Crime Ring Story

This is a story written by me and some friends. At the end of each section is an initial showing who wrote it. I am E. I know that the beginning is based off of Star Wars but we are going to change that soon. I would like to know what we can improve on in this story. It isn't finished yet. Thank you so much!

Prologue

"Puce Baby, you're my only hope!" The hologram shut off, and the studly, shady character looked up at the curly haired woman wearing glasses.

"Bill," the shady character addressed the woman cautiously, "I dunno. That's a pretty risky job. We risk exposing the entire crime ring!"

"I know the risks, Puce," The woman rubbed her tired eyes. "This is a high reward assignment, though, and we both know how profitable working for this particular client can be."

Bill stared out the window of her office. She looked down the thirty-two stories to the street below. The building choice was not random. She was in a position that offered a wide view of the paved roads of the city, but was protected from any sniper perched. She turned to face Puce. The Saboteur rubbed his temples, and with a sigh addressed his superior.

"I'll get into contact with Boom; have your attack team by Friday. You've got two days after then." Puce stood from his chair and walked out.

~J

Chapter I: Birthday Party

The heavy footsteps faded into the usual clamor of the business building, and Bill turned around. She cracked the door open and made sure no one was approaching; that the hallway was clear. Her boss-- well, her cover's boss-- was already suspicious of Bill's paranoia and morbid behavior. Too suspicious. Quickly and quietly, she closed the door, and locked it in one swift movement.

Taking long strides, she approached her oak desk and examined the top-right drawer. She twisted the handle so it stood vertically and slowly opened it. A secret drawer had been unlocked through this procedure.

Reaching into the dusty, unused drawer, Bill pulled out a pistol. Things could get hairy. Boom would be over-excited about the mission, seeing as he had a personal score to settle with the victim. Someone had to be ready to keep her unpredictable comrade under control.

Placing the gun in a holster on her belt, Bill made sure it was hidden by her coat. She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and began to furiously press numbers. She was calling her boss. Her real boss.

"Broken Crown, we are ready."

The curly-haired woman paused, listening.

"Yes. Assemble the attack team."

~M

***

Goldilocks could've sworn that every board creaked as she rounded the corner as stealthily as she could. This was her first time in the Vientre Del Fuego. Her stolen identity dangled around her neck as it normally would. Today, however, was supposedly her fourth month here. Her first stop was the break room, where she would meet her colleague, code-named "Rick Steves," or just "Rick."

When she opened the door to the room, she expected to see one person inside, standing by the vending machine, just as the two had planned. However, she was not expecting the reality. As Goldilocks opened the door, the room exploded into sound.

"Happy Birthday, Angelica!" they called, using her cover name. Goldilocks recovered quickly and the corners of her mouth turned up into an easy smile. Well, this could complicate things.

~A

***

The target knew they were coming for him. He was smart. He hid amongst all the people milling around the party, using them to keep him safe. To kill him would be extremely hard now. It wasn't even Goldilocks' birthday. A voice spoke into Boom’s earpiece. It was Bill.

"Boom, execute order 66."

"Yes ma'am," he muttered, so no one would overhear. Boom looked casually around the room, finding Goldilocks and Rick, his comrades. He spoke loud enough for them to hear and said,

"Lovely weather, yesterday." That was the key. They all made eye contact and nodded subtly.

There was a sudden, loud click that resonated throughout the room, and Goldilocks and Rick began tackling people around the target, screaming,

"Get down! It's a bomb!" Just a they were supposed to do.

Suddenly, the floor exploded, and the target fell through the neat hole left over.

~R

***

Puce rolled out from underneath the car. He'd set both car bombs to be triggered at the opening of the door; the red Honda and golden Acura. In the slight possibility the bombs failed, the ignitions were rigged. And if that failed, the tires were slashed. Puce Baby took his job very seriously.

But just as a saboteur can be expected to sabotage, a guard could be expected to guard. After getting news on his radio about the attack, the two guards were on their way to the crime scene, anxious to find the man they were supposed to be protecting.

The two burly men came from behind, startling Puce. The first man grabbed him in an awkward backward-bear-hug. The other pressed a thick, chemically coated cloth over his face. Within seconds, Puce was unconscious, tied up, and thrown into the trunk of an old minivan.

~R and J

***

The whole building was in chaos, from cake splattered on the wall to panicking business men and women to enormous holes in the ground. This would be hard to cover up, but they had done it before. As if things weren't hard enough for Goldilocks, Rick, and Boom, a call came in from Operation Traffic Jam.

"We need to get Rick here immediately." Bill demanded, sounding slightly worried.

"Why? What's the matter?" Goldilocks queried.

"Puce has gone missing."

~E

Chapter II: Puce Baby

Rick Steves rode the elevator to Bill’s office in an anxious silence. Given only small bits of information over the communicators, she had no idea what was going on. Bill had been very vague, but Rick guessed whatever she was being called for was important.

The elevator doors slid open slowly, and a high-pitched ding rang out. Stepping onto the thin carpet, Rick started in the direction of Bill's office. Rick knocked on the door twice, in a dotted quarter-note and a half-note; the secret knock.

"Come in, Rick," a voice said from the other side. But it wasn't Bill. Unable to mask her curiosity, Rick pushed the door open, hand on the pouch of Chinese sleep dust she had gotten from her latest trip out of the states.

Only after she entered the room did he realize how important the matter was. Sitting in Bill's awesome spinny chair was Broken Crown herself, shrouded in darkness and mystery.

"Hello, Rick. Please take a seat."

~Many people’s ideas, worded by O

***

The trunk of the minivan was surprisingly roomy. Not that it mattered. Puce could barely move. He spent the better part of ten minutes trying to maneuver his feet towards the tail-light. With a powerful kick, his bound feet broke through the cup of the light. He looked through the small window he'd made and looked for any identifiable landmarks; he saw nothing.

He sighed. "Time to leave some tracks." He scrunched his legs up close to his chest, and Puce pulled his shoelace out with his teeth. He spat it out of the broken tail light.

Just then, a wonderful idea came over the saboteur. With some wriggling, he managed to turn himself all the way around. He kicked out the second tail light for good measure. That makes it even.

~J

***

Rick wanted to bolt as soon as she entered the dimly lit room. There was an uncomfortable sense of foreboding.

"You know who I am, I presume?"

Broken Crown talked in a hushed tone, and even that felt unnecessarily loud in the near-silent building. Rick nodded, thinking how peculiar it was that the Boss-- The Boss-- was meeting with her. Even Bill, Broken Crown's right hand woman, had only met her a few times.

"O-of c-course!" Rick stammered. "But why-?" The Boss cut her off in a sharp demanding tone.

"You will address me as Boss, and you will not ask more questions. We have already wasted too much time. We need to go now."

~M

***

"Why did-" Rick began, before remembering her instructions to avoid questions at all costs. Clearing her throat, she began once more. "Boss, I am wondering why you called me here."

"I'll explain once we are in the car," Broken Crown whispered as she stood up. Rick didn’t know if she should lag behind or stay next to her boss. She decided on shoulder to shoulder to provoke conversation.

“So, how’s life?” Rick tentatively asked. “I’m doing pretty good at the moment seeing as this is my first big mission since-”

“Shut up! I don’t need you blathering on about your life. I already know everything there is to know about you. I almost got Bill to do this job instead of you. Do you know why? Because you messed up. Big time.”

The elevator seemed to take forever to get to the thirty-second floor. As soon as the doors slid open Rick rushed in to push the button. She loved pressing the button. It always made her feel better. Broken Crown just looked disapprovingly at Rick as she entered the elevator.

"Sorry, Boss." Rick mumbled. Did I really just do that? Rick cringed at the fresh memory. I’m with The Boss now. I need to play it cool. I hope she forgets about this.

The whole ride elevator ride was spent in awkward silence, as was the walk to the car. Broken Crown’s face was twisted in frustration as the door slammed on the black suburban.She gripped the wheel so hard that Rick thought that she would leave imprints on the wheel.

"Puce Baby has been taken by the enemy. No one saw it happen, but we haven't heard anything about his mission, him, or his whereabouts in the last forty-eight hours. Why anyone would take him, I don't know. Puce can be a pain." Broken Crown stopped for a moment, pondering the situation. "Perhaps they thought they could get him to talk. Not Puce. He wouldn't ever reveal anything."

The rest of the car ride was silent except for quiet disco music that warded away unnecessary conversation.

~M (and E)

***

Goldilocks walked down the street. It had been one of the hardest clean-ups yet, and it was even harder to cover up. Sighing, she looked for any unusual things that could symbolize a call or secret meeting. Nothing. Today would be boring.

The streets of Johannesburg were crowded, despite the gloomy weather; herds of girls walking from store to store, homeless people begging on corners, innumerable taxis lined in the jammed up streets. Just a regular day in Johannesburg. In the pocket of her overly long trenchcoat, Goldilocks felt something buzz in one of the large, interior pockets. She made a beeline toward an empty phone booth and shut the door. She dug around in her pockets, pulling out a taser, a length of rope, a lock-picking set, bobby pins, a tooth brush, a small shotgun, two dead batteries, three live batteries, an old Walkman radio, some icebreaker breath mints, and, finally, her cell phone. She looked at the caller ID. Across the screen read the words unknown number.

"Hello?" Goldilocks asked, holding the warm device against her ear.

"Excuse me, is this Cathy Pogo?" A voice on the other end said. Goldilock's breath caught. When she was younger, Cathy Pogo had been her doll's name. How could anyone know her doll's name, unless...

"Yes, this is Cathy. Is this Brynette?" She asked, playing along. The only person she would play dolls with. That's the only person it could be. Her childhood friend could never decide between the names Brynn and Lynette, so she combined them, creating a unique name only shared between the two girls.

There was a dark chuckle from the other end. "Hello, Goldilocks. Long time, no see. If you turn around now, you will see.”

Goldilocks turned casually. Outside of the phone booth, across the street stood Goldi's best friend growing up.

Unable to hide the smile growing across her face, Goldilocks spoke into the speaker. "Hello, Bill."

~M

Chapter III

“Take the pill! NOW!"

“Blah! No. I’m not hungry.”

“You have eight seconds to open your mouth and eat that pill, or we will put you up to my knife for an hour! Lemme tell you, THERE WON’T BE MUCH LIFE LEFT INSIDE THAT BODY!”

Puce grinned as his captor vented in frustration.

“Now, that’s more like it! Knives I can do. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your knife for one hour on these bad boys,” he said, flexing, (as much as one can flex when bound to a chair) “and lemme tell you, there won’t be much knife left either!”

“Ok then, electric chair it is.” Puce let out a mock scream as two men dragged him out of the room, chair and all. As soon as the doors closed behind him, there was an audible crash and two thuds. Puce made a break for the nearest exit in the hallway. He was promptly intercepted by a massive wall of man with no hair and a bionic leg. The guard took a step forward.

“Stay back! I bite.” Puce said menacingly, putting the chair he was no longer cable tied to into a defensive position. With a growl, the goliath charged him, going for a tackle. He kept his center of balance low, putting his head around Puce’s own head-level. All it took was one solid swing to put his opponent onto the floor.

“Ah-ha! Puce Baby, Goliath conquistador del FUEGO!” The Saboteur cried out victoriously.

“Puce Baby, conquistada preso, more like.” said a voice at the end of the hall he’d just come from.

Puce looked to the source of the voice. As he did so, a taser was fired. Its electrodes wrapped around the metal chair leg that Puce was holding. The owner of the voice pulled the trigger and Puce’s hand locked around the chair. He fell to his knees then flat onto the ground, feeling quite...electrified. The last words Puce heard before blacking out were those of his captor.

“I wouldn’t know watt to do in your current situation!”

~J

***

“There is no trace that he didn’t finish the job,” Boom inspected the parking garage where the sabotaged car was supposed to be. “The men who took Puce probably tried to disable the bombs, but I might still be able to detonate them.”

“Not now, but maybe later; we still don’t know where the car or is or whether the target or Puce is in it,” Cricket said quietly. “For now, let’s go see if we can get anything off the garage cameras.”

They walked toward a small security booth in the distant corner of the parking garage. Boom walked as briskly as he could. He didn’t like this sissy stuff. Checking cameras and looking for evidence was not his type of thing. He wanted to get down to the dirty, explosive kind of stuff. He was itching to push a button and blow something up. He snatched his grenade out of the air. He had been casual tossing it up and down as he walked.

The pin clicked as he pulled it out and slid the grenade under a nearby car. Boom grabbed Cricket and threw him towards the security booth.

“Get in there and find what you can find,” Boom yelled, “and do it fast!”

As Cricket crawled inside the booth, Boom walked toward a groaning figure trying to crawl away from the explosion. He kicked it in the side and it flipped over, a man scuttling away on his elbows, terror in his eyes.

“What do you know?” Boom asked just loud enough for the young man to hear.

“N-no-nothing,” the boy stammered in terror.

He couldn’t be older than 20 years, but not much younger than that either. He was a spy nevertheless and had to be silenced. Boom walked forward and fixed his silencer to his pistol. Then he fixed his pistol’s sights on the young spy’s forehead. As he squeezed the trigger, Cricket leaned out of the booth and tried to protest. A silenced shot resounded throughout the garage.

“Was that necessary?” Cricket asked in hushed tones.

“He didn’t know anything,” Boom replied even quieter, “and we don’t leave loose ends.”

“There was nothing on the tape,” Cricket announced, “completely wiped with a bug that basically eats all the data. No chance for recovery.”

“Get a picture of the face and run it. See who he was associated with. Figure out who he might have been working for,” Boom replied unhappily, “The boss won’t be happy about this, but there is no reason postponing the delivery of bad news. Call Bill, tell her what happened, and get her to send Goldilocks. We need a clean up in parking garage section 4A.”

~R

***

Doesn’t get more obvious than that. Rick Steves thought to herself. The finding of the second trail of shattered tail light pieces settled matters for the tracker. This was no coincidence. It was as easy as taking directions from a baby. PUCE BABY! She laughed when she thought of his code name; then it hit her, the reality of it all. She hoped that he was all right. She knew he was at least well enough to leave tracks... Or had been.

She tried to be positive, she imagined him sarcastically telling his captors stupid jokes, and then them attacking him. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to think. It was definitely Puce who had kicked out the tail lights. Right after the first trail of broken glass was a Hello Kitty shoelace. Puce always had on strange shoelaces. He even had a framed collection in his apartment. He must be desperate to throw one out onto the highway.

"Now what? You have already spent fifteen minutes looking at the shattered glass. Isn't there some sort of clue here that will lead us to him?"

-A and E

"Broken Crown, do we have an update on the target? Or Puce, for that matter?" Bill spoke into her earpiece. She sat outside of a café, called Le Mi, Goldilocks sitting across from her. Goldilocks sipped her hot chocolate and looked out at the rainy street.

“Any word?” She asked when the call was over.

“Not really, Rick has a lead to where Puce may be, ”

"And where is that?"

"Well, not a specific location," Bill admitted. "More like the beginning of a trail."

"Oh," Goldilock's hopeful expression fell.

"Don't worry, Goldi. We'll find him,"

"I know."

* * *

The silence seemed loud to Puce Baby.He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, just to be sure his eyes were actually opening. It was pitch black. Puce tried to look around and immediately regretted it. Spots swam before his eyes and he was painfully dizzy. He had bruises and cuts all over him, and all of his muscles ached. His hands were since again secured behind his back, but this time with cold metal cuffs. There wouldn't be any cutting these. His watch was missing, too! Puce Baby cursed under his breath. How could he be so foolish? He had let his guard down for less than thirty seconds, and now he was once again held captive.

He rolled his neck, trying to loosen his tight muscles. They protested painfully, and he winced.

A light suddenly turned on right above his head. Puce started and then groaned at the pain caused by his sudden movement. Looking around, he was saw a little bit of his surroundings for the first time. He was in a large room, most of which was still shrouded in mystery and darkness. With delight, however, Puce realized he was chained to a spinny chair! He maneuvered his feet around and inched the chair around in a circle. It was difficult to move and the cuffs dug painfully into his flesh, but the small pleasure of spinning around in a spinny chair made him feel much better.

Then he heard a little clicking sound as he passed about three quarters of the way around. Immediately, a jolt of electricity shot through him. It was a carefully measured amount, precisely as much electricity as the human body could stand without dying. Puce was well acquainted with that exact amount of electricity. He groaned again. I should’ve known the spinny chair was too good to be true, he thought ruefully.

"I knew you'd just be ecstatic about the spinny chair," somewhat familiar voice chuckled from behind him. “Sorry to shock you, but I really have ample reason to cause you any and every pain known to humankind.”

“You are so punny,” Puce replied weakly, his voicebox strained to the limits.

“Thank you. I rather enjoy making puns. One of the small pleasures I have left available to me, thanks to you,” his captor replied, still hidden in the shadows. “But we can discuss that later,” he continued, seemingly sensing Puce’s confusion. “ It was so kind of you to join me here, Puce Baby,” he purred. He began circling Puce’s chair, keeping his face hidden in the dark.

“My pleasure,” Puce replied, thinking fast. He racked his brain trying to remember anyone that would’ve formed this serious of a grudge against him. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Puce suspected that his captor was disguising it somehow. Puce had been assuming that his captor was a man, but was starting to rethink that.

“Your invitation was so attractive, I just couldn’t resist.”

Puce’s captor chuckled.

“Oh, Puce,” she said softly. “You did always have the most wonderful sense of humor. I’m really going to miss that.”

The shadow finally walked into the light. Puce managed to hold back his gasp, but his captor could clearly see the surprise on his face. She paused to relish his expression.

“Kelly?” Puce said, amazed.

“No!” She snarled, suddenly leaping towards him. Before Puce could even blink, she had a knife against his throat and another one pointed directly at his heart.

“My underlings, with whom you have already been acquainted, are not experienced in the art of interrogation. Do not make the mistake of underestimating my own skills. I am not a patient woman. I will only tell you once; never call me by that name. That was the name of an innocent woman, a woman blissfully unaware of the pain that I have experienced. She is untouched by any of this. You shall address me as Squid. Do you understand?"

Her eyes were deadly serious. Puce raised an eyebrow.

"Touchy, touchy," he said mildly. "And also, Squid? Like, the sea monster?" Squid glared at him.

"Oh, like it's any weirder than 'Puce Baby'," she said, turning around and resheathing her knives.

"Touche," Puce admitted.

Squid crept back into the shadows and returned moments later with a thick metal cuff, about the right size to go around a manly, studly neck. There was a chain attached to the neck cuff that trailed back into the shadows. Squid held the cuff up by her face and began making barely audible clicking sounds at it. Puce recognized the morse code and listened carefully, but he was too slow to get more than the letters, “ckzquaei...” before losing track. When Squid finished the code, the cuff opened along an invisible seam in the metal. She leaned over and clamped it securely around Puce Baby’s neck.

She then brought her face down uncomfortably close to Puce’s and began making more clicking sounds. This time Puce caught some more letters, “ckzquaeirschzpl...” before losing track. Puce closed his eyes and cursed himself for not studying his morse code more. The Boss would be so disappointed.

Squid walked around behind Puce and spent four minutes and thirty-seven seconds fiddling around in silence with the chains and cuffs securing Puce. Then, suddenly, Puce was free! Nothing tying him to the chair, nothing restraining his arms or legs or cutting into his flesh! He leapt up out of the chair in giddy joy, bolted for the door, and then...collapsed onto the ground making strangled sounds and clutching his neck. The metal of the cuff sliced into his neck in a few places, and the pain was unbelievable. I’m going to have some wicked scars, Puce thought dazedly.

“I’m surprised, Puce.Your memory must be slipping. You forgot about the neck cuff! My technician would be thrilled to hear it was so light that you couldn’t even feel it.” Squid paused, eyeing the wounds. “ I do hope you survive that. Some of those cuts look rather serious, and I have so much fun planned for us.” Squid knelt next to Puce Baby and watched him gasp in air.

“Broken Crown would be most distraught to find out that her pet agent didn’t survive his captivity,” Squid whispered softly. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would we now?”

Squid rose, and stepped over Puce’s body.

"So, I hope you'll be enjoying your stay here. If you need anything, you may write me a request on the bovine-themed stationery provided in your nightstand. Just leave the note in the conveniently provided mailbox on the inside of your door. Have a nice day!” Squid walked out the door and slammed it overdramatically behind her.

~K and R

***

“Well this officially sucks!” Said Bill angrily, “He’s been missing for five days!” Rick eyed the mess on her desk. She sighed and tried to avoid eye contact, while she told the bad news.

“All attempts to locate him with the GPS tracking on his watch has failed.” She yawned then continued, “It’s strange because virtually nothing could have destroyed that watch. It’s practically indestructible!”

Bill laughed dryly and asked, “Just wondering, what would it have taken to destroy that watch?” Rick thought a moment before responding.

“A nuclear bomb, or a lot of electricity.” She sighed, “Daddy Warbucks spent a lot of money on all of our watches. They’re waterproof for up to 2,000 feet, flameproof up to 400 degrees fahrenheit, and tough enough to survive a mallet!” She laughed half heartedly and said quieter, “Only Puce himself could have disabled it.”

Bill looked up, her eyes filled with doubt, “No, I refuse to believe it.” She said, “I’m going to call Broken Crown. Take a long lunch today, you deserve it.” She looked up and smiled but Rick could still see the doubt and fear in her eyes. She nodded silently then left.

~A

"Broken Crown, this is urgent," Bill spoke into her watch.

"Any news?" She almost sounded hopeful.

"No, but we found that his watch has been disabled." Bill exhaled softly. "I think... Well, he might've..." She mumble.

"Spit it out! Every second could be fatal!" Broken Crown hissed, voice crackling over the line.

"We think that Puce... betrayed us." Bill winced, waiting to hear her boss's furious yelling. The line was silent. "Broken Crown?"

"Tell Rick to keep searching. No one rests until we have a location."

"But-" the lime went deaf. Broken Crown had hung up.

~M

So it’s time for a new plan. I could go in. No, that would be foolish. Maybe we need a new member. No, the only member not on this job is Syringa, and she’s a medic! What could that possibly help. No, no, NO! Wait… I’ve got it… an entirely new team! Give my agents some competition, motivate them. But who? The three, maybe? Broken Crown reached for her mobile, then dialed a rather long number. An operator picked up.

“Who would you like to speak with,” She said in a perky voice.

“East, south, west,” replied Broken Crown.

The voice on the other end grew solemn. “I’ll put you right on.”

A new voice came on. “North. So how is my favorite crime ring leader today?”

“North, let’s cut the crap. I need to borrow three specific members of your team.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“I’m emailing details to you now,”

Two minutes of silence passed. “I always liked him more than you, so I feel inclined to help you in this noble pursuit. I’ll have them ready in an hour. They’ll be at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens.”

~J