Hi! Well, this is it, the moment we've all been waiting for. The arc I've been wanting to write and that you have probably been wanting to read. When I first started this fic, who would've guessed I'd make it this far. To all my readers, thank your for sticking with me up to this point.
Warning: this chapter contains elements such as psychological abuse, gaslighting and emotional trauma. Reader discretion is advised.
Read and review!
Chapter Fifty-Two
Mommies Dearest
High Security Prison-1:00 AM
The night air was still around the imposing W.O.O.H.P Penitentiary. There was not a sound to be heard for miles other than the crashing of waves against the rocks and the occasional cry of a seagull. The inside was almost just as quiet as most of the inmates had either gone to sleep for the night or were fuming over their imprisonment.
The only sound inside the prison walls was the tapping of a baton against the glass cell doors. The guard who held the baton had done this routine dozens of times before and nearly every time produced the same result. A prisoner would either wake up and glare daggers at him or simply ignore him.
But for the first time in his career, he was in for a rude awakening.
When he came to one cell in particular, he was completely taken aback by what he saw... or rather, what he didn't see.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed.
The cell was completely empty save for a missing grate that was once affixed in front of the ventilation shaft.
The guard's heart leapt into his throat. It was bad enough that a prisoner escaped, but he knew who this cell's usual occupant was and also knew that this held one of the most dangerous criminals W.O.O.H.P had ever dealt with.
Panicking, the guard ran to the panel on the wall. He pressed a red button on the top left of the panel and within minutes, an alarm was raised.
It did no good.
Outside, the prisoner in question kept to the shadows as he crawled his way out of the massive septic tank pipe. Taking extra care to stay out of the searchlights, he scaled the rocks beneath him before vaulting himself back onto stable terrain and running off into the night.
Beverly Hills Mall-10:30 AM
Sean had never been more overwhelmed in his life. As he stood before the sign for the booth that sold the tickets he had been struggling to get his hands on since earlier that week, the words "Sold Out" dominated his vision, obscuring the pastel-colored butterflies that normally were the focus of the sign.
"Seriously?!" he asked the woman at the booth. "You don't have any left?!"
"Sorry, sir," the woman told him kindly. "But with Mother's Day coming up, the tickets to this sold like hotcakes."
Cursing his luck, Sean looked down in disappointment. He had only recently learned of a new butterfly garden opening at the Los Angeles Zoo and a special event was being held in honor of it.
Since his mother loved butterflies and the garden just so happened to open on Mother's Day, he thought this would make the perfect gift for her. But apparently, he wasn't the only one as the last two tickets were sold just five minutes before he got there.
"What am I gonna do?!" he asked himself in worry. "Mother's Day is this weekend and I don't have a thing for my mom!"
"Well," the woman suggested. "I think there's a sale in Cooking Supplies r' Us. 25% off cutting boards."
Sean shook his head and just walked off.
"I wonder if the girls are having better luck," he said to himself.
On the upper level of the mall, Sam, Alex and Clover were facing a similar dilemma as Sean. Looking inside the window of a shoe store, which was having a sale in honor of Mother's Day, Clover eyed a pair of expensive boots with purple heels.
"Hey girls," Sean greeted as he ran up to them.
"Hey," Sam returned, smiling. "How'd it go?"
Sean groaned. "In a word, terrible. The tickets I wanted to get her were sold out."
"Bummer," Clover said. "But maybe helping us pick something out for our moms will help."
She redirected her attention to the boots in the display.
"Ooh, how about a truly adorable new pair of leather biker boots?!"
"Clover," Sean reminded. "Didn't you say your mom was too uptight to wear anything like that?"
Sean had met Clover's mother, Stella a few times. Stella was... a bit conservative to say the least and often clashed with her daughter over just about anything from her fashion sense to her taste in boys. Despite all that, Sean could tell that the two had a loving relationship, but he was grateful he was Rachel Warren's child rather than Stella Ewing's.
"Duh!" Clover replied to Sean's question. "I was talking about for me!"
"Oh," Alex said. "Well, in that case, go for it."
"Hello!" Sam gently chided. "We're supposed to be shopping for Mother's Day presents, remember?"
"I'm trying!" Clover argued. "It's just that my mom is so old-fashioned, finding a gift for her is, like, totally impossible."
"Tell me about it!" Alex concurred. "The only present my mom wants is for me to find a boyfriend."
"Yeesh," Sean said under his breath, feeling his friend's pain. He'd never met Carmen, Alex's mother, but she had told him what she was like. And for that reason, Sean made a habit of never going into Alex's house when her mother was there, out of fear that she would try to set her up with him. And he couldn't explain to her that he liked someone else because Alex was very likely to hear it and Alex was notorious for being incapable of keeping secrets.
"Guys," Sam said, coming over to them. "You're blowing this holiday completely out of proportion."
"We are?" Sean, Clover and Alex asked.
"Of course. You gotta stop putting so much pressure on yourselves and just pick something."
As if to emphasize her point, she ran over to a mannequin in a nearby store, one that was modeling a raincoat.
"Like that!"
The three others walked over.
"Full body industrial raingear?" Clover asked, unimpressed.
"Kind of an overprotective ensemble," Alex added. "Don't you think, Sammy?"
"Exactly why my mom would love it," Sam groaned.
Sean knew what she meant. He'd met Gabby, Sam's mother (and with any luck, his future mother-in-law) at least five times, mostly when he and Sam were studying. And she was always fussing over her daughter's well-being. And occasionally, Gabby would shoot a withering glare at him as if to ask, "What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?"
Shivering, Sean flashed back to the last time he was on the receiving end of such a glare.
If her mom's this overprotective, he thought. I'd hate to see what her dad is like!
Thankfully, he hadn't found out so far, as Sam's father had a tendency to work late and because he didn't usually get home until almost midnight, his presence in his daughter's social life was minimal. So at the very least, Sean didn't need to worry about being decapitated by a violently protective father. Or worse, he reminded himself.
Shaking his head, he snapped back to the present.
"Thanks for trying to help, Sam," he said to her. "But I don't want to get my mom just anything. I mean, I always got her flowers every year before. This time, I want it be something special."
As the spies walked out of the store, Sean continued to rattle on.
"I mean, before she got promoted at work, I couldn't afford to do anything really nice for her. But this is our first Mother's Day since her pay got better. I want it to be one she'll never forget."
That was when a breeze from a nearby air vent blew a paper into Alex's face.
"Hey!" she complained. "Who turned out the lights?"
Sean took the paper out of Alex's eyes and read it. It turned out to be a flyer.
"'Treat your mom to a weekend of pure luxury,'" Sean read. "'Bring her to the brand new Channel Island spa for Mother's Day!'"
"A luxury spa?!" Alex asked excitedly.
"What a majorly fabulous idea!" Clover squealed, just as elated.
"Yeah!" Alex agreed. "And we can all go together."
"Even my mom couldn't object to luxury," Sam interjected. "What about you, Sean?"
"Are you kidding?!" he asked happily. "My mom's never been to a spa before. This is perfect! I say we go for it!"
That was when the floor beneath them opened up, sending down a trap door and into the same metallic chute that Sean had ridden down hundreds of times before and the girls dozens.
"Right after we see what Jerry wants!" he shouted to be heard over the girls' screams.
The ride ended on the fuchsia cushion in Jerry's office.
"Is it me," Clover said. "Or is this whole WOOHP-ing experience getting weirder and weirder?"
"I prefer to call it thinking outside the box," Jerry said from the other end of the room as he approached the four friends.
"Whatever blows your hair back, Jer," Alex moaned, rubbing her head.
"Alex!" Sean whispered harshly, gesturing to thinning amount of hair on Jerry's head.
"I mean," she clumsily corrected herself. "Whatever floats your boat."
"So," Sam broke in. "What's the mission?"
"There is no mission," Jerry revealed. "I just wanted to inform you that I'm going to England to be with my mum for mother's day."
"Well, that's good to hear," Sean said. "We're planning a Mother's Day weekend too. The last thing I want is for a mission to get in the way of it."
Just then, an electronic chime came from somewhere in the room. The chime sounded very similar to the one Sean's wallet phone gave off whenever he was receiving a call.
"Sean," Clover said. "Do you wanna get that?"
Sean shook his head. "It's not mine."
"Actually, it's mine," Jerry said as he took his out, much to the surprise of the girls. "You didn't think I was going to use a Compowder, did you?"
He answered it.
"Hello?"
"Jerry?!" a shrill woman's voice screamed, prompting him to turn around. "Where are you?! You should be on the plane by now!"
Jerry's mother, no doubt.
"Y-yes," Jerry stammered. "I'm still at work, Mother. I will be leaving momentarily."
"Well, hurry up!" Mrs. Lewis said harshly. "And don't forget to bring me one of those nice Terry cloth robes from your hotel!"
"Yes, Mother. Right away."
And he hung up.
"'Your hotel?'" Sean asked, puzzled.
"In order to keep my secret agent identity... well, a secret," Jerry explained as he put the device back in his jacket pocket. "I have told my mother that I am a hotel manager."
The spies couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Hello!" Clover exclaimed, holding up her hand to ear and mouth, mimicking a phone. "Welcome to Jerry's Bed and Breakfast!"
As the laughter continued, Jerry rolled his eyes.
"Yes," he said. "Well, I'm glad you all find me so amusing. Goodbye, spies!"
He pulled out a remote.
"I'll see you in a few days."
He pressed a button on the remote and for a minute, the spies expected to be sent down another trap door. But one opened up beneath Jerry instead, and he fell down into it, screaming all the way.
"Okay," Clover said dryly. "This day just keeps getting stranger by the second."
"I agree," Alex said, pointing to the exit. "Let's get out of here."
"Are you crazy?" Sam asked. "We're alone in Jerry's office!"
Sean looked over to Sam, the mischievous smile on his face matching hers.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.
"Raid the supply closet? You read my mind."
The others giggled in response.
Within minutes, the four rummaged through the supply closet in the office, where Jerry was known to keep a few spare gadgets in the event of an emergency. Sean and Sam figured that he wouldn't mind if they borrowed these for the weekend.
After all, Sean thought. You never know when you might need a gadget.
"I call the Metal Cutting Laser Ring," he said to the girls, putting a silver ring with a blue stone on his left ring finger.
"I got dibs on the Butterfly Barrette Bomb!" Clover called, placing a butterfly-shaped hair clip in her hair.
"The 5 Carat Data Processing Pendant is all mine," Sam announced, holding up a crystalline pendant attached to a chain for emphasis.
"Mmm!" Alex exclaimed in delight, holding up a package of pink sticks of bubblegum. "Gum! Hardly qualifies as a gadget, but I'll take it!"
Pacific Island Spa-9:15 AM
"Really, Sean," Rachel giggled as her son ushered her through the door of the luxurious building situated on the island. "How long do I have to wear this again?"
She was referring, of course, to the strip of black fabric Sean had insisted she wear across her eyes. The minute she woke up, he practically dragged her out of bed and walked her all the way to the pier at Santa Monica. From there, they boarded a ferry which took them to the island, where they would meet up with Sam, Alex, Clover and their mothers. He'd sent his and his mother's luggage there ahead of time with Clover's help.
"Just a little bit longer," he told her. "I don't wanna ruin the surprise."
"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised," Rachel countered jokingly.
"Very funny," Sean said deadpan as he quickly located Alex, Sam and Clover, who were standing in the middle of the lobby with Carmen, Gabby and Stella. All three women were wearing blindfolds similar to Rachel's. Apparently, the girls had the same idea.
Sean situated his mother between Gabby and Stella, clearing his throat.
"Okay," he said. "You can all take off your blindfolds now."
At those words, the four women untied the strips of fabric around each of their heads and took in their surroundings eagerly.
"Ta-da!" Sean and the girls announced.
The mothers gasped in delight and surprise.
"Oh my!" Gabby exclaimed, hugging her daughter.
"I'm speechless!" Rachel exhaled in awe as she wrapped her arms around Sean.
"It's wonderful!" Stella said happily, embracing Clover.
"Thank you!" Carmen squealed happily as she hugged Alex.
"Well," Sam said. "What are we waiting for?"
"It's spa time!" the other three chorused in.
The four teens and their mothers rushed off to their rooms, eager to unpack and enjoy the luxuries the resort had to offer.
Clover waited in the mud bath room for what felt to her like forever, the warm mud pouring down on her doing nothing to make the waiting easier. How typical it was, she thought, that her mother would take up to an hour to pick out a swimsuit.
"Hurry up!" she called into the changing room, turning around. "The mud's getting cold!"
But Clover did a double take when she saw what her mother had come out wearing. It was a one-piece swimsuit with orange and brown stripes and shoulder straps.
"Mom!" Clover exclaimed. "How long have you had that thing? Since the Great Depression?!"
"Don't be silly, honey!" Stella said. "I bought this on my honeymoon in the 70s."
"Okay, that's it. After we finish our mud baths, we're going bikini shopping."
Stella just waved her hand dismissively. "Very funny, dear. Now, which way was that locker room? I need to wash my hands."
"You're gonna wash your hands before your mud bath?" Clover asked incredulously before pointing off to her right with her thumb. "It's that way."
Stella walked off down the hallway her daughter pointed towards. The minute she reached the locker room, however, one locker in particular opened up as she passed it by, sucking her inside.
Over by the spa's pool, Alex moaned in ecstasy as the skilled masseur pounded his hands gently into her badly knotted back.
"This massage is killer!" she said happily, looking over to her mother on the other massage table. "We should have spa dates more often, Mom."
"Speaking of dates," Carmen said as she was in the middle of her own massage. "Do you have any little boyfriends I should know about, Alex?"
Alex blushed furiously. "Mommy, please! That's like, totally personal!"
"Being single is nothing to be ashamed of, sweetie," Carmen reassured. "Now, you just leave it to Mother. I'll find a nice male companion for you. You know, that friend of yours is really handsome. Maybe you two should..."
"What?!" Alex cut off. "Sean's not even my type!"
Carmen wasn't dissuaded, however, instead looking at the masseur tending to her daughter.
"Well, how about this gentleman right here? He has such strong arms!"
Alex looked at the masseur, a muscular young man with dark skin and he flashed a charming smile.
"Mom!" Alex whispered harshly. "I'm in high school! I don't date gentlemen!"
But Carmen ignored it and rose up from the table.
"I'm gonna hit the showers," she said to Alex as she began to walk off. "I'll leave you two alone to chat."
With a wink, Carmen was off and Alex was fuming.
When she was halfway there, in the locker room, Carmen passed by the same locker that Stella was sucked in... and met the same fate as well.
Sam rolled her eyes as Gabby continuously listed off several things she insisted the former needed to the man behind the bike rental counter.
"Let's see," Gabby said. "You'll need a helmet with chin guard, knee pads and elbow pads, and some wrist and ankle shields."
Sam fell over in exasperation.
"Uh, Mom?" Sam asked. "Don't you think this is a little extreme? I mean, we're only going for a short bike ride."
But Sam knew it was futile before her mother even gave an answer. After all, Gabby had insisted on having Sam use training wheels on a tricycle of all things when she was only four. And that wasn't even getting into the bubble wrap Gabby had placed on Sam's arms and legs whenever she went to a playground.
"I'm only trying to protect you, Sammy," Gabby replied as she took a bottle out Sam's hand. "Now, let me go fill your water bottle. Wouldn't want you to dehydrate out there!"
As Gabby went off to refill it and the clerk placed the ludicrous amount of safety gear on the counter, Sam groaned.
"It's a good thing Sean's not here to see this," she said to herself. "I really envy him. At least his mom is normal!"
But then another thought hit her. Sean knew her mother was overprotective.
She was oblivious to the fact that, while on her way to refill the water bottle, Gabby passed by the same locker that Stella and Carmen encountered and was sucked inside as well.
Sean had never been more content his life as he slid himself down into the hot tub that was built into the polished marble floor. Not only did his mom get to relax for a change, but Sam's hot tub had been going under repair so he and the girls couldn't use it until it was finished. This was the perfect substitute.
"Well, Mom," he said to her, who was sitting opposite him in the hot tub. "What do you think of your Mother's Day gift?"
"It's amazing, Sean," she said. "But I'm a little confused."
This made Sean raise an eyebrow.
"Usually on Mother's Day, you give me things like flowers, scented candles, and then there was that time we went out for pizza together."
"Well," Sean explained. "I wanted to do something different this year. I mean, this is the first Mother's Day we've spent together since you got your promotion."
Rachel smiled gratefully. "As long as I get to spend time with you, I'm happy. I feel guilty that we don't as much as we used to."
Sean's grin dropped.
"I mean," Rachel continued. "Between work and Michael, I feel like I hardly even see you anymore."
"No," Sean reassured. "That's my fault. I've been spending so much time with Sam, Clover and Alex that I'm almost never home. I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry," Rachel countered. "You shouldn't feel guilty about that. They're your friends."
Rachel then took on a more questioning tone.
"Speaking of which," she said. "How are things going with Sam?"
Sean's face turned red and it wasn't just because of the hot water.
"Slowly," he admitted. "But I feel like I'm getting there."
Rachel cocked her eye suspiciously.
"How slow are we talking?" Rachel interrogated, to which Sean began to fumble for what to say. "Well, never mind. As long as it's slow. The last thing I want is to get an ultrasound picture from you two anytime soon."
Sean's blush turned an even deeper shade of crimson.
"Mom!" he exclaimed in embarrassment and Rachel laughed before getting out of the hot tub.
"I'll be right back," Rachel informed him. "I left my phone in the room."
With his mother out of sight, Sean leaned back into the hot tub, closing his eyes.
Unfortunately for Rachel, the route back to hers and Sean's room took her into the locker room. And as she passed the same locker that Stella, Carmen and Gabby were sucked into, it opened and she let out a brief scream before being sucked in as well.
The inside was dark and cramped, but her eyes soon adjusted enough to clearly make out the figure above her.
"You!" she exclaimed in recognition. But she didn't remember much after that before she blacked out.
It wasn't long before the four mothers emerged from the locker, each heading back to their respective child. Unusually, all four women now had pink and yellow corsages on their left wrists.
Clover was just starting to enjoy her mud bath when she felt two hands begin to push her head down beneath the mud.
"Hey!" she squealed as she was forced under and the glass sliding door closed.
She looked up at the glass to see her mother standing over the bath, smiling. She had no time to process what happened before more mud began to pour in around her. She began to panic. If she stayed like this any longer, she'd drown in the mud.
That was when she remembered she was still wearing the Butterfly Barrette Bomb.
"This better work," she grumbled. "Or my name is 'Mud!'"
She quickly banged her head against the glass, hitting the barrette and causing the small explosive in it to go off. The glass door was blown off and Stella was sent flying backwards, mud being sprayed all over the room.
Clover stood up.
"What are you trying to do, Mom?!" she demanded. "Kill me?!"
"Of course not, dear," Stella denied. "It was an accident."
Clover, however, was not buying it.
Accident my foot! she thought furiously as she narrowed her eyes.
In the time she was waiting for her mother to get back, Alex had fallen asleep on her massage table. The masseurs had left on coffee break and the pool area in which she was having the massage had since emptied out.
With nothing but absolute silence, Alex slept peacefully.
Well, that was until someone pushed her massage table, which was on wheels, out of the room. As she let out a scream of terror, the table rolled out of the pool room, off a balcony, then out the door into the middle of the freeway.
Luckily, Alex was able to avoid being hit by any of the oncoming cars or trucks by leaping off the table and doing a backflip, landing on the other side of the road.
Alex looked back, suspicious. Then she saw her mother standing just in front of the entrance.
"Sorry, honey!" Carmen called out.
"What?" Alex asked herself. Something very strange just happened. Did her own mother do this?
The biking trail around the spa resort was more scenic than Sam expected, with the path going through the island's grasslands and overlooking the ocean. As they were rolling up a hill, Gabby braked her bike to point at the horizon just over the cliff.
"Isn't that a beautiful view, darling?" Gabby asked.
Sam followed her mother's finger. The view was indeed gorgeous with the early afternoon sun making the water below look like a sea of diamonds.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It's really cool."
That was when she felt the hand push her and she and her bike tumbled off the cliff. Screaming, Sam was able to grab a tree branch on her way down to prevent herself from falling any further.
"Okay," she said. "I've had enough biking for one day."
Though thankful to be alive, Sam was confused.
She felt it, someone definitely pushed her. But the problem with that theory was that the only other person on the cliff was...
"Oopsie!" Gabby called out to her from above. "My bad!"
Sam narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
Sean let out a satisfied sigh as the water from the hot tub reached the perfect temperature for him to sink the rest of his body in.
"This is the life," he said. "I could stay in here forever."
As he closed his eyes, however, he felt a pair of hands dunk his head under the water.
"What the f-" he was cut off by the water suddenly entering is mouth.
Opening his eyes again, Sean could see the hand that pushed him under. It was a woman's hand, that much he could tell from the size. But there was something familiar about the way it felt on his head. And for a brief second, he thought he could see the wavy shape of his mother's white one-piece swimsuit just above the surface.
But he had no time to think about what was happening when he felt the water around him grow very cold. Then something hard brushed against his left arm. Looking up again, he saw that the hand retracting and the rippling, constantly moving surface of the water above him began to grow as rigid as a rock.
Ice, he thought. Whoever was doing this was either trying to freeze him solid or trap him underneath the frozen hot tub until he drowned. Either way, he knew if he didn't find a way out of this, he would be done for.
Before panic could set in, Sean remembered he was still wearing the Metal Cutting Laser Ring.
Pointing it at the frozen surface, he fired the ring's blue beam at it until the heat from the laser melted the ice until it was thin enough to break through.
Surfacing, Sean coughed for a bit and then looked around for the person who almost turned him into an ice sculpture. But there was only one other person around, and when he saw her, he almost thought he was dreaming.
"Mom?" Sean asked, confused. "What was that about?!"
"Sorry, Sean," Rachel said sweetly before walking off. "It was an accident!"
And she walked away, leaving her son alone.
"'Accident?!'" he wondered. "There's no way that should've happened by accident. But how did she turn the hot tub into an ice bath?"
Then he saw it by his right foot on the wet floor. It was a yellow, glass perfume spray bottle shaped like a star. And he recognized the shape of it from the times Jerry assigned him and the girls their gadgets.
"Wait a minute," he said as he knelt down to pick it up. "Is this..."
While her mother took a shower, Sam took the opportunity to sneak out onto the room's verandah. She pulled out her Compowder, calling Alex.
"Houston," Sam said when Alex answered. "We have a problem."
On her end, Alex sat on a chair in her room while Carmen was sunbathing outside on the verandah.
"This isn't Houston, Sammy," she responded. "It's Alex. Are you feeling okay?"
Sam sighed. "I was until my mother 'accidentally pushed me off a cliff!"
That was when the screen split in two, showing Clover's face on the right side.
"Your mom is acting freaky too?!" she asked Sam. "I thought I was the only one! Stella 'accidentally' tried to drown me in a mud bath!"
"What about Carmen?" Sam questioned. "Is she behaving strangely, Alex?"
"Not really," Alex answered as she thought back to the incident in the pool area earlier. "Unless you count her 'accidentally' pushing my massage table into heavy traffic!"
Out of nowhere, Sean's face appeared between Sam and Clover's.
"Girls!" he exclaimed. He was in the bathroom and had turned on the shower to keep anyone from overhearing him. "You're not gonna believe what just happened!"
"Let me guess," Clover said. "Your mom 'accidentally' tried to kill you?"
"Yeah! How did you know that?"
"Same thing happened with our moms, apparently," Sam informed. "What did Rachel try do to you?"
Sean couldn't help but shiver at the memory. "Well, she 'accidentally' almost turned me into a human popsicle! But what's even weirder is that she used this do it."
He held up the bottle he found by the hot tub for emphasis.
"What's that?" Alex asked. "Liquid nitrogen?"
"It's perfume," Sean clarified. "Ice Queen Perfume, to be exact."
"That makes no sense!" Sam said. "Why would your mom have a W.O.O.H.P gadget with her?"
"I don't know. But we need to find out."
Sam nodded in agreement. "I say we rendezvous in the lobby pronto."
"Right," Sean, Clover and Alex said in unison. And they each hung up.
As soon as their communication devices were silent, all four spies soon faced the same problem.
"Going somewhere?" their respective mothers asked them as they stood in the way of their exit.
Sean was frozen for a moment as his mother leapt up into the air to attack him. He quickly ducked out of the way and back into the room's sleeping area, where Rachel quickly pursued him.
She took a floor lamp and began wielding it like a sword against him. But Sean kicked it away and threw his mother backwards in to the bed on the far side of the room.
"Sorry!" he called out as he exited the room and joined up with the girls, who each offered their own apology to their mothers.
"You okay?" Alex asked as they began to dash to the elevator that would take them to the lobby.
"Okay?!" he practically yelled. "My own mother attacked me for the second time today! Do I look okay?!"
"We'd better call Jerry," Sam said as they reached the elevator. "Maybe he knows why our moms are behaving like assassins."
Jerry's Mother's House-England-11:50 AM
Jerry was trying his best to grin and bear it while he was at his mother's home. Well, mostly just bear it and even that was beginning to wear on him, particularly when it came to when his mother constantly griped about his table manners.
"Sit up straight, young man!" she chastised as she hit him on the back of his head with her soup spoon. "And stop fidgeting!"
"Yes, mother," Jerry said passively, swallowing his soup.
"I don't understand you, Jerry. Why are you always acting so peculiar?"
Fortunately for Jerry, a six note electronic chime called out from somewhere in his jacket, a chime he'd been wanting to hear since he arrived in England, truthfully.
"Saved by the bell," he said under his breath.
"What did you say?" his mother asked.
Jerry didn't answer and instead rose from the table, beginning to trek toward the bathroom.
"Excuse me one minute," he told her before he rushed inside as quickly as he could and shut the door.
"Hello?" he greeted, answering his wallet phone. A serious-looking W.O.O.H.P agent with brown hair answered.
"Sir," he said. "I have some disturbing information: Tim Scam broke out of prison two days ago."
"Oh." Jerry was mortified. "I'll alert Sean and the girls right away."
The agent then pursed his lips. "Sir, I've been thinking. Don't you think it's time we tell Sean the truth? I mean, if Scam suspects who he is-"
"I have no reason to believe Scam suspects anything," Jerry cut off. "He's only met Sean once and that's not enough to give him any leads."
The two couldn't discuss anymore before Jerry received a notification on his screen.
"I didn't even know this wallet had a call waiting."
He terminated the connection with the agent to see Sean, Sam, Alex and Clover on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Jerry, it's us," Sean said. "You're never gonna believe what's happening!"
But the spies had no time to inform Jerry of their situation before his mother knocked on the bathroom door.
"Jerry!" she called. "Jerry, what are you doing in there?!"
"Nothing, Mother!" he lied. "Just conversing with the hotel staff! How many times do I have to tell you people, 'Only one mint per pillow!' Now, don't bother me again!"
Jerry hung up, but not soon enough. His mother opened the door just in time to see him place his wallet inside his jacket pocket.
"Were you just talking to your wallet, Jerry?" she asked.
"Uh, of course not, Mother," he said nervously. "Don't be ridiculous!"
"I've got my eye on you."
And she closed the door.
"Wow," Alex said as the screen to Sean's wallet phone went dark. "Looks like Jerry's got some Mother's Day issues of his own."
"Obviously," Clover said. "He's not gonna be any help to us today."
"But maybe the spa's surveillance system will be," Sam announced from the corner behind the three as she hooked up her Compowder to the nearby security camera. The other three walked over to her. "Let me see if I can patch into the video mainframe."
After a while, she did so and footage of the incidents in the locker room began to act itself out on Sam's screen
"I'm getting something."
They watched as Stella walked past the locker and was sucked in.
"Whoa!" Clover exclaimed. "That was weird."
"I have a feeling it's about to get worse," Sean said, watching the screen carefully.
The next video footage showed Carmen getting sucked into the locker.
"Mommy!" Alex cried out.
Then Gabby disappeared into it. And finally, Rachel.
"What is up with that locker?!" Clover wondered in alarm.
"Wait a second," Sean said. "Sam, freeze it when they come out."
Sam did so and zoomed in. Sean could see that his mother and the girls' were each wearing a pink and yellow corsage on their left wrist.
"Our mothers weren't wearing corsages before they went into the locker," he deduced.
"Okay," Clover said. "So, what do tacky flowers have to do with our mothers losing it?"
"Maybe nothing," Sam replied. "But I want to get a closer look to be sure."
The spies perched themselves over the skylight of the room where their mothers were gathered. Gabby, Carmen and Rachel were seated around a table while Stella was nearby in a lounge chair, listening to a CD.
"Look at them," Clover whispered. "They're acting like nothing happened!"
"Let's see if we can hear what they're saying," Sean said, opening the skylight a little.
"My sweetheart Alex just loves peanut butter and jelly," Carmen said as she trimmed the crust of a piece of bread. "Especially when I trim the crusts off the bread. Gabby, would you be a dear and pass the high-density explosive peanut butter compound?"
"Here you go, Carmen," Gabby said, passing a jar of what looked like peanut butter. "This should do them in nicely!"
Alex couldn't help but gasp.
"Rachel," Gabby said to Sean's mother. "Do you have the-"
"Right here, Gabby," Rachel declared, pulling out a series of chains and what looked like handcuffs. "Just in case those naughty kids put up a fuss."
"So much for my mother being overly protective," Sam whispered to the others. "Time to put the 5 Carat Data Processor to the test."
Sam took off the necklace and slowly lowered it into the room until it was right beside Stella's wrist. The pendant only needed eight seconds to do its job and that was enough to pull it back before the women below got suspicious.
"What's it say, Sammy?" Alex asked as Sam looked at the results.
"There seems to be some sort of signal being transmitted to the corsage," Sam informed. "And I'll bet it has something to do with the way our mothers are acting."
"Then we have to get those corsages off their wrists," Clover said.
"How?!" Sean asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we can't get near them without them trying to break our necks! And I can't fight my own mom!"
"Then I guess we'll have to track the signal to its source and stop it there," Sam declared.
Pacific Coast-1:00 PM
Thankfully, the signal turned out to be very close by. Well, sort of. It was on the same island, least. So, Sean suggested that they patrol the island until they find the signal's source. But with Jerry currently unreachable, the best way they could get around was a rental car that the spa provided. The car was powered by electricity and was really nothing more than a glorified golf cart.
Alex and Sam were situated at the front with Alex in the driver's seat while Clover and Sean took the back.
"The spa's selection of rental cars is seriously lacking!" Clover complained. "It's a good thing I'm a yoga pro!"
"How close are we?" Sean asked.
In answer, Sam held up the pendant.
"The signal's getting stronger," she announced. "We must be close."
Then she turned to Alex.
"Take a left here."
But Alex couldn't even move the wheel before something huge bumped them from behind.
Since the cart didn't have seatbelts, Sean and Clover thrown from their seats and toward the front, the windshield stopping them from flying out completely.
The spies heard a low horn and turned to see a large truck tailing them. Crammed into the cab were their mothers and each wore a wide grin on their face, with Carmen in the driver's seat.
The spies screamed as the truck rammed into them again.
"The only thing scarier than Alex's driving," Clover said. "Is her mother's driving!"
"Quick!" Sean urged Alex. "Hit the gas! Maybe we can outrun them!"
Alex slammed her foot on the gas pedal, but the cart could only go so fast while the truck ran on diesel and was beside them in no time.
"If you have crash helmets," Gabby called out to the four teens. "This would be the time to put them on, kids!"
Carmen swerved the truck into the cart, sending it careening off the road and onto a rocky beach.
The spies blacked out the minute they hit the ground.
Hearing a door open, Alex stirred from her state of unconsciousness. She was confused and then happy to see her mother standing over her, a warm smile greeting her.
"Mommy?" she asked.
"Yes, dear," Carmen replied.
Alex let out a huge exhale in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I just had a totally creepy nightmare! I dreamed that you and Sam and Clover and Sean's moms were trying to bump us off!"
"Don't worry, sweetheart," Carmen reassured as she came up to her daughter. "All of your nightmares will be over... just as soon as we eliminate you."
As Carmen's grin widened, Alex suddenly became aware of the ropes tying her wrists behind her back and then saw where she was. She was in the locker room, laid down on a massage table. On the opposite end of the table was another one, upon which sat Sean, Sam and Clover, who were no doubt in a similar position to her.
"Before you get rid of us," Sean said to his mother, who was between Gabby and Stella near the doorway to the locker room. "You mind telling us who's behind all this?"
"Allow me," a familiar voice said. It was a man's voice, deep and smooth. Like velvet, but there was an air of menace underneath it along with a playful sadism. Out from between Rachel and Gabby stepped a man Sean had only met once before... when he trapped him and the girls in space and nearly succeeded in holding the world's water supply for ransom.
"Tim Scam?!" the spies asked at once.
"Didn't we throw you in jail after you kidnapped Jerry and tried to take over W.O.O.H.P?!" Clover demanded.
"Oh, that's the thing about prison, my dear," Scam replied. "Lots of time to devise an escape plan."
He leaned in closer to Clover's face. "And lots of time to dream up a suitable revenge."
Clover recoiled in disgust. "Ew! Your nasty breath is revenge enough!"
"Let me get this straight," Sam said from beside Sean. "Your big revenge plan was to have our mothers do your dirty work for you? That is so lame!"
Scam ignored her and walked over to Stella, Gabby and Rachel.
"The Mind Control Corsages were a little something I invented while working at W.O.O.H.P," he explained. "I knew you little goody-goodies wouldn't be able to resist my flyer."
"That was you?!" Alex asked furiously. "I can't believe they even let riffraff like you in our mall!"
"Your mothers have done a wonderful job for me," Scam said. "In fact, I'm thinking of keeping them! My prison shrink said my lack of parental guidance is what led to my life of crime."
"Uh," Sean said. "But my mom's younger than you are. Don't you think that'll be a little weird?"
Scam's grin widened. "Whoever said it was maternal love I wanted from your mother, Sean?"
And then he did something neither Sean nor his friends expected. Scam's arm snaked around Rachel's body until his hand rested on her chest, caressing it... gripping it. Sean did his best to resist the urge to vomit, but something else tugged at his brain. The ease with which Scam did so may have been nauseating, but there was something about the way he did it to suggest... that he'd done it before.
"Yeah, right!" Sean scoffed. "My mom's already in a relationship! She wouldn't give you the time of day!"
"Is that so?" Scam asked before turning to Rachel, pulling her in his arms. "Rachel, my darling, throw your son and his friends in the sauna. Then come home with me."
What Scam did next really set Sean's teeth on edge as his mother's lips collided with those of the man he knew almost killed him and his friends.
"Anything you say, dear," Rachel said as she pulled away from Scam.
"Mom!" Sean exclaimed as Rachel and the other mothers began to cart their children off to the sauna, while Scam flashed a sinister grin. "Mom, don't do this! Scam's controlling you!"
But it was no use. The corsages ensured that Rachel, along with Gabby, Stella and Carmen, would only listen to one person.
Within minutes, the four teens were locked in the sauna, with Stella turning the heat up to its highest possible temperature.
"Have a nice sauna, kids," Stella said as she and the other mothers walked away. "It'll be your last!"
"But we're too young to have our last sauna!" Clover said fearfully.
The steam inside the sauna began to grow thick and the heat began to rise.
"We've got to get out of this nightmare and get our real mothers back!" Sam exclaimed.
While Clover pulled on the door and Sam knocked on the wooden wall, trying to find a weak point, Sean sat on the sauna bench, completely lost in thought. Scam had told him what his intentions with Rachel were, but even he wouldn't decide that out of the blue. There was something else. The way he acted around her, the way he said her name, the casualness with which he placed his hands on her. It all met the hallmarks of a previous relationship.
There's no way, he denied. He was just trying to make me mad! There's no way Scam and my mom could know each other!
But he wasn't so sure. His mother had never talked about her past, other than the fact that she was born in San Francisco and moved to Los Angeles to become a nurse. But beyond that, it was a total mystery.
Get out of here now, he reminded himself. Work through the Scam problem later.
His thoughts were interrupted when Clover's Compowder sounded off.
"Who could be calling at a time like this?" she asked as she opened it, answering.
"I hope it's a locksmith," Alex said.
Jerry's face appeared on the screen.
"Hello, spies," he said. From his position, it looked like he was on the roof of a house. None of the teens dared to ask questions.
"Jerry?" Clover replied.
"So sorry I hung up on you earlier," Jerry said apologetically. "I wanted to let you know that our old nemesis, Tim Scam has escaped from prison. You should be on high alert in case he plans on paying you a visit."
"Hate to break it to you, Jerry," Sean interjected from beside Clover. "But it's a little late for that."
"Yeah!" Alex agreed. "That info's, like, so three hours ago!"
Before Jerry could ask more, his mother's voice called out from behind him.
"JERRY!" she shrieked. "Are you on the roof?!"
Jerry fumbled for an explanation, but his mother was having none of it.
"That's it! I've had enough of this nonsense! It's obvious you need some guidance in your life! You leave me no choice but to move into your hotel where I can keep an eye on you!"
"Oh, dear," Jerry muttered, before turning back to the screen. "I have to run, ladies, Sean."
"Wait!" Sam begged. "Jerry, we need-"
But the feed had already been cut off.
"-help."
"Thanks for nothing, Jer!" Clover said as she slammed her Compowder shut.
"Now what?" Sean asked.
No one could give any answer.
Sean wasn't sure how much time passed. He wasn't wearing a watch and between the heat and steam, the air becoming so thick it was beginning to get hard to breathe, and the fact that they had no gadgets that could help them due to him leaving his Laser Metal Cutting Ring back in the room, he felt that it hardly mattered.
Alex shared his frustration, taking out a piece of the gum she took from W.O.O.H.P, and sticking it into her mouth.
"If only we had a good gadget," she said, blowing a bubble. However, the bubble proved to be so big that it took up most of the sauna, barely leaving any room for the spies to move.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Clover asked. "It's already hard enough to breathe in here!"
"It's not me!" Alex insisted as the bubble pressed Sean, Sam and Clover to the wall. "This W.O.O.H.P gum has a mind of its own!"
The bubble got so big that the sauna was forced apart, reducing the boards that made it up into tiny splinters.
"Oh," Sean said, rising to the floor while covered in bubble gum. "Now I remember. Ever Expanding Bubblegum."
"I think I like it better when Jerry briefs us on how to use our gadgets," Clover moaned.
"Come on, guys!" Sam said as she got to her feet. "Let's go burst Scam's bubble!"
Tim Scam's Hideout-3:00 PM
Soaring through the air above the island, Sean and Sam each gripped Clover and Alex's wrists respectively, following the same path that their rental car was on briefly before it was pushed off the road.
"And why exactly do you have your Jetpack Backpacks with you?" Clover asked the duo.
"I wanted to pack lightly and all my suitcases were too big," Sam revealed.
"As for me," Sean said, keeping his eyes forward. "Well, you never know when you need one."
Their flight took them to a cave etched into the side of a cliff overlooking the sea.
"This is about where we lost the signal before," Sam said.
"Good," Sean added. "Then this is where we'll find Scam."
"But where do we start looking?" Alex asked.
"Wait," Clover said, pointing to the cave. "What's that?"
"Let's go check it out," Sean
In the cave, which was decorated very much like a penthouse apartment, the spies' mothers were in various places, doing different household chores. Gabby was at a sink, washing dishes, Carmen sat at table, cutting crusts off of slices of bread and Stella dusted off a chair with a feather duster.
About the only one of these four women who wasn't doing any chore whatsoever was Rachel, who was curled up next to Scam on a love seat, her hands on his chest.
"If I knew how much fun it was to have a mother," Scam said to no one in particular. "I'd have stolen one long ago!"
"Don't get too used to it, pal!" Sam's voice called out from the mouth of the cave.
Startled, Scam looked up to see the four spies standing in the entrance.
"What are you brats still doing alive?!" he demanded furiously.
"Getting ready to kick your butt back to jail!" Alex retorted.
"And this time, stay there!" Sean added.
Scam scowled and pointed at his four nemeses.
"Finish them off!" he said. "Once and for all!"
Rachel, Gabby, Stella and Carmen sprung into action, taking various combat stances in front of the teens. Behind them, Scam picked up a remote that Sean reasoned must allow him to control them.
"So long, agents!" Scam taunted. "Enjoy your quality bonding time!"
The spies tried to pursue him, but their mothers blocked their path.
"Back off, Mom!" Clover warned. "Don't make me hurt you!"
"You mean," Stella said, feigning offense. "You would actually hurt your own mother?!"
"My own mother? No. You? Yes."
Stella grit her teeth. "Well, in that case."
She twisted her feather duster, and two sharp, thin blades came out of either end.
Stella charged at her daughter, swinging the feather duster sword. Clover evaded it with relative ease. Alex, in the meantime, was pinned to the ground by Carmen while Sam was blocking Gabby's blows and Sean ducked and weaved through Rachel's repeated attempted punches and kicks, not wanting to hurt her.
Eventually, he was able to throw her back, making her land against a (thankfully) cushioned chair.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scam running toward a metal ladder built into the cave wall. Trying to escape, no doubt.
I don't think so, he thought, determined as he rushed to the ladder just as Scam began to climb it. Gripping one of the rungs, Sean started his own ascent in an attempt to pursue him.
"What's the hurry, Scam?" Sean asked mockingly, grabbing the cuff of one of the legs of Scam's pants.
Annoyed, Scam kicked Sean in the face, making the boy lose his grip and begin to fall.
"Beat it!" he spat. "Your mommy's calling you!"
And he continued his climb up the ladder. Scam smiled in satisfaction as he was home free. Or so he thought.
When he heard the sound of a thruster behind him, he looked back to see Sean just hovering inches away from him, glaring daggers at him.
"Okay," Sean said. "If you didn't make me mad before, now I'm pissed!"
Scam didn't have time to even make an attempt to fight back before Sean grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.
"I'll take that!" he exclaimed as he flew off with the older man still in his grip, bursting through the ceiling of the cave and into the open air outside.
On the ground, the girls still fought for their lives against their mothers and Rachel. Stella currently had Clover in a chokehold, Alex was still being held to the ground by Carmen and Rachel and Gabby had Sam restrained by her wrists.
As hopeless as their situation seemed, it only made the moment where the girls saw Sean drop Scam in front of them all the more satisfying. Smiling, Sean looked at the dial on the remote he took from Scam.
"Let's try a different channel!" he exclaimed.
Scam's eyes went wide with absolute terror.
"No!" he pleaded. "No! Don't do that!"
Too late. Sean had already twisted the knob clockwise. Down below, the four women stopped their assault on the girls and instead focused their rage on the man who put them under his control.
"Timmy's been a bad boy!" Stella said firmly.
"Timmy needs to be punished!" Carmen added.
Scam could only gulp.
"No," he said weakly. "No, no! Get away!"
As he backed away pathetically, the mothers advanced on him.
"That's very disrespectful!" Rachel admonished.
"Let's wash that rude little mouth out with soap!" Gabby suggested.
Sean landed on the ground beside the girls and they all cringed at the absolutely savage beatdown their mothers all gave Scam.
"Should we show him some mercy?" Clover asked.
"I guess we have to," Alex answered. "For our moms' sake."
Sam and Sean nodded in agreement and all four ran toward the scene, ripping the corsages off of their mothers' wrists just as Scam lost consciousness.
"What happened?" Gabby asked the minute the corsage was gone.
"Where are we?" Rachel added with a question of her own.
"Who is this guy?" Stella questioned, pointing down at Scam's limp form.
If any of the spies had been paying close enough attention, they would have noticed that a flicker of fear flashed across Rachel's face when she saw the terrorist lying at her feet. Fear and recognition. But the four were so relieved to have their mothers back to normal that no one saw it.
"Um," Clover stammered. "He's our..."
"...tour guide!" Sean quickly picked up. "He was showing us some of the caves on the island."
"Oh," Rachel said, sighing with what sounded like relief. "Well, how... nice."
Overjoyed, Sean ran over to his mother and hugged her, the girls imitating his actions. Sean did the best he could to keep himself from letting out tears of joy for fear of having to reveal that his mother was turned into an assassin by a vengeful criminal mastermind.
"What do you say we get back to the spa?" Alex suggested as the eight began to walk out of the cave.
"Sounds good to me," Gabby agreed. "This slippery cave floor makes me nervous."
"Yeah," Stella said, as behind them, a pair of unseen W.O.O.H.P agents dragged Scam's unconscious body away. "I can't believe I left the spa wearing this revealing swimsuit!"
They stepped out into the afternoon light and Carmen pointed back at the cave.
"Hey," she said to Alex. "That tour guide looked like a nice young man. You two would make a great couple!"
"Mom," Alex said dryly. "You have no idea how wrong you are."
While everyone else happily walked back to the spa, Rachel looked down at the ground. Sean couldn't help but notice. Whenever his mother had been concerned about something in the past, she would always looked at her feet while walking and frown in a specific way that only he recognized. Much like she was doing now, with her lips curled downward into a frown that looked almost like a grimace and her eyes seemed distant, like she could only see an empty space in front of her.
"Mom?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" she responded, looking up and putting on a small smile. "Yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired."
"Okay," he said, only half-believing it. But he didn't want to press her. "When we get back to the spa, you can rest."
"I think that's a good idea."
Rachel turned her head back to the path she was on. Get a hold of yourself, she thought. That couldn't possibly be him. You haven't seen him in years. He couldn't possibly know about Sean.
Rachel had been right about many things in her life just as often as she had been wrong. This was one of the times she was wrong.
As soon as their spa trip was over, Jerry returned from England and resumed work at W.O.O.H.P, where he now stood before the four young spies in his office, beaming with pride.
"Another mission well done, spies," he said to them.
"Thanks, Jerry," Sam returned.
"So," Sean said. "How did things work out with your mother?"
"I laid down the law," Jerry answered. "And told her she had to let me have my independence. After all, it's ridiculous for a grown man to be taking orders from his mummy."
That was when the spies heard it. The familiar chime of a wallet phone, coming from Jerry instead of Sean.
"So, where did you put her up?" Clover questioned, trying not to laugh.
"The Beverly Plaza Inn," Jerry groaned. "I may need a raise to keep up this charade."
He silenced his wallet by answering it. "Hello?"
"Jerry, where are you?!" his mother's voice demanded. "We have dinner plans!"
"I'll be there momentarily, Mother," a fatigued Jerry responded.
"Way to lay down the law, Jer," Alex said sarcastically.
"Well, hurry up!" the shrill voice of Jerry's mother continued. "I don't have all night! And bring some fresh towels while you're at it!"
While Jerry tried his best to placate his mother and the girls laughed at his situation, Sean remained completely silent.
The way Scam behaved toward his mother back at the spa didn't set right with him. Of course, it wouldn't have set right with him in any case, someone touching his mother in that manner without (technically) her consent. But his casual attitude around her suggested that it was more than mere attraction. It gave him the image of something more... personal, more intimate.
And he'd only seen one other man behave that way around her: Clover's father, Michael. The difference was that despite his playfulness, Rachel was very much at ease when around Michael. And for a brief moment when they left the cave, even though she didn't remember even wearing the corsage, much less who put it on her wrist, his mother still looked a little freaked out.
What does it mean? he thought. But the more he tried to solve this puzzle, the more he realized there was only one reliable place he could get answers.
He just hoped he wouldn't regret what he was about to do.
Getting access to the W.O.O.H.P detention center wasn't as hard as Sean thought it would be. Other than undergoing a retinal scan to get past security, having to leave behind his wallet phone and regular cell phone at the security check in, and making the guards promise not to talk to anyone about his visit, he practically just walked through a hallway.
With all this, he thought it amazing that Scam was able to sneak out as easily as he did. Even more amazing was the fact that the warden did allow him to speak with Scam under the pretext of "interrogation." It wasn't even a lie. Not really, anyway. Sean had questions that needed answering. He was too afraid to talk to Jerry about it and he didn't want to put his mother through too much worry by asking her. As much as he hated it, Scam was the only one who could give him the answers he needed.
Sean was allowed into Scam's cell on the condition that he keep his visit under ten minutes and no physical contact was allowed.
Swallowing air, Sean braced himself as the glass door to the cell slid up and allowed him entry. Scam himself sat on the bottom bunk of his cell, his skin still bruised from Rachel and the girls' mothers assaulting him. But despite his condition, he let out a smile. Not a warm, welcoming smile, but the kind Sean only saw on a Jack o' lantern.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Scam greeted.
"How did you know I was coming?" Sean asked.
Sean braced himself for Scam to try and attack him, but instead he just sat up in his bunk.
"Oh, I guessed. I figured sooner or later, you'd come here angry about what I did to your mother."
Sean's fist tightened. "I am angry about that! But that's not why I'm here."
He approached Scam as close as he could without breaking the "no touching" rule.
"It's about the way you acted around my mother. The way you spoke to her, the way you touched her, the way... the way..."
He had to force the words the exit his mouth.
"The way you kissed her!"
Scam chuckled. "Well, what can I say? Your mother is a very beautiful woman. Can I help it if-"
"This wasn't just you being attracted to her," Sean argued. "You acted like you knew her! But there's no way you could!"
"And what makes you so sure?"
Before Sean could answer, Scam stood up, forcing the boy to take a few steps back.
"What did your mother tell you about her past?"
"She was born in San Francisco," Sean explained. "When her mom died of cancer, she wanted to become a nurse to help people get better. So she moved here to study for that. Then she met my dad at the Santa Monica pier and-"
"In other words," Scam cut off. "Not much."
"What do you mean? That's everything!"
Scam could only laugh. "This is rich! She really didn't tell you anything, did she? I suspect Jerry didn't either."
If a feather blew in Sean's direction, it could have knocked him over. That was the impact Scam's words had on him.
"Jerry?" he asked. "What does he have to do with my mom?"
"Well," Scam answered. "Since you're a little slow on the uptake, I might as well tell you. Long before you and your friends joined W.O.O.H.P, there was another agent who risked life and limb to defend those who couldn't defend themselves. With every mission she went on, she saved the world a little impressively each time. This agent was considered among the best Jerry ever trained. But she retired after a certain scandal that led to her betraying the very organization she worked for... all to help a certain brilliant weapons technician she had fallen head over heels for. Then this agent got cold feet at the last minute and turned to Jerry, betraying the very man she was supposed to love!"
Scam's voice was raised a few decibels with that last line. Clearing his throat, he quickly composed himself.
"The technician was fired and Jerry wiped all record of the incident from W.O.O.H.P's archives. But the technician never forgot the betrayal of the woman he loved. Nor did he forget how the spy agency he worked for dared to shun his genius! He spent nearly two decades plotting his revenge. And now, here we are."
Sean didn't speak the whole time during Scam's story. But he had an awful feeling he knew where it was going.
"That weapons technician was me. And the agent's name... Rachel Warren."
For a minute, Sean wasn't sure if he heard Scam right.
"My mom... was a W.O.O.H.P spy?" he asked in disbelief. "And she knew you?"
"Knew me?" Scam replied angrily. "She loved me! So much that she was willing to turn her back on what was right just to help me!"
Sean looked down, trying to control his breathing.
"No," he denied softly. "No! NO! You're lying! You have to be!"
Scam reached under the pillow of his bunk and pulled out a white flat rectangle. A polaroid photo, Sean guessed.
"Don't believe me?" he asked, tossing the photo to Sean. "Look at this!"
Sean caught the picture. It was an old one, depicting a familiar teenage girl in an orange catsuit similar to the uniforms he and his friends wore. Beside her was a young man with tanned skin, brown hair, blueish green eyes and a smile more charming than any Sean had seen. He looked at the girl's features. That blonde hair, those sparkling blue eyes, that kind smile.
No, he reasoned. It had to be a fake. But the photo was dated "September 1987." Even W.O.O.H.P's technology back then couldn't simply fabricate a photo like this. Which meant that Scam was telling the truth.
"Of course," Scam continued. "If that isn't proof enough for you, look in a mirror."
Sean looked up from the photo.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"You know, I'm not surprised my sweet Rachel didn't tell you about me. After all, someone, well, with my reputation doesn't exactly make a good role model for a young boy."
Sean was almost too afraid to ask. He did though.
"What do you mean?"
Scam's grin grew wider than it had been before. "I think you know exactly what I mean... son."
Sean dropped the photo to the cell floor, the following being so loud that he almost thought he'd dropped a brick of lead.
"No," Sean said. "That can't be. My dad died before I was born. In a car accident!"
Scam laughed. "Your mother would like to think that, wouldn't she? Fool yourself any way you want, it's the truth."
Sean struggled to stay on his feet from what he was hearing.
"Like I said," Scam continued. "I knew you'd come here. After all, what kind of son doesn't want to visit his father?"
"You're not my father!" Sean screamed. "My mom wouldn't have anything to do with you! Everything you've said is a lie!"
"You're confusing me with Jerry," Scam argued and Sean arched an eyebrow. "Oh, you didn't know? Well, the list of people who know about... well, us is a short one. And Jerry is near the top of it."
"Jerry would never keep something like this from me," Sean growled.
"He runs a spy agency! Keeping secrets is his job. But there's only one way to know if I'm telling the truth. Ask him. But you might not like what you hear. If he says I am your father, then you know for sure. But if he says I'm not, well, you know the truth anyway."
Sean turned away. "Even if you're right, why would Jerry hide the truth from me?"
"A better question would be why he recruited you in the first place."
"He said I had potential," Sean stated.
"But potential for what? To be like Rachel Warren, one of W.O.O.H.P's finest or to be like dear old dad, one of it's greatest enemies?"
Sean was at a crossroads. If Scam was being honest about this, Jerry would certainly know the truth.
I'll talk to him, he thought. He'll tell me what I really know: that Scam's not my father and he was just trying to get in my head.
But then he remembered all the times he asked his mother about his father, only to get the same old story; a story he now realized could have been made up from the beginning. And then there was the lack of pictures of Sean's father and the fact that his mother always grew visibly uncomfortable whenever the subject came up.
Could it be true?
Deep down, Sean knew it must be.
And if so, if he asked Jerry about this and he said "no", then Scam would turn out to be telling the truth about the man who had trained and believed in him from the moment they met hiding this from him.
Who to turn to? Who to trust? That was what he was asking himself now.
"My friends," he said at last. "Sam, Clover and Alex. I'll talk to them. They'll help me find out about this."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Scam asked. "If they knew what you are, what we are, they'd turn on you in an instant."
Sean turned back to face Sam. "You don't know them like I do."
"And maybe you don't know them as well as you think you do," Scam fired back. "I've seen the way you look at your little friend Sam. If she knew you were the son of the man who's tried to kill her twice, she'd hate you."
That did it. If there was ever any doubt that Scam knew what he was saying, that was it in Sean's mind. By now, Sean's breathing was out of control and he was hyperventilating like an asthmatic who had forgotten their inhaler, struggling to force oxygen into his lungs.
He thought of Sam, the girl he had loved since she'd saved his life so many months ago, the girl who would always help him with his math homework whenever he came across a difficult problem, the girl he often found himself fantasizing about, particularly at night, and the girl he knew right then and there that was the one he wanted to have a future with.
But if she learned about this, that future would never come to pass. Sean ducked his head, to keep Scam from seeing his tears fall.
"What do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his sobs as inaudible as possible. "Why are you telling me this?"
Scam sat back down on his bunk. "I thought you'd never ask. Your talents are wasted at W.O.O.H.P, just like mine were. For a long time now, I've been looking for a... protege, you might say. Someone I can teach all of my criminal skills to, someone to help me put W.O.O.H.P in it's place, someone to help me exact my revenge on the very people who betrayed me!"
Sean rose his head, his cheeks stained with tears.
"You're my son," Scam continued. "You're the only natural choice. Join me and you can have a life far more rewarding than anything that old goat Jerry can give you."
Drying his eyes, Sean struggled to speak again. "W-why would I do that?"
"Because you want to," Scam replied. "You want to get back at Jerry for lying to you. And you can start by helping me escape this rat-infested hole."
Scam rose again, tossing something small and metal into Sean's palm. Opening his hand, he could see that it was a key. Attached to it was a tag that read "F66".
"That opens a locker at LAX," Scam explained. "Inside it, you'll find a gadget of my own design that I left before tracking down you and your little girlfriends. It will allow me to escape."
Sean fingered the key, considering. He couldn't. Letting Scam go went against everything he stood for, as both a W.O.O.H.P agent and as a person. But if Scam was right and Jerry had been lying to him this whole time, wouldn't it be satisfying to let one of his most hated enemies go free?
He shook his head, trying to evict the awful thought from his head. He was about to throw the key on the ground in rejection, but the buzzer from the speaker outside the cell informed him that his time was up. He pocketed the key and dragged himself out of the cell.
"If you make up your mind!" Scam called. "You know where I'll be!"
As soon as Sean was out of sight, Scam leaned back on his bunk.
"Just like I planned," he said to himself. Everything was working as perfectly as he envisioned it. Now, Sean would begin to doubt his place in W.O.O.H.P and his trust in Jerry would all but evaporate.
Of all the schemes he'd concocted, Scam congratulated himself on this one in particular. He would destroy W.O.O.H.P by turning the organization's best agent against it.
The fact that it was his own son made everything easier.
Phew! Let me tell you, that last section was especially hard to write. More importantly, I feel I've just dropped a huge bombshell regarding Sean and Tim Scam. And before anyone asks, yes, I planned for Scam to be Sean's father from the very beginning. What happens next? Well, a very emotional arc for Sean as his relationships with Rachel, the girls and especially Jerry are tested like never before. But you'll have to wait and see.
See you next time!