The Protectors Of Fortune And Power

Chapter Two: Missing Agent

When we made it back to our base I realized that Xavier had increased security since the last time we talked. Xavier immediately called everyone together and checked to make sure the shapeshifter wasn’t among us. Obviously he was aware of the fact that some agents might have spilled some information to the shapeshifter which is why they weren’t in the field. However, Micheal wasn’t anywhere to be found.

    Agent Skyfall was on a mission according to Xavier. Everyone else came up clear, but Xavier still seemed to be on edge. The conversation the cops had back at the Louvre came into my mind. One of them had said that Xavier took a personal hit when the shapeshifter escaped. And he still blamed himself for not catching him sooner. He was staring at one of the monitors that had a news article from a long time ago about the shapeshifter pulled up.

    “Xavier? We are still going to try and find him right? We can’t just let him get away.” I said.

    “We aren’t going to let him go again. I will not let that happen. You are my best agent Crystal, I expect you will do what I couldn’t and catch this guy.” Xavier told me.

    “I will do my best sir. What do we know about his previous robberies? Do we know anything about his powers? Do we even know his name?” I wondered.

    I noticed Xavier had fallen quiet again and was avoiding eye contact with me. I was worried that I had asked way to many questions for tonight. I opened my mouth to apologize for asking when he finally spoke. He spoke in a whisper almost too quiet for me to hear. As if he was ashamed of what he had to say.

    “No. We don’t know nothing of his powers or his previous wrong doings because all of that information was lost. I never was able to figure out his name.”

    “Lost? As in gone from the system?”

    “Yes. We were hard at work when we were hit with a black out. The whole town was affected. We were forced to reboot the entire system after it crashed. Nothing was saved.”

    “I didn’t know. I am sorry. I want to go back and search for clues. The cops will be gone and the Louvre will be empty.”

    “No. It is too dangerous to do anything more without a plan. You could get hurt or worse killed. The shapeshifter could kidnap you and hide you where we might never find you. No. No one is doing anything until we figure out a plan.” Xavier demanded flustered. I could tell this mission was clearly stressing him out. I have never seen him stressed. Actually I thought that he was incapable of getting stressed.

    “Fine.” I agreed. I already planned to leave once everyone was pretty much in bed or too busy to watch the control center. I turned and made my way to my room. I was about to enter the hallway that would take me to my destination when Xavier called my name.

    “Oh and Crystal? Don’t even think about sneaking out. I know you will try and I am ordering you not to.”

    Even though I respected his ability to read people I was resenting it at the moment. I made a face at him that would have gotten me fired had I been anyone else. Xavier just chuckled and went back to focusing on work. I continued down the hall when I heard my name called again.

    “Hey Crystal! Can I talk to you for a second?”

    I searched the hall for the voice. I looked into one of our many training rooms to see Micheal. Micheal is the third best agent on the team. He and I have worked on many cases and missions together. I normally worked alone, but some missions called for two people. Other than that we never really hung out.

    “Micheal? You’re back already? I thought Xavier said you were on a mission.” I said walking into the room. “What’s up?”

    Micheal didn’t answer. Instead he threw himself at me almost knocking me to the ground. Micheal wasn’t really able to take me in a fight, but somehow, somewhere, Micheal had learned to fight. Defencive training kicked in and I began blocking his attacks. Normally I knock him down within a few minutes, but he was faster and stronger and had better form.

    “Whoa! Micheal! What’s wrong? Why are you attacking me? If you wanted to spar you could have just said so!”

    Micheal still didn’t answer and threw a punch that would have hit my chin if I hadn’t ducked. Before the punch was going to hit however, Micheal changed directions and swept his leg around knocking my feet out from under me. Because I was in a crouch from a punch I thought was coming I couldn’t correct myself fast enough and I landed on my back. My breath went rushing out of me and I was left winded.

    “How?” was all I could get out before I had to take another deep breath.

    “Easy,” Micheal said finally talking to me. “I watched you train and I copied your moves. Waited until the perfect time to use them. And I beat you which means I am the second best agent!” Micheal bragged.

    “Micheal, this isn’t you. What happened?” I asked now that I had mostly recovered. I stood up and my head spun. I tasted blood. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.

    “Nothing happened. I am still the same person, just a better fighter. Watch.” Micheal suddenly moved behind me and put me in a choke hold. “Try and get out.”

    I struggled to get free, but no matter how many techniques I tried, none of them worked. Micheal started to tighten the choke hold cutting off my air way. “Micheal...?” I gasped, “HELP!”  I tried. I couldn’t tell if I had yelled or whispered that word.

    I must have yelled because Micheal covered my mouth and proceeded to knock me out. The last thing I remembered was hearing yelling that sounded super far away. White light blinded me as I blacked out.

    “Wake up Crystal! Come on wake up!” a male voice told me.

    I slowly opened my eyes, but was blinded by the brightness. I sat up and went ramrod straight as my memory caught up to me. My head swam again, but I ignored it as I looked around the room. I was in one of the medical bays inside headquarters. My eyes finally came to a stop on Xavier. “Xavier?” my voice sounded raw and not mine.

    “Lay back down Crystal and rest. You were pretty banged up.” Xavier told me.

    I did as I was told, but unloaded a bunch of questions as soon as I was comfortable. “What happened? Where is Micheal? How did I…?” I stopped mid question when Xavier raised his hand signaling me to be quiet.

    “First off that wasn’t Micheal. It was the shapeshifter. What happened was that you were attacked by the shapeshifter. He was disguised as Micheal and he was either trying to kidnap you or kill you. When you shouted for help Agent Firebird heard you and raced to get me. We rushed in to find you unconscious and the shapeshifter nowhere to be found.” Xavier explained.

    “Where is he now? How did you find out it wasn’t Micheal who attacked me? How long do I have to be here?” I fired off more questions.

    “The shapeshifter got away and we don’t know where he went. We found out it wasn’t Micheal because he is still on his mission. I had Agent Firebird call him and track his comm link. He answered and said he was still on his mission. His comm link proved his story true.” he answered my questions without the least bit of annoyance. “You have to stay here until you are at least somewhat rested. We can’t have you going out there half strength.”

    I noticed that something was clearly bothering Xavier. He looked like he was in a debate with himself over something. Normally I would ignore it and carry on with something else, but my curiosity got the better of me. “What’s wrong sir?”

    “The shapeshifter never came after me like he has you. Something tells me it is because you might be the only one who can bring him in. And he knows it. Get some rest.” Xavier left without another word.