Spy School Project X (FanFiction)

The Letter

Ben POV

All was going well on the Emperor of the Seas, the sun shined bright high in the sky, Erica stood by my side, holding my hand gently, and placing her head on my shoulder.  As we looked out on the horizon, Erica smiled, "I wish every day was like this."

"Same here."  I replied, pecking her gently on her forehead.

"When... did you consider dating me?"  I paused, hoping this didn't anger her much.

"Eh... maybe 30 to 35 minutes ago."  She smiled faintly, her eyes drooping from the day's adventures.

"Very funny."  I gave her a playful side glance, and she chuckled.

"Ben... I know this might sound weird coming from me, but...  I'm really tired, so do you mind carrying me to my bedroom?"  

"Umm..."  I was startled by the request, but I was desperate to please my soon-to-be girlfriend, so I replied, "Sure."

I picked her up gently, and slowly walked her over to her room, which was only about 45 steps from where we were (I am extremely good at math, and a little plus is that I have a really good sense of time and in this case, distance).  By the time I got to the bedroom, Erica was already fast asleep, so I just smiled at her cute face, her raven hair spread across the bedsheet, and the way she just seemed to relax was comforting.

I quietly closed the door behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a surprised Mike Brezinski standing in the hallway, staring at me as I made an exit.

"Oh!" I whispered, "It's NOT what it seems like.  She was really tired and couldn't walk so she told me to carry her up to her room."

"DAMN IT, BEN!  You scared me half to death.  I saw you carrying her into the room, and I was just... well... weirded out that Erica was being that lazy."  Mike's playful grin relaxed my shoulders.  He was just joking.

Him and I walked down the hallway into the main room, where we sat down on the couch and clicked on the TV.  Mike wanted to watch funny cartoons, so we ended up turning on SpongeBob SquarePants to pass the time.  As we were watching, Cyrus Hale, Erica's grandpa, burst through the front door holding a perfectly sealed envelope.

"Benjamin," He nodded in my direction, "I found this letter in Dane Brammage's pocket. It was addressed to him, but I prefer you read it, 'cause Dane couldn't read The Little Red Riding Hood if he tried."  Cyrus placed the letter in my hands, and stopped abruptly before asking, "Where is my granddaughter?"

"Sleeping in her room."  Mike replied, not wanting to let me just tell him what happened.

"Okay, good.  Now get reading.  I have to go talk to that idiot Alexander."

I opened up the envelope, and slowly took out the paper.  Mike clicked off the TV and peaked over to see what the content was.  The letter was written by Murray Hill, a criminal teenager who had double-crossed both the CIA and SPYDER.

"
To: My Evil Friends around the World
From: Murray Hill

If you are receiving this email, then things have gone horribly wrong with my most recent evil plan.  I set up my account to automatically send this message to all of you today unless I stopped it from transmitting.  And since I haven't stopped it, that means we have a problem.

Yes, I said "we" there.  Not just me. All of us have a problem.

His name is Benjamin Ripley.

I know Ripley is only a teenager, but he has already helped thwart many of your brilliant evil plans- and if he hasn't thwarted yours, then you certainly know someone whose plans he has thwarted. Frankly, I'm sick of it.

If it wasn't for Ripley, a lot of us would be very, very rich.  But now, we're not. And to make matters worse, other bad things have befallen us. Some of us have been captured.  Some have lost body parts. Some have nearly died multiple times.

This has to stop. I have talked to all of you about Project X before. The time has come to initiate it. 

If you are reading this email, consider yourself activated.  May the best person win.

Your friend,

Murray Hill

P.S. Ben Ripley sucks!!!!!

"

I stared at the envelope in awe.  It had barely been 1 hour since we last thwarted Murray's plan, and he's already trying to activate every single bad guy on the planet.

"So... should we tell Erica?"  Mike asked, eyes wide in astonishment.

"Yeah."

"What do you want to tell me?"  Erica's voice appeared in the shadows as she emerged, smiling.

"Probably better if I show you."  I shrugged and pecked her cheek before handing her the letter.

"Oh, jeez."  Erica said LITERALLY 2 seconds later.

"I guess we're being activated again?"

"Yep, looks like it."

(Author's Note:  I just realized that I was thinking about the condo Ben was living in during Spy School Goes South, so just go along with it, alright?  Next chapter coming hopefully soon!)