Sam didn't do much. There wasn't a whole lot she COULD do. It was deathly silent in this place, since the TV and radio stations had obviously gone off the air long ago. Not to mention that they were all flooded and ruined anyway, so even if there were signals, they didn't have any way to pick them up. Alex seemed determined to make the best of it through, rummaging through a bookshelf with a series of soggy books all lined up in a messy looking row.
"No... no... whoa, I can't believe anyone else has this. You like fairy tales don't you Sam?" Alex asked. Not particularly, they tended to be too juvenile to challenge her mind. But she couldn't tell Alex that. "Well maybe you'll like this, it's a story my mom used to read to me when I was a little girl. It was always a comfort to hear it for some reason..." She pulled the moist book off the shelf and walked over to sit down beside Sam on the folded up blankets with her legs folded in front of her.
She opened the book, but found the contents unreadable. "Aw darnit... I should've known." Alex shook the book by its spine, sending a few drops of liquid falling to the floor. With a sigh she threw it across the room where it landed with a soft splat. "Well, maybe I can remember it well enough. Would you like to hear it Sam?" Alex grabbed Sam and pulled her head onto her lap, stroking her hair.
"It's called 'The Longest Road'... I can't remember who wrote it. I think it was a woman... aw well, that doesn't matter." Alex smiled down at her redheaded friend. Sam just lay there, of course, waiting for Alex to start the story so she could take her mind off of the situation at hand. "Okay, let's see... how did it begin? Well, I'll come up with something...
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess living in a beautiful castle with a beautiful moat and a beautiful dragon. Every night she ate a feast of the most succulent meats, the ripest fruits, and drank the sweetest wines in the land. She had everything a person could possibly hope for, she even had servants to tend to her every whim. Life was perfect... even the weather was always nice and pleasant, with a constantly shining but not too warm sun and a gentle breeze blowing through the castle.
Day after day she lived the perfect life, safe and secure in paradise. The servants did their chores, the winds cooled her down, and the dragon guarded the castle. But one day a man approached the moat, and asked to see the princess. The dragon roasted him, and that was the end of it. The princess never knew he was even there to interrupt her perfect life.
The following day another man arrived, and he too was quickly roasted by the dragon. And then the next day another man came... and the next day, and the next day until they started coming two a day, and then three a day. The dragon continued to roast them all, but one day the princess noticed all of the men coming to the castle.
'What are they all doing?' She wondered. 'And why is the dragon killing them all?'
'Because we can't allow anything to interrupt your perfect life.' One of her servants told her. So the princess let it go, and the men continued to be roasted where they stood by the dragon.
Then one day, a little girl approached the moat and asked to be let inside. The dragon was going to roast her too, but the princess ran outside screaming 'no no don't hurt her! She's such a sweet girl... please, let her come inside.'
'But your majesty,' one of the servants said, 'if we let an outsider into the castle then your paradise will be lost forever.'
'That's ridiculous.' The princess insisted. So she led the little girl into the castle. The girl was a lost orphan, searching for food and shelter from the cold and someone to pass the time with. The Princess took pity on her and agreed to let the girl stay in the castle. Suddenly, the castle walls began to collapse, and soon the entire castle had been brought to the ground.
'What happened?' The princess wondered.
'We told you.' One of the servants said. 'Bringing an outsider into the castle would destroy your paradise. If you cast her away, then you will once again be free to eat the most succulent meats, the ripest fruits, and drink the sweetest wines until the end of your days.' The Princess thought about the life she had, but the more she thought about it, the less it appealed to her.
She had already lived a very long time in that castle, doing nothing more than being tended to hand and foot, watching the days pass in comfort... and isolation. But suddenly this girl was offering her something she'd never had before, a friend to share this life with.
'I believe I'll stay here.' Said the princess. So she took the girl's hand, and they left the castle of paradise behind to journey into the forest in search of food. The castle disappeared, all of the plentiful animals, fruits, and wine vanished. Paradise was lost, but the princess decided it wasn't worth having. She had a long road ahead, but the longer road would be so much better than paradise because she had someone to share it with."
Alex opened her eyes and looked down at her redheaded friend. Sam had rather enjoyed the story, all in all. It was certainly better than staring at the ceiling re-counting the five thousand six hundred forty-seven sparkles. Alex sighed and ran one hand through her long red hair, staring into her emerald green eyes with a soft expression. It was hard to tell what it was... resigned sadness, desperation, or something in between.
"I wish I knew you were here to share this road with me Sam... I hope you'll come back to us soon... I don't know if I can do it without you." Alex told her softly. Sam wished she could comfort her friend, but a blank stare was all she could muster. Alex sighed and wiped her eyes.
"I know, how about another story?" Alex suggested quickly. Sam knew it was more for Alex's benefit than her own, but she didn't have a problem with it. "Let's see... there's got to be something else I know..." Alex trailed off, deep in thought. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and looked down at Sam. "Ah, I know another story. 'The Lonely Little Robin'...
Once upon a time, there was a bird living in the branches of a great, sturdy oak tree. The branches were so strong that even the mightiest wind couldn't make them sway. This bird lived with its mate in comfort and happiness. They foraged for food together, built their nest together... they were completely inseparable. Until one day they decided to have children.
So the lady bird laid her eggs in the nest they had built together, and the man bird began to hunt on his own while she watched over the babies. One day she stopped him before his daily foraging flight and said 'Dearest, what should I do if ever you should fail to return?'
The man bird laughed. 'Sweety, that will never happen. Death itself could not keep me from returning to a vision of love and beauty such as you.' So the man bird left to look for food, and as he promised he returned with the biggest catch that either of them had ever seen. The days wore on with the birds together, looking forward to the day their children would hatch.
One day, the lady bird turned to the man bird again. 'Dearest, what should happen to our children if ever you should fail to return?'
'Sweety, that will never happen. Death itself could not keep me from returning to take care of my beloved babies.' The man bird insisted before leaving once again on his morning foraging flight.
The day of the eggs' hatching was growing closer, and once again the lady bird turned to the man bird. 'Dearest, if I should fail to be here one day when you return, what would happen to you?'
'Then I would find you. Death itself could not keep me from flying by your side for the rest of time.' Then he left once again to search for food. The day wore on and the lady bird waited for her love to return. She waited and waited, but as the night grew darker she couldn't see any sign of him. Still she waited, watching the skies... waiting...
The following day the eggs hatched into beautiful golden chicks, but still the lady bird continued to wait. Days passed... the chicks soon passed away, but still the lady bird continued to wait and wait for her love to return. After several days, she passed away too. As she flew through the air, higher than any bird could possibly hope to go, she saw a silhouette in the sky.
'See, sweety?' The man bird told her. 'I told you even death could not keep me from your side.' On her other side, the chicks that had so recently hatched flew on golden wings, and the robins flew high into the sky as a family, no matter what happened to one or all of them."
Alex trailed off and wiped her eyes. "Wow... I never realized so many of mommy's stories were so depressing. I never really thought about them as a little girl..." She looked down at Sam thoughtfully. "Do you think they're alright Sam? Our mothers I mean..." Sam wished she knew, but there was no telling what Jerry would do with them.
"Wow... you're all dirty." Alex suddenly realized, as though searching for a reason to do something other than think. She stood and walked into the kitchen, soon returning with a bucket of water and a couple of sponges. She sat down beside Sam and pulled her dirt-covered shirt off, taking one of the sponges to gently wash Sam like a precious porcelain doll.
"I wonder what Clover's doing now..." Alex said softly, her eyes far away and glazed over. "I wonder what everyone's doing... mommy, Clover, Arnold..." She shook her head vigorously and turned back to washing Sam, scrubbing at every piece of dirt she could see. "I'm sorry Sam, I'm here for YOU now..." She took a deep shuddering breath. "I know, another story..."
She thought for a few moments, obviously trying to come up with a good story. "I can't think of anything..." Alex closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "I know I know more, I just..." She plopped down on the blanket, breathing deeply. Sam watched her worriedly. This all had to be extremely hard on the girl... possibly worse than it was on Sam. At least Sam knew she was still alive...
Alex moved down to wash her stomach after finishing her shoulders and chest, not really seeming to see Sam as she worked on getting her as clean as possible. Sam could feel the sponge, though for some reason she still couldn't move. She was making progress though, perhaps soon her body would overcome the shock and be under her control again. The sooner the better.
The silence was utterly deafening, with only the wet sounds of the sponge on Sam's skin cutting through it. Soon even that faded, though Sam couldn't see what was happening. She heard a soft sobbing sound from further down toward her stomach, coupled with sniffles as Alex tried to compose herself. Sam struggled with herself, trying to force her body to move. This had gone on long enough... she couldn't let Alex go through this anymore.
With a tremendous mental and physical effort, Sam raised her head to look down at her friend. She was hunched over Sam's stomach, her head buried in her body as she sobbed. "I'm sorry Sam... I know I'm being a baby..." Alex said through her sobs. "I should be strong... like you girls always are... it's just so hard... you two are ALWAYS strong and I'm just..."
"The strongest..." Sam breathed softly, forcing one of her hands to slide up to the back of Alex's head. Alex sniffled and looked up at her in surprise, her eyes lighting up when she saw Sam semi-conscious.
"Sam... you're awake!" Alex scrambled up and wrapped her arms around Sam's torso, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was soooo worried... I didn't know what to do, and I just..."
"Ssshhh..." Sam leaned against her, still not having the strength to do much else. Even her voice was unnaturally soft, but with enough effort and concentration she was able to speak. "It's okay... I saw everything you've done for me Alex... I know." She whispered. "I'm glad to see you... but I need you to do something. It's extremely important."
"What is it?" Alex sniffled.
"Call Clover... tell her Jerry's not responsible for the attack on the settlement." Sam told her. "I don't know who is... but it's not Jerry. The one who did this told me that... Someone's playing us against each other somehow..."
"Okay... I'll call her." Alex nodded and pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket. She dialed quickly and raised it to her ear, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. "Clover! Listen, we have some important info about the attack!" Alex remained silent for a moment, listening. Suddenly her face went pale, and she quickly moved the phone away from her ear, turning it off.
"Alex? What happened?" Sam asked breathily.
"Jerry... Jerry was on the other end of the line." Alex said.
"Jerry...?" Sam's eyes went wide. "He probably traced the call... Alex, we have to get out of here."
"Right." Alex quickly grabbed Sam's shirt and pulled it back on her before standing, cradling Sam in her arms like a child. Sam dangled in her grasp, still unable to do much else. Alex ran outside and began moving through the alleys randomly again, hoping to leave behind the building and the cell phone to avoid being caught in a WOOHP trap.
"Do you think we made it out in time?" Alex asked. No sooner did she finish the question than something slammed into her from behind, sending her furiously off balance. Alex struggled to stay on her feet, holding Sam to her chest. She whirled right before she slammed into a nearby brick wall, shielding Sam from the impact but getting a pretty nasty impact for herself. "Ow..."
"We knew you two would show up at some point." Pam said. Alice, Crimson, Yuki and Megan emerged from the alleys around her, forming a semicircle around Alex and Sam. "Jerry was right about that... then again, Jerry tends to be right about almost everything. Now come on girls, come quietly, it's two against five, you know you don't stand a chance."
"Alex, you may be able to outrun them..." Sam whispered softly. "But not with me in your arms..."
"Don't even think about it Sammie..." Alex clutched her tighter to her chest. "We both get out of here, or neither of us do."
"There's no reason for this. Jerry won't hurt you I'm sure. He's not the bad guy here, you are. I don't know what's gotten into you exactly, but I won't let this continue!" Pam exclaimed. Alex slowly knelt down, setting Sam on the ground and propping her up against the wall. She stood up again, standing in front of Sam and facing the five girls.
"If you want to fight, fine. But I won't let you touch Sammie..." Alex raised her fists in front of her expertly.
"Fine, Alex... if you want to do it the hard way... get her!" Pam and the rest of the spies lunged inward toward Alex. Howling like a furious lioness defending her cub, Alex lunged straight toward Pam. She leapt and planted both feet into her chest, kicking back to do a vertical backflip, her legs lashing out to slam into both Yuki and Crimson at the same time. Alex landed in a crouch and rolled backward, her legs kicking out against the last two to sweep Alice and Megan's legs out from under them before she leapt back to her feet.
Pam attacked again, but Alex parried every blow with lightning precision, landing several punches on Pam's jaw before whirling to deflect one of Alice's kicks, and ducking one of Crimson's punches before kicking Megan in the stomach and grabbing Yuki's arm. She yanked Yuki around to slam her into Crimson, then dodged swiftly away from Alice's next blow, planting a solid uppercut to the jaw that sent the older spy sprawling.
She grabbed Pam's next blow and hurled her over her shoulder to the ground, then jumped slightly to dodge Megan's sweep. She slammed her heel into Megan's forehead, knocking her to the ground. Pam's legs kicked upward suddenly from the ground, slamming into Alex's stomach and knocking her back, also knocking the wind out of her. Pam jumped to her feet even as Yuki and Crimson approached her from either side.
Alex stepped back, watching them for a moment. The instant Yuki moved to attack Alex lunged at her, leaping just beside her and rolling to the other side. By now Alice had recovered however, and punched her across the face, sending her stumbling back again. All five spies oriented on her now, rushing to surround her. Alex whirled quickly, spotting Sam still lying against the wall, watching Alex so helplessly... she almost looked like she was resigned to being captured...
"No!" Alex reached into her pocket and whipped out a small tube of lipstick, which instantly extended into a 6-foot long bo staff. She spun it between her hands, lunging toward Crimson and Yuki. They dodged out of the way of Alex's furious spins and swings, her staff looking like a blur in the air in front of her.
She whirled, letting her grip slide to the end of the staff as it swung in a wide arc. The five girls backed off slightly, a fact that Alex took full advantage of. She caught the staff in her other hand and whirled toward Megan like a dancer, swinging the staff expertly to slam it into her stomach. She grunted and hefted her off the ground, dumping her onto her back on the pavement moments later.
She flipped the staff behind her to block Yuki's kick, then whirled it in front of her again to slam it into Alice's side, quickly jerking it back to slam the tip of the staff into Yuki's stomach. Both women collapsed to the ground, clutching their stomachs. Alex turned again, spinning the staff in front of her and catching the end between her side and her arm. This left just Pam and Crimson standing in front of her. They each reached into their uniform to pull out more Lip-Spears, holding them in front of them.
Alex was panting heavily, growing seriously tired. But it looked like the other three were out of commission, lying on the ground holding their stomachs where Alex's staff had done some serious damage. Just two more, and she could get Sam out of here.
"I've got to say Alex... you're damn good." Pam replied, panting but not as heavily as Alex. "Clover went down by now, and she didn't manage to take a single one of us down."
"You'd be amazed what someone can do when their friends are on the line." Alex replied darkly. Pam and Crimson lunged forward suddenly, both whirling their staffs above their heads and bringing them down toward Alex. Alex raised her staff to block the blows, but the force was way too much to hold. Alex was knocked to her back, but she rolled backward and flipped to her feet again, lunging forward with her staff swinging.
Pam parried the blow expertly, bringing her staff back around quickly, but Alex let herself fall backwards to avoid the hard swing. She used her bo as a crutch to pull herself back up, then swung it in a whirling arc in front of her. Pam leapt over it, bringing her staff down hard in a double-handed overhead blow. Alex brought her staff back up to block it, shoving it aside and slamming the butt of her staff into Pam's jaw.
The older spy stumbled to the side and went down, leaving Alex the only one standing with four spies on the ground before her. Wait a minute... Pam, Alice, Yuki, Megan... where did Crimson go?
"Come on Sam, we're going back to Jerry." Alex whirled when she heard Crimson's voice behind her. Crimson was holding Sam's limp form up from behind with one hand around her waist, the other holding the Lip-Spear across her throat. "And don't even think of fighting me Alex, you know you won't risk doing anything bad to her."
"You're taking a hostage?" Alex growled. "I can't believe a WOOHP agent would stoop that low."
"Yeah yeah I know we're evil. Jerry is the evil master villain and we're his pawns hunting down and exterminating the good guys." Crimson said sarcastically. "Do you really believe that Jerry could be evil, Alex? Jerry has dedicated his entire life to fighting for world peace and life. You are just some teenagers who agreed to help because it might be fun. Who do you think is more trustworthy?"
"I don't know what Jerry is, but holding a paralyzed girl hostage is TOTALLY evil!" Alex shouted.
"Drop the staff and come with us. Now." Crimson demanded. She pulled the staff tighter across Sam's throat, forcing the redhead to grimace painfully and raise her head.
Alex glared at her hatefully as she loosened her grip, letting the Lip-Spear fall to the ground beside her. Crimson smiled and nodded, and suddenly something slammed into the back of Alex's head. Alex groaned and fell to the ground heavily, her vision going blurry. She felt herself being picked up and carried away... undoubtedly to be held in one of Jerry's containment cells. She would have been upset if she wasn't too busy falling unconscious.
TO BE CONTINUED
