Totally Brave and Bold

Chapter 2

Malibu University Library

In the rear of the spacious single-story library, three young women finished studying, gathered up belongings, and made their way towards the exit. A short musical ringtone caused a long-haired redhead, dressed in a black sweater and light blue jeans, to pull out a lavender compact and flip it open. The short-haired blonde to her left in a pink long-sleeved shirt and knee-length white skirt leaned in to look at the electronic screen of the faux-compact. A simple black arrow flashed on the screen, directing them to the left.

"Here we go again, Sam," the blonde mused to the redhead.

"Tell me about it, Clover," Sam replied after a moment.

The other girl, who sported short black hair, a large maroon sweatshirt, and dark grey pants, peered at the compact from Sam's right. Her eyes widened slightly, and she looked to her friends. They walked between two well-stocked wooden bookshelves.

"It's been a while," the brunette said in her unique high-pitched voice, looking around to be sure no one was watching.

Sam smiled sympathetically. "It's okay, Alex. We'll be just-"

A trap door swung down below them, causing them to drop and vanish. The door swung into place a moment later. A thin young man with glasses rolled a metal book cart into the area the girls had been, and held out a book to return to the shelves.

"-fiiine!" continued Sam as she and the others plummeted down a long blue slide through a tunnel.

World Organization of Human Protection- Jerry's Office

The red victorian couch was a stark contrast to the rest of the metallic light-grey office, filled with electronic screens, a high tech desk with a console, and a huge glass door, and windows that offered views of the building's interior. The three young ladies promptly fell from an opening in the ceiling and landed uncomfortably on the couch in a tangle.

An athletically built twenty-something man with brown hair in a suit smiled at them. Usually he worked in the Gadget Lab, but had also proven himself to be an exceptional spy years ago.

"Dean?!" the young women all said simultaneously.

"Yeah. Jerry wasn't feeling well enough to do this, so I'm up today," he said with a melancholic tone.

"Oh, I hope he's okay," Sam said, voice laced with concern.

Dean dipped his head minutely. "It's getting tougher, but he's hanging in there."

The girls exchanged concerned looks with each other, and Alex opened her mouth to speak, when the wall-sized screen behind Dean blinked on, showing an office workspace. A black portal with a white energy border appeared, and a few muscular costume-clad men stepped through.

One in black with a cape held a strange device, and darted out of sight of the camera. He was followed by a man in red who floated through the air and fired beams behind him. A third man, in grey and blue with a long, bat-like dark cape, avoided the blasts and chased them.

"It's a comic convention?" Alex asked, lips pursed.

"A movie filming?" Clover offered, an elbow on the couch armrest and her head resting in her hand.

"It's... real, isn't it," Sam deadpanned.

Dean nodded, eyes closed. "Sure looks that way. Downtown Boston, by the way," he said, then lightly shook his head. "You guys dealt with temporary superguys before: your old buddy, Arnold, and Humungo Man."

The girls nodded in response. Dean pressed another button to cause three pink, heart-shaped backpacks to emerge from the front of the desk via electric arms, and the spies grabbed their packs.

"But these look like the real deal! From another world, judging by that portal," Alex replied.

"Exactly," Dean said. "So if you'd be kind enough to investigate and help the 'good guy'..."

"My money's on the guy chasing the other ones," Sam said, pointing at the paused screen.

"Yup. And stop those villains," Dean said.

He gestured to the backpacks, which they opened to pull out colorful objects.

"Smoke Bomb Earrings for Alex; just press the button and toss them away from you."

Alex attached them to her ears, hidden in her hair, then stood and zipped up her pack and put it on.

"Ice Queen Perfume for Clover; a classic. Hairband Boomerang for Sam. Press the button on the side to give it target-seeking ability," he continued.

"Ooh, that's a new one," Sam said, noted the button, then fit the white accessory in her hair securely.

The trio pulled out their X-Powder compacts and pressed a button. After a moment, white light shot out of the spies' devices to cover each and transform them into their form-fitting colored spy suits. Clover was in red, with matching long gloves and heeled boots. Sam was in green, and Alex was in yellow. All three had small metal devices at the sides of their elbow and knee joints, and slightly larger clips near the shoulders.

"Laser Lipstick for everyone, and other assorted goodies. And one more thing for Sam," the interim director said with an enigmatic smile.

He motioned her to the desk, she walked over to him, and he placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Good luck," he said, holding her shoulders, and gazing at her.

"Aww!" Alex gushed, hands clasped to the side of her face.

Clover, eyes half-lidded, nodded and gestured to them. "Office romance. Cute. Ok, gotta go!" she said in a singsong voice.

Dean cleared his throat, Sam stepped back to her friends, and Dean pressed a button on the console.

"Safe travels!" he said, sighed, and looked down at his computer monitor.

The floor dropped below the female spies, and they flew downwards with a yell.

A/N: Thanks for all of your support so far.

I'm going with limited perspective for the narration, if that works for you.

I've been trying to use scene dividers for years, but am still trying to get this.

And I keep asking Friends of WP to add the feature. I think the one I made works (finally).

The next chapter can go up whenever- a week, or even less. Feel free to review; I appreciate it!