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Nick wasn't happy as he headed off to his room. No, he wasn't happy at all. He couldn't believe that stupid Di-Crapio! "Work of art..." he muttered with disdain. "More like a kid’s stick doodle." He continued up the corridor, needing to grab a couple of things.

He walked in the room and immediately reached for the PSP Pearl had upgraded for him. Not only would he be entertained on the certain boat ride he would have to endure, but the device contained some handy weaponry, too. Since Disney, lots of new technology had been churned out, of course a result of Pearl being the one to have seen JC die. Nick still wished he could feel remorse for the man, but he didn't. He just wished he had gotten Drums before it came to that. The thought floated through his mind for only a moment before it refocused on the true matter at hand. The new 009.

Grabbing his favorite guns from where they hung on his wall, Nick rolled his eyes. Where did that Leo get off anyway? What the hell was with that stupid nickname? Di-Di? Was he serious? It made him want to vomit. On him, preferably. Just before his date with Diamond. Who should be with Nick on this mission. Instead, he was stuck with Avril.

"Fucking figures."

"Are you ready yet? We ain't waiting for your ass all day, Carter." Speak of the she-devil.

"Damn, I don't even get fifteen to prep?"

"No, Jay said K wants us on the jet immediately."

"Where are we meeting the boat at?" He knew they'd be taking the HimTak speedboat used for such occasions. Upgraded and more advanced than any typical speedboat, obviously.

"Fucking Florida... again."

"Fine, let’s go. Maybe we can drop your ass off in Canada on the way there. Not even the US government should be punished by having you be a citizen."

"Oh, go find a blow-up doll and get over it."

He really hated today.


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He was really loving the day after. They had gotten to Florida late the previous evening, and Jay had made the executive decision to hit the ocean at daybreak. The view was breathtaking, as the sun gently rose to greet the three sitting in the boat, with no sounds but the soothing waves.

Nick had always loved the ocean. It was so tempestuous, and it was never predictable. Yet the ocean didn’t change suddenly; it remained true to its nature, which was wild and, he supposed, somewhat angsty, as nature tended to be. The ocean was exactly what it seemed. Wild and free. Nick had felt connected to it since he was little. When he was younger, it would be Nick, his older sister Jessica, and their little brother Aaron holding hands as they walked to the beach from their little house in Florida.

But that was then. Yet, his love for the waters had never wavered and kept his spirits up, despite the resurgence of a painful memory.

"This is bullshit. I'm stuck in a boat with Blunder Boy, out to try and take down pirates..." Emerald had had enough with the crazy missions. Let those be for Carter. They even had pirate costumes in the back of the boat for when they approached their destination. No one had to drive; it did have an auto-piloting system, of course.

"Go overboard then, for all I care."

"Why don't I toss you there?"

"Guys..." Jay interceded, having heard this type of talk since they had first stepped on the jet to begin with. "Save it."

Nick smiled; he couldn't help it. He loved the beauty of the sea. "I'm good – we're sailing to..." An impish look came into his eyes as his smile morphed into a smirk. "...Bermuda... Bahama..." he began to sing.

Jay couldn't help but chuckle. Then he decided to join in, himself. It was so nice around them, it was easy to forget the fact that they were on a serious mission and just enjoy the ride. "… Come on, pretty mama..." He smirked and leaned over to Emerald, giving her a flirtatious kiss on her cheek, which landed dangerously close to her lips.

"You've got to be shitting me." She kept her small grin at Jay hidden. Emerald was not going to actually join in on this stupidity.

"Key Largo, Montego... baby, why don't we go... Jamaica..."

Agent McLean held his arms out widely and in a dramatic fashion. "Off the Florida Keeeeeeeeys... there's a place called Kokomo..."

The two even began harmonizing the classic Beach Boys song together as they continued to sing the lyrics. On key, no less. Who knew 003 could sing so well? Nick drummed out the beat in perfect rhythm on the wall of the boat, in the fashion of bongo drums. Did K want Emerald to suffer? She was starting to think he did...

"Aruba, Jamaica..."

"Oooh, I wanna take ya to Bermuda..."

"Bahama…" Jay lowered his voice to the deep bass and lowered his sunglasses to really give Emerald a seductive look. "Come on, pretty mama..."

"Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go..."

"Oooh, I wanna take you down to Kokomo..."

K owed her. Big time. And he was definitely going to know it when they got back.

"Aruba, Jamaica..."

"Oooh, I wanna take ya to Bermuda..."

"Bahama..."

As long as she didn't kill them first. She wasn't making any promises.


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Back and forth, the dark-haired man paced inside the all-too-small room in which he’d been hiding since his defeat by HimTak yet again at Disney World.

“Things will be different this time.” Dr. Rough unconsciously pet his favorite underling, Dr. Twitches. He held onto his little friend so tight that the animal’s claws started digging into the “doctor’s” tanned arms in protest. Dr. Rough didn’t care; it was comforting to feel his little claws dig in. At least he had a constant reminder that his friend was with him. After losing him in his attempt to take over Disney World and use its power for his own, he wasn’t taking any chances at losing his pet again. A harness encircled the body of Dr. Twitches; the leash wrapped several times around Dr. Rough’s arm. The ferret protested this harness and leash, but Dr. Rough found it absolutely necessary, especially while they were out at sea.

“Ah, Dr. Twitches, my faithful companion…” Dr. Rough held him tighter to emphasize “faithful.” “My new plan will not be as easily foiled by 00Carter and those fool agents at HimTak. We have already… I should say, Drums has already struck them a blow from which they will not easily recover. The loss of such a beloved agent,” Dr. Rough whined, “will be hard to forget. But I have already moved to replace him, and soon I will know all. I will know when HimTak will move to strike against me. I will know when they are on to my scheme and how to avoid their attack. There is no way my plans will fail now! And, oh, my next plan…” His cackle turned to almost a giggle before he could catch himself and continue his mini-monologue to no one in particular.

“Oh Canada…” Howie began to sing to himself. “How thee is … underestimated…” he sang. Petting Dr. Twitches calmly, he added, “and that shall fall into my plans perfectly.

“And Dr. Twitches, I can’t tell you enough about this agent I have found to play both sides.” Carefully, so as not to crush his friend, Dr. Rough jumped on the bed and kicked his feet up, locking them at the ankle, much like a teenage girl dreaming about the cute boys in the band The Backalley Boys. “He is just too perfect; I don’t know how I ever managed to find this one. Where has he been hiding all this time? Such evil in him that I have only seen in one other person, besides myself, to this point… but we all know Drums would never be able to infiltrate HimTak. No, they all know him too well. But this guy… oh, they will never see this coming.” Dr. Rough could feel a chuckle brewing in his chest, but before he could let it out, the sound from the television set across the room brought him back to the present.

Sitting up on the bed, he found the remote and turned up the television. A lanky reporter, dressed very well (and not too bad on the eyes, Dr. Rough admired), appeared on the screen, standing in front of some docks.

“Tales from the survivors of the recently destroyed cruise liners, the Mariner and the AbsoluteChaos, of a giant sea monster emerging from the ocean near the Bermuda Triangle, have the Coast Guard on extra security sweeps. Perhaps, what is more terrifying than what is being described as a giant squid-like creature, are the tales of ghostly pirates raiding the ship shortly after the monster’s appearance. Several prominent patrons of the cruise liners lost valuable items during these raids, as well as their lives. Out of the hundreds that disembarked on these two ships, only handfuls have returned to shore safely.

“The Coast Guard is baffled about this mystery, but is adamant that they will find out who or what is behind these attacks and put a stop to them. When asked about the giant monster claims, they had no more comments.

“One local man did, however, have plenty to comment on when it came to the claims of the giant squid.”

The screen panned out, and the reporter was shown with a man decked out in large fishing rubbers, hooks of all size dangling from his clothing. A fishing hat was perched on his head, the flap flipped upwards, casting a glare back towards the camera. In his right hand were two large hooks, connected to normal-size fishing rods. His left hand held the largest fishing net anyone could buy.

“I am here with a gentleman who goes by the name Captain Nemo,” the lovely, red-haired reporter continued. “Captain, you are claiming that the reports of the giant sea squid should not be taken lightly.”

“Well now, ma’am, this here squid’s evil incarn-ate and needs to be killed dead. I’s the right person for that job.”

“And how do you plan on catching this monster, Captain?”

“Well, sees, there’s my ship.” He pointed over to a dilapidated boat anchored in the farthest dock from the camera. “That’s the Nautilus, and she and I have seen some nasty things. We are pre-pared, ma’am. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have me a squid to hunt.” Without another word, the man set off towards his boat. The camera panned back to the reporter, who had a baffled look on her face.

“At that, this is Lorena Lee for Channel 5 News.” An uncomfortable giggle could be heard before the reporters in the studio begin to babble again.

Petting Dr. Twitches in a most calming and satisfying way, Dr. Rough turned his attention away from the television screen and out his window, towards the wide, open ocean, a sinister grin creeping onto his face.


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