Voyage To The Centre Of The Spy

The Trouble With Mandy

It was another gloriously sunny day at Mali-U and most of the students were out enjoying the sunshine. At present, Sam, Clover and Alex were happily taking a walk along the beach back to the Mali-U dorm, after having spent a few hours earlier working out at the Spa/Gym facility. The three girls had all fully recovered from the various injuries they had sustained a few weeks ago and they were now currently spending their time getting back into shape for their spy missions.

"Boy, I sure needed that workout," remarked Alex. "I was worried that I was going to be way out of shape after being stuck in that wheelchair for all those weeks."

"And I'm glad that all those nasty bandages are no longer wrapped around my head," added Clover. "It sure is good to have the coif back out again."

"Speaking of hairdos, I see you've decided to keep your new perm look, Alex," remarked Sam on the new hairstyle that Alex had acquired for herself while the girls had been on sick leave.

"Well, it's kinda proved more popular than I thought it would," answered Alex as she ran a finger through one of her wavy locks, "and I quite like my new curls, so I thought I'd just keep my hair styled like this for a while, maybe even let it grow a bit longer. Hey, maybe you guys might like to try out a new hairdo too."

"Nah, I'm happy with my coif styled the way it always has been, thanks very much," said Clover.

The girls continued chatting away till they reached the dorm entrance, where they suddenly became aware of loud voices bellowing from inside.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion in there?" asked Clover.

The girls walked into the reception area where a large crowd of their fellow students had gathered to watch a shouting match taking place between Tara Robson, one of the girls' fellow classmates, and Mandy, queen of the spoiled brats. Tara was an attractive girl, with tanned skin and long dark brown hair, and dressed in a pink top with a purple-and-white striped skirt and a purple beret perched on her head. Normally she was one of the cheeriest students on campus, but right now she was seething with anger.

"Come on, Mandy, admit it!" yelled Tara. "You bribed those judges and you know it! Matt overheard that intern of yours on the phone, saying that he'll be making the final payment to them this week!"

"Oh puh-lease! That's no real proof," leered Mandy mockingly. "Those judges picked me as the winner because I'm the most talented singer in Malibu. Certainly far more talented than a pathetic wannabe like you!"

"Most talented singer? Just what is going on here?" asked Sam, raising an eyebrow.

Tom West, another of the dorm's residents, turned to answer. "It's about the annual Malibu singing contest held last week. Tara here had signed up for the competition as had Mandy."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing all the posters for that," said Clover. "We ended up having to miss it cause we had to be at the infirmary that day to have our leg casts removed."

"Yeah, well Tara had given a stunning performance of 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin, and by all rights, she should have been the winner. But for some reason, the judges voted for Mandy, who was nowhere near as good a singer as Tara."

"Let me guess," said Alex wearily. "It now looks as though Mandy had cheated. Again."

Tom nodded. "Matt overheard Trent talking to the judges on the phone, saying that Mandy would make the final payment to their bank accounts later this week. Tara was really steamed up when she heard the news and she's now trying to get Mandy to confess. The trouble is that there's no real proof that Mandy had bribed the judges at all."

As Tom finished the explanations, the argument had come to an end.

"Face it, loser! You'll never amount to anything, unlike moi! And if you continue with these wild accusations, you'll end up hearing from my lawyer. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for some upcoming tv interviews," said Mandy with a smirk, before she went off to spruce herself up. Tara slumped her shoulders dejectedly and sadly walked off to her room with a small tear in her eye.

"Honestly, you'd think someone would have done something by now to put Mandy in her place," said Donna Walker angrily, as she ran off to comfort Tara.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement. Over the last couple of years, the various members of the dorm had formed a very low opinion of Mandy, due to the various low-handed tricks she had played on them. The first big incident was when Mandy and her cousin Mindy had tried to frame Sam, Clover and Alex for messing up the dorm, in order to seize the girls' penthouse for themselves. Needless to say, when the truth came out, the other students were furious with Mandy and Mindy, and everyone in the dorm had to be extremely apologetic to the three girls for the way they had been treated. The second incident was when Mandy rigged the dorm's Secret Santa event so that she would get most of the presents, leaving everyone else diddled. And now, Mandy had seemingly cheated at the singing contest which Tara should have rightfully won. There was a silent agreement among everyone in the dorm that enough was enough.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of Mandy and all her cheating," grumbled Clover as she and her two friends made their way to the front door of their penthouse. "It really chaps my hide the way she treats everyone else like dirt!"

"Totes!" agreed Alex. "But what can we do about it? Mandy and Trent will deny everything and say that Tara is just making wild stories."

"I'm sure we'll think of something," said Sam. "For now, let's just... Whoooaaaaa!"

Before the conversation could progress any further, a hatchway suddenly opened in the wall next to the girls, producing a powerful vacuum which abruptly sucked them in and deposited them on the familiar chute leading to WOOHP headquarters. Expecting to land on the office sofa as usual, the spies were surprised to find themselves on top of a large inflatable cushion instead.

"Wow Jerry. It's been a while since you had this cushion out," said Alex appreciatively, remembering how Jerry had the cushion briefly installed before their trip to WOOHP's Paris branch a couple of years ago.

"Afternoon superspies," said Jerry cheerily from his desk. "I wasn't sure if you three were still feeling a bit sore after the last few weeks, so I thought you might appreciate a softer landing this time round."

"Thanks, Jerr," smiled Sam, "though we are feeling much better now after the workouts we've been having the last week."

"Yeah, Jerry," said Clover ecstatically. "We're totally ready for whatever mission you're about to send our way."

"I hope so girls," said Jerry a little more seriously, "because I'm afraid you're going to be in for a bit of double trouble. You see, Dr Vomesa and Diminutive Smalls are on the loose."

"Uh oh, I don't like the sound of that," said Alex gravely.

"But Jerry, I thought you said they were both recaptured after the breakout last month," pointed out Sam.

"That's what we thought too," replied Jerry. "Unfortunately, it transpires that the captured man we thought was Vomesa was one of his henchmen in disguise and the apprehended 'Diminutive Smalls' was in actuality one of his siblings wearing a rubber mask. As soon as we realised the deception, I had agent Jim Band get back on their trail, but I fear he may have gotten into some danger. About twenty minutes ago, we received a distress signal from him in the area of the New York dockyards and have been unable to get back in touch with him since then."

"So let me guess. You want us to go in there and rescue him?" asked Clover.

"Indeed. Now for this rescue mission, you'll be supplied with Lip Balm Smoke Bombs; M-ray Contact Lenses; Titanium Drill Heel Boots; the Chameleon Eye Shadow; and the Net Throwing Extendable Rod Mascara. Now remember superspies, Vomesa and Smalls may well have some formidable henchmen with them, so please take extra care."

"No sweat, Jerr. We'll be careful," said Sam sincerely before turning to her teammates. "Okay girls. Time to get back into action!"