Part 9: Breakout
Alex leaned against the wall in the WOOHP laboratory, where Sam was busy looking over charts and maps of Lyrobia. "There's only one airport in Lyrobia... this one." Sam pointed and a small red dot appeared in the middle of the map. "So if she's going there, she has to arrive at this point. And Tassara said she hasn't reached the capitol, so she must not be going there... but then where is she going?"
Alex shrugged. "Maybe she became a sand-hermit." She suggested.
"Even more puzzling... you said those tickets to Lyrobia were never used... but when I checked they said one was." Sam looked back at Alex sternly. Alex didn't blink, even under the full force of her glare. "Care to explain why either you lied to me or the first agent you talked to lied to you?"
"How should I know why the agent would lie to me?" Alex retorted. Sam shook her head and approached Alex, her emerald green eyes boring into Alex's ominously.
"Alex... level with me here. I've never had any reason to distrust you or Clover, but now it seems like everyone is turning around and completely changing. Don't tell me you changed too." Sam's eyes were almost pleading, but Alex couldn't make herself deny it. She'd never lied to Sam before, and she didn't feel any better about it than Sam did. "I see."
"Clover didn't do it... I have faith in her." Alex said firmly. Sam closed her eyes and turned away from her. "And as her best friend you should have faith in her too."
"Faith is only as good as the people you have faith in." Sam replied. "All the hard facts point to Clover's guilt, no amount of faith can change that."
"Then I'm sorry but I can't fight her anymore!" Alex yelled. Sam whirled in surprise, in time to have one yellow boot slam into her jaw, sending her up against the wall with a heavy thud. Alex watched her sink to the floor limply, rendered unconscious by the cheap shot.
Alex quickly turned and marched out of the room, heading down the hall. She was careful not to go into a run lest she draw too much attention to herself, but her pace was quick and sure. She reached the locker room at the bottom of the WOOHP building and rushed up to the row of lockers.
She yanked open Clover's locker and pulled out the red bodysuit with matching gloves and boots. She stuffed them into her heart-shaped backpack, then pulled a small stash of cash Clover kept hidden inside a small lock box. Clover would probably want it when they found her. Alex moved to her own locker and pulled out her cash store before turning to leave the locker room.
She left the locker room and took the elevator up to one of the top floors, emerging and making her way toward the holding cells where Mandy was doubtlessly being kept. She approached the guards in the lobby. "Agent Alex here to see prisoner Mandy."
One of the guards looked down at a small book on the desk in front of him. "We don't have you listed for a visitation or mission." He said confusedly. While he was looking down Alex reached into her backpack and pulled out a small tube with a wire on the end of it. By the time the guards looked up she'd dropped it on the desk and bolted for the door to the cells.
"Hey, stop!" The guards moved to intercept her, but the special tube of Lip-Stick detonated, covering both guards with a layer of sticky white goo. They hit the walls and stuck instantly, struggling against the substance. They yelled for help, but this section of the building was cut off from the rest. Alex ignored them and made her way to Mand's cell.
Karma certainly was a bitch. Mandy'd betrayed Clover by telling them where she went. And now it seemed they'd betrayed her by refusing her what they promised in return for ratting Clover out. She should have never spilled, now Clover was as screwed as she was.
She looked up from the floor when the locks on the thick steel door clicked open and the door swung slowly inward. "Come to take me to a real prison cell or something?" Mandy smirked. Her smirk faded and she blinked in surprise when Alex walked into the room, closing the door behind her. "Alex?"
"Okay, here's the deal. You're staying here, no matter what they told you they'd do. Me, I'm through trying to hunt my best friend like a dog. I want to help her. And I want to give you a chance to do the same thing." Alex looked back at her, putting her hands on her hips.
"Give me a chance?" Mandy pushed herself to her feet. "You want to take me to help Clover? Why would you want to take me? I'm no better than Sam after all... I betrayed her too..."
"Yeah well, so did I when you think about it." Alex stated simply. "I could've gone with her from the beginning instead of playing along with Sam. But I was as much of a coward as you." Alex smiled slightly, showing that she wasn't as mad at Mandy as one would believe. "That's why we both need a chance to make things right and help her."
"Okay... but tell me something. Why does everyone think Clover did it? And how come you believe her while Sam doesn't?" Mandy demanded. Alex looked down at the floor for a moment, then looked up at her with a soft gaze.
"I... really don't know." Alex sighed. "Over the last few days she's become, like, obsessed with finding Clover. It's all she concentrates on, she barely sleeps or eats anymore. It's like she thinks Clover's disappearance was a personal slap in the face to her." She crossed her arms over her chest. "So are you coming or not? I'm not making you leave with me."
"That's probably the stupidest question you've ever asked." Mandy smirked. "So how do we get out of here?"
"With any luck, we walk right through the front door." Alex pulled a pink heart-shaped backpack off of her shoulders and opened it, pulling out Clover's old WOOHP uniform. "Put this on." Mandy took it and looked at Alex curiously. "It was Clover's, but I don't think she'll need it for a while. You should be able to pass for a WOOHP agent in it."
Mandy shrugged and peeled the clothes she stole from Sam's room off to slide into the red skin tight jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots, zipping it up in the front and doing a little twirl. "Do I look fabulous or what?"
"Sure. Here, put these in." Alex suddenly jammed two fingers into Mandy's eyes, depositing a pair of contacts onto them.
"OOOWWWW!" Mandy howled, squeezing her eyes shut as they began to water in pain. "Don't DO that!"
"Ssshhhh!" Alex hissed. "Be quiet! Now I don't have any normal contacts, so those are the M-Ray contact lenses. They were made for me though, so they're brown and should hide your purple eyes." Alex explained.
"M-Ray?" Mandy asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"For seeing through metal. Duh." Alex rolled her eyes. "Now come on, we have to get out of here before Sam realizes I'm gone. I'm supposed to be asleep right now." Alex crept up to the door and opened it a crack to peer through. Asleep? Mandy hadn't even realized it was nighttime. But she supposed that was why they didn't have any windows in her cell.
"Looks like the coast is clear... come on." Alex grabbed her hand and pulled out of the room, closing the door behind them and walking down the hall like they were heading out to an early breakfast. Mandy followed after her, trying to act as natural as possible. They passed a pair of guards stuck to the wall of the front cell block entrance, who yelled curses and threats at them to no avail. They also passed several more people in the hallway beyond, not none of them took notice.
They moved into a large elevator and Alex pushed the button for the top floor. "What are you doing? I thought we were leaving."
"We are, but we can't get out on foot, this is a small island. We have to fly." Alex replied. They both fell silent when the elevator stopped just halfway up and the doors opened. A large, burly man in a black tuxedo and a pair of dark shades stepped in, pressing one of the buttons on the control panel. Mandy stared straight ahead, trying not to look nervous.
The man looked over at her, quirking one eyebrow. "Do I know you?" He asked curiously.
"Mesa no speaka de Englais..." Mandy said quickly, looking away from him aimlessly. She heard Alex slap herself in the forehead, while the guard turned toward her.
"You know that was the most pathetic thing I've ever heard right?" The guard asked.
"Well it was worth a try." Mandy sighed.
"Come on girl, you're going back to your cell." The agent grabbed Mandy's arm. Suddenly Alex held up a small bottle in front of the guard's nose and sprayed it in his face. The agent coughed and covered his mouth. "H... hey..." He collapsed backward to the elevator floor with a loud thud. Mandy stared at Alex in shock, who held up the bottle with a grin.
"Knockout Gas Perfume Bottle, guaranteed to sweep any guy off his feet." Alex stated. Mandy smirked while Alex stuffed the small bottle back into her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders. Finally the elevator reached the top floor and the two girls disembarked, leaving the unconscious WOOHP agent on the elevator. They would be gone by the time anyone discovered him with any luck.
Alex led the way through a few more winding corridors until they found their way into a small office area. Three burly guards similar to the one Alex had knocked out were sitting behind the desk. They all looked up when the girls entered, staring at them from behind those creepy looking sunglasses.
"We need to take one of the jets. Urgent WOOHP business." Alex stated calmly.
"Names?" One of the guards asked boredly.
"I'm Alex... and she's... um..." Alex trailed off, staring at Mandy. Finally she spoke, but Mandy spoke at the same time. "Amanda."
"Mandy." They both blinked and looked at each other again as the guards got suspicious looks on their faces. Suddenly the two girls wrapped their arms around each other and spoke in unison.
"Amandy." They stated, plastering fake grins on their face and gauging the guards' reactions carefully. The guards stared up at them almost pityingly, shaking their heads.
"And what would the purpose of this mission be?" The guard smirked. It was obvious he was toying with them at this point. He knew they were confused beyond belief. Well, Mandy wasn't one to disappoint a fan when they wanted her to put on a show.
"Well you see..." Mandy walked up to the desk and leaned down, gesturing for the three agents to get close so she could whisper to them conspiratorially. "The Easter Bunny has been kidnapped in Rhode Island. We both know how upset the kids would be if they found out, so we're going in to take care of it real discreet like."
"You're not even trying at this point are you?" The agent asked.
"To fool you, no. To buy time, yes." Suddenly Mandy ducked down in front of the desk to reveal Alex standing behind her with some kind of weapon aimed at the agents. A blast of hurricane force winds swept the guards back into the wall with enough force to knock them out, but not before one of them managed to hit the alarm.
Alex looked up as the red lights flashed and the emergency sirens began to blare. "We have to hurry! Come on!" Alex rushed past the desk, running into a large hangar with a wide variety of ships laying spread around the area. "I'll get the hangar door open! You find a jet that works!" Alex dashed toward a nearby doorway.
"How am I supposed to know which one works!? I don't know anything about military aircraft!" Mandy complained, but Alex was already gone. "Fantastic... okay..." She turned toward the long row of jets, all looking completely identical. Hopefully that meant they all worked, so she rushed to the nearest one and ran up the ladder beside it, trying the door.
Locked, naturally. She tried the next jet, with similar results. Next one was the same, but this time something new was added. The door to the hangar burst open and a swarm of men flooded into it bearing rifles and handguns as they swarmed through the room. "Apprehend the escaping fugitive now!" An older man yelled to his underlings. "Remember, do not kill her, we do that and the president has all our heads!"
Mandy jumped down half the portable staircase and ran across the hangar, with an entire squadron of security officers hot on her trail. Suddenly the large hangar door began to lift open, revealing the star-filled night sky overhead. Mandy skidded to a stop right in front of the hangar door and whirled around holding out her arms.
"Come any closer and I jump!" She yelled. The guards came to a stop twenty feet in front of her, staring at her darkly. As she'd thought. If she jumped, they would have to do a lot of explaining to her father. The older man stepped forward with a wry smirk on his face.
"You don't have the guts to do it. You're bluffing." He told her. He was right of course, she would be more likely to shave her head than send herself falling to her death. But it was the only leverage she had... she wasn't sure how she could use it to her advantage exactly, but she had to do something.
"Don't push me. I swear I'll do it just because you piss me off so much." She inched backward a half step so that her heels were half over the edge. The WOOHP agents seemed to take this bluff to heart, backing away from her a few steps with their hands up. The leader in the front didn't seem phased though, he just stared at her with his hands in his pockets.
"Go ahead. Do it." The man grinned. Mandy bit her lip nervously, looking back and down the side of the building. It was a long fall to a sharp rock bed with waves lapping up against it. She looked back at the man, her mouth setting into a grim line as she raised her hands higher and prepared to lean backward.
The roar of an engine was deafening in the large steel room as one of the jets pulled out of the line, turning toward the large mass of people near the hangar door. Mandy's eyes widened, staring over the heads of the agents who turned one by one to see the massive vehicle bearing down on them. In the cockpit Mandy could see Alex gesturing frantically at her.
Yells and cries of panic erupted from the agents as they scrambled to get out of the way, while the leader tried to maintain order, though he too ran for cover. Mandy watched the vehicle speed toward her, moving faster and faster down the long runway. Mandy watched Alex gesture quickly to her silver belt, pulling out the silver heart on the front of hers.
Mandy pulled out the front of her belt, keeping an eye on Alex. She gestured to a button on it, then pointed it toward the ceiling. Mandy gulped as the plane drew nearer. She stepped off to the side, feeling the wind from its twin engines sucking at her body as the aimed the belt buckle upward, holding it out in front of her.
She pressed the button as the plane's wing streaked right over her head. It slammed into the bottom of the wing and stuck, pulling her screaming out along with it as it flew out into the open air outside the building. Mandy was suspended by her belt high above the ocean, screaming and hanging with her back arched and her limbs limp like a doll for a few moments before she remembered she wasn't falling.
When she finally managed to calm herself she looked down at her belt. There had to be a way to reel this thing in and reach the plane itself. Finally she found a small button that pulled her toward the plane slowly. She was careful not to reel herself in near the engines lest she be either sucked into them or blown clear out over the ocean.
"Huh?" She gasped slightly when she heard a loud noise behind her. She looked back to see several of the other jets on their tail, the guns underneath the wings beginning to spin rapidly. "AH! Fasterfasterfaster!" Mandy jammed her thumb onto the reel-in button, but it didn't make it move any faster as gunfire erupted around her.
She screamed in terror as the plane she was anchored to went into a downward spiral, spinning her behind it like a fan blade until the plane righted itself close to the ocean heading in the opposite direction. Mandy took the chance to press the button and reel herself further in, finally reaching the anchor point just a few feet away from the door.
She reached for it desperately, but her head was still reeling from the spin and there had to be at least five door handles in front of her. Worse, She could hear the other jets orienting on them again from behind. She groaned and tried to flatten herself against the wing, anticipating more evasive maneuvers.
She felt the plane tilt upward, flying up toward the starlit sky. Mandy looked back to see the other planes keeping pace with them, until suddenly the plane Mandy was anchored to whirled and arched back down. Gunfire erupted from Alex's craft, forcing the other jets to tear off in different directions while Mandy's spun through the air, sliding closer and closer down to the water until it finally righted itself again.
At last Mandy lunged out and gripped the door handle, yanking the door open and gripping one of the handholds just inside. She pressed the last button on her belt to make the suction stop and pulled herself into the plane, yanking the door closed behind her. She sank to the floor until Alex yelled back at her.
"You alright back there?" Alex called.
"I think my heart's lodged in my throat but otherwise I'm fine..." Mandy called back shakily.
"Good, get up here. I need a copilot." Alex called. Mandy pushed herself up on shaking limbs and made her way into the cockpit, plopping down in the copilot's seat and buckling herself in. "We still have to lose Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest back there." She gripped the stick in front of her and pulled it to the side as bullets flew around them, tearing into the metal hull of the plane.
"And how do we do that?" Mandy asked sharply. "I'm not a pilot, I have no idea what to do."
"Just tell me if the little screen in front of you blinks red." Alex replied, taking the jet into another vertical climb. Mandy looked down at the screen Alex had told her about, to find that it was glowing bright red without even bothering to blink.
"Um... it's red." Mandy stated. Alex looked over at it, her eyes going wide. Suddenly she jerked them hard to the side, sending them hurtling into a random spin as two missiles streaked right past the windshield, vanishing into the dark night beyond. Their plane plummeted toward the water for the third time since they'd taken off. "Are you sure you can be a fighter pilot?"
"No I'm not a fighter pilot, I can barely pilot my car." Alex replied as she managed to get the plane even once again. The radar showed several blips coming up behind them, with the small screen in front of Mandy lighting up again. "But I'm not giving up!"
She jerked the stick to the right, turning the plane to the point where the wings were completely vertical. The tip of their right wing cut into the surface of the ocean as they made a tight turn, coming around behind the three opposing jets and let loose a steam of fire. The bullets plunged into two of the planes' engines, tearing them apart and sending them hurtling into the water, but the third lifted into the air again. The two girls watched it warily, but the flames from its engines faded into the distance without turning back.
"You did it!" Mandy shouted, throwing her hands into the air. "We're alive and free!"
"Wow... I did do it..." Alex muttered in awe. Suddenly she shook her head and got a stern look on her face. "I mean of course I did it. I knew I could do it..." Her shaking voice betrayed the lie, but Mandy didn't really care. She was too busy laughing and celebrating her newfound freedom. She'd expected to be locked up for years to come.
"So, where should we head now?" Mandy asked, leaning back in her seat as her celebration ended. She pulled out the M-Ray contact lenses, no longer needing them to conceal her natural color.
"I'm going to Lyrobia. I said I wanted to help Clover, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I can drop you off somewhere if you want though." Alex looked over at her out of the corner of her eye.
Mandy thought about it for a few moments with her hand on her chin, then sat up straight. "You're right... I may be free, but Clover isn't. And I probably put her in worse danger than she has to be in. I have to try to help her too." Mandy stated. Alex smiled and leaned back in her seat, turning them toward a course for Lyrobia. They wouldn't make Clover go through this alone if they could help it.
TO BE CONTINUED
Alex leaned against the wall in the WOOHP laboratory, where Sam was busy looking over charts and maps of Lyrobia. "There's only one airport in Lyrobia... this one." Sam pointed and a small red dot appeared in the middle of the map. "So if she's going there, she has to arrive at this point. And Tassara said she hasn't reached the capitol, so she must not be going there... but then where is she going?"
Alex shrugged. "Maybe she became a sand-hermit." She suggested.
"Even more puzzling... you said those tickets to Lyrobia were never used... but when I checked they said one was." Sam looked back at Alex sternly. Alex didn't blink, even under the full force of her glare. "Care to explain why either you lied to me or the first agent you talked to lied to you?"
"How should I know why the agent would lie to me?" Alex retorted. Sam shook her head and approached Alex, her emerald green eyes boring into Alex's ominously.
"Alex... level with me here. I've never had any reason to distrust you or Clover, but now it seems like everyone is turning around and completely changing. Don't tell me you changed too." Sam's eyes were almost pleading, but Alex couldn't make herself deny it. She'd never lied to Sam before, and she didn't feel any better about it than Sam did. "I see."
"Clover didn't do it... I have faith in her." Alex said firmly. Sam closed her eyes and turned away from her. "And as her best friend you should have faith in her too."
"Faith is only as good as the people you have faith in." Sam replied. "All the hard facts point to Clover's guilt, no amount of faith can change that."
"Then I'm sorry but I can't fight her anymore!" Alex yelled. Sam whirled in surprise, in time to have one yellow boot slam into her jaw, sending her up against the wall with a heavy thud. Alex watched her sink to the floor limply, rendered unconscious by the cheap shot.
Alex quickly turned and marched out of the room, heading down the hall. She was careful not to go into a run lest she draw too much attention to herself, but her pace was quick and sure. She reached the locker room at the bottom of the WOOHP building and rushed up to the row of lockers.
She yanked open Clover's locker and pulled out the red bodysuit with matching gloves and boots. She stuffed them into her heart-shaped backpack, then pulled a small stash of cash Clover kept hidden inside a small lock box. Clover would probably want it when they found her. Alex moved to her own locker and pulled out her cash store before turning to leave the locker room.
She left the locker room and took the elevator up to one of the top floors, emerging and making her way toward the holding cells where Mandy was doubtlessly being kept. She approached the guards in the lobby. "Agent Alex here to see prisoner Mandy."
One of the guards looked down at a small book on the desk in front of him. "We don't have you listed for a visitation or mission." He said confusedly. While he was looking down Alex reached into her backpack and pulled out a small tube with a wire on the end of it. By the time the guards looked up she'd dropped it on the desk and bolted for the door to the cells.
"Hey, stop!" The guards moved to intercept her, but the special tube of Lip-Stick detonated, covering both guards with a layer of sticky white goo. They hit the walls and stuck instantly, struggling against the substance. They yelled for help, but this section of the building was cut off from the rest. Alex ignored them and made her way to Mand's cell.
Karma certainly was a bitch. Mandy'd betrayed Clover by telling them where she went. And now it seemed they'd betrayed her by refusing her what they promised in return for ratting Clover out. She should have never spilled, now Clover was as screwed as she was.
She looked up from the floor when the locks on the thick steel door clicked open and the door swung slowly inward. "Come to take me to a real prison cell or something?" Mandy smirked. Her smirk faded and she blinked in surprise when Alex walked into the room, closing the door behind her. "Alex?"
"Okay, here's the deal. You're staying here, no matter what they told you they'd do. Me, I'm through trying to hunt my best friend like a dog. I want to help her. And I want to give you a chance to do the same thing." Alex looked back at her, putting her hands on her hips.
"Give me a chance?" Mandy pushed herself to her feet. "You want to take me to help Clover? Why would you want to take me? I'm no better than Sam after all... I betrayed her too..."
"Yeah well, so did I when you think about it." Alex stated simply. "I could've gone with her from the beginning instead of playing along with Sam. But I was as much of a coward as you." Alex smiled slightly, showing that she wasn't as mad at Mandy as one would believe. "That's why we both need a chance to make things right and help her."
"Okay... but tell me something. Why does everyone think Clover did it? And how come you believe her while Sam doesn't?" Mandy demanded. Alex looked down at the floor for a moment, then looked up at her with a soft gaze.
"I... really don't know." Alex sighed. "Over the last few days she's become, like, obsessed with finding Clover. It's all she concentrates on, she barely sleeps or eats anymore. It's like she thinks Clover's disappearance was a personal slap in the face to her." She crossed her arms over her chest. "So are you coming or not? I'm not making you leave with me."
"That's probably the stupidest question you've ever asked." Mandy smirked. "So how do we get out of here?"
"With any luck, we walk right through the front door." Alex pulled a pink heart-shaped backpack off of her shoulders and opened it, pulling out Clover's old WOOHP uniform. "Put this on." Mandy took it and looked at Alex curiously. "It was Clover's, but I don't think she'll need it for a while. You should be able to pass for a WOOHP agent in it."
Mandy shrugged and peeled the clothes she stole from Sam's room off to slide into the red skin tight jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots, zipping it up in the front and doing a little twirl. "Do I look fabulous or what?"
"Sure. Here, put these in." Alex suddenly jammed two fingers into Mandy's eyes, depositing a pair of contacts onto them.
"OOOWWWW!" Mandy howled, squeezing her eyes shut as they began to water in pain. "Don't DO that!"
"Ssshhhh!" Alex hissed. "Be quiet! Now I don't have any normal contacts, so those are the M-Ray contact lenses. They were made for me though, so they're brown and should hide your purple eyes." Alex explained.
"M-Ray?" Mandy asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"For seeing through metal. Duh." Alex rolled her eyes. "Now come on, we have to get out of here before Sam realizes I'm gone. I'm supposed to be asleep right now." Alex crept up to the door and opened it a crack to peer through. Asleep? Mandy hadn't even realized it was nighttime. But she supposed that was why they didn't have any windows in her cell.
"Looks like the coast is clear... come on." Alex grabbed her hand and pulled out of the room, closing the door behind them and walking down the hall like they were heading out to an early breakfast. Mandy followed after her, trying to act as natural as possible. They passed a pair of guards stuck to the wall of the front cell block entrance, who yelled curses and threats at them to no avail. They also passed several more people in the hallway beyond, not none of them took notice.
They moved into a large elevator and Alex pushed the button for the top floor. "What are you doing? I thought we were leaving."
"We are, but we can't get out on foot, this is a small island. We have to fly." Alex replied. They both fell silent when the elevator stopped just halfway up and the doors opened. A large, burly man in a black tuxedo and a pair of dark shades stepped in, pressing one of the buttons on the control panel. Mandy stared straight ahead, trying not to look nervous.
The man looked over at her, quirking one eyebrow. "Do I know you?" He asked curiously.
"Mesa no speaka de Englais..." Mandy said quickly, looking away from him aimlessly. She heard Alex slap herself in the forehead, while the guard turned toward her.
"You know that was the most pathetic thing I've ever heard right?" The guard asked.
"Well it was worth a try." Mandy sighed.
"Come on girl, you're going back to your cell." The agent grabbed Mandy's arm. Suddenly Alex held up a small bottle in front of the guard's nose and sprayed it in his face. The agent coughed and covered his mouth. "H... hey..." He collapsed backward to the elevator floor with a loud thud. Mandy stared at Alex in shock, who held up the bottle with a grin.
"Knockout Gas Perfume Bottle, guaranteed to sweep any guy off his feet." Alex stated. Mandy smirked while Alex stuffed the small bottle back into her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders. Finally the elevator reached the top floor and the two girls disembarked, leaving the unconscious WOOHP agent on the elevator. They would be gone by the time anyone discovered him with any luck.
Alex led the way through a few more winding corridors until they found their way into a small office area. Three burly guards similar to the one Alex had knocked out were sitting behind the desk. They all looked up when the girls entered, staring at them from behind those creepy looking sunglasses.
"We need to take one of the jets. Urgent WOOHP business." Alex stated calmly.
"Names?" One of the guards asked boredly.
"I'm Alex... and she's... um..." Alex trailed off, staring at Mandy. Finally she spoke, but Mandy spoke at the same time. "Amanda."
"Mandy." They both blinked and looked at each other again as the guards got suspicious looks on their faces. Suddenly the two girls wrapped their arms around each other and spoke in unison.
"Amandy." They stated, plastering fake grins on their face and gauging the guards' reactions carefully. The guards stared up at them almost pityingly, shaking their heads.
"And what would the purpose of this mission be?" The guard smirked. It was obvious he was toying with them at this point. He knew they were confused beyond belief. Well, Mandy wasn't one to disappoint a fan when they wanted her to put on a show.
"Well you see..." Mandy walked up to the desk and leaned down, gesturing for the three agents to get close so she could whisper to them conspiratorially. "The Easter Bunny has been kidnapped in Rhode Island. We both know how upset the kids would be if they found out, so we're going in to take care of it real discreet like."
"You're not even trying at this point are you?" The agent asked.
"To fool you, no. To buy time, yes." Suddenly Mandy ducked down in front of the desk to reveal Alex standing behind her with some kind of weapon aimed at the agents. A blast of hurricane force winds swept the guards back into the wall with enough force to knock them out, but not before one of them managed to hit the alarm.
Alex looked up as the red lights flashed and the emergency sirens began to blare. "We have to hurry! Come on!" Alex rushed past the desk, running into a large hangar with a wide variety of ships laying spread around the area. "I'll get the hangar door open! You find a jet that works!" Alex dashed toward a nearby doorway.
"How am I supposed to know which one works!? I don't know anything about military aircraft!" Mandy complained, but Alex was already gone. "Fantastic... okay..." She turned toward the long row of jets, all looking completely identical. Hopefully that meant they all worked, so she rushed to the nearest one and ran up the ladder beside it, trying the door.
Locked, naturally. She tried the next jet, with similar results. Next one was the same, but this time something new was added. The door to the hangar burst open and a swarm of men flooded into it bearing rifles and handguns as they swarmed through the room. "Apprehend the escaping fugitive now!" An older man yelled to his underlings. "Remember, do not kill her, we do that and the president has all our heads!"
Mandy jumped down half the portable staircase and ran across the hangar, with an entire squadron of security officers hot on her trail. Suddenly the large hangar door began to lift open, revealing the star-filled night sky overhead. Mandy skidded to a stop right in front of the hangar door and whirled around holding out her arms.
"Come any closer and I jump!" She yelled. The guards came to a stop twenty feet in front of her, staring at her darkly. As she'd thought. If she jumped, they would have to do a lot of explaining to her father. The older man stepped forward with a wry smirk on his face.
"You don't have the guts to do it. You're bluffing." He told her. He was right of course, she would be more likely to shave her head than send herself falling to her death. But it was the only leverage she had... she wasn't sure how she could use it to her advantage exactly, but she had to do something.
"Don't push me. I swear I'll do it just because you piss me off so much." She inched backward a half step so that her heels were half over the edge. The WOOHP agents seemed to take this bluff to heart, backing away from her a few steps with their hands up. The leader in the front didn't seem phased though, he just stared at her with his hands in his pockets.
"Go ahead. Do it." The man grinned. Mandy bit her lip nervously, looking back and down the side of the building. It was a long fall to a sharp rock bed with waves lapping up against it. She looked back at the man, her mouth setting into a grim line as she raised her hands higher and prepared to lean backward.
The roar of an engine was deafening in the large steel room as one of the jets pulled out of the line, turning toward the large mass of people near the hangar door. Mandy's eyes widened, staring over the heads of the agents who turned one by one to see the massive vehicle bearing down on them. In the cockpit Mandy could see Alex gesturing frantically at her.
Yells and cries of panic erupted from the agents as they scrambled to get out of the way, while the leader tried to maintain order, though he too ran for cover. Mandy watched the vehicle speed toward her, moving faster and faster down the long runway. Mandy watched Alex gesture quickly to her silver belt, pulling out the silver heart on the front of hers.
Mandy pulled out the front of her belt, keeping an eye on Alex. She gestured to a button on it, then pointed it toward the ceiling. Mandy gulped as the plane drew nearer. She stepped off to the side, feeling the wind from its twin engines sucking at her body as the aimed the belt buckle upward, holding it out in front of her.
She pressed the button as the plane's wing streaked right over her head. It slammed into the bottom of the wing and stuck, pulling her screaming out along with it as it flew out into the open air outside the building. Mandy was suspended by her belt high above the ocean, screaming and hanging with her back arched and her limbs limp like a doll for a few moments before she remembered she wasn't falling.
When she finally managed to calm herself she looked down at her belt. There had to be a way to reel this thing in and reach the plane itself. Finally she found a small button that pulled her toward the plane slowly. She was careful not to reel herself in near the engines lest she be either sucked into them or blown clear out over the ocean.
"Huh?" She gasped slightly when she heard a loud noise behind her. She looked back to see several of the other jets on their tail, the guns underneath the wings beginning to spin rapidly. "AH! Fasterfasterfaster!" Mandy jammed her thumb onto the reel-in button, but it didn't make it move any faster as gunfire erupted around her.
She screamed in terror as the plane she was anchored to went into a downward spiral, spinning her behind it like a fan blade until the plane righted itself close to the ocean heading in the opposite direction. Mandy took the chance to press the button and reel herself further in, finally reaching the anchor point just a few feet away from the door.
She reached for it desperately, but her head was still reeling from the spin and there had to be at least five door handles in front of her. Worse, She could hear the other jets orienting on them again from behind. She groaned and tried to flatten herself against the wing, anticipating more evasive maneuvers.
She felt the plane tilt upward, flying up toward the starlit sky. Mandy looked back to see the other planes keeping pace with them, until suddenly the plane Mandy was anchored to whirled and arched back down. Gunfire erupted from Alex's craft, forcing the other jets to tear off in different directions while Mandy's spun through the air, sliding closer and closer down to the water until it finally righted itself again.
At last Mandy lunged out and gripped the door handle, yanking the door open and gripping one of the handholds just inside. She pressed the last button on her belt to make the suction stop and pulled herself into the plane, yanking the door closed behind her. She sank to the floor until Alex yelled back at her.
"You alright back there?" Alex called.
"I think my heart's lodged in my throat but otherwise I'm fine..." Mandy called back shakily.
"Good, get up here. I need a copilot." Alex called. Mandy pushed herself up on shaking limbs and made her way into the cockpit, plopping down in the copilot's seat and buckling herself in. "We still have to lose Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest back there." She gripped the stick in front of her and pulled it to the side as bullets flew around them, tearing into the metal hull of the plane.
"And how do we do that?" Mandy asked sharply. "I'm not a pilot, I have no idea what to do."
"Just tell me if the little screen in front of you blinks red." Alex replied, taking the jet into another vertical climb. Mandy looked down at the screen Alex had told her about, to find that it was glowing bright red without even bothering to blink.
"Um... it's red." Mandy stated. Alex looked over at it, her eyes going wide. Suddenly she jerked them hard to the side, sending them hurtling into a random spin as two missiles streaked right past the windshield, vanishing into the dark night beyond. Their plane plummeted toward the water for the third time since they'd taken off. "Are you sure you can be a fighter pilot?"
"No I'm not a fighter pilot, I can barely pilot my car." Alex replied as she managed to get the plane even once again. The radar showed several blips coming up behind them, with the small screen in front of Mandy lighting up again. "But I'm not giving up!"
She jerked the stick to the right, turning the plane to the point where the wings were completely vertical. The tip of their right wing cut into the surface of the ocean as they made a tight turn, coming around behind the three opposing jets and let loose a steam of fire. The bullets plunged into two of the planes' engines, tearing them apart and sending them hurtling into the water, but the third lifted into the air again. The two girls watched it warily, but the flames from its engines faded into the distance without turning back.
"You did it!" Mandy shouted, throwing her hands into the air. "We're alive and free!"
"Wow... I did do it..." Alex muttered in awe. Suddenly she shook her head and got a stern look on her face. "I mean of course I did it. I knew I could do it..." Her shaking voice betrayed the lie, but Mandy didn't really care. She was too busy laughing and celebrating her newfound freedom. She'd expected to be locked up for years to come.
"So, where should we head now?" Mandy asked, leaning back in her seat as her celebration ended. She pulled out the M-Ray contact lenses, no longer needing them to conceal her natural color.
"I'm going to Lyrobia. I said I wanted to help Clover, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I can drop you off somewhere if you want though." Alex looked over at her out of the corner of her eye.
Mandy thought about it for a few moments with her hand on her chin, then sat up straight. "You're right... I may be free, but Clover isn't. And I probably put her in worse danger than she has to be in. I have to try to help her too." Mandy stated. Alex smiled and leaned back in her seat, turning them toward a course for Lyrobia. They wouldn't make Clover go through this alone if they could help it.
TO BE CONTINUED