Clash Of Worlds

by Philip Mcclennan

  Chad sat down in the leather seat and inserted the pen drive into the laptop. Chad looked through the files for a few minutes, reading them in great detail.

  “So, what is it?” asked Stacey, who had been standing behind Chad all the while.

  “It’s all of this.” Chad placed his hands onto the screen of the laptop and pushed his hands upwards above it. The images stored within the pen drive flew up onto the three large glass touch screens that were housed above it.

  Chad stood up and moved the chair back slightly, allowing Stacey to stand beside him. The screens showed the files in great detail. The pair read them together. They spoke of a group named ‘The Order Of Lux’ who was gathering forces all over the world. The files didn’t describe their plans in detail, but they spoke of several undisclosed targets that needed to be acquired before the Project Of Chaos could commence. More interestingly to Chad and Stacey however, was the naming of James as the groups number one target for elimination. Chad’s attention was also drawn to one particular document amongst the files that required a password to view. Chad and James had a special password that they used for confidential things that related to their secret abilities. Chad entered the password, which opened the file up.

  This file contained the documents regarding James and Chad’s adoption and their assignment to the Bel Grave Orphanage in which they had grown up as children. Chad knew that by James assigning their password to this, he hadn’t shown this to the World Order yet. This is none of the World Order’s concern, Chad thought. James and Chad had always wished to know more about their past and why it was they possessed such amazing skills, but even having the power and resources of the government agency had not aided their quest for answers. This document that Chad was looking at was the first time that he had ever come across anything that mentioned the two boys’ childhood. Chad wished to read the file further but was interrupted by Stacey.

  “Chad.”

  “Just a moment love, I’m reading this.”

  “Chad, I’ve seen that man before.”

  Chad looked across at the far right-hand screen, which Stacey was looking at. On the screen was a picture of a man with long white hair. The man was smartly dressed, wearing a dark suit and tie and a white shirt. The man was described in the file as being the leader of the group. “You’ve seen him where?”

  “He was watching us, yesterday…at the theatre.”

  Chad wasn’t so convinced. “Are you sure?” he asked, trying his best not to sound patronising.

  Stacey could tell he wasn’t buying it, but she was certain what see had seen. “Chad it was him. He was there last night. He was watching us.”

  Chad sensed the young girl was a little tense and placed a caring arm around her shoulder. “It’s ok, everything will be fine. I’ll take care of it.”

  “How did he find you here. I thought all of the agents were well hidden?”

  Chad didn’t have an answer for her, though. The fact that this strange white haired man had been able to track him down was quite worrying. All of the agents were supposedly untraceable. Chad was no ordinary agent also. When he worked, he worked in stealth, with such speed and grace it was as though he was invisible.

  The thing that bothered Chad the most though was the fact that this white-haired man had access to his and James’ orphanage records. The man had named James as the group’s main target so he obviously saw him as a threat. Does he know about us? Chad wondered.

  #

  James, Sophie and Boris sat in the back of a limousine, which drove through the busy and frantic streets of Sydney, Australia. Australians were renowned for having a good time and tonight they were certainly living up to their reputation. It was October 31st; Halloween and the locals were in the party spirit. There was still enough light in the early evening sky for the three agents to enjoy the sights of the great Australian city. None of them had ever been to Sydney before so this was a great occasion for them. Truth be told Boris seemed completely unmoved by the whole experience but still, James and Sophie enjoyed the sights. Sophie’s mood had improved somewhat since her departure from Tokyo, and James had hoped seeing Cody again would raise her spirits further still.

  As the limousine drove along the Sydney coastline, James could see people celebrating with barbecues on the beach and fireworks, which James thought was a little strange considering it was Halloween. Small children were scattered all around the area dressed in Halloween costumes. Some were trick-or-treating, but many of them were doing what children do, having fun and causing mischief! A few of them pummelled the limousine with eggs as it passed them. The driver, who was dressed in a black hat and matching suit, typical of a limousine driver, shouted out at the children. James and Sophie saw the funny side of things though and joined in with the laughter as the youngsters ran away down the street.

  The limousine finally reached a neighbourhood of tall buildings and the car stopped outside one particular block of apartments. The driver turned around to look at the three agents who sat in the back section of the vehicle. “Your host has already left,” said the driver in a strong Australian accent.

  “Host?” asked Sophie.

  “He means Cody,” James whispered to her, deducting that this was the only person who the driver could possibly be referring to considering it was Cody’s apartment they had arrived at.

  The driver ignored Sophie’s question and carried on. “Inside you will find clothes suitable for your nights entertainment, and a message.”

  “What entertainment?”

  The driver again ignored Sophie. “Here are the keys to the apartment.” The driver tossed the keys to James. The three agents gathered their bags and climbed out of the vehicle. The driver drove off quickly without even so much as saying goodbye or even giving them a second glance. The three of them stood in confusion as they watched the limousine disappear down the street and out of sight.

  “What a rude man!” Sophie concluded.

  “Come on let’s get inside,” said James, not wishing to dwell on the subject. With that, the agent’s made their way inside the apartment block. They climbed up a narrow staircase for nine stories and came to the end of a long corridor, with several doors either side.

  “Which one is it?” asked Sophie.

  James took a look at the keys the limousine driver had given him and engraved on the larger of the two keys was the numbers 981. Examining the numbers on the nearest doors to them, James set off down the corridor. “It’s down here, come on.”

  He turned the keys into the lock and they entered Cody’s apartment, which was an absolute mess. There were clothes scattered all over the place and the bin, which was right next to the door was overflowing with rubbish. Sophie gave an unimpressed look as they entered. The living room was in no better condition. The remains of a half eaten pizza lay on a small table alongside a couch, which had several of the seats out of place.

  Same old Cody thought James. The thought made him smile.

  “So, is he squatting here or what?” asked Sophie, who was far from impressed at Cody’s living conditions.

  “Well he never was the most domesticated guy in the world,” James said, remembering how untidy Cody had been back when they lived in the training facility.

  The thing about Cody was he was a mummy’s boy from South Texas. He led a sheltered childhood on a small farm with his mother, father and three brothers. Professor Milton had spotted something special in him. No one else had seen anything unique in the young Texan and couldn’t understand why the old man had recruited him, but he had recruited Cody none-the-less. Cody’s parents thought he was leaving for college when he left Texas at sixteen, but the fact was he went with Professor Milton to the World Order’s training camp to see if he had what it took to become a fully-fledged secret agent.

  Sometimes the Professor had wondered if he had made the right decision in recruiting Cody. At times, he was very clumsy and often foolish. He would speak without thinking first and perhaps wasn’t the
sharpest tool in the drawer. He did, however, have heart, the purest heart of probably anyone the professor had ever recruited. This vindicated Professor Milton’s decision. He knew, when the chips were down, Cody could be trusted. He was a handful in a fight too, using all of his Texan aggression when in a confrontation. Unfortunately, Cody was somewhat lacking in terms of his domestication. He could not even boil and egg, never mind cook.

  His mother used to cook all his meals until he left home. James had known Cody to live off one-pound pizzas for weeks at a time. It was somewhat of an achievement that Cody was so athletically built considering his awful diet. James noticed several empty pizza boxes on the floor of Cody’s apartment. He’s still living off pizzas, he thought as he walked through the littered floor of the living room.

  Sophie’s attention was drawn to an envelope, which was on top of the television. She picked it up and opened the seal. “It’s instructions.”

  Inside were photographs of three men, one of who was the white haired man that was the group’s main target. The letter stated that Cody had set off a few hours earlier for a party at the Sydney Harbour Marriot Hotel. The letter didn’t have too many details on it but stated there was someone in attendance that they would all be ‘dying to meet.’ James recognised the letter was a clear indication that Cody had set off in pursuit of someone from the Order of Lux, the group that James and Sophie had been sent to Sydney to reprimand. The letter went on to say that a car would be along to pick them up at 8 pm. The time was already 7.15pm, leaving the group very little time to prepare themselves and get into suitable attire.

  Inside Cody’s bedroom, (which was equally as untidy) where two suits and one dress. The suits were for James and Boris, whilst the dress was presumably for Sophie, (although Cody had put a name tag with the word ‘James’ on the dress). Sophie took the tag off the dress and showed it to James.

  “Very funny,” said James who was only half amused at Cody’s attempt of humour.

  Surprisingly, Sophie was the first dressed. She came out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where the two men were still putting on their suits. “You’re kidding me, right? And they say girls take longer to get ready!”

  Boris fixed his tuxedo and was finished. “I’m ready, I’ll be waiting outside.” With that, the Russian left the apartment.

  “He’s a breath of fresh air isn’t he,” James said, referring to the old man’s social skills, or lack of them for a better term. James still hadn’t put on his shirt, never mind the tuxedo. He was busy spraying his face with aftershave, literally soaking his cheeks with a fragrance. Sophie thought he had overdone it a little, but she kept quiet. She was momentarily distracted by James’ muscular build. She felt a little awkward looking at James semi-naked. They had been friends for such a long time now that she had never thought of him as anything other than that. Still, she didn’t dislike what she saw. The Irish girl even found herself beginning to enjoy the view until she noticed something peculiar.

  She remembered the confrontation that took place in the Miyamoto building two days earlier. During that fight, James had been shot in the stomach. Yet now, James bore no cuts where the bullet had struck him, nor anywhere else for that matter.

  Whilst dressing, James picked up on Sophie staring at him after a few moments. “Alright, no need to stare,” he said, not even glancing at her as he spoke.

  “I wasn’t staring!” claimed Sophie.

  James turned to face her. “It didn’t look like that to me.”

  The Irish girl became slightly flustered and quickly changed the subject. She pointed to the left side of his stomach. “I thought you got shot there?”

  James froze for a second, quickly trying to think. He had indeed been shot a few days ago. However the genetics of his unearthly body had healed the wound completely in only two nights. James knew nothing about the reasons for it; he only knew that his body possessed extraordinary healing ability, far beyond that of a normal man. He didn’t wish to tell Sophie this as to not raise suspicion of his and Chad’s secret. Still, he knew that the Irish girl was smart and he had to think of an excuse, and quickly! “Oh yeah, that…” James attempted to stall the girl whilst trying to think of a suitable reason why a bullet wound had healed in just two days.

  Sophie raised her eyebrows, awaiting a response.

  James began to speak, unsure of his words even as they came out of his mouth. “Well, it was…erm.”

  Sophie folded her arms, becoming increasingly suspicious by the second.

  “The bullet just grazed me, lucky huh?”

  She seemed unconvinced.

  James pointed to a small scar that remained from the bullet. “You see that’s where it skimmed me.” The loud horn of a car beeping could be heard down below. James walked to the window and looked outside. It seemed their car had arrived. “Shit!” James rushed to put on his remaining clothes, nearly falling over in the process.

  Sophie chuckled at the near fall. “I’ll see you down there.” The Irish girl exited the apartment.

  James stopped for a moment, taking a quick glance down at the scar that remained from the bullet that had pierced his body. He rubbed the scar softly for a few moments, wondering just how he had managed to avoid a mortal wound. Another loud beep from the vehicle made him resume dressing.

  Around thirty minutes later James, Sophie and Boris arrived at the Sydney Harbour Marriot Hotel. The three of them walked up towards the entrance, all of them in awe at the glamorous building. The hotel was large, mostly consisting of huge glass windows and white marble bricks that shone brightly in the moonlight. Through the windows, James could see the party guests dining only a few floors up from where they stood. The three of them stood in the queue at the hotels entrance. Despite the fact it was Halloween, none of the people in attendance were dressed in costume. All the men dressed in expensive tuxedos and many of them wore dickie bows, whilst the women wore designer label dresses. Seems more like a group of people queuing up for a movie premier, rather than a party at a posh hotel, thought James as he waited patiently in line.

  An elderly gentleman standing at the front of the queue was ticking off names on a large pad of paper as people entered the building. Two large doorman wearing black jackets and large shades stood behind the man, presumably to attend to uninvited guests. Cody had used his connections in Sydney to have James, Sophie and Boris put onto the list using false names for each. With Cody already inside, the agents whispered to each other whilst they waited for the queue to shorten. They went over strategy one last time. It was a simple plan really. The agents were to locate their targets inside the party, discreetly separate them from the regular guests, and make an exit with their captives using the cover of darkness to aid their escape.

  This was possible due to the small devices that each agent possessed. The World Order had connections with people that maintained the power grids in each city an agent operated in. The agent had authority in the city; they were the unseen protector of the city, with absolute power over the police and other authority figures. The local governments would be littered with people from the World Order and they controlled the politician’s with an iron fist. If an agent needed the power cutting without delay, they would use this device, which acted as a pager to their contact on the main power sites within the city. Their contact would cut the entire cities power supply for a very short length of time in order of an agent to escape into the night from whatever spot of bother they may have found themselves in. The organisation only sanctioned a power cut for a maximum of ten minutes due to safety reasons; therefore an agent would need to be quick in their escape.

  Ascending up the large staircase, which had a red carpet laid on top of it, the group entered the main ballroom of the hotel. Memories of James’ graduation party came flooding back to him. This certainly had a similar feel to it. At least double the number of people were in attendance of this event. James and Sophie linked arms as they entered. They were posing as a couple and each wore a w
edding ring. Boris quickly disappeared into the crowd and began to mingle with a wealthy looking group. He was doing a great job of passing off as a normal guest of the party. James and Sophie were a little surprised at Boris’ ability to suddenly become very sociable.

  “He’s spoken more words to them in two minutes than he’s spoken to me in two days,” said James under his breath.

  “He’s an odd one no doubt,” agreed Sophie.

  The pair walked on into the room, nodding and smiling at the other couples they encountered. A middle-aged woman approached the pair and stopped to talk to them. She wore large, thick glasses and looked like a photographer due to the large camera around her neck. She glanced down at the couple’s wedding rings and put two and two together.

  “What a lovely couple you two make!” she said.

  James and Sophie each gave a nervous smile. Not only was this due to the fact they were trying to look convincing as a couple, but also they were a little embarrassed by the fact they were posing as a couple with each other.

  The woman took out a small pad and pencil, “I’m from the Sydney Times Newspaper. I’m covering tonight’s event. Would you like to say a few words about the Pennyworth foundations amazing contributions to out great city?”

  James was very confused. “Foundations?”

  Sophie quickly interrupted him. “Oh yes, myself and my husband are deeply passionate about the foundation’s contributions, aren’t we darling?” Sophie gave him a discreet elbow to his side.

  “Oh right, yeah, inspirational stuff,” he said, not really entirely sure what he was talking about.

  “It’s wonderful to know that all proceedings from tonight’s auction will go directly to the foundations charity. Wayne Pennyworth truly is a remarkable man.” A bell rang three times from behind the woman. “Oh look, it seems the auction is about to start. Quickly let me get a picture of you before it begins.”

  James was a little reluctant to have a picture, however, another subtle elbow from Sophie quickly brought him around to the idea.