Unexpected {Ejen Ali Fanfic}

The Story She Never Told

"His condition is now stable, General."

Ali opened his eyes. He was once again lying down on a cold platform. Knowing that whatever that was going to happen soon was going to be something horrible, he quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Hopefully someone is not going to check whether he was conscious yet-

A gloved hand reached between his left eyelid and pulled them open. Before he could see than an outline of a woman, a white light flashed sharp in his eyes.

"Argh!" Ali exclaimed, clapping a hand to his left eye. He wasn't surprised to see Sapphire holding a flashlight beside him.

Once his eye was feeling better, he let go of it and glared at her.

"What was that for?" he grumbled.

"Sorry, Ali, but I had to check," Sapphire said apologetically.

A most familiar cough behind him made him stiffen in fear.

"Ali."

He turned around slowly, taking all the time possible, but knew he had to face the General no more sooner. Alicia was there in the Control Room too, but she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she had her head hung low and didn't bother to even insult him once in the moments he took to walk over. Something bad must've happened, he just know it.

"Why." the General Rama on the screen said, pursing his lips.

"Ha?" Ali asked, confused.

"Why did it happen again..." he said, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

Sensing danger coming very soon now, Ali gulped and braced himself in case the General decided to shout. Alicia, sensing this too, looked away in the opposite direction of Ali.

"General," Sapphire interrupted. "We have discussed this before. We cannot blame Ali. Furthermore, Ali has no recollection of it either."

"No recollection of what?" Ali asked, totally bewildered now. Wasn't he going to be punished for failing their mission? Didn't he fall to his death when he accidentally slipped down the bridge?

The General was stroking his moustache, thinking.

Sapphire took this moment as an advantage to prove her statement. "Ali, what was the last thing you remember?"

But his answer was ready all along, as though he had expected to be asked. "Slipping, and the toxic sea."

He could sense Alicia eavesdropping behind him.

"Well, then, you see?" Sapphire said to the General.

General Rama had narrowed his eyes into tiny little silts, staring doubtfully at Ali.

"Alicia," General Rama said suddenly. Alicia shuddered when he mentioned her name but looked him straight in the eye, nevertheless.

"You will tell him what happened after that."

"Why me, Pa- General?" Alicia asked quietly. It was as though she was scared.

"I have too many things to think about...Ali," he said, so that Ali stiffened again. "You are lucky that this time, your mission has been successful. Alicia..."

There was a pause, where everything seemed to be holding its breath, anticipating for the final words of the General.

"Good job."

With that, the transmission was disconnected.

***

Not until tomorrow break did Ali manage to hear from Alicia. She told him most reluctantly that IRIS has taken over him again. Alicia realised almost immediately when she saw that IRIS was glowing white and that Ali didn't respond to her calls. She and IRIS later then fixed the tanks together, with she herself still on the bridge, shooting different types of bombs. IRIS flew back when the tanks were completely sealed, and Alicia tried to disactivate IRIS. It was here she hesitated.

"Then what happened?" Ali urged her.

"Well, I didn't tell the General this, alright, but we...fought a bit." she said, biting her lip.

***

Alicia mopped sweat off her forehead. The heat inside here was getting onto her nerves.

"We have to get out of here, now." she said firmly, even though she knew very well that IRIS wouldn't listen.

"Ali, we have to leave!" she repeated urgently, pulling at his arm.

But IRIS stayed on the spot, not even moving an inch. Comot, noticing Alicia struggling, meowed and pushed at Ali's leg. But IRIS still stood there like he couldn't feel anything.

"Ali, snap out of it!" Alicia exclaimed, making to seize his shoulders to shake him, but Ali's hands had suddenly enclosed around her wrist.

Alicia gasped as she was flung away. As the bridge was so slippery, she slid uncontrollably, unable to balance. It was when she felt her right feet leaving ground that she knew she was in danger. Quickly shooting a magnetic bomb in who knew what direction, she hoped, with everything, that it would not allow her fall. Just when both her feet left metal, a force so powerful sucked her right back up, though in a most painful fashion.

The side of her face hit cold slimy metal as she was absorbed to the metal platform. She saw IRIS tower over her. Silently, she struggled. She had no idea what IRIS would identify her as since she tried to intimidate it. But nothing much happened when the magnetic field deactivated.

Alicia straightened herself, her back very sore. Comot ran over and licked Alicia's suit. Evidently, Comot didn't know whether or not to attack Ali, it has never encountered IRIS before.

"Ali won't move if I ask him to," Alicia said to Comot, her eyes not leaving IRIS. "We have to get him to snap out of it."

Comot meowed to tell that it understood. It pounced straight at Ali's face, holding on as tight as it can because IRIS was trying to get it off its face, stumbling backwards at the same time. Alicia had a sudden idea.

"Comot, get down, now!" she yelled.

Comot obeyed, and leaped off IRIS' face. IRIS staggered with the momentum of Comot's jump, but Alicia took it to her advantage. Aiming across the glowing string of her blastique, she shot energy bombs that gave a small explosion when it came into contact with the metal bridge. Alicia repeated this, slowly sending IRIS backwards through the door. But IRIS thought better. It shot its yoyo straight at Alicia. The yoyo snaked around her wrist, and again, she was thrown into the air back to the entrance.

She barely had time to stir when IRIS had jumped into the air and threw its yoyo in her direction. She couldn't stand up, her legs were weak like lead, and her blastique had landed far from her reach-

"MEOW!"

Comot appeared out of nowhere and caught the yoyo in its mouth instead. The moment it bit it, the yoyo gave a blast of wind that made the limp body of Comot to fly across the room, and it was going to fall into the sea of toxic below-

"Comot!" Alicia yelled.

She quickly got on her feet and thought up of a plan. But her panicking brain was as good as a tortoise now. It was already too late when she had one.

Something whizzed by her ear and next second, the unconscious Comot was held suspended an inch above the sizzling waters. Alicia sighed, and looked beside her to see that IRIS was the one that had saved Comot.

WHAM.

Having rammed on the back of the head by the end of Alicia's blastique, Ali collapsed to the floor, unconscious, while IRIS, already back to its original state, rolled one round around the floor, and clattered to a stop. Alicia quickly grabbed the yoyo rope, while Comot's body dropped half an inch lower.

Once she got the cat up, the cat woken up almost immediately.

"Meow!" it said, giving a start.

"It's OK," Alicia said soothingly, patting it by the head. Then she turned to Ali.

At least they had succeeded in the mission, she thought miserably, as she heaved Ali's body back to the safe house. What would she tell her father?