REVIEW! Now let's see what's gonna happen... Thanks to everyone who had the heart and humanity to review! Btw, you can get smileys on Microsoft Word 07 by going: colon, '0' bracket: :), or: colon, '9' bracket: :( ! On Word they tranform into actual pictures!
I disclaim the Amazing... ALEX RIDER! (And any other minor things you recognise.)
The rest of the day had passed without incidents other than Alex being considered a tag-along and K-Unit shooting glares at him behind the backs of L- and X-Unit; these units were less experienced than K-Unit, and so K-Unit had been told to 'tutor' them and give them one-on-one training. It was hard to spread the attention between everyone, as there was no way any of the men from the L- and X-Units would listen to Alex. Even if they had, K-Unit wouldn't have let him anywhere near them either.
The bullying started again when Alex trailed behind the others into their hut.
As soon as Alex entered the hut and started making his way over to his bunk, Wolf darted behind him and pulled his arms back while Eagle dragged a bed over to the door, blocking it. Tiger went round shutting and locking the windows, while Ben just stood there awkwardly. When Eagle and Tiger had finished securing the hut, Wolf released Alex.
"What the hell, Wolf?"
"Cub, I think you've forgotten that we really don't take kindly to SCORPIA agents."
"But I don't-" Alex's protest was cut off by Tiger twisting his arm up his back so tightly that he had to stop mid-sentence to stop any looks of pained surprise from showing on his face, preferring to glare rebelliously at the small semicircle in front of him formed by Fox, Wolf, and Eagle. How could you let me down like this, Ben?
Wolf stepped forward and laughed in Alex's face, who immediately winced away and retorted,
"God, Wolf, you ever heard of breath mints?" The person in question growled in reply, stepped away, and addressed the SAS men,
"So... What shall we do with little Cubby here?" Eagle immediately seized the chance to pipe up with a delusional idea, courtesy of the hot chocolate he had had in the morning. They had all known it would be a terrible idea to give him chocolate, whipped cream, and marshmallows...
"I know! I know! We can tie him to the door of the Sarge's hut in his underpants! You know, 'coz it's in the middle of the compound!" For a brief while, the remainder of K-Unit and Alex were united against Eagle, all gaping at him in disbelief. After the somewhat creepy silence, Wolf continued,
"Anyone got any ideas that are at least remotely sane?"
"Um, yeah..." Started an uncertain Ben, "We can make Cub eat some salami before he goes to sleep."
Ben, why? Why you, Ben? I trusted you. You'll make the nightmares start again...
"Eat salami?" Yelled Tiger, "What the damn hell, Fox?"
"It gives him terrible nightmares," Fox clarified. Eagle nodded in what he thought to be a scholarly way,
"You mean like how cheese gives you dreams that the camp is submerged and we're all mermaids?" Wolf choked, but the naïve man kept going, "First I see Wolf, who is yelling at me in soprano and he has a pink tail and long black hair and the most massive pair of boo-"
"Eagle! Shut the F up!" Cried the leader in a strangled voice. Alex snickered.
"Oh, Eagle, darling, I'm over he-ere!" He sang in as high a voice he possibly could, while batting his eyes annoyingly. Wolf immediately roared viciously at the teen, obviously refraining himself from punching a minor, even if that minor happened to be with SCORPIA. Alex blinked in surprise. Whoa, that was some roar... Ben then suddenly sighed,
"Right, guys, how're we gonna do this?" He asked, at the same time pulling up some floorboards and searching through K-Unit's secret food stash.
"Pinch his nose. So he can't breathe and has to open his mouth," stated Tiger simply, as Fox's arms resurfaced with a small fridge. Alex was slightly taken aback to see that it was pink, and grinned slightly when he saw the Barbie sticker on its side. However, before he could make a scathing comment, Eagle explained,
"I, um, borrowed it from my five-year old niece."... "What? She was hiding chocolate in it and my sis was getting cross with her!" Wolf snorted.
"If the kid's anything like you, I can see why." Eagle immediately moved to punch the Unit leader, but was distracted by a cry of,
"I got it!" Ben was brandishing a packet of Tesco's Salami in the air. Damn Tesco to hell, grumbled Alex inwardly, as Eagle let his suspended fist drop to his side.
"Gimme some!" Yapped an excited Eagle. Sadist, thought Alex, slightly tensed to pull himself out of Tiger's grip, I'll probably have the worst nightmares I've had in years and I'll also probably start screaming in the night. The teenager had to stop himself from blushing at the embarrassing notion of K-Unit seeing him terrified, even if he was only gonna be asleep... B-but, I probably won't scream... No! I'm not gonna scream, simple as that. In fact, I won't even get nightmares, he reassured himself.
Wolf, Tiger, and Eagle were now waving pieces of salami around, Tiger having swapped places with Fox; Tiger was just inhumane, and Ben probably felt kind of uncomfortable with stuffing salami down a kid's throat. Alex began to struggle and thrash around, but it was no use, as Ben had an iron grip on his right arm, which was pulled up so high it was almost between his shoulder blades.
A gleeful Wolf stepped forward and pinched Alex's nose, and then the others (excluding Fox, obviously) proceeded to try and stuff salami down his throat. The spy gagged; he was running out of oxygen, and as soon as he opened his mouth, there would be no hope. Then Fox jerked his arm up higher, causing the boy to gasp. Which inevitably ended up with a blonde-haired teenager having about five pieces of salami stuffed into his mouth. He tried to spit them out, but Wolf rested his hand warningly on a painful pressure point in the shoulder.
Thinking of how much it would hurt if the SAS man were to pinch that nerve, Alex had no hesitation in gulping down the salami. Then mentally kicked himself. To just dive into painful unconsciousness would be better than the nightmares he would face tonight.
The tanned spy that Alex used to have a small degree of trust in released the boy, who immediately made a beeline for the toilets... He hated the idea of people making themselves throw up, but it wasn't like he was doing this because he was bulimic- He just didn't want to get another horrible nightmare that consisted of his last mission...
Unfortunately, Tiger noticed this and stepped in front of the door.
"No, no, little Cubby," he reprimanded, shaking his head, "We're not that stupid. Please don't insult our intelligence."
"Not like you have any to insult," shot back the glaring teen.
"Hey!" Protested Eagle childishly, "I'm pretty smart, you know!" Wolf couldn't help but snigger at Eagle's outrageous claim. "What are you laughing at?"
"Eagle... Jenkins," sighed Ben, "Is an unfortunate soul. For he has been feeding himself ideas that he is intelligent. In fact, his IQ barely exceeds that of a goldfish..."
"Meanie! And... Jenkins? What sort of a surname is that!"
"You know we can't use our real names in camp, Eagle...?" Enquired Tiger.
"I know! But... Jenkins! I want a cool name! Like... Muscle! Yeah! I can be Mr. Muscle!" And so, with a flourish of the arm, 'Mr. Muscle', aka Eagle, launched into an advert for drain cleaner, while everyone else looked on with a mixture of shock and amusement.
It was 12:30 AM in the morning, and Alex Rider was having his most vicious nightmare yet.
He was back in Skeleton Key, lying on the conveyor belt leading to the crusher. He also had an assortment of wires attached to his body, and every villain he'd ever come against was standing around him. All with the marks of their deaths on their bodies. Dr. Grief was covered all over in hideous burn marks, Damian Cray's limbs consisted of red vapour, Kaspar had an orb of blood revolving around his head, Myra Benett was ripped to bloody shreds... And that was only to name a few.
Then the belt started moving. The faces of the people surrounding him twisted into contorted smiles brimming with malice. Alex started hyperventilating. Razim walked up to him and held out a button. If Alex pressed that button, he would save himself... But jack would die. She was sitting in a car, sobbing, bound in place by ropes knotted tightly, screaming in hysterics. The crusher drew nearer. He could feel the wind on his feet. He started to scream, and lashed out wildly at the button. Then the car exploded, and reflected in one of the flying shards of glass, was his face. Which had a red dot between his eyes. Alex shrieked even louder, and felt tears drip down his cheeks...
K-Unit woke up to the noise of the legs of a metal bunk clanging on the floor. As they snapped their heads up, alert, their gaze fell on the youngest member of the K-Unit. Cub. Wolf clambered down from the top bunk of the bed he shared with Alex to see the spectacle. All of K-Unit were watching the alleged SCORPIA member thrash around, they shared a moment of pride,
"We made the enemy agent crack," whispered Tiger, pleased. The rest nodded in agreement.
Then the boy started to thrash round even more violently, his face in an expression of extreme pain. Then he started to scream. At this reaction, Wolf raised an eyebrow,
"Wow. That must've been a pretty damn bad dream to make a trained SCORPIA agent scream like a girl." Then Alex jerked upright in his bed, hyperventilating and sobbing quietly. He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his head in the thin duvet. Then he looked up, and saw K-Unit staring at him,
"What do you want?" The words were venom, but Eagle seemed unruffled.
"Just to watch a top SCORPIA agent scream and then start crying!" Chuckled the hyper man. Alex blushed. Then he reached under his pillow and dug out a torch, switching it on. I have to know if Jack's Okay... Then he dug around in his bag and retrieved his iPhone 4S- Fingerprint and DNA sensitive. With a passcode needed. As the screen of the mobile lit up, Alex turned off and dumped his torch under the pillow.
"What you doing, Cub?" snarled Wolf dangerously, as the spy tapped on Jack's number.
"Calling someone. What does it look like?" And before anyone could answer back, or make a move to toss the phone out of his hand, he hit the 'call' button.
"Hello?" Mumbled a sleepy voice at the other end of the phone.
"Jack?" Once the redhead realised who it was, she shouted, which resulted in Alex having to hold the phone a mile from his ear.
"ALEXANDER JOHNATHAN RIDER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING CALLING AT 2AM?" K-Unit jumped violently at the roaring and cursed the existence of mobile phones.
"J-Jack. Calm down. And it's actually not even 1AM yet..."
"Whatever, you know what I mean, idiot," she replied, causing Alex to smile. "Anyway, why are you calling? Have you been kidnapped again or something?"
"No."
"Let me hear you say it." Horribly aware of K-Unit listening in, Alex sighed.
"No, Jack, I have not been kidnapped or anything else." Then on an evil impulse, he added, "I am in hell on Earth, more commonly known as Brecon Beacons SAS camp, and unfortunately stuffed in a hut with four very fat and childish SAS men."
Jack laughed as four death glares were sent Alex's way, although he noted that Tiger's was pretty weak and undeveloped.
"Poor you! But why did you call?" Feeling incredibly self-conscious now, Alex turned away to the door, and in a lower voice, muttered,
"I had a nightmare. I just wanted to make sure you were Okay."
"Aww, was it the one about Razim? I'm alright sweetie, the doctor even took my cast off today!"
"Really?"
"Yeah." Then there was a pause, before Jack started awkwardly, "Hey, Alex, would it be Okay with you if I went to see my family in America for a while? You, see, there's gonna be this big reuniuon..."
"Sure, Jack. You should go. I'm at SAS camp for ages anyway. It's only Tuesday of the first week- Well, very early on Wednesday..."
"It's just... I was wondering if you'd like to come?"
"Nah, it's fine, Jack. Anyway, I'm kinda claustrophobic in big crowds... And you know how danger always follows me around..."
"Yeah!" Laughed the American, "I can just see you chatting to my sister, and the next minute the CIA contacts you, and you're just like, 'Sorry, I gotta go save the whole of Washington D.C blowing up- Again.'" Then they both burst into fits of hilarity. A fond smile playing on his lips, Alex corrected his plucky housekeeper,
"You mean I'd probably say I had to go puke 'cuz of a fever or something and then dash off to the bomb site or something?"
"Well, yeah."
"'Kay. Talk to you later Jack!"
"Later! Love you!"
"Love you too! Bye!" Then Alex, somewhat reluctantly, pressed the end call button, and turned round to retreat back to his bed. Then...
Damn. He had forgotten about K-Unit halfway through the conversation.
"What was that about a bomb site?" Asked Fox with a calculating cold in his voice.
Oh no. K-Unit had grossly misinterpreted what Alex had meant when he'd said 'You mean I'd probably say I had to go puke 'cuz of a fever or something and then dash off to the bomb site or something?'.
"Oh. Oh. Th-that... Listen guys, it's really not what it sounds like-"
"Save the crap, Kid," snapped Fox. How could Alex become a terrorist? It's not fair... We were mates who understood what we each were going through... But not anymore.
Alex couldn't believe it. Even Ben was flipping out at him. None of the Unit trusted him anymore- They all thought that he was a SCORPIA assassin, and that was only on an impulse. God, even being called Double 0 Nothing would have been better...
"Yeah, Cub," Wolf sneered, "Are you and whoever this Jack person is really so sick that you'd set off a bomb in the middle of a huge crowd?"
"N-no. You misunderstood what I meant-"
"Just go to bed, Cub."
Unbearable coldness engulfing his face was what a certain blonde woke up to the next morning.
"Wha-Wha-Wha?" He puffed, shivering.
"I dumped a nice big bucket of rainwater over your head. Also, looks like you'll be missing breakfast!" Sang Eagle, towering over Alex with a black bucket in his hand. Then the Unit, talking and laughing, strode off to the mess hall, leaving Alex on his own, who immediately jumped into action. How unimaginative. I used that trick first!
Five minutes later, the spy had had a warm shower and gotten dressed in his uniform. He'd also managed to root round in his bag and find a warm hat, since his hair was wet and rapidly getting colder. There was also a small layer of frost on some areas of the ground. He stepped out of the hut, and was about to run to the mess hall, only to be greeted with the sight of the Sergeant walking towards him,
"CUB!"
"Yes sir?" Responded the teen, then stood to attention.
"At ease soldier." Alex relaxed with a small sigh.
"Why aren't you in the mess hall?"
"Uh... I slept through the alarm."
"Are K-Unit treating you alright?"
"Y-yeah..."
"'Cuz I think they probably woke up and turned the alarm off so that you would be late." Alex shrugged.
"Whatever."
"Anyway, Cub, I've just gotten a list of all the students and teachers comi-"
"Oh damn! My homework!" Alex had only just remembered that he had some schoolwork accessible through an internet connection to his school log-on system and emails. But right now he had to worry about the Sarge looking very put out.
"CUB! YOU DO NOT INTERRUPT ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!"
"Yes sir!"
"Anyway, what about homework?"
"Uh... Well there's like this school email I have, and the teachers said they'd send me some work to do over it."
"You don't have to."
"But I want to. I'm kinda behind at school after... Everything." The Sergeant nodded.
"You can use my office. There's a computer in there. I'll be training R-Unit all day anyway." Then the muscular man turned on his heel and jogged away. Alex could even hear him in the distance,
"R-UNIT! ATTENTION! GOOD! NOW I WANT YOU TO RUN THE 5K TRACK! NO ARGUING!"
Alex was sitting at the Sage's desk, laptop switched on. He rooted in the small bag he'd brought for pencils and paper in case they were needed, and he caught sight of his file, along with the mysterious DVD that he'd seen next to it. No, he reprimanded himself, schoolwork first. The file and DVD are motivators to get it done.
Six and a half hours had passed, and Alex had managed to do most of the work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He was just stuck on a geography essay, along with some complex Biology that he'd never done before, and he didn't have the proper materials to do his art piece with. However, he'd sent pieces of work back to the teachers for countless subjects: A French essay about his family- which had an overload of the word 'dead' in it, and of course he'd had to lie about Yassen again. There had been English worksheets about easy stuff, like similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia... Yeah. Just... Simple. He'd also made a fact sheet about Beethoven, done some stuff on the history of spying- Damn, just his luck- a lot of maths...
And now it was 12:00. Time for lunch. He was starving; he had missed breakfast and done almost 3 days of schoolwork in half a day! The muscles in Alex's legs had all tightened up while he'd been sitting down, so he stretched them out slightly and started to jog slowly, accelerating as he warmed up, darting past various units.
Then Alex caught sight of the Sergeant standing at the doors leading into the mess hall, and strode towards him.
"Cub. How much did you get done?"
"Almost 3 day's worth, Sir. But I'm stuck on Geography and have no materials for art... There's also some Biology that I've never done before, but the teacher hasn't bothered to send an explanation with it."
"I'm good at Geography. But the Biology..." The Sarge trailed off, shaking his head. "I'll ask around for people good at Biology or who might have art supplies. I won't force them to teach you or give you stuff, though..."
"Good. Thanks, Sarge." With a curt nod, Alex turned into the mess hall.
Wow. The food, for once, was not muck. It was fish fingers and potato wedges! That's good... I hate fries; they're so horrible and hard. Potato wedges actually contain potato. He looked around for a table. The only available one also had Eagle and Fox sitting at it. Tiger and Wolf were talking to some guys from a different unit.
Unwillingly, Alex sauntered over to the remaining table and sat himself down in the chair furthest away from Eagle and Fox.
"Hey, where you been, Scorpion?" Snarled Eagle, uncharacteristically fierce.
"Doing homework. The Geographyis damn hard. Anyway, what's the occasion?"
"Whaddya mean?" Asked a bemused Ben.
"We're eating something edible for once?" 'Hinted' Alex, stuffing a wedge in his mouth.
"Oh!" Eagle visibly brightened, "we've got a new chef! A good one!" He explained, while trying to steal the last of Alex's fish fingers. "Ow!" He yelled, as the teen karate-chopped his hand, and proceeded to promptly swallow down the fish finger the SAS man had tried to, rather stupidly, steal.
The rest of the meal consisted of Fox trying to make intelligent conversation with Eagle, while Alex and Eagle were both guarding their plates while glaring at eachother as they gulped down their chips.
Eagle ended up having a coughing fit halfway through.
Eagle so deserved that!
Hope you enjoyed it! Please review, everyone... I know there are a lot more of you out there! Look, guys, I know it's hard to update- I get that feeling of laziness myself. But I LOVE reviews! They make me really happy! (Soppy, I know...) But anyway, I just REALLY want to get, like a hundred reviews! A lot to ask, I know, but... I'm just SOOO jealous of all the people with 100! Also, please read 'Everything I Lost' and give me some ideas on what to do next!