CONTROL must locate the diary of a retired agent before KAOS retrieves it first. Max and 99 must team up with retired agents in order to locate both the missing agent and the diary.
Examples:
- Absurdly Bright Light: To view the plans for Spy City, Max insists on using the magna-lamp so as to not miss any details. Not only is the light so powerful that it blinds Max, 99 and the Chief, it also completely disintegrates the paper the plans are written on.
- Bound and Gagged: Gaffer is kept like this on a torture rack in the Spy City Museum.
- Cobweb of Disuse: The entrance to Agent 8's hiding spot behind the dartboard sports one of these. Played for Laughs when he passes a note through it to Max and the paper becomes tangled.
- Curtain Camouflage: Subverted and double-subverted in "Dear Diary": The first time Max notices a pair of feet under a curtain, he tackles it, but it turns out that it was just an empty pair of shoes and that someone is hiding behind the other curtain. Later, when 99 notices another pair of feet, Max tackles the other curtain, only to find there's nobody there and the shoes did in fact belong to someone hiding behind the first curtain.
- Hand Gagging: Employed to kidnap Gaffer from his room without alerting Max.
- The Hero's Idol: Max admits to Gaffer that he is a huge fan and has intentionally copied his "style and technique". He even asks for Gaffer's autograph at the end of the episode.
- Impeded Messenger: Played for Laughs. Agent 8 gives Max a collection of messages that have been waiting to be sent to CONTROL:Agent 8: Listen, I have a big backlog of messages here. Some of them were here when I came, Pinned to the bulletin board.Agent 8 passes Max a message. He reacts in disbelief.Max: "The British are coming"?Agent 8: You'd better get those back to CONTROL right away. They're probably waiting for them!
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: Used by Gaffer to inform CONTROL of his wish to hand over his diary. Max returns the pigeon on his arrival at the retirement home, while noting that it's been a long time since CONTROL received a carrier pigeon message:Gaffer: Oh, we're pretty old-fashioned here in Spy City. After all, this is a retirement home for secret agents.Max: Yes. Is this pigeon also retired?Gaffer: Not yet.Max: Well, he should be. He couldn't find his way back here.
- Instant Sedation: Injected via an oxygen mask, it causes Gaffer to lose consciousness within seconds.
- Kidnapped from Behind: Happens to Gaffer.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Max employs this strategy with the retired agents at Spy City to search for Gaffer's diary.
- Retired Badass: Agnes Davenport, CONTROL's former top security agent. Instead of waiting for Max to produce evidence to prove his status as a CONTROL agent, she knocks him to the ground in one hit and pulls the ID from his wallet out herself. When tasked with assisting in the search for Gaffer's diary, she makes her enthusiasm known:Agnes: Oh, it's great to be back in action!
