Sam had made this whole undercover thing look easy. The other two girls couldn’t believe their ears at how well she was playing along. She was dressed in a green outfit, her long red hair flowing down her back. Wearing a green blouse and knee length pencil skirt, as well as lighter green stockings and black high heels, Sam had taken charge when some nurses questioned her presence there. Of course, her white lab coat helped further sell her cover. With a short, green scarf hanging loosely around her neck and a red handkerchief in her coat pocket, Sam was dressed to impress.

The hospital she was undercover within had to be the oldest in the country. It mostly tended to mental patients but there were all sorts of rumours about one doctor who performed experiments and trapped people inside her automatons to do her evil bidding.

WOOHP had sent Sam in undercover as a doctor with Alex and Clover standing by, waiting for the signal from Sam. She was inside to find out this doctor’s name and find proof of whatever she was doing. She had been good at hiding her tracks. So much so that WOOHP only knew that she was a woman and a doctor. They knew nothing more about her.

Of course, Sam always was the calm one. The most prepared. The utmost professional of the three. So she played a doctor like a natural. When a nurse confronted her, she was completely indignant and held out a fake badge with her fake credentials given to her by Jerry.

“Excuse me, but my name is Dr. Trudy Bloom and I am here to tend to one of my patients. Of course I belong here. I’ve already checked in.”

The nurse looked sheepish and backed down. “Of course,” she said. “Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Very good. Now, may I go now?”

“Yes. Sorry, ma’am.”

Sam walked on, trying to find any sign of some secret hidden lab or basically anything else off about the place that would lead her to this doctor. As she confidently patrolled the halls, a woman stepped in front of her and stopped dead.

She was older, perhaps in her early forties, with pale blonde hair and dark, angry eyes. She wore thick rimmed glasses, a white lab coat, fitted pants, a black blouse and matching heels. Her stern look chilled Sam to the bone.

“Excuse me, who are you?” she asked. Her voice was calm and steady but the question didn’t sound accusatory. In fact, it was as though she was just looking for clarification.

“Oh. My name is Dr. Trudy Bloom. I’m here to see one of my patients.”

“I see,” the woman said.

Sam caught a glimpse of her name badge and filed away the name in her memory. ‘Dr. Ellen Wilde’ She continued.

“What is this patient’s name?”

Sam stumbled a bit this time, since she hadn’t expected to be called out on this. “Uh, the name is um... George. George... Gordon.”

Dr. Wilde nodded. “Ah yes. The one with Variola minor. Right this way. I’ll show you to his room.”

Sam was surprised that she had guessed the name of a patient in the hospital. “Oh. Thank you,” she said.

The woman led her through many hallways and Sam noticed that there were fewer and fewer staff roaming around as they went. Eventually, it was just her and Dr. Wilde.

They finally stopped at a large steel door with a small, barred window near the top. “Here we are,” Dr. Wilde said.

“Um... where is everyone?” Sam asked.

“Going about there business? Why? Is something wrong?”

“No it’s just... everything became very empty, all of a sudden.”

Dr. Wilde said nothing and opened the door, allowing Sam to step in first. When she walked inside she noticed the room was empty and fully padded with white cushions on everything, even the thick door.

Dr. Wilde spoke from behind her, a sudden change to her voice. “You’re not a doctor, you fool.”

“What!? How dare you! I’ll have you know that I-”

“Don’t know that Variola minor... doesn’t exist anymore?”

Sam furrowed her brow. “What?”

“Variola minor... the less severe version of Smallpox. An eradicated disease.”

“I don’t know what-”

“And you just made up ‘George Gordon’ on the spot. Fortunately... I know what you’re here for. And you’ve found me.”

“I... what?”

Dr. Wilde smiled wide. “Let’s get you more... comfortable.”

Sam gulped as she realized she was trapped. Dr. Wilde advanced on her, pushing her further into the cell. In that instant, everything went black.

...

When Sam came to, she felt... different. Something was holding onto her entire body very tight. It took her a few moments to regain her vision but, eventually, her groggy eyes opened and she noticed that she was still inside the padded room.

“Wait... what?” she said to herself.

She tried to reach up and rub her swimming head but... she couldn’t move her arms. They were locked to her sides.

“Huh!? What’s happening?”

Sam looked down at her body and then everything came back to her. The doctor she had come in to find, Dr. Wilde it turned out, had caught her and blown her cover. Then she must have knocked Sam out and... completely mummified her!

Her entire body was covered in tight bandages. From her ankles all the way to her shoulders, her limbs were held together and stuck in place as she sat up against the back wall of the cell. She tucked her legs in and placed her stocking feet flat on the floor.... realizing then that her shoes were missing.

“What in the world!?”

Sam struggled against the tough bandages and they stretched with her movements but nothing would let her go. The white, stretchy bandages were pulled about as far as they would go when they were wrapped around her body and, as she struggled, she noticed that there had to be more than one layer on her. Perhaps three or more layers...

“H-hey! Let me out of here!” Sam called to the... open door.

She gasped as she realized and tried pulling herself across the floor toward the open cell door but stopped when someone stepped into the doorway.

“So... you are awake. Good.”

Sam scowled at the doctor. “So you’re-”

“Of course I am. I did say that you found me. Though I’m surprised they sent you in alone. That’s very foolish, my dear.”

Sam grimaced and struggled against the bandages. “Let me out of this! You’re... I won’t let you get away with this!”

Dr. Wilde stepped into the room and pulled the scarf from Sam’s neck, kneeling down and looking her in the eye. She played with Sam’s long, red hair. “Hmmm... I do like your hair. Perhaps all my subjects should wear this colour...”

“Yeah, great. I’ll be sure to send your compliments to my stylist!”

“You would make a fine automaton, my dear. But... I fear your will may be just a bit too strong yet. So we’ll have to see about... adjusting that.”

“What!?”

“Let me put it simpler,” Dr. Wilde said. “You’re staying here for a while. Perhaps permanently.”

“No way! You let me out of this right now or I’ll-mmmmph!”

Dr. Wilde stuffed the green scarf around Sam’s neck into her mouth and quickly wrapped bandages around the back of her head, covering her mouth and holding the scarf within.

When she stood up, Sam noticed the handkerchief from her lab coat in the doctor’s hand as well. “Mmmph!” What is she doing with that!? Sam thought.

“I see that look in your eyes, dear. I am merely... preparing. After all, you can’t have been completely alone. Someone will some after you, won’t they? That’s what this is for. To keep things... quiet.”

“Mmmmph! Nmmmm!” Sam wriggled around, falling to the floor, still unable to escape her bonds.

“Well, I can see you’re having fun. Allow me to leave you to it. See you soon, my dear!”

Dr. Wilde walked back to the steel door, slamming it closed, listening to the further muffled cries from her prisoner within the cell.

“Mmmmph!”

“Ah, sweet music,” she said. “Now, to wait.”

...

It had taken some pretty mean stealth manoeuvres for Alex to find her way inside the hospital. In her full spy gear, the skin tight yellow catsuit with boots and gloves, the bronze-skinned girl with short, black hair found herself in a seemingly abandoned part of the hospital. She was sure this was Sam’s last location before they lost her transmission.

With Clover staying behind as backup, Alex had crawled her way through the ventilation and avoiding all the crowded areas. So far, no one had spotted her.

Not knowing if Sam was okay, Alex just had to run in and check on her. After all, they were after this super mysterious mad doctor with a creepy army of humans trapped inside robots. There was plenty of reason to worry!

With not a soul around in the hallway, Alex pushed on further and further, checking doors and doorways to see if Sam was anywhere near.

“Sam!” Alex said softly. “Where are you? Sam!”

Alex stopped dead and whirled around when she thought she heard footsteps behind her but... no one was there when she turned.

“That’s funny...” she said to herself.

“Yes. Hilarious,” a woman’s voice said from behind her.

Before she could turn, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and picked her up off the ground.

“Ahhh! Get off! Let me go!”

The woman chuckled as she carried Alex backwards down the hall. “I can always tell. My instincts are always right. I knew you’d come for her.”

“Ughh! What did you.. do with... Sam you creep-o!?”

“You’ll see, my dear. You’ll see.”

...

“Mmmph! Mmmmph!”

The muffled voice in Alex’s ears sounded awfully familiar. She finally opened her eyes and peered across a small room. It was white, all padded, and someone was looking right at her. She had red hair and... why was she tied up? And in what looked like bandages?

“Smm!” Alex said, finally realizing who she was looking at. She sat bolt upright against the wall and found that her arms... were tightly folded in front of her. And her own voice had been muffled.

It was then she felt something tight pressed against her face. A brown leather muzzle covered her lower jaw and white straps wrapped around her chin, forehead, and neck. Two more between the muzzle and the head strap rested on either side of her nose.

She looked down at her body and saw that she was now barefoot and her boots had been stolen. Worse, her legs were strapped together by brown leather straps around her ankles and above and below her knees.

On her body, she noticed then that her arms were trapped in a white, canvas straitjacket with straps tightening between her legs and around her wrists, holding them tightly together. Two thick cuffs were tightly wrapped around biceps and pulled together by another leather straps to keep her arms tightly in place.

“Mmmmph!” she said, struggling hard against the tight restraints but there was nothing she could do.

“Look at that,” the same voice said from the doorway to their cell. “Two little spies, nicely wrapped up. This has been a fun day.”

“Mmmph! Lmmt mmph gmm!” Alex demanded, still struggling with her straitjacket.

“Still, there’s got to be at least one more of you, right?”

Sam and Alex both looked at each other. “Nmmm!” they said, both continuing to struggle in earnest.

“Oh so there is! Lovely!” Dr. Wilde said. “I’ll be waiting. Until then, girls!”

Both girls screamed into their gags as the door to the padded cell was shut once more.

“MMMMPPHHH!!”

...

God, being a college girl and a spy was so complicated! Like, what other girls Clover’s age had to break into creepy hospitals to look for her friends!? Why couldn’t these missions take place at, like, the mall or something? What was with these weirdo doctors anyway? Didn’t they know she had way more important things to do!?

And it was just so typical that she had to run in and save the day. Well, maybe not. That was usually Sam’s thing, wasn’t it? Whatever. It didn’t matter. Those two girls were probably just lost or something. They should just leave it to Clover to lead the way!

But... which way had they gone again?

The spy with blue eyes and, short, bobbed blonde hair in the red catsuit hadn’t lost her way. No. She was just... thinking. Of how totally lost she was.

“Well, I guess now I know why Jerry always sends Sam in first...” Clover said to herself.

Also... weren’t hospitals supposed to be, like, busy or something? Why was there no one around here? And where could Sam and Alex have both disappeared to?

Wandering aimlessly, hoping against hope that she would spot her friends, she heard a muffled sound come from a steel door to her left. There were bars near the top covering a window so Clover peered inside and...

“Sam! Alex! Like, what happened to you guys!?”

Clover tried the handle of the door but she couldn’t get it open. “This thing is locked up tight! How the heck am I supposed t-mmmph!”

Someone’s hand covered her mouth and pulled her back while their arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

“There you are,” a woman’s voice said in her ear.

“Mmmph!”

“Now now. The less you fight, the easier this will be. Come now. Let’s get to know each other better.”

“Mmmmph!”

...

Clover’s eyes shot open and, right way, she knew they were all in trouble. Sam was still tightly mummified in bandages and tightly gagged. Alex remained trapped within her straitjacket and straps, muzzled and silenced. And now Clover herself... was completely tied up in rope! And lots of it!

A heavy coil of it wound around her ankles all the way up her calves. Another tied her legs together just above the knees. More rope wrapped up her arms and chest, pinning them to her sides and holding them together from the just above her elbows to the bottoms of her shoulders. And her wrists were crossed and bound behind her back with a heavy coil of the rope even going partway up her forearms.

She was missing the gloves and boots of her spy suit, too and was very annoyed about it.

“W-what!? What’s going on?” Clover grunted with the effort of fighting the ropes but nothing would come loose. “Hey, guys.... who did this to us?” she asked, looking back and forth between Sam and Alex.

“Mmm mmph!” they both said. “Mmmmmph!”

“Sorry... what? I can’t understand anything you’re saying. Can you guys, like, speak up?”

“MMMMPPPHH!!”

“Ouch!” Clover said, wincing. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Ah, good,” a voice said from the doorway. “The last one has awoken.”

“Wait... who are you?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, my dear,” Dr. Wilde said, kneeling down to meet Clover’s eyes.

“Hang on... Have I, like, heard your voice somewhere before?”

“Perhaps. But such trifling matters do not interest me. You three, however, greatly interest me...”

“Why? What could you possibly want?”

“An extended stay for my newest... guests...” Dr. Wilde said. “That’s what I want. And to carry out my work... in peace.”

“Work? Wait a minute! You must be that lady who-mmmph!”

Before she could finish her thought, Dr. Wilde stuffed Sam’s red handkerchief into Clover’s mouth, quickly tying on a thick, white cloth over her mouth and nose. “Mmmmph!”

“Well, I’m glad you figured it out. But it’s too late for you three, I’m afraid.”

“Mmmmph! Mmmp mmmmph!” All three said.

Dr. Wilde stood up straight, looked to the corner of the room, and spoke. “Phase one of the training exercise is complete.”

All three girls sat up and stared at Dr. Wilde, furrowing their brows. Then a familiar, dapper English voice spoke to them from somewhere above.

“Hello, girls.”

“JMMMRMMM!!?” all three exclaimed.

“Dreadfully sorry to make this a surprise but... Dr. Wilde is a friend of mine. And an agent of WOOHP.”

“WMMMT!!??”

“Not to worry. She isn’t an evil doctor. No, this was merely a field test. And you’ve done quite well, I must say, to deduce your target’s identity. Well done, girls!”

“Hmmmph!?”

“Of course, my friend Ellen is a highly trained operative. So it was no surprise that she blew your cover, unfortunately. Although, she did have an unfair advantage. She did know you were coming, after all.”

“Mmmpph...” all three grumbled.

“But your training exercise is not yet complete. Now comes the difficult bit: escape.”

“MMMMPPHHH!!” the girls screamed.

“I know I know, it will be difficult. And we will let you out if you can’t escape yourselves. But a few hours of training shouldn’t be too difficult, hmmm?”

“MMMMPPPHHH!!”

“Girls, please. You do find yourselves in trouble like this quite a bit. Learning to escape it would be fine practice, wouldn’t you say?”

All three girls began struggling wildly, squealing and mewling into their gags.

“There, that’s the spirit! Good luck!”

“MMMPPHH!!”

Jerry’s voice went silent and Dr. Wilde closed the cell door, locking it behind her. All three girls struggled as hard as they could, contemplating their situation.

It had been a set up from the start. By Jerry no less! Worse, it was just training and they weren’t even trying to stop some crazy doctor from taking over the world or something. It sort of sucked the excitement right out of their mission!

Now all three were tightly bound, gagged, and struggling away inside a padded cell. They didn’t know how long they’d be there if they failed to escape but they all knew one thing: they were going to try. After all, Jerry was right. They certainly did find themselves in this exact sort of trouble all the time. And practice makes perfect, after all.