"Hey, look, an agent. That badge, he must be from E.A.!" a twelve-year-old child said to his friend while playing football beside the road. All the children stopped playing to look at him.
"When I grow up, I'm going to become an agent in E.A.," one said.
"Nah, E.A. is good, but not as good as the Alliance. I'm going to join the Alliance. My dad works there. He's the best agent in the world." One of them, the owner of the ball, bragged to his friends.
"But, Ray, you know how hard it is to join the Alliance. Dad got lucky," a girl standing next to Ray said.
"That's because they only pick the best, which I am. Don't feel bad if you're not as good as I am, Emma," Ray proudly replied. "That agent must be going to that casino to beat those bad guys up. That's what they deserve."
"Well, I'm gonna join E.A. and prove that girls, too, can become great agents," Emma said.
As the agent walked by, passersby glanced at him, some with admiration, others in contempt. The agent could feel it. They walked into a casino bar on the opposite side of the road.
Loud music played as people moved around the place from table to table. Others were gambling, others drinking. The agent walked to the bartender.
"I need to see the manager of this place," he said, looking at the bartender with cold, dark brown eyes. He just wanted to do what he came here to do and leave.
"Look, it's an agent from E.A. Always thinking they're better than the rest of us." A guy seated at a table said. He was drunk.
"Shut up," his friend told him.
"Don't tell me to shut up. I'll say what I want. Just look at him," he said, pointing at the agent. "I can see the pride in his eyes. Who do you think you are, huh?"
He stood up to confront the agent as he continued speaking,
"Other Anti-Crime organisations exist, you know. You're not more important than the rest of us. We deserve some recognition as well."
He said as he staggered towards the agent.
"Mr Brennan, I'd advise you to worry more about your organisation, Pivot. I heard they are about to kick you out of leadership."
The voice came from a man standing at a door near the bar counter. The short, plump man slowly walked towards the bar counter, clutching his black shiny obsidian walking stick. Mr. Brennan went silent. The music stopped playing.
"Now, what do you want this time, Lance?" said the man, who was the manager.
"We're still receiving complaints that people from this casino harass passersby, some even following them to their homes. I'm shutting this place down. No more talking." his voice remained cold and firm.
"I would love to do that, but my pride doesn't like how you're asking, so no. I'm not closing this casino. Unless you want things to get messy," the manager said as some of the people in the casino took out their guns.
"We had a deal, Book," the agent said.
"It just expired. Now leave."
A flash bang suddenly fell near them. Bang! It exploded, emitting a lot of light. Book fell, unable to maintain balance. His vision was blurry, with a ringing sound in his ears. Everyone in the room was stunned.
"Where did he go?" The agent was gone. Something else was dropped in the middle of the room.
"Tear gas!" Soon, the whole casino was filled with smoke. Several agents broke into the casino through the doors. The thugs didn't even have time to fire their guns. They were surrounded. Book crawled towards the back door, desperate to escape. He saw the bartender also crawling away.
"I've had enough of these pesky agents," he said as he took something out of his pocket.
Book's eyes contracted in shock as he struggled to raise his fat body and ran.
"You idiot, you're going to kill us all!" he shouted.
The bartender stood up, pulled the pin off the grenade he was holding, and threw it.
…
"Hurry up, Emma, get the ball," Ray said.
Emma ran to the roadside. The ball had gone to the other side of the road, near the casino's window.
"And be careful as you cross the road," he shouted.
"Okay." She crossed the road.
"Look, Ray, more agents," one of the boys told him. The agents were sneaking up to the casino from both sides.
'Yep, they're going to shut down that casino once and for all. Finally, there won't be any more loud music at night.' Ray thought for himself. 'What's taking Emma so long? I shouldn't have sent her to get it since she sprained her left leg yesterday. I hope it's okay.'
As Emma was picking up the ball, she saw one of the agents throw something through the window. Bang! The sound almost made her lose her hearing. She hurriedly covered her ears in pain.
"Emma! Get out of there!" Ray shouted as he ran towards her.
'Why are my ears hurting so bad?' She turned around to run.
"Grenade!" someone in the casino shouted. One of the agents who had remained at the door saw Emma near the window. He jumped to catch her.
BOOM!!
"Emma! No!" Ray shouted.
The blast blew them away. Car alarms all over the town went off. The entire casino went up in flames.
No matter how well-trained agents are, some things will always remain out of their reach. Unless an agent has been blessed with an ability or an artifact, a grenade will always be a threat.
Ray reached Emma, who was lying on the ground, covered in dirt.
"Emma, please wake up. No, this can't be happening…"
Emma was okay, but her left leg wasn't.
"She won't be able to walk on it again," the doctor said as Emma and Ray's mother cried.
The agents were hospitalised. They weren't as badly injured because they had protective artifacts. Lance didn't have a single scratch, since his was a third-tier artifact. Most of the thugs sustained critical injuries, and three died.
The story was all over the news.
"A few days ago, a mission by the Elite Association went wrong, leaving several passersby injured, and one young girl lost her ability to walk in the incident. According to the High Commissioner of the Anti-Crime Embassy, the mission was not assigned by the Embassy, but rather by E.A. itself, as was previously announced by E.A.'s new President, Mr Corbyn Kokuren. What questions does this raise about E.A.'s new leadership? Where are the fingers pointing? Stay tuned to find out."
As I read the headlines on my smartphone, I couldn't help but wonder.
'What do you have to say, Mr. Kokuren?"
… … …
[Each squad starts with fifty points, and each squad member five hundred points. Once an agent 'dies', ten points are deducted from the total squad points.
There are three different routes to get to the other side.
The squad whose member gets there first gets thirty points.
You have been allocated the same type of guns with the same number of bullets for each agent. Each squad had one sniper, who also carried a melee gun.
Each agent has a map on their mobile phone that they can use to try and find a route to the other side.
There are four keys and seven revival zones distributed across the map. Each key is worth fifty points.
When an agent is within a revival zone, the agent's points slowly increase back to five hundred in case the agent had incurred damage. A revival zone will only function when no more than two agents are inside.
Each agent has been credited with a special skill they can use during the match. Once used, it will be ready for use after twenty minutes. Agents can also trade individual points to activate the special skill. Specifications for different special skills have been given to every agent.
Once the timer runs out, the squad with the highest number of points wins. If a squad's points reach zero before the timer ends, the squad loses.]
We discussed our strategy until the ten minutes of discussion time ended, with Alicia taking the lead. We agreed to constantly communicate what was going on to avoid confusion. Flora would be the sniper.
This match wasn't going to be easy, considering Squad Tsadi had already done this exercise with another squad. But I wasn't going to lose this. Not when the reward for completing the match was that big.
[If Squad Zayin wins, they will take the free special training session meant for Squad Tsadi for next week. If Squad Tsadi wins, they will take the free training session meant for Squad Zayin for next week.]
'No wonder Alicia was so confident that she could risk a special training session. If her plan works, we'll easily win this competition.'
And with that, we entered the maze, ready to face whatever Squad Tsadi had prepared for us.