Part 02: Back Into Service

The gentle hum of the jetliner's engine was soothing in a strange way as its passengers had long since settled in for a long flight. The sun was coming up over the horizon as they moved through the air toward their destination, California. Mandy was glad to be getting back home, she'd spent the weekend on a spa vacation her mother had set her up with in return for getting top grades in school.

She let out a long sigh and opened her eyes, reaching down to turn on her miniature radio. She cringed when it spewed harsh static out at her and quickly turned it off, shaking her head. "Interference-proof my butt." She grumbled and threw the useless hunk of electronics back into her bag. She turned to look out the window, and saw that they were already flying over the ocean.

"What the heck?" Mandy sat up and looked around irritably, spotting a flight attendant a few seats away. "Hey, you! Come here." Mandy demanded. The attendant walked over to her with an obviously fake smile on her face. "What is this stupid pilot doing? We're over the ocean!"

"We know ma'am, we're trying to figure out what to do. When we make a decision, it will be announced over the intercom." The attendant replied.

"I'll tell you what to do, get a freakin' map and take me home! I have to be back in school today and I haven't had my shower yet!" Mandy shouted angrily at the top of her lungs, drawing the attention of everyone else in her section.

"We're working as quickly as we can ma'am, just hold tight for a few more minutes." The flight attendant nodded respectfully and turned to rush off to someone else in need of more peanuts. Mandy growled and crossed her arms over her chest, looking out the window at the ocean below them. What kind of stupid pilot couldn't find California? It was only the size of most countries.

She looked up when the intercom activated with a ding and a harried voice came through. "Attention passengers, this is your pilot speaking. Due to unforeseen circumstances we're going to be rerouting to the nearest airport available in Nevada. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes but we really see no other options available."

"Nevada?" Mandy leapt to her feet indignantly. "A beautiful, smart, talented, rich girl like me can't go there alone! What if something happens to me?" She demanded.

"Good." A voice said barely disguised by a cough.

"Who said that!" Mandy demanded. The flight attendant made her way down the isle and grabbed her, pushing her back down in her seat. "Let go of me! I demand an explanation!"

"Please, calm down, we're going to be landing shortly! And then you can find all the information you want, because we just don't have it." The flight attendant told her. Mandy huffed and sat down with her arms crossed over her chest. The rest of the cabin cheered the attendant on in subduing the annoyance, and Mandy swallowed her pride in order to make it through the rest of the trip without being handcuffed.

"Passengers please fasten your seatbelts, we're going in for a landing in a few moments. Thank you for your patience, and we hope you all have a wonderful stay in Las Vegas." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. Mandy growled darkly but slid her seatbelt on, and soon she did indeed feel the jet tilting forward as it came in for a landing. Mandy clung to her seat as it rocked wildly, her heart pounding furiously.

She looked out the window to see a whole mess of planes out in the open, some rolling to a stop while others were randomly strewn about the airfield. She screamed in surprise when the wing of her jet slammed into another smaller one, yanking the wing straight off that one while theirs barreled onward. This pilot was completely insane.

"Everyone hold on!" The flight attendant shouted. Suddenly the entire jet squealed, veering off to the side as the wing of one of the other jets scraped across the windows on the other side of the plane. The windows broke in a line, sending glass flying into the cabin, showering those on that side in shards of all sizes amid screams of fear.

The screech of metal on metal ended as they passed the jet and the entire plane jumped as though running over something. It would have sent the passengers hurtling into the air if they hadn't been buckled in and clutching the seats for dear life. Mandy's heart was pounding faster than she'd ever felt it, her hands white and a soft whine escaping her throat.

Suddenly the plane came to a quick stop as the wings on each side slammed into another jet on each side, pinning it in place. When they'd stopped Mandy ripped her belt off and stood up, intent on giving the pilot a piece of her mind, but the fear of the landing had made her knees go weak and she collapsed back onto the seat.

"Everyone please exit the plane in a rapid, but calm fashion. We've deployed the emergency landing gear, please make use of it." The flight attendant stood and moved to open the door so the passengers could compose themselves as best as possible and exit the plane. Mandy finally managed to climb to her feet and walk to the door, no longer in a mood to argue. So she slid down the inflatable yellow slide and climbed to her feet on solid ground.

The airfield was a mess, with planes of random sizes everywhere and oil patches dotting the runway. She'd flown a lot in her life, and she'd never seen anything like this.

"Your luggage will be taken to the appropriate area shortly, please everyone go inside and rest while we sort everything out!" The flight attendant shouted over the rumble of the crowd. They all began to file toward the airport proper, so Mandy turned to follow after them, nervous and scared for the first time in her life. She was used to being in control.

Mandy made her way to the terminal they'd stopped near and plopped down on one of the seats, pulling out her cell phone. She dialed her home number, but jerked the phone back when more static came pouring out of it. She closed it and looked around, spotting several other people doing the same thing as they tried to call work or loved ones.

Mandy waited and waited until finally they got the message that their things had been taken to baggage claims. So Mandy hurried along to get her suitcases before someone could snatch her stuff out from under her. She pulled her large suitcases off the conveyer belt one at a time, getting them all but having no way to carry them all at once.

"Mandy?" A voice behind her asked. Mandy turned around to see a girl about her own age with dyed blue hair and pale yellowish skin watching her from behind a pair of dark sunglasses. "Are you Mandy Myers?" She asked. Mandy looked her up and down.

"I am. Who are you?" Mandy asked suspiciously. The girl reached up and pulled her sunglasses off, revealing a pair of deep violet eyes.

"Brittany, and I need your help." She said.

"My help?" Mandy blinked in confusion. "Why do you need my help?"

"Not here. Come with me, I already have a car." Brittany grabbed a pair of suitcases and hauled them toward the exit, so Mandy grabbed the others and quickly followed after her. They weaved through the airport and emerged in the front parking lot, where Brittany made her way to a somewhat ragged-looking white car and popped the suitcases into the trunk.

They loaded it up and climbed in, with Brittany in the driver's seat. "Now what's going on? Who are you? How do you know who I am? And what do you want with me?"

"I don't really know what's going on, all I know is that I received new orders to call you back into service because we're shorthanded." The girl said as she pulled out. "I'm Brittany, with the World Organization Of Human Protection. I know who you are because you're a former WOOHP agent who had her mind erased, and my mission was to follow you for a while and make sure you didn't remember and tell anyone. I want you to help me."

"You were following me? For how long?" Mandy asked.

"Three months now." Brittany replied.

"Three months? And I've never even seen you before!"

"I AM a spy you know." Brittany smirked.

"Look, Miss Secret Agent whatever, I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to this nonsense." Mandy put one hand to her forehead painfully. "Like getting back home so that I don't miss school. And if my mom decides to come out and look for me, it'll be on your head. She hates not knowing where I am." Mandy smirked.

"You can't go back home... Beverly Hills is gone Mandy." Brittany said so softly Mandy was sure she'd misheard.

"E... excuse me?" Mandy asked shakily.

"Beverly Hills... and most of California... is underwater." Brittany said again. Mandy stared at her in shock. There was no way such a preposterous statement could be true... but Mandy remembered flying out over the ocean, thinking how stupid the whole thing was. She turned to stare out the front windshield as they wound their way down toward the city proper.

"No... it..." Mandy sputtered defiantly, but found her voice failing her for the first time.

"I'm sorry." Brittany told her. Mandy remained silent, staring out her window at the passing scenery as they made their way into the glittering city of Las Vegas, looking as bright and cheery as it always did. But Mandy just felt numb. If Beverly Hills was gone... her entire life had gone with it... her mother had gone with it...

The car came to a stop in the parking lot of one of the hotels that had made Las Vegas famous the world over and climbed out, walking around it to open Mandy's door and gently pull the numb girl out with a hand on her elbow. Mandy let her lead her along, in no mood to take charge. Her entire life she'd been in charge of everything... but now in the blink of an eye her life was gone.

She didn't come around until Brittany was pulling her into a hotel room with two twin sized beds and lavish bedding, and it even had a television on one side with a VCR and DVD player on top of it. It was painted an atrocious shade of pink, but Mandy didn't care. Brittany led her to one bed and pushed her down on it, laying her down on her back.

Mandy stared at the ceiling numbly while Brittany sat on the other bed, pulling her shoes off and stretching her feet out. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, but it showed nothing but static. Whatever was interfering with Mandy's cell phone and radio were also messing with the TV broadcasting signals. It was like the entire world was being silenced.

Brittany turned the channel to one of the in-hotel broadcasts, which was showing the movie 'Armageddon'. Then Brittany turned back to Mandy and walked over to sit down beside her, letting the TV run more to provide some sense of normalcy than because she was interested in it. Mandy didn't look at her, still trying to realize what it all meant to her.

"Listen to me Mandy." Brittany told her. "I know telling you to get over it or cheer up is pointless right now. But I need your help. I haven't had any contact with WOOHP since I got the order to bring you back into the organization early last night. I don't know what to do, so I'm just going to try to help what survivors I can find. I could use you here."

"Why should I give a fuck about you?" Mandy's voice shook in despair and hopelessness, echoing what she was feeling deep in her heart. "Or anyone else? My life was in Beverly Hills, it's the only place I've ever lived. My mom..." She gulped, trailing off.

"I know it hurts... believe me I know." Brittany told her. Mandy rolled away from her to hide the tears that were sliding down her face, trying to wipe them away and maintain her usual cool presence. "But we don't have time to mourn, Mandy... there are probably still dozens of people out there right now floating and waiting for rescue."

"Let them..." Mandy croaked.

"Your mother could be out there." Brittany told her. This gave Mandy pause. "I don't know... but there's still a chance. And I don't want to give up on her, or anyone else who was caught in this thing." Mandy sniffled and rolled to her back, looking up at Brittany with red eyes and tear streaked cheeks. "Please, Mandy. I need your help."

"I..." Mandy choked up again and put her hand over her eyes as a fresh wave of tears began to flow. "I don't know..."

"Take thirty minutes to compose yourself..." Brittany put her hand on her shoulder gently. "But after that, I have to go. Every minute we wait means less chance of finding survivors. Answer me then, okay?" She said. Mandy nodded silently and Brittany stood to walk to the door, heading out to the hotel proper and leaving Mandy alone in the hotel room.

Mandy sat up, rubbing her face with the back of her sleeve and watching the movie for a few moments. Why did it feel like that movie was so fitting right now? Maybe because she felt hopeless... like her life was being turned upside down beyond any choice of her own. What was she supposed to do? She was no secret agent, no matter what Brittany said. She was sure she would remember that.

She slid off the bed and walked over to the small dresser on one side of the room, looking in the mirror. She looked terrible. Her hair was mussed from the flight, she had a few cuts on her arms where stray pieces of glass had struck her, and her crying ruined her makeup. She rested her palms on the desk and leaned forward on them, staring at herself numbly.

The worst part of this all was, her mother was supposed to give birth to Mandy's baby brother any day now. Mandy might have been nervous about having a sibling... but there was no way she wanted this to happen. She wanted her mom around, and she wanted to see her little brother. Of course, she didn't know that she couldn't still have both of those things... there was a chance to save SOME part of her life...

She pushed herself up and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it with warm water before running it over her face, washing off the ruined makeup along with the remnants of her tears. She tossed the cloth in the sink and turned off the water, walking back out into the hotel room just as the door opened again and Brittany walked in.

"Well? Have you made a decision?" Brittany asked when she saw her.

"I'm in." Mandy replied. Her voice was still shivering, but she was careful not to let it overwhelm her. "I want to find my mom." Brittany smiled slightly and nodded.

"Okay. Let's get going then. We don't have much time to waste." Brittany turned to leave the hotel room, so Mandy followed after her, weaving through the hotel and emerging in the parking lot soon. They found Brittany's rental car and took off down the road in the wrong direction.

"Where are we going?" Mandy asked.

"Before I lost contact WOOHP sent me some emergency supplies and gadgets, including a few things for you. We have to pick them up before we head back to look for survivors." Brittany replied. Mandy accepted that and fell silent while they made their way across the city, eventually coming to a small garage in which a nondescript black van was parked.

Mandy climbed out of the car and walked up to the back with Brittany, who pulled it open and pulled out a small pink compact. "Your X-Powder, it'll let you change clothes with the touch of a button. It's normally also a radio, but it doesn't seem to work right now. Press this button to get ready for action." Brittany pointed to a small purple button on the bottom left.

Mandy pressed it, and gasped as a beam of light washed over her. Suddenly she found herself wearing a sleek violet jumpsuit. She would have appreciated this more if she wasn't so worried about her mother, but as it was she stuffed the X-Powder into a pocket and turned to Brittany, who was now wearing a blue jumpsuit similar to hers.

"Get in, it's time to go." Brittany closed the back of the van and climbed in the driver's side. Mandy climbed in the passenger's side, and they took off from the garage, racing down the street as fast as they could go without fishtailing out of control.

"You said I've been a WOOHP agent before." Mandy said. "Why don't I remember?"

"Like I said, you had your memory wiped, by your request if I heard right." Brittany replied. "I would love to be able to give you your memory of it back, but I have neither the time nor the ability to do that. We'll just have to wing it, I'll tell you everything you need to know about WOOHP and our gadgets as we go."

Mandy fell silent, satisfied with that for now. They left the city and raced along the completely empty freeway. Nobody was going to California, and it didn't look like many people had gotten enough warning to get out either. It must've been that radio interference that was plaguing them right now. Nobody could communicate... nobody could be warned.

Brittany brought the car to a stop on top of a hill that used to overlook Beverly Hills. Now it looked out over the ocean, glittering in the afternoon light as the waves lapped at their van's tires. Mandy shook her head in awe. This had been her home just a week ago when she'd left... a wondrous beautiful place where she was practically queen...

Brittany walked around to the back of her van and opened the doors, pulling out a pair of thick, bulky suits in blue and violet. Mandy looked back at her curiously as Brittany held one out to her.

"This is an UPWATI. It lets us move around quickly underwater without having to worry about oxygen." Brittany told her. Mandy took the suit silently and slipped it on over her jumpsuit. It was a perfect fit, as if it was made specifically for her. She guessed it was, if she was a spy once. It was still weird to realize she was something she didn't even know about.

"Remember. The radios on the UPWATIs don't work any better than any other radio waves, so we'll have to communicate through hand signals. Keep close to me, and keep an eye out for any survivors above or below the water." Brittany explained.

"Yeah I know what we're doing. Let's just do this, I wanna find my mom." Mandy pressed the button on her chest plate to bring her helmet down in front of her face. Brittany nodded, closed her own faceplate, and turned to walk into the ocean that had overtaken Mandy's home. Mandy followed, walking straight into the water where she activated the jets on her suit and floated forward after her new partner.

Soon Brittany gestured to the surface, where a piece of lumber was floating with a pair of legs dangling into the water. Mandy nodded and watched her float up to rescue the stranded survivor. Mandy meanwhile turned to float further down the hill a small ways, to where she found her house completely submerged with her designer clothing floating out the windows up to the surface. She would've been mad, but she was on a more important mission.

Mandy moved to the front door through the water and pushed it open easily. It was rotting from the soaking in the water, so it let her float into the living room and look around quickly. She didn't see any sign of her mother, so she made her way into the dining room, which was domed on the top to look far more impressive than it actually was.

"Mom!" Mandy shouted when she saw her mother floating in an air-pocket underneath the dome, clinging to the dining room table as it floated near the top. Mandy turned her jets on high and flew through the water toward her, breaking the surface and pressing the button to draw back the faceplate of her UPWATI. "Mom, are you okay?"

Mandy swam up to the older woman and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. The air was getting pretty stale up here, but her mother opened her eyes and looked over at her tiredly.

"Mandy...?" Her mother was gasping for breath. "Is that you...?"

"I'm here mom. Come on, we've got to get you out of here..." Mandy said, though she realized something. There was no way out. She had only one air tank and they were at least fifty feet below the surface. Her mother was in bad shape as it was... there was no way she could make it.

"I must be seeing things... there's no way... everything is so flooded..." Her mother stammered. The lack of oxygen must've been getting to her brain. Mandy could already feel it starting to take its toll on her.

"Here." Mandy yanked the tube that led from the air tank to her helmet out and shoved it in Phoebe's mouth, turning on the air supply again. "You hold tight, I'll try to get us to the surface." Mandy pressed the button to close the faceplate of the now airless helmet. She would only have a few minutes to make it all the way to the surface.

Her mother sucked in the air from the hose greedily as Mandy turned them downward and turned on the UPWATI's jets, sending them flying through the water toward the front door. After they emerged Mandy flipped over, planted her feet on the ground, and pushed them up toward the surface. The helmet was airtight, and with no oxygen hose, she could feel the air thinning. Stars were beginning to gather in front of her eyes, but she tried to ignore them.

She clung to her mother's waist, closing her eyes in an attempt to block out the stars as they moved through the water. She opened them again when she realized she was beginning to black out. She growled and let out a scream to keep herself awake and alert, flying through the water until finally they broke through the surface, flying out of the water up to their waists.

Mandy slapped her chest plate with one hand to open the UPWATI's helmet, sucking in a gulp of fresh air quickly before they descended into the water again. Her jets brought them back up again to float on the surface, where she greedily gulped in as much air as possible, her limbs shaking.

"Mandy, my dear Mandy." Her mother wrapped her arms around her tightly, hugging her close. "I'm so glad to see you. I was so afraid... I thought that was the end..." She sobbed into Mandy's shoulder. The younger girl hugged her mother tightly as well, leaning her cheek against her head and closing her eyes.

"I... I couldn't let you die mom..." Mandy gulped back the tears that once again threatened to overwhelm her, though these ones were different from the ones in the hotel room. "Who would buy me a new wardrobe if I did?" She felt her mother's body quiver in laughter, bringing a broad smile to Mandy's face. They held each other tightly, floating in the middle of the ocean that used to be their home.

"Mandy." Brittany's voice carried to them over the water as the other rescuer floated toward them. "Good work. Get her back to the van where she can rest." She said.

Mandy nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist again, pulling her back in the direction of the van. Her mom clung to her tightly, still a bit weak from spending several hours trapped in the dining room with no way out. Mandy didn't want to let her go... she always complained about her mother like any teenage girl, but when it came to losing her, she didn't even want to imagine it. Especially after she'd just gotten her back again, she would make sure her mother was safe from now on...

TO BE CONTINUED