New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Alexander woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and well-rested. Next to him, the naked form of Kary, still sound asleep.

Although he was tempted to cuddle up to her and go back to sleep, he had many things to do that day. Alfred would come by to get Violette's pod, and he was sure there would be an altercation.

He started pushing his furniture to the walls all around the house. He wanted to make sure there was nothing they could throw him over or break on impact.

He had closed the room door, so the noise did not wake Kary. By the time he was done with everything, he was already sweaty.

The good news was that he was also warmed up. His intercom rang at that moment.

'Dammit, they are already here. Here goes nothing.'

When he answered, the receptionist told him four men were downstairs, asking to be allowed up. When the woman mentioned a man named Alfred, he told her to let them up.

Alexander waited in the living room, with a straight line of sight to the elevator doors. When they rang and opened, he saw the food men inside.

Alfred was heading their formation, his face as stoic as ever.

"Hello, Mr. Leduc."

"Alfred."

"I see you were ready for our arrival," the man said, looking around the penthouse as he got in.

The three men behind him started fanning out, following the same pace as Alfred.

"I wasn't expecting you to just pick up the pod. What were Richard's orders?"

"I was ordered to rough you up. Make it… Memorable. But you are to stay alive. Unless you fight back too much and we can't help it."

Alexander smiled wickedly.

"Did you think I would just let you trample me?"

"I wouldn't dare hope so. That is why I brought… backup."

Alexander had been observing the men as they slowly walked to him. He could see the tips of tattoos on their necks, where their shirts stopped.

He could also observe that their chests were much thicker than their arms in terms of proportions.

"You wore body armour? To beat up a twenty-five-year-old man? Hah! I expected more from you guys."

The men seemed offended by his words, but didn't react otherwise.  Alfred, On the other hand, did something Alex hadn't expected.

He started unbuttoning his vest. When he took it off, it revealed a Kevlar vest under it, worn over his shirt.

But then he started unfastening it. His men stopped walking, looking at him with smiles.

Once he took off the vest, he also undid his shirt, and took that off too, revealing his muscular body, riddled with battle scars.

"Better?" the man asked, smiling.

"What about your men?"

"They will keep it on, if you don't mind. We wouldn't want you to go berserk and accidentally kill one."

"If you're afraid I'll kill you or your men, why take off your vest?"

The three men accompanying Alfred looked at him incredulously before bursting into laughter.

Alfred lifted a hand, making them shut their mouths.

"Son, if you take me down, I'll have deserved to die in shame."

His confidence took Alex aback. Then he growled in anger.

"Then let's see what it takes to bring me down, shall we?"

As he said his last words, Alex closed his eyes, reaching into himself. When he reopened them, his eyes shone and his hair started changing colour.

The men with Alfred were already lunging at him, their smiles gone from their faces. The living room devolved into a brawling arena.

Alfred stood back, letting his associates gauge out Alexander. The three men with him were from JTF-2, and he believed they would be plenty to get the ball started.

Alexander was at first cocky, but after a few punches to his body and face, he started taking the men seriously. Even though he was currently enhanced beyond his normal self, that didn't mean he was invincible.

Stronger than the average man, certainly. But these three men did not seem to be average at all.

For every hit he delivered to one of them, he took four from the other two. Even if his strikes were much more powerful, the men got back up every time.

They were slowly getting slower and more reckless, but so was Alexander. He quickly grasped that he wouldn't win if he wasn't willing to wound them more seriously.

Claws grew out of his fingers at a thought. When he slashed out at one of them, tearing his clothes off the Kevlar vest, his claws dug into the vest.

The man on the right quickly grabbed Alex's extended hand. When Alex tried punching him away, the man on his left grabbed the inside of his elbow, locking his other arm in place.

The man that had just been slashed rapidly started punching in Alexander's abdomen. Alex knew he could withstand a few blows, but this would be bad if it kept going.

The men restraining him were putting their entire weight behind it, making it almost impossible for him to get free. So he opted for another solution.

He jumped, sending both his feet into the man punching his chest. The kick sent the soldier flying off like a cannonball, the force behind it also sending all three remaining men to their backs.

Alexander wasn't done, though. He fiercely pulled his right arm over himself, willing the mana in his body inside it.

The increase in strength was instantaneous. It flung the man holding onto his right arm into the living room wall, losing consciousness momentarily.

Alexander then rolled over his third assailant, lifting his arm to slash the man's face off. But two loud shouts interrupted his attack.

"Alex, don't!"

"Enough!"

Alex's head snapped in the staircase's direction. Standing at the top, Kary was looking at him with horrified eyes.

This instantly brought Alex back from the frenzy his mind was entering. Alfred also turned to look at her.

His orders didn't include beating up the kid while someone was watching, so he decided it was enough.

Alex was already turning back to normal, and exhaustion was apparent on his face.

"Alright, I think we've done our job. I'll grab the pod now."

Alexander stayed in a combat-ready posture as the three men he had fought against smiled at him, before going up the stairs.

All four of them saluted Kary as they passed near her.

The pod was out of the room and the penthouse in minutes, while Alex never stopped glaring at them. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Alex collapsed.

"Alex!"