Next Mission Coming Soon

Dear Readers,
The next IMF mission is coming soon, at least as soon as the authors write it. Please realize that the authors are dealing with problems and time restraints such as school, football, and writer's block, and are trying their hardest to come up with the next amazingly cheesy and yet cool story. Thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
Ryan's secretary (who just so happens to be Ryan)
P.S.
Any suggestions anyone might have on how they think certain characters should be killed off would be appreciated and carefully considered.

Mission 2 Part 4

....Pat gave him a look. “You can’t save both, and Laz can’t help you, or he’ll be shot.”
“I know, but I know something you don’t.” M got up from beside him and crawled back over towards Pat.
“Just throw them,” she growled, rubbing her head. “I want to see him choose.”
“So do I,” Pat agreed. “Just one thing. What is it that you know, that we don’t?”
Ryan grinned smugly, but didn’t answer. Pat grunted in disgust. He grabbed Kayla and Emmy and threw them out the window. They crashed through the glass and started to freefall off of the tallest building in the world.
Ryan took off towards them. “It’s about Timothius,” he cried as he went by. “He isn’t dead.”
He attached a cable that was connected to his suit to the frame of the building and jumped out the window after Emmy. As he passed, M could feel something wet spray on her neck. Had he spit on her? No it didn’t feel like spit, and it smelt of perfume….
Ryan dove towards the screaming Emmy. Making his body flat as possibly and keeping a loose grip on the cable. He eventually reached Emmy, who was flailing and kicking and screaming through the air, anything to slow her descent. He grabbed her by the waist and tightened his grip on the cable. The gloves on his hands kept the rope from burning him as the came to a halt.
“Oh my gosh,” Emmy gasped. “You saved me, Tom.”
Ryan smiled. “My name isn’t Tom, it’s Ryan, Ryan Cruise.”
Emmy suddenly gasped again, remembering Kayla. “Kayla, What about Kayla?”
Ryan continued to hang there, as if waiting for someone. “Don’t worry, a friend of mine’s got that covered.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud engine coming up behind them. Ryan and Emmy turned to see that it was Timothius flying on a jet pack, courtesy of IMF, with Kayla in his arms.
Kayla was staring at him in awe. “Timothius?”
“It’s me, Kayla, I told you I would be back.” he nodded.
Ryan looked up at the window they had fallen from. “We should get back up there, Laz is in a tight spot.”
Timothius nodded. “Got that covered.” From behind them came the sound of a helicopter. In the cockpit was Jordan , with Justinian and Aeron looking very important.
“ Jordan !” Ryan shouted. “Am I ever glad to see you!”
“Yah,” Jordan smirked. “Looks like I saved your-”
“No time to chat,” Timothius interrupted. “Take us up to that room, Jordan. Laz is in trouble.”
Ryan reached over to Emmy and cut her ropes. Timothius did the same for Kayla. When they were free the both hugged their rescuers.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Kayla whispered in awe.
“Neither could we,” Ryan agreed. “ We met him in the hallway and we were sure he wasn’t really Tim, but we checked, it’s him all right.”
“Get ready guys,” Jordan shouted. “We’re almost there.”


Laz was staring out the window like the rest of them. “Well,” he said, laughing nervously as all the guards turned to him. “This is awkward. But if you don’t mind, I’ll see if they need any help.” He turned to leave but a guard stepped in front of the door.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he laughed.
Just then the door burst open and a tall, bulky man, a young girl with black hair, and another young girl with blond hair burst in, screaming at the top of their lungs.
“AAAHHH!” they yelled. And they came in blazing. Automatic rifle in hand, they blasted the first three guards before they could draw their weapons.
“Christophear, Michelle, and Cathy!” Laz shouted. “So good of you to drop by.”
“You were supposed to wait for us!” Chris growled.
“We thought we did!” Laz shouted back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know!”
Laz dropped the last guard with his Beretta. He held up his hand as Chris pointed his gun at M and Pat.
“We need M alive.”
“Why?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. We just do, okay.” Laz yelled.
Pat drew his gun and held it to M’s head. “Don’t take another step,” he shouted. “Or she’s a goner.”



Chris and Laz lowered their weapons.
“Now,” said Pat. “Drop your weapons, all of them.”
They started to comply, glaring at Pat.
Just then, when all hope appeared to be lost. The sound of a helicopter could be heard. three figures crashed through the window and rolled onto the floor.
“Timothius, Aeron, and Ryan!” Chris shouted.
Timothius and Ryan came up behind Pat, both pointing their guns at him and both wearing really cool sunglasses.
“Don’t move, Pat,” Timothius growled.
“Or you’re going to be very, very dead!” Added Aeron.
“You can’t shoot me,” Pat retorted. “You shoot me and it kills her. You need her.”
“Yah,” Ryan said. “Alive, but not unhurt.”
Timothius and Ryan aimed their rifles for Pat’s knees and shot them. Pat screamed and fell to the floor, dropping his pistol. As he fell though, M rolled to her right and leapt out the window.
“Great,” Timothius said, taking off his glasses. “Now we lost her.”
Ryan smiled. “No we didn’t. Put your glasses back on.”
Timothius frowned but did as Ryan said. He looked out the window to see M gliding down to the ground on a parachute, with a big yellow spot on her head. He took off the glasses and the spot disappeared.
Ryan held up the bottle of potion that he’d sprayed M with as he dove out the window. “Still got a few more surprises hidden up my sleeve,” he said as he leapt out the window and onto the waiting helicopter.
Laz shook his head in amazement. “I wish I’d have thought of that.”
“You did think of it,” Ryan called from the helicopter. “It was your idea.”
“Oh,” said Laz. “I forgot.”
“Stay here and check if there are any more guards,” Timothius ordered. “Ryan and I will go after M. don’t forget to cuff Justinian and put him in detainment.”
“Oh yeah,” Laz said. “I almost forgot about him.”
Tim leapt into the helicopter and they were off. Kayla and Emmy, who were still inside, had armed themselves. “Know how to use that thing?” Ryan asked, pointing at the MP5SD Emmy was holding.
Emmy laughed. “It’s second nature.”
Ryan grinned at looked at Timothius. “She kills me, man.”
“I bet she could,” Timothius replied, still gazing after M, who was running up to her car now.
“ Jordan ,” Tim barked. “Inform the Imperial guard that we have a fugitive, and she’s speeding away in a red sports car down Imperial Avenue .”
“Roger that,” Jordan called back.
Ryan whistled. “I wish I had a car like that.”



The helicopter was directly above the car now, which was weaving in and out of traffic.
“We can’t just shoot her,” Timothius called.
“Why not?” Aeron shouted, cocking his rifle.
“We might hit innocent civilians.”
Ryan gave him an aye-okay sign. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” He attached the cable on his combat suit to the winch on the helicopter and lowered himself down.
Tim and Aeron followed suit, lowering their selves from the other side of the helicopter. They continued to go down until they could almost touch the ground.
Then they pulled out their weapons and aimed for the tires. “Fire now!” Tim called. Then they unloaded their rifles into the car’s tires, bullets went spinning off into civilians on the sidewalk killing about twenty. The car went spinning and squealing off the road and into the Imperial Park , right through the fence, into and over and killing eight pedestrians. Sliding until it landed in Emperor’s Lake .
“Oops,” Ryan said.
“Come on,” Tim called. “We need her alive.”
“Does anyone won’t to explain why we need her alive?” Ryan yelled back as he detached his cable and ran towards the lake. Timothius reached the lake first and dove in, followed closely by Ryan. Kayla and Emmy had hopped out of the helicopter by now and were behind them.
Tim reached the car and punched threw the glass on the driver’s said, or what was left of the glass. Ryan had dove in too by now. Aeron grabbed M and pulled her through the window and pushed her to Ryan, who dragged her to shore.
“Is she still alive?” Kayla asked, breathing hard.
Ryan felt her pulse. “Well she’s still breathing, but she’s probably knocked out from all banging around her car did.”
Tim trudged out of the water and flopped down onto the shore. Kayla sat beside him.
“Well,” he breathed. “We did it.”
Ryan cuffed M and handed her over to the Imperial Guard that had just arrived. “Pat should be in custody too,” he said. The Imperial Guard thanked them and drove away, still shaking their heads in disbelief.
“So,” Ryan said, sitting down beside Emmy. “Now what?”

The next day the whole gang sat in the Emperor’s office, Ryan, Laz, Kayla, Tim, Aeron, Chris and even Emmy and Jordan.
“Well,” The Emperor said. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a group of people that work so well together.”
“Thank you,” they said in unison.
“M and Pat are all in custody as well as any surviving henchmen. Thanks to all of you.”
“Thank you sir, I just wish we had some hard proof of what they were up to,” Timothius sighed. “To appease the public.”
“Well, you know I don’t need evidence,” The Emperor said. “What I say goes, plus we have you as witnesses.
“But you can reveal who we are,” Kayla pointed out, we’re secret agents.
“But you don’t have to worry about proof,” Emmy said.
“We don’t?” Jordan said. Speaking his first word, it was uncharacteristic for him to go too long without speaking.
“No, I recorded the whole thing.” She pulled small recorder out of her pocket “I had it strapped to my back the whole time! They never checked…”
“Genius, absolute genius,” Ryan applauded.
The Emperor nodded. “Or stupidity on M’s part, but either will work,” he took the recorder from Emmy.
“As I said, I’ve never seen a team that works together so well, or people that manage to cheat death so effectively. Cruise and Dance nearly shocked me to death when they showed up but Timothius? How’d you do it? You must be like a cat or something.”
Ryan frowned. “You mean he coughs up fur balls?”
“No,” The Emperor shook his head. “He has nine lives.”
“Well,” Timothius began. “Some things just can’t be explained.”
“That’s just another way of saying you have no idea,” Laz argued. “Come on, admit it. We did.”
The Emperor waved his hand. “Not matter, what’s important is that you’re all being promoted. I’m making you our top IMF team.”
“But,” Timothius protested. “Cruise and Dance are part of IMF, not us.”
“You are now,” replied the Emperor.
“What about Emmy?” Kayla asked. “She’s not trained for undercover work.”
“Actually,” The Emperor corrected. “She’s already part of the IMF, and she’s been working undercover for me for a year now.”
Ryan and Laz looked at each other. “You mean, she was spying on us while we were spying on her?”
“Kind of,” the Emperor replied.
“Hey,” Ryan shrugged. “Guess this means we’ll all be working together a lot.”
“There is no greater joy than to work with one’s friends,” Timothius agreed.
Ryan frowned. “You’re weird, nobody talks like that.”
Kayla smiled. “Yes but it’s a good kind of weird.”
“So,” Jordan said. “When do we go on our next mission, chasing cars and stuff is kind of cool.”
“Next time I need you, I’ll call,” The Emperor said. “Cruise will be point man, as usual, and Timothius will be second command.”
“Wait, Emperor,” Christophear raised his hand. “I have a question. Why did you want M alive?”
“Simple,” replied the Emperor. “So I could execute her properly.
“You mean we risked our lives just so you could pull the plug yourself?” Ryan asked.
“Yah,” the Emperor answered. “Do you have a problem?”
“No, just wondering.”
“Good, then you’re dismissed.”
“Wait,” Kayla said. “Where’s Cathy? And Shelly?”
The Emperor smiled. “Now what do you think I’m going to say to that?
“That’s confidential?”
“Exactly, now go, all of you, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Timothius and Kayla sat in one of Timothius' many hideouts, enjoying a plate of cookies. Or rather, Timothius was enjoying them.
“So, how did you do it?” Kayla asked.
Tim swallowed his cookie. “Do what?”
“Come back, you know. You were…”
“Dead,” Tim finished. “I know, I can’t explain it myself. I think I kind of rose like a Phoenix from the ashes.”
Kayla gave him a weird look. “What?”
Tim felt stupid. “I was faking it?” He offered.
“I think I’ll take the phoenix one.” Kayla paused. “Timothius, or Tim, can I call you Tim?”
Timothius, or Tim, shrugged. “Of course.”
Suddenly there was a sharp knock at the door. Tim laughed awkwardly.
“I guess I better go get that,” he said. Kayla nodded.
He went to the door and turned the knob, hand on his Glock, couldn’t be too careful.
Standing on the other side of the door was familiar character; so familiar in fact, that at first Tim thought he was looking into a mirror. “Christophear?”
Chris frowned and then smacked his head as if remembering something. He grabbed his face and… well you know the drill. It revealed an entirely different face, one with red hair and freckles, and some incredibly cool sunglasses.
“Cruise,” Tim sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I was testing out how well I could play Chris,” Ryan explained. “You look so happy to see me,” he commented, sarcastically.
“It’s not you it’s just that, if you’re here then we must be wanted by the Emperor.”
“Why do you assume that?” Ryan asked, acting offended. “Maybe I just came for a visit.”
“Did you?” Tim asked.
Ryan shook his head. “No, you’re right. The Emperor needs your help. You know the drill. Hope you have your own ride. My seats are all taken up.” He pointed to his motorcycle where Emmy was sitting, wearing some shades that looked even cooler on her than Ryan’s did.
“Where’s Laz?” Tim asked.
Ryan shrugged. “He’s walking.”

The End?

A short story by Ryan Maples and Tim Danford
©2007 Maples/Danford Productions*
*A subdivision of Killer Whale Studios

Mission 2 Part 3

Laz and Ryan couldn’t speak for several seconds. “Kayla? You have got to be joking now.”
“No Ryan, I’m not, believe me I wish it weren’t true, but it is,” Chris sighed again.
“Look, Emmy was a little unbelievable, but Kayla? That’s just preposterous.” Laz protested.
Ryan stood up. “I’m going to the Emperor with this.”
Chris beat him to the door and held it shut. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Why not? I’m not going to believe this until I’ve at least got the Emperor’s opinion.”
“I was afraid of that,” Chris shook his head.
“What did you say, Chris?” Ryan asked.
Chris laughed evilly. “You know, you keep calling me Chris, you really shouldn’t.”
Laz gasped. “You’re not Chris?”
Chris shook his head. “No I’m not.” He pulled at his chin and tore away his face, which they could now see was a mask.
Underneath the mask was a woman with eyes of cold steel.
“Hey,” Laz said. Not noticing the men creeping up behind him from out of the bookshelves. “You’re that lady that was on the hood of the car.”
“Yes,” she purred. “You can call me M.”
“This is the part where you kill us, isn’t it?” Ryan asked, solemnly.
She nodded. “Yah.” Then she head butted him, knocking him out cold. “Dispose of them and I’ll capture Emmy and Kayla. Tomorrow we’ll frame them so it will look like Ryan and Laz found them out and they killed each other off.


“Me?” Kayla asked. “You must be crazy.”
“Maybe, maybe not, all I know is the evidence points to you and Ryan and Laz. Not to mention some tour guide named Emmy that lives in the palace. You’re all going down.”
“How can you say that?” Kayla protested. “Can’t you see I must have been framed?”
“You can’t be framed that well, Kayla. I wish I could believe you, really I do.”
“No you don’t,” Kayla disagreed. “You’re happy.” She paused. “You’re not Cathy, are you?”
Cathy smiled. “Of course I am.” The smile tipped Kayla off; Cathy would not have smiled in this situation.
Kayla threw herself at Cathy and tried to get to her face.
“Help!” Cathy called. Kayla finally reached Cathy’s face but was torn off of her by strong arms.
“Please, ma’am,” came a strong voice. “Don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be. Now I think you know why I’m here.”
“Officer Nick,” Kayla cried. “You’re arresting the wrong person! Cathy’s an imposter!” She lunged at Cathy but Nick held her back.
“Come now, treason is a crime you know, punishable by death, and you know that’s the way the Emperor always does it. Why did you have to do it?”
“But I didn’t,” she insisted. “It wasn’t me.”
“Trust me Kayla,” came a familiar voice. “I wish I could believe that.”
“Emperor?” Kayla said. “Please, Emperor, you have to believe,” she begged.
The Emperor just waved her off. “Take her away, I need time to think how to execute her.”


Ryan woke up to an unfriendly sight. It was Laz’s face…
“Yuck,” he exclaimed. He tried to jump up but his splitting headache and tied hands reminded him of their situation.
“Got any ideas?” Laz asked.
Ryan pondered for a minute. “Yah,” he said after a while. “You got some gum?”

Kayla sat in a cold dark prison, shivering. How could this be happening? Suddenly the door to the cell opened and figure stepped inside. Kayla looked up at the figure. “Cathy?” she said.
Cathy smiled and laughed evilly. “That’s what you think.” Then she reached for the corner of her face and tore away her mask to reveal none other than…
“Pat?” Kayla said in amazement.
Pat laughed. “Yours truly.”
“I knew you weren’t really Cathy.”
Pat gave a look of fake surprise. “I have to give you credit. You’re not as stupid as I thought.” He grabbed her by the arm and brought her to her feet. Kayla was still cuffed so she couldn’t resist. “You have a meeting with your friends, Laz and Ryan. I’d hate for you to be late.”

Ryan and Laz worked the way around till they could reach into each other’s pockets.
“This is really uncomfortable,” Ryan commented.
“Aha!” Laz said finally. “I got it, apparently they didn’t think to take our gum.”
“All right,” Ryan said, excited. “Let’s blow these chains off.”
“Won’t we just blow ourselves up?”
“Oh yeah,” Ryan was disappointed. “I didn’t think of that.”
Laz sighed. “You got a plan B?”



Pat dragged Kayla outside and shoved her into a helicopter. They took off and headed towards the palace. “Where are you taking me?” Kayla asked, although she already thought she knew.
Pat smiled a wicked smile. “To a nice place, it has a great view.”
That was it then, he was taking her to the Imperial Trade Center. The tallest building in the Empire, with glass windows on every floor, they were going to kill her.

Ryan and Laz sat in their prison, pondering how to get free when suddenly, Ryan came up with and idea so brilliantly obvious, it stunned him. “What if we just tore a piece off of the gum, to make the explosion smaller.
Laz looked at him, shocked. “That’s got to be the most brilliant thing you’ve ever said!” he exclaimed.
“Try it.”
Laz tore a piece off of both sides of the gum and stuck it into the locks on their chains. The gum exploded just enough to break the lock open and allow them to shake the chains off.
“Now for the guards,” Laz said.
Ryan grinned. “This should be easy.”

Two guards stood outside Ryan and Laz’s room. They were supposed to make sure no one went in or out of the doors, but it was late and they had fallen asleep. Just for a minute but it was good enough for Ryan to slip by. He turned around and was about to knock them out when one of them stirred. Ryan leapt into the storage room across from them and Laz went back inside.
One of the guards yawned and shook himself awake. He smacked the other one until he woke up. “We fell asleep,” he growled. “Go check the room to make sure everything’s okay.”
Before he could though, a young female could be seen walking down the hall, it was Emmy.
“Where’d Emmy come from?” Laz wondered. “She’s gonna get killed.”
“Hey, you,” one of the guards yelled. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
As Emmy reached the guards she spun around and roundhouse kicked him in the face, he slumped to the ground.
Laz opened the door at that moment and brought his arm crashing into the other guard’s face. They disarmed the guards and pulled them inside their former prison.
“Nice work, Emmy,” Laz congratulated her.
Emmy shook her head. She grabbed her chin and started to pull her face off, but, you guessed it, it was a mask. Once the masked was off it revealed, guess who, Ryan Cruise. He removed the voice changer from his throat and laughed.
“I think I deserve an Oscar for that performance.”
“Where’d you get the dress, though?” Laz asked, looking down at him.
“Don’t ask.” He looked at Laz and grinned. “Guess what time it is now?”
Laz scratched his head. “Time to get a new watch?”
“No, its time to suit up. M is going down.”
Ryan pulled another piece of gum from his pocket and smashed it together, he smiled and tossed it into the cell where the guards were….

Just as Kayla suspected, the helicopter dropped them off at the Imperial Trade Center. Pat roughly led her into the elevator and they began the climb to the top of the building. Several minutes later, they arrived. M met them at the top floor. “Finally,” she growled. “Tie her up and put her in with the other girl.” Pat threw her into the room that M was speaking of. Kayla landed on the floor with a grunt and looked around. Tied up in the corner was a young girl; she was shaking and trying to hold back her sobs.
“What’s your name?” Kayla asked.
“Emmy,” the girl replied.
“My name’s Kayla. Don’t worry Emmy, someone’s going to come for us. They can’t get away with this.”
Just then M came into the room, laughing. “Oh, but we can, yes we can. Guards!” Just then Pat and four guards stepped into the room. “Keep an eye on these two, will you? Cruise and Dance should be here any minute.”
Kayla’s eyes grew wide.
M laughed. “Yes, we know all about your friends. They never met the real Christophear at the palace. We let them escape from the guards so they could come here.”
“How will they know where to go?” Emmy asked.
“We let them follow someone here,” M replied, eager to share her plan.

Ryan and Laz, now decked out in their combat suits and with all the weapons they could carry, and a few hidden surprises besides, ran down the hall.
“Look,” Ryan whispered. He pointed to one of M’s henchmen sneaking out of the palace. “Let’s follow him and see where he goes.”
“You think this could be a trap?” Laz asked. They looked at each other and smiled. “Nah.”

“That’s right girls,” M laughed. “This whole thing is a setup.” Apparently, Ryan and Laz framed Kayla, with the help of Emmy. When she broke out of prison she came back for revenge. In the shootout you all killed each other.”
“You’ll never get us to do that,” Kayla snapped.
Pat laughed this time. “We don’t need to, I have a few friends that are stellar at forensics, and planting evidence.”
“Why Emmy?” Kayla asked. “She’s just a tour guide.”
M shrugged. “Never liked her, she was too nice for me.”
Emmy glared. Something Kayla didn’t expect, this girl had some spirit. “You’ll pay for this,” Emmy spat. That settled it; the girl did have spirit, a lot.
“You’re as stupid as you are friendly,” M growled, reaching up to slap her.
“Stop right there, M,” said a familiar voice.
“IMF,” said another. “You’re under arrest.”
“Ryan, Laz,” Kayla cried. The guards instantly pointed their guns at Ryan and Laz, who had just burst in the door.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Ryan said, smiling.
M chuckled. “Why not?”
“Because I know all about your plan.”
Laz frowned. “You do?” Ryan elbowed him sharply.
“Yah, the whole thing.”
M scoffed. “You’re bluffing.”
“Dang,” Ryan slapped his thigh. “I was hoping that would work.”
M walked up to him, the guards still had their weapons trained on them, and Ryan and Laz never stopped pointing their Berettas at the guards. “You don’t look very afraid, Cruise.” She bit out his last name and spit it on the ground as if it were rotten fruit. “Why’s that? What are you hiding?”
Ryan grinned. “I know something you don’t,” he said in a singsong voice.
“What?” M growled.
“I signed a three book contract, you can’t kill me.” He whacked her on the side of the head and pointed both his Berettas at the nearest guard.
“Stop!” Pat cried.
Ryan, Laz and the guards froze. Pat was holding Emmy and Kayla by the window, ready to throw them out.
“You have a choice to make, Cruise,” Pat laughed. “Who are you going to save, Kayla? Or Emmy?”
Ryan didn’t appear worried and neither did Laz.
Pat frowned. “Aren’t you worried?”
Ryan shook his head. “No. I’ve already decided who to save.....”

Mission 2 Part 2

Ryan and Laz arrived a ways away from the Emperor’s mansion and disguised themselves as reporters. Couldn’t be too careful. They kept their faces but parted with their big guns, still keeping a couple PPks in ankle holsters. They arrived a while later at the Emperor’s palace and were met by a media guide that worked for the Emperor. She was a beautiful, blonde-haired girl and seemed extremely friendly. She also had no idea they weren’t actually reporters.
“Hello there gentlemen,” she greeted them, flashing them an award-winning smile. “My name is Emmy and I’ll be guiding you around the facilities for the day.”
“Great,” Ryan replied. Or Tom Maples, as his fake I.D. said. “We just want to get a few pictures and get to know some more about the staff, the public would love to know some more about what goes on here.”
“Well the Emperor has informed me to help you as much as I can; he certainly wants the public to know more about him,” Emma replied. She turned to Laz, or Mike Ford. “You must be the photographer.”
“That I am,” Laz answered, holding up his camera.
She led them around the palace for hours, the whole time they kept jotting down notes and taking pictures, acting as if that’s what they were there for. But in reality they were looking around for anything, or anyone suspicious.
“I think I could listen to her forever,” Ryan commented.
“She does have a nice voice,” Laz agreed. “But remember what we’re here for.”
“What was that again?”
“It was to… Oh dang, I forgot.”

Meanwhile Kayla was back at the mansion watching people and checking their fingerprints when they weren’t looking. She was in her room, running background checks on all the Emperor’s employees when there was knock on the door. Hand on her Glock, she went to answer it, to her surprise, it was an old friend.
“Cathy!” she exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you.”
“The Emperor asked me to come and help you,” she explained.
“That’s great!” Kayla said, thankful for company. “Let me just debrief you…”

Back at the palace, Ryan and Laz were yet to find Christophear, and they’d almost toured the whole palace.
“He must be here somewhere,” Laz insisted.
“Just keep looking,” Ryan replied, keeping his eyes on Emmy. “In the meantime we can at least enjoy ourselves and this free tour of the palace.”
All of the sudden a young servant accidentally spilled coffee on Emmy’s dress, a very expensive looking dress. Surprisingly, Emmy didn’t appear to get that mad, but she didn’t argue when the servant offered to take it to the cleaners and pay for it. The servant led her off to the bathroom to help her clean the dress.
“Did you see that?” Laz asked.
“Yah,” Ryan shook his head in amazement. “She didn’t even get mad.”
“No,” Laz rolled his eyes. “That’s the perfect diversion.”
“For what?” Ryan asked.
“For me,” said a voice.
“Christophear!” Laz and Ryan exclaimed at once.
“Shh,” Christophear warned. “Not so loud.”
Laz pulled Ryan aside for a second. “Wasn’t there something we were supposed to do when we met Chris?” he asked.
“Ask him how he was?” Ryan offered.
“Yah, that’s it.”
They turned back to Christophear. “So how have you been buddy?” Ryan asked.
“Great… Tom,” Christophear replied, glancing at his nametag. “Look guys, we’ve got to get away from here, I’ve got he perfect place.”
He led them away and the descended several flights of stair until they arrived at the private library, just for the Emperor.
“How do we get in there?” Ryan asked.
“It would take hours of hacking, and all kinds of risky diversion and excuses,” Laz agreed. “Crazy.”
“Or, you could just swipe the key card from the cleaning lady and make a copy of her thumb print,” Chris offered.
“There you go,” Ryan nodded. “How are you gonna do that?”
Chris rolled his eyes. “I already did.” He swiped the card and extracted a plastic pad with the cleaning lady’s print on it and pressed it onto the thumb pad. The door opened. “And we’re in.”
Laz and Ryan’s mouths fell open. “How’d you do that?” Ryan asked when he could speak again.
“I already told you that, now come on.”
“But why break in when we could just ask the Emperor to grant us access?” Laz questioned.
“Because we don’t know who could be listening in on a call to the Emperor, we can’t trust anyone right now. This way it’s more private.”
They entered the room and sat down. “Now, to get down to business,” Chris said. He took a deep breath. “I know who the mole is.”
“Really?” Ryan said in disbelief. “That was fast.”
“I’ve been working on it for a while.” He paused. “M is Emmy,” he stated matter-of-factly.
Ryan and Laz stared at him in disbelief. “You’re joking,” Ryan said.
“No I’m not, why would I?” Chris acted offended. “What’s your problem? You don’t even know her.”
“He’s right,” Laz agreed. “We don’t know her, she could easily be the mole.”
“She doesn’t seem like a mole,” Ryan shook his head.
“Moles never do,” Christophear sighed. “There’s another thing, Kayla’s helping her.”


Kayla and Cathy continued to talk for a while. Then Cathy sighed. “Kayla,” she started. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it?” Kayla asked, worried because she could tell it wasn’t good.
“Ryan and Laz, the secret agents, they’re the moles we’re looking for.”
Kayla stared at her, shocked. “No, no they’re not, it’s not true. I don’t believe you.”
“Look Kayla, I know this is hard,” Cathy said, putting her hand on Kayla’s, Kayla brushed it off. “Kayla, how else do you think they survived the attack, they knew it was coming, because they are the enemy. We even have detailed conversations of them conspiring to assassinate the Emperor. It’s a done deal.”
Kayla sobbed. “You’re lying!” she screamed. “Timothius and Aeron wouldn’t have trusted them if they were moles.”

“Oh,” Cathy tried to comfort her. “I know this has been hard on you, but you have to face the consequences. They’re guilty.” She paused. “And so are you....”

Mission 2, part 1

“But, how are you still alive?” Kayla asked, bewildered.
Ryan led them out her door and onto the street. He was armed with two Berettas at each hip a long knife and a M60 SAW strapped to his back, not to mention other weapons that were not currently visible.
“Well,” then he paused. “I’m not exactly sure, ask Laz.” He pointed to Laz Dance who was sitting on a motorcycle, parked by Kayla’s house.
Laz shrugged. “I don’t know either, in all reality it doesn’t make any sense.”
Kayla stopped and gave Ryan and Laz a strange look. “Wait this doesn’t make sense.”
“I know,” Ryan said. “That’s what Laz just said.”
“But you’re supposed to be dead!” Kayla screamed.
“But we’re not,” Ryan said, trying to soothe her. “You should be happy.”
“I am, it’s just…” she trailed off.
“She must be in shock,” Laz decided.
“Yah, you’re right,” Ryan agreed.
“Wait,” Kayla said. “If you’re not dead, then Timothius could still be alive, right?”
Ryan looked at Kayla. “Kayla, did you see us die?”
Kayla shook her head. “No one did, you just disappeared.”
Ryan nodded. “Now, did you see Timothius die?”
She nodded sadly...
“There you go,” Ryan said, crossing his arms smartly.
“It’s just so hard to take in,” Kayla said, voice trembling.
“Well you can take it in on the ride to the Emperor’s,” Ryan said. He climbed onto the motorcycle.

“Wait a second,” Laz held up his finger as if he’d just come up with something brilliant. “We can’t all fit on this bike.”
“I know,” Ryan grinned. “That’s why you’re walking.” He pushed Laz off and helped Kayla onto the motorcycle.
“Hey, you can’t just leave me!” Laz protested.
Ignoring Laz, Ryan whipped out a new, cooler pair of sunglasses and put them on.
“Nice shades,” Kayla said in a somewhat mocking voice. “Did you get those on sale too?”
Ryan nodded. “Half-off.” Then he kicked the motorcycle to life and they were off, with Laz huffing and puffing behind them.

It was about a half-hour later when Laz reached the Emperor’s private mansion. Kayla and Ryan were standing by the motorcycle, waiting. “What took you so long?” Kayla asked.
Laz glared at them. “It’s kind of hard to run as fast as your motorcycle, especially with all this gear on.” Laz was as decked out and Ryan was.
“Come on,” Ryan said. “Let’s go inside.” Ryan Cruise showed his I.D. to the security guard at the gate and the walked up the long, curved driveway to the Emperor’s mansion. The house was huge, four stories, and incredibly beautiful. They walked past a red Porsche with a blonde girl sitting in it.
“Where’d she come from?” Ryan asked.
“She comes with the car,” Laz answered, looking smart.
“I thought those girls didn’t come with the cars,” Ryan replied, bewildered.
“They do when you’re the Emperor,” Laz shot back.
When they reached the door they each had to pass an eye retina scan, a thumb print check and a voice check.
Finally, the Emperor’s butler, Russell, escorted them inside.
“What business would you have with the Emperor today?” he asked in a snobby voice, but that’s how butlers are supposed to sound.
“We’re here on secret business,” Ryan said. He leaned forward. “We’re from the IMF.”
The butler gave him a strange look. “Never heard of it.”
“And you never will,” said Laz. “Just take us to the Emperor.”
Just then the Emperor himself stepped in. “It’s okay, Russell. I’ve asked them to come.”
The butler nodded and slipped away, like butlers usually do.
“I’ve called you here,” the Emperor began. “To do a little mole hunting.”
“I hate moles,” Laz grumbled. “They tear up your lawn.”
“No stupid,” Ryan smacked Laz on the back of the head. “He means the kind on your skin.”
“Actually,” Kayla corrected them. “He means the kind that spies on you.”
“Exactly,” the Emperor nodded. “This one goes by the name M.”
“M?” Ryan asked. “I’ve heard of her, nasty villain.”
“Indeed,” the Emperor agreed. “And I think she may be hiding in my palace, watching my every move. That’s why I snuck away to here.”
“So you want us to try and smoke the mole out?” Kayla guessed.
The Emperor nodded. “To put it simply.”
“Wait,” Laz said, scratching his head. “I thought this wasn’t the kind of mole that digs up your yard, why would we smoke him out?”


Meanwhile on top of the roof a young woman was spying on them, listening in on their conversation with an electronic eavesdropping device.
She laughed. “They have no idea.”

Ryan, Laz, and Kayla sat outside the Emperor’s mansion, testing out their gear. “See this?” Ryan asked Kayla. She nodded. “This is just an ordinary watch, right,” he held up a rather ordinary looking watch, if you could call a Rolex ordinary.
“Apparently not,” Kayla answered.
Ryan sighed. “You’re not making this very fun.”
“Fine,” Kayla threw up her hands and tried to look irritated, but she couldn’t keep the smile from coming to her lips. “What does it do?”
Ryan grinned, eager to explain. “This watch can trigger bombs. You see you just take a bomb that is set to the watch’s frequency, set it and run away as fast as you can.”
“Obviously,” Kayla said.
“Yah, but once you’re away you just turn the dial on the watch and, boom!”
“Cool,” Kayla said, trying to sound interested.
Next he handed her sunglasses.
“Hey,” she said. “These look like yours.”
“Right,” Ryan couldn’t contain his smile. “They’re exactly like mine, they’re used for tracking people. You spray some of this on the target,” he held up a bottle of what looked like perfume. “And it leaves a mark on them that you can see for miles. If you’re wearing these sunglasses.”
“Very cool,” Laz chipped in, hating to be left out.
“Laz,” Ryan turned to Laz. “Do you want to take this next one?”
“Sure,” Laz replied, eager to explain. “This is just and ordinary stick of gum, right?” He held a stick of gum that was half green and half red.
Kayla rolled her eyes, but decided to play along. “Right.”
“Wrong,” Laz corrected. “It’s highly explosive, we at IMF like to call it, ‘red light, green light.’”
“I used to love that game,” Ryan commented.

Laz glared at him and then continued. “You smash the red end into the green end and in five seconds, kaboom!” He paused. “Just don’t chew it.”
Suddenly, a small boy ran up to them. “Hi guys,” he exclaimed, all bubbly with excitement.
“Hi,” Ryan answered. “Buzz off.”
“Guys don’t be rude,” said Kayla, chastising them. She turned to the boy. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Expendable,” he replied. He looked at Laz who was holding the stick of gum, and snatched it out of his hand and held it away from them. “Ooh gum, strawberry and lime. My favorite.”
“No don’t!” Kayla warned. But he didn’t listen, he shoved the whole thing in his mouth and five seconds later, poor little Expendable was disposed of.
“Stupid boy,” Ryan shook his head.
“That was horrid,” Kayla gasped.

“Look at this way, Kayla,” Laz offered. “He was expendable, he would of died eventually anyway.”
An hour later Ryan and Laz were informed that they would be going to the Emperor’s palace. There they were to meet Christophear. “Just make sure it’s really him,” the Emperor warned.
“What about me?” Kayla asked.
“You’ll stay here, and make sure that the mole hasn’t made it here yet,” the Emperor replied.
Kayla tried to persuade him to let her go with Ryan and Laz, but the Emperor wouldn’t budge. “Yes, Emperor,” she finally said.

Ryan stood outside the helicopter, hair flying in every direction. “Sorry we won’t be working together on this one, Kayla.”
“We’ll still be working together,” Kayla replied. “Just not in the same room.”
“Hey, Cruise!” yelled the helicopter pilot, Jordan. “I’m leaving in ten seconds!”
“Gotta go,” Ryan called.
“Bye,” Kayla waved. Ryan took a running leap and tried to catch the helicopter as it took off but he missed and fell flat on his face on the ground. “I’m okay,” he groaned. Laz leaned over and pulled him onto the helicopter as Jordan swept back over the ground.