Part 19: A Desperate Ploy
Mandy's eyes fluttered open slowly, staring up at the sunny sky overhead. She could feel sand beneath her body... she was laying on a beach. She could feel a soft wind running over the moist exposed skin of her arms and legs. She sat up and rubbed her head, looking around. She spotted Alex kneeling down by the water, staring out across the waves. They both looked up when they heard a jet engine pass by overhead.
The WOOHP jet faded into the distance quickly, and Mandy looked down at Alex again, who'd finally noticed she was awake. "Hey, glad to see you up. I was afraid you might not... I know I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the Aqua Lips." Alex stood up and walked over to her, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you feeling okay?"
Mandy opened her mouth, letting a small waterfall tumble to the sand before she could speak. "I'll be fine..." She panted softly. Alex smiled and rubbed her back to help her get all the water out of her lungs. "Where are Clover and Tassara? Did they make it?"
"I don't know. I didn't see them in the water anywhere when I went to look for them..." Alex replied. Mandy sighed and closed her eyes, knowing it was very possible that they'd been lost to the ocean.
"Great..." Mandy shook her head.
"What to do now..." Alex mused. "Well we're outside America... I guess we could get a small place in the mountains somewhere and become hermits or something." Alex joked with a slight smile. Mandy glared up at her, wiping the smile from her face. This wasn't the time to be cracking jokes.
"We get to London... like they wanted us to." Mandy pushed herself to her feet. "You have any modes of transportation for two in that backpack of yours?" She asked.
"Two I can do." Alex pulled the backpack off her back and opened it, pulling out a small board. She pressed a button and it expanded into what almost looked like a high-tech surfboard. She dropped it to the sand where it floated above the ground, small jets attached to its backside.
"Is there anything you don't have a gadget for?" Mandy asked ironically.
"Just call me Gadget Girl." Alex grinned. She climbed on the hovering surfboard, with Mandy jumping onto it behind her. She wrapped her hands around Alex's waist to keep from falling off.
"So I assume this thing makes getting across rough terrain easier?" Mandy asked curiously.
"Across nothing, we go over!" Alex exclaimed as the Rocketboard took off into the air. Mandy yelped in surprise, squeezing Alex's waist tighter as they flew straight up the side of a mountain, clearing its sharp peak with only inches between them and it. They flew across the landscape with a trail of smoke the only evidence of their passing.
Britain was a beautiful place to pass over, craggy mountains and rolling hills as far as the eye could see other than when they passed what looked like a large city. They checked to make sure it wasn't their destination, but alas the sign read 'Welcome to Bristol' rather than 'Welcome to London'. So they passed it by on Alex's jetboard.
Soon the day faded to night, for though the jetboard was fast it wasn't fast enough to cross a country in a single day. So Alex landed them in the middle of a large grassy glade, and just in time too. As they approached the board started sputtering and choking and they flat out dropped the last twenty feet to the ground. They hit the grass with hard thuds.
"Ow..." Alex sat up, rubbing her head and shaking grass out of her hair. "Guess we ran out of fuel..."
"We're gonna have to walk the rest of the way." Mandy sighed. "Oh well, at least we didn't fall from a hundred feet." Alex nodded in agreement. The night came upon them shortly, cloaking them in a sea of starlight. It was a fairly decent night. They lay on the grass comfortably, gazing up at the stars like a pair of old buddies up on a hill with nothing better to do.
"Do you believe in aliens?" Mandy asked absently.
"Sure. Met 'em once." Alex replied off-handedly. Mandy looked over at her strangely. "They speak French."
"Riiiight..." Mandy shook her head and looked up at the stars. Maybe the years of working as a spy had gone to Alex's head. At least Clover had managed to remain sane through it all.
"Do you think Clover and Tassara are alright?" Alex asked more relevantly. Mandy didn't really want to think about it. The possibility of their deaths or their making it to shore seemed equally likely to her. The thought of Clover floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean sent a shiver down her spine.
"I'm sure they're fine." She lied. "Clover seems like a pretty resourceful and strong girl."
"Yeah, she is." Alex agreed with a nod. "Well, we have some walking to do tomorrow... so goodnight." Alex rolled onto her side, resting her head on her hands and started snoring within seconds. Mandy looked over at her enviously. She wished she could just pass out on command like that.
Mandy stared up at the starry sky again, thoughts running through her mind like water through a leaky dam. Clover had finally forgiven her last night on the boat... and then they had to jump off the damn boat. Madison had warned them, so that meant she was still safe with Sam and Brittany... but how long she would stay that way was anyone's guess. For all she knew they'd caught her... done horrible things to her...
She shook her head vigorously. Madison was fine. She had to be, and so was Clover. They'd meet up again eventually after they warned the queen about what was happening. America would be forced to stand down by the rest of the world, President Chambers would be deposed, and all would be right with the world. These rather ridiculous thoughts finally lulled her to sleep.
The next morning they picked themselves up, brushed the grass out of their hair and off their clothes, and set off across the grass toward the east. A sea of clouds overhead now covered the sun and a cooling breeze was flowing around them. It was a lot like a relaxing hike through the mountain, except that there was a life-or-death situation involved.
Finally they came to the top of the hill and looked out over the tall buildings of London, where people milled about in all directions, and tourists flocked to the big attractions in the middle of the city. "Come on, let's find something to eat first. I'm starving." Alex stated. Mandy realized her own stomach was growling, and agreed.
They entered the city a while later, looking around for any restaurants they could step into. Finally they found a fancy looking place and walked inside, going through the normal steps of waiting for about two hours for a waiter to finally show them to their seats. They slid into the booth and waited another hour to order their food.
"You still have some of that money you grabbed from WOOHP right?" Mandy asked.
"Yeah... especially since we left the hotel in such a hurry I forgot to pay." Alex blushed slightly. Mandy laughed and leaned back, propping her arms behind her head. Aw well, she wasn't above skipping bills if it was for a really important purpose. And saving the world seemed bill-skippingly important to her.
The waiter brought their lunch and they took to eating, filling the gaping holes that their stomachs had been becoming since they hadn't eaten in two days. "So what do we do once we're done eating? Go ahead and go see the queen?" Alex asked around a mouthful of steak.
"No. Well yes, but not through the front door." Mandy replied. "They might be waiting for us, we should sneak in."
"Tonight?" Alex asked.
"Let's make a plan first." Mandy suggested. "Besides, I have no idea what gadgets you still have in that backpack of yours. Those things are pretty damn useful, I want in on them tonight." Alex grinned and let out a laugh, nodding in acceptance. They finished their food in short order and emerged from the restaurant as the sun was heading down toward the horizon.
Mandy found them a hotel to stay in and they checked in, heading up to the top floor where their room was located. "Before we get to the gadgets, I could use a shower." Mandy realized, having not taken one since their flight from the last hotel they'd stayed in.
"Sure, just save some hot water for me." Alex replied. So Mandy went in first, enjoying the first good scrubbing her skin had had in the last two weeks. She even let herself enjoy the luxury of just raising her arms and letting the water flow down her body, like a soothing full body massage. When she finished she wrapped a towel around herself, realizing that her clothes were still dirty and sweaty from their trek.
"I guess we'll have to wash these tonight." Mandy decided as she walked out to the bedroom again. Alex took her turn in the shower while Mandy plopped down on the bed, enjoying the cooling breeze of the air conditioner on her wet skin. She could have dug through Alex's backpack on her own, but she didn't want to accidentally trigger any bombs and blow them all to Hell.
Alex emerged from the shower wrapped in a towel of her own, though she was still wearing a golden chain with a silver pendant around her neck. They sat down on the bed in their towels like a pair of schoolgirls at a sleepover and Alex dumped the contents of her heart-shaped backpack onto the bed. There was a lot of equipment in there. The pack itself had to have been a gadget to hold it all.
"Let's see what I have left..." Alex picked through the pile of gadgets, naming them as she picked them up. "Eyelash Curler Catapults. Rocket-Pen. Electro-Magnetic Bracelet. My Expandable Cable Bungee Belt. Just-Sticky-Enough Gloves... don't let the name fool you, they're never sticky enough. Two Lip Bombs. And two more Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrettes, in cute Panda and Unicorn styles." She nuzzled the Panda barrette with her cheek.
"That is a lot of equipment." Mandy stated appreciatively. "Some of these might be just what we need to get into Buckingham Palace and warn the queen about what's going on."
"That's why we have them. They always seem to be just what we need." Alex shrugged and started putting the equipment back into her heart-shaped backpack. "But since I'm bringing the equipment, you get to wash the clothes." Alex said slyly. Mandy blinked, then growled and stood up.
"Fine, but don't be surprised if some of your clothes wind up with strange holes they didn't have before." She turned and marched into the bathroom to wash their clothes in the sink, since they didn't have the time or money to locate any Laundromats around here, if indeed there were any. Neither of them was an expert on England.
When she finished she hung them up to dry on the shower curtain, making sure to keep their clothes separate before she went into the bedroom. She found Alex already lying in the bed under the sheets with her towel lying on the floor. "Are you naked under there?" Mandy asked.
"Well you just washed my clothes, and the towel kept slipping." Alex shrugged. "What, do you want me to sleep in it? It's uncomfortable."
"Hey, we're both mature here... it doesn't matter." Mandy walked to the edge of the bed and dropped her towel to the floor, slipping under the covers with Alex quickly. Alex looked back down at the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrette she was flipping through her fingers idly. "Something on your mind?" Mandy asked curiously.
"Tomorrow night could save or doom the planet Mandy." Alex smirked slightly. "I've gone through this alot... but I've never had time to stop and think about it before it happened. It's a little scary. And I don't even have Sam or Clover here this time..."
"Hey, we'll do fine." Mandy assured her softly. She reached across the bed to put one hand on her bare shoulder, squeezing lightly. "We'll get in and convince the queen what's what in no time. You'll see." Alex smiled back and sighed, picking up the other barrette from the bed and holding them both out to her.
"You take these tomorrow. These are the only really effective weapons we have left." Alex said. Mandy looked down at them and grabbed them, her hand brushing against Alex's. "Press the noses to pull out the blades... and throw it from the bottom so you don't cut yourself." Mandy nodded and took them from her, turning them over in her hand.
"Thanks." Mandy set the barrettes on the nightstand on her side to make sure she wouldn't forget them come morning. With that, the two girls sank into the bed after turning off their lamps, facing outward to respect each other's privacy as they both tried to fall asleep. Sleep was long in coming, and restless when it finally did claim her.
The next morning they silently got dressed in their now-dry clothes, neither really wanting to talk about the importance of that night's events. Mandy made sure to clip the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrettes into her hair, but they didn't yet leave the room. They would have to be awake all night perhaps, so it was best to save their strength and rest as much as possible during the day.
So a deceptively relaxing day of television, naps, and room service cradled the girls in the lap of luxury in preparation for the risks the night would bring. There wasn't much idle chatter. They were both too high-strung to comment about the dark gray storm clouds that were massing outside. Silence and patience prevailed for the entire day until finally they left the safety of their room as the sky began to darken.
They approached Buckingham Palace well after night had fallen. Thunder rolled in the distance, promising to bring worse things in the near future. But that didn't matter. They approached the front gate, but Alex looked down confusedly when they reached it.
"Hey... footprints." Alex knelt down, running her hand over the grass. "Two sets... pretty fresh ones too."
"Fresh? You mean someone else is breaking in tonight too?" Mandy knelt down beside her, looking down at the grass in which she could now see the grass bent in some very distinct shoe-shapes.
"Looks like it. Maybe Clover and Tassara already convinced the queen." Alex mused. "That would make breaking in kind of pointless."
"Or they might have been caught. If it's even them." Mandy pointed out. "I say we go in like we planned, and if they have already spoken to the queen, we'll explain what we're doing and maybe they won't hang us."
"Right... good point." Alex stood up and reached into her backpack, pulling out the Rocket-Pen she'd shown Mandy the night before. She wrapped the string around her wrist. "Come on, we're taking the high road." Mandy walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her neck. Alex grabbed her around the waist and turned on the Rocket-Pen.
Mandy held on for dear life as they streaked through the air like a bullet, reaching the roof of the palace within seconds. Alex let go quickly, letting the pen continue to fade into the distance while the two girls hit the roof in a roll, trying to minimize the sound of the impacts. They crept to the side of the roof as they'd planned during the day, swinging themselves in through one of the top floor windows.
"Okay, split up. We need to find the queen as fast as possible." Alex whispered quickly. Mandy nodded and they both walked down different hallways. She made her way down a flight of steps to the second floor, keeping as silent as possible as she crept through the building, checking doors to see if there were any queens hiding out in them.
She stopped when she heard soft voices from one of the hallways. Little more than whispers, but in the long, large hallway it echoed pretty far. She crept slowly down the hall until she could see a flashlight shining on Clover and Tassara, who had their hands up in defeat. Suddenly a shout echoed through the hallway, and the sound of gunfire erupted like a series of explosions.
Mandy's eyes went wide as the flashlight fell to the ground and rolled to a stop, still shining on Tassara as she fell against the wall. After the gunfire stopped, she slid down the wall slowly, leaving a trail of blood against it. Clover crawled over to her and grabbed her, sobbing against her now still body.
"Tassara...?" Sam muttered, stepping forward into the flashlight's beam. Mandy growled deep in her throat, reaching up to pull the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrette out of her hair. "Clover I'm... sorry..." Sam muttered as Mandy pressed the nose on the barrette, causing the blades to slide out with a soft metallic scraping sound.
Mandy brought her wrist back and hurled it down the hallway as Sam reached forward to touch Tassara. Perhaps to see if she was still alive, perhaps to throttle the life out of her if there was any left. The whirling blade didn't care. Before she could reach Tassara the Barrette cut between her and the fallen queen.
Sam howled in pain and fell backward as her right hand fell to the ground in a pool of crimson liquid, severed at the wrist. The buzzsaw arched around like a boomerang further down the hall as a guard appeared in the hallway, aiming his gun into the darkness where he knew Mandy was. The barrette plunged into his back from behind on its return trip, embedding itself there and sending him face first to the floor.
Mandy ran up to the intersection, where Clover looked up at her in surprise, her eyes red and her cheeks tear-stained. "Clover, are you okay!?" Mandy knelt down beside her, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"Tassara... she stopped breathing..." Clover gulped, looking down at the queen again with a moist gaze. Mandy could hear Sam crying beside them, in pain and shock, as she cradled the stump of her right arm against her stomach. Mandy put her hands on Clover's shoulders and pulled her to her feet.
"We can't stay here, all the noise has to attract..." She stopped when she heard at least a dozen clicks in the darkness from every hallway around them. Each of them was unmistakably a weapon being cocked. "Attention..." She finished her thought.
Before they could hope to move the guards swarmed over them, thrusting them up against the wall and slapping handcuffs around their wrists behind their backs. Several guards moved to help Sam, who had stopped crying and seemed to have gone into complete shock. Neither Clover nor Mandy really cared though. It seemed if she hadn't tried to corner them, the guard would've never known they were there. Tassara would still be alive.
"Come with us, and don't even think of running." The guard told her with a thick British accent as he pushed her down the hallway, shining a flashlight to light their path rather than turning on the main lights. Clover was pushed along beside her, with her blond head hanging down against her chest and teardrops marking their way along the carpet.
They stopped in a few moments, with the guards moving to converse amongst themselves. Mandy looked over at Clover, who was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Geeze, Tassara's death really hit her hard. But then, Mandy hadn't known Tassara all that well, and seeing her die had even sent HER through a loop. Watching someone die was very different from hearing about it in news reports or movies.
Mandy tried to think of something to say, but before she could form any coherent thoughts the guards started pushing them along again. She expected to be taken to a dungeon or prison, but instead they were taken up to the top floor and through a maze of hallways. They were pushed into a large bedroom, which was well lit with a wizened old woman sitting on a small chair with Alex standing beside her. Alex's eyes widened somewhat when she saw the blood coating the front of Clover's shirt and arms, but she didn't say anything.
"The intruders, as you requested your majesty." One of the guards stated, not taking his hand away from Mandy's arm. The queen of England regarded then with a careful gaze, her piercing eyes sweeping over them both in a shrewd, calculating manner. The complete opposite of Tassara's gentle gaze.
"Your companion here tells me you have quite a story." The queen gestured to Alex, who smiled and waved slightly in acknowledgement. "Something about American corruption and taking over the world?"
Mandy glanced over at Clover, but she was still too deep in shock to reply. So Mandy looked the queen in the eye. "Yes your majesty, it's true. They replaced everyone with any power in the government, ending with the President. Then they started a campaign to conquer the world one country at a time, all headed by President Chambers."
"Those are some very heavy accusations against one of our closest allies." The queen replied.
"I know, but you're the only ones who could convince the rest of the world to do something about it." Mandy told her solemnly.
"Do you have any proof to present to me?" The queen asked.
"Well... no, other than the destruction of Lyrobia based on nothing but suspicions and accusations." Mandy replied. Suddenly the doors to the queen's chambers were thrown open and Brittany marched in with Madison almost running to keep up with her.
"Don't listen to them your highness." Brittany whirled on Mandy. "She's a known liar, murderer, and a traitor to her own country. She's the one who killed the president. This little girl saw it." Brittany stroked Madison's head. Madison gulped, watching Mandy with wide, worried eyes.
"Madison, it's time to be honest." Mandy told her little sister quickly. Brittany blinked and looked down at the little girl as she rushed to Mandy, grabbing her arm and moving close to her.
"I didn't see her DO it... and she says she didn't. I believe her." Madison stated.
"Madison..." Brittany blinked, then frowned. "You told them we were coming on the boat, didn't you?"
"I had to..." Madison replied softly. The queen stood up impatiently, waving her hands to silence them all.
"All of this argument and discussion over who is right and who is wrong is all well and good, but I'm not here to listen to you all yell at each other." The queen looked around at the gathered crowd, with her guards standing by should anyone try anything. "The one thing I'm interested in is proof, which you don't seem to be able to give me." She stared straight at Mandy.
Suddenly Clover lifted her head from her chest, her face contorted in rage. "You blind old bat!" She shouted, stunning everyone else in the room. "Lyrobia is already dead and gone! And they've moved on to Kenyopia despite knowing exactly where we are! Queen Tassara risked her life to try to come here and get your help, and now she's lying dead downstairs in a pool of her own fucking blood because she wanted to fight for her people!" This seemed to stun everyone in the room except for Mandy and the guards who'd seen the body.
"How many dead queens is it going to take? How many conquered countries? How many destroyed lives before you'll open your Goddamn eyes and do something about this!?" Clover howled, struggling against the guard holding her handcuffs as she tried to move forward.
"I'm sorry to hear about Queen Tassara... she was a good woman." The queen nodded solemnly. "But without proof... alienating ourselves from the United States government would be extraordinarily foolish." Clover growled, glaring at her with the force of a thousand Hells. "Take them to prison, guards. But make sure they're taken care of until we can contact the American authorities to pick them up."
"What about this one, your majesty?" One of the guards grabbed Madison and pulled her away from Mandy.
"Let me take care of her. She's not really one of them... she's just been tricked, I'm sure." Brittany stated, staring down at Madison with an almost pitying expression.
Mandy growled. "You leave her alone..." But she couldn't do much about it as the guards dragged her back toward the door. Brittany grabbed Madison's shoulders and pulled her close, holding her as she struggled and yelled to try to reach her older sister. Alex sighed in resignation as a pair of guards grabbed her as well, letting them pull her out of the chamber and through the hallways.
Mandy looked over at Clover as they were pushed through the dark hallways, but she kept her head down and her eyes closed. Mandy sighed, knowing it was over now. The rain pounding against the palace seemed a fitting drumroll for the end of their mission... war was inevitable now, the world would be plunged into another war the likes of which it had never seen before... because they failed.
TO BE CONTINUED
Mandy's eyes fluttered open slowly, staring up at the sunny sky overhead. She could feel sand beneath her body... she was laying on a beach. She could feel a soft wind running over the moist exposed skin of her arms and legs. She sat up and rubbed her head, looking around. She spotted Alex kneeling down by the water, staring out across the waves. They both looked up when they heard a jet engine pass by overhead.
The WOOHP jet faded into the distance quickly, and Mandy looked down at Alex again, who'd finally noticed she was awake. "Hey, glad to see you up. I was afraid you might not... I know I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the Aqua Lips." Alex stood up and walked over to her, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you feeling okay?"
Mandy opened her mouth, letting a small waterfall tumble to the sand before she could speak. "I'll be fine..." She panted softly. Alex smiled and rubbed her back to help her get all the water out of her lungs. "Where are Clover and Tassara? Did they make it?"
"I don't know. I didn't see them in the water anywhere when I went to look for them..." Alex replied. Mandy sighed and closed her eyes, knowing it was very possible that they'd been lost to the ocean.
"Great..." Mandy shook her head.
"What to do now..." Alex mused. "Well we're outside America... I guess we could get a small place in the mountains somewhere and become hermits or something." Alex joked with a slight smile. Mandy glared up at her, wiping the smile from her face. This wasn't the time to be cracking jokes.
"We get to London... like they wanted us to." Mandy pushed herself to her feet. "You have any modes of transportation for two in that backpack of yours?" She asked.
"Two I can do." Alex pulled the backpack off her back and opened it, pulling out a small board. She pressed a button and it expanded into what almost looked like a high-tech surfboard. She dropped it to the sand where it floated above the ground, small jets attached to its backside.
"Is there anything you don't have a gadget for?" Mandy asked ironically.
"Just call me Gadget Girl." Alex grinned. She climbed on the hovering surfboard, with Mandy jumping onto it behind her. She wrapped her hands around Alex's waist to keep from falling off.
"So I assume this thing makes getting across rough terrain easier?" Mandy asked curiously.
"Across nothing, we go over!" Alex exclaimed as the Rocketboard took off into the air. Mandy yelped in surprise, squeezing Alex's waist tighter as they flew straight up the side of a mountain, clearing its sharp peak with only inches between them and it. They flew across the landscape with a trail of smoke the only evidence of their passing.
Britain was a beautiful place to pass over, craggy mountains and rolling hills as far as the eye could see other than when they passed what looked like a large city. They checked to make sure it wasn't their destination, but alas the sign read 'Welcome to Bristol' rather than 'Welcome to London'. So they passed it by on Alex's jetboard.
Soon the day faded to night, for though the jetboard was fast it wasn't fast enough to cross a country in a single day. So Alex landed them in the middle of a large grassy glade, and just in time too. As they approached the board started sputtering and choking and they flat out dropped the last twenty feet to the ground. They hit the grass with hard thuds.
"Ow..." Alex sat up, rubbing her head and shaking grass out of her hair. "Guess we ran out of fuel..."
"We're gonna have to walk the rest of the way." Mandy sighed. "Oh well, at least we didn't fall from a hundred feet." Alex nodded in agreement. The night came upon them shortly, cloaking them in a sea of starlight. It was a fairly decent night. They lay on the grass comfortably, gazing up at the stars like a pair of old buddies up on a hill with nothing better to do.
"Do you believe in aliens?" Mandy asked absently.
"Sure. Met 'em once." Alex replied off-handedly. Mandy looked over at her strangely. "They speak French."
"Riiiight..." Mandy shook her head and looked up at the stars. Maybe the years of working as a spy had gone to Alex's head. At least Clover had managed to remain sane through it all.
"Do you think Clover and Tassara are alright?" Alex asked more relevantly. Mandy didn't really want to think about it. The possibility of their deaths or their making it to shore seemed equally likely to her. The thought of Clover floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean sent a shiver down her spine.
"I'm sure they're fine." She lied. "Clover seems like a pretty resourceful and strong girl."
"Yeah, she is." Alex agreed with a nod. "Well, we have some walking to do tomorrow... so goodnight." Alex rolled onto her side, resting her head on her hands and started snoring within seconds. Mandy looked over at her enviously. She wished she could just pass out on command like that.
Mandy stared up at the starry sky again, thoughts running through her mind like water through a leaky dam. Clover had finally forgiven her last night on the boat... and then they had to jump off the damn boat. Madison had warned them, so that meant she was still safe with Sam and Brittany... but how long she would stay that way was anyone's guess. For all she knew they'd caught her... done horrible things to her...
She shook her head vigorously. Madison was fine. She had to be, and so was Clover. They'd meet up again eventually after they warned the queen about what was happening. America would be forced to stand down by the rest of the world, President Chambers would be deposed, and all would be right with the world. These rather ridiculous thoughts finally lulled her to sleep.
The next morning they picked themselves up, brushed the grass out of their hair and off their clothes, and set off across the grass toward the east. A sea of clouds overhead now covered the sun and a cooling breeze was flowing around them. It was a lot like a relaxing hike through the mountain, except that there was a life-or-death situation involved.
Finally they came to the top of the hill and looked out over the tall buildings of London, where people milled about in all directions, and tourists flocked to the big attractions in the middle of the city. "Come on, let's find something to eat first. I'm starving." Alex stated. Mandy realized her own stomach was growling, and agreed.
They entered the city a while later, looking around for any restaurants they could step into. Finally they found a fancy looking place and walked inside, going through the normal steps of waiting for about two hours for a waiter to finally show them to their seats. They slid into the booth and waited another hour to order their food.
"You still have some of that money you grabbed from WOOHP right?" Mandy asked.
"Yeah... especially since we left the hotel in such a hurry I forgot to pay." Alex blushed slightly. Mandy laughed and leaned back, propping her arms behind her head. Aw well, she wasn't above skipping bills if it was for a really important purpose. And saving the world seemed bill-skippingly important to her.
The waiter brought their lunch and they took to eating, filling the gaping holes that their stomachs had been becoming since they hadn't eaten in two days. "So what do we do once we're done eating? Go ahead and go see the queen?" Alex asked around a mouthful of steak.
"No. Well yes, but not through the front door." Mandy replied. "They might be waiting for us, we should sneak in."
"Tonight?" Alex asked.
"Let's make a plan first." Mandy suggested. "Besides, I have no idea what gadgets you still have in that backpack of yours. Those things are pretty damn useful, I want in on them tonight." Alex grinned and let out a laugh, nodding in acceptance. They finished their food in short order and emerged from the restaurant as the sun was heading down toward the horizon.
Mandy found them a hotel to stay in and they checked in, heading up to the top floor where their room was located. "Before we get to the gadgets, I could use a shower." Mandy realized, having not taken one since their flight from the last hotel they'd stayed in.
"Sure, just save some hot water for me." Alex replied. So Mandy went in first, enjoying the first good scrubbing her skin had had in the last two weeks. She even let herself enjoy the luxury of just raising her arms and letting the water flow down her body, like a soothing full body massage. When she finished she wrapped a towel around herself, realizing that her clothes were still dirty and sweaty from their trek.
"I guess we'll have to wash these tonight." Mandy decided as she walked out to the bedroom again. Alex took her turn in the shower while Mandy plopped down on the bed, enjoying the cooling breeze of the air conditioner on her wet skin. She could have dug through Alex's backpack on her own, but she didn't want to accidentally trigger any bombs and blow them all to Hell.
Alex emerged from the shower wrapped in a towel of her own, though she was still wearing a golden chain with a silver pendant around her neck. They sat down on the bed in their towels like a pair of schoolgirls at a sleepover and Alex dumped the contents of her heart-shaped backpack onto the bed. There was a lot of equipment in there. The pack itself had to have been a gadget to hold it all.
"Let's see what I have left..." Alex picked through the pile of gadgets, naming them as she picked them up. "Eyelash Curler Catapults. Rocket-Pen. Electro-Magnetic Bracelet. My Expandable Cable Bungee Belt. Just-Sticky-Enough Gloves... don't let the name fool you, they're never sticky enough. Two Lip Bombs. And two more Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrettes, in cute Panda and Unicorn styles." She nuzzled the Panda barrette with her cheek.
"That is a lot of equipment." Mandy stated appreciatively. "Some of these might be just what we need to get into Buckingham Palace and warn the queen about what's going on."
"That's why we have them. They always seem to be just what we need." Alex shrugged and started putting the equipment back into her heart-shaped backpack. "But since I'm bringing the equipment, you get to wash the clothes." Alex said slyly. Mandy blinked, then growled and stood up.
"Fine, but don't be surprised if some of your clothes wind up with strange holes they didn't have before." She turned and marched into the bathroom to wash their clothes in the sink, since they didn't have the time or money to locate any Laundromats around here, if indeed there were any. Neither of them was an expert on England.
When she finished she hung them up to dry on the shower curtain, making sure to keep their clothes separate before she went into the bedroom. She found Alex already lying in the bed under the sheets with her towel lying on the floor. "Are you naked under there?" Mandy asked.
"Well you just washed my clothes, and the towel kept slipping." Alex shrugged. "What, do you want me to sleep in it? It's uncomfortable."
"Hey, we're both mature here... it doesn't matter." Mandy walked to the edge of the bed and dropped her towel to the floor, slipping under the covers with Alex quickly. Alex looked back down at the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrette she was flipping through her fingers idly. "Something on your mind?" Mandy asked curiously.
"Tomorrow night could save or doom the planet Mandy." Alex smirked slightly. "I've gone through this alot... but I've never had time to stop and think about it before it happened. It's a little scary. And I don't even have Sam or Clover here this time..."
"Hey, we'll do fine." Mandy assured her softly. She reached across the bed to put one hand on her bare shoulder, squeezing lightly. "We'll get in and convince the queen what's what in no time. You'll see." Alex smiled back and sighed, picking up the other barrette from the bed and holding them both out to her.
"You take these tomorrow. These are the only really effective weapons we have left." Alex said. Mandy looked down at them and grabbed them, her hand brushing against Alex's. "Press the noses to pull out the blades... and throw it from the bottom so you don't cut yourself." Mandy nodded and took them from her, turning them over in her hand.
"Thanks." Mandy set the barrettes on the nightstand on her side to make sure she wouldn't forget them come morning. With that, the two girls sank into the bed after turning off their lamps, facing outward to respect each other's privacy as they both tried to fall asleep. Sleep was long in coming, and restless when it finally did claim her.
The next morning they silently got dressed in their now-dry clothes, neither really wanting to talk about the importance of that night's events. Mandy made sure to clip the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrettes into her hair, but they didn't yet leave the room. They would have to be awake all night perhaps, so it was best to save their strength and rest as much as possible during the day.
So a deceptively relaxing day of television, naps, and room service cradled the girls in the lap of luxury in preparation for the risks the night would bring. There wasn't much idle chatter. They were both too high-strung to comment about the dark gray storm clouds that were massing outside. Silence and patience prevailed for the entire day until finally they left the safety of their room as the sky began to darken.
They approached Buckingham Palace well after night had fallen. Thunder rolled in the distance, promising to bring worse things in the near future. But that didn't matter. They approached the front gate, but Alex looked down confusedly when they reached it.
"Hey... footprints." Alex knelt down, running her hand over the grass. "Two sets... pretty fresh ones too."
"Fresh? You mean someone else is breaking in tonight too?" Mandy knelt down beside her, looking down at the grass in which she could now see the grass bent in some very distinct shoe-shapes.
"Looks like it. Maybe Clover and Tassara already convinced the queen." Alex mused. "That would make breaking in kind of pointless."
"Or they might have been caught. If it's even them." Mandy pointed out. "I say we go in like we planned, and if they have already spoken to the queen, we'll explain what we're doing and maybe they won't hang us."
"Right... good point." Alex stood up and reached into her backpack, pulling out the Rocket-Pen she'd shown Mandy the night before. She wrapped the string around her wrist. "Come on, we're taking the high road." Mandy walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her neck. Alex grabbed her around the waist and turned on the Rocket-Pen.
Mandy held on for dear life as they streaked through the air like a bullet, reaching the roof of the palace within seconds. Alex let go quickly, letting the pen continue to fade into the distance while the two girls hit the roof in a roll, trying to minimize the sound of the impacts. They crept to the side of the roof as they'd planned during the day, swinging themselves in through one of the top floor windows.
"Okay, split up. We need to find the queen as fast as possible." Alex whispered quickly. Mandy nodded and they both walked down different hallways. She made her way down a flight of steps to the second floor, keeping as silent as possible as she crept through the building, checking doors to see if there were any queens hiding out in them.
She stopped when she heard soft voices from one of the hallways. Little more than whispers, but in the long, large hallway it echoed pretty far. She crept slowly down the hall until she could see a flashlight shining on Clover and Tassara, who had their hands up in defeat. Suddenly a shout echoed through the hallway, and the sound of gunfire erupted like a series of explosions.
Mandy's eyes went wide as the flashlight fell to the ground and rolled to a stop, still shining on Tassara as she fell against the wall. After the gunfire stopped, she slid down the wall slowly, leaving a trail of blood against it. Clover crawled over to her and grabbed her, sobbing against her now still body.
"Tassara...?" Sam muttered, stepping forward into the flashlight's beam. Mandy growled deep in her throat, reaching up to pull the Boomerang Buzzsaw Barrette out of her hair. "Clover I'm... sorry..." Sam muttered as Mandy pressed the nose on the barrette, causing the blades to slide out with a soft metallic scraping sound.
Mandy brought her wrist back and hurled it down the hallway as Sam reached forward to touch Tassara. Perhaps to see if she was still alive, perhaps to throttle the life out of her if there was any left. The whirling blade didn't care. Before she could reach Tassara the Barrette cut between her and the fallen queen.
Sam howled in pain and fell backward as her right hand fell to the ground in a pool of crimson liquid, severed at the wrist. The buzzsaw arched around like a boomerang further down the hall as a guard appeared in the hallway, aiming his gun into the darkness where he knew Mandy was. The barrette plunged into his back from behind on its return trip, embedding itself there and sending him face first to the floor.
Mandy ran up to the intersection, where Clover looked up at her in surprise, her eyes red and her cheeks tear-stained. "Clover, are you okay!?" Mandy knelt down beside her, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"Tassara... she stopped breathing..." Clover gulped, looking down at the queen again with a moist gaze. Mandy could hear Sam crying beside them, in pain and shock, as she cradled the stump of her right arm against her stomach. Mandy put her hands on Clover's shoulders and pulled her to her feet.
"We can't stay here, all the noise has to attract..." She stopped when she heard at least a dozen clicks in the darkness from every hallway around them. Each of them was unmistakably a weapon being cocked. "Attention..." She finished her thought.
Before they could hope to move the guards swarmed over them, thrusting them up against the wall and slapping handcuffs around their wrists behind their backs. Several guards moved to help Sam, who had stopped crying and seemed to have gone into complete shock. Neither Clover nor Mandy really cared though. It seemed if she hadn't tried to corner them, the guard would've never known they were there. Tassara would still be alive.
"Come with us, and don't even think of running." The guard told her with a thick British accent as he pushed her down the hallway, shining a flashlight to light their path rather than turning on the main lights. Clover was pushed along beside her, with her blond head hanging down against her chest and teardrops marking their way along the carpet.
They stopped in a few moments, with the guards moving to converse amongst themselves. Mandy looked over at Clover, who was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Geeze, Tassara's death really hit her hard. But then, Mandy hadn't known Tassara all that well, and seeing her die had even sent HER through a loop. Watching someone die was very different from hearing about it in news reports or movies.
Mandy tried to think of something to say, but before she could form any coherent thoughts the guards started pushing them along again. She expected to be taken to a dungeon or prison, but instead they were taken up to the top floor and through a maze of hallways. They were pushed into a large bedroom, which was well lit with a wizened old woman sitting on a small chair with Alex standing beside her. Alex's eyes widened somewhat when she saw the blood coating the front of Clover's shirt and arms, but she didn't say anything.
"The intruders, as you requested your majesty." One of the guards stated, not taking his hand away from Mandy's arm. The queen of England regarded then with a careful gaze, her piercing eyes sweeping over them both in a shrewd, calculating manner. The complete opposite of Tassara's gentle gaze.
"Your companion here tells me you have quite a story." The queen gestured to Alex, who smiled and waved slightly in acknowledgement. "Something about American corruption and taking over the world?"
Mandy glanced over at Clover, but she was still too deep in shock to reply. So Mandy looked the queen in the eye. "Yes your majesty, it's true. They replaced everyone with any power in the government, ending with the President. Then they started a campaign to conquer the world one country at a time, all headed by President Chambers."
"Those are some very heavy accusations against one of our closest allies." The queen replied.
"I know, but you're the only ones who could convince the rest of the world to do something about it." Mandy told her solemnly.
"Do you have any proof to present to me?" The queen asked.
"Well... no, other than the destruction of Lyrobia based on nothing but suspicions and accusations." Mandy replied. Suddenly the doors to the queen's chambers were thrown open and Brittany marched in with Madison almost running to keep up with her.
"Don't listen to them your highness." Brittany whirled on Mandy. "She's a known liar, murderer, and a traitor to her own country. She's the one who killed the president. This little girl saw it." Brittany stroked Madison's head. Madison gulped, watching Mandy with wide, worried eyes.
"Madison, it's time to be honest." Mandy told her little sister quickly. Brittany blinked and looked down at the little girl as she rushed to Mandy, grabbing her arm and moving close to her.
"I didn't see her DO it... and she says she didn't. I believe her." Madison stated.
"Madison..." Brittany blinked, then frowned. "You told them we were coming on the boat, didn't you?"
"I had to..." Madison replied softly. The queen stood up impatiently, waving her hands to silence them all.
"All of this argument and discussion over who is right and who is wrong is all well and good, but I'm not here to listen to you all yell at each other." The queen looked around at the gathered crowd, with her guards standing by should anyone try anything. "The one thing I'm interested in is proof, which you don't seem to be able to give me." She stared straight at Mandy.
Suddenly Clover lifted her head from her chest, her face contorted in rage. "You blind old bat!" She shouted, stunning everyone else in the room. "Lyrobia is already dead and gone! And they've moved on to Kenyopia despite knowing exactly where we are! Queen Tassara risked her life to try to come here and get your help, and now she's lying dead downstairs in a pool of her own fucking blood because she wanted to fight for her people!" This seemed to stun everyone in the room except for Mandy and the guards who'd seen the body.
"How many dead queens is it going to take? How many conquered countries? How many destroyed lives before you'll open your Goddamn eyes and do something about this!?" Clover howled, struggling against the guard holding her handcuffs as she tried to move forward.
"I'm sorry to hear about Queen Tassara... she was a good woman." The queen nodded solemnly. "But without proof... alienating ourselves from the United States government would be extraordinarily foolish." Clover growled, glaring at her with the force of a thousand Hells. "Take them to prison, guards. But make sure they're taken care of until we can contact the American authorities to pick them up."
"What about this one, your majesty?" One of the guards grabbed Madison and pulled her away from Mandy.
"Let me take care of her. She's not really one of them... she's just been tricked, I'm sure." Brittany stated, staring down at Madison with an almost pitying expression.
Mandy growled. "You leave her alone..." But she couldn't do much about it as the guards dragged her back toward the door. Brittany grabbed Madison's shoulders and pulled her close, holding her as she struggled and yelled to try to reach her older sister. Alex sighed in resignation as a pair of guards grabbed her as well, letting them pull her out of the chamber and through the hallways.
Mandy looked over at Clover as they were pushed through the dark hallways, but she kept her head down and her eyes closed. Mandy sighed, knowing it was over now. The rain pounding against the palace seemed a fitting drumroll for the end of their mission... war was inevitable now, the world would be plunged into another war the likes of which it had never seen before... because they failed.
TO BE CONTINUED