"Nick."
“Justin.”
"Nick… Justin… “
“Guys! Come on, Project Scythe has to be in here somewhere!" Pearl cried ahead of them, weapons in hand, a leather toolkit swinging around her waist, adorned with what she would need to deactivate the very thing their mission was after. Justin was next to him as they ran through the dark halls, the power disabled thanks to their scientist partner for the mission. Jay was ahead of them, fighting terrorist members left and right, providing their distraction while they had shut the power down. The trio of friends glanced to the one female as she gazed down at a small handheld device that beeped shrilly as they grew closer to their goal.
"Left hall..."
Justin glanced at her and Nick, who had an automatic, personalized for him by their friend, ready in his hands. "Yo, how long do you think we got before these dawgs try to make Swiss cheese outta us?"
"Twenty minutes tops, Drums," Nick replied as they began hurrying down a new direction. "They mean business. They need to get laid."
"Is everything about sex?" A chuckle came from Pearl. "And you wonder why I say ‘Mambo No. 5’ fits you..."
Footsteps came from behind them, and the three sharply ducked down as their hands instinctively aimed their weapons at the figure before them, until they realized who it was. Nick stood along with them with obvious relief at their mentor being before them rather than the enemy. Agent Jay tilted down the night vision sunglasses he wore, coffee eyes watching them in question.
"Are we close?"
The scientist checked once more as they weaved their way through the darker depths of the building. The two blonde males put on night vision sunglasses to improve their vision in the cold, dank place. "Pretty close; the signal is getting stronger. Once we're in the room with It, I can lock it down."
"Let’s move it then..." A smirk appeared on their superior's face as he rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. "If we can make it back to the States by tomorrow, I might get a quickie with Emerald before she's off on her mission."
"Boys... lord."
Snickers came from around Pearl, and she almost jumped when her device began chirping as it vibrated sporadically in her hands. They entered a small room, seemingly once used as a medical laboratory of sorts. Now its only use was for a terrorist plot that could put the world in peril beyond anyone's imagining. The only sound once Pearl was able to silence the chirping came from the rusty pipes dripping idly as a putrid smell began to float faintly in the air.
"Man, what died?! NICK!"
Nick rolled his eyes as he kept his gun trained. His curly-haired, blonde partner stood near the pipes, snickering. "Not me," Nick replied, his eyes narrowing.
Pearl crouched down near a floor vent as she fiddled with the handheld, Jay kneeling beside her. “You two, eyes sharp for anyone not us. Once we get it done, I’ll set the time bomb and we bolt like bats outta hell.”
The two nodded in reply as they stood still in the shadows. “Yes, sir.”
“Alright, once I lock the signal down on it, I can release that sonic charge at it and fry the system. I know it’s down there, but its being worse than one of Nick’s one night stands in committing to its signal location. I can‘t blast it till I know ‘cause this baby‘s only got enough juice for the one shot.”
“We don’t have much time; we need this done fast.”
Justin smirked as he gazed at his fellow 00-Agent. “So guess who I had fun trying to tame last night? Your favorite agent, Diamond Divine…” he whispered into his Communi-com device, the little microphones and ear buds equipped on them for this mission.
Nick rolled his eyes and decided not to respond. Justin was his friend, had been since the beginning, when they’d joined Himitsu Takana at the same time. They had bonded over basic training and had been friends ever since. Sometimes, however, Nick felt Justin always wanted what he had, and it secretly infuriated him. Still, Justin was almost like a brother, as close as you could get to family inside Himitsu Takana, anyway. But the rage remained.
Sure, he knew Diamond wasn’t his; their relationship was purely casual sex and flirting. Yet it felt like Justin only did it because Diamond had a liking for Nick in particular. Sometimes, as good a friend as 009 was, Nick wanted nothing else but to see Drums gone.
Pearl’s voice caught their attention for a moment. “Finally! Got the little squirming bastard – must be sewers below shifting it around. Didn’t figure that for a random abandoned building in the middle east… heh.”
“Don’t assume.”
An almost inaudible piercing high note of sound filled their ears, followed by a heavy feeling in the air as they felt the electricity travel around them. She had set off the sonic charge towards Project Scythe.
“Yes! That baby is fried. Set the bomb, Jay, we’re ready to blow.”
“Done, we have fifteen minutes to get our asses out of-”
A shot rang out within the darkness, interrupting Jay, followed by wild screams. Nick threw the gun he had used just then down on the floor, covering his face as a fiery red fluid burst from the pipes, hitting his upper right arm. He couldn’t help but scream out in pain as the intense burning attacked his upper right shoulder without a thought of mercy. His cries of pain blended with Justin’s own as the now apparent chemicals splashed against his very face.
“Oh my god, that’s Phoenix Suicide! Guys get down!” Pearl screamed out, not caring who heard them now. Phoenix Suicide was a chemical newly formed for biological warfare technology. Not much was known yet, except for its deadly nature.
“Shit, Pearl, don’t go near them, or you’ll get hit too,” Jay growled at her, pulling her back by her arm as she was forced to watch her two friends suffer until Nick finally regained his senses and pulled Justin along behind him, away from the broken pipes. Agent Jay just nodded.
“We’ll take care of it outside; we have little time!”
They ran through the halls, as shots flew like scattering birds around them. Jay shot without feeling or remorse, it seemed to Nick, as his arm throbbed to the beat of its own drum. He had been lucky; not much had hit him compared to Justin, who was being dragged along behind him. When he had shot that bullet, he hadn’t meant for this. Oh god… what had he done to him!?
They raced out of the building, in need of air to breathe. As they finally paused to catch their breath behind some rundown homes a ways away, the place they just escaped from exploded and was consumed by greedy flames. Nick watched it burn as stars twinkled above them, almost mocking the idea of them having a night that was anything but peaceful. Yet their mission was accomplished.
His hand covered the arm that tortured him now. Always, there was a price.
A gasp escaped the scientist, and Nick’s ocean eyes met Justin’s, but not for long.
“My god…Ju…your head!” she cried as he shrieked in immense agony. His head had begun to swell at a frightening pace. His blonde curls were drenched red, looking as if they had been dunked in fruit punch. But in the much crueler reality, they’d been soaked by the Phoenix Suicide. His right eye began to bulge as the pressure from the swelling head continued. Pearl and Jay were frantically looking for a toxin in her kit to try and slow it down.
“My god…JuJu… Jay we need to contact Jewel and now… we have nothing here to slow it down. She needs to help us until we get back to HimTak!”
“We’ll contact The Rok and see if he can get a jet sent our way since we don’t have ours yet. We’ll get back as soon as we can.”
“Fuck, dawgs, my eye!” Only Nick saw the gruesome event that happened next. His right eye, getting squeezed ever so painfully, began to fill with the redness of Justin’s own blood, accompanied by howls that resembled a wild animal’s when caught in a steel trap.
He had done this to him, all because of one moment of emotional stupidity. It was his fault… all his fault…
Nick shook his head, wanting to forget the memory of how it happened. His first mission back, and he had to face what he had done to a man whom he had once almost called a brother. Jealousy was so petty. Justin’s life had been ruined beyond compare.
Now he stood before him, shockingly enough, with metal robotics replacing what had been done by the chemical in the mission that felt like years ago, when really, it had only been months.
“Fancy meeting you here, Drums.”
“008... and my inadequate replacement… heh, Diamond Divine, the vixen of HimTak. Or should I say slut?”
Diamond crossed her arms over the breasts that were begging to pop out of her tight little shirt. “I don’t like having to beat up men who slept with me... and who were actually good, but I’ll make the exception for ya.”
“You’re going to fight me? Me? Yo, dawgs, I was your bro once. You gonna diss me like that and try to knock me down?” Justin always had reverted to ghetto imitation slang just before he was about to get some action on a mission, or when he was excited and happy. His trademark was that, actually. But a fire of hatred burned within his steely blue eye in a way Nick had never seen in Justin before; that made it clear it wasn't the latter.
He took a breath sharply. “What do you know about this FANS, Justin?”
“FANS? Oh, FANS are the ones who didn’t try to ruin me, and now are off to bring down those standing against them, 008. I have a whole new life now; they saw the wicked skills you didn‘t.”
Nick had the gun in his hand aimed at the one before him, his finger pulling the trigger. A sharp kick knocked it out and went for his throat next. He did a back flip, his hand reaching for the gun he’d lost on the floor, as Diamond went for the attack, keeping Justin somewhat distracted.
Nick stood as he wiped his brow, aiming his gun. A bullet rang out across the room, missing his old friend by an inch alone, hitting the wall next to the sound equipment. Voices could be heard in the distance, growing closer with every step their ears could catch in the air.
Justin smirked smugly as he reached for an abnormally hefty sandbag that was tied to a rope next to the curtains, hanging from the catwalk. He grabbed on as he rose quickly in the air after the shift in weight.
“Been fun! You’ll remember this as the time when J to da Timbalake beat yo asses!” he called out and then vanished in the shadows as if he were never there.
People came as Diamond covered for them with a story she made up as she went along. She was always good like that.
Nick’s thoughts went back to the one who had once been his partner, before Diamond had risen to her 00-Agent status. Why was he here? Where had he been since his injury during that mission?
One thing was true: the hatred against him was evident. And the saddest thing for Nick was that he couldn’t blame him, after what he had done to a man he’d once called friend.
± ± ±
The two agents sat behind the female one’s flat screen, their eyes locked on the image of the two agents on the field that appeared in front of them. Jay and Pearl both watched the agents lower their gun as the image that slowly made his way out of the darkness.
Jay’s eyes locked on the figure, which nodded and acknowledged the two agents standing before him. At the same time, the same words poured from Jay’s lips.
“Justin.”
A sharp silence fell to the room where the two agents were positioned behind the screen. From the corner of his eye, Jay saw that Pearl was in total shock, her hand covering her pretty lips and her eyes examining every inch of the screen, as if trying to absorb the image that appeared in front of her. He could understand how she felt; heck, he felt just the same, he was sure. A deep guilt washed over his body inch by inch; he could feel it so solidly, that inevitable feeling of guilt and regret capturing his soul. It had taken him quite awhile to overcome that very familiar sentiment. He’d never been able to erase it fully, just learned to live with it.
And now, only a blurry sight of their former agent on the screen brought back every single memory he had experienced that awful night. He could watch every scene he had witnessed at the night of the accident, he could still hear Justin’s heart-breaking shriek, and he could never fully get rid of that moment where his eye had just popped out. For his nature, he was quite not capable of handling such distress, as he was known to be the collected one among the agency. He wanted to move, he wanted to say something, but his body was numb, and his lips were awfully dry. Yet again, he knew he had to get himself together and think wisely, which was his usual escape when he dreaded his emotions would take over his rationale.
Finally, he found the composure to build a sentence as professional as he could make it sound.
“We need to inform Agent K about the situation.” With that, he slowly removed his hands from the stainless steel desk he was leaning on, darting his eyes away from the screen only to catch a glimpse of Pearl, who was nodding meekly, hand still on her mouth and eyes clamped on the screen like she was in a deep hypnosis.
He took a deep breath the second he left Pearl’s lab, leaning on the wall. He rested his head against it, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and index finger.
“What a fucking sick déjà vu this is,” he muttered under his breath. Glancing down the hallway, he noticed he was all alone, and he realized he was fighting hard against the ultimate urge of screaming at the top of his lungs. I need to get this done anyhow, he thought. Is this some kind of a sick joke?
As he started to make his way towards the elevator and to the upper floors, he couldn’t help but reminisce that only a few months ago, he had been moving to the same direction with the same feelings storming inside him and the same statement he had to make to his superior.
Agent Jay fidgeted slowly in his seat across the table from Agent K, who was talking on the phone to get the updated news about something – something that Agent Jay couldn’t focus on. Words were playing around in his mind, yet they were not coming together to form a reasonable sentence, as reasonable as it could be in such a situation.
He had no idea how they had kept it from him that long, if you consider the fact that when such accidents did happen, Agent K was always the first to be informed, usually at the moment of the accident. But to his astonishment, he and the fellow two agents had kept it undercover until Agent 009 was safe in Dr. Jewel’s office.
But now here he was, facing his superior and trying to find a way to tell what had happened. A couple of seconds later, Agent K hung up the phone and looked at him questioningly, his thick brows furrowed.
“So what’s the emergency?” Agent K spoke up, trying to read his agent’s face. He could easily guess that the news was no good, but he was trying to keep his calmness.
“We had an accident,” Agent Jay slowly replied. Noticing that his superior’s frown was growing deeper, he added quickly, “No one’s dead, though.”
Relieved, Agent K shifted in his seat. The stiffness he had been feeling in his back since morning was a bit softer now. Dreading that the name he was going to hear was that of a certain 00-Agent and, at the same time, getting angry at himself for favoring one of his agents, he mouthed a question.
“Is someone injured?”
Knowing he couldn’t avoid it any longer, he nodded. “Agent 009.” Realizing that K’s eyes were growing large, he added, “Justin.”
“Justin?” Although he was partly relieved that he hadn’t heard the name of Agent 008, a new rush of worry took over K. Rising up from his seat, he hurriedly walked to the door, Agent Jay behind his tail.
“There we go,” he muttered, silently cursing how the hell this accident had happened to one of their most talented agents. He knew nothing was going to be same again; he knew it in his heart.
“Agent Jay? Are you alright?”
The stern voice brought Jay back to reality. It didn’t take him more than two seconds to realize that he had ended up in Agent K’s office, though he could barely remember how he’d made all the way up there – he didn’t even remember if he had knocked on the door or not. Apparently he hadn’t; one quick glance at his superior’s face showed that he’d been disturbed against his will.
“May I?” he asked, motioning to the seat across K’s desk, and carefully positioned himself there with his nod.
“I believe there is some information about the current operation we are pursuing,” Agent K started, “and I suppose it’s pretty urgent, since I cannot think of any other logical reason for your sudden burst into my office…” he continued, pointing out the blueprints of various buildings laid on his desk, “… when I was busy.”
Playing with the eccentric rings he had on each of his fingers, Agent Jay cleared his throat, getting ready to spill out the news. Sucks to be at a higher rank in the chain of command, he thought glumly. Why did he always have to be the one to break the bad news?
“Well, I regret to tell you that the operation didn’t succeed, as a whole…” he trailed off, noticing that familiar frown appearing in his superior’s face.
“What do you mean, as a whole?” K persuaded, slightly irritated. “Don’t tell me that Agent 009 and 008 blew up the whole undercover…”
“No, it’s not that. They were perfectly able to disguise themselves, and they could trace down the signs in finding the target…” Agent Jay took a deep breath. “But they missed him.”
“Do we have a clear facial image of the fellow target? Maybe Agent Pearl can trace it down through the system…”
“We already do know who he is, sir,” Jay interrupted, as the same annoying but familiar feeling of déjà vu captured him instantly. “The target our agents were following was Justin.”
I know this expression, he thought inwardly, when he saw Agent K’s eyes growing large with surprise.
“Justin?!” he questioned, unbelieving. Rising up from his seat, Agent K made his way towards the door, determined to see the image with his own eyes before actually believing what he had just heard. Getting up from his seat, Agent Jay followed him closely.
“There we go,” he muttered silently. “What a fucking sick feeling of déjà vu this is.”
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