Hey, Readers! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been really, really busy lately with school and stuff. Anyway, here's the tenth chapter of No More Vacations! Enjoy!! J Disclaimer: I do NOT own Alex Rider or any of the other Anthony Horowitz's other characters. I do, however, own Cat and Heather and Ivan and SOME of the baddies…not all of them though… RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER-RIDER- "You better be ready for evaluations, Cobra. They're a real…
Alex rolled his eyes at Mindy. "Really? Like nothing else has been much of challenge already? I think I can handle it."
"Whatever." the girl chuckled.
Alex was dragged all the way down a long hallway. The group and their captive were met by several surprised stares and whispers as they passed several of the "students" going to class. Alex almost laughed as he heard one kid say, "Dude! That's the Cobra! You know the kid that trashed like five guards?" His comment was met by more excited and nervous chatter as people began questioning whether anyone else had been there to see Alex make his escape attempt. He chuckled.
"Guess I'm pretty popular around here, no?" he smiled. Mindy shrugged and nodded.
"After that stunt you pulled through the hallways today, nobody could stop talking about it. Especially when you took on Gerald. No one's done that before. Not even me."
Alex shrugged. It really wasn't that big of a deal to him. He'd beaten guys several times bigger than him before. It wasn't size that mattered; it was skill.
A few feet down the hallway was a large set of metal doors with a keypad as well as a card swipe set on the wall. From the direction they were headed, Alex could tell that this would most likely be where he would be getting his "evaluations"…whatever the heck that meant.
When they were a mere three inches from the door, the guards stopped abruptly making Alex lose his footing. The spy quickly recovered and watched as Mindy made her way in front of them, a keycard in hand. She turned to Alex and smiled.
"Welcome to evaluations, Cobra…"
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"Oh, come on, Renny! I'm a girl for crying out loud!" Cat chuckled as she landed another punch on the huge boy in front of her.
"Well, if you'd stop moving…" Renny growled as he tried to take a swing at the young girl. Cat easily sidestepped the German boy's attack and planted a foot into his rather tough stomach. She gave a small chuckle as the boy fell to the floor, defeated.
"Wow, that was a bit too easy." Cat smiled as she looked down at the sweaty, panting boy. She hadn't even broken a sweat.
"No…wonder…you…got into…the ad…vanced class,…Nissa." Renny took a deep breath in and rolled onto his bottom. "You're really, really good. Maybe even better than Chad." Renny finally panted out. Cat smiled and helped the boy up to his feet.
"And that's saying something," came a familiar voice from behind Cat. The teen spy whirled around to see Chad smiling down at her.
"Hey, Chad." she said with a polite smile as she turned to go grab her water bottle. Chad followed.
"You really are pretty good. I'd like to fight you some day." he said with a smile.
Cat shrugged. "If you think you can handle it." she joked as she chugged down her water. The boy smiled at her.
"I think I could. You really are good, Nissa. Not too many new-bee's could get into the advanced class the first time. Well, except for the select few here, that is." he chuckled.
"Well, that's what the streets can do to a person. I had to learn how to fight and fight well just to stay alive out there, ya know?" she said with a care-free air she knew her fake identity would have.
Cat took another huge chug of water as the doors to the advanced class' gym opened. Cat glanced over to the door to see who had come in and spewed her water everywhere when she saw who it was.
Alex…
Chad blinked in surprise and patted Cat on the back as the girl coughed and sputtered. "You alright?" he asked. Cat nodded and wiped her mouth off. She pointed at the four people who had just walked in.
"Ooh. Cobra's got evaluations, I see. This should be fun." he said with a chuckle.
"Cobra?" Cat asked with true curiosity. "Is he the guy who decked all those guards today?" She already knew the answer to that, but she still wanted to hear it for herself.
"Yeah. The thing about Cobra is that he didn't come here by choice like the rest of us." Chad commented as he watched a blindfolded Alex being shoved into a chair. Cat's eyes grew wide.
"He had no choice? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean the Master had him kidnapped. He was in America with some other girl or something. Master's wanted him for a long time, but it's been tough getting him. The kid's really good at what he does."
Cat winced as one of the guards punched Alex in the stomach as he tried to escape. "And what he does is…?"
"I don't actually know. I know he fights really well. That was evident this morning when he tried to escape today. Some people say he actually trained with the Master, but I'm not so sure. I also think that the Master and Cobra's dad used to be partners. At least that's what I heard. Maybe that's why he wants him so badly." Chad finished with a shrug of his shoulders.
Cat nodded. She knew what he was talking about. She had read the entire file on Alex and had known that Alex's dad was actually a double agent. He was working for SCORPIA, but was really an agent of the MI-6. Alex's dad had trained a lot of people in SCORPIA, but she wasn't too sure who would want Alex. She'd have to look that up later.
"I wonder if Mindy's evaluating him today," Cat wondered aloud. As if it was answering her question, the doors swung open to reveal a hooded figure entering the room. This time, it was Chad's turn to cough and sputter as he choked on his water. Cat patted his back.
"You okay, Chad?" Chad nodded, but he kept his eyes on the hooded figure. "What's wrong?"
"That's the Master…"
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Alex doubled over as his stomach received a harsh blow. He wanted to strike back out at whoever had done that, but he couldn't see…courtesy of the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. They really didn't want him to see any of those codes.
Alex took in a deep breath and relaxed his stomach muscles. The pain soon subsided. He shook his head and tried to pull the blindfold off of his face with his shoulder, but a hand slapped his face making him freeze in mid-rub.
"Sit still, Cobra." growled Gerald. Alex sighed in frustration but kept still. After what seemed like an eternity, some one pulled the blind fold away from his eyes. But he didn't like what he saw.
"Hello, Master." hissed Alex through clenched teeth. He stared up into the hooded figures cold eyes as they smiled down on him. Alex took in the hooded cloak and smirked. "Why are you hiding your face? You trying to hide that ugly thing or something? I would if I was yo--" Alex stopped in mid-sentence as the remote to his bracelet was put in front of his face. Alex gulped and bit his lip. He may have wanted to insult his captor, but he wasn't about to when that thing was in his hand. He wasn't stupid.
"Everybody," Alex heard Mindy say. The curious boy looked around Yassen to see that their were several students looking at him with curious eyes. "it's time for Cobra's evaluation. So everybody beat it…except for you Chad and you Nissa. You guys stay here. Everybody else, out! NOW!" she finished fiercely.
The teens all grumbled but obeyed as they filed out of the training room. All of them except the two people that Mindy had called out. Chad and Nissa. Alex blinked as he saw Nissa…that wasn't her real name. She may have been dressed differently and had different colored hair, but that was definitely Cat under all that gothic make-up. He dropped his eyes down to his lap in order to not blow her cover.
"What do you want, Jerk." Alex growled under his breath as he looked back up at Yassen.
The assassin furrowed his brow. "Excuse me? What did you just call me?" he hissed as he got into Alex's face. Alex stayed glaring at the man's face.
"You heard me. I'm not calling you 'Master.'" he spit out. The three teens behind Yassen stared at him in disbelief. Cat shot Alex a warning glance, but he paid no attention to it. A hand shot out and grabbed Alex by the scruff of his shirt. Alex tried to struggle away, but Yassen's grip was too tight.
"I am not giving you a choice, Cobra. You've never had a choice in the matter." he growled as he threw Alex back down into the seat. The teen spy rolled his eyes.
"Now get up." Yassen said calmly as he pushed the hood off of his head. He shed the black cloak and walked to the center of the room where a mat lay. Alex stood up and walked to the center where Yassen stood waiting.
"How am I supposed to do anything with my hands tied behind my back?" Alex said as he tugged on his cuffs for emphasis. Yassen smiled and took out a small key. He walked behind Alex and unlocked the cuffs, the metal falling with a clang to the floor. Alex rubbed his sore wrists as he watched Yassen walk around him like a predator watching his prey.
Yassen paused in front of him, his finger resting on his chin. He nodded.
"What?" Alex snapped when the man said nothing.
"Handstand into a bridge up, please." he said simply. Alex gave him and odd look, but did as he was asked.
He watched Yassen carefully as he placed his hands down on the mat and flew up into a handstand before arching over into a bridge up. He watched carefully as Yassen walked around him, studying him. Alex was tempted to kick him, but thought better of it when he thought about the trigger being close to Yassen's side.
Alex bit his lip as the blood began rushing to his head making his head pound angrily in his ears. He saw Yassen stop by his head. "Blood getting to your head yet, Alex? Your face looks a bit red." he chuckled.
"No." Alex lied as he glared up at the assassin.
Yassen rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. Up." Alex pulled himself up and awaited his instructions. "Another bridge, please."
Alex sighed and pushed himself back into a handstand. Almost immediately, his hands were swept out from under him by a swift kick from Yassen. The spy tumbled down and landed on his back…hard. All the air rushed out of his lungs. He gasped, trying to get air back into his lungs. He panted and got to his knees.
"What…was…that…for?" he panted as he was jerked back up by Yassen.
"I told you to give me a bridge. Not a handstand. Listen carefully, Cobra." he said bluntly. Alex rolled his eyes.
"You mind telling me that next time instead of knocking the air out of my lungs!?" he snapped, earning him a harsh slap across the face. Alex bit his lip and shook his head against the pain.
"Bridge-up. Now."
Alex gritted his teeth but went into the bridge anyway. Yassen walked around him again. "I'm testing your flexibility now. Can you get your hands any closer to your feet?"
Alex blinked. "I guess."
"Do it."
Alex sighed and pushed himself closer to his feet. With each inch closer, he became more and more strained until he could not move any closer. He puffed out a few breaths in pain as his muscles begged for him to get down.
"There," Alex gasped. "Can I get down now?"
"No." Yassen said as he continued to survey the boy. "I think you can go closer."
"What? No I can't! This is as far as I can go." Alex argued.
"I believe you can go closer. If I can, you can."
"Oh, great philosophy, Aristotle. Just because you can do it doesn't mean I can do it!" Alex snapped.
Yassen gave a frustrated sigh and approached Alex. The Russian placed his foot firmly, but gently, on Alex's toes. He then put his hand on Alex's chest, pushing him backward. The spy had to move his hands back in order to keep from falling down. He gasped as the pain in his back increased. He bit his lip so he wouldn't cry out in pain. He was relieved when the pushing finally ceased.
"A foot and one-fourth. I think you could eventually go further, Alex." the assassin said as he dropped his hands from Alex's chest. The spy let out a sigh of relief and dropped to the floor, his back screaming in pain.
"Alex, if I say that you can do something, you do not tell me that you can't. You do as I say. Understood?" he finished bluntly.
"Whatever."
A sudden move later, Alex was sprawled out on the floor, his whole body being shocked with pain. He curled up in a ball to stop the pain, but it was no use. The pain just intensified. Finally, after an eternity, the pain stopped. Alex opened his tightly shut eyes. A pair of shoes impacted his stomach before he had time to react sending him flying to the edge of the mat. He looked up to see Cat staring down at him in horror.
A hand clamped down on Alex's hair and dragged the poor spy back to the middle of the mat, tossing him down unceremoniously. Alex rolled over and jumped to his feet, ready to fight. He came face to face with a fist, the force of the impact causing him to spin out of control and back onto the ground.
"What…are you…doing!?" Alex gasped as another fist glanced across his chin.
"Defend yourself, Alex. Or you won't make it out of here alive."
Alex gulped as the last sentence hit him harder than an actual blow. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.
Yassen was trying to kill him…
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Well, how's that for the tenth chapter of NO MORE VACATIONS? Will Yassen really kill Alex? What's going on with the Russian assassin? Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter! J Hoped you liked it! Please review!! Thanks!!