(Flashback)

0.

At that count, the villa exploded in a blaze of orange, red and yellow, igniting the early afternoon sky. When the blast cleared, we all looked at the explosion site; the villa was nothing but rubble now.

"It's gone," Sam said slowly.

"Nick's parents are gone..." Clover said.

"...and now our home is destroyed," Alex said, her voice breaking up.

"This week just keeps getting worse," I said.

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(As they say, all good things must come to an end. And I think it's about time to wrap this story up.)

JETIX Productions presents:

Totally Spies! in: "The Next Best Thing" Chapter 4

This Chapter: April 19th, 2005

Summary: With their home destroyed, the Spies gear up for a 'round-the-world trip to find Tim Scam and stop him and his new time plans once and for all. Along the way, Nick discovers powers even he never knew he had, and a bond of friendship with his 3 friends that's even stronger than his love for Alex keeping them together throughout all of this...

Author's Note: SO sorry for the long wait. I've just been so busy with my recent stories (Sailor Moon R: Siren Squad, the work-in-progress W.i.t.c.h. Adventures, etc.) that I've neglected my older ones. I finally decided that it's about time for me to wrap this story up. Without any more further ado, please enjoy the final chapter of "The Next Best Thing".

Note: There's gonna be a preview of my next Totally Spies story, "Reflections from the Ice", at the end of this story.

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Chapter 4: A World of Trouble, Part 2

"And that's how it happened, Jerry," I said.

All 4 of us were in Jerry's office, explaining the events of the day to our commander. And believe me, I was now determined than ever to stop our arch-nemesis, Tim Scam. In just under 2 weeks, our nemesis had killed my parents, nearly killed my girlfriend Alex, and destroyed our villa. It was almost too much to bear.

"Yeah. This week is getting worse by the second," Alex's voice rang out.

"Do you have any idea where Scam's hiding out?" Sam, the intellectual, asked.

Jerry did some typing on his computer. "It appears that Scam is hiding in Saudi Arabia. We've gotten word that he's tinkering with a new type of mechanics there."

"Cool," Clover, our resident fashion-queen, said with a snap. "It's time to bring this madness to a close. So, Jerry, is it time for our gadgets?"

"NO!"

I found myself snapping to my feet as soon as I'd said that. Anger was swelling up within me. It must have been visible, because my 3 female compatriots were staring wide-eyed at me.

"Nick?" all 3 said together in surprise.

I didn't know it at the time, but my psychic powers had manifested and surrounded me in a golden glow. The energy was moving my clothes around as if wind was flowing. My hair had thickened, was standing up, and had turned yellow because of my powers.

(Author's Note: It's not a Super Saiyan, before you ask.)

"No gadgets. Not this time. We do this alone. We'll show that creep what friendship and love really is!" I found myself saying.

I turned back to normal. All 3 girls got to their feet and stood around me.

"Okay then, lead the way," Clover simply stated, smiling at me. I raised my hand, and we became encased in a yellow orb of light that teleported us away.

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6:42 AM, Saudi Arabia Secret Hideout

In the forests of Saudi Arabia, a bright yellow orb of light appeared, bringing us with it. As the orb dissipated, we decided to split up and flank the spherical fortress. We charged when I gave the signal and busted through the rather flimsy walls.

"Ha! Too easy!" Sam exclaimed.

Something hit me. "Almost too easy," I said. Just then, a large trap door opened below us. There was electricity bolting across every square inch of the hole, providing no way to get through.

"Figures," I said. I braced myself, then I felt a super-charged shock for the briefest second, then...

...then, there was nothing.

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I slowly opened my eyes to find us in Tim Scam's lair, with a portal to some weird place open in the foreground. I also briefly noticed a set of gemstones in a glass casing.

"What are you up to, Scam?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm just messing with the time portals, finding a way to get rid of you once and for all," the mad villain replied.

"Uh-huh. Listen, we've kicked your butt 5 times over. What makes you think we won't do it again?" I said, getting to my feet, Alex soon following.

"Because this time, I've altered history to make sure you never get in my way again! And I've done it all thanks to the Psy-Stones!"

I then noticed something: Sam and Clover weren't standing beside us.

"Before you ask, I've already erased your friends from history. I just have to get rid of you two," Scam said, the portal displaying a new image: the day...

...the day when Alex and I first met!

"No!" I said, charging for Scam. "You're not messing with history any longer!"

I shoved Scam away from the portal, but in doing so, I lost my balance and fell into the portal myself.

"Nick!" Alex shouted, following my trail into the portal.

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Sometime in the distant future

Alex and I both stumbled out of the portal with a loud crash. I looked up at our surroundings; this was definitely not right. Everything was so...so, so...

...so futuristic.

"Are we in the future?" Alex said slowly.

"Looks like it," I said, but I was cut off by a sharp jolt in the back. I spun around to see a man in a freaky suit. He was holding a taser.

"Who are you? Why are you not wearing the uniform of our leader?" the man said in a very rude tone.

"Cause I don't know who this 'leader' is! Now get out of my way!" I said, using a psychic burst to knock the man back.

"Oh, a wise guy with powers, huh?" the man said, activating a communicator. "Master Scam, we have two rebels in Sector Alpha-9. Should I send backup?"

"Backup is on the way. I've sent Squad X-2 to bring them in," Tim Scam's unmistakable voice rang out.

"No...freaking...way," Alex said slowly.

"Tim Scam did it? He conquered the world!" I exclaimed, not knowing whether to believe this or not.

Soon enough, said squad arrived, led by a married couple who looked astoundingly familiar to me.

"I don't believe it. Mom? DAD?" I said. The couple just moved in.

"Our son was nothing more than a stupid rebel. Our leader killed him long before he conquered the world," Mom said.

"Oh, man," I said softly before embracing Alex as the troop moved closer.

"The glorious leader will destroy all who oppose him," Dad said.

Something was swelling up inside me; Alex knew it was sadness.

"Troop X-2, exterminate them," Dad said, and the troop moved in even closer, their weapons set to "Kill".

"LEAVE US ALONE!" I shouted with tears in my eyes, and a glowing psychic field sprang up, growing in size rapidly and knocking the troop into the sky.

"Nick? Are...are you okay?" Alex asked me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Alex...I-I h-h-hate this w-w-world...I...I w-w-w..." I said, my voice breaking up.

"What's wrong, Nick?" Alex said, looking at me with her soft brown eyes.

That did it.

I threw my arms around Alex and started crying. "Oh, Alex, I wanna go home! I want all this to end!" I shouted as Alex wrapped her own arms around me.

"We'll find a way home. Somehow," she said, holding me close and comforting me.

It was that moment a time portal opened behind us. I looked over Alex's shoulder into the portal. Sam and Clover were in it!

"Guys! Get through the portal!" Clover shouted.

"Clover? Sam! I thought Scam erased you from history!" I said, still broken up a bit.

"He just sent us through time! We got back a few minutes later. We need you two here now! The portal won't stay open for long!" Sam shouted over a whirlwind of noises coming from Scam's lab.

We didn't need to be told twice. Together, Alex and I hopped through the portal, traveling back to present time.

I really don't know how they opened that portal. And to tell you the truth...

...I didn't care.

All I cared about was Alex...

..and at the moment, defeating our nemesis once and for all.

And I knew just how I'd do that.

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Back in the present time...

Alex and I tumbled through the portal back into Tim Scam's lair. Sam and Clover were fighting Scam, yet they were getting whooped.

"Nick! We need to help them! How do we defeat Scam?" Alex asked me, a little uneasy.

"I'm already one step ahead," I said, jumping for the case holding the Psy-Stones. I did a karate chop that busted the glass casing. There were 7 Psy-Stones: in yellow, red, blue, green, light blue, pink, and silver. I used my psychic powers to levitate the gems towards me.

(Sonic Adventure 2 Main Theme, "Live and Learn", begins to play)

(AN: No, the following scene is not ganked from Sonic Adventure 2. I just felt that its main theme would fit this scene.)

I floated in the air, held up by my psychic energies. The Psy-Stones formed a circle around me and began to spin rapidly. The gems began inmbuing me with their energies, sharply enhancing my own psychic abilities. I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and focused. The gems began to spin even faster, and suddenly, I felt something. It felt like a balloon releasing its air. My collected psychic energies had just released themselves, transforming me into the form I'd shown at WOOHP: my whole body glowing soft yellow, my hair thickening, turnnig gold, and standing up, and a flowing energy aura around me.

Scam, Sam, and Clover all stumbled back upon catching sight of my newly transformed self. "Wha...w-w-w-w-what is t-t-t-that?" Scam managed to get out.

"Witness my psychic powers at their full capacity," I said in a deep voice. "2 weeks ago, you may have had the advantage, but now, you don't stand a chance."

I flew towards Scam, and delivered an uppercut that sent him sprawling to the floor of the lab.

"Is that the best you've got?" Scam said, rubbing the spot where I socked him.

"Why, actually, no," I said simply, clapping my hands together so hard that they created a psychic shockwave. The force of the blast knocked Scam towards Clover, who performed a deftly-executed spin kick that sent the WOOHP rebel towards Sam.

The redhead followed by flipping forward and slamming Scam in the chest, which sent him flying to Alex. Relying on her Tai Kwon Do training, my brunette girlfriend flipped into the air and did a mid-air Skyhammer kick (my technique that I taught her) that sent Scam flying to me. I grabbed him by his shirt collar and flew towards the time machine. I set the coordinates for the distant past, and threw him into the time portal. I figured we could leave him there until WOOHP comes to pick him up. Besides, I still had something to do.

I slowly floated down to the ground. All 3 girls ran up to me, obviously surprised by my new look.

"Wow! Your psychic powers really came through, huh?" Sam said as she studied my new form closely.

"We still have one more thing to do," I said, flipping out my X-Powder, which now had a gold casing to reflect my new look. I dialed Jerry, who answered quickly. "What's the status, spies?"

"Mission complete, Jerry. Could you send someone to pick Tim Scam up from the year 1235? I have something to do," I said to our commander.

"Roger," Jerry stated before we cut transmission. I walked up to the time machine and set the portal's coordinates to 4:02 AM exactly 2 weeks ago, the exact time this whole ordeal started. This time, we had a chance to fix everything.

"Let's go, girls! This is our chance to set everything Scam's messed with back to normal!"

All 3 nodded and followed me into the portal.

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4:02 AM, My Parent's House, 2 Weeks Ago

It was late night.

My whole family was asleep, including me and Alex, who was having a sleepover.

This time, Sam and Clover were waiting in the hallway thanks to our time warp, ready to alert us.

In my mom's room, she didn't even see someone with a weird-looking weapon in his hands, but when she heard the door slam open, she didn't even have time to gasp-

and that was our cue.

All 4 of us busted into the room just in time to stop Scam.

He fired at me, but I just batted it away with my psychic powers. Just so you know, I'm still in my ascended form. I opened my gold-studded X-Powder and called Jerry. It was then that Scam chose to run. I simply pressed a button that shot a beam out and froze Scam. Then, Jerry appeared on the screen.

"Jerry, I have one criminal ready for pickup at my parents' house," I simply stated.

"Son?" Mom asked in wonder.

"I'll explain tomorrow," I said as I returned to my normal state.

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10:34 AM, Beverly Hills High School, next day

All 4 of us were on our way to Biology class when something clicked in my head.

"Girls, isn't it odd that the only ones who remember our little time trip are the 4 of us?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's weird. Even Jerry doesn't remember!" Alex asked.

"And that's no small thing with him!" I said jokingly.

We all started laughing as we poked fun at our commander. We hadn't laughed like this since the start of the whole ordeal.

I'm just glad it was finally over.

-Fin-

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Here's the preview for Totally Spies! in: "Reflections from the Ice".

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"Alex, this is no good," I said, looking out the window at the gigantic blizzard that was attacking the city. "The blizzard's too rough. We're gonna have to wait it out. I hope Sam and Clover are having better luck with Gelee."

"Man, this cold is killing me!" Alex said, shivering from the cold spell.

"You know, Alex, there's another way to warm up," I said, smiling.

She looked at me for a few seconds before it hit her.

"Oh!" she said before wrapping her arms around me and snuggling close. I followed suit, and it started to feel warmer inside the abandoned office building we were trapped in.

"Feel better, Alex?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," she replied with a sigh of content.

"You know, I'm really glad we met, Nick. I can't imagine what life would have been like without you," Alex said to me.

"Yeah, it feels like yesterday," I said softly, closing my eyes and going into flashback mode...

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And that's a wrap! Reflections From the Ice should be out by early May. See you then! - S.P.D. Gold Ranger