Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

Welcoming

Dboy69420 gave me another shift.

That █████ isn't ever going to stop annoying me, isn't he?

Anyway, onto the story. 

So we climbed down the staircase. Cly tried to trip me halfway there, I dodged the motion and tripped him. When he fell, he hit James. James, who had much more body control than all of us, managed to steady himself and grab hold of Cly while giving me a dirty look. I smiled as innocently as I could and kept walking.

Y'know, the typical.

When we reached the bottom, there were already three current residents waiting for us: Trixie, Kylie, and Ben. All of them had perplexed looks on their faces, especially when they saw the two strangers.

Trixie's face when from perplexed to relieved when she saw me, perfectly intact and alive. Pushing through James and Cly, she tackled me into a hug, throwing us two onto the floor.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed, studying my red face. 

"Yes," I said pointedly. "You didn't have to hug me, though."

"I thought you died from Erica's tortur- hold up. Did she even torture you in the first place?" After taking a quick look at my body and not detecting any internal or external organs removed, she nodded, confirming her own theory.

"In that case," she said. "You were right. There was no need for a hug. But since there was no need, that means you owe me one now!"

I rolled my eyes and exited Trixie's grip, eventually making my way to Cly's side.

"Is this your girlfriend?" he said. 

"That depends," Trixie interjected before I could say anything. "Are you aware of the fact that we aren't normal American citizens?"

"Yes, I know. You're all spies working for the CIA," Cly said.

"Then we're not a couple. But, theoretically, if you didn't know about this spying, then our natural cover would to be pretending to be together-"

"-which was Trixie's decision, not mine." I finished.

Trixie winked at me. "Who are these two people anyways?"

"I'm James, Jonas's brother," James said, holding out his hand. Trixie smiled her usual affectionate smile and deftly shook it with a strong grip.

"Who's Jonas?" Trixie asked after he let go.

"That's a conversation for later," James said. "Let's have Erica tell Trixie that, since if I explain it I'll most likely get put into a chokehold again-" he glared pointedly at Erica. "-which was most definitely not necessary."

"Sorry," Erica said, shrugging. "It was an instinct."

Yeah, Erica was the only sixteen-year-old with an instinct to choke people during moments of duress. Strange right?

"And I'm Clyde," Cly said. "But you can call me Cly, like these people over here do."

"You look familiar to me," Trixie said, shaking his hand the same way she did with James. "I think I remember you from when I was younger- weren't you Erica's pretend Spy Sidekick?"

"Yep," Cly admitted, face turning red. "That was when we were younger. I've matured by now, trust me."

Trixie looked like she wanted to hug him, seeing he was probably also a childhood friend of hers, but she resisted the urge. Really? Only I get the hugs? Why!?

Ben looked around at the two strangers and seemed to study them.

"I don't detect anything sinister," he noted, shaking both of their hands and nodding in approval.

"And they don't have any type of external poisoning on their hands, so feel free to shake them," Kylie said. "Though I did bring this-" she took out a hidden shotgun from her back. "-just in case things got ugly."

Erica, who was looking like she wanted just to go take a shower, looked the most relieved to see Ben, of course. Along with her wanting to choke people, that was also an instinct to be noted about.

"Wait!" I said, a sudden thought striking my mind. "We didn't get the evidence from the theater about SPYDER's plan! We did all of that for nothing!?"

"You what?" Trixie and Kylie echoed at the same time. 

"Theater?" Kylie said.

"SPYDER's evidence?" Trixie followed.

"Long story," Erica threw out, taking out yet another thing from her pocket. I swear, those things were bottomless holes.

"I have the evidence right here," Erica said, holding up a tiny flashing device and showing it off to us. "I grabbed it in the midst of the chaos during when the lights turned off. Thanks, Cly."

Cly grinned. "Just like the old days. I create the distraction, you do the dirty work. Team Ericlyde for the win!"

I swear Erica gave the slightest hint of a grin from the corner of her lips, but I wasn't sure. Cly must've been lucky to be Erica's childhood friend. I don't know how many essentials he learned from her during his young years, but it must've been a ton.