Joel VII did not like the company he had in his boardroom at all. First there was Saya, the one who caused all the chaos and sadness his clan had to suffer, followed her nieces, Kaya and Dina, the children of the demon that Saya had set free, without forgetting Solomon and Nathan, who were, to his knowledge, the Chevaliers of Diva. The two Davids, David Sr. and David Jr. were there as well, along with Adam, and also William. They held the meeting to discuss their retaliation on Van Argeno, who once again, engineered artificial Chiroptera, for his own use, a meeting which he would not rather attend, if not for his namesake and position as leader of the Red Shield.
"Anyone who knows Van well will know that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants" Solomon said, looking towards Julia. Although he had not came to meet with the intelligent human female, but from what he gathered from the twins, she was a brilliant scientist, and had graduated from the same university as Van did. "He has tried to capture Kaya and Dina by force, and has failed, even after I tried to negotiate with him-"
His words were then cut short by Joel VII. "What is there no negotiate with a person like Van Argeno, Mr. Goldsmith?" His words were cold, and piercing. "Did you not tell us that he is a stubborn man?" The very presence of the Chiroptera, Queen, Chevalier, or no, disgusted him, despite the fact that they meant no harm against him. All his life, his father fought to save humans from them, and was paralyzed waist down for that cause, but now, the Red Shield protects the new Queens. He found that fact grossly ironic, and did not understand why Kaya and Dina should deserve to live, even if his father loved them as his own daughters, even adopting them as his daughters. "If I am not mistaken, you are a Chevalier, are you not able to dispose of him without any difficulty?"
Solomon nodded, "But that is not the point, Mr. Goldschmidt, I cannot just…" Saya took hold of his hand discreetly and shook her head. She knew that this new Joel despised all Chiropterans, and as loath she was to suffer his discrimination, she thought it best to remain on peaceful terms with him. His words may have stung, but if they did not suffer it, Kaya and Dina would have to suffer a far worse fate. In truth, humans like Joel VII were among those that made him see how miniscule the human race was: hypocritical, cowardly and bitter towards what they do not understand. If it were not for Saya, he would have easily killed him.
"I think that you should hold your tongue as penance for your incompetence in killing Van Argeno when you had the chance" Joel remarked cruelly, and then turned to Kaya and Dina, who were obviously displeased of Solomon's mistreatments. "And the two of you: None of this would have happened if you were revealed to the world. I should have locked you up in our containment facilities after Father died"
Kaya glared at him, so did Dina. "Joel Otou-san, wanted us free" Kaya said, unaware that her sapphire eyes were glowing in her anger. Within seconds, she regained her composure, and added, "Perhaps we should focus on defeating Van before we try to kill each other, shall we?" Being the more hot-blooded of Diva's children, her words surprised many, including Solomon, her self-control further sealed her identity as the politician among herself and her sister.
Joel VII nodded, and soon, the monitors on the meeting-table lighted up, revealing the map-schematics of Van's current base of operations. It was based in New York, as tribute to his former position as the CEO of Cinq Fleches America, which meant that the Red Shield Headquarters would have to remain in New York for the time being. Just then, the door of the meeting-room opened and closed, revealing a rather obese Afro-American, who wore sunglasses despite that night had already fallen, and the dark lighting of the room. It was Lewis, another veteran of the previous war against the Chiroptera.
A long briefing then began, with Lewis (not after giving a small wave to Saya) heading the lengthy process. Detailed information regarding Van's highly-fortified laboratory-cum-holding-area was given, thanks to the vast intelligence network of the Red Shield. And soon, a plan was formulated: Saya and Solomon were to head directly to Van, kill him, and retrieve all synthetic Delta 67 samples, which were kept with him at all times, while the younger Queens, their Chevaliers and David Jr. were to infiltrate the holding area where humans who had strains of Delta 67 in them were all held captive. Their orders were to kill anything that was hostile without warning or mercy.
"All of you would be provided with Kevlar suits and for our boys here, we'll give you the biggest guns we have, along with the ammo needed" Lewis said with his usual smile when Joel VII had left. But to his surprise, Adam and William declined. "Are you sure, I remember you would drool at the latest weaponry…" It was when both of them smiled sheepishly at him did he suspect something had happened to the both of them. "Don't tell me…" He then looked at Dina and Kaya, who held the same expressions on their faces.
The young Chevaliers then took those words as the cue to reveal their new status as Chevaliers to David Sr. and Lewis: Adam, with his blood-red skin and the icicle-like projectile-spikes on his body, and William, with his wings, and talons. The two men were shocked to their core, and David Sr. was only able to say, "Chevaliers… the two of you… Kaya… Dina…" His son then recounted word for word what happened the night Adam and William became Chevaliers, and to Saya's amusement, both Lewis and David Sr. took the news quite well.
"Never thought that you two were the Chevalier type" Lewis said, giving them each a pat on the back, then looking towards Kaya and Dina, he said, "You girls are very lucky to have them" The young Queens nodded silently. "Well, you'd best better be getting some shut-eye, you have a big mission tomorrow, and Saya, if you're hungry, I have a whole pot of your favorite soup waiting for you in the kitchens for supper"