Author's Note: Hey guys! Nothing much to say about this chapter except it's a beginning of a series of unfortunate events for the girls. ...Hey, where have I heard that before? Anyway, things are tend to get exciting later on, as I'm planning a lot of action chapters in the future. But 'til then, this will do. Enjoy!
Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.
Chapter 19: It's a Trap!
The Ravenholm Dockyards. It was dirty, ugly and creepy just as Helga had imagined. It looked just like one those scenes in those late night zombie movies where the screaming girl and the guy who constantly talk through his clenched teeth would drove off the pier and died and became zombies themselves. Helga walked rather hastily as she searched for the place where she was supposed to meet her other team members. After a thorough search around the area, she finally saw her other teammates in an old cargo container, waiting for the other agents to come. Helga quickly walked in and apologized, "I'm sorry. Am I late?"
"Nah," one of the veteran members replied, "We're still waiting for another two—"
"Hey guys." Somebody greeted from out of nowhere as she entered the container.
"Make that one."
"Who is it?"
The team leader for this specific operation replied, "That friend of yours, Rhonda." after she counted the individuals inside the container one by one.
Helga groaned in annoyance, and muttered some expletives under her breath. The place was quite dark even though the moon was full and shining brightly. The container was cramped and mosquitoes were starting to buzz around them. This place really needed a cleanup, or get blown to bits, most of them thought. After an agonizing wait some five minutes or so, Rhonda finally arrived, only to be greeted with lots of angry glares.
"What?" she replied back nervously, "I came early, didn't I?"
"By your definition of early, means making all of us wait for you and enduring mosquito bites, then YEAH! YOU'RE EARLY! YOU'RE THE MOST PUNCTUAL PERSON I KNOW!" Helga shouted angrily at her.
"Shh…" the team leader shushed, "You wanna get us in trouble?" she warned. She then turned to the rest of her squad and said, "All right, gather around people. Here's what are we going to do." She then took a paper out from her pocket and unfolded it open.
One of the team members took out her flashlight and shone at it. All the squad gathered around her for the briefing. The paper actually contained a simple map of a warehouse and some notes jotted on it.
"All right, our mission objectives are to sabotage the drug delivery and apprehend the dealers. We will wait until they've unload all those things into the warehouse and then we commence our mission. By the looks of it now, they're halfway done. Okay, Team Alpha and me will start here," she pointed at a place with a ladder nearby. "We will go all the way up to the rooftop and slowly make our descent into this ventilation shaft. We'll come out at this end of the shaft here, and proceed to this office room where we kill the lights. Team Alpha, do you understand?"
The Team Alpha members nodded in understanding.
"Good. Okay, next on the list, Team Beta. You are required to enter this door after the lights are out. Wear your night vision goggles prior on entering the premises. Knock anyone down as many as you can with your blackjack or by using chloroform. After that's done, proceed to rendezvous with us at these stairs. Are you clear with this, Team Beta?"
The whole Team Beta understood with the explanation as some of them replied with "okay," "all right," "gotcha," and affirmative."
"Splendid. Team Gamma, which means our new junior members here," she said referring to Helga and Rhonda, who were irked with her for calling them junior, "will create a distraction at the main entrance here."
"Oh, great." Helga groaned, "How come us 'junior' members always get the short end of the stick?"
"C'mon, stop complaining." The team leader replied, "All of us got the lamest job when we were still green like you guys. Right?" she turned to the other older members and most of them nodded and replied with "yeah," "you bet," and "absolutely."
The team leader then continued, "Create a distraction so loud that it'd make them scream like pansies, but never reveal yourself to the enemy. It's also to note that your distraction is a signal for Team Alpha to move in. Get that?"
"Crystal clear." Helga replied.
"All right." Rhonda replied.
"In summary: Team Gamma will create a distraction first. At the same time, Team Alpha will move in and proceed to this office where we will kill the lights, should be easy since most of the bad guys are distracted. If everything goes according to plan, our enemies will go back inside the warehouse when the lights are gone to check what happened. Team Beta will move in and knock the enemies down, which would be the most dangerous part of the mission. All of us will give assistance to Team Beta should they need some help. Knock the ones with guns first and the rest of their gang later."
"Guns?" one of the team members widened her eyes, asking back in shock.
"It should be okay with your training and all. But please be very, very careful. Don't be so overconfident. When the mission is successful, one of the Team Gamma will run to this phone located outside the warehouse and call the cops. The rest of us will go to this particular pier over here and wait for one of the said Team Gamma member to come back. After all of us are here, we'll use these rafts and get our asses out of here back to the base before the cops come. Should this mission failed rendezvous to this site also, but I must repeat that failure is never an option. Any questions?"
Only the wall of silence greeted her, signifying that they all understood their role.
"Okay. Let's move out!" and they all dispersed as Team Alpha, Beta and Gamma went to different directions. As the team leader and her team ran to the ladder, she called headquarters through her microphone earpiece to clarify their mission, "Elsa to base. Elsa to base, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Elsa." Bridget replied, "State your situation."
"The teams have been given specific orders and are ready to perform their duties."
"Affirmative. Commence Operation Virtuous."
-
Somewhere near a mansion-like house…
A group of agents were standing on top of a hill overlooking a mansion below. It was a two storey mansion, but it wasn't brightly lit and the estate wasn't so big. It had a swimming pool at the back, with a ducky float in the middle of it. There were no people outside except for some limos parked in front of the house and rabid guard hounds in their pen. Few of the rooms inside the mansion were lit and they could see some silhouettes of people from their spot. The team leader, with some assistance from a few members under her command was searching the mansion for a break-in point with their binoculars.
Even though they were in the same team, they hadn't talk to each other since the incident at the cafeteria where they had a heated argument amongst themselves. Phoebe, Nadine and Lila were scattered in the midst of the group. They however, looked at each other though, and saw the face of regret and dejection within themselves. The silence between them didn't help either. Uncomfortable with it, and she wanted to clear something out from her chest, Phoebe walked over to Nadine to begin a conversation. Hopefully, Nadine wouldn't bark back at her.
"Nadine…" Phoebe said to her.
"What?" she replied rather bitterly, not putting her pride aside even though deep down inside she really wanted to apologize to her.
"Any moment now, we're commencing our mission…"
"Yeah, so?"
"I just want to say that despite the differences that we're currently experiencing right now, we have to look out for each other once the mission has initiated."
Nadine's expression changed. Her scowl and frown disappeared from her face. She then stared at the ground to gain some thoughts. While she did that, Lila came into the scene after she saw the two of them were talking. Maybe they finally made up, she had thought to herself. Finally, Nadine looked back at Phoebe and said:
"Yeah, I think it's important for us to put our differences aside and concentrate the mission ahead of us." Phoebe shot back a soft smile at her, but Nadine quickly added, "But I'm still not cool with you, Pheebs. I think it would be the best if we talk about our little scuffle later after this." She still put her pride in top priority.
"Very well then." Phoebe replied with a rather dissatisfied tone, "While we have agree to put our personal feuds aside for the moment—"
"Correct."
"But we still haven't resolved our conflict. But do I get an assurance from you that you will help me when I am in trouble should our mission goes awry?"
"You have my word. And what about you?"
"Rest assured that I will offer any help if necessary." Phoebe replied, as they glared, yet smiled at each other. Lila, on the other hand, seemed perplexed.
"So… are you two in a truce or what?" she asked, but neither girl answered her.
"Our mission will not screw up." Somebody said to them. It seemed that she overheard Phoebe's and Nadine's conversation. "You kids come over here for a briefing. We don't have all day you know."
The three of them then went over to the group and gathered around the team leader as she looked at the mansion below them. She then said to all of them as she pointed them out, "This mission will be a tricky one. Don't be fool by the lack of security around the house. They have sensors all over the place. Lasers, heat sensors; the works. If you trip on one of them, the alarm might ring and unleash the dogs. It's virtually impossible if we just go in without disarming the security devices. But don't fret, I've found a weak spot. There's a battery box that basically controls every security device at the front gate inside the guardhouse. Our first priority is to take that thing out."
"What's your plan to get that thing out of commission?" one of the agents asked.
"I would've just gone over into that place and punch the guard out cold, but then I saw a surveillance camera inside it. We'll have to make distraction so the guard would come out from that little building. Only after he's out then we can punch the guard out cold."
"But who's going to do that?" Lila asked, which was also automatically made her the volunteer as most of them smiled at her back.
"Girl, you should've shut your mouth." Nadine mocked, smiling at her.
"Poop." She muttered angrily under her breath, which also the nearest word she'd ever get to curse.
"Okay, going back to business. After Lila distracted him; don't worry, you'll get to punch him, Team Delta, Epsilon and Zeta: that's us, will move inside the estate and go into the house from that basement door after one of us disable the security devices. Team Zeta will shut the power off as the other teams secure the area. Eliminate any hostiles you encountered as you scan each and every room in the house for the drug transactions. And by eliminate, I meant knock them out cold, not kill them. Once we've find the place where they're doing the drug transaction, anyone of you who has their cameras equipped with them will take some pictures of the drugs using the night vision function. With that over, one of our junior members will go make a call to the cops. And then we're out of there. Y'all all clear about this?" she asked, and most of them answered back with "okay," "all right," "gotcha," and affirmative."
"All right. Good luck to all of you. Let's do this. Lila, do your duty." Lila nodded, and ran over to the guardhouse. The team leader then called headquarters through her microphone earpiece to clarify their mission, "Jasmine to base. Jasmine to base, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Jessie." Bridget replied, "State your situation."
"The teams have been given specific orders and they are ready to perform their duties."
"Affirmative. Commence Operation Snake Eater—I mean, Intrude N313."
-
After some really lame and lazy writing, wait— copy and paste job from the author, the story then proceeded back to the Virtuous Mission, where Helga and Rhonda were ready to set their distraction.
"I think I smell oil in this crane…" Rhonda said to Helga, as she went over to the old, defunct small crane located near the edge of the water. She then searched for the gas tank, and opened the cap. "Bingo." She said, smirking.
"Ooh, yeah." Helga said sarcastically, "And what do you propose to do with it, princess?"
Rhonda then took her lighter out from the pocket, smiling at her, "It's our little secret, all right? Don't tell Nadine about this."
"Great, a pot smoker." She assumed, "My respect for you has gone through the roof now." She continued sarcastically.
"No I'm not." She retaliated back, "just some cigs, that's all."
"Oh, yeah. All the cool kids are doing it right? I mean, it's not harmful or anything is it?" she said sarcastically again.
"Look Helga. Do you want to mock me all day, or you going to help me blow this thing up?" she narrowed her eyes as she scolded her.
Helga scoffed, and said, "What do you want?"
Rhonda then replied, "I need a string or something to act as a fuse. Do you have any in that belt of yours?" Helga rolled her eyes, and took out a long string that she didn't know why it was there in the first place. Most likely it was a leftover string for the agent suit. Rhonda then dipped it in the tank, and took it out back. The both of them then walked rather hastily as far as possible, with Rhonda dragging the string behind. When she felt that the string couldn't go any further, she lighten it up, and with Helga she ran away as far as possible. They found a safe spot behind an old cargo container and hid behind it. A few seconds later, the crane exploded in a magnificent ball of fire and light, shocking everyone in the warehouse.
"It's the signal. Let's go! Go! Go! Go!" Elsa said to her squad mate and proceeded to their plan. At that time too, almost all of their enemies ran out of the building to see what all the commotion was about. The walkway was clear, and Alpha team jumped down from the shaft. Still together, they made their way into the office and found the fuse box inside it. Elsa quickly jumped over a table and ran over to it to switch of the lights, but nothing happened. She flicked the switch many times but still nothing happened.
"Trouble with the switch, girls?" a man said to her from out of nowhere. Elsa turned around, and saw a guy pointing his gun at her as he smirked. Her other team members tried to help her, but the guy then said, "One move, and I swear I will pull the trigger." He warned.
"Don't listen to him." Elsa said nervously to her team, but one of them took a step.
The guy then released a warning shot, and the bullet hit the fuse box behind her. Some of them screamed in shock, and some even jumped in horror. "I'm serious." The shooter threatened. Without any choice, they had to surrender, as they slowly lower themselves down to the floor. The shooter then smiled and shouted, "This is to all the secret agents that are surrounding this place! I have your leader at gunpoint, and if you won't surrender within 30 seconds, I will execute her!" his word echoed through the building.
"Don't listen to him!" Elsa shouted to them. "Proceed with your mission as planned!"
"Shut up!" he yelled back.
And within 30 seconds, all of them walked into the warehouse, with their hands behind their head.
"I need someone up here in the office right now." He yelled to his cohorts. "And check them for any weapons and put the girls into those rooms next to that green container after you've confiscated their things! Oh, and put that fire out too before someone notices it!"
-
Lila managed to distract the guard by making a noise inside the bushes nearby the guardhouse and punched the guard when he got close. She flailed her right hand as she moaned "Oww…" softly because of the pain she suffered from punching the guy was too immense. Jessie could see her through her binoculars, and she saw Lila was successful in performing her duties. She lowered her binoculars away from her eyes and said to her team, "all right, it's all okay now. Remember: Stealth." The team nodded, and followed her lead, as they went down the hill to meet with Lila.
One of the Zeta squad members carefully went into the guardhouse, avoiding being seen by the camera. The camera then moved the other way, and the agent managed to go under it. Hastily, she took pliers out from her utility belt and cut the wiring off. She then rewired it into a dummy camera. Then proceeded to disable all the security devices by shutting them off from the battery box. After that, she gave Jasmine a thumbs up, and she responded back by doing the same.
"Equipment check: Go." Jasmine ordered to all of them. All of the team members were assigned with either night-vision goggles, digital camera or devices to disable those electrical components. Every one of them replied with "affirmative" to her. Jasmine nodded, and motioned her head towards the house. "Let's go. Stay together in a group. Until we reached the first floor of the house, do not scatter."
And in a group, the lowered their heads down as they ran over to the back of the house to get into the basement via the stairs. Jasmine tried to open the door, but just as she had expected, it was locked. "Team Zeta. One of you come over here and open this door up." She ordered. Then one of the Zeta team went to the door and she took out something out from her utility belt. It was a strange device of some sort designed to crack locked doors. She inserted one of its ends in the keyhole, and after a few seconds, an unlocking sound was heard and she quickly pulled that thing out from it. Jessie opened the door and every one of them went in.
Zeta team began search for the fuse box so they could kill the lights in the mansion. One of them found it nearby a cabinet and quickly she disabled all the lights by flipping a big red switch. They all switched their night-vision on and proceeded to go upstairs. Like a covert commando team, they moved in a group and went into every single room to find where the drug transaction held at. When they found an enemy, they knocked them out cold either by chloroform or blackjack. On the last room on the top floor, they opened it up and somebody shouted at them:
"STOP!"
And a gunshot was heard after that.
It was a warning shot being released to the ceiling, but the plaster that held it broke off along with some of the cement and they fell onto the guy who released the shot, and he instantly unconscious.
"Ignore the somewhat comical yet unintended mishap and throw away your weapons!" said the guy in the middle. To his left and right, there were some thugs armed with baseball bats and guns, pointing at them. Team Delta, Epsilon and Zeta were surrounded. Without any choice, they dropped their blackjack and the chloroform coated cloth down, surrendering to them.
"Put your hands above your head." The thug boss ordered. And the team members did so.
"You girls are pretty busy tonight, aren't you?" he said, smirking. "Take them to the rooms and hold them up." He ordered to his henchmen. "Make sure every opening in the room is guarded! I don't even want air to get out from the room!"
-
"We've just lost contact with Team Delta, Epsilon and Zeta, milady!" Wren said in stressful, panicky tone. The control room was basically in chaos right now, as many of the agents scrambled around the room to pass information and papers as to help their fallen comrades from the dire situation they were facing.
"Dammit!" Bridget shouted. "Reestablish connection using the emergency frequency! Wren, I need you to call Team Etta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa and tell them that I'm ordering a rescue operation, ASAP! Linda! Candice! I need you… I—" She had forgotten what she was supposed to order them. Maybe the chaotic workspace was too much for her to bear. She surveyed around the room, and saw every one of them was in disarray and disorder, as if they were without orders and no leader to guide them.
"EVERY ONE OF YOU, STOP RIGHT NOW!" she snapped as she shouted out loud. Everyone in the room stopped doing what they were doing as they looked at Bridget.
"Can every one just calm down, and try not to panic for a while? Please. There are agents out there who need our help. Let's do this in an orderly fashion, shall we?" She said to all of them softly, as if she was pleading.
"Yeah, you heard the girl. Don't panic." Somebody said to all of them, but it was a man's voice. It was something not common in an organization that consisted entirely of women. Bridget turned around, and saw that very hateful face.
"You…" she said murderously.
"Yep, it's me. Me, me, me." Michael said with a smile. He then lifted his hand up with a gun in it, pointing at Bridget. Some of the agents gasped in horror. Bridget glared back as she persisted. "Don't bother attacking me. I have this place surrounded and…" he snapped his fingers, and some of his henchmen came into the room, flanking him. They were all armed, either with a gun, stick or a baseball bat. But one of them was unique. It was a girl, wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a katana sword firmly being held in her hands. It was the Pet Shop girl.
"Impossible!" Bridget shouted in disbelief. "How do you manage to know where our base is?"
"Well, I have some help from one of your friends." he then motioned his hands to ask for that particular girl to come over to him. The girl smiled, and walked over to him, passing Bridget by. She looked at her in utter disbelief.
"You… TRAITOR!"
Altogether now: DAMN YOU AND YOUR DAMN CLIFFHANGERS :) Hehe, relax, cool it for a while. The cat will be out from the bag soon enough and you'll eventually know who's the traitor is. But for the time being, feel free to speculate among yourself. Thanks for reading, and leave a review. And please excuse me as I'm getting back to my other fic now.