Alex ducked as another punch came flying towards his skull. He almost didn’t duck in time. He felt his hair being swept by the near missing fist. Alex gulped and dove out of the way as a foot came flying towards his stomach. But that was his first mistake.

As he escaped the assassin’s foot, another foot smashed into his chest. Alex yelped as he flew into the air and into a metal bar. With a painful clang and thud, he fell on all four limbs onto the mat, gasping for breath. He was already tired, for his strength was slowly leaving him due to the fact he still had not eaten all day. He could feel his whole body shaking with his sugar loss and energy loss…but he had to stay strong no matter what happened. If he didn’t, he would surely die.

Alex saw two pairs of feet coming after him as he sat on the ground. He had to time his next move carefully. The teen spy shot his head up and gave the two men a wicked smile. Yassen knew what that smile meant. He charged forward with Gerald trailing close behind. When he saw this, Alex’s brain kicked into survival mode allowing him to figure an interesting plan.

Alex’s adrenaline spiked; all his energy quickly returned to him. It was time to execute his plan…they were close enough now. Alex jumped up and flipped backwards. His feet found their way onto the metal bar he had just hit, and he propelled himself forward with both fists out. He smiled as he felt his arms impact two faces. Alex tucked in and flipped again before landing on his feet. He smiled and turned back to face his opponents.

“Bring it on,” he laughed.

“Good, Alex. Very good. But let’s see if you can do that again.” Yassen chuckled as he and Gerald pulled themselves off of the floor and into a fighting stance.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Alex did a roundhouse kick and slammed his foot into Gerald’s chest. The big man went flying backwards and landed with a loud thud onto the mat. Yassen growled and charged after the teen. Alex spun out of the way and slammed an elbow into the assassins back. The man fell to the floor but rolled back up almost immediately. Alex smiled.

“Your move, Yassen,” Alex said with a smirk.

“My pleasure.”

But Yassen didn’t even move. Instead, Gerald ran after him. The big man’s fists swung wildly as Alex ducked and blocked all of the deadly punches. But he had forgotten about Yassen…that is, until the assassin’s foot smashed into the teen spy’s back. The force sent Alex sailing into Gerald’s awaiting fist. The teen felt warm blood flow over his chin as his split lip and throbbing nose gushed out the red liquid. The force of the hit left him dazed as he fell to the ground.

A foot gently shoved him back over to his back. Alex shook his head and tried to focus his eyes on whoever it was in front of him. A hand snatched him up by the scruff of his shirt and stood him up. Alex steadied himself and shook his head as he focused his eyes. Yassen stood there with a look of pride on his face. When he finally realized who was in front of him, Alex immediately jumped away from him and into another fighting pose. Yassen just laughed.

“Put your hands down, Alex. It’s over. I’m not going to kill you, yet…” Yassen said with a chuckle. Alex didn’t buy it. He watched Yassen and Gerald, who was in front of him, closely for any signs of treachery.

“Why should I believe you?” Alex snapped, still tensed up.

“Why shouldn’t you? I’ve never killed you before when I’ve had the chance.”

Alex’s mind flashed back to the various missions he and Yassen had crossed paths. The assassin had every chance to kill him, but never did. It had always puzzled Alex, but he hadn’t really thought about it until now.

“You didn’t think I was a threat back then,” Alex argued. “I’m sure you’ve rethought that by now.”

Yassen smiled again. “That is true. You weren’t a huge threat back then. A threat no doubt…but not to me. But I still don’t want to kill you. As I’ve told you before, I don’t kill children.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You’d kill your best friend if he was a threat,” he countered.

Yassen sighed and looked at Alex with a mixture of sadness in his eyes. “I didn’t kill your father, did I?”

Alex gaped at Yassen. He dropped his hands and stared at the assassin. “What did you just say?”

Yassen nodded at Gerald and turned away. Alex saw him do this but did not react. He was still stunned by Yassen’s words. Next thing he knew, three guards had tackled Alex to the floor and were forcing his arms behind his back. Alex struggled to get up, but it was no use. No one would let him up. He caught a glimpse of Cat’s shocked and worried face out of the corner of his eye. Luckily, every one else looked just as stunned as her, or she might have blown her cover. They all stood there unable to believe what they had just seen. A boy had taken on their Master and almost won. It was near impossible…or so they thought.

“STOP!” Alex shouted. The man looked behind him and down at the young boy struggling to get away . “What are you talking about!?” Alex shouted again.

Yassen smiled sadly at the young spy. He walked up to Alex as the guards hoisted him up off of the floor to meet his gaze. “I knew your Father worked for MI-6.” Alex stared at him in stunned silence.

“Wh-what?” Alex stammered.

“Not here,” was all he said before turning and walking towards the exit. Alex watched as the assassin pulled his black cloak and hood back on and walked out of the training room. Alex stood there, stunned and confused.

What had he mean by what he said? He didn’t kill his father? Did that mean that Alex’s dad was Yassen’s friend? Alex denied that it could be true. There was no way his father would have ever let himself get close to someone like that. Would he?

He wouldn’t have, Alex decided. Yassen was just trying to get to him…but still…he wanted to know for sure.

Gerald stepped in front of Alex. “Let’s go.” Alex smiled as he saw that Gerald had a black eye and a bloody nose.

“Oops,” Alex laughed. Gerald shoved the boy out in front of him.

“Walk.” he growled.

As they were leaving, Alex glanced back at the three stunned “students” watching him leave. He winked before turning around and walking out of the room.

Yassen slammed the door to his office and threw himself into a chair. He put his hand on his forehead and began to massage it. He had a major headache. Especially after that fight with Alex. The boy was good. Really good. Perfect for the plans Yassen had for him. But the only problem with that was how to keep the boy in line. The bracelet would only go so far with someone that stubborn. He should know. He was the same way.

Yassen stood up and walked over to his desk. He pulled out a bottle of pills and a bottle of clear liquid that was definitely not water. He shook out two of the pills and popped them in his mouth followed by a swig of the liquid. He sat down heavily in his chair and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. That boy was going to give him a lot of these headaches, that was for sure.

“Sir?” came a small voice from an intercom system hidden under his desk. Yassen lifted his head up and pressed a small button on the underside of his desk.

“Yes,”

“It-it’s Mindy.” she stuttered. Yassen smiled.

“Come in, please.”

The door clicked and slid open after Mindy swiped her card. She stepped into the office. The door slid quietly shut when she was inside. She smiled up at him.

“What is it you want, dear?” he said sweetly. He stared at the young beauty before him. She really was like his own child. As sweet as she could be being a child in some of the situations she had been in before Yassen had taken her under his wing.

“Uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed…upset about something, sir.” she finished nervously.

Yassen smiled at her. “I’m fine.”

“Is it about Cobra?”

Yassen sighed. “In a way, yes.” He took another sip of the clear liquid and looked back at Mindy. “You really are one of my best students, Mindy. I do appreciate you quite a lot.”

Mindy tried hard to hide her huge smile, but she could not. “Thank you, sir,” she said as mildly as she could.

Yassen nodded. “Now, I need you to do me a favor and bring Cobra to dinner with me tonight. Don’t let him escape either. Take Chad and a few other guards with you. Understood?”

Mindy saluted him. “Yes, sir!”

“Thank you. Dismissed.”

Mindy nodded and turned and left. Yassen sighed and leaned his head back again. He needed some time to think about what he would say Alex. The boy had a right to know about what he had said at evaluations. He’d have to break the rest of the news to him gently…if he could…

Alex stood in the cell he had woken up in that morning thinking about what had happened in “evaluations” that day. He couldn’t believe any of it. First, Cat was there and looked very strange yet beautiful in her disguise. Second, Yassen’s news about his father was disturbing him greatly. Alex wiped his still bleeding nose onto his sleeve and sat down on his bed.

“You know,” came a girl’s voice. “you really can get yourself in some interesting situations.”

Alex whipped his head around to see the gothic version of his girlfriend standing at his cell door. He smiled and walked up to her.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered. She gave him an odd look.

“Why are you whispering?” she chuckled.

“Cameras,” he replied.

She rolled her eyes and wiggled her fingers at him. On her right hand was a silver ring with a black stone in the middle…and it was glowing.

“It disrupts the cameras for long enough so that I can do this…”

Cat put her hands through the bars and pulled Alex’s face closer to hers. They shared a magnificent kiss through the cell’s bars. Alex ran his fingers through her newly dyed hair as she did the same to his. They had both missed each other so much. Alex pulled away first, but he kept his hands wrapped around her perfect waist. He didn’t want to let her go. She smiled and put her hand on his face.

“That was…different.” Alex laughed.

“I’ll say.”

Alex glanced at Cat’s appearance and smiled. “That is too.” he said pointing to her lipstick and eyeliner.

“Yeah, I know. I’m not happy about it either.” Cat growled as she looked at her black nails.

“It’s actually pretty cute.” Alex smiled. He saw Cat blush.

“Okay, enough with the cutesy couple stuff,” she giggled. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay…well, besides the obvious split lip.”

“I’m fine. You?”

“Good. Haven’t blown my cover.”

“Good. So how did you get here?”

“Long story. Tell you later. You?”

“Same and same.” Cat nodded. “So, is there any possible way to break me out of here?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

Cat shook her head. “No, not yet. But I have called the CIA. They’ll send someone to help you out eventually. I‘m not supposed to. They don‘t want to risk blowing my cover…” Cat said with an obvious air of disgust.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Go figure. They only care about their own agents. But anyway, I don’t ever rely on any government agencies to help me out of a sticky situation any more. They don’t usually come through so well.” Alex sighed as he remembered all the times he had needed help from an agency in the past, and the countless times they had always let him down.

“Well, plan B would be…figure something out. I can’t help you yet. I’m not exactly in the trustworthy zone yet. I was actually quite surprised that the Master guy let me stay there and see his face. It was a big act of trust on his part.”

Alex gave her a shocked look. “You don’t know who the ‘Master’ is?”

Cat shook her head. “Not yet. But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“Cat, I know him.”

She gave him a shocked look. “You do?”

“Could you not tell that he knew me?”

“I just thought he knew you through your dad or something. I guess I was so shocked at seeing you here, I didn’t make the connection. Sorry. So what’s his name?”

Alex was about to tell her, but he heard the door to the prison room beginning to open. He jerked away from Cat and gave her a wink. “Time to play.” Cat smiled and nodded.

“I’m not giving in, Nissa.” Alex growled as Mindy and Chad walked in. They both blinked at the two glaring teens.

“You’ll never win, so you might as well!” she snapped back.

“I always win.” he said with a snarl.

“Nissa?” Chad chimed in. “What are you doing in here?”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Trying to talk some sense into this hardheaded boy.” She jerked her thumb back in Alex’s direction.

“I’m not giving in…your Master has already caused me enough trouble. I don’t even want to be associated with him!”

“Oh, come off it!” she yelled as she whirled around to face him. She put her face close to his. It took all of Alex’s self-control not to kiss her.

“You first,” he said with a smirk.

Cat rolled her eyes and faced the two other students. “You deal with him. Another minute in here with that, and I’m gonna have to punch someone…namely him!” she shouted before storming out of the room. Chad and Mindy watched as she walked out of the room in a huff.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Americans…what can you do?”

Chad faced him with a scowl set on his face. “Put your hands through the bars.” he ordered.

“Why?” Alex questioned, obviously surprised at the request. What was going on?

“Because he told you to,” Mindy snapped.

“Oh, and that should be enough to convince me?” Alex retorted.

“No,” Chad chuckled. “but this should.” He pulled out the remote to Alex’s bracelet and waved it around.

Alex rolled his eyes but pushed his hands through the bars. A pair of handcuffs were clasped onto his wrists. Chad made sure to lock them nice and tight to Alex’s dismay. A second later, the cell door opened and Chad stepped in followed by Mindy. Without any warning, the older boy slammed Alex’s face up against the bars with his forearm and held him down. Alex winced in pain as his head clanged against the metal bars.

“What the heck are you doing!?” he growled.

“Where is it?” Chad asked calmly while pushing the spy’s head harder into the cell bars.

“Where is what!?” Alex shouted in confusion and anger as he tried to move his head away from the other boy, but he held him down firmly.

“Where is the device you used to mess with the camera, Cobra?” Chad asked him again as he pushed Alex’s face farther into the bars.

“I don’t have one!” Alex’s heart picked up it’s pace as he realized that Cat had left her scrambler on a little too long, and now they had caught on to something being wrong.

“So, are you telling me that the camera’s just messed up on their own accord?” Chad sarcastically asked.

“Sure, why not?” Alex snapped. If he didn’t figure out something to tell them, they’d go after Cat…or crush his head into the bars…whichever came first. The boy tried to think of something to tell them but nothing came to mind. Finally, he figured something out. “Fine! Get off me, and I’ll give it to you!”

Chad waited for a minute before letting go of Alex’s head. “Well?” Mindy asked.

Alex shook his head. “My watch.” That was the only thing the could think of. It was the watch that Jack had given him for his sixteenth birthday, but it would have to do.

Chad unbuckled it off of Alex’s wrist and threw it on the floor before he crushed it into several pieces. Jack’s going to kill me for that, Alex thought to himself.

Chad patted the spy on the head and smiled. “Thanks, kid.” He then reached up and unhooked Alex’s wrists from their holding place. Alex waited until he had let him go before he turned and swung a fist at the older boy. He smiled as he felt the boy’s face under his fist. But as a reward, an intense shockwave jerked throughout his body.

Alex couldn’t stand, because the pain was so intense. He shook all over as he fell to the floor. He tried not to scream, but the pain was to great. It seemed like the torture went on for forever before it finally stopped. Alex was now curled up on the cold floor, his body still twitching ever so often with the left over electricity in his body.

Chad picked Alex up off of the floor and threw him up against the bars again. Alex held onto the cold steel for support for his shaking frame. A pair of strong hands held him up as another set cuffed his wrists behind his back again. The two students pulled the weakened spy away from the cell and shackled his feet. Alex looked down.

“That’s new,” he commented in a whisper.

“We don’t want to take anymore chances where you’re concerned.” Mindy said as she pushed him into two guards who had just entered the room.

“I’m flattered,” he said sarcastically. Alex looked up at the two guards then back at the students.

“Where are we going?” he questioned.

“To the Master.” Chad answered bluntly.

Alex glared at them. “Don’t you think you’ve tortured me enough today? I mean, I’m not sure I could handle another glance at that hideous face.”

Alex gritted his teeth as a fist slammed into his stomach. All the wind rushed out of his stomach as Mindy pulled her fist away from him. Alex’s knees buckled forcing the guards to support all his weight. He blinked up in surprise at Mindy. She glared at him.

“Never speak of the Master that way again…or else,” she growled. She then turned and walked out of the room, the guards, Alex, and Chad following after her.

Alex dropped his head as he was carried out of the prison and back to face Yassen once more with only one thought on his mind…

This is not my day…