- Sorry it took me so long, there was something I had to deal with. - Abraham adjusts his tie and clears his throat. - Is everything ready, Ms. Valentine?

The woman turns around to face him.

- Of course it is, kid. I work efficiently, unlike *some* people.

The man frowns and sits down on a stool next to him.

- What do you mean, “kid”? I’m older than you! And that was really mean, why would you say that?

- Look. - Valentine sighs and takes a seat next to him. - I’ve heard things about you. All of them as disappointing as they were promising. I want to do this right, and if you screw things up then you’ll have made a powerful enemy.

- Ok. - Abraham crosses his arms. - Well, still. I wanted to make this all dramatic and stuff, but now I’m not feeling like it anymore. You press the button.

Valentine takes the big red button from his hands and pushes it immediately. A computer beeps next to them. The plan has started. Finally.

///

Jackson stares at the vending machine, his heartbeat getting faster and faster. The candy bar is stuck, but hopefully not for long, as it seems to be moving. He looks around to find no guards nearby, then hits the side of the machine twice to make it fall to the bottom. Mission successful, he has not wasted money. Pridefully, he strolls back to a bench and sits down.

- They should be here any minute now. - He looks around him, admiring all the colorful attractions the park has to offer and the excessive amount of pink Valentine’s Day decorations.

The park is big, with its center piece being a huge Ferris Wheel. The wooden stands and cloth tents around are all painted bright colors with equally as colorful signs. Stores, fair games and an absurd amount of bathrooms are all around, one more expensive than the other. The Roller Coaster goes around the entire thing, probably slightly faster than what you would expect. And to top it all off there’s a beautiful view of the ocean and the rest of the beach.

Jackson opens his candy bar and foolishly looks the other way for a second. As soon as he turns back the entire thing is gone. He jumps from his seat and looks around, trying to find the perpetrator of such a heinous action. Instead he finds the agents 57c and 7a staring right back at him, the former holding out his now bitten candy bar.

- Pretty good choice! StarHeck was always my favorite. - Claire AKA agent-57c, gives it back to him and sits down.

- Oh. Hey. - Jackson looks at Claire with an annoyed look on his face. The agent, used to that sort of thing, pays no mind to it. He sighs. - Please don’t do that again. Did you bring the equipment?

- Here it is! - Ashley gives the man a big bag. - All accounted for.

- Good. Now be careful, intel suggests there might be something inside the rides and attractions.

- Maybe we should do some recon before-

Suddenly all the speakers in the park turn on at once. A woman’s voice is heard. Soft yet menacing.

- Hello to all park goers. I’m afraid that you’re going to have to stay in here for a few more hours. We have planted traps inside some of the attractions and they will remain active until second order. Agents, I know you’re here. I’m waiting for you, and... What? Yes Abraham, I told them they can’t leave. There’s no need to say the exits are blocked, they probably figured that... Ugh, whatever. We’ll talk about this later. See you soon, agents.

Claire and Ashley put on their special spy glasses and start moving into the park. Jackson groans while grabbing his ear piece, laptop and coffee before moving into a more remote location.

Everyone around them seems to be a little confused but mostly unconcerned. After so many attacks on the city by supervillains that were suddenly stopped by secret agents it doesn’t make you that afraid anymore. They all went on about their days, unaware that things were about to get much worse.

The spy glasses detected strange activity in the tunnel of love, the roller coaster and in the Ferris Wheel. Claire looks around, trying to find the control room where the audio could have been broadcast from. She determines it must have been on the highest point of the park. She knew where to go, but before she could even start running Ashley grabs her arm.

- W-wait! - she says, worried. - Be careful, alright?

- Don’t worry, agent. We’ll meet up back here once we’re done with our spots.

They nod and each go off in different directions. Ashley towards the roller coaster and Claire towards the Ferris Wheel. They had to find Abraham and the mysterious woman that was working with him and figure out what their plans were and how to stop them. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

Ashley runs to the front of the line and is able to jump onto the last car before it started moving. She never liked such rides, especially when life threatening schemes from super villains were involved, yet the agent had to keep going. There are still many people in the attraction, occupying almost half of all the seats.

She holds on tight as it slowly climbs its way to the top of the first drop and looks around once its there, trying to see anything suspicious. A shadow moves on the tracks in the distance, but the woman loses sight once the cars quickly descend. When she finally has vision of where it was, the shadow seems to be gone. She turns on the communicator and tries to contact Claire.

- Agent-57c, do you copy?

There is a quiet sound of static, but no response comes through.

- I repeat, Agent-57c, do you- She is interrupted by a figure dropping from the rails on top of her car.

The figure is wearing pink body armor and a mask, wielding a sword and a staff, and looking directly at Ashley.

- Sorry, Agent. - The mystery person says, unsheathing their sword. - I’m afraid phones aren’t allowed in any of the rides.

End of part 1