"THIS… IS… UNACCEPTABLE!"
The voice filled the boardroom as the assembled members of Triple H's organization sat straight up in their seats, too scared to move, or even speak up.
"FOR MONTHS WE HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS OPERATION! FOR MONTHS WE HAVE PREPARING TO PUT OUR PLAN INTO ACTION! AND NOW THAT WE ARE THIS CLOSE TO OUR GOAL, YOU PEOPLE CHOOSE NOW TO PROVE HOW TRULY INCOMPETENT YOU ARE?"
Triple H looked down at the floor, as did the rest of his group. No one dared to look at the man on the screen, which was irrelevant because they would not have been able to see him anyway.
He spoke to them from what looked like an office, but it was cloaked in shadow, as was the man's face. However, even though they could not see his face, they could imagine his anger by the tone of his voice.
"HUNTER!"
Triple H snapped straight up, even before he realized that he was the one being addressed.
"Yes, sir" he murmured.
"I AM HOLDING YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CATASTROPHE!"
"Sir, this wasn't my fault!" Hunter protested, the fear evident in his voice. "I sent men I thought I could trust! I was handling another faction of the operation! It was their screw-up, not mine! Blame Edge and Foley for this, not me!"
Now Edge was on his feet, wincing in pain as he adjusted the sling which held his broken arm.
"This wasn't my fault! I was doing my part! Mankind was supposed to be loading the canisters! It's his fault we didn't get them all, not…"
"SILENCE!" the man on the screen roared. "I WILL TOLERATE NO MORE EXCUSES! HUNTER, AS I SAID, I AM HOLDING YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS! I NEED YOU TO SHOW THESE IMBECILES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY FAIL ME!"
Without hesitation, Triple H pulled his gun, aimed it at Mankind's head, who had been cowering in his chair during the entire conversation, and pulled the trigger. The rest of the group screamed and dove out of their chairs as Mankind slumped from his chair onto the floor, a pool of blood already beginning to stain the carpet.
The man began to speak again, but now he was speaking in a calmer tone of voice. The anger was still evident in his voice, but he was no longer yelling.
"Return to your seats" he ordered.
The group, including Hunter, scrambled back into their seats, trying to forget what they had just witnessed.
"We are on the threshold of a new era" the man on the screen continued. "We can ill afford any more setbacks. First, you lost us the doctor. And now you have set back my plans for who-knows how far. Not only that, but a member of our organization is now in the hands of the enemy, and he has valuable information that could compromise us all. Never in my life have I seen such a gross display of incompetence. From here on out, I will tolerate no more failure. NO MORE!"
The group jumped in their seats as the man slammed his fist down on his desk.
"Hunter, you and your fellow cretins need to deal with the WWE team. They have cost us too much already, and they need to be addresses. Come up with a plan, then execute it. I want this done within the week. The next time I call, I expect to hear that they have been successfully eliminated. If I hear anything other than that, all of you will be joining Foley in the undiscovered country. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir" the group murmured.
"All our plans are finally coming to fruition, and we cannot afford setbacks at this stage of the operation. We are this close to accomplishing something that is going to change the world forever. We are at the dawn of a new world order, an order that will be ruled by me. And I cannot, I repeat CAN NOT, afford to be hampered by inept cretins such as yourselves. GET… THIS… DONE!"
With that, the man hit a button on his desk, and the screen went blank.
As soon as he turned off the screen, the group breathed a collective sigh. Some of them scrambled back out of their chairs as they started to panic, screaming and throwing blame at one another.
"Quiet!" Hunter yelled.
"First things first. Nash, get rid of this" he said, pointing to Mankind's body.
"Now, I have already set things in motion that will allow us to get rid of the WWE. I have a plan."
"What kind of plan?" Ivory screeched, the panic clear in her voice. "We don't even know where they are."
For the first time today, Hunter smiled.
"Actually, I do. I've recently re-established contact with someone who works within their organization. It took me months to do so, but I now have a source in within their ranks."
"Who?" Ivory asked.
"I think you know who."
"Wait, but didn't…"
Hunter held up a hand to silence her.
"Enough. Right now, I need you to prep a team of Bushwhackers to hit their building. Make sure they are well-armed. We need to take the WWE by surprise. We need this to be quick and quiet."
"Umm, what about Mark Henry?" Edge asked.
"Henry has failed us, so he is of no further use to use. If you see him, eliminate him."
"There is one obstacle we have not addressed" Kevin Nash spoke up. "What of the Undertaker? He is the most important thorn in our side."
Hunter smiled again.
"Dr. Bearer has something that will rid us of him, too. By the end of this week, the Undertaker and the WWE will be dead."
ELSEWHERE…
Hunter hated being back in Dr. Bearer's lab, but now was the time to put Bearer's solution to the test.
"Dr. Bearer?" Hunter called out.
The creepy doctor emerged out of the shadows, holding was looked like an iron mask in his hands.
"It's time" Hunter said. "Is he ready?"
"Ohhhh, yes. Yes, he is" Dr. Bearer replied, as he led Hunter to the cage. He rattled the cage again, as Hunter took a look inside.
There stood the large man that Dr. Bearer had been experimenting on for months. He body was badly scarred and burned, but it was clear that he was extremely dangerous. He did not speak a word, but simply stared back at Hunter with a hateful glare.
"Will he solve our Undertaker problem?" Hunter asked.
"Yesssss" said Dr. Bearer. "He is more powerful than the Undertaker, is my Kane. He will take care of the Undertaker for you."
"Okay, we're going to hit the WWE building tomorrow night. I need you to get the Undertaker out of the building, and then we will take out the rest of the team."
Dr. Bearer nodded. "I have just the thing for that, ohhh yes."
He went back to the cage and opened the door. The large man lumbered out and flexed his hands. As he did so, flames shot up from his palms.
Dr. Bearer laughed as he handed the man the mask in his hands. The man put it on, and then let out a low road.
"You know what to do, don't you, Kane?"
Kane nodded.
"Then let's go" Dr. Bearer said, as he and Kane pushed past Hunter on their way to the elevator.
As Hunter watched them leave, his cell phone rang.
"Yeah?" he answered. "So you finally decided to get back to me. What? No matter, we hit the building tomorrow night. Make sure that none of your team suspects anything. Yes, all of them. Flair, too. Yes. Good. Oh, there's one other thing. There's someone on the team that I'd like you to bring to me…"
TBC…