a little jealous at his butlers for being blood-related to someone as terrifyingly capable as Kyrano Reyes.

Kyren checked his watch to make sure that he still had a few more minutes to keep up his act of a mousy young man who was out for revenge.

"Wait." James Hague stopped abruptly, and Kyren came to a quick stop as well, hoping his expression of polite curiosity did not give anything away when the man spun around. "We were talking about the Greaves-Crawford Household, but you were accessing my internal server."

Kyren took the space of one breath to shift his composure. While he had hoped that James was not paying attention, he had prepared himself for the situation if James indeed caught him for the suspicious movement.

"I was." Kyren answered with confidence, knowing that acting guilty now was only going to invite more aggression from James. Kyren knew how the man would react –they were both businessmen in the core of their bones after all. No matter how James Hague had built himself an underground society to work for him in his bid for revenge against the Greaves-Crawford Household, Kyren knew that James had built it the same way a businessman would.

"And why would you have required access to my internal server before you entered my server room? In fact, if you could access into the Hague internal server from my office, why do you need to be in my server room? And, while you are coming up with your answers for those, come up with one more: Where did you get the guts to hack into my internal server right in front of me?" James Hague's voice was understandably full of suspicion now.

Kyren wasn't even surprised when his bag was roughly jerked from his back, and he felt a very familiar pressure of the barrel of a gun pressing on the back of his head. He made a show of closing his eyes to take in a deep, steadying breath as he stood frozen in the middle of the warehouse full of cargoes and blind-spots.

"My mother taught me how to act in the face of a man who had the power to end my life in a single bullet. She taught me that if I walk into the room and I do not take the attention of every single person in the room, then I was not deserving to be a young master of her Household." Kyren said confidently and casually brought his hand up to check his watch again, fighting against his instincts to flinch when he felt the barrel pressing harder against the back of his head in warning. "And if you really want to know the truth, I was not hacking into your internal server. I don't have to hack into a place that I have authorized access to."

"What do you-"

"To access into your files, I needed your voice. With enough words from you, we could create a voice replication. My butlers had already gotten your fingerprint when you weren't aware –you really should be careful of what you throw away casually in the bin –and all we needed was you saying the words to open the voice-locked files." Kyren removed his hat, ignoring the clicks of wary men clicking the safety of their guns on and off in a further warning that they were not kidding. "I am here in front of you, James Hague. Your enemy's weakness."

"What-" The surprise and confusion hung for a moment, and Kyren allowed the man a quick moment to place a name to his face now that James Hague was looking carefully. "You bastard!"

"Go ahead." Kyren taunted, dropping his hat and crossing his arms –not even giving a single care to the guns that were pointed at him. "Order them to shoot me dead. I'm sure that is what you wish for –to see my mother cry over my dead body."

"Men! What are you-" The order was cut short when the act fell away, and the guns that had been trained on Kyren turned their targets.

"Oh? I think I forgot to mention to you that I bought over your men a week ago. You really should re-think about your employee retention-policies." Kyren answered.

"How could you! They are men who hate your family with their guts!"

"Those who could be bought by money, I bought them. Those who couldn't be bought by money –well, I enlightened them to the truth. Those 'grievances' you created and labelled them as Greaves-Crawford's doing? I kindly helped them to the truth that it was you who created those circumstances. With how little morals you had, I'm sure you didn't consider the number of families you ruined just so you could recruit people over to your side. If they are just tools for you, then well... tools break one day."

"You're... You're bluffing!" James Hague spluttered, looking around wildly.

"I am." Kyren smiled happily, checking his watch to make sure he had paced himself correctly. "I didn't actually buy everyone –I don't have the money for that. But these two guys? I made sure they could be bought with money. But buying them wasn't the main point. I was buying time."

The sound of a loud explosion and vibrations around them rocked Kyren off his balance. The lousily-stacked cargo around them wobbled slightly, threatening to crush them to death.

"You may want to check your office." Kyren maintained his smile at the look of pure rage shot at him. "I hope my butlers didn't leave anything behind."

"You will pay for this!" James promised as he began his run back to where the both of them had come from.

Kyren watched as his enemy disappeared towards where the smoke was beginning to rise and fill the warehouse, the temperature of the air skyrocketing quickly. It might not have been a big explosion, but he knew his butlers had certainly done enough to create a fire big enough to destroy every important asset James Hague had kept in his office.

"Let's go." Kyren ordered the hired mercenaries that he had bought over with the promise of a solid 50% of all spoils from James Hague's assets that he and his butlers had managed to hack. It was a poor deal from a businessman's standpoint, but Kyren wasn't looking to make a profit from this.

Kyren was just looking for revenge.

And this was only step one.