KIRTT in black van mode wound through the mountain paths that they'd found on the edge of the city. The water was building up far below them, looking so much like a bowl being filled with water that it actually made Brittany crave soup. They were up high enough now to where they didn't have to worry about drowning for a while, but there was another concern the noticed as the van rounded the corner to give her a full view of the valley beyond.
It too was filled with water, glistening brightly in the harsh sunlight as the sun began to move down toward the horizon, slowly giving way to the ever-growing moon. Brittany brought the van to a slow stop, sighing and looking out over the growing ocean. There was nowhere else to go now... they were trapped on this mountain. Their only hope was rescue, and she had a feeling everyone was too busy rescuing themselves right now.
"Mandy." She reached over and tapped the sleeping girl's shoulder, rousing her from her nap.
"Bugh...?" Mandy looked around, disorientated for a moment. "What's going on?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
"I don't think we can run any farther." Brittany nodded toward the window. Mandy looked out the window, almost as if not comprehending the situation for a few moments.
"We're trapped...?" She asked. Brittany nodded. "But... but what about those UPWATI things?"
"Their air tanks are depleted. We'd run out of oxygen before we found dry land." Brittany replied. "Only place to go now is up."
"You mean climb?" Mandy asked, appalled.
"In a while. For now no harsh labor required. KIRTT, RATVAT mode." Brittany said. KIRTT began to shift again, reshaping itself into the form of a thick-steeled somewhat pinkish vehicle with tank treads and an enormous drill mounted where the grill had been moments before. "Fasten your seatbelt Mandy, it's gonna get pretty bumpy." The drill began to whir as the vehicle moved to aim into the mountain.
The drill cut into the rock easily, allowing them to burrow inside with only the RATVAT's headlights for illumination. The vehicle turned upward slowly as Brittany moved the drill, altering the direction of the carved path. Soon they were on an even incline, cutting through the mountain at a blistering pace. The vibrations were somewhat sickening though, and Brittany could see her traveling companion turning green.
About twenty minutes later they busted through the other side of the mountain, forcing Brittany to bring the vehicle to a stop before they left the tunnel and plummeted down into the seething ocean far below. Brittany turned off KIRTT, leaving it in RATVAT mode. "Time to climb. But we'll need to take as much with us as we can." Brittany climbed carefully into the backseat, where her gadgets had wound up.
"What for?" Mandy climbed into the back with her.
"You never know what you'll need, especially in these kinds of unpredictable circumstances. So carry whatever you can without being loaded down." Brittany replied. Suddenly she spied two pairs of gloves and grabbed them, holding the violet ones out to Mandy. "And put these on."
"I'm already wearing gloves." Mandy held up her gloves hand. Brittany pressed the back of one of her gloves lightly, causing three curved blades to pop out the front. Mandy yelped in surprise and jumped back.
"Catfight Claws. Good for climbing, which we're going to be doing a lot of." Brittany held the gloves out to her. Mandy took them while Brittany slid her own gloves on over her old ones. She then crammed her pockets with as many small gadgets as she could, stuffing yet more into Mandy's pockets amid squeals of protest.
"Watch your hands!" Mandy complained.
"Come on, we've got to get going." Brittany climbed out onto the RATVAT'S drill, balancing carefully. "Just whatever you do Mandy, don't look down." She called back as she looked down at the waves lapping against the mountainside. She gulped and looked up, plunging her Catfight Claws into the mountainside and pulling herself up.
She climbed up a few feet, then looked down to watch Mandy nervously crawl out onto the end of the drill. She looked up at Brittany with fear etched plainly on her features.
"I'm... uh... not exactly used to this." Mandy gulped.
"Relax, calm down." Brittany called back. "You don't want your hands shaking, that could dislodge you. The Catfight Claws are strong enough to create holds in the rock if you swing them at the right angle, and then just use your legs to push you up. Not out."
"I can't do this!" Mandy shouted back, huddling down on the drill. Her gaze fell downward and her body began to shiver.
"What happened to the girl who shoved me out of the driver's seat while we were driving in electrified water?" Brittany asked.
"Driving is a little different from THIS!" Mandy shouted furiously.
"CALM DOWN!" Brittany shouted. "You're going to fall if you keep that up!"
Mandy looked up at her and growled. "Like you even care Miss Spy Girl! This has all been easy for you! The saving, the running for our lives, you don't even care about the danger!"
"I'm scared too Mandy..."
"Shut up before I kick your ass!" Mandy screamed. Brittany blinked, then smirked slyly.
"You couldn't kick my ass with a size twenty shoe." Brittany challenged.
"I said shut up!" Mandy howled back.
"Make me!" Brittany taunted her. Mandy growled and jumped into the air suddenly, her claws arching toward the mountain. Brittany gasped and brought her legs up just in time to avoid the claws, which plunged into the rock, holding Mandy in place against the wall. Brittany scrambled to get further up the mountain before the assault resumed. "Is that the best you've got?" Brittany called back. "You couldn't scare an ostrich!"
Mandy growled and swung her claws again, moving up in an attempt to catch Brittany in the blade. Brittany moved quickly away from the blades, making her way up with practiced ease. Mandy followed after her more clumsily, her claws gouging large holes into the rock as she stalked her prey.
They climbed up the side of the mountain, at a frantic pace but in truth their progress was slow and there was a lot of mountain to traverse. Still Brittany wouldn't give up, moving on up the mountain and goading Mandy into following. She knew this couldn't keep up forever though. Mandy was still just an untrained civilian, despite the anger-fueled strength that had carried her this far. She was visibly shaking after a short time.
"Come on Mandy. I'm gonna get away from you." Brittany feigned moving further up away from her.
"I can't do this anymore..." Mandy whined. Her arms were shivering violently and she was practically hanging from the Catfight Claws embedded in the mountain. "I'm soooo tired..."
"Come on, I think there's a nook up here we can rest in." Brittany lied.
"Forget it... I'm just not cut out for this. I'm good at people skills and being popular, not this! My hands feel like gravel, my arms feel like dead weights and I've had an itch on my back for the last half hour that I can't scratch. I'm ready to go home now!" Mandy whined. Brittany growled and carefully picked her way back down the mountain until she was beside the violet-suited girl.
"You know there's no home to go home to." Brittany told her. "The sooner you realize that going backward isn't an option, the better off you'll be. You've been whining and comparing this to your old life the entire time I've known you... well it doesn't matter how it compares. This is where we are, this is what we need to do, and no amount of wishing or whining can change it."
"But I can't do this..." Mandy complained softly. "So tired..."
"I'm tired too Mandy." Brittany said truthfully. Her own arms were beginning to feel the burden, but she was better trained to keep going regardless. "But we can rest when we find a safe place. Maybe a place to call a new home, alright? Start a new life? Maybe it'll be as good as your old one, who knows?" She asked. Mandy just stared at her with tear-streaked eyes. She'd been through an awful lot in the last two days.
"Okay..." Mandy said softly, gulping.
"Okay, now you go first. I'll be right behind you." Brittany said. Mandy looked up and grunted as she pulled her body up after her claws. Brittany watched her, then when she'd moved up out of the way she slid over so that she was directly underneath her companion. She climbed up quickly underneath her, putting her head up between her legs so that Mandy was sitting on her shoulders. Mandy gasped in surprise.
"Keep going." Brittany grunted under the additional strain. She felt Mandy using the claws to pull herself up, though Mandy's added weight was definitely pressing most down on Brittany's shoulders. She was shaking in weakness, her limbs on fire as she struggled to move. But Mandy didn't stop, pulling herself upward with all the strength she could muster, and Brittany refused to let her fall by giving up.
"There's a ledge here." Mandy called down to her tiredly. "We can rest!" Brittany felt Mandy's weight being lifted off of her shoulders, looking up to see the violet uniform disappear over the edge of a small ledge. Brittany began to pull herself up painfully, but blinked when she felt Mandy's hands close about one of her wrists, yanking upward to bring her closer.
Brittany slipped over the edge and collapsed on top of Mandy, pinning her to the ledge. Mandy didn't really seem to care, sprawling out on the rock and panting heavily with her eyes closed. Neither of them moved, letting muscles burning with strain finally begin to cool down. A soft wind was blowing in from the ocean, which combined with their elevation to make for a rather pleasant cooling sensation.
"We... high enough...?" Mandy gasped breathlessly. Brittany mustered the strength to raise her head form Mandy's chest and look back at the ocean. It extended as far as the eye could see. It didn't look like it was rising right now, but it seemed to be coming in spurts. They still weren't completely safe.
"For now..." Brittany gulped tiredly, letting her head fall back onto Mandy's chest. "Let's just rest." Mandy didn't argue, so they remained on the small piece of sanctuary for several more hours, unspeaking and unmoving.
Finally they found themselves sitting with their backs against the mountain face, rested but still sore, staring up at the night sky as the very bright, and very large moon shone high overhead. Its light reflected off of the ocean waters, rippling in the darkness as the water weaved in its random, but unarguably destructive patterns.
"Where are you from?" Mandy asked curiously. "What's your exciting and troubled superhero past?"
"I was raised in San Francisco." Brittany replied. "My parents were pretty well off, so I lived a good life until WOOHP discovered me and decided I would make a good addition to their teams. I wanted to help the world, so now here I am. I'm not even that experienced at it, I only joined WOOHP a few months ago."
"Well that's not much of a story for a mysterious action hero." Mandy smirked.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Brittany smirked back. "If it helps I have had a few close calls on my missions."
"Close enough." Mandy and Brittany both chuckled. "Be honest with me, do we stand a snowball's chance of getting out of this alive?"
"There has to be someone alive out there. If someone comes by we can signal for help." Brittany replied.
"And if they don't come by?"
"I don't know." Brittany shrugged. Mandy sighed and patted her knee absently, pursing her lips in thought. Brittany didn't say anything else, letting the night remain silent until Mandy spoke again.
"Hey, did you see that?" Mandy pointed out over the ocean.
"See what?" Brittany asked.
"I thought I saw something move." Mandy stood up with a pained grunt, trying to stare out across the water. Brittany stood up beside her, staring out into the darkness. Now that she was concentrating, she did see something moving down there. Quickly reaching into a pocket she took out a small finger-sized flashlight, shining it toward the object. "What're you doing?"
"Seeing if anybody responds..." Brittany replied. She flashed the light a few times, then lowered it, waiting for a response. Several tense minutes passed before a return flash came back. "Yes! It's a boat, with people on board. If we can get down there we'll be safe."
"We don't know those people, they could be killers or rapists or something." Mandy complained.
"It's them or starve up here, because I have no food." Brittany pointed out. At the mention of food both of their stomachs began to growl quite loudly. Mandy gulped and nodded nervously.
"Okay, now how do we get down there?"
"There's a small button on your left shoulder. Jump off the edge and push it, it'll open your Padded Shoulder Parasail." Brittany said. "Tell me you've parasailed before."
"Oh, sure. That I can do." Mandy nodded confidently. "We used to go to this fabulous resort every year, it was the most amazing- YAAAARGH!" Mandy screamed in surprise as Brittany shoved her off the mountain. Her violet parasail opened quickly, catching the air and carrying her quickly across the water. Brittany leapt out after her, opening her own parasail and floating after her through the air.
As they moved closer the boat became more distinguishable from the roiling waves. It was rocking pretty hard, but lights began to flash from it, shining up into the sky to light their way toward the vessel. Mandy swooped down toward it in an almost expert manner. She almost overshot it, but one of the ship's crew quickly grabbed her around the waist before she could fly off the other side.
Brittany however came up short, slamming into the ship's steel hull with a dull clang. She clung to the rail above her until someone grabbed her wrists and hauled her up on board the deck. She shook her head clear after the impact, quickly adjusting her clothing and detaching the parasail. She stopped when she saw a man in a black leather coat approaching with his hands behind his back. He had a strong bone structure, and sharp, calculating eyes.
"Welcome aboard the S.S. Unsinkable." The man smirked slightly as he said the name. His eyes seemed to be scanning her body carefully, taking in every fiber of her blue WOOHP jumpsuit.
"Thanks for letting us come on board instead of throwing us back." Brittany replied, a bit uneasy about his stare. "Is this ship yours?"
"Mine? Yes, yes it is." The man replied. " His eyes slid down to her body again. "That's a very interesting suit you have there... where did you get it?" His eyes flicked back up to hers searchingly.
"I bought it." Brittany said firmly. "I'm Brittany, and my companion over there is Mandy." She said. The man just stared at her steadily. "And you are, good kind sir...?" She asked.
"Mac..." He said at last. "Mac Smit, at your service." He bowed gracefully. "I would say to make yourselves at home, but these are desperate times and we can't let you wander around freely until you prove you're trustworthy. But we will make sure you get enough to eat for the night in your room." Mac gave her a warm smile.
"Thank you." Brittany wasn't sure whether to trust this turnaround in attitude, but the thought of food was immensely appealing.
"My associate will lead you down to your room." Mac turned to one of the other sailors, who approached. He was a stone-face man who looked about twenty or so, but his eyes were cold and dull. He almost looked robotic, but when he put his hand on her arm his skin felt normal, as warm as any. His voice sounded normal as well.
"Please, come this way young lady." He nodded and turned to pull her along the deck toward the door. Brittany cast a sideline glance at Mandy, who was already eagerly following another man down into the ship. Tempted by the offer of food no doubt. Well Brittany couldn't blame her. It had been over 24 hours since either of them had eaten anything.
They followed their hosts down into the ship and stopped at a thick, fairly well kept wooden door near the bottom of the ship. One of them pushed it open, revealing a good-sized cabin with a single bed sitting against the far wall. "Please make yourselves at home, your food will be brought down shortly." The man told them with a kind smile. Brittany thought it suspect that a sailor with such a gruff appearance would talk like that, but she walked inside anyway alongside Mandy. She also noted that the door lock clicked into place after the door was closed behind them.
"Well, this was a stroke of luck." Mandy stretched, obviously oblivious to their true situation. "You were totally right, maybe there is something to be said for trusting people." Mandy fell back on the bed with a satisfied sigh. "Now we can just stay on this boat until it all blows over."
Brittany decided not to alarm her somewhat naïve companion, so she sat down on the edge of the bed and pried off her boots and gloves, bringing her leg up to massage one foot. It was aching after the days spent cramped up; it was good just to kick off one's shoes after a very long workday. She heard Mandy rustling on the bed behind her, and saw her violet boots fly across the room.
Brittany looked over her shoulder to see Mandy had already taken her gloves and boots off, and unzipped her suit down to her chest, fanning air into the stifling and airtight outfit. "Don't get TOO comfortable." Brittany told her. "Boat or not, this is still a crisis situation. We could have to abandon ship at a moment's notice."
"Pessimist." Mandy stuck her tongue out at her. Soon dinner showed up at their door, which was unlocked and opened to allow it to be pushed in. Mandy grabbed the tray eagerly and carried it back to the bed without a word. Brittany thanked the sailor who brought it, though he didn't care much. He closed the door, locked it again, and disappeared. Brittany turned to walk back to her companion, who was eagerly digging into the 'feast' of soup and bread.
"This is the best soup ever!" Mandy exclaimed as she down the food. Anything would've taste good after unwillingly fasting for a few days. So Brittany sat down beside her and grabbed herself a different bowl and a few slices of bread.
After two bowls apiece they finished eating, setting their dishes aside and lying down side-by-side on the rather small twin sized bed. They both stared at the ceiling, though Brittany didn't feel the slightest bit tired. The day's events still had her wired and excited, even though she knew... or hoped at least... that the excitement was over for now.
"You ever been on a boat before?" Brittany asked idly to pass the time.
"Sure. Every summer my dad would take us a cruise out to a Hawaiian resort. I did a bit of everything there. Parasailing, parachuting, hula dancing. I remember always having a lot of fun out there... it was one of the only times I ever saw my dad." Her voice sounded solemn and morose, more than Brittany had ever heard it.
"Dad's a workaholic huh?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah. I'm not sure how he wound up with my hippie mother." Mandy sighed softly. "I think she was a trophy wife when she was younger... now he just keeps... kept... her around because he doesn't believe in divorce." Her voice fell silent, so Brittany decided it would be best to change the subject.
"Any brothers or sisters?" Brittany asked lightly.
"None that I know of. But it wouldn't surprise me if I had a few half-siblings out there somewhere from my dad's business trips." Mandy replied.
"You really hate him don't you?" Brittany turned on her side facing Mandy.
"Well... yeah, yeah I guess I do." Mandy turned to her side as well, right in front of Brittany. They stared at each other, resting and enjoying each other's company. "It seemed like he... y'know, stifled everything my mom was about. She always believed in freedom of expression and love and art... and all he wanted her to do was live high and look pretty. She was nice when he wasn't around, but those times he was home she changed... I hated it."
"Did he demand the same things of you?" Brittany asked softly.
"God forbid I do anything socially unacceptable or fall out of the social spotlight." Mandy smirked. "Perfect daughter for the perfect man... that's what he wanted. I tried to be the best at everything... now it all seems so Goddamn stupid... what was all of that worth? How does it help me now? Was there a point to all that if that life was just going to end?" She trailed off again, choking up. It was then that Brittany realized the problem.
"Do you know where your father is now?" Brittany asked.
"He was on a business trip... to Australia." Mandy replied. "Not like I care... the heartless bastard can drown for all I care." Her voice and her eyes betrayed the lie, but Brittany wasn't about to call her on it. "Just something else I don't have anymore... even if I didn't want it anyway."
Brittany looked down, unsure what to say now. There wasn't much she could say to comfort the girl. She was right after all. Her old life was over, gone in a flash... but however hard it was at first, it was in Mandy's best interest to face that fact and move past it. So Brittany moved her hand down to take one of Mandy's hands comfortingly, cupping it in both of hers and looked up again.
"Mandy-" Brittany began, but stopped when she saw that Mandy's eyes were closed, her breath fallen into a steady sleeping pattern. Brittany smiled slightly and sat up, reaching down to grab the blanket and pull it up over their shoulders as she lay down again. She put one arm on Mandy's shoulder and pulled her close, leaning her forehead against Mandy's, holding her body in a gentle, consoling embrace. She closed her eyes, and slowly slipped into a restful, cleansing slumber.
TO BE CONTINUED
