New Life : A Second Chance

It took Kay a couple of days to get the information that Kyle had asked for.

It was 11pm and Xing Han was snoring away already in bed while Kyle was studying the file at his desk. He couldn't believe the contents of the e-mail.

"Is this what Rex Industries was really about, or was this simply something they slipped in since Rex Industries was already established and above board?" Kyle wondered aloud.

There were several reasons why it took Kay two days to give Kyle the information.

First, she had to ensure that opening the email did not set off any alarm notification to the sender. Geting the email was not a problem since Kyle just gave her the username and password. Once she could safely open the email, she noticed something unusual with the way the email had been worded.

The content it self sounded pretty harmless. It was all about some shipment that was pending and the delivery order. Normal stuff. However, Kay's sharp eyes noted there were some unusual symbols in places that, at first glance, appeared to simply be a typo.

Upon deeper inspection, however, Kay managed to figure out that embedded in that symbol was a code - or a 'backdoor' code to certain files. It was those files that were of interest.

Kyle was reading those files right now.

A file of 10 names. Pictures of people. With prices.

Kyle clenched his teeth.

It was frustrating.

He had no name of the buyer or seller or even the distributor. There was nothing to go by other than now, he knew that the thumb drive he had taken must have had something to do with this sort of secret. All he had thought he had copied were doctored accounts but why go through all of that just for it?

Problem was, he never looked at the whole file when he copied it. He had merely seen the first page and knew that something was wrong since one of the figures was incorrect. He had copied the entire file and was planning to look at it at a later time.

That later time never came, of course.

Even if he was to retrieve that memory, he would not have been able to know what was the secret that was contained in the thumbdrive. He needed to wait for time to pass, retrieve it and take the necessary action for revenge - and at the same time, protect his family.

Kyle rubbed his forehead.

It's this constant waiting game that ate at him. The uncertainty. The worry. The time that he needed to let pass before he could do something more satisfying. The stress that built up since he retrieved his memories two days ago hit the all-time high.

At this point, scaling the walls at Gym5 wouldn't cut it. He needed to vent. Like, now.

He sighed, deleting the file.

Kay had a copy which was kept secure in MIB vault, so there was no worry about the file being lost or stolen. He peeked at Xing Han and was satisfied that he was deeply asleep.

Going to his closet, he opened up a secret compartment and took out the items necessary to change into Ice. Putting that secret compartment had been easier than expected. It was done by the MIB during the school holidays when no one was around.

In the bathroom, Kyle locked the door and proceeded to transform. He put on the contact lenses and blinked at the different shade of blue that now stared back at him. He took out a roll of tattoo-paper that had the dragon printed on it, carefully unrolling it.

Standing to one side, he placed the transferable paper on his arm and slowly, carefully, peeled it off, leaving the dragon imprint on his arm. The tattoo was a pain to put on and take off, but he had to admit, he liked the look of it. Perhaps, in the future, he would get one for real.

Kyle could imagine the look on his parents face if they ever found out about it, though. He grinned. That would be fun though, don't you think?

He put on a form fitting black singlet, slim black pants and a denim jacket. Slicking back his hair with some gel, he then peeled out the fake skin on his earlobe that covered a pin prick and wore the earring stud. He looked at his face in the mirror and sighed.

That youthful innocence wasn't quite Ice yet.

Taking out his make-up palette, he began his work. It was ironic, really. As Kylie, he hardly wore make-up and his skills had been the utmost minimum of 'foundation, blusher, and lipstick'. Now?

Now he knew how to use that stupid blender, how to do shading and all that. What a pain. That's why he normally used a mask when he went out as Ice but for today's purpose, the mask would not be enough.

Once he was done, the youthful part wasn't quite gone but he did have sharper features and he looked older - about 17 instead of 14. The innocent bit was no longer there, especially when Kyle started using his cold persona.

Kyle quickly returned to the room and in total darkness, kept the items back and slipped out the window. The location of their dorm had also been chosen specifically for the ease of Kyle to be able to slip out easily. Courtesy of Kay's hacking skills in allocating the room to him, of course.

It was near the corner and the back of the building, so Kyle simply scaled the wall to the side and jumped to the nearby tree, going down and out the wall.

As Kyle jumped down the wall and looked back to Sakura Academy, he had a grin that was both captivating and chilling at the same time. It made his handsome face even more outstanding but there was a menacing aspect to it that people couldn't help but shudder if they saw it.

?? Zoek Club ??

Kyle sauntered over to the entrance, not bothering with the long queue that was beside it. The huge, muscular bouncer, upon seeing Kyle, merely nodded at him as he walked by.

"Hey! How come he can go in without queuing up?!" one guy, who was near the entrance and in line, shouted.

Kyle stopped, one foot just about to step in. He turned slowly and gave the guy a once-over look from top to toe and smirked.

Typical rich kid, trying to impress the two girls he had hanging around his arms.

The bouncer at the door shivered a bit, gulped and was about to say something when Kyle put up his hand, his face in a half-smile and said, "Don't worry, Mike, I got this."

Kyle tilted his head to the side, giving the two girls that were around the loudmouth a devastatingly sexy smile as he walked over.

The girls watched in fascination as Kyle came closer, and everyone could see the tight abdominal muscles that could be seen through the shirt that clung to his body. The languid look and seductive smile that Kyle directed at them made them subconsciously lick their lips.

The loudmouth noticed how the girls were being fascinated by the upstart that was in front of them and he started boiling inside. He stepped in front of the girls, blocking their view as he glared at Kyle.

Kyle didn't bother with him as he side-stepped him and coming next to the girls, he asked, offering his arm, "Want to join me, instead of this loser here?"

Kyle leaned closer to one of the girls, whispering in her ear, "I'm sure I can give you a much better time than Mummy's boy."

The girl giggled and nodded, taking Kyle's arm. The other girl, not wanting to be left out, quickly came forward as well, wanting to take the same arm.

"Ladies, please. I have two arms. One each," Kyle said with a smile, his dimple showing and melting the two.

They both giggled but before the other one could take a step, the loud mouth grabbed her wrist and hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"

The girl looked at him in disdain, "What does it look like? Get your hands off me. I'm going with him."

Kyle patted the girl who held his hand and understanding, she let go. He reached for the guy's wrist, twisting it, causing the guy to let go of the girl's wrist. Kyle applied more pressure and the guy kneeled down in pain.

Kyle simply went down and looked at him in the eye, "Back off, boy. You're not in my league."

The guy glared at him in anger. Boy? BOY?! The one who's a boy was the stupid boy in front of him. What? He looked like he was only in his teens while he as already an adult! What boy?!

The guy roared, intending to punch Kyle with his other arm but Kyle caught the fist easily. He let go of the wrist he was twisting, and grabbed the guy in the throat instead. Gasping at the pressure that was there, the guy tried to get his arm out of Kyle's grip but to no avail.

Kyle got up slowly, bringing the guy up by the throat. He let go of the other hand once he stood up and the guy tried to get Kyle's grip on his throat out by grabbing Kyle's arm with both hands. It was like holding a steel bar.

Kyle pushed him back, and the people behind simply made way. He slammed the guy on the wall and pushed him further up. The guy's face was turning blue already before Kyle let go. The guy's throat had Kyle's hand imprint on it and he lay gasping on the ground, coughing while trying to get some air.

Kyle knocked on his head and when the guy looked up, Kyle grinned while giving him a cold stare.

He got down and said to him in a voice that only he could hear, "On account that you provided two beautiful ladies to accompany me tonight, I'm letting you live. This time. Cause me any more trouble on my turf, and your parents won't even recognise what's left of you."

The guy's eyes widened, his whole body paralysed with fear when those ice-cold blue eyes locked on him. His brain was busy connecting the dots. Those eyes. His turf?

"Ice?" he gasped, shivering.

Who didn't know about Ice? This whole area was his territory and Zoek Club was rumoured to be his as well. It was the most happening Club on the outside and had some secret underground. He knew bits and pieces but it was enough.

Kyle grinned upon hearing the name, "Seems like you're not that stupid after all, to be able to recognise me."

That confirmation just terrorised the guy so much that his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted.

Kyle smirked, getting up. The two girls quickly grabbed to hold on to each of his arm and they entered the Club, the loud noise booming all around.

This was just the beginning.

Kyle had a LOT of stress to release.