41 Volume 2 Episode 35
[ Practical Zone Stadium ]
[ Two hours before the round of Sixteen ]
Matt Perry was a former veteran warrior who fought alongside Tyrone, and had been invited by him to watch the tournament. Both of them had been watching the 'show' put on by Jaxson right in front of the entrance for a while now, feeling perplexed.
'And why does he keep saying 'guys' so much?'
Tyrone who also found the whole thing to be really dumb, sighed. It appeared that he too was confused with the current generations interests.
"Well, kids these days do have a short attention span, so I guess there's only so much you can do to entertain them."
"Yeah but still…" Both the veterans looked at each other and sighed once again and left the scene, as J-Rod's loud voice could be heard from behind them.
They were walking towards the spectator gallery when they saw Jason getting out of his car. Matt immediately waved towards Jason and moved in his direction. Jason, who saw the two retired warriors waved back in reply.
"Jason kiddo, you look all grown up now. I remember, you used to be so skinny, all bones and no meat. Look at you now, you've really become something." Matt sized him up, gazing up and down at his body, causing Jason to laugh loudly.
"And you've grown older the last time I saw you, old man."
"Hey! I'm not that old. I may not look like it now, but I'm pretty sure I can still take you on." Matt got really worked up about Jason's comment, even asking him to punch him once to test out his reflexes, leading to Tyrone intervening and pulling Matt back. He then turned towards Jason and bowed, to which Jason bowed back in reply.
"Good day old man, I'll see you later." After exchanging some more pleasantries, Jason eventually left their company. Matt waved goodbye and after seeing Jason off, he then turned to Tyrone, looking at him sternly.
"What? What's with the judgemental stare?" Tyrone was perplexed by the stern look he got from Matt.
"You could've at least talked to him a bit more. We used to be involved in countless missions together, and I don't think I even saw you talking more than a single sentence with him. Could you at least try?" Matt shook his head, and turned around to walk into the gallery, and Tyrone followed him.
"It's not my style. And besides, you know what is happening in the Lindon household. They have been a topic of some ugly rumours. I'm pretty sure he's also a part of that." Tyrone spoke quietly while getting the snacks he ordered from the cafeteria and passed some to Matt.
"Is there any certainty to those rumours?" Matt asked, to which Tyrone gave an 'I can't say' look.
Matt then looked at the direction Jason went. He then turned around and dashed to catch up with Tyrone who had already started walking.
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Jaxson took out another phone. Unlike the smartphone he took out to call Mr. Lindon, this was a burner phone. He dialled a number on it and it started ringing. He then moved to the back of a storage unit that was near the stadium. He needed to get some privacy in order to make this call.
"Hello." The person on the other side seemed to be using a voice modulator, making his voice sound deeper.
"Yeah, the exchange is done. The package shall arrive tomorrow." Jaxson looked around to see if anyone was around him, and spoke quietly into the microphone.
"Good job." The voice answered coldly, replying to Jaxson with only a few words. It sounded so mechanical that you'd mistake it for a text to speech voice.
"Listen man, I can't do this stuff forever, alright? Please man, they'll get suspicious. I'm in a life or death situation over here, would you please talk to your boss abo-"
Jaxson couldn't finish his sentence, as the person on the other side cut off the call, ending the conversation. Jaxson looked at the cellphone for a while before angrily smashing it on the floor and stomping over it.
"F**k you you motherf**ker! I hope you and your whole family dies you b***h!"
He yelled at the destroyed cell phone on the ground and kicked it a bit more.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
A familiar voice made Jaxson freeze up like a statue. He had heard that voice many times before, and he knew that if that person heard his conversation from a minute ago, then he most likely is going to be in some serious problem.
Jaxson turned around and saw Jason leaning on the wall, and smoking a cigarette. He looked calm. Almost too calm. It made Jaxson get goosebumps all over his body. His knees were shaking from the immense pressure he felt while confronted by such a person.
"Uh.. Mr. Jason! What a wonderful surprise. I was just doing the broadcasting for the tournament, as per requested by Mr. Lindon. I assume you're here to check on whether I'm doing my jo-"
"Cut the crap, Jaxson. I know what you've been upto."
Jaxson's words were mercilessly interrupted by the cold voice of Jason.
The whole place suddenly turned silent.
Dead silence.
Jaxson was sweating nervously. He had hoped that Jason wouldn't have heard his phone call, but his hopes were dashed the moment Jason opened his mouth.
Jason walked towards Jaxson and stood right in front of him, looking at his face. Jaxson, who was about to faint from the pressure, avoided making eye contact, fearing that it might shorten his lifespan.
"You know, I was looking through the details on the shipments last week when a little birdie told me that there was a report submitted about a miscalculation on the amount of products set to be transported, which somehow magically disappeared on the way to the supervisor's table. You have anything to say about that, Jaxson?"
"Nope. Nothing at all." Even though Jaxson was denying, his facial expressions stayed truthful, as he couldn't keep a poker face and sweating even more profusely.
"Huh, because last time I checked, I gave you a part time job in accounting at the harbour. And, forgive me if I'm wrong, but the amount of products that's sent and the amount that's received, that goes through you first, right?"
As Jason moved even more close, Jaxson felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. He couldn't take the pressure, and fell to his knees, grabbing Jason's legs and started wailing like a child.
"I'm.. I'm sorry! They had been blackmailing me. I had skimmed some of the product before, and they caught me, and I've been doing it ever since. I swear, I wouldn't have done it ever if it weren't for them pressuring me. Please, d-don't kill me. I have so much more to live for. I didn't even lose my vir-"
"Shut up Jaxson. I'm not going to kill you."
The pleading Jaxon immediately shut up once he heard that he wasn't going to be killed. He looked up from the ground, puzzled as to why he was being kept alive even though he was skimming the family product from them for god knows how long. Jason looked down at the young teen kneeling down.
"These people who you've been selling to, who are they?"
"... The Whitakers. They're son is working for us at the harbour. He had figured out that I'd skimmed from the shipping product once, so he blackmailed me into selling them ever since."
Jaxson started answering his questions. He was doing everything he could to survive. He didn't want to end up like those people who went missing. He wanted to make himself useful. He was in fact a good accountant. That was the reason why Jason gave him the job in the first place. If only he hadn't taken some from the family, maybe he would've steered clear of these problems.
"The Whitakers, I'll take care of them. But I need you to come with me." Jason replied nonchalantly as he pulled Jaxson's shirt collar and pulled him up from the ground. Jaxson didn't know what he wanted from him, but he kept quiet and followed.
"Don't worry, I ain't going to kill you." Jason looked at the pale faced Jaxson and spoke to calm his nerves. He then walked up to one of the storage units and opened it up.
"Just a little experiment."
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[ Undisclosed Location ]
[ Present Day ]
Lin stood in front of Eric Lindon, who was tied up. Eric, who was usually energetic, was silent, although being outwitted by a literal teenager would most likely put anyone in a sour mood. Lin looked at Eric for a while before turning his eyes on to Jason, who was standing near the doorway.
"Could you leave me alone with Eric for a bit, Jason?"
Lin asked Jason for some time alone, to which Jason nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door on his way out. He then moved his gaze on to Eric once again.
"Now come on Eric. You're usually pretty enthusiastic about everything. Where did that go?"
"You little prick. You think this mind control thing you got going on is going to work in the long haul?"
It seemed that Lin's sarcastic comment hit a nerve, as the silent Eric started mouthing off insults right to his face.
"Now there's the Eric I know. And no, I don't think the mind altering is good enough to work for a long period of time. The human mind is way too complex for it to completely work, and I'm pretty sure that what I've done right now is just a temporary solution. But nonetheless, it is still a 'solution'."
Eric snorted at Lin's answer, but he didn't make any snide remarks, surprising Lin.
"I'm assuming that you've most probably got control of my entire staff?" Eric asked, to which Lin replied. "Most of them, but yeah. Jason had already left his employees back at your house to turn the rest."
Eric sighed at the answer and hung his head low. He was really defeated by a young child. It was an extremely embarrassing situation for him, but he knew that his opponent was smarter than him, and he had to acknowledge that. Even if that opponent was a teenage boy. He then looked at his enemy in front of him and opened his mouth.
"So, what else do you want? You probably want to turn me as well, right?"
"Yeah about that." Lin stepped back after hearing Eric's question, and pulled out a syringe from his pocket. He then brought it near Eric and looked into his eyes.
"Tell me more about your product."
