Chapter 011

"I just want to learn it to protect myself." Alex said, repeating one of the most overused lines in kung fu movies.

"Everyone here says the same thing when they come to me. But the truth is often a little different. Many come here to fight their bullies or stop their family from hurting them. There are also those who just think it's a cool thing to learn."

Colleen stopped her sentence and walked one more step towards him. "Now I'm asking again, what made you want to learn martial arts?"

Alex scratched his head after hearing that.

It's not like he could tell her that he was learning martial arts to act like a hero. He has to come up with a better answer.

His mind raced for an answer while Collen just faced him.

"Just two days ago, I was walking on the street when I saw a masked man running across the street. He had a gun and he seemed anxious."

Colleen raised an eyebrow at his story and asked, "What happened next?"

Alex made a grave expression, like he was talking about a tragic event, "He collided with an old man and his gun fell on the street. I was close by and fortunately, kicked him before he could pick up the gun again."

"You did a brave thing."

"Yeah, but what if I would have frozen there? Not able to do anything. The old man would have died. Maybe I would have too..."

Colleen went silent upon hearing it.

Alex's words were mostly true but there were some lies added to it too. It was like how movie studios would add some fictional events to make a biographical drama more interesting.

It was just a perfect story for Colleen to accept him as a student.

"Umm, I didn't expect that type of answer." 

Colleen said and started walking towards one of the doors. Alex followed her, anxious about whether he would be accepted or not.

"Why did you kick that masked man? There would be other people there too and you were the only one who reacted." She asked.

"If I hadn't, a bad thing would have happened. I didn't really have time to think too much. It all happened too suddenly." Alex replied honestly.

There was a silence for a few seconds before Colleen faced him again. She took another look at him and nodded her head in satisfaction.

"Honestly, I would have accepted you no matter the answer." She said taking out a form from a drawer. "I don't have many students here, you see."

Alex smiled, thinking about the financial troubles that Colleen went through to make sure that the dojo was running. 

He recalled that she would even participate in illegal fights to get some money, breaking her code of not fighting for money in the process.

"Take this form and fill it." Colleen handed him the paper. "We have batches running here and there's a system in place to start from the lowest to the highest. The level of martial arts taught will change with each level."

She explained as Alex went through the form. Aside from the places to fill, there was detailed information on how the dojo worked.

It taught both hand to hand combat and kendo which was more than enough for Alex.

As he went through the form, he noticed something about a scholarship. He immediately understood that it was the scholarship that the Hand grants to students.

After getting chosen for the scholarship, they are sent to a compound to become killers for the Hand.

'It's quite scary how they are being taught to become ninja killers without them knowing about it.'

Alex thought as he filled out the form.

The fees weren't much and he would be able to manage it with his pocket money. As his parents were well off, he never had to worry about money.

"So, the classes will start tomorrow?"

He asked, giving her the form while she nodded.

"Yeah, you can come here at 4 PM. Don't be late. We have strict punishments for those who don't follow our code and one of them is to never be late."

"Understood."

Alex didn't have much to do in the Chikara dojo after the registration. So, he went home after saying goodbye to Colleen.

He wanted to get closer to her as she was now his link to the Hand and future defender members like Iron fist and Luke cage.

But he was just one of her students.

Alex had to wait a lot before he could use this connection. New York City underworld was still silent and from what he has researched, Daredevil has just started being active.

He has a lot of time before major events start happening.

It also meant that he had enough time to start his hero activities and make a name for himself in the underworld.

'I have to start from the very basics. Let's get to 50 pushups today.'

Alex made a resolve as he reached his home.

* * *

In an archive room, a man with a black eye patch was looking at a particular video. It was footage that was taken from one of the cameras in Brooklyn.

The footage showed a young teenager crossing the street in a flash and striking a street criminal, breaking most of his ribs in the process.

The black eye patch man played the video again and again before he looked up at the man standing before him.

"What's his name?"

"Alex Krown. We got all his information in our database. That footage sure is unusual right, Director Fury." The man named Phil Coulson asked.

"It is for sure. That kick has the power to break almost all the ribs of that man and it all happened too... fast."

"Should we add him to our list?"

"No, first start observing him. We can't be sure just yet." 

Director Fury said, taking another look at Alex's face.

He can't say anything with just this footage but if the teenager in the footage was really someone unusual, with powers that he shouldn't have. Then, there was no saying how much of a threat he would become.

"Add him to the list of potential candidates and monitor everything about him. We are getting close to our initiative and unusual things have started gaining pace."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Agent Coulson asked.

"It can be. But we have to see for ourselves. We don't want more people like Tony Stark out there with the means to wreak havoc."

"Understood."