Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

Not Again

It is the beginning of March! As promised, here's the first chapter of the book! Enjoy and have a great day!

Ben's POV

"What are we supposed to be doing again?" Zoe yelled across the field to me. Her brown curls fell in her face as she swatted them away. Her legs weren't that long, but she was surprisingly fast, outrunning more than half of my class.

"I think we're supposed to be avoiding the obstacles and-" I was cut off by a kid who slammed smack into me. We both crashed to the floor. I hopped to my feet and extended a hand to help him up.

I shouldn't have done that.

The kid took me hand and flipped me over. That's when I realized that it was a race.

I outran the kid in seconds, leaping over a large rock. There was only one student I couldn't outrun, and that was my best friend Zoe Zibbell.

Professor Smith could only nod subtly at my effort. My grade in physical endurance was very low, but I had given it my very best and came in fifth place.

"Fifth place, Ripley," she said. "Decent effort."

"Decent?!" I exclaimed. "I put my best effort into it! I've thwarted evil organizations like, eight times. I deserve something better."

"Come on, Smokescreen." Zoe's nickname stuck, and I reflexively turned her way. Her green eyes sparkled. "Lunchtime."

We walked back to the building from the grounds, sweat dripping down my forehead. School had just begun a couple of days ago and I had already taken five tests and gotten a mountain of homework. It had also only been three months since my last mission, where I almost died. Everyone thought I was dead, but I turned up a week later.

What I wanted was a semester of school, so I could mope around in my classes and not worry about near-death experiences.

Zoe and I walked to the mess hall, where there was a huge line for food.

"There you are," came a familiar voice. I turned around and saw a familiar face with a familiar smirk. "I saw what you did. Fifth place isn't that bad."

Erica Hale had a smirk playing across her lips as she stood in line for food. Her icy blue eyes sparkled in the light and her hair shone.

"Exactly," I agreed. "Professor Smith does everything she can to make me feel like a failure."

In addition to my crush and my closest friend at Spy School, Erica was one of the best spies ever, and an excellent mission partner.

She motioned for me and Zoe to join the line. As Zoe started a conversation with someone else, she casually leaned in and whispered, "The mission."

Oh, shoot. I had completely forgotten about the mission. Not long before school had started, Erica had informed me of a mission we were recruited for. All that we knew was that it was dubbed 'Operation Golden Egg' and that we would receive information later on.

"What about it?" I whispered back. Erica grabbed a salad and I copied her, and we walked to the usual table.

"Not there. Follow me," she said, leading me away from the table group. We walked with our salads away from the mess hall. Erica led me to the staircase and we sat on the steps.

"What about it?" I asked again.

Erica daintily crunched on some lettuce before answering. "There's a chance you might be called to the Idiot's office."

"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.

"Just in case the Idiot doesn't call you during the first ten minutes, meet me outside the Nathan Hale administration building." Erica stood up, tossed her empty container in the trash and walked away, pulling a book out of nowhere.

As she walked away, though, she flashed me a warm smile. "See you later."

I smiled. Erica's friendliness had vanished into thin air on the last day of summer, and her iciness had returned to her.

As she walked away, I returned to my salad. It was only later when I realized that Erica had left me a note. It was a small piece of paper, folded neatly. It sat on the steps where she had been, neatly folded. When she smiled, she must've been hinting towards the paper.

I picked it up and opened it. Erica's beautiful cursive handwriting flowed through the paper.

We're going to Alaska.

"Alaska?" I wondered aloud. The bell rang, and I pocketed the piece of paper, rushing to my class.

Erica's words came back to my mind. I ditched class and ran to the Nathan Hale administration building.

The great building stood in all of its glory, but I didn't have time to admire it. I raced up the building to the fifth floor where I found the principal's office.

The Idiot's office had changed. I threw the door open and found Cyrus Hale, Catherine, Alexander and Erica. The principal sat at his desk, looking surprised I was there.

"You're here!" Catherine exclaimed. "Great."

"How'd you get here without me calling you from class?" the principal asked. I smiled and slid into a seat next to Erica. When no one noticed, I squeezed her left hand with my right. She inconspicuously returned the gesture, lacing her fingers around mine for a brief moment. Then she quickly pulled away before anyone could notice.

"Erica told me." I nodded my head at her.

"Enough with the chit chat," Cyrus grumbled. "Listen, kids. We need you guys on a mission dubbed 'Operation Golden Egg'. Your job is to travel to Madra, a kingdom in Alaska. The royal family there has a secret alliance with the CIA and the U.S. President."

I looked at Erica. There was a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"For this mission you will be accompanied by Catherine. We will also activate Zoe and Mike, and upon request, we have agreed to activate the Mirgher twins as well," Alexander spoke. "We are not sure how long your stay will last, but you will stay with the royal family and watch out for SPYDER."

"SPYDER?!" Erica's response threw me off. I was suspecting that she already knew what to do, but she remained as clueless as I was. "SPYDER's back?"
"They're always back," Cyrus responded. "There was an attempt made on the king's life, and SPYDER's presence in Madra was confirmed last month. The royal family knows you two very well, and they know we trust you with this, because frankly, you two know a lot more about them than any other CIA agent."

I beamed. Erica regained her composure and waited for further command.

"You will leave today afternoon," Catherine added. "In about an hour from now."

"Good luck, kids," Alexander said. "You are dismissed."

We raced out of the room and downstairs.

"You ready for this?" Erica asked me as soon as we were out of earshot.

"No," I replied. "I don't want to die."

Erica stopped in her tracks. I stopped as well, and stared at her. She shook her head, her eyes dull. "No, Ben. You won't die. I know you won't."

"Of course I won't," I replied. "Not when you are my partner."

That made both of us blush. She smiled warmly, but it quickly disappeared as we continued running down the stairs and out of the building.

Erica and I parted ways as she rushed to her dorm room. I walked towards mine and noticed Mike and Zoe walking the opposite way.

"Where are you guys headed?" I asked.

Mike looked at me curiously. "We're headed to the Idiot's office. He just called us over. Are you not coming?"
"It's most likely for the mission we're going on," I replied. "Me and Erica just came back. You guys are going to get the same information as us."

Zoe smiled. "Awesome! We're going on a mission!"

"With Cynthia and Jamie," I finished, disappearing into my room.

It wasn't that awesome.

I'll probably (try to) update in the next couple of days, but if not, then only on the weekends. Have a wonderful day!