Alright. Chapter two. Status on my novel is 12k words out of 50k. I should be able to finish it by the end of the month, but let's keep hoping, alright?
This story is finished, so all you have to do is wait until I upload it all. Hope you enjoy chapter 2!
READ ON!
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"No…! No, it's not fair! You CHEATED!" A man shouted out loud in the outskirts of a bustling city. He took a step back, "You can't say that you won! It's not fair…!"
"Didn't I say…?" The woman before him took a step forward, a malicious smile spread across her face, "You're just a poor loser… the rules were explicit…"
"But…! But you SAID…!" The man whirled around and dashed off. The woman licked her lips and ran in pursuit of her prey, "Someone! Someone, help me! HEEEAALP…!!" The woman let out a tremendous howl and leapt into the air, her long, sharp nails flashing in the light…
…and she was promptly hit full force by a sleek convertible that had just caught some air. The female creature fell backwards from the strike, and she rolled several yards away, lying prone on the floor.
"What did I tell you about watching where you're going, J?" Morris berated the younger man. BA-3 stood up from the backseat where he was located, "For all we know, you just HIT our mission!"
"Hey, it's not MY fault she just leapt up out of nowhere!" J retorted, glaring at his subordinate, "It's like hitting a cat that ran in the street!"
"Cats n' people are two different things, J!" Spin said, clearly aghast that BA-2 didn't seem to realize the difference between apples and oranges.
"I don't see YOU driving, Spin!" BA-2 flailed, standing up so he could look down on BA-5, "You don't even have a license!"
"Sure I do!" Spin asserted, "I mayah got it last month, but at least I look where I'm GOING!" The Agents continued to argue amongst themselves, but were interrupted when a man rushed up to them, his eyes wide and wild.
"You… you guys…! You came…!" The man smiled brightly, "You saved me, thank you!"
J blinked at the man, and turned to Morris, who turned to Spin, who continued to frown at J. BA-2 straightened up and pointed at the target happily, "So, you're safe now!" He said with a rising intonation, as if he was really asking the man, "So then…"
"…Mission Complete!"
"What mission?" Morris asked, scratching under his hat, "You don't even know what the mission was."
"Like it matters, as long as it's complete…" The highest ranking agent muttered.
"Hey… g…guys…?" Everyone turned to Spin, who pointed a little ways away, "I…d…don't guess this mission's ova yet…"
J whirled around (and nearly fell over, as he was still standing in the convertible), and Morris's upper lip lifted in sheer disgust as the woman who had been struck by the car began to push herself from the floor. She dizzily stood on her two legs, and snapped her head back in place (as it was facing completely backwards). Finally finished with her work, she turned slowly to the agents and their target, "…That…wasn't very nice…"
"Holy crap! It's a Zombie!" Spin shouted, "Where's a AK-47 when you need one!?"
"A what?" Morris blinked.
"AK-47s're natural Zombie repellants. Didn't you know?" BA-5 answered.
"No wait, it wasn't AK-47s, it was horrible tasting nuts," J reminded Spin, "Don't you remember?"
"No no no, it's DEFINITELY AK-47s."
"I always thought a good mop to the brain was the best way to deal with a Zombie infestation," Morris said. The younger Agents stared in disbelief at BA-3. Talk about archaic Zombie repellant procedures!
"Oh please…" The woman said, taking a step forward. The target gave a cry and retreated a few steps, "I don't have a bone to pick with any of you nice, suit clad men… My business is with the man behind you." She strode forward as if she had never been struck by the car, "Now if you'll excuse me…"
She was interrupted when Morris leapt from the car by jumping over the door and landing right in front of her, "I'm sorry to say that our business is with this same man," He said, snapping his fingers once, twice, thrice. His microphone swayed in his free hand as he pointed at the woman, "So if you'll excuse…" BA-3 stopped when he got a good look at the creature's face, "…us…?"
"Morris, what's the matter?" J asked, clearly worried for his friend's sake. Morris looked up from his stupor to look at BA-2, and the female leapt over him so she could land gracefully next to her prey.
"No!" The target cried as the woman stalked up to him, smile glistening brightly, "Not again! Please!"
"Stop right there!" The woman flinched and backed away from the hot blooded voice that commanded authority. BA-5 was a rookie, but that didn't mean his skills were lacking any, "Don'tcha dare take another step!"
"I should have known…" The woman hissed, "The Elite Beat Agents are at his service, are they?"
"You were expecting anything less?" Spin said with a smile, "Now get lost, or we'll be forced to… to… do something very horrible! Like sing! Off key! Right in your ears! It's annoyin', and I would know. My sister's tone deaf…"
"Morris, hey Morris, you alright?" J asked, shaking BA-3 on the shoulder, "You seem out of it."
"It can't be…" Morris muttered. He looked up at his superior and elaborated, "She looked… just like my wife…"
J blinked at BA-3, turned to the woman, cocked his head, and turned back to Morris, "Are you sure…? Your wife is assaulting innocent men and…"
"I never said she WAS my wife… the resemblance was just uncanny…"
"Hey man, if that's what your wife looks like…" J pat his fellow Agent on the back, "You're the luckiest guy this side of Santa Barbra! Now, if you can't follow up with this mission because of her, I want you to get the target out of her sight, alright? Spin and I will hold her off."
"Understood," Morris said, "I'll protect him with my life."
"Oh yeah, and while you're gone…" J gave the man a wink, "Send for backup, please?"
"You got it, J."
"Uhhh… BA-2?" J looked up as Morris went to assist the (still) nameless target, "She's not listenin' to me anymore!"
"Out of my way, you puny agents!" The woman hissed, barreling past the young Agent who was standing on the hood of the convertible, "And make way for my meal!" She lunged forward and caught the man's shoulders. With a scream, the man was sent tumbling to the floor with the woman pinning him from the top, "Bwohohoho! Humans are so easy to overpower!"
"Don't give up!" The Agents shouted in unison. The tapping of feet was heard, and the Agents, from their locations on the ground and hood, began to dance and sing, "Get up off the ground! We're not giving up without a fight!"
The target struggled as the woman fought with her victim, but he listened to the Agents. He didn't give up. With a grunt, he pulled his legs up and slammed into her stomach. She fell backwards, winded, and the man scrambled up, turning to escape.
"Morris! Don't you get him into trouble!" J shouted as he and Spin went to assure the woman didn't continue her pursuit. She seemed to be recovering from the hits by both the car and her former victim.
"Ohhh, you guys really are nasty little jerks…" She hissed as she crawled back up. Just like last time, it took her a moment to regain her bearings, but she soon recovered and hissed at the fact that BA-3 and her prey had disappeared, "How dare you get in the way of Sigrid the Beautiful?"
"Well, at least she lives up to her title…" J muttered under his breath. Spin sighed lightly, "Look, lady, it's practically obvious that you're the one we're after, so just fess up. You're stealing people's souls, aren't you?"
Spin shifted uneasily as Sigrid laughed aloud. It was the sound of a beautiful voice, but mixed in it was a poisonous aspect. If no one had seen her superhuman feats of recovery, they would have known she was no normal woman simply from her laugh, "I would suppose that it was incredibly easy to figure that one out, Agent J." She placed her hand on her hip and extended her free hand, "Tell me, what do you expect to do now that you know?"
"What else?" J said, shrugging lightly, "I intend to take them back. You can't gamble your way out of this one, Ma'am!"
"Why do you look like her?" Spin suddenly asked. Both Sigrid and J turned to look at BA-5, "It's too weird that you look like her!"
"Like who?" J turned to stare at Sigrid, who seemed to be way too smug for his tastes, and he looked back at his subordinate, "Like Morris' wife?"
Spin stared back at J, "No she doesn't," He said, "She looks just like Asha…!"
"Who?" Sigrid began to sidle off after BA-3 as the two other Agents spoke to each other.
"Well… you know…" BA-5 shrunk down from embarrassment, and J shrugged, "Asha… she's the girl… I like… from class… you know…? She's real popular… and…"
"She's… what…?" J and Spin turned to Sigrid, who stopped when she was caught trying to escape. BA-2 turned back to Spin, "So you're saying your female heartthrob is a pale as hell, dark haired beauty who wears tight leather and owns a whip?"
"What…? NO!" Spin said, "Asha is an African name! She's dark as chocolate!"
The two turned back to Sigrid, who rubbed her cheek in "embarrassment", "You know, it's always so infuriating to have to explain these things to you mortals. As a Succubus from the bowels of Hell itself, I tend to have the rather annoying ability to look like the sexiest woman you humans think of."
"Ohhhhh…" The Agents said in unison. It all made sense now! Except then Spin blinked, "Wait, so the sexiest woman you think of wears tight leather and uses whips? J, you're sayin' you're like THAT?"
"Did I say that…?" J drawled innocently, looking like he was deep in thought, "I must have been mistaken, because I totally am not like that at all…" BA-5 wondered how J ever got promoted to BA-2… he just didn't seem leader material at all!
"Well then, now that my deepest secrets have been revealed, perhaps now we can get down to business…" Sigrid said, obviously giving up on her prey for now, "You wish to foil the plans of Hell and have me release the souls I have obtained fairly, is that correct?"
"Sounds about right!" J replied, wagging a finger at Sigrid, "You didn't use cliff notes, did you?"
"I see," The succubus said slowly. She placed her hand behind her back and surprisingly came up with an intricately made jar, filled to the brim with a bright blue substance that Spin likened to watery jello… or something to that effect… "So, you want me to open this jar and release the 238 souls I have collected over the past month."
"Do you want me to say 'yes' again?" J asked, "Because I will, you know. You don't know how many times I'll say it before boredom sets in. That's because I never told you, but I can assure it's a lot of times."
Sigrid smirked nastily, "And I can assure you that unless I pull off this cork on my own free will, these souls will never return to their natural life."
There was silence as J thought very hard about this, and he spoke up, "So could you open the jar of your own free will, pretty please?" Sigrid hissed as she glared at the joker.
"I cannot give up what I toiled for my job for just anything. You'd have to give me something in return…" Sigrid pulled the jar back and hid it again, "What do you have that is worth 238 souls, Agent BA-2?"
J seemed to be thinking (really) for once. He looked up at her, a serious look on his face, "What do you suggest, Sigrid?" He asked. His cocky smile returned and he puffed himself up, "I have no idea how much a soul is worth, but you seem to have some idea. What do I have that's worth what you're asking?" Spin wished he could shut J up, but he wasn't afraid for the Agent, really. After all, J's soul couldn't possibly be worth 200, so it seemed he was in the clear.
…Yet there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this wasn't a smart idea…
Sigrid seemed to be deep in though, and suddenly she smiled, laughing out loud, "Oh, Dear Agent, you fool yourself! To think that you actually believe you and anything you own are worth what you ask for." She suddenly became deathly serious, and peered at the man through her nasty, bright eyes, "A thought does come to mind, however…" She murmured lowly.
"J, don't listen!" Spin said, "Whatever she's thinkin' is gunna to leave you down and out, I know it! Let's wait for Morris' backup! J, listen to me!"
"What's your brilliant idea, then?" J asked. Spin was about to explain his brilliant plan, until he realized BA-2 was actually speaking to Sigrid, "I'm pretty sure I can't simply sing at you until you open that thing, so I'll give you a penny for your thoughts."
"I was thinking, just in passing, mind you…" The succubus murmured in a voice that clearly meant she wasn't thinking anything in passing, "That perhaps you'd like to make a wager…?"
A wager!? Spin leapt up and grabbed J's sleeve, hissing lowly in his ear, "J, don't you dare! You know what's her plan!"
"So you're planning on wagering all of your souls…?"
"If you win, the souls go free, if I win, you become number 239…"
"J!!"
BA-2 let out a chuckle, completely ignoring his subordinate, "So what's the game, huh? I'm personally no good at cards. I have the worst poker face you can imagine."
"You EBA dance, do you not?" Sigrid asked rhetorically, "Then I'll tell you what. If you can follow my dance moves perfectly, the hardest I can think of, then I'll let everyone caught before you free."
"And if I can't, then that means you…"
"AGENT BA-2!" J finally turned and blinked at Spin, who was wearing a glare so furious BA-2 was actually taken aback, "Listen to me for once! Everyone told you to be careful, and she's leadin' you right into her trap! Don't take her up on this offer, J! You'll only regret it!"
"You don't trust me?" BA-5 stopped his rant to listen to J's strangely soft spoken question, "You don't have faith in my abilities?"
Spin looked down, scratching his head, "You know I don't mean it like that, but think about it, she hasn't lost any of these wagers before, I bet…."
"…That's right…!" Sigrid interrupted; BA-5 continued without a hitch.
"…and there must be a reason she's had a record of 238 wins and no losses. J, I'm beggin' you, think for a sec, please."
"All I can think of is two hundred people that need help. I can't hear them… but I can feel their desperation…" BA-2 glared at Sigrid, "and if I turn tail here… we'll lose her and she'll only collect more souls… and the Jedis are going to REALLY feel that."
Spin blinked, "Jedis…?" He groaned, "I shoulda known you'd make another cheesy line, J…"
"You two are taking so long, I'd die of old age if I weren't immortal," Sigrid said testily, "Yes or no, Agent J?" She extended her hand, "You Humans shake hands to solidify deals, right? So shake on it." She demanded.
Spin winced as J walked forward, spitting on his hand and grasping her hand, making her wince from the touch of human saliva, "You got yourself a deal, Succubus."
"Right…" She said, rubbing her saliva filled hand on her clothes, "Well then… I suppose I'll start. You follow. Are you ready?
"Three, Two, One, GO!"
Spin wasn't all that amazed. Her first move was a Hula Dance. BA-5 knew that every move symbolized an idea, but he wasn't sure just what she was trying to convey in the moves. J seemed to know, however. His mouth was moving lightly as he translated the entire dance. Most likely he would use the translation to copy the dance. Spin had to admit, when it came down to it, BA-2 was really good at his job.
The first test was finished, and J passed with flying colors. He landed his foot down and lifted his arms, just like she did when she finished, "Next!" He said; he hadn't even broken a sweat. However, Sigrid hadn't either. She wasn't worried, there were still four dances left.
"Right! On to the next one!"
It was a Jig. Spin found the Succubus was tapping quickly, so quickly it was hard to see her feet move. However, J was better. He was so good, he copied her before she finished her dance, and finished it in a flash, "That all you got?"
"You…!" Sigrid hissed at his cocky smile, "Let's see you handle this!!"
Spin closed his eyes, racking his brain on the name of the next dance. He could have sworn he had heard it called "Gypsy Brass", but he knew it had an official name that he probably couldn't pronounce. J passed that test as well, although he looked a little worse for wear. His pompadour wasn't drooping, so Spin wasn't worried, but…
Spin didn't even know what the next dance was, it was so obscure. He assumed it was a native African dance, but he wondered if J knew the specifics behind it, because he seemed to be thinking. BA-2 didn't move a muscle as she continued, and BA-5 bit his bottom lip in worry.
Spin was worried for naught, as the moment she stopped, J started, and he didn't stop until he finished it perfectly. J's breathing was slightly labored when he finished, but he didn't look nearly as bad as Sigrid, who was sweating bullets and thinking hard for what to do next.
Finally, she composed herself (as she was a master of doing), she suddenly reached out and smiled, "May I have this last dance?" She asked sweetly. J was taken aback, and suddenly realized. The last dance was a partner dance. She wanted to see if he could do it.
"I suppose…" He drawled. Spin didn't really like the idea of watching BA-2 dancing with the enemy, especially the enemy that looked suspiciously and scarily like the very woman he had a crush on since Middle School. It was a slow waltz, and although J was the male, he had no problem following so the woman could lead, as was the rules.
Finally, the music in J's mind began to slow. Sigrid was twirled one more time, and the two released each others' hands, both panting lightly from the five consecutive dances finished. The Succubus then smiled, "You're a mighty fine dancer, Agent J…"
"Yeah well, I don't want to brag, but I'm the best there is, you know?"
"Except…" A sinister smile spread across Sigrid's lips, "You didn't complete the required fields..." J froze and Spin's jaw dropped, "And that means your soul is forfeit to me..."
To Be Continued...
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Yeah, way to end at a cliffhanger, Christy.
Review or summin.
Also WORST... CLIFFHANGER...EVAR...
