Chapter 97: Hero Medal.

There are a lot of ways for Ryan to diffuse the situation. For example:

*Bang* A bullet goes straight into the SpyMaster's head. The brain fluid is splattered on the camera screen of every single television footage among the people that are watching. It is the most simple and efficient way. This method, however, will bring dark consequences.

Ryan's first way will cause the young audience who is watching the show because they want to see the hero, traumatized their entire life. The method is rejected by Ryan as it is too gore.

Let's take a look at another example. He can keep it PG13, and throw his restraining orb to the SpyMaster. *Twhip* The intruder will be squirming on the ground to get out of the steel cable. However, Ryan notices that the spy has hidden a lot of devices on his body like he is. Some of it is explosive. If he acted without caution, there may be casualties in the packed production set. 100 people are held hostage right now by the Spymaster.

He can use magic to transfer the guy away, but it will expose him. Should he rely on Shield or Tony who is on their way? He can, but the spy won't let him. There are a lot of ways he can utterly destroy the man, but he restrained himself as he is on a live broadcast.

'I guess pretending to be a normal-strength man has its limitations.'

ALBUS is taking over the broadcast channel. Ryan started the program the moment he realises that the blue pervert is going directly on top of him.

Ryan is intruding into the SpyMaster's mind the moment he jumps into the set.

'He has a lot of determination to get the medal.'

He thought that all of this, was just for stealing the hero medal. He wonders if the guy is a kleptomaniac. The spy stole an arc reactor before, even tried to steal Yelena's sword.

'Wait. This is…' After checking the Spymaster's mind. All of it pieces up together.

"Sir, I can cut off the broadcast when you give me your signal,"

ALBUS communicated with Ryan using his watch. The plan is to cut off the broadcast and knock out the guy instantly before he could do anything, but Ryan is changing it.

Trish is on top of Ryan after he grabs her and rolls away. Although he is enjoying the view, Ryan gently pushes her to the side and whispers to her.

" Trish, stay down and when the time comes, slowly get away,"

"Shouldn't you run?" Trish asks worriedly.

She blames herself for this incident. Maybe this is why Ryan never agrees to an interview. There are a lot of people who want him dead. They should record the broadcast instead of doing it live.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt me. He is not able to."

He stood up from the floor and dusted off his clothes. It was a little dirty as he rolled on the floor.

'His mind is chaotic. Full of voices that aren't his.'

There are at least 10 other voices that Ryan hears inside the Spymaster's mind. He tries to listen, but none of the voices has a name. The man in the blue tights in front of him is greatly disturbed.

Ryan in his Loid Forger suit walked slowly back to his chair and sat on it. Trish's chair is damaged by the debris, but it still can be used.

"What is he doing?" The director asks anxiously with both of his hands in the air.

All of the crew is kneeling petrified before the invader. Their attention used to be on the blue pervert, now it is on Ryan.

He sips the tea amidst the tension in the room. "Fuh," he blew the hot tea to cool it down.

Spymaster is silent. He is still processing what is going on. The sight of the man relaxing in the middle of the dangerous situation is imprinted on the audience's mind and also his.

The director zooms into the sight of Ryan drinking the beverage instead of the pervert in the blue dress and a yellow belt.

"Why don't you have a cup of tea? You must be tired from all of the running around."

Ryan said while making eye contact with the SpyMaster. He didn't feel any malicious attention from the guy as he isn't going to take his life. He smiled softly and invited the man to sit down.

"You're one decision away from dying Mr. Knight. So stop f*cking smiling."

Spymaster takes out his gun and aims it at Ryan's head. The crowd gasped. The Shield agents outside the building hastened their step. Ryan makes eye contact with the man and breaks it off after 4 seconds then looks to the side.

"What is the decision here? How can I decide without you telling me?"

He asks calmly like the muzzle of the gun isn't inches away from his face.

"I wanna know what you want." Ryan continued. The Spymaster is extremely stunned right now. It wasn't supposed to go like this. Never once in his years of service did he experience this. What did he want?

"I want the medal." He remembers his target. Today he needs to get the medal.

"Sure, but will you tell me why?"

Ryan takes off the medal slowly and puts it on the table next to him. The metallic, pentagonal shape medal has an inscription of Ryan's name and deeds.

[A True Hero to the Country]

The sentence is inscribed by the President privately after the ceremony.

Spymaster reaches for the medal. He is being cautious as he thought Ryan is planning something. His heart is beating wildly as he keeps staring at Ryan. Waiting for him to strike. Waiting for something to go wrong.

But nothing happened. The medal is now in his hand. He breaks into a bright smile and plops down onto the dirty seat.

He played with the medal as he lowered his gun. His behavior reminded Ryan of a certain Smeagol.

Spymaster didn't realize he was sitting down. Nor the thought of running away quickly arises in his mind. He wanted to enjoy the moment. However, the itch in his brain wouldn't let him.

"Why what?" A group of voices in his head reminded him of the question.

"Why do you want the medal?" Ryan asks. He already knows it. But he wants the world to know it too.

The voices in his Spymaster's head are quiet at the moment. When it's quiet, he doesn't feel like running. He wants to talk about it. In his blue suit that he made especially for today. The suit that he feels will make people remember him.

Ryan doesn't even have to do anything during the whole thing. No magic. No psychological trick. Nothing. He just needed to talk to the man.

"It is rightfully mine…I worked hard to steal it. Until you bring it here and ruin everything," Spymaster explained. It's hard for him to show disdain as he is smiling brightly right now.

"I am sorry. You're too good that I didn't know someone was coming to steal it. If I did, I would just leave it there in the museum," Ryan said in a teasing manner. It makes the Spymaster laugh out loud.

Deep down beneath all of SpyMaster's thoughts, the heist, the stealing, all he wanted. Is to be recognized. And right now. Ryan is allowing him to do so.

"What should I call you? The 'S'? You know because of your belt buckle?"

The crew member chuckled hearing Ryan talking with the guy. The situation is becoming, Ryan is the host and the 'S' is the guest.

"The S stands for Spymaster," He is a bit mad that he is looked down upon. However,Ryan has no mocking tone in his voice.

"Wait, you're a spy?" Ryan gasped. His eyes widened. All of the people there gasped. This is a spy?

"Yes. The best Spy in the world," He hit his chest proudly.

"You must be like James Bond then. A superspy but everyone in the world knows who he is,"

"James Bond couldn't make his gadget!"

The SpyMaster is absorbed in talking with Ryan. Other than the voices in his head, no one will spend some time talking to him. To the real him, not the ones he disguised himself with.

The last time the real him came out was before he became the sole owner of the number 5. Right now, he is laughing and feeling comfortable. The distant memory of someone talking to him surfaces back into his mind.

The citizen who is watching the show right now isn't worried anymore. They are enjoying the banter Ryan is having with the Spymaster. He turned from an intruder, a terrorist, a pervert, to a wannabe Spy, an interesting man, a dumb idiot, and more.

"I was trained with the others since I was young. Only I am worthy to have the title."

"I don't remember my name anymore. But I remember the names of the others."

Minutes passed with only him and Ryan on the set. All the crew has evacuated. Natasha and Coulson are handling the broadcast. They are not sure what to do. Even Fury is unsure what to do.

'What exactly is Ryan Knight planning?' Fury thought seriously. The agents around Fury are all busy analyzing the situation.

A Shield most dangerous list, and the Spymaster is talking together like they are in a coffee house. The show is going to be over. There is only 2 minutes left for the live broadcast before it ends.

"Ahh, I forgot to run," SpyMaster realizes after he notices the camera-man is a different guy. All of this time he and Ryan are focusing on each other and they ignored the changes inside the set.

The place is already being surrounded by the Shield agent. SpyMaster turned his head slightly and counted the number of agents here in the set. There are more than 50 agents waiting to capture him.

"I am that important huh," The nameless man smiles. He didn't resist as the agent approached him. He smiles toward the camera one last time. He already got what he wanted.

"The Best Spy is now caught. Will he be back?" Ryan concluded today's show like he is the host.

"Awww," the little boy who is watching from the inside of Kai's clinic is sad that the show is over.

Natasha thought that was the signal and cut off the broadcast. Phil is very puzzled. He walked to the duo who is talking even when one of them is in a handcuff.

"Can you explain to me what just happened?"

The agent is ignored. The conversation between them continues for another half an hour.

SpyMaster waved at Ryan as he was escorted out of the set. There isn't any regret on his face. The Shield agents already stripped him bare of his devices. The only thing they left behind is his blue suit and a platinum medal.

"He just wants the medal. That's it." Ryan said to Phil Coulson. His mood is a little complicated right now. He knows what Spymaster is planning to do after this.

He walks out of the set where Bryan is waiting for him.

"Boss, I should have fought him better, " Bryan apologized. He is ashamed as the head of security. Today, a man held a gun to his employer's head, but he was blocked from entering the venue.

"Don't worry about it Bryan. He never planned to kill me in the first place,"

All of the time he held his gun to Ryan's head, his finger was never on the trigger.

When Ryan enters the Spymaster head. He understands today's incident. It was only planned by the Spymaster to leave his name in the world.

This is his duty. The only thing that can show he exists in the world is his moniker. He doesn't even remember his real name.

Abandoned, he didn't know what to do anymore. Today, after he stole Ryan's medal and Stark's golden ornament he placed on his exhibition site, Spymaster planned to end it all. To join the voices in his head as he is now unworthy to live. Like they are when he takes their life.

'Victor, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Cha-Cha, Hazel, Sloane, Fei'

The name of the others who grew up with him. The true name of the schizophrenic man? Is Five.

"This is putting a bad taste in my mouth," Ryan mutters. The fate of an abandoned man, is bringing back some painful memories for him.

…

Two days later. Ryan is trying to start his research program, but he couldn't find the starting point of his work.

"Is the guy still bothering you?" Gwen asks as she hugs him from behind. After the incident, Ryan seems a bit depressed. She didn't know what the reason was other than the fact it is related to the Trish Talk incident.

Trish Walker is now famous worldwide. However, she is not as famous as the SpyMaster. It greatly shocked her when she learned it that her leg became noodles.

"I don't know…" Ryan is confused about what to do about it. He read the man's memory before. Other than numbers and the Supervisor, Spymaster has never taken a life. Sure he causes some of them to die but they are mercenaries. They know death comes with the job.

"Why don't you meet him again?" Gwen suggested.

"He had been taken to a Shield off-site base for interrogation. It will be months before I can see him, "

Shield is getting to the bottom of the nuclear incident before. Spymaster complied with them and answered all the questions honestly which surprised the agents. Everytime Shield asks a question, he will answer them. The only thing he can't answer is about Taskmaster.

"Let's call Phil Coulson. You basically arrested the man. I think he can do this for you." Gwen said and called the agent straight away.

[.. Hello?]

"Coulson, this is Gwen Stacy. Can Ryan meet the Spymaster or talk to him?"

On the other side of the call, Phil is helpless and anxious. He is in prison right now. A lot of agents are there with him. They are trying hard to understand the situation in front of them.

*Snap* The forensic agent is collecting the sample and taking photos. In their hazmat suit, they are bagging the evidence. Blood splatter, saliva, hair and all that could be evidence.

A man who is locked up inside a secure containment unit today, manages to steal a pen from the agent when he is interrogated. This led to the incident inside the cell at the moment.

[... I don't think he can. Not anymore…]

With his pen, the jailed man decided to leave a note on his jail cell. Then, he uses the pen to stab into his eye and into his brain. He did that as he was smiling. He did his duty. Now he wants to rest.

[... The Spymaster had killed himself inside the cell 2 hours ago…]

Gwen is shocked. She turns to Ryan who is listening to the call. His face is crestfallen.

"So, in the end, he decided to go with it." Ryan mutters. Gwen puts down the phone and hugs him tightly.

After Spymaster's last act, he decided to draw the curtain himself.

There is a note on the wall. It was addressed to Ryan Knight.

-I didn't know if you planned the conversation with me to let the agent come, but it was the best moment of my life. Thank you...

P. S. I'm keeping the medal -

Ryan didn't continue his plan to start his research that day. He pours himself a drink, and another. He becomes numb, and finally goes to sleep.

There are only 2 people in the world who understand what he is feeling right now. The ones with his memory of his life before he came to this universe.

There, he is the Spymaster. The difference between them is that as he is standing on the ledge, someone managed to pull him back. Someone who he loved dearly, but couldn't remember who.

Who knows, if Ryan talks more with the SpyMaster. Maybe he will be able to save him.

Three days passed. Ryan is starting to feel better. He is watching the final episode of One Piece on his TV, when he hears a sound from his balcony.

"Kid, let's make a suit," Tony Stark is floating outside his building, inviting him to play.

"Why would I want a suit?" Ryan is puzzled. Isn't Tony a guy who killed the others who can make the same suit as him right now? Is he going to kill him too? "

"Not your suit. My suit. You are going to help me."

Tony finally thinks about how to entice Ryan from not getting any more doctorate. He is going to make Ryan hooked on creating a suit.