Super Center- Fighting Ring

The announcer introduced Alex and her opponent to the crowd for the first female bout of the night.

Tattooed, aggressive, and muscular, with short blonde hair, Alex's opponent was a bit surprised at the gentle-looking, yet confident "Perez". Over the years, Alex had faced powerful men, women, creatures and machines, sometimes outnumbered, and often with her life and the lives of others on the line. She wasn't intimidated now, but never underestimated an opponent. If anything, the crowd and cage she found her herself in were what she needed to not be distracted by.

The bell sounded, and both women poked with punches and kicks, which were deflected in turn. The blonde was having trouble scoring a good hit, and tried to find an opening for a grapple.

Alex considered pressing her offense for a solid strike or grapple of her own, when the blonde made her move first with a quick lunge. Alex moved quickly to use her opponent's momentum to execute a judo throw, topped off with an armbar. She had enough pressure on to obtain a submission from her opponent without causing serious injury, and was declared the winner.

The surprised crowd cheered Alex, who waved briefly with a smile. She asked the blonde fighter if she was OK, raised her arm in a gesture or goodwill, and gave her a quick hug and smile.

Alex's former opponent marveled a bit at the cheerful, girly demeanor of the girl, as they and the trainers in their corners left the main arena for backstage. A strong-looking short-haired brunette in the crowd named Donna smiled in recognition as "Marta" walked by. Alex's old high school friend wondered why she'd use a fake name, and wanted to call or email her about it, but for now was content to simply applaud for a bit more and enjoy the rest of the fights.

In the locker room, Sam treated a few of Alex's small abrasions after the experienced staff determined there were no serious injuries on either side. "Nice job out there," Sam said, keeping aware of her surroundings. "Clover's keeping an eye out for unexpected guests," she added with a whisper.

Super Center- Backstage Hallway

During Alex's brief fight, Clover's M-Rays had allowed her to spot three women entering the building from a rear exit which Wink must have unlocked and tampered with so as not to sound an alarm.

Clover assumed they were Ariel and the two missing IFC women. She stayed in hiding far away from them, and made a call. "Sam, Ariel and a few of her friends just showed up to meet Wink," Clover whispered, barely audible over the cheers of the nearby crowd.

Two burly men Clover assumed were security guards sat in a supply closet, stashed there by Wink, who'd used a high-tech microphone to put them under mind control. Wink greeted and bowed to Ariel, then opened the door to show the effect of his mind control work. Inside the room, he displayed a switch on the microphone, explained something, then handed it to her in exchange for a small bag, which he briefly checked the contents of. The two IFC women stood guard until the two quickly returned. Clover started moving back further from the group into a more distant hiding spot. Years of experience taught her to err on the side of caution, especially when alone and outnumbered.

Ariel and the two other women headed towards the locker rooms, while Wink went the opposite direction, towards the back exit. When she was sure everyone was out of earshot, she tailed Wink and made a call. After Sam picked up, she whispered quickly, "Ariel and the IFC girls are headed your way. Wink's going for the exit. I'm going to stop him, then join up with you."

"Sounds good. Thanks Clover," Sam replied. "Wear your hairpin and take care, OK?" she added before ending the call.

Clover put the X-Powder away and grabbed the Brain Protector Hairpin. She looked at it briefly, then despite her misgivings, stuck it firmly in her hair. Wink glanced furtively over his shoulder once he reached the exit, and was surprised by the sight of Clover. He pulled a microphone out of his coat pocket instantly, knowing he had no time to chat.

She was moving fast, but he'd already sent an energy field out from the mic, too wide to dodge.

Clover feared the worst, gritting her teeth, but kept charging ahead. Wink, perplexed by his mic having no effect, turned to push open the exit. But as he did, he was swept off his feet by a sliding foot sweep. Clover quickly had WOOHP cuffs out, which she used to secure him to the exit's door handle.

"But my microphone should've controlled your mind!" Wink protested as he was subdued.

"Too bad. Thanks to Stacy and WOOHP, I had my own gadget to protect me," she replied, index finger briefly resting on her hairpin.

Clover hit her WOOHP distress speed dial and was already dashing back to join her friends. Wink gaped after her dumbfounded, then tugged fruitlessly on the cuffs.

Super Center- Locker Room

As soon as the call had ended, Sam shared a quick plan with Alex, and hid in the adjoining room, Contacts in place and Earrings activated. Ariel and the IFC women soon entered through the other door, and Sam could only pray Clover was safe and on the way back.

"Superb fighting, sister," Ariel said looking at Alex with a bit of admiration. The trainers still present figured she was being recruited for something, and minded their own business. "You should join me to train with an elite sisterhood. Free room and board. Let's go," Ariel said bluntly.

"Thanks! Oh, but for your offer, I'll need time to think it over. Busy with college and all," Alex said casually and picked up her bag to go.

"Wait a minute, you're one of those girls who opposed me years ago," Ariel said in realization, pulling out her mic from a coat pocket to emit an energy wave that washed over Alex and the trainers.

Everyone including Alex went from shocked expressions to those of calm compliance.

"Now let's go, 'Marta'. You others stay here. We have many more sisters to recruit," she opened the door for Alex and the IFC women. "Yes, Ariel," Alex replied, as Ariel and those under her command, minus the trainers, quickly left the room.

Sam slipped after them silently, and soon saw Clover approaching from the left in the main hall.

"Alex is pretending to be mind controlled by Ariel," Sam whispered to Clover, who nodded curtly. "I nabbed Wink, and WOOHP's on the way," Clover replied, pulling out the small white handbag gadget in readiness.

"Wait til Alex and I make our move, then go for it," Sam whispered, hand on Clover's shoulder.

Clover nodded again as Sam left their hiding spot and called out, "Ariel!"

The four women had almost left backstage for the main arena, when the call from behind caused them to turn in surprise. "Let me guess: you're planning on controlling the women in the audience as your army, turning them against men, just like you did years ago. Can't let you do that!" Sam declared. She gulped nervously, as the four women glowered at her.

"Sam, I should've known you'd return. I don't see your other brave sister, but she was likely stopped by that Weatherbee worm," Ariel responded. "After you destroyed my relic years ago, I waited until I found of a way to reclaim glory for The Sisterhood. Unfortunately, I had to pay for a man's technology to do it. First with a weaker version of the microphone I now have to gain control of these two," she said, gesturing to the two IFC women. "Now with this improved version, I'll not only bring all these sisters to me, but infuse them with the fighting ability of these three," Ariel said, including Alex in her sweeping gesture.

"You're outnumbered. But why fight, when you, a pure-blood of The Sisterhood, can join me!" Ariel said quickly and raised the mic to emit a wave of energy.

Sam's expression went from shock to compliance, as she dropped her fighting stance and said, "I'm with you, Ariel."

Ariel nodded in satisfaction, flipped a switch on the mic, then turned to the doorway to the main arena.

"It's finally time," she said in anticipation. At that moment, Sam nodded to Alex, who grabbed Ariel's arm in a flash, and twisted it behind her back. The mic dropped from her hand, and Alex kicked it back towards Clover's hiding spot.

"What?!" Ariel cried in shock. "Stop her!" she commanded.

But before either IFC woman could move, Sam had planted a fierce kick in the solar plexus of the taller woman, while Alex shot out a double palm strike at the powerful Dubliner. At that moment, Clover appeared, button pressed on the handbag. Its shield formed around Ariel before she could react, and she growled in frustration when her vanishing power failed. Jerry and a few WOOHP agents promptly arrived from the doorway Ariel had been about to use.

"Fantastic job, ladies. You wrapped this up very quickly! Wink's already been loaded into the WOOHP jet waiting in the back," Jerry said. "I trust those Mind Protecting Hairpins did the trick as well as this shield did?" he then inquired.

Ariel gritted her teeth in frustration. "That's how you two were never affected. You were just pretending to be?" she asked incredulously.

"Definitely!" Clover said to both her and Jerry. "But I almost didn't use mine against Wink, and we would've failed hard pretty hard," Clover admitted.

"Well, I'm glad you did," Jerry said. "Now to restore these two ladies," he said, picking up the mic. After examining it, he flipped a switch and said, "Release from control."

The two women, who'd been struggling against Sam and Alex, immediately stopped, restored to their normal, yet confused selves.

"Why don't you two stop by WOOHP with us before we give you a lift back to your hometowns?" Jerry said.

The perplexed women gave their thanks and agreed. Jerry took the handbag from Clover, and the shield moved about easily with the powerful woman inside. Sam grabbed the mic from Jerry.

"We've got a few more to fix," she said quickly.

She, accompanied by Clover, went back to the locker room to release the trainers there from the mind control as they saw Jerry demonstrate, then departed while they were regaining their bearings. As the group walked down the hall to the back exit, Alex kindly answered questions from the IFC women as to where they were and how they got there. Jerry and the agents merely focused on reaching the jet.

Soon they were outside at the waiting jet near the edge of the parking lot. Everyone but Sam, Clover and Alex boarded. The girls gave their farewells to their boss and the two IFC women, who were waving from inside the loading bay of the jet. The gangplank closed, and the jet flew off.

"Wait, we can still watch the rest of the fights!" Alex exclaimed.

"Hmm," Sam and Clover said simultaneously, considering their friend's request.

"How about we call it a night, Alex," Sam said with a placating smile and puppy-dog eyes.

Clover turned to Alex with a tired smile and gestured to their car.

"No fair, I'm outnumbered... Oh, okay. I don't blame you. Let's go!" Alex agreed after a small pout.

Sam chuckled and pulled her into a shoulder hug.

They boarded the car, and Clover pulled them out of the lot and into the streets of downtown L.A.

WOOHP Containment Facility Visitor's Room:

Sam, Clover and Alex, in their everyday outfits, were seated around a small, white table in the modest-sized room, along with Stacy. The usual guard stood by, looking on. Sam couldn't wait a full week to visit her, and had rescheduled her visit for the next day after classes, even managing to get Clover and Alex to make time in their schedules.

"Wow, to think you'd use my gadget against him, of all people," Stacy said in a subdued voice.

"Sorry it came down to that. I almost didn't use it because... you know. But Sammy asked me to trust her, and I did," Clover said.

"No it's okay. Just stupid of him to end up back in here," Stacy replied. "Look at Ms. Dion and Muffy. They're back to normal life," she smiled, having kept in touch with both of them.

"That's the spirit," Alex said. "You'll still be here a bit longer, but now you see you don't need to be like your uncle anymore," she said emphatically to Stacy.

"Yeah, you really came through for us on this. We caught Ariel, and didn't have to go through being captured, mind control, or worse," Sam stated. "I wish we'd had that gadget years ago. Can you imagine...?" Sam trailed off.

"I know!" Clover, slumping back in her chair dramatically. Alex looked sympathetically at Sam, thinking of how much mind control she'd been through over the years.

"Jerry said they're standard issue now," Alex said. "We're officially overpowered!" she said, beaming in joy. She chuckled, and the others joined in infectiously.

"I wish... more people here would get it. Most here are insane, evil, or both..." Stacy trailed off. "I was too, for a while. But people can change. I'm trying to do that with Milton. Maybe he can help with a few guys and I can try talking to a few girls, since we're usually separated," she finished.

"That's a great idea, Stacy. Just be careful. Most people here don't want to hear it," Sam said.

The guard indicated that the time was nearly up.

"OK, everyone," Stacy said.

Everyone stood, and Sam gave Stacy a quick goodbye hug, followed by Alex. Clover looked conflicted until Alex prodded her gently with her elbow. She smiled awkwardly and gave a quick shoulder hug to Stacy.

"Bye!" Sam, Clover and Alex called out, walking off in the opposite direction.

"Things have really been going well," Alex mused, a bit teary-eyed. "I'd hate for anything-" she started when Sam and Clover each suddenly gripped a shoulder of hers.

"Don't jinx it!" they said, interrupting her firmly.

The three giggled at that and made their way back out to the parking lot, the car, and back to Mali-U for a well-deserved night off to themselves for continuing to help people in ways big and small.

Hope you enjoyed this. Please review & favorite if you did. Thank you!