7:05 PM, Beverly Hills Villa

My parents were standing right in front of the doorway.

I thought they were dead.

I figured, "Something's not right here..."

I didn't know just how right I really was.

(Clover sat with me once and explained to me about the supernatural: how weird it is, how it can pop up in front of you with little to no warning at all. I never figured that something like that would happen now.)

JETIX Productions and ) presents:

Totally Spies! in: "The Next Best Thing" Chapter 2

Official characters and show copyright Marathon. Original characters and story copyright JETIX Productions.

This Chapter: October 18th, 2004.

Author's Notes: The story's first mission begins in this chapter. Oh, and I'm gonna break out from my usual writing style thanks to a tip a reviewer gave me. You'll see in the story. Enjoy, everyone!

Chapter 2: The Parent Trap

I couldn't believe it: my mom and dad were at the door, just a week after they had presumably died from an attack by our arch-nemesis, Tim Scam. The only question I could ask was "How did you..." and even then, I couldn't get it all out. My mom and dad finished it for me.

"You remember when the heart monitor flatlined?" Rhea, my mom, asked me.

"Um...yeah," I replied.

"The doctors figured out that someone had messed with the machines there. Probably your nemesis, Tim Scam."

This surprised me. "Wait. Mom, how do you know about our spy life?"

"I told her everything you told me, son," Jeff, my dad, replied. "Just to be safe."

"Good thing, too," Sam continued. "Just don't let that information fall into the hands of anyone we don't trust."

"You 4 must be real lucky, being able to save the world each week, even on a school night!"

"Yeah," Alex said, "The only problem is the way Jerry transports us."

All of a sudden, I heard a beep.

"Figures," I said to myself as the ground underneath me, Sam, Alex, and Clover opened up.

I was ready this time, though, as I focused my psychic energy on the hole and covered it in a wave of yellow energy.

"Hahahaha...it tickles!" Alex said, laughing.

"It does that sometimes," I said.

Then, I saw the psychic barrier disappear.

I groaned. "Why do I even trust Jerry with this kind of information?"

Sam and Clover had already fallen in, but Alex was losing her balance, and fast. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled in the other direction as hard as I could. Eventually, we toppled back and crashed headlong into the carpet of the living room, my arms still around Alex.

"Aw, thanks, Nick, I owe you big-time," she said as we got up.

It was then that Mandy, of all people, had to pass by and throw something through our open window. Just as the object (which looked strangely familiar to a rock) was about to hit me, Alex rushed forward and shoved me out of the way, both of us crashing onto the floor again just as the rock crashed into the kitchen and skidded to a stop.

I brushed myself off and said, "Wow. Didn't think you'd pay me back so soon."

"Well, we'd better go see what Jerry wants," Alex said, helping me up and walking to the hole that led to WOOHP.

"Shall we?" I nodded, and Alex jumped into the hole.

"Nick?" Mom said, and I looked at her. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine, mom. Shouldn't take too long. It's usually in and out with Jerry."

I turned to the hole, then... "And, mom? Dad?"

"Yes, son?" Dad replied.

"Please don't get yourselves killed while I'm gone, okay?" With that, I jumped, did a somersault, and dived into the hole, just missing the evil smirks on their faces...

"Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks...for everything..."

She reached over and hugged me. "It's no problem. Anything for a best friend, right?"

"That's true," I said just as we reached our destination- Jerry's office in WOOHP.

"Hello, ladies. And gentlemen," Jerry said.

"Good thing you caught that," I said as video footage began playing on the screen behind him. I looked up at G.L.A.D.I.S., Jerry's new "assistant". Lately, I'd began to notice that it acted like it had a mind of its own. So much for the "microchippy personality" theory, I thought.

"Recently, all across the world, parents of children all across the world have been acting very strangely."

"Like, how strangely?" I asked.

Jerry switched the footage. "For example, this one mother in Toronto has been acting like a child and doing some of the weirdest things I've ever seen."

"Oh, that's how strange," I said.

"You'll be departing momentarily to see how this adds up. And now, if you'll follow me, I'll give you your gadgets."

We followed Jerry over to a console, where a panel littered with assorted devices popped out.

He picked up the first one. "Laser lipstick."

I noticed something on the tube. "It says '2.0'."

"Yes, it now has added power just in case you need it."

He then walked up to what seemed like an ordinary curling iron. "The electromagnetic curling iron."

"Hey, that thing might be useful again!" Alex said. (A/N: This gadget is from Season 3's "Computer Creep Much?")

Then, a mechanical hand reached out, handing me another gadget. "This is a new gadget, fresh from R & D," G.L.A.D.I.S.'s voice rang out. "The helicopter-blade cooling fan. Just press the red button and the fan blades turn into a mini-copter."

I looked at the new gadget in my hand, then turned to Jerry and said, "I take back what I said 2 weeks ago. G.L.A.D.I.S. does seem to have a mind of its own."

Jerry then walked up to another gadget, one that looked like a pair of sunglasses. "The see-through X-ray sunglasses."

Only one more gadget was left. It looks like a star, I thought. "This is another new gadget fresh from the labs- the homing-signal star boomerang. Just program any set coordinates and throw it, and the boomerang will fly to there."

When we had packed up our gadgets, I turned to the girls, and said, "Well, if we're all equipped, let's get to it!"

I saw Jerry reaching for a button on his desk. "Don't you even-" but, we were already falling through the floor before I could finish.

6:54 AM, Toronto, Canada

I looked up at the building of Ms. Sarah Fairweather, the mother that Jerry told us about at the mission briefing. "According to the information that Jerry gave us, her apartment is at the top floor of the building."

"So, how are we supposed to get there? We don't have our jetpack backpacks! And I am not climbing up 40 flights of stairs..." Alex exclaimed.

I brought out the helicopter-blade cooling fan and said, "By going up! Everyone, hold on tight!" When we were all latched on and secured, I pressed the red button and the mini-fan turned into a helicopter blade. I then pressed the "up" key, and we started to rise, slowly at first, but picking up speed by the second. Soon, we were flying along, or should I say, up, towards the target destination.

"Hey, this breeze feels good!" Clover noted.

"I guess it does. Ok, now let's see what we're dealing with," I said, sporting the X-ray glasses and activating them. In an instant, I was looking through the wall, seeing Ms. Fairweather spinning around on the floor, acting like a 2-year-old. "Ok, now there's something you don't see every day."

With that, I waved my hand, which was now glowing a psychic yellow, and instantly, a hole big enough to fit all of us appeared where I was staring. "Ok, you guys are gonna have to jump to get over there," I said.

Soon enough, Sam and Clover were inside, and Alex was about to jump, when the fan stopped and turned off.

"What?" Alex exclaimed.

"I wish Jerry would get some kind of extended warranty for these things!" I exclaimed. We dived for the opening. I rolled in neatly (kind of like the way they do it in the movies), but Alex had just missed and was now holding on for dear life. I grabbed her hands and pulled, but it didn't seem to be enough. It felt as if something was pulling her down. I then looked behind me, and I saw the mother pushing me, saying, "I want to play horsey!"

"Well, ma'am, if you want to 'play horsey', make sure we're not dangling from a ledge first!" I said, but with one swift push, she slipped and fell to the floor, sending me off balance and sending us tumbling out the open hole.

It all seemed to go by so fast; the air was rushing by us as we fell down the flights of windows to what seemed to be our end. "Aw, man! This is not how I wanted to go!" Alex exclaimed, tears streaming from her eyes. My face, however, turned very serious.

I'm not going down like this, I thought. I never have, and I never will!

With that, I raised my hand into the air and produced a ball of psychic energy about the size of a bowling ball.

"Wow," Alex said softly, her eyes still full of tears.

"Terra Force!" I exclaimed, throwing the energy ball down towards the ground below. About 3 seconds after I had thrown it, the ball expanded, stretched, and became a round disk-shaped platform the size of that rotating sky-high restaurant in Wisconsin. (I forgot what they called it.) We eventually landed on the psychic platform, bouncing a few times before settling in the center. It was then that I noticed that Alex's eyes were still closed. "Um, Alex? You can open your eyes now."

She did, looking around at our psychic landing pad. I then noticed my hand was right next to hers.

"Hey, Nick?" Alex said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

She then took my hand into her own as she spoke.

"Nick, ever since that day when your mom was attacked, I've wondered about the strange feelings that kept flowing through me. I knew it was some kind of crush, but not the kind me and the girls had on David, but something...more, you know?"

"Yeah. I think I know what you mean," I said.

"I never really knew what it was, but I think I figured it out. Ever since we met, I've had something of a crush on you. Lately, it's become something more. And I'm glad."

She hugged me and continued. "I've never met a kid like you, Nick. You're charming, you're powerful, you know what a girl likes..."

"I think it's the last one I'm proudest of," I said.

"I'm so happy to be here with you, you know that?"

"So am I, Alex. So am I."

I hugged her back. We stayed in that position for a while until we heard Sam and Clover shouting over a whirlwind of noises coming from the top floor.

"We'd better help them," I said, raising my hand into the air. Our psychic pad started floating up. I brought out my Compowder and opened it up, dialing Sam. "Sam, what's the verdict?"

"You're alive?!" came her voice from the other end.

"So is Alex," I replied.

"We were just talking about something," she said.

"What've you got?" I said.

"Clover found a microchip on the lady's neck! I'll bet that's what's making her act like this!" Sam's voice rang, then Clover's came.

"Try using the electromagnetic curling iron thingy!"

"Got it, Clover," I said, closing the compowder just as our pad came to a stop at top floor level with the chaos. I brought up the curling iron, aiming it for Ms. Fairweather's neck. "Sorry, ma'am, this is for your own good." I spotted the microchip and fired, sending an electromagnetic energy beam flying for the chip. It struck and short-circuited the chip, causing the lady to fall unconscious onto the carpet. "She should be okay when she wakes up, other than the fact that she's gonna have a nasty headache," I noted, dialing Jerry.

"What do you have, Spies?" Jerry's image popped up on my Compowder screen.

"We found a strange microchip on the woman's neck. I think that's what made her act like this. I'm sending it to WOOHP for analysis," I said, placing the microchip on the transport module and hitting "ENTER", transporting the chip to WOOHP.

"In the meantime, Spies, why don't you get back to school?"

"Oh, crud! You're right!" I said, shutting the compowder.

We all left the building, just barely missing the evil smirk on the seemingly unconscious Mrs. Fairweather.

Next Time

Chapter 3: "A World of Trouble"

The Spies return to their villa only to find it trashed. As they search the house, they find a shocking secret that surprises them all.

Ok, see ya next chapter! – SuperSaiyanZelda4321 )