O'Cyrus laid out his plans for thwarting THE ORGANIZATION on the diner table while we tucked into our food (O'Cyrus said it was a bad idea to fight evil when you were hypoglycemic) I had been hoping that my assignment would be something along the lines of "Wait in a nice, safe place while the rest of us infiltrate THE ORGANIZATION's compound and do all the dangerous work." Instead, I was told I'd be playing a crucial role in the attack. It was my job to lead the way into the underground control center.
"Frankly, I'd prefer a greenhorn like you stay well clear of the action," O'Cyrus admitted. "But you're the only one who's been inside THE ORGANIZATION's lair and the only one who knows all the people on the other side. That makes you our key asset. And we can't just have you sitting on the radio, talking us through it. You need to be there in the thick of it in case things change—or we lose radio contact. Don't worry, though. We'll protect you as well as we can, seeing as you won't be much use to us if you're dead."
I didn't find that very reassuring, but I accepted my fate and girded myself for battle.
Thankfully, we now had some equipment: the gadgets and badge phones we'd liberated from the agents at Lake Ontario.
By the time we arrived back at Hidden Forest, the Odd Squad was already there. They'd moved faster than I'd expected.
The Odd Squad had shown up in full force, led by Agent O'Rafferty, who obviously had a chip on his shoulder as far as O'Cyrus was concerned. There were more than sixty agents spread out around the perimeter of the gated community which THE ORGANIZATION had covered in reflective paint to counter gadgets. I couldn't see any ORGANIZATION agents on the far side of the wall, but I had no doubt they were there, watching the Odd Squad closely. In an odd way, the whole setup reminded me of a medieval siege. THE ORGANIZATION was holed up in the modern-day equivalent of a walled city, and the Odd Squad was looking to breach it the same way an army of knights would. Beyond the wall, I could even see the rec center high in the middle of the compound like a glass-walled castle, complete with a dungeon beneath it.
The Odd Squad was ready for battle, every agent bristling with gadgets and shields. Creature Wranglers had brought some domesticated velociraptors and skunkbats with them. Armored cars had towed in cannons as well. Once they were all in position, O'Rafferty got on a bullhorn and spoke to everyone at Hidden Forest: "This is Agent O'Rafferty of the Odd Squad. We have you surrounded. Cease all hostile acts at once or we will have no choice but to take you by force!"
"Do you believe this guy?" O'Cyrus muttered. "Time is of the essence and he's giving warnings like a hall monitor. We need to kick this assault in gear." With that, he whipped out a small seed and tossed it at the wall, It started growing rapidly covering the wall with vines before being zapped to death by THE ORGANIZATION agents.
The wall around Hidden Forest turned out to be more medieval than I'd thought; there were secret holes built into it to shoot through, the same way castle walls had slits for crossbows. The Odd Squad agents immediately started zapping the wall causing beams of energy to ping around the area. O'Rafferty shouted at everyone to stand down, but O'Cyrus blasted the bullhorn out of his hands, muting him. After that, the assault spiraled out of control. Most of the activity took place at the weakest points in the community's perimeter, where the Odd Squad hoped to break through: the front gates and the spot where I'd driven the bulldozer through the wall that afternoon. THE ORGANIZATION had hastily patched the hole in the wall with plywood and strung electric wire across the top, but it had been a rush job.
Everyone was so busy trading shots, they didn't notice us. During their days of observation, O'Cyrus and Orica had pinpointed the perfect place to breach the perimeter: a towering oak tree thirty feet from the wall. We scrambled up it as high as we could go, then unloaded the supplies O'Cyrus had amassed to create a homemade zip line. First, Orica fired a grapple-inator over the wall. It caught in the upper story of an unfinished, framed house, after which we fastened our end of the wire around a tree branch, cinched it taut, then clipped onto it with carabiners and rock-climbing belts.
O'Cyrus and Oshton went first to make sure it was safe. No one from THE ORGANIZATION or the Odd Squad seemed to notice them as they glided silently toward the wall.
The moment they crossed over the wall, however, alarms went off. Sirens wailed so loudly they could even be heard over the gadgetfire.
"Shoot," Orica muttered. "They must have some sort of laser system to detect intruders. We better move now."
"Now?" I repeated, though in a much more frightened tone of voice. "But THE ORGANIZATION knows we're coming over the wall."
"No. THE ORGANIZATION knows someone just came over the wall. So they'll be looking for invaders inside the perimeter. Not above it."
"But won't we be inside the perimeter soon?"
Rather than argue the point, Orica simply launched herself down the zip line and dragged me along with her.
The ride down the wire took only a few seconds, but it felt like weeks. En route, I could see THE ORGANIZATION agents racing through the darkness, converging on the frame house where O'Cyrus and Oshton were now holed up. I kept waiting for someone to spot us on the wire, where we were sitting ducks—or at least, gliding ducks. But O'Cyrus and Oshton started shooting, grabbing THE ORGANIZATION's attention, and we slid to safety unnoticed.
We alighted in the upper story of the frame house. O'Cyrus and Oshton were on the far side from us, taking cover behind a stack of plywood. "Get going!" O'Cyrus ordered us. "We'll draw their fire!"
"We will?" Oshton asked nervously, but O'Cyrus had already started shooting again.
THE ORGANIZATION's agents shot back at them, turning a stack of plywood into a puddle, then a phone booth, and finally a plumber.
Orica and I went in the other direction, leaping out the back of the house and skulking away before anyone could see us. We then worked our way toward the rec center, moving in a wide arc around THE ORGANIZATION agents trading shots with O'Cyrus and Oshton.
Despite all the fights around us, it wasn't that hard to steer clear of the enemy now that we were on the inside. All of THE ORGANIZATION's men were busily fending off O'Cyrus, Oshton, or velociraptors. Even so, we did our best to be stealthy.
Two helicopters raced overhead. They were unmarked, so it was impossible to tell whose side they were on.
As we crept through Hidden Forest, I managed to catch a glimpse of some of THE ORGANIZATION's agents. I recognized a few of my instructors among them, like Mrs. Ocello and Mr. Obenhaus. I didn't see The Oddfather or any of my fellow students, but then, the compound was large and there were plenty of places they could have been.
Our route took us past one of the "septic tanks." There was a loud, mechanical hum coming from inside the hole. I peered in to see that the cement lid was opening, raised by hydraulic pistons, revealing that there was, indeed, a missile silo hidden beneath it. The shaft dropped several stories down into the earth. The missile was a big, metallic weapon with Shmumbers Defense marked on the sides.
"C'mon!" Orica ordered. "They're preparing to fire! We don't have much time!" She dropped any attempt at stealth and bolted for the rec center.
I took off after her. We raced out of the construction zone and cut across the croquet lawn.
In the distance, some agents from THE ORGANIZATION spotted us. They yelled something. We were too far away and there was too much other noise to hear it properly, but it was probably something along the lines of "Stop or we'll shoot!"
We didn't stop. So they shot.
We dove over a decorative hedge. Gadgetfire whizzed over our heads and changed the glass walls of the rec center into various objects, which saved us the trouble of going through the door. Orica shot back, laying down cover fire as I scrambled across the carpet, racing for the rock wall.
It occurred to me that I wasn't panicked. I wasn't screaming, like I'd done while being chased by a horde of students during the test. Maybe this was because I'd matured into a better agent since then—or maybe it was because the simulations at the Academy had prepared me well for a real-life action sequence—but I was impressed by how well I was handling the situation, all things considered.
I reached the rock wall and twisted the proper handhold.
The secret door hissed open. I held it that way while Orica raced for it.
In the distance, well past the croquet lawn, I could see our attackers open fire again.
Orica slid through the doorway and spoke into her walkie-talkie. "Granddad, we've got some company en route to the rec center. Think you can hold them off?"
"Sure thing, sweetheart," O'Cyrus replied. "I'm on it."
Orica then led the way down the stairs. I knew it wasn't very chivalrous of me to let her do this, but then, Orica was adept in all forms of combat while I had the martial arts skills of a bowl of Jell-O. She swept the hall at the bottom, then signaled to me that it was safe to follow while she moved on to the kitchenette and the conference room. There were no enemy agents in either one.
"You can stop poking around out there!" Murray called from the control room. "The party's in here!"
Orica frowned, then led the way to the control room.
There were fewer people inside than I expected. The Oddfather wasn't there—or any of the other adults. Instead, there was only Outlaw and Murray. Outlaw was seated on the main couch, staring at the TV screens, which were displaying dozens of security camera feeds from all over the property at once. Most of them were showing the battles outside, though a few were trained on the missile silos as their hatches opened—and one filmed the hall we had just come through. Outlaw was so focused on the screens, he didn't so much as glance at us. From the doorway, I could see only the back of his head. He was holding the custom-made joystick I'd seen on my previous visit to the lair.
Murray was seated in a lounge chair to the side of the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He had no weapon, only a half-eaten frozen yogurt sundae. Being Murray, he had raided the toppings bar, choosing everything from crumbled Oreos to sour gummy worms. "You didn't really think you could sneak up on us in here, did you?" he chided. "We've got cameras everywhere. You thought you could be the hero and try to thwart us?"
Orica aimed her gadget directly at Murray's smiling face. "Oh, we're not trying to thwart your plans. We're thwarting them. Shut off the missiles."
Murray shrugged helplessly. "It can't be done. Everything's preprogrammed."
"I wasn't talking to you," Orica growled. "I know you're not smart enough to control the missiles. I was talking to your pal on the couch. Outlaw, abort the missiles or I zap both of you."
"How about this instead?" Murray asked. "You drop your weapons, or Oshleigh zaps both of you."
I spun around to find Oshleigh there, holding a gadget in each hand, one for me and one for Orica. She looked like she felt pretty bad about this, though. "Sorry," she said. "I really don't want to zap you, but I will."
"How did you . . . ?" I began.
"Get behind you when you'd already swept the area?" Oshleigh finished. "There's a secret hiding place behind the sundae bar. I guess you never got the full tour of the complex." She looked to Orica. "You're still holding your gadget."
Orica released her weapon, letting it clatter to the floor.
"Much better!" Murray said, scooping more yogurt into his mouth.
At that moment, the room began to shake. There was a tremendous rumble from behind the walls. On the TV screens, the ten missiles each blasted off, streaking toward BOSS-CON.
We were too late.