Chapter 19: Back to Square One
Astrid
I stood there frozen in either shock or fear, or maybe a combination of both. We had completed our mission and found Headmistress, but also found our evil maniac/ attempted homicidal villain. If that is not the utter worst mission failure in the history of mission failures, a city better have been blown up.
She lifted her left hand, cocked the gun and pointed it at Richie's forehead. "Say cheese!" she yelled joyously. We all knew there was no way to dodge this, it was less than a foot in front of him and traveled, well, at the speed of a bullet. Needless to say, you don't need to be the smartest teenager in the world to know when your best friend is about to die. I should've done something, shot, thrown my gun, something! But I couldn't bring myself to it. It was all too overwhelming; the shock, Richie in peril, our utterly failed mission, something definitely wasn't right here.
"Richie!" we yelled simultaneously.
I heard the click of the trigger, Richie closed his eyes, and prepared to die. Of course, the most angering, anti-climatic, stupidly cinematic possibility occurs. It a toy gun the shoots out and flag with the words "kaboom" on the side and some confetti. The Jester began to laugh hysterically, throwing her head back and she slowly walked closer and closer. The Big Top must've had a really bad echo because it sounded like several other voices were laughing with her, all at different octaves.
Richie backed up into Mitchell, Zach and me as we formed a line in front of the entrance.
Mitchell was silent with shock. I was more surprised by the fact Headmistress was wearing a clown costume than that our old mentor was, in reality, our worst enemy.
I can't even describe my feelings, whether its shock, heart-broken, or disbelief, something was seriously wrong. There is no possible way Headmistress could be the Jester! Why would she create the Spy Squad if she was going to get rid of us anyways?
We stood bunched together, Mitchell stone-faced as always, Zach shivering from shock or under the weight of his massive gun, and Richie, nearly expressionless. However, I know how to read people, especially a person like Richie. He wasn't shocked, terrified, or depressed; he was thinking. That brilliant idiot was trying to think of a way out of this and all he needed was something we didn't have: time. Luckily, its Astrid we are talking about. This is the girl who's held up banks by talking a guard into letting her inside the vault. For once, my gift of gab would be a benefit to my team.
"What exactly do you plan to do with us, Headmistress?" I asked. Hopefully Richie's big brain could think fast because I'm fairly close to shooting this gun and making a run for it.
"First of all," she answered. "It's Jester, not Headmistress. Don't focus on the past, sweetie." Second of all, that's for me to know and for you to find out. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you if that's what you're thinking. You guys will meet some new friends, though. See, after spending a few years at the Academy, I've constructed a list of possible candidates for my experiments. In fact, you four were some of the first along with that idiotic bodybuilder and that insufferable mechanic. All of you are very special, intelligence, strength, creativity, and beauty: all the things a human being values. My experiments won't kill you, but they will be very, very painful." She said with a very ominous smirk. I looked my partners now determined faces. We all were trying to formulate plans, something that could allow us to sneak back outside to the jet. I could tell by everyone's expression, we mental knew what we had to do: Zach was searching for an escape path, Mitchell looking for any weaknesses, Richie trying to figure what tools we had at our disposal, and I get to do what I do best; talk and distract.
"Now, children, let's not delay the inevitable. Drop your weapons and walk towards me one by one." Headmistress said. In that moment, I knew Mitchell had figured out her weakness; she is too cocky. She thinks she has already beaten us, little did she know, I know her biggest weakness, and her name is a dead give away.
"Hey Jester!" I called.
Her smile contorted into a horrific sneer. "What now you torturous child?!"
"Wanna hear a joke?" I asked.
Her expression changed faster than Richie's when we go past a pizza restaurant.
Before she could open her mouth, a strangely familiar voice called out, "Yes please!"
We looked at each other confused, but The Jester looked exasperated more than anything.
"You had to ruin the surprise?! You might as well come from your hiding spots you idiotic toddlers!"
The shock apparently never stops because two more loons stepped forward. The first looked like a circus clown that got hit by a train and raided a Halloween store. Multi colored face paint was smeared across her face, she wore a puffy yellow suit cowered in polka dots and held a disemboweled brown suitcase which was bulging out the sides with what looked like corny props. She was glowing with excitement, as if she enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets before performances.
The other looked like Elsa gone rouge. She had long white hair, straighter than mine, which says something because I've never had to straighten my hair a day in my life. She had a long baby blue dress which rippled as she walked. Strangely, her dress moved in different amounts of time, her left remarkably fast, but her right was like watching a pond ripple. Even her skin had a weird sort of light blue tinge to it. When she walked it was kind of hard to follow too; she walked at totally opposite paces, sometimes extremely fast and and occasionally slower than a turtle. These three definitely fit the description of "freak circus show". I just hope there's only three because I was originally prepared to deal with one.
Behind their strange costumes, the two new maniacs looked vaguely familiar. Sadly, the trend of headmistress being evil lead me to my worst fear, finding out where the rest of the staff was, including Coach Harley and Ms. Tick. Of course, I jinx myself!
"Guys, I know who they are!" I said.
Judging by my team's overwhelmed faces, they already knew.
"How rude of them to destroy the surprise, but these are my assistants who I'm sure you'll recognize." Headmistress sneered.
"So who are these wackadoodles?" Mitchell asked.
The strange bipolar clown stepped forward and introduced herself, "You kiddos knew me by my code-name, Coach Harley, but in reality I am Harlequin. Wanna see a trick?" she asked.
Before Zach could answer, because I knew he'd say yes and that would be very bad for either our memory or health, I declined.
"Well," I said, " It was lovely to meet more insane people but we really must be going! Carry on being your sinister selves."
"Not yet!" the woman in blue screamed. "I haven't gotten to introduce myself!"
"What a tragedy that is!" I whispered.
" At long last I get to be myself rather than that wretched security guard! Ms. Tick is no more! I am the Time Queen! I control all elements of time: speed, reality, I can make you starve with a meal half way down your throat! Bow in terror!" She screamed.
Richie was about to say something but I stepped in front, motioning for everyone to follow my lead.
"Wow! You guys are super scary, like I shaking in my shoes right now! Sadly, we have some business to attended to!" I put on my saddest face and motion for everyone to follow. Zach and Mitchell looked more constipated than anything, but they aren't actors so I won't judge.. too hard.
"Not so fast!" Jester yelled. She lifted a small sunflower pin out of her lapel and pointed it at my face. "No one is leaving."
Mitchell, the gallant idiot that he is, stepped in front of me. "I'm afraid you're wrong." He said defensively.
"If you insist!" Jester responded. A dark green liquid squirted from the center of the flower. It looked like one of those three dollar gag gifts kids get each for their birthday, but judging from Jester's attitude, there was nothing funny about this gag gift.
I ducked, the green goop flying over my head, narrowly missing Mitchell's shoulder. His jacket was smoking, the fabric peeling away and sizzling like someone had put a hot rod onto it. He tore it off, stomping it into the ground. His camo Army Proud! shirt and old dog tags flapped in the wind.
"Did you just burn me?!" Mitchell said shocked.
All three of the crazy clowns laughed in harmony. "You bet I did! Just a little something from my brilliant mind! Don't worry children, you'll see plenty more of that soon. Now Time Queen!" she commanded.
The Time Queen looked us straight the eye with her sinister smile. Her hands began to turn a brighter shade a blue until her body was the color of a clear sky. Her eyes slowly froze over, like those horror movie where the demon turn their victims' eyes completely white. Then, I couldn't move anymore. I tried to talk but I couldn't move. My body was completely paralyzed! Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw my friends struggling as well. Richie was slowly getting his knife from his holster, Mitchell barely able to reach his bat, and Zach's gun slowly forming around his arm, the metal pieces coming into place as quickly as my dead grandmother moves. I could hear those lunatics talking outside of this weird bubble but it sounded like they were speaking through water.
"Let's go! The sooner we get them to Base, the sooner the tests can start!" I heard the Jester saying.
"What's the rush? They aren't going anywhere. Let's have some fun!" Harlequin said. She joyous bounded towards us, careful not to touch the blue mist which must've been our confines. "I want this one!" she said, pointing at Mitchell. "He looks like he can withstand the tests! I'll make them extra hard for him!" she said with her creepy bipolar smile.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Time Queen said. She walked over to Richie who hadn't even reached his holster yet. She stared him down, examining him as if he was some test subject. "Yes, this one will do nicely." She said smiling maliciously. Her skin and eyes which still glowing which meant the only way to get rid of this time-fog, would be to get rid of her.
I have no idea how much time passed, but I finally got a grip on my gun. Really, it wasn't smart of me at all to holster my gun.
"Now then, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way, children. Time Queen will unfreeze you and you will all drop your weapons, if not, I will burn you all slowly with every chemical on the periodic table. Okay?" The Jester said happily. "Now!"
I felt the Time Queen loosen her grip on us, mostly because I could wiggle my fingers; it felt like I was in a pool of honey, but wiggling none the less. Jester looked at us expectantly. Zach folded up his gun, Mitchell dropped his bat, and Richie laid his knife on the ground. Jester stared me down. Sadly for her, I'm stubborn as all hell. We spent a minute staring each other down and finally, Mitchell nodded at me to down my gun. If the guy known for tactics and earned a purple heart for a special ops mission gives up, that's a good indication that the fight is over. I shook my head. "No!" I mouthed. Jester smiled, she knew she had won, my team had given up. As they say, if you can't beat em, join em.
I slowly lowered my arm. I couldn't believe we are just surrendering like this! Except we weren't. Like hell I was going to submit to these two psychopathic clowns and their freak of nature friend. I winked at Richie, giving him the signal to execute my plan. "I'm sorry Jester, but we already have plans for this evening!" I shot directly at her face and bless my life, she ducked. My bullet shot behind her, right into the fire extinguisher hanging behind her. It exploded it a large cloud of white dust. "Mitchell! Smoke grenade!". I heard the canister land on the floor just as the words came from my mouth. I grab two people hands, whoever was closest to me, and sprinted for the door. I hope to every deity in existence that someone grabbed the last person's hand or that they were right behind me.
"NOOOOOO!" I heard Jester scream somewhere in the big cloud of gas. I made it out of the tent, still dragging two people behind me. I didn't even bother to look back and my passengers in tow or the tent, I was fully focused on making it back to the jet and leaving. It's not like I could see who's behind me because apparently, abandoned theme parks get incredibly dark at night! But I couldn't be bothered with that; all four of us are going home to gather ourselves and finally take down the Jester once and for all. Sadly hindsight is always 20/20.
I ran past all the roller-coasters, concession stands, and rundown stalls until we arrived in the plains where the jet sat, parked just as we left it. I blindly led my two, breathless comrades up the ramp into the jet. It's quite ironic how I couldn't wait to get inside to finally be able to see everyone aboard the jet so we can get away from this hell hole, yet I'm blinded by the lights of the Squad-jet. After wildly blinking the spots from my eyes, I could see Richie at the controls of the plane and Zach breathing heavily on the floor of the entrance-way.
Here comes the hard and incredibly terrifying part to talk about: I couldn't find Mitchell anywhere.
"Mitchell?" I yelled. Despite how tired I was, I ran through the entire plane trying to find him. "Mitchell?!" I screamed frantically. I tore through the kitchen, his bedroom, even the bathrooms in search of him. After about 5 minutes of nearly tearing the plane to sheet metal, I ran back to the entrance to find Zach standing in the doorway. "Do you know where Mitchell is?!" I asked.
"I'm not sure." he said blanking looking around. I grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. I had no time for his stupid antics. "Zach I need a definite answer. Where. Is. Mitchell?" I said steely.
I felt bad I had to terrorize him, but the truth occurred to me moments before The Jester exposed it to me.
"NO!" I screamed, dashing out the door and back into the meadow. Just outside was a jet, stamped with the seal of the Academy, hovering high above us.
A loud speaker came on, echoing through the open plains. "Looking for something?" The Jester said.
"What have you done with Mitchell?!" I yelled.
"Nothing yet, my dear. Any final words?" she replied. A bright light flashed on a steel cage hanging from the bottom of the jet. Inside, Mitchell stood tied to the side of the metal bars, not moving.
"Mitchell!" I called, hoping he'd wake up and miraculously escape from his bonds.
"Don't even bother, child! I gave him something that'll make him sleep until we get to our destination." she said joyously. I raised my gun, hoping to take down the jet with a few well placed shots, but it was no use; even if I manage to shoot down the jet, Mitchell would die in the crash. "Don't fret my pet! You already know where we are going. Where your journey began, and where your worst fears lies. I'd hate to bring a damper on our lovely party, but as you said my dear Astrid, we already have plans for this evening!" The Jester left in the stream of smoke and light, leaving me in tears in the meadow with Richie and Zach standing silently behind me.
"If we know were he is, we need to go get him, right?" Zach said.
I slowly stood up still facing where the jet was. That was the final straw. I had no idea where they were going but I swore there is no city, no base, no crevice that the Jester could hide in and I wouldn't find her. "Not yet. Get on the jet guys."
"Astrid-" Richie began.
"I swear if both of you aren't on the jet in three seconds, you'll be walking the 5000 miles home." I said steely.
I didn't need to turn around to see Zach and Richie scrambling through the doorway, they made plenty of noise doing so. I looked up at the sky once more. It was my fault Mitchell had been taken, and I'm getting him back. I stormed into the jet. I noticed Zach and Richie carefully avoided me as I walked past them and into my room. I heard the jet begin, Zach and Richie trying trying to figure out the jet, and the engine starting. Only they, the smartest teenager on Earth and one of the best tinkerers ever, have trouble starting a jet they own. Ugh, Boys. I settled into my bunk with my book. Reading always calms me down, my Achilles heel I suppose. Nothing like being a book nerd to tarnish my hard earned bad girl image. I just need to get back to my room and take a break before we find Mitchell.
Although the thought of the Academy is reassuring, it also has an underlying terror to it. Not because of the immanent threat of the Jester and her team or because Jenna is going to rip me to shreds once she finds out Mitchell got captured, but rather that they will finally know the truth about me and how I became who I am. A theif. A spy. Astrid.