Operation Break and Enter


I am Agent T, and this is the first rescue mission that I have ever done, so, hang tight.

The breakout was supposed to be fairly easy, but stuff went wrong and the shiatsu hit the fan (I don’t like to swear so I will be improvising on swear words). I arrived at Project: Anamatis ToonVerse Headquarters, A.K.A. PATH, the day before the extraction and all was going well. I had gone over the plan multiple times and researched everything I would need to know about the world I would be rescuing the Toon from.

The Toon’s name was Lyla Grey. She didn’t have any powers, special abilities, or anything else along that alley. She was being held in her hometown, living her life before the events in the Creator’s TV show took place.

Finally, when it was time, I teleported to my ship that was docked in orbit around Moria. It was attached to a Project: Anamatis Orbital Space Station for Moria or PA-OSS-M or just OSSM. No one ever calls it those name though, they all call it Awesome (pause from writing while I snicker).

Okay, lets get back to the story.

So, in Awesome, they have a special teleporter that can send you anywhere without having a matching ring. Its portal is also accessible from both the entrance and exit. The ring is a few hundred feet in diameter and can fit a small ship through, like mine.

I materialized in the aft of my ship and made my way up to the cockpit. I plopped into the seat, laced my hands, and pushed them forward with a dozen resounding cracks. Placing my hand on the throttle and the other on the joystick, I said, “Lets do this.”

The throttle scanned my hand and I spoke a code out loud. Immediately, the cockpit lit up and the engine began its priming sequence. “Gary!” I called, “Play some music!”

A computerized voice answered, “Will do,” and instantly drums and electric guitar blared out of hidden speakers.

“Come one Gary,” I complained, “this is too easy! Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf!”

“I’ll try better next time, T” he responded.

I smiled, pulled away from the dock, and made my way over to the giant teleportation ring. Then a voice buzzed from the speakers. “Your free and clear, Agent T”

“Copy,” I replied and the space in the ring shimmered, then swirled. I switched on my invisibility, gunned the engine, and shot through the portal. I came out the other side and saw one of the trillions of versions of Earth in front of me. I had arrived.

The course I was supposed to take to Lyla’s town was projected onto my screen and I shot forward and flew through the atmosphere.

I arrive a minute later, cruising over the town and put my ship into autopilot. I walked back to the aft and began to get ready. I had already shapeshifted into a teenaged girl and was wearing current clothing, but I still had to bring weapons just in case. I shoved my retractable katana into my pocket, strapped a pistol to my side, and grabbed a bag that contained smoke grenades, flashbangs, and infrared goggles. When I finished, the ship flew over to the outside of town and hovered two meters above the grassy ground. A hatch opened in its bottom and I dropped out, landed in a crouch, then stood up. When I looked up, the opening that I had just come out of was gone. So far as I knew, no one had seen me. I took a deep breath and started the walk into town.


-PA-


I was leaning against a tree when the town’s school let out. I had picked my spot carefully; I could see everything without being in plain sight. I watched as everyone streamed out of the building and spotted Lyla bounding down the front steps.

I casually walked over and stuck my foot out right as she was passing by. She stumbled forward, waving her arms, and I caught her by her shoulder. “Hey, sorry for tripping you.” I said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She answered in a shaky voice. She turned around, her eyebrows scrunched, then she cocked her head. “I’ve never seen you around before. Are you new here?”

I nodded. “Well, actually, I’ve come to see you.”

Lyla looked surprised. “Why did you want to see me?” she asked

“I need to explain something to you, and its bigger than you could ever imagen.”

“I can imagen quite a lot,” she retorted, “surprise me.”

I showed her my hand then turned it blue. She started and her eyes flew wide.

“Wha... How…” she stuttered.

“And that’s just I minuscule bit of what you don’t know.” I grinned. “let’s take a walk and I’ll explain everything.”

She hesitated then smiled. “Let’s go.”

We ambled towards the town’s edge, me explaining everything to Lyla. When I finished, she had a dreamy look in her eyes.

“I knew I was meant for more,” she said.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked

She scrunched her face up and considered it. “But what about my family and friends?” she queried.

It was my time to consider. “I guess so,” was my response.

She nodded fervently and led me towards her house. When we reached it, she ran up the front steps and knocked. Her mom came to the door and Lyla whispered franticly to her. Her mom’s face went slack, she pulled Lyla inside, and slammed the door.

I knew exactly what had happened. Lyla’s Creator had rewritten her mom to keep Lyla “safe” when she heard Project: Anamatis. This was not going to end well.

I sprinted to the door, hammered on it, and yelled, “Lyla your mom has been rewritten! She’s trying to keep you here! And if you don’t believe me, ask her why she doesn’t want you coming with me!”

There was silence, then there was a yelp and four loud thumps. I couldn’t take it any longer. I pulled out my gun, aimed it at the lock, and fired. It splintered and I kicked the door open. Suddenly, I heard Lyla scream, “Don’t come up! Don’t come up! Don’t co…” then she was cut off.

“Fudge!” I cursed, then shapeshifted back into myself again, there was no point hiding now, and made my skin hard. I then dashed upstairs and saw that one door was open. Holding my gun out in front of me, I slowly advanced. As soon as I stepped through the doorway, something big flew at me from my left side. I dove forward and the thing crashed into the wall. I whipped around and gazed at the horror that had almost grabbed me.

Lyla’s mom had changed dramatically. Her eyes were completely white, she had grown larger, she had massive claws, and enormous teeth. I shuddered and cursed again. She shook herself, growled, and sank into a crouch. Taking no more time, I fired at her head. With inhuman speed, she dodged the bullet and charged. I was caught full in the chest and knocked backwards into a wall. Jaws snapped at my face as I strained to keep her at bay. With a huge effort, I reached down, grabbed my folded katana, and pointed it at her chest.

“Goodbye!” I said and activated the sword. Lyla’s mom tensed and started to shudder. With a groan I pushed her off me and pulled my katana out of her chest. Red ink spilled out onto the ground as her head slowly sank to the floor. I looked up and saw Lyla staring openmouthed with shock and fear at the dead monster that had previously been her mom. Her breath was coming in gasps and she backed against the wall. Her chin trembled as she closed her eyes and gave deep heaving sobs. I saw the front of her pants slowly get wet and sighed. I didn’t blame her. I had almost peed myself too.

I got up, retracted my katana, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, “This went all wrong.”

She stopped crying and I could see her steeling herself. I got ready to be berated, but it didn’t come. She looked up at me with a tear streaked face.

“Actually, I’m glad you came,” whispered back, “I would never want to live with that… thing. Lets go.”

I nodded and tapped a watch on my wrist to call my ship to me, then grabbed Lyla and led her out the window onto the roof. As we climbed up the sloped tiles, I gazed at the surrounding land.

“Shiatsu!” I exclaimed, “There everywhere!”

Dozens of creatures like Lyla’s mom where running for the house. I yelled, “Close your eyes and cover your ears!” and began chucking flashbangs over the edge of the house. I plugged my ears and shut my eyes just in time. They went off in succession and when I opened my eyes again, the monsters where reeling. It was then easy to pick them off with my pistol.

My watch beeped and I heard the roar of an engine. My ship had arrived. I yelled out, “Gary, lower the ladder!” and a hole opened in midair from which a ladder dropped out.

“Up the ladder! Up the ladder!” I shouted to Lyla. She scrambled the rest of the way up the roof, grabbed the bottom rung, and proceeded to pull herself up to the ship.

As I backed up towards the ladder, there was a scratching sound behind me. I whipped around and saw that a monster had almost reached the peak of the roof. I pulled out my katana and brought it down on its head. Not knowing that it had been spotted, it didn’t have time to react. My katana sliced its face clean in half and it slid back down, over the eve, and thumped to the earth. I grabbed the bottom of the ladder and yelled, “Pull away!”

The ladder moved up and out over the houses as the creatures finally scaled the roof. We were safe, for now.

When I got back into the cockpit, Lyla was sitting in a passenger seat. Fell into the driver’s seat, grabbed the controls, and pushed the throttle full out. The ship lurched forward and blasted towards space above.

Suddenly, the proximity sensor blared. I glanced at my radar and swerved. Three fighter jets were streaking towards me! They were tracking me through my heat traces! I dived and turned but I only managed to lose one plane.

“Gary! Turn front laser cannons to the back!” I yelled. Then, glancing at Lyla, I said, “You see that joystick to your left side? Take it and use it to aim the little red square at the ships that are on the screen above it. Then fire with the trigger on the back.”

She nodded and began to shoot. There was an enormous explosion and I heard Lyla shout, “I got one!”

“Wow! Great job! That’s the fastest I’ve seen someone do that before!” I said, impressed, then hollered, “Gary, can you put more power to the engines? I think we can outrun these guys.”

There was a hum, then I was smashed into my seat. Gary had done his job. We flashed upward and burst out of the atmosphere. “I need that portal, Gary!” I said. A few second later, the portal swirled into life a good distance away.

“Dang! How long till we reach the portal?” I said nervously.

Gary answered, “Sixty seconds.”

The proximity sensor beeped again and I saw innumerable missiles slowly gaining on my tail. “Shiatsu, shiatsu, shiatsu, shiatsu, shiatsu…” I cursed then paused. “Wait, Gary? Can you have Awesome switch the portal as soon as I get through?”

“Yes.”

“Can you send them into a black hole for me?”

“Will do.”

“Well lets see if we can get clear before they catch up.” I grinned. “Go to Ludicrous Speed.”

There was a high-pitched siren and the ship groaned as the engines pushed there hardest. I cheered! The rockets had stopped gaining!

“Gary, when we exit the portal, throw this thing into reverse.” I requested. Gary conceded and after a five tense seconds, we shot through. “Hold on!” I yelled as Gary decelerated. I was thrown against my seatbelt as we slowed to a halt. When we stopped moving, I slumped in my seat and told Gary to dock. After a minute, I sat up and turned my chair around and confronted Lyla. “I am soooooooo sorry. This went super wrong.” I apologies.

Lyla stared at my face and burst out laughing. I couldn’t help myself, I started to giggle also. It had been so nerve-racking that everything seemed hilarious now. When we clamed down five minutes later, I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. “No one is ever going to belief what happened today.” I chuckled. “Well, I think I need to go and take a nap.”

“Me too.” Lyla consented.

We got up, walked to the back of the ship, and teleported back to PATH. When we arrived, another Agent accosted us.

“I need to escort Lyla to the briefing chamber to do some paperwork and you need to…” I raised my hand and cut him off.

“Nether of us are going to be doing anything else today. You will escort Lyla straight to her quarters and provide her with food, clothing, and toiletries. I will be sleeping and no one is to disturb me until tomorrow. OK?”

The Agent hesitated then nodded. He took Lyla and I headed straight to my room, and my bed.