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Chapter 5: The Plot Thickens
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04:05 PM - CLD HEADQUARTERS
"Okay, let me get this straight," Mandy said to Alex. "We're trapped in cells, waiting for this Cleo woman to come and put us to sleep like they do at the vet's."
"That's right," Alex replied. "Cleo must be obsessed with animals, with the drinkers of Cherry-Lime Dream turning into animals and all. I guess taking a zoology class has its perks."
"So, how do we get out of this situation?"
MEANWHILE
Sam and Clover investigated Cleo's office once Cleo had left. It didn't seem too suspicious. In fact, it was suspiciously unsuspicious... if that even makes sense.
In one corner of the room was a cooler. Clover took an ice-cold bottle of Cherry-Lime Dream out of it and kept it for evidence while Sam looked up info on Cleo's computer.
"This is interesting," said Sam after a moment. "There are files about human DNA interacting with animal DNA. I bet that has something to do with the transformation effects of Cherry-Lime Dream."
"Is it me, or is bad guy originality decreasing more and more?" Clover responded. "I mean, there was that incident with the cruise ship and the humanoid animals (Wild Style), that carnival incident with the funky mirrors (Freaky Circus Much?), and now this. How similar is that?"
"Really similar," Sam commented. "You've got a good point. I wish some bad guy would come up with a more ORIGINAL plan."
MEANWHILE
"Wait, Mandy," Alex said. "Don't be so hasty."
Alex put on her infrared-vision sunglasses. An array of security lasers filled the exit corridor right near the cells. "If we broke a laser, we'd be caught for sure."
"Well, don't expect me to dodge those lasers," Mandy replied. "I don't have a pair of those cool sunglasses. I don't care if I'm inexperienced! I just want a chance!"
"Stay put, Mandy," Alex responded. "I've got a plan."
Alex threw her boomerang bracelet at the lasers. The bracelet broke a laser and returned to her. Seconds later, guards arrived on the scene.
"Oh, the captives are still in their cells. Must have been a false alarm," one guard said.
"I suppose the system's a bit buggy," another guard responded, and the guards left.
Alex waited a few minutes, then broke the lasers with her boomerang bracelet again. Once again, guards arrived, concluded that the alarm was false, and left.
Three or four false alarms later, the guards grew sick of the whole thing. "Turn that stupid laser grid off," one guard said. "I don't want to rush in here for another false alarm."
The guards left. One of them hesitated to enter a code on a nearby keypad, and the lasers deactivated (as Alex noted with her infrared-vision sunglasses).
MEANWHILE (getting sick of all these meanwhiles yet?)
"The factory production is going really well," Cleo said to José. "And we even captured two dark-haired women who were spying. Wait, you said there was only one dark-haired woman. Where did the other come from?"
"Sure beats me, señorita," José replied.
"Hey, is it getting a bit cold in here?" Cleo asked.
"Sí, hace frio," José confirmed. "I'd better turn on the heating system." He turned a knob on a nearby control panel, and the heating system started up.
You probably should understand that someone turning on the heating system for a building, like José just did, is not the best thing when you're hiding in the ventilation duct, like Sam and Clover were doing.
Sam radioed Alex on her walkie-talkie necklace. "Alex, I overheard Cleo saying they captured you and Mandy. Did they?"
"Yeah, but we're just about to escape," came the reply. "Don't worry about us."
"All right," confirmed Sam. "We'll try to meet you back in the storeroom."
Clover was feeling the full effects of the heat. "So hot. Need to cool off my body."
You guessed it! Clover took out the ice-cold bottle of Cherry-Lime Dream that was in Cleo's office and gulped down its contents.
By the time Sam noticed what Clover was doing, it was too late; she had already emptied the bottle. What happened next was so predictable I won't even bother telling you about it.
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What will happen to Clover?
Will Alex and Mandy escape?
Why can't super-villains be more original?
Why do the names of "Undercover" episodes of Totally Spies always end in "Much?"
Find the answers to these and other questions (well, other questions, at least) in Chapter 6!