Written in the Stars: A Destined Romance

Chapter 16: Ziphron's Deception

Ziphron entered the MIB's HQ and surveyed the place. He was wearing a human disguise that he'd got from a crooked alien pawnshop owner, Jeebs.

He noticed a female agent slumped over at a desk crying. He grabbed another agent's arm and asked him about the woman, "Oh, her? That's Agent N, she's been brought in to help with the paperwork. You must be Agent O, nice disguise…"

The agent's remark startled Ziphron a bit, but he decided to play along. "Uh…yes, I am. So---what can you tell me about her?"

"Um…oh yeah, she's crazy about Agent X!"

"Agent X??"

"Yep. He's another JeeDangian, she's really hung up on him. Real jealous of his partner, Agent Elle. X doesn't really care though, he hates the human race," the agent chuckled.

"Hmm…" this 'N' seemed to have great potential, to be manipulated. He'd let her in on his plans (partially), and then let her take the fall for both the demise of X and his partner! "I think I should go and have a little chat with her."

N sobbed as he approached, when he placed a hand on her shoulder, she jumped. A chill ran down her spine. "Agent N?"

"Y-yes?" he towered over her, making her nervous.

"I'm Agent O."

"Oh…"

"That's right, and I couldn't help but notice that you seem a bit distressed. May I ask why?"

"No offense, but you wouldn't understand."

"I'm sure you'd feel a lot better if you talked about it."

"Well…alright. I have strong feelings for another agent, he doesn't exactly reciprocate these feelings though," N explained. "And his partner is totally unappreciative of him!"

"Really?" Ziphron raised an eyebrow, "Why don't you just inform the ARC?"

"That's the worst part," N groaned, "I think he likes that crude blonde!"

Ziphron was eating this up. 'X not only had a new HUMAN partner, but he was in love with her too!' Revenge was going to be SO SWEET! "May I speak to you in private for a moment?"

"Uh, sure---I guess."

Once they were alone in a tiny office down one of the halls Ziphron turned to N and explained his little 'plan' to her.

"I have a little confession to make my dear. I'm actually the ex-partner of your little 'crush'." N gasped, Ziphron continued, "I know that you're referring to X, it was actually a HUMAN that got him fired and it was a stroke of luck that he found work here!"

"So that's why X hates humans!" N concluded.

"Yes, the human got him framed. And being his partner, I was nearly fired myself. The charges were dropped, but my name will never be completely cleared. X needs to pay for that. If it weren't for his poor judgment---we could have both been spared the humiliation and my record would STILL be clean!"

"But---" N started to object.

"However, everyone makes mistakes, I suppose." N nodded. "I shouldn't hold X accountable for everything. Still…my life will never be the same as it was before the 'incident', and my career in law enforcement is all but over. I'd really like to pay X back for that!"

N was ready to pull out her sidearm and reduce the alien to ashes.

"Perhaps we could both get what we wanted…" Ziphron added slyly. N paused, 'What's he talking about?'

"How?"

"If I ruined his little 'partnership', it would be the ultimate payback for what his misjudgment cost me! And then he'd have to be assigned a NEW partner. Someone with experience, someone willing to work with an agent with such a bad rap, someone like---"

"Me?!" N gasped as she contemplated what Ziphron was proposing. 'X would be crushed if something happened to Elle, but she'd be able to help him through it. And then maybe he'd finally give her a chance!'

Ziphron waited patiently as N considered his offer.

"What did you have in mind?" N asked suspiciously.

"Simple. With your help, I kidnap this 'Agent Elle' and leave X a ransom note. No matter what, when he shows up to save her, she gets 'injured', and it's all his fault. Zed splits them up, the ARC has no grounds to argue, X is assigned a new partner (of course you'll be the only agent that volunteers for the job), and I leave having completed my revenge."

"That's it?" N couldn't shake the weird feeling she had about all this.

Ziphron nodded with a wide grin.

"I'll do it," N decided.

"Excellent," Ziphron said in a deep tone, "now to go over the details of our little scheme…"

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