3:14 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
She looked around as she entered the city limits, reminiscing on the time she'd spent here before moving away. It honestly felt like it had been forever, despite it really only being a few years.
Jam couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing Johnny again.
As she thanked the taxi driver for the ride, she started walking through her old neighborhood, noting that things really hadn't changed all that much despite how long it had been.
Jam looked down at her phone, wondering if she should believe that strange story she'd heard a while ago about someone "attempting to convert the Skywhirl Tower into a space shuttle".
She'd heard some very outlandish stories in her life, true, but that one was a serious contender for the cake.
Jam made sure to pass by a very familiar tree to pay her respects, as she always did whenever she was in town.
But when she reached the tree and was about to kneel down to say her prayers for Ami, Jam noticed another gravestone next to Ami's.
It looked like this one had been put here fairly recently as well.
And when Jam leaned over to see what was inscribed on it...
...she felt her heart shatter into pieces.
Johnny's name was inscribed on that gravestone.
All at once, multiple thoughts ran through Jam's head, all of them wondering just who was responsible for this...
...until her racing mind finally settled on what she was going to do.
(The pages constantly turn, no matter how long the reader takes. When one story ends, another story will inevitably start. In the end, there is only a new beginning.)
Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger are proud to present:
Totally Spies: The New Adventures
Episode 67: Memory's Echoes
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: October 10th, 2022
Story Summary: The ninety-fourth co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger and episode sixty-seven of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. Johnny, May's former crush and original captain of the Jellyfish Pirates, was killed a few years ago during Millia's rampage across Tachikawa. But when Johnny's girlfriend Jam hears about what happened, though, she gets the complete wrong idea, now believing that the Jellyfish Pirates were responsible for Johnny's death. To that end, she captures Mira and April in order to force May to return to Tachikawa to "face her judgment for what she's done". Needless to say, the spies aren't going to let that fly, but they're going to have to rescue Mira and April and stop Jam quickly before her grief consumes her and she does something she'll regret for the rest of her life...
Author's Notes from Mat49324: Well, we got through a unique project to say the least in Sentimental Showdown, which took the spies to the 50th state, and essentially taking Mat home in a sense. I certainly hope you got quite a few lessons in the state of Hawaii and Hawaiian lifestyle as well. If you're ever intrigued on visiting the 50th state, now you have a few pointers of sorts to remember – basically the lava rocks, knowing about sharks, about Iolani Palace, etc. Once again, the spies will be racking up the frequent flyer miles, as they are going to Tachikawa under grimacing circumstances (once again). I'm leaving it at that though, and here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: And it's time for another Jellyfish Pirates adventure, this one with some different flavoring! I mentioned Johnny had a girlfriend all the way back in season one, but I never really followed up on that until this story. Jumping to conclusions can be a very scary thing, especially when you let your grief override your reason. We've seen that a lot over the course of The New Adventures, so let's see if we can reason with this one, shall we? 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?
Act 1: Memory of a Tragedy
4:15 P.M. – Malibu University
Water Polo Arena
("Ai no Supreme!" by fhána plays)
Nick couldn't help but chuckle as May proved her earlier predictions correct. Her upper body strength (again, thanks to that anchor of hers) was propelling her team over these other chumps in the water polo court.
Making sure to alternate between taking notes for his report on the game and watching May dominate, Nick smiled, glad he'd come to accept this task for the school newspaper.
Occasionally, the Mali-U team would swap out players, which was why only May was on their team right now instead of having her, Haruka and Bridget on the same team at one time. (Otherwise, this game would be as good as won, in Nick's eyes.)
Though the opposing team made a valiant effort to fight back, the Mali-U team eventually emerged victorious by a score of 6-3.
After finishing up his report, Nick moved to wait by the doors for his friends to emerge from the locker room.
When they did, May was naturally pretty thrilled about their dominating performance, animatedly chatting about it to Haruka and Bridget.
"Did you two see me out there?" May laughed. "You should have seen the way those guys were flailing every which way just to have a chance at hitting that ball!"
"Maybe you shouldn't start taunting them too early, May," Bridget quipped. "Our next opponents are supposed to be actually pretty good, after all."
"Yeah, university sports teams like this usually tend to get pitted against the chumps first before they start giving us actually tougher opponents, just to make sure we're not getting soft," Haruka stated.
"Nice hustle out there, ladies," Nick proclaimed.
"I know you were having fun watching us kick some butts out there, right?" May chuckled.
"They put up a valiant comeback, but Mali-U wins in the end," Haruka laughed.
"Let's just hope we're that lucky against the next guys," Bridget quipped.
5:06 P.M. – Malibu University
Nick and May's Dormitory
With the game officially in the books, Nick and May were currently settled in their dorm room playing some Super Smash Bros. and enjoying yet another batch of Mrs. Appleseed's famous cookies.
However, just as the game was starting to get more and more rowdy, May's X-Powder started beeping, though instead of the normal beep, it was actually playing a cute anime song. May had set it up that way so she would know that, when that song was the ringtone, it meant that Mira or one of the Jellyfish Pirates was calling her.
"Sorry 'bout that, Nick, I know you were really getting into it," May quipped.
"Hey, that's why pause buttons were invented," Nick chuckled as he paused their match so May could answer her friend.
May reached over to grab her X-Powder and flip it open to greet Mira, but when she saw someone unfamiliar on the screen, she was pretty confused. "...um, who is this?" May asked.
"Oh, good, you actually picked up," the person proclaimed. "I thought you were just gonna flake off and not even bother to answer me."
After getting a closer look, May suddenly gasped in shock when the pieces finally clicked together and she recognized who was talking to her.
"J-J-Jam?" May gasped.
"Um, could I get a footnote?" Nick asked. "Jam is..."
"Johnny's girlfriend," May answered.
"...oh, crapbaskets," Nick quipped, now having a pretty good idea of why Jam was probably calling May.
"Oh, so now you remember him," Jam taunted. "How many years has it been since he passed away? I see that other boy with you. I bet you just forgot about Johnny, didn't you?!"
"Jam, where the heck is this coming from?!" May responded. "Do you seriously think I could ever forget Johnny?!"
"More to the point, what exactly are you doing calling from Mira's phone?" Nick stated. "If you did anything to her, I swear you're going to get it."
"Oh, trust me, I didn't do anything to hurt her," Jam proclaimed, moving the phone to show that both Mira and April were tied up and restrained. "...yet."
"Now you're asking for it," Nick retorted. "Let them go, or else."
"Or else what?" Jam taunted. "Here's the deal, May. I want you back here in Tachikawa so you can pay for whatever the hell you did to get Johnny killed. Just you and that boy. Nobody else. Otherwise... let's just say your 'crew' will be down two members. You have until the end of the week. Don't you dare keep me waiting."
With that, the video feed cut out.
"I definitely don't like the sound of this," Nick stated.
"Jam always was prone to jumping to conclusions," May responded. "I just don't know where she got it into her head that I'm responsible for Johnny's death!"
"Yeah, you're actually the one who took down his killer," Nick replied. "But I doubt Jam knows about everything that happened when Millia was rampaging."
"Let's get to W.O.O.H.P. on the double," May stated.
That was all Nick needed to follow May out of Mali-U and towards W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters.
5:34 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"And that's basically the situation, Jerry," May stated as she finished her explanation of the current situation to Jerry and RiCO. "We need to solve this fast."
"I'm surprised you haven't called the others yet," Jerry admitted.
"I don't know if I want them involved in this one, Jerry," May answered. "I know they're our friends, but Jam made it very crystal clear that if Nick and I bring anybody else, Mira and April are as good as dead. And I don't want that on my conscience..."
"How about this, then, May?" Nick responded. "You and I will head to Tachikawa first so we can scope the situation out. Jerry, RiCO, you wait about an hour or so before telling the others about this, then send 'em to Tachikawa, but tell them to stay stealth mode for a bit. We kinda have to do this delicately because of the hostage situation."
"That sounds like a plan to me," May quipped.
"Roger that," RiCO proclaimed.
Many different thoughts were racing through May's head as she and Nick retrieved their gadget loadout and took off for Tachikawa in a Skyskimmer, but the one that repeated the most was simple.
Mira, April, please be safe...
7:08 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
"I swear, this is becoming a habit!" May chastised as she and Nick landed in Tachikawa.
"Mat wasn't kidding for sure when it comes to Tachikawa," Nick groaned as he and May checked out the surroundings. "For once, I'd like to come here not under these circumstances..."
"Tell me about it," May replied.
"May, did you get a look at where specifically April and Mira were being held hostage?" Nick wondered, thinking he knew Japan rather well.
"I didn't notice anything specific, but I'm pretty sure they're still somewhere here in Tachikawa, considering Jam wanted me here," May quipped.
"All right, let's see if my good ol' radar can lead us to the trouble," Nick stated, closing his eyes and using his psychic radar to hopefully pinpoint the direction they needed to go.
8:20 P.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
Back at Mali-U, Sam and Mat had just finished a dinner together and were kissing on the couch. They had some TV on, but they weren't paying much attention.
"I admit this is one time I wish we were at our beach house and in the jacuzzi," Mat told Sam.
"I agree," Sam giggled as they shared a kiss. "But we could swim if you want..."
She wouldn't mind trading her green tanktop and blue jeans she was wearing for a bikini and a jacuzzi.
"Nah, it's fine," Mat replied as they shared another kiss.
Alex was looking around the Mali-U campus for some of the spots on campus Nick was known to frequent, but he was not at any one of them, including the penthouse. That's when she had seen Mat and Sam having their cuddly moment.
"Sorry, guys," Alex replied. "But I can't find Nick anywhere."
"Last time I saw him was the water polo game," Mat answered.
Sam nodded in agreement, especially since their cuddly moment had been interrupted.
"Everybody else is looking, too," Alex reminded.
Sam and Mat immediately had their attention piqued since this had to be an urgent matter.
"Any luck, everybody?" Sam wondered, flipping open her X-Powder.
"Not a one," Bridget answered.
"And we checked everywhere," Haruka added.
Before long, Haruka's visage disappeared, and Sam and Mat were WOOHPed to the sky via the WOOHP jet.
"I guess we got our answer..." Clover groaned as they landed in a heap.
"Jerry, your timing's unbelievable," Mat commented.
"I'll say," Melissa replied. "We're having a hard time locating Nick and May."
"I'm afraid we have a more pressing situation, spies," Jerry told them.
The spies all used that as their time to switch to their catsuits.
"You care to fill us in about Nick and May first?" Nozomi wondered.
"That pressing situation Jerry spoke of relates to Nick and May," RiCO stated, materializing. "It's another mission..."
"Say what?" Haruka wondered, hoping RiCO misspoke.
The viewscreen showed two blips in Japan.
"We've traced Nick and May's X-Powders back to Tachikawa," RiCO told the spy team.
"You mean... they're in Tachikawa... already?!" Britney chastised.
"WITHOUT TELLING US?!" Dawn screamed.
Most of the spy team was VERY annoyed and upset that they had to find out this way.
"If it's just Nick and May, logic says they had a good reason," Sam deduced. "And I'll bet it involves the Jellyfish Pirates..."
"You are doubly correct, Sam," Jerry quipped.
Clover had a callback to when Alex and Britney were in the Aqua Vitae Resort, and Sam immediately knew they didn't go on their own volition; however, these circumstances were different, for it wasn't long ago that Clover subsequently bailed out of several missions herself due to falling behind in one of her courses.
"Now I know how Jeremy McGrath felt after David Vuillemin robbed him of the Phoenix race in 2000," Mat commented.
"What exactly is going on, Jer?" Blaine wondered.
"Totally," Alex added, obviously concerned. "It's not like Nick and May to go on a mission and leave us out of the loop!"
"I swear to all that is holy..." Melissa growled. "I'm NOT letting this go unnoticed to Nick and May, legit circumstances or not!"
"Spies, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I'm afraid we had little to no choice in the matter," Jerry proclaimed.
RiCO started the video feed of the last distress call that May took.
"Jam, where the heck is this coming from?!" May responded. "Do you seriously think I could ever forget Johnny?!"
"More to the point, what exactly are you doing calling from Mira's phone?" Nick stated. "If you did anything to her, I swear you're going to get it."
"Oh, trust me, I didn't do anything to hurt her," Jam proclaimed, moving the phone to show that both Mira and April were tied up and restrained. "...yet."
"Now you're asking for it," Nick retorted. "Let them go, or else."
"Or else what?" Jam taunted. "Here's the deal, May. I want you back here in Tachikawa so you can pay for whatever the hell you did to get Johnny killed. Just you and that boy. Nobody else. Otherwise... let's just say your 'crew' will be down two members. You have until the end of the week. Don't you dare keep me waiting."
"Am I the only one who's left with more questions after that?!" Clover complained when the video feed ended.
"Nope," Bridget groaned.
"Still, this won't go unnoticed to me..." Melissa insisted, already having the perfect scheme in mind.
Mat couldn't help but groan over being sent to Tachikawa under bad circumstances once again.
"We're sending you there now," Jerry replied.
With that, he pressed a button, and all the spies were dropped downwards out of the WOOHP jet.
8:57 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
The Skywhirl Tower
"Anything, Nick?" May asked as they approached the Skywhirl Tower.
"Nothing here," Nick responded. "I kinda thought this'd be the first place they'd be, considering what we had to deal with last time we had a mission here..."
Nick looked over at May, who was visibly and understandably nervous, given the circumstances at hand.
"Hey, we'll find 'em, I promise," Nick proclaimed. "Jam's not going to lay a finger on them as long as I'm around."
"I'm just scared of what Jam might be doing to them," May admitted. "Jam always jumped to the dumbest conclusions, even in middle school, and I can only imagine what's going through her head right now..."
Nick stepped closer so he could hug May. "We'll make her see reason one way or another, I promise you that much," Nick stated.
Before Nick could say anything else, his psychic radar picked up something interesting, so he and May set out to investigate...
"And just where do you two think you're going?"
...only to run into the rest of the spies, a few of them looking pretty irked despite everything.
Naturally, Nick knew why some of the spies were annoyed, and attempted to defuse the situation as best he could.
"Now listen, you guys, there's a very good explanation for all of this," Nick proclaimed.
"You could have at least told us you were heading back here," Bridget responded.
"Yeah, what exactly is the big idea, just up and ditching us to fly all the way to Tachikawa without explaining anything to us?!" Melissa exclaimed, getting right up in Nick and May's faces. "I mean, we saw the distress call, but that's no excuse for just flaking off without even saying a word to us! Do you want to explain that?!"
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT MY FRIENDS TO DIE, THAT'S FREAKIN' WHAT!" May screamed, stunning the rest of the spies into shocked silence.
Nick just smiled at May to put her mind at ease before addressing the spies.
"You saw the call, I assume?" Nick asked, to which the spies all nodded. "That girl was Jam, Johnny's old girlfriend. Apparently, she's got it lodged in her head that May is somehow responsible for Johnny's death, and she kidnapped Mira and April to force May to return so she could 'pay for what she did'."
"The whole reason Nick and I left without you guys is because Jam made it crystal freakin' clear that if she saw anyone but Nick or myself, she was going to kill Mira and April," May replied, now looking like she was about to cry. "Jam always had a bad habit of jumping to conclusions, and that tended to get her in trouble back in our middle school days..."
"...yikes, this sounds like it's serious," Sam stated. "Now I understand why you wanted to keep this on the down low."
"So, what do we do, then?" Bridget asked. "If Jam's laid down the law, how do we circumvent that to get Mira and April out of their predicament?"
"Luckily, I think I sensed familiar thoughts off that-a-way before we got intercepted by all of you," Nick responded. "We'll all go investigate together, but I want all of you to stay a good distance behind us until we've got Mira and April out. I'm not taking any chances, especially given some of our recent capers."
With that, the spies all followed Nick, who used his psychic radar to pinpoint the thoughts he'd sensed, taking them all to a neighborhood that none of the spies recognized, but May did.
"T-That... that's Johnny's old house," May gasped.
"Why did I see that coming?" Haruka sighed.
"All right, everyone, remember the plan," Nick stated. "Stay out of sight until we give the all-clear signal."
The others nodded, holding their positions as Nick and May approached Johnny's house.
May glanced at Nick, and he just nodded, knowing what May was thinking. He quickly scanned the area with his psychic radar.
"I'm detecting three people inside the house," Nick responded. "Two of them are definitely Mira and April, and though I don't recognize the third, I'm pretty sure it's Jam."
May braced herself for the worst and knocked three times on the door.
"Who's there?" the voice of Jam responded.
"You know who this is, Jam," May responded. "Now open the damn door."
A few agonizingly long seconds passed before the door opened to allow Nick and May inside.
Sure enough, there they were, Mira and April seated on the two chairs just outside the living room, still restrained, and Jam standing in the middle.
Jam was slightly older than May was, standing about 5'4" tall, with long brown hair worn in a waist-length loop and secured at the top of her head with an Oolong tea can hair ornament, with brown eyes, fair skin, and an athletic physique.
"You actually got here quicker than I thought," Jam stated. "I really must have sent you into a tizzy, huh?"
"Jam, what's the meaning of this?" May asked. "Why do you feel like you need to stoop to this level?"
"Because Johnny's dead, you imbecile," Jam shot back. "It should be obvious even to you."
"You're seriously about to cross a line that shouldn't be crossed, Jam," Nick proclaimed. "You know that killing Mira and April isn't going to bring Johnny back."
"And Jam, you of all people should know how much I loved Johnny," May stated. "Why do you think I would ever want to hurt him, much less kill him?!"
"It doesn't matter now, does it?!" Jam shouted through her own tears as she unsheathed a rather sharp knife. "He's gone! And you're going to suffer for it!"
The instant Nick noticed Jam's arm moving, he raised his own hand just as Jam threw the knife towards Mira's head, encasing the Jellyfish Pirates' captain in a psychic bubble. The thrown knife bounced off of the bubble and collapsed to the floor, much to Jam's shock.
"H-How the hell did..." Jam gasped, only to turn around and see Nick aiming his right hand towards her, his palm glowing a bright neon-green.
"I didn't want to do this, Jam... but you've forced my hand," Nick proclaimed, firing a Final Shine Attack that hit Jam in the chest and sent her flying down the nearby hallway.
This gave May the time she needed to cut down Mira and April's restraints with a Laser Lipstick and ferry them right out of the house.
That seemed to be the correct time, so the remaining spies all made their way into the house just as Jam was picking herself up.
"I'd just give it up right now if I were you, Jam," Sam proclaimed. "You're clearly outnumbered."
"He who laughs last, right?" Jam responded as she retreated by way of leaping out the nearby window and dashing away.
"Why am I not surprised she hoofed it?" Nozomi quipped.
"We'll deal with her later," Nick stated. "For now, let's just go make sure that Mira and April are doing all right."
With that, they all exited the house to check up on Mira and April, who seemed to be doing relatively all right despite the circumstances.
"I knew you'd come to our rescue, May," Mira chuckled as May moved to hug her.
"I definitely wasn't expecting Jam, of all people, to come baying for our blood," April quipped. "She doesn't seem to be the type, even when she was sad..."
"That can only mean someone from our rogues' gallery is behind this," Alex stated. "But now the question becomes, who is it?"
"HEY, YOU GUYS!"
The spies all followed that loud shout just in time to notice that the remaining Jellyfish Pirates were approaching them fast.
"Oh, thank god you're both safe," Yuki sighed in relief.
"What freakin' happened to you two?" Souji asked.
"Yeah, you just up and vanished on us," Akira stated.
"By the looks of things, and the fact that you're all here, I would assume that someone you know is behind this?" Dizzy asked.
"It was Jam," May proclaimed, and this shocked the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates.
"W-wait, Jam?!" Yuki exclaimed. "Johnny's old squeeze?! She wouldn't, would she?"
"That's why we're at least 65% sure that someone from our rogues' gallery is behind her sudden change in disposition," Mat stated.
"From what the others told me about Johnny and Jam, she jumped to conclusions a lot, but overall, she was a really sweet girl," Fena stated matter-of-factly. "So, yeah, for her to suddenly turn murder-crazy is pretty dang suspicious."
"I say we follow Jam," Sam quipped. "Maybe we'll find some more clues as to who's behind this, then."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Mira proclaimed. "Jellyfish Pirates, let's set sail!"
With that triumphant call, the spies and the Jellyfish Pirates all set out into Tachikawa to hopefully find Jam and stomp down whoever was making her act like this.
Mat had a hard time comprehending that someone like Jam would jump to those kinds of conclusions about people, especially May.
"Personally, that's someone I wouldn't want in my corner," Mat commented.
"Believe us, Mat," Mira quipped. "Jam is a little 'out of the ordinary,' but she's a good kid overall as Fena said."
"I can personally guarantee that," May added. "But the conclusions she jumped to were pretty dumb at times."
"They weren't anything violent, unlike this, thankfully," Yuki quipped. "There was this one time she was shopping for a new music CD, but when she got to the store, they were all out of copies."
"Naturally, she started freaking out and accusing the store owner of selling all the copies before they were officially released," April chuckled.
"Yeah, it was mostly just tiny little things," Souji stated.
"Oh, how could we forget the time when Johnny got a scratch on his arm from training with May?" Mira giggled.
"Oof, don't remind me of that embarrassing interrogation," May sighed. "Jam was all over me demanding to know what I did that got him that scratch, and Johnny only got her to calm down by saying that he got himself."
"That was really premature," Melissa commented.
"I don't think I'd want someone like that in my corner," Blaine stated.
"I can see why you'd say that, Blaine," May told him. "But we did put up with her for quite a while."
"Is it possible someone from our rogues' gallery is behind this?" Haruka wondered.
"I think the odds are 99.9% that someone IS behind this," Sam deduced.
Everybody started running through their rogues' gallery to see who'd fit the criteria.
"I have it between two, personally," Alex told everyone.
"Any readings on where Jam may have gotten to now, Nick?" Bridget wondered.
"Nothing yet," Nick stated as he checked his X-Powder.
"Any ideas, Pirates?" Mat wondered. "You likely know Jam the best."
"Our old high school was one of her favorite hangout spots, so I would probably check there first," April responded.
"I was going to say that," May replied.
It was in that moment that everything she and Johnny went through prior to his untimely demise came screaming back to her time and time again.
"Hold on... I'm getting a reading somewhere," Nick told everyone while he was using his psychic radar.
"Is it Jam?" Alex wondered.
"I think so," Nick responded. "It's on the edge of my radar, so it's kinda fuzzy. We'll probably have to get closer to confirm it."
"I wonder when we'll ever come to here not under grim circumstances..." Melissa replied as if she read Mat's mind.
"We're very certain that Ami won't come into play here this time around," Yuki stated.
"Indeed," Souji added, since Ami had "returned" two prior times, and perished twice.
"We just wish this wasn't a norm, but it is," Mira replied, beating May and Mat to the punch.
"Nonetheless, we WILL make Jam pay, regardless of the circumstances!" April proclaimed.
"Cut ties with her possibly?" Mat wondered.
"I think we're leaving that up in the air," Souji deduced. "I'd rather see what happens after we find out whoever might be messing with her."
"Yeah, I want to see all the evidence here before we make a decision," Mira proclaimed.
"You'd think someone would have told Jam about May and Nick..." Clover commented.
The Jellyfish Pirates had a bit of a frustrated look on their faces that they should've done so, presuming they did not keep in touch with Jam at all prior to this...
"Well, if there wasn't any way to contact Jam, that's one thing," Alex deduced.
"True that," Bridget commented.
"Did you guys just lose all contact with Jam after Ami passed away?" Mat wondered.
"She actually moved to another city," Yuki replied. "Her parents had to relocate for work, but she and Johnny mostly kept in touch until around the time when Johnny died."
"I guess Jam was probably busy with school life," May responded. "Trust me, we know how that feels."
"Come on, let's head to the school and see if we can find Jam before this gets even uglier," Nick stated.
10:34 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
Tachikawa Junior High School
"Ah, memories," Mira sighed wistfully as the group reached Tachikawa Junior High, keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of Jam or possibly the person controlling her.
"Yeah, this place takes me back," April replied.
"Hey, Nick, any sign of Jam?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah, she's approaching fast!" Nick exclaimed, spinning to the west just as Jam jumped down from the nearby rooftop to attack them and raising a psychic barrier so that Jam bounced off of it before landing on her feet and assuming a fighting stance.
"You know, should I even be surprised that you followed me here?" Jam quipped.
"Well, given what you tried to pull earlier, you should have seen that coming," Mat proclaimed.
"Come on, Jam, what happened to you?" Mira asked, hoping to get through to Jam. "You were never like this before, were you?"
"I thought I made it obvious," Jam shot back. "Johnny's dead, isn't he? And his killer hasn't paid the price for it yet."
"Why do you think I killed him, Jam?!" May shouted.
"Yeah, if you wanna punish Johnny's actual killer, you'll have to get in line, because we ended that nutball a long time ago," Nick proclaimed.
"It doesn't really matter who killed him, does it?!" Jam shouted. "He only got killed because you had to get involved!"
"All right, I've had enough of this bullcrap," Nick growled, raising his hand to charge a Final Shine Attack.
Jam was ready this time, however, and prepared to dodge away from the blast, only for Nick to instead aim his hand towards a seemingly empty part of the front lobby of the school and fire his Final Shine Attack.
The blast struck something and shimmered slightly before dissolving the bubble of magic it had hit to reveal...
"Hold on just a minute, is that..." Alex gasped. "Is that the Great Kandinsky?!"
Sure enough, it was The Great Kandinsky, waving his magic wand in bizarre patterns.
"I say, my dears, I knew it was only a matter of time before we met again," Kandinsky proclaimed. "I assume you're impressed with my latest magic trick?"
"Just what are you implying?" Nick shot back. "Are you the reason Jam's acting like this?!"
"And what the heck are you even doing here in Tachikawa in the first place?!" May shouted.
"Well, at least half of you are from this city originally, are you not?" Kandinsky stated. "After escaping, I decided to come here to see how I could stir up some trouble, and then I noticed this girl praying for somebody at a particular gravestone. I'm sure you can guess the rest."
"Ooh, I swear, you're going to get some lumps for what you did to Jam!" Fena shouted.
Kandinsky stared at the Jellyfish Pirates in confusion. "...and who, pray tell, are all of you?" Kandinsky wondered.
"Ooh, I'm actually really glad you asked that, mister fake stage hand," May cackled. "Everyone, let's do the thing and tell him just who the hell we are!"
The Jellyfish Pirates all got into position for the big speech.
"We are the guardians of Tachikawa!" May proclaimed.
"The worst nightmare of bullies everywhere," Mira proclaimed.
"Determined to protect the innocent!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Defending the dreams of the students!" April exclaimed.
"Putting troublemakers in their place," Souji continued.
"Making school life a fun place to be," Akira stated.
"Sticking it to anyone who would try to knock us down!" Dizzy shouted.
"And never forgetting our own dreams!" Fena finished.
"Smiling in the face of danger, we are the Jellyfish Pirates!" all eight members exclaimed as they performed their group pose together.
"And Jam's a comrade of ours, too," Mira stated. "Snap her out of your dumb spell right now, or there's gonna be hell to pay."
"I don't think I'm going to do that," Kandinsky cackled. "How about you take them on, my lovely puppet?"
"Brace yourself, everybody, here she comes!" May shouted as Jam charged towards them again.
To be continued...
Next time...
Alex: Of all the freakin' villains I could have thought of, I definitely wasn't expecting you!
Kandinsky: Good, that means I did well in deceiving you.
Mat: Oh, you're asking for it now, buddy.
Nick: Yeah, I've said it time and again, but here's another one for you. If you want to see real magic, then I'll show you real magic!
May: Stand still, Jam! Don't make me hurt you!
Jam: Oh, you don't have the guts!
Nozomi: Any ideas to snap her out of it, anyone?
Mira: I'll handle the preview line so we don't give away our plan. Well, readers, here's hoping we can bring Jam back to her senses with all the speed, next time on Totally Spies: Memory's Echoes, "We've Got to Believe in Something"!
Jam: Man, all this yelling is heck on my throat. How do you all do it so much without losing your voices?
Nick: Experience, Jam. Lots and lots of experience.