Part 17: The Revolution Begins

Brittany stretched her arms out luxuriously, standing in front of the window of the hotel room she and Mandy shared. She looked out over the streets of Tokyo, in as much disarray as Las Vegas had been, and with a population just as small. One of the most densely populated cities in the world... reduced to this. It still seemed surreal to her, something this massive took a very long time to truly take in.

She turned her head when she heard the door open. Mandy walked in and closed the door behind her, flashing Brittany a smile. She had a couple of small white boxes held in one hand. "I brought some food. Apparently there was a lot of food stuff lying around wrapped in plastic, so we have plenty to eat." She walked to the bed and dropped the small boxes onto it.

"That's good at least." Brittany smiled back half-heartedly. She walked back to the bed, her muscles aching. They'd been working all day to try to help the citizens of Tokyo rebuild some semblance of their former society. She scooped a box off of it and plopped down on the edge of the cushion, prying the box open and grabbing a pair of chopsticks that had fallen beside the boxes.

Mandy sat down beside her and began to eat as well, letting the silence remain light and companionable as they filled stomachs drained by a hard day's labor. Brittany cast a few glances at her companion, marveling at the changes in her over the last few days. The whiny, sobbing, nerve-wracked girl had suddenly become a willing... if not completely competent... teammate.

"How you holding up?" Brittany asked.

"So far so good." Mandy replied without looking up from her bucket of food. "Trying not to think. Don't think and you can't go into shock." Brittany wasn't sure how healthy that was, but the girl had a point. "How about you?"

"I'm alive..." Brittany smirked. Mandy chuckled lightly. They both looked at the nightstand when Brittany's new X-Powder began to beep, the light on the top flashing an emergency code only Brittany recognized.

"What's going on?" Mandy asked.

"Let's find out." Brittany stood and walked quickly to the nightstand to open her X-Powder. A holographic image of a WOOHP Officer quickly appeared on the screen.

"All active WOOHP Agents, uprisings have been reported in three different countries, and they are spreading quickly. All Agents are advised to take all necessary measures to subdue these uprisings. Use of force is authorized." Brittany blinked in surprise as the message proceeded to repeat its warning. Uprisings? Why would the people rise up against WOOHP?

"What the...?" Brittany muttered.

"He's not kidding." Mandy said from the window, looking down. Brittany rushed over and looked down to see a large crowd of people gathering outside the hotel that had been designated WOOHP's Tokyo headquarters. "They look ready to torch the place. How are we supposed to stop them?"

"Non-lethally if I can help it." Brittany walked back to the closet and pulled out a pair of Head-For-Cover Hoverboards, dropping them to the ground. She also pulled out a pair of Perfume Atomizer Stunspray bottles, tossing one to Mandy. "We move overhead and stun as many people as we can. We have to disperse this crowd before they get too violent."

"It sounds like we're too late." Mandy commented when she heard shouts of anger floating in from outside.

"Then we hurry." Brittany jumped on her hoverboard, which instantly lifted off from the ground. She watched Mandy climb on her own. She hunched over to keep her balance, but otherwise her form looked good. "Come on, let's go do some crowd control." Brittany floated toward the window and pushed it open before streaking high into the night sky. She flipped vertically in the air, then pointed her board straight down toward the howling crowd underneath. They were banging at the sealed doors and windows trying to get in.

Brittany pulled up at the last moment, skimming just above the line of heads and letting a puff of Stunspray shower the crowd. A portion of the rioters stopped moving, freezing in place completely solid. She pulled up before anyone could orient on her, flying high into the sky again. She watched Mandy pulled a similar maneuver, though the crowd she nailed was significantly smaller.

"Keep it up until they disperse!" Brittany shouted over the rush of the wind as she flew back down toward the crowd. The two WOOHP Agents continued their sweeping maneuvers, remaining just outside the grasping reach of the angry rioters. At one point bullets began to fly, but Brittany located the source and swooped down to pick him off with her Stunspray.

Those members of the crowd who retained their ability to move began to flee from the aerial assault, and Brittany figured it was pretty much in the bag. But suddenly she heard a scream from behind her, and heard the thunk of the Head-For-Cover hoverboard hitting the ground, riderless. Brittany whirled, and her heart caught in her chest when she saw Mandy pinned inside a crowd of rioters, who were doing their best to pummel every part of their body they could reach.

"Goddamnit..." Brittany whirled and streaked full speed toward the crowd, tossing the Stunspray aside. At the last second the turned off the board and put it between her and the outer ring of protestors, slamming it into their backs. She vaulted over them and landed on top of another, kicking him to the ground and landing in a crouch beside Mandy. The surprised crowd backed off momentarily, but it wasn't likely to last long. Mandy was on the ground, hugging herself and shivering.

"Everyone back off." Brittany climbed to her feet, putting her fists up in front of her. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Hurt us? You're one to talk, murderer!" One of the men shouted hatefully.

"What are you talking about?" Brittany demanded. "YOU'RE attacking US!"

"We know what you did... you and everyone in the damned organization!" The man shouted, his fists clenching dangerously. "We won't let you get away with what you've done..." His voice radiated hatred, and those around him joined in, forming a tight circle around her. Brittany backed into the center of the circle, standing over Mandy with her fists in the air.

Suddenly she reached for her belt, but the swarm of people closed in, grabbing her. She managed to pull her X-Powder out of her suit, but the people held her arms apart, several others pummeling her in the stomach viciously. She doubled over, groaning in pain, but they refused to stop. She could see still others kicking Mandy on the ground, where the girl wasn't even trying to fight back anymore.

"Ugh..." Brittany groaned in pain as one fist slammed into her face, jarring her viciously. Her grip loosened, dropping the X-Powder to the ground, where it popped open facing her. Brittany hung her head in pain, not looking up as the blows stopped and the man from before walked up to her.

"Murderous two-faced wretches..." He spat on her chest, smirking when the girl didn't react. "You don't have anything to say for yourself? I guess it doesn't matter... there's so much blood on your hands all the forgiveness in God's heart can't save you."

"I don't know... what you're talking about." Brittany gasped out. The man slapped her across the face and growled, putting his hand on her chin and making her face him.

"The devil will tell you." The man growled darkly.

"Not today." Brittany kicked her leg out between his legs, not aiming for what one would think. Her heel slammed into the X-Powder, activating the quick-change function in a flash of brilliant light. The people around her jumped back in surprise as the light swept over her body slowly, her clothing shifting. The man growled and jumped forward first, aiming a punch straight for her face.

"Aaargh!" The man howled in pain as his fist slammed into a solid steel helmet. He stumbled back, nursing his bruised hand. The light around Brittany's body faded into the form of a suit of thick steel armor, known in WOOHP as the Bruit Suit. Brittany raised her fists again, glaring at the man who had moments before been so brave.

"You want to pick on a defenseless girl? Try it now!" Brittany lunged into the group, no longer in a non-lethal mood. Her blows knocked people aside in every direction, knocking out more than half of them on the impact of either her gauntlets or the ground. It wasn't long before the last of the rioters turned to flee, running into the night, leaving their frozen or unconscious comrades behind.

Brittany turned back to Mandy, who was still shivering on the ground. "Mandy!" Brittany ran to kneel at her side, lifting her up in her arms. Bruises covered her face and likely the rest of her body, though the violet WOOHP uniform covered it. "Mandy, come on. Speak to me girl." Brittany shook her lightly, forcing Mandy's eyes open. "Say something..."

"Give it to me straight..." Mandy groaned painfully. "Is my makeup messed up...?" She asked. Brittany blinked, then smiled jovially and rubbed her head.

"You look like an angel, Mandy." Brittany climbed to his feet, cradling the bruised girl in her arms. She walked toward the hotel doors, where the Officers opened them to let the girls in. The windows were beginning to crack, but they had been reinforced when WOOHP moved into it. Now Brittany knew why... had Jerry known this would happen? "Assign guard shifts through the night in case of more attacks." Brittany ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The officers replied. Brittany carried Mandy up the stairs since the elevators weren't working, and made her way to the hotel room they'd been staying in before. She lay Mandy gently down on the bed and hefted her X-Powder to first deactivate the Bruit Suit then contact Jerry's communication frequency. She was surprised when GLADIS' voice came back.

"Please state your message." GLADIS said.

"Put me through to Jerry." Brittany demanded.

"I cannot. Jerry is otherwise occupied, please leave a message,"

"I'm not leaving a Goddamn message! I need to talk to Jerry! We were just attacked by crazed rioters calling us murderers!" Brittany shouted. "I want to know just what the Hell is going on!"

"Clearly, their assumptions about you are incorrect. You have caused no deaths, so the riots are unwarranted fears sprouted by paranoia. Your orders have already been issued on the matter, and no further instructions are required at this time."

"Don't you tell me what's required you buggy bitch, I'll decide that! Put me through to Jerry!" Brittany shouted.

"Negative. And next time you wish to contact WOOHP headquarters, please have a valid reason. Jerry is quite busy managing WOOHP's worldwide activities at the present time. Thank you for calling." The communication was cut suddenly, leaving Brittany furious and fuming. She pulled the X-Powder shut and slammed it into the nightstand angrily.

"I can't believe it... we're under attack and Jerry has his metal bitch brush us off!" She hurled her X-Powder across the room, where it slammed into the wall with a heavy thunk and fell to the ground. She put one hand to her forehead, rubbing it to try to ease her headache. "What the Hell is going on... why would they accuse us of murder?"

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, looking back at Mandy lying on the bed with her eyes closed, trying to shut out the pain of her bruises. Brittany reached over and touched a bruise on her cheek lightly.

"That looks pretty nasty." Brittany said.

"It doesn't feel much better." Mandy said softly.

"Just a sec. I'll get a rag to wash up." Brittany stood and walked into the bathroom to get a wet washcloth before walking back out. She sat down again and pulled Mandy's head onto her lap before gently putting the rag over the bruises. Mandy sighed in relief and closed her eyes, letting the water run down across her face to drip to the bed.

"That feels good..." Mandy said softly.

"I'm glad." Brittany smiled slightly, then let it fade as she looked at the window. "What do you think we should do now?"

"What do you mean?" Mandy asked.

"Our standing orders are to keep the peace through any means necessary." Brittany said. "But I just don't know... I don't know if we're on the right side here."

"Do you think Jerry would hurt anyone? You know him better than I do." Mandy said. Brittany thought about that for a few minutes.

"I... no, I don't think so." Brittany shook her head.

"Then I guess we trust him." Mandy replied. She was making sense of course, she had no reason to suspect Jerry of any wrongdoing.

"I guess we do... for now." Brittany smiled. "We can make a solid decision in the morning... for now, we should try to get some sleep." Brittany said. Mandy nodded, so Brittany pulled her up to the pillows and pushed her down on the bed again, grabbing the blanket and pulling it up around her shoulders. She gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, then moved to climb into her own bed, crawling under the covers and forcing herself to lie still. It took a long time for the adrenaline of the battle to wear down, but at last she slipped into a deep slumber.

When morning came, she yawned, rose from her bed, and walked to the window. The streets looked similar to how they did the day before, as if the night's riots had never happened. People milled about on their daily business, though there was a definite air of distrust and animosity among the people. Brittany watched them for a little while, noting the angry, hateful glances they cast toward the hotel as they went about their business. It was official... Brittany was a hard-fisted ruler here.

"Are they behaving?" Mandy asked from the second bed behind her.

"Yeah." Brittany replied. "We beat them into submission. Yay for us." Brittany huffed.

"Well, worse things could've happened." Mandy said. Brittany looked back to see the dark haired girl climbing out of the bed, moving stiffly with the bruises on her face clear and swollen in the daylight. "I mean, it was either us or them. Would you rather it was us?"

"Yeah... you're right Mandy." Brittany nodded. "You're totally right. I don't know why I feel so bad about defending myself... and defending you." Brittany smirked and smacked herself in the forehead. "There's gentle and then there's just stupid. I'm just being stupid."

"No argument there." Mandy walked up behind her and nudged her with her elbow playfully. Brittany smirked back at her. "If you pick a fight with a big fish you're liable to get eaten. It's the way of the world, post-apocalyptic conditions or no."

"And I suppose you're a big fish." Brittany said.

"Naturally." Mandy grinned. They both looked back over their shoulders as Brittany's X-Powder began to beep from the floor where she'd thrown it the night before.

"You think that's Jerry?" Brittany smirked.

"One way to find out." Mandy replied. So Brittany slowly approached the X-Powder and scooped it up from the floor, popping the top. A static-shrouded sound issued forth, but the video remained completely static.

"What the Hell...?" Mandy pressed a few buttons to try to clear up the signal, but the static remained too strong to clear up. At last she shrugged and closed the X-Powder, cutting the communication. "Guess it was a wrong number or something." She smirked. "Come on, let's go find something for breakfast. I'm hungry." Mandy nodded, and they both left the hotel room in search of food.

The hotel was crawling with WOOHP officers in tuxedos, keeping a sharp eye out for intruders after the attacks last night. They found their way to the kitchen, where a chef was busy looking through the ingredients on the shelves that remained edible after being submerged in water for a few days. Brittany approached him, and he looked at her with a smile.

"What can I do for you?" The chef asked.

"Got anything resembling eggs in here?" Brittany asked.

"And grits!" Mandy exclaimed. "Oh, and some of those little buns with..." She trailed off when she noticed both Brittany and the chef staring at her. She sighed. "Okay, eggs and grits."

"Good choice." The chef smirked. The two WOOHP spies walked over to a nearby table and sat down to wait for their morning meal. Soon it came and the girls dug in, enjoying their freshly cooked meal of eggs, grits, and bacon that the chef had found somewhere. They ate their fill, then stood to head out to the lobby, where the officers were still keeping watch over the doors.

"Should we try to find out what they were talking about, accusing us of being murderers?" Brittany asked.

"I don't think it matters personally. As long as they keep their cool and stay in line they can call us whatever they want." Mandy replied. Brittany was a bit surprised at the sharpness in her tongue, but she supposed if she'd gotten beaten that badly she'd be as bitter as Mandy. She thought for a moment, then pulled out her X-Powder.

"Maybe someone's gotten a news broadcast running." She turned her X-Powder to open frequencies and began surfing the airways. Mandy watched curiously, listening to the static that issued forth from the X-Powder. In a moment however Brittany stumbled across a signal, in which the static began to take shape. She furiously tapped at the buttons, trying to boost the signal enough to make out what was being said.

"Moon has been detained." A voice Brittany didn't recognize stated. "Grass is also in full custody, under lock and key. All possible loose ends are being cleared up as we speak, with the exception of the rebels."

"Moon? Grass?" Mandy asked. Brittany hushed her quickly, not wanting to accidentally send out a return signal.

"We're still on the hunt for them." A woman's voice returned. "They're proving very elusive, we haven't been able to find hide nor hair of them. And the people around here aren't making it any easier. They have the entire population down here on their side."

"They didn't become the best by being unconvincing." The man replied. "Keep on the hunt, and report back the moment you find them."

"Don't worry, we'll keep in touch." The woman cut contact and the signal faded into static again.

"Somehow, it didn't sound like they were just discussing the weather." Mandy commented.

"Moon and grass... rebels..." Brittany said softly to herself. "They've got to be code names for something... but whose code names for what?" She thought about it a minute. She didn't know anyone the moon and grass would apply to... and she didn't know any rebels...

"Oh, maybe 'moon' is Lady Luna!" Mandy suggested excitedly.

"The TV Astrologer to the stars?" Brittany replied confusedly. "Why on Earth would they want to detain her? What kind of threat could she possibly pose to them?"

"Maybe she discovered something..." Mandy suggested. Brittany thought about that, and suddenly her X-Powder began to beep again.

"For crying out loud..." Brittany calmed her rapidly beating heart and pulled out her X-Powder, flipping it open. Static issued forth... and that was all. There was a signal struggling to come through, but it obviously couldn't make it. "Whoever you are, it ain't working!" Brittany shouted at the device before closing it again and jamming it in one pocket.

"So what do we do now?" Mandy asked. "Sit here, pretend nothing's going on and hope those people out there don't find some REAL weapons to use against us soon?"

"No..." Brittany said quickly. "Our top priority is to figure out what's behind these 'murderer' charges." She held up her compowder and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly her blue jumpsuit flashed and shifted into the form of a kimono, wrapped around her body loosely and hanging off of one shoulder. "And to do that, we have to try to look as un-spy like as possible." Mandy lifted her X-Powder, and soon was standing in a standard set of jeans and a tight-fitting tank top.

"Come on. Let's go find out what the Hell is going on here." Brittany turned to leave the hotel through a side entrance, with Mandy following behind her. There were way too many questions running through her mind right now, so she tried her best not to think at all. She had to take it one question at a time... and the first up was 'what spawned these murderer accusations?' Once they had that answer, they could work together to unravel the others.

TO BE CONTINUED