''I declare open the trial of Alex Rider.''
In the crowded room rises a hubbub as the defendant enters. He is young, 17 only, blond, slim. He is smiling, though his smile looks a bit like a grin. They say he is dangerous, and only a fool would not see that. They say he is mad, this we tend to believe a bit less. He observes the people, without seeing anyone in particular. The two policemen who flank him are armed to the teeth, and he is handcuffed. But this situation doesn't seem to disrupt his nonchalance as he goes to the dock. His dock.
The Chairman asks for silence, obtained with some mallet blows. The trial can now begin. The man stands up and announces the charges against the defendant.
''Alex John Rider, 17 years old, is accused of several murders, active participation in a major drug traffic, illegal sale of weapons, collaboration with russian, japanese, italian criminal organisations and the sale of confidential informations emanating from the government to the aforementioned organisations.
Not a sound is to be heard on the courtroom. Of course they expected an important crime, but the announcement of the charges surprises everyone. Then rumour rises, quickly stopped by the chairman.
The man in front of them is hardly a child. With absolute confidence, he hands the document out. ''There are the informations you asked for, Mr. Scorzo.'' In exchange, a briefcase containing banknotes, a huge sum, is given to him. Deal. Alex Rider just changed sides.
''We have here the documents that prove that Mr. Rider got exactly a year ago the sum of 5 billions USD. Then, 11 months ago, 3 182 roubles, equivalent to 100 millions USD. Other sums like those have been reported these last twelve months. The governement has also suffered from several attacks that wouldn't have been possible without some very precise intel that Mr. Rider had in his possession. Informations that seem to have been sold.''
The Magnum is perfectly adapted to his hand. Cold, heavy enough to have inertia, the boy holds it with the ease of the one who uses it frequently. He enters the building, it is a kid's game, and he eliminates the sleeping woman without guilty conscience. She doesn't need to be anonym, she could be his neighbour, the one with whom he easily talks and from which he knows the entire life. It wouldn't be any problem for him. And as he shoots her two boys in the head – one of them isn't much older than his is – it only makes him smile. Not a cold and unreal smile, a straight and genuine smile. He has learned to appreciate this sound, appreciate seeing, sometimes, the pathetic look of his victims, hoping, maybe, that he would waive this pleasure under the pretext of them being afraid. Afraid to die, afraid to suffer, afraid to lose. Alex isn't afraid. He does what he wants. He wins. He takes.
''We can also prove that the accused murderer no less than 25 people : men, women, children. Peter Anderson was only 7 !
The audience is now shocked. No one could pretend to have expected these horrors, not from a kid. 25 people! The kid smiles. They are far out. It surprises him a bit that they found his track only 25 times. And yet he isn't particularly meticulous. But it doesn't really matter, if they lay hand on him or not.
Drug. He had taken some when he was younger. He knows what it is like. And the money brought by the business. When the Russians offer him the job, he naturally accepts it. Eliminate the managers of the traffic in England and in Russia. Establish his own market. And it works. He stays in the shadow, the enforcer of the organization. He handles big money, but doesn't do anything with it. What he wants is destruction. So, as soon as the market seems to go well, he leaves it to the Russians. He settles in Moscow, because there is some job for him. The government goes badly, he has to prune. Seat corrupted men. Attached to the Mafia. No consideration for the politically correct. He has had enough of politically correct. What interests him is to hit hard. He doesn't kill only with his Magnum. He punches his victims. The apartments become slaughter scenes, and Alex likes this all.
''Trey, Lily, 12 years old, got the skull smashed by his fists. The fingerprints of the accused have been found all over the apartment. Her mother got cuts over all the body, her skin all mangled.'' continues the Chairman.
Weapons sale naturally crossed his road. How could he have avoided it, when he uses them as well? He doesn't just sit in his office, no, but cares for securing the delivery points. Bribing the guard. Kills him right after. And makes sure, by controlling the government, that war carries on. Bloodbaths, always, and everywhere.
When the Special Forces knock at his door, he just finishes his shower. He knows who it is. He considers resisting, just to please them. He grabs his Magnum, opens the door, shoots the first man in front of him in the head. The others rush at him, he shoots some more. When, finally, they overcome him, he lays on the ground, corpses all around him. And he wasn't even really serious.