Episode 6: It’s a Small World
Part 3
As soon as the jet landed at the private airport near Walt Disney World, K sighed. He could hear his fellow agents chatting in the background, seemingly getting along better than they had a couple of hours ago. He’d been on the phone for the past half an hour, talking to Brian, who had already arrived in town to join his cousin for the mission.
“Have you been watching the news?” Brian’s voice had sounded utterly depressed. “They’re saying some of the characters have been acting strangely. They don’t really entertain children… it’s more like they’re trying to get rid of them. Snow’s been another problem: it’s just not melting. This stuff’s serious, K.”
All K could do was nod and flip through the channels to see the news coming from Disney during the talk. He played the conversation over and over in his head but couldn’t come up with a solution. Not that he couldn’t guess who was behind this strangeness, but the purpose of choosing a place like Disney World was a total mystery to him. He shook his head as the jet came to a halt, and the agents all got up from their seats to exit. He played with the fake ID cards in his hands before standing and shoving them into his back pocket. For a long time now, K had been hesitant about how to lead this mission.
As if that wasn’t enough, he had to suppress his memories about the place and deal with four agents who still had no idea what they were up against. Seeing that the agents were already getting out of the jet, he followed them, planning to inform them once they were inside the vehicle that would take them to the Magic Kingdom.
Due to his fear of flying, Nick was the first to get out of the jet. Still, he managed to keep his cool and put on his aviator sunglasses, very agent-style. As his eyes adjusted to the bright sun outside, he saw a big, black Hummer limousine waiting for them.
“Sweet.” He grinned. He truly loved his superior’s taste sometimes.
“Sweet and definitely hot,” Emerald replied behind his back. He followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the man leaning against the Hummer, looking sleek and — Nick had to admit — good in his black suit and… well, aviators.
Pushing Nick aside, Emerald flew down the stairs with a huge smile on her face. Nick frowned when he recognized the man behind the sunglasses, but it was Pearl who asked the question first: “What the hell is he doing here?” She came up behind him and watched Emerald make small talk with Officer Brian Littrell.
Shrugging nonchalantly, Nick went down the stairs.
Pearl followed. “I smell something else in this vacation, Carter,” she blurted, her eyes narrowing. “K is up to something.”
“You think?”
“What, you thought the CIA would be here for some quality family time?”
Ah, he just adored Pearl.
“I was hoping to see a sexy escort welcoming me, Littrell,” Nick said as soon as they joined the pair. “You’re not really what I had in mind.”
Brian opened his mouth, but before he could retort, he saw his cousin coming towards them. Ignoring Nick, he shook hands with K. The other four agents all looked skeptically at them when they didn’t even exchange any words.
“What’s going on, K?” Pearl asked as soon as they were inside the limo. “This is more than just a vacation, isn’t it?”
K looked at his agents. Their faces all wore identical expressions as they waited for an explanation. He slowly took five pictures out of the file folder Brian had handed him.
“As Pearl indicated, we’re not really here for a vacation.” K stopped and glared at Nick, who let out a soft curse. “You may have heard about the strange stuff happening over at Disney World by now. And if you haven’t…” He nodded for Brian to continue talking.
“For the past couple of days, the weather at Disney World has gone crazy. It’s been snowing constantly, and the weirdest thing is, it’s not even melting. Not only that, but the characters have been acting weird as well.” Brian sighed and looked at K’s face intently. “I just learned from a source that Mickey Mouse was seen flipping off kids.”
Nick spat out the soda he’d been drinking while Pearl and Shazam yelled a loud “What???” at the same time.
Emerald chuckled softly. “That’s the Disney spirit for ya.”
“We believe there’s a certain terrorist organization behind this,” K continued, trying to keep their attention focused on his words. “They call themselves FANS, and this man…” He handed each agent a photograph of a dark-haired man with a ferret on his shoulder. “…We have strong evidence that this man is the leader of the organization. We also suspect he’s the one behind the sabotage at Global Idol and the recent threat in Antarctica.”
“Does he have a problem with his eye?” Nick blurted, studying the picture carefully. The leader’s left eye was slightly closed.
Shazam rolled his eyes at Nick’s lack of focus. “So, boss, what are we supposed to do now? Look for this man at Disney World?”
“I’m not sure if we can find him straight away. And there’s a high possibility that he could notice us easily.” K took the fake Disney ID cards out of his pocket. “That’s why we’re going inside undercover. I arranged fake IDs for all of us, and a staff room is waiting for us with the necessary equipment.”
“Necessary equipment — meaning undercover costumes?” Emerald asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, indeed.”
“Niiiiice.” Nick wiggled his eyebrows. “I won’t say no to having some Playboy Bunnies around.”
Pearl hit him upside the head. “There are no Playboy Bunnies in Disney World, you dork.”
Emerald rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”
“Here we are,” K said, only to stop them from bickering with each other again. He was going to reconsider joining the missions from now on; these guys were making him age faster than he was supposed to.
The Hummer limo made its way through access roads made for the Disney employees and stopped in front of a gate. The agents all got out and followed K, who showed the fake ID to a monitor. Within seconds, the door opened with a beep, and they went inside the labyrinth of tunnels built beneath the amusement park.
“We gotta be quick before someone notices us,” K said. To their luck, the tunnels were crowded with Disney staff members running back and forth in too much of a hurry to pay them any attention.
“That Sleeping Beauty looks hot,” Nick remarked. Pearl heard him and smacked him upside the head.
K shot him a glare, the same one he had already shot a thousand times since that morning. “This way,” he said through gritted teeth and motioned to his left. He was satisfied when the agents followed him obediently.
Because he knew the tunnels like the back of his hand, it took K only a couple of minutes to find the wardrobe room with the costumes.
“Here we are–“
“Hands off! I’m first to pick an outfit!” Nick rushed inside, almost pushing K into the doorframe, and started rummaging through a pile of costumes.
“Disney doesn’t have a character named Moron, Nick,” Emerald sniped. “That’d be a perfect fit for you, though.”
Shazam chuckled. “Good one, Emerald.”
“Ha-ha. Funny, Emerald, very funny.” Nick looked up and threw her a black pelerine and a green mask that resembled Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. “Why don’t you try this on? Maybe the kids won’t be scared by how you look in real life.”
Emerald flipped him her middle finger as K flashed his infamous glare yet again.
Sighing with a shake of his head, K pushed Nick aside and waded through the clothes. “I had already sorted out which disguises we could use to sneak into the park on my way here,” K said as he browsed the clothes. “Since I used to work here–”
“You did WHAT??” The agents stared at each other in shock. Each was thinking the same thing: they couldn’t imagine their superior working at Disney World.
“I used to work here.”
Shazam turned to the other agents. “I’m not hearing things, right?”
Nick’s mouth hung wide open, and his eyes were about to pop out with shock. “You worked for Disney? When? Why? When? WHY?”
“Long time ago,” K said briefly. He wasn’t totally sure if he wanted to share the details of his pre-agent life. “And as my own agents, I would’ve expected you to question how I knew so much about Disney World and how I could get us all in here without any trouble at all.” His voice was reprimanding.
Emerald shrugged. “You always know everything.”
“Good try at changing the subject, K,” Pearl said with a wry smile. Since she was privy to classified information, she was a little surprised that she hadn’t known about K’s previous life. But then again, he was the top agent and her superior. When he didn’t want her to know something, he had enough power and tools in his hands to make sure the files stayed in the dark.
K let out a deep sigh and turned around to face the agents. “Well, I used to work here. It was at least fifteen years ago, before my agent years when I needed to save money in order to get the education I wanted. Satisfied?”
His eyes searched every agent, one by one, and when he heard nothing except a couple of mumbles of, “Okay, fine,” he continued.
“Since it was my main character at the time I was working here…” K went further down in the closet line and pulled a hanger off the rack. “…I’ll go as Aladdin.”
“As who?” Nick burst into laughter, pointing out the outfit. “Those white pants will look so cool, I’m sure–”
“You better stop while you’re ahead, Blondie,” Pearl muttered, noticing K’s strange and overall grumpy mood. He seemed distant from all of them; for her, it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere.
“And the purple vest, showing off your muscles, K–”
Ignoring him completely, K went back to sort through the costumes.
“Gonna wear the hat as well?” Nick chuckled. “Aladdin wears a hat, doesn’t he?”
“It’s not a hat, doofus; it’s called a fez,” Shazam said.
“Whatever. You did dance like him too, right, K? Tell me you did!”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t he know when to shut up?” he asked Emerald. It was so easy to see that it was plain torture for him to be anywhere near Nick.
“Wish he had an off button,” Emerald grumbled.
“I’ll be someone charismatic,” Nick spoke again, totally oblivious to the fact that he was becoming quite annoying. “I wanna be, like, one of the cool ones.” He frowned. “Name me a cool character at Disney!”
Pearl rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Goofy.”
“Goofy’s not cool; he’s cute. I want cool.”
“What’s wrong with cute?”
K appeared again through the clothing racks, holding a pile of costumes in his arms. He shoved a whole costume at Nick.
“What am I going as?” Nick checked the light brown costume with a confused look. Seconds later, his eyes grew big. “This has a tail!”
“Because you’re going as Abu, Aladdin’s monkey,” K said calmly. The look on his young agent’s face was priceless. “You asked for it.”
“I’ll look stupid.”
“Go to the back of the room and change, Nick.” K sent him a stern look. “Not gonna repeat it again.”
“Ha, Carter, that tail’s gonna look so cute on ya!” Shazam yelled behind Nick, who was solemnly making his way to the dressing room.
K shoved another pair of clothes against Shazam’s chest. “You’re going undercover as Prince Charming.”
“Haha, Sham-poop, who will look stupid now?” Nick’s muffled voice could be heard from the depths of the room.
“Pearl…” K handed out another outfit. “Cinderella.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Ignorance being his ally, K continued towards Emerald and Brian. “Your costumes were pretty huge to handle, so I left them at the back.” His eyes darted from Brian to Emerald. “You’re going as Daisy Duck.”
“Why the fuck do I gotta dress up as Daisy Duck?” Emerald rebelled. “Hell, I’d prefer covering up as Maleficent one hundred times to Daisy Fucking Duck.”
“And you’re gonna be Donald Duck.”
“Oh boy! My name’s Donald Duck!” Brian did his best impersonation of the famous Disney character. If nothing else, he could make Emerald laugh.
Letting out a sheepish giggle, Emerald massaged her forehead and went off to change. “You owe me double, K,” she muttered as she walked on. “This is the second time I’m being a clown for a mission.”
“I feel ya, cuz.” Brian nodded in agreement as K sent yet another angry look towards Emerald. “Never really knew it’d be such a tough job to handle agents. Well, of course, they lack the proper training and discipline of CI-“
“Don’t even start on that,” K said with a scoff. “We’ve only got a couple of minutes left. Hurry up.”
Exactly three minutes later, the HimTak agents, accompanied by one CIA officer, rejoined in the center of the room, all talking in unison and none looking at all like an agent.
“This fucking head is making me sweat!” The Daisy Duck head muffled Emerald’s grumpy voice, which conflicted with the happy face plastered onto the mask.
“This is so tight; I’m stuck in it! My ass is itching!” Nick’s whiny voice joined hers. “And I got a huge tail! I look ridiculous! HEY! Watch out, Shazam!”
Shazam, who had just stepped on Nick’s tail, fidgeted in his red and cream suit, which turned him into Prince Charming. “Shut up, monkey. I can barely breathe in this fucking thing; how the hell am I gonna fight with anyone?”
Pearl let out an exasperated yell as she tried to adjust the blue satin dress. “Stupid dress! I can’t fight or track anything in this dress! Couldn’t I have gotten a costume with pants?” She waved the pair of white gloves in her hand. “And how the hell am I supposed to work on the machines when I wear these?? I won’t even be able to see my tech!” She motioned exasperatedly to a delicate, jeweled watch on her wrist.
Despite the chaos filling the room, K appeared from the back, calm and collected, fixing the fez on his head. His presence seemed to calm the others as well because soon, all the yelling and whining had come to a halt.
“Pearl and Shazam, your job is to track down whatever is causing the weather. Try to figure out where the snow is coming from without attracting any attention.” K turned to the other two as Pearl and Shazam both nodded silently.
“Emerald and Brian, you wander around the park together. Keep your eyes open for anything remotely weird, especially other Disney characters. The men we’re looking for could be in disguises as well. Keep in touch with the others at all times, and do not forget to act normal around visitors.”
“Whatever, K,” said Daisy Duck.
“What about me?” Nick’s whiny voice was heard behind K’s back.
“You’re Abu, smartie. You’re coming with me,” K replied. “Let’s get down to business, everyone.” With that, he opened the door and walked out into the corridor.
“Said the man in a purple vest,” Nick grumbled and followed K’s lead as the other agents went their separate ways.
***