Drako began laughing uncontrollably, seeing the unmoving body of Kyle on the ground, the knife handle sticking out from his chest right where the heart is.

Strangely enough, the laughter became sobs.

Drako's face was now wet with tears which he did not bother to wipe as he got closer to Kyle's body, "Why? What is this ... pain that I am feeling? What did you do to me, you stupid boy?!"

Drako kicked the still body in frustration, satisfied when there was no reaction or movement from it. He knelt down, staring at the face. Such a young face. Such a peaceful face. If one didn't look at the knife protruding from the chest, one would think that he was merely sleeping.

Drako poked Kyle's forehead, "Serves you right. I should be happy. I got you..."

Suddenly, his offending finger was gripped tightly and Kyle's eyes opened. Before Drako's mind could process anything, Kyle had pulled him close, pressed some points on Drako's neck. Kyle then grabbed him by the neck, turned around and smashed Drako on the ground.

Kyle quickly got on top of Drako, sitting on his stomach and pressed a few more acupuncture points on his chest and arms. Drako's eyes that had been wide open in shock, slowly closed.

"Get the cleaning crew here quickly," Kyle said to his earpiece, "Kay, how long do I have?"

Kyle took out the knife that was seemingly embedded in his chest. There was no blood flow nor any trace of blood on it. Luckily he had already mastered this move. Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked so well.

Team Alex, that had been in the shadows, quickly came out and took in the scene in front of them without blinking an eyelid. Their eyes said Kyle had been stabbed and their brains were screaming that what Kyle was doing is impossible ... but you cannot deny what their eyes were seeing right now.

So, they concentrated on doing their job. When they had first seen Kyle fall, all of them wanted to rush forward and kill the guy. However, Kay had told them to stand down and that Kyle was fine.

Although their eyes showed a different scene, they trusted Kay. So stand down they did.

Though they almost lost it again when Drako went over and kicked Kyle.

"I'm going to cut off that leg ... " said Yume through gritted teeth.

Alex patted him on the shoulder, "We all feel the same way, Yume. Just ... be patient."

"Five minutes, brother," Kay said, "Cathy's here too."

Lucka came over to check up on Kyle. Kyle winced when Lucka examined his chest and pulling up the shirt, saw that it was already beginning to bruise badly from the earlier fight.

"Drako kicks are lethal," Kyle said nonchalantly, then said to the others, "Leave Drako in one piece, okay?"

Team Alex grumbled under their breath.

"You shouldn't climb in this condition," Lucka advised and checked on his ribs, where Drako had kicked just now, "Your ribs may be cracked as well."

Kyle shook his head, "No. Just put Master Shifu's ointment and wrap it up tightly with gauze. I can do it. I've been through worse under him anyway."

Kyle took off his shirt and let Lucka do his thing while the others cleared the 'crime scene' of any evidence that could lead them to Kyle.

"Secure Drako and bring him to MIB at Master Shifu's place," Kyle instructed, "There's something about him that needs checking up on. Ask Master Shifu to take a look."

Once Lucka wrapped him up tightly, Kyle put back his shirt and dashed off, utilising his full speed and cloaking techniques. When he came nearer to more people and the venue, he slowed down and slipped through the masses to reach where the Elite Five were.

Xing Han screamed when Kyle suddenly appeared next to him.

"Ye Gads, Kyle! Don't DO that! I nearly had a heart attack," Xing Han said, breathing hard and clutching his chest.

The interest that was garnered by the initial scream faded away when they saw that it was merely a scare prank.

Kyle grinned and flung his hand over Xing Han's shoulder.

Though everyone was smiling, Ali asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Kyle?"

"Yup, no worries," Kyle replied, "My team's turn is next. Celebratory dinner is on me later!"

They watched as Kyle walked off. Again, the guys were flabbergasted.

"So ... the threat?" Sam asked hesitatingly.

"Neutralised," Kay replied.

"When you say 'neutralised', do you mean ..." Ali began.

Kay interrupted him, jerking her head towards Xing Han as she answered while looking at Ali straight in the eye and without changing expressions, "Yes."

"Wow, Kay," Xing Han said with wide-eyes, "It's amazing how Team Alex could settle the matter. Save Cathy and Kyle. Those guys didn't have a chance. Did they manage to escape or have the police caught them?"

"Oh, we're not involving the police," Kay said, "But rest assured, the guys won't cause anymore trouble."

Of course, there's still Kazuya to handle. This was just the first step.

Sam watched the exchange in silence. Truth be told, he was shocked at what Kay had stated. After analysing the situation and thinking about it, Sam realised that this was the only way that the matter could be settled.

The people were the Underground, and it was unlikely that the police would do anything either. Getting the police involved wouldn't be a smart move but letting the perpetrators go would only bite them back later.

One had to fight fire with fire.

With that thought, Sam knew that in order to be by Kyle's side meant that he has to embrace the darker side as well.

Sam shrugged. Not a problem.

Personally, he didn't see that the move was wrong. It was a logical move. You can't be kind to your enemies and they must be nipped in the bud. From what he could see, Kyle was only defending and attacked only when provoked.

That, in itself, spoke volumes. Sam's respect for Kyle grew even more.

.:*・°☆...:*・.:*・°☆...:*・

When Kyle reached the team, Cathy suddenly gave him a hug. Ken was glaring at Kyle while Cole just smiled. The twins were giving great big grins, two thumbs up and mouthed, 'Niiiiiiicceeee'

Kyle returned the hug briefly and patted Cathy's back.

Just before she let go, she whispered in his ear, "Thank you."

Kyle didn't answer but simply nodded.

Only Cathy knew the true role Kyle played in her rescue. She had already given up, figuring that they wouldn't let her go no matter what. Thus, she didn't want to drag Kyle in and shouted the warning. She wondered what sort of life Kyle must have, to have people target him like this.

Cathy had been held captive in a wooden shed somewhere, blindfolded and tied to a chair. She heard some gunshots, shouts and shuddered, wondering what was going on. Soon, the blindfold on her eyes was removed and the first sight she saw was a guy with a kind and a rather shy face looking at her as he asked gently, "Are you okay?"

Cahty nodded her head, not able to say a word. He was like an angel, right there and then.

"Zero! Hostage secured?" a voice sounded from outside.

"Yes, she's safe," the guy in front of her said as he went to the back and cut her rope, letting her free. She rubbed her wrists that were sore from the rope and thought to herself, 'Zero, huh.'

Zero wasn't paying any attention to her at that point, merely looking about to secure the area. He then placed a hand on her back, pushing her forward gently, "Come on, let's get you out of here."

She followed obediently.

She found out later that the group that saved her was Kyle's personal guards. They told her to keep it a secret as their existence was meant to be Kyle's security. He had mobilised them to save her, risking exposure, as Kyle had felt she had been in danger because of him.

Cathy was touched by the gesture and didn't blame Kyle in the least. That's why she hugged him then. Cathy didn't tell her father what had happened, not wanting to worry him or implicate Kyle in any way. So she lied and told him that her purse had been stolen, and it had her phone and wallet in it. She chased after the thief, only to get lost. It had taken her some time to find her way.

She endured her father's scolding.

Cole didn't think much about Cathy hugging Kyle, but Ken certainly did mind.

"Please say thanks to the team again for me," Cathy said softly to Kyle, "Especially Zero. He was very kind to me when I was so scared."

Upon hearing this, Kyle hid a smile.

"Did you hear that, Zero?" Kay teased, "You have a fan."

Kyle hadn't removed the earpiece yet and everyone was still connected.

Zero, meanwhile, had his hands frozen over the keyboards of the laptop. He gulped, his face suddenly beet red like a tomato. He hung his head down low, concentrating (or at least, tried to) on observing the screen in front of him.

Team Alex wisely kept quiet.

.:*・°☆...:*・.:*・°☆...:*・

The day ended with the prize giving ceremony.

Cole stood proudly at the first place position, his face had such a huge grin that it looked like it would split into two.

The team no longer needed to compete in the individual rounds if they didn't want to, as the scores they obtained from the team rounds would be used for the individual rounds as well.

For this, Kyle had performed exceptionally well, making sure that he broke all the records yet not so high that it would be mind-boggling. Unfortunately, it wasn't mind-boggling to him since he was still holding back but it was already beyond mind-boggling to other people.

So much for being low-key.

It was just that Kyle felt he owed Cole. It was because of him, that Cathy had been in danger in the first place.

This competition was Cole's dream and so, Kyle felt that it was only fair that he helped Cole win spectacularly in the team competition and at least, bag the individual part for bouldering (senior category) and lead climbing (junior category).

After Cole accepted the trophy, the other team members got their medals. All stood for a group photo and had to endure multiple camera flashes. The reporters came to interview them ... or to be more accurate, interview Kyle. He was the youngest ever contestant AND record holder.

"So! Kyle! Are you going to be doing this professionally now?" one reporter asked him.

"Nah, of course not. I was just doing this for fun," Kyle replied.

The reporters nearly fainted at that reply. All the contestants who heard him felt like they wanted to vomit blood. They had been training seriously for years yet this brat, who broke the record that had been there for 5 years, was only doing it for fun?!

After it was all over, Kyle gave his medal to Kay then said to the team. "Dinner is on me!!"