AN: Hello everyone and welcome to part 2 of this episode; I hope that you are all well.
As ever my thanks go to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter.
Ola – thanks but as for Beck and Jade... right now we'll have to see where the story takes us as far as those two are concerned.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes, listening to Festus seems on a par with getting help from Trina and Cat (as Tori found out earlier with the zombie make-up)
Darck Ben – thanks
Guest – I'm glad you liked it.
Challenge King – Beck only went to Yerba because he couldn't take Jade to Cancun with him. Since the break-up that's no longer an issue, so he went with his family on holiday instead.
Martial Arts Student – Good spot; I fixed it :-)
TenorSax93 – I think it is the most forgettable of the 'specials' certainly.
Agent-M-0167 – glad to keep you interested.
Pbow – yes, there needs to be quite a bit of suspension of disbelief (and a fair bit more in this part, just to warn everybody!) or you don't have a storyline really for the episode. The song lyrics we've discussed via PM.
Ok, that's everyone so a quick shout out to Fanfiction-Reader-88 for supplying this story's 200th review and an urge for those of you old enough to check out the latest chapter of his Freddie/Trina work, and here's Part 2 and the quest to rescue Tori!
Chapter 35: Locked Up Part 2
Lobby, 'The Yerbanian' Hotel,
Yerba City, Yerba
Monday, 6thApril 2011.
True to her word Jade had come down in the middle of the night to help Cat and Freddie try and find anything that might help Tori. She found the redhead curled up, fast asleep on the couch with Freddie's jacket covering her like a blanket.
"She wiped out about an hour ago," the boy supplied in a soft voice, so as not to wake his girlfriend. She didn't want to go up to bed but once her eyes drooped she went almost straight to sleep."
Jade nodded. "Have you found anything?"
"To free someone who's assaulted the dictator of this island and blinded him?" Freddie asked in a humourless tone; he shook his head sadly. "No, nothing. It was clearly an accident but if he doesn't see it that way then he can do pretty much whatever he likes to Tori."
"So what have you managed to do so far?"
"I called the embassy here; it was closed until morning and, it turns out, they evacuated all but a skeleton staff anyway once the uprising began. I've e-mailed them and will try calling again in the morning but whether they'll be of any use, I just don't know." Freddie's tone was defeated; he stretched before rubbing his eyes wearily and stifling a yawn, causing Jade to look at him with concern. "I called – then e-mailed – the State Department as well so we'll see if they read it – and when; there's no guarantee that they'll get to it in a hurry. I called my mom and gave her some basic details, that I'm ok but Tori isn't. I haven't called the Vegas; I figured Trina should be the one to let her parents know what has happened.
"Freddie," the black-haired girl rested a hand on his shoulder, "go to bed."
"I can't; I need to find something," he protested.
"You'll be no use to Tori if you run yourself into the ground," she insisted. "Get some rest, I'll keep looking and we'll see what happens in the morning, when we might be able to do something more for her."
"You might be right," he conceded.
"You're saying that's a rarity?" she challenged, raising a pierced eyebrow but grinning wickedly at her close friend. "Leave the Cat," she told him as he made to rouse his girl, "let her sleep; if she wakes she can either help me or I'll send her up to our room."
"Ok, see you in a few hours Jade," he took his laptop (Jade would use the redhead's pear pad for her researching), shuffled upstairs and into the guys' room. Robbie was laid uncomfortably close to André and seemed to be shivering in his sleep; Freddie quickly changed into his pyjamas and headed for the other side of the bed.
"Did you find anything?" He almost jumped at the low whisper, turning around to see Sikowitz propping himself up on his right hand side; he crouched down by the chaperone's head.
"Nothing too useful; the embassy's all but abandoned and the trial is likely to be little more than a sham, particularly given who the 'victim' is. I've tried to contact our government; maybe you could contact Hollywood Arts or one of the other teachers in the morning and see what they can do from the U.S.," he suggested.
"Good idea, Freddie, I'll call Mr Eikner in the morning before Trina, Sgrodis and I go to the palace. Now, I think we all need to try and sleep before then," he recommended; Freddie nodded and climbed into bed.
It had been a nervy morning in the lobby; Sikowitz and Trina left before Freddie awoke; they passed the sleeping forms of Jade and Cat in the lobby return and recount tale of what happened. The dark-haired girl still clutched the pear pad tightly; any attempts to disturb it by the more light-fingered of the locals had merely led to a subconscious further tightening of her grip.
Cat awoke to the ticklish feel of a gentle stroking of her hair and face; she smiled, opened her eyes and saw the grinning face of her boyfriend. The girl sat up with a start, gazing around her as she processed the daylight streaming through the windows.
"Oh, it's morning," she observed meekly. "I'm sorry, I was trying to stay awake but…"
"Shh," he cut her off softly. "You crashed around three, don't worry about it Cat. Jade came down and took over; she sent me off to bed too."
"Did you get anything else?"
He shook his head. "Nothing too useful, really. I checked my e-mail and I've not had any replies yet. I got a voicemail from mom, she's checking up to make sure I'm ok now; I called her a few minutes ago. Sikowitz and Trina have gone to her trial, so come on, let's go and have some breakfast while they're gone."
He took the girl's hand and helped her up; they made their way to the restaurant for a reviving meal. They picked a table next to the other members of their party and eyed André in bemusement as he eschewed the plate in front of him and instead seemed to be shaking salt onto a plate and eating that.
"I guess it tastes better than the food they're serving us," Freddie shrugged; Cat giggled her agreement.
Jade followed them into the restaurant a few minutes later, having woken up and the three discussed their progress, or lack thereof, over some food. By the time they had finished, showered, changed and met the others again in the lobby, Trina and Sikowitz were back. Tori wasn't with them and her sister seemed beside herself with fury, so Freddie surmised that things had not gone well.
"What happened?" he asked; Trina took up the story.
Yerbanian Chancellor's Office, Presidential Palace,
Many senior army members and guards were in the office; the boy who tended to André was looking at the chancellor's eye.
"The two of you stay quiet and don't cause trouble, buddy," Sgrodis instructed them as they were shown into the room.
"Where is Tori?" Sikowitz demanded instantly.
"I wanna see my sister," Trina agreed; Sgrodis palmed his head briefly.
"They bring her..." the hotelier told them in a whisper, trying to calm them down.
"Shnitz!" the colonel yelled; Sgrodis ran out of the door. The officer pointed to Trina and Sikowitz and then to a two-seater coach; they shuffled over and sat down.
"Doctor, how is his eye?" the General asked.
"Eh," the boy shrugged; he put a lolly in the Chancellor's mouth and gathered up his bag. "Vetch-goof oz," he told them and made for the door.
"Vetch-goof oz," the General repeated.
"Vetch-goof oz," the others called as guards opened the door allowing him to leave.
The Chancellor stood and threw away the lolly. "Bok-n'voosh!" he yelled.
The door opened and guards dragged Tori, dressed in a bright orange prison jumpsuit, into the room.
"Let me go!" she pleaded. "All I want is to take a shower! Just one shower!"
"Tori Vega," the General began ominously, "you stand accused of assaulting our esteemed chancellor of Yerba. This trial will determine if you are innocent or..."
"Guilty!" the chancellor yelled, pointing off to Tori's right; a guard bent down and whispered to him. "Which way?" he asked.
"Over there," the guard steered him.
"This way?" he verified.
"To the right."
"Right there?"
"This way," the guard steered again.
"Okay. Guilty!" he yelled again, this time pointing at Tori.
"Wait," she begged.
"Now wait a minute," Sikowitz demanded. "This girl is entitled to legal counsel."
"Very well," the Chancellor sighed.
"Ik-boosh-veen!" The General gestured to a man in the room a few feet from the Americans; he reluctantly stood by her side quivering all the time.
"This is my lawyer?" she asked nervously.
"Yes!" the General confirmed. "Yorvis."
"Eh," Yorvis whimpered.
"The chancellor of Yerba has deemed that female guilty of assault upon his eyeball. Do you think the chancellor is wrong?" the General demanded.
Yorvis began to stammer. "No. No, no, no. She is guilty. Guilty." He slid to his knees and crawled off.
"Can I have a different lawyer?" Tori asked desperately.
"Admit you did this to me on porpoise," the blinded despot ordered.
"No, it was just a shoe malfunction," she insisted.
"Admit you did this on porpoise, and your punishment will be not as bad."
"But I didn't do it on porpoise," she continued shrilly.
"Your shoe entered my eye!" he reminded her.
"I know, but..."
"You are guilty! Guilty as charged!" he decided.
"Four years in Yerbanian prison," the General passed sentence.
"Four years?" she asked, horrified.
"Come on," Sikowitz urged.
"This isn't fair," Trina complained.
"My lawyer crawled away," she pointed out.
The Chancellor had had enough; he banged down his gavel, squishing an underling's fingers. "Remove her!"
"Wait a minute!" Sikowitz called as the guards carried Tori away.
"Wait!" Trina begged.
"It was just a shoe malfunction!" Tori wailed as she left.
"This is ridiculous," Sikowitz railed.
"Oh my God," Trina gasped.
"I've got to get a soda," the teacher complained as he and the elder Vega left.
"A soda?" Freddie was incredulous. "That was your concern? You're supposed to be in charge here. Tori trusted you and asked you to be the responsible adult on this trip, she gets jailed for FOUR DAMN YEARS and you're worried about a FUCKING SODA?" He turned on his heel and made for the front door of the hotel.
Cat gasped and tugged at his shirt. "Freddie..." she began.
"Where are you going?" Jade asked.
"To the prison to see Tori," he told his friend. "I need to make sure she's ok."
"Wait, I'll come too," Cat urged.
"Me too," Jade decided; the others wanted to go as well.
Freddie turned and glared at Sikowitz. "Why don't you do something useful – like call Tori and Trina's parents to let them know what's happened and then try the American Embassy again to see what they can do."
"And don't forget," Sgrodis called out from the counter, "you still need to make sing-song tonight."
"SERIOUSLY?" The ex-Seattleite turned to face him. "While Tori's in prison?"
Sgrodis shrugged. "We have deal," he pointed out. "You kids need to sing and dance without your friend."
Freddie just shook his head and stormed out, with the other teens hot on his heels.
Yerbanian Central Prison
It didn't take the teens too long to track down their friend; Tori sat close to the barred perimeter fencing, playing cards with two female prisoners as they approached.
"Uhhh, go fish," she told one of the others.
The prisoner grunted in annoyance; she picked up a tree branch and struck Tori with it, knocking her off her seat.
"Okay, that is not how we play go fish in America," the singer snapped angrily as she struggled to her feet.
The other player stood up. "Careful," she threw her hands out to block the one who had attacked Tori. "She's the one who stabbed the chancellor's eyeball."
The other prisoner's face fell in horror. "Uhhh, I am so sorry."
"Sorry," the other echoed and they turned and fled.
"Yeah, run faster. Uh-huh," Tori called after them; she then rubbed her arm. "Owwwie," she muttered pathetically.
"Pssst. Tori," Freddie whispered.
"Tori," Cat called softly.
"Oh my God. You guys," she saw them by the fence and rushed over to it to greet her friends.
"Hey, Tori," André smiled.
"Awww," Trina eyed her baby sister sadly.
"Prison doesn't agree with you," Jade observed with a small smirk. "You've looked better."
The half-Latina glared at her fellow singer before Freddie diffused the tension.
"Are you ok Tori? What have they done to you?" he asked fearfully.
"Uh... nothing. Well, there was the strip-search which was seriously uncomfortable – all the soldiers leering at me but..."
"It didn't go any further?" he asked, surprise and relief mingling in his tone.
Tori paused and looked at him as she processed his meaning. "Oh. No, nothing like that." He sighed in relief. "Wait, where's Sikowitz?" she asked.
"He's with Robbie," her sister explained. "They're on the phone calling mom and dad, our American ambassador, some lawyers."
"Well, why wouldn't they call..." she was distracted as she looked at her musician friend, eating from a large bowl filled with white powder. "André, what are you eating?" she demanded in confusion.
"Salt," he replied.
"Why would you..." the bewildered girl enquired.
"One of the signs of getting over the moth poison is an extreme craving for salt," her older sibling informed her.
"I hate the taste, but I can't stop," he complained.
"So, has anyone tried to beat you up?" Jade asked her.
"No," she replied defensively. "I've got some street cred in here 'cause they think I'm the psycho girl who stabbed the chancellor in his eye."
"You are," Cat reminded her unhelpfully; Freddie palmed his face a little, causing Jade to smirk.
A rattling on the fence that separated the male and female prisoners caused the others to look across the courtyard.
"Wait. Are those dudes over there?" André asked in surprise.
"Uh-huh," the incarcerated teen confirmed.
"Oh my God, this prison is for women and men?" Trina wailed.
"Yeah, but there's a big fence separating the guys from the girls," Tori explained; they scanned the area and spotted a very muscular prisoner on Tori's side of the fence.
"So you're tellin' me that Freak Show is a girl?" Jade asked; the prisoner in question approached them.
"What are you looking at?" she demanded.
"I'm lookin' at a big stupid lady in prison. What are you looking at?" the dark-haired girl countered cockily, causing her to growl angrily. "Oh, me make big man-lady mad," she taunted. The woman mountain hit the bars with the discarded branch that had earlier been used on Tori. "Oh, good one," Jade mocked. As the prisoner turned and walked away, she called after her, "Hey, call me. We'll go skirt shopping."
"Must you aggravate my fellow prisoners?" Tori asked desperately.
Jade paused for a second, realising that she could be making life harder for her friend. "Sorry, but that was just too easy. She won't give you any problems will she?"
"I hope not," the half-Latina's tone was worried.
"I really am sorry," the other girl insisted, "I guess I'm still grouchy over Beck and that Vaughn tramp and then they're off in Cancun while we're…" she shrugged and looks around them, "well, we're not having as much fun as we hoped to, that's for sure."
"Man, eating salt is gross," André complained.
"Not as gross as the prison food they make us eat in here," Tori countered.
"One time, when my brother was in prison, he told the people in charge that he was a vegetarian, so they gave him special meals," Cat piped up.
"Are you sure he was in prison?" Freddie asked, cocking his head towards her.
"Oh, wait, that was on an aeroplane," his girlfriend amended.
"Will you guys just please get me out of here?" Tori begged.
"We're trying," Trina insisted.
"Everybody's doing everything they can," Freddie told her before dropping his voice. "And, if all else fails, there's the nuclear option."
"Nuclear option?" Tori whispered back.
"I'm still walking on the details but it definitely wouldn't be pretty."
"Hey, Vega," a call came from across the yard, "you wanna play rocks?"
In an uncertain voice, she replied, "yeah, sure."
"How do you play rocks?" Cat asked.
"I don't know," Tori answered in a panicked tone.
'The Yerbanian' Hotel
"So what's the plan now?" Cat asked when the teens had returned to the lobby.
"Sikowitz?" Jade prompted, wanting to know what their teacher had achieved in their absence.
"We're pretty much on our own," he told them. "The Embassy can't or won't do anything; I don't think that the government will either. Your parents," he addressed Trina specifically, "are desperate to get out here but they can't get a flight; it looks like flights in and out of here from the US have now been cancelled – so how we get out is something we're going to have to look at later. For now, though, the only thing I can think of is that we go back to the chancellor and ask for clemency for Tori."
"Great plan," the black-dyed haired girl replied sarcastically.
"Do you have any better ideas?" he asked in annoyance. "We'll go in the morning, see if we can get Tori and then try and get out of here as quickly as we can before anything else goes wrong."
"Well at least we'll be doing something," Cat remarked hopefully as she sat next to her boyfriend; he had remained silent and appeared deep in thought.
Function room
A far smaller crowd turned out to see the teens' second performance on Yerbanian soil. Murmurings from the audience hinted that many of the locals, having heard, of course, about the previous night, were staying away for fear of suffering a similar fate to their chancellor; those that did attend sat at what they deemed a safe distance from the stage.
Cat peeped through the curtains a few moments before their performance was due to begin; her face fell at the empty-looking auditorium before her.
"There's hardly anybody out there," she lamented to Jade.
"So?" the dark-haired girl shrugged.
"So we're performers; we need to perform to people," the redhead argued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Jade gently put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "It doesn't matter. Whether there's one person or a thousand, they're our audience and we have to do our best to entertain them; they deserve that for coming to see us." Cat nodded weakly. "Besides," the taller girl continued, "if you're recording a song or… or a TV show or a movie, how many people do think will be stood there watching as you actually perform that? Remember Freddie's movie? There weren't a huge number of people on set for the scene he was in, were there?"
"I guess not," Cat conceded.
"Let's go out there and do the best show we can. See if these people come back and bring their friends tomorrow, huh?"
Cat's smile widened a little. "'kay 'kay," she agreed.
Despite her words, even Jade felt a little subdued once on stage; the sparsely populated room didn't lend itself to getting her adrenaline flowing. She and Cat did impress with their singing and their performances in general but she was thankful when their final song was over and they were able to retreat back behind the curtain.
Freddie, too, had seemed distracted; not only was he worried about Tori and what might be happening to her in her incarceration, he was also concerned about Sikowitz's plan for the next day. He had his own Plan B that he was busily formulating.
Tuesday, 7th April 2011.
"What do you mean, you're not coming with us?" Jade asked in surprise; she had woken up expecting that Freddie would be leading the demands for Tori's release and now it seemed that he wouldn't even be going along with them. The boy had woken up before any of the rest of them and had already finished his breakfast before they made their way downstairs.
"I'm going to head to the prison instead, to try and let Tori know what's going on and that, hopefully, she'll soon be safe."
"Ok, but why? Won't it be a nice surprise for her when we all show up and let her know that she's free again?" Cat asked.
"It would be, but I'll try and raise her spirits a bit beforehand," he insisted before giving the girl a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you all soon, hopefully with Tori." He then looked Jade straight in the eye. "Look after Cat?" he asked; she nodded.
The teen left the rest of his party to have their own meal and prepare for their trip to see the chancellor, thankful that he'd been able to keep them ignorant of the real reasons for his other plans.
Yerbanian Central Prison,
"Hey Tor," he called softly as he sidled up to the bars where he had spoken to her before.
"Freddie!" she called, skipping over to him. "Are you here alone? Where are the others?" she began to gabble as she looked past him.
"They've gone to see the chancellor again to beg for your freedom," he told her.
"And you didn't go with them?" she asked in a slightly hurt voice; while she appreciated him coming to see her, she thought he'd have gone to appeal on her behalf really.
"Tori," he explained quietly, "the guy is an absolutist dictator. On his order anything can happen."
"I don't follow."
"Look who's gone to appeal on your behalf. A group including Trina, Robbie, Cat, Sikowitz and Jade."
Her eyes widened at her understanding of what he was getting at. "I'm going to die in here, aren't I?" she groaned.
"No," he insisted. "That definitely will not happen – but if he's in a bad mood or unwilling to relent or even if he just doesn't like something that Sikowitz says then he could throw all of them in jail as well and I figured that we needed to keep someone on the outside just in case we need a different plan."
"Your nuclear option," she recalled his words from yesterday.
"Yeah. Hopefully the guy will let you out but if not, I need to check this place and try and find some weak points, without being spotted." He slid a hand through the bars and Tori held it, smiling gratefully at him. "Just sit tight for now Tori; we will get you out of here," he promised. She reluctantly let him go and he began to edge cautiously around the perimeter, looking for any obvious vulnerabilities in it – and keeping out of the way of any guards.
Yerbanian Chancellor's Office, Presidential Palace
By the time the Americans had been granted an audience with the Yerbanian chancellor it was approaching lunchtime; the blinded dictator sat eating a plate of fries as the group waited outside his office.
"Chancellor, the American entertainers are here to see you, buddy," the army general announced.
"Bring them," the despot ordered.
"Mish-kobba!" the general called; Sikowitz, André, Cat, Jade, Robbie and Trina filed in.
"Hi," Cat greeted them brightly, waving happily to the military personnel.
"Chancellor," Sikowitz began respectfully, "we're here to beseech you to let Tori Vega out of your filthy prison."
"No," he snapped.
"Sir, hi, I'm Tori's sister," Trina introduced herself. "And I can promise you she is a good girl. I mean, is she a perfect sister? No. Is she the prettiest or most talented girl in the world? Not by a long shot. Is she..."
"How is this helping anything?" Jade asked in annoyance as the diva went off at a tangent in her request; Trina looked a little chastened and fell silent.
"Look, Tori didn't mean to kick her shoe off and have it enter your eye," André tried to explain.
"It was an accident," Cat agreed.
Robbie, meanwhile, had taken an interest in something else in the room. "Hey, is that a squid in your fish tank?" he asked, intrigued.
"Squid? What squid?" the chancellor wondered aloud.
"He is admiring your okkatapus," the general explained.
"Oh, this is an octopus," the bespectacled ventriloquist noted.
"It was given to the chancellor by the prince of Gooshtavia," the general explained.
"Ahh. When I was 19, I spent a whole month in Gooshtavia," Sikowitz reminisced.
"It is beautiful country," the military leader agreed.
"Is it? 'Cause I don't remember one minute of that trip," the hippy teacher admitted.
"Hey, come on now. Can we all get back to Tori?" the dreadlocked musician urged.
"Please let Tori go," Cat begged.
"We promise you, we'll take her and leave," Jade offered.
"Very well," the chancellor acquiesced to their plea. "I will free Tori Vega. But you must promise to never return to my country ever again."
"It's okay," André agreed hastily.
"No big deal," Jade shrugged.
"No arguments here," Sikowitz backed them up.
"That's cool," Cat smiled.
Robbie, however, was distracted. He was admiring one of the electrically powered music boxes on display in the room; it was heavier than he thought and slipped out of his grasp, landing in the fish tank where it shorted, but not before a lengthy electric pulse surged through the water – and into the chancellor's octopus.
"Way to go, Urkel," Sikowitz shot as the curly-haired boy looked on aghast.
"What? What's happening? What's going on?" demanded the blind chancellor.
"Nothing," Sikowitz called casually.
"Chancellor, your, your okkatapus..." the general sounded crestfallen.
"Tell me fast!" his boss ordered.
"She is dead, buddy."
At this point Sikowitz attempted to make his escape from the room; unfortunately for him there was still a knot of soldiers standing guard outside and they push him back into the room, keeping their weapons trained on him.
"Bring her to me," the chancellor demanded; he began to weep over his deceased pet.
"So should we go and get Tori, or is there like a shuttle bus that'll bring her..." André began casually.
"Aga-yoon-virma-quaz!" the despot screamed, pointing in the group's vague direction; the general blew his whistle; at the sound, soldiers ran into the room and surrounded the group.
The kids and Sikowitz were bundled out of the room; Robbie wriggled free and managed to crawl back into the room.
"No. I don't wanna... I don't wanna go," he pleaded, almost in tears. "Oh, my God," he yelled as they dragged him out again; the group were bundled into the back of a small van along with a couple of armed guards. André was to partially get his wish; they were being driven over to where Tori was. Robbie sobbed and whimpered throughout the journey while Trina and Cat desperately tried to restrain Jade from strangling the ventriloquist.
Yebanian Central Prison
Following their arrival at the prison, the group were lined up against the outer wall. Trina swallowed nervously, briefly fearing that the Yerbanians may just dispense with imprisoning them altogether and deploy a firing squad instead. It didn't happen, of course, instead André and Sikowitz were taken by one group of soldiers while Robbie and the girls were pushed through the nearest door into a small holding area where, again, they were lined up by the wall.
The chief guard walked up and down the line grinning malevolently. He finally halted in front of Cat, grabbed a handful of her red hair and examined it closely. The girl winced a little at the pain from having her hair pulled and was about to speak up when Jade gave her a gentle nudge and slightly shook her head in warning; Cat heeded it and bit her tongue lightly. The guard stepped back, pointed to the red velvet-haired girl and gestured to the room behind him; two of his subordinates seized an arm each and led her through. The girl was knowledgeable, and fearful, enough not to simply believe that this was some kind of an adventure.
As Tori had been earlier, the cupcake loving teen was subjected to a strip search before being handed her prison-issue orange jumpsuit which she readily pulled on under the increasingly leering eyes of the two guards. Once dressed she was pushed out into the main prison courtyard which she frantically scanned, looking for Tori; her face fell as she failed to locate her friend.
Over the course of the following few minutes she was joined in the courtyard by Jade, Trina and then Robbie, rather to the surprise of the girls – as they knew that the male side of the prison was on the other side of the fence. Finally Cat located their half-Latina friend and she called out to her.
"Tori!"
"Guys? What are you all doing here?" Tori was astounded as the quartet trudged across the courtyard to her.
"Ask Robbie," Jade spat furiously; in a trembling voice, the boy meekly explained what had occurred in the chancellor's office.
"You murdered the man's octopus?" she sought confirmation in horror once he'd completed his tale; he nodded weakly as the black-haired girl continued to glower at him. As one they suddenly jumped in horror at the sound of the anguished screams of a prisoner being tortured somewhere nearby.
"Well, I guess he was right about the chancellor and needing a Plan B," Tori muttered under her breath; Jade frowned a little as she picked up a couple of the other girl's words but neither the whole sentence nor the context.
"A year in this hell-hole because you killed his squid!" Jade snapped at Robbie; he quailed under her ire and didn't even attempt to argue over the identity of the marine animal.
"I hope Freddie can rescue us somehow," Cat whimpered.
Jade's demeanour softened in an instant; she wrapped an arm tenderly around her best friend. "He will," she insisted, "don't worry." But it was said with a confidence that she was slightly having to force; the girl believed in Freddie but she had to wonder how on earth he was going to get them out of this place. It was enough to calm Cat though; she smiled gratefully.
'The Yerbanian' hotel
Freddie, meanwhile, had returned to the hotel after visiting Tori in prison.
"Ho, buddy!" Sgrodis shook his head regretfully as he spotted him.
"What?" The boy felt a rising dread within him; he closed his eyes and sighed miserably as the story was relayed to him, swallowing nervously at the thought of his girlfriend and the others stuck in that place. "Plan B it is then," he muttered, heading to his room and getting his trusty laptop.
To Freddie's dismay there was still no reply from either the embassy or the State Department; it appeared that Sikowitz was correct and that they, and now he, were alone in Yerba to deal with the situation. "Looks like I'm going to need to do some overtime to pay off my next phone bill," he muttered as he delved into his bag and pulled out his pear phone. He glanced at his watch and mentally did the sums, working out that it was early afternoon on the Pacific coast and deciding in which order to make the calls he needed to.
"Freddie?" He smiled at the voice as the first call connected.
"Hey Sam; I guess you're surprised to hear from me."
"You can say that again," she agreed. "What's going on? How's Yerba?"
"Horrendous," he admitted, "it's like the worst place on the planet."
"It can't be as bad as juvie was," she challenged.
"Well, the others are all in prison here, so they'd beg to differ I think," he disclosed.
"What? What happened?"
Freddie briefly explained what had happened, as best as he knew; in spite of the situation Sam found herself unable to suppress a laugh at the craziness that had engulfed the group.
"So what can I do?"
"I don't know," he groaned. "You can't fly out here as my hired muscle because they've cancelled all the flights to and from America. Maybe you can give me some tips for avoiding cops and escaping prison that I can pass on to them?"
"If I knew that I'd have escaped from juvie you nub!" she teased. "But there may just be something I can do to help. Look out for a package tomorrow."
"A package?" He was confused.
"I'll write a note with it; it will explain everything, I hope. I'll get on with it now; let me know how it works out."
"Ok. Thanks Sam; say hi to Carly as well."
"Will do," and the blonde rang off; Freddie looked at his phone, wondering what his friend had in mind.
His next call was to his mother; fortunately he caught her on break and was able to bring her up to speed with everything. As he expected, she was panicked by his story and fearful of everything that had happened, despite his assurances that he at least was ok. After that he managed to get through to Mrs West; understandably she was horrified that Jade had been locked up and pledged to do whatever she could to help get her daughter freed. Likewise when he managed to speak to his girlfriend's mother when he called, Mrs Valentine was panicked at what had happened to Cat, though mollified a little as she knew that Freddie would not stop trying until he secured the girl's release, and at least she had Jade to look out for her in there.
There was one more person that he felt needed to know what was going on.
"Freddie?" Again the recipient of the call was surprised.
"Hey Beck, how's Cancun?"
"Great thanks; Alyssa and I are really enjoying the break. How about you guys? How's Yerba?"
"Not good," and again he relayed the tale of what the group was enduring. As he expected, and hoped, Beck was horrified and wanted to know what he could do to help.
"I'm not sure," the short-haired teen conceded, "but one thing's for sure, we're not getting off this island on a scheduled flight if the whole gang are imprisoned. I need to get them out of prison and find some way of getting out of here."
"Hmm. I could talk to Alyssa and see if she can sweet-talk daddy," he pondered. "Maybe his private jet could get you out of there?"
"That's a great idea… that would be fantastic," Freddie agreed enthusiastically. "I'll call again tomorrow and give you an update; you see what you can find out and we'll try and plan something."
"Will do. Freddie?"
"Yeah?"
"Make sure Jade gets out safely."
"You know I will," he promised.
Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza,
Seattle, WA.
"Carls? Can I borrow a few bucks?"
"Aww, Sam," Carly sounded a little annoyed, "did you finish that entire ham already? You know it was supposed to last all week!"
"No, it's not that – though I am kinda hungry," she noted before shaking her head and getting back to the matter at hand. "Listen, Freddie just called from Yerba; his friends are in trouble and I need to help. The only thing I can do is send him something."
Carly stammered and floundered for a little while before Sam gave a quick explanation of what had happened.
"So what are you going to do? What are you mailing him?"
"I 'borrowed' Spencer's shock-pen since you banned him from pranking again," she reminded her friend, "and I'm sending it to him so at least he has some sort of weapon for when he tries to get past the guards and get them out. I've written him a note explaining it all so I just need to get it to him as soon as possible – like tomorrow."
"Of course, we'll go and courier it now." Carly grabbed her purse and the girls raced out of the apartment.
Yerbanian Central Prison, Men's side
Darkness had fallen on the group's first night of imprisonment; André and Sikowitz had been able to claim a bench in a small shelter; they sat there nervously as they surveyed the prison around them. Two prisoners walk past them, dragging a third, unconscious man, along behind them by the ankles.
"Sikowitz," the songsmith began in a fearful tone.
"Yeah?" the teacher responded.
"I'm kinda scared," he admitted.
"We'll be okay," Sikowitz tried to reassure him; he wasn't at all sure that they would be but felt that he had to keep the boy's spirits up for as long as he could.
"Yeah, but what if we don't get outta here? How are we supposed to... what are those guys about to do?" André interrupted himself as a small crowd began to gather ahead of them.
"Hmm... it looks like they're gonna throw rocks at us," the balding teacher observed; the two did a double-take, looked at one another and fled.
"Hey!" the musician called behind him. "We told y'all we didn't wanna play rocks." More rocks were thrown in his direction and he elected to simply keep running.
Eventually they reached the relative sanctuary of their own building, though they both swallowed nervously at the grinning, chuckling men stood before them.
"Don't worry, buddy," one of them chuckled; from their vantage point they could see the girls' side of the prison and their friends stood in a group away from the native prisoners. "Just wait for Friday."
"What's Friday?" André was petrified and not entirely sure that he wanted to know.
"It's when they open the fence and let us visit the girls," another of the Yerbanians explained, laughing seedily as he did.
"I already call the red one," his friend noted, pointing towards Cat; the two Americans looked to one another in horror.
Women's side
"Hey, red hair!" A group of prisoners had called to Cat after they had finished their meal. She had been put on a different feeding time to her friends so she had sat alone with her thoughts and her pitiful dinner during the half-hour allotted to them.
"What?" She smiled at the girls, trying to keep things as friendly as she could, despite the fact that her fears and nerves were mounting once again. "Hi girls."
"You want to join our gang?" the leader of the small group asked.
"I don't understand."
"American – you're pretty and funny." She stood toe to toe with Cat. "Join us," she demanded.
"Uh, ok," the girl shrugged.
"Excuse me, sir? Office sir?" Robbie called; he and the others stood in the corner of the courtyard by the fence. Most of it was barred but there was also a small area of chain mesh not too far from where they were positioned.
"What you want?" the guard snapped.
"Why have I been put on the girls' side of this prison? I'm clearly a boy," he argued; the guard just leered at him.
"Prove it," he spat.
In a defeated, resigned voice, Robbie conceded, "I'll stay on the girls' side. I will stay on the girls' side," he repeated as he walked back towards his friends.
Trina spotted trouble coming their way; she patted Tori's arm nervously. "Large, scary lady coming. Large, scary lady coming."
Tori looked at the woman then turned to Jade. "Great. It's the one you called big and stupid yesterday."
"Whatever. I'm not scared of this chick," the gothic teen shrugged.
The prisoner in question was, though, over a head taller than Jade. She strode confidently up to the Angeleno. "So do I still look big and stupid?" she challenged.
"Alright," Jade fired back. "Listen, hot stuff. You better just turn yourself around and walk away from me 'cause I'm gonna... " The heavy-set prisoner face palmed Jade and easily pushed her to the ground. Unfazed, Jade replied confidently, "I like it on the ground."
The taller woman stared at her and easily picked up a large plank of wood.
"Tori, Tori," Trina was, by now, petrified; her younger sister stepped between Jade and the other prisoner.
"Hey, hey. Hey, hey. Hey. F'zock m'tog."
The woman pointed to Jade. "Ah-bocka-vool."
"She's my friend," Tori replied.
"Yeah. We're really close," Jade agreed readily; the woman eyed Jade threateningly and pushed the plank under her chin.
"You are lucky, American," she snarled before walking off; Tori helped her friend to her feet.
"Thanks for that, Tori," Jade was uncharacteristically grateful.
With a small grin the lighter brunette remarked, "Next time, don't insult someone who might eat you."
Jade smirked back. "If she did, she wouldn't like it."
Cat, having escaped from her 'new friends' rushed up to her old ones. "Hi," she called in a mix of happiness and relief. "Ew. Jade, your outfit's all dirty."
Her best friend fired back sarcastically, "Oh, no. Now I'll never win the prison beauty pageant."
"Wait. They have that?" Trina piped up excitedly; the others looked scathingly at her.
"Where've you been?" Robbie asked her.
"Well, I just had my meal; they put me on a different time to you. And then after, well – I joined a prison gang."
Tori was horrified. "What do you mean?"
"Well, this group of really mean, tough prison ladies said I'm cute and funny, so they invited me to join their prison gang."
"And you said, yes?" Jade was stunned.
"Uh-huh; I thought it was the safest thing to do since they were looking so threateningly at me. I got away after I told the gang ladies I'm gonna make us all special T-shirts."
"Oh my God, Freddie is going to freak when he finds out. You are not leaving my side until we get out of here," the black-haired girl insisted; Cat nodded readily.
At that moment the boy in question sneaked up to the chain mesh behind them. Beck had actually called him back before he got to the prison, with great news. Mr Vaughn was sending his private jet to a local airfield the following night; now he just needed to get his friends free. In a low voice he called out, "Hey guys!"
"FREDDIE!" Cat whispered joyously.
"Oh, my God," Jade smiled at the sight of him.
"Shhh. You have to pretend I'm not here; I'll sneak out of sight," and he shuffled behind more of a walled area where he couldn't easily be seen.
"Right," Jade acknowledged.
"Yeah," Tori agreed.
"Why?" Cat really wanted to see her boy again.
"Because I don't want them to realise that I can sneak in here, otherwise they'll seal it off," he explained.
"I still don't follow," she complained; Jade rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "Are you here to get us outta this prison?"
"I'm working on that," he replied.
"You have a plan?" Cat asked hopefully.
"Sort of. If I can get back here with some wire cutters or something then I can take down enough of the fence to get you girls," he paused as he stole a look at Robbie, standing with them and shook his head, "never mind, that is something for another day – out of here."
"What about André and Sikowitz," Tori pressed.
"I need to check out that side after talking with you guys; I'll do what I can without risking being caught and ending up over there with them. So anyway, are you all ok?"
"I'm fine; I joined a prison gang," his girlfriend told him.
Freddie palmed his head. "Oh, Cat."
"Don't worry," Jade tried to reassure him. "It sounds like she had little choice in the matter – and I'm going to keep a close eye on her until you rescue us."
On the men's side of the central fence, André looked curiously over to the girls. "Who are they talking to?" he demanded. "There's nobody there."
"I have no idea," Sikowitz shrugged. "Maybe they've all gone crazy in here."
"So I'll have a truck tomorrow night," Freddie was concluding his plan. "Sam taught me how to hot-wire so I'll be able to 'acquire' one," he grinned. "Now, there's an access road right behind this building. I'll park up there, sneak here, cut you all loose, see what I can do for the guys then we can get in the truck, head for the private airfield and get a flight out of here."
"You've managed to get us a flight away from here from the private airfield?" Trina was stunned and impressed.
Freddie shrugged modestly. "Kinda."
"Well, how?" Tori demanded.
Cat gasped. "Look, it's my prison gang friends. Hi, girls," she waved with false bravado; they gestured her to come over.
"That's my cue to leave as well then," Jade noted and waved to her friend.
"I'll be here same time tomorrow; be ready," he told the rest of them.
"Freddie, bring Rex," Robbie urged.
"I'll pack ALL our stuff," he told him before addressing the sisters. "I may have to handle your... uh, delicates."
"Whatever." Tori really didn't care so long as she got out of here.
"You can get your hands on mine any time!" Trina fluttered her eyelashes.
Tori rolled her eyes and dragged the older girl away. Freddie waved and sneaked round the other side of the prison.
"Hey. Hey, what's Cat doing?" the half-Latina asked her elder sister.
The redhead was dancing with the other prisoners as Jade looked on; she gave Tori, Trina and Robbie a bemused look. "Hips, hips, wiggle your fists. Hips, hips, wiggle your fists."
"Heeps, heeps, wiggle our feests. Heeps, heeps, wiggle our feests," the prisoners repeated, trying out the moves.
"There you go. You're getting it," she encouraged them.
"Heeps, heeps wiggle our feests."
Meanwhile, Freddie had cautiously made his way to the other side of the prison. "Psst, André," he whispered; the dreadlocked boy looked frantically around him as he recognised his friend's voice.
"Freddie!" he whispered back as he spotted him in the shadows. "Sikowitz, over here," he gestured. The teacher shuffled over.
"Hello Freddie," he greeted him in mild relief. "How are you?"
"Better than you guys," he surmised. "But I think we can do something here," he put a tentative hand on the wire mesh. "There's some of this over there on the girls' side, some here as well so this is the weak point of the perimeter. I'll get some wire cutters, cut through it and make enough of a hole for you to get out of here and we can make a run for it, but it'll have to be tomorrow after dark. Can you sit tight until then? And maybe work on it yourselves if you have the time and privacy to do something?"
"I'll see what we can do," Sikowitz promised. "Maybe there's something that we can steal from the canteen that would help."
Freddie and André nodded.
"So how did you get out of performing tonight?" the songsmith asked humorously.
"Nobody wanted to hear me sing," he grinned wickedly; he was actually a talented singer, even more so having had almost three years of lessons at Hollywood Arts, including some extra lessons as he didn't have to take Spanish class. "Seriously, with everyone in here even Sgrodis wasn't going to demand a performance."
"Freddie? Make sure you get us out of here soon," the musician urged him.
"I'll get you out as quick as I can."
"I mean – before Friday."
"What's Friday?" Freddie's eyes then widened in horror as André relayed what they had been told about Friday night and everything that happens then.
"Promise me that if I can't get you out by then you'll do what you can to keep the girls safe," he demanded.
"You know I will," his friend nodded; Sikowitz made the same promise, though Freddie was a little more sceptical about his word.
'The Yerbanian' Hotel,
Wednesday, 8th April 2011.
"Freddee Bensons?" Sgrodis called to the weary, sleep-deprived boy as he emerged in the lobby the following morning. "Packages for you." He handed him a crudely wrapped couriered parcel which he accepted with a confused expression.
"Thank you?"
Sgrodis seemed to be eyeing him carefully, as if expecting to learn what it was; Freddie, of course, recognised Sam's straggling hand-writing and didn't want his face to give anything away that his friend might have been able to supply to help him.
He kept the package with him while he ate a thoughtful breakfast and then returned to his room to begin packing the group's things. Before he did so, he first tore open the package, looking at the small, silver pen inside it. He fished out Sam's note and read it, his heart leaping as he did.
"Freddie,
This is Spencer's shock-pen. Click it and it delivers an electric shock to someone. Maybe you can find a use for it. I hope it helps.
Love,
Sam"
He grinned and stowed the pen in his shirt pocket; he would be guarding it with his life, thinking that it may just tip the balance. He finished packing the boys' things and then, carefully and as respectfully as he could, he packed the girls' belongings too, moving all the bags to Room 207. He then locked the room and headed for the hotel gift shop, for the next part of his plan; buying a military uniform.
He found it strange that they sold such things in the hotel's gift shop but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. He purchased the uniform and returned to his room, donning it and feeling that, if he pulled the cap down far enough, he could just about pass for a soldier or prison guard. Suddenly the scales seemed to be tipping a little in his favour.
"I may as well try it out now," he muttered and headed through the lobby. Nobody challenged him or appeared to recognise him as he left the hotel and identified the truck that he had earlier ear-marked for 'borrowing'.
Freddie put Sam's lesson into action and soon the engine was running; a couple of questioning looks were sent in his direction but nobody challenged him, perhaps assuming that a guard under a military regime had the right to take whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it.
Once back at the hotel he began to load the bags into the truck. Fortunately Sgrodis wasn't on the counter, as he would perhaps have recognised the luggage, but again nobody challenged a Yerbanian soldier doing what he liked around the hotel.
Freddie parked the truck out of sight and covered the bulk of it under a large tarpaulin sheet. He returned to room 207 and changed out of the uniform and back into his 'civvies' before slipping the shock pen into the guard's costume. He checked his watch. "Now we wait for nightfall," he muttered, pulling out his phone and checking his mail. Unsurprisingly there were e-mails from Jade's mother, Cat's parents, the Vega sisters' parents, his mother and also from Sam. He fired off replies to keep them up to date with how things were going, thanking Sam for her 'gift' and trying to be vaguely reassuring; he didn't know if Yerba had the technology to intercept e-mails but he didn't want to take any risks.
Beck called him early evening to see how things were going; he had checked with Mr Vaughn and the private jet was about an hour out of Yerba. Even the dictatorship was willing to accept visits from billionaires so they were allowing the jet to land at the private airfield unimpeded.
All Freddie had to do was to get his friends out of the prison and to get to the airfield. He ate, dressed in the uniform, made sure the wire cutters were to hand, that the shock pen was there and was ready to go, made sure the two rooms were emptied of all their belongings, got into the truck and headed to see his friends.
Yerbanian Central Prison
Dressed as a guard, Freddie walked boldly around the perimeter; he was unchallenged as he made his way towards the wire mesh portion of the fence and smiled as he saw his friends hovering there, shielding him from view.
"Alright, I'm here," he whispered; they jumped and looked hard at the 'guard' speaking in their friend's voice.
"Freddie!" Cat whispered joyously. "Hi."
"Hey sweetie," he managed to push his little finger through the mesh; his girl wrapped her own around it and they smiled at one another.
"Alright, time for that later," Jade interrupted.
"Right," he agreed and made a couple of incisions in the mesh. "Are you all ok? Nobody's hurt you or done anything to you?"
The girls, and Robbie, assured him that they were all unharmed and untouched; slowly but surely Freddie made his way up the mesh, finally making enough of a hole for the inmates to squeeze through. Just as he thought his luck really was in, a shout came from behind him.
"Hey! What are you doing buddy?"
The girls gasped as the guard approached Freddie menacingly; he instinctively reached into his pocket and drew the shock pen as he spun around. He thrust it at the guard's neck and clicked it, triggering a shock that sent the man to the ground where he briefly convulsed before lying still. The teen crouched down and confirmed a pulse; turning round again he saw that Jade had already forced her way out through the prison fence and was now holding the makeshift doorway in the fence open for the others, though she set it back before they attracted too much attention from the remainder of the prison, fearing that a full-on jail break could be far harder for them to escape from.
"Ok, take the pen and wait in the truck; our things are there." He handed the pen to Jade but she refused it.
"I'll go with you, a bit more cover," she offered. He conceded defeat at her stern gaze and handed the shock device to Trina instead; the Martial Artiste nodded her understanding and began to lead the others to the waiting vehicle.
"Ok, we'll be there soon, with the guys… I hope."
"Be careful," Cat whispered, giving him a quick kiss before they separated.
"Are you sure you coming with me is a good idea?" he asked Jade.
"Yes," she insisted. "At this distance anyone watching would think I was still inside the prison and I can help the others cover you while you do your thing – and I have your back if any more guards come along."
"Ok," he nodded, kneeling down by the mesh on the guys' side. "Hey André, Sikowitz," he whispered. The two Americans spun around smiling as they saw the duo.
It didn't take him much longer to free the boys; again they managed to do so without too many people noticing and made their way cautiously back to the waiting vehicle. Trina stood just outside it, pen in hand and another guard in a heap at her feet. Freddie smiled. "Nice work," he commended with a grin which the diva returned.
The five joined the others in the truck; Freddie started it again and drove clear of the prison, saluting the guard as he passed the checkpoint.
"Halt!" The guard demanded. "Where are you taking them, buddy?"
"The chancellor has demanded to see them," Freddie tried to explain; he reached his hand back and Trina slipped the shock pen into it. "Vetch-goof oz," he hoped they would be allowed to leave.
"Let me check," the guard commented instead. Quick as a flash, as he turned his back, Freddie reached out and zapped him with the shock pen; he stumbled and slumped against the barrier. The brown-eyed boy floored the accelerator and they sped away from the prison as quickly as they could; as the distance between them and the prison increased some shouts punctured the night behind them and an alarm began to sound but he hoped that they wouldn't recognise the truck and that he could lose them by the time he hit the open road.
Yerba City Airfield
To their immense relief they were able to make it to the airfield unchallenged; Freddie handed the guard the papers Beck had sent him confirming that they were taking the private flight and the security personnel nodded, allowing them in. He drove up to the jet and Mr Vaughn's staff helped them to load their luggage and themselves into the jet. Flight checks were done and a quarter of an hour later the flight took off, taking them to their freedom. It was lucky that they did as shortly afterwards a consignment from the prison, who had tracked them down, entered the airfield to apprehend them.
A completely exhausted Freddie reclined in his seat as the jet levelled off at its cruising altitude; his eyes were closed and he lay there wearily, though he smiled as a pair of familiar, soft lips pressed over his own.
"Thank you so much Freddie," Cat, who (like the others) was still in her prison jumpsuit, whispered, unbuckling her seatbelt and shuffling into his lap.
"I'm not sure this is aircraft protocol," he smirked, but pulled her close, "I'll take it though," he finished with a laugh and kissed her deeply again.
"Hey, Benson," Jade called from behind them. "A word please?"
Very reluctantly, Cat returned to her own seat; Freddie struggled to his feet and went to see her, as Cat peered, grinning, through the gap between the seats to see what was happening.
"This is a nice plane you've managed to lay on for us," she observed.
"Yeah, I managed to borrow it for the night."
Jade wasn't buying it. "Whose jet is this?"
"Alyssa Vaughn's dad," he admitted; the gothic girl frowned at the disclosure. "You're seriously complaining? It's got us out of there in one piece hasn't it?"
"Yes," she conceded, "I'd just rather not have to be grateful to her for it."
Freddie grinned. "Then be grateful to Beck; I called him and he helped fix this up."
"Not much better."
"Or be grateful to me then?" he offered.
Jade shrugged. "That'll work," she stood up and pulled him into a hug. Feeling left out, Tori and Trina then did likewise, adding their own thanks to him; Trina in particular tried to pepper his face with kisses, which amused the others no end. After trying to dismiss his efforts as 'nothing', he accepted more restrained thanks from Sikowitz and the boys before returning to his own seat and opening his arms; Cat giggled and wriggled back into his lap.
"Now, where were we?" he smiled; she grinned happily and swooped down to kiss him again, and again, as their flight continued its journey back to Los Angeles.
AN: Thanks for reading. It did need a bit of a suspension of disbelief to work but I hope that didn't spoil things too much for you; I did my best with the material at hand. Anyway, I hope you all come back soon for the next chapter, which I hope will be part of a bumper American Thanksgiving offering from me. Until then, please feel free to let me know what you thought. PD.