New Life : A Second Chance

Greg stared at Kyle.

"O-kay," he said, nodding, sighing in disappointment.

This time, everyone nearby could see the disbelief on his face. Keanu frowned a bit at that, but didn't say a word. For some strange reason, he believed in the kid. He knew that he didn't have to say anything as actions speak louder than words.

Greg then led them to a section that had been cordoned off from the rest of the set.

It was made to look like a room, with several target areas. Kyle surveyed the room quickly, his eyes catching and taking note of the uneven floor, location of the bulls-eyes that were placed in random places and some things that were randomly placed to obscure some targets.

Gred led them to a table and showed Kyle an array of 9mm handguns and its respective magazines next to it.

"I'd like to get a feel of your skills with a gun," Greg explained, showing him the guns in front of him, "Choose one and take 2 magazines, then shoot the targets in this room."

"They're all replicas, of course, and the bullets aren't real. So you do not have to worry about hurting anyone," Greg assured him.

"Just shoot the targets?" Kyle asked as he walked to the table, "Or use gun fu?"

Anyone who is a John Wick fan would know that it utilised the 'gun fu' skill that was first developed by John Woo. That's partly what made all the action scenes so seamless and clean. It was a combination of the style, the camera crew, and the stunt team's coordination.

Greg was not surprised that Kyle knew about gun fu, but he was surprised that Kyle even offered to do it.

"Knock yourself out," Greg said, not really convinced.

Kyle studied the assortments of handguns on the table, and mumbled out loud as he picked up each gun, weighing it in his hands, "Glock 17. HK VP9. Springfield Armory. Sig Sauer P210. Ruger SR9c. Smith & Wesson."

Greg gulped. The kid knew his guns. He had identified each and every one of them properly.

Kyle looked and studied them then picked up the Glock17 and checked out its chamber, "This really does look very realistic," Kyle commented, "Though it is lighter a bit than the real thing. I guess that's because it doesn't use real bullets."

He studied the magazine and asked Greg, "This is the standard magazine that holds 17 bullets, right?"

Greg nodded. Some Glock17 Gen 4 models had magazines that held bullets between 10 to 30 rounds, though the latter was rather bulky and awkward. The more Kyle talked, the more convinced Greg was that Kyle wasn't kidding when he said he knew how to shoot.

The only question now was, how good was he?

And to use gun fu? Is that actually possible?

After checking the gun, Kyle picked up 2 of its magazines. He placed one behind his belt, and the other in his pocket.

Kyle stood in the middle of the room, looked left and right, and his eyes swept the entire room again from the ceiling to the floor. He held the gun upwards, took a deep breath, looked downwards and waited for the signal.

Once Greg shouted, "Action!", Kyle made his move.

He lifted his head, made a shot to the front, left and right then bent down on one knee, to shoot to the left. He slid on his knee to turn and shoot to the right, before swinging his hand and making a complete 360-degree turn (on his knee) to shoot again.

Keanu saw the moves that Kyle was making and hid a smile behind his hand.

Everyone was watching with their mouth hanging open as Kyle made shot after shot seamlessly, with twists and turns, some flips and even a half-turn somersault. He even changed magazines smoothly. He would drop the empty magazine to the floor as he swung the gun to the next target, while taking the new magazine and slipping it in before resuming his shots without missing a beat.

There was no hesitation, no lull in the action and shot after shot was made.*

When it was done, Kyle stood up straight, twisted his neck about and walked over back to Greg.

"Done," Kyle said, "Was that okay?"

Greg looked at the people who were checking the targets. All in all, Kyle had made 51 shots. There had been 80 targets in scattered in the room.

Finally, after several minutes, one guy trotted over, his face in total shock as he looked at Kyle in awe, "51 targets, all bulls-eye".

"What?!" Greg exclaimed, taking the targets from him and flipped through the first few.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Keanu asked, breaking the shocked silence.

Kyle shrugged, explaining, "The shooting part was just normal training for us since young. The gun fu, though - that, I learned and did for fun. Broke the monotony of shooting those darn targets on the wall."

"Normal training?" Keanu repeated, looking shocked.

"Yeah," Kyle said, touching the gun replicas on the table, "When you're the constant target for kidnappings, our parents kinda wanted extra security. We had bodyguards but that wasn't enough. They didn't believe in just relying on others."

"You keep saying 'we' - who are you referring to? And what sort of life do you actually lead??" Keanu asked again, shaking his head while the others just listened in total shock. They didn't know what to say or ask anyway.

"Oh, sorry. Me and my sister," Kyle explained, "We lead pretty normal lives, really."

"Yeah, this is pretty normal for people like us," a female voice piped up behind them. They turned, to see Samantha there.

This time, however, she wasn't dressed in a skimpy, tight dress but had on a pair of jeans and a blouse. Kyle raised an eyebrow and complimented her, "You look nice."

She gave him a big smile and gave a slight curtsy, "Must admit, this is far more comfortable than my usual attire. You may have something there."

Samantha picked up a Smith and Wessen replica from the table, saying, "I prefer this to a Glock - but I just let my bodyguards do the shooting."

"Somehow, I can't imagine you shooting a gun," Kyle said wryly.

"What? You think I can't?"

"No, not that," Kyle said, "It's just that there's not much space for you to wear a gun in your normal attire."

Samantha grinned, "True, true. That's why I always have these two with me. Carrying a gun is such a hassle. I just want to be normal."

Kyle grinned at that.

The 'new' Samantha was a much easier person to get along with. Kyle wouldn't know if this change would be permanent or temporary, but it's a start. It's not like one can suddenly become a different person. For now, her motivation was to eat his tofu but after he leaves, then it can really be seen if she had changed.

Kyle began thinking about his mission and what would happen after he completed it.

The next person in line for the 'throne' would be Samantha's uncle. In Kyle's opinion, he was a much better person to lead and more family oriented as compared to Samantha's father. Though the mission was a bit difficult, Kyle was truly grateful to Nitocris it.

It had been some time since Kyle had killed. Most of his missions with Master Shifu involved putting down certain organisations. It didn't mean that he didn't kill, but he only did so when required. To escape or to infiltrate.

Most of the time, Kyle simply knocked them out. He hardly needed a reason to kill.

This one, however, was different. The mission itself was to take a life.

Kyle wanted to be more decisive and ruthless. The more he learned about Rex Industries, the angrier he became. So many people that he had trusted before turned out to be scumbags. The thing that worried him the most was ... how deep did it go?

Did it involve 'her' husband?

Kyle couldn't believe it but he couldn't push aside the possibility.

Could he kill the father of his children, if that meant protecting his children?

He honestly couldn't tell at this moment. If the children were being physically harmed, there was no doubt of what Kyle would do - even if it was their father doing it. However, if what he was doing wasn't directed at them yet it would have repercussions? What then? Would Kyle be able to do what needs to be done in order to ensure that the future is secure?

Perhaps 'kill' was the wrong thing here. Kyle doubted that it would ever come to that. But he still wanted to be prepared.

So, this mission.

Taking a life ... and also making use of someone and hurting them in the end.

All part of a day's work.

Kyle brought back his thoughts to the present and looked at Samantha.

"This whole area is filled with people carrying guns," Kyle pointed out, "You're hardly normal."

"So says the 14-year-old sharpshooter who most likely is able to take down any intruder with his bare hands," Samantha retorted.

"OH, come on," Kyle protested, "Any sane kid who has the sort of opportunities that I have would turn out the same way. Aren't I right, Mr ... I mean, Keanu? If you could play around with guns and beat people up, wouldn't you?"

Keanu's lips twitched a bit at that, amused at the rather eager look on the kid's face.

"Oh, I don't know," he answered slowly, with a straight face, "I'm not that violent a person."

"Yeah, Kyle," Sam piped up from behind, "Regular exercising, training in martial arts and shooting ... that's really the schedule of a normal teenager. I'm the only normal one among us."

Kyle looked at Sam, who looked back at him unflinchingly with an innocent smile.

"Oh yes, Mr-I-skipped-a-grade and has a monthly salary of a few thousand?" Kyle replied, "Yes, you're a ve-ry normal 13-year-old."

Keanu blinked and leaned towards Greg, whispering, "Is it me or are these how kids are like nowadays?"

Greg whispered back, "It's not you. Those three are just freaks."