7:43 A.M. – Beverly Hills National Sports Center
As he watched the citizens prancing about in their sport of choice, he glanced around at the facility he was currently in.
Yes, this would make a grand spot for his latest scheme.
After all, it had been a while since he'd tried anything.
But with the renovations going on at the W.O.O.H.P. Containment Facility, he'd been able to sneak out to prepare his plan.
The first step, he knew, was finding a way to get revenge on those three spies who had foiled his original plan.
Though he'd heard through the villain grapeline that Sam, Alex, and Clover had actually built up quite an impressive team since his last defeat, he wouldn't let that stop him, no matter what.
Rules for villains, number sixty-five: never cast doubt on your own plans, because then they'll fall apart quickly.
He glanced down at the jar strapped to his belt, which held a few of the bugs he'd used in his first scheme. Never hurt to be safe, right?
Soon enough, he was sure his new team would be the top dogs.
And revengeance would be his.
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(Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.)
Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger are proud to present:
Totally Spies: Sam-zibar Bound
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: April 21st, 2021
Story Summary: The thirty-sixth joint project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, collectively known as Totally Spies: The New Adventures. Once again, an old foe of the spies is back for another crack at his revengeance. This time, it's the Zanzibar coach, and he wants to put the spies' college lives on hold so they can participate in his games, whether they asked for it or not. Worse, Sam, Alex, and Blaine all seem to have been snatched up for his wicked dreams. It's up to the rest of the team to find their missing friends and stop the Coach from ruining their lives for sports, but what other tricks does he have up his sleeve this round?
Author's Note from Mat49324: Well, it's now time for the opening chapter of our next project together, Sam-zibar Bound. Were you viewers able to figure out whom that villain will be here? Hopefully you were. As your hint, it was an early S2 villain. For now, here's a timeline update here: we're still in the Fall 2007 semester here in our most recent project, and it won't be long until we get to 2008 (ooh, boy, I can't wait to transcribe some Supercross races in THAT season!) and maybe some changes down the line. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger if there's anything he'd like to say.
Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger: And here we go with number thirty-six! We're getting ever closer to the season finale once again, and, well, not just that. Since we're close enough, I figure I'll reveal this. Mat and I are actually planning a MOVIE! And not just a remake of an old story (I think we've done enough of those), but a brand-spankin'-new, honest to goodness movie. I'll talk about it a little more at the end of this story, but for now, let the games begin! ROLL IT!
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters created by us truly for the story (in this case, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, Dawn, and Melissa on my side, and Mathew on his side). Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we did own Totally Spies, which we don't, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?
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Episode 1: Let the Games Begin
8:03 A.M. – Malibu University, the Spies' Penthouse
It was another nice weekend for the spies after yet another week of work had passed. It had been a month since Mat's Motocross series ended with Yamaha's Grant Langston winning the AMA Motocross Championship – Yamaha's first Motocross title since 1998.
Currently, Mat was in the den of the penthouse enjoying and recording yet another race on TV – the 10th annual U.S. Open of Supercross. Calling the race were Ralph Sheheen, 1999 U.S. Open winner Jeff Emig, and pit reporter Erin Bates. Mat had just finished making his breakfast on top of that.
"What's happening now?" Dawn asked, coming into the den and saw what Mat was watching.
"It's an off-season race," Mat told Dawn before she could even ask. "It's the 10th annual U.S. Open of Supercross."
"Is it the tenth annual already?!" Dawn chastised.
"It's an event that's gone on since 1998, so yes," Mat laughed.
The program had already begun, and a pit report from Erin Bates was now on which showed a significant change to the U.S. Open – the 250cc 4-strokes were going head-to-head with the 450cc 4-strokes.
"Oh, this should be good," Mat stated when he listened in.
"How so?" Dawn wondered as Bridget came into the den.
"Another race?" Bridget asked.
"Yep," Mat answered, and filled Bridget in.
"That's pretty impressive that they've been doing this one for that long, huh?" Bridget quipped.
During the program, there was a segment of how the 2007 season went. Mat was grinning widely when it was reported that defending U.S. Open champ and 2007 Supercross champ, James Stewart, chose to withdraw from the event, even after setting the fastest lap time.
James: Well, you know, I'm sure a lot of you guys know I got hurt back in July with my knee injury. We're just kinda getting off that injury a couple of weeks ago when I first started riding. You know, I wanted to come here and race, and have a good time, but once we got here, we just knew it was a little too early.
"YEAH!" Mat cheered with a double fist pump.
"Good to see he's back on his feet," Bridget stated. "Especially after Washougal."
"Never give up, never surrender!" Dawn exclaimed.
Before the event even began, Ricky Carmichael, who helped Team USA win the 2007 Motocross of Nations at Budds Creek in September, was a no-show. A report was that Carmichael had a case of the Epstein-Barr virus. A recap of the Friday night race showed that Chad Reed on his San Manuel Yamaha 450 was certainly on his game with winning something called the "Toyota Super Pole." It was a time trial race with the 10 fastest riders racing against the clock, and Chad Reed posted a lap time of 44.45 seconds. Reed also took the main event win with Team Yamaha's Grant Langston in 2nd and Honda's Andrew Short in 3rd. Needless to say, Mat was extremely pleased.
"Where were you guys going?" Mat asked as Nick and May came into the den as well.
"We were gonna go swim at the aquatic complex," May answered as Nick looked at what Mat was watching.
Mat then filled him in on what the race was as the rest of the spy crew came into view.
The program continued on with highlights of Saturday night's Super Pole. Chad Reed posted the fastest lap once again with a lap time of 43.08 seconds; the last rider was Langston, and he posted a 43.21 lap time – meaning Chad Reed won the Super Pole once again – which put him two-thirds of the way there to winning a "trifecta." That meant Reed had to get the holeshot in the main to pocket a cool quarter-million dollars.
"Seems like an easy way to make some cash," Alex commented.
Right after the highlights of the Super Pole was a 3-man race called the "Alpinestars Championship Re-Match." It was a 5-lap race between three of the six different winners of the U.S. Open that were already retired: Suzuki's Damon Huffman on a #20 Suzuki 450 (the 1998 winner), Jeff Emig on a #47 Kawasaki 450 (the 1999 winner), and Mike LaRocco on a #5 Honda 2-stroke (the 2002 winner). LaRocco won the Friday night race, and this was for all the marbles.
Ralph: ...now all of these champions are all hungry for ONE MORE WIN! Here we go...
The race began with Jeff Emig getting the early lead over LaRocco and Huffman.
Ralph: Remember, we're battling four-strokes against one two-stroke. Mike LaRocco on the #5 – the only rider of the three – on the Honda – on a two-stroke. We'll see if that gives him an advantage here tonight. Emig leads them through the rhythm section and back into the Grand Garden Arena. Now, one advantage Jeff might have here tonight is he is actually riding James Stewart's factory Kawasaki...
"That's something," Sam commented about hearing Emig was riding Stewart's factory Kawasaki.
"These three are former winners?" Haruka asked Mat.
"Yep," Mat replied. "And they're all retired, too – Emig after 2000, Huffman after 2005, and LaRocco after mid-2006."
LaRocco in the meantime, was closing in on race leader Emig.
Ralph: Well, the action's starting to heat up here! Look at LaRocco closing in on Emig. He dives inside with a block pass to take the lead!
Emig got back at LaRocco only to nearly slide into LaRocco and almost cause a two-rider crash. The two messed around with each other and caused Huffman to get very close to them.
"Oh, here we go..." May commented at the antics going on.
LaRocco took the lead from Emig with Huffman in a close 3rd until...
Ralph: The white flag is out – OH and Emig goes down! Jeff Emig is down! Huffman goes into 2nd, and Jeff sees the lead and the win completely evaporate in front of him!
"Oh well..." Mat chuckled at Jeff Emig's crash.
"Talk about an oof," May chuckled.
"One wrong move can change everything," Nick responded.
Ralph: The Kawasaki has stalled and the Honda 2-stroke is out in the lead! Huffman on the Suzuki now sits in 2nd, and Mike LaRocco's just a couple of corners away from winning the Alpinestars Championship Re-Match!
As it turned out, LaRocco reigned supreme on that 250 2-stroke with two 1st place finishes.
"Nice to hear that two-stroke for sure," Mat commented. "When I was growing up, 250s were THE bike of choice – now it's 450cc 4-strokes."
Sam immediately sat with her boyfriend to show her support; Britney did the same thing.
The program continued with a layout of the 2008 Supercross season, and a piece on a new team called JGRMX or Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross on Yamahas.
"Are you guys watching, too?" Mat asked.
"Well, the sports complex isn't going anywhere, so I'm in," Nozomi replied. "Needless to say, Mat's Supercross series is entertaining."
After plenty of talks about the upcoming 2008 Supercross season, it was now time for the main event. But first was a pit report from Erin Bates that said the riders would be racing the track in reverse from Friday night.
("Rockstar" by Nickelback plays)
When the gate dropped for the main, Reed went for the holeshot to complete the quarter-million-dollar trifecta, but he slid out instead and crashed along with Langston, Short, and Kawasaki's Tim Ferry #15. Ferry was running last in the 14-man field while Short, Langston, and Reed got going in 11th, 12th, and 13th respectively. Lites rider Jake Weimer on his #73 Samsung Mobile Honda was the leader with 450cc privateer Josh Demuth on his #35 Honda in 2nd and Team Suzuki's Michael Byrne on his #26 RMZ-450 was in 3rd.
Ralph: Let's go back and take a look at how this got under way with our Progressive Holeshot Replay...
Jeff: ...Tim Ferry, he's on the right... he cuts across – he's got a wheel on Chad Reed. Something... takes Chad Reed down, pushes him wide. You see Andrew Short is hung up on Chad Reed's bike also.
Mat had a worried look on his face.
Jeff: ...Total carnage in the first turn! That's because Chad Reed HAD to get the holeshot to complete the trifecta tonight to win that quarter-of-a-million dollars!
Ralph: Well, look at Tim Ferry just about get launched into the grandstands, and then Reed, Short, all trying to separate themselves, Langston trying to get out of there! There's a lot of unhappy riders in that group!
Jeff: And the MOST unhappy right here was Tim Ferry – he was under the bleachers! He had some words right there on the racetrack with Chad Reed!
Ralph: Jeff, was that too aggressive of a move by Chad Reed, or just understandable since he was going for a quarter-million dollars.
Jeff: This is the U.S. Open, Ralph. $250,000 on the line – you HAVE to go for it!
"You'd be crazy not to!" Mat exclaimed.
"Your thoughts on the move, Mat?" Clover asked.
"I'd have gone for it," Mat answered.
In the meantime, Chad Reed was trying to move through the pack, and had just got by Grant Langston for 9th place.
"Hopefully that Reed guy comes through to win the race," Nick commented.
"I don't know," Mat sighed. "But don't count him out..."
Jake Weimer was still leading the race. After Reed had gotten around Honda privateer Heath Voss on his #13, he was going for 7th place on Andrew Short. It ended when Reed went for an aggressive pass on Short...
Reed tripled to the inside on Short, only to make contact and cause them both to crash. Just after Reed got back up, he tapped the back of Langston and was brought to the ground again! Short even raised his arm up at Reed as if to say "serves you right!"
Jeff: You talk about aggressive – I think that was total incidental contact with Grant Langston, but with Chad Reed and Andrew Short, that was the aggressive pass I was talking about, but that did not work out.
Reed finally remounted accident-free, but in 12th place. All Mat could do was shake his head in disbelief.
"Might I direct you to the word 'oof' again?" May giggled.
"You mean ultra oof," Dawn laughed.
At race's end, it was Jake Weimer who took the Saturday night main event win, but his 10th place on Friday night put him 4th place overall.
"Great ride by Weimer!" Mat commented, extremely impressed.
"That was quite the race, honestly," Melissa stated.
"These all-star type events can usually get pretty crazy," Nick quipped.
Ralph: The overall, the way I see it right now, Jeff, should go to Grant Langston...
However, at the end, there was some drama – specifically an argument between Reed and Ferry, and Ferry was being restrained by one of the Kawasaki personnel.
The overall end results showed that Grant Langston fought back for a 5th place finish, Andrew Short in 7th, and Chad Reed in 8th (and with a VERY bloody left elbow). In terms of the overall, Reed and Langston TIED at 38 points apiece, but Langston's 2-5 compared to Reed's 1-8 was enough to declare Langston the winner of the 2007 Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open, and with that, the race was done.
"And Langston bags another one!" May laughed.
"Are you happy, Mat?" Britney asked.
"Well, I AM a little discouraged," Mat answered. "But I'm not worried – from what I saw, Reed's ready to go for 2008."
"Championship perhaps?" Melissa asked.
"I hope so," Mat replied.
"I can't imagine how you'd react," Klee told Mat.
"That might be worth a laugh or two," Kana stated.
After Mat's race was over, the spies all got set for the sports complex. On the way, the spies ran into Blaine, who was heading to beach volleyball practice.
"Hey, guys," Blaine greeted. "I was wondering if any of you were game for a three-on-three match, with Clover on my team?"
"Sounds like fun," Bridget stated. "I'll join ya, Blaine."
"I think I need to show you why I was the volleyball master in my old school, Blaine," Nozomi cackled.
"I'm joining your team, too, Nozomi, just to make sure you don't overwhelm him," Nick quipped.
"And I guess I'll hitch a ride, too, even if just to keep them both in line," May proclaimed.
"All right, we've got a game!" Clover exclaimed.
"Go kick some butt out there, papa!" Klee shouted.
But just as the game was about to begin, Bridget heard a particularly loud shout from far off.
"What the heck was that?" Alex wondered. "Did Mindy break a nail again?"
"Yikes in a handbasket, do not remind me of the last time she broke a nail," Nick groaned. "All I did was ask what happened and she went off on me..."
"Thank goodness it's not Mandy doing that anymore, huh?" Sam laughed.
Just then, both Nick and Klee's psychic senses picked up approaching trouble.
"Did you feel that, papa?" Klee asked.
"How could I not?" Nick answered.
Thanks to their psychic senses, Nick and Klee were able to rather easily dodge the flying lunges of two buff athletes wearing very familiar jackets.
"Okay, rude!" Clover shouted. "We were about to have a volleyball game, thank you very much!"
"Is it me, or have we seen those jackets before?" Sam wondered as one of the athletes jumped towards her, only for Mat to plant himself in front of her and kick him backwards.
"Guys, there's a third one!" Alex shouted as she jumped away from the grabby hands of another super-buff athlete and attempted to soccer kick him backwards, only for him to tank the strike and reach out to snatch Alex.
"Oh, you can forget it!" Nick challenged and raised his hand to ensnare the athlete in his psychic hold, yanking him off of Alex, and then throwing him across the room. The athlete quickly recovered and rushed back in to start fighting Nick, and despite the seemingly superhuman levels of strength and reflex the athlete showed, Nick was able to easily keep pace with him.
"Man, this guy's pretty good," May quipped.
"Wait just a minute," Clover stated when she put the pieces together. "Athlete-types, super strong and super fast... this ringing any bells, girls?"
When he got a second to breathe, Nick used his psychic radar to scan the athletes for any abnormalities, and...
"Oh, barf!" Nick groaned. "There's something crawling around in his brain!"
"Is it a big ol' bug?" Sam asked. "Because I'm pretty sure I know who's responsible for that."
Eventually, Nick was able to knock out the buff athletes by psychically throwing one into the other two and bubbling them up so he could ferry them outside and flick his hand upwards, sending the bubbled athletes to W.O.O.H.P. for analysis.
And right on schedule, Jerry's personal chopper was approaching the area.
"Jerry's impeccable sense of timing strikes again," Haruka proclaimed as everyone got close to Nick so that he could surround them with a psychic bubble and guide it up to the chopper, where Jerry and RiCO were already waiting for them.
"From how quickly you guys got up here, you must have already figured something out, huh?" RiCO asked.
"We just got jumped by a bunch of buff dudes in Olympic jackets, and Nick found a bug in the brain," Alex replied, shuddering slightly at the thought of the bug.
"Naturally, we've dealt with a similar case before, so..." Sam stated.
And sure enough, RiCO waved her hand to change the chopper's viewscreen to a mugshot of the Coach, the leader of Zanzibar's Olympics team who had once used "synthetic micro-organisms" in order to enhance his team to win the gold medal on every single event and shut up everyone who had laughed at his Olympic dreams.
"He looks like a normal nutball," May quipped.
"When are our 'nutballs' ever normal?" Nick teased.
"...okay, point," May giggled.
"Has mister Coach been spotted anywhere recently?" Mat asked.
"Our security footage caught him sneaking around the Beverly Hills National Sport Center," Jerry answered.
"Well, then I guess that's were off to," Nozomi quipped. "You still owe us a game when this is all over, Blaine."
"Consider it put on my after-mission list," Blaine replied.
"All right, let's go give mister creepy-crawly coach a good thumping!" Klee proclaimed.
"I guess the rest of us will be swimming ourselves," Britney commented.
As usual, Jerry put Kana into safety on the W.O.O.H.P. jet.
"Did he capture one of you girls?" Haruka asked Sam, Clover, and Alex.
"Me," Clover answered. "He gave me three of those creepy nasty bugs and turned me into someone out of a fitness magazine..." she grimaced at that mission.
Sam and Alex certainly remembered how they were originally sent away via sled dogs who never listened to a word they said.
"I'd have exposed him in the winner's circle if that were me," Mat commented.
"You know what? I think that'd have been a winning solution, too," Nick remarked.
"Looking for a loophole in cheating is one thing..." Melissa stated.
"Tell that to Lance Armstrong," Mat replied.
"Another motocross guy?" Alex asked.
"This time, it's a bicycle race – the Tour de France," Mat answered.
"I remember that," Nick replied. "They found PEDs in his piss, right?"
"Exactly," Mat answered.
"I have several questions," May quipped.
"No way to get around that," Blaine quipped.
In the meantime, Sam's X-Powder went off, and Jerry's visage appeared. It appeared he and RiCO were done scanning the bug Nick found.
"Those bugs were key clues there," Jerry commented.
"What's the verdict, Jer?" May asked.
"They appear to be the same bugs that the Coach used last time you faced him, only modified to specifically enhance certain areas of the body instead of all at once," Jerry explained.
"Talk about a sick form of body enhancement," RiCO quipped.
"We definitely better be on the lookout in case that coach has gotten more athletes," Britney deduced as Sam closed her X-Powder.
"I wonder if he's banking on one of us being on a sports team at Mali-U as his initial plan," Mat pointed out.
"That's a good point," Sam replied.
Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at the Sports Center.
"Keep looking, guys," Dawn replied.
The spies looked around in every possible direction.
"I wish we knew what to look for," Clover chastised.
The spies went on until a glare from something reflected off of Alex's eyes, causing her to shield herself.
"Hey, who's trying to blind me?!" she chastised.
"Don't look at me..." Bridget answered.
"Same, mama," Klee added.
"I wonder what it is," Blaine replied as Alex knelt down to pick up said clue.
"It's... some kind of silver thing," Alex quipped.
"Hey, that looks like the material the 'bugs' are made of," May stated.
Just after Alex sent that to Jerry for analysis, some unknown movement snagged Mat's attention and he turned behind to briefly see a shadow move nearby. Nick caught sight of Mat's actions.
"I think I might've seen somebody – or 'somebodies' – Nick," Mat quietly told him.
"You could be right, dude," Nick quipped.
Just to be sure, Nick closed his eyes so he could scan the surrounding area with his psychic radar.
"What's up, Nick?" May asked. "Any bogeys approaching us?"
"Three to the right," Nick proclaimed, his aura already flaring to life around him as he raised a psychic barrier in the direction where he sensed the threat.
Surprisingly, the three athletes Nick had sensed were running really fast, fast enough that they couldn't stop in time and crashed headlong into the barrier.
"Whoa, that was fast," Haruka quipped.
"Mister Coach must have used some bugs on these guys' legs," Melissa stated.
"All right, then, they want speed?" Bridget proclaimed, retrieving her X-Powder. "I'll show them speed! Sonic Mode, online!"
Once the light from her transformation had faded, Bridget was already on the move, dashing towards the athletes with her enhanced speed. Though they were quite fast due to the bugs' enhancements, they were no match for Bridget's Sonic Mode speed, and she quickly had the three of them in a pile.
"Way to show 'em, Bridget!" Alex shouted.
"Never mess with the master of velocity," Bridget laughed.
"Oh, but don't think speed is going to be enough to defeat me this time."
The spies all turned to the west as the Coach himself stepped out of the shadows, flanked by a few muscle-bound goons.
"Why do you always have to hide in the shadows before you show your stupid face?!" Clover shouted.
"Rules for villains, number seventy-one," Haruka responded. "Always hide in the shadows before you reveal yourself to appear more menacing."
"Well, well, spies, it's definitely been a while," Coach laughed. "And look, you have quite the team with you."
"Exactly," Sam proclaimed. "So don't think you're gonna win any easier than last time! Oh, wait, you didn't beat us last time!"
"Yes, not my finest moment," Coach admitted. "But this time around, I've got a magnificent new plan."
"Here's hoping," Nozomi quipped. "The last few baddies we've fought resorted to recycling their old schemes with only a little of rule thirty-six."
"And speaking of your wicked new plan, are you gonna tell us what that plan is, or are we gonna have to beat it out of you?!" Britney exclaimed.
Coach raised his hand, and his goons began to advance on the spies.
"You know it's not time to blab about my schemes, ladies and guys," Coach chuckled. "We'll save that for later. For now, get 'em, boys!"
The athletes all lunged for the spies at the same time, along with a bunch more than had been sneaking up from behind, but Klee rectified that by covering the group in a large psychic bubble, then popping the bubble in a way that sent all of the athletes flying in different directions.
"Nice one, Klee!" Nick proclaimed.
"Thank you, papa!" Klee giggled. "That one's a specialty of mine. I call it 'Barrier Reflect'."
"You're gonna have to teach me that sometime," Nick quipped.
A rather burly athlete attempted to suplex Sam from behind, only for Mat to karate kick the goon into the nearby pool.
"Grabby hands off," Mat proclaimed.
Yet another goon tried skydiving from the nearby rafters to pounce on Alex, but Nick was already flying up there to punch the goon in the stomach and send him crashing into the pool as well.
"What did Mat just say?" Nick taunted.
"How many freakin' goons do you have?!" Clover shouted as Blaine leg-swept another goon that was coming her way.
"Enough," Coach laughed.
A more muscle-y goon marched forward, and Nick attempted to punch him in the chest, only for the goon to easily tank the punch.
"Sorry, kid," the goon laughed. "But silly punches aren't going to knock me down."
Nick just grinned, his "punching hand" glowing a bright green.
"Thanks for the tip," Nick proclaimed. "FINAL SHINE ATTACK!"
The goon was sent flying by a point-blank Final Shine Attack, falling into the same pool that many of the other goons had been knocked into by this point in the scramble.
"Any more goons want to be next?!" Nick challenged.
To Nick's amusement, the remaining goons all retreated from the area.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Nick proclaimed.
The sound of something being thrown caught Nick's ears, and he turned around to see a small, spherical device flying straight towards him.
Before Nick could react, it opened up and began to vibrate.
"Oh, son of a..." Nick growled just as the device exploded into a bright flash and the shrill sound of scraping metal, just like James had tried to do.
And just like back then, the extreme sensory overload was enough to instantly knock Nick unconscious.
The last thing he saw before his vision shut down was a pair of goons approaching the group.
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"Ugh... who bought me the cursed spaghetti?"
"I think he's waking up, you guys."
11:37 A.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters, Jerry's Office
Nick slowly opened his eyes to re-adjust his vision, and the first thing he saw was May staring down at him with a mix of concern and relief.
"All rise for sleeping beauty," May teased even as she gave Nick a big hug once he was standing up. "But, in all seriousness, are you doin' okay, Nick?"
"I feel like I should be asking you all the same thing," Nick replied. "How long was I out?"
"About half an hour," Nozomi answered. "We brought you back to headquarters until you woke up."
"Stupid mook used the same thing that James pulled on me," Nick growled. It was then that Nick noticed that a few members of their team were currently missing. "Um, if anyone knows where..."
"Coach and his goon squad actually nabbed Sam, Alex, and Blaine while we were trying to help you," Mat replied, his face a mask of neutral, though Nick could easily tell he was upset.
"Are you feeling well enough to travel, Nick?" Jerry asked.
Nick did a few stretches to make sure everything was in working order, and thusly nodded to Jerry.
"Those jerks made a fool out of me, and trust me, Jerry, they're gonna pay for that and kidnapping my girlfriend," Nick proclaimed.
"Then you're in luck, because Haruka's tracking device just narrowed mister Coach down to the ice skating rink downtown!" RiCO exclaimed, the viewscreen showing the ice rink in question.
May reached out to hold Nick's hand, and Britney did the same with Mat.
"Let's go get our 'wifeys' back, shall we?" Nick stated.
"What would the coach want with Sam, Alex, and Blainey?!" Clover chastised.
"I guess that's for us to find out," Mat answered.
"It isn't good news," Kana replied, visually worried.
"Not to worry, Kana," Klee told Kana. "Our dads in the future are pros at this sort of thing."
"Seems Klee knows something we don't – more or less," Bridget commented.
"We won't come back until we DO save Sam and Alex," Nick emphasized. "Especially Blaine."
"Especially since we have a volleyball match that we promised Blaine," May quipped.
"And we're holding him to that," Nick added with a fist bump to May.
"By the way, spies," Jerry spoke up. "RiCO and I will analyze the clue Alex sent us before she was captured."
With that, the spies were off to get their three allies back.
1:09 P.M. – Downtown Skating Rink
Haruka used her X-Powder to get a reading on her tracking device; on the other hand, Clover was using her own X-Powder to track Sam and Alex and Blaine.
"I swear that coach is REALLY GONNA PAY!" Clover exclaimed.
"Believe us, he will, Clover!" Klee emphasized.
"What's he planning after all?" Britney wondered.
"Well, we better find out fast," Melissa quipped.
I'm getting a reading!" Haruka exclaimed.
"Same here," Clover added. "Sammy and Alex have to be close by!"
"Don't worry, girls!" Nick quipped. "We're coming!"
Meanwhile...
("Superstar" by Five and Dime plays)
The Zanzibar Coach sneered as he looked at his three hostages.
"What do you want with us?!" Sam growled.
"Yeah!" Alex chastised. "We already have a pretty good idea what you're up to, after all..."
"Or do you...?" the Coach taunted and eyed Sam. "You should at least know..."
"What...?!" Sam replied and then the comment she remembered the Coach say from before came back.
"I'm putting you on my boxing team, no questions asked," the Coach told Sam.
"You what?!" Sam exclaimed. "No deal!"
"What part of 'non-negotiable' don't you get?" the Coach sternly lectured. "And the same goes for you, missy..." he continued, staring down Alex.
"WHAT FOR?!" Alex chastised.
"I think you two know very well 'what for,'" the Coach sneered.
Blaine was nearby as well.
"He wasn't too hard to convince..." the Coach chuckled.
Sam and Alex struggled to get free to save themselves and Blaine.
"I haven't decided yet on what to do with you..." the Coach continued as he eyed Alex. "Track might do well for you..."
"Sorry, but I think someone else would be better suited to track and field than me," Alex proclaimed.
"And I highly doubt Blaine was as easily convinced as you say he was," Sam shot back.
"There's really no way you're going to escape me, you know," Coach laughed. "Your friends won't make it here in one piece after what I did."
"Guess again, freak show!"
Coach turned around just in time to see the rest of the spies approaching them.
"I'm only gonna warn you once, buddy, so you'd better listen and listen good," Nick growled, his right hand aimed for Coach. "Let them go this instant, or there's going to be hell to pay."
"Honestly, people just don't listen anymore, do they?" Coach sighed. "I told them and I'll tell you as well: this isn't up for debate. These three are going to be part of my teams, end of discussion. So why don't you just scurry off and let me get back to my work?"
Nick's response was to charge forward and land a wicked right hook across Coach's face, sending him careening backwards.
"How's that for an answer, you son of a bitch?!" Nick shouted.
Alex's sudden shouts of panic quickly caught Nick's attention, and he spun around just in time to see one of Coach's 'bugs' crawl into Alex's ear.
"W-wait, when did he put that there?!" Bridget exclaimed.
Nick ran over in hopes of stopping the bug, but it was too late, as Alex's eyes suddenly glazed over and she began easily breaking free of her restraints. Nick stepped closer in hopes of getting through to Alex, but she simply lashed out with a right hook of her own that caught Nick off guard, sending him tumbling across the floor.
"Oh, who thinks this is going to end well?" May quipped.
Nick jumped back to his feet and prepared himself as the buffed-up and hypnotized Alex charged towards him.
To be continued...
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On the next episode...
Melissa: Okay, I didn't think mister coach boy would stoop that low.
Dawn: And for that matter, why are we just calling him 'coach'? Does he even have a proper name?
Haruka: Can we focus here for a second?! Alex is on a rampage!
Coach: You wouldn't dare fight your own lover, would you?
Nick: If only you knew how many times we've had to fight brainwashed allies, Coach. So don't think this is gonna stop me!
May: I'm right there with ya, Nick!
Nick: Definitely appreciate it, May!
Bridget: Hey, I get to say the episode title for once, yay! Well, readers, we're in a pickle like always, but we won't let that keep us down! Tune in to the next act of Totally Spies: Sam-zibar Bound, "Insidious Interlude"!
Alex: ...no. No, I'm not saying this.
May: Let me guess, another dumb pun? ...excuse me for a second.
Klee: I swear the scriptwriters have something out for us.