Breaking the Cycle

Alan Tribeca was the most successful secret agent in the history of the department. It therefore did not make sense that he was lying on a table strapped down and at the mercy of Dr. Vladamir Tenricvh. He could only assume that he was going to find a way to escape at any moment. It would probably be right after the villain detailed his entire plan to him so he knew what he should do to stop it. It should be happening anytime now. The good doctor was approaching now, as a matter of fact.

"Hello, Agent Tribeca. I hope you are comfortable."

"You are slime, Tenricvh. I will stop you!" He said this because it was what he always said to the villain.

"I am afraid not, Alan. You see this time is different. I am not going to poison anything or collapse anything. I have no intention of taking anything over or extorting the United Nations. I am cut from different cloth than my peers. I have a very different plan."

"What is it, doctor? I am sure it is just another trite world domination scheme. I will stop you. I always do!"

"Yes. You always seem to stop everyone just in the nick of time. That is how I got this great idea in the first place."

"Huh?"

"Well, I contacted all my peers and told them I would fix the problem that is you! Isn't that terrific? I pretended to have a great world domination scheme so you would infiltrate my secret lair. The surprise is I have no scheme. My peers have each paid me ten million dollars to eliminate you. There are fifty elite super villains currently vying for world supremacy right now. That means I have five hundred million dollars waiting for me once I place this parasitic worm in your eye socket. Why on earth would I want to perpetuate this silly cycle of hero/villain crap when I can just take five hundred million dollars and retire?"

"Nice try. You can't throw me off the trail of your evil scheme that easily!"

"Ok. Whatever."

He took a vial from the side table and raised it up. It held a nasty little worm-like creature in it which kept rebounding off the glass like it took exception to being contained. It secreted a green ooze from its front mandibles which looked entirely unhealthy. The doctor took the vial and held it over Alan's head.

"I am not a complete Philistine. Is there anything you would like me to communicate to your friends and family after you perish?"

"I don't know what your plan is, but I won't talk. What is your plan anyway, doctor?"

"You truly are a buffoon, aren't you? I plan to place this horrible creature over your eye. It will burrow into your skull and poison you. It will then eat a good portion of your brain so it has sufficient calories to lay eggs in your skull. It will take a level five bio-hazard team five days to clean the mess and sterilize the scene. You will be dead and I will be on the French Riviera with five hundred million dollars in my account in the Cayman Islands."

"Enough games, doctor! What is your plan? Nuclear threat? Biological weapon? Lasers from satellites?"

The doctor went over to Tribeca and unstoppered the vial. He put it open side down over his right eye. The evil creature immediately flocked to the opening and began to burrow into the softness of his eye. Its acidic spit mixed with its formidable jaws made short work of the soft materials of the eyeball. It found his brain within seconds. It was the perfect feeding place to bulk up then lay its eggs. It looked inhumanely painful.

The camera in the corner of the laboratory confirmed the event. Dr. Tenricvh's computer readout showed his peers' deposits down to the last dollar. It was incredible that they still subscribed to the arch villain/hero paradigm. This buffoon would be replaced by some other buffoon in days. Fortunately for him, this buffoon had been their foil for over four decades. He turned and walked out of the room. He did after all have a private charter to catch. Five hundred million dollars would do just fine and he was done with this ridiculous cycle. He had daiquiris to sip and models to ogle in the south of France.

THE END

Bio: Ed Sullivan is an enthusiastic newcomer to getting published. He has been writing fiction for twenty five years. He has taken the leap just recently and begun submitting. He raises his daughter, works, writes, and spends time in his own strange thoughts most days.

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