Mission: Possible 007 (Chapter Seven)

 

Chapter Seven: The Ultimatum

            Bond and Hunt arrived at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, hours later – too many hours to have passed for either man. The best they could have done was pray neither Perry nor Kim perished at the hands of Blofeld. Accompanying them were Edna, Bellum, Hiro Hamada and his friends. As soon as they arrived, they found the ceremony to have long since ended; however, more than a few evil scientists were apprehended, much to the amusement of 007 and Ethan.

            “Ah, there you are, 007,” said M, who was there with the other Team superiors (Hunley, Monogram, and Dr. Director). Q, Luther, and a very disquieted Wade were in attendance as well, going over the footage they captured through the surveillance cameras, shortly before all of them cut out upon Blofeld’s entrance.

            There were two other men as well – one middle-aged and the other young, both in distinguishing suits and ties. M introduced them to Bond and Hunt, “Our associates from the ‘Kingsman’ district – Harry Hart and Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin.”

            “There are more Team agents out there?” the baffled Ethan remarked.

            “It’s a big world, Mr. Hunt,” Hart said. “And it’s a big threat we’re dealing with.”

            “You’re English,” Bond detected Hart’s accent. “You’re not MI6?”

            “We’re a bit more private, Mr. Bond. The Kingsman agency was founded towards preserving peace and protecting life, operating at the highest level of discretion, above the politics and bureaucracy of government-run spy organizations.”

            “And yet, here you guys are, working with government-run spy organizations,” Ethan brazenly indicated.

            “Desperate times,” Hart abbreviated on the idiom.

            Luther and Wade suddenly stepped into the exchange, the latter doing his absolute best to keep it together as he explained, “We haven’t been able to gather much from the footage before it cut out…other than the activity that occurred outside the ceremony.”

            “Blofeld and his associate,” Bond gathered.

            “He called him ‘Hinx,’” Eggsy informed. “Huge bloke. Looked like a wrestler.”

            “Did Blofeld say anything that may be helpful in finding where he might’ve taken the girl and the platypus?” M asked.

            His last conversation with Blofeld quite the eventful one, Bond recounted what words struck him the most: “Find an island to seclude yourself from the rest of the world.”

            “What’s that, 007?” M inquired.

            “One of Blofeld’s parting remarks,” Bond stated. “He suggested that I should find a secluded island – my own personal heaven or hell.”

            “Hell,” Hunt pondered heavily on the term. “Alcatraz.”

            Bond affirmed Hunt’s deduction with a nod. “Alcatraz was once believed to be an inescapable ‘Hell,’ due to the strong currents and cold water around the island.”

            “Alcatraz is just offshore from San Francisco,” Hunley said. “It can’t be that easy, can it? The League have been under our noses this whole time?!”

            All of the sudden, Wade and Luther’s video surveillance equipment generated copious amounts of static. Neither of them knew why, until the face of Ernst Blofeld appeared on the screens. He sat in front of a wall of solid concrete, as he seemingly addressed the Team via live feed.

            “I must congratulate you and your Team on solving my riddle, James,” he said.

            “He’s hacked into systems,” Luther notified. “We can’t shut him down.”

            “I assure you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” Blofeld said in response to Luther’s statement. “I want to arrange an exchange: the lives of your two agents for Hiro Hamada.” Hiro’s body went rigid when he heard this. “You have ten hours to make your decision…or else I’ll leave the girl and the platypus’s bodies to find along the shores of Alcatraz Island.”

            The feed cut off from there.

            Wade’s breath shuddered from Blofeld’s ultimatum. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, turning to see Dr. Director offer him a reassuring smile. “Possible’s a tough kid – she’ll be alright,” she said. “And we will get her back.”

            “By exchanging Hiro for them?” Go-Go protested. “That’s not gonna happen!”

            “You’re absolutely right,” Bond concurred. “Because he and the rest of you lot are going to help us.”

            “Uh, say again?” a befuddled Fred uttered.

            “We’ve seen what you kids are capable of – what you’ve invented and how useful they can be on the field,” Hunt supported Bond’s strategy. “With a little help from Q, Miss Mode, and Dr. Bellum, you’ll have the means we need to save Kim and Perry. But, first, we’ll have to give Blofeld what he wants…or what he’s expecting.”