-Next Day-
-4:30 PM PST
Sam, Clover, and Alex were all walking down the long hallway of the Beverly Hills Mall. Sam was wearing a green shorts, a light green sleeveless shirt, and sandals. Clover was wearing red shirt cut above her belly button, white pants, white jacket, and white-strapped shoes. Alex was wearing a yellow T-shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. Alex and Clover looked at the stores around them, while Sam looked down on the floor, seemingly lost in thought.
Clover looked at the stores around her. "That new singer Randy Rhodes is so hot! Don't you agree Sam?" Clover looked at Sam, who continued to be lost in thought. "I know this case important and all, but we can't do anything until Jerry contacts us again."
Alex nodded. "You're depressing even me Sam."
Sam sighed. "I know. It's just that…something doesn't feel right about this case."
"You're telling me." Alex goes woozy for a while. "Turning people into plant food is scary. Usually the bad guys have some elaborate plan that we always somehow stop before people get hurt. Now we have dead bodies right from the start!"
"Don't remind me." Clover frowned. "But until Jerry comes back with his analysis, all we can do right now is shop!"
Sam continued sighing before she stopped dead in her track. "Scott?"
Scott was looking at a number of clothes through the store windows. After hearing Sam's voice, he turned to her. "Hey Sam! Fancy meeting you here!"
Sam blushed. "Ummm…yeah!" Sam giggled a bit.
Clover smiled. She turned to Alex. "At least that brought Sam out of her depression!"
Alex nodded and smiled.
Scott scratched the back of his head. "So, if you don't mind, we could hang out with each other? We could go to the botanical garden and I could show you all the plant life there!"
"Ummm…" Sam blushed. "I'd…" Her compowder started to signal. "Ummmm…Scott…"
Scott looked at Sam. He raised an eyebrow. "Is your…cell phone ringing?"
Mandy rushed up to Scott. "Scott!" She turned to Sam and growled. "So…" Mandy heard the compowder signaling. "That sounds familiar…"
Sam started to back up. "I'm sorry, I have to take this!" Sam spun around and took out her compowder and opened it. She whispered, harshly, into it. "What Jerry?!"
Scott smiled at Mandy. "So Mandy, shall we check out that new environmentally friendly store in Hollywood and Highland?"
Mandy smiled. "Oh, I loved to!" Mandy and Scott walked off.
Sam looked back with a completely stunned expression. Her anger rose as she turned back to Jerry. In a harsh whispered, she spoke to him. "JERRY! This better be good!"
Jerry sweat dropped. "Ummmmm…oh yes. We finally analyzed the samples you gave us."
Clover and Alex joined Sam and looked at her compowder.
Alex was the next one to speak. "What did you find Jerry?"
Jerry frowned. "Not much I'm afraid." A small picture showed the seeds. "These seeds are from a genetically altered version of this plant found in the Amazon jungle." A tree showed up on the small screen of the compowder.
"I guess our next locale we're going is Brazil." Clover thought about Brazil. They've been to the jungle a few times. Most notable was the time Sam was dating that James guy who used Sam in order to steal an invisibility potion from a secret lab there. 'Wow! How ironic!' Clover thought. 'Just when Sam finally going after another boy, we might be going back to the Amazon! Good thing that Scott person isn't her boyfriend yet!'
Jerry shook his head. "Maybe. But I wouldn't recommend it just yet. Now only are there hundreds of Bio-companies in Brazil and near the Amazon, both public and 'secret' companies, many of these companies have research facilities all around the world. The problem with the sample you gave us is, there was no indication of what company they could have came from. No symbols, nothing. Any one of these companies could've made these kinds of seeds as our research indicates. Even if we suppose that none of the seeds and the research left Brazil, that is still a lot of facilities to go through."
Alex sighed. "It would be like finding the perfect dress at Macys!"
"That's right." Jerry continued. "Unless you want to spend the rest of the month searching each and every company…which is still a possibility if our other options don't pan out by the way." Jerry added. "It appears, unfortunately, we have to wait for them to strike again."
Clover remembered something. "Oh Jerry. What about the mask?"
"Oh yes. The leather mask." Jerry frowned. "Sadly, this is also a dead end. Leather Clothing Inc. in Scottsdale, Arizona manufactured the mask in question. Although their products are typically found in…ummmm…S&M shops..." Jerry couldn't help but blush with this new revelation. "And certain costume stores. The mask is just too common to track."
Sam didn't like this answer. "But, there must be something we can go on?!"
"Well, we are looking into individual transactions to see if they were sold in bulk." Jerry continued. "We're tracking each order to see if there is something suspicious about them. Like if a particular group or individual bought a bunch in bulk." Jerry frowned after saying this. "But at the moment, we have nothing since most of the orders we checked out so far go, as you may have expected, to stores selling these mask. We also looked into sales at these individual stores, but again, they seem to be a very popular mask."
Clover stifled a laugh.
"For what reason I prefer not to go into." Jerry was now wishing he was anywhere but here.
Sam narrowed her eyes. "So, we're just stuck…"
A signal rings out in Jerry's office. Jerry looks at the information that was coming at him. "Girls, there has been another incident."
Sam frowned. "No…"
Jerry nodded. "Yes, there has been another incident in a logging factory in Brazil. We need you there ASAP!"
Sam frowned deepened. "Got it."
"Great. More dead bodies." Alex sighed.
Somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest – Brazil-8:00 PM EST
The spies, wearing their cat suits, entered the logging factory and saw the dead employees. After talking to a number of government officials, none who seemed to have any clue what was going on, they started to examine the bodies themselves. Just like before, the workers had plants growing out of their chest. Everyone in the near vicinity was dead.
Clover whined. "This is not how I want to spend the night. Not only is it hot and humid, which is ruining my hair, look at all the dead people!"
Sam looked everywhere. She looked at the walkway, the machine, the entrance, everything. Nothing. "Other then confirming that this group wants justice for the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, this is getting us nowhere!"
Alex did the same. She even checked the doors for fingerprints, anything that could lead them towards the right direction. Nothing. "These guys don't leave much of a mess. Well, other then the dead bodies that is."
Sam gritted her teeth. "Whoever they are, they definitely know what they're doing! Not even a single clue to go on." Sam's compowder started ringing. Sam took out her compowder and opened it. "Have a lead for us now Jerry?"
Jerry nodded. "It seems the Leather Clothing Inc. sold about thirty or so mask to a company…Mask R Us."
Clover looked at Jerry. "So? Maybe that store had a high cliental of the kinky kind. What makes this store special?"
"The fact that it wasn't a store." Jerry smirked. "Mask R Us doesn't exist. Certainly not in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area where the shipment was made."
Sam finally believed that she has a break in the case. "Where was the shipment shipped?"
"At this abandoned warehouse here. Transportation has already been provided for you to get there." Jerry smirked.
Abandoned Warehouse – Phoenix, Arizona-10:00 PM MST
After crash landing just outside the area, Sam Alex, and Clover both went straight for the warehouse. Sam and Alex were the first to arrive. Clover came up in the rear.
Clover looked at the abandoned warehouse. "So far, I don't see any company."
"Maybe they're all home or something." Alex looked at the building in her normally cheerful expression.
"Or worse…" Sam contemplated. "They're out killing more people!" Sam frowned. "Clover." Sam looked at her. "You check the back." Sam turned to Alex. "Alex, check the front. I'll be going in from the top."
"Got it." Alex and Clover responded and they went off to do their duty.
Sam got on the roof. She looked down. She saw a few men inside just standing around. "Why are they there?"
Clover walked around to the back. "No guards back here? This is going to be a cakewalk! Not that I would eat anything that would ruin this body…"
"Hey!" A heavy muscular man wearing a mask grabbed a hold of Clover's shoulder.
Clover eyed the guard. "Didn't anyone tell you it was rude to touch a stranger?"
Alex had her back towards the wall. She slowly opened the door, careful not to make a sound. "So far so good." She looked around inside. Seeing nothing, she slowly started to sneak in, trying to make as little noise as she can.
She apparently failed when a group of masked thugs surround her.
Alex's eyes widened, gave out an EEK, and raised her hands to surrender.
"Alex!" Sam shattered the window and jumped and landed a two of the thugs.
Alex was struggling to get out of the hold of two of the thugs. "Let go of me!" She kicked one of the thugs who came up in front of her.
Sam karate kicked another thug before being hit by a bat from behind. Sam falls to the floor in pain. The thugs pick up Sam and tie her up.
The thugs took Sam and Alex to a waiting chopper.
Sam looked at the thugs. "Let go of me!"
One of the masked thugs smirked. "The boss will like to see these two."
The Sam and Alex were placed inside the chopper and it started to take off.
Clover was beating up a few thugs of her own. She heard the chopper take off and looked up. "Sam! Alex!" One of the thugs that she had beaten up tried to get off the group. Clover kicked him in the face. She ran around the building to see the chopper disappear in the distance. Clover took out her compowder and contacted Jerry. "Jerry! They have Sam and Alex!"
"We are currently tracking them. They are heading north towards Denver." Jerry answered. "We have a helicopter ready for you…" As he said this, a WOOHP helicopter hovers above Clover.
Office Complex – Denver-10:45 PM MST
Sam and Alex are seated on the ground in one of the offices. Both Sam and Alex had their hands tied behind them. Her feet were also tied up for obvious reasons. A group of masked wearing thugs surrounded them.
"We were expecting spies." The apparently leader of the group said in front of them.
"Why are you doing this?" Alex asked her captors.
"To set an example of course!" The leader smirked under his mask. "After all, this is only the beginning."
"Beginning? Beginning of what?" Sam scowled.
"It doesn't matter." The leader brought his weapon up. "You'll become part of nature very soon."
Alex panicked. "Ahhhhhhhhhh! I don't want to die!" Tears were pouring out of Alex's eyes.
"You won't be getting away with this!" Sam definitely replied.
"Oh, but I already have." The leader came closer to Sam.
Sam couldn't allow the man to come any closer. But what can she do? Her hands were tied up behind her. That's when she remembered the laser lipstick. If I can get these ropes off, then… Sam bent forward with the laser lipstick in hand. As the leader was about bring his gun up, Sam fired the laser lipstick and sliced open the leader's eye.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" The leader stepped back.
In the ensuring confusion, Sam freed her hand and legs, as well as Alex's. The other guards realized what was going on and they raised their guns at them. CRASH! The windows behind them shattered and Clover came in and karate kicked the thugs behind Sam and Alex before they could react.
Sam ran up to the leader, who was covering his right eye and kicked away his weapon and him to the ground.
Alex kicked and punched a number of thugs that got close to her. She spun and kicked another thug that tried to rush her.
WOOHP agents surrounded the office, and every thug promptly surrenders.
Sam held the leader up with one hand. "Lets see who it is!" Sam took off the mask revealing a balding middle-aged man. "Whoever you are, your plans just failed!"
The now one-eyed man shook his head. "It isn't over. I'm not even the leader!"
Sam was stunned. "What? If you're not the leader then, who is?! Who is your boss then?" Receiving no response, Sam's anger rose. She shook him a number of times. "Answer me!"
Jerry walked up to Sam. "Sam, we can handle it from here."
Sam gritted her teeth before pushing him to the ground. WOOHP agents took the man away as the now one-eyed man. The man simply smirked and said, "This is only the beginning!"
Sam, Alex, and Clover watched the group being led away.
Alex sighed. "Ah man. Does that mean there are going to be more dead bodies?"
"Usually it's over by now." Clover frowned. "I'm just glad they didn't touch my hair."
"Unless you stop them first, I'm afraid so." Jerry sighed. "We'll try to find out more from them. Especially their true leader."
Sam nodded. "Whoever it is, he is going down!"
"Woohoo Sam!" Clover smiled. "I didn't know you were into hip-hop?"
Sam sweat dropped.
Unknown Location-11:00 PM MST
A man, wearing a black top hat, a black cape, and a white theater mask with a red smile painted on it looked at a television monitor. The television monitor showed WOOHP agents leading away his masked thugs. The man grinned as he saw the expression of the WOOHP spies.
"Everything is going as planned." The man said in a heavily digitalized voice. "Even WOOHP won't be able to stop us now."
A wrinkled elderly man, bald in the middle, with two-spiked hair shooting straight back on the side, stood next to him. "But why even give WOOHP a few clues about us? They had a hard time trying to even discover the identity of our thugs for hire."
The masked man turned to the elderly man. "A challenge Root. I don't want to make this too easy for us. Besides, it will be wonderful to see the expression on Jerry's face when even his precious spies couldn't stop me!"
Doctor Root grinned. He and Jerry also had a run in a while ago. This was back in the 80s when WOOHP busted him for growing, well, a genetically altered version of an illegal leafy plant that people liked to smoke. Some even believe that smoking this plant has some medicinal purposes. Heck, if he had just waited, another decade or two, it might've not have been a problem. Well okay, his version would've been very addictive. And given that he would've been the only source for this version, it would've made him billions! Billions WOOHP took from him. Well, no point in dwelling on the past. Now he can only look forward to the future. He vowed bring down WOOHP and Jerry for ruining his life! "I too will enjoy watching his expression as we take down his spies!"
-------End of Chapter 2
And so ends Chapter 2 of my first Totally Spies story. Not much to say, other then expect a new character in the next chapter. Well, not quite a new character, but certainly a new side to her.
I'm also still wondering about the time system. One thing about the series is that they weren't specific. Whether it was Pacific Standard Time, or Eastern Standard Time, whatever. Problem is of course, if I am going to use exact timing, what time zone is kind of important. Kind of since I just make up the times anyway (maybe I'm over thinking it since really, it isn't THE most important thing in the world. Still, when you factor in stuff like travel time and where events are, at the very least, it keeps things as realistic as possible). Then again, if I simply said Day or Night, it would make things easier for me. Certainly don't have to worry about what the exact time would be or try to figure out travel time between missions.
Next Chapter…another incident occurs edit: Never mind. Change of plans. What happens next, the men in custody at WOOHP died. However, they do leave clues.. Another clue leads the spies to someone they already caught. When he refused to help, is there another way to get him talk? And who is this new costumed heroine in the scene? Until then…later!