Hi everyone! Last chapter was hands down my darkest yet. Luckily, this one is much more lighthearted, although there is a loose connection to the dark Tim Scam arc. Other than that, though, nothing too traumatizing.
Read and review!
Chapter Fifty-Five
First Brat
High Security Prison-11:17 PM
It was a dark knight when the prisoner was brought to the isolation cell of the maximum security prison on the Maryland coast. Even though he had received a life sentence, however, the man still grinned.
"Enjoy your stay, professor," one of the guards said to him. "You're gonna be locked up for a long, long time."
"We'll see about that," the man argued casually, like this was nothing more than an inconvenience to him.
W.O.O.H.P Headquarters-3:43 AM
Jerry sat at his desk, his face forlorn as he gazed at the picture of himself and Sean, the boy's smiling face in the photo a stark contrast to his attitude toward Jerry at the present moment.
TRUST YOU?! You lied to me the whole time we've known each other! Why should I trust anything you say now?!
The words echoed over and over in Jerry's mind, playing like a broken record. It had only been a few hours since he had heard them spoken, but Jerry could still hardly believe that they had come from Sean's lips.
"What am I going to do?" he asked the picture in desperation, as if somehow Sean's younger self would give him the answer on how to get his older self to forgive him. But Jerry knew it was not going to be that simple.
"Good morning, Jerry old boy," a voice said from the screen behind him in a southern accent.
Jerry's thoughts were interrupted when he turned to address the man, saluting him.
"Good day, Mr. President," he returned. "Do we have a... situation, sir?"
The President chuckled. "Situation? Heck, no! I just like using the red line cause of the hands free feature!"
"Impressive, sir," Jerry returned.
"Thanks. Anyhow, how about you and me doing some fly-fishing this weekend and maybe chewing the fat about you joining the A-team here in Washington?"
"A White House appointment, sir?"
"Exactly!"
Jerry's worries about Sean were forgotten, at least for the moment, as he gasped in delight. Furthermore, he realized that the President's offer might give him a chance to patch things up.
"So," the President continued. "Get your secret spy self down here, real quick-like!"
"Yes, sir," Jerry replied.
"Oh!" the President exclaimed. "Just one more thing."
In spite of his current company, Sean looked at the floor, downcast.
I can't believe I just did that! he thought to himself in shock. Letting a dangerous criminal go was normally upsetting enough as it was, but the fact that said criminal was his own father left him completely mortified. But what disturbed him the most was that he found the act oddly somewhat satisfying.
Maybe Scam was right, he mused. Maybe Jerry does deserve this.
He shook his head rapidly, trying to force the unwanted thoughts from his mind.
Calm down, he urged himself. It's no big deal. Wasn't it? Tim Scam was one of W.O.O.H.P's most dangerous enemies and Sean had helped him escape from prison. He didn't know why he did it himself, but whatever the reason, Scam could now use his new found freedom to... well, who knows what he would try. The first time Sean had met his father was when he tried to hold the world's water supply for ransom.
"Hey," Sam said, noticing his downtrodden face. "You okay?"
Sean looked up. "Oh, yeah," he lied. "I guess I'm just tired."
"But you only bought one thing," Alex pointed out, gesturing with her hand to the single shopping bag clutched in Sean's hands.
"Uh..." he droned. "I ran out of cash."
"You know, Sean," Clover chimed in. "They make credit cards for a reason!"
Sam looked off to her left at a photo booth.
"I know what'll cheer you up," she suggested. They dragged him into the booth. "This is definitely a 'Say Cheese' moment."
But while the girls each flashed various poses and smiled, Sean remained perfectly still and his expression stayed neutral. As much as he enjoyed spending time with the girls, even they couldn't help him much.
Just as the four were about to exit the booth, the floor opened beneath them, sending them down a familiar tunnel. Their ride ended in a W.O.O.H.P jet, where they landed on a pink sofa in front of Jerry, who stood before them dressed in an outfit one might wear when going fishing.
"Bravo, agents," he said. "I trust your ride was pleasant."
"As pleasant as being sucked through a wind tunnel vortex can be," Sean groaned, not really in the mood to speak with Jerry at the moment.
"Not to mention the vortex hair," Clover added, checking her hair in a hand mirror.
"I'm sorry, spies, but I needed your help on a very important mission. The President and I are off to fish."
For emphasis, he held up a bucket and fishing line with hook attached.
"Off to fish?" Alex asked, bewildered. "Is that like some kind of secret code?"
"No, no," Jerry clarified. "No code. Actual fishing. The President has invited me to his lakeside retreat to discuss a White House appointment."
"I'm sorry," Clover broke in. "Did I miss something? Because I'm not getting the connection. You fishing, important mission and us?"
Jerry snapped his fingers and on the screen behind him appeared the image of a young girl, perhaps no older than 11, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"The President has requested that at least three of my top agents oversee the safekeeping of his daughter, Madison," Jerry explained.
"We're babysitting?" Sean and the girls asked, aghast.
"Well, if you want to put it that way. But this mission is extremely important... to me. Of course, Sean, if you're not interested, you're perfectly free to join me and the President on our..."
"Forget it," Sean interrupted. "I hate fishing."
Jerry sighed in disappointment. So much for patching things up with Sean here, he thought.
"Well, on the bright side," Clover said. "We do get to hang out at the West Wing and it's not like some sleepover pillow fight thing, right?"
"Absolutely right," Jerry agreed before remembering something. "Oh, yes. Gadgets. For this mission we have the Padded Shoulder Portable Parasail, the Expandable Cable Bungee Belt, the Friendship Ring Zirconium Tracker and numerous Net Grenades."
He tossed them their gadgets and took a seat.
"Well, if we're all well-equipped, the White House awaits."
As soon as the spies sat back down, Jerry pressed a button and safety harnesses appeared over him and the four teens before their respective seats ejected without warning from the plane and landed on the roof of the White House, the spies' couch tumbling over and knocking them out.
"Perhaps you should have buckled up," Jerry said as he parachuted down next to them.
"Forget that," Sean said, taking note of the Secret Service agents surrounding them. "Maybe we should have called first."
The White House-10:15 AM
The spies had been to the White House before when they had thwarted an attempt to kidnap the President. As a result, Sean probably knew his way around better than the Secret Service agents escorting him, the girls and Jerry into the West Wing. Admittedly, the Oval Office was one room he had never been in during his first mission there.
"Cool office!" Alex exclaimed as she took their surroundings in. "It's so... round!"
"Actually, it's oval," Sam corrected. "As in Oval Office."
The door opened and the President himself walked in.
"Well," he said in a friendly tone to Jerry. "Put a rattlesnake in my pocket and ask me for a match! How y'all doing, bubba?!"
"I'm very well, sir," Jerry returned.
"Bubba?" Clover asked confused. "What's a bubba?"
"Beats me," Sean answered. "I'm still trying to figure out that rattlesnake thing."
The President turned to the agent who escorted them inside. "I'll take it from here, Nesfield."
Nesfield nodded in understanding and walked out of the office.
"Mr. President," Jerry said, gesturing to the four teenagers assembled in the room. "I'd like you to meet four of W.O.O.H.P's top agents, Sam, Sean, Clover and Alex."
The four saluted as the President flashed a wide grin.
"Howdy," he said.
It was then that the door swung open as the girl Jerry had shown them a photo of during the briefing ran in, her father scooping her up in his arms.
"And this is my daughter, Madison," the President continued as a heavy-set woman with gray hair entered. "And her nanny, Mrs. Quivers."
"My father told me how you go around saving the world and stuff," Madison said to them. "I just wanted to say thank you."
"Oh, sure," Sam said, her face cherry-red.
"Absolutely," Clover added, a blush appearing on her face as well.
"No biggie," Alex agreed.
"It's our pleasure," Sean stated, but his blush was for a different reason. If she only knew what I did last night, she wouldn't be thanking me at all, he thought shamefully, Tim Scam's escape still fresh in his mind as well as his role in it.
"Well, agents," the President said as he and Jerry made their way out the door. "I'm gonna have to steal Jerry away while the fishing's good. Mrs. Quivers will fill you in."
The door closed and Mrs. Quivers pulled out a stack of papers, handing them to Sean.
"Here's Madison's afternoon schedule," she said as Sean unfurled the long list. "Madison's recreational schedule and Madison's schedule schedules. I believe that's everything."
The spies looked over the list, amazed that one little girl could have so much planned for one afternoon.
"Don't you want to stick around a while?" Sam asked as Mrs. Quivers stood in the doorway. "You know, see how we do?"
"Sorry," Mrs. Quivers returned. "It's my day off. I'm out of here."
The spies chuckled nervously.
"Well, Maddie," Sam said. "I guess it's just us."
Sean looked over the list.
"So," he said. "What do you say we start with the lunch schedule?'
"Schedule?" Madison scoffed. "Please! Like I'm really gonna listen to a bunch of bubble-headed valley girls and their stupid boyfriend!"
The spies dropped each of their jaws.
"Whoa!" Alex exclaimed. "Reality check! Did someone just replace the cute kid with some evil twin?"
"And hello!" Clover added, offended. "We're so not from the Valley! We're from Beverly Hills!"
"Whatever," Madison said dismissively. "But if you want to survive today, then follow these rules. Don't bug me and maybe I won't bug you! Get it?! Got it?!"
Clover nodded, sweating bullets, which was more than she liked doing.
"Good," Madison stated as she walked out of the room.
"Well," Sam said. "I can see how this has 'fun afternoon' written all over it."
"Okay," Sean admitted. "So she's a little spoiled. But what kid isn't these days? Let's just try again. I mean, she can't act like a demon spawn all the time... can she?"
Suffice to say, Sean turned out to be wrong about that. The four found Madison in the kitchen, eating strawberry ice cream out of the tub.
"Madison," Sam scolded gently. "You really shouldn't be eating ice cream before lunch."
She took the tub of ice cream from Madison, but the girl still had some in a spoon.
"Fine!" Madison said mischievously. "Take it!"
She flicked the ice cream out of the spoon and onto Sam's face. Madison laughed as Sam wiped her face angrily before the spies took off running after her through the halls of the White House.
In the foliage of the South Lawn, the spies looked around for Madison, who ran outside after the incident in the kitchen. After about thirty minutes of searching, they found no sign of her.
"Okay," Alex said as they regrouped in front of the fountain. "Where'd she go?"
The others shrugged, just as confused as she was when they heard the sound of someone on roller skates careening towards them. Before any of them could register what was happening, Madison skated by and shoved each of them into the fountain before going on her way.
"Sorry!" she called back in a fake apologetic tone. "Not!"
"This kid is about to catch some serious Sam-itude!" Sam said angrily as they poked their heads out of the water.
"Maybe we should cool down," Alex suggested. "She is only 11."
"Okay," Clover said, annoyed. "If this is what 11-year-olds do, then I'm sending my kids to military school right after kindergarten!"
"Girls," Sean broke in. "I know Madison's a little... well, a lot. But I think we should go easy on her."
"Easy for you to say!" Clover complained. "My mascara's running!"
"Just give her five minutes alone with me. I have an idea that I think should calm her down."
In the Blue Room, Madison looked unimpressed as Sean set up the easel.
"You want me to what?" she asked, bored.
"Well," he explained. "Believe it or not, I was a handful as a kid myself. It probably didn't help that my mom raised me alone. So, whenever I got really out of hand, she always brought out her paint set and let me paint until I calmed down."
"And I'd wanna do this, why?" Madison droned.
"Look," Sean said gently, placing a paintbrush in her hands. "I can probably guess what your life is like. Rules, schedules, I bet you don't even get out of here that much because your dad's scared something might happen to you."
Madison's expression softened and Sean quickly congratulated himself.
"You probably feel like you have no control over your life whatsoever, like what you say or think doesn't matter, like your father always thinks he knows best even when he clearly doesn't. Even when he keeps the biggest secret of your life from you because he's afraid that you'll turn out a criminal! But shouldn't he give you a chance to decide! I mean, it's your life! And don't you deserve to know the truth?! So, what if your birth dad turns out to be evil! That doesn't mean you'll wind up like him if you find out! Why can't he just trust me for once?!"
"What are you talking about?" Madison inquired, a little unnerved by how impassioned Sean's rant was getting.
He cleared his throat, quickly calming down. "Nothing."
Guiding Madison's hand into the paint palette, he helped her slather the tip of the brush in green paint.
"Anyway," he continued. "The point is, expressing yourself artistically is a good way to vent frustrations about your life. You can write, sculpt and even paint whatever it is you're feeling. So, how about it?"
Madison looked at the brush, then to Sean, smiling.
In less than fifteen seconds, Madison ran out of the Blue Room, laughing as the girls looked on in confusion. All of their silent questions were answered when Sean came out of the room immediately after her, a streak of green paint under his left eye and another adorning his hair.
"Okay," he grumbled. "That's it. This little girl is a monster."
The spies stood outside a door that they thought was to Madison's room. After Sean had managed to find the nearest bathroom sink and wash the paint off of him, the spies had decided to find Madison's room and see if they would have more luck this time.
"Oh, Madison," Sam called out, tapping the door with her knuckles. "Auntie Sam wants to have a word with you!"
When no one answered, she turned the handle. Rather than the expected bedroom of an eleven-year-old girl, the four came across a room filled with surveillance equipment all manned by Secret Service agents.
"Oops," Sean said sheepishly. "Maybe it was the other way."
"Sorry," Alex added as they began to shut the door. "Nice paper-mâché."
The door closed and the spies journeyed down the hall to another one, repeating the process.
"Oh, Madison," Sam tried again. "Auntie Sam wants to have a word with you! Real bad!"
"We just want to talk!" Sean exclaimed pleadingly.
"Please?!" Alex added hopefully.
There came no answer and the door remained still.
"Okay, kid," Clover snarled, losing her patience. "Open up or we're busting in! I'm counting to three! One, two..."
Before Clover could reach "three", the door swung open and Madison stood in the doorway, looking ashamed.
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to get you guys so mad. I was just having fun. I never get to have fun."
The spies each softened their expressions in sympathy.
"It's always 'Madison, do this' and 'Madison, do that.' But never mind. You wouldn't understand!"
She sounded on the verge of tears with those last three words and the spies couldn't help but shed a few themselves. Maybe Madison wasn't as bad as they thought. Maybe she was just frustrated with how controlled her life was. And if he was being honest, didn't Sean feel that way when he was stuck as an instructor for three years before becoming a W.O.O.H.P agent?
Madison's tears turned to laughter when she saw their faces.
"I can't believe you losers fell for that!" she exclaimed. "Psyche!"
She laughed again before closing the door.
"Did that just happen?" Sean asked in disbelief. "She totally played us!"
Clover groaned in fury. "She's so in trouble! She's, like, majorly grounded times two!"
The spies banged on the door, trying to force their way in.
"Is there a problem?" a voice asked from behind them.
They turned to see Nesfield standing in the center of the hall. Panicking, the spies stopped trying to break the door down and grinned.
"What makes you think there's a problem, Agent Nesfield?" Sam asked innocently.
"Aggressive banging," Nesfield summarized. "Bedroom access being denied."
"Access denied?" Clover said nervously. "No, we could get access if we wanted to. But, um, we just don't want to."
"Yeah," Sean picked up. "We just felt Madison needed a little alone time."
"So, we're gonna make her some lunch," Alex said, pointing to the direction of the kitchen.
"See ya!" the spies exclaimed in unison before darting off down the hall.
"That was close," Sean sighed as he and the girls entered the kitchen.
"The presidential kitchen!" Clover exclaimed with intrigue before walking over to one of the fridges. "Let's see what's behind door number one."
She pulled open the door, once again finding something that neither she nor her teammates expected, namely a break room where two Secret Service agents were playing a game of cards. She pushed the doors closed.
"Okay," she said. "Wasn't expecting that. At all."
"Maybe we should makes some brownies," Alex suggested.
"Ooh!" Clover squealed. "Brownies! Now you're talking!"
"I meant for Madison," Alex clarified. "You know, as sort of a peace offering."
"Peace offering?" Sam asked, shocked.
"With that brat?!" Sean questioned. "Why?!"
"Imagine what it's like for her. Your whole life scheduled, Secret Service everywhere you go. Even your babysitters work for the government!"
Sean, Sam and Clover blinked, deep in contemplation at their friend's words.
"Okay," Sam relented at last. "But if she pulls one more prank, I am giving her a brownie makeover!"
A few minutes later, the spies once again stood before the door that opened up into Madison's room with Alex holding a tray of freshly baked brownies. Sean gently tapped the door with his knuckle.
"Madison!" Alex called out. "Open up! We made brownies and we were hoping we could, you know, start over."
There was no answer, the door remaining completely still.
"Rude much?" Clover commented.
But as they turned the other way, they heard a scream coming from the room. The spies ran back to the door, Alex dropping the tray in the process.
"Madison?!" Sam said worriedly. "Are you okay?"
The only response they got was more screaming. Wasting no time, Sean and the girls kicked the door open. It looked like the bedroom of a typical eleven-year-old girl in Sean's opinion, with pink wallpaper and carpeting, a few stuffed toys and posters of various celebrities. The only thing out of the ordinary was that its occupant was missing.
"Where is she?!" Clover wondered.
"President's kid or not," Sean said. "If this is another one of her pranks, I'm-"
"OUT HERE!" Madison's voice yelled from outside the window, interrupting him. Dashing to the window, they looked at the side of the building where a giant, robotic spider began to descend the walls. Strapped to its underside was Madison, looking more terrified than Sean had seen her behave that day.
"That bug thing's kidnapping her!" Alex exclaimed as the spider touched down on the North Lawn.
"HELP!" Madison cried out.
"Here's the plan," Sam said to Alex and Clover. "You guys keep the itsy bitsy spider busy while Sean and I swoop down and pick up Madison."
"Right," Sean agreed.
"Got it," Clover added.
"Check," Alex said.
Pressing the button on the left side of his uniform, Sean jumped out the window, a purple parachute allowing him as well as the girls to glide down after the spider. However, Sam's plan wasn't going to be as easy as anyone thought as the spider briefly turned around and fired a round of lasers at the spies, burning holes in their parachutes and causing them to tumble to the ground.
"Someone remind me to write my Congressman and demand all government buildings to be padded!" Clover complained, rubbing her sore lower back.
"Come on!" Sean urged, rising to his feet.
As they took off after the spider, which crept along the North Lawn, they stopped when they spotted someone strolling down the same pathway... someone who could report their mistake to the President and destroy Jerry's chances of a White House appointment.
"Nesfield's coming!" Sam exclaimed. "Quick! Go to cool cover!"
The spies laid down, each taking various casual positions as Nesfield passed them.
"Is there a-" he tried to ask.
"Nope!" Sean denied.
"We're good!" Alex agreed.
"Thanks for asking!" Clover said nervously.
Nesfield narrowed his eyes in suspicion before continuing on his way, the spies sneaking past him. The minute they felt it was safe enough, the sprinted after the spider. But they discovered it was all in vain.
By the tine they got to the edge of the lawn, the spider had retracted its legs and transformed into a car, speeding down Constitution Avenue.
"We're too late!" Alex cried.
Rushing back to the White House as quickly as they could, the spies practically ransacked Madison's room in an effort to find a clue as to who may have taken her and where.
But whoever these kidnappers were, it was clear that they didn't leave any obvious sign.
"No clues, no nothing," Clover said.
"It doesn't make sense," Sean commented. "Someone or something takes the President's daughter but there's no ransom note."
"Poor Madison," Alex said from beside the laptop on the desk in the room. "That thing took her by such surprise she didn't get to log off from her chatroom!"
Sam furrowed her brow in concentration then she sat down at the computer.
"Of course!" she said in realization. "Why leave a ransom note when you can leave..."
She typed at the laptop until a window opened up that played a video the kidnapper left behind. On the screen appeared a person clad in a trench coat, fedora and ski mask, obscuring their identity.
"Mr. President," the kidnapper said in a digitally disguised voice. "If you'd like to see your daughter again, Prisoner 34343 in Maryland's maximum security prison is to be brought to the top of the Washington Monument in exactly two hours."
To emphasize the point, an image of the prisoner in question, a stocky, balding man with glasses, flashed across the screen followed by a picture of the Washington Monument.
Then, Madison, her wrists bound, appeared on the screen, looking scared out of her wits.
"Daddy!" she pleaded. "Please! Hurry!"
The spies gasped.
"Yes, Daddy," the kidnapper mocked. "Hurry."
And the video cut off.
"Maybe we should tell Nesfield to call the President," Alex suggested.
"And there goes Jerry's chance for a promotion too," Sam reminded as a knocking came at the door.
"Agent Nesfield here," the voice said outside.
Sean grit his teeth nervously.
"Just a minute!" he called out as Sam quickly logged out of the chatroom. Nesfield entered, holding a cell phone.
"You can't keep the President waiting," he said, holding up the phone before looking around the room. "Where's Madison?"
"Uh..." Alex stammered. "She-she's in the bathroom!"
Sam rushed over to Nesfield.
"Eleven-year-olds," she whispered. "Eyeliner freaks. But I'll talk!"
She took the phone from Nesfield, holding it up to her ear.
"Hi, Mr. President! It's Sam! How are the fish biting?"
"The fish?" the President chuckled. "Shoot! They're jumping out of the water like fleas on a pup! Least on my side of the boat.'
On the other end of the phone, he looked over to Jerry, who had failed to catch a single fish so far.
"So, how's my little girl? She's not getting into any trouble, I hope?"
"Trouble?" Sam replied nervously. "No, uh... she-"
"She's fine!" Clover cut in, taking the phone. "I mean, what kind of trouble could a cute kid like Madison get into? It's not like someone's going to kidnap her for ransom, right?"
"What?!" the President asked, confused.
Clover looked startled before realizing what she just said.
"Nothing! Well, better get back to those fishies! Bye-bye!"
She hung up as another Secret Service agent entered the room.
"Sir," he said to Nesfield. "Ground floor is reporting a loud crash outside the library. Something just fell out of the sky."
Nesfield sighed in resignation. "I'll be back."
"We'll be right here!" Clover said as the two men left. "Not! Come on, we've gotta get Madison back before Nesfield figures us out!"
"How do we do that?" Alex inquired. "The kidnapper wants to trade for that prisoner."
Sean snapped his fingers.
"I think I have an idea," he told them.
Minutes later, the spies were rummaging through a closet in another bedroom.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Clover asked.
"Overcoats," Sean answered as he pulled clothes out of the closet. "Hats. Anything that'll fool the kidnapper into believing that one of us is the prisoner."
"Check this out!" Alex's voice said from behind them. They all turned around to see Alex in a pair of bright pink bunny pajamas.
"I don't even want to think about that pajama party!" Clover said.
"Come on!" Sam urged. "Keep looking!"
The Washington Monument-3:00 PM
Once they'd found the appropriate disguise, Sean, Clover and Alex headed to the other end of the National Mall with Sam dressed in the overcoat they had been looking for. Making their way past hundreds of tourists, they approached the monument's entrance and began to climb the stairs.
It didn't take too long for Clover to become exhausted.
"Why is it always the top of the monument?" she asked as they reached the fifteenth floor. "I mean, why can't prisoner exchanges ever take place in the monument gift shop?!"
"That would be too easy," the kidnapper's voice said from on top of the next flight of stairs, with Madison nowhere to be seen.
"Hold on," Sean said in suspicion. "Where's the President's daughter?"
In their hand, the kidnapper held up a PDA, showing Madison bound and gagged in another room in the monument.
"You get the girl on the way up," they explained. "I take my friend here and go down. Shall we?"\
Reluctantly, the spies nodded as Sam began to walk up the stairs. However, Clover accidentally stepped on the tail of the overcoat, causing her to trip and the fedora hiding her face to fall loose.
"What is this?!" the kidnapper demanded upon seeing they had been tricked.
"Time for you to get busted!" Sam exclaimed as the kidnapper ran up the stairs just in time for her to throw the Friendship Ring Tracker in their direction. The ring stuck to the coat as the person wearing it vanished from sight.
"Quick!" Sam shouted as Sean helped her up. "We've gotta beat them to Madison!"
"Great!" Clover complained. "More stairs!"
"Clover?" Sean said, looking up. "I think that's the least of our worries!"
He pointed upwards. Three smoke bombs tumbled down the stairs. The spies jumped out of the way and avoided them with ease.
"That was, like, way too close!" Clover exclaimed. But she was proven to have spoken too soon, as several more smoke bombs cascaded down toward them. "Hit the deck!"
The spies jumped down the stairwell, landing in a heap on a lower floor.
"You know," Clover said. "I remember babysitting was a whole lot easier."
"Tell me about it!" Alex agreed. "We just lost the baby!"
"Not exactly," Sam argued as she got up, opening her Compowder. They ran back up the stairs after the kidnapper, who had reached into the janitor's closet at the top of the monument and pulled Madison out before carrying her to the window.
The spies arrived too late to stop the kidnapper from taking Madison out the window and flying out with a jetpack... just as they were also too late to stop themselves from falling out of the monument.
Sean gripped the handle of a maintenance hatch while Sam held onto his ankle, followed by Alex clinging to hers and Clover completing the chain at the bottom.
"Hang in there," the kidnapper taunted before taking off with Madison in tow.
"Guys!" Clover screamed. "Do something!"
"I'm on it, Clover!" Sean called down to her before pulling out the buckle of his bungee belt, lowering it and the cable attached to it down to Clover. "Grab on!"
Clover tried to do so, but the buckle was swaying back and forth repeatedly, preventing her from even touching it with her fingertips.
"I can't! It's moving too much!"
That was when Alex's boot began to loosen from her ankle, threatening to take Clover down with it.
"Alex!" she exclaimed fearfully.
Taking the hint, Alex grabbed the cable of Sean's belt before letting go. The cable made them drop before bouncing back up to the hatch, pulling Sam and Sean inside.
"So, what now?" Sean asked, catching his breath. In response, Sam opened her Compowder.
"I stuck a Friendship Ring Tracker on the spooky guy when he and I tumbled downstairs," she explained. "We just have to follow the blinking light."
After a moment, Sam found the light and closed the Compowder.
"They're heading North over Pennsylvania Avenue. Let's go!"
Brownstone Building-4:32 PM
The spies approached the building with caution as Sam looked up at the door, which had a sign reading "No Entry."
"This is it," she announced.
"Are you sure?" Sean asked, looking at the screen of his wallet phone. "According to city records, this building's condemned."
"Positive," Sam replied. "Tracker's blinking like crazy. On three, we bust in."
The spies nodded and took their places in front of the door.
"One," Sam counted. "Two, three!"
The charged in the doors, falling down onto the floor in the process.
"Oh, my!" a familiar voice said from somewhere ahead.
The three looked up and around. The building wasn't falling apart like they expected. Instead, it was well-furnished and well-kept, with even a blue carpet cushioning their fall. In front of them, sitting on a sofa and drinking coffee was...
"Mrs. Quivers?" Clover asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"No time for that, Clover!" Alex reminded. "We've gotta get her out of here before the kidnapper shows up!"
"I'm afraid it's too late for that my dear," Mrs. Quivers said, flashing a sinister smirk as a giant cage lowered down from the ceiling and trapped the four spies. "Because I am the kidnapper."
She pressed a button on the arm of the sofa as the spies gasped in astonishment and the section of the floor the sofa and cage stood on lowered itself further downward as if on an elevator.
The room they found themselves in resembled a high-tech control room, complete with a giant monitor which stood behind Mrs. Quivers.
"Bring in the girl," she said, pressing another button.
Off to Sean's left, another platform rose up from the floor, holding Madison, who was flanked by two men in cream-colored jumpsuits.
The younger girl was pushed over to the sofa and made to sit down.
"Now I understand how you pulled off a kidnapping from the White House so easily!" Sam realized. "But what's the connection to the mad scientist guy in prison?"
The screen flickered on, showing live video feed of the prisoner sitting alone in his cell.
"That mad scientist guy," Mrs. Quivers explained. "Happens to be my husband."
"Husband?" the spies asked in unison.
"Yes! I simply don't want the father of my twins rotting in jail for the next hundred years! You see, Mrs. Quivers is really one half of the famous Svetlander Gang."
"The counter-espionage group that threatened world destruction by detonating explosive devices at vulnerable earthquake fault lines across the continents?" Sean asked, remembering hearing about that incident through gossip during basic training at W.O.O.H.P.
"That's right," Mrs. Quivers confirmed. "We were just one tiny microchip away from holding the world hostage. Hard to believe, hmm?"
"Yeah, I'll say," Clover said. "I mean, that guy's, like, barely half your height."
"My dear," Mrs. Quivers said in response, stroking Madison's head. "Love is not measured in inches."
"That is so sweet!" Alex agreed, to which her teammates looked at her like she was crazy.
"Unfortunately," Mrs. Quivers continued. "Your interfering with my ransom plans has forced me to threaten the President face to face!"
She turned to the two men behind her, who Sean guessed were her twin sons.
"Robby, Bobby," she addressed them. "Start the cell walls."
Nodding at their mother's command, the twins pulled out two remotes, pressing buttons on each of them. Out of the junctions holding the bars together, several iron spikes emerged throughout the cage, all of them advancing toward the four spies.
"Stop!" Madison begged. "Don't hurt them!"
"Sorry," Mrs. Quivers said. "But they've given me no choice."
Another gage was place across Madison's mouth.
Mrs. Quivers turned to leave the room as the spikes continued to inch their way toward the targets.
"Oh, I almost forgot, kids," she announced, turning back to the cage. "Thanks for filling in for me today. It was a great day off."
And she walked out of the room along with Robby, Bobby and Madison.
"Great," Alex said. "Now what? In a minute we're gonna be Swiss cheese!"
"Wait a minute," Sean said, thinking. "This cage dropped down on us from the ceiling, right?"
"Yeah!" Clover said. "So?! In case you haven't noticed, it's made of really heavy metal that can't be lifted!"
But Sam saw where Sean was going.
"Maybe we can't lift it," she countered, extending the cable of her belt. "But I bet our Bungee Belts could."
As the spikes grew ever closer, Sam wrapped the cable around one of the bars at a corner of the cage.
"Quick!" she instructed the others. "Tie your belts around one corner!"
The other three did so, wrapping the buckles and cables around their respective corners.
"Point the bungee hooks at the skylight!"
They held up the buckles toward the ceiling.
"Ready," Sam began. "Aim, fire!"
They launched the buckles, which attached to the ceiling with such accuracy that it lifted the cage floor a few inches off the ground in the process. The spies pressed the buttons that would cause the cables to retract.
The cage lifted itself, straining the cables so much that they began to fray.
"Quick!" Sean shouted. "Dive!"
The spies rolled out of the way just as the cave crashed back into its previous position.
"Cool idea, guys," Clover complimented Sean and Sam. "It was bungee-riffic!"
"Thanks," Sam returned.
"Now we've just gotta find a way to beat Quivers to the lake," Sean said.
"Maybe we could call ahead to Jerry," Alex suggested.
"So the President can find out how majorly bad we messed up?!" Sam responded. "Don't think so!"
"I think I've got an idea," Clover said, crossing over to a lever on a console. She pulled it and the wall opened up, revealing a helicopter rising up on a platform.
The Lodge-5:00 PM
Earlier, Jerry didn't understand Sean when he told him didn't like fishing. But now, having sat in that boat for what felt like several hours without having caught anything other than an old shoe, he began to return the boy's sentiment.
"Well, Jerry old boy," the President said. "Looks like you hooked yourself a fighting, squirming, sized-twelve double D!."
Frowning, Jerry dropped the boot back in the water.
"Maybe we should call it quits, sir," he said hopefully.
"Or maybe," a woman's voice said from near the pier. "You should call the Maryland state prison and free prisoner 34343!"
Both men turned to see Mrs. Quivers sitting in the driver's seat of a speedboat beside the pier, her twin sons in the back and holding a rope that Madison was secured to over the lake.
"Mrs. Quivers?!" the President exclaimed, standing up. "I thought you had the day off today! W-what's going on?!"
"What's going on, Mr. President," Mrs. Quivers said. "Is the ransoming of your precious daughter. Call the prison or Maddie takes a swim class with the fishes."
To show she wasn't bluffing, Robby and Bobby lowered Madison into the water until it reached up to her neck.
"I-I don't understand," the President said, concerned for his daughter's safety.
"You don't need to understand. All you need to do is take out your cell phone and dial. Now!"
"I'm so sorry, sir," Jerry consoled as the President took out his phone. "My agents should have prevented this."
Quickly, the President dialed the number for the prison.
"Listen," he said urgently into the phone. "It's the President! Patch me through to Warden Jenkins! Maryland maximum security real quick-like!"
After a few seconds, he got through.
"Warden?! Listen, I need you to-"
But his next words were drowned out by the noise of a helicopter above them.
All present looked up and saw the helicopter in question hovering directly above them, just inches from the lake's surface. Dangling from three ladders were Alex, Sam and Sean while Clover sat at the controls.
Alex threw a Net Grenade at one of the twins, encasing him in it.
"Direct hit!" she cheered.
But as Sam tried to throw one at the other, she lost her grip and fell into the water below.
"Not good!" she exclaimed as she fell.
"Sam!" Sean shouted, diving in after her.
Alex jumped from the helicopter, delivering a kick to the remaining twin, knocking him down to the pier's wooden surface. Mrs. Quivers took this as the opportunity to pull Madison out of the water and accelerate the boat away, with Clover piloting the helicopter after her.
"Bring it on, Robby or Bobby or whoever!" Alex challenged as the man got back to his feet.
But he never had to chance to land a single blow as another Net Grenade landed at his feet, trapping him inside the net.
"Nice synchronized splash, girlfriend!" Alex complimented Sam, who came out of the water with Sean.
Further out, Clover caught up with Mrs. Quivers, switching the helicopter on autopilot before jumping out onto the boat before delivering a punch that knocked the older woman into the back.
"Sorry," Clover said. "You really need to work on your boating safety skills!"
She took the wheel and began to steer the boat back toward the lodge.
Mrs. Quivers, however, recovered quickly and threw a life ring around Clover, restraining her.
"Ride's over, Miss Clingy!" she said as Clover struggled to free herself.
But as the boat sped between the pier and the President's fishing boat, she felt something tug at the back of her dress and pull her out, suspending her in midair.
Everyone looked to see her dangling from a fishing hook, the line carefully suspended by Jerry, who looked satisfied at having finally caught something.
"Nice fly fishing, Jerry!" the President complimented.
"Yes," Jerry agreed. "I'd say I just nabbed myself the catch of the day, Mr. President."
As Mrs. Quivers and her sons were led away by the Secret Service, Clover brought the boat over to the pier, where Sean jumped in and untied Madison, who jumped out and rushed to rejoin her father.
"Are you and Madison okay, Mr. President?" Nesfield asked.
"We're fitter than a firefly on the Fourth of July!" the President exclaimed, gesturing to the four teens. "Thanks to the spies and old Jerry here!"
"What do you say we head back to the White House and cook up those fish you caught, Mr. President?" Jerry offered.
The President chuckled in response.
The White House-6:15 PM
The spies and Jerry stood once again in the Oval Office, this time surrounded by photographers. Sam held up a plaque that was given to her and her teammates by the President in recognition of their feat in saving Madison's life.
"Thank you, Mr. President," Jerry said, shaking the man's hand. "But you really didn't have to do all of this."
"Sorry," the President said, placing a hand on Madison's shoulder. "But if you risked life and limb for my family, you're getting a tip of the old ten-gallon! Enough said!"
Madison walked over to Sean and the girls, head bowed.
"So," she said, blushing. "I just wanted to say... you know, I'm sorry about before. I was wrong about you guys. You're okay."
"Thanks," Sam returned. "You're pretty okay yourself."
"You know," Jerry began. "Mr. President. About me coming to work for you..."
He shot a glance at Sean, who he still needed to mend fences with and he couldn't do that from within the White House.
But the President held up his hand. "I know where you're going with this, Jerry. You're right: stealing you from W.O.O.H.P would be a downright disservice to the country. So, I accept your formal withdrawal."
"You do?" Jerry asked happily, to which the President nodded. Jerry took both his hands, shaking them. "Thank you, sir. Thank you very much."
The President smiled as Madison walked over to him.
"Well," he addressed the group. "Bye y'all! Maddie and I have to start looking for a new nanny!"
As father and daughter left the room, the spies turned to Jerry.
"Sorry, Jer," Sam consoled. "I know how much you wanted that position."
"But the truth is," Clover interjected. "We're totally psyched you're still our boss!"
"Ladies, Sean," Jerry said warmly. "After seeing the four of you in action, I'm glad I'm still your boss too."
The girls moved closer and engaged in a group hug with Jerry, who returned it but looked off into the distance at Sean, who just stood by the desk with his arms folded and scowling, trying not to look at the scene and making an effort to hide the sadness in his eyes.
Jerry's smile dropped, the realization sinking in that would take more than rejecting a White House appointment to get Sean to forgive him.
But what?
Well, that's First Brat. Yeah, this was a breather for the most part, but Sean and Jerry's relationship is still fractured... for now. I'm not gonna lie, the original episode wasn't one of my favorites, mostly because I found Madison's character annoying. But still, I think I did the best I could.
See you next time!