The Agent of S.K.U.L.L.

“I am an agent of S.K.U.L.L., the most powerful evil organization on Earth!” the cloaked figure announced, addressing the stunned pedestrians. “And I am here to advance their goal of world domination!” They paused, as if waiting for someone to object. When no one did, they continued. “Surrender this sector to me-”

They stopped again as a car pulled up to the intersection, the driver patiently waiting for them to move. Turning to look at him, one of the glowing green orbs projected in their mask’s sockets widened, giving them an almost manic look. They strode toward the offending vehicle, opening their cloak to reveal a large, high-tech looking rifle weapon. They stopped in front of the car, aiming the weapon at it and pulling the trigger. The effect was immediate, as the car burst into brilliant green flames. The driver was ejected from their vehicle, scrambling away as the fire rapidly engulfed it. The car hissed, sparking and crackling with energy before deactivating entirely, a blackened husk. Seemingly satisfied, the villain lowered their weapon.

“…As I was saying, surrender this sector to me,” they repeated, “or be destroyed.”

Someone screamed, and the other bystanders began to flee, but I just stood there in shock. Is this… an actual villain? I started to take a step forward, but before I could do anything, the villain and I both turned our heads toward the low hum of a vehicle approaching, and watching as a P.E.A.C.E. transport pulled up. The doors on the sides opened and three officers stepped out, their boots landing softly on the ground. All of them were wearing the current standard P.E.A.C.E. uniform; it changed annually, constantly being refined based on the latest conflict resolution data. This year’s model featured white adaptive armor that slowly transitioned upward to a blue, rounded chestplate with the continents and islands of the world visible on it. Their helmets went under their chins and up the back of their heads, leaving their faces exposed; the only way you could tell there was a protective energy shield generated around the exposed parts was a slight blue glow at the edges. Studies had shown that people responded more calmly when they could see law enforcement officers’ faces… but it also made them look really lame.

One of the officers, a bald, middle-aged man, stepped forward, his movements slow and deliberate, and tapped a button on the side of his helmet’s frame. “Good afternoon!” he boomed, his voice amplified by the helmet’s audio system. “My name is Captain Homura Nageta. Could you please identify yourself?”

“I am an agent of S.K.U.L.L.!” the villain proclaimed. “I have no identity, I live only to serve our master in his goal of world domination!”

I could see Captain Homura’s eye twitching from here, but he continued anyway. “We received a report that you were seen using an unauthorized personal device with the intent to harm others! Please turn off the device and place it on the ground so that we may safely approach! We would like to speak to you about why you have decided to take these actions!”

“I do not answer to officers of the law!” the villain spat. “Surrender this area to me, and I shall consider allowing you to leave unharmed!”

Captain Homura muttered something under his breath, then turned to the officer next to him. This one had short black hair, but the most noticeable thing about him was what looked like an old Japanese flag sticker on his uniform’s right shoulder. “Do it.”

The officer nodded, grinning, and tapped something into a panel on his gauntlet. As soon as he entered the sequence, the ground shifted slightly beneath me. I looked down to see the street flowing toward the center of the intersection like water, while I remained standing. My eyes followed the flow toward several dotted yellow lines around the intersection, watching as the markings began to rise and gain dimension, forming yellow striped barricades out of the road itself. The villain looked around in confusion as the trap slowly formed around them. This was…

“Adaptive Road Material Preset: Safety Barricade!” the officer with the flag sticker announced.

I nodded; this was one use of adaptive construction materials, allowing P.E.A.C.E. officers to reshape parts of the city as necessary to form things like detours, roadblocks, and in this case, barricades, though this wasn’t exactly their intended use… My eyes drifted back to the villain. They were aiming their weird rifle weapon at the officers, but I could see their legs tensing; they’re going to make a run for it! I realized. If someone doesn’t do something, they’ll escape! If someone…

If someone…

Before I knew what I was doing, I was running toward the villain, leaping over one of the barriers as it formed. They had just enough time to turn and look at me in surprise before I tackled them to the ground, the rifle weapon falling from their grasp. I stood up, arms wrapped around them from behind as they struggled against me. “I’ve got them!” I yelled to the stunned officers.

“What are you doing, you fool?!” the villain roared, their voice rising in pitch as their modulator struggled to keep up. “Unhand me at once!” I squeezed tighter as they kicked and squirmed, feeling their body armor press against me; it was surprisingly hard in some places, mostly in the places where bones would be, but in other places it was surprisingly soft. Is this made with adaptive material too? I wondered, giving it another experimental squeeze.

Captain Homura rushed forward, only for the safety barriers to automatically rise to stop him. “This area is unsafe, please relocate and take the nearest-” an automated voice began, until he banged his fist against the barrier, causing it to sputter out. “Damnit, kid, get out of there!” he barked through the gap in the barriers, dropping all pretenses of formality. He turned to the officer with the flag on his shoulder. “Fugura, get him out of there!”

Officer Fugura shook his head, looking down at the control panel on his arm. “I can’t do anything, they’re too close together, and we have a limited number of adaptive material presets available to us,” he explained. “Unless…” After pausing to think for a moment, he started tapping something into the panel. he called out to me. “Hey! Hero-san! I modified the barriers’ parameters to recognize you as a safety worker and allow you to pass! Let go of the terrorist and get out of there!”

Before I could decide whether or not to release them, the villain started moving again. “You’re strong for a civilian, I’ll give you that…” they hissed. “…But there is more to an agent of S.K.U.L.L. than mere strength!” I felt their hand reach down to the belt around their waist, removing a small object from one of its pouches. “For S.K.U.L.L.!” they exclaimed, dropping the object. Immediately a shimmering black smoke filled the area, blanketing everything in complete darkness. From outside the cloud I could hear Captain Homura and his team shouting something about their scanners failing. No way, a chaff smoke bomb?

An elbow jabbed me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I instinctively gasped for air, inhaling a small cloud of the smoke that me into a fit of coughs as tiny, irritating particles filled my lungs. My grip on the villain loosened, and they took the opportunity to wriggle from my grasp. “N-No…” I wheezed, falling to my knees as they stood over me, green eyes flickering with amusement.

“You put up a good fight, I’ll give you that,” they sneered. “But against a trained agent of S.K.U.L.L., you were destined to fail.” They threw back their cape with a flourish, turning to leave, when suddenly a hand grabbed their forearm. “E-Eh?” They looked down to see me looking right back at them.

“I said n-no,” I repeated, tightening my grip. “You’re not going anywhere.” The skull’s glowing green orbs narrowed in irritation, and I swore I heard an unmodulated curse slip from behind the mask as they looked around, searching for a way out while they pulled against me. Eventually they stopped trying, and I felt a slight relief. I’m glad I got to be a hero, but the chaff in my lungs is killing me, and this guy’s surprisingly strong! I can’t wait for the officers to get in here so I can go home and-

“Say…” the villain purred, their voice modulator causing it to sound like an engine rumbling. “Didn’t that officer say the safety barriers would allow you to pass?”

I frowned, my brow furrowing. He did say that, but how is that relevant to- The realization dawned on me as I slowly looked up to see the villain looking right back at me, their expressionless mask seeming to smirk at me.

“You said I wouldn’t go anywhere without you, is that right?”

“Waaaaah!”

The P.E.A.C.E. officers looked up from their malfunctioning equipment in shock as the two of us burst from the smoke, the villain sprinting as they dragged me behind them. Where did this strength come from- Woah! My feet were barely able to keep up, tripping and stumbling along as we raced toward the safety barrier. As we approached, the barrier automatically rose in response to the villain, ready to trap them, but as soon as I got within range, it lowered to let me through. In that second, the villain stepped through, with me not far behind. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but feel momentarily glad that at least the barrier had recognized me and I hadn’t slammed my face into solid artificial pavement.

“This man is now my hostage!” the villain shouted at the stunned P.E.A.C.E. officers. “Follow me, and his fate will be the same as yours!” One of them moved to chase after us, but Captain Homura held an arm in front of him. Seeing their hesitation, the villain threw their head back and let out a “ha!”, which carried on into a continued cackle as they sprinted down a nearby alley and into the darkness.

It had been at least a few minutes since we escaped the barrier, and the villain was showing no signs of slowing down. I had been hoping all the running along with my added weight would eventually start to wear them out, but it looked like I was going to have to get serious. Calling on my brief stint in the P.E.A.C.E. training program, I started to run in tandem with the villain, my shoes slapping against the pavement. It was hard to find my footing at first, but eventually I started gaining ground, coming closer and closer, until my shadow loomed over them. They at least had the sense to look up in surprise and call out “what?!” before I leaped, tackling them to the ground for the second time that day.

I landed directly on top of them, my hands pinning their wrists to prevent them from grabbing any more smoke bombs or other gadgets from their belt, while my knees rested on either side of their legs, pinning them together. I remembered hearing a clattering noise as I landed, and turned to see that the villain’s skull mask had been knocked off by the impact, its glowing green eyes still glaring at me from the wall. I grinned. Finally, I get to find out who this bastard really is!

Still grinning, I looked down at the foe beneath me. “I’ve got you now, you-” I started, then stopped as what I was looking at slowly started to register: Smooth, tan skin. Round, freckled cheeks. Short, curly blonde hair. A pair of wide, vibrant green eyes stared back at me, blinking in shock. I could only blink back as my brain caught up to my eyes, before shouting the first thing that came to mind:

“You- You’re a girl?!”

NEXT: The Girl from S.K.U.L.L.?!