Jimmy Johan: The Twist

Prologue

"25 cents, what a scam! I can see those rocks pretty well with my own two eyes!"

Ray Darzi peered through the telescope, futile in his attempt to see the rocky structures far away, as the sight was pitch black. The tanned, mousy-haired man sighed and stepped back, craning his neck to look up at the four deity-like faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. "They're judging you, Jimmy."

Jimmy Johan stood a few feet away, leaning on the railing lazily with his two hands. A black cap smashed down his fluffy, black hair, his dark eyes slowly surveying the scene. The 22-year-old was more serious than his friend of ten years, but Ray knew that it was all a show. A mischievous smile grew across his face. "Lighten up, man, Pedro will be here soon with Number One. You brought the money, right?"

Jimmy did not move, and he did not look at his friend. Ray raised an eyebrow. "You brought the money... right?" he repeated slowly.

Jimmy looked over at Ray finally, a determined look in his eye. 

"No."

Ray groaned and walked in a frustrated circled before skidding to a stop and glaring at Jimmy. "What the heck! What are we supposed to do when Pedro gets here? Pay him in- in- french fries!?" He pointed at his mostly-empty french fry basket, purchased from the National Park concession stand and containing only a few burnt bits. "We'll never get Number One back now!"

"Look, Ray," Jimmy interrupted. "She wouldn't want us to waste money on her. We'll get her back, and take down Pedro, without spending a cent." A quirky smile grew across his face. "Like you said, what a scam!" 

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any plan at all?"

"I don't know."

"This is going to be a disaster!"

"Ray, my instincts are usually better than yours. Trust me."

Ray was not amused and opened his mouth to shoot something snarky back, but Jimmy silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Look, the car."

A robin's-egg blue minivan had just pulled up into the parking lot, rolling to a stop at the curb. The lights flickered and went off before three men and a woman stepped out. The shortest man was clearly in charge; his outfit seemed a bit garish and the look on his face was unmistakable.

"Let me do the talking," Jimmy whispered to Ray. "and we'll be agents in no time!"

He turned to face Pedro and his gang.

"Are you Jim?" Pedro asked rudely, using only the first name as some sort of insult. Jimmy crossed his arms, frowning. "Johan. Jimmy Johan."

Pedro rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's get this over with. This is your head-honcho, correct?"

Jimmy looked over Pedro's shoulder at the woman standing calmly. She was pale, with short, blonde hair, and icy blue eyes. She was Number One. 

"Yes, that's her."

Pedro smiled a gross grin, revealing a row of at least three gold teeth in the front of his mouth alone. "Excellente. Now, the money, as requested?"

Jimmy smiled slowly. "About that, I left it in my suitcase... it's sitting in the cafeteria over there... I'll go get it, if you'd like."

"Okay... bring one of my men with you. Alex, keep your gun on him."

Ray noticed that all the men that Pedro had brought had a tiny gun in their sleeves, most trained on Number One, who looked weary of Jimmy's antics. "Wait," Ray called out. "What about me?"

"Just stay here, keep Pedro company," Jimmy instructed his off-handedly. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

Jimmy and the guard walked off into the lodge, leaving Ray alone to keep Pedro company. Pedro merely turned away and started talking to his men in hushed Spanish. Ray sighed and looked over his shoulder at the glassy lodge, wondering what Jimmy was going to do. He knew that his friend was incredibly resilient and quick-thinking; he always scored higher than Ray on the various tests the PSA gave them. Sometimes, Ray wondered if Jimmy was just letting him keep up.

Suddenly, there were screams from inside and a few innocent park-goers ran out of the building. Ray whirled around to see Jimmy bolt out, at full speed. He pointed behind Ray. "Get them!" Ray continued spinning until he faced the way he was before, only to see Pedro and his men scrambling into the car. Pedro had jumped onto a smaller jeep and was already starting it up. "Ray! Go after Number One. I'll take care of Pedro!"

Ray gave a quick nod, and ran to grab the door of the van. It started to move, and he knew that he was going to be shaken off if he didn't figure something out soon.  He grunted and moved his feet, barely hanging onto the small step below the door. He looked inside the lightly tinted window to see Number One looking out at him with a doubtful expression, while the guards yelled for action.

Before Ray could figure out what to do next, the window started to roll down. One of the guards pointed a gun out at him. "Jump!" he snarled. Ray yelled and lashed out, not expecting the gun to be so easily batted out of the man's hand. He shrugged and reached out, hooking his arm through the window. The car was starting to move at full speed down the road, and it wouldn't be long before Ray fell off. 

The guards yelled and tried to roll the window back up, but Ray, lithe and strong, managed to wriggle inside and tumbled into the back seat. The guards made alarmed sounds and attempted to beat him, but Ray was too smart. He remembered how, when he'd joined the PSA, he'd been horribly afraid of enclosed spaces such as these. He had grown up on the wide open spaces and huge skies of the middle-east before moving to America as a child. However, intense training with the PSA had rid him of that fear.

Ray kicked out and connected with a man's jaw, sending him over the back of the seat. The other guard tried to get a grip around Ray's arm, but the young man was too quick. With one well-placed punch, his attacker was neutralized.

Now for the driver. Ray climbed into the front seat and started to grapple for the wheel. The driver was not giving up and struggled, reaching out to push Ray away, getting a grip on the side of his face. He twisted his finger, causing Ray to cry out; his ear was caught. With one last effort, Ray stretched his arm across the driver, pulling out the handle of the door and allowing it to open. The driver, looking out the door at the rapidly passing road, then back at Ray as the agent pushed. The driver screamed and was quickly left behind. 

Ray closed the door and grabbed the wheel just in time to keep the car from careening off the road. He groaned and wiped his hair back, a grin returning. "Three guys versus just me, not bad, huh?"

Number One rolled her eyes. "Jimmy could have done it quicker," she said honestly. Ray sighed and looked back at the road. He had started to wonder where Jimmy was now...

~

Jimmy jumped on the moped that PSA had given him and rocketed off after Pedro's jeep. He sped between cars as the jeep tried to weave through traffic and cut him off. Pedro wouldn't escape this time!

Soon, they climbed higher and higher up the mountain road. The drop off looms beside the measly two-laner, threatening a promise of certain death. The large, rocky heads of past presidents grew closer as the chase proceeded.

Pedro looked behind him to see that Jimmy was no longer there, he had moved next to the jeep. Pedro snarled and jerked the wheel, smashing into Jimmy's moped. Jimmy managed to keep control and moved back into place, glancing over at his adversary. Their gazed met.... Pedro did not see that Jimmy was running him towards the rocks opposite to the drop off.

The jeep crashed into the rocks and ran off the road, tearing its bright red metal casing and rumbling to a stop. Pedro yelled in frustration, his face turning red with anger. "I'm going to get you, Johan!" he shouted, jumping out of his car and wielding a pistol. "I'm going to kill you!" 

Jimmy de-mounted his bike, seeing Pedro start to run. Jimmy was not phased by the little man; He quickly disarmed him and sent him head over heels. "Right," he said taking out handcuffs and quickly subduing Pedro. "You can follow up on that later. For now, I need to get you where you belong..."

He smirked.

"In jail!"