Alex Rider: A Billionaires Paradise

Faulty Firearms

Bang. The gun recoiled in his hands. The man didn't move. A shred of metal shot off to the side. The man got up calmly.

"Make sure you remove the safety screw first."
Alex look down the barrel. Sure enough, the mangled up threads of a screw were visible. It appeared to block the bullet from entering the chamber properly. Instead, the striker had hit it while it was at an angle, firing it into the gun itself. He threw the gun aside. He stepped forward assuming combat position. His penknife wasn't a fixed blade and it would close on his hands the second he tried to stab something. The man continued to stand ominously, arms at his side.

He feigned a punch to the side, suddenly kicking up at the man's head. His shin hit a solid forearm. This man was faster than he thought. He'd not even flinched at the fake punch, and blocked the kick with near contempt. The man responded, lunging forward with an elbow to Alex's chest. Alex, unprepared for such speed stumbled back, trying to avoid the blow. He felt it hit the centre of his ribcage. There, all the ribs form a plate of pure cartilage. If it were anywhere else, he'd have broken a rib or two. He tried pulling the man's arm, to yank him off balance. Instead, the man pulled back at the same time, launching Alex against him. Alex hit the man's chest, and it felt like a brick wall. He fell to the ground, his legs taken from beneath him, without him even noticing. He never saw the blow that knocked him out.
_________________________________________

Alex was sat in the passenger side of a cherry red, convertible, electric vehicle with a broken windscreen. His head hurt, and pretty much everything else too. His hands were tied together with a heavy rope. He looked around. He was sat in a large, open room. Only one light was on, right above him. He leaned as far as he could. The seat had been put so tight that he could hardly move. His torso was being compressed. A thick ridge along the edges of the doors told him that it had been welded shut. He instinctively went to undo his seatbelt. It too had been welded shut. He became aware of a series of footsteps. He rattled the seat belt, and clawed at the fabric, trying to tear it. He tried to open the glove box, to no avail.

"You may have noticed that you're in the car you smashed."
"Don't know what you're talking about."

Alex rattled at the glove box again. Something clicked inside of it. About ten people were standing close by. One by one, lights flicked on. Someone must have hit a switch. He looked over to where Blair was standing. Behind him was an array of electronic equipment and reading of various colours and shapes.

"You may also have noticed that you've been welded into it."
"Let me go."
"No. You've caused me a great load of pain Alex. I've had to explain to a specific Asian based organised crime group that you survived being drowned. And even still, you broke one of my staffs cars, stole, and broke, one of my...products. Do you realise how hard it is to be a billionaire and cover all of your tracks? No. You don't."
"Burn in hell."

"Well i hate to break it to you, I'm not going to be the one burning."
"What do you mean."

"Well, I like to make sure that all of my products are safe. And recently one of my cars had a massive electrical fire. Apparently it took literal tonnes of water to extinguish. So I had my team make a fire suppression system that should help to save the passengers. Fingers crossed it should keep you safe. If it doesn't, well...you don't need to worry about that. Obviously, you can't get out, but I was going with a worst case scenario."

"Do you realise how twisted that it? You want to save lives but you continue to produce guns and God knows what else you sell."

Blair leapt forward. Slamming his hand against the roof above Alex.