Kidnappers Incorporated

The Escape

While Clover was busy admitting some truths to her sister in the prison suite, Sam and Alex were at that moment busy tunnelling their way underneath the Ransom estate, hopefully in the direction towards the cellar of the manor house where the security would not be so tight. It was fortunate that WOOHP had been able to find the old schematics and building plans for the place as it made navigation a whole lot easier.

"Ew, gross!" complained Alex as she pulled another worm out of her hair. "Sammy, please tell me that we're almost there. All this dirt is leaving grotty stains on my uni!"

"Just starting to tunnel up now, Alex," said Sam as she carefully moved the drill protruding from her boot to start forming an upward curve in the tunnel.

It took a few more tantalising minutes of drilling and climbing, but at last they managed to break through the floorboards into a darkened and somewhat musty-smelling room. Activating their Headband Illuminators, the girls found they had arrived bang on target, right in the middle of the wine cellar.

"Boy, it sure is dingy in here," remarked Sam as she ran her hand through some of the thick cobwebs. "Why are cellars always so dark and mucky?"

As they looked around a bit more, Alex noticed a short flight of steps leading upwards to a wooden door. "Hey, look over there. I guess that's the way into the main house. I sure hope we'll find Clover up there."

******

"So, let me get this absolutely straight," said Daphne slowly, struggling to take in what Clover had just admitted to her. "You and your best friends are secret crime-fighting agents, like in 'James Bond' and 'Charlie's Angels'? Far out! Just how long has this been going on?"

"Well, since Alex, Sam and I first met and started at Bev High actually," confessed Clover as she worked to get the Incendiary Earrings in place about the vault door while avoiding her sister's fiery glare.

"Is this all for real?! Clove, how can you keep something as huge and important as this from me? Don't you trust your own sister?" retorted Daphne, still not believing that this was all really happening.

"Of course, I do!" answered Clover defensively. "It's just... I didn't want you to worry or be put in any danger as a result."

"Well, I can't deny that my feelings aren't like majorly hurt," huffed Daphne crossly. "You're just lucky that Mum hasn't heard anything about this. She'd give you a right earful about what you've been getting up to."

"Um, well actually, heh, now that you mention it..." began Clover awkwardly.

Clover's sister looked like she was on the verge of exploding. "WHAT!? Mum knew?! All this time she knew and didn't bother to tell me?!"

"Well, not the entire time," said Clover hurriedly. "Just the... last couple of years."

Daphne was really fuming now. "Do you mean to tell me that after all the long, gruelling lectures she used to give me about honesty and responsibility, she's now taken to keeping secrets from her own kids?! The old hypocrite! I cannot believe her nerve! Just wait till I get my hands on her! Oh, she is gonna be so busted when I get out of here!"

"Look Daph, I know you're totally steamed up and all, but could we possibly save this conversation for another time, like when we're not being held captive by super-crazed criminals?" suggested Clover delicately as she finished getting the Incendiary Earrings in position.

"Fine," conceded Daphne grudgingly, "but as soon as we're out of here, you and I need to have a real long talk about all this."

With a weary sigh, Clover set the detonation timer on the earrings, before dragging a still infuriated Daphne behind the sofa for cover. A few seconds later, there was a terrific explosion and the tough, resilient vault door fell off its hinges and crashed to the floor with a loud metallic thud that echoed around the place.

"Wow, now that's what I call an explosive fashion accessory," breathed Daphne as she and Clover made their way through the smoke-filled doorway. As they stepped out of the room, they found themselves in a rather elegant corridor, like the sort one would expect to see in an English palace, complete with large family portraits and old medieval suits of armour on display. Carefully and quietly, the two sisters began to move along the hallway, keeping their eyes peeled for any potential exits to the building.

"Oh, I don't know about you, but this place gives me the creeps," whispered Daphne as she looked uneasily at the portrait of a rather mean-looking man with a bald head and a well-trimmed black goatee. He was dressed in an all-black Elizabethan outfit and held a really sharp sword, which was stained with something that Daphne was pretty sure was not ketchup. According to the plaque on the portrait, the man's name was 'Duke Thomas Ransom' and he did not seem a pleasant guy to know at all.

"I sure hope the current occupant of this house isn't anything like that guy," Daphne nervously muttered under her breath.

"Shh!" whispered Clover urgently before pointing to a turning in the corridor just ahead. She could hear heavy, fast-moving footsteps around the corner heading their way.

"Gotta be the kidnappers," realised Clover. "We need to hide, and fast!"

A few seconds later, Jarvis and Perkins came around the corner and moved urgently towards the prison suite, having been alerted to the jailbreak by the loud explosion that had rocked the entire house a minute ago. As they went hastily on, Jarvis suddenly noticed that something was amiss in the corridor.

"Perkins, I don't recall seeing these two suits of armour in this part of the manor before." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he regarded the two slightly short medieval knights that stood on display before him with perplexity.

"Must be a new delivery for his Lordship's collection," suggested Perkins. "They probably arrived while we were out earlier."

"Yes, that must be it. Well, come on Perkins, chop-chop!" We can't let the fashion celebrity and her little sister escape now, can we?"

The two butlers resumed their frantic dash to the suite, but no sooner had they gone, one of the knights turned its head to make sure they were gone, before moving its arm to raise its helmet's visor.

"It's okay, Daph. They're gone for the moment," breathed Clover in relief.

Daphne put up her own metal visor and looked down the corridor in disbelief. "I can't believe we actually got away with that! How in the world did you manage to conjure up these metal suits in the first place?"

"Instant outfit function," explained Clover as she held out the compowder for her sister to see. "It can instantaneously transform the clothes you're wearing to any disguise you care to choose."

"That is like so awesome!" exclaimed Daphne. "I could do with something like that for the fashion show. It would like save so much time getting changed behind stage!"

"Sorry Daph, but Jerry would blow his top if any of his spy gadgets were used for personal use like that," answered Clover before adding with a smirk, "though he wouldn't necessarily have to find out, you know."

They began to resume their search for the exit to the madhouse they were in, keeping the armoured suits on in case they needed to blend in again. Daphne looked back behind them, hoping that the two butlers would not head back their way when they realised that the girls had indeed escaped.