Villain: The Play of Destiny

Somewhere in the Soul Canyon, the helicopter landed in a place that had no signs of life around it. The ground was barren with uneven terrain and red rocks, and the faraway Kaylx River, in all its magnificence, could be seen from this height.

The helicopter ascended into the sky, and flew away, leaving the two men atop the cliff. Six did not say anything to Keith as the latter took his time appreciating the view, but soon this attention turned to the rock wall behind his back, dozens of meters away, which suddenly parted, revealing a cave-like opening and a long dark tunnel.

Six took the lead and entered the tunnel, and Keith silently followed after him. As soon as the opening closed again, the walls of the tunnel suddenly lit up in soft yellow light, providing ample illumination for them to see and find their way.

At the end of the hundred-meter-long tunnel was a steel door, and Six scanned his hand on the sensor before asking him to do the same.

Only after both of their hands were successfully scanned did the door open, revealing the main lobby of the Secret Base of the Netherian Special Forces.

The guards that were behind the door saluted to the two of them, and then a soldier-lady, who was seemingly waiting for them, nodded and started walking down one of the seven pathways that were accessible from the lobby as if expecting them to follow her.

Six did not follow her, but he nodded to Keith, who took the pathway that the lady had walked down.

Keith found the lady with short brown hair in a boys’ cut, waiting for him at the end of the pathway. She was not alone, and a tall muscular man with a menacing look was right by her side.

“You are 12 minutes late, 127!” The man sternly said.

“My apologies, Sir.” Keith had to suppress the urge to laugh and slightly bowed to the man, who frowned at his behaviour.

“This is not your palace, Prince. And I am no Sir!” He seriously said. “You will address me as Dragon Seven. No Sir, no Instructor, no Senior. Understood?”

“Yes, Dragon Seven.” He nodded, and though the man still did not look pleased, he stepped forward and then used a device to print the number 127 on the right side of his uniform.

“Go in. You are to report to the Hall in 25 minutes.” He simply said, and Keith glanced at the door behind Dragon Seven before nodding and walking up to it.

The door opened after he scanned his hand and he stepped into another lobby.

Keith looked at the two pathways it led to, and chose the one on the left, which lead to the Hall.

The Main Hall was more of an auditorium-like classroom, and as soon as he entered through the door, he found more than a hundred pairs of eyes locked on him.

These were all the candidates of this year, chosen to become part of the Netherian Special Forces. And they were all wearing the same uniform bearing their roll numbers.

“Take a seat.” One of the invigilators said, and Keith walked up to the back of the classroom, under the amazed and curious eyes of some people who had recognized him, including a certain pair of siblings.

The two blonde siblings, who were utterly shocked by his presence here, and their beautiful blue eyes looked at him in disbelief.

“Good Afternoon, 53, 54.” He playfully greeted them before taking his seat.

“What are you doing here, K…”

“127.” Keith cut Julian off, who flinched and then frowned at the reminder that they now had to address each other by their roll numbers.

“What are you doing here?”

“What are we all here for?” He smiled and asked back, but Julian kept seriously looking into his eyes for an answer, and his sister and lover by his side had a pale face. “She’s here too. You can ask her why we are here.” He playfully said, implying that Rebecca was here as well, and amusedly watched the colour drain from Julian’s face. “Relax. I am just messing with you.” He chuckled and then looked away.

Julian’s racing heart finally calmed down and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

“She sent you here?”

“What do you think was her reaction when she found out that you two were missing?” He smirked at him. “Of course, she asked her dear fiancé to go and protect her little siblings.”

He loved watching the two of them drown in guilt and then silently sank back in his chair and glanced at the clock.

Julian wanted to say something to him but could not find any words. And Naomi now had her head lowered as she suppressed the tears and guilt that congested her heart.

“I am here on my own accord. But she did ask me to keep an eye on the two of you.” He finally told them the truth and then stood up as Dragon Seven entered the room together with the Soldier-Lady.

“Sit down.” Dragon Seven sternly said, and all the candidates took their seats again. “After the preliminary examinations, a total of 127 cadets have been selected for potential Special Forces Agents. And tomorrow, your physical and weapon training will begin. I am Dragon Seven, and I will be your physical training instructor for the coming 45 days. You will all address me as Dragon Seven. No….”

All the cadets listened to the instructions of Dragon Seven before he stepped aside and let the Soldier-Lady speak.

“I am Tiger Three, and I will be your weapons instructor for the next 45 days.” She indifferently said. “Your training will begin at midnight. Get all the sleep you want today, as starting tomorrow, you will only get an hour a day of sleep for the rest of your time at this facility.”

Her words tensed up quite a lot of people, whose apprehensions about the training only deepened.

“This year, a hundred Cadets will be able to join the Special Forces. 27 of you will be returning to your Units, and those of you who are already not part of the Netherian Military will be given the choice to either join the Army or the Navy. Those 27 of you who fail to join the Special Forces will not be able to appear for its examinations ever again.” She coldly said, but everyone seemed to be already aware of this information. “Those of you who pass the final examination will be given the choice to either join the Dragon Corps or the Tiger Corps. This year, there are 60 Slots for the Dragon Corps, and 40 Slots for the Tiger Corps. Only the best of you will be recruited by the two Corps.

The two people who were the most worried after hearing her words were Julian and Naomi. They wanted to join the Dragon Corps, and they knew that majority of the cadets here wanted the same. The competition for those 60 slots was going to be very tough, but right now, they were even more worried about making it into the top hundred. 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐥．𝐜𝐨𝗺

Though Tiger Three did not mention it, 20 of the Sixty Cadets will be picked up by the Phoenix Corps, but since it was a Secret Force, only the chosen ones would come to know of it.

“Lunch will be served in an hour. And then all you must shut yourself up in your rooms. No wandering around the facility. If you are found violating the rules, you will be sent back to wherever you came from.” Dragon Seven ruthlessly smiled. “I promise you that the coming 45 days will be very painful for you. Congratulations on making it into the Hell, Kids!”

Only Keith was wearing a light smile on his lips as he heard Dragon Seven’s funnily terrifying words. He was quite eager to see what Hell meant to these mortals, but more than anything, he was quite excited to be able to learn new things.

He loved learning.

“Adjourned!”

The two Instructors took their leave, and then the cadets got up from their chairs.

Those who were familiar with each other made up their groups and headed to the Cafeteria, and some headed to their rooms.

Keith smiled when Julian and Naomi quietly followed behind him.

“So, you gave up your wealth and lifestyle for your love.” He playfully smiled. “I am not sure if I should admire you or look down on you for running away from your responsibilities.”

His words made them both tense up, but then Julian sighed.

“I had no choice. Mother would have never accepted Naomi as my wife.”

“So you are married now?” He curious asked.

“Yes.” The blonde boy nodded to him. “We had a private ceremony before we entered the examinations. By the way, we did not see you at the examinations.” He confusedly said.

Keith had not been there in the last week. They wondered how he managed to come here.

“I had passed all the examinations way before the two of you.” He did not give them the details and then turned quiet as they entered the Cafeteria.

He scanned the room and then started walking towards the table where a quiet black man in his early twenties was sitting. He had very short, dark, and thick hair on his head and a subtle beard on his face. His deep brown eyes narrowed at Keith and the blondes who had chosen this table out of all the vacant ones.

“Excuse me?” He questioned their intentions, wanting to know if they were here for trouble.

“Good Afternoon, 91. We will be sitting with you.” Keith smiled at him and then nodded to the two blondes to take their seats too.

91, whose real name was Zor, frowned at his words and then prepared to stand up, intending to sit somewhere else, but to his horror, he found himself unable to stand up.

“Please stay seated.” Keith harmlessly smiled at him. “You see, will be together for a long time, 91. Just thought we should get used to each other’s presence in advance.”

He had read this man’s file earlier, and he had already decided to recruit him in his future Cell.

Julian and Naomi frowned as they saw 91 sweating, his frown growing deeper. But then the black man just nodded to Keith before lowering his head.

Seeing that Zor was no longer struggling, Keith took away the bindings that were keeping him in his seat. And then he ignored the man and started chatting with Julian and Naomi.