*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Targets
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Alex is my turn!" Justin yelled. "Well, too bad!" Alex countered.
Yes, it was typical day at the Russo household, the usual bickering between siblings on a Saturday afternoon with Max watching on the sidelines. He watched with amusement on one of the small couches as Alex and Justin were fighting over the remote.
"Alex you have been hugging the T.V all day!" Justin said trying to get the remote from his sister.
"No I haven't!" Alex argued while holding the control behind her to keep it away from him.
"You've been here since morning." Justin tried to get the remote from around her.
"Aren't you suppose to watch your geek show at you friend's house." She said changing the subject.
"Something came up and he couldn't make it." Alex quickly went behind the couch after evading Justin.
"Don't tell me he got a date. Maybe he's not as much of a geek as you." Alex taunted.
"Weren't you supposed to hang out with Harper today?" Now Justin changing the subject.
"She forgot she had a dentist appointment." Justin and Max cringed. Alex knew that he didn't like the dentist.
Both Justin and Alex stopped arguing when they saw movement on the couch between them. J.R opened his eyes and stared at them. He was having a peaceful sleep on the large couch, something that doesn't happen that often, and then he started hearing their yelling. Apparently they didn't care that he was sleeping.
"What are you both arguing about now?" J.R asked with his emotionless voice. Now to anyone that tone of voice would shut anyone up, but to everyone that lived there it didn't really affect.
"Well, Alex thinks she is queen of the castle and is hugging the remote." Justin said with an accusing stare at Alex.
"Correction daddy's little princess." Justin rolled his eyes.
"What time is it?" J.R said sitting up and burying his face on his hands.
"Around two." Max said.
"What time did you get home last night?" Justin said sitting down next to him.
"I bet he was parting all night?" Alex said sitting on his other side.
"I don't think J.R is the type for that sort of thing." Justin said.
"I don't know I bet you have all kinds of girls chasing after you. I know if I was older I would." Alex said smiling at him. A small smirk grew under his hands.
"Alex, I think he could do better." Justin said with a smirk. Alex rolled her eyes.
"J.R, where do you go? You always go out late like three times a week." Max said taking his eyes off the screen. Alex and Justin also looked at J.R.
Every week J.R has been going out late like Max said. All three of them have been trying to have him tell where he goes. Even Jerry and Theresa have tried a couple times, but failed. He just wouldn't give them an answer. They all hope that he will eventually tell them.
"I better get to work." J.R stood and went down the stairs, ignoring the subject again, which made all three of them sigh.
Justin remembered he was fighting for the remote, but didn't have the energy anymore so he let Alex have it.
"Hey you guys." Max said trying to get their attention. Justin and Alex looked at him.
"I been wondering about the last lesson we had."
"What about it?" Alex asked.
"I wonder what it would be to meet one of those wizards."
Flashback
"The last thing for today's lesson is Responsibility and Magic." This made Max and Alex groan.
"Dad, we already went through this." Alex said in tired voice.
"No Alex this is different." Jerry said, but Alex looked very skeptical.
"Like I said before magic can be used for good and bad as Alex has shown us from time to time." Jerry said looking at Alex.
Alex tried to look innocent.
"But as much mischief Alex causes with magic…" Jerry paused looking uncomfortable. Now this got Alex and Max's attention. "there are worse." He finished.
"What do you mean by worse?" Justin asked.
"You three most understand that to others magic isn't just about having fun and breaking a few rules." Jerry began sounding completely serious. "As you know magic can be used in many ways, but unfortunately that means that it can be used…badly." The last part Jerry didn't know how to say so they could understand.
"What do you mean?" Max asked not quite getting it.
"Let's put it this way. Magic in the right hands can be used for good like helping others or just doing magic to have some innocent fun, but in the wrong hands it can cause terrible things."
"What kind of people would do that?" Alex asked for once actually being serious.
"As you know magic is power and too much power can easily corrupt someone. Wizards that treasure their magic above all else are greedy and would do anything to keep it. If they were to lose their magic against their siblings, there is no telling the lengths they would go to keep it."
"You mean they would…" Justin started.
"Yes they would go as far as killing and much more."
"Have you ever met a wizard like that?" Max asked.
Jerry sighed. "Yes, unfortunately I have."
"These wizards are never satisfied with their magic are they." Justin said knowing the logical answer.
"No they always want more, but I'm not saying that they all want power for the same reasons." Jerry explained.
"What reasons would there be?" Alex asked.
"There could be many reasons. They wish to reach a goal, to obtain something-"
"Those don't sound like bad reasons." Alex said.
"There not as long as you don't harm anyone in the process." Jerry clarified.
"Does that mean that every powerful wizard is like that?" Max asked.
"No Max, if that were true then there wouldn't be wizards like Professor Crumbs." Justin answered.
"The average wizard after keeping their powers, don't need to get stronger unless they want to make something of their powers and keep order by helping to prevent things like that to happen. Or they would become stronger for their own gain." Jerry finished explaining.
The three Russo kids sat quietly trying to absorb what they just learned.
"I think that's all for today." Jerry said ready to leave. Max and Alex nodded standing up.
"Wait."
They all stared at Justin.
"What is it Justin?" Jerry asked.
"How would these wizards learn to become so strong?" Justin didn't think their parents would teach them that. Jerry looked at Justin knowing what was going on his head. "They would simply do what you do Justin."
The three kids looked at him strangely.
"What do you mean?"
"Find books and learn from them or they could just find someone who doesn't ask too many questions and ask them to teach them."
Flashback
"I guess it would be kind of cool." Alex said thinking about it.
"No it wouldn't. It would be dangerous." Justin said giving Alex a look. Alex jus ignore his stare, but even she knew it was true.
"But I guess it would also be kind of scary." Alex continued.
Justin's face soften, glad that Alex understood. He wouldn't want anyone from his family near a person like that.
"What do you think Max?" Justin asked looking at him.
"To me it would matter the reasons they would have. It really depends on what they were doing it for." Alex and Justin looked at him like had grown a second head. Who knew Max could give a thoughtful answer. This was very rare moment.
"Well, I'm hungry. I think I'm going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Max said going to the kitchen.
And the moment was gone.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Inside a closed conference room there were a number of people sitting around a large table.
"Is everything going according to plan?" The man at the end of the table asked. He had short dark brown hair with brown eyes. It looked like he was in his early forties.
"Yes Mr. Harsen you can put you're worries at ease." The man at the other end of the table said. He had dark red-brownish hair and green eyes.
"You didn't have to bring you're entire team with you." The man continued, referring to the men sitting at the two sides of the table. "When there is business to be done they come with me, unless it's absolutely necessary." Harsen said in a hard tone.
"I guess this doesn't apply."
"No."
"Have you chosen a location yet Malson?" Mr. Harsen asked using his last name.
"I have actually." Malson said giving a folder to the man sitting near him to pass around.
"In that folder you can find photos of the building from the inside and out. I picked the luxurious hotel Waldorf-Astoria here in New York. And as you can see it has a very nice ballroom." He said with arrogant smile.
"I have already made reservations and the guest list is on the making."
"Why a party wouldn't it be easier to just do this quietly?" Harsen asked.
"Why kill five birds with one stone when I can kill hundreds." Malson said with a smirk.
"Who are all these people?"
"Just competitors in the same line of business as me." Harsen was asking a lot of questions and Malson picked on that. "Why are you asking so many questions are you worried?" Malson said raising an eyebrow.
"There are a large number of targets here that's all."
"I most admit most of these people are just bonuses."
"Yes, you said that your original targets were the Russo family. I don't see how these people are threat to someone like you." Harsen said finishing looking at the folder.
"It's not that they are a threat, but what I will gain." He said with a huge smile.
"Alright, tell us the real reason why we're here." Harsen said.
"You're still as sharp as always I see." Malson said smirking. "You're right I didn't call you just to look at some pictures."
"Does it have to do with the break in you had three months ago?"
"Yes I've been wondering how that's been going. Have you found out anything?" Malson asked.
"From the little data we gathered from the security cameras we could only identify the black coat the intruder was wearing. We couldn't gather any facial recognition." Harsen responded.
"So you got nothing." Malson said clearly not happy with this.
"Not entirely, from some of my contacts, I have heard that they have seen someone like that around. It seems he likes to come out at night a couple of times a week and roam around, but we are not sure if he's alone. My contacts have claimed to have seen some dark figures with him that can't be identified so we don't know who or what they are, but it seems they are not in friendly terms with our mysterious friend." Harsen explained.
"What have you done about this then?" Malson said after taking in all the information he just received.
"I have been sending some of my men on a chopper every night scouting for him."
"That's it." Malson said an angry voice.
"That's all we can do with the little information we have." Harsen said calmly.
After thinking about it Malson thought it was reasonable, but that didn't mean he liked it. "Fine, this meeting is over." He said standing up.
"What do you want us to do with him once we find him?" Harsen quickly asked.
"Get rid of him." He said.
"You don't want us to bring him to you?"
"No, there is no need to dwell on him that much." Malson responded leaving.
"He's afraid of him." One of the men said sounding amused.
"What did you expect? The guy practically walked in and effortlessly came into his office." Another one responded.
Harsen didn't say anything, but he agreed. Declan Malson a man who didn't let anyone step on him, who had plenty of money, and crushed every enemy he had that got on his way was…afraid.
Just for the record the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria is real and is in New York. Just saying for the once that don't know about it.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year!