TMA: Agent 99 and Agent Crystal

"Ah, but not like this," Jorgenson replied. "I have captured the final moments of your deaths and looped them in HypnoTraining programs. You will experience your death agonies repeatedly until your minds snap under the strain and then you shall be reprogrammed to become my acolytes."

"Other agents will be on your trail," 99 said. "They'll bring you down."

"I shall deal with them as I dealt with you," Jorgenson replied wearily. "You have become boring." He gestured to a squad of cyborgs. "Away with them, when everything is ready into the tanks they go."

"Wait a minute," 99 barked. "Why are you stealing historical events from time?"

Jorgenson laughed, "Because I intend to alter them in subtle ways to affect their outcomes as I first intended, including the imminent attack here at Pearl Harbor. Then human history will progress as I think it should. The next time we meet you will serve me and do my bidding."

His chair spun around and carried him through the wall opening where he had emerged.

***

"I thought we had them there for a minute," Crystal muttered, gingerly touching a swelling lump on her forehead.

"There must be hundreds of them," 99 replied, dabbing at a shoulder wound with a handkerchief. "We gave them a hell of a fight though." He grimaced, "Jorgenson's gone off the rails, a real megalomaniac."

Crystal looked around at their featureless enclosure. "It's not going to be easy to break out of here. Any ideas?"

"I was never good at solving locked room murder problems...wait a minute, there was something Jorgenson said about converting us into cyborgs. I wonder if these warriors of his were once human."

"It did feel like I was hitting human skin, either that or upgraded synthoflesh. What do you have in mind Derek?"

"I'm thinking if we can lure our guards in here and divert their attention, we can take them out with our edged weapons, capture Jorgenson and put history back."

"What sort of distraction do you think would be the most effective?"

"Having sex. If these cyborgs are partially human they may become aroused and decide to get a closer look. If it doesn't work, we'll have enjoyed each other one more time before they puree' our brains."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

They undressed quickly and lay on their clothing, kissing and caressing. In seconds they were writhing against each other, Crystal rubbing her wet slit on Derek's hard cock as they kissed passionately. He rolled on his back pulling Crystal on top. A twist of her hips and he was inside her. She began rocking back and forth as he thrust upwards, their bodies moving in perfect rhythm. She gripped his shoulders to impale herself harder as his hands on her ass pulled her to him.

Moans, groans and little shrieks echoed in the chamber as their lovemaking became more frantic. The sight of a couple making energetic love proved irresistible to the machine men. The cell door irised open and one by one the guards filed in to watch the erotic coupling.

Crystal looked up to see noticeable bulges in the pelvic areas of the cyborgs skin tight black uniforms. Several were staring transfixed at the sight before them.

"Fuck me harder," she whispered in Derek's ear, "I think it's working."

"I had forgotten what it was like to be with a woman," the Guard Captain droned.

"As have I," the Guard Sergeant replied. "It is quite stimulating."

Several of the guard troops began jerking uncontrollably, smoke coming from their mouths, noses and ears. One by one they crumpled to the ground and lay still, eyes staring blankly.

"Sensory overload Captain. They have become unstable and will need to be reprogrammed."

"Agreed. Those Mark II models were always inferior...urk."

The Captain's voice ceased abruptly as Crystal's battle axe severed it's head from it's body, followed by 99's saber nearly slicing the Sergeant's body in two. The creatures crumpled, yellowish ichors gushing from their wounds.

Dressing hurriedly, 99 and Crystal picked up the guards blast rifles and peered out the cell door. A featureless hallway stretched in both directions.

"Which way, lover?" Crystal said.

"I'm getting faint indications of radiation leakage to the left. Let's go that way."

They ran down a seemingly endless hallway, seeing and hearing nothing; even their shoes made no sound on the floor. 99 paused at an intersection, and then ran to the right, Crystal beside him.

He stopped before a blank wall.

"It's here. The reactors here. We'll have to force the entrance open.'

Crystal pressed a button on her rifle for full automatic and peppered the wall with energy blasts. There was a loud whine and a round entrance door opened. Inside was a glowing photo-atomic generator encased in a radiation absorbing force field.

"Here's the power that's keeping the stasis fields in place. We disable this and the historical events return to where they belong."

"One nutcracker coming right up," Crystal chuckled, removing her earrings and screwing them together. She threw the bomb toward the force field where it clung.

"I set it for 30 minutes. Let's go find that maniac before he gets away."

***

Jorgenson was considering his next chess move when alarms began howling and a cyborg Major came running into his study.

"The prisoner's have escaped. My men were overpowered. The prisoner's have four fully charged blast rifles."

"I grow weary of these interruptions," Jorgenson snapped. "Suspend game, computer.

Find them and kill them, Major. Activate all available units. Ready my escape sphere. I will not be taken alive by those fools at the TMA."

The cyborg saluted and ran out the door.

***

"Crystal! Grenade!"

Crystal swung her battle axe and batted the metallic ovoid back toward the squad of cyborgs that had them trapped. The grenade exploded with a piercing whine, sending a concentrated burst of anti-neurons into the guards. They fell writhing to the floor, their muscles out of control.

Pumping energy bolts, 99 and Crystal rushed the position to find their opponents contorted and unmoving. Picking up newly charged rifles, they cautiously explored the room, examining the unfamiliar equipment.

"This must be some sort of a controller for the stasis fields," Crystal said, stopping before a console with a huge photon screen and a variety of oddly shaped toggles.

"Must be," 99 replied. "There's at least fifty of them. The operators must be searching for us too." He activated his retinal clock. "Ten minutes until detonation. Let's get a head start sending history back where it belongs."

He fired into the console, which began sparking and humming. The screen flashed red and a vibration shook the room. They began destroying each console, the room vibrating with the collapse of each stasis field.

Suddenly a platoon of cyborgs rushed into the room, rifles spitting at the agents. 99 tipped two consoles on their sides as cover. Crouching down they returned fire, hitting several of the guards before they could conceal themselves.

"Five minutes to go," 99 said, carefully sighting and firing to save what charges remained in his weapon.

"When that reactors shield goes and the core melts down, this chronobubble will vanish," Crystal replied. "I hope were outside in real time, otherwise..." Her thought was interrupted by several cyborgs charging their position. Several fell to the agents withering fire, but four managed to leap over the consoles and engage in hand to hand combat.

A rifle barrel slammed against 99's head, sending him reeling. A cyborg fired at him, missing by inches. Another jumped on him and they struggled on the floor. The cyborgs rifle wavered as it attempted to shoot 99 and not hit the trooper. It finally saw an opening and fired, but 99 blocked the bolt with his attacker's body. A second later the shooters chest flew apart as 99's snap shot struck.

Crystal slammed her rifle's butt into one cyborgs jaw, hearing a satisfying crunch. A blast bolt from her second attacker struck the battle axe in her belt, deflecting it but knocking her off balance. Lunging forward, the cyborg fell with the axe between it's eyes as Crystal fired at the other one, it's head exploding.

"You okay lover?" Crystal asked worriedly as 99 arose from the floor, flinging the cyborgs body to one side.

"Other than my head ringing like a bell, I'm fine," he replied. "Let's grab fresh rifles and find Jorgenson before this place..."

A thunderous roar shook the room as the lights flickered and dimmed. The walls wavered and held as the agents raced down the corridor, jumping over fallen cyborgs, their neurotransmitters smoking.

Then they were in Jorgenson's study, the once colorful walls a featureless gray. Jorgenson was seated in an opalescent sphere, the cyborg Major beside him at a control panel.

99 and Crystal's blast bolts glanced harmlessly from the sphere and Jorgenson laughed.

"You may have thwarted my plans this time," he raved. "But when we meet again, things will be vastly different and I will have my revenge. Take us away from here, now!"

"Yes sir, immediately!"

There was a sound like a gigantic bowstring being plucked and Jorgenson's hideaway disappeared. Shielding their eyes from the morning sun, 99 and Crystal found themselves next to an airfield runway among olive drab P-40 pursuit planes lined in neat rows. A Mitsubishi Zero fighter dove down, raking the line of aircraft with machine gun and cannon fire, setting them ablaze. A rumble of explosions came from the direction of the harbor, the attack had begun!

99 and Crystal dove headlong into a ditch as bullets and cannon shells whizzed around them, the heat from the exploding planes singeing their uniforms. The Zero did a climbing turn about and dove in for another pass, engine roaring and guns spitting. Jorgenson's escape sphere suddenly rose from between the burning planes into the Zero's gunfire. Struck repeatedly, it rocked and shuddered under the impact, rose unsteadily and soared into the air towards the harbor.

From the safety of a cement storage shed, the agents watched as the spheres occupants fought for control. It flew directly into the maelstrom of attacking planes, exploding bombs and battleships erupting in geysers of flame; disappearing into a roiling column of black smoke.

99 saw an undamaged 4X4 supply truck across the runway and they ran to it before more planes attacked. The engine started and they drove at top speed toward where they thought was their pickup point in the old hangar.

Crystal heard a roar, turned and saw an Aichi Type 99 dive bomber swooping at them, machine guns chattering. 99 twisted the wheel, zig-zagging to avoid being hit. Crystal knelt on the floorboard and steadied her blast rifle on the seat back. She fired an energy bolt into the radial engine which exploded, sending the plane crashing to the asphalt runway in a gout of flame.

"There's the hangar," 99 yelled. "Get down and brace yourself. I'm ramming our way in."

The speeding truck tore through the flimsy hangar door, slamming into an ancient biplane with a squeal of brakes.

"Headquarters," Crystal barked into her communicator implant. "Two to pick up and hurry, we're under attack."

"On it's way," a Time Tech's voice buzzed in her ear. Seconds later a Time Portal appeared. They jumped into it as a 500 lb bomb plummeted through the hangar roof and exploded, reducing the structure to smoking rubble.

***

"The Techs have confirmed that all historical events have returned to their places in the Primary Timeline," Rhada said as Derek hugged her and Crystal to him.

"I'm mad that we didn't catch Jorgenson," Crystal replied disgustedly. "This means the Rectifiers will still be plaguing the Time Continuum."

"How could a brilliant mind like his become so warped?" Derek added. "That implosion must have affected his brain."

"For all our advanced medical knowledge, that was something we couldn't detect during his rehab," Rhada explained. "As far as his escape is concerned, I'm not sure he succeeded."

"What do you mean?" Crystal asked.

"The Looking Glass Techs were watching you during the attack; if you had been wounded or in immediate danger, they would have retrieved you instantly. They saw Jorgenson's escape sphere go out of control and crash on the forward gun turret of a battleship, which then exploded and sank. It's doubtful he survived."

"Which one was it?" 99 said. "There were so many in that harbor."

"The Techs read the ships name on the stern. It was 'Arizona'."

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Thanks to slyc_willie for creating the TMA.

Agents 99 and Crystal will return in 'The Third Level of Time'.