Alex Rider: Luck of the Goddess

Jack's going to be so mad

Alex Rider was tired of being threatened. Life as a fourteen-year-old British spy had provided plenty of threats, but now that he was fifteen, he thought maybe he had moved on from that. Apparently, the old lady with the limp that had followed him for 10 blocks, then appeared right next to him, and who then proceeded to throw him with a surprising amount of force into a New York alleyway proved to be a testament against that fact.

Seeing the demonic old lady Alex uttered a few choice words that his housekeeper/legal guardian, Jack Starbright, would not be pleased to hear. But at the moment, she was all the way in London because Alex had insisted that his educational trip would not put him in any danger.

Jack would be so furious with him.

But that was the least of his worries.

The old lady began to transform into something else. She had claws, and some weird leg thing, and several other grotesque features that Alex was very confused about.

From what Alex gathered, this assumingly semi-innocent old lady was something other than human, and it didn't seem to be friendly.

Now, Alex had guns, vehicles, and hypodermic syringes all pointed at him, but claws and teeth, that was new.

Unless you counted that experience with the Siberian tiger in Venice or the shark in Skeleton Key.

Either way, Alex was not excited.

Then the thing spoke, "I shall feast on your flesh half-blood."

Alex was unnerved by the cold harsh voice and the choice of words.

What was half-blood?

And more importantly, would he taste good?

There goes my educational trip, sorry, Jack. Alex thought, hoping Jack might hear him after he was sent to the after-life.

Though in Alex's defense, he hadn't been the one to start this adventure. This particular adventure had been waiting for him.

"Nah, I won't be very good; I'd be a little tough." His British accent sticking to his words.

"I've never had foreign food before," cried the monster, but Alex hadn't been listening. He was focusing on the dumpster next to him and the rain gutter next to it.

If he could just angle things right.

"You smell delightful, so I think I will eat you now," and the once-old-lady lunged for him, but he was no longer there.

He had jumped onto the dumpster, and carefully jumped again onto the gutter, and started climbing.

For normal people scaling a rickety metal tube up several meters would be daunting, but Alex Rider was not normal. He was his mind flashed briefly to the time he scaled a rope dangling from a hot air balloon from a thousand feet in the air to save the school kids of London. It didn't compare very well.

Then, there had been a black and white assassin man afraid of heights.

Now, there was an old lady turned monster that wanted to eat him.

He wasn't sure which experience was more pleasant.

However, he didn't have time to debate whether or not the monster was more terrifying, as he heard the inhuman screech below him.

Why does this always happen to me? Crossed his mind, but he had survived too much to give up so soon. He scaled the gutter, bringing him on top of a five-story building. He thought he had escaped the danger.

He was so wrong.

The next thing he knew, he was thrown to the ground.

Where was the old lady?

Or not so old and lady?

Whatever it was, it was not happy.

"Your luck will run out eventually, demigod, and then I will feast."

Alex recognized that word, but that didn't mean it made sense. And to be honest, he wasn't paying much attention. The heat from the voice had caused him to turn away and think of something else.

And he had an idea. Or part of one, anyway. If only he could just get the monster thing off him, but he didn't dare look up at it.

He took a page out of the mythology book, and the subconscious part of his brain added the fine details. "Is that Zeus?"

The monster shrieked and looked in the direction of his gaze.

Using the momentary distraction, he kicked the monster in the chest. The monster didn't go very far, but it was stunned enough that it allowed Alex the chance he needed.

He turned and leaped;

Onto the next building;

And then the next;

And the next.

He had a general idea of where he wanted to go. Everyone knew where it was. Central Park. He was hoping the crowds would turn the creature away.

Alex didn't dare slow down or look behind him. His track and spy days had made him fast. But was he fast enough to outrun a monster?

He scanned the ground. There. He saw a pile of mulch about to be used for planting trees.

He leaped off the last building and slid down the pile of mulch.

By the time he made it solid ground once more, his breath was coming in ragged bursts. He needed to stop, but he didn't want to risk it.

He kept running.

Running is 70 percent mentality anyway, and he certainly had a reason to run.

A fifteen-year-old running down the streets of London would surely attract attention, but in New York, nobody spared him a second glance.

He was grateful for that.

Then he crossed the last trafficked street, horns blaring at him the whole way.

At last, he was at Central Park, and only then did he stop to take a breath.

But it seemed his luck might have run out.

Because not 5 meters away was the old lady, who had a horrific smile plastered over her face.

Alex backed into the tree and quickly glanced from side to side. It was as if all the people had magically vanished. The section of the park he was in was completely deserted.

He gulped. His legs and arms felt like rubber. He was too tired to make a mad dash, and clearly, the creature was faster than he was. He would have to wait for his opportunity to arise. It didn't seem like it would ever come.

"Now your end has finally come." The creature lunged for the last time, or at least until it reformed, but Alex didn't know that.

All he saw was the monster get speared in the chest by a branch and burst into golden dust.

He was shoved forward, but the only thing behind him was a tree.

"Hello demigod," said a far friendlier, earthier, but still out-of-place voice.

I would like to clear up now that I am not British and I am currently not employed as a spy. I will take full responsibility for my inaccuracies, and beg for your forgiveness.
I really wanted to write this story, since the idea was gnawing at my brain and subconscious. I, therefore, had no choice since my subconscious does not like it when I ignore it.
My apologies for any cringiness, and grammar mistakes.
If you haven't figured it out already, I've never been to New York.
And lastly, I don't own the characters or cover image. Only the crazy plot in which I throw these characters in is mine.
Yours Sincerely,
Me