New Life : A Second Chance

Richard was true to his word.

He watched them like a hawk.

Wherever they went, so did he. Kyle had also discovered, as he was taking out his clothes to wear that morning, that the secret panel door in the closet that connected his room to Samantha's had been sealed shut. He laughed at that.

It just made Kyle's job easier.

If he had to fake the act everyday, it was going to get very old, very fast. Luckily, he had pegged down Richard's reactions down well. This was mainly attributed to Sam doing such a good job, for he was the one that had come up with the report on Richard's possible personality. Kyle decided Sam deserved a bonus after this mission was over.

There were a few more weeks left before the filming would be wrapped up.

Since the scene Kyle did, he was basically left to his own devices. All Chad requested was for Kyle to turn up in the last week so that they could start filming. Chad trusted Kyle's professionalism. Plus, the stunt team reported that Kyle had the movements and choreography down perfectly. There was nothing much for them to teach Kyle.

Kyle still went to the site everyday. Basically to touch base with Sam and show his face. However, most of his time was spent at Mansion BMX. Essentially to observe Richard. He was observing if Richard had any set patterns on what he did and planned accordingly.

So far, from Kyle's perspective, Richard was not a creature of habit.

Other than the fact that he was following them around, he didn't have any routine. That was another factor which made targetting Richard difficult. Even at Mansion BMX, the security wasn't lax. He had bodyguards with him 24/7 despite the already stringent security measures he had in place.

Kyle smirked at that.

The measures may be effective against those who were trying to get in, but it wasn't that impossible for one who was already in. Let's see how long Richard can keep up the pretense of being calm and steady.

?? ??

Richard sat at the living room sofa, looking as serene and calm as ever as he flipped the newspaper in his hands.

In truth, however, he was hardly reading what was on it.

His mind was wandering over the incidences that had been happening for the past few months.

Richard had been slowly expanding his territory and influence into the underworld. He knew who ruled it: Nitocris from the Black Dragon. He scoffed at that, feeling that Nitocris was a shadow of his father, who had been ruthless and decisive.

Yet, Nitocris had left him be until he finally made a name for himself. Then, he got a warning to step back. Why should he? If Nitocris had ignored him while he was climbing, why should he now stop? Richard felt that he had it in him to be better than Nitocris and he was going to prove it.

It had been months since the first warning and he was still alive, right?

It just goes to show how powerful Richard is and how weak Nitocris is.

But ... Richard's eyebrows furrowed together.

Things became slightly more problematic in the past month or so. He had been receiving these little calling cards. Nothing was written on it. Just a simple black card, the size of a standard business card.

On the front, the Black Dragon emblem was on it. Its outline in silver so the shape of the Black Dragon could clearly be seen.

On the back, it was the same thing but this time, the Black Dragon emblem was encased in a block of silver ice.

He had heard about this.

Nitocris had his elite team of assassins. Each had their own calling card that they would leave after each hit.

Richard knew who had been assigned. The card said it all. Ice.

From his research and digging, Ice really was an elusive figure. What Richard couldn't understand was that Ice had been around for a long time and yet, not a single person would reveal anything about him.

The name 'Ice' was infamous.

People would whisper his name and look around as if it was a curse or something. The boogeyman. No matter how much was being offered, he couldn't get good intel about Ice. Those who did give information, all turned out to be fake. Richard immediately got rid of those supposed informants, of course, and it only caused people to stop coming forward.

What sort of nonsense was this? Why could he not get a piece of single proper information about Ice? Or how he looked like? Apparently, he's normally wearing a mask and all you could see were his ice-cold blue eyes. However, when asked what he looked like without the mask?

"Devil's Incarnate". "Eyes that can freeze your soul". "Harmless until he looks at you."

How the heck does that help?

Richard was completely pissed. He didn't think the underworld was full of people living in dreamland. He could understand if it was the Black Dragon members were tight-lipped but the entire underworld? What was with that?

The only other thing he could get was some stupid nonsensical rumour going around that if anyone went against Ice, their families and those close to them just gets annihilated. What sort of rubbish was that? Who could be so powerful like that?

Apparently, he had the 'Curse' or something. The underworld people were just so superstitious.

Richard clenched the newspaper angrily when he thought about that damn card.

It had been showing up in the most unexpected places. On the seat of his car. In the bathroom, near the sink as he exited the cubicle. The worst place was in his coat pocket! No one saw a single thing. No one.

No matter where he went, no matter how he changed his schedule, those darn cards showed up. Now, though, finally, as he had been at Mansion BMX for the past week, the cards stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief and laughed as he realised something.

If Ice really was as formidable as they say, then it meant that he had many opportunities to kill him. Yet, he didn't. He only left cards. Why?

Richard thought it was pretty simple. Ice was not as skilled as they say. Rumours were like that: they grew a life of its own. He was most likely just a normal assassin but not that great. He could infiltrate places but he couldn't really do the deed with so many people around. Richard was confident in his team and he became even more confident and arrogant about it.

With that thought, Richard finally smiled.

Yes, that must be the reason.

The fact that he didn't get any calling card since coming to Mansion BMX proved it. His security was top-notch and impregnable. He felt like a huge weight was taken off his shoulders and he even started humming.

That night, as he was preparing for bed, he screamed.

There, on his pillow, was that damn card. This time, the back of the card was facing up.

?? ??

Back in his room, Kyle grinned.

Richard was so easy to mess with, once he had him in his hands. The moment he saw Richard's defences go down, he stepped up the psychological game he had been playing.

The cards had been left by his own MIB team. Though Richard did change his schedules often, Kyle had enough people to cover every single place. Keeping track of him was easy - getting to him to assassinate him, however, wasn't.

Kyle could only guess where he would be and he would send his teams there. If he had to choose one, there was only a 10% chance it was the right one. So, he decided that the best thing to do was first, play with his mind so he would make mistakes when making decisions. Second, get Richard to come to him.

The first part was done easily. He gave his cards to his MIB team and they set out. Whoever found him, would start putting the cards whenever they could.

The best was the jacket, though. That was pure luck. It just so happened that the team which stumbled upon Richard had their latest recruit: a 9-year old pickpocket that they discovered in the slums of Country B.

Her hands were nimble, her face was innocent. In fact, she looked like she was only 7 or so. With training, her skills sky-rocketed. Not just the pick-pocketing skills, but in utilising her innocent and young face. Nobody pays any attention to kids so it was easy for her to run about and put it in his pocket.

Such an easy target.

Right now, unknown to Richard, he was like a fly in a spider's web.

So how did Kyle place the card in Richard's room without being seen?

When Kyle had first entered, he had placed the sonic and fly bugs. The security system had been a mystery and Kay couldn't get the blueprint of it. The sonic bugs were used to get the outline of the security system and the fly bugs were used to track people and find the control room.

Within one week, they managed to do so and using the feeds from the bugs, Kay could determine what system it was. After that, it was like taking candy from a baby.

Once Kay had secured the security cameras, Kyle slowly took back the bugs and relied on Richard's own camera feeds. However, he still kept his own bug in his room for Kay, as the others were under Team Yume's responsibility. The camera that connected them was much more personal and only Kay had access to it.

Thus, what Team Yume did was simple. They played the recording of Richard's room when it was empty. If anyone was to look at the past video surveillance records, all they would see is an empty room.

Sheets changed? No problem. They had over a month's worth of footage and all they needed to do was choose the right set. So, once the fake footage was put in place, Kyle simply entered through the window and put the card on the pillow.

Richard may, or may not, know that there was a system to the cards.

The cards had a specific purpose to it.

The very first time a card is sent, it also had the instructions on what was expected. If they want to escape the hit, all they needed to do was follow it.

If they did to their satisfaction, then the card that is cut into two is sent.

If they didn't, then either they are given another card with more instructions, or the back side of the card is sent. The latter indicating that they failed and they would die soon.

Sometimes, rarely, it would be used like how Kyle was doing it at the moment: to scare. To make them worry endlessly. With such fear, they tend to make mistakes. Also, word would get out as well.

Thus this time, when Kyle placed the card, he was telling Richard: your time is up.

Not every target was as stupid as Richard. If 'Ice' left his card, the thing was done immediately.

Richard was the first to play this cat-and-mouse game so Kyle had to mess with him. Ignore Big Bro Nitocris? How dare he. He had to admit, doing it this way wasn't just because it was difficult to get to Richard.

He wanted to mess with Richard's mind. He wanted Richard to be in total fear for several months.

When he heard the scream, Kyle couldn't help but smile.

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