At the base of the Stratosphere Tower, once one of the landmarks that made Las Vegas one of the tourist capitols of the world, Brittany and Mandy stood and looked out across the waterlogged and extremely messy landscape. Furniture, cars, and all kinds of little knick-knacks littered the streets at random, though not so much as to make movement difficult. A vast majority of the stuff had probably been washed out to the ocean with the tide, as had most of the bodies, thankfully enough. Mandy didn't really want to be stepping over mountains of dead people...
"It looks like something from Stephen King..." Brittany said, trying to lighten the mood. "Come on, we should try to get back to WOOHP headquarters, before my evil clone goes through with Scam's plan." They turned to walk down the street, since the cars were probably all still waterlogged, and the street was too cluttered to drive anyway.
"I've never liked Stephen King's movies, he's a horrible director." Mandy quipped as they walked. Brittany stopped and looked back at her.
"Stephen King is an author... you know, those big paper-filled things with words in them. Some people call 'em books." Brittany smirked.
"Feh." Mandy shrugged. "Books, movies, the only difference is one's boring and one's not."
"Okay, if you don't like Stephen King movies, what kinds of movies do you like?" Brittany asked.
"Stephen Sagal movies." Mandy grinned and clasped her hands in front of her. "He's such a hunk... oh, and Bruce Willis... I had a poster of him up on my wall." Mandy drifted into a daydream of being surrounded by two of Hollywood's action movie hunks, a grin plastered across her lips.
"You're a scary girl sometimes Mandy." Brittany rolled her eyes. They walked on chatting about various likes and dislikes, blocking out the remnants of society that lay scattered about them. They tried to pretend that there was nothing there but each other, the only pieces of life and sanity either of them had left to cling to. Mandy even tried to ignore when she was forced to step around the body of a young boy, though her nerves were stretching thinner and thinner.
"How're you holding up?" Brittany asker after awhile. The buildings around them were beginning to thin as they reached the edge of the city. The sun moved down toward the horizon, casting a fiery orange glow over the still-wet city, giving it an eerie glow.
"Good as I can." Mandy replied as she stepped around the cold, pale corpse of an old woman. "To be honest, I think it's all still settling in... what this all means, y'know? It feels like I'm going numb or something."
"That's normal, it takes time for something like this to register. Just remember, you can't afford to freak out. The longer it takes us to get back to WOOHP, the better the chances of something happening to Jerry."
"I know... I won't freak out, I promise." Mandy nodded confidently.
"That's good to hear." Brittany nodded back. They chatted for a while longer, leaving the buildings behind as the sky began to fade into darkness. The stars began to emerge from their hiding places, no longer obscured by the constant cloud of pollution or neon lights that had made the city famous. They approached a small gas station on the freeway. There was a car several yards away, and various plastic-wrapped snacks that had been caught in the building remained inside.
"Dinner and shelter." Brittany walked toward the gas station.
"This place? It looks kinda crummy." Mandy followed.
"I don't think we're gonna find any five-star hotels intact, let alone with any food in them. Besides, the car should be dry by morning, so we'll have transportation back to WOOHP." Brittany pointed out logically. "Now come on, let's get inside." She walked inside, stooping to scoop a Twinkie up off the ground on her way in. Mandy followed more slowly.
The inside of the store was in complete disarray. No lights worked, so it grew darker with every moment, though Brittany found several waterproof flashlights on the back wall and filled them with batteries from the plastic packages, giving them light sources as the sunlight faded. She set them up around the barren gas station. There was no sign of whoever had owned this place. They probably fled when the flood began.
Brittany arranged the flashlights in a small circle behind the counter, where she and Mandy sat down. Mandy munched on a meal of Twinkies, Beef Jerky, and anything else that was wrapped in plastic, watching Brittany work on drying out a small oil lamp she found in the back room. When she managed to dry it off she grabbed one of the oil refills, popped open the glass bottle and poured it in.
"Here we are." Brittany took a lighter out of its plastic wrapping. "I'm really glad companies have gotten so used to wrapping everything in plastic and glass these days." She took the top off the lamp and put the lighter to the wick. It burst into flames, so she let the lighter die, set it down, and put the glass casing on over the flame. She turned the wheel to expose more of it, causing the flame to burn hotter, casting more light over the two girls. "We should try to keep it going through the night. It's getting cold, and we're both still wet."
"Alright." Mandy nodded, staring at the flickering flames and holding a piece of beef jerky in one hand. "What are we going to do once we get back? I mean... what comes after this?"
"I don't know. It's better to keep our eyes on the road rather than the destination. If we think of what to do after we reach WOOHP, it'll make it harder to actually get there." Brittany said wisely. Once Mandy might have said something sarcastic about the piece of philosophical wisdom, but she wasn't in the mood for that. So she merely nodded, not taking her eyes off the flickering lamp.
"What're you thinking?" Brittany asked. Mandy jumped and looked to the side to see Brittany kneeling right beside her. She'd been so zoned she didn't even notice her approach.
"Just taking stock..." Mandy replied softly. Brittany nodded and sat down beside her, taking one of Mandy's hands in her own. "What're you doing?" Mandy asked.
"On the ship... when we were going to sleep..." Brittany looked up at her eyes. "It sounded like you've been through a lot of pain in your life. And however you want to deal with it... well it's up to you." She stared at her, her hands engulfing Mandy's. "But I'm glad to have you here... it doesn't matter how you act, or what you say... because I can see past all that."
"Well... er..." Mandy stared at her in shock. The numbness that was setting in and the suddenness of this move combined to render her, for one of the only times in her life, completely speechless.
"I'm glad you're here with me." Brittany repeated and leaned in to kiss her tenderly on the cheek. She stood up and walked to the other side of the lamp as if nothing happened. "Goodnight, Mandy. Try to keep warm." Brittany lay down on the floor and curled up beside the lamp, wrapping her arms around herself and closing her eyes. Mandy stared at her for a little while, then shook her head and lay down on the other side of the lamp.
As the horrors of wandering through a dead city wore away, she drifted into a deep sleep. In her mind she saw herself, standing in the middle of the quad at Beverly Hills High School. People were standing around her, gazing at her in awe and reverence until they had to fall to their knees in worship. Sam, Alex, and Clover were the first to kneel right in front of her. Mandy put one foot forward so Clover could kiss it. She was on top of the world...
Suddenly the waters came... they swept through with the suddenness of a lightning strike, engulfing the entire school within the blink of an eye. Mandy tried to hold her breath and swim toward the surface, but as quickly as they came the waves seemed to pass. Mandy was dropped once again to the ground as if nothing had happened. She wasn't even wet, her hair perfectly styled and her clothes moisture free.
Mandy was a bit pleased with herself until she looked around. She saw Sam, Clover and Alex lying on the ground before her, their backs the only thing Mandy could see. She stepped toward them slowly, kneeling down behind Clover. With one hand on her shoulder she turned the girl over. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was still. It almost seemed like Mandy could watch her face turn white as the warmth escaped her body.
She whirled away from the girls, but stopped and gasped in horror when she saw dozens of bodies littering the quad. Everyone she knew, even kids she'd never seen before, all littered the ground. Some were turned toward her, their faces white, their eyes lifelessly staring straight at her. Mandy backed away from them, only to trip over Sam and fall to her back. She scrambled away from the redhead, mumbling incoherently with her heart racing in her chest.
She looked up from her position on the ground as a figure stepped up to her head, wearing the solid blue WOOHP jumpsuit that Mandy had become so familiar with. For a moment she began to calm down, but suddenly Brittany bent over her body. Her face was pale and cracking, her eyes dull and gray. It seemed to grow worse even as Mandy watched, all semblance of warmth and light fading fast right before her eyes.
"Mandy! Mandy!" Mandy awakened as a hand slapped her cheek. Her eyes snapped open to see Brittany kneeling over her, outlined in orange by the glow of the oil lamp at her back, her face smooth and vibrant with life. Mandy was sweating profusely, and panting like she'd just run a marathon. She reached up to wipe the sweat out of her eyes, her chest heaving. "Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine." Mandy gulped, trying to calm herself down. "Just a bad dream..." She shook her head and sat up, her entire body shaking. Brittany stayed right by her side, putting one hand on her shoulder to steady her. "I dreamed... Beverly Hills was drowned... and I was there..." She shook her head. "Everyone I knew died... you died..." She slammed one shaking hand into the floor. "Damnit, get a grip Mandy..."
"Hey, relax." Brittany rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "It's not a weakness to be afraid... with everything that's been happening, it's no wonder you'd have a nightmare or two." Mandy looked over at her, one shivering hand still on her forehead. "When I first started at WOOHP, I was so scared I would wet the bed every single night. Because I didn't know if we'd have a mission the next day, if I'd be able to handle it. But in time I got past it... I got through it, partly because of my teammates. They were there for me when I got nervous and scared... they comforted me, they didn't care about my nighttime problem... they understood..." Brittany said.
"I don't have any teammates to help me..." Mandy said softly. "I've never even had any real friends before..."
"You have both Mandy... just look at me." Brittany said. Mandy looked up at her, expecting her to say something about how she had more friends than she thinks, like her therapist always said. But Brittany just smiled and rested her forehead against Mandy's. "Hi." She smiled. Mandy chuckled slightly and stared at her, their violet eyes never leaving each other.
Brittany wrapped her arms around her torso and pulled her close, pulling her head down against her shoulder. Mandy moved up against her, putting her arms around her waist. "Get some sleep Mandy... and dream of being somewhere you've always loved being... someplace you haven't felt sad... or rejected... or lonely. Someplace you've felt truly content."
Mandy closed her eyes, lulled into sleep by Brittany's calm, gentle voice, and the hand running over her back with tender strokes. Past the darkness, she found herself lying in the shadow of a small Apple Tree, staring out across a trickling river as it wound its way down a rocky path. Her cheek lay against her mother's shoulder, feeling her arms stroking her back tenderly.
"I love you..." Mandy knew she didn't say it often enough... she never had. It was every teen's wish to get away from their mothers... an attitude she found herself regretting deeply.
"I love you too." Phoebe replied tenderly. Mandy could've sworn it was Brittany's voice... but she didn't care. She buried her face in her mother's shoulder, settling down to try to get some real rest after a long, horrible day. At last, she fell into a quiet, restful sleep.
She slept through the night, and awoke the next morning when Brittany shook her lightly. She was still lying against her traveling partner, with her cheek on her shoulder. She didn't panic this time, or push Brittany away. This time she merely sat up and stretched, letting out a yawn. The golden sunlight was filtering in through the windows and the open door.
"Good morning..." Brittany sat up when she felt Mandy move off of her, stretching. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good actually..." Mandy smiled.
"Good, we still have a ways to go. And we should get going as soon as possible." Brittany climbed to her feet stiffly, stretching out her joints in an attempt to limber up. Mandy stood up with her, stretching out and letting another yawn escape from her lips. They each grabbed a few plastic-wrapped goodies from the floor and turned to leave the gas station.
Mandy followed her out to the car sitting just off the side of the road further down. Brittany pulled the unlocked door open and climbed in. In a moment she sighed and climbed out again.
"What's wrong?" Mandy asked.
"No keys." Brittany pulled her gloves off and held them out to Mandy. "Hold these for a minute, will ya?" Mandy nodded and took the gloves. Brittany climbed back into the driver's side of the car, turning to mess with the ignition. Mandy looked around the abandoned highway, idly wringing the gloves in her hands as she waited for Brittany to finish hotwiring the car.
"How long do you think it'll be until we get where we're going?" Mandy asked curiously.
"If I can get this thing working, about four hours." Brittany replied.
"If you can't?" Mandy asked.
"We run out of food." Brittany replied simply. Mandy gulped, wishing for her friend's success. Soon the engine began to sputter, the entire frame shuddering as the engine struggled to come to life. "Come on, start up for mommy." Brittany muttered. The engine roared again, letting out an ear-piercing squeal before finally the engine caught properly, and the whole thing hummed to life. "Perfect. Come on, I don't know how long this'll last." Brittany sat up quickly.
Mandy leapt over the hood and climbed into the passenger's side of the car before Brittany took off down the street. The speedometer easily topped 120 MPH as they flew over the mostly empty landscape. Most of the debris had either been swept completely out to sea or caught in the buildings back in the city itself, so this area was fairly clear.
It wasn't exactly a relaxing rush down the freeway, but somehow Brittany managed to make it to this 'WOOHP Headquarters' in fairly short order, skidding to a stop at the edge of what looked like a settlement being built around the giant W. Both of the girls climbed out, looking around to examine those gathered there. Some were sitting on the ground weeping, while others seemed to be working on various construction projects. Nobody paid attention to them, running around on their tasks.
Brittany approached the guards standing in front of what looked like the main entrance. "Agent Brittany, reporting back after a successful mission." Brittany saluted quickly. The two guards just stared at her like she'd sprouted a third hand and flipped them off with it. "Uh... is something wrong?"
"Agent Brittany has already reported in." One of the guards told her suspiciously.
"Shit... that's not me. That's one of Tim Scam's copies. I need to get in right away, Jerry's life is in danger!" Brittany shouted.
"It's true, I was there when this Scam guy captured us!" Mandy rushed to Brittany's side.
"And who're you?" The guard demanded.
"I'm Mandy... Agent Mandy to you! And we have more important things to do than convince you to let us in! Now get the Hell out of the way!" Mandy stomped forward, shoved both guards aside as they watched in surprise, and marched right through the large double doors. The two guards looked unsure how to respond to this. They knew Mandy was supposed to be an agent, Brittany's mission had been to retrieve her, but they thought Brittany was already there.
"Excuse me boys." Brittany slipped past the guards and ran to catch up with Mandy.
"So, how do we find the evil clone?" Mandy asked.
"We find Jerry. Its mission is to terminate him, if it hasn't already. His office is this way!" Brittany charged down the hallway, so Mandy followed after her. They took the elevator up to another long hallway, which Brittany ran down like she was being chased by Satan himself. Mandy followed as closely as she could until finally Brittany turned to a steel door and kicked it open, heading inside.
"Brittany?" An older man's voice exclaimed in surprise. "Is something the matter?" Mandy caught up with her friend and walked into the room. An old man with a ring of gray hair was standing behind a solid steel desk, staring at them in surprise. "Mandy Myers? You're alive?"
"Quick, Jerry, I need you to tell me where the other Brittany is." Brittany demanded quickly.
"Other Brittany?" Jerry asked in confusion.
"I just got here. The one that showed up before is a Scamlar imposter. We have to find it, immediately." Brittany said.
"I understand, I'll put out an alert." Jerry turned away from them and took out his wallet. Brittany turned back to Mandy, panting slightly from their dash through the building.
"Welcome to WOOHP." Brittany smiled slightly. Mandy chuckled and smiled back. Both of their smiles faded however when the door right behind them slammed shut with a loud metallic clang. Slowly both of the girls looked at the door, seeing a metallic silver hand lying against it from above. Looking up, they spotted a silver form hanging from the ceiling, its hollow eyes staring down at them maliciously, its lips curling into a snarl.
"MOVE!" Brittany grabbed Mandy's shoulder and pulled her backward as the silver form leapt to the ground where they has been, its fists plunging into the ground hard enough to leave dents the size of bowling balls in the solid steel. It ripped its fists from the floor and looked up at them again, its hands reforming into a pair of silver blades. "Jerry! Do something!"
Jerry looked over and quickly assessed the situation. "GLADIS, initiate Anti-Scam Program 03." Jerry said. Mandy blinked when the sprinkler system came on, dousing everyone in the room with water.
"THIS is a security program?" Mandy licked her lips, then blinked in surprise again. "This is salt water."
"Salt neutralizes Scamlar." Jerry said.
"Did anyone tell HER that?" Mandy nodded toward the second Brittany, who was still standing very much in one piece under the sprinklers.
"Watch out!" Brittany dove out of the way as the Scamlar warrior lunged at them with a feral growl. Mandy screamed in fear and ducked just in time to avoid a clean beheading. She rolled to the side quickly, sliding up against Jerry's desk. The Scamlar ran after her, but it could only focus on one thing at a time. Jerry leapt over Mandy's head and planted a solid kick to the assailant's face, sending silver chunks flying against the wall behind it.
The head quickly reformed however, and it reoriented on him, bringing its blades up in front of it to strike. Brittany charged up behind it and slammed her shoulder into its back, sending it stumbling toward Mandy. Mandy growled and threw herself forward close to the ground, slamming into its legs and tripping it up. The Scamlar collapsed to the ground with a thud, but climbed back to its feet just as quickly.
"Jerry, find a gadget. We'll hold her off." Brittany growled.
"We will?" Mandy gulped, not liking the cold look in the Scamlar's eyes. "How do we do that?"
"Easy, just don't get hit." Brittany leapt forward. The Scamlar swung one blade torward her head, but Brittany arched her back at the last second, slamming two feet into her opponent's stomach as her back slammed into the floor. "Mandy, catch!" Brittany grunted and hurled the soldier up over her body with both legs, sending it flying toward Mandy.
Mandy cast about for anything to use as a weapon. Quickly she yanked a pipe off the wall and charged at the Scamlar warrior. The pipe connected squarely with its face, sending its head flying against the far wall. Once again though it began to reform, but Mandy wasn't going to let it just heal itself. She slammed the pipe into its back like a club, knocking it to the ground.
She slammed the pipe into it again and again, trying to make it stay down. She squealed in surprise when something wrapped around her ankle and yanked her off-balance. She slammed into the floor hard, the pipe flying from her hands. The Scamlar quickly climbed to its feet, hefting Mandy from the floor by one foot, holding her upside down.
"Rrraaaagh!" Brittany whirled furiously, her next kick knocking the Scamlar's arm clean off. It splattered against the wall, but Brittany kept whirling, kick after kick knocking chunks off the robotic piece of liquid. Mandy fell to her back with a scream as Brittany knocked it into the wall away from her, standing in a fighting position.
"Brittany, move!" Jerry shouted. Brittany leapt to the side, landing on top of Mandy and pushing her down as flat as possible. Suddenly a massive sound filled the air, and a ball of brilliant, but vaguely disquieting light flew across right above her back. The ball of light slammed into the reforming creature, sweeping over it like a tidal wave.
All semblance of physical shape was wiped clean, pieces of liquid metal slamming into the wall to slowly begin dripping down the smooth surface. It didn't show any signs of reforming for the moment, so Brittany climbed off of Mandy and grabbed her hand, quickly yanking her to her feet. "I'll get a containment crew in here right away. Perhaps we can confine it before it reforms itself." Jerry said.
"Alright, we'll stand watch over it until they get here Jerry." Brittany replied. Jerry nodded and turned to leave the room, leaving Mandy and Brittany alone in the high-tech office.
"I need a bath..." Mandy quipped.
"I know, I could use one too. Just wait a few more minutes. I'll give Jerry my report and we'll probably get some downtime. It looks like everything's fairly calm around here at the moment... barring homicidal robot attacks." Brittany smirked. "Though I will say... it seemed a little too easy." Brittany approached the purple puddle on the floor. "The report I read on it said Scamlar was relentless and almost immune to damage."
"You think it was holding back?" Mandy walked up beside her.
"Maybe..." Brittany shook her head. "But whatever. We don't need to worry about that right now."
"Right, bath time is the biggest problem I want to worry about." Mandy replied. It was strange... for all Mandy remembered, she'd never been here before in her life. But both Jerry and the guards at the front door seemed to have recognized her. Aw well, she wasn't complaining. They were probably the only reason she was alive right now, so she owed them her life. And she found herself growing to appreciate Brittany's company more and more in these trying times...
TO BE CONTINUED
