Author's note: I've had this story on hold for a while. I figure I've wasted enough time.
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Chapter 2: Welcome to WOOHP
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03:55 PM - WOOHP
THUMP! All four teenagers landed in a heap on a cushioned floor in the middle of the WOOHP lobby. Jerry was standing at the back of the room, snacking on some potato chips.
Jerry paused. "Nice to see you again, girls. And boy."
"And boy?" Sam asked, somewhat confused. Everyone got up, and Nate was finally noticed.
Nate gasped upon seeing Jerry. "Hey, aren't you that Jerry guy who runs that hotel chain? I baby-sat your son, Marvin, a few weeks ago."
"Yes," he responded, "I am that Jerry guy who runs that hotel chain. But I don't run a hotel chain."
"Huh?"
"Welcome to WOOHP, the World Organization Of Human Protection. WOOHP. Sam, Clover, and Alex are WOOHP spies."
"WOOHP," Nate confirmed. "Nice ring to it."
As he spoke, Nate walked over to a cooler in the corner of the room and took a bottle of soda out of it. "Hey, are you going to drink this?"
"No," Jerry replied, "and if you know what's good for you, you won't either. That is a bottle of Cherry-Lime Dream. Delicious, I've been told, but it has the unusual side effect of turning drinkers into animals."
As he spoke, Jerry got out a folder from a nearby file cabinet and set it on the desk. "All the details are in this case file."
Nate approached the folder and read about the whole incident in Mexico. (If you'd like to do the same, "Cherry-Lime Dr, uh, Nightmare" can be accessed through my profile.)
"Wow, impressive," Nate declared as he finished. "So, this Cleo Bellita woman is behind bars now?"
"I think she is," Jerry responded, "but I haven't gotten a lot of news about her recently. I hope she hasn't escaped or anything."
Sam decided she'd better put the conversation back on track. "What's the mission, Jerry?"
An image of the same technology box that I mentioned in the prologue flashed on the monitor behind Jerry. "This is the Reality Box. Available in GameCube, GBA, PS2, and Nintendo DS models. The model shown here is a GBA model."
Nate had seen several kids with these utilities.
Jerry continued talking. "These Reality Boxes have had unusual effects on kids who have tried to use them. I've brought Marvin in to illustrate. Keep your distance, he's a bit hyperactive."
At that point, a boy rushed into the room, holding a toy sword. "Stand back! Link is here to wipe out the monsters who roam Hyrule!"
Clover rolled her eyes. "Jerry, what's so bad about some kid playing pretend?"
"He isn't exactly playing pretend," Jerry replied. "It's like the Reality Box brainwashed him as soon as he turned on his GBA. Not the kind of thing you see every day."
"So, where do we begin?" Alex questioned, anxious to get the mission started.
"The Reality Boxes are manufactured in Nintendo's main production office in Japan. You should make that your first stop."
"And our gadgets are?"
"You get bungee belts, boomerang bracelets, tornado-blast hair spray, and something new that the folks in the tech lab came up with: the brain-decoder sunglasses, capable of reading the mind of whoever you look at from up to five feet away."
Sam and Clover suited up and got their gadgets, but Alex and Nate were stopped. Alex blinked. "Why are we staying behind?"
"Don't take it personally," Jerry explained. "Since Nate doesn't belong to WOOHP, he has to stay here in the lobby, and I need someone to watch Marvin. As long as Nate stays here, I figure I should keep you here as well. I wouldn't want to separate a couple like you two. Besides, I have a little experiment planned for you."
Nate and Alex reluctantly agreed to stay behind. Jerry pulled a small box out from beneath his desk and opened it, revealing a few mints.
"Sam, Clover, Alex," he said as he passed out the mints, "I'd like each of you to take one. You'll be able to mentally track each other after eating these mints. Nate, you get one too, since you're here and I have one more"
After the business with the mints was done, Jerry pulled a lever and sent Sam and Clover on their way. Nate was lost in awe.
...DING! Another flash of inspiration hit Nate. He promptly took out his PDA again and began typing like he'd never typed before.
Alex noticed. "Nate, how can you be thinking about writing one of your stories at a time like this?"
Nate was not amused. "Hey, when you're a writer, you find inspiration in all sorts of places." After that, Jerry took Alex off to the WOOHP lab. Nate followed.
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I suppose you're wondering, what is the "experiment" Jerry has in mind for Alex? Well, you'll find out.