The United Forums of Neptune Circle

Chapter 5: The Kidnapping

"We're on in five…four…three…two…one!"

"Hello and welcome to Action News! I'm your anchorman, Zeldarulah. Today, a popular common house hold product has been recalled. It may be in your house and you may be using as we speak. More on that later in the program. Now for our top story: Is the mafia real? The answer: No."

Suddenly, a paper was handed to Zeldarulah.

"This just in- Businessman Gado Lion has been kidnapped! Apparently we have someone on the phone who witnessed the event. A Mr…Darkfish. Mr. Darkfish, please tells us what happened."

"Sure thing, sonny," began Darkfish from the other side of the line, "I was just walking down Fifth Avenue, or was it third?"

"It was Fifth," said Zeldarulah.

"How would you know?!"

"Well, the report said the gang members wer-"

"I don't need yer mouth, youngin!"

"Sorry sir, please continue."

"Thank you…Anyway, I was walking down there for some reason…don't really remember why…Hello?"

"Yes sir, we can hear you." Said Zeldarulah.

"Who is this?" asked Darkfish.

"The news organization that contacted you."

"Am I on the news now?"

"Yes. We're live…"

"Hi mom!"

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Brring! Brring!

"God-damnit Blessranger, stop calling!" Fargoth yelled into the phone.

"Fargoth…?" asked Yokozuma from the other end of the line.

"Governor Yokozuma! How can I be of assistance, sir?" Fargoth said, getting a bit calmer.

"Have you seen the news?"

"No, I have not. Let me turn it on," Fargoth said as he turned on the television.

"And then I met Bill…he was a nice lad, helped me defeat an army of ninja owls once-" said an old man's voice on the television screen.

"Uhh…" Fargoth said as he watched the report.

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In a warehouse somewhere in the dirty city of Cloverland, Lasaka; a large gang of thugs have their prisoner tied up to a chair. Scotty, the leader of this rag tag group, walks back and forth while his men set up all sorts of high tech equipment that seems too expensive for them to have. All sort of laptops and wires being connected. Nothing too fancy, but not what you'd expect from a street gang.

But this was no ordinary street gang. This was a gang of the most powerful thugs in all of Neptune Circle. They could clean anybody's clock, so they ended up taking the name "Clock Crew". They had a large and varied amount of members, like Flarekid, a HHH look-alike who twitches all the time and has an obsession with fire. And there was Jojo, an older man with a black muscle shirt and baggy jeans, with his cool chain accessory. But his most interesting features were the bandana on his head and his x shaped scar over his left eye, which he could no longer see out of.

They had all done their part, though. Now it was time for their computer genius, Shadow, to do the rest. Shadow had the darkest skin of all the members of his group and wore a snow-cap mask over his head, along with a jacket and baggy jeans just as dark as he was. He essentially looked like a shadow.

Shadow had to hack his way into a private conversation between the Governor of Lasaka and one of the most skilled law enforcement officers in the nation. Typing quickly on his computer, a screen with a bunch of phone numbers came up. He scrolled through the page fast and found the phone number they wanted.

"Got it, boss!" yelled Shadow.

Scotty clicked open his cell-phone and held it up to his head. Shadow, in turn, clicked the enter button on the laptop's keyboard.

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"Fargoth, I want you to lead this investigation," Yokozuma said to Fargoth.

"I-" began Fargoth before another voice interrupted him.

"There won't be no investigation, less you want yo boy to die," said Scotty's voice over the phone.

"What the!? Who the hell are you!?" asked Yokozuma, angrily.

"The man who took your beloved billionaire. If you want him back alive then you must bring fifty million dollars in unmarked bills in an unbugged suitcase to the old E5 mansion at midnight two days from now. We want only person to bring the money. That person is to leave it there and not try anything funny. If any funny business goes on, we'll kill Lion and personally hunt down whoever was causin' all that shit."

"You-!"

"You ain't in a bargaining position. Bring the money to the mansion in two days and leave in on the front step or else yo' boy gonna get a cap busted in his head!"

Click.

Scotty exited the conversation.

Then there was utter silence between Fargoth and Yokozuma, both thinking about what to do with the situation.

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Jester struggled as he carried a large stack of books to the nearby table. The books were much heavier than they looked, though the amount of content in them wasn't that great. To him and many of his colleagues, though, it was the finest writing on the planet.

Brring! Brring!

Jester put the books down on the table and ran to the phone, out of breath, only to have Kermit reach it a second before he did.

"Hello?" asked Kermit. Then after a few seconds he handed the phone to Jester. "It's for you."

"Hello?" asked Jester as he held the phone against his head.

"Hello, Mr. Jester. This is Agent Roswell of the Bob Bureau of Investigation."

The Bob Bureau of Investigation, or BBI for short, was Neptune Circle's version of America's FBI. This bureau, however, was a bit more competent than America's.

"We have received an anonymous tip that the new conservative library may be a target for terrorist acts, so we thought it best to report that to you."

"Alright, thank you Agent Roswell."

"No problem, Mr. Jester. Oh, and one more thing:"

"Yes?"

"Dude, did you see what Rachel did at Brian's party last night?"

"Oh yeah! Man, she chugged down that keg like it was nothing! That party was the shiznit!"

"I've still got a hang-over, man!"

"Me too! Ha!"

…

Forget what I said about competency.

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"I should've given BearFrog more funding…" Rocky said quietly at the cabinet meeting.

"Pffh! He doesn't need it! What we need is to execute my plan and send a message out to the world!" yelled Ziggy 45

"Yes, but what kind of message are we sending?" asked John Mazz.

"A message saying that is you look at funny you get fcked," said Spectre-X, the All Star of Defense.

"I agree with the plan 100" said Shalashaska, the Attorney General.

"I'm not convinced the evidence for Ziggy's conclusions are solid enough," Jag3k, Secretary of Code, told the group.

"And I just don't think his plan will work," I:h:e:a:r:t:b:o:b:, the head moderator, added in.

"In the end it isn't our decision," said Ziggy as he rose from his seat and walked towards the end of the table where Rocky was sitting. In Rocky's ear he whispered "It's yours…"

Rocky thought about the issue at hand for a second. This was the final decision he would have to make. After this decision they would begin preparation for Ziggy's plan, which would soon be in the public eye.

"I've made my decision…"

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"The BBI needs an agent to meet up with the Governor and correspond with him to formulate some sort of plan. We need someone positioned there already and with good background knowledge on the Clock Crew. Any ideas of who we should send?" laughed Agent Johnson. They all knew who they were going to send to Governor Yokozuma.

One of the newer agents did suggest the person they were thinking of. He suggested quietly, "Agent X…"

"Send out Agent X," Johnson told his underlings.

This was the perfect assignment for Agent X. It was the assignment he had been waiting for. It was the very reason he took the job, so he just might get a chance of getting an assignment like this one…

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BearFrog returned to 221A Baker Street looking somewhat angry. He rushed in the door and slammed it behind him, only to then be greeted by a smiling and anxious Jade.

"Mr. BearFrog! Mr. BearFrog! The capitalist system works!" yelled Jade happily.

BearFrog stood, took this in, and turned his head to Turtle who had just walked into the hall.

"Manson, what are you teaching this child?" asked BearFrog. Turtle simply smiled.

"What's that?" asked Jade as she looked at the creature that was sitting on BearFrog's shoulder.

"Why that, my dear Jade, is a mouse. I found him on the mountain road today," BearFrog said, and then turned to a worried Turtle. "Oh, don't worry. He used to be somebody's pet until apparently their house burned down with them inside. He has all the proper shots and medications. I looked into it on the way to the hospital."

"The hospital?!" yelled Manson as the mouse jumped onto Jade's shoulder and rubbed against her neck.

"Tehe! That tickles!"

"Yes, the hospital. Do you remember our blonde friend who did the exchange with Moriarty?" asked BearFrog.

"Yes, I recall him."

"Well, he tried to shoot me with a sniper rifle today, failed miserably I'm afraid and then I ended up hitting him right on the mark with my shots so…Let's just say he won't be walking for a while."

The mouse was scampering all around Jade's shoulders until she lifted the mouse up and placed him on her head.

"So, did they send the message here?" asked BearFrog.

"What message?" asked Turtle.

"The message informing me of Gado's kidnapping and the ransom request."

"Gado has been kidnapped!?"

"Yes, and it seems the most prominent kidnapping of the new millennium wasn't reported to me by my dear friends in the federal government. God damnit, they always do this! It's a miracle I get anything done at all with the assistance they give me!"

"Perhaps they don't want you on the case," suggested Turtle.

"Well that's too bad for them because I'm un-officially inviting myself to join in the investigation! Come Manson, we are going to Gado's house to investigate!"

"Don't we need a warrant?" asked Turtle as he grabbed his coat.

"If the federal government doesn't care about me, why should I care about it? I'm going to solve this case without their help and get the funding and recognition I deserve. I've been working so hard all these years but now I'll show them what I can really do! Come!"

BearFrog and Manson were about to exit the door when Jade stopped to ask them a question.

"Wait! Mr. BearFrog, what's his name?"

"The mouse…? I'm not sure. I guess you'll have to name it," said he, ready to exit.

The mouse snuggled down in Jade's hair and closed its eyes in a peaceful slumber. Jade looked up at the mouse and then closed her eyes happily.

"I'll name him Twait!!"

"Twait…that's a nice name. Well, behave while we are gone. Try reading some books!" yelled BearFrog as he slammed the door and left Jade standing alone with Twait on top of her head.

Slowly, Jade entered the study and picked out the first book she could find. It was labeled "A Study in Scarlet".

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Fargoth parked his old ratty car right next to the fancy black car sitting in Yokozuma's driveway. He quickly got out of the smoke filled car and entered the Governor's mansion and was immediately led to Yokozuma's office.

In the office Yokozuma was talking with a fairly well built character, about the same height as Fargoth who was average size, and the man was wearing a black suit with black sunglasses with x shaped lenses. The suited man's hair was black too, slicked back and as shiny as if he had just come out of a shower.

Fargoth looked down at the two men who were seated, but the man farthest from him was the first of anyone of them to speak.

"Ah, Fargoth! I'm glad you are here! I'd like you to meet your new partner: Agent X."