I Disclaim Alex Rider. I'd never be able to think up such an awesome character... Anyways... We shall see what happens this cold Wednesday in Brecon Beacons! REVIEW IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEXT CHAPTER ALIVE!
Alex was currently struggling through Geography, the Sarge by his side. The man had given up some of his free time to help the schoolboy-( Well, you couldn't exactly call Alex a schoolboy, considering his...hobby.) complete his coursework and construct some complicated graphs. Surprisingly, the man who was normally fierce and loud was a good, patient teacher who would explain things slowly and clearly one hundred times over if you still didn't understand something.
By the time Alex's work was done, he had everything drilled into him so hard that he was sure he would never forget it; in fact, if he became amnesiac, he was sure that he would at least remember this small part of his geography curriculum.
When they were done, Alex let out a small sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Sarge. I could never have done that by myself. You make a pretty good teacher, you know...?"
"Nah, it's fine Cub. And do not mention me being a good teacher ever again! A classroom full of snotty-nosed, insolent PUNKS!"
"You'll be faced with them next week, though!"
"AAARRGGH!" Roared the Sergeant suddenly, "I NEED TO GO YELL AT SOME SOLDIERS AND WORK IT OUTTA MY SYSTEM!" The frantic man rushed out of his hut in search of victims and Alex heard him find his targets.
"BUFFALO! ABOUT TIME YOU CAME WITH THE DAMNED BIOLOGY SHEETS! AND LEOPARD! HOW BLOODY LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SCOOP UP A COUPLA PAINTS?" Alex tuned out as the man continued to rant and started planning out what he would do for his art piece that was meant to be based on Banksy and Baumgärtel, graffiti artists who he saw as totally wicked. Banksy had these cool little rats wearing parachutes and everything... Baumgärtel, however, did bananas on buildings: Normal bananas for companies he liked, exploding bananas for the ones he didn't. Maybe I could do some exploding bananas on the R&G...
Alex was so absorbed in sketching out his ideas onto a piece of scrap paper with his favourite 3B pencil that he didn't notice the two big SAS men come in the door. Unfortunately for Alex, they noticed this, so Buffalo glanced at Leopard and silently raised a finger to his lips. Shhh. Then the man snuck round behind Alex extremely quietly. Sadly, Alex had now noticed the burly guy, but used his spy skills and pretended not to show it. He felt Buffalo move behind him, poised to yell and frighten the spy out of his wits, but Alex acted quickly. His 3B pencil also concealed a party popper, just a fun invention by Smithers.
Alex quickly jumped around and pressed the rubber really hard. Instantly, coloured strings emptied out of the pencil's lead with a large bang, causing Buffalo to yell and stumble back in amazement, while Leopard and Cub went into hysterics. The look on his face! Thought Alex, I could pull that prank on K-Unit too!
Leopard's fits of laughter had finally subsided soon after Buffalo had eventually decided to stop pouting like a baby at the annoyance of having been tricked by a fifteen-year old boy. But also one of the world's best spies, mused Alex.
"Kid, that was amazing," announced Leopard, his voice at last not shaking from amusement. "Who'd you get the pencil from? Smithers?" Leopard and Buffalo exchanged glances which said obviously not.
"Yeah, actually," replied Alex indignantly, before realizing how childish he sounded. Not that it mattered anyway; these men were beyond immature. Leopard's eyebrows shot up in sheer disbelief.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Should I tell them...? Alex sighed. "Look, guys, can you keep a secret?" The two men nodded in a unison that was almost freaky. "Even if it's a really really big secret you would be dying to blurt out?"
"Sure, Cub," said an upbeat Buffalo, "I've been training here for five years and still haven't told anyone outside of the compound!"
Alex took a deep breath, and steeled himself.
"Alright. I am Alex Rider."
The silence in the room was static. Alex could already see questions forming in their heads. What? How? Leopard was the first one to take a hold on himself once again.
"Why did you tell us?" Buffalo's eyes showed interested agreement, so Alex sighed and admitted,
"Well, I guess I sort of need someone to trust right now... K-Unit kinda got the wrong idea about... Something."
"'Kay," said Buffalo uncertainly, making the awkwardness even more intense. Alex squirmed.
"Uh... So... The Sarge said you were getting some stuff...?"
"Oh yeah!" Yapped Buffalo, awareness turned back to the sheets he clutched possessively with both hands, "These are the right kind of Biology sheets, aren't they?" Alex checked them over and nodded, as Leopard dumped some art material onto the desk:
There was a canvas slightly bigger than an A4 piece of paper, some paintbrushes, paints-acrylic That dries quickly, noted Alex mentally- and a few sheets of coloured card along with a bunch of black permanent markers.
"Thanks, guys. ... Why have you got this stuff in an SAS camp anyway?" Leopard shrugged.
"I like painting and stuff. It calms me down." Buffalo quickly followed, but shifting slightly.
"I have a kid who finds Science stuff pretty hard, so I revise this stuff and help her when I get the chance. I was always more athletic than academic when I was in school." Alex nodded in acceptance.
"Can I meet up with you guys at dinner? I mean..." He gestured at a long list of emails on the computer, and burst into laughter as both men's eyes promptly popped out in amazement.
"Whoa, you got some workload, kid..." Gasped Buffalo. Alex looked at them as if they were both slightly crazy.
"Um... This is standard...? It just looks like a lot 'cuz I've been emailed all the work for my school week. I pity the teachers who don't plan much in advance... Suddenly having to pull something out of the hat!"
"You're a teacher-torturer, Cub!" Yelled Leopard as he and Buffalo exited.
Alex looked at the clock. 1:05PM Then his head randomly commented, On the whitewashed wall hung a depressed clock- Well of course it's on the wall! He shouted back at himself. Where else would it be? Stuck to my head!
Then he sighed and tried to shake off the insanity before he had to go and have dinner at 7:00. 5 hours and 55 minutes to go.
At Brooklands, Tom was in history class, more hyped up than ever before. They were going to learn about the history of spying! It was so exciting and an MI6 agent was coming in to talk to them! It would be awesome! The whole class was chattering madly in excitement, then fell silent:
The man walked in and Tom forgot to breathe. No, no. It can't be. It 's impossible? But Could it really be him? Could it really be...
"Ian?"
The man stared at Tom, who began to think he had made a mistake. This man had curly brown hair and green eyes, but even under all the disguise, Tom could sense Ian was there. The man stood stock still for a moment, then sighed and conceded defeat.
He pulled off a wig and took out contacts, and when he spoke next, it was softly.
"How did you know it was me?" Tom was too absorbed in his shock to reply, but was broken out of his trance when some kid shouted across the room.
"Ian Rider! You know Alex took drugs 'cuz he thought you were dead!" A wave of anger surged through Tom's veins.
"No he didn't!" The usually calm boy leapt up and roared, astonishing everyone, "His immune system went down and he! Was! SICK! And you know how his long-lost brother Yassen died when in action for MI6! At school! And guess what else? Alex didn't even know Yassen was a spy!" Tom had added in the extra details at the end to tip Ian off. The spy certainly played his part.
"Y-Y-Yassen? Yassen's dead?" Ian stuttered, looking at the ground. Then his demeanour suddenly changed. He looked up, torn between worried and angry. "Tom Harris, you are going to come with me and tell me everything that has happened while I was away!" Then the supposed-to-be-dead spy hauled the unsuspecting teenager away by the wrist. Hey, what if he's zombie Ian? Pondered Tom weirdly.
Ugh. Alex locked his fingers and stretched his arms in front of him, yawning. He'd just finished the week's work in a day. He'd done his Biology quickly with the help of the sheets, and his Graffiti Art piece was looking great. He'd had a background of a wall of the R&G in acrylic (Though only he knew that. Anyone else would think it was a random wall.) and then added exploding bananas, all in different styles; acrylic, card, multicoloured... Then he'd created a 'parachuting rat' stencil, and applied them to a black card border on the left of the piece with blue acrylic.
Then there had been Thursday and Friday's work, as well as the excess weekend homework. He'd done some Maths that Mr. Grey had tutored him in- and that had been absurdly long ago! A Spanish grammar worksheet that Alex could easily have done at the age of even eight, a DT worksheet on how to use the Hegner (Some sort of electronic saw thingy...) some R.E work that focused on feelings. Come on! Didn't the world have bigger worries than some brat crying 'cuz their lollipop got stolen? He should know...
Alex glanced at the clock. 6:50PM. He had 10 minutes to get to the mess hall. As for his file and the DVD, training went on for a further 2 hours after dinner break- which was an hour. Alex could just say he had more homework he needed to polish off before he decided to turn in at 10:00.
Wanting to grab a table with Buffalo and Leopard, Alex set off at a sprint.
Tom heard the door slam behind him as he and Ian left the classroom.
"Right, Tom. Now I'll have to get that whole class an OSA 'cause of that!" The spy closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down.
"Tom, who is Yassen? Why was he shot?" Ian couldn't believe that Alex had a long-lost brother. It was a horrible coincidence the guy had been named after an assassin who had shot him... His recovery had been long and painful. Tom seemed taken aback.
"You really don't know?"
"No!"
"Well... It was Yassen Gregorovich, of course!" Ian stared at his nephew's best friend.
"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" Tom bit his lip and glanced around.
"We shouldn't talk about this here. And also, you should probably get the whole school to sign the Official Secrets Act. They'll wonder why Alex Rider's dead Uncle has turned up all of a sudden." Ian internally winced at the title 'Uncle'. The man gritted his teeth and nodded. He had a horrible sinking feeling creeping up his spine about this whole... ordeal.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Speaking of Alex, where is he?"
"Well, the school is going to Brecon Beacons SAS camp next week, but Alex got a suspension so he's there early." This shocked Ian. Alex- suspended? Alex had always displayed exemplary behaviour at school before. Maybe that kid in the classroom was right. Maybe he really had sent Alex off the rails...
"Ian? Ian? Ian!"
"Yeah? Yeah?" Ian was zapped back to earth by Tom shouting in his ear. The boy was staring at him.
"Hello?" Ian sighed. He had been miles away back there. Hastily, fighting back a sense of embarrassment, he went back into business mode.
"Um, yeah. So, I'd better call MI6 and tell them to come over with the papers... You'd better go back to class, and, um, just wait for an assembly or something..."
"Hey Cub, over here!" Buffalo was yelling at Alex, who was gripping a tray of edible Spag Bol. The young agent quickly scanned the mess hall until he caught sight of his two new friends - Wait, friends? That just sounded soppy and implied that they were close. No. What about... Accomplices? Yeah, accomplices. It sounded badass. Anyway, whatever Buffalo and Leopard were, they were gesturing wildly for Alex to join them at a table. As he made his way towards the duo, Alex could feel K-Unit's stares driving into his back. He quickened his pace and sat down.
"What's up with them?" Leopard was muttering to Buffalo as Alex sat down, jerking his head towards K-Unit.
"Oh, they just assumed I was evil and probably- no, definitely- think that you're insane for hanging out with me."
"But come on, Cub, you're the famous teenage superspy!" Gasped Buffalo, who received a shrug in return.
"Whatever. They jumped to a conclusion," said Alex while trying to shovel spaghetti in his mouth.
"Eww, Cub, gross," whinged Leopard, referring to Alex's eating habits, who simply grunted disinterestedly.
"Since when did you become 'Manners Patrol' anyway?" Then Buffalo turned to Alex. "Tell us 'bout some of your adventures, Cub!"
"Yeah, Cub. What was the jellyfish like?" Alex stopped eating and shuddered.
"Physalia Physalis. The Portuguese Man o' War. It's 99% water, has no brains and no anus."
"No way! That one's a real nasty!"
"I guess..." Replied the teen, who was now picking at his food, no matter just how edible it was.
"How did you survive?"
"Smithers' 'Zit Cream'. It becomes corrosive on contact with metal. It'll burn up to eight inches through carbonised steel." Buffalo gave a low whistle. "I used it to destroy the tank. The person watching the whole thing unfold wasn't so lucky..." This earned a very noticeable wince from Leopard.
"All those sting-y things..."
"Yeah..." Alex sighed, "I gotta go, guys. I really don't wanna talk about it right now." Buffalo gave him a sympathetic look.
"Hey, aren't you even finishing your food?"
"Nah. You have it. Or give it to Leopard. Or Eagle- Though he'll probably think it's poisoned. See ya."
Alex trudged off towards the Sarge's hut, almost dreading reading his file and seeing what was on the DVD...
Alan Blunt once again found himself standing in front of Brookland School, except this time there was no Mrs. Jones, but Ian Rider instead. He sighed inwardly. He had thought that Rider's identity would be perfectly safe; after all, he even had a wig and contacts! MI6 issue as well! But the friend of Alex Rider... Tom Harris, yes, that was it, had still managed to recognise him.
Blunt had sent Ian off on a sudden assignment with SCORPIA, claiming the mission to be extremely hard. It wasn't; just a routine scan. However, he needed to get the man away so that Alex Rider wouldn't find out that his Uncle was alive; he needed to persuade the school not to tell the young spy without Ian knowing. He really didn't need a teenage boy trashing his office right now. Or a grown man, for that matter.
He stepped up and cleared his throat.
"Right, children. If you were in the Year 11 fourth period History class with Mr. Shermann, you will know that we sent in an agent to talk about the history of spying. That agent was Ian Rider," Blunt ignored the shocked gasps and disbelieving looks traded across the hall. "Uncle of Alex Rider, allegedly killed in a car crash. He was actually shot, but managed to survive. It is crucial that no-one knows that he is alive. One leak could be his death. Could I also ask you not to inform Mr. Rider, as if he has not signed the Official Secrets Act. Furthermore, if you break the contract, you could be put to Court and quite possibly... Shot."
"We are moving the departure to Brecon Beacons to tomorrow morning, rather than next week. Even if you do not want to come, you will. If you do not, you could quite possibly be targeted and killed by international criminal organisations; maybe even tortured."
One boy timidly raised a hand.
"Yes?"
"What will we tell our parents? We've signed the Act, so..."
"The office will circulate a letter claiming that there have been gang troubles all around Chelsea, and Brookland have been lucky enough to accepted by the SAS. It will also clarify that even if they want to send you to a different school, you may still be in danger of being mugged or the like without proper self-defence. Simple karate is not enough against knives."
"Does anyone have anymore concerns?" Mr. Blunt gazed around the hall, but no-one put a hand up or started to talk. "Then that will be all. Thank you."
As soon as the frosty man stalked out of the hall, everyone became alive with excitement. People were boasting that they would take the place by storm and be even better than the SAS men. Yeah, right, scoffed Tom silently. Well, he wouldn't be so naïve and stupid. Then he heard Karpfish plotting:
"... once we get that SAS training, we'll be able to bring down Rider and his little drug circle..." Tom smirked, and had to refrain from chuckling, or worse, giggling. Bring down one of the best secret agents in the world? Dream on, Stinky-Carp. Stinky-Carp was Tom's new name for Ryan Karpfish. Unfortunately, 'Stinky-Carp' saw Tom's smirk.
"What's so funny, Harris?" Tom raised his eyebrows (He couldn't do just one, like Alex, which was pretty annoying. Girls loved it.)
"You. Beat up. Alex. Rider.?"
"Yeah! I will! He can't take down ten of us at once!" He can take down ten grown men at a time.
"First, he's been at the camp longer than you, so he gets one-on-one training. Also, he's a second Dan. Furthermore, if you beat up the nephew of a secret agent, there'll be hell to pay!"
"I'm not scared of anyone," protested 'Stinky-Carp', but his tone faltered slightly halfway through. Even a resurrected Conrad?
"Whatever."
Alexander Johnathan Rider was recruited into MI6 after his uncle Ian Rider died and...
Alex ignored that part; he already knew it, and continued to flick through the file. There was nothing particularly interesting; just recounts of his missions, physical health assessments, age, name, date of birth...
Wait. What was this? Alex tugged out a piece of paper, along with a cluster of photographs. It was a list of all the 'major' people he knew: Jack, Sabina, Ed, Liz, Tom, Jerry... He couldn't believe MI6 had been spying on his friends! Then, looking further down the list, he saw the names of some other people, Ryan Karpfish included. It seemed that MI6 thought that the drug rumours could be a problem.
It wasn't fair! They were looking into his personal life! With his social life and school life, he was furious, but Sabina? His love life? That was crossing the line by about 10 Kilometres!
Then he inspected the photos. Pictures of him with Tom and Jerry as they worked out how to infiltrate Consanto, him with Sab and her family in Scotland, on a rare day when they decided to brave the cold. Him and Jack walking into Pizza Express. Him dodging Ryan's punches and then following Mr Bray... Then he choked and started coughing when he saw the next photo. It was when Sabina had kissed him on the cheek when Jack and her parents hadn't been looking. Dammit. Alex growled and shoved the stuff back into the file.
Hopefully the DVD would be more interesting...
It turned out that the DVD was a little too interesting.
To Alex's horror, the disc started off by showing him being chased by the men on motorbikes in Cornwall, trying to chop him up with cheesewire. He got a horrible knotting feeling in the pit of his stomach. It went on to show his escape from the jellyfish tank and his heroic escape. When it showed him doing his parachute jump into the science museum he gritted his teeth, and then groaned as he shot the PM. Only his finger, but still..! MI6 must have gotten all this stuff from hidden cameras or spy satellites.
From there, it only got worse.
He watched himself dump a barge on the Police Station, and it looked worse than he'd remembered it. Then there was his close encounter with Fiona's friends and the close call with the train. Alex glared at the screen as he watched himself receive blows from Mrs Stellenbosch, though he prided himself on his composure so early into the spy world. The conversation with Grief was subtitled. His heart started beating so fast he was sure everyone could hear it as he watched the escape on the ironing board, then gasped as he watched, wincing, himself fall and catch his head on the barbed wire. Then he went back into the damn place again! A wave of guilt washed over him as he saw Wolf take bullets for him, and had to look away from the explosion that killed Dr Grief.
But the Skeleton Key mission was the worst. Wimbledon, Cornwall, the shark... The crusher. This clip even had sound! God, he was yelling in shameful hysterics! Terror gripped him as he remembered those moments. His feet had been millimetres to being flattened! Then there was the whole issue with the heartbeat sensor, in sound. Then there was the whole deal with the Owen figure, the security guard, and the fight with Conrad. But the last thing struck him the hardest. It was subtitled: He watched as a corrupted, yet more innocent Alex Rider pulled out the card and threw it into the water. Then he gagged, hyperventilating, as Sarov shot himself.
The video moved on. The bullfight, Sabina, Air Force One, Consanto, SCORPIA, trying to kill Mrs Jones, the hot air balloon, Kaspar and his henchmen, the rocket, Ash, the Bora Falls, Dragon Nine, Greenfields, the crocodiles, the Simba dam...
And Julius Grief. He couldn't look away, he couldn't reach for the remote to turn off the DVD, couldn't move. He could only watch as he again went through the torture Razim had subjected him to, remembered the hollow despair when he had believed Jack dead. No, no, NO! He broke out of his trance when it was over, and fumbled for the off switch on the remote...
But not before he saw himself shoot Julius Grief.
Does Alex find out about Ian? And how? What do K-Unit have in store for him? How will his class treat him? Does Ian find out that Alex is a spy?
That's all for now! I will come back, but only after REVIEWS! Do you realise how long it takes me to write chapters? (Not wanting to sound like a whiner, though... I could just decide not to write them...) Anyways, I want reviews! Please? *grossly terrible try at puppy dog eyes*