Disclaimer: I own one copy of each of the Alex Rider books. BUT, that doesn't mean I actually think I own it. That marshmallow is still around somewhere, though.
Reviews from: SharkiesGirl, AD, Pocket Quasar, I read not write, icyslumber, Jousting Elf with a Sabre, jessiepotter11390, babyee-bex43, Ember-1331, Battlecry4ever, CreativeBeauty, blonde-biatch, Harry, yotakehisuo174 and vampassassin.
Words to reach: 3000
Author's Note: Hooray! We reached a record of 15 reviews for last chapter. That's amazing, guys. Well done! (I know, I'm overreacting) I have received some very impressive character ideas from quite a few people. Don't forget, you still have two or so chapters to come up with one and review it in or PM me.
I just bought the next three Alex Rider books and read them all in two days. No sleep at all. Oh, and I'm thinking of writing another Alex Rider fic. That, or (okay, don't kill me for mentioning it and not going through with it, but I still have time to make up my mind) a sequel for Mission Improbable.
Okay, so I rewrote chapter 1 and 2, but chapter 2 didn't have much of a change at all. I have two lovely helpers who are helping with 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10. I really appreciate it. So I want you all to thank Ember-1331 and baybee-bex43 who are helping. I still have a few more chapters that you guys can help out with if you want. I think 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are still available. Yes, I raised the amount I want to fix. Don't worry, I'm going to notify you all on who did what so you can praise the right people.
So where were we? Oh yeah. Joseph and his gang have just shown up. Well, enjoy. I know it took quite a while to write so I want you all to put in some criticism. Good or bad. I don't mind.
RELATIVELY IMPORTANT: This chapter especially took a long time because somebody decided to PM me a whole load of insults and said things like 'U r making ppl rite 4 u coz u suck' and 'I h8 u!'. Well, that brought my self esteem right down and I barely found the courage to update. It hurt. If anybody feels that way too, tell me in a review. But, why the Hell are you still reading if you hate it?
Joseph and his mates had come up behind them and weren't looking too happy.
All up, there were about eight of them. Joseph, six members of the football team and a boy Alex remembered as the drummer in the school band.
"Oi! Rider!" Joseph said, standing in front of Alex.
Alex briefly wondered how he knew his name before standing up and holding his ground. "Yes, Rogers?" Alex said, flicking his fringe out of his eyes with a move of his head.
"Get your girlfriend over there to hand me the apple."
Alex looked down at Laura. She had her teeth halfway through the next bite of her green apple. "What do you want it for?" she asked as she swallowed.
"My sister, Josie, likes apples."
Laura looked around the group and saw Josephine holding a red apple and enjoying every bite of it. "It seems like she already has one. Why would she want another?"
Joseph crouched down to her level and spat on the ground beside her. "It doesn't matter what she already has. It matters what she wants, don't it?"
Alex swooped down and grabbed the collar of Joseph's shirt, pulling him back up. Joseph made no move to release his hand. He just stared at Alex in shock.
Joseph sneered. "Who do you think you are?" he said.
Alex frowned. "Pardon?"
"I said, who do you think you are?"
Alex's eyes flickered over to Laura and Indy. They were both standing up now, Indy positioned slightly behind Laura and Laura glaring at one of the boys. Alex turned back to Joseph and inconspicuously taking a defence stance without letting go. "I'm Alex," he replied in the most obvious way he could.
Joseph's sneer didn't falter once. "Where have you been these last few weeks?"
"Around."
Joseph gestured to the playground as a whole. "They tell me you have been dealing drugs. Is that true?"
"No."
Joseph laughed. "Aww look, boys. Little bitty Rider thinks he can lie."
The first punch came from Alex, knocking Joseph's head backwards with a crack. Alex let go of his collar and pushed him roughly backwards. The first kick was also from Alex, winding Joseph and leaving him lying on the grass, purple-faced, clutching at his stomach. Neither of them noticed the teacher ten meters away.
"Get them!" the crippled boy hissed to his friends.
Laura took on three of them at once. Luckily for her, they were probably the three weakest. Alex took on the four biggest guys from the football team. Most likely the defence players. Laura knocked her three to the ground with a series of kicks and punches, the heels on her new school shoes coming in handy. Alex wasn't as lucky. He managed to wind one of the smaller boys with a very heavy kick but the other two weren't as easy to break.
"Nickleson! A little help!" Alex said, dodging a punch from one of them.
But Laura was on the floor, wrestling with Joseph who had most of his breath back. Alex swore and dodged another punch. He crouched down low and grabbed an ankle of each of the boys he was fighting.
"What...?" one grunted, bewildered.
With a strong pull, Alex brought them both crashing to the ground, unconscious. Indy was trying to fight off two of the boys Laura had first fought and was doing a good job. People in the playground had noticed what was going on and were forming a circle around the two groups fighting. None of them made any move to help. Josephina was even laughing.
One of the kids spoke up. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The rest soon caught on and the sound of the word 'Fight!' was starting to echo around the playground.
"Alex!" Laura squealed. Alex had time to look at her for a second. Joseph was underneath her, desperately trying to throw her off. Laura had her hands wrapped around his neck. There wasn't much Alex could do. He was preoccupied with five of the football players.
His ears picked up the sound of the chant. But now, it wasn't 'Fight!'. It was now 'Alex!'. Alex grinned. Maybe getting the popularity his mission needed wasn't going to be as hard as he first thought.
"I bet he learnt that at prison!" a short, young boy said in astonishment as Alex knocked two of the boys out my ramming their heads together effortlessly.
Alex's grin widened. All the encouragement from the crowd seemed to be making the opponents weaker and Alex stronger. Alex knocked the next two out the same way, amazed that they hadn't figured out what he was doing.
"Mr Rider!" Somebody was pushing their way to the front and Alex was shocked to see the assistant principal, Mr Prince, appear in the crowd. Mr Prince was average height, average build and had greasy, black hair. He was normally very different from the other teachers. For one, he didn't get angry easily and he didn't seem to have a temper at all.
Alex felt the colour drain out of his face. While he had been fighting Joseph and his friends, he hadn't thought once about being seen by a teacher or getting in trouble. Now...he was worried.
"Yes, Mr Prince?"
Mr Prince finally broke through the crowd and stood in front of Alex. He didn't look too happy at all. "What was all that about, Mr Rider?"
"I...we...err..."
Mr Prince's frown changed into a grin. "That was fully awesome!" Mr Prince grabbed Alex's hand and shook it. "Where did you learn that?"
"I...err..." Alex wasn't sure how to answer. Thankfully, Mr Prince had already turned away and was peering down at the pile of teenagers that Laura had neatly made with all the unconscious and seriously injured bodies.
Mr Prince shook his head. "Boys, boys, boys. That was a very weak performance. Especially since you are all on the football team. Oh, except for you, Benny. You are just a very bad drummer with a hair problem." Benny ran a hand over his head. "Unfortunately, that means I have to give you all a detention."
Mr Prince turned and walked back through the crowd, telling the children crowding around to 'get lost!'. Alex kicked himself. Getting a detention was not a good thing at Brookland School. Especially on the first day back when Mrs Dowetty, the evilest of all the teachers at the school, would surely take the detentions. He also felt bad that he had pulled Laura and Indy into the situation. He felt especially bad for Indy, though. First day at school, in a new country, already in detention and probably now has a large amount of enemies.
Alex turned to Laura and Indy as the boys they had fought all ran off with the rest of the crowd. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to get you in trouble with me. I didn't think. Will you forgive me?"
But the girls were grinning. "That was the most fun I've ever had at school!" Indy said as the bell rang and they grabbed their bags.
"That was so awesome!" Laura agreed whilst shaking her head enthusiastically.
Alex chuckled. "Alright. But I don't want to find you two fighting because you found it fun. I don't think the teachers and parents will be very happy."
As Alex walked with the two girls to the science labs, which had been rebuilt after his little escapade with a clone, he realised something. Both he and Laura were orphans. He was angry with himself for not realising sooner. He guessed it was because there was so much in common between the two of them that it didn't really matter anyway.
He sighed to himself and climbed the last of the stairs up to the classroom. Luckily, Indy, Laura and Alex were all in the same base classes. It definitely helped. Of course, Laura was in almost all of his classes and those that she wasn't, she was with the twins. Alex was quite angry that MI6 were taking control of what electives she chose. What if she didn't want to do Design with Josephina or Mechanics with Joseph?
Alex sat down between Indy and Laura in the middle row. The teacher looked up from her spot at the teachers' desk and smiled before going back to her book once again. Alex had never met her before. Alex frowned at the top of her head and started pulling his books out, stopping to help Laura get her hair out from where it was stuck in her bag's zipper. He saw Joseph and Josephina walk in and turned away, hoping they wouldn't try to cause any more trouble. They walked straight to the back as the teacher stood up.
"Good morning class! I'm Miss Brown and I've just started here. I hope you'll give me the same respect you give your other teachers, because if you don't, there will be a lot of yelling from me."
Alex stared at her for a moment. She was plump, short and had heavy makeup all over her face. Alex winced. She wasn't a pretty site.
"So if you'll open your books to page 14..."
The first day back at school went slowly. Too slowly. Alex felt that the time completely stopped for minutes at a time. After Science, they had English and then lunch and then Maths. Thankfully, Joseph, or any of his group, for that matter, didn't approach the little group of Alex, Laura and Indy. There were only seconds left until the bell would ring and they would be free.
26 seconds left.
"And that, children, is how you find out the square route of four unit numbers. Any questions?"
20 seconds left.
"No? Okay then lets do one more..."
The class all groaned. Not more!
"Oh. You don't want anymore?" the teacher asked, disappointed.
15 seconds left.
"Okay. Well..." She looked at her watch. "I guess you can all have an early mark."
The class immediately started packing up as fast as they could.
"Wait a minute! Only if somebody can answer this question."
Another groan echoed around the yellow-painted walls of maths room 3.
"How about you, Mr Rider?"
Alex looked up from where he was shoving his books into his bag. He didn't mind answering. He normally always got them right and was frequently picked on. Mainly because he was always right where the teacher was looking. It wasn't just a coincidence, either. The teachers liked to gossip about him and they all knew his name.
"Yes, Miss?"
She quickly wrote an equation on the black board. "Answer this..."
It was a hard one. Luckily it was all what he had learnt today, nothing he had missed. "17."
The teacher nodded and all the kids stood up to leave.
10 seconds left.
It wasn't much of an early mark, but it was one none the less.
"Phew!" Laura gasped as the class all exited the maths block. "That was a long day."
"Yeah," Alex and Indy agreed at the same time, causing them all to laugh and grin.
"Well, I'll see you all later!" Indy called as she skipped out of the gates and around the corner.
"Bye!" Alex and Laura replied as the bell rang, waving to her back.
They both turned to face the road and Joseph pushed his way past. He had a sour look on his face and was looking very grumpy. Josephina rolled her eyes at him as they hopped on their brand new bikes. Alex noticed the rest of the class watching them in awe. The twins were riding brand new, top of the range bikes. They were shiny and silver, glinting in the sun.
Laura muttered something under her breath as everybody walked over to the bus stop. Alex and Laura were somewhere around the middle of the line. It wasn't the greatest if you wanted good seats, but it would do. They had been standing there for only moments when a black limo pulled up at the bus stop.
"Wow!" Laura whispered to Alex. "I sure wish I had one of those."
"I know what you mean."
More kids were flowing out of the school gates; they all noticed the limousine standing in the bus bay. The door started opening and everybody watched on. A leg hit the ground, coming out of the front passenger seat. Somebody stepped out and the crowd gasped. They were tall, dark and wearing a stylish, new, leather jacket. The reached up and slowly pulled their sunglasses off. Laura grinned.
"Miss Nickleson, Mr Rider."
"Hello, Lionel," Laura beamed, hitching her bag up into a more comfortable position.
"Hop in."
Those two, simple words sent a whisper through the crowd.
"The limo was for that Rider kid and his chick!" one of the older students said ignorantly. "Those kids have style!"
Alex and Laura stepped up to the limo and Lionel took their bags and walked around to the back of the car. Alex held the car door open for Laura and she slid in, gasping in amazement. Alex got in a few seconds later, closing the door just as the boot came down.
"Cool!"
The limo was magnificent. It was black on the outside, black on the inside and there were red, carpeted floors. Very swish. The windows were tinted so nobody could look in. At least, they hoped as Laura made faces at some of the students. Lionel slid back into the vehicle and the engine started.
"Good evening, passengers, this is your escort speaking. Please put on your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!" Lionel said cheerily through the loud speaker. "If you have any questions, please push the green button near your heads and speak clearly."
Laura and Alex looked around madly. There were quite a lot of buttons around. Luckily, there was only one green one.
"Oh, and please do not touch the mini bar. I still think you are underage, no matter how mature you pretend to be."
Laura and Alex sniggered as Lionel's voice faded and the limo drove away from the school gates. They definitely weren't expecting anybody to pick them up, let alone in a limo. Added bonus, Alex guessed. And he couldn't say he minded in the slightest. He thought it was time MI6 gave something back.
"This is so cool!" Laura exclaimed. Alex laughed at her. The grin still hadn't left her face and they were almost back to where they were staying. "Hey, Lionel?" she asked, pressing the green button.
"Yes?" a voice asked, echoing through the small room in which they were sitting.
"Can you pick us up and drop us off to and from school every day?" she asked hopefully.
Lionel paused. "Of course! I have nothing else to do. Anyway, I'm practically your official chauffer for this mission. Ask for what ever else you want, too."
Laura smiled and pressed the button again. "Thanks!" she let go and lent back into her leather seat, still looking around in amazement. Alex grinned at her. Once she noticed, a frown appeared. "What?" she laughed.
Alex turned away. "Nothing..."
Laura gripped his arm. "What?"
Alex smiled. "You have grass in your hair," he sniggered, pointing at her head.
She frowned and started pulling it out. "How'd that get there?"
Alex shrugged. "Not sure."
The limo pulled up out of the front of the apartment block and they walked past the door man who smiled and opened the doors for them. They both muttered their thanks and walked over to the bottom of the stairs. Lionel was just coming inside. Laura turned to Alex and they shared a meaningful glance.
"One..." Laura said.
"Two..." said Alex.
"Three!"
They both threw their school bags on the ground and sprinted up the stairs. Laura was in the lead to start off with, being on the inside of the spiral staircase. Alex attempted to overtake her on each flight until he finally succeeded on flight six outside apartment number 19. He made a dash for the right apartment, leaving an already puffing Laura in his wake.
"I won!" Alex shouted as he reached the door.
Laura walked up to him and collapsed against the door. "You are too good."
"I know."
"Well, you try it in shoes like these!" she complained, pointing to her feet.
Lionel's head appeared at the top of the stairs. He was carrying their bags, shaking his head. "You kids need to act more your age." He was trying to be serious, but the smile tugging at his mouth gave it away.
Laura smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'm too young to not have fun."
He pulled out a set of keys from his leather jacket and opened the apartment for them, following them I and setting their bags in the closet near the door. "Take care. I got a message from a lady named Jasmine. She said she'll be home at around four. Don't let anybody know you are home alone. Bye!"
Before they could say goodbye, he had closed the door and locked it behind him in case of robbers. Laura and Alex headed for the kitchen first, dying for a drink after running up stairs as fast as they could.
"Lionel is nice," Laura commented, opening the fridge and looking inside. "I think I trust him enough for him to hang around."
Alex nodded. "Yeah, he is a pretty cool guy. I hope he stays around."
Laura remerged, holding a bottle of Coke. She pulled out two glasses and looked at Alex expectantly. When he didn't do anything she sighed. "You know I can't pour."
Alex smirked. He was waiting for her to try it just for a laugh, but she obviously wasn't going to. He carefully poured the Coke out of the can and let Laura pick first. It was one of their many rules of getting along. If you break or pour, the other person gets to choose first. I assured even amounts of whatever they were getting.
The two had heaps of other rules that they had decided on silently. Like if you wake the other up, they get to pick between first and second shower. Or, if you picked dinner, the other chose desert. It was all very simple and civilised. They had barely fought over the week they had been staying together.
That night, Alex called Jack. She didn't have much time to talk – they were going out to dinner and a show – but Alex liked to hear the sound of her voice.
"How are you?" she asked.
Alex shrugged before realising she couldn't see. "I'm good."
"Been staying out of trouble?"
"Yes."
"Had fun back at school?"
"Meh."
"Gotten into any fights?"
Alex paused. It felt like she knew. "No," he lied.
"That's good. I'll call you tomorrow."
Alex gave her the number that would reach the apartment and said goodbye. As he put the phone down, Laura tumbled into the room.
"Look what I can do, Al!"
He watched as she did a handstand. "That's clever," he said as encouragingly as he could.
"Yeah. Jassie said I should learn it if I wanted to get into the cheerleading team. What else do you think I should learn?"
They spent the rest of the night doing all sorts of acrobats. Laura was getting better, but she was still unsure of herself, causing more spills than necessary.
But, that's okay, Alex thought. At least she's trying.
Words to reach: 3000
Words I reached (not including notes): 3253
Author's note: Yay! Another one up and it's the longest yet! Okay, I'm trying my best to get to the action, but it's been hard since I live in a community with little violence to learn from. Maybe I should hire some gangster films...
This chapter's question: Which Alex Rider books have you read?
My answer: All of them.
Okay, it'll be worth 50 words. Just because of lateness. The reason I want to know is because I don't really have any idea where this fic is set. After or before Ark Angel. It might not even have anything to do with the already written books, but it is useful to know. Again, you'll receive 200 words for each review. I am trying to break a record. Let's see how many chapters I can get for this chapter. Try and beat 15. Come on! You can do it!
RG
xox