A Friend in Need…

Sam tried not to act embarrassed as she walked the halls at school, but she couldn't help but notice everyone stare at the ugly bruise on her forehead. Alex and Clover flanked her and tried to keep her mind on other things.

"Rrrgh, this is so embarrassing!"

"C'mon, Sam!" said Clover. "You're always the one going on about inner beauty aren't you?"

"Haven't you ever heard of a first impression? You of all people should know about that."

"So? You already know pretty much everyone here already. Just lighten up, will ya?"

"Yeah," said Alex, "It'll be gone by the end of the week anyhow, probably sooner."

"I suppose, but that wench is still going to get my foot shoved up her-" Sam was cut off when David stepped away from his locker.

"Hey, Sam. What happened there?" he said, pointing at her forehead.

Sam turned scarlet, causing the bruise to darken with the rest of her face. "Oh, uh, this? Just a biking accident, that's all!"

"Ouch. Those wipeouts can be pretty nasty. You should always wear a helmet when you're riding, you know. You should always protect your head."

Clover quickly took his arm. "Speaking of protecting things, do you think you could help me organize my portfolio for the pageant, David?"

"Sure! But, Mandy already asked me to help with hers." Clover's face melted. "But, I'm still waiting to hear from her about a time and place to do it. Tell you what; if she doesn't call back, I'll help you with yours. How's that sound?"

Clover perked up. "Oh, that'd be perfect, David!"

"Great! If Mandy doesn't call tonight, I'll give you a ring and help you with yours." He turned to Sam, who was trying to sink as low into the ground as physics would allow her. "Sorry about that accident, Sam. Hope it clears up soon."

"Uhh, yeah. Thanks."

After David left, Clover turned to Sam. "All those brains in that head of yours and that's the best excuse you could come up with?"

Sam got indignant. "Hey, I was nervous, okay? David was about the last person I wanted to notice."

Alex adjusted her bag. "Well, at least he didn't make a big deal over it."

"True, but only because someone else had his attention." Sam shot an accusing stare at Clover.

"What? You think that was some cheap attempt at grabbing a date with David? Sam, I can't believe you think I'd sink that low. I was in sincere need of assistance."

"We can help you with your portfolio," said Alex. "Besides, we know you better than anyone else, why not ask us to help?"

"Well of course you can help! But it never hurts to get a second opinion, right?"

"Especially if it's coming from the most perfect guy ever?" asked Sam.

"Well you said it, not me."

The three of them sighed wistfully when they thought about David. Again.

The blaring ring of the class bell shook them from their reverie.

"Eek! Got to get to class!" said Sam.

"Same here!" replied the others.

They bid each other farewell and headed for their classes.

-

After the last bell, Alex and Clover joined Sam at her locker.

"Hey girls. How were classes?"

"Boring as usual." Said Alex. "But there was something different about school today."

Sam began working the combination on her lock. "What do you mean?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like something was missing today, in a good way."

Clover shifted her weight onto one leg. "Now that I think of it, I noticed it, too. But what was it?"

Sam mused on that as she made the last revolution on her combination's dial.

Alex snapped her fingers when the realization hit her. "I've got it! Mandy hasn't bothered us once today!"

Clover slapped her forehead. "Like, of course! I actually sorta missed her taunting."

Sam clicked the lock open. "I knew it was awfully peaceful today. That explains everything!"

The girl next to them overheard their conversation. "Yeah, Mandy isn't here today."

"Huh?"

"You haven't heard? She hasn't called in sick or anything. Just sorta…didn't show."

Clover crossed her arms. "I know Mandy's a jerk, but she's not dumb."

Alex fumbled with her books. "As much as she badmouths us, it's totally not like her to skip school without a reason."

Sam opened her locker. "I wonder what happened? You don't think she got in an accident, do you?"

The girl shrugged as she closed her locker. "You never know. Accidents do happen. My brother got into a bad accident a few years ago and everyone took him for dead when he didn't show up for three days."

A chill ran up the girls' spines. Mandy wasn't terribly high on their friendship ladder, but dead?

"It's probably nothing." Said Sam. "This sort of thing happens all the time. Remember who we're talking about."

Alex chuckled. "True, it is Mandy, after all."

Sam looked inside her locker and started reaching for a notebook. "Hey, what's this?" A brown envelope was sitting in her locker. She removed it and turned it over. The neat handwriting on the front simply read "Sam." Nothing else appeared on the outside.

Alex leaned in. "What is that, Sammie?"

"I don't know. I just found it in there."

"Well that's weird. If your mom needed to give you something, why didn't she go to the office?"

Sam looked at the handwriting. "First off, that's not my mom's handwriting. Second, It's probably pretty easy to get the combination for the lockers."

"Hang on a sec." Clover walked across the hall and opened her locker. "Nope, nothing unusual here."

Sam waited for the other girl to leave before opening the envelope. They huddled together as she removed the contents. A letter and a Polaroid were inside. Sam held up the Polaroid and they all gasped. It was a picture of an unconscious and tied up Mandy lying on a concrete floor.

"Wh-what is this?"

Clover took the Polaroid. "If, if this is one of Mandy's pranks, she has a lousy sense of humor!"

Alex snatched the Polaroid up. "This can't be right!"

Sam read the enclosed letter. "I don't think this is a joke, guys."

She handed the letter to Alex.

Dear Chumps,

In case you haven't noticed, I've kidnapped your little friend. I know of the rivalry between you four. However, does your dislike of this young lady run deep enough to forfeit her life? Be at the roof of the McDonnell building at midnight, or I kill her.

Love,

Clover's Double

Alex finished the letter. "Sammie, please tell me this is just a bad dream."

Clover pinched her.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"See! It's not a dream."

"Rats."

"C'mon," said Sam, "We'd better call Jerry."

They ducked into the bathroom and Sam called Jerry with her Compowder.

"What is it, spies?"

"Jerry, that fake Clover kidnapped Mandy. She says she'll kill her if we don't meet her at midnight!"

Jerry blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, she'll do what?"

"Kill Mandy!"

"Who's Mandy?"

The girls sighed in unison. "That spy who lasted about a day? Remember? She followed us into one of your tunnels?"

"Oh! Now I remember! Yes, she was quite the complainer. Kind of a shame, really. She was good material."

"Jerry, could we please get back to the matter at hand?"

"Oh yes, Mandy." Jerry cleared his throat. "Now, you say you got the threat from Clover's double?"

"Yeah, it came with a picture of Mandy tied up and unconscious."

"Did she say anything else? Something you're supposed to bring? Anything?"

"No. Just be there."

"Sounds like a trap if I ever heard one. This could be dangerous, Spies. My agents in Athens saw what she was capable of."

"No kidding." Said Clover. "So what do we do?"

Jerry rubbed his chin. "We cannot risk Mandy's life at any rate. You'll have to make the rendezvous. Be ready for anything, as I doubt she wants to play golf."

"Jer, golf is so mid-life crisis."

Jerry looked insulted. "Thank you for reminding me, Clover."

"Anytime!"

"Now remember, spies, she's more than a match for you, so you cannot hold back if she attacks you. Also, the creature you fought in New Orleans has…in…don't…" Jerry's image turned to static as his signal faded in and out.

"Jerry! Jerry, what's going on? Answer me!"

A new voice answered from the static. "Am I speaking to the WOOHP spies?"

Sam looked to her friends for answers. They both nodded to her.

"Yes, this is Sam. Alex and Clover are with me."

"Good, I don't have much time, and these things are hard to hack. I know you had less than good luck against the creature in New Orleans, and my superiors are very interested in this case."

"Who are you?"

"Someone who wants to help. Any more I can't say."

"What do you want?"

"My superiors wish to offer their assistance in helping you with this case. If you agree, we can offer you something that might prove extremely useful."

"Why should we trust you?"

"I too want a quick resolution to this case. Why you'll have to find out yourselves. I don't expect you to trust me. All I offer is a little assistance. Meet me at Pacific Park at 9. I'll be wearing a white mask and carrying a briefcase. If you want my help, I'll be there. If not, I wish you best of luck, spies." Static hissed from the Compowder again and Jerry's image returned with the audio.

He was leaning over his desk and apparently yelling at someone. "I don't care what kind of encryption we use, just find out where that signal came from!"

GLADIS' disembodied voice followed. "Jerry, we're back on the air, hon."

Jerry jumped in surprise as he sat back down and instantly composed himself. "Girls, what happened?"

"I think someone hacked into the signal."

"Who?"

"I don't know. He didn't say who he was and there wasn't a visual."

"I see. We were completely blinded for a moment, there. What did he say?"

"He wanted to help us," said Alex.

"Help? Help how?"

"It sounded like he had a gadget or something to give us."

Jerry got indignant. "A gadget? Of all the nerve! We have the best anti-crime technology in the world, and he thinks he's got something better?"

Sam grinned and tried to placate Jerry. "Whoa, slow down, there! We didn't say if we'd accept his offer! He set a time and place to meet him, and gave us the option to show up."

Jerry calmed down a little. "Still, I must advise strongly against accepting outside help. We can't-"

GLADIS cut him off. "Actually, they might want to consider it. If he's been watching the girls, he might have a different approach to the problem and came up with a solution we haven't thought of."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I just give out the gadgets. I don't make them."

"You're no help."

"You built me."

Jerry slumped over and rested his head in one hand. "Girls, I'm leaving this in your hands. If you want to see what this hacker has to offer, then do so."

"What are you going to do?" asked Alex.

"First, I'm going to figure out how he hacked into our system. Then I'm going to reprogram GLADIS."

"Fat chance. You'll get distracted by work and forget all about it like usual" said GLADIS.

"I'm using a magnet this time."

"I'll be good."

"Alright, Jerry" said Sam. "We'll figure out what to do about this guy." She closed the Compowder and put it away.

Alex crossed her arms. "It sounds like another trap."

"I know, but what if he's for real?"

Clover leaned against a sink. "Do we even have a choice? What if he really is offering us the edge we need?"

"And what if he'll ask us for some favor in return? This whole situation reeks."

"I know. I don't like any of this. If this is bad enough for someone to hack into WOOHP communications, then something serious must be going down."

"And we still have to rescue Mandy" added Alex.

"I know!"

"On top of that, we still don't know what that other Clover wants."

"I know!"

Clover put her arms around her friends' shoulders. "Tell you guys what, we've still got a few hours before either rendezvous, so why don't we hit the mall while we make our minds up?"

"I'm all for it!" said Alex. "Sam, how about it?"

Sam thought for a minute. "Sure, why not? It's been entirely too long since we hit the stores anyhow."

They left the school together and left their worries about the mission behind, for a time. Though for some reason, they couldn't stop worrying about Mandy.

-

After hitting the mall, the girls decided to take up the hacker's offer.

They entered the amusement park shortly before nine and began looking around.

"Anyone see a guy in a mask?" asked Alex.

"Alex, that's only funny in the cosmic sense" Said Sam.

There were lots of people in masks. Lion masks, tiger masks, clown masks, bird masks, cat masks, and President masks. At least a third of the people in the park were wearing masks.

Clover looked this way and that. "Lots of masks, but no briefcases so far."

Sam turned to them. "He may be farther inside. Let's search a little farther."

"It's almost nine. I sure hope he shows. I really didn't want to come all this way out for nothing."

They walked cautiously into the heart of the carnival. Vendors placed every few booths offered a wide variety of foods as exotic as their advertised origins. Booth operators advertised games with the promise of prizes to the winner. Entertainers wandered the lanes, offering free shows to those willing to watch. They could hear a band playing nearby over the noise of the carnival.

A clown tapped Alex on the shoulder and she turned around.

"Yes?"
The clown reached behind her ear and plucked a Daisy out of thin air and handed it to her. She giggled as he back flipped away and vanished into the crowd.

Alex turned to the others. "Guys, can we please stay here a little longer? Guys? Where'd you go?"

The others were caught up in the carnival attractions as well. Clover had wandered over to a stage where a pair of beautiful dancers was entertaining the crowds with gusto. Their colorful garments flowed with their movements, giving their already elegant movements a hypnotic quality.

Alex fought her way through the spectators to Clover's side.

"Clover, what are you doing? We shouldn't split up like that!"

"What? Oh, sorry! Those dancers caught my eye and I couldn't look away."

"Yeah, they are good."

"Good? They're amazing! I have to know where they learned how to dance like that!"

"C'mon, we've gotta find Sam!"

Clover sighed. "Alright. Where … never mind, there she is." Clover pointed out Sam at another booth. She was at a trivia booth in a dead heat with the operator. Alex and Clover walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

She waved them off and said, "Not now, guys! I've almost got this guy!"

"Sammie, we've got more important business. Remember?"

"I know, I know! Just one more question and that bear is mine!"

The booth operator cleared his throat. "Alright miss, last question: What – is the air speed velocity of an unladen Swallow?"

Sam opened her mouth and held her finger up to answer, but spoke not a syllable.

"Miss? Hello?"

"What kind of question is that!?"

"Aww, I'm sorry, that's not the right answer!"

"What!? I didn't –"

"I told you the rules, miss. If you don't answer the question on the first try, you lose. Now please, there's someone in line behind you."

"Why you little-!" Sam started to attack the operator, but Alex and Clover restrained her.

Alex smiled genially. "Sorry about that. She doesn't like being told she's not smart."

"Alex!"

"What I meant to say was…you know what? We'll just be going now!" They dragged Sam off to a bench and sat her down.

Clover put her hands on her hips. "Sam, are you crazy? We're trying to keep it low-key, remember?"

Sam took a deep breath and relaxed. "Sorry, it was just such a stupid question, that's all. I mean, who's going to know something like that?"

"These things are always rigged, don't you know that?"

"Yeah, but still!"

Alex sat down next to her and hugged her. "Ah, you're just mad because you didn't know something."

Sam thought about what she said, and then laughed. "You're right. I'm just so used to being the smart one in school, I guess I'm just not used to being outsmarted." She breathed a deep sigh. "Man, you can really lose yourself in this place. No wonder people go to carnivals."

"Naturally. I hope you girls are having fun," said a man's voice from behind them.

The girls jumped off the bench and spun around. They hadn't noticed the man sitting on the other side of the bench. He looked over his shoulder at them. His mask was white and completely featureless except for the eyeholes.

Sam calmed herself down. "Are you the hacker from earlier?"

"Well, I didn't do the actual hacking, but that was my voice." He stood up and faced them. He was of average height, with dark hair and hazel eyes. His trench coat concealed the rest of his appearance, and white gloves covered his hands.

"What do you want?"

"Like I said, I want to help you. And since you're here, you must want it, or you're at least a little curious."

"What kind of help?"

"I can't show you here." He picked up his briefcase and pointed to the giant Ferris wheel. "In there. Not so many prying eyes." Without another word, he headed towards the Ferris wheel.

The girls hadn't moved yet. "Sam, we're going to lose him if we don't follow him" said Alex.

"Yeah, you're the one who talked us into this."

"I know, but now that I see him, I don't trust him at all. I think we made a mistake coming here."

"Well, we're here at any rate," said Clover. "If we did make a mistake, we should at least see it through."

"Yeah." Sam huffed and relaxed her shoulders. "Okay, let's go."

The four of them made their way to the Ferris wheel and climbed into one of the cars. The stranger received a lot of strange looks as he passed through the crowds, and the girls got a few as they climbed into the ride after him and sat down on the opposite side of the car.

As the ride began to ascend, the stranger opened the negotiations. "Now that we're alone, we can begin. As I've already stated, I'm here because my superiors and myself are very interested in your case, and we wish to offer any assistance we can short of actual manpower."

"Who sent you?" asked Alex.

"I can't say, but they are quite powerful."

"What's with the mask?"

"You think it's goofy too? It wasn't my idea, but they insisted it was necessary."

"Nah, it's actually pretty cool!"

"You're just being nice."

"Uhh, yeah it is pretty silly-looking." Alex smiled politely.

The stranger sighed. "They owe me big time for this one."

"So what are you offering us?" asked Clover.

"This." The stranger turned his briefcase towards them and opened it. The spies leaned closer and saw what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun resting on the foam lining. "This gun contains a special compound designed specifically to restrain the creature you fought in New Orleans. Upon contact with the target, it releases a rapidly-expanding foam that is stronger than most known metals once it hardens."

"How do you know it will work?" asked Sam.

"We threw everything we had at it. Bombs, cranes, bullets, you name it. Even a pair of Abrams tanks couldn't pull the stuff apart. But you've only got one shot, so you'll have to make it count."

"Can we come back for more if we miss?"

"No. We blew our entire R&D budget designing that thing, so don't screw up."

The car reached the peak of its ascent. The ground below was a sea of light that stretched into black infinity. The pale moon above shone through the clouds, illuminating them with its cold white light. Then the car began to descend.

Sam looked at the gun for a moment, and then something occurred to her. "Wait, something like this would take months to make. We've only been on this case for a few days. Is there something we need to know?"

"All I can say is that there's more going on here than you know. Any more you'll have to find out on your own."

Alex crossed her arms. "I hope you're not asking us for any favors for this help."

"All I ask is that you capture it. Nothing more."

"What's in it for you?" asked Sam. "Why are you interested in this case?"

"Not much, and I have my reasons. But I do understand a friend of yours is in danger."

Clover snorted. "Friend? Hardly! If I weren't the good guy here, I'd let that evil me have her."

"But she's still a person, right? Doesn't she have just as much right to live as you do?"

"Yeah, but…"

"It is unwise to judge people as "good" or "evil," because we can never be truly one or the other."

"Well just rub it in, Mr. Philosopher!"

"I'm just asking you to keep an open mind on this case. Your foe is more devious than you think."

"I suppose an evil lookalike could get away with a lot of stuff, couldn't she?"

"You're starting to get it. I think."

"Wait, did you mean Mandy or that double?"

Sam took the device from the briefcase. "So, all we have to do is hit it with this?"

The stranger closed the briefcase. "Correct. Just don't stick around too close, because that stuff expands and hardens fast."

"Gotcha."

The ride slowed as it descended to its stopping point. "I'll be keeping an eye on the situation as it develops. Hopefully this sort of intervention won't be necessary again."

"Wait," Sam said as he started to get up. "If we can't destroy this stuff, how do we get rid of it?"

"There's a harmless chemical that will instantly dissolve the foam. We'll send WOOHP the formula once the capture is confirmed. Now, I must be going." He stepped out of the car. "Good luck, girls. You'll need as much as you can get."

The girls watched him melt into the crowd and stepped away from the ride. Sam stuffed the device into her purse and huffed. "He knows way more than he lets on, I know it."

"I don't like him," said Alex. "He's creepy."

"And what's with the tacky mask?" said Clover. "Is he afraid we'll recognize him?"

"Only if he were someone we know."

"If that's the case, then who is he?" said Sam.

None of them could answer. All they could do was watch the throng of carnival-goers and decide their next move.

Finally Sam broke the silence. "I guess we should get moving. We've got a date with trouble."

"I thought we were just meeting that other Clover?" said Alex.

Sam and Clover sighed irritably.

"Come on, let's go" said Clover as they started to leave.

A burst of colorful flame lit up the sky.

"Aww, and the fireworks just started!" She looked at her hand and saw she was still holding the clown's daisy. She put it behind her ear and ran to catch up with her friends as the fireworks burst overhead.