'I'm in.' X muttered as softly as he could. He had walked into the coffee shop at around 3:15. Plenty of time to spare and keep a watch on the proceedings. He settled down at his regular table, ordered a coffee and waited patiently.
3:30. It was finally time to get into position now. He stood up and walked over to the hiding place he'd discovered the last time he came here. Waiting, waiting. Then he saw someone walking in and tensed, ready for a fight.
'It's him, X.' Hacker's tense voice reached his ears. He calculated the moment and place he would have to attack, to not be seen by any cameras.
Five more steps, four more, three, two, one...
X pounced up like a cheetah and tackled the man to the ground. He quickly pressed his napkin over his mouth. The man struggled for a few seconds, before going limp in his arms. He wasn't dead. Only paralyzed long enough to serve X's purposes.
X looked at the time. 3:35. He would have to hurry now. He first pulled out the guy's coat and pulled it on. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any uniform here, so clothes weren't an issue.
Next, he whipped out Hacker's device and scanned him. The device whirred at a maddeningly slow pace until it dinged. He put his hand under it and it popped out contact lenses and finger coverings. He quickly put them on, hid the guy in a hidden place he'd discovered, one he was sure no one would discover anytime soon, and quickly assumed his identity.
X took a deep breath. It was 3:45 now. He grabbed his bag, put everything in order, and walked calmly into the storage room. He looked around to make sure no one was there, then went and stood in front of the biometrics tech. He didn't even have the time to be tensed about whether this would work. In a microsecond he found himself in the same corridor they'd seen when the bee followed that woman in.
X started walking, using the blueprints his app had created to know where to go. He took a few wrong turns, and then hurriedly backtracked. He kept checking his watch in between to make sure he was on time. Hacker and Sheaf gave instructions to him every now and then, until he finally reached the weapons floor. It was kind of empty right now, it being the shift time for the VX's guards.
The only guards he would have to take care of were the ones in front of the ammunition room. He noted that there were three guards in all. They were placed relatively close to each other, so he could take them out quickly.
He walked steadily towards them, years of training ensuring that his gait was natural and relaxed. The guards didn't suspect a thing as he approached them.
He knocked one out by hitting him in the head and he crumpled to the ground. The other guards looked shocked as they pulled out guns and approached him. He didn't want the guns to be fired, as that would attract attention.
He raised his leg and did a perfect roundhouse kick, knocking the gun cleanout of a guard's hand. He quickly scooped up the gun, kicked him hard in the stomach and sent him sprawling.
He then pointed the gun at the third guard, who looked outright terrified right now. 'You can put your gun down. I won't hurt you. I'll just tie you up then, so you can't alert anyone.'
His words seemed to have the opposite effect on the guy. His eyes shone with a sudden determination and he charged. X sighed at his idiocy as he easily blocked a punch and hooked the guard in the ear. He stumbled back in pain and X sucker-punched his stomach, flattening him as well. He checked his watch quickly. The whole thing cost him a precious two minutes. He spent another anxious minute tying them up and taping their mouths.
Once that was done, X looked at the surveillance cameras. He'd noted all of them as he walked in and had tried his best to bring the guards in the blind spot. But since the guards were out of commission, someone was bound to notice their absence and come calling.
He sped to the VX room as fast as he could. Just then Sheaf's voice crackled through the earpiece, slightly panicked. 'Heads up, X. The guards in the surveillance room have spotted the absence of guards in the weapons room and they're coming over to check it out. You'll have them on your tail as soon as they realize what happened.'
X cursed. He'd been hoping for more time till they realized something was off, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
He screeched to a stop in front of the VX room, pulled out his tools and quickly went to work on the door. It clicked with a satisfying sound and he swung it open. There, sitting in the middle of the room in all its glory, was the barrel of VX. He dashed to it and began hooking it up to the straps he'd put on before coming.
He hauled it up, staggered slightly at the imbalance due to the sudden weight, and then started walking towards the exit.
X sighed as he spotted a few more guards enter through the door and fill out into the room. There were only three again, which meant they hasn't taken the threat seriously when they discovered the missing guards in the surveillance room.
This was starting to get annoying and a waste of time. He sighed again as all the guards came running towards him, fists raised and expressions fierce. He punched a guy in the chest, hard, and sent him wheezing to the floor. From guard 2 he received a blow to the biceps. It frankly hurt quite a bit and he winced.
It only served to infuriate him further, though, and he punched that guy in the nose now, breaking it and making him reel. Another kick to the stomach would ensure that he wouldn't be able to get up for quite some time.
Unfortunately, the third guard hadn't minded the rules of polite society and waited patiently while X took care of guard 2. He punched him in the stomach, and X doubled over in pain. Then he almost toppled over and fell to the floor because of the VX barrel.
How embarrassing. I hope none of them saw that.
'We saw that.' A gleeful voice, Sheaf's, laughed through the earpiece. 'Hacker had hacked into the system and we kept following you through the cameras as well. It was a bit of an effort in the starting, but I think all that effort paid off.'
X groaned, shook his head and turned around to face the annoying guy again. He swung at X, but X was ready this time. He dodged to a side and hit the guard in the small of his back with his elbow. He crumpled to the ground.
X knew he wouldn't be able to get up for quite some time now, but he still gave him another punch for humiliating him. 'That one was for embarrassing me.' X told him childishly and set out with the VX on his back.
'Good job, X.' Sheaf commended him. X gave a humph and Sheaf laughed. 'Still angry at my comment? Come on, don't be a baby.' He teased him further. X just hmphed again.
'Alright, so now that I have the VX and quite a few guards at my back, I need the quickest route to the hostages.' X instructed, stopping in front of the door. Hacker jumped in at that.
'Okay then, Agent X. You need to go left from here.' She guided. He nodded and started walking left. From then on it was a blur of quick steps, tense directions and sharp turns. Once or twice he had to knock someone out. Every time that happened, it always sent them on the edge.
All their heartbeats kept rising with every step X took, their breath increasing almost comically.
The scariest part was when someone recognized the guy X was disguised as and decided to swing over and talk to him. 'Hey man, how're you doing?' He asked, thumping him on the back. X took a deep breath. He really didn't like being touched like that by random people.
Luckily, the hat he was wearing seemed to do the trick, and he wasn't able to make out the difference. X tipped his hat, touching the edge of it in response. He was scared to say anything that would reveal himself.
Unfortunately, the guy seemed to be more than just an acquaintance and seemed insistent on making X's mission, and his life in general, much harder. He wasn't ready to accept that less than warm acknowledgement and frowned suspiciously.
'What happened? You're rather quiet today. And what's with the hat?'
X's mind was whirring furiously. He worked through all the possible scenarios he'd gone though, the various solutions that were buzzing in response, and decided to do the only good solution that came to his mind.
X sniffed, quite loudly and obviously, and swiped at his nose. The guy immediately raised his eyebrows and gave a gasp of understanding. 'Ah! You're not well, is it? Is that why you're not speaking? Is your throat hurting?'
X nodded discretely, happy that his ruse had worked. But then that guy frowned again as another thought came to that annoying head of his.
'So, why are you wearing that hat then?'
X felt like smacking the overcurious guy upside the head. His mind was working even more furiously now when an idea struck him. He looked at his wrist and, to his relief, his black watch gleamed back at him.
He tapped on the plastic screen furiously, pointed at himself, and then pointed at any random direction behind the guy. Luckily, he got the message and grinned broadly.
'You're getting late for a meeting? Why didn't you just say so? Go on then. I won't keep you waiting.' He thumped X in the shoulder again, much to his chagrin, and pushed him on his way. X sighed, shook his head, and started walking again
Hacker kept calling out directions, with Sheaf sending out alerts once in a while. X smoothly avoided the most crowded areas. Hefting his heavy load every now and then, he counted his stars that the guy hadn't asked about the VX first. Of course, he hadn't recognized it, since X had covered it in a duffel bag. But still. Fortunately, he had asked the less complicated questions.
'That's it X. You're almost there.' Sheaf whispered as X began running up a flight of stairs, the bag bouncing on his back. X nodded in response, knowing they could see him through the cameras they had hacked into.
'What about transportation? Has the vehicle been prepared?' He asked.
'Yeah, a security guard had driven it over and has parked it on the sidewalk. The one behind the café. Apparently, the storage room has a door that leads off to an alley at the back. You know which one it is right?'
'Yeah, yeah.' X panted. The VX was actually quite heavy. But there was a heavier thought on his mind that refused to go away. His chest was aching due to the onslaught of memories. He just hoped the trauma wouldn't affect his current mission. He'd trained secretly for it. But there was no telling when the subconsciousness overpowers the consciousness.
'Left.' Hacker called out, voice tense. A few guards kept coming in the way, and he tried his best to push them away. In the end, only two guards who came in his way were knocked out.
'You're here.' Hacker finally announced. X came to a stop a few meters away from the hostage room and cut a quick glance across the hall. There was only one guard this time, thankfully, so he had no problem taking him out.
Then he turned to the gleaming silver door and its complex mechanisms. He set the VX down at his feet, took out his tools, and began working on the lock. There were three layers to this lock. The first one, obviously, cracked relatively easily. The second one was a combination type, which unlocked when the gears clicked into place.
X put his hand over it, felt through the machine, and quickly turned it in the right direction. All this while he was pushing away the crippling melancholy that was only getting worse as he made his way closer to his goal. Right now it felt like he was having a heart attack.
Breathing shakily now, he moved to the third lock. This one seemed digital, so he pulled out Hacker's pen drive and plugged it in. 'Unlock this quickly, Hacker.' He muttered.
He anxiously fingered his earring as the seconds ticked away agonizingly slowly.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the lock clicked open.
X stood up, clutched his head, which was now throbbing in blinding pain, shouldered the VX and pushed the door open.
The door gave way slowly to reveal the hostages trapped inside. There were ten of them, just like the slide had shown. The child was there as well. The child didn't seem injured, as far as X could make out.
But that was the last thing he could make out. The sight of the hostages, tied up to chairs and gagged, made his head explode with pain for some reason. The pain darkened his vision and X blinked to push it away.
It reminded his poor brain of her, and it was too much for it to handle. So it tried to manifest its pain at a supremely wrong time.
X groaned and shuddered as he felt the telling signs of a blackout beginning to set in. No. Not now. Please not now.
He took a determined step forward, and tried to take another one, but fell to his knees as his body started giving in to the blackout. He opened his mouth to try to signal to the hostages to run, and get out of here, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a shattering scream.
If he was in his usual self, he would have felt embarrassed at his state, but now all he could do was save his energy to try and retain his consciousness.
But even as the thought occurred in his mind, he felt two pairs of hands grab his arms roughly. Another pair pulled the VX away from him. 'Noo.' He muttered but was unable to stop them.
They tried to haul him up, but he was too far gone now. The last thing he remembered before he fainted was Sheaf and Hacker screaming at him to get the hell out of there and the guards carrying him up when they discovered he couldn't do it on his own. Then the darkness covered him and pulled him under.
a/n:
Dun dun dun!! Agent X has been captured, and the mission they've worked on for so long has fallen to pieces!!! Did you think this might happen? Was the plot twist shocking enough for you?
~
The darkness has covered X and pulled him under. I wonder if it's dark enough in there for him to see the vote button ;P