The next day,
Alexander woke up a bit later than usual. His wife, Seraphina, had already left for work, and Caroline, his mother-in-law, must not have slept in at the house. If she had, Alexander would have surely been woken up with a rain of curses and beatings for sleeping a second longer than four hours.
Starting his daily chores, Alexander, being a live-in house husband, embarked on his routine: cleaning, sweeping, arranging the house, and cooking. Amidst his tasks, he found a note on the table with folded cash beside it. "We are out of milk, go to the store and get some," it read. It had to be from Seraphina.
Alexander swiftly cleaned up and dashed to the nearest supermarket. The sky was cloudy, and as he walked, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being followed yet again. This time, he halted abruptly.
"Exactly how long you do plan on stalking me?" he said.
Suddenly, two men merged from the shadows behind him, and in a matter of seconds, he was surrounded by seven of them.
"Our boss would like to have a word," One of them said.
Alexander clenched his fist, and was about to position himself for a fight when a thought crossed his mind;
Even if he put them down, which he easily could, they would just come back in more numbers, and what happens when they realize that it wouldn't be easy to get him, they might go after someone close to him to get him, they might go after Seraphina instead.
Alexander unclenched his fist, smiled, and asked;
"Where are we going?"
Two drew men closer to him, while the other cuffed his hands, the other placed a bag over his head. They ushered him into a car and drove off.
Alexander was curious to find out who in Pantheon Valley wanted him so badly that they were bold enough to kidnap him in the middle of the day.
….
After half an hour of motion, the car drew to a halt. Alexander was being dragged into an abandoned warehouse, still blinded and folded.
"Alexander Chase, the man the myth the legend," a voice said.
Alexander couldn't recognize the voice that spoke, so it wasn't anyone from his past. He sighed a sigh of relief.
"And you are…." Alexander asked. But before he could complete his statement, he was knocked out heavily from behind.
….
Alexander woke up to the sound of chatter. He was seated with his hands tied to the chair. His head was pounding, and his vision was blurry. All he could see were blurry images of his surroundings. His hearing was impaired by a constant beeping sound buzzing in his brain.
Alexander raised his head and witnessed a sight that cleared the blurriness in his vision. Over a dozen men stood before him with a villainous demeanor, and at the center of them was Wilson Monroe.
"Oh, how rude of me?" I haven't introduced myself; I am Wilson Monroe, and I am the big bad wolf you dared to bite" The kingpin revealed.
"What do you want, Wilson" Alexander demanded.
But in a flash, he was struck with a baseball bat, rendering him speechless.
"See, that fearless disregard you have," The kingpin said with a bat in hand. "Lesson one: When did I ever permit you to call me by my first name?"
"Two, I want to know, who are you? Why are you so important to be called an esteemed guest by Jacob Harrington? And what gave you the balls and audacity to shoot my son" The kingpin swung his bat with so much fury, hitting Alexander's face.
Alexander coughed and chuckled, things were finally making sense to him,
"So you are the father of the brat, I knew I shouldn't have let him live," he said.
Alexander's defiance caught the Kingpin off guard. How could he be so audacious? Most people would cower in fear of him, or be honored to be breathing the same air as him, but not Alexander, Alexander was not most people.
"You shot my son, ruined my deal with Jacob Harrington and you still dare laugh in my face; you aren't afraid of anything, are you?" He asked.
"What's there to be afraid of, you?" Alexander shot back.
"I could destroy you in an instant," The Kingpin boasted.
"Sure, but you won't," Alexander countered.
"And what makes you think that?" The kingpin questioned.
"It's not worth it. Only shitty low-tiers would ever go after a penniless son-in-law. What could a king like you possibly gain from—" Alexander started.
"Satisfaction, revenge, take your pick" The kingpin interrupted with a smirk.
Alexander stared at him, incredulous. Did he really just say that? Did he mean it?
"Please, nothing is satisfying about bullying someone who are much less fortunate than yourself," Alexander retorted.
The Kingpin squatted to meet Alexander eye-to-eye, his expression intense.
"Hmph. You think you understand me, huh? Then let me ask you this. There's this one guy I know with no credentials, no title, no dollar to his name… absolutely useless, yet he still thinks he can talk back to me. He walks where I walk, and sits where I sit. It's starting to tick me off. If you were king, what would you do about him?" The Kingpin challenged.
Alexander spat out blood to the side and, without meeting the kingpin's gaze, "You should be grateful." He replied.
"What?" The Kingpin exclaimed, taken aback by the unexpected response.
"If you're able to keep all but one person in line, then you must be doing your job right," Alexander continued.
'What the hell is he talking about?' The Kingpin asked himself.
"After all, a king is nothing if his subjects refuse to follow him," Alexander concluded.
'What the hell is wrong with this guy?' The kingpin thought to himself. 'He completely missed my point! And not a single threat fazed him. The only people with that kind of confidence are those who've stood at the very top. Alexander Chase, who are you?'
Fumed with so much rage, he smacked Alexander hard on the face
"You think you are powerful, but know this, Wilson Monroe, you have no idea what real power is, " Alexander spat and then received another slap.
The kingpin stood up straight and said. "Look at you, how dare you talk to me about power"
"Carry on boys, deal with him until he begs for death, only then will you put an end to his miserable life" The Kingpin ordered, as he walked away.
He looked back at Alexander one last time and said, "How does it feel to know that a peasant like yourself is nothing in the presence of a King?" he mocked.
As soon as the Kingpin left, men cracked their knuckles ready to give Alexander to the beat down of his soon ending life.
But suddenly just as they were about to lay their first, Alexander broke free from the chair and swung it against two of the lot, knocking them out instantly. He had been picking the lock of the cuffs the entire time. There was a mop stick a few feet away, Alexander used his foot to draw it close and flung it to his hand.
"This will do," he said to himself, as he inspected the mop stick as an instrument of battle.
Firm on his feet, Alexander clenched his fist unto the mop stick, took his fight stands, and said "Gentlemen, shall we"
As the dozen men rushed towards him at once, one by one, with each precise strike, Alexander struck them all down. His suit became smeared with blood, but there not his. With one hit, and a skill maneuver or two at a time, he put to the ground every single eighteen of them, with just one left.
Alexander struck his two knee cap pressure, sending his knees to the ground, Alexander held his neck in a pressure hold;
"You will never win, the kingpin will send more of ours" the assailant growled in pain, struggling for breath, as Alexander choked him until he passed out.
"I know" Alexander replied, tossing his body to the ground.
The job was done. Alexander pulled out a wiper from one of the passed-out men's pockets and wiped the smears of blood of his hand, and suit.
He pulled out, the card from his breath pocket and let out a heavy sigh, before dialing the number he wished I would never have to call.
"Geoffrey, meet me at my location in less than an hour" he said.
"Of course, sir. Does this mean you will be joining…?"
"…No but I need your assistance so perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement" Alexander injected.
"Certainly, Whatever you need Sir" His butler replied, his voice ecstatic at the other end of the call
"Good, I will be waiting" Alexander replied.