Episode 12: Mr. Body Beautiful
Part 1
The agent crept down the long, dark hallway. He had assumed he would be alone at this hour, but the sound of distant voices disrupted this notion. Adjusting his night-vision goggles, he saw two figures approaching him from the opposite end of the hall. Hoping they hadn’t noticed him, he ducked around a corner and flattened himself against the wall. He held his breath, his heart hammering in his throat as he listened to their footsteps growing steadily louder. He closed his eyes and prayed they would pass by him.
“Imagine yourself as a hippopotamus. There is always more than meets the eye.”
“You would imagine yourself as a hippo, Grasshopper!” He cringed as he recognized the voice of 00Carter, who continued speaking. “Lecturing to yourself at midnight again?”
“All birds settle to roost.”
“What does that even mean?” Nick groaned. A knock on a nearby door followed.
For a few moments, the hallway was silent until Grasshopper finally spoke with a dry but joking tone. “A river’s cattails are useless without the wind.”
“What.” Nick banged on the door again. “Hey, Di! Just like last week!”
Grasshopper chuckled quietly to himself. “Every river eventually rushes past the stubborn rocks.”
Nick banged on the door again, then stormed away in a huff, muttering to himself. “Beauty sleep. Should’ve known when she didn’t text me back. Unless she’s with that useless Vitruvi-lame.”
As the voices faded away, the agent let out his breath in a low sigh of relief. He waited a few more moments to make sure the coast was clear, then returned to the task at hand.
Reaching behind him, he touched the item tucked inside his back pocket, making sure that he hadn’t forgotten it. He would never be forgiven if he could not complete this mission. He turned his attention to the security pad outside the door.
He would need K’s code to unlock the final lock. He wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled out the compact he had taken from Lancy’s desk earlier. Opening the compact, he crushed the powder and lightly dusted the keypad. A smile formed on his lips when he saw the keys that K had used to unlock his own door. I didn’t think you’d be so predictable, K, he thought as he punched in the code to the door. His smile grew when he heard the door latch click, allowing him to enter the room.
He made sure the door closed silently behind him and readjusted his goggles. Tiptoeing through the room, he approached the bed where K was sleeping — soundly, by the look of it, though the sweat on his brow made the intruder think he was dreaming something uncomfortable.
“It’s too bad your dreams aren’t pleasant tonight. They’re likely the last you’ll ever have.” The man snickered but held his breath when K rolled to face him, mumbling in his sleep. K’s eyes did not open, so he moved closer to see if he could hear what the head of HimTak was saying in his sleep.
The only thing he could hear was K mumble “Nathaniel” before falling back into his fitful sleep.
“You won’t have long until you’ll join them.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the item. His heart beat with anticipation as he uncapped the needle. He still couldn’t believe that inside this syringe was a microscopic bomb. The thought thrilled him. Holding his breath, he leaned closer to K and held his arm as he injected the needle into its most visible vein.
K started to mumble again, but his eyes stayed firmly closed. Restless though he seemed, he slept on soundly.
Once he had pushed the plunger all the way, the intruder quickly pulled the needle out. “Dr. Rough is a brilliant man, as you will soon come to realize,” he whispered into K’s ear before turning to leave the room.
Once outside, he rearmed the lock and laughed to himself. He really was the perfect inside man. The stupid HimTak agents were blind to what was going on right beneath their noses.
***
“The deed’s been done, Dr. Rough.”
Upon hearing the long-awaited report from his undercover agent, Dr. Rough allowed an evil smile to spread slowly across his face. On the video screen in front of him, his minion appeared equally pleased with himself. “Am I to understand, then, that their security has been breached? Their system has been hacked?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And no one in Himitsu Takana suspects you are not on their side?”
“No, sir.”
“Excellent,” said Dr. Rough, stroking the top of Dr. Twitches’ head. “You have served me well. I knew I could count on you to get the job done. You make an outstanding mole.”
“Thank you, master.”
The minion bowed his head in reverence, and the screen went black. The FANS leader turned his attention to a second screen, which showed a red-haired woman talking into the two-way glass of her bathroom mirror, unaware of the camera mounted on the other side of it. He turned up the volume on the feed.
“Hi! My name is Rachel, and I’m from Orlando, Florida, the theme park capital of the world.”
The redhead leaned into her mirror, smiling open-mouthed as she applied a fresh layer of glossy, coral lipstick.
“I used to work at the most popular theme park there is: Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. I played the part of the Little Mermaid, Ariel. That’s how I met my boyfriend, Donnie. He was there guarding a bomb planted by the international terrorist organization he’s a part of, but I didn’t care about that. I just thought he looked hot in his Buzz Lightyear costume!”
She giggled, twirling a tendril of her long hair around her finger. Then she puckered her lips and smacked them together, blowing a kiss into the mirror.
“Donnie and I hit it off right away, and things moved quickly. Now I’m living in his terrorist league’s lair, way out in the middle of the Everglades. There’s not much to do here unless you like genetically modifying penguins and plotting world domination. I’d rather be singing ‘Part of Your World’ at Disney, but I can’t exactly play Ariel anymore because… I’m pregnant.”
She stepped back, running her hands over the big, round bump protruding from her front, and sighed as she turned sideways to scrutinize her profile. “Twenty-nine weeks… I look more like a whale than a mermaid now. I wonder if–” But she didn’t finish her sentence, jumping as someone knocked on the closed bathroom door.
“Rachel?” a male voice called. “You okay in there? Who you talkin’ to?”
“Be out in a minute!” Rachel hollered. She waited until his footsteps had faded away, then rolled her eyes at the mirror. “That’s Donnie. I know he cares about me and our baby, but sometimes I think he cares more about pleasing Dr. Rough and practicing his mad rap skills. I just hope he’ll be a good father…”
“I just hope he’ll be a good father,” Dr. Rough mocked in a high-pitched drawl, rolling his eyes at the screen on which he’d been watching this silly soliloquy. “It’s starting to sound like an MTV reality show around here,” he grumbled. “Now even I’m doing it — talking to myself! Gah!”
He muted the feed on the dormitory Donnie shared with his pregnant girlfriend and turned his attention to the other monitors mounted on his wall, which displayed live footage from the many high-tech surveillance cameras hidden around the FANS compound, allowing him to spy on his minions without leaving the comforts of his private chamber.
Lounging in his luxurious bed piled high with plush, purple pillows, Dr. Twitches curled on his chest, Dr. Rough watched Donnie leave his dormitory, where Rachel was still doing voice-overs in the bathroom, and walk down the hall. “Yo, I’m Donnie Wahlberg,” he said into thin air, “and I’ve been bullied since I first joined FANS. I’ve never totally fit in here… I mean, my code name’s still New Kid. What’s up wit dat? Being an easy target for bullies SUCKS, yo, and that’s why I started rapping. Rapping helps me get my feelings out and blow off some steam, you know what I mean?”
“Who are you talking to?” Dr. Rough muttered, frowning in bewilderment as Donnie continued to narrate his walk.
“I’m sick of being bullied, and I’m tired of being the laughing stock of FANS. I wanna be taken seriously when I’m spinnin’ my rhymes. I wanna stand up to the haters and earn some respect. I wanna be a hardcore rapper villain. I wanna be… MADE.”
He disappeared around the corner and out of camera view, reappearing a few minutes later on a different screen, which monitored the FANS’ rumpus room. There the minions gathered around pool tables, ping-pong courts, and Twister mats, making merry as they laughed and played together. Donnie strutted amongst them, walking with a swagger Dr. Rough had never seen in him before. But this new confidence seemed to fail him as he reached the small karaoke stage in the corner, where Drums stood waiting for him.
“’Sup, New Kid?” Drums greeted him, extending his silver hook.
“H-hey, Drums. Uh, what happened to your new silver h-hand?” asked Donnie, sounding much more like his old, stammering self.
Drums scowled. “It’s got a glitch or somethin’ — started tryin’ to strangle me da otha night! Dr. Rough said he gon’ take anotha look at it, so fo’ now I’m stuck wit dis again.”
“O-oh. I see.” Donnie grasped the hook gingerly, and Drums reeled him into a man hug, slapping his back.
“Yo, you ready to bust a rhyme, dirty dawg?” asked Drums.
“Y-yeah, alright… let’s do this.”
“Holla. I’ma try out dis new beat. Check it out…” Drums pushed play on the boombox behind him. “Whoa… yeah, yeah, yeah…” he adlibbed, grooving to the hip-hop music that blasted out into the room. “Drums… and Shy Donnaaay!” The minions stopped in the middle of their games and looked up as Drums started to sing. “We’ like SPECTRE and V.I.L.E., takin’ over the whole world! Just like KAOS and M.A.D., FANS gonna bring the hurrrt.”
Dr. Rough couldn’t help but watch his right-hand man in admiration, marveling over his smooth singing voice and mad rhyme skills. He bobbed his head to the beat as Drums went on.
“And HimTak, it’s gonna blow, ‘cause we plant the bomb! We gon’ take out Carter, like we say right in this song… Shy Donnaaay!”
As he turned the mic over to Donnie, Dr. Rough sat up in his bed, leaning forward to hear how his Rough Riders thought they were going to take out 00Carter. But after “Yeah, I’m Shy Donnie, and…” he couldn’t understand a word of Donnie’s rap. The quivering minion got softer and softer as he mumbled into his microphone with his eyes downcast, staring at his awkwardly shuffling feet on the stage.
“Speak up!” sang Drums, frowning over at Donnie. “Shy Donnaaay… speak up!”
“Seriously, speak up!” Dr. Rough barked at the TV screen.
Drums put his hand to his head in frustration. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong hand. “Oh no… Oh no-o-o!” he sang suddenly. “Mah hook’s caught in mah hair… Mah hook’s caught in mah hair!” After a few seconds of trying to untangle his hook from his curly, blond afro without success, he darted off the stage and out of the room.
When Drums had gone, Donnie stopped mumbling and looked up and around the room. Suddenly, to the surprise of Dr. Rough and all the minions present, he launched into a full-fledged rap that was perfectly intelligible.
“No more games, boys, my name’s Shy Donnie;
I hate the haters and love my fly honey.
Witness the New Kid… as I kick this.
I’m on a mission, so listen as I dismiss
all this negativity we’ve faced in the past
as forgotten agents in need of status.
No sell out, so get the hell out. We do it Rough’s way.
Who gives a damn about K and Jay?
Said we wouldn’t last,
Said we didn’t pass,
So we founded FANS…
Now we’re all kicking ass.
The D-O-N-N-I-E, the W-A-H-L to the B-E-R-G has spoken,
and now the games must cease…
and to the non-believers, I say peace!
Stop playing those games!”
And they had. All of the minions were staring at him in rapt attention, their hands frozen on pool cues, ping-pong paddles, or colorful circles on the Twister mat. Then they suddenly began to chant in unison as if they’d rehearsed it. “Oh-ee-oh… ohh, oh! Games, games, games, games, games! Oh-ee-oh… ohh, oh! Games, games, games, games, games!”
Dr. Rough stared, stunned by the command Donnie had over the other minions. Perhaps he had underestimated his sniveling servant. Just when he was starting to think of promoting Donnie to a higher rank, the door of the rumpus room flew open, and Donnie and the minions fell abruptly silent as Drums swaggered back into the room. “It’s cool, y’all,” he said when he noticed them all staring at him. “Mah ‘fro’s fine. Now, where were we?”
Dr. Rough nodded in satisfaction as Drums took control once more. He had picked the right man to be his second in command. But it was good to know Donnie did have some balls, tiny as they must be.
After watching for a few more minutes, he grew bored of spying on the minions and instead turned his attention to the camera mounted in the ceiling of Sexi’s room, right over her bed, so as to provide a birds-eye view of her as she slept. She was getting ready for bed now. His pulse raced with excitement as he watched her undress, slipping into a satin negligee and nothing else. He would have been content to watch her sleep — or lie there and touch herself as she often did before she drifted off — but it occurred to him that while Drums was hanging out with the minions, it would be the perfect opportunity for him to sneak down to her room and enjoy a little Sexi time in person.
Dr. Rough rolled out of bed eagerly, upsetting Twitches. He would make up some excuse on his way to Sexi’s room, some reason for turning up there at this hour. It didn’t need to be good; after all, he was Dr. Rough, and this was his headquarters.
He didn’t even glance at his wall of monitors as he crept out of his bedroom. If he had, he might have seen silly Rachel, the pregnant mermaid, collapse in a pool of her own blood. But he did not, leaving only the cameras to capture the sound of her screams and the sight of the creature that slid out from between her legs.
***
Hours later, Dr. Rough returned to his room with Sexi in tow. The reason he’d given her for his nighttime visit had been to bring his sole female agent a nightcap, into which he had slipped a roofie. She had accepted the drug-laden drink gratefully. Now, after finishing it, Sexi was loose and giggly, hanging all over him as she stumbled up the hall in her stiletto heels. Her satin lingerie flew up as he pulled her into his room and flung her backward onto his bed, exposing the smooth caramel skin of her inner thighs.
He climbed on top of her and reached between her legs, but before he could touch her, Sexi let out a startled “Oh!” Realizing that she was looking not at him but at something over his shoulder, Dr. Rough sat back on his haunches and twisted around.
The door to his private bathroom was open, he realized, and the light was on. A shadow flickered across the tiled floor. Someone was there, standing just inside the doorway, out of sight.
Frowning, he left Sexi behind on the bed and stalked toward the bathroom. As he approached the doorway, he could see articles of clothing strewn across the floor. They were stained with what appeared to be blood. There were drips of it on the floor and countertop as well. His heart began to beat faster, and he suddenly wished he was armed. He took one more tentative step forward and peered into the bathroom, eyes fixed on the blood-soaked clothing.
He saw the feet first. Bare feet, pressed close together. His eyes panned upwards, taking in the skinny ankles, the scrawny white legs, the grayish briefs, and the pale, naked chest. They were already starting to roll by the time they settled on the familiar face.
“Damn it, Donnie!” he cried angrily, losing his cool completely. “Tighty-whities again? Didn’t I tell you I never wanted to see you less than fully clothed again after the L.A. bus… incident? And now you’ve broken into my chamber and entered my private bathroom!”
His eye twitched as he watched Donnie stand there quivering, rubbing one hand maniacally up and down his forearm. He could feel the vein in his forehead pulsing with rage as he realized his rare Sexi time had just been ruined by a man he had considered promoting just hours earlier. What a lapse in judgment that had been!
“You don’t know so many things,” murmured Donnie in a tiny voice, staring miserably at him. He took a few faltering steps forward into the doorway and covered his mouth with both of his hands. They were streaked with red — evidently, he had been trying to wash off the blood. “Do you know why you’re afraid when you’re alone? I do… I do…”
“Knock it off, Donnie,” Dr. Rough snapped. “Either tell me why you’re covered in blood or go away; I have more important matters to contend with tonight.” He glanced back at Sexi, who sat up on his bed, staring at Donnie in concern, and he felt his resentment grow. Drugs or not, he doubted she would be in the mood to mess around with him after witnessing another one of Donnie’s psychotic meltdowns.
“She was afraid!” Donnie screamed. “I told her she would be alright. I was wrong; I was wrong. NOW LOOK AT ME!!! I don’t wanna be afraid no more,” he whimpered as Dr. Rough stared at him in bewilderment.
“Give me a minute…”
“I WAITED TWO HOURS FOR YOU!” roared Donnie, punching the door frame. Spit flew from his lips, dribbling down his chin as he began to sob. “I’m not giving you nothing. You failed me! YOU FAILED ME!”
Dr. Rough frowned. “What are you talking about? What do you need from me?”
“It’s too late… It’s too late…” wept Donnie. “There’s nothing you can do. She’s dead. She’s DEAD!”
“Who’s dead?”
Donnie turned and ripped open the shower curtain that surrounded Dr. Rough’s massive marble tub. Sprawled across the bottom of it lay the body of his girlfriend, Rachel, naked and bloody from the waist down.
Dr. Rough swayed at the sight of her, feeling light-headed. “What happened to her?” he demanded hoarsely.
“The… b-baby…”
The corpse’s belly was still swollen, but the shriveled-looking gray umbilical cord hanging out from between her legs proved she had given birth. “Where is it?” he asked, looking around.
Donnie just shook his head, shaking and sobbing.
Dr. Rough was surprised to find he felt sympathy towards the minion. He reached out and placed a hand awkwardly on his trembling shoulder. “What did you do with the child?” he asked again, more gently this time.
Donnie continued to shake his head. “It wasn’t a child… wasn’t a child…”
Dr. Rough frowned, growing frustrated with him again. “What are you talking about? Where’s the baby?”
Without a word, Donnie slipped past him, out of the bathroom. Dr. Rough turned and followed him as he left the room and slunk down the hall, leaving a puzzled Sexi behind. They walked through the compound’s labyrinth of hallways, finally reaching the minions’ quarters. The door to Donnie’s dormitory stood open. Donnie stopped outside it, refusing to cross the threshold.
Dr. Rough entered the room alone. He walked in slowly, looking around. There was a trail of blood on the floor, much thicker here than in his own chamber, leading into the tiny bathroom. He followed it and saw the place where Rachel had given birth. There were bloody towels spread out on the floor and dangling from the counter. And there, in the sink, wrapped up in one of them, was the creature she’d birthed.
Creature was the word that entered Dr. Rough’s mind, not child, because Donnie was right: this was no child. This was a monster.
Its head was bulbous and misshapen, its eyes massive even though they were closed, with lids that joined in a vertical line, like a pair of double doors, and no lashes. There was no nose either, only slits for nostrils, and no lips, only an ovular mouth that hung open like a black hole.
Dr. Rough’s hand shook as he reached out and plucked up one edge of the towel it was swathed in, taking care not to touch the creature itself. He drew back the towel and felt his breath catch in his throat as he took in the full view of it. The smooth, hairless skin that covered its body was a dusky shade of indigo, and there was no sign of movement to suggest it was breathing or alive at all. The four limbs, ending in three webbed digits each, lay limp and motionless. He shuddered at the thought of touching it, so he left it there in the sink instead and returned to Donnie, his head spinning with more questions than he knew how to ask.
At first, all he could get out was, “…How?”
At first, Donnie seemed incapable of forming answers. As he stood there rocking, his arms hugging his naked, quivering body, all he could do was shake his head.
Dr. Rough didn’t know what to make of it. But he did know one thing: his discovery was going to change everything.
***
Nick frowned as he walked into Pearl’s lab and noticed Jay occupying her place at the computers. A sweeping glance around the room only confused him more, as it seemed she was nowhere to be found — in fact, both his favorite blonde Carter Girls were missing. At least his favorite ginger, Red Jewel, was present, though he was disappointed to see her sitting next to his least favorite agent, Leonardo Di-Crapio.
“Hey… where’s Pearl?” he asked as he leaned back against one of Pearl’s worktables.
“As I was just about to say,” K began, irritated by Nick’s tardiness, “she’s in Washington D.C. helping Opal.”
“With what?”
“008, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.” K was already irked by a recently-formed bug bite on his arm, which had been bothering him all morning. No matter how much he scratched at it, relief was nowhere to be found.
“Okay, okay… jeez,” Nick replied, caught off-guard by the aggressive edge to K’s tone. Sure, he was no stranger to being on the older man’s nerves, but even he had to admit that it usually took more than two simple questions to bring about this sort of reaction. Still, Nick shook it off and assumed that perhaps K had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed… or something like that.
“Also away are Emerald and Diamond,” K continued. “They just checked in and have arrived in Iraq ready for their mission. As for the rest of you… I’m afraid there really isn’t much in the way of assignments. FANS has been quiet.”
“So… then why are we here? Are you telling us we’re getting some extra vacation time or something?” Nick asked hopefully.
“Hardly,” said K, scratching at the bothersome patch on his arm again.
Red Jewel noticed this and frowned but remained silent, making a mental note to speak to K after the meeting to check him out.
“We’re here to discuss possible strategies to take FANS out before they strike again,” he went on.
“Like going on the offensive?” Jay finally spoke up, turning around to face him.
“Exactly. I was thinking perhaps we could–” K began but was cut off by the sound of static coming from the computers. Every set of eyes in the room fell on the monitors as they all scrambled for a few moments, only to refocus on… an empty room.
“Jay, did you bust Pearl’s computers?” Nick asked, fighting back a laugh at his mentor’s expense. “Because she’s gonna kill you if you can’t fix it…”
“You would know, Mr. I-Tried-On-A-Machine-Gun-Bra,” Jay quipped, typing a few commands into the computer but having no luck. “It’s not a glitch on our part. It looks like… it’s a transmission.”
“A transmission from wh-?“ K began to ask, though his question was answered as a blur appeared on the screen — almost as though someone had jumped into the frame — and suddenly, none other than Dr. Rough stood before them. Or, rather, the back of Dr. Rough’s head.
“YOU SET THE TRIPOD TOO HIGH, YOU IDIOT!” the diminutive villain shouted at someone behind him before that someone cleared their throat and pointed behind him at the camera he was supposed to be facing. “Oh! Yes! It is I, Dr. Rough!” he proclaimed before abruptly bursting into an evil laugh.
“This system is impenetrable!” K exclaimed, mildly stunned by the sight before him but apparently still capable of voicing the same thought that all of the other agents in the room seemed to share as well. Pearl’s firewalls and other cyber-security measures were supposed to be the best in the world, impossible to break through. What made it all seem even more unlikely was how much Dr. Rough seemed to be bumbling around. How was this possible?
“Was impenetrable,” Dr. Rough corrected, about to continue basking in the glory of his current success until one of the minions in the background of his shot spoke up.
“I CAN’T ACCESS THE FILES, SIR!” the minion called out to his master as he clicked away at his keyboard, attracting the attention of everyone from Dr. Rough to the agents of HimTak.
Dr. Rough swore under his breath before he turned back to the camera. “No matter. We’ll still get what we want!” Dr. Rough proclaimed. He searched the screen showing him the room at HimTak until he found Agent K, who was still subconsciously scratching his arm. Dr. Rough’s smile widened when he saw this, knowing that his plan was working perfectly and the news he was about to deliver was going to shock them all. “Agent K, you are currently carrying a bomb.”
“A bomb?” K scoffed. “I think I would have noticed if I was armed with a bomb.”
“Not if it’s been implanted inside of you!” Dr. Rough replied, his grin large as ever. “I see you’ve got an itch you can’t seem to scratch? Don’t bother trying to get it out.” He glanced at Red Jewel, whom he knew to be the resident doctor. “It’s been wired to detonate upon any attempt to extract it.”
“Bullshit.” K strode closer to the monitors and the camera mounted above them, through which he knew Dr. Rough was watching them. “How do we know this isn’t just some distraction tactic, and I’ve really just been bitten by a mosquito?”
“Could a mosquito do this?” Dr. Rough asked before pushing one of the buttons on the control panel in front of him.
Immediately, K felt his heart race so quickly that he found himself leaning forward and grasping the back of Jay’s chair for support.
Red ran to his side instantly to take his pulse. “It’s dangerously high,” she warned, glancing at Jay worriedly, then up at the camera. “Stop it before you give him a heart attack!”
Satisfied that he’d proven his point and demonstrated his control over their precious Agent K, Dr. Rough pressed the button again and saw K’s body instantly relax. Red continued to monitor his pulse as she helped him to a chair nearby.
“Fine, Rough,” Nick said, shooting a glare at one of the many screens still displaying the short villain’s face. “What do you want from us?”
“Agent Jay,” Dr. Rough announced, enjoying the agency’s shocked reaction as he focused his gaze on the man whose name he had just spoken. “I want you to turn yourself over.”
“You want me?” Jay smirked as he tilted his trademark shades down to eye Dr. Rough on the screen. “Awww, I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be,” Dr. Rough replied. “My reasons for wanting you in the custody of FANS are purely strateg–”
“Are they really, D?” Jay cut him off, reviving a nickname for Dr. Rough that no one had used in years. “You’re sure about that?”
“Yes, of course I am!” Dr. Rough spoke through slightly gritted teeth. Though he hated showing that Jay had gotten under his skin in any way, his temper seemed to be getting the best of him. Jay’s victorious smirk only annoyed Dr. Rough more.
“You were always a terrible liar. I can see your eye starting to twitch from here!”
“Enough!” Dr. Rough exclaimed, hand flying up to try and stop the eye movement that was giving away his true position. “You WILL meet my demands, or every single one of you will pay the price!”
“We’ll find a way to beat you, D,” Jay warned, his voice wavering slightly as his own temper seemed to be slowly rising. “We always do.”
“Don’t forget, there’s a first time for everything!” Dr. Rough taunted, pressing another button on the control panel that was hidden from the camera.
Instantly, K screamed in pain, hand clutching his chest so tightly that it seemed as though he was trying to pry the bomb right out of his chest. Red and Nick tried to restrain K, but struggled with the task even after Leo hurried over to assist them. Red turned to Jay and gave him a pointed look, which he understood to mean that K couldn’t take much more punishment.
“Cut it the fuck out, D!” Jay hollered directly at the camera. “Right now!”
“But I’m only getting started!”
“You’re about to be finished if you don’t stop what you’re doing to him!”
“Is that a threat?!” Dr. Rough asked, a maniacal chuckle escaping him at the idea that Jay was arrogant enough to threaten him. “Jay, you’re not in ANY position to be making threats at me! I literally have Agent K’s life in my hands! Whether he lives or dies is up to you. If it were up to me, that bomb would have taken you all out by now!”
One last check of K’s pulse, and Red had reached her limit. “Keep an eye on his heart rate,” she told Leo, who was standing nearest to her. Then she approached Jay, jaw set in determination, and grabbed his arm to command his attention. “I don’t care what he’s saying,” she whispered harshly. “K is going to die if he doesn’t stop!”
“You’re gonna lose your bargaining chip, D!” Jay added, well aware that compassion for K’s life was going to prove ineffective. “Stop whatever it is you’re doing to him RIGHT NOW!”
“Oh, ALRIGHT already,” Dr. Rough said with a roll of his eyes. He pressed the button again, and K’s body seemed to relax once again. Red, who had returned to K’s side, checked him over one more time before turning to Jay and giving him a slight nod. Jay nodded back, satisfied that his mentor would be alright for the time being. “That was still just a warm-up, Agent Jay! Turn yourself over, or the next time that happens, it will be too late for your precious Agent K before you can even THINK about helping him!”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding!” Jay exclaimed. “There’s no fucking way I’m doing that! We’re not giving in to you. We can find the bomb and deactivate it ourselves!”
“Oh?” Dr. Rough asked with a laugh, amused by Jay’s outburst and his futile determination to avoid giving in to the sole demand. This was one plan that Dr. Rough was confident would not be undone by the likes of 00Carter or anyone else at HimTak. The sooner they accepted that and gave in, the sooner he could revel in the glory of his success. “Even without Dr. Pierson? How is Mr. Carter’s Pearl doing up in D.C., by the way?” he continued, imagining how lost they would be without her. He was truly pleased with the work his mole had done, giving him intelligence on the comings and goings of the top agents and employees of the organization. “You have ten hours, Jay… and then, you’ll be running HimTak yourself.”
“You son of a–” Nick began but was cut off by the rest of Dr. Rough’s instructions.
“Present yourself at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in ten hours, Jay, or else. The countdown is on!” Dr. Rough’s evil laugh began just as his transmission ended and the monitors returned to their normal displays.
***