fWell, now that I'm finished with the movie, I've decided to go ahead and try adapting the first episode.
Read and review!
Chapter Thirteen
A Thing for Musicians.
Record Store-Tokyo-9:58 AM
"Who's this Ricky Mathis chump, anyway?" a store employee asked, as he and a friend stocked the shelves. Indeed, this Ricky Mathis went from being a nobody to international star almost overnight.
"I don't know," the other one said. "But his fans sure seem to like him. We can't keep his lame, pretty boy single on the shelf."
But nothing more could be said before the clock struck 10:00, and the doors to the store opened, letting in a swarm of rabid fans, who trampled the two employees and began tearing each other apart over the new Ricky Mathis CD's.
Beverly Hills High School-12:00 PM
It had been less than four weeks since the girls had joined W.O.O.H.P. In that time, they had been on at least five missions with Sean, one of which ended with the culprit getting away. They'd stopped his plan, but Sean had a feeling he would be coming back.
Sam, Alex, and Clover didn't seem worried, though. So, he figured he didn't have much of a reason to be worried either.
"So, Sammy," Clover suggested as the four were walking down the hall.
"Any chance I could borrow your cashmere belly sweater tomorrow?"
"Sure," Sam replied. "That's what best friends are for."
"Hey! What about me?!" Alex complained.
Clover waved her hand. "Don't be crazy, Alex. We can't possibly wear Sam's sweater at the same time, we'll totally stretch it out."
"No, Clover," Alex countered. "I meant, aren't I your best friend too?"
Sean and Sam looked to Clover, who blinked.
"Well, of course you are, silly!" she returned, hugging Alex. "And that's why I'm gonna borrow your leopard print sandals tomorrow."
Sean rolled his eyes. Figures, she'd be affectionate whenever fashion was concerned.
But then Clover's eyes widened as she stared off into the distance.
"Clover?" Sean asked, waving his hands in front of her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Yeah," Sam concurred, looking at the other girl's mouth in slight disgust. "What's with all the drool?"
"I think...I think..." Clover stuttered before falling back. "I'm in love!"
Sean looked in the direction she was staring at. Sitting at the fountain in the courtyard was an older boy with shoulder length blond hair and a guitar.
"That's wonderful... for the fifth time this week."
But Clover wasn't listening. "Must find out who he is."
She zipped over to the fountain, sitting next to the boy.
"Hi," she introduced. "I'm Clover."
"Is it me," Sam said to the other two. "Or does Clover fall in love more often than Mandy maxes out her credit card?"
Sean nodded.
"I'll give you a hint, it's not you. I'm just glad she hasn't tried flirting with me since we first met."
Clover looked deeply into the musician's eyes. "What do you say we go out after school? I'll even let you buy me a nonfat latte."
"Well," the boy said. "Okay."
But then a hand knocked him over, almost causing him to fall into the fountain.
"Sorry, Clover!" Mandy said, getting in her face. "But Damon's already got plans after school. He's going to the mall with yours truly."
"Oh, yeah," Damon said, getting back up. "That's right. Mall."
Clover's mood went from shocked to disappointed to cheerful.
"Well," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "No big deal. I was only trying to do him a favor cause he's new around here."
Clover grinned as she walked away, but it wasn't long before her mood swung back to disappointment.
"Clover!" Sean, Sam, and Alex cried after her.
They found her sitting on a bench not too far away from where she had talked to Damon.
"Don't worry, Clover," Alex consoled her. "I'll buy you a nonfat latte after school."
"Besides," Sam said. "Wouldn't you rather hang out with us than some dimwitted musician?"
"Yeah," Clover replied sadly. "I guess so. Only I just can't help liking Damon! Call me crazy, but I just have this thing for musicians! I've gotta find a way for Mandy to get his attention off of Mandy and on to me."
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Sean said. "From what I can tell, he has the attention span of a bee."
That was when the ground opened up beneath them, sending them plummeting into the familiar metal chute.
"Is it me?" Clover asked over the other three's screams. "Or do our missions only occur during times of major personal crisis?!"
As the bench they rode the chute down on hit the fuchsia cushion, it flipped over, landing them all in Jerry's office.
Jerry himself stood before them.
"Well," he said. "So nice of you to drop in."
"Nice for some of us," Sean said rubbing his backside. "I think I bruised my tailbone."
Jerry pressed a button on a remote, pulling up an image of a tan skinned young man, with his name on the left side of the screen.
"Ricky Mathis?" Alex asked. "Never heard of him!"
"That's because he's an overnight musical sensation," Jerry explained. "In fact, as of today, he's only released one single: the optimistically titled Rock Legend."
Jerry pulled up another image of people acting insane in record stores, concert stadiums and autograph sessions.
"Which makes it even more unsettling that there have been reports of similar occurrences all around the globe. Something's up, we're just not sure what."
Jerry glared at Alex, who was making shadow puppets on the lit screen.
"So, where do we fit in?" Sam asked.
The screen disappeared.
"Your mission," he explained. "Is to go undercover as the opening act on his world tour and find out what it is about Ricky Mathis that makes his fans so... fanatical."
"You mean we get to be in a real band?!" Clover asked, excited.
"A real pretend one," Jerry emphasized.
"This is so perfect! When Damon finds out, he'll toss Mandy like a day-old muffin and come running straight to me! He'll see me as his musical equal! I'll be irresistible!"
Jerry looked confused and turned to Sean.
"New crush," the boy explained. "Musician."
"Now," Clover continued. "All we need is a name."
"Actually," Jerry said. "We've already taken care of your name."
Somewhere in the sky-3:00 PM
"We're called The Spies?" Clover asked as they soared through the air on a jet with the fake band's logo on the side.
"That is so lame."
"Yeah," Alex concurred. "Totally unimaginative."
"And it's a little suspicious," Sean said.
"It was my idea," Jerry revealed.
"Oh," the others replied a little sheepishly.
"Hey!" Sam exclaimed. "Look at these cool instruments!"
She pointed to the back of the plane, where numerous musical instruments were stored.
There were two guitars, a keyboard and a set of drums.
Alex zipped over to the drums and began beating them with the sticks in front of her.
Sam and Clover picked up the two guitars and started playing them which left Sean with the keyboard.
The resulting music was so loud that it shattered Jerry's sunglasses.
He unplugged the teens' instruments from their amps.
"Perhaps now isn't the best time for you to... practice," he said.
"Now where were we?"
At that moment, a W.O.O.H.P agent came up behind Jerry.
"The drop is ready, sir," he whispered.
"Oh, yes," Jerry was reminded. "The gear."
Jerry snapped his fingers and the floor in the cabin in front of him split in two, letting a robotic hand lift up a guitar case. Jerry opened it.
"This week, you'll be utilizing the Expandable Cable Bungee Belt, the Wind Tunnel 3000 Tornado Blast Hairdryer, the Suction Cup Bottomed Boots, the Ultra-Sensitive Earring Microphone, and my personal favorite, U.P.W.A.T.I."
"Upwhatty?" Alex asked as they were being outfitted with their parachutes.
"No, no," Jerry corrected. "Not upwhatty, U.P.W.A.T.I. Underwater Power Walking Apparatus That's Inconspicuous."
He threw the guitar case in the direction of the teens, where Sean caught it.
"Now, goodbye and good luck, spies. Or, as they say in show biz, break a leg."
He opened a trap door beneath them, sending the spies tumbling out of the jet.
All four began screaming as they tried to reach the cords that would open their parachutes.
London Hip Hotel-4:00 PM
"Wow, look!"
Sean followed Alex's gaze out the window of the limo they were riding in.
"We have fans already!"
Indeed, outside the limo was a swarm of very excited people.
Soon, to the spies' shock, they were pressed up to the window, leaving all four teens jumping back in surprise.
However, excitement soon turned to disappointment.
"Hey, you're not Ricky!" someone said.
And with that, the crowd dispersed.
"Wow," Sean commented. "I guess Ricky Mathis is popular."
As they entered their hotel room, the girls looked absolutely amazed.
"Wow!" they said.
Sean had to agree it was nice, although he'd have preferred it with less...pink.
Clover rushed to a bed.
"I can't wait to tell Damon about this!" she said with exhilaration.
"He'll be so impressed with me."
"Just don't tell him about the fact that we're really spies, Clover," Sean said.
Clover scoffed. "All he needs to know is that I'm on tour with Ricky Mathis."
She picked up the phone and began to dial Damon's number. Though how she got it from him, Sean had no idea.
"Is that all she thinks about?" Sam asked.
Sean shrugged. "Well, if it isn't boys, it's dresses, shoes, or purses."
"Hello?" Damon's voice answered.
"Hi, Damon!" Clover responded. "It's Clover. Just thought I'd call to see what's happening stateside."
"I don't know what's going on stateside," Damon said cluelessly. "But I'm hanging out at the mall. So, what's up with you, Clover?"
"Oh, the usual. My band, The Spies is touring with Ricky Mathis. We're just hanging out at our extravagant and glamourous hotel in London right now."
"Whoa," Damon sounded impressed. "You're on tour with Ricky Mathis? I had no idea you were even in a band."
Clover smiled to herself.
"Oh, yeah. I'm quite an accomplished guitarist."
She shot a glare at Alex and Sam who stopped giggling at their friend's expense.
"Wow, awesome!" Damon said. "Hey, like, maybe when you get back, we can get together and jam or something."
A chime sounded outside their room, indicating someone was at the door.
Sean went to answer it.
"I can probably squeeze you in next week," Clover said. "I'll let you know. Bye!"
She hung up as Sean opened the door.
Into the room stepped a stocky man with long dark brown hair and equally dark glasses.
"You must be The Spies," he said in a low voice.
"Spies?!" Alex said nervously. "That's ridiculous! Who told you we were spies?"
Clover elbowed Alex.
"Yes," she hastily covered up her friend's mistake. "That's us. The Spies. We rock."
The man bent down, kissing Clover's hand.
"Well," he continued. "I am Phil Jenkins, the tour manager. Ricky's very anxious to meet you. What do you say we head up to the penthouse?"
"Uh," Sean replied. "Sure.
Ricky Mathis turned out to be more down to Earth than Sean had expected. As they entered the penthouse, he offered to play them a song on his guitar, which they accepted.
"Great song," Clover complimented.
"Thanks," Ricky returned. "I just wrote it."
"We're scheduled to record Ricky's new song tomorrow morning," Phil said, as Clover and Alex went to the piano in the middle of the room.
"And I'm sure it's gonna be his next big hit."
"We're sure it will be, too," Sam said.
"We're thrilled to be touring with such great musical talent," Sean added.
"The feeling's mutual," Ricky said, sincerely. "I just adore your early work."
"We have early work?" Alex asked.
"Shh," Clover silenced.
"Hey, you guys should come to the recording studio and hang out," Ricky suggested. "It'll be a blast!"
"Sorry, Ricky," Phil consoled. "Your recording sessions are strictly off limits."
"Sounds like fun!" Clover replied, zipping over. "We'd love to go."
"Great," Phil muttered. "Okay, everybody. We don't wanna keep those hungry fans waiting."
He was out the door, Ricky following soon after. But as Clover got up, she knocked down a CD off the table in front of her.
"Oopsie!" she admitted guiltily.
The case had broken open, showing the disc inside.
But what caught the spies' attention was the fact that it was glowing a strange mint-green color.
Sam picked up another case and opened it. Looking over her shoulder, Sean could see that this CD gave off the same effect.
"That's weird," Sam whispered to the others as they walked down the hotel hallway. "Since when do CDs glow?"
"Since never," Sean responded.
"So," Alex said. "Despite the fact that he has totally crazed fans and glowing CDs, Ricky seems pretty normal to me. Ow!"
Clover had bumped into from behind.
"In any case," Sean said. "Something weird is going on here. And we're gonna find out what it is."
Soho Nightclub-7:00 PM
The nightclub they were performing at was dark and crowded. Not exactly Sean's ideal place for a mission, but he couldn't choose.
Behind the curtain in front of him, he could hear hundreds of people chanting Ricky's name.
As he took his place at the keyboard, and Alex and Sam took a guitar and the drums respectively., he allowed himself a gulp. He'd never played music in front of people before, unless one counted the piano lessons he'd taken until he was about ten.
But that was for his admittedly apathetic piano teacher and the music back then wasn't prerecorded like it would be tonight.
Still, looking over the keyboard, he wondered how different could it be?
He reminded himself, however, that he was just part of the opening act. Those fans weren't here for him or his friends.
"Well," Sam said, gripping her guitar. "Here goes nothing. You ready, Clover?"
But Clover wasn't where she should have been.
"Clover?" Sean asked, getting up from his keyboard, then looked around for her.
He found her leaning against the stage wall, earphones in her ears, connected to a CD player. And since they'd only had one CD around, he knew what it was.
"Clover!" he scolded, ripping out one of the earphones. "You're supposed to be playing music, not listening to it! Besides, Sam and I took that CD for evidence."
"Too bad," Clover lamented. "Because I totally dig it! It's really... infectious."
"Glad you think so, but if it wasn't, we wouldn't be here."
He and Clover got back to their places.
The curtain rose, and the fans' cheering reached fever pitch.
"Wow!" Clover said to herself before she started strumming her guitar.
Sam did the same thing, with Alex beating the drums and Sean randomly pressing keys on the keyboard.
"Hey!" Clover shouted over the noise. "We sound great!"
"Yeah!" Sam shouted back. "That's because the music's prerecorded!"
"In case you haven't noticed!" Sean called over to them. "None of us are singing and your guitars aren't even hooked up to amplifiers!"
Noticing their mistake, Sam and Clover quickly plugged in their guitars.
Since none of them were particularly good at singing, they really just lip synced.
In the end, Sean didn't think they were that bad, but his earlier thoughts were right.
By the time they were finished performing, the fans were still hyped for Ricky Mathis.
"Guess they won't be wanting an encore," Clover said.
"Nice job lip syncing," Ricky said as he came over to them. "Took me forever to get it right."
Sean's eyes widened. "You lip sync?"
"I don't like to," he explained. "But Phil insists that I don't sing live. I guess I can't argue with success."
The curtain rose again, and the loud cheering of fans became more audible.
Ricky rushed out onto the stage, as a stagehand wearing sunglasses put in one of Ricky's CDs.
"So much for the theory about Ricky being normal," Alex said. "The guy doesn't even sing."
"That's not the only thing that isn't normal," Sam said. "Check that out."
She pointed to Phil's personal box in the nightclub, separated from the rest of the room by glass.
"What do you say we grab a spy's eye view?"
"Good idea!" Alex agreed.
"Clover, are you coming?" Sean asked.
"Are you crazy?!" she asked rhetorically. "I got a killer view right here!"
"Guess not."
And he ran off after Sam and Alex.
"It's spy time!" he heard Sam say.
They ran through the cheering crowd, up the spiral staircase that led to the booth and into a doorway filled with guards.
They showed them the passes they'd been given as Sean heard Phil's voice.
"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Sebastian, everything's a go for tomorrow's recording session. And I've prepared the uh... special lyrics. Unfortunately, Ricky invited those pesky Spies to come along. We'll have to keep tight security."
As they got into the booth itself, they could see he was on his phone with... somebody named Sebastian.
Sean tapped his shoulder as Sam stood close by and Alex took one of the chairs.
"Oh," he said, a little more loudly than before.
"Hey, what's wrong? Aren't you having fun?"
He zoomed over to the door, looked out of it as if he expected someone else to be there, then closed it.
All at once, the music was silenced.
"Hey!" Alex said. "I think I've gone deaf!"
"Actually," Phil admitted. "The booth is soundproof. The noise night after night gives me a... headache. I prefer just to watch."
"Really?" Sean said turning to Sam and Alex. "Kind of strange... for a guy whose whole business is music."
London Hip Hotel- 9:00 PM
Lightning flashed across the sky as the elevator containing the four teens rose up higher to their floor.
"So," Sam said, crossing her arms. "Let's review. Ricky's fans are nuts, his CDs glow, he doesn't sing, and his manager sits in a soundproof booth during his shows."
"Getting freaky," Alex said in a singsong voice. "What do you think, Sean?"
"I think Ricky might be clean. But his manager? Not so much," Sean replied. "And I heard Phil mention a name: Sebastian."
"Huh," Sam said. "I wonder who that is?"
"I don't know. We should ask Jerry. What do you think, Clover?"
"I think Ricky was incredible," she responded, sounding lovestruck. "I mean, he's so talented. I could just listen to him all night."
"Okay," Sean said. "I guess Ricky just got one more fan."
They got back to see their hotel room covered in rose petals.
"Wow!" Sean, Sam and Alex said. But Clover just jumped on her bed.
"Must hear Ricky," she said, contentedly listening to the CD.
"Okay, this is weird," Sam said.
"Yeah," Sean agreed. "Maybe we should check it out with-"
But Jerry's face popped up on the TV screen in their room.
"Jerry?!" all three chorused.
"Hello, agents," he greeted. "I hope rock stardom hasn't gone to your heads."
"It hasn't so far," Sam said.
"But if we keep getting showered with roses it might."
"Oh," he said. "Those. They were sent by one Damon Reynolds."
Damon's face showed up on the screen.
Alex ripped out one of Clover's earphones.
"Hey, Clover!" she shouted. "The flowers are for you! Damon sent them!"
"Please," Clover said, still under the music's spell. "Now that I'm involved with Ricky, I'm, like, so over Damon."
"Oh, man," Sean said, almost laughing. "How deluded can you get? Not to mention fickle.
Then he turned back to the screen.
"So, anyway, Jerry, what can you tell us about a Mr. Sebastian?"
"Hmm," Jerry looked over his findings. "It says here he's the owner of Ricky Mathis' record label."
Jerry's image shrunk to the left side, letting a man with long, dark hair take up the screen. He was playing an electric guitar.
"Apparently," Jerry continued. "He used to be quite the successful guitar player before he lost his arm in a freak pyrotechnics accident."
The man, Sebastian, leapt across the stage, dangerously close to two large streams of fire.
Sean, Sam, and Alex looked away to avoid seeing the gory image of Sebastian's arm being burned off.
"Now," Jerry said. "He's an eccentric recluse producer who lives on a remote island off the coast of Brazuela."
The screen turned off as the door to the room opened.
Ricky entered.
"Ricky!" Clover said excitedly, rushing over to him.
"So," he said as Clover put a hand on his chest. "Who's ready to go to my recording studio in Brazuela?"
Thunder crashed outside as the other three teens looked shocked. What were the odds?
"Wow!" Clover said in adoration.
Off the coast of Brazulea-11:45 AM
As the plane touched down, Sean followed his gaze to Clover, who had been clinging to Ricky the whole time they'd been flying.
Too bad that flight didn't have airsickness bags, he thought.
With Clover too focused on Ricky, they'd have to get the mission done without her or at least until they found way to snap her out of it.
"So," Sam said, as they landed. "I wonder what was up with that strange radio tower thing being strapped to the yacht?"
Sean grimaced, thinking back to when he saw that himself.
"Well," Alex said. "Ricky says it's so they can broadcast the concert live."
"I don't buy it," Sean said. "Since when do you need guards to watch a satellite dish?"
They got out of the plane, looking up at the dark building on a mountain towering over the rest of the landscape.
Alex said what Sean was thinking.
"This is definitely the creepiest recording studio I've ever seen."
Sitting on the other side of the recording booth, Sean stayed on guard as Ricky finished playing the guitar in his arms.
"That was great, Ricky!" Phil congratulated him.
"Yeah," Clover agreed dreamily, flashing a victory sign. "It was totally excellent!"
Sean, Alex, and Sam facepalmed as Phil tried to push Clover away from the microphone that allowed them to communicate with whoever was inside.
"Now," he said. "Why don't we lay down the lyrics?"
Successfully pushing Clover off, Phil walked into the booth.
Sam and Sean leaned in closer, with Sam turning on her Ultra-Sensitive Earring Microphone.
What she heard was loud enough for her teammates to hear.
"I'm Ricky and I'm your master?" they heard Ricky read in confusion.
Sam and Sean gasped.
"Follow me as I spread disaster? Take over the government, do as I say? I'll rule the world and you'll obey?"
"What the..." Sean muttered.
"Phil, I sort of didn't intend for the new song to be so... aggressive. What happened to the lyrics I wrote?"
"Ricky trust me," Phil reassured. "I know what I'm doing. These new lyrics will give your song that hip edgy that kids are so wild about these days."
"Okay," Sam said. "I'd say those definitely fall under the 'special lyrics' category."
"All the lyrics Ricky sings are special," Clover swooned.
"Is this gonna wear off?" Sean said. "Because the longer she drools over Ricky, the more likely we are to get caught."
Sam shrugged, not knowing any more than he did.
Then she began to tie her hair up in a bun.
"Maybe we should take this opportunity to do a little spying," she said.
Sean nodded, then ran out the door along with her.
"I'm right behind you!" Alex called after them.
Walking upside down on the ceiling, Sean and the others were forced to bend at the waist when the doors below them opened up.
The guards didn't seem to notice them.
"I just love it when fashion has a purpose," Sam whispered referring to their Suction Cup-Bottomed Boots.
That was when her scrunchie fell out of her hair.
Sam nearly exclaimed in disappointment until Sean covered her mouth.
One look from him told her that it wasn't worth getting caught.
Ignoring her lost hair tie, Sam, along with Sean and Alex walked on the walls as the guards left and through the closing doors.
Finally on the floor, they rounded a corner, only to reach a dead end.
"The secret laboratory's gotta be around here somewhere," Sean said.
Alex leaned against the wall, causing it to flip over and into another room.
Hearing her scream, Sean and Sam ran to her.
Then they looked inside the room she landed in.
"Nice work, Alex," Sam said.
"Yeah," Alex replied. "Anytime."
They made their way into the room. In the very center was a long glass cylinder hanging from the ceiling next to a weird console.
Inside the cylinder was a chair.
A door on the opposite side opened, prompting the spies to hide under the console.
Two people walked in, one of them was Phil.
"The new Ricky single is all finished," the man in the lab coat with him said.
"Excellent," a new voice said. This one was dry, raspy.
Sean peeked out along with Sam and Alex. In the doorway was a middle-aged man with long, silver hair covering one side of his face. His left arm was completely metal.
Sebastian, no doubt.
"The frequency has been successfully added," the scientist said.
"Good," Sebastian replied. "Now let's see the effects firsthand."
Sean and Alex retreated back under the console.
"I take it the guy with the scary hook is Sebastian," Alex whispered.
"And I take it he doesn't play guitar much these days," Sam said.
"Shh," Sean whispered. "Maybe we can find out what they're up to."
He and Sam leaned peeked out of the shadows to get a better look.
"Have a seat," Sebastian said to a guard who accompanied him in.
The glass cylinder was lifted to the ceiling and the guard sat in the chair provided for him.
"We want to know what you think of this new song."
The cylinder lowered again. Sean could make out the scientist slip one of the CDs into a drive on the console.
Sean could briefly hear Ricky's music play inside the cylinder before it was raised up again.
When he was free, the guard looked dazed.
"You're Ricky and you're my master," he chanted in a zombie-like voice. "I'll follow you as you spread disaster. Take over the government, do as you say. You'll rule the world and I'll obey."
Deciding that they had seen enough, the spies withdrew back into hiding.
"You're dismissed," Sebastian said, as the guard walked off, repeating the mantra the song had drilled into him.
"Did you see that?!" Alex said, shocked. "It's like... it's like... Ricky's song hypnotized that guy or something!"
"The frequency they were talking about must be some kind of subliminal mind control device," Sam said.
"That would explain why Clover's been acting so crazy," Sean deduced.
"Huh?" Alex asked.
"Think about it," Sean continued. "Ricky's first song, Rock Legend, is about rock star worship. And what does it do? It hypnotizes listeners into worshipping him. They do whatever the lyrics tell them to."
"So," Alex realized. "That means if Ricky performs at the concert, the fans will do whatever the lyrics say!"
Her voice got louder as Sean and Sam tried to quiet her down.
But it was too late.
A metal hand gripped the underside of the console, lifting it up.
And they could see a very angry Sebastian looking down at them.
"Security," he growled. "We have intruders!"
Sam and Alex screamed.
"Run!" Sean shouted.
As Sean and Sam took off, Alex sprayed Sebastian's feet with some kind of sticky, pink substance.
It stuck him to the floor long enough for Sebastian to lose his balance.
Then she joined her friends.
"Nice gadget," Sean complimented her. "What was that? A portable, high viscosity oil cannon?"
"That was no gadget!" Alex corrected as she quickened her pace. "That was my favorite mousse! Expensive, too!"
"Well, don't worry!" Sean said. "I'll replace it if we ever get back to Beverly Hills!"
They passed the guard Sebastian hypnotized earlier. Sean knew he wouldn't be much of a problem.
The three guards in front of them were another story.
Looking for another way out, Alex kicked open a side door, revealing a staircase, which the boy and two girls ascended.
As they came to the top, they found another door.
Sean kicked it open, revealing they were on the roof.
Sam quickly stood on the edge of the building.
"Quick," she urged, preparing her bungee belt. "We can scale down the wall!"
But those plans were quickly derailed by the appearance of a helicopter behind them.
All three gasped as it shone its light on them. It fired some sort of projectile at them and the next thing they knew, they were stuck in a cramped, transparent sphere made out of an unknown material. Whatever it was, at least they still had air.
They looked up and saw Sebastian and Phil glaring down at them.
Sam and Alex smiled while Sean just looked down in exasperation.
"So," Sebastian said, tenting his fingers. "The Spies are really... spies. How totally lame and unimaginative."
"Don't blame us," Alex said as Sam and Sean tried to break down the door to the recording booth Sebastian locked them in.
"Jerry thought of it."
Sean tried again to no avail as Sebastian's voice came in through the speakers around them.
"Unfortunately, you'll never have a chance to report what you've learned. Because in approximately twenty seconds, the only thing you'll be interested in will be the worshipping of Ricky Mathis. Which means that tonight, you won't mind when I jam all the radio, TV, and internet signals around the globe. Nor will it bother you when I take control the world my newly hypnotized slaves. Because you'll be three of them."
Sean scoffed. "All this because your career went south?"
Sebastian scowled. "It wasn't just a career to me! Before my accident, I was adored, worshipped. I was a god in human form! Well, after tonight, I will be again. And you won't be in any position to do anything about it. Enjoy your last moments of free will!"
The window to the other side darkened, leaving them alone.
"Damn," Sean said. "He's crazy."
That was when the music started playing.
"Great," Alex said. "Now what are we gonna do?"
"We've gotta get out of here before we wind up like Clover!" Sean added.
Sam's face brightened, looking down at a guitar.
"We can use those to get out!" she exclaimed.
Alex picked up a guitar, preparing to use it to smash the window.
"No," Sam said. "Not like that."
Seconds later, Sam held the guitar, Alex was at the drums and Sean was at the keyboard.
"Yee-haw!" Sam yelled strumming the guitar while Alex and Sean played their own instruments.
Like with Jerry's sunglasses on the plane, the window shattered.
Sean, Sam and Alex leapt out of the recording booth and into the hallway.
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to hit the window with the guitar?" Sean asked, but Sam and Alex ignored him.
Soon, they were on the beach, then dove under the waves, activating the underwater gear that Jerry provided them.
The U.P.W.A.T.I closed around their heads and the remaining water drained out of the helmets.
"Wow!" Sam exclaimed. "This U.P.W.A.T.I is really great!"
"Upwhatty?" Alex asked.
"Don't start that again," Sean moaned. "Now let's get to that concert before it's too late!"
They surfaced, finding three jet skis. They each hopped on one.
"I'm getting really sick of this saltwater!" Alex complained loudly. "It totally frizzes my hair!'
Two guards on the pier overheard them and began shooting at them, but they were too fast to hit.
Brazuela Megastadium-8:00 PM
The stadium was now full of cheering fans as the satellite dish was transported in.
Ricky, in the meantime, was standing backstage.
"Psst," Alex whispered. "Ricky!"
He turned back to see the spies hiding behind a speaker.
He came over.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. "You're supposed to be out there playing!"
"Well, we would be," Sam informed. "Except your 'good friends' Phil and Sebastian decided to lock us in a recording booth and use a hypnotic version of your new song to try to turn us in to zombies."
Ricky's mouth dropped open.
"Alex," Sean said. "Fill him in. Sam and I've gotta get to that radio tower!"
Sebastian's helicopter was getting close to the stadium. While Phil sat at the controls, he was sitting at the back, looking impatient.
"Now, let's go watch the fireworks," he said, as Phil sped up the chopper.
Sam and Sean rounded a pair of trailers attached to trucks, and finally, came to the satellite dish.
Both, however, were forced to hide after seeing a guard head in their direction.
Crawling under one trailer commando style, then sprinting under another, they were careful to avoid being seen.
Readying their Bungee Belts, they both launched them at a ledge on the dish. The hook stuck and they both began to slowly shimmy their way up.
"Okay," Sam said. "How the heck are we going to stop the broadcast?"
"I don't know," Sean said. "Let's focus on trying to climb this thing first."
Ricky looked crestfallen.
"Sebastian planned on using my music to take over some government?" he asked forlornly.
"Actually," Alex said. "He planned on using your music to rule the world. Weren't you paying attention?"
The backstage door opened, revealing a group of crazed fans, Clover among them.
"There he is!" she exclaimed.
Sensing Ricky would want to get away from them, she took him by the hand and they both took off running.
"Where's Ricky?" Sebastian asked as his helicopter hovered over the stadium.
"He should have been playing by now! This crowd is ready to start a riot!"
"We can't wait," Phil said. "I'll start the music by remote."
And he pressed a button near the controls.
As the crowd began chanting some of the lyrics from the hypnotic song, lights around the dish began to glow as the dome concealing the stage opened up.
Sean and Sam saw this as they ascended.
"Oh, no," they said together.
Alex and Ricky were off the stage by now, hoping they were in the clear.
Unfortunately, they were wrong.
Hundreds of Ricky's hypnotized fans were surrounding them.
"What do we do now?" he asked.
"Looks like the only way out is up!" Alex said urgently.
She grabbed him and pulled him up a ladder to one of the trailers.
By now, Sam and Sean reached the top of the dish.
They looked below to see Alex and Ricky running from the crowd.
"What the hell?" Sean asked.
"That's it," Sebastian said, angry. "Time to get rid of those annoying spies once and for all."
More lights along the transmitter lit up, prompting gasps from both Sean and Sam.
"Quick," he said, pointing to a nearby platform. "There's a service elevator right there!"
They hopped on to it, raising themselves up. Sebastian's helicopter hovered behind them and began shooting at them.
Luckily, they turned just in time and leapt from the service elevator, down to the dish itself.
Sam took out the Wind Tunnel 3000 Tornado Blast Hair Dryer and aimed at the helicopter.
She fired a focused blast of air; the helicopter was pushed a few feet away in the path of the signal.
"What's going on here?!" Sebastian shouted.
Sean and Sam slid down to the ground, watching with pride as the helicopter began to shake.
"Somehow," Phil said, trying to regain control of the helicopter. "We've picked up the signal of Ricky's recording!"
"That's not supposed to happen!" Sebastian panicked. "Quick! Turn the monitors off!"
"No," Phil said, softly. "Don't shut them off. Ricky's music is so wonderful."
Sebastian was shocked but soon found himself joining Phil in the musically induced trance.
Soon, it became clear no one was flying.
"You're Ricky and you're our master," they both chanted.
The helicopter crashed, hitting an important piece of equipment that kept the transmitter going, causing it to explode.
Sean and Sam, fortunately, got clear of it.
Alex, in the meantime, jumped off the trailer she had been evading the fans on, her spy suit torn in a few areas.
She landed in front of Jerry, who gestured to a few agents to multiple points around the stadium.
"Don't worry, spies," he said. "We'll take over from here."
Sebastian and Phil walked out of the wreckage of the helicopter, still under their own spell.
"You're Ricky and you're our master," they chanted as two agents grabbed them by the shoulders and led them away.
"Gee," Sam said as she and the others, including Ricky stood close by Jerry, recuperating from the attack.
Ricky in particular looked a little shell shocked. Sean did assure him that he could still be a musician, but he might want to consider signing onto a different label.
"Thanks, Jerry. And not a minute too soon. These vicious criminals were just about to force Ricky to autograph their concert t-shirts."
Beverly Hills High-9:30 AM
"I can't believe I fell for Ricky Mathis!" Clover despaired. "I'm like, so embarrassed."
She and her three friends were sitting under a tree by the fountain in the school courtyard.
It had taken a while for the effects of the music to wear off, and by the time they did, and Clover learned what had happened, she was completely mortified.
"Don't be too hard on yourself," Sean said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You weren't thinking straight."
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Luckily the effects of the music wore off and you're not a mindless zombie groupie anymore."
"You know," Sean said. "Ricky's music wasn't all that good in my opinion. I'm more into soft rock, anyway."
"Hey!" another voice said. "Clover! You're back!"
They turned around. Damon was behind them.
"Did you get my flowers?"
"Yeah," Clover answered. "I got them."
"So," Damon said. "Like, I was thinking. Maybe we could get together, and you could tell me all about your tour with Ricky Mathis."
"Sorry, Damon," she said gently. "After the whole tour experience, I'm like, so over musicians."
Damon looked shocked then dejectedly walked away.
Knowing his attention span, Sean knew he'd likely forget about Clover in a week.
"I'm so proud of you, Clover," Alex said, impressed.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "You've finally come to your senses."
Clover nodded. "I just decided it's really dumb to fall for every guy with a guitar in his hands."
"Excuse me," another voice behind them said. They all turned to see another boy had walked up to them.
He was holding a guitar case in his right hand and a clarinet was clutched in his arm.
"Can anyone tell me where the music room is? I'm new and I'm kind of lost."
Clover's eyes beamed with excitement, as her friends facepalmed.
She jumped up and took the boy by the arm.
"I'd be happy to take you to the music room!" she said eagerly.
Sean watched as they left.
"I guess this means she's back into musicians," Alex said.
"Something tells me she never got over them," Sean said.