Rain dripped from the sky as lightning and thunder crackled through the city. Each drop of rain spilled upon the cement of the alley. The lightning momentarily exposed four chain wielding men cornering a young man.

"Wo men hui sha le ni! Ni xian zai gei wo, ni de dian nao!" shouted the lead gangster.

The young man answered back, "You guys should know something about me, while I know Japanese, I really don't understand a single word you're saying. But I think you're trying to get your files back… Sorry boys, not today"

Beep Beep Beep

The small laptop clicked and whirred signalling the file transfer was complete. Alex quietly removed the USB, pocketed it and flipped the computer to his right hand. Without so much as a warning, Alex jumped up on the nearest dumpster and leapt towards the lead Triad.

Raising his chain-wrapped arm, the Triad gangster was simply too slow and Alex hammered the laptop into his right temple.

Thunk. Crack. Groan.

The man, as though his marionette strings had been cut, collapsed on his knees and keeled over. The two other men on his right and left rushed to his aid, but Alex got there quicker.

He whipped out his belt and lashed the nearest man across the face with the belt. The buckle whipped through the man's nose, leaving a bloody mess in place of the crumpled cartilage. The man's compatriot stopped mid-step and threw away his chain, instead pulling out a switch-blade.

At this moment, Alex expertly pivoted and landed a textbook roundhouse into the knife-wielding man's ribs. Feeling the thug's ribs cave in, he followed up with a quick series of downward crescent kicks just to finish off what he had started. Alex had ample time to slide the downed man's knife away before a thick meaty fist slammed into his jaw.

Smack

"Goddamn it man! I need my face intact; prom is coming around the corner anytime soon!" mumbled a dazed Alex Rider as he tried to get his bearings.

The gargantuan Triad thug simply cracked his knuckles in response. Then began taking steps towards Alex.

Still stunned by the blow, Alex was forced to think on his feet, quite literally. He ran forward towards the thug, anticipating the movement of the slippery cement, Alex slid right under the thug but not before gifting the man an agonizing heel kick to the groin.

The man, blinded by excruciating pain, swung his fists haphazardly without quite aiming at anything. Instead of pummelling his intended target, the hurt giant struck his leader with multiple haymakers, bringing down the Triad captain once more.

Slicking back his beach-blonde hair, Alex quickly donned his hoodie and disappeared into the shadows of China-town.

12 hours later

Location: Royal & General Bank [AKA: Special Operations Division of MI6]

"Good Morning Alex, I see you have recovered the flash drive, and procured a new bruise to fit well with your assortment of injuries." greeted Mrs. Jones. She flashed Alex a cheeky grin as he strode on into her office for mission de-briefing. Following suit, she closed her room's door and sat in her regular chair.

"Look, I got the flash drive, and I had to drop a few Triad members. What does a regular beat down have to do with extracting me out of class?" explained Alex. Still wearing his Brookland School of Management uniform he massaged his jaw as it was still quite bruised.

Seeing his discomfort, Mrs. Jones spun her chair around and opened her corner refrigerator. She pulled out a blue ice pack and tossed it to Alex.

Alex gratefully caught it and applied the ice pack gently on his jaw, adding, "Thanks."

"Alex, I understand the difficulty of working on missions alone, most adult operatives have entire squads formed to aid them. I have spoken to Mr. Blunt as well as the Ethics Committee and they are willing to have you recruit a few people to form your own operations team. It must be done soon, so training will begin and your first mission as a team will be reconnaissance of a Private Military Corporation known as Phoenix Corps." replied Mrs. Jones, returning to her position across Alex.

Clearly struck by the news, Alex's jaw seemed to lose all strength and his mouth drooped into an O. Suddenly, Alex jumped up and whooped in joy.

"So, I can get a bunch of my mates together from school and stuff. I could get Smithers to make us gadgets and…" the thought died down in Alex's breath, as he saw Mrs. Jones' face looking quite unamused.

"No, I don't think we will be recruiting your 'mates' from school. Your team will be comprised of brand new operatives recently graduated from the K-Unit. As you may well know, your new team will be conducting surveillance on Phoenix." Mrs. Jones responded.

Alex pleaded, "But I could totally put together a team that knows me already. Like Aaliana and Kyle, they can totally kick ass! C'mon Mrs. J, you know them!"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT. You must not get any of your school mates involved." Exclaimed Mrs. Jones. She continued with, "They are private citizens of the United Kingdom. Although, you raised an excellent point that they have known you prior to your employment for us. Also, Ms. Retriever and Mr. Tatsuzawa do have quite an impressive athletic record; it seems Alex, that you have surrounded yourself with excellent candidates now that it comes to mind."

Alex retorted with, "You see! My mates could take it on. Look, I'm not going to push the matter anymore, just send me a text or something if my idea is green-lit. Just remember that I'm not a naive 14-year-old anymore."

And with that, Alex stood up and walked out of Mrs. Jones' office.

14:35 hours

Location: Brookland School of Management

"Oi, Alex where the heck we're you!?" shouted out Danikela Young from across the dimly-lit hallway. Her pink highlights and gothic clothing stood out even from afar. With her was Aaliana Retriever and Maxine Pleasure as well as Lachlance Maynard. But, it appeared on of their friends was missing, Kyle.

Alex jogged towards his friends in a bid to reduce the boisterous echoes that rang throughout the hallowed halls of Brookland. "What's up guys? I had to go to the hospice to get an X-ray for my brand new shiner!" replied Alex.

Maxine immediately gasped, dropped her books on the floor and ran her fingers through Alex's jaw. "Oh you poor baby, it's all bruised.", she cooed over him.

Batting her probing hands away, Alex hugged his girlfriend and held her luscious brunette hair in his grasp. She held him almost in the same way but before they were able to kiss, thundering steps took them by surprise.

"EWWWWWW, go get a bloody room you two!" bellowed Kyle Tatsuzawa, his huge form blocking out most of the light that barely lit the hallway. Each step he made towards the group seemed to make the tiles jump up and down as though shaken by an earthquake.

Alex noted that he must've just came from rugby practice, as his rugby jersey was completely drenched in sweat, and his cleats clattered on the floor. Oh, and he was definitely out of breath.

Seeing the big guy come towards them, made Alex immediately let go of Maxine. She still clung to him however and made sure that her arm was around his waist.

"Alright, gang's all here, let's go and get some supper!" announced Lachlance as he impatiently started walking towards the exit of the school.

Beep Beep Beep

Alex's phone abruptly buzzed. He pulled out his phone from his trouser pocket and looked down.

"Phoenix is a go – Mrs. J"

Instantly after reading the short text, Alex whooped out in joy for the second time of that day. Everyone stopped to stare at him, "We are going to have SO MUCH fun!" exclaimed Alex.