The Spies face one of their most unusual missions, when one of their old foes, Dash Dawson, steals a magic lamp that can grant wishes. But when Trent unwittingly gets hold of the lamp and befriends the genie trapped inside, Dawson schemes to recover...
Consciousness returned all too painfully for Sam and Daphne, and as they groggily woke up, they realised just what a predicament they were in. They had been bound back-to-back, gagged by wide strips of silver tape plastered over their mouths, and suspended in the air by the hoisted rope of a crane, which hung them over a large tank, which had been half-filled with boiling acid!
The two girls gave muffled shrieks of alarm and strained against their bonds, much to the amusement of Dash Dawson, who was watching them from the safety of a gangplank running along the side of the tank.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, ladies," mocked Dawson. "But I fear you'll find it's going to be a short stay, as you're both about to melt away."
Sam and Daphne both rolled their eyes in exasperation at the corny line, as Dawson picked up a remote and pressed a button, which caused the crane to start lowering the girls into the tank.
"In just a few minutes, that acid will eat you out of existence," laughed Dawson. "I would stick around to watch your demise, but I've a lamp to recover, and besides, I can't stand gory scenes."
Darting down the steps, his cape flowing behind him, Dash Dawson expeditiously left the factory, laughing manically all the way. Once he was out of sight, Sam and Daphne strained again against the ropes binding them, desperately trying to break free, as the distance between them and the acid grew frighteningly shorter and shorter.
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Finally, Sam managed to work one hand free from the ropes, before pulling out the bottle of Ice Queen Perfume. With just a few inches before the girls faced certain demise, Sam sprayed the acid with the Perfume, turning the deadly chemical into a huge block of ice!
As the girls sighed in relief, the crane deposited them on top of the ice block, whereupon Sam used her free hand to loosen the ropes, enabling the two spies to eventually work their way free of their bonds.
"Ouch!" winced Daphne as she and Sam peeled away the sticky tape from their mouths. "That was too close for comfort there."
"Yeah, Dawson's become way more ruthless since the last time we fought," agreed Sam, as they both activated their Jetpacks and flew out of the tank. "Come on, we better get back to Mali-U fast!"
"Yeah, that guy clearly wanted us kept busy, so he can grab the lamp," said Daphne with worry. "Which means Clove and Alex are in serious trouble!"
******
As Sam and Daphne rocketed their way back to Mali-U, Trent and Jenny were recounting the events of the last two days to Alex and Clover, explaining how Trent had found the lamp and discovered Jenny inside. He had expected Alex and Clover to be highly skeptical, but to his surprise, they seemed to believe every word he said, as though they had encountered similarly strange events like this before.
"So you've been trapped in that lamp for all this time? Man, that's terrible!" said Alex sympathetically.
"It's even worse when you can't remember you own past," sighed Jenny. "Until you just told me about your friend Sam's research, I had no idea I was once this princess of... where was it again?"
"Suruka," replied Clover. "Well, at least none of your previous owners were bent on world domination. But why has none of your more pleasant, um, 'masters' ever wished for your own freedom?"
"I asked that earlier," said Trent, "But Jenny says that is one wish not allowed."
"That's... not strictly true," admitted Jenny reluctantly. "A master can wish for a genie to be free, but to do so means he must take the genie's place in the lamp."
"So he or she would end up getting trapped in you place?" realised Clover. "No wonder you've been stuck all this time!"
"But Jenny, why didn't you tell me this before?" asked Trent, taking the genie's hand in his own.
"Because I can't bear the thought of anyone having to endure the same as I have," sighed Jenny. "And I was afraid you might wish to take my place instead. You've been so good to me, and I..."
Her words trailed off as she looked into Trent's eyes, unable to say out loud how she truly felt for him.
"Hey, don't go all sad and depressed just yet," said Alex hopefully. "I'm sure there must be some way we can get you out of that lamp."
Just then, Clover's compowder started buzzing with its familiar ringtone, and she quickly jumped to her feet. "Oh, uh, 'scuse me guys, someone's calling my phone."
Clover quickly darted out of the room into the corridor, and after closing the door behind her and checking that the coast was clear, she opened up her compowder, which displayed a holographic projection of Sam's face.
"Clover, listen up!" said Sam urgently. "The whole meeting at the factory was a trap and a diversion. Dash Dawson just tried to bump us off, and now he's heading your way to grab the lamp!"
"Oh, that's so not cool!" said Clover. "Are you and Daph okay?"
"We're fine, sis," came Daphne's voice as her face appeared next to Sam's. "But we think Dawson's got some guys helping him out. They may be in Mali-U at this very moment!"
Suddenly, there came a crashing sound from inside Trent's room, followed by an explosion and cries of alarm. Clover darted back to the door, but before she could open it, something heavy from the other side crashed against it, forcing it shut. Panicking a little, Clover heaved against the door, straining against whatever was blocking it, while from the other side could be heard the sounds of a struggle.
Frantically, Clover pushed with all her strength, and the heavy obstacle finally gave way, allowing the door to burst open. As Clover tumbled in, she saw that the room was deserted, with no sign of Alex, Trent and Jenny. There was a load of smoke in the air, coming out of a smoke grenade on the floor, that had been been thrown in through the smashed remains of the main window. The object that had prevented her from getting in was a large wardrobe that had been pushed off its side and propped against the door, in order to prevent anyone else from getting in.
"Oh this is bad," groaned Clover. Whoever had broken in was clearly some professional criminal, and now they had Alex, Trent and the genie in their clutches!
