The scenery in Arecibo, Puerto Rico was made up of a beautiful, mountainous landscape covered with thick, green vegetation as far as one could see. It was suddenly interrupted seemingly out of no where by a huge metal construct that could've only been scarred into the other wise perfectly natural landscape through the tinkering of human beings. The largest feature of this monument to mankind, the Arecibo Observatory, was the 1,000 feet wide, concave, aluminum dish that was built into the ground over a lime stone sink-hole. Suspended 450 feet above this dish was a 900 ton, triangular, steel platform. The platform was suspended in the air by eight-teen cables running from three reinforced concrete towers, one 365 feet tall and two 265 feet tall, which stood on the edges of the huge dish. Hanging below the triangular platform was a radio telescope named the Gregorian Dome. The Gregorian Dome had a polygonal shape, being composed of inter-connected, white triangles. It looked like a golf-ball sliced in half. There was also a slim, shaky, steel cat-walk. It led from the base of one of the towers on a cliff to the suspended, triangular platform. Three people walked over this catwalk and one was carried. Sebastian lead the group, followed by Jerrell and Steve who was carrying Mandy still bound and gagged over his shoulder. Mandy struggled furiously to break free, but she was tied so tight that it was of little use other than annoying Steve as she wiggled around. They made their way onto the platform and took a zigzagging flight of steel steps down into a lower level that lead to the Gregorian Dome. They walked inside. The dome was hollow inside with a large hole at the bottom and a much smaller one on top. Steve turned Mandy around so she could see in front of him. Sebastian turned to where a large box shaped room was located. He opened its door, revealing a mass of machinery and computers inside. Sebastian stared at her with his one human eye and his one, dark pit. "This is the M1 planetary radar transmitter. It was originally designed to direct radar waves at planets and other objects in space. With the help of some scientists I persuaded to assist me, I've converted this machine to transmit my own signals to satellites orbiting earth. Embedded in this signal is a virus that will spread quickly to every electronic connection available to it. Once its unleashed it will be unstoppable, and every man, woman, and child in modern civilization will hear my album. " He then pointed downwards at a large, aluminum dish parallel to the hole in the floor. "This is the tertiary sub-reflector. Tie her over the top of it like I told you." Steve carried Mandy down onto the bottom of the dome and placed her on top of the curved piece of metal. Him and Jerrell untied some of the ropes and re-knotted them around pipes and surrounding metal. She was now stretched over it on her back, with her arms extended to the left and right and her legs downwards, forming a crucifix. "The tertiary sub-reflector collects radiation from space that reflects off of the big dish below, to the ceiling of this dome, and back down to it. No need to worry, this kind of radiation is harmless to humans. What you should worry about is the heaters I've installed under this dish. When I've activated the M1 Transmitter to charge for broadcast, the heaters under it will turn on. At first the heat will be relatively mild and harmless, but as time progresses towards broadcast time, you will start to feel a sensation that probably is only comparable to being on a frying pan. When broadcast time arrives, the heat will reach a deadly level and you will be literally cooked alive." He stopped for a moment and continued, "So now that you know how you're going to die, do you have any last requests?" "MMMK...MMPH!" Her words were muffled, but the intent was clear. Mandy's eyes burned with hatred. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you." He turned around. "Let's go." They left the room, slamming the door behind them. Mandy stared up at the small ray of light that shone out of the hole in the ceiling, because it was the only thing she could do. As the men reached the end of the cat-walk, a beeping noise sounded off. Sebastian pulled an electronic device out of his pocket. Its green screen displayed a 3D model of the Arecibo Observatory and the surrounding jungle. He pressed a button, and the image zoomed in on three yellow spots that moved together some distance off into the rain forest. "I should've known they would insist on being early. Very well. We're going to move slightly ahead of schedule." He handed the tracking device to Jerrell. "Find them and kill them. If you fail to finish the job this time, I'm going to give both of you a complimentary copy of my album." Steve and Jerrell looked like they had just received a message from the grim reaper himself. He may as well been. They had been very apprehensive of him ever since he revealed the other side of his face. "Um, no sweat, Sebastian," Jerrell stuttered off. Steve picked up the carrying cases for his two guitars which he left at the end of the cat-walk. The two men went in the other direction and started trekking for some time through the hilly jungle in the pursuit of the yellow spots. Steve stopped walking when they reached a small clearing nestled between two hills. His blue, electric guitar was now strapped to his chest. He pulled a cigarette out of his back pocket, lit it up, and started puffing on it. "You know that shit'll kill you, man." "Does it look like I care?" The electronic device started beeping again. "Forget about that. They're right ahead of us." The three spies appeared from behind the dark undergrowth. Clover was the first to spot them. "Great, it's the has-beens again." "Hey, watch how you talk to your elders, baby. You might receive a spanking." Sam put her hands on her friends' shoulders, "Clover, Alex, you think you could take these two while I go find Mandy and Sebastian?" "No problem, Sammy. We can handle these losers." Alex answered. Sam then ran behind them and out of sight. "Hey where you going honey?" Steve said as he ran in her direction. "Away from you." Alex swiped her foot at his head. He managed to jerk his body back in time to miss the yellow blur as it flew right past his face and knocked the cigarette clean out of his mouth. He then started running his fingers and pick over his guitar strings, and the sonic energy burst out in Alex's direction. She responded by flipping her body up onto the arm of a tree. The white blast collided with the trunk, shaking it greatly. Steve kept playing while twisting the angle of his guitar upwards. The white energy tore away bark as it moved up the trunk, until it was blowing away leaves and branches at the top. By this time, Alex had already made a cat-like leap into another tree. Steve simply turned and blasted the other tree until it was bare of leaves like there was an approaching winter. When the energy stream came too close, Alex vaulted off the tree again. Before she hit the ground, she activated her jetpack backpack and swooped into the forest. Steve was lured by her, and they both disappeared into the thick undergrowth. Clover eyeballed Jerrell, "So you ready for round two?" "I'm always ready." "Pshh." Clover rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before." She lunged forward at him. Jerrell already had his microphone in hand and the green, energy burst out at her. She rolled to the side. He turned the mic in her direction, and she kept cart-wheeling out of the way as the rings collided with the hill behind her kicking up dirt. Finally, the shot ceased and Clover charged forward. He pulled out his hunting knife. She expertly spun her right foot around at his hand. The knife sailed in the air and stabbed into a tree some feet away. He fired again, but before he did Clover was fast enough to have grabbed his shoulders. She used the leverage to flip herself over him 360 degrees to where she kicked both of her heels at the small of his back. He grunted as he flew forward, tackling the ground. Clover landed on the ground too, but was able to brace herself from the brunt of the fall. She got up as soon as she landed and ran in his direction. Jerrell saw this coming and rolled over, blasting the energy at her. She once again hopped clear of the danger and performed an amazing display of gymnastics as she maneuvered out of the way of the rings. The blast ran out again, and she charged at him ferociously. Jerrell pulled yet another mic from his back-pocket and fired that one at her with his left hand. This time Clover was quick witted enough to dodge the blast. However, just as that shot expired, he simply fired the other mic at her. This time it clipped her leg and she whirled in the air landing face first some feet away. "Where do you keep getting those things?" Clover said, her frustration beginning to build. Getting tired of acting like a jumping bean, she turned on her jetpack backpack and soared to about fifty feet up in the air. Clover stuck out her tongue and yelled, "Betcha can't hit me up here?" Jerrell aimed his mic upwards and fired. Clover simply flew to the side easily dodging the green rings as they traveled into the atmosphere. When that stream of rings ended, he fired his other mic, and she easily dodged them in the air again. "Awwww, you mis-fired again. How pathetic." "Yea, we'll see about that," Jerrell muttered to himself as he twisted the ends of his microphones. He pointed the one in his right hand directly at Clover. "Check the technique." Clover simply flew to the left again, but this time the rings that shot out were blue, and as they traveled away from the head of the microphone they widened out in the air becoming quite large. Clover hadn't calculated on that occurring, and a few the blue rings hit her in the air, tossing her around. The blue rings weren't as powerful or as fast as the green, but they were still painful. While Clover was momentarily distracted, he fired the other mic. Red rings with very small diameters burst out, and they collided with her jet-pack, shattering its engine. Clover then dropped out of the sky and into a tree below. Steve was strolling through the forest in search of Alex who had vanished a while back. He suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound behind him. He cocked his head just in time to see the yellow fist as it slammed into his face. His head was knocked to the side from the nasty blow but he managed to keep enough composure to strum his guitar. However, Alex veered sharply before she could be hit. He walked in the direction she had flown. She was no where to be seen. He kept pacing slowly, paying close attention to the tree tops and keeping an open ear for the sound of the jetpack. As he passed a particular tree, Alex materialized out of thin air on a high branch with her finger on her X-Powder turning off the camouflage. She stuffed it back in her pocket and then leaped down with her arms extended like a monkey. Her fall was broken by Steve's back. Steve was caught off guard, but managed to push his arms out in front to prevent himself from slamming into the ground and his guitar. Alex still on his back pulled on his long hair with one hand, while furiously landing a series of cross-face blows with her other. Steve managed to sit up, and grabbed Alex's shoulder guards flipping her over his head. He picked his guitar, but the energy only blew up dirt and grass, as Alex had already switched on her jetpack and flown sharply to the right again. He followed, but again observed nothing but jungle sounds. "Hide and seek, eh?" Steve started moving his fingers over the strings on the neck of his guitar, while also moving the whammy bar on its bridge up and down. The white energy burst out again. However, this time it was extremely wavy, matching the pitch of the guitar, and covered a much wider vertical area. He turned quickly from side to side and bathed the jungle with the energy waves. Several dead birds and frogs fell to ground from the trees, followed by Alex and her broken X-Powder. Meanwhile, Sam zigzagged around tree trunks with her jetpack backpack at an intense speed. As she neared her destination, she could hear the distinct sound of organ music. It was a deathly dark piece of music. She stopped and planted her feet back on the ground when she approached the tree-line surrounding the observatory. She peered at the huge dish and telescope hanging over head. She didn't observe any immediate threats and reactivated her backpack. She flew over the enormous dish in the direction of the music. She reached the other end of the observatory where a long, white building stood. She hovered down and landed in front of a giant, gothic pipe organ that was set up on its roof. She could tell by the profile of the organist that it was Sebastian. He also had on a heart shaped jetpack backpack, the one he used to escape from WOOHP. He must've heard her land, but he ignored her and kept on playing. He worked the keyboard with incredible speed with his one hand and moved numerous pedals with his feet. He had the organ customized and invented his own method of playing to compensate for his handicap. Sam also observed a large antenna attached to the side of it. Tired of being ignored, Sam walked up and kicked the stool out from under his feet. He didn't fall down, but simply snapped up to a standing position and finished the last note by slamming his fingers down hard on the keys letting them rest for a second, emitting a ghastly, dark sound. Finally he turned around and bore into Sam with his two faces. "The gig's up Sebastian. We're on to your plan." "You're too late. This organ activated the transmitter which is now charging to broadcast my music. Your bitchy girl-friend and the rest of the civilized world have about twelve minutes before their fate is sealed." Hearing that, Sam reached into her back pocket and set a timer on her X-Powder. "My revenge is final!" "What happened to you was horrible, but you're a hypocrite. You became worse than them when you turned to crime and decided to take out your pain on innocent people!" "No one is innocent. By nature humans are greedy, selfish, ignorant creatures who will trample over anything or anyone as long as it benefits their selves. They are the most dangerous of animals. I'm doing this planet a favor." "I believe most people have good in them. How can you judge them unless you've been in their shoes? You're not god, you have no right." "God is too slow. I'm just giving him a helping hand to do what man was bound to do to himself anyways." "But what about you? What happened to the boy who just wanted people to love his music? Don't you remember what it was like to feel something other than hate? It's not too late, you can still stop this madness." "That boy is dead. He was murdered by the inherent evil of mankind. The only way you're going to stop my revenge is by going through me first." He then jabbed out his metal claw towards her head at lightning speed. Sam did the splits, sinking out of the way of the blow. She lunged out her fist and drove it into his stomach hard. Sebastian only reacted in pain for a second before he drove his knee forward for her head. Sam laid down her back to avoid his knee, and then kicked both feet up at him. They didn't connect, and instead he grabbed both of her legs and slung her over so she collided with the wooden side of the pipe organ. It contacted the side she had injured yesterday, and she doubled over in pain. Sebastian took advantage on this and grabbed her head by the roots of her hair. He then dragged her in front of the pipe organ and slammed her face down on the keys. He grinded her head on them, causing a loud, dark noise to escape from the pipes. He picked her head back up to slam it down again, but Sam jabbed her elbow hard into his chest, while also lifting her fist up to slam into his nose. She then grabbed his head and drove it into the organ keys in retaliation, and the ghostly pipes sounded again. While his head was still down on the keys, Sebastian slashed his claws at Sam's arm. Sam gripped it as blood started pouring out. Sebastian took this moment to turn on his jetpack backpack and ascend into the air. Sam activated hers and pursued him. As she did so, she pulled out a piece a cloth, wrapped it around her arm, and tied the knot with her teeth. Sebastian flew up a few hundred feet towards the top of one of the concrete towers. There was a small, square platform right below its peak. Sebastian landed on it, and disappeared around the corner. Sam landed on the same spot. She turned the corner but was met by Sebastian wearing sensible soundproof earmuffs and holding a black boom-box in front of him. The boom-box emitted rock music. Sam was never a big fan of Rock, but for some reason the combination of guitar, bass, and percussion was oddly beautiful to her ears. She found herself no longer able to move under her own power, and soon everything in front of her eyes began to swirl into a circle of colors. Jerrell pulled the tracking device back out, and observed the location of the yellow spot representing Clover. He trekked through the jungle until he came to where the spot was and looked up. There was the red uniformed blonde hanging limply on a branch by her mid-section. "Timber!" He blasted the small, red rings across the tree's trunk. The energy stream was short, but it was much stronger than the other settings, cutting through the tree like a buzz-saw. Clover suddenly regained liveliness and somersaulted off of the branch landing in a crouching position gracefully, as the tree crashed to the ground behind her. "You still haven't finished me off," Clover said as she again stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't worry. I always get the job done." He fired the string of razor-like rings at her with the other mic. She dodged the fast onslaught, but it clipped her hair and yellow strands fell to the ground. "My hair!" Clover screeched. "No one touches the..." They both then noticed the blast had sliced another tree in half, and they both dodged out of the way as it crashed to the ground. "You know I don't think they pay lumberjacks by the hour," Clover said as she positioned herself in front of another tree, while pulling something out of her back-pocket. "But wait, I take that back. You're too short to be a lumberjack in the first place, small fry." She hit a sore spot. "You'll be even funnier when I have your head for a paper-weight, you blonde bimbo!" he shouted angrily. He shot the red rings at her again. She did a baseball slide out of the way, but at the same time fired her laser lipstick at his belt. The belt sliced in half, and his pants fell to his ankles exposing his pink boxers. When he instinctively tried to jump out of the line of the falling tree, he tripped to the ground. "I can't go out like...." Thud! Steve looked over at the motionless Alex. She was sprawled out on the ground like she was dead. "Yeah, right," he said not fooled for a second. He then put his hand back on his whammy bar. "Hi-ya!" Alex kicked off her boot and it slammed into his family jewels. She was planning to hit his head, but her aim was off. "Ughhhh, not again," he moaned in pain. "I'll kill you!" He started moving the whammy bar and the strings. "Ahhhhhhh!" Alex started running as fast as she could, with the tall, sonic waves trailing right behind her. They were inching extremely close to her butt so she turned on her jetpack and started flying. Steve kept turning around in a circle to follow her as she whizzed around him. Eventually, she made so many laps that he got dizzy and fell over. He sat on the ground with the world still spinning around him. When things finally straightened out he looked around and realized Alex was no where to be seen. Alex had flown straight up and was hovering above him. She then started a descent and pulled the sensible sound proof earmuffs out of her back pack. She threw them down and they snapped right onto his head and over his ears. He put his hands on his head to feel what it was and took off the earmuffs. He then noticed he could hear a faint buzzing sound from behind. He turned around to see Alex waving. "Peek-a-boo." Alex cart-wheeled to the side, and her puppy-dog shaped boomerang buzzsaw barrette collided with his guitar. It sliced through the stings, and Steve was pushed back as all the pent up sonic energy burst out forward from it. After it was expelled, it looked like a meteor hit with all the trees knocked down and grass blown away directly in front of Steve. Dazed, he un-strapped the now useless guitar and threw it to the ground. He looked around and saw Alex was again missing. He knew he had to hurry, so he started running back through the rain forest in the direction he had first come. He ran for quite some time, but fatigue began to kick in as he started wheezing and coughing hard. He was so winded, he had to walk the rest of the way back to where he had stashed the item he was searching for. As he turned around a certain tree he met her again. "Looking for this?" Alex said with his bass strapped to her chest. She started to walk forward. "No wait, don't!" "Don't what?" She continued walking towards him completely oblivious of the branch in front of her. It ran across the bass and plucked a string. "Heinouuuuuuusss!" That was the last word uttered by Steve as a burst of the dark, sonic energy hit him and shot him up into the sky like a canon. He kept traveling over the skyline until he was out of sight. "Oops!" She couldn't believe what she just did. "Sorry! I hope you live," she said sincerely. The colors were still swirling around Sam's eyes. The swirl started to get smaller and smaller as it twisted into itself. Soon she could see nothing but darkness. Eventually, blurry colors began to reappear in front of her, and they materialized into people. It was her mother and father standing tall over her motioning with their arms, telling her to come to them. She tried to walk forward, but she was clumsy and was only able to take a few steps before she latched onto her father's leg to prevent herself from falling. "She walked, can you believe it?" Her mind started rolling through more events from the past. Happy times she had spent with her mom and dad as a young child. Eventually, she reached the point where her family moved to California for her father's job, and Sam started school at Beverley Hills Elementary. She was very lonely during the first few months there. None of the kids there seemed to want to associate with her, especially since she was the teacher's darling, answering all the questions in class and always getting high grades. One day she found herself sitting in front of a tree crying during recess, because a boy had called her an ugly nerd. She looked up to see much younger versions of Clover and Alex smiling at her. "Do you want to play with us?" Clover asked. She did. They soon bonded, quickly becoming best friends. The girls stopped treating her so bad, because Clover was the most popular girl in class who they all envied and wanted to be friends with. The boys still picked on her for a time, but when she started to mature that subsided as well. She saw more happy times with Clover and Alex, her parents, and the first time she kissed a boy. The next significant thing that flashed into her mind was a short time that up until recently seemed so distant and foreign. Like a fragile flower that had been buried under a mound of dirt, she had almost completely forgotten about it. When Mandy first arrived at Beverley Hills Elementary, she seemed really shy and uncomfortable. She mostly kept to herself and ate by herself at lunch. However, she was soon befriended by Clover, Alex, and Sam much in the same way Clover and Alex had befriended her. They hung out together during and after school. Mandy still had her annoying voice, but she seemed a lot nicer during those days. She could remember again now how Mandy was very friendly to her in particular. She was always complimenting Sam and hugging her whenever she got the chance. One time she whispered into her ear, "Sammykins, I really like you. You know that?" She was still a bit na‹ve back then, but she could only remember appreciating the attention from her. Mandy and Clover also got along real well. Their interests in fashion, shopping, and other such things were almost identical. Sam thought they had found a new best friend to add to their circle. However, this friendship was cut brutally short only after a few weeks. Clover's then beloved boy-friend, Bobby, had lost interest in Clover and became infatuated with Mandy. Sam could see now that Mandy had little to no interest in him, but Bobby was persistent in pursuing her anyways. Eventually, Clover caught wind of this, and she interpreted it as betrayal by her new friend. Perhaps, it would've blown over and they would've patched things up. However, they got into a shouting match and Clover uttered the words, "You're so nasty, I bet your parents don't even love you." This was just something she said randomly with very little thought or meaning. However, Mandy took it personally, and she could see now how the words deeply affected her. From that point on, the battle lines were drawn. Mandy became very spiteful of Clover, and their ridiculous popularity wars and boy-chasing contests commenced soon after. Sam and Alex sided with Clover, because they were friends with her first for a much longer time. However, Sam now felt regret over that decision to choose sides. She didn't recall Mandy having any real friends after that. She was surrounded by a few girls, but they only seemed to be shallow politicians more drawn to her popularity than anything else. Clover had always been the most popular up to this point, but eventually Mandy managed to surpass her. Clover doubled her efforts and reclaimed her throne. So it went back and forth for years. The friendly girl she could barely remember was gone, and she was replaced by the more infamous version who was bratty, arrogant, self-absorbed, and over-all nasty to Clover and anyone that was near her. Pretty soon, Sam began to despise her almost as much as Clover did. One thing she could see now though was that the odd, far away looks Mandy gave her from time held a different meaning. Her mind kept running though more times and events. She saw when the three of them first became spies under the tutelage of Jerry. She watched her first successful and not so successful missions against villains of the likes of Macker the Safe Cracker and others. Being a spy was hard work but it usually managed to turn out fun at the same time. It strengthened her bond with Clover and Alex, and she felt a great sense of accomplishment from being able to help people. More time passed. She had more fun times with Clover and Alex, went on more missions, and dated more boys. Eventually, it caught up to only a few days ago. She was at Mandy's house to work on their science project but instead they just talked privately for hours. She honestly couldn't remember feeling more intimate with anyone else. Then the moment came when Mandy stole a kiss from her. At that moment, the images in her mind started spinning back into a swirl of colors. Eventually the swirl straightened out, and her blurry vision came back into focus as she re-entered the present. She felt the sensation of her head convulsing, but it shortly subsided. She took her hands off her head, which had placed on the sensible soundproof earmuffs. She must have some how managed to do this subconsciously. It seemed like she was gone for a life-time, but in reality it had only been a few minutes. A metal claw than shot out for her head, but she took her hands, grabbing it at the wrist, and used it to throw Sebastian up over her head and off the platform to the 300 foot drop below. She viewed the boom-box which was still playing. She ejected the CD in it and snapped in half in her hand. She took off the earmuffs. Hearing a buzzing sound moving upwards, she whirled her leg around just as he came up over the edge, kicking the burnt portion of his face. He whirled back, and Sam took this opportunity to dive over the edge and tackle him mid-air. She then landed several punches across both sides of his face. Sebastian retaliated by kneeing her in the stomach. He then chopped both of her shoulders, and kicked her on her way down as she plummeted towards the hard aluminum below. About 200 feet down, she switched on her jet-pack, which halted her free-fall. She flew back up in pursuit of Sebastian. Sebastian landed on one of the thick, steel, bridge cables that ran from the tower, to the suspended steel platform. Sam landed in front of him. Sebastian delivered several blindingly quick kicks hopping down the cable, keeping one leg on it at a time. Sam blocked every one of them, and followed up with her own string of kicks. He blocked each of those with his arm and claw. As Sebastian jabbed his metal claw forward, ducked down and activated her jetpack. She clothes-lined his mid section moving like a bullet, and grabbed him, carrying him into a downwards plunge. She started flying at a curved angle to prepare to drop him onto the dish while diving back up, but he wrapped his claw around her neck and started to squeeze. Sam lost her ability to navigate, and they began spinning out of control. They almost hit the ground, but Sebastian used his human hand to flip off the switch on the back of her jetpack. He then turned on his own and hovered down to stand on the aluminum. He held his claw up in the air still choking Sam. She kicked him hard, but he didn't even flinch and tightened the steel grasp around her trachea even more. Sam tried to kick again but her legs suddenly felt limp as she was ran out air. Trying to pull apart the steel vice with her bare hands was futile too. "I want to see you suffer, just like your girl-friend is suffering right now," he said demonically. She moved her right hand up to the claw again like she was going to struggle to break off the hold, but instead she used her thumb to switch on the laser-lipstick concealed in her hand to its highest setting. The red beam melted through his wrist like a hot knife through butter. She dropped to the ground with the severed claw still wrapped around her neck, while at the same time spraying the laser once over the un-scarred side of Sebastian's face. Sebastian screamed, and put his hand over that side of his face. Sam finally managed to latch the claw off of her neck, and sucked air into her lungs greedily. She was caught off guard when Sebastian's foot flew into her hand, causing the laser-lipstick to sail off into the distance. He removed the hand from his face. Steam rose from the hideous gash of melted flesh. His other eye-ball had melted too, leaving both his eyes as black holes. He started laughing hysterically. "You think that would stop me? That was the dead side!" "Rahhhhhhh!" Sam howled as she swung both her arms around, with the metal claw gripped like a baseball bat. It impacted the side of his face that was burned years ago. His head twisted from the blow, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious. Sam fell to her hands and knees, exhausted from the fight. "Sam, are you ok?" Clover yelled from a distance as she and Alex ran over to her. "I'm fine, but I don't know where Mandy is." Her voice sounded scratchy and panic stricken. "Did you look inside that big golf ball?" Alex asked. Sam saw that Steve's bass was strapped to her chest. "Of course!" She pulled out her X-Powder and opened it up, the timer she set on it read 2 minutes and 6 seconds. "We don't have much time. Clover, I want you to carry Sebastian out of here." She looked at the hideously disfigured man, "Um, Ewwww...." Her expression got more serious. "I'll do it." Sam handed Alex her X-Powder. "Here, Alex, you have to destroy that golf-ball before this reaches zero, whether I come out of it in time or not." "Ok Sammy, just go save Mandy," Alex told her. "Hurry back, Sam," Clover said. Sam didn't respond, not wanting to spend any more time. She turned on her jetpack and soared up into the air and through the hole in the bottom of the Gregorian Dome telescope. She hovered in the center and looked around. She saw her, "Mandy!" Mandy had her eyes closed with her head arched up, because it was the only part of her she could move away from the burning. When she heard that voice, she opened her eyes and saw her floating above her. She still couldn't talk because of the bandana that gagged her, but the tears that poured down from her purple eyes were enough to communicate the message to Sam. "Don't worry, I'm here to rescue you," she said now crying herself. She hovered down to the tertiary sub-reflector. When she touched it, she pulled her hand back. It felt like the inside wall of an oven. "Oh my god!" Sam pulled off the dolphin shaped boomerang buzzsaw barrette from her hair and flicked out the blade. She then furiously slashed at the ropes that bound her to the disc, and they all severed with one swipe each. Mandy still couldn't move anything other than her arms. Sam scooped her off the hot metal, not caring how it burned herself, and held her in her arms. "Mandy. We're going to jump through that hole and I'm going to fly you safety. Hold on tight, ok?" Mandy wrapped her arms around Sam's right shoulder tightly and laid her head down against her left. She jumped down through the hole. After a short drop, the flame shot out of her backpack, sending them up into the sky. Alex saw them escape to safety from her position in the air. She didn't hesitate in running her fingers sloppily up and down the strings of the bass. The dark, think energy thundered out of it and collided with the triangular platform, tearing the metal apart. The Gregorian Dome fell to the center of the dish and smashed like an egg. Alex kept pounding the debris for good measure, and the aluminum was ripped apart as it was blown into the underlying sinkhole. Two of the concrete towers suddenly crumbled, and huge chunks of rock fell on top of the mass of twisted metal, leaving it a scene of utter destruction. Sam landed some distance away in what had been a parking lot for scientists and engineers. She laid Mandy down and continued untying the ropes that bound her. Finally, she unknotted the bandana. "Sammy, I thought I'd never see you again!" She yelled as she jumped into her arms. She latched onto her and sobbed deeply and loudly into her shoulder. "It's ok Mandy. And I promise you it's going to be ok from now on. I don't care what anyone else thinks about you. I don't care how you act sometimes, because I love you." Mandy looked up, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Do you really mean it?" She never expected to hear those words from her lips. "Absolutely." Sam dove in with her lips in and kissed her passionately. Mandy reciprocated, and they shared each other's saliva and salty tears. Clover and Alex approached from behind. "Sam thank god you're ok! I tied up Sebas... Wha..... Wha.. Wha. Wha." Clover's eyes rolled back in her head, and she slumped to the ground. Sam and Mandy pulled their lips apart and looked at the blonde on the ground. The look on her face was one of utter bewilderment. Alex kneeled down and placed two fingers on her neck. "It's ok. She's not dead, only unconscious." "Well, I guess you know now. You think you'll be ok with it?" Sam asked Alex with nervous anticipation. "Sam you're my best-friend. Nothing's ever going to change that. And I just want you to be happy. If you love Mandy, that's fine with me." She looked down at the incapacitated blonde. "... and I'll make sure Clover gets used to it too." Sam ran up and hugged her. "Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me." "Oh Alex, I can't believe I was ever mean to you," Mandy said. "It's ok Mandy. I forgive you. Friends?" Mandy extended her hand, "Friends." However, Alex walked right past her hand wrapped her up in a warm hug instead. Mandy accepted it and hugged her back. "I just have one question." "Yes?" Sam asked. "Why are you all dressed up like total weirdoes?" "Mandy, I'm sorry. I haven't been telling you the whole truth about me. I, Alex, and Clover are international spies for WOOHP, the World Organization of Human Protection. We fight people like the man who kidnapped you to keep the world safe." "Spies huh? Is that why you can fly? Are you sure you're not an angel?" Alex snickered. "No, Mandy, I can fly because of my jetpack backpack. I'm not an angel," Sam explained. "Well, I still don't believe you." That moment the girls' hair was blown back, as several Chinook style helicopters landed on the parking lot. Jerry walked out of one of them, followed by several buff men in black-suits and sunglasses. "I have to congratulate you girls on a great job. You've made me proud today. And I think after this mission, you all deserve an extended vacation. It's the least you deserve for saving the world." "All in a day's work, Jerry," Sam said showing off a bit in front of Mandy. "Excuse me, but what's wrong with Clover? Is she injured?" "Um, she's just taking a nap. It was a long day for her," Alex explained. Sam took Mandy's arm and walked her up to Jerry, "Jerry, I'd like you to meet my girl-friend Mandy. Mandy this is my boss, Jerry." They shook hands. "Very pleased to meet your acquaintance, although I'm sorry I can't say it's the first time," he said in a congenial tone. "Um... Hi." Sam then grasped Mandy's hand and led her towards the med-copter. "What was that creepy, old, butler guy talking about? I've never seen him before in my life." "It's a long story. I'll tell you about that and everything else, but we need to get you fixed up first." "I don't look bad do I?" To most people she probably never looked worse. "You look beautiful, Mandy." In the chopper, they returned to the passenger area after about two hours. It had taken that long to treat all their wounds. Mandy's extensive burns took the lion's share of the time. "Hey you two," Alex said glad to see them. "Hi Alethh.." The dose of morphine Mandy had taken was beginning to take effect. Barely being able to stand, she latched onto Sam's side as Sam helped her walk. Sam led her to a chair and helped her sit down. "It stings! It stings!" She jumped back into Sam's arms. Sam gave her a short kiss and then led her to a couch. "Here, sit on you stomach, hon." She laid down. "Guess I'm going to be doing this for a while." Sam sat down next to her and motioned for her to lay her head down in her lap. Mandy gladly nuzzled her cheek down on her thigh. "Well, it won't be so bad. I'll be the one nursing you back to health," she said as she began to run her fingers through her silky, black strands. "Oooh, I can't wait," she said dreamily. They were quiet for a few minutes before Mandy spoke again. "Sammykins?" "Yes, Mandy?" "I love you." "I know you do, sweetie. And I love you too." Mandy smiled and at that moment she started snoring, which for her was a combination of snorting and whiney sounding whimpering. "Oh my god!" Alex then lowered her voice so she didn't wake up Mandy. "We have to go back." Sam stopped staring at Mandy, and looked at Alex concerned. "Why? We stopped Sebastian didn't we," she whispered. "No, not that. We forgot Clover." And there Clover laid, abandoned in a parking lot in the middle of a jungle, comatose with a dumbfounded expression on her face, as hot air blew by and rustled her hair. The End Author's notes: Thanks for reading. Also thanks to Psychedelic Leviathan because I ripped off dialogue for this chapter hard from his story "California Dreamin." He also let me use the name Delaroyale from his fics.
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