“Teamwork.”

“So, what’s the catch?” Amira raised her eyebrows at her boss. 

She had been planning her next heist with her boss. But even after hours of fleshing out the plan it all seemed too simple.

“Well, I cannot lie to you, I have left out a final detail.” The boss folded his arms behind his back. “Our spy institution has been receiving more recruits than ever, now that the word spy has its own place in pop culture.” 

The boss sighed, “We no longer have enough people to train them the traditional way. And so, I must request that you bring some trainees with you on this mission.”

“No! You know I don’t work well with… team work.” Amira pushed the word out of her throat.

“Well you’re going to have to.” He continued, “You can't be solo forever Amira. Your set of skills could be highly beneficial to a team. And if you are incapable of doing so, we will find a recruit that can.”

            “You’re… going to fire me?! But sir I’ve been a part of this institution for years now! I’ve given you nothing but loyalty!”

            “If you fail to work with these new recruits, you’ll be fired. Is that clear?” The boss squinted.

            “fine.”

Amira, like every morning, jumped out of bed at the signal of her alarm clock. She squeezed out of bed, trying not to disturb any of her very close neighbors. The institute housed and fed its recruits, and even if it wasn’t luxurious, Amira was glad to call it home. Sure it was colorless and bland there, and the food was borderline inedible, but the battle training and weaponry were top of the line. At least they were until random people started to flood the place. The girl’s sleeping quarters alone were packed to the brim. Amira barely had space to move between the rows of bunk beds.

Amira crouched down and pulled out a small box of her belongings from under her bed. She pulled out her uniform and quickly shoved it on. Amira had ebony skin and dark brown hair that was tied into box braids and pulled back into a low ponytail. She wore a dark blue jumpsuit with a silver zipper that stuck out against the hexagonal patterns across the suit. 

These suits didn’t flatter anyone, but they did their job. The fabric was made of strong fibers for protection, and the hexagonal patterns were from the suits' many abilities installed by the highest ranking scientists. A suit that could accomplish things like invisibility didn’t need to look good.

She shuffled between the bunk beds and out of the girls' sleeping quarters. Amira was going to be bright and early for the meeting with her so-called, “teammates.” Sure, she didn’t particularly want to meet them, but that was no excuse to show up late. 

She entered the dining hall, which was also packed with people. How was she supposed to find them here? The boss had given her copies of their institute IDs but she wasn’t sure that was going to make the process of searching every table for them any shorter.

A sudden yell, that could even be heard over all the chatter, announced, “HEADS UP!”, before she was his square in the head with a stale muffin.

            “OW!” She snapped back and growled at the idiot who threw it.

            The guy was very lanky, almost as tall as Amira when he was sitting. His hair was ash brown and messy, like he had put zero effort into it. That wasn’t hard to believe, judging from the stupid smirk he wore, it didn’t seem like he was a very productive member of society. He wore the same sort of jump suit as Amira, but the zipper was not quite all the way up. So instead of the body suit covering his neck, it sat like a collar, revealing an unnecessary amount of skin.

            “I said heads up.” He shrugged. Causing Amira’s blood to boil.

            The person sitting next to him stood up and rushed to Amira, “We’re so sorry ma’am! We were just trying to get your attention!” They tensed, like they expected Amira to attack them. Probably from the nasty scowl she gave them. 

            They looked like they were related to the guy who threw the muffin. They both had ash brown hair, olive skin, and bright green eyes. But there were some differences between the two. First of all, the one standing next to Amira was much more put together. Their hair was somewhat brushed and they wore their suit correctly. But they were also much shorter than their brother, being only around Amira’s height. 

            “You are Amira right?” They held up what looked like a copy of her own ID. “The Boss told us that we’re supposed to go on a mission with you.” 

            Amira’s stomach sank. Did she have to, out of all the people in the institute, work with them? She shuffled through the pockets of her suit and pulled out the ID the boss had given her. Amira held the IDs up next to the two of them. Her teammates were standing right in front of her.

            “I’m Parker and this is Austin.” The shorter one gestured between themself and their brother.

            Amira sighed, “let’s just get this over with.”

            Amira quickly grabbed something to eat from the cafeteria line and returned to their table. She slammed her tray down.

            “Did the boss tell you anything about the mission plans?”

            “Not really, he kind of just told us to meet you here.” Parker rubbed the back of his neck.

            “Great. That’s just great.” She gritted her teeth.

            “Geez what’s got you so tense?” Austin grinned.

            Amira shot him a spine chilling glare. It seemed to shut him up.

            She continued without looking away from Austin, “I’ll try to explain this in a way an idiot like you can understand.” 

            “The goal of the mission is to take an important document from E.V.I.L. Inc.”

            “E.V.I.L. Inc.?” Parker tensed again, “That sounds a bit dangerous.”

            “It’s just a name.” She pinched her brow, “It stands for Every Very Important Library.”

            “Aw boo! That’s boring.” Austin rolled his eyes.

            “This isn’t meant to be entertaining! It’s important! The document is the contract to take a library's cut of the tax money and use it to open a bookstore! Bookstores are very different from libraries!” Amira exclaimed.

            “Fine. Can we just get onto the mission plan?” Austin sighed.

            “I was getting to that.” She grunted. 

“First we’ll sneak into the building from the back entrance, pass through the lazer system, take out the guards, use the guards’ identification chips to break into the basement vault, and get out as quickly as possible.” 

“Sound good?” Amira finished.

            They both nodded. 

            Later that day they were dropped off in a back alley by one of the institute’s cars. The alley was barren except for a few dumpsters and garbage chutes extending from the building.

            “I thought you said there was a back entrance.” Austin muttered.

            “There is.” Amira walked over to one of the dumpsters, hopped on top of one of the closed lids, and climbed into the garbage chute. Parker gagged.

            She peaked her head back out, “Are you two coming or what.”

            “But this suit is brand new!” Austin exclaimed.

            “Just shut up and get in the chute.” Amira climbed back into the chute and began to shuffle her way up using her back and legs. Austin followed, then, after some hesitation, so did Parker.

            They all reached the top of the chute. Amira hopped out and pulled the other two out after her. 

            “Blegh! Please tell me we’re leaving through the front door.” Austin said, dusting himself off. 

            Parker didn’t say anything, but his face looked like he was going to hurl.

            “Oh please it's not that bad. It’s an office building! The worst thing that could’ve been thrown out there is a dirty tissue-'' She stated before she was interrupted by Parker vomiting into the garbage chute. 

            The halls were painted in blacks and deep reds. Hanging on the walls were paintings of former CEOs. They kept walking and came across the last painting was of a large man who wore a beige suit, black tie, sharp sunglasses, and a gold wrist watch. His hair, or toupee, was slicked back with an absurd amount of hair gel. Under the painting there was a small silver plaque that read: “B. Ross”

            “I thought you said this was a library place.” Austin said.

            “It is.”

            “Then why is it so… dramatic?” Parker crossed his arms, trying to shield himself from his surroundings.

            “It’s a very big corporation. Libraries are some of the most important places in the world. It’s only fitting that this building’s quote on quote dramatic.”

            “I meant dramatic in a scary way.” Parker mumbled.

            But before anyone could reply Amira held out her arm in front of them. The laser field  blocked their path. Behind it was a large steel door.

            “We’ll have to be careful, any mistakes and this will set off alarms all throughout the building.” 

            If Amira could duck under the first lazer, squeeze past the next one, weave through a couple more, and hop over the last one she just might be able to make it all the way to the door. 

            Very carefully, she slid under the first lazer. 

            “Why are you doing it like that?!” Austin exclaimed, causing Amira to almost set off the alarm.

            “If you just turn on the invisibility setting of our suits,” He tapped his wrist and everything but his head dissolved into nothingness, “Then the lasers won't be able to see us!”

            “No!” Amira shouted. But it was too late. Austin had touched one of the lasers and set off the alarms before Amira could stop him.

            “ITS TOUCH SENSITIVE YOU IDIOT!” 

            “Oh.” Austin said, his smirk dropping.

            About three guards came from the end of the hallway they themselves had arrived from. The guards all wore the same sort of suit as the CEO, each cracking their knuckles and joints.

            “THIS IS DRAMATIC IN A VERY SCARY WAY!” Parker yelped and jumped behind Austin.

            “Don’t worry guys, I can fix this!” Austin pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it in the guards direction. A large cloud of smoke filled the entire hallway, blinding everyone in it.

            “Great! Now we’re all blind!” Amira grunted, coughing between words. “Everyone try and get to the door!”

            Amira covered her mouth, trying her best not to breathe in the smoke. She stuck a hand out to lead her through the grey, cautiously moving forward until she felt a wall. She stepped forward, praying she was headed in the right direction, but she was interrupted by a bulky figure. They grabbed Amira’s wrist and pulled her in, revealing their terrible scowl. A guard! She was definitely facing the wrong way. 

She tried to pull away but the guard’s hand was firm. Amira kicked them in the gut, releasing her hand, but the guard was still too near to turn around and run. He jumped at Amira and she jumped out of the way, hitting the floor with a thud. She felt another guard trip over her, and quickly without hesitation she grabbed the second guard's shoe and stood back up. She slammed the loafer against the first guard’s head, knocking them out. She made a run for the door and found that Austin and Parker had the same idea. The three of them all got jammed together in the doorway, all of them trying to wriggle their way out.

“Everyone suck it in!” Austin yelled before taking a deep breath. 

Amira did the same, trying to hold back a storm of coughs from inhaling so much smoke. 

Just as the third guard’s face became visible they all slid into the next room. Amira slammed the door shut. She heard the BANG and then thud of the guard slamming against the door and passing out. 

The room was filled with bookshelves. If Amira remembered correctly, one of the books would reveal a staircase down to the basement vaults. One of the thousands of books. This part was going to be tricky. 

“Quickly! Pull out as many books as possible!” Amira shoved Austin and Parker each in front of a shelf and ran to another, knocking books off the shelves on her way.

Amira could hear the footsteps of guards running through the halls above and below them. At least they’d have to navigate their way through the piles of books on the floor if they wanted to reach her and the siblings. 

“Got it!” Parker announced. They slid open the bookshelf leading to a staircase, with a guard standing inside.

The guard was huge, almost twice as tall as Austin and as wide as the bookshelf itself. 

Guard took a step towards Parker, and with every step Parker appeared to look more like a small mouse being hunted for prey. Parker backed away to the other wall, and no matter how many books Amira threw at the guard they still continued their path.

Parker backed up into a bookshelf, causing it to wobble. Austin shoved Parker out of the way before the shelf collapsed, crushing the guard. 

They stood and stared at the pile splintered wood and books, Parker's face grew pale.

“…He’s probably fine.” Amira said and turned for the open stairway.  

They all scrambled down the staircase. Amira could hear another group of guards following.

They stumbled into the basement vault room. The guards were only a few footsteps behind. Amira couldn’t remember which vault number it was. But that wouldn’t have mattered anyways, because they didn’t have an identification card to open any of them. Amira was going to be fired after all, if she ever made it out of here that is.

            “There’s so many of them! How are we gonna figure out which one has the document in it?!” Parker exclaimed.

            “Maybe we don’t have to…” Austin said and pulled out yet another bomb.

            “Austin! Don’t you remember what happened last time you tried something like that?!” Amira shouted, and went to grab the bomb from him.

            “Yeah yeah I know, but this bomb does something different.” He smirked and placed it in the center of the room, at the base of a load bearing beam.

            “Oh no-” Parker gasped.

            The bomb erupted into clouds of red and orange, spraying bits of concrete into the air. Amira dodged a big block of concrete that flew past her head. As the smoke cleared up, the destruction was revealed. Austin’s plan did technically work, all the vaults had been blown open. But now she had a horrible ringing in her ear.

            The room was shaking, parts of the ceiling had begun to crumble as well as the walls. The load bearing beam was completely destroyed.

            Amira scanned the room for the document. She weaved through bits of rubble on the floor and shuffled through the filing cabinets in a few of the vaults. Some rocks collapsed behind her and she turned around to find a panicked guard searching through some of the files as well. They pulled out a file with the words top secret book storeprinted across it. As soon as they confirmed it was the correct document they made a break for it, tripping on bits of rubble on their way.

            The document! Amira ran after them, pulling Parker and Austin up on her way. The three of them chased the guard up the staircase, back through the bookshelf room, through the hallway, and to a tall black door.

The door flew open in front of the guard, almost knocking them over, and the CEO stepped out of his office. 

B. Ross snatched the file out of the guard’s hands and flipped through it. He nodded, signaling for the guard to leave.  

But then the CEO spotted the three spies, who had been watching from around the corner. He ran back into his office. Amira got up and chased him, Austin and Parker following from behind. 

The room’s walls were lined with filing cabinets, and in the center sat a huge desk with an even larger window behind it. A helicopter was waiting outside. B. Ross grabbed a stapler and shattered the window with it. 

He turned around and looked at the spies,“NOTHING WILL STOP ME AND MY BOOKSTORE.” 

            And without hesitation he jumped out the window and onto the helicopter.

            Austin ran after him, sliding over the desk and diving onto the helicopter as well. Amira couldn’t believe how reckless he was but she didn’t seem to have any other option either, considering the building was about to collapse any moment. She grabbed Parker’s wrist and followed, hopping onto the helicopter and pulling Parker in after.

            Austin was already fighting with B. Ross, pinning him to ground and attempting to yank the file out of his hands. Amira yanked on the document as well, until the CEO released it. Finally they had the document! 

            But now they were stuck in the sky with him and one his pilot. 

            “Amira! I found parachutes but there’s only two of them!” Parker said, holding them up.

            “Throw these guys out of the helicopter then!” Austin grunted, still holding down 

B. Ross.

            Amira grabbed the parachutes and shoved B. Ross into one and Austin rolled him out of the helicopter. Then Amira shoved the pilot into one, yanked him out of his seat, and pushed him out all the same.

            Amira quickly grabbed the controls and held the helicopter in the sky to the best of her abilities. 

            They looked back at E.V.I.L. Inc., which had fully collapsed at this point.

            Parker was wearing the same expression he had when the guard was crushed.

            “Their probably fine.” Austin shrugged.

                        The end.