IMF Studios presents...
A Ryan Maples/Tim Danford short story...
Featuring: Ryan Cruise, Timothius Danaford, and Laz, in...
Mission 5: Payback...
"All right, John, you're back on in four... three... two... one..." the camerman at ENN news counted off the seconds until John was back on the air. He pointed to him after the count of one, and John, the talking head for ENN news, began his story.
“Hi, I'm John and this is ENN news, bringing to you live, breaking news. A devastating car wreck in the sparsely populated outskirts of New Jonah appears to have left no survivors and has people searching for answers. Dan, tell us what you’re seeing there,” the news anchor for ENN turned to look at another camera, and suddenly another reporter came on the TV screen.
“Thanks John,” Dan replied, and then pointed to the crash site behind him. “Behind me you can see the flaming remains of what the police think used to be a Corvette. Police still don’t know exactly what caused the wreck, but one thing remains for sure, whoever was inside the vehicle at the time of the wreck wasn’t so lucky. Search teams are currently searching for any bodies, but haven’t yet found any. Some suggest that the bodies may have completely disintegrated in the wreckage, but experts say that is highly unlikely. I’m Dan, and I’m here with ENN news.” Dan disappeared from the TV screen and John came back on. “Thank you Dan, and we sincerely hope that no one was caught in that horrible wreck. Now, on to our main story of the night: Paris Hilton was thrown in jail again after racking up yet another DUI. Experts say that she has converted to Christianity for about the fifth time now, but no one is sure whether she’ll stay a Christian this time, or why exactly she’s famous…
Two men sat at the bar, watching the news as they drank a couple of soft drinks. “You’re darn right they haven’t found our bodies,” one of them exclaimed. “The empire must have cleaned up all those other guys we left behind.”
The second man looked at the first, “Why is Paris Hilton famous?”
The first man shrugged. “Because her parents are famous.”
“Wg should be famous,” the second man said. “Paris Hilton has nothing on us.”
“Yeah, I know what you’re saying, Laz,” said the first man. “But we’re secret agents, we can’t be famous.”
“I guess you’re right, Ryan,” said the second man, who was Laz. “So what do we do know?”
Ryan thought about this for a moment. “I’m gonna need some new shades, mine melted when the car exploded.”
Six hours earlier…
Chuck Morris’s agents searched through the wreckage of the flaming Corvette, seeking evidence of a confirmed kill.
One of the agents held up a pair of half-melted sunglasses. “Look sir, sunglasses,” he said, showing the senior agent at the crash site.
“Look sir, a penny!” another agent exclaimed.
The senior officer ignored the second agent and took the sunglasses from the first agent. “These belonged to Ryan Cruise all right,” he nodded, sure of himself.
“Wow, you’re good,” one of the agents said. “How’d you know?”
“Because I’m senior agent,” the senior agent declared, proudly.
“Are you sure it isn’t because Cruise etched his name on the side of the sunglasses?” another agent asked, pointing to the inscription on the side of the shades.
“Shut up,” the senior agent barked. “We need more than these silly shades to confirm the kill, I want bodies!”
The agents scattered around and searched for the bodies of Ryan Cruise and Laz, but they couldn’t find anything. One of the agents wandered farther away from the others. He searched through the bushes nearby, and suddenly, he spotted something. It was a wallet! He recched down to pick it up, and was suddenly knocked on the head with something hard. The agent fell over unconscious, and was grabbed by two pairs of hands and dragged into the bushes.
One by one, the agents wandered away from the group, and one by one, they were knocked out and dragged into hiding. All of the sudden, only the senior agent was left. He looked up and scanned the area, confused by the sudden lack of his agents. Then he spotted one of them, his legs were sticking out from behind a cluster of trees. The senior agent ran over to the body, and gasped when he saw that he was unconscious. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his phone and started to dial Morris’s number, when all of the sudden he felt an explosion in the back of his head and everything went black.
“Well,” Ryan said, brushing his hands off. “That takes care of them. Come on, Laz, let’s get out of here.” They climbed into one of the agent’s cars and drove off, leaving about a dozen unconscious agents behind them.
Twenty minutes later…
Chuck Morris arrived on the scene in his own car, only to discover that he was too late. He cursed his agents for being so incompetent.
One of the agents who had woken up was optimistic, though. “At least they didn’t take the car that had the doughnuts in it,” he pointed out.
Chuck reached into his shoulder holster and shot him through the head. “Anyone else want to make a smart reoark?” he asked. “Because I have to warn you, I’m not in the mood.” Nobody moved, let alone said anything. “Good,” Morris clapped his hands together. “Now, let’s move. Ryan and Laz have an appointment with the emperor, and I wouldn’t want them to miss it,” Chuck laughed evilly.
Two seconds later…
“Where exactly are we going?” Kayla asked.
Derek whirled around to face her. “I thought we’d already made that clear, away from here. The emperor knows the location of our hideout now.”
“Who leaked it to him, though? Should we really be going to the Rebellion’s hideout if we still have a mole in our ranks?” Emmy was quick to point this out.
Derek stopped, apparently he hadn’t thought about this. “How could I be so stupid?” He smacked himself on the forehead.
“So… know what?” Chris asked.
“It’s time for a mask check,” Derek replied.
“Mask check?” they all asked in wonder.
“Yeah,” Derek nodded and repeated himself. “A mask check, someone here is not who they say they are, and we’re going to find out who it is.”
Two hours, seven minutes, and thirty-two seconds later exactly…
Ryan stopped the car at a local Imperial-Mart. “Maybe we should pick up some clothes.”
Laz looked at their tattered garments. “Yeah, maybe.” They got out of the car and entered the Imperial-Mart. They paid for their purchase with a government credit car that they’d found in the senior agent’s wallet. They figured that the emperor wouldn’t mind…
Thirty three seconds later…
Two Imperial agents spotted Ryan and Laz coming out of Imperial-Mart as they were eating doughnuts at a local coffee shop. “Hey,” one of them said. “Isn’t that those two fugitives that the emperor is looking for?”
The other agent shrugged and stuffed another doughnut into his mouth. “I doubt it. Besides, its break time.”
One hour and thirty-two minutes earlier…
Derek had just finished checking the last IMF agent to see if they were wearing a mask. He sighed. “Guess none of us are wearing masks after all.” He started to turn and continue down the tunnel, when Jordan suddenly spoke up.
“Wait, we never checked you.”
Derek spun around to look at him. “What?”
Jordan folded his arms. “You’re not really Derek, are you?”
Six minutes and twenty-five seconds later…
The emperor slammed his fist down on the desk. “What do you mean, they’re not dead?”
“Exactly what I said, sir,” Chuck replied from the other side of the emperor’s desk.
“Well, don’t just stand there! Go find them!” the emperor yelled. Then he calmed himself. “And if you have trouble finding them. Just pay a visit to our friend Timothius, shouldn’t be too hard to find him. He’ll make great bait.” The emperor laughed.
Six minutes and twenty seconds earlier…
“You think I’m the mole?” Derek said, shocked.
“Why not?” Jordan shrugged. “I don’t see anyone else here that we haven’t check out thoroughly.” He paused and added. “And you have a good motive. We know that your father was killed on a mission with Evan Hunter.”
“Evan Hunter was a good friend; he was like an older brother to me,” Derek insisted. He glared at Jordan. “Where did you learn that?”
Jordan glanced at Kayla and then looked back at Derek. “I did a little research of my own,” he lied. Kayla sighed inwardly, glad that Jordan hadn’t given her away. She had been the one to show him the file on Derek.
Derek stepped forward. “Okay, fine then, check me.”
Jordan looked at the others and then at Derek. “Chris, check him,” he ordered.
Chris stepped over towards Derek and checked him, feeling the corners of his face for any sign of a mask. When he was finished he shook his head. “No mask, he’s clean.”
Derek gave them all a disappointed look.
“I’m sorry,” Jordan apologized. “Its just that, you can’t be too careful.”
“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “I guess you really can’t trust anybody.” Then he turned and continued down the tunnel that would lead them to the Rebellion.
To be continued...
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Tuesday 19 February 2008
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Mission:Betrayal part 9
...continued from last week...
Chuck Morris and his many ISS agents got out of their cars and stared at the location Emmy had led them too.
“They’re hiding in Emperorworld?” one the agents asked, referring to the amusement park that stood before them.
“No,” Morris spat on the ground. “She led us to the wrong place.”
“Didn’t you check out her directions before you followed them?” another asked.
Chuck grabbed the agent by the throat and held him up in the air. “The next time you challenge me, I’ll kill you.” He threw the agent onto the hood of the agent’s own car and then he left.
Derek and Ryan, who were watching through the security cameras at Emperorworld, which they had hacked into, laughed. “Good work, Emmy, I mean Jessica.”
“Go ahead and call me Emmy,” Emmy said. “It feels more natural.”
“Okay… sis,” Ryan grinned at the use of the word. “I’ve got a lot of teasing to make up for, you know. But now, it’s time to deal with the emperor.” He looked at Derek. “I want you to release Sarah immediately, and apologize for her treatment.” Derek nodded, not pointing out that technically, he was in command. Then Ryan walked out of the room and headed back towards where everyone else was.
“What are you doing?” Emmy asked.
“Calling in Robin,” Ryan said. “It’s time for a ride in the Batmobile. Yo Laz, it’s show time!” Ryan called.
Laz appeared out of nowhere as soon as the words left his mouth. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“The emperor wants us, so we’re going to the emperor,” Ryan replied. “Besides, somebody’s gotta show Tim some love, he’s been sitting out in the cold for too long.”
“Ryan, are you crazy!” Emmy exclaimed.
Ryan just looked at her shrugged. “You know me.”
Just then, Sarah came into the room. “Ryan, what’s happening? They’re releasing me, they said they found out who the mole was.”
“I’ve gotta go, Sarah,” Ryan explained. “They’ll debrief you on the whole thing.” He gave them all a little two-fingered salute. “I’ll be back.”
Laz copied him and declared, “and so will I.”
Derek led them down another passage and into what he called, “the secret garage.” There was a nice shiny, black Corvette sitting inside.
Ryan whistled slowly. “That is some car.”
Derek nodded in agreement. “You should see my other one, but this will take you where you want to go, with style.” He looked at Ryan. “Just what are you planning to do?”
Ryan looked right back at him and slipped on a very cool pair of shades for the first time in a while. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out.”
“Right, that’s what worries me,” Derek said nervously as Ryan and Laz climbed into the car.
“No sweat,” Laz replied cheerfully. “We’ll be back before you can say-- Whoa, Ryan slow down!” Laz yelled as Ryan took off suddenly. They shot out of the garage and into an underground tunnel beneath the hideout. After riding inside the dark tunnel for a while, they suddenly emerged from underground and turned onto the road.
“I love their driveway,” Ryan said, shaking his head in pure wonder.
“Now what?” Laz asked.
Ryan looked at him and lowered his shades in a very cool way so that his eyes were showing. “Now we take the fight to him.”
Unknown to Ryan and Laz, Chuck Morris was watching a live satellite feed on their car at that very moment. “I’ve got you,” he whispered to himself.
“Sir,” one of Chuck’s agents asked him. “Did they find the mole yet?”
Morris smiled. “No, not yet.”
Waiting, up in the trees, just ahead of Ryan and Laz’s position, was another agent, armed with and RPG. “I’m ready when you are, sir,” he said through his COM link.
“Good,” Morris’ voice said through the COM. “Wait for my order.”
Ryan sped the Corvette along the road, while Laz held onto the edge of his seat and prayed that they didn’t crash.
“Could you go any slower, possibly?” Laz asked.
“We’re gonna have to push this baby to the max if we’re gonna get to the emperor in time,” Ryan replied.
“What time? What will we be late for?” Laz shouted.
“I’m not sure yet, I just want to see how fast this thing can go,” Ryan said with a grin on his face.
Laz was just about to voice an argument when he saw a red flash among the trees. Suddenly, they saw a missile speeding towards their car. Ryan jammed on the breaks, but it wasn’t enough. Laz had just enough time to say, “Oh, crap,” before the car exploded.
“Target eliminated, sir,” the agent said picking himself off the ground as he watched the wreckage burn in the distance. He had fallen from the tree when he fired the RPG.
“Good,” Morris said through the COM. “Now go down there and check it out. I want that kill confirmed. These guys are very… evasive when it comes to death.”
The rest of Ryan’s team, and a few others besides, were watching Ryan and Laz via a live satellite feed as well. Gasps could be heard throughout the room when the car exploded.
“No!” Kayla yelled, reaching towards the screen on the wall as she watched the car go up in flames.
Derek slammed his fist on a table and let a few words fly which will not be recorded here for the sake of our readers. Jordan, Chris, and Sarah just stared in disbelief, all of them too shocked to react.
To the surprise of everyong else, Emmy didn’t appear upset. In fact, a small smile appeared across her face.
“Wait, why are you smiling, Emmy?” Kayla asked in disbelief. “Your brother and Laz just died.”
Emmy looked at her and shook her head. “They’re not dead, I can feel it.”
“What are you? A Jedi now?” Jordan exploded. “Nobody can survive a hit like that!”
“But they did survive the boathouse, and that nuclear explosion, not to mention other more minor incidents,” Sarah pointed out. “All we can do is hope.”
Chris nodded. “That’s true. Who knows? Maybe they jumped out before it hit.”
Tim relayed the whole story to his sister, the real story. How he’d been taken prisoner by the emperor and been tortured and eventually forced to come here and turn her over to the emperor. He also assured her that he had no intention of actually doing so, and that she was safe with him. Katie was shocked at first, but then she snapped into action.
“Come on,” she said. “I know a place where you can hide.”
“Where?” Timothius asked. “What place isn’t controlled by the emperor?”
Katie turned around and faced him, a gleam in her eye. “Not everybody loves the emperor, you know. There are some that oppose it.”
“Who?” Tim asked. He’d never heard of any sort of rebellion.
“The Rebellion,” Katie replied.
“Wow, that’s… kind of unoriginal. A rebellion that’s called the Rebellion,” Tim let himself smile for the first time in a while after he said that.
“Whatever,” Katie waved him off. “Just follow me, I know where they’re located.”
Tim started to follow cnd then hesitated.
“What is it?” Katie asked.
“There’s just one small problem,” Tim said. “The emperor is tracking me. He’ll know exactly where I go. If I go with you, it will lead him right to the Rebellion.”
Katie looked at him, her eyes opened wide. “That is a problem. A big problem.”
“Come on,” Derek urged the other IMF agents after the initial shock of Ryan and Laz’s apparent deaths had worn off a little. “We need to get out of here.”
“How come?” Kayla asked.
“Because,” Derek replied, “The only way they could of known where Ryan and Laz would be is if somebody told them. Which means that we haven’t found the mole yet, and that the emperor knows exactly where we are.”
“Where are we going?” Jordan asked.
“To the one place we have left,” Derek answered.
Chris followed up with another question, “Where’s that?”
“The Rebellion,” Derek answered.
Epilogue:
Two bodies lay next to the flaming wreckage of the corvette. They lay motionless in the grass, dangerously close to the flaming vehicle. Ryan’s shades had flown from his face and were somewhere near the wreckage, partially melted. His and Laz’s clothes were singed from the heat of the explosion, and there was almost no doubt that they were quite dead.
That’s what the agent holding the smoking RPG thought as he surveyed his work with an air of satisfaction. There was no way that they could have survived the explosion, even though they had managed to jump out of the car before it was hit. The explosion had been too big, and too close for any normal person to survive.
Suddenly, Ryan’s hand twitched. The agent shook his head; he must be seeing things. Then, Laz’s leg moved, ever so slightly.
They must be twitching as some people did shortly after they died, the agent assessed. He’d heard of such things, people moving long after they were dead. Once during an autopsy, a dead man had sprung into a sitting position, because he had died sitting down. This must be one of those cases.
If he wasn’t mistaken though, these two appeared to be breathing. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The fall from the tree after he’d fire his RPG could have done something to his eyesight.
He desperately hoped that the IMF agents weren’t alive, they were dangerous killers and he only had his sidearm and a spent RPG. If they escaped then he would definitely either be killed by the agents, or Chuck Morris himself.
He opened his eyes and gasped. Then he drew his sidearm and lifted it to his head. Ryan and Laz were gone.
The End?
No… it’s not. This story will be continued in Mission 5: Payback
“They’re hiding in Emperorworld?” one the agents asked, referring to the amusement park that stood before them.
“No,” Morris spat on the ground. “She led us to the wrong place.”
“Didn’t you check out her directions before you followed them?” another asked.
Chuck grabbed the agent by the throat and held him up in the air. “The next time you challenge me, I’ll kill you.” He threw the agent onto the hood of the agent’s own car and then he left.
Derek and Ryan, who were watching through the security cameras at Emperorworld, which they had hacked into, laughed. “Good work, Emmy, I mean Jessica.”
“Go ahead and call me Emmy,” Emmy said. “It feels more natural.”
“Okay… sis,” Ryan grinned at the use of the word. “I’ve got a lot of teasing to make up for, you know. But now, it’s time to deal with the emperor.” He looked at Derek. “I want you to release Sarah immediately, and apologize for her treatment.” Derek nodded, not pointing out that technically, he was in command. Then Ryan walked out of the room and headed back towards where everyone else was.
“What are you doing?” Emmy asked.
“Calling in Robin,” Ryan said. “It’s time for a ride in the Batmobile. Yo Laz, it’s show time!” Ryan called.
Laz appeared out of nowhere as soon as the words left his mouth. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“The emperor wants us, so we’re going to the emperor,” Ryan replied. “Besides, somebody’s gotta show Tim some love, he’s been sitting out in the cold for too long.”
“Ryan, are you crazy!” Emmy exclaimed.
Ryan just looked at her shrugged. “You know me.”
Just then, Sarah came into the room. “Ryan, what’s happening? They’re releasing me, they said they found out who the mole was.”
“I’ve gotta go, Sarah,” Ryan explained. “They’ll debrief you on the whole thing.” He gave them all a little two-fingered salute. “I’ll be back.”
Laz copied him and declared, “and so will I.”
Derek led them down another passage and into what he called, “the secret garage.” There was a nice shiny, black Corvette sitting inside.
Ryan whistled slowly. “That is some car.”
Derek nodded in agreement. “You should see my other one, but this will take you where you want to go, with style.” He looked at Ryan. “Just what are you planning to do?”
Ryan looked right back at him and slipped on a very cool pair of shades for the first time in a while. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out.”
“Right, that’s what worries me,” Derek said nervously as Ryan and Laz climbed into the car.
“No sweat,” Laz replied cheerfully. “We’ll be back before you can say-- Whoa, Ryan slow down!” Laz yelled as Ryan took off suddenly. They shot out of the garage and into an underground tunnel beneath the hideout. After riding inside the dark tunnel for a while, they suddenly emerged from underground and turned onto the road.
“I love their driveway,” Ryan said, shaking his head in pure wonder.
“Now what?” Laz asked.
Ryan looked at him and lowered his shades in a very cool way so that his eyes were showing. “Now we take the fight to him.”
Unknown to Ryan and Laz, Chuck Morris was watching a live satellite feed on their car at that very moment. “I’ve got you,” he whispered to himself.
“Sir,” one of Chuck’s agents asked him. “Did they find the mole yet?”
Morris smiled. “No, not yet.”
Waiting, up in the trees, just ahead of Ryan and Laz’s position, was another agent, armed with and RPG. “I’m ready when you are, sir,” he said through his COM link.
“Good,” Morris’ voice said through the COM. “Wait for my order.”
Ryan sped the Corvette along the road, while Laz held onto the edge of his seat and prayed that they didn’t crash.
“Could you go any slower, possibly?” Laz asked.
“We’re gonna have to push this baby to the max if we’re gonna get to the emperor in time,” Ryan replied.
“What time? What will we be late for?” Laz shouted.
“I’m not sure yet, I just want to see how fast this thing can go,” Ryan said with a grin on his face.
Laz was just about to voice an argument when he saw a red flash among the trees. Suddenly, they saw a missile speeding towards their car. Ryan jammed on the breaks, but it wasn’t enough. Laz had just enough time to say, “Oh, crap,” before the car exploded.
“Target eliminated, sir,” the agent said picking himself off the ground as he watched the wreckage burn in the distance. He had fallen from the tree when he fired the RPG.
“Good,” Morris said through the COM. “Now go down there and check it out. I want that kill confirmed. These guys are very… evasive when it comes to death.”
The rest of Ryan’s team, and a few others besides, were watching Ryan and Laz via a live satellite feed as well. Gasps could be heard throughout the room when the car exploded.
“No!” Kayla yelled, reaching towards the screen on the wall as she watched the car go up in flames.
Derek slammed his fist on a table and let a few words fly which will not be recorded here for the sake of our readers. Jordan, Chris, and Sarah just stared in disbelief, all of them too shocked to react.
To the surprise of everyong else, Emmy didn’t appear upset. In fact, a small smile appeared across her face.
“Wait, why are you smiling, Emmy?” Kayla asked in disbelief. “Your brother and Laz just died.”
Emmy looked at her and shook her head. “They’re not dead, I can feel it.”
“What are you? A Jedi now?” Jordan exploded. “Nobody can survive a hit like that!”
“But they did survive the boathouse, and that nuclear explosion, not to mention other more minor incidents,” Sarah pointed out. “All we can do is hope.”
Chris nodded. “That’s true. Who knows? Maybe they jumped out before it hit.”
Tim relayed the whole story to his sister, the real story. How he’d been taken prisoner by the emperor and been tortured and eventually forced to come here and turn her over to the emperor. He also assured her that he had no intention of actually doing so, and that she was safe with him. Katie was shocked at first, but then she snapped into action.
“Come on,” she said. “I know a place where you can hide.”
“Where?” Timothius asked. “What place isn’t controlled by the emperor?”
Katie turned around and faced him, a gleam in her eye. “Not everybody loves the emperor, you know. There are some that oppose it.”
“Who?” Tim asked. He’d never heard of any sort of rebellion.
“The Rebellion,” Katie replied.
“Wow, that’s… kind of unoriginal. A rebellion that’s called the Rebellion,” Tim let himself smile for the first time in a while after he said that.
“Whatever,” Katie waved him off. “Just follow me, I know where they’re located.”
Tim started to follow cnd then hesitated.
“What is it?” Katie asked.
“There’s just one small problem,” Tim said. “The emperor is tracking me. He’ll know exactly where I go. If I go with you, it will lead him right to the Rebellion.”
Katie looked at him, her eyes opened wide. “That is a problem. A big problem.”
“Come on,” Derek urged the other IMF agents after the initial shock of Ryan and Laz’s apparent deaths had worn off a little. “We need to get out of here.”
“How come?” Kayla asked.
“Because,” Derek replied, “The only way they could of known where Ryan and Laz would be is if somebody told them. Which means that we haven’t found the mole yet, and that the emperor knows exactly where we are.”
“Where are we going?” Jordan asked.
“To the one place we have left,” Derek answered.
Chris followed up with another question, “Where’s that?”
“The Rebellion,” Derek answered.
Epilogue:
Two bodies lay next to the flaming wreckage of the corvette. They lay motionless in the grass, dangerously close to the flaming vehicle. Ryan’s shades had flown from his face and were somewhere near the wreckage, partially melted. His and Laz’s clothes were singed from the heat of the explosion, and there was almost no doubt that they were quite dead.
That’s what the agent holding the smoking RPG thought as he surveyed his work with an air of satisfaction. There was no way that they could have survived the explosion, even though they had managed to jump out of the car before it was hit. The explosion had been too big, and too close for any normal person to survive.
Suddenly, Ryan’s hand twitched. The agent shook his head; he must be seeing things. Then, Laz’s leg moved, ever so slightly.
They must be twitching as some people did shortly after they died, the agent assessed. He’d heard of such things, people moving long after they were dead. Once during an autopsy, a dead man had sprung into a sitting position, because he had died sitting down. This must be one of those cases.
If he wasn’t mistaken though, these two appeared to be breathing. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The fall from the tree after he’d fire his RPG could have done something to his eyesight.
He desperately hoped that the IMF agents weren’t alive, they were dangerous killers and he only had his sidearm and a spent RPG. If they escaped then he would definitely either be killed by the agents, or Chuck Morris himself.
He opened his eyes and gasped. Then he drew his sidearm and lifted it to his head. Ryan and Laz were gone.
The End?
No… it’s not. This story will be continued in Mission 5: Payback
Tuesday 5 February 2008
Mission:Betrayal part 8
...continued from last week...
Timothius walked up to his sister’s front door and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. His brother would say it was stupid, Kayla would say it was stupid, heck, Ryan and Laz would say it was stupid as would everyone else he knew, especially his sister. But it was his only option. He knocked on the front door. Answering it was a very surprised Katie Danaford. “Tim, is that you? You look awful!”
“Gee thanks,” Tim had to smile. “You look real good yourself.”
Katie smiled at the playful, sarcastic insult. Her blonde hair was a mess, she was in her pajamas, and she looked like she hadn’t slept for days. “Come in, Tim. What brings you here?”
“That,” Tim said slowly, “is a long story.”
“Wait, no!” Emmy cried as Jordan dragged her down the hall. “Please, it’s not what you think!”
“Oh, its exactly what I think,” Jordan disagreed, turning back to look her in the eyes. “You were handing our butts to the emperor in a hand basket. You betrayed us.”
“I had no choice,” Emmy said softly. “He forced me to do it, please I beg you. Don’t tell the others.”
“Not a chance,” Jordan shook his head. Ryan appeared around the corner.
“There you guys are, I’ve been looking everywhere,” he began.
“I found the mole,” Jordan said, throwing Emmy at Ryan’s feet. She looked up at Ryan with a scared look on her face.
“What?” Ryan said, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s the mole,” Jordan replied. “I caught her red-handed, informing the emperor of our exact location.”
Ryan looked at Emmy, a shocked look on his face. “Is that true?”
“No,” Emmy lied, shaking her head emphatically. “I would never betray you.”
Ryan looked at Emmy, and then Jordan, then back at Emmy again, as if deciding whom to believe. Finally he shook his head. “You’re lying to me, Emmy.” His voice was full of hurt. “You betrayed us, why?”
“The emperor forced me to,” Emmy insisted. “He said he’d kill my brother if I didn’t do as he said.”
“What brother?” Ryan asked, growing angry.
“He doesn’t want you to know,” Emmy shook her head.
“Know what? Who doesn’t want me to know?”
“Dad doesn’t,” Emmy replied.
Ryan scoffed at this and drew his sidearm.
“What are you doing?” Emmy asked.
“Thinking of doing something rash,” was all Ryan said. Then he pointed the gun at her. “Now you’re going to tell me exactly what you told the emperor and how he threatened you!”
Emmy started to cry and she hugged Ryan’s feet. “Please don’t, please!” she sobbed. “You don’t understand!” By now, a crowd of IMF agents had gathered, and Jordan filled them in on what was happening. Most of them were shocked, but Derek seemed almost expectant for some reason.
“Please, you don’t understand,” Emmy repeated, still crying.
“Then enlighten me,” Ryan growled, still pointing the gun at her.
Emmy wiped a few tears from her face and whispered to herself, “forgive me Dad, I had to tell him.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryan asked, still holding the gun.
Emmy looked up at Ryan. “You’re my brother,” she said simply. Ryan’s gun fell from his hand, and clattered to the ground.
The hooded figure stood at the emperor’s desk, his face concealed by his long hood. “What is thy bidding, master?” he asked.
The emperor turned around in his chair, raised it up so he could see over the desk, and looked up at the figure. “First of all, you can cut the “thy” talk, that died out centuries ago,” he paused. “But the master part is fine.” Then he turned serious, “I want you to finish them off. Thanks to young Hunter, I have their location. Now go kill them, all of them.”
“As you wish,” Morris bowed and walked out of the room.
The emperor laughed to himself. “At last, I will remove the last of the Hunters from this earth, and be free of them forever.”
Ryan continued to stare at Emmy and then turned his head towards Derek. “Is this true?”
Derek sighed and then asked everyone else to leave them for a moment. Then he took Ryan and Emmy into a small room and sat them down in a couple of chairs. He remained standing.
“What Emmy says is true,” Derek said. “Evan never actually told me your real names, but I suspected that you were his children. He hid you rather well actually, but it’s hard to hide a pregnant women, especially one that was bearing twins.”
“We’re twins!” Ryan cried. “This is too much!” Then he paused. “Wait, did you say Evan tried to hide us, as in Evan Hunter? The famous IMF agent?”
Derek and Emmy both nodded. “My name isn’t really Emmy,” Emmy said. “It’s Jessica Hunter, after our mother, Jess.”
“Sweet woman,” Derek recalled. “It’s so very sad the way the emperor murdered her. It really devastated your father.”
“I’m Evan Hunter’s son!” Ryan exclaimed, still not quite able to believe it. He looked at Emmy. “What’s my real name?”
“Jack,” Emmy replied, tears flowing down her face. “Jack Hunter.”
Ryan sat down, mulling all of this over. Then he stood up again. “This is too much like Star Wars,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
“Except your Dad isn’t Darth Vader, and this isn’t the emperor’s story,” Derek was quick to point out.
“How can I believe this?” Ryan asked, ignoring Derek’s comment. “Why didn’t he tell me? How do you know, and not me?”
“Watch this,” Emmy said, pulling a small computer chip from her pocket. “It’s a message that Dad left for us before he died. I’d tell you how I got it but it’s a long story.”
Ryan took the chip and Derek pulled out a laptop and set it on the table in the room. Ryan inserted the chip into the laptop and a video of his Dad, Evan Hunter, came onto the screen.
“Hello,” his Dad said, he turned to someone off screen, “is this thing on?” He was assured that it was and he focused back on the screen. “Hey, Ryan and Emmy, this is your father, Evan Hunter. If you’re watching this video then I’m probably dead by now,” he paused and thought about this. “Wow, that felt really weird to say. Anyways, you also probably know by now that Ryan and Emmy aren’t your real names, but I’ll call you by your old names if that makes you feel more comfortable.”
“Yes it would,” Ryan mumbled.
“Okay Ryan, then that’s what I’ll do,” Evan said.
Ryan looked at Derek with a questioning look. “How’d he do that?”
Derek shrugged. “People who have been long dead and leave messages behind for their loved ones always know what you’re going to say.”
“Thanks for the input, Derek,” Evan said on the computer screen.
“Now that was kinda freaky,” Derek admitted.
“Ryan and Emmy, I just want you to know, first of all,” Evan continued. “That I loved you, and your mom loved you, more than anything in the world.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us who you were?” Ryan asked, talking more to himself than anyone else.
“Because we wanted to protect you,” Evan answered, continuing his uncanny trend of predicting what they would say. “The emperor wanted all of us dead, and he would have killed you in an instant if he knew you were born. That’s why we changed your names and sent you each to a different set of loving foster parents.”
“My parents put me in a correctional school,” Ryan muttered.
“So maybe they weren’t as loving as we would have been,” Evan admitted. “But we were under a lot of pressure and they had the best front doorsteps we could find.”
“I still don’t see why you had to do this,” Ryan said bitterly. “I went through my whole life thinking my parents didn’t understand me, and I didn’t even know who my real parents were.”
“Hey, I would have bailed you out, son. If I were still alive at the time,” Evan defended himself. Then he apologized, “I’m sorry, I failed you both.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Emmy spoke up. She put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “You did the best you could.”
“That’s all we ever tried to do,” Evan said. “Now you two go out there and kick some serious imperial butt. Oh, and Ryan, I saw these really cool sunglasses that were half-off right before we left you at your foster parents house, so I left them with you. Do you still have them by any chance?”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “My parents said they were a gift from a benevolent uncle who lived in Indonesia.”
“I’m glad you still have them,” Evan smiled. Then he shifted his gaze towards Emmy, but Derek shut the video off. “That’s all we have time for, I’m afraid,” Derek said.
“The rest was for me, anyways,” Emmy said. “I’ve already heard it.”
Ryan’s head was full of questions still. “Why did you betray us?”
“I didn’t,” Emmy replied. “The emperor found out who I was,” she explained. “He told me that if I didn’t hand all of you guys over to him that he would kill you and me as well. Of course I wasn’t going to betray you, but I needed to buy some time. So I pretended that I gave in, and that I was betraying you.”
“How can we be sure of that?” Derek asked, apparently he wasn’t filled in on everything.
“Because, you’ll see where I lead them in a moment,” Emmy smiled.
To be continued next week...
Copyright © Imperial Mission, Inc.
Killer Whale Studios
All rights reserved
The works on this blog including posts, comments, and pictures; may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The scanning, printing, uploading and distribution of these works via the internet or any other means without permission of Imperial Mission, Inc, or Killer Whale Studios is illegal and punishable by law. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. For any information the address is:
Xanatosofmalta@gmail.com
Or if you actually want a response: Ryanmaples@comcast.net
Timothius walked up to his sister’s front door and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. His brother would say it was stupid, Kayla would say it was stupid, heck, Ryan and Laz would say it was stupid as would everyone else he knew, especially his sister. But it was his only option. He knocked on the front door. Answering it was a very surprised Katie Danaford. “Tim, is that you? You look awful!”
“Gee thanks,” Tim had to smile. “You look real good yourself.”
Katie smiled at the playful, sarcastic insult. Her blonde hair was a mess, she was in her pajamas, and she looked like she hadn’t slept for days. “Come in, Tim. What brings you here?”
“That,” Tim said slowly, “is a long story.”
“Wait, no!” Emmy cried as Jordan dragged her down the hall. “Please, it’s not what you think!”
“Oh, its exactly what I think,” Jordan disagreed, turning back to look her in the eyes. “You were handing our butts to the emperor in a hand basket. You betrayed us.”
“I had no choice,” Emmy said softly. “He forced me to do it, please I beg you. Don’t tell the others.”
“Not a chance,” Jordan shook his head. Ryan appeared around the corner.
“There you guys are, I’ve been looking everywhere,” he began.
“I found the mole,” Jordan said, throwing Emmy at Ryan’s feet. She looked up at Ryan with a scared look on her face.
“What?” Ryan said, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s the mole,” Jordan replied. “I caught her red-handed, informing the emperor of our exact location.”
Ryan looked at Emmy, a shocked look on his face. “Is that true?”
“No,” Emmy lied, shaking her head emphatically. “I would never betray you.”
Ryan looked at Emmy, and then Jordan, then back at Emmy again, as if deciding whom to believe. Finally he shook his head. “You’re lying to me, Emmy.” His voice was full of hurt. “You betrayed us, why?”
“The emperor forced me to,” Emmy insisted. “He said he’d kill my brother if I didn’t do as he said.”
“What brother?” Ryan asked, growing angry.
“He doesn’t want you to know,” Emmy shook her head.
“Know what? Who doesn’t want me to know?”
“Dad doesn’t,” Emmy replied.
Ryan scoffed at this and drew his sidearm.
“What are you doing?” Emmy asked.
“Thinking of doing something rash,” was all Ryan said. Then he pointed the gun at her. “Now you’re going to tell me exactly what you told the emperor and how he threatened you!”
Emmy started to cry and she hugged Ryan’s feet. “Please don’t, please!” she sobbed. “You don’t understand!” By now, a crowd of IMF agents had gathered, and Jordan filled them in on what was happening. Most of them were shocked, but Derek seemed almost expectant for some reason.
“Please, you don’t understand,” Emmy repeated, still crying.
“Then enlighten me,” Ryan growled, still pointing the gun at her.
Emmy wiped a few tears from her face and whispered to herself, “forgive me Dad, I had to tell him.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryan asked, still holding the gun.
Emmy looked up at Ryan. “You’re my brother,” she said simply. Ryan’s gun fell from his hand, and clattered to the ground.
The hooded figure stood at the emperor’s desk, his face concealed by his long hood. “What is thy bidding, master?” he asked.
The emperor turned around in his chair, raised it up so he could see over the desk, and looked up at the figure. “First of all, you can cut the “thy” talk, that died out centuries ago,” he paused. “But the master part is fine.” Then he turned serious, “I want you to finish them off. Thanks to young Hunter, I have their location. Now go kill them, all of them.”
“As you wish,” Morris bowed and walked out of the room.
The emperor laughed to himself. “At last, I will remove the last of the Hunters from this earth, and be free of them forever.”
Ryan continued to stare at Emmy and then turned his head towards Derek. “Is this true?”
Derek sighed and then asked everyone else to leave them for a moment. Then he took Ryan and Emmy into a small room and sat them down in a couple of chairs. He remained standing.
“What Emmy says is true,” Derek said. “Evan never actually told me your real names, but I suspected that you were his children. He hid you rather well actually, but it’s hard to hide a pregnant women, especially one that was bearing twins.”
“We’re twins!” Ryan cried. “This is too much!” Then he paused. “Wait, did you say Evan tried to hide us, as in Evan Hunter? The famous IMF agent?”
Derek and Emmy both nodded. “My name isn’t really Emmy,” Emmy said. “It’s Jessica Hunter, after our mother, Jess.”
“Sweet woman,” Derek recalled. “It’s so very sad the way the emperor murdered her. It really devastated your father.”
“I’m Evan Hunter’s son!” Ryan exclaimed, still not quite able to believe it. He looked at Emmy. “What’s my real name?”
“Jack,” Emmy replied, tears flowing down her face. “Jack Hunter.”
Ryan sat down, mulling all of this over. Then he stood up again. “This is too much like Star Wars,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
“Except your Dad isn’t Darth Vader, and this isn’t the emperor’s story,” Derek was quick to point out.
“How can I believe this?” Ryan asked, ignoring Derek’s comment. “Why didn’t he tell me? How do you know, and not me?”
“Watch this,” Emmy said, pulling a small computer chip from her pocket. “It’s a message that Dad left for us before he died. I’d tell you how I got it but it’s a long story.”
Ryan took the chip and Derek pulled out a laptop and set it on the table in the room. Ryan inserted the chip into the laptop and a video of his Dad, Evan Hunter, came onto the screen.
“Hello,” his Dad said, he turned to someone off screen, “is this thing on?” He was assured that it was and he focused back on the screen. “Hey, Ryan and Emmy, this is your father, Evan Hunter. If you’re watching this video then I’m probably dead by now,” he paused and thought about this. “Wow, that felt really weird to say. Anyways, you also probably know by now that Ryan and Emmy aren’t your real names, but I’ll call you by your old names if that makes you feel more comfortable.”
“Yes it would,” Ryan mumbled.
“Okay Ryan, then that’s what I’ll do,” Evan said.
Ryan looked at Derek with a questioning look. “How’d he do that?”
Derek shrugged. “People who have been long dead and leave messages behind for their loved ones always know what you’re going to say.”
“Thanks for the input, Derek,” Evan said on the computer screen.
“Now that was kinda freaky,” Derek admitted.
“Ryan and Emmy, I just want you to know, first of all,” Evan continued. “That I loved you, and your mom loved you, more than anything in the world.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us who you were?” Ryan asked, talking more to himself than anyone else.
“Because we wanted to protect you,” Evan answered, continuing his uncanny trend of predicting what they would say. “The emperor wanted all of us dead, and he would have killed you in an instant if he knew you were born. That’s why we changed your names and sent you each to a different set of loving foster parents.”
“My parents put me in a correctional school,” Ryan muttered.
“So maybe they weren’t as loving as we would have been,” Evan admitted. “But we were under a lot of pressure and they had the best front doorsteps we could find.”
“I still don’t see why you had to do this,” Ryan said bitterly. “I went through my whole life thinking my parents didn’t understand me, and I didn’t even know who my real parents were.”
“Hey, I would have bailed you out, son. If I were still alive at the time,” Evan defended himself. Then he apologized, “I’m sorry, I failed you both.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Emmy spoke up. She put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “You did the best you could.”
“That’s all we ever tried to do,” Evan said. “Now you two go out there and kick some serious imperial butt. Oh, and Ryan, I saw these really cool sunglasses that were half-off right before we left you at your foster parents house, so I left them with you. Do you still have them by any chance?”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “My parents said they were a gift from a benevolent uncle who lived in Indonesia.”
“I’m glad you still have them,” Evan smiled. Then he shifted his gaze towards Emmy, but Derek shut the video off. “That’s all we have time for, I’m afraid,” Derek said.
“The rest was for me, anyways,” Emmy said. “I’ve already heard it.”
Ryan’s head was full of questions still. “Why did you betray us?”
“I didn’t,” Emmy replied. “The emperor found out who I was,” she explained. “He told me that if I didn’t hand all of you guys over to him that he would kill you and me as well. Of course I wasn’t going to betray you, but I needed to buy some time. So I pretended that I gave in, and that I was betraying you.”
“How can we be sure of that?” Derek asked, apparently he wasn’t filled in on everything.
“Because, you’ll see where I lead them in a moment,” Emmy smiled.
To be continued next week...
Copyright © Imperial Mission, Inc.
Killer Whale Studios
All rights reserved
The works on this blog including posts, comments, and pictures; may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The scanning, printing, uploading and distribution of these works via the internet or any other means without permission of Imperial Mission, Inc, or Killer Whale Studios is illegal and punishable by law. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. For any information the address is:
Xanatosofmalta@gmail.com
Or if you actually want a response: Ryanmaples@comcast.net
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