DISCLAIMER: I own Alex Rider...in my dreams.
Okay so this is my first Alex Rider fan fiction...please bear with me while I get use to writing about this.
CUB: PROLOGUE
Looking into the window Alex Rider almost didn't recognise himself in the partial reflection he could see. Alex had the same dirty blonde hair that never seemed to be anything but unruly and messy, the same face, maybe a little more grown into now. His body was slightly more muscular then the boys in his year, but that was to be expected from the straining missions and football. It may have been the eyes. They were the ordinary brown colour but something inside of them seemed frozen, almost as if they had lost any life in them. They were cold and hard, generally emitting a sense of danger to anyone who dared to look into them. They were the eyes of someone who had seen too much. You would only recognise the cold look as that if you had seen it before.
At just age 15 he was a spy, one of the best, for MI6. When he had attempted normalcy in America with the Pleasures he found himself missing his old life. All of a sudden now he knew of the many exploits that happened daily he realised that he wanted to help. He would not be able to live with himself if someone had died because he couldn't get over himself. Except being alone and having to rely in himself had its toll. He no longer allowed anyone inside his mind for even a second, after all. It was a weakness to allow someone that control.
Alex sighed as he started trying to concentrate on his Maths revision. He had his exams coming up in a month, naturally all the teachers were whining at them to revise every night whilst revising in class. Not to mention the coursework he had for his Science BETC and English GCSE. It was almost killing him with the stress. After all he had to always be on his alert for any attempts from some terrorist organisation he had pissed off recently or someone looking for revenge. After all, trouble seemed to follow him. It wasn't like he even asked for it. It just kind of happened.
In hindsight he should have known by the way the birds had stopped chirping, and how the traffic and noises of children had stopped from outside of the school. He had grown sloppy, however, after weeks of acting like a normal teenager. He had let his guard down. Just once, but that was enough. A loud noise seemed to echo down the corridor from outside. Alex stiffened. He knew that noise. It was one no teenager should recognise. Judging by the way the Mr Kemp's face paled the supply teacher knew what it was too.
A gunshot.
That was enough to send Alex's guard up. The class watched the door intently, waiting for something to happen. They had all realised what the noise was after a girl yelling it out, claiming to have heard a gunshot on a crime show beforehand. They all waited, tensed and ready for someone to burst in and start shooting randomly. They were accepting their death. If Alex was lucky it would just be a school shooting. It said a lot about his life when that would be considered luck. It seemed like 5 minutes when in relatively it had only been a few seconds.
The door opened and in strode a woman and a man, that much was obvious from the outline of their body. Both wore a black trousers, a black top and a black bandana hiding most of their face. On their right arm an armband was on it. It had a red scorpion on. That alone was enough for Alex's blood to turn cold. Scorpia. But why was Scorpia in his school? It made no sense unless they were hoping to call him out in front of his friends. Then again that would cause further embarrassment towards Scorpia. It was confusing him. Maybe he was just reading too much into it. Maybe they were holding a school hostage for money from the government and it was only coincidental that it was his school they targeted.
Even as he had the thought he dismissed it. There were no coincidental occurrences in the espionage businesses. Something that Alan Blunt had highlighted to him several times. Alex slunk down in his seat, hoping it would minimise the risk of being seen just in case they didn't know he was in this class. "Hello, children." The woman said. Her voice was sweet, sickly...it was deadly. It lured you into a false sense of security. Had it not been for the fact she was holding a gun in her hand anyone would have believed she couldn't hurt a fly. The man stood their, silent. Alex guessed he was the brute muscle and the woman was the communicator. "Today you are going to help us. We are holding you for ransom in order to gain some intelligence information on the location of an loose end."
The class were frozen with fear, Alex quickly adjusted his body language to match theirs instead of the tensed posture he had previously. "Just in case you need some persuading..." The woman trailed off. It happened so quickly no one could have stopped it. A loud bang from the gun. A bullet whizzing through the air. Then the bullet hit it's target. A girl beside Alex. Her name was Alice Gould and was one of the sweetest girls in the school, despite the fact she was constantly bullied. The class watched in horror as the auburn haired, blue eyed, girl dropped to the floor, lifeless. A bullet was driven straight through her neck, causing pools of blood to appear beneath her. "Any questions on how this is going to work?" There was only silence as an answer.
Alex slowly got his phone out, calling Ben Daniel's number. He knew Ben was in SAS training this month with K Unit as MI6 and SAS were creating a joint force for joint assignments. Ben had to always have his phone on him, as he was his designated backup. Alex placed the phone on loudspeaker before slipping it into his jacket. "Its Cub! Shut up. We'll play in a minute. Let me just get him on speaker." Alex heard Ben's muffled voice. He waited. Then when he distantly heard a click he began his plan.
"How many people are there in the school?" Alex called. The woman turned her deathly glare on him. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"I suppose there is no harm in telling you, after all. Its not as if you will be able to tell anyone." The woman reasoned. She then cleared her throat. "Come up to the front, boy." Alex rose to his feet, walking slowly to the front as if he was scared. "There are 2 of us per classroom which is inhabited. Which means 30 assassins. Yes, I said assassins. We are a criminal organisation called Scorpia and we want information on Alex Rider, a boy who is MI6's best agent and managed to tarnish our reputation." The woman huffed.
"You're not doing a good job," Alex said. "If a teenager can beat you."
"And what, may I ask, is your name?" The woman demanded.
"I'm Alex. Alex Rider."
