Hi everyone! I hope you're liking Season 2 so far. And speaking of which, here's the next chapter.
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Chapter Forty-Four
Evil Hair Salon
The Cutting Edge Salon-Seattle-9:15 AM
A new hair salon had just opened up in a high end Seattle neighborhood. In operation for two weeks, it had already attracted over 500,000 clients. The salon itself was a very clean building, painted with cream colors and a representation of scissors cutting through hair on the sign over the entrance. However, in spite of its recent popularity, business was slow on this particular morning as the attendant outside tried and failed to scout any potential customers.
Of course, no one knew the salon's real purpose. Almost no one, anyway.
The attendant looked to her right and saw two girls walking in the direction of the salon.
The girls, sisters Melissa and Louise, were on their way home from a swim meet when they happened to pass by the salon attendant.
"Good afternoon, miss," the woman said, stepping up to Melissa with a magazine that advertised the salon. "Would you like to try an exciting new hair treatment? It's free and available right now."
Intrigued, Melissa took the magazine and examined the cover.
"'Lusher, more durable and easier to manage hair'," she read.
"Sounds great," Louise said, turning her attention to the woman. "Can I get in on the deal?"
But the salon attendant just regarded her dismissively. "Sorry, you don't have the right hair."
Louise frowned as the woman continued to examine her sister's luxurious, vibrant red hair.
"Interested?" the attendant continued. "It only takes twenty minutes."
Melissa thought about it carefully, if you count "two seconds" as carefully.
"Sure," she replied eagerly. "Why not?"
The attendant dragged her by the arm through the salon doors, leaving a very confused and somewhat frustrated Louise behind.
"I'll meet you at home later," Melissa called to her sister reassuringly as the doors closed.
As Melissa took her seat, she wondered what this hair treatment entailed, exactly. That was when the manacles clamped around her wrists.
She struggled against them, but they were too tight.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What the hell?!"
Two more secured themselves around her ankles. For all effects and purposes, she was trapped.
As she struggled and screamed, she never could have guessed what would happen to her next.
Beverly Hills Mall-9:32 AM
Sean and Sam looked at what Clover had picked out with utter disbelief and revulsion. The brown suit with white pocket protector looked more like suitable for... well, anyone who didn't run a spy agency. If not for the fact that Clover told them it was Naugahyde, Sean could have sworn it was made out of brown fur.
"We could get that for Jer," she suggested.
"A Naugahyde tuxedo?!" Sam asked in shock.
"I hate to break it to you, Clover," Sean added. "But Naugahyde makes Jerry break out in hives. Besides, this is a big birthday. That means we've gotta think big."
Clover put the suit back on the rack. Having learned from Sean that Jerry's 60th birthday was coming up, the spies decided to do something special for him. The problem was that the four friends didn't know what Jerry liked, so a lot of their gift suggestions were... questionable.
"Look!" Alex exclaimed from a nearby display. "A Swiss party knife! Twenty gadgets and a preprogrammed radio with party tunes!"
She demonstrated the last one, turning on the radio and letting dance music play faintly in her vicinity. Still, Sean and Sam weren't impressed.
"I don't think so," Sam said.
"Yeah," Sean agreed. "I gave one to Jerry for Christmas already."
Alex wasn't daunted, instead wheeling over a velvet-covered sports bag on wheels.
"How about a velvet, all-terrain golf cart?"
Sam and Sean gave their friend a look that said, "Seriously?"
"Who would really want that?" Sean asked. "Besides, none of these things seem big enough for Jerry."
"But it's velvet and all-terrain!" Alex pointed out.
"Wait!" Sam said, snapping her fingers suddenly. "I've got the perfect idea: we can throw Jerry a surprise party!"
"Awesome!" Clover squealed in delight with the other two nodding emphatically. "Old Jer would never expect that from us!"
"It's gonna be hard, though," Sean said. "Jerry doesn't get surprised very easily. He runs a spy organization, after all."
"'Hard' doesn't mean impossible, Sean," Clover said, rubbing her chin in contemplation. "Now, what kind of surprise should it be?"
"I know!" Alex said, her face lighting up. "We can blindfold him and take him up in a hot air balloon!"
"Or," Clover offered. "We could trick him into meeting us in a submarine and invite all his friends."
"I don't don't think either of those are gonna work out," Sean stated skeptically. "Both are too small to hold a party in."
"Okay," Alex agreed. "Maybe we could push him off a cliff and not tell him it's a surprise bungee jumping party!"
Now Sean and Sam looked very concerned.
"Okay," Sam said. "Careful, Alex. We don't wanna give him a heart attack."
As if on cue, the bag Alex wheeled over opened up on its own, sucking the four friends inside and down the same old metallic chute.
"Speaking of heart attacks!" Sean shouted over the girl's screams. "Jerry's gotta stop scaring us like this!"
The ride ended on the fuchsia cushion in Jerry's office. Well, a few inches in front of it, at least. They had gone so fast that they had missed landing on it and instead lay on the carpet in front of Jerry, who stood over them smiling.
"Welcome, agents," he greeted.
"Why can't we ever come here in style?" Clover complained as her friends took a seat. "Like, in a limo or something?"
Jerry seemed to take note of this.
"Oh, a limousine. Why didn't I think of that? I'll arrange it for you right away."
"Awesome!" Alex exclaimed.
"Yes, whatever," Jerry said, uninterested and turned on the screen behind his desk. "Now, down to business. Scores of people have been reported missing in Seattle, Washington. The peculiar thing is they all disappeared yesterday."
Behind him, images of several people appeared on the screen. And Sean was quick to see they all had one thing in common.
"That's not the only thing peculiar," he observed. "They're all redheads."
"You think it's a coincidence?" Clover asked.
"Guess we're about to find out," Sam said.
"That's a good guess," Jerry said as he walked over to his desk. "You'll be departing momentarily to figure out how this all ties together. And now for your gear."
The top of his desk split open, revealing his latest assortment of gadgets. Jerry held each one up as he explained.
"Earring Microphone Communicators, Laser Lipstick, Wind Tunnel Hair Dryers, Jetpack Backpacks, and T.H.I.R.D."
"Third?" Alex asked, confused. "I thought we were on gadget number five."
For clarification, Jerry held up a small diamond ring. "T.H.I.R.D: Tiny Hidden Investigative Ring Devices."
"Thanks, Jerry," Sean said. "We'll be in touch."
Jerry held up the backpacks containing the gadgets.
"Good luck," he offered only for the spies to just stand there silently. "Oh, right. Your limo. It's waiting for you outside."
The spies brightened up... until Jerry activated the trapdoor that sent them tumbling out of his office.
"Yes," he chuckled to himself. "And the word 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary. A limo! Please."
Seattle-10:17 AM
Having arrived in Seattle the day before, the spies decided to start their investigation at the home of one of the most recent people to go missing: Melissa Hale. Her parents weren't home, but there was still her younger sister to question. Louise Hale, who had black hair unlike her sister, sat in front of the spies, answering their questions.
"So," Sam began. "You and your sister are very close?"
"Yeah, we're best friends." Louise responded worriedly. "She was supposed to meet me here yesterday afternoon but never showed up."
"Maybe she went an on all-night shopping spree and forgot to call," Clover theorized earning glares from each of her friends. "What? I've done it, like, a million times."
"My sister's really responsible," Louise argued. "She would have called. And no one we know has heard from her."
"Where was the last place you saw her?" Sean asked.
"At this new salon called The Cutting Edge. She was going in for a free hair treatment."
"Did you get one too?" Alex questioned.
"I wanted to," Louise answered. "But the woman at the salon told me I didn't have the right hair."
The spies sat there wondering what that could have meant. That was when they saw the picture of Melissa on the table in front of them.
"So," Clover said, picking the picture up. "Your sister's a redhead, huh?"
Louise smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it? I hope she's okay."
"Me too," Sean said, standing up. And he meant it. Sean was an only child, so he couldn't imagine the pain of being separated from a sibling, not knowing if they were in danger or safe. Dead or alive. In addition to that, the girl in the photograph reminded him of Sam except for the beauty mark on her cheek. "Okay, thanks for answering all our questions. We'll let you know if we find out anything."
Louise nodded in gratitude as the spies left.
As the spies rounded the next street corner, they discussed their next move.
"I vote we go the salon and check things out, pronto," Clover suggested.
"Well," Sean said, thinking back to Louise's testimony. "I don't think it's gonna be that easy. According to what she said, you need a certain kind of hair for that treatment. Red hair."
"It's a good thing I'm already a redhead," Sam interjected, looking over to the window of a nearby shop, one that sold wigs. "'Cause at 1250 bucks a wig, we're about to majorly exceed our W.O.O.H.P budget."
The other three smiled, understanding where she was going.
"Wow!" Alex exclaimed happily, striking a pose with her new red wig, which was somewhat messy but still attractive. "I just love being a redhead! I feel totally glamorous!"
Clover shot up beside her, wearing a neater wig that was similar to Sam's in shade.
"Welcome to the club, gals," Sam said proudly, shoving herself in between them. "Now you know how unbelievably wonderful it is to be moi."
"Yeah," Clover added sarcastically. "And unbelievably modest... not!"
As the girls got finished admiring themselves, they noticed one member of their team still missing.
"Hey," Alex pointed out. "Where's Sean?"
A few feet away from them, Sean was looking at himself in a mirror and admiring his new wig, a short one that ended in several places in spikes. It reminded him of a character in a video game he played long before he met the girls. Only the hair on that character was blond and not a redhead.
"Not bad," he said, clicking his tongue. "Hey, maybe I should keep this."
"Sean?" Sam's voice said from behind him, prompting him to turn around. Sam was standing behind him, her eyes gazing upward at his wig. She just stood there for a minute, struggling to get a single syllable out.
"Yes?" Sean asked as she turned away to hide a blush.
Sam was unable to open her mouth when Clover called over to them.
"Hey! Are you two gonna stand there all day or are we gonna get to that salon, already?!"
Sean and Sam quickly snapped back to reality and joined Clover by the checkout. But as they left the store, Sam was just wondering what could have made her freeze like that.
She had to admit, Sean looked cute as a redhead.
Where did that come from? she thought.
The Cutting Edge Salon-10:32 AM
"Enough chatter, reds," Sam said as they walked up to the doors of the salon. "It's spy time."
From his first glance, The Cutting Edge seemed like every other hair salon Sean had been in. Of course, this was the first one he'd entered that had automatic doors and served coffee to people waiting for their turn.
Putting on their wigs, they stepped through the doors and caught the attention of one woman carrying a tray of cups of coffee.
"Hi there!" Clover greeted, taking the initiative. "We heard a rumor about your phenomenal salon and the amazing new hair treatment you're offering."
"So," Alex added, stroking one of her bangs. "Us four natural redheads rushed right over."
The woman regarded them for a minute before averting her gaze.
"Yes," she said. "I see that. Unfortunately, you don't have the right hair."
As she walked away, the spies stood glued to the floor by the entrance, shocked.
"Sheesh," Sam said, crossing her arms. "Rude much?"
Having failed to get inside the salon, the spies sat on a bench just outside, ruminating on what their next course of action should be.
"Okay," Clover said bitterly. "So that plan was failure-riffic. Now what do we do?"
Sean reached up to his head, pulling his wig off.
"We take off these itchy wigs," he said. "That's what."
Clover and Alex imitated his action as a gasp erupted from behind them.
"Now that's great hair," a familiar voice said. The spies turned around and saw the same woman from inside the salon standing there now. "Perfect for our innovative treatment."
The four friends were confused until they saw she had her eyes locked on Clover's hair and Sean's.
"Really?!" Clover asked, flattered.
The woman nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! Would you two like try an exciting new treatment for people with blond hair? It's free and available right now!"
"Sounds great," Sean replied. "Since we're planning a party anyway, I guess my hair could use a little treatment. Just don't over shampoo. The last time I got one of these treatments, my hair was brittle for a week!"
"You don't need to worry about that," the woman reassured. "Our treatment doesn't use shampoos."
Before the two could take a step further, Sam grabbed both their wrists.
"Remember the mission," she reminded them. "Eyes and ears open."
"Duh!" Clover replied. "Of course!"
"Don't worry, Sam," Sean said, shifting his hair to reveal the gadget affixed to his left ear. "We'll leave our Earring Communicators on."
"We'll be right here if you need us," Alex said as the woman quickly ushered Clover and Sean inside.
"I expect Jerry's surprise party to be completely planned by the time my beautiful hair is even more beautiful," Clover called out to them as she and Sean disappeared behind the doors.
"Apparently," Alex quickly added, turning to Sam. "Sam's modesty is contagious... not!"
Sean and Clover took their seats inside the salon as one of the assistants came over to them, paying very close attention to Clover's hair in particular.
"You have wonderful hair," she said, earning a grin from Clover. "It's just wonderful."
"Thanks," Clover said, blushing. "I can't wait for the treatment."
"By the way," Sean broke in. "What does it do, exactly?"
The woman chuckled. "Oh, it'll be a life changing experience. I promise."
There was something about the way she said it that Sean didn't like, but he thought no more on it as another woman came over and began to run a comb through his hair.
"Just sit back and close your eyes," she instructed him and he did so.
Then he felt something cold snap around his wrists and ankles.
"What the-" he started. He opened his eyes to see four metal manacles had restrained him to the chair. And the same thing happened to Clover, apparently.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What's going on?!" But the women standing above them just smirked cruelly.
"Let us go!" Sean shouted, as he looked around and saw that every other client in the salon was experiencing the same problem.
Outside, Sam and Alex heard Sean and Clover's cries of distress through their Earring Communicators.
"This is not good!" Sam said, looking at the salon doors. "Come on!"
But they couldn't move soon enough, for inside each of the salon's chairs had fallen through a trap door, taking their occupants down screaming, including Sean and Clover. The salon assistants smirked evilly as the chairs disappeared from sight and left the building.
The glass doors and windows of the salon were quickly barricaded by large, thick metal shutters, preventing Sam and Alex from entering the building from the ground level.
"The door's locked!" Alex exclaimed.
"So are the windows!" Sam added. "Apparently, they decided to close early today!"
"How are we gonna get in?"
In response, Sam activated her Jetpack Backpack.
"By going up!" she said, grabbing Alex's wrist and dragging her through the air as she shot upward to the roof. As they landed, they saw a service door just in front of them. A perfect entry point for a building that was otherwise inaccessible.
Opening the door, the two girls peered inside to see a large air vent dominating the room. And luckily, it was large enough for them to fit through.
"What's that thing?" Alex asked as Sam smiled.
"Looks like our way in," the redhead answered. "What do you say you put those aerobicized thighs into action?"
Taking the hint, Alex leapt into the air and kicked the grate of the vent so hard that it fell off, exposing the long ventilation shaft.
"Okay," Sam said. "Down the hatch." And the girls climbed down inside.
The inside of the salon was completely empty, with even the chairs missing. Off to the side was a closet that held clients' personal belongings, including Clover and Sean's Jetpack Backpacks. But neither Clover nor Sean were anywhere to be seen.
"Freaky!" Alex commented as she walked over to the closet. "Everyone's gone."
Her words were drowned out in a scream and seconds later, she was dangling from the edge of the trap door she had accidentally opened just by walking across it. Sam quickly pulled her back up, causing her to fall over on top of her friend.
When they recovered from the fall, the two remaining spies inspected the open trap door.
"Guess the chairs must've gone through these trap doors," Alex said.
"That means Sean and Clover can't be far behind," Sam added, looking down at the long, dark crevasse that the door opened up to.
A single look between them signaled an unspoken agreement to investigate it and hopefully rescue their friends.
Turning on their jetpacks, Sam and Alex dove downward into the dark and came out the other end to what looked like a long subway tunnel with smaller tracks. From there, they followed the echoing sound of screams through the tunnel to find the salon chairs arranged together like cars on a train and speeding away from them at uncontrollable speeds.
And Alex recognized the two captives in the rear two chairs.
"Sammy, look!" Alex exclaimed, pointing at the strange procession. The back of the train held Sean and Clover, still strapped to the chairs and looking terrified out of their wits.
"Sean!" Sam called out. "Clover, we're here!"
Thankfully, they were just close enough to Sam to hear her.
"What are you waiting for?!" Clover asked fearfully.
"Help us!" Sean added as the train came to a steep incline and sped down it like a roller coaster.
"Come on!" Sam beckoned to Alex, following the screams of the prisoners, which were now getting further and further away.
"We're losing them!" Alex said, and increased the speed of her jetpack. But it wasn't fast enough as the train of chairs rounded a corner. When the two finally came across it themselves, al they saw was an enormous stone wall. Sam and Alex barely stopped their jetpacks in time to avoid hitting it.
"They just disappeared!" Sam said as they landed beside the track. And that meant both Sean and Clover were... well, who knows where they were?
Sam's stomach clenched as she thought of the idea of her friends in danger, but thinking of Sean only made it worse, for reasons unknown to her.
"What are we gonna do?!" Alex asked as Sam willed herself to stay calm and pulled out her Compowder.
"Call Jerry," she responded, opening the small, pink, circular device. "And hope that he knows something."
The screen lit up, displaying Jerry's face.
"Hello, agents," he greeted cheerfully. "How is Seattle?"
"Terrible!" Alex exclaimed. "Sean and Clover have been kidnapped by an evil hair salon! A place called The Cutting Edge!"
Jerry's jovial mood dissipated instantly. "Oh. That's not at all good. Well, let's see what we can find out."
As he typed in the query about the salon, Sam looked down despondently, brooding over her failure to save Sean. And Clover, she reminded herself. Why am I more worried about him than Clover? He's been a spy the longest; he can take care of himself!
But she willed herself to focus on the task at hand. After all, she couldn't save if she let herself get distracted like this.
Soon enough, Jerry's search results came up.
"Here it is," he said to the girls. "The Cutting Edge salon. It's owned by a woman named Felicia Mane, a famous wigmaker specializing in high-end luxury hairpieces."
An image of a thin woman with fair skin and brown hair popped up on Sam's screen.
"Apparently," Jerry continued. "She's opened salons all over the world."
"Why would a famous wigmaker want to own a bunch of hair salons?" Sam asked, confused.
Alex gasped. "Maybe she uses the extra hair from the salons to make wigs!"
Sam cringed. "That's a disturbing thought," she said.
"Speaking of which," Jerry informed. "I've just received this news: people in Vienna and Rio are also missing after going into salons. Girls, I think it's high time for you two to go into the belly of the beast. Miss Mane's main wig factory is in London."
"We're on it, Jer," Sam said, hanging up before turning back to Alex. "Well, time to save Sean and Clover and stop an international hair disaster."
"I just hope we'll be back in time to surprise Jerry on his birthday," Alex said.
London-6:45 PM
Felicia Mane's factory turned out to be on the west bank of the Thames River, not too far away from the Palace of Westminster. Sam and Alex stood at the factory's primary entrance under an umbrella in the middle of a downpour.
"So," Sam said, reviewing their planned cover for getting inside. "The deal is we work for Jerry, an international movie star."
Sine the factory wasn't open to the public, the only way to get inside was to have official business with Felica. Sam had concocted this story at their hotel and she could only hope it would be convincing enough to get them inside long enough to find Sean.
And Clover, she reminded herself for the umpteenth time.
"What country should we be from?" Alex asked, pointing out a major hole in the plan.
Sam struggled for a minute before it came to her.
"How about Sweden?" she said, briefly putting on a Swedish accent.
"Oh, I like it!" Alex exclaimed as Sam fixed her eyes on the building.
"Jerry the international Swedish film star," Sam continued testing her accent before switching back over to her normal one. "But we can't reveal his name because he's so huge and famous."
The spies looked up at the huge neon sign of a pair of scissors cutting through a lock of hair.
"Okay, here we go," Alex said in her normal accent before catching herself and repeating her words in a Swedish accent. "I mean, okay, here we go."
The inside of the building was extremely opulent for a wig factory. The lobby itself looked more like an elegant ballroom than anything else, complete with a grand staircase and golden light fixtures adorning both handrails. Evidently, Felicia Mane had very expensive taste. Taste that she projected onto the people who worked for her, if the muscular man in a white dress shirt and black bowtie approaching Sam and Alex was any indication.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a rough tone, catching the two off guard.
"Um," Sam uttered, quickly regaining her composure. "We need with Felicia Mane right away. The future of Swedish cinema depends on it!"
The man raised an eyebrow, as if skeptical. But gestured the spies to follow him anyway.
"Right," he said. "Come with me."
Felicia's Office-7:06 PM
After being lead through the mazelike hallways of the factory for a little over twenty minutes, Sam and Alex were guided into the most lavishly decorated room they had seen in their lives, complete with an authentic Persian rug, a side table on the left side of the room that held a globe supported by two statues of sphinxes, a tiffany lamp and a wide desk made of what could only be mahogany.
Leaning on the desk was the woman Jerry had showed the spies through Sam's Compowder. She was thin with brown hair and a purple dress that clung to her figure like plastic wrap to furniture.
"I'm Felicia Mane," she greeted in a British accent, one that suggested an air of superiority. "What can I do for you?"
"I am Anna," Sam falsely introduced herself before gesturing to Alex. "And this is Bridget. We come from Sweden to buy some wigs for our eccentric employer."
"Ja," Alex added. "He's an international film star. You'd recognize the name, but we can't tell you his name."
"Uh-huh," Felica said, intrigued. "Okay. Why does he want the wigs?"
Alex stumbled for an answer, but quickly recovered.
"Because he's secretly bald," she answered, tapping her head for emphasis.
"And everyone says your wigs are the best," Sam added.
"They're right," Felicia said proudly. "I can definitely help."
She held up a catalog to the girls.
"Look through these, then we'll proceed to order the wigs for your star."
Sam took the catalog and opened it, pretending to read it.
"So," she said, hoping to get somewhere. "Are all the wigs made here in this building?"
Felicia's face as well as her tone took a turn for the suspicious.
"Yes," she said, trying to remain neutral-and not doing a very good job, Sam noted. "They are."
She got up from her desk and turned away from the girls.
"Ooh!" Alex exclaimed, acting like she was interested. "It must be quite a fascinating process."
"It is," Felicia responded, her patience clearly wearing thin.
"Do you give uh... the tours?" Sam finally asked, frustrated with being no closer to finding Sean. And Clover, she thought again, mentally slapping herself.
"No," Felicia said crossly, turning to glare at the girls. "We don't. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for an appointment."
She pressed a button on her desk and in seconds, another well built man in a white suit came in.
"Edwin," she instructed. "Please show these ladies out."
The girls briefly yelped in fright before quickly walking out of the room with Felicia's lackey behind them and the woman herself growling in suspicion.
As Edwin showed the girls the way back down, Alex leaned over into her friend's ear.
"I guess rudeness is a theme at this company," she whispered in her normal accent.
But as they approached an intersection in the hallway, Sam saw something in her peripheral vision. Looking across, she saw two women dressed in white coats pushing what looked like wheelchairs all the way across the end of the hall. The wheelchairs themselves were occupied by two other women, both young but looked very weak. But the strangest part was that their hair was dunked into a tank filled with an unknown liquid strapped to the back of the chair. As for their hair, it was unnaturally long.
Now we're getting somewhere, Sam thought, turning on the camera hidden in her ring. She walked along, keeping the hand with the ring to her side and within sight of the strange procession she had just witnessed.
"Here's the exit, ladies," Edwin said, gesturing to the glass door they came in through. The girls exited as the man stood in the doorway like a bouncer at a nightclub.
"Have a nice day," he added and closed the doors.
"Well," Alex said as he left. "That was a mega waste of time."
"Maybe not," Sam argued slyly. "Check out this video I just shot."
She took off the ring, plugging it into her Compowder and the footage she had recorded inside the factory played across the screen.
Alex's jaw dropped.
"That is big time creepy!" she exclaimed.
"I know," Sam agreed, now more worried for her friends than ever. "It's as if the hair process sucks the life out of people!"
Realizing the implications, Alex widened her eyes in horror.
"We have to find Clover and Sean," she said. "And we have to do it before it's too late!"
Her friend's choice of words made Sam turn away, fear dominating her every thought, especially for Sean. Though once again, she didn't know why.
Please don't let it be too late, she prayed.
Felicia's Headquarters-7:32 PM
About half an hour after getting escorted out, Sam and Alex returned to Felicia's factory to get a better look at went on behind the scenes. Since the factory didn't give tours, they decided to take an unauthorized one, starting with the upper floors.
The girls crept along the edge of the building as Alex pointed to a balcony not too far away from the factory's sign.
"Of course," Sam said, extending her belt buckle. "We'll have to do a little bungee maneuver first."
Alex followed her lead and the two hurled the buckles and attached cables at the window. The buckle latched around one of the window's bars, allowing Sam and Alex to zip up with no problems. Then Sam took out a tube of Laser Lipstick and twisted it, sending a bright hot beam into the metal bars, cutting through them and allowing the spies to access the inside.
Once they were on the floor, the spies ran stealthily through the hallway, careful to duck behind a corner at the first sound or sign of human presence. Like the light coming from a room with an open door on the far end.
Making sure that the coast was clear, they sped over to it and peered inside. And they were amazed at what they found, or more accurately who they found.
The girls gasped as they saw two familiar figures in wheelchairs inside, their hair having grown long and thick enough to dredge the bottom of the tank. And their faces looked unbelievably hollow, almost skeletal.
"Sean, Clover!" they exclaimed in unison.
The two captive spies looked up at their still free friends, relief flooding their faces.
"You found us!" Sean said happily, or as happy as he could have been considering where he was.
Sam and Alex rushed over to the duo.
"Bad hair day, huh?" Alex asked.
"To say the least!" Clover replied angrily. "These people are nuts! Felicia is growing our hair so she can harvest it and make her wigs, not to mention billions of dollars."
"Hey, I was right!" Alex said in surprise.
Sean looked at Alex. "This was one of your theories?"
Alex just blushed sheepishly. "Well, maybe not this exactly, but pretty close."
"Anyway," Sean said. "It's her hair treatment that's making us so weak."
"We have to get you guys out of here," Sam said in concern as she knelt down try and unfasten Sean's restraints.
"You'd better do it fast," Sean warned. "Because as soon as our hair gets big enough, Felicia's gonna cut it off and dispose of what's left of us."
The sound of footsteps put plans for rescuing Clover and Sean on hold. Inside the room stepped three of Felicia's henchmen. Alex gasped as she tried to run to the other side.
"Hold it right there!" one exclaimed, grabbing her by the ankle. "Gotcha!"
"As if!" Alex exclaimed, using the momentum to perform a roundhouse kick to the man's cheek, knocking him backwards. Sam, in the meantime, was struggling against a much bigger one.
"Let me go, you jerk!" she shouted as Sean looked on in concern. Alex tried to step in, landing a punch on the man's back, but soon held it in pain. Apparently, he was very solidly built.
Getting over the pain, she took a combat stance only to get grabbed by the backpack by the third one.
Next thing they knew, they were thrown into a different room along with Clover and Sean and strapped into chairs identical to theirs. Sam's hair was dunked into the tank while mist of the solution was continuously sprayed into Alex's.
The wall on the right side of the room opened up, revealing an escalator and a smiling Felicia. The spies glared up at her in anger, particularly Sean and Clover.
"Well," she said, satisfied. "Look who we have here. Our young Swedish friends."
"Swedish?" Sean asked Sam in confusion.
She looked back at him.
"Later," she said.
"Actually," Alex retorted. "We're not Swedish. We're here to stop your twisted plan."
Felicia smiled impishly. "Too late for that. I already have all the hair I want and more, including yours."
Then she looked into the back of the room at Sean and Clover.
"All of you who've had the full hair treatment will now be taken to the harvesting room!"
"I don't like the sound of that," Sean said as one of Felicia's thugs began wheeling him toward the escalator, with Clover not far behind him.
"You have to do something!" Clover pleaded with her friends desperately.
"Don't worry," Sam reassured, locking her eyes with Sean. "We will."
As a terrified Clover and Sean were placed firmly on the escalator, Felicia planted herself on the last step, waving a mocking farewell to Sam and Alex.
The doors closed, leaving the two girls to struggle against their restraints.
"We have to get out of these straps before this stuff weakens us too!" Sam said, already beginning to feel a little sluggish.
"No problem," Alex said, kicking her legs up and shooting a nail file out of the heel of her boot. She caught it with her teeth, giggling.
It may have taken more maneuvering than usual, but Alex finally managed to get herself free.
Those yoga classes sure paid off, she thought before freeing Sam.
"Yeah," Sam commented. "I'd say that definitely beats the fire axe plan."
"It's time to save Clover and Sean!" Alex exclaimed as soon as Sam was free. "To the harvesting room!"
"If only we could figure out how to get there," Sam countered, remembering that Felicia took them via an escalator that only she probably had access to.
Sam scanned the room, singling out a door on the far left. Making a run toward it, she kicked it down and exposed a long series of stairs. If they kept following them, it would almost certainly take them back to the ground floor. From there, they could head back outside and find a probable entry point into the harvesting room.
Soon enough, they were outside. They just hoped they weren't too late to help Sean. And Clover, Sam reminded herself once again.
"Okay," she said, looking up. "How can we get back up there?" Then she saw the fabric rippling in the breeze.
"Red curtain! It's an open window!"
Then she touched a finger her ear.
"Sean, Clover," she said into her Earring Communicator. "Guys! Are you there?"
"Yeah," Clover's voice answered. "We're here. Shouldn't you be saving us right now?"
"Uh huh," Sam said. "We're outside. Anyway, are either of you near an open window with a red curtain?"
"Yeah," Sean's voice replied forlornly. "But not for much longer. It's gonna be my turn soon, then Clover, then... well, try not to think about that."
Felicia's HQ-Mane Cutting Room-8:07 PM
Sean and Clover could only watch in horror as a woman was strapped to a metal slab by her neck and her hair was laid out on a massive conveyor belt and wrapped around what looked like a giant curling iron just below a titanic pair of scissors. Above on a raised platform stood Felicia, waiting eagerly to get started.
"Let the harvesting begin!" she exclaimed with glee and the giant curling iron began to roll the hair outward and upward as the pair of scissors cut it off in sheets.
Sean gulped in fear.
That's gonna be me in a few minutes, he thought nervously. And he was right. Besides this woman, there was only one person in front of him: Melissa, the girl abducted from Seattle. And once she was done, he'd be next.
"I don't know what's worse," Clover whispered to him. "Being bald or dead."
Sean rolled his eyes. "Personally, I'm too young to be either."
"Tell that to her," Clover retorted, gesturing with her head to Felicia, who stood above them laughing maniacally.
Back outside, Sam and Alex knew they had very little time. Every minute wasted was a minute their friends were close to being Felicia's next victims.
"We've gotta get up there now!" Alex exclaimed, extended the cable of her belt as did Sam. The cables wrapped around a flagpole just below the red curtain. Carefully, the spies hoisted themselves up. Unfortunately, the pole was too narrow for the buckles to secure themselves properly and Alex's came loose. Yelling, she grabbed hold of Sam's ankle, dragging both of them down. The cable couldn't take the combined weight of both of them and it too came unraveled, sending the girls crashing back to the ground before they landed in a tree.
"Now that was seriously uncool," Sam groaned, her stomach splayed on the tree limb.
"Looks like we'll need a Plan B," Alex said, rubbing her sore ribs.
Then it hit Sam.
"I've got it!" she exclaimed.
Standing just below the red curtain, she spoke into her earring communicator again.
"Clover, Sean," she said. "I know it sounds crazy, but we need you guys to let down your hair so we can climb up to you."
"Their hair?" Alex asked, perplexed.
"Our hair?" Sean and Clover repeated, equally confused.
"This isn't a storybook, Sam," Sean said. "It's never gonna work."
"With how strong that treatment's made your hair," Sam argued. "I disagree. Just try it. Let it down through the window."
Sean sighed. "Well, what do we have to lose?"
"Okay," Clover said. "We'll try."
She tried to wheel herself backwards to the window but Sean stopped her.
"Wait!" he whispered as loud as he could. "We can't do anything with Felicia watching us like a hawk."
"Then what do we do?" Clover asked.
He looked ahead. "We're gonna need a distraction."
Leaning forward, Sean let a single "psst" escape his teeth. The redheaded girl in front of him heard it, thankfully.
"It's Melissa, right?" he asked. She nodded. "My friends can save us, but you have to help me."
Melissa enacted Sean's plan the minute he finished describing it to her: slipping out of her restraints, she let herself slide down to the floor loudly. This caught Felicia's attention, making her send two of her thugs to the scene to secure her. As the men dragged grabbed her by the arms to put her back in her chair, Sean and Clover wheeled backwards toward the window.
Using what little strength they had, they pulled their hair out of the tanks and let it drop out the window. Sean just hoped it was long enough to reach the ground or at least Sam and Alex.
Thankfully, it was and both Sean's hair and Clover's unfurled from the window, effectively making a ladder for their friends.
"They did it!" Alex exclaimed with delight. "Just like Rumpelstiltskin!"
"Uh, Alex," Sam said in a corrective tone. "I think you mean Rapunzel."
"Oh," Alex admitted, embarrassed as they both took hold of a train of hair, with Sam climbing up Sean's while Alex opted for Clover's.
Up at the top, the two captive spies strained to hold the weight of their friends.
"Just try to hold on!" Sean tried to reassure Clover. "They'll be here soon."
Thankfully, in addition to making their hair longer and thicker, Felicia's treatment also made it more durable. Sean could feel Sam's grip on his hair, but it was so light that it might as well have been a gentle breeze.
Plus, Sam running her hands through his hair was a feature in some of his most intimate thoughts. Of course, this wasn't what he had mind.
At long last, they reached the top.
"Too bad Felicia's treatment is sucking the life out of you guys," Alex said as her face came into view. "Because your hair is truly amazing!"
"Whatever!" Clover exclaimed through gritted teeth. "Can you please just get through the bars?"
In response, Sam pulled out her laser lipstick again. Holding it with her teeth, she twisted it and let the laser cut through the metal bars once again.
"Let's get her!" she growled, flinging herself inside, followed by Alex.
Off to the side, Felicia was still overseeing the harvesting, which was moving much too slowly for her taste.
"Come on people!" she shouted. "Move faster! We have a lot of hair to harvest!"
"Don't even think about it!" Sam exclaimed from beside Sean.
Felicia turned around and saw the two spies she'd managed to trap had somehow escaped.
Unperturbed, she snapped her fingers, signaling two of her henchmen to charge at the girls.
Thinking fast, Sam pulled a coat off of a nearby rack and held it up in front of her opponent like a matador would a cape.
"Toro, toro!" she shouted. It even apparently had the same effect, has the man charged at the coat and she pulled it away at the last minute, leaving the man momentarily confused. He made a charge at her again, only for a loop of long blond hair to wrap around his midsection before coming loose and spinning him into the wall behind him.
Sam looked in the direction the hair had come from. Sean had used it like a lasso to help her out.
Alex, in the meantime was hurling several hairclips at the other of Felicia's men like throwing stars. But he dodged every one until she ran out of both those and energy to keep throwing.
Sam had gotten the idea to use the coat like a pair of nunchucks and twirled it at her opponent, who had gotten a second wind after Sean's attack. Wrapping the coat around his ankles, Sam pulled and the man flew backwards before landing on his back.
"Time to shed a little light on things," Alex said, picking up a mirror from a nearby table. Reflecting the light of the room back at the man she faced, she'd blinded him enough to make him start walking backwards towards Clover, who picked up her hair as soon as he stepped on it, causing him to trip.
Sam and Alex laughed in satisfaction, but their victory was about to be short lived as Felicia herself popped up from behind them, wielding an enormous pair of scissors.
"You annoying brats!" she snarled. "You'll never get away with this!"
"Look at her, Sammy!" Alex joked, looking back. "She's totally wigging out on us!"
"Yeah!" Sam agreed. "She's a regular mane-iac!"
Felicia just scowled as Sean and Clover wheeled over to the scene.
"Girls," Sean spoke up. "Do you think you could save the bad puns for after you save us?!"
"Sorry," they said in unison just as Felicia went on the attack. Sam ducked her blow just in time to pull out the one gadget they hadn't used yet: the Wind Tunnel Hair Dryer.
The hair dryer's powerful gust knocked the older woman back, causing her to land on an empty wheelchair... causing her wig to come off and exposing her hairless head.
The spies gasped at the sight.
"Oh my god!" Alex exclaimed. "She's bald! She's bald and she's torturing people who have hair!"
Dazed, Felicia's head fell back into the tank of the solution she was using on Sean, Clover and so many other people she abducted.
"Okay," Sean said. "And I thought our other villains were petty."
"I know what you mean," Clover agreed. "Let's wash this disgusting garbage out of our hair!"
Alex stood over by the button for the fire sprinklers. "One group rinse coming up."
The sirens went off as she pressed the button and water began to rain down from the sprinklers above them, washing out Felicia's hair formula from all of her victims and diluting its effects.
In mere seconds, every person who had been strapped to a chair and forced to grow their hair out was looking healthier again, and their hair was back to its original length.
Finally, Sean and Clover were back to normal.
As the now freed prisoners cheered, Sean was so relieved that he forgot himself and ran over and hugged Sam.
"You did it!" he congratulated as she returned the hug, before both pulled away, blushing furiously.
Then the spies looked behind them at Felicia, who was coming to. After letting her get over the trauma of losing her hair, the spies loomed over her with Sam pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
"Consider this payback," Sean said to her.
After handing Felicia over to W.O.O.H.P, the spies boarded the jet they used to get to London. As it soared over the Atlantic, Sean breathed a sigh of relief.
"Another mission accomplished," he said, standing behind the pilot seats.
"Not quite," Sam said nervously. "We never figured out Jerry's surprise party."
"Oh no!" Alex gasped. "I totally forgot!"
"At least Sean and I have an excuse," Clover said. "You know, being abducted and all."
"Hello!" Sam exclaimed. "You two had plenty of time strapped to those chairs to plan the party!"
"Sorry," Sean apologized. "But in our defense, it's a little hard to be creative when a psycho wigmaker wants to use your hair for her products!"
Alex sighed in defeat.
"Oh, well. Guess now, all we can do now is stop by and give him a present."
W.O.O.H.P Headquarters-10:03 AM
Upon their return to California, the spies stopped by the first store they saw and bought something they hoped Jerry would appreciate. Granted, this was never the kind of thing Jerry showed much interest in, but they were up against a wall.
And besides, Sean thought. It's the thought that counts.
Strolling into Jerry's office, the four teens held up a blue box wrapped up in a red ribbon.
"Happy birthday, Jerry!" they all shouted at once.
Gasping with anticipation, Jerry took the box and pulled off the lid. He widened his eyes in astonishment when he saw the contents: a long red wig that was the only thing the store had left. It was at the end of a going out of business sale, and Clover insisted they take advantage of it.
Having no other ideas, her teammates agreed.
"So," Clover began. "What do you think?"
Jerry tried the wig on for size. To Sean, it made him look like the lead singer of a heavy metal band more than the leader of an international spy organization. But Jerry smiled all the same.
"Well," Jerry said. "It's quite the... unexpected treat. Though I must admit the real surprise is you even know when my birthday is."
"Well, what do you know?" Sam said, pleased. "We surprised him after all!"
Jerry looked confused. "I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Well," Sean explained. "We were going to throw a surprise party, but then Clover and I got kidnapped, and then we forgot all about it."
Contrary to being disappointed, Jerry just chuckled.
"Well, that's a relief," he said with amusement. "I hate surprises."
The spies were stunned.
"You do?!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Oh, absolutely," Jerry confirmed. "But only when they're on me."
To prove his point, he pressed a button on a pentagon-shaped remoted.
"Cheerio!"
And with that, the spies were sent screaming down a trap door.
Jerry turned his head around, feeling satisfied.
"I get them every time."
Well, that's it for now. Next chapter is an original chapter, one that alters the status quo of the story in a big way. Stay tuned for Totally Fused!
