Disclaimer: -After a particular review I received, I thought it would be a good idea to note this. Most of my Martial arts facts are correct, but I do admit for the sake of the story I had to exaggerate the notches, To be a full Master Dan, You'd have to have 9 red notches, or 4 yellow stripes at the end (and a black belt!) to represent that BUT it depends where you gained the rank. The colours of the robe are true. And so are the 5 Ranks, just the notches are exaggerated, if you want me to change that, then please state that in your review and if I get enough requests, ill keep it in mind to change it. Thank you for bearing with me, my reviewers! P.S. To be a full Master Dan at the age of 14, you would have to start at the age of two, me myself, I'm a First (almost Second) Dan, but I definitely didn't start at the age of two!! And I am not 20 yet, there's a hint to my age for those who are wondering! And I didn't put my age on my profile for a reason, so mwah! AND (F)ARAH – Techie24 -, IF YOU ARE READING THIS DO NOT SAY ANYTHING! XD
BTW: - Because of Matthew's nationality (and I just realized I so stupidly forgot to add a description of Matthew to Chapter 1, sorry!) His name, Matthew Ballérino Vîctor, is pronounced – (MATT-TEE-YEW) (BA-LAY-REE-NO) (VEEK-TOR)
Note that 'Matthew' Is NOT pronounced – (MATT–THEE–YOU) like the English way.
(Bold + Underlined + italicized means strong pronunciation)
(Bold means say it as you see it)
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Polls!
Because of a few reviews, I am now hosting a poll! I hope it's successful XD. Some of the poll reviews didn't specify what they thought would be good, so I've made one myself
Poll question: - Do you want Alex and/or Matthew to meet a girl:
During the story and like her?
Who is involved with the mission they were assigned to?
And be thrown into a love triangle and cause mayhem?
Or not meet the girl at all?
Your choice!
PLACE YOUR ANSWER CLEARLY IN REVIEW!
(Clue to story, the girl does NOT include Sabrina)
Thanks!
CiaoHappy Reading & Reviewing! XD
Wow…that was a long disclaimer…
Chapter 2 Malice
As Alex stood back outside Blunt's office, back in his normal clothes and feeling the familiar feel or the weapons pressing against his skin, who apparently seemed to be politely waiting for his partner Matthew to show his scrawny face, he had a strange feeling come over him. The same strange feeling he got when he arrived at school the morning. Something bad is going to happen and soon. As soon as he was mulling over his thoughts, just on the edge of his vision, Matthew's body appeared, and for the first time Alex looked at him, really looked at him. He drank in his partner's appearance like a sponge and stored it into his brain for later use.
After a little while, Alex found out, much to Matthew's dismay, by reading his file given to him by Jude just after combat training, that he was actually half French and half German. His mother was French nurse, and his father was German mercenary. The two met in a hospital when Matthew's mother, Hèlda Ballérino Daàd, was the nurse treating Matthew's father, Aldo Van Victor, who had a gunshot wound to the chest. They had Matthew 2 years later on August 16 1991. Matthew's family was a large one, also rich because of Aldo's success in the war. They moved to England in 1997 hoping for some peace in quiet away from the civil war that was happening in Germany, that wish was granted at once. Matthew had 3 sisters, and 2 bothers. Being the eldest, he was supposed to be the smartest and the one they could count on all the time.
No wonder he was such an outright snob sometimes.
When Matthew was 9, his parents, and 2 of his sisters were murdered, right in front of his eyes. Their family was happily lounging in the living room when 3-armed men appeared at their door in casual clothes. They were armed with AKA-47's and before his family could react over their shock, the men lifted their guns and let out a spray of bullets at his parents. His sisters were caught in the crossfire. Fortunately for Matthew, Aldo seemed to expect the attack, and so it was declared, in his will that he wrote 4 days before the attack, that Matthew was to gain the land, house and money stored as a trust fund in the bank when he was 16. His 4 brothers and his sisters, or sister, were to have each 3 million Euros.
Matthew was now 16, and to his delight, he gained the land almost immediately. That was when MI6 got involved. Apparently, according to a reliable source, Matthew's dad, Aldo, was a mercenary warlord who sold high-powered guns after his retirement, that was why they were so rich, and at the consent of his sister and 2 of his brothers, MI6 stormed a plot of land that Aldo owned but did not give to Matthew.
They found nothing but dust. Outraged, and humiliated, MI6 secretly watched, analyzed and researched Matthew for 3 months. But that was until Matthew found out that the other 2 of his brothers were involved in selling drugs and money laundering. Betrayed, Matthew sought MI6 out, presented his proposal that if they helped him, he would help them. Of course, MI6 accepted almost immediately, it was like Christmas had come early for them. They trained him for 2 months, but Matthew never got to go on any missions, due do his lack of experience and importance to their investigations on his family, and Blunt just had to come up with the clever idea of partnering Matthew up with their 'best success and agent' Rider. Upon hearing this, Matthew trained harder to beat this 'Rider' and become the best instead, and he was so sure he had accomplished that, until Alex came.
Alex guessed that Matthew hadn't expected him to be like he was, well not as deadly and tempered. He guessed that Matthew had been expecting someone who was good, but not damn right excellent, someone who was just above average, but overly praised because he was the only child in MI6. What Matthew didn't expect at all was someone who could kill in a heartbeat, and someone who could kick his ass to Tim-buck-two.
Assessing Matthew's looks, Alex smirked. Matthew had wavy brown hair that was neatly trimmed to his ears, its sides slightly grazing over his high, angled cheekbones. He had a squared, dimpled jaw, golden-flecked hazel eyes, and a splash over freckles that covered the top of his cheeks and his angular small nose, which was now broken because due to Alex accidentally ramming his elbow into his face, just after Matthew tripped Alex up in combat training.
Boy, was that a mess to clear up.
Matthew had small ears, and a slightly oval face. He was 6ft"1, ½ a centimeter taller than Alex, and unlike Alex, he used his height as an advantage to easily intimidate those who were smaller. That definitely didn't work on Alex. Matthew was extremely thin for his age, because of his fast metabolism, and because of this, it was extremely hard for him to gain any intimidating muscles like Alex, so he had none at all. Matthew has long legs, built for running, and long arms and fingers build for swimming and lifting. Matthew was strong, Alex had to admit, but he wasn't quick.
When Matthew smiled, just by looking at his face, Alex knew exactly what type of smile it was. When it was a true smile, 2 dimples would appear, one on each cheek, and his eyes would flash with a green hue. When it was a smirk, the dimples would appear again, but instead of a green hue, 2 frown lines would just appear below the hairline on his forehead. And when Matthew fake-smiled, the dimples would appear, but nothing else would happen to his face, like a stone statue. So far, the only time Alex had seen Matthew truly smile in the presence anywhere near him was when Jude praised him for clipping Alex's ear during a fight.
Alex knew he only did that to make Matthew stop moaning.
But when Alex finished assessing Matthew, he frowned. It was not because of the fact that he was thinking of Matthew, and all thoughts of Matthew are bad. It was because of the fact that this thought of Matthew was particularly worrying. Something wasn't quite right about him. It was something to do with his movements. He movements were just too…sluggish, and his reflexes were just too…slow. There was something missing, something to give the boy the extra 'oomph' to be even close to a reasonably average spy. Alex knew because as far as he knew, his entire generation, and the 3 before that, of his family were all spies, and he knew Matthew was missing that vital piece to the puzzle that may save his life during a mission. That's if he survives this one though.
Alex learned all of this within 40 minutes, and for a moment, Alex felt sorry for the boy. After all, he had never seen his father and uncle die with his own eyes. He just had to extract the truth form others, almost get crushed by a crane, and then very nearly get killed by terrorist organizations. The only reason why he was still alive was because of ½ a centimeter. Shocker.
When Alex finally realized that he was staring at the boy, it was too late to stop Matthew from smacking him around the head. "My looks too godly for your eyes?" he sneered, snickering at Alex's raised eyebrow. Alex looked Matthew in the eyes, 'looking through the window to his soul'. Slightly anxious, Matthew turned away from him looked at the nearest bench and sat down, sighing rather loudly. 'He's someone who doesn't like to be on his feet…' Alex noted to himself. He had a hunch that in the next few minutes Matthew would start fidgeting. It wasn't even a minute before Matthew began to whistle to himself. Then when a full minute passed Matthew sighed loudly again. 'He's restless and impatient…' Alex noted again, smirking at Matthew's slumped figure. Just when Alex was sure Matthew was going to jump up and scream 'this is so boring!' Blunt's secretary buzzed them in saying 'Mr. Blunt will see you now'. Alex, pushing himself off the grey, dull wall from which he was leaning on, walked confidently to Blunt's office and let himself in. About a second later, Matthew rushed in, almost knocking over Alex in his eager haste to receive his mission. Alex, on the subject of the mission, really didn't care, he was in fact, a little more apprehensive or receiving it, afraid of the fact that this one would get an innocent killed, instead of wondering whether or not it would get him killed. Matthew, Alex guessed, was probably thinking along the lines of 'oh wow, my first mission, now I get to prove myself!' The distinct smell of peppermint broke through Alex's thoughts, interrupting them. He looked up to see Mrs. Jones standing by Mr. Blunt, cringing at the acrid smell, Alex turned away and thought, 'Does she live in this office or something? And what is with the peppermint already!' Taking a step back, Alex braved to look back and smell the disgusting smell of peppermint emanating from Mrs. Jones.
"Rider, Vîctor, sit down," Blunt said to both of them, although he did slightly stress Alex's last name. Matthew didn't notice, but Mrs. Jones and Alex did. Alex raised an eyebrow, but Mrs. Jones Simply flicked her eyes in concern towards Blunt for a brief second, and then looked away. Matthew of course, upon hearing the command, shot straight from the door to the office seat in front of Blunt's desk, and Alex could've sworn that he saw a flicker or satisfaction in Blunt's face before it was gone.
"I'd rather stand," Alex retorted, in a slightly rude manner. Unfazed, Blunt replied, "I said sit down." Alex slightly annoyed with the fact that Blunt thought he could kick Alex around any time he chose, Alex stubbornly refused. "And what ever happened to please? Since I thought that such and educated gentlemen such as yourself would have the vocabulary to say it? No? Well, that's disappointing…" Seeing the amused face of Mrs. Jones, and the absolute horror struck face of his partner Matthew, Alex had to stop before he's burst out laughing. Blunt, showing a little emotion of irritation sighed, "Fine, Rider may you sit down…"And after thinking about it he added, "Please" Alex was sorely tempted to say no again, but Mrs. Jones slightly shook her head and nodded towards Blunts figure. Satisfied, Alex sat down much to Blunts relief, and so the irritation disappeared from his face. Alex made himself comfortable, and both he and Matthew waited in silence, Matthew who was incredibly eager to receive his first mission, was leaning forward slightly, emphasizing his excitement a tenth fold, as if to catch onto every word that came out of Mrs. Jones and Blunt's mouth.
"This mission we are about to give you," Mrs. Jones said, after a relatively long enough silence, "Is a mission, that is not really a mission…" seeing Matthew's face fall in disappointment, both Alex and Blunt raised and eyebrow, blunt continuing to observe Matthew's reactions, but letting Mrs. Jones continue, "…it's more like a test, an evaluation test. In fact Alex, this test doesn't even apply to you because…"
"Because I've already done it?" Alex finished for her, smirking at Matthew's face change from eager, to disappointed, to self satisfied, and then finally to out right glare directed his way, while very acutely remembering the flag pole incident where Alex tried, and succeeded, to get into his dead uncle's office, totally unaware that a camera from the parallel hallway was watching his progress the entire time. If fact, Mrs. Jones even called him mad, and now that he thought about it, Alex was pretty sure that is was the same camera he disconnected today. Smiling at the memory, Alex returned his thoughts back to the conversation that was relaying itself before him.
"Vîctor," Blunt said, making Matthew slightly blanch because he had pronounced his name horribly wrong, "your evaluation test is simply this. We are going to have you transferred to Rider's school, and as quickly as possible, you have to make friends, and not, I repeat not tell you friends your position here in MI6 and absolutely not cause a scene. Is that easy enough?" Matthew smiled, smiled a fake smile.
"Oh, of course," he said with a sickly sweet tone, "why, it's child's play…"Matthew said the sentence like it was some sort of garbage can coming out of his mouth, his face was twisted with disappointment and disgust. Spotting this, Blunt turned to Mrs. Jones and she to him, as if starting an invisible conversation with their eyes. At what seemed to be the end of the conversation, Blunt nodded and had a meaningful look in his eye, one that Alex couldn't read, but Mrs. Jones frowned and looked concerned, slightly shaking her head. Alex, noticing the exchange, also frowned, and noted to himself to remember the looks they gave each other for later use. Turning their attention back to Matthew and Alex, Blunt's gaze flicked over Alex quickly, his eyes again showing no emotion, before looking away and resting his eyes on Matthew.
"Rider," Blunt said, not taking his gaze off Matthew, "you may wait for Vîctor downstairs, you are no longer needed here" Unfazed, Alex nodded, stood up, and walked out the door, surprising Both Matthew and Blunt. Mrs. Jones didn't seem to notice, because apparently she was too bust staring into space thinking hard about something. Outside, Alex didn't think that it was worth it eavesdropping on the conversation that was about to take place in Blunt's office, between Blunt, Matthew and Mrs. Jones. If they wanted to evaluate Matthew, let them, if they wanted to test him on his own, let them, but if they wanted to test Matthew against Alex, let them, Alex didn't want to eavesdrop, because he would know what to expect, and that would be cheating. Alex didn't like to cheat, and right now, he wanted to test himself.
As Alex walked into the elevator and pressed 'G', he had absolutely no idea how close he was to guessing the real subject of that conversation…
A wave of pure satisfaction swept over Matthew as he watched Rider leave Mr. Blunt's office. Gingerly, Matthew touched his broken nose in memory of the incident during combat practice, and honestly when he tripped him up, he didn't think Rider would be so ruthless. While he was frowning at Rider's retreating figure, and touching his nose, thinking that he had finally out done the notorious Alex Rider, Matthew didn't realize that beside him, Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones were staring at him. The 2 MI6 heads both thinking the same thing, 'is he really good enough?' But even they knew that only a handful of people could out-do Alex Rider when it comes to his best talent: Spying.
When Matthew pushed all his thoughts away form Rider and turned towards Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones, he was quite surprised. Yes, he respected Mr. Blunt, so unlike Rider, but he wasn't used to seeing emotion on the man's face. Mr. Blunt was staring at Matthew with a face of irritation and confusion, but seeing Matthew looking, he quickly fixed his face. Looking towards Mrs. Jones, seeking comfort and reassurance, but instead, he got neither. Mrs. Jones' face was that of a look that was not her own her face was that of Mr. Blunts, blank, cold and emotionless. Nervously, Matthew began to unconsciously flick his eyes back and forth between the pair. Noticing this, Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones shared a look before both resting their gaze on him. For a split second, Matthew wondered whether or not Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones were involved, but that thought was quickly forgotten when Mr. Blunt looked like he was ready to speak. All of that eagerness that was lying patiently in wait was back again, at full force.
"Vîctor," Mr. Blunt began, licking his lips in anxiety, Matthew leaned forward, and "your evaluation is the school, however, your test is Rider." The confused feelings Matthew was feeling must've shown on his face and said it all, so Mr. Blunt continued, "We, I, would like you to infiltrate Rider's house, access his room, and gain any, useful information about his personal life." When Mr. Blunt said this last sentence his gaze seemed to flick towards his office door, but whatever he thought he must've seen there wasn't there, so he relaxed and switched his gaze back to the perplexed face of Matthew.
"Why?" Matthew dared to ask, genuinely interested, after all, its not every day that you get to work for MI6 and get permission to raid their best operative's, as well as your most hated rival, house.
"That's classified and on a need to know basis," Mr. Blunt snapped, almost scaring the pants off Matthew, "and you don't need to know the reason, you need to do it, understand?" Hastily, Matthew nodded his head, keen to prove himself better than Rider, satisfied, Mr. Blunt handed Matthew an extremely large file. "That is Rider's file," Mr. Blunt stated, as if to answer Matthew's silent question. "His entire life is in that file. You lose it you die. I want you to revise, and summarize that file by 06:00 hours tomorrow morning…."
"In 6ix hours?" Matthew screeched incredulously, after quickly checking his watch. "How am going to be able to do all of this," Gesturing to the large file in his hands, "In six hours? What, has he lived for hundreds of years or something?" Slightly irritated, Mr. Blunt sighed, "We have given you all you need to complete this mission…" but before Mr. Blunt could finish, Mrs. Jones quickly cut in, "in fact, I think Alex had even less things than this, I don't remember giving him anything at all…"
"All right I'll do it!" Matthew cried jumping up from his seat on the couch, slightly wincing how cramped his legs were. He was dismayed that Alex got less than he did and still passed the test, with no MI6 training! "You'll have this file on you desk by tomorrow morning." Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones looked extremely self-satisfied. "You may go" Mr. Blunt said, nodding his head in dismissal. Turning on his heel with one last look at the pair, Matthew brusquely walked towards the door, opened it, and then without a thought, closed the door behind him, thinking about Rider and his 'mission' as he descended in the lift towards his partner.
Meanwhile, unknown to the two teenagers, back in the office, Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones were currently joined in a very heated discussion, "we shouldn't use Alex as bait like that!" Mrs. Jones said, taking out a peppermint and sucking on it lightly, "it's not right!"
"Everything we do with him isn't right!" Mr. Blunt replied with equal fervor, "but think about it, if this boy succeeds, we will have an operative that is better than Rider, who is obedient to all of us, as well as black mail Rider if we need to use him…
"The only reason Alex is insolent is because of that!" Mrs. Jones screeched, "you use him, he saves the world, he wants something in return, and instead you use him again!" Shocked at his partner's words Mr. Blunt shook his head. "This conversation is over. We have nothing to talk about, leave." Glaring, Mrs. Jones turned her back and just before she walked out the door, she stopped. "And besides, you and I both know that boy will never be better than Alex, no matter how good he seems to be, he'll never be better…" she sneered over shoulder, and proceeded to walk out the door, leaving blunt with a look of regret no one had ever seen on his face, not even her….
When Alex saw Matthew finally step out of the elevator after his 'meeting' with Blunt and Mrs. Jones, he seemed really deep in thought. His forehead was creased and he was studying a thick file that was in his hands, so closely, that he almost smacked right into Alex. At the last second, Matthew looked up saw Alex, skidded to a halt, and snapped the file shut with a loud 'BANG'. Arching an eyebrow, Alex quizzically looked pointedly at the file, but dismissed it with an approving nod. Taken aback, Matthew widened his eyes in disbelief, but really looked more relieved than ever.
"You have to learn how to cover your emotions," Alex said softly, not out of spite, but so that when and if they were on an important mission, he wouldn't screw it and get them both killed. Seeing Matthew about to angrily retort, Alex put his hand up to stop him. "Look," Alex said as calmly as possible, looking Matthew in the eye and allowing the boy to read him for a split second, that's if the boy could read him. "I'm just trying to help, for both our sakes. I don't want to baby-sit you through all of the missions we will be put on, and your blood on my hands," and after a thought, Alex reverted back to his resentful ways, "because let's face it, we are going to be partners, and if you don't fix up your act soon, you are going to get us both killed, and I really would like to live a few more years in my life." And so, leaving it at that, Alex swiveled on his heel, exiting the area and leaving Matthew with his mouth wide open like a gaping fish, in shock at the sudden attitude change towards him.
When Alex walked to the tube station, alone, he felt slightly depressed. He could never trust anyone, not even his best friend tom, and Sabrina wasn't even here to keep him from going mental. She was his anchor, and now she was gone. Now, he had an annoying little obnoxious snob for a partner, who is going to the same school as him, who has the habit of trying to make his life, which is already unbearable enough as it is, hell. Silently, Alex raged inside, blaming blunt for all his problems and driving away Sabrina, blaming Mrs. Jones for helping and not stopping blunt from making his life miserable, and finally, blaming Matthew for being such an arrogant ass. Just as that thought settled into his brain, Matthew had the nerve to show his face, enraging Alex to his limit. If Matthew said something wrong now, then all those emotions Alex had bottled up inside him would explode and be directed right at Matthew. Looking up, Matthew gulped in fear, seeing Alex's silent rage.
"Uh…uh…uh," He stuttered, making Alex's eye twitch in irritation. "C…c…c…can I come h…home and s…s…stay w…with you? B…b…b…because I have no where else t…t…to stay…" He asked, surprising, but not cooling Alex down.
"Yes," Alex said through his clenched teeth. It looked like Matthew wanted to say more, but fortunately for him, decided against it. Looking at the boy, feeling slightly pitiful, Alex grunted, secretly wishing for the day to end.
At 18:00, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, Alex and Matthew had arrived, form a long ride, and walk from the tube, to Alex's front doorstep. By then, Alex had cooled down and was now wearing the usual mask of intimidating calmness Alex had adapted to recently. Neither Matthew nor Alex had spoken a word to each other since entering the tube, and both were content on keeping that way. Alex knew the key to partnerships and teamwork was communication, but his pride came in the way, so he let it lie. That was until Jack opened the door looking absolutely unusually miserable and exhausted. The Jack, who is normally happy and chipper, and Alex the miserable one, was usually trying to cheer Alex up with her jokes. Seeing this, Alex's mask slightly slipped, and his face was laced with concern and suspicion. Matthew, who had finally looked up from the file he was reading, had a mild look of surprise and thoughtfulness, added with a glint to his eye whilst looking at Jack's face. Jack, as if sensing Alex's feelings tried, and failed, to give Alex a half-hearted smile, so instead, she opted for raising her hand and smacking Alex on the head. Hard.
"Stop being such a twerp," She scolded, "And stop being so suspicious all the time!" Switching her attention to Matthew, who was beside him, Jack immediately perked up, making Alex slightly sad. "Oh? A visitor?" she asked with a slightly disbelieving tone that was undetected by Matthew, who was still staring at her.
"He's my new partner, Matthew," Alex said, spitting each world out like it was poison. "And he needs a place to stay." Alex rolled his eyes with disdain for the boy, sudden bitterness, that even surprised Alex himself, rose up from no where and engulfing Alex. His stance clearly stating, 'I do not like him and I do not want him to be here.' Jack, who read it in his voice, clearly reading what was in between the lines, slightly frowned at Alex's behavior. Against her better judgment, Jack opened the door wider, allowing them access into the house, studying Matthew closely as he walked passed her. Closing the door after them, Jack brushed passed Matthew to get to the kitchen, interrupting whatever train of thought he was having. Matthew directed a scowl at Jack's back, but quickly stopped when he saw that Alex had caught him and was sending him a lethal death glare.
When Jack called them in to both to have a snack in the kitchen, Alex didn't even bother with household manners like asking Matthew what he would like to eat. He just walked right into the kitchen, grabbed an orange juice carton, a class, a plate, and some bread, and then he exited the area, quickly, and briskly he trudged up the stairs towards his room for some piece and quiet.
Alex thought about today's recent events, about Matthew being so engrossed in the hugely, sickening-to-look-at, file. About the looks that Blunt and Mrs. Jones shared before kicking him out the office. Something was going on, and he just knew it had something to do with both he and Matthew, and Alex was pretty sure that Matthew was already involved and knew exactly what was happening, judging by that file he carried around with him all the time, and that definitely wasn't related to the school evaluation! Alex fought with all his might not to even glance in the direction of the file. Matthew should've known better than to walk around with some huge MI6 file in the open. If Alex wanted to know what he was doing, he would've already found out.
Alex was startles out of his reverie of thought when a knock on the door sounded like a bullet in the night. Sitting up from his lounging stance on the bed, Alex was just about to get up to open the door when to his surprise, and relief that is wasn't Matthew come to irritate the hell out of him, Jack opened the door, stepped in, and closed it quietly behind her. Confused, Alex just looked at her, Jack looked worried and sad as she was looking at Alex's figure and face with an introspective look.
"What happened to you?" she suddenly said, startling Alex with the abruptness of the question. "What changed?" Smiling at the irony that now both his closest friends thought something was wrong with him, Alex just tilted his head sideways in a silent question. "You never used to be like this Alex, even after your missions…"
"What's changed?" Alex drawled cutting in, even though he knew exactly what was coming his way the moment he saw Jack's face grow hot with anger.
"What's changed?" she said, barely keeping in the anger out of her voice, "I'll tell you what's changed Rider, you dress in black! You never crack jokes! Hell I don't even thing you TALK let alone laugh at one! You're solitary, and you carry so many weapons around with you, am surprised you can even lift up your own weight! It's like every time I'm with you, you're like a freaking ticking bomb! About to blow up right in my face! What do you think this is Alex? This is not a James bond movie, and you aren't some 'good hearted assassin' where the good guys always win, this is you LIFE!" Jack screamed, her voice getting louder and louder with every word she spoke, making Alex cringe at he now growing high-pitched voice that was definitely pounding through the house, slightly twitching his hands when she mentioned the weapons. Alex already knew that Matthew was listening to the conversation from downstairs intently. "Something changed in you Alex," Jack said, realizing how loud her voice was, and to Alex's relief, lowered it down. "What happened in your last mission to make you change?"
"My intellect and logic," Alex said quietly, making Jack have to lean in and listen hard to catch the words. He stood up and walked a few short steps to the window beside his bad, turning his back, although not rudely, to his closest friend, and looked wistfully out the window.
"That doesn't answer my question," Jack replied, taking a step forward, totally not seeing that the light outside the door had flickered for a few short moment because a shadow of someone's figure had passed over it. Alex hadn't seen, but he would have heard the person's movement, if not for Jack's question making him think.
"I know," Alex sighed, "I…I know." Turning around, Jack saw Alex's pain filled eyes look at her pleadingly before they looked away. "When I was at Scorpia, when they were training me to become an assassin for them, one of their training techniques was to make me shoot pictures of real people from far away, and make me learn how to mask my emotions and bottle them up." He began, ignoring Jack's gasp when he told her about the 'shooting pictures' event, "I guess that was the beginning of it. Then my friends at school started all these rumors about me being a druggie, they even pulled Tom into it, but I could handle that as well, after all, it's just school, and Sabrina left! When MI6 blackmailed me to do what they want, I was used to it, so I could also handle that, but I kept everything inside me," Alex started pacing around, in quick, short steps. Stopping he looked at Jack and smiled sardonically, his eyes blazing with pure fury, "But then I got into trouble, really, really big trouble where Smithers gadgets could help me and I was going to die if I didn't get out of it. And what does MI6 do? They discard me like a piece of trash! After all that work, saving the world, with no thanks, and I don't even get paid, not that I'm asking for it, they think I'm worthless, but stupid enough to let them use me again. To get out of trouble on my own…I almost killed myself…." Gulping painfully, Alex looked down at his feet, with a sad, defeated look he continued, "Then at Arc Angel, when I was inside the building in space a man tried to kill me. So I had to kill him with a shard of glass and a bullet to the head. I know you're going to say 'it's ok, it was only self defense' but that's just it! It wasn't! I killed him while he was on the floor, bruised and blooded, with his blood all over my hands, I smashed open the glass and let him be sucked through it, taking him into oblivion. That made me snap Jack! I changed because of it! I changed so I could live with out dying inside! I've finally seen the light, my life will never be normal again. Even if I quit MI6, my life and I will never ever be the same again…." Collapsing with exhaustion from the long emotional talk and confession, Alex put his head in his hands. He could hardly feel, let alone hear, Jack's comforting hands and words trying to console him. He was already on a different world a different planet. He was surrounded, by emotions that he had bottled up for so long, drowning him whole. In his head he couldn't think, and he was too numb outside to heed the comfort Jack gave. Out of desperation, Alex frantically searched his mind for something familiar, something he knew wouldn't hurt him, and just as he was about to give up it was there, shining like a beacon or hope for him, yet just a flicker among the rushing emotions. He tried to reach it, but the bonds of the emotions held him back. He could see the emotion dying with each second that past. With a silent roar or rage, Alex cut loose his ties, jumped through the pools of unwanted emotions, and grasped his trophy. Taking hold of it, Alex let the emotion engulf him, taking comfort in it, bathing him in it's light. The emotion overrode all the other unwanted, and unfamiliar emotions with such force it surprised Alex himself. Inside Alex felt its power grow and take hold of his feeling and reasons, twisting them into something else, something dangerous. It took hold of his morals, and destroyed them. He feelings were now the emotion that was taking hold of movements and mind.
The emotion was malice, fury, and pain,
And the emotion destroyed the old Alex rider. The Alex that used a mask of quiet calmness to mask what was inside and hide his weak spots, the Alex that used to laugh with his friends and crack jokes, the Alex that challenged and reasoned everything he knew, using his morals so aid him…the Alex who was human. Instead, it replaced him with something else, something different, something that was the complete opposite of the old Alex rider, something Lethal. This new Rider did not use reasons and morals to live his life, this Alex did not blindly give into blackmail and follow commands at every turn. This Alex rider was fatal.
This Alex Rider was a killing machine.
Author's Note: - Hi all! I hope you readers are still with me! See I TOLD you that this story had nothing to do with Sub Zero, thought I still recommend reading Amatai's stories, their awesome, though most of them or on temporary hiatus. This is IMPORTANT: - I may not be able to update in the next couple of weeks or so (less than 2 months I can assure you!) Because I have really large mid-year exams, (sucks right?) So I have to study really hard. Can't blame me can you? But I wont stop writing the story! But it may take sometime for me to update! Sorry all readers and reviewers that are looking forward to my next chapter, I am too! (Well in writing it)
RECENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: -
Q: - Will Wolf, and the K-unit be in this story?
A: - Im not quite sure yet, im pretty sure the K-unit will make an appearance, but as i progress, i may decide to make them a part of the story, if you want them in the story, please be sure to include that in your review.
WARNING: - Alex in the later chapters will not be the Alex we all know. He will be completely out of character, BUT, in the later chapters, Alex will return back to his old self due to the certain appearance of a certain someone doing certain things to change him. Hope this helps and PLEASE DON'T HATE ME.
Thanks all+ My reviewers
Ciao
Samantha a.k.a. 0.0 Nightriders 0.0
Now push that review buttonXD