The Great Heist (Strengthening Mediterranean Ties)

[Inquista]

Saint Dominico, Inquista
November 1st

The Spanish President touched down at Ludovico II International Airport, where a red carpet greeted him at the steps of his plane. When the Spanish President departed from the airplane, he was greeted by the City Guard who lined the red carpet while standing at full attention. The City Guard raised their sabers into the air and saluted the Spanish President. In unison, the City Guard chanted "Pro Sancta Iustitia", before then chanting "Plus Ultra!"

The Spanish President made his way down the red carpet to a black limousine which was waiting for him. The President was carefully ushered inside the limousine by a member of the City Guard. The limousine then promptly rushed to Saint Dominico's Square, where the Archbishop's Palace was located. Small Spanish and EU flags flew from the bonnet of the limousine. After crossing several canals, winding down some narrow roads, and passing by various historical sites, the limousine finally arrived at Saint Dominico's Square. The President was once again met by a member of the City Guard, who helped him step out of the vehicle and onto another red carpet.

A large crowd of onlookers and spectators gathered to witness the occasion. Spectators and members of the public were kept behind red rope that corralled them to the periphery of the square. The Bank of Inquista issued a commemorative coin for the occasion, and small children who lined the side of red rope threw these commemorative coins, alongside chocolate money, into the onlooking crowds. Members of the crowd cheered and waved Spanish, Inquistan, and EU flags as they attempted to catch the commemorative coins and the chocolate coins.

The Archbishop stood at the other end of the square, in front of the Archbishop's Palace. Archbishop Kligenberg smiled keenly as she saw President Aguilar step out of his limousine, and she nodded approvingly as the City Guard saluted him. An orchestra located at the left-hand side of the square began to play the Carmen de Bello, the anthem of the Inquistan Military, as the Spanish President walked down the red carpet towards the Archbishop.

The Archbishop extended her arms out and embraced President Aguilar as he approached her. After a warm hug, the Archbishop politely kissed him on both of his cheeks before then turning to face the crowd and members of the press, who captured the moment of their reunion. It was no secret that Archbishop Kligenberg and President Aguilar were very close personal friends, and that the Archbishop held him in especially high esteem. After making a friendly fuss in front of the cameras and the crowd, the Archbishop straightened herself out as the Inquistan national anthem began to play.

Inquista Triumphantis, Inquista's national anthem, was performed by the orchestra as an Inquistan flag was raised at the centre of the steps to the palace. Shortly after, the City Guard chanted "For Holy Justice" three times, before then chanting, "Pro Sancta Iustitia".

The orchestra then began to play the Spanish national anthem, Marcha Real, as Spanish flags were raised on the left and right hand side of the Inqusitan one. Once the flags were raised and the Spanish anthem was performed, the City Guards chanted "Plus Ultra!" in complete unison.

The Archbishop took another opportunity to wave at the crowd once the flags were raised and the national anthems were performed. The Archbishop blew a few air kisses towards the onlookers and the media, before then holding President Aguilar by his hand and escorting him to the Archbishop's Palace behind them. Once inside the palace, the Archbishop wrapped herself around him one more time and gave him another greeting.

"Ah, Jesús, so good to see you again! It's been a while," Mikaela exclaimed with excitement and a large smile. The Archbishop's smile quickly withered away as a concerned look washed across her face. "Unfortunately, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I'm sure you've heard the latest news? It's all very sad. Even though these aren't good circumstances, I can't imagine having a better ally help me deal with this than you. Maybe the timing of our meeting was meant to be..."

Mikaela gazed into the distance as she delved into deep thought. Suddenly, the Archbishop snapped back to reality and smiled. "I know exactly what to do! C'mon, follow me."

The Archbishop led President Aguilar upstairs and into a large room that functioned as a massive closet. The Archbishop pressed a button next to the entrance and all the clothing racks suddenly began rotating, moving between different sets of coloured clothing. The clothes all slowly replaced themselves with yelloew clothes, then orange clothes, red clothes, and then finally to black clothes. The Archbishop lifted her finger from the button and began studying the room.

"Ok, let me grab you a black suit and some black accessories. Hold on for one minute," Mikalea instructed before surveying the room. The Archbishop grabbed some clothes, handed them to the Spanish President, and gestured for him to change behind a set of mirrors in the corner. The Archbishop grabbed a few items for herself and changed at a different outfit station.

Once the two changed into their new outfits, they met back at the entrance of the room. "You look unrecognizable, yet stunning as always. Ok, follow me down to the car garage."

Inside the car garage, Mikaela carefully studied all of her vehicles. "We need to drive something subtle... something that won't draw attention to us... something that will let us blend in.... something incognito," Mikaela pondered, before catching glimpse of a hot pink armoured all-terrain military vehicle. "Perfect!"

The Archbishop entered a code and the vehicle's door popped open. Mikaela turned to President Aguilar and nodded at him. "Have you ever driven one of these? On the old, narrow, and busy streets of Saint Dominico? No? Ok, well today you will!"

Mikaela hopped into the passenger side and eagerly awaited for the Spanish President to get into the driver's seat. While she waited, the Archbishop turned on a console and entered a GPS destination.

"Alright, I think I owe you an explanation. About an hour ago, I got a message from someone. He simply called himself 'Mr. Gecko'. He said he was a member of an organization known as the Secret Iron Mastermind Pirate Society, also known as the SIMPS. Apparently the SIMPS are the criminals who managed to steal the Jewel of Atlantis off of me without me noticing. Mr. Gecko told me he's some sort of double agent, and he is willing to share some very important and vital information with me, but he wants to meet me in person to talk. I don't fully trust him, which is why I need you to come with me. I've entered the GPS location that Mr. Gecko gave me, and we will go meet him now."

The Archbishop let out a sigh before then smiling again. "Ok, I think we're ready to go. Be sure to buckle your seatbelt."

Mikaela turned on the radio and Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood began to play aloud. "Jesus, take the wheel, take it from my hands, 'cause I can't do this on my own!" Mikaela sang along. Mikaela then turned to President Aguilar, who was steering the duo out of the garage and onto the street.

"While you drive us to our destination, we can chat about some politics. So what's on our agenda?"

[Spain]

Madrid, Spain
November 1st, 2021

"Darling, I can't find Isabel's nappies! Do you have any clue of where they are?" That was the way how the Spanish President, Jesús Aguilar, started one of the most important mornings on his 2021 agenda, the visit to Saint Dominico in Inquista. Rocío, his wife, was getting ready to take the couple's children to school or to the kindergarten, but didn't found the younger child's nappies. The President, who was giving a brief look to his papers waiting to be told by the staff at Moncloa that the car towards Torrejón de Ardoz had arrived, stood up and looked at his wife, then answered: "Errrr... Have you looked inside the wardrobe?" His wife nooded, so the President kept talking: "Then let me look at Isabel's bedroom, maybe they are there".

Aguilar went to his little daughter's bedroom and found them. He saw that not many were left, so he took the whole packet with him and went back to his room: "I think we will need to buy some more, but we will do with these until tomorrow". His wife thanked him and then said: "Don't forget to send me a message when the plane lands in Saint Dominico. You know I am always nervious when you have a flight and I am not with you". Aguilar nooded and tried to calm down his wife: "Nothing bad is going to happen, darling. Today I will be flying on the new Airbus A350, we have decided its maiden voyage to be from Torrejón to Saint Dominico. Isn't it a great way to prove you love a country and that you take care of every single thing?". Before Rocío was able to answer, a member of the staff interrupted the couple: "Good morning Mr. President, First Lady. Jesús, the car has just arrived, they are waiting for you in order to depart towards Torrejón de Ardoz". The President got his suitcase, gave a kiss to his wife and her little son and followed the member of the staff to the main entrance, where the car was waiting. He entered and the vehicle moved, the trip had just started.

---

Presidential Plane
Mediterranean Sea, somewhere near Red Croatia

During the flight, the President had a chance to read the Inquistan and the Spanish press, obviously prioritising the Inquistan one as he was going to arrive into the Mediterranean country in less than an hour. Everything looked normal, until he saw the latest news from Archbishop Kligenberg and managed not to spit out his coffee as a result of the surprising headline: "Mikaela is engaged? And someone stole her Atlantis' engagement ring? You must be cruel to steal a ring to Mikaela, poor her..." Said the President to himself with his face still having a surprise expression. He could not believe what he was reading, but he wondered who it could be, and a name came onto his name. However, he discarded it immediately: "No, he could not have stolen the ring to Mikaela, that would definitely mean the end for him."

The flight continued on its way to Inquista, while Aguilar thought about the summit and the robbery of the Archbishop's Atlantis jewel...

---

Saint Dominico, Inquista
November 1st, 2021

Finally, the plane landed at Ludovico II International Airport and the President came down the plane, observing the red carpet and the City Guards that were awaiting for him. He had received some protocol lessons about Inquista days before the summit, so he managed to respect it perfectly. He enjoyed the meticulous preparations and the City Guard's protocols, yet he could not avoid smiling when the Spanish motto, "Plus Ultra", was chanted.

During the trip, Jesús looked through the limousine's window in an attempt to discover more about Saint Dominico and Inquista. The canals, the narrow roads of the city and the breathtaking historical sites, which made Saint Dominico a special city next to the Mediterranean Sea. He also didn't forget to send a text message to his wife, because if he didn't, he would have some problems at home tonight.

When the limousine came to an stop and the door opened by a member of the City Guard, he exited the vehicle and thanked the Guard for his help. He was shocked by the atmosphere, as he would have never expected so much people in Saint Dominico's Square, to whom the President waved and smiled. The press took photos of the Spanish President making its way through the square towards the Archbishop's Palace, where Archbishop Kligenberg was waiting. He also smiled when he saw Mikaela, as Jesús considered her one of his best friends.

Both hugged and kissed on eachother's cheeks, while the press managed to take photos of the moment. Then, he stood next to the Archbishop to listen to the Inquistan anthem and to see the ceremony that was taking place. Then, the Spanish anthem was played, and Aguilar couldn't avoid to take his hand to his chest while listening to his country's anthem. This was something his advisors had told him to do, specially during the complex times the Kingdom was going through. But the President, who liked to do things whenever he wanted and however he wished; decided that doing it in Inquista would not bother anyone and that would mean a lot to the orchestra. They played the anthem extraordinarily well, and he smiled to the members of the orchestra when they stopped. Along with the Archbishop, Jesús Aguilar waved at the crowd and then, both made their way into the palace.

"It is been a while indeed, Mikaela, so nice to see you once more," the President said smiling. When the Archbishop told him about the latest news, those he had already read during his flight, his face turned into a concern expression. "The news are not the ones I would have loved to hear today, Mikaela, I cannot even imagine how valuable that ring is for you. And of course, I am here to help you find it, I am pretty sure that we will manage to find the person who stole your ring like a coward. I can't believe someone could do that to you, you need to be very cruel and rude in order to do that." The President added, while he was led by Mikaela to the massive closet. There, the Archbishop picked some clothes for him, and Aguilar looked at himself on a mirror: "If there is something that must be said about you, Mikaela, that obviously is you have good taste for clothes combination. But what is all of this about?" He asked, while he followed Mikaela to the car garage. The hot pink armoured all-terrain military vehicle was far from being discreet, nevertheless Aguilar, who answered to the Archbishop's questions, took the wheel and listened to Mikaela's explanations. "Interesting, Mikaela. Do you have any clue on who that Mr. Gecko could be? Anyway, whoever the SIMPS are, we will manage to get the jewel back." Said the President confidently.

When asked about the agenda, Jesús didn't know what to put first, there were so many things to speak about with the Archbishop. But someone came onto his mind, like the light bulbs that turn on inside your mind when you have an idea. And Jesús, who was not new into the diplomatic and political world, decided to bring it up: "Well, the situation in Spain is not the best, I must confess it. The Strait of Adventuranza is giving me some intense headaches, but I am very confident about everything right now. There have been rumours all around Europe about Spain, saying that we were tempted to shoot ships and that we were wishing to head into a war... All misleading, as you already know. Since we applied the tax on the Strait, things have turned for the better and our studies concerning the flora and fauna gave better results than those we made before the tax; not to mention how happy the autonomous communities are with the taxing methods and their competences over it. Both the GSSA and the ASMSA have helped to increase self-governance and it still has some nice impact on those communities." verbalised the President of the Spanish Government.

"Nonetheless, I am very pleased that Inimicus and Icholasen are supporting our actions, since the beginning of this 'crisis', to give it a name, I knew I could count with them. I would also like to know what's your position on the matter and of course, if you would be willing to release some statement supporting my cabinet actions. I give you my word, something which isn't needed as you know how Spain works; but anyway, we are not going to shoot a single thing on that Strait. Adventuranza is fully Spanish, why would we do that?"

[Inquista]

"Of course, I would be more than happy to release a statement in support of the Spanish straits. It's important, especially now in 2021, that we support rights for all, including the straits. Strait rights need to be protected, and Inquista stands with Spain on this. Here, let me message my good girl Anja Emerett. She's our Secretary of State. She'll put out a statement for us," Mikaela mused as she took out her phone and began to furiously text the Inquistan Bishop Secretary of State.

After texting Bishop Secretary Emerett, Mikaela politely helped President Aguilar navigate the streets in their hot pink all-terrain military vehicle. Pedestrians and civilians on the streets stopped and gazed at them at every light and corner they stopped at. "Ugh, I can't believe people are staring at us," Mikaela sulked. "I think you're doing a great job driving us Jesús, I really do, so I don't want to blame you, but... I think people are judging the way you're driving, so be careful."

Eventually the two reached the location of the GPS destination. They pulled up at empty parking garage. A man in a trench coat stood ominously in the middle of the darkened parking area. The Archbishop and the President parked in an empty parking space, got out of the vehicle, and strutted towards the man in their disguises.

"Your Holiness... Archbishop, is that you?" the man asked hesitantly with a confused inflexion in his voice.

"No. I'm Michael," Mikaela answered with an unsubtle voice. "I know you wanted to meet with the Archbishop herself, but considering the situation right now, she couldn't come in person, so she wanted me to come personally meet with you."

"Right... and is that... President Jesús Aguilar of Spain?" the man further questioned.

"No! That's Joaquín," Mikaela abruptly protested.

"Right, right. Ok. Well, I'm Mr. Gecko. I'm a member - or was a member, I should say - of the SIMPS. I've been a double agent for a long while now, and I've been feeding information about the SIMPS to an organization known as The Institute."

"The Silas Kligenberg Institute for Child Illiteracy?" Mikalea questioned.

"Correct."

"They're a... uhh.. non-profit organization," Mikaela whispered to President Aguilar in an unconvincing tone before turning her attention back to Mr. Gecko. "Yes, I've heard of them."

"Unfortunately, the SIMPS just recently found out I wasn't SIMPing enough, and they very nearly killed me, but I managed to escape with my life. Anyway, I'm very familiar with their heists, and I heard that they were planning to steal the Jewel of Atlantis for weeks now. I believe I know the location of the safehouse in which they may be keeping it. However, it's very heavily defended and it's under a lot of surveillance. Even if the location were to be overwhelmed, the Jewel of Atlantis would very quickly be taken by a get-away person and stashed somewhere else. Besides, the location also has a lot of valuable 'goods' that The Institute is interested in, so we won't want any police interference. That why there's only one option: the jewel needs to be retrieved from the inside, undercover," Mr. Gecko explained.

"You... want us to go undercover and retrieve it? Is this what you were going to suggest to the Archbishop?" Mikaela wondered.

"Yes. Well, I was going to suggest that she also wears a beret, sunglasses, and a mustache-"

"Ok, ok, why don't you change your name to Mr. Smart Guy?," Mikaela responded before quickly recomposing herself. "Alright, we'll do it. It's obvi there is no other reasonable or logical thing to do. So, how can we infiltrate it?"

"First, you will need to become an initiated members of the SIMPS. I'll give you the location of a place where they do recruitment. Once you manage to become a member, contact me. Call me on this cellphone. It has my details in it, and the location of the recruitment den," Mr. Gecko instructed as he handed a razr flip phone to Mikaela.

Mikaela took the cellphone, nodded at Mr. Gecko, gave a look to President Aguilar, and then turned and marched back to the bright pink vehicle. Mikaela turned on the console and entered the next GPS location as President Aguilar got into the driver's seat and then reversed the vehicle out of the parking garage.

The destination wasn't that far away. After going down several blocks and taking a few corners, the pair arrived at what seemed to be some sort of sketchy gym. It was seedy, unkept, and covered in graffiti. A very large, muscular man with a shaved head stood at the front of the door to the building and seemed to be keeping guard.

Mikaela hopped out of the vehicle and waited for President Aguilar to join her by her side. The Archbishop then walked up to the man. "Hi, we're looking to come in," Mikaela stated coolly.

The man looked Mikaela up and down with skepticism, before then grabbing her fake mustache and yanking it off her face.

"I'm sorry, but only men are allowed inside," the bouncer growled.

"You didn't even ask for my pronouns," Mikaela shrieked defensively.

"Your pronouns? Fine, what are they?"

"He/him."

"Alright, alright, you can come in," the bouncer relented with embarrassment.

Mikaela gave President Aguilar a cheeky look and the two were let inside the sketchy recruitment den. "It's good to know even organized crime in Inquista is very woke and politically correct," the Archbishop commented.

The inside of the den revealed itself to be some sort of underground fighting or boxing establishment. The pair were immediately confronted by another large man who questioned their intention of visiting the den. Once the two explained they were looking to join a certain organization, they were directed to a room in the back of the gym.

The backroom contained a boxing ring in its centre. A bulky man approached the Archbishop and the President, and threw a pair of boxing gloves towards them. Mikaela caught the gloves but then promptly handed them to President Aguilar.

"So you two want to join the SIMPS? Well, first one of you must defeat an existing member in a boxing match. Which one of you is going to fight?"

"Jesús, I- I mean, Joaquín will," Mikaela smiled as she volunteered the Spanish Preisdent against his will.

"Alright, put the gloves on and enter the ring," the man instructed. A few moments later, a large, tattooed person entered the room. He appeared to be some sort of semi-professional boxer. He entered the ring and waited for President Aguilar to join him.

Mikaela helped the Spanish President take off his suit jacket and mask, and helped him prepare to enter the ring. "You got this, Joaquín! Show him who's boss!"

[Spain]

"Thank you very much for your support, Mikaela. I knew I could also count with you and Inquista on this minor affair. You know how much I do appreciate you and your country, and to be honest, you are giving a fresh and attractive look to Inquista since you became Archbishop, I must commend you for that and recognise your great work, as a friend but also as somebody who likes to follow how countries in our region evolve with the time." Jesús exclaimed honestly, while he drove the duo to wherever the GPS were taking them. He then followed Mikaela's advice to drive carefully, just to avoid taking all the pedestrians' attention to the hot-pink armoured military car.

When the Spanish President and the Inquistan Archbishop met with Mr. Gecko, the President just decided to let Mikaela speak and arrange everything with the man. To Aguilar's eyes, Gecko was very intelligent and Mikaela was too, as she managed to avoid the duo being recognised by the suspicious and former member of the Silas Kligenberg Institute for Child Illiteracy. The Spanish President started to think and talk to himself once more in his mind: "What does Silas have to see with this? Would he have stolen Mikaela's precious jewel?" His Sherlock Holmes vein, a novel character he was a huge fan of, started to appear all around his thoughts. As the conversation ended, the duo got back into their vehicle and drove to the location they were given.

Of course, what Jesús Aguilar did not expect was to be given the honour, or the bummer, depending of your point of view over the matter; to fight against who seemed to be a semi-professional boxer against his will. The President looked at Mikaela with a confused but confident face. The place was strange, certainly a site he would not return ever again, but Aguilar would do whatever to take Mikaela's jewel back. Before the fight started, he prayed for his life; he had never boxed before, but had seen some combats live and on TV as some Spaniard was comeptiting. He attempted to remember what he saw, how everything worked before the fight.

"OK, are you both ready?" the first man asked, with both contenders nooding seconds after. "Ready, set go!" exclaimed the man, making the fight start.

Jesús moved around the ring, waiting for the other boxer to kick first. However, if there was something the President was good at, was at dodging kicks from other people. The first boxer made his attempt, and Jesús was fast enough to avoid it and answer back with a powerful right kick on the boxer's cheek.

"Oops, I guess somebody will need to go to the dentist after this." said Jesús, seconds before receiving a good dose of karma and being hit on his stomach twice by the semi-professional boxer. While he was being hit and moved around the ring, the Spanish President was studying his opponent, and decided to give him a nickname, Yuri Uglyace, a mix of the words Ugly and face; but he wasn't able to see where to hit him.

"C'mon Yuri Uglyace, try to hit me!" Said Aguilar, while Mikaela looked nervously and cheered Jesús: "Go Je- I mean Joaquín, you have got this already!" Suddenly, Yuri gave a strong kick to Jesús that nearly let him KO. Mikaela suffered with the kick, could even feel the pain of it despite the fact she was not fighting.

Aguilar looked exhausted, like he was just about to fell, but he did not want to surrender yet, and exclaimed: "Yuri Uglyace, you are uglier than a shark!" Yuri went mad, so mad he attempted his infallible hit. When he was just about to hit the President, the Spaniard moved and hit him on his side and then, raised his leg fast and violently to hit Yuri on his noble parts. The hurt Yuri felt was incomparable to the one Jesús had felt way before, and Yuri was declared in a KO state.

"So, you are though this test, but there are more to come. Please, let me carry him to the infirmary while you recover. I will be back in 10 minutes", the first man said while he aided Yuri to stand up and both left the room.

When both men were far enough for the Spanish President and the Archbishop not to be heard, Aguilar shouted in excitement: "We did it Mikaela!! We are through to the next challenge!" the President said in excitement and celebrating all around the room. Mikaela celebrated along him, and handed him a towel while she celebrated on her own personal style.

"Had you ever boxed before?" Mikaela asked. "No, I had not, this was my first time. Don't tell anybody, but sometimes it feels really good to hit someone, who knows if I will take this sport instead of tennis." said the President while laughing and being aided by Mikaela to put his costume back. Jesús Aguilar then decided it was a good chance to discuss something else that was on the summit agenda:

"Now that we are alone, I believe it is a good chance to discuss something else we had in today's agenda. As you know, I really believe on Mediterranean ties and values, and our lifestyle, which is recognised as one of the best all around the world, because of our climate, our diet and our personality, along with other characteristics. I have thought it would be a good idea to push forward a Union for the Mediterranean, that would enhance cooperation between us. We would obviously need to meet again to define what this is going to be about and include the other country in the Mediterranean, Gania. What do you think?" the President asked, before adding something else; "oh, and if you want to discuss something on your agenda, this is also a great moment to do so."

[Inquista]

"Oh, some sort of Mediterranean Union sounds great!" Mikaela exclaimed as she helped put the Spanish President's suit jacket back on. Mikaela straightened the jacket, placed his tie around his neck, and began to tie it together. Once the Spanish President looked like he was ready once again to battle in the political arena, and not a literal boxing boxing arena, the Archbishop sighed with relief. Even though Mikaela was an enternal optimist, in absolute honesty, the Archbishop wasn't sure if President Aguilar could defeat Yuri Uglyface, who really seemed like a tough brute. However, the Spanish President's resounding victory made Mikaela more confident than ever that President Aguilar was unstoppable.

"I think a Mediterranean Union would definitely allow us to cooperate in the areas where the EU is lacking right now. Like, the political situation in Europolis is kinda harsh, and I don't think many people see eye-to-eye, ya know? The EU simply isn't willing to work to address common issues, work on common projects, or integrate or standardise anything, because of, you know, national sovereignty, and yadadada," the Archbishop explained with a smile. "That's where this Mediterranean Union could come in. I definitely think we should set up a meeting with Gania. This actually sounds like something that Firoux would be quite interested to help you with. Firoux has always pushed for further integration, and I know from his European Council days that he's also always ready to draw up new treaties or pieces of legislation, so you can deffo count on him to lead Inquista in that department."

"Between our previous treaty, and Inquista joining Telum, I don't think there's too much else for me to add until we sort out this Mediterranean Union. I will say though, that all this drama with Yosai has been kinda interesting. Do you know Maya Angelou? O-M-G, she is like a total genius. She writes great books. I don't read them, but I listen to the audiobook versions while I do my morning yoga. Why read books if you have good looks, am I right? Anyway, she has this saying which is 'when someone reveals who they are, believe them the first time'. I think it's very revealing during this crisis who is willing to back their allies, and who are not. Apart from Inquista, obvi, it's very telling that Inimicus, Montenbourg, Icholasen, and Gadalland and Aspern were also willing to support Spain, while others haven't. The fact that in Telum, the UD and DU have not, is something to remember. I also think, within the EMU, I'm not sure if Fremet or Vayinaod are really committed to working with the rest of us - I don't think even like the idea of the EMU. We need to better organise who our true allies are. Anyway, this is just info to keep in the back of our minds for now."

The Archbishop handed President Aguilar his mask, shades, and hat, which he was able to put on again to conceal his identity. Even though the Spanish President was now an amateur boxing champion in the underground fighting sport scene in Inquista, his identity had to be concealed for the sake of the mission at hand. Moments later, the large man who prepared the fight re-entered the room.

"Congratulations on your victory, Joaquín. You're in," the man said as he then slapped President Aguilar on his back. "As for you, you're lucky that your friend has a strong uppercut. You're in too," he said as he then proceeded to slap Mikaela on her back.

"But there's still one thing left to do. All members of the SIMPS have to cover themselves in our tattoos, so that we can identify you as official SIMPS members. You will need to get the official SIMP stamp, and you will also need to cover your entire upper body. Those are the rules."

Mikaela looked at President Aguilar nervously and then whispered to him under her breath. "Don't worry, I know this person that does great laser tattoo removal. I once got a tattoo of Prince Tommy's face somewhere... interesting... after a night out in Ibiza. Getting a tattoo and then getting it removed will hurt quite a lot, but it will be worth it - we need to get my engagement ring back."

The Archbishop then looked at the man. "Alright! We're ready to get tattooed and become members of the SIMPS!"

The burly man led the victorious duo out of the boxing room and back into the main room, and then down a dark staircase in the corner to the basement. The basement was a dark and damp dwelling. The dark basement was organised into tattoo studio, which looked so sketchy that there was at least a 40% chance the Archbishop and the Spanish President would get infected with hepatitis from the tattoo needles.

Mikaela forced a fake smile and followed the large man to one of the tattoo chairs. The Archbishop sat herself down, and her seat was quickly retracted into a position where she was lying on her back. The man proceeded to put on gloves, grab a tattoo pen, and then immediately began tattooing various things onto the Archbishop's body. Once Mikaela was done, it was President Aguilar's turn. After President Aguilar's rounds of tattooing, the large man congratulated the two gang-inductees in becoming official SIMPS. "Welcome to the Society!"

After letting out a satisfied sigh, the man got up from his seat and departed from the basement. The Archbishop and the President stood together and admired themselves in the mirror. "So... what do you think?" Mikaela wondered.

[Spain]

"I am glad you like the idea of the Mediterranean Union, Mikaela. As you have said, we have another Mediterranean nation which is Gania, a nation we both don't know very well. Maybe, my friend Firoux and Alfonso Dastis could travel there soon and get to know more about them, before deciding if they are ready to join our Mediterranean Club. The Vatican is not part of our sea, but maybe inviting them could be a great idea? Who knows, maybe we could get a direct ticket to heaven when we die," the Spanish President said while Mikaela aided him after his tough and hard combat against Yuri Uglyface. The adrenaline was decreasing, but the Papacito would never forget. When Mikaela mentioned all the trash arguments these new anti-Europeists, like the President liked to call them, gave on the Council, he spoke once more: "I hate when these Councillors start saying 'national sovereignty' and a wide range of nonsensical excuses. Maybe we should start thinking on some sort of a poster on the Europolis' EU applications office that says 'Don't enter if national sovereignty and that stuff is more important to you." The President then laughed slightly.

The conversation kept going as Mikaela and Jesús Aguilar spoke about the drama with Yosai, the European Monetary Union and Telum Treaty, something the Spanish President wanted to hear Mikaela talk about carefully. Even if many considered the Inquistan Archbishop as someone who was not prepared to run a country, an opinion Aguilar deeply disagreed with; she had great advices for everyone, specially her allies and close friends. Discussing those topics with Mikaela was not just comforting, but also a liberation. The diplomatic relationship between Inquista and Spain, as the personal relationship between Jesús and Mikaela, were close enough to trust each other in times of need. When the Archbishop concluded, the President answered: "Maya Angelou is such a fantastic writer, I have read some of her books. My wife loves them, by the way, we need to get to a library when we take the ring back, she asked me for Maya's newest book. And you are right, Mikaela, all of this stuff has been very helpful to check who Spain can rely on for many topics, who our most loyal allies are and more importantly, to get to know our neighbours. The revealed who they are, so did the United Duchies which confuses me every day, my cabinet is not very happy how things are turning out with them. And about the EMU, the latest news from Fremet are concerning, and if we take into account that Vayinaod has not reported anything about it... we could call that worrying. But as you know, Mikaela, there is a Spanish idiom that says "El tiempo pone a cada uno en su lugar", which translated to English is something similar to 'time will tell the tale'. And it will, we just need to wait for everything to turn back to normal, and believe me when I say that when Spain is hit by someone, it comes back stronger than it was before."

The President got ready with the aid of Mikaela and got congratulated by the man. He smiled to Mikaela, as he finally seemed the jewel recovery closer. Nonetheless, his smile did not last for too long, as the man had some fresh news that hurt, and that was a literal thing. But the President felt relieved when Mikaela told him about the laser tattoo removal: "As long as it works, the pain will not matter. I think it's more hurtful to be hit by by Yuri." The President laughed nervously. Both got their tattoos and then admired theirselves on the mirror. At first, before getting all the tattoos, the President tought it was a bad idea; but some of those tattoos looked amazingly: he loved the Spanish bull one along with the "Spanish waters" tattoo and the arrow pointing to that place. "At least we have got taste for these, Mikaela. As always, so I am not surprised that you chose the best tattoos of the book. Yours look amazing too, and we are officially SIMPS! Now that we are in, do we have any new clue from that man we met before we entered this building?" asked Aguilar.

[Inquista]

"Oh, let me contact him," Mikaela answered as she pulled out the phone that Mr. Gecko gad given her. The Archbishop then quickly decided to put a hold on that idea, since they were still in the basement of the building, and she wasn't sure if there were cameras monitoring them. The Archbishop then gave the Spanish President a sideways glance and gestured for them to leave the building. The pair got dressed in their disguises and walked up the stairs to the main floor of the building, where they were greeted by their newfound SIMP bedfellows who congratulated them on joining the organization, before then nonchalantly walking outside.

Once outside, the Archbishop pulled out the phone again and texted the only contact on the phone, which was Mr. Gecko. "We're in!" she messaged him. Within seconds, Mr. Gecko replied, giving her the coordinates of a 'drop box'. Mr. Gecko also warned that the duo had 5 minutes to input the coordinates of the drop box, as his text message contained a virus that would corrupt and destroy her phone so that it could never be traced or used again. The Archbishop turned to the Spanish President and gave him a smile, "Ok, we're ready to rock and roll. Onto the next location! Quickly!"

The two undercover gang members returned to the pink armoured vehicle which had now racked up a series of various parking tickets and traffic violations that were plastered across the windshield of the car. "So rude of people to leave this on the hood of our car! How will we be able to see?" the Archbishop pondered out loud as she swiped and yanked the fines off of the car and on to the ground. The Archbishop then hastily put the coordinates of the drop box into the vehicle's GPS, which she managed to do successfully before the phone was corrupted.

The pair then drove off and sped to the drop box location, which was just a few turns and minutes away. The drop box was a mailbox located in front of an abandoned building. The Archbishop hopped out the car, walked to the mailbox and grabbed the parcel inside, and returned to the vehicle where she unpacked what was inside. The parcel contained a note which gave the coordinates to the SIMP safehouse location, which was believed to have the jewel. The parcel also contained two C-4 explosives and a detonator, which were instructed to be used to blow open the safe containing the jewel. The note also instructed the pair to take everything found within the safe, but gave no further information.

The location of the safehouse was some distance away, located near the docks of the Saint Dominico Port. As the duo then made their way to the location, the Archbishop decided to put the radio on blast as they listened to A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. "Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound," the Archbishop sang along. "Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, making a way through the crowd", Mikaela belted as she shimmied her body in her seat, "and I need you, and I miss you, and now I wonder..."

After some time, the two pulled up nearby to a large warehouse that was located just about a kilometer away from the city's commercial docks. The pair made sure to park a block away from the warehouse so that their bright pink getaway vehicle wouldn't be too noticeable. Mikaela took out the two C-4 explosives and stuffed them into the cups of her bra. The Archbishop then examined her chest in the vehicle mirror. "Not bad, actually..." she thought out loud. The Archbishop then turned to the President and explained their plan of operation.

"OK, so we get inside, stick together, locate the safe, blow it up, grab my stolen ring and whatever else is inside, escape back to our vehicle, and then we rush off back to the Archbishop's Palace. Sound good?"

With the plan confirmed, the Archbishop took a deep breath, admired her C-4 sized chest one more time, and then hopped out of the vehicle. The pair walked down the block to the location of the warehouse, where they were met by a series of guards and ruffians that stood outside. Mikaela and President Aguilar walked up to the biggest guard, who stood squarely in front of the entrance to the warehouse. The guard looked them up and down before then letting out a grunt. "Eugh. Tattoos?"

The Archbishop and the President pulled down the tops of their shirts to reveal the SIMP tattoos that were etched across their upper chest. The guard nodded. "Good. Now, what's the password?"

The Archbishop froze in shock, Password? She wasn't given any password. Mikaela tried to hide her panicked look as she glanced to the Spanish President, before then turning to the guard. "The password is... password?"

The guard look at the pair sceptically before then letting out another grunt. "Eugh. Correct. You may enter."

The entry into the safehouse was a success. Now moving on to the next part of operation: finding the safe. For whatever reason, music was blasting over the intercom of the safehouse, which added to the ambiance of the operation. A number of gangsters and armed thugs walked around the warehouse, which was buzzing with activity. People were moving, packing and unpacking different types of crates and boxes, all of which probably contained drugs or stolen goods.

A large thug armed with a massive rifle quickly approached the Archbishop and the President, who didn't seem to fit in. "What's your order of business?"

"Oh, you know.... uhh, business. There wouldn't happen to be a certain stolen jewel of the Archbishop stored in here, would there?" the Archbishop asked, before then turning to the President and whispering. "You gotta be subtle. Watch and learn."

"Yes, what a coincidence! We do in fact happen to have to the Archbishop's stolen jewel," the thug responded.

"Well, you don't happen to also know where it is? We need to find it," the Archbishop asked rather suspiciously.

"Take a left down that passage there, go right, then go right again, and it will be in the first door you see," the thug explained thoroughly.

The Archbishop thanked the thug and immediately set off with the President. "See? Subtlety. Totally incognito."

The pair walked down the passages and made it to the door to the saferoom, where another person stood guard.

"Kind sir," the Archbishop began. "We would like to go inside this room, please."

"What's your business inside?" the guard asked with scepticism.

"Boss gave us... uhh... jewel polishing duties. We gotta keep 'em sparkly," the Archbishop replied with little confidence.

"That makes complete and total sense, please go inside," the guard replied as he opened the door for them to enter.

Finding and entering the saferoom? A success. Now it was time to rob this gang blind and retake the Archbishop's jewel. Mikaela scurried to the large safe which was built into the wall of the far side of the room. The Archbishop pulled the C-4s out of her bra and tied them to the safe. The Archbishop then grabbed the Spanish President by his hand and then two ducked down under a desk that was located in the other far corner of the room. The Archbishop held her breath, squeeze the President's hand, and then counted down from three before detonating the C-4 explosives.

A deafening bang errupted from the room as the C-4 explosives were detonated. A loud alarm also immediately began to ring over the intercom. The Archbishop quickly got out from under the desk, along with the Spanish President, and she pulled him through the smoke to the now-open safe. The safe was stuffed to the brim with countless pieces of jewels, gems and exquisite relics. The Archbishop and the President immediately began lining their entire outfits and bodies with the contents of the safe, which was collectively worth probably a billion Inquistos. As she was stuffing her bra with jewels and jewelry, Mikaela noticed her ring, which contained the Jewel of Atlantis, and she immediately put it back on her ring finger. Once the pair were done looting, they darted outside the room, where the guard stood directly before them, pointing his rifle at their faces.

The Archbishop mimicked the Spanish President's great uppercut that he displayed in his earlier boxing match, and sent the guard flying to the ground. The Archbishop kicked his rifle to the Spanish President, and then grabbed a handgun that was attached to the side of his waist. Now armed, the two ran down the halls to the entrance of the warehouse. A small army of armed guards and thugs lined the entire entry room of the warehouse, waiting to confront the two intruders. They began shooting once the heroic duo returned to the entrance room, but the two dodged and weaved through the bullets. Mikaela began shooting back as she raced to the entrance doorway, hoping she would only hurt some of the thugs, but not kill any of them.

The two somehow managed to dodge and scurry through various waves of bullets, and then the two jumped over a line of armed gangsters that were crouching behind cover. The two darted out of entrance of the warehouse and then made a run for it. More armed guards were waiting outside and were shooting at the duo as they sprinted to their vehicle via a serpentine running pattern. The duo eventually arrived to their pink armoured getaway car that was a block away, but they were still being shot at. Luckily, the vehicle was bulletproof. Once inside the vehicle, a barrage of bullets were sprayed across the vehicle, which remained steadfast for now. Wasn't the Archbishop a genius for selecting this vehicle all along? Undoubtedly.

"Jesus, take the wheel! Floor it! We need to return to the Archbishop's Palace now!"

As the Spanish President made a go for it, suddenly a few armoured SUVs appeared just behind them. The windows of the SUVs rolled down and some gangsters leaned out, pointing their guns at the vehicle, and began shooting, aiming for the tires of the car, which were vulnerable.

[Spain]

Jesús took the wheel once more, and he pushed the pedal hard enough to make the pink armoured car go faster than any regular traveller around the roads of the busy capital city of Inquista. He led the SUVs full of gangsters to one of the main Inquistan highways so there would be a lower risk of crashing into somebody if they ever managed to shoot at the vehicle's tyres: "You know Mikaela, the highway was made to go faster than a Formula 1 car while being outside the track" said the President, whose phone started to ring. Mikaela picked the call up for him and pushed the button so that Aguilar could answer:

"Hello?" Asked the President in English, but suddenly a female Spanish voice cut him: "Hello? Seriously Jesús? I am your wife, not a foreigner!" He realised quickly who it was, while the President kept the two hands on thw wheel and the gangsters started to get closer. The shots could be heard on the call, and his wife did not take a long time to listen to them: "Wait, are they shooting you? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Aguilar immediately answered: "No no no! They are not shooting me or Mikaela, we are on the Archbishop's Palace having some nice time, Mikaela is eating cookies!" Then the President made a sign to Mikaela to speak like if she had her mouth full of cookies to give some veracity to his arguments: "Ywe Ms. Awuilar, we are aving a ood pime!" Aguilar's wife believed them, as the Archbishop was a great actress, but the shooting kept going and asked again: "What is that loud noise?" Aguilar, who was looking how the gangsters got closer and making dangerous maneouvers, answered again: "Fireworks darling, fireworks! It's like the Andalusian romerías when they depart from their town, Inquistans are very happy to have me here! Why would they be shooting at us, like if we had stollen a very important jewel!" Said Aguilar while laughing along with Mikaela, to whom he needed to buy something for the great role she was playing.

"Okay. Well, I need to hang up as I am leaving to work now. See you later!" Said Aguilar's wife, then hanging up. "That was a close call" said the Spanish President that made the armoured vehicle go faster than ever before. After 5 minutes, the gangsters couldn't be seen by the mandataries couple, so Aguilar decided to take the closer exit to go back to the streets of Saint Dominico. Everything was going fine, it seemed like they both had done it, so Aguilar decided to accomplish the traffic regulations and stopped on a red light while playing some Queen's music. "It seems that we have lost them Mikaela! Vamos!" Celebrated Aguilar, but the gangsters made an appearance and started to shoot again. Jesús took the wheel and accelerated, skipping the red light and nearly crashing into someone. The chase kept going through the narrow streets of the old town, with people shouting all around the town and running away when they heard the shots of the gangsters. "I believe it was too soon to celebrate, Jesús!" Said Mikaela, with whom Aguilar agreed. They finally arrived to the Archbishop's Palace, and entered the parking, with the gangsters giving it up and turning the other way around to avoid a huge incident.

"We are finally here, and thanks to God we have not died on the way" said the President, turning off the car. He exited the car and opened Mikaela's door, offering her his help to come down from her pink armoured vehicle. The Spanish President added: "I love the vehicle Mikaela, you really made a great choice. Where did you buy it? I might need to tell my secretary so we can get one or two for my personal use" He laughed slightly.

[Inquista]

"I'm not sure which Inquistan military manufacturer made the vehicle, but I can order one for you! It'll be my present to you, for driving so successfully and saving our lives. I can have it made in red, and you can call it the Spanish Bull."

The Archbishop stepped out of the vehicle and began wobbling. The high speed chase was quite wild, and despite the Spanish President's great dexterity and driving abilities, the high speed of the vehicle still resulted in the Archbishop being thrown around in her seat. Mikaela walked over to a nearby column and proceeded to vomit out of motion sickness. The Archbishop felt light-headed, but better. She returned to the Spanish President.

"I feel bad for lying to your wife, but I think you made the right call. We don't want her to worry her. She'd never let you visit Inquista again! That would be a shame."

The Archbishop reached into her bra and pulled out a diamond and a ruby, and handed it to President Aguilar. "Here, you can give these to your wife as a present. Hopefully that means she will let you come more often."

The Archbishop and the President made their way from the garage back to the main floor of the Archbishop's palace. To their surprise, two figures were seated in the main floor waiting for them. Silas Kligenberg sat on one seat, and opposite to him, sat Mr. Gecko.

"Mr... Mr. Gecko, is that you?" Mikaela asked in surprise.

"Yes, Your Holiness," Mr. Gecko responded coolly.

"We don't have time for chit-chat. Did you get your jewel back?" Silas interjected.

"Yes, I did," Mikaela announced as she fumbled around with her chest again, and pulled out the Jewel of Atlantis, presenting it to everyone.

"Perfect. Well, I am glad you got it back. As for the other jewels, thank you for collecting those for me. I needed them," Silas smiled.

"Woah. So it was you who set us up with Mr. Gecko? And... wait. You wanted us to rob all these jewels. Was this your plan?" Mikaela questioned in shock. The Archbishop then proceeded to cover her mouth in astonishment. "Has this whole ordeal been your plan all along?"

Silas let out a light laugh. "I may have given an anonymous tip to the SIMPS that you would be wearing a certain jewel to a Halloween party... but it was no big deal. I knew you would not be harmed. I also knew if they did end up stealing it, they would bring it back to wherever they kept all their other stolen artifacts, which I could then intercept for some nice profit later. I must say, you did some great work," Silas commented as he looked the Archbishop and President up and down, admiring how much loot they were carrying.

Silas got up from his seat. "Now that these shiny goods are in our possession, we can finally call the police and have their warehouse raided - while we get to keep all the treasures they collected. Better yet, the SIMPS will now be out of business, which will also be good for us. Great idea, isn't it? You can thank me later. Feel free to keep some nice things from the collection for yourself, but please, leave the rest on the table," Silas nonchalantly commanded before getting up from his seat, taking out his phone, and walking out the room. Mr. Gecko quickly followed.

Mikaela gave President Aguilar a surprised look. She was still in so much shock. Mikaela then proceeded to dump all of her loot on the table, and then took out the Jewel of Atlantis. "Well, at least we got this back. I can't wait to put this back on my ring," the Archbishop stated with relief.

After pocketing the jewel, the Archbishop then pulled out her own phone and made a quick call to a dermatologist who specialised in tattoo removal. The dermatologist showed up within minutes, and set up and impromptu tattoo removal station in the middle of the palace. The President and the Archbishop completed their tattoo removal session, and admired themselves in a mirror.

"Honestly, you should maybe consider getting that Spanish Waters tattoo later for real, it was iconic," Mikaela commented.

A Czech maid descended down the stairs with the original outfits that President Aguilar and Archbishop Kligenberg started out their day with. It was finally time to ditch their disguises. After getting back into their regular clothes, the President and Archbishop met at the front door of the palace.

"Well, Jesus, it was so great to have you visit today. I hope we were able to talk about everything we needed to. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about before you go?"

[Spain]

After accepting the new "Spanish bull" vehicle gift from Mikaela and the shock of finding the Archbishop's brother and Mr. Gecko's involved on the operation that nearly costed Jesús Aguilar and Mikaela Kligenberg's lifes and their tattoo removal session with one of the greatest dermatologists of Inquista, to whom the Spanish President would be always pleased with, both walked together to the main door of the Palace: "You know what Mikaela? If we ever get our claim with us again, I'll have the Spanish Waters tattoo and get on a ship around the Strait of Adventuranza showing it. I will surely send you some pictures of that epic moment, you will surely enjoy and, who knows, get your "Spanish waters" tattoo as well! You had great taste for choosing the tattoos, by the way, so thank you."

The couple reached the main door of the Archbishop Palace, where the summit would soon come to an end, and where the whole adventure started a few hours ago. The President started to check if everything he wanted to speak about had been brought up, and suddenly he remembered about the Treaty of Finisterre, the European Monetary Union and its currency, the EMU. Along with Spain and Inquista, Montenbourg and Fremet were members of that treaty, and Leagio was an observer state which high chances of being a new member of it. Jesús mind was fast enough to react and bring the topic up:

"Actually yes, Mikaela, I had forgotten about something we needed to speak about. You mentioned the EMU and the Treaty of Finisterre a while ago, but I forgot about asking you about its implementation in Inquista, along with the possible acceptance of Leagio into the Treaty. We both are aware about the hold Fremet's Central Bank applied, and we have no news from neither Vayinaod or Montenbourg on its application. As I am due to have summits with them all, I wondered if you could hand me some details about how everything is going with the EMU around Inquista".

[Inquista]

"The EMU has like, already entered full circulation, and has already been the official and main currency of Inquista for quite some time now. The Inquisto should be completely phased out within a few more months. Like I said earlier, I wish our partners were more proactive and transparent about this as well.

I support Leagio joining the EMU, T-B-H! I'm fully on board with accepting them as members."

[Spain]

"Great, it is nice to hear that from you Mikaela. I am glad that, as you said, we are the ones making all the progress and putting all our interest on this very attractive and beautiful project which is the EMU and the Treaty of Finisterre. Maybe we should do a party when the Inquisto says goodbye? Think about it, I can always book some disco at Ibiza to celebrate it." Said the Spanish President, who also noted the Archbishop's thoughts about a possible Leagioan entry into the Treaty of Finisterre, which would need to be approved by all signatory states.

Regretably, all fun comes to an end in a moment or another, and the time for this meeting to end had arrived. Jesús had enjoyed his hours at Inquista, the whole adventure and time spent with Mikaela as well as the fun she always guaranteed made Inquistan-Spanish summits or viceversa more interesting than they possibly could have been during the Craticus era:

"Well Mikaela, I now have to leave. Thank you very much for this treatment and welcoming you have given me today, it has been a huge honour and a pleasure to help you find your Atlantis jewel, although I believe Mennrimians would say it never existed. -said Jesús, laguhing slightly- I have had a lot of fun with you, and I hope that, the next time we see, I can offer you as much fun as you have offered me today. Maybe I will take you around Spain on my brand new Spanish bull vehicle, when it arrives! Have a nice end of the year, and I hope to see you again pretty soon." Said the Spanish President. Both mandataries then kissed on their respective cheecks, and Jesús left for Spain once again.

The summit had ended, but the Inquistan-Spanish relationship and, more importantly, the one between Jesús and Mikaela, had become stronger than it was the day before.