A chopping sound filled the air as a helicopter glided over a city. Inside the vehicle, someone wearing a mask opened a hatch that led outside. He muttered something to me in a low, muffled voice. I nodded, and then I did something that I usually only dreamed about.

I jumped right out and free-fell.

Then I seized a cord that seemed to appear out of thin air and pulled. A parachute appeared behind me, and I drifted slowly down. I landed on top of a purple building with a skylight, and I took the parachute off. Then I ran to the skylight and peered inside. No one was there. I crashed through the skylight and landed on the floor inside. As my eyes adjusted to the dark interior, I noticed something that I couldn't have seen from above. A hunched figure was standing in the shadows at the corner of the room. He said something that I couldn't hear, in a high but menacing voice that sent chills down my spine. Then he held something up and there was a clicking noise. Before I could react, metal arms shot out of the walls and seized my wrists and ankles. They lifted me into the air and prevented me from moving much. The man in the shadows laughed maniacally. My last thoughts were of how on earth I was going to carry on with my mission…

"Perry, wake up!"

I was suddenly jerked out of my dreams by a voice calling to me from somewhere above me. I opened my eyes and saw a rather bulgy-eyed dog looking at me, trembling uncontrollably. He barked once and backed off. I sat up and looked around. I was lying on the blue mat in the Agent Training hall. I had been training alone when I tried a new flip, and it didn't end well. I must have passed out on the mat. How embarrassing. I looked around and saw Pinky the Chihuahua sitting, panting, and scratching his ear. It was what he called 'multitasking'.

"Hey, hey, you're alive!" said Pinky excitedly. He was always like that.

"You already knew that," I said, rubbing my head. It hurt from landing on it, even if the mat was soft. "We just learned how to check each other's pulses, remember?"

"I know," said Pinky. "But hey, hey! Don't be so serious!" he barked a few times.

I rolled my eyes. Maybe it was because he had just gotten out of his first nemesis confrontation, or maybe it was because his owner always played with him until he was super hyped up, or maybe it was just because he was a Chihuahua, but Pinky was always panting, always excited, and always shaking. It seemed impossible for him to stop. I, on the other hand, was pretty calm most of the time. It was hard to remember why we were friends. I guess just because we were both called Agent P. His stood for Pinky. Mine stood for Perry.

Perry the Platypus, that is.

I'm in training to become an agent for the O.W.C.A., the Organization Without a Cool Acronym. I always wondered why they didn't have a cool acronym. I guess they just didn't. Anyhow, Pinky and I were aspiring to be in different divisions. I wanted to go for the more serious branch- Major Monogram's division. Pinky, hence his name, liked pink things. So he also liked Admiral Acronym's division. We had both gotten to about the point where we were supposed to practice foiling plans and things of that sort. Pinky, as I mentioned earlier, had just had his first showdown, and I was eager to find out how it had gone.

"So, how did your nemesis confrontation go?" I asked eagerly. I'd been told about the general outline of showdowns and how individual nemeses liked to do them, but you could never learn too much about things that could save your life.

"What'd you get?" I asked. Pinky shrugged.

"A test nemesis," he said simply.

"I know that," I said, frowning. "I meant, what level?"

He thought for a moment. "Easy," he concluded. "They give everybody easy."

It wasn't any less than I had expected. Pinky usually got the easy level on such things.

"So what happened?" I prompted.

Pinky scratched his ear once before continuing, showing his canine teeth with a huge grin. "Well," he started, shaking excitedly, "first, I broke in. Through the window!" he grinned happily. "Then I snuck into the lair, and I got trapped!"

"How?" I said. I was sure it would be something lame, like a cage.

"I got hung upside down by a rope!" he said happily. "By my feet!"

My eyes widened. I hadn't expected that.

"Then I heard the whole scheme, and I cut the rope with my hat, and we had a big fight!" he started leaping around the room, kicking at an invisible enemy and biting thin air.

"I'm sure it was very exciting," I said dryly. Pinky stopped and scowled.

"You would've known," he said resentfully. "You were supposed to be there."

It was true. I had tried to get in a little extra practice before going to see Pinky's showdown, but the flip had really done it. Pinky got out his prize-winning puppy-face, sparkly eyes and all. His ears dropped and his eyes only seemed to get bigger.

"Look, I would've been there, but as you could see…" I started, but he cut me off.

"You promised," he said, his lower lip trembling. A single tear rolled down his cheek. But his face was strained, as if he was trying not to smile. I raised an eyebrow.

"Wait," I said slowly. "You're not…I mean, you're just…ah, not again!"

Pinky burst out laughing, his puppy face evaporating into a huge grin. I groaned. He kept getting me like that, just to make me guilty if I forgot something. But he never held it long enough to really make me really sorry. If anything, he was just messing with me.

"Have you got your review yet?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Pinky tried to stop laughing, failed, and covered his mouth instead. Finally, he managed to calm down.

"No," he said. "You can at least show up for that."

I promised I would, and then a bell rang. An announcer came over the speakers and said,

Attention! Agent P, please report to the practice lair. I repeat, report to the practice lair.

I stiffened. Pinky had had his turn. Now it was mine. Pinky grinned and walked me down the hall. When we got to a fork, he went left and I went right.

Before leaving, he gave me the thumbs up and barked, "Hey, hey! Good luck!"

I gave a quick thank you and hurried down the hall. Today, I was going to really shine. If I just tried hard enough and didn't screw up, I could get top marks. I could be a highly respectable agent, and I could get a worthy nemesis. And I could finally get out of Agent Training, which was basically high school with the addition of martial arts.

I reached the Practice Lair door and stopped. My heart pounded so loud that I was sure everyone would hear. I wished I had a good luck charm or something to squeeze. But before I could get too nervous and run away, the door opened.

There stood Major Monogram, probably looking for me.

"Agent P, where- oh, there you are," he said in his usual deep voice. "Come in, come in. I have to talk to you…sort of a mission briefing, I guess."

I saluted nervously and followed him in another direction down the hall. A mission briefing? Pinky hadn't mentioned such a thing. Maybe Admiral Acronym didn't do this. Or maybe I was special somehow.

When we reached Major Monogram's office, he gestured to a chair in front of his desk. I hopped up into the chair, placing my tail delicately to the side. He sat behind the desk.

"Well, Agent P," he started, "you've been doing extremely well up to this point. You will soon be assigned to a nemesis and go your own way in the world. I wish you luck." As he talked, something changed in his face. He looked almost troubled.

"As you know, most of our agents get an 'easy' level test nemesis," he said, choosing his words carefully. "As you also know, you have put in a request for a 'medium' level."

My tail flicked back and forth nervously. This I had certainly done. I really had done exceptional during my training. The instructors told me so. They said I might just graduate at the top of the class. In fact, Agent D once told me that he expected good things on my part. I'd done my best not to let him down. But my request for a medium level nemesis…well, that had been my doing. I was going to ask for hard, but that seemed like overreaching. Pinky had advised against it, but I countered with, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." It was true, after all. Pinky had merely shook his head when I put in my request. Now I was beginning to worry. What, really, was the difference between me and the rest of the agents? I was sure to be denied. Pinky would get his 'I told you so,' and I would get reproached.

"So, we've considered your request carefully. Wanda rejected it immediately, but she's not your superior," he said, referring to Admiral Wanda Acronym. "So our final answer is…" I braced myself for the flat 'no' that I was sure I would receive.

"We think that you should be allowed to try. Good work, Agent P. Your request is granted!" And he clapped and gave a rare smile.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was glad that I wasn't expected to talk, mainly because I couldn't. If I was able to, I would definitely say something stupid and regret it.

"Now, good luck," continued Monogram, serious once again. "I hope you're ready."

I saluted as a way of confirming this. He opened the door and we both went out. He headed for the stands and told me to go back to the Practice Lair, where I would wait until someone called my name. I nodded. As soon as he was out of sight, I started shaking worse than Pinky. I headed down the hall, breathing deeply and trying to calm myself. As I sat down to wait, I was still trembling, but not as bad as before. Soon, the waiting was over. Then a voice from outside began to call loudly,

Agent P, please report to the Practice Lair. I repeat, please report to the Practice Lair.

I took another deep breath and faced the entrance to the lair. My hand felt numb as I opened the door. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't dreaming, or watching a spy movie. Then I stepped into the ring.

When I came in, deafening applause met my ear slits. My agent classmates filled the stands, cheering happily. They had probably been there at Pinky's test, too, and for that matter, they were probably there for everyone else's as well. I scanned the stands and saw Pinky, cheering loudly in the front row. Suddenly, I was struck by guilt. I could just picture him scanning the rows, looking for me. If only I hadn't tried that flip. I should've known it was too difficult. I shook my head and reminded myself of why I was here. I took a few steps forward. Sound barriers went up between the crowd and me, and my spy watch beeped. I glanced down at it and pressed a button. The screen was blank, but a voice came out of the speakers. It was obviously pre-recorded, and it sounded rather scratchy and over-used.

"Agent P, your mission is to infiltrate Doctor Disaster's lair," said the voice. "Find out what he's up to, and put a stop to it. The best way in is through the window."

The voice stopped. I looked up and saw the low-ceilinged building that was obviously 'Doctor Disaster's' lab. The window looked weak and breakable. I took a breath to ready myself, then charged forward. I jumped with ease and flew straight through the window, sending fake glass splintering everywhere. As I landed, I rolled and tucked my head, and then stood to assume a fighting pose. It wasn't quite as dramatic as jumping out of a helicopter, but that was reserved for pros. I quickly checked the corners of the room, suspecting that someone might be there. I knew deep down that there wasn't anyone there at all, but I checked all the same. Then the door creaked open. My eyes snapped back onto it. A man in a neat-looking lab coat stepped out. Obviously, it was an android. After all, the agency couldn't have us beating up innocent scientists. Or perhaps they reserved them for the higher level agents. The man spoke in a robotic-sounding voice. It was plain to see that the agency's scientists hadn't perfected its audio settings.

"At last, you've arrived," he said. "I'd be glad to show you my evil scheme, but I can see that you're much too busy being trapped." He pressed a button on the wall. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was expecting the mechanical arms from my dream. Instead, a cage dropped from the ceiling. I was stunned. A cage? Cages were the simplest of traps, the easiest of escapes, and certainly not medium level. Had there been a mistake?

Doctor Disaster laughed in a mechanical tone. He began to explain a wild scheme about evaporating all the water on earth, indicating a large ray gun in the corner that was aimed out the window. I completely ignored him and started looking for ways out. The cage, surprisingly, seemed impenetrable. It was definitely tougher than the foam cages we trained on. Just then, I noticed something. The bars bent if you pulled on them hard enough. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was worth a try. I kicked the bars over and over, and soon they were quite dented. Being rather small and skinny, I figured I would be able to slip through. Getting my bill through was rather hard, but eventually I had fully escaped. Doctor Disaster gave a dramatic gasp. I didn't wait.

I rushed forward and swept his feet. He fell with a thump onto the floor, and I sprinted to the ray gun in the corner. There were several buttons on it and a timer counting down in a loud voice. Not seeing a way to stop the machine, I looked for the circuit board. It was a metal panel that looked securely fastened. I pulled at it for a moment before ripping it out. Then I took a pair of wire-cutters from a nearby table and neatly snipped all the wires. The machine began to beep, and electricity fizzed all around it. I backed away and crashed right into Doctor Disaster, who grabbed my arms in a restraining fashion. I kicked his shins, where sensors had been installed, and he let go. I ran for the window, but then something happened that I hadn't expected. Something grabbed my tail tightly. I let out a startled chatter and fell. When I looked back, the android was smoking. Its shins were downright dented. I supposed that was my work. It seemed to be going haywire. That, or it was just part of the getaway. I struggled hard and tried to pull my tail out of his grasp, but his hold seemed to be gradually tightening. It was already pinching me painfully. I winced and struggled harder. Just then, the machine began to smoke. Part of it blew up. I tried to drag myself away from it, but to no avail.

I glanced back again and saw the imminent danger. Mom was going to kill me- if I didn't die first. This wasn't supposed to happen on a practice showdown. It just wasn't. Surely someone would shut off the thing! I should've taken the easy level. What was I thinking?

Actually, I wasn't thinking anything, because at that moment, the entire lab exploded.

With me in it.