"So how'd it go last night, Sam?" Clover asked teasingly. "Um, what are you talking, Clover?" Sam said startled. "Don't play dumb with me. I know you two snuck out last night." "What... you know?" Sam asked stunned. "Of course we know, Sam, you couldn't have made it any more obvious. So did you kiss?" Alex asked excitedly. "Yeah, I want to know all the juicy details. Spill it all for us." "Uhhhhhhhhhh..... I really don't know what you're talking about," Sam said strategically deciding to still dodge the issue. "Jeze, what's with you lately?" Clover said getting sick of her evasiveness. "You've been acting so strange, Sam. You can't even tell your best friends in the world about your boyfriends anymore." "Oh, boy... friend." She made a fake sounding laugh. "Yes, we, um, had a good time." Actually, Sam was a bit disappointed with Clover's comment. She wished breaking it to them would've been that easy. They didn't seem upset. "What did you two do?" "He took me dancing." "Awwww, how nice," Alex remarked. "I wish Chad would take me dancing," Clover said jealously. "So who is this mystery hottie of yours and when do we get to meet him?" "His name is, Man...uel, yes Manuel, that's his name all right. He lives very, very, very far away. Like almost to Malibu. When he's not at school, he works almost all day, so I don't know if you'll be able to see him much." "Wow, Sam. If that's true, than how did you two meet?" *bring!* "Not again!" Clover and Alex both yelled as they scurried to get to their class. Sam didn't follow them immediately. She looked around the hall way as it emptied out of familiar faces. However, she couldn't see Mandy's anywhere. It was very un-characteristic of her not to come and verbally trash them a few seconds before Science class. Sam had been looking very forward to just seeing her again, even if it was still under the pretense of a high-school rivalry. She finally walked through the door into Science class. Her elderly teacher was scowling at her as she walked in. "Samantha, Clover, Alexandria, I've been permissive of your tardiness of late, but I'm sorry it has gone on long enough. I'm writing you all up." "Ohhhhh," Clover and Alex whined. Sam just sat down and took out her note-book. She looked over at Mandy's seat. It was empty. She couldn't help but feel worried. Despite her previous notions of Mandy, her attendance record had been pretty near spotless. She seemed like she was in perfect health last night, so where was she? The lecture started and the teacher started rambling on about some dull topic. Sam tried to taking notes, but her mind began wandering again to Mandy, the things she had told her, and how much her feelings towards her had changed in the past few days. Right in the middle of class, the loud speaker sounded off, "Would Sam, Clover, and Alex please report to the principal's office. This is regarding your recent tardies." All three shuffled their way out of the room and back into the hall way. "Great this is all I need, a detention," Clover complained. "Tell me about it," Alex agreed. "Hey you guys haven't seen Mandy today have you?" Sam asked. "No, I haven't seen her, Sam. I noticed she wasn't in gym today either. Maybe she's sick." "I hope it's the plague," Clover sneered. Alex snickered. Sam just ignored them. Something just occurred to Alex, "Hey if we just got our last tardies, than how come we're being called to the office before Mr. Lazarus could send them up?" "Oh no, not again!" All three girls screamed as a twister of water spun out of a nearby, abandoned janitor's mop bucket. The cyclone spun over and engulfed all of them into the twisting, soapy water. Incomprehensibly, they were now somehow falling down a metal corridor. "How do we fall for this everytiiiiiiiiiime?" Sam screamed as she fell. "My designer original, it's ruined!" Clover shrieked while crying. All three of then lumped into a big wet, soaped up pile on Jerry's couch and a short water-fall followed them. They unraveled their selves from this provocative entanglement and sat down properly. A giant blow-dryer attached to a metal arm dropped from the ceiling and blew them dry with much force. All three girls then pulled out mirrors and brushes and attempted to fix their hair, after it had almost been blown off their heads. "Jerry, WOOHP's going to have pay for my dress and my hair!" Clover griped. "That can be arranged," Jerry said sipping his glass of tea. There was a kettle of it on his desk. "I'm guessing you didn't invite us here for tea-time, Jerry," Sam queried conversationally. "As much as I wish that were the case, sadly something else has come up." The screen behind him switched on, there was a silver box displaying the words "Please stay tuned shortly for an announcement regarding your impending doom." "For the past several minutes all the tv and internet signals on the planet have been jammed with this image... Jerry shut up when the image switched to a video feed of Sebastian. He was sitting on a red, cushioned chair in front of a fake-looking fire place. Sitting in his lap were a large pair of garden shears. "Good evening planet Earth, or should I also say good morning to some of you. Please forgive me for not having subtitles available in three-thousand or so foreign languages, but you can manage. I'm here to tell you a story, a story about a child. This child's birth name is irrelevant, so we will simply call him Sebastian. Sebastian was a child who once had a dream. That dream was to grow up to be the best lead guitarist in the world and create the greatest music rock and roll had ever heard. Growing up as a poor orphan Sebastian had little chance of achieving that dream since he had no money buy me a guitar. However, he averted this dilemma by pick-pocketing enough money to buy his first guitar. He still couldn't afford lessons, mind you, but over a series of years he painstakingly taught himself how to play. He kept improving his skills through out his youth, until he started reaching his full potential as a guitarist. His band played at small clubs and shows, and he began to reap the benefits of his hard work though the roar of the audience, critical acclaim from local journalists, and a measly, cash reward. Then one day after a performance, he was confronted by a man claiming to be an A and R for a major record label. He told Sebastian that he could be a millionaire, have more women than he could handle, and would get his music to millions of people across the world. While the two former promises were intriguing to his young mind, the later was the one he had always hoped for. He was signed and in their studios he began work on what he wanted to be the greatest album in rock history. Upon completing it, everyone who listened to the album agreed it was the best one they had ever heard. A single was chosen, and soon his band was put on the road to help promote the up-coming album. His label decided to better market his band, it needed more spectacle. So, elaborate costumes, stages, and pyrotechnics were added to his live show. Sebastian argued that his music would be enough, but since they were the ones who had the final say, he begrudgingly agreed. Apparently, they did not spend enough money on the pyro, because it malfunctioned during one of his first shows, and the young guitarist was sprayed with fire." Sebastian raised his metal claw in front of him. His voice now fuming with anger, he continued, "It destroyed my hand! I would never be able to play the guitar again. It also left my face like this!" He then took the pair of garden sheers with his human hand and placed one blade behind the long, silver hair that draped over one half of his face. He took his claw and pressed the handles together, causing the blades to clip across the hair. The silver hair fell to the ground, and the hidden side of his face was revealed. It was hideously scarred beyond recognition due to burns and a deep, dark hole existed where once an eye had been. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" All three girls screamed at this ghastly sight. Alex instinctively jumped into Sam's arms for protection. "I have kept one half of my face hidden from the world until today. I may have sued for compensation, but foolishly I had signed a contract that freed my label from having any liability for stage-related accidents. Once half my body was disfigured beyond recognition as being human, I was deemed to no longer be marketable in any capacity and was dropped. My master work was never released, and I had no ability to do so since I had also foolishly signed away the rights to my masters in the very same contract. Thankfully, I had made a few contacts during my short stay at the label, so after I grew back enough hair to hide my scars, I was able to re-invent myself as a producer. I thought since I would never be able to fulfill my dream to have the world listen to my music, perhaps I could help other artists do so. However, I quickly found my hard work was again being under-mined by music industry higher-ups who preferred substanceless glop aimed at a cross-over radio audience compared to real music crafted from skill, creativity, and passion. I begrudgingly went along with this commandment from the glass ceiling to make that kind of noise, but at the same time I had been experimenting with subliminal sound patterns that I learned could induce listeners to do things other than nod their heads. Soon I found I could implant this into the worthless records I was making and use them to control people. You may think the ones I should exact my revenge on would be the music industry swine who destroyed my life, my dream, and my humanity. While they are guilty, it became obvious to me they only existed because the mass public devoured whatever trash they put out like the mindless sheep you are. Without all of you, the corrupt music industry wouldn't exist. You are just as guilty for making me this way, as they are. For a while I was content with using your un-ending appetite for garbage to control you, but I've recently realized what I really wanted to do all along was to kill you all. However, this time you will actually being hearing good music, since for the first time ever my debut album will be released to all of you absolutely free of cost. Well, in the monetary sense at least. I assure you, this will be the most expensive album you've ever bought." He finally stopped his tirade for a moment and looked more directly into the camera, "And this is a message to the three, young spy girls who I know are watching. I have kidnapped your lesbian lover." At that moment, the tea Jerry was drinking exploded from his mouth and sprayed against the screen. As the liquid slid down the screen, the camera panned over to Mandy who was still bound with ropes to her chair. Her right eye was black and swollen, and the right half of her face was badly bruised from the impact of Sebastian's claw. Her mouth was still gagged with the bandana. When she realized the camera was on her, she started making high pitched, muffled sounds frantically. "Mandy!" Sam cried out. Alex looked up at her friend's face and saw a look of deepest concern. Alex sometimes acted air-headed, but she was smart enough to put two and two together to realize who Sam's recent, secret love really was. The camera panned back over to Sebastian, "Cute thing, isn't she? If you want to see her alive again, you best hurry. She will be the first to die. And as for the rest of you, please stay tuned, because I know you will." The signal ended. Unlike Alex, Clover was still completely oblivious, "Great. Now he's not only crazy, but now he's a crazy perv. And why does he have to kid-nap Mandy? You think he could find someone who actually belongs on the streets." Sam just ignored her. Alex looked back up at her. Sam took her hand and wiped away the tears from her eyes. She couldn't stand to see Mandy like that. On top of that, she felt responsible. No doubt, she was Sebastian's real target, and Mandy only got put in harm's way because of her. Alex watched as her face then turned to one of cold, determined seriousness. Sam knew she couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice. She had to handle this mission with her mind and her spy training. As much as seeing Mandy in that condition had pained her, she would have to control her emotions or she would be playing right into Sebastian's hand and wouldn't be able to save Mandy or anyone else. "Jerry, were you able to trace the signal?" Sam asked him. Jerry was distracted for a moment as he stared at Sam with Alex on her lap, before he cleared his throat. Alex got off and sat back down in her previous spot. "Unfortunately, no. It appears the signal he used to transmit the broadcast was as untraceable as the one he used in those CDs you sent me earlier." "Could you replay the video?" "Certainly." He worked at his computer for a second, and Sebastian's broadcast started playing again. "Fast-forward to the part right before the end, where he moved the camera and pause it." He did just that and it was now fixed on still image of the battered Mandy in bondage. "Close in on the far right there." The screen panned in on a table in the background, and there was a small, potted cactus on top of it. "Keen observation Sam," Jerry said as he worked at his computer. "According to WOOHP's database, that is a Leptocereus Quadricostatus. A breed of cacti better known as the Pitahaya. It's native only to Puerto Rico." Sam thought for a moment. "Maybe Sebastian has taken over the Arecibo Observatory and re-configured it so he can disrupt the signals of satellites orbiting earth." "Whoa, whoa, wait up, you lost me," Alex said. "The Arecibo Observatory is located in Puerto Rico. It's the largest satellite dish and radio-telescope in the world. Astronomers use it to study objects in space," Sam explained to her. "Interesting theory, Sam. I'm going to have to agree with your deduction and..." Jerry's com-wallet went off. "Excuse me for a moment." He put it next to his head. "Yes... Yes... Oh my... Send the other the other victims to the infirmary immediately." He snapped his wallet closed, put it back in his pocket, and looked at his computer monitor for a few moments with serious expression on his face. "Girls, I'm going to show you a surveillance video. This is of one of the victims of Sebastian's CDs you investigated the other day. We had placed him in an isolation room for observation." The giant screen than changed to the view from a camera placed on the wall of a white room. It was the first man they had investigated when this mission began. He was still screaming to himself, "What! What! What! What!" Then his whats became more frequent, with him screaming faster and faster. "What! What! What! Wha! Wha! WhaWhaWhaWhaWhWhWhWhWhWh!" His head started vibrating rapidly and Jerry pressed a button to pause the image. "To save you from the grisly imagery, I'll just say he lost his head." "Ewww gross!" All three girls said. "Since time is of the essence, I'm going to assume the gadgets you already have will be sufficient. You'll also being flying to Puerto Rico via cruise missile." "Wow, nostalgia trip, Jerr," Clover said with little enthusiasm. "But I don't want to take this nostalgia trip!" Alex whined. "You have no choice. Good luck and be careful ladies, the world is counting on you." "Ahhhhh!" They were all sucked into a compartment that opened in the wall. A computer voice started counting off, "5, 4, 3, 2" They started scurrying around frantically. Alex yelled, "Hey, where are the seat-belts?" "1, 0" "Jerry, you gotta be kidding!" Clover yelled. "Blast-off." "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" All three screamed and were pushed into the floor, as the rocket launched into the atmosphere. To Be Continued
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