The Adventures of Agent 9 (Book 1)

Line D

Kai felt a subtle push on his shoulder. He sat up and rubbed his eyes until they focused on Niki's face. "Huh? Is it morning already?"

"Actually, I have no idea, but it feels like it. Anyways, I'm taking the day off. You can too if you want. I completed a part of a line so you can continue if needed."

"Ugghhh okay..."

Kai rolled off of his seat, and stretched.

Niki left into the other room and started to relax as Kai opened up the map. He saw that nearly all of Line C is completed and the first test of Line D was available.

Kai closed his eyes and picked the first level he landed on. His vision was still blurred from the night before. Wait a minute....I just realized something. I haven't worn my contacts, or even my glasses, in ages! I gotta tell Niki about this!

The train stopped at the station just as he walked towards Niki's set up. He sighed, walked out of the car, chose his weapon, and paid the fee.

He looked up to see grind rails in rounding itself in circles, with crates near each side. Octo Washers lined the edges, drifting from side to side.

Kai's heart dropped, his face became pale as he looked at it. He felt his body begin to shake, starting from his fingertips and spreading throughout his body. He blinked, hoping it would go away or that it was just another nightmare, but it was still there when he opened his eyes.
     
He swallowed hard and slowly walked towards the grind rail. He took a deep breath in and held his splattershot with both of his shaky hands. Kai jumped on to the rail.

"You just have to burst all the crates before the time runs out! So you better hurry up, broski!" Pearl said through the radio.

"O-okay, g-got it..."

His bursted the crate in front of him, and moved simultan

eously with the Octo Washers and crates near him. Kai froze up, nearly forgetting about the time, but immediately snapped out of it, bursting four crates that were going in the opposite direction beside him. Kai gained a bit of confidence and started to speed up. Three more crates burst in front of him, and then two more as he jumped from rail to rail! A smile stretched across his face, Am I actually going to make it!?

Then.... there was only one crate left! Without looking, he jumped onto the rail about to destroy the last crate, adrenaline rushing through him. As his feet were about to his the rail...his surge of confidence went down the drain.

It was replaced with pain as he was falling down to the bottom of the stage. Tears started to flow down his face and some were even suspended in the air along with small droplets of blood.
As his back hit the bounce pad, he was slowly propelled into the air. He watched at the clock ticked down to five and he knew he couldn't get back up there in time, so he stayed there, gasping for air until time ran out.

After that, he tried a few more times and he finally did it after a while. Kai felt the streams of the liquid roll down his feet, but he didn't take off his shoes to see what they look like. His boots were slowly being torn to bits as the black leather rubbed against his feet. Bold, red stains appeared on the soles of his shoes each step he took.

Kai tried to ignore it as he chose another stage.

Oh no..... he looked at the level.

"You have to burst all the targets before the time runs out again. Make sure to avoid all of the Octo Washers! During this, you have to be quicker than usual," Marina said with slight sympathy.

"Good luck, Kai!"

Kai took another deep breath in and tried to keep himself calm as he makes his way towards the launch pad.

The time started immediately. He used his weapon to burst each target as he sprinted by. He finally made it to the very end, but the time stopped ticking! He tried over, and over, but each time he ran out of seconds. His feet started to leave red footprints in the test's chamber as he ran towards the goal.

He started once more, realizing he had to move near the Octo Washers to pass the test. This is gonna be hard, but I believe in myself!

He started the level on his last try. He rushed in, bursting the targets and getting as close to the Octo Washers as he possibly could. He continued the level bursting the crates until he got the final crate. With only 000.1 seconds remaining, he passed the test!

Finally! He thought.

His feet dragged along the floor, his back hunched over as he sat in one of the nearby seats.

Kai laid down and started to wonder. His mind recalled small things, like his glasses and contacts, but he started to couldn't fully remember someone. It was a friend, some who was close to him, almost like a brother. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't picture what he looked like. His mind wandered towards other, trivial things and he fell asleep in the subway car.