Action films were great.

Usually, the main character was a middle-aged badass. If it was a woman, she would use her feminine charms against her male opponents.

If it was a man, he happened to be a woman magnet.

His speeches were cool, his motives always got people rooting for his success and the final boss had nothing against that pro-fighter.

Fifty-something people could shoot at that guy a million times, and he would be able to dodge all the bullets like some kind of superhero.

Because the guy had such a tragic past, usually involving the death of his wife and soon-to-be child, he would turn into some anti-hero.

Here comes almost every male protagonist in action series.

Jake Romanov had to have spent most of his childhood watching action flicks. Not appropriate shows like, say, Sesame Street or Clifford the Big Red Dog. Something more along the lines of James Bond and The Matrix.

And unfortunately, it had seriously gotten to his head. The whole tough-badass-defeats-his-enemies, while calmly walking away from an explosion, had been inscribed in his brain.

What other reason could explain an idiot walking into a sorcerer’s lair, sneering at and insulting them upon his arrival?

Oh, and I might as well add that all these sorcerers had their weapons raised at him.

Jake Bond-wannabe did not lose his conceited sneer.

“You wouldn’t dare hurt me,” he called out, projecting his voice like the moron he was, “Without me, you would lose a valuable advan –”

I snatched the gun out of Tony’s hand and shot Jake.

                                                             * * *

“…And you had the audacity to jump into the scene, without awaiting my orders?” Noelle was shrieking, “Someone of your sort should always wait and think things through, prior to making rash decisions! You didn’t even know what he was going to…”

Blah, blah, blah.

When - not if - Damian and I will get married, I hope he will come to understand that there is nothing I find more tiresome than a nagging person.

Like, I heard your statement loud and clear the first time, Miss Noelle. Would you please find it in you to politely and ever-so sophisticatedly shut the fuck up?

Noelle had been lecturing me for the past hour, in her office. Like I was a puppy who had peed on her carpet or something.

“…Never again!” she continued, “Next time you take the initiative, and shoot at a random person without following my orders, you’ll regret it! Also, did you really...”

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

As she continued to talk, I snuck a look at Jake.

Now I understood the people in the movies. Similarly to an action flick, I had not aimed properly.

Main characters truly did have strong plot armors.

I had only managed to graze Jake’s left arm with a bullet, and he had not taken any other serious damage.

The other sorcerers had been shocked once I had pulled the trigger, though Noelle had stopped them before things could escalate.

And by escalate, I'm refering to Jake becoming a bloody corpse on the ground.

He had been freshly cleaned and bandaged. After he had been brought to Noelle’s office, escorted by none other than Tony.

While Noelle was yapping, Tony and Jake were whispering amongst themselves.

I did not know what the two of them were discussing, but Tony appeared more agitated than usual. Like he could not believe his classmate had been stupid enough to enter some lair he knew nothing about.

Jake caught my eye and glared at me. I gave him a polite smile in return.

Finally, Noelle stopped talking and she turned to Jake. Apart from a few fellow clown guards, we were the only people in the room.

“Tell me how you got here,” Noelle said sharply.

The idiot did not even break eye contact from Noelle. Even with a wounded arm, he was acting all tough and macho.

Dumbass. No wonder Damian never noticed him.

Jake pointed a finger at me. “Like I was explaining to Tony, I saw that albino guy from afar. Didn’t take much of an effort to follow you inside the toy store.”

Jake proceeded to go on about how he saw the three of us slip inside the back store. It took him about three seconds to find the entry to the passageway.

“It was easy work,” Jake boasted, “An amateur could have done it. Kind of reminds me of this action game I played, called Lord Rainbow.”

Tony gave me a look and I shuddered at the memory. Was this Nicolas 2.0?

“Why did you follow us?” Noelle bombarded him with more questions, “Do you realize the consequences that could have followed if I had not intervened to stop the others from shooting?”

Jake fell silent, and I believed he was trying to gather his thoughts. Finally, he looked up and shrugged.

“Listen,” he said, “My business is not with you. It's with that murderer over there.”

I narrowed my eyes as he continued to bullshit his way out of the mess he had gotten himself into.

Jake said, “Here’s the thing: you report this criminal to the police force, and no one gets hurt.”

“And what if I refuse?” Noelle answered.

Jake pulled something out of his pocket. I gasped.

It was Danielle’s journal.

“I’m a pretty good pickpocket, huh?” Jake smirked, dangling Danielle’s journal in front of my face.

Damn.

He must have gotten it while we had been walking down the streets. I could not believe that I'd failed to notice Jake sneaking up from behind me.

I could not believe he had managed to slip his slimy fingers inside the back of my pockets, to steal the journal I thought I had hidden carefully.

“What is that?” Noelle asked, gesturing at the diary.

Jake gave her a cocky look in response, and turned to look directly at me.

“Oh, he knows exactly what it contains,” Jake sneered, “Right, Jude?”

I could feel Noelle and Tony staring at me, but I refused to acknowledge them. Something told me I could not let them find out about the journal, and that entry.

At least, not now.

“If you refuse to cooperate and nicely give up this chase, then I will go ahead and prove that Damian was involved in the crimes,” Jake said, “And by crimes, I mean Isabella Martinez's apartment and the Pizza Paradise burning down, the strange death of one of their wealthy customers, and last but not least, Danielle Kara's murder. Strange for him to disappear while all these events occured, don't you think?”

Had I really been that reckless? Did I really think I was invincible, and no one would be able to track me down for the crimes?

Yes, I did think all that. I really did believe regular humans would not be able to find me, let alone pinpoint my location. My disguise clearly was not inconspicuous enough, though I knew better than anyone else that if I was ever recognized, I would be able to fend off for myself. 

It would be as easy as stomping on an anthill.

But to have Jake claim Damian was the one responsible for everything, framing him when he knew damn well I was the one to blame, was pissing the fuck the out me.

Noelle and Tony were even starting to look as if they believed Jake’s every word.

“You do realize that Damian was never okay to begin with, right?” Jake said, “As someone who grew up in an abusive household, it’s safe to assume he snapped. Besides, wasn’t he the last one who saw his sister alive?”

Tony shifted uncomfortably, probably trying to analyze all the strange behaviors that Damian had displayed in his presence, prior to his disappearance.

Clearly, Jake had something against me. The issue did not even involve Noelle and her army.

Jake was seriously trying to pick a fight, by using my only weakness against me.

He had chosen the wrong person to mess with.

“Why? What’s the point of all this? Even if what you say is true, what will exposing your theories do to benefit you?” I said coldly, “You really have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

“Oh, but I am aware of what’s going on. I know every single one of you rats are involved in the whole Kara family fiasco. You certainly have a lot of enemies after you.”

“My dad cannot do his job right, so I’m merely launching my own investigation, while simultaneously having fun. No matter how much you want to kill me, you can’t do anything because I’ll always have the upper hand.”

Noelle clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. I guess she wanted nothing more to do with Jake Romanov.

“Alright,” she said icily, “My patience and kindness has run out.”

Noelle turned to the guards stationed around us. “Get rid of him,” she ordered.

For once, I agreed with her.

Bye, Jake. It was nice knowing you. Not.

I did not even think twice about what would follow. Obviously, Jake would cower in fear or beg for mercy, realizing he had committed the stupidest mistake in history.

However, as the guards prepared to execute him, Jake simply smiled, his eyes unable to betray his giddiness.

And his superfluous confidence.

“Anthony,” he said, “Go ahead and tell her what else we were discussing.”

Tony rolled his eyes, completely annoyed at this point.

Poor guy. He could never take a break.

“With all due respect, Noelle,” Tony spoke carefully, despite his disinterest in the situation, “I do not believe discarding Jake would be a good idea. At the very least, not now.”

Noelle appeared completely taken aback. “Why?”

“Because he's a professional hacker. And according to him, we can use his skills to our advantage.”