New Year’s Eve
11:45PM
Agent McClane had only fifteen minutes to save the world. Time was always against him. The frozen streets were filled with drunken revellers celebrating only God knows what. They didn’t know that the reality itself is about to crumble into oblivion if McClane didn’t succeed in the assignment. Every minute that passed pumped adrenaline into his tired veins. The agent lost contact with Johnson awhile ago, he prayed that she was alive. McClane had Mr Bedlam in his sight. “Mr Bedlam” was an alias, no one actually knows his real name. The only thing that is known about him was that he has a devasting ability to mess with time, space and the fabric of existence. McClane was out of ammo and his only play left was to get close to Mr Bedlam and snap his neck. That plan was proving to be difficult. Mr Bedlam was beginning to disappear into the sea of people meandering towards the Clock Tower for the midnight fireworks. Hope was fading fast.
McClane summoned all of his strength to punch through the thousands of people going the other way. Suddenly Mr Bedlam turned around and locked eyes with McClane. It was over, game over McClane thought. The assailant gave the agent a sinister smile and disappeared. McClane desperately looked around to see where he could have gone to, it was impossible. The assignment was failed. Five minutes to midnight. One thing about McClane was that he didn’t give up until the very last moment. He fought through the crowd and kept his wits about him. If the world ends in five minutes, the agent knew that he gave it all he’s got. The people became increasingly loud and rowdy as it inched closer to midnight. With his heart pounding like a jackhammer, time slowed down. The agent kept powering forward. But he feared that it was too late. McClane noticed that the crowd had froze as though someone pressed the pause button. Everything appeared to be a holographic projection and became transparent. McClane could see Mr Bedlam straight ahead. The agent realised that he could run his hands through the crowd and ran towards the assailant. He knew that he had less than a minute to kill Mr Bedlam. With his fists clenched, McClane was metres away from Bedlam. As he got ready to grab the assailant, everything disappeared, pitch black.
McClane was floating in space except there was nothing. He became blind and deaf because there was nothing to see or hear. He couldn’t be sure for how long he floated in the abyss, maybe a minute, maybe an eternity. He then could feel a massive force pulling him.
The agent jolted up from a vessel that resembled a ceramic bathtub filled with warm water. He took a deep breath like a new born animal as he emerged from the watery chamber and hit the cold floor. A woman in a lab coat put a towel around him. He didn’t recognise her.
The last thing he remembered hearing before passing out was the woman saying “mission failed”.