4:37 P.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Northwest Wave
Patty couldn't help but steel her nerves, as she had a lot recently, once she found the crew of the wrecked ship.
Well, what was left of them, anyway.
She and Nick had caught wind of yet another mysterious shipwreck nearby and gone to investigate, only to find the exact same scenario as the past five or so times this had happened. Nothing but a wrecked ship barely staying afloat, the entire crew either missing or killed, all of their treasure taken...
But to Nick, at least, the worst part was the calling card of the obvious culprits. A simple black flag with a skull imprinted on it.
"Yup, it was the Black Hope again," Nick sighed as he punched a nearby wall in frustration. "How many more ships are they going to wreck? How many more dreams are they going to destroy until their inflated egos are satisfied?!"
"You know how those nutcases are, hubby," Patty replied as she walked over to hug Nick. It usually calmed him down. "They just don't give a flying bird about anyone but themselves. You've known that for all of the five years we've been hunting them down."
"From the looks of this latest wave of attacks, it seems like they're getting bolder," Nick proclaimed. "We've really gotta do something about this, Patty dear. Who knows what else the Black Hope is going to start doing if we don't bring them down soon?"
Patty started thinking as she paced around the deck of the destroyed ship. Despite being bloodthirsty murderers who were only in it for their own ego and satisfaction, the pirates of the Black Hope were still smart. They'd only stayed long enough to attack the ship they were hunting and then beat it long before anyone could find the wreckage. They needed a definitive way to track down the Black Hope if they ever wanted to put an end to them before...
Suddenly, Patty gasped out loud.
"What's up, Patty?" Nick wondered.
"I think I know just what we need, hubby," Patty proclaimed. "Let's get back to the Fiertia and activate the Rift Generator."
It only took Nick a couple seconds to realize what Patty was thinking of.
(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 47: Fractured Hope
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: November 8th, 2021
Story Summary: The sixty-first co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode forty-seven of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. Pirate Nick and Patty have returned, bringing the spies back into their dimension to help out with a problem they've been having lately. The Black Hope Pirates, the most notoriously scummy and evil bunch of pirates ever seen in the New World, have been stepping up their campaign of destruction, and Pirate Nick and Patty are more determined than ever to bring them down, especially considering the new leader of the Black Hope is the one who murdered Pirate Nick's parents so long ago. Can the spies lend their assistance in defeating the Black Hope once and for all, or will the Black Hope reign unchallenged over the New World?
Author's Note from Mat49324: Well, we're set for another one of our projects together. Hopefully you were taken by surprise at the end of the last project Come Undone where Melissa blurted out her feelings towards Mat. Also, the date of our project – 11/8/2021 – is one year since the passing of one of the TV GOATs Alex Trebek – the host of Jeopardy! and several other shows in America. I won't go into detail over that VERY emotional day of Nov. 8, 2020. Anyway, here's The Blue Time Ranger with anything he'd like to say.
Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger: And here comes a sequel of sorts! I had a lot of fun writing Rift Apart, and that also leads into this continuation that you're reading right now! By the way, if you want the full deets of why the spies are helping Pirate Nick fight the Black Hope, read my oneshot A Story on the High Seas, which is backstory for Pirate Nick and Patty in their dimension. But enough chatter, let's set sail! 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: High Seas Hijinks
11:34 A.M. – Beverly Hills
Somewhere in the Ocean
Sam waved to Alex as the rest of the spies swam for their lives away from the mechanical shark that was chasing them with dinner on its mind. Alex nodded in response, clutching the artifact close to her chest.
Nick quickly turned around to fire a Final Shine Attack into the mechanical shark, slowing it down just long enough for the spies to pull ahead.
"Man, that thing's got sturdy armor," Nick quipped. "What space-age material did our baddie make it out of?!"
"I don't think we have time to worry about that right now, Nick!" Melissa exclaimed. "Let's question construction choices when we don't have a giant shark robot trying to eat us alive!"
"I think I see the surface!" Bridget shouted. "Pour it on, everyone!"
The spies all put as much energy as they could into making it to the water's surface, and eventually did just that, breaking out of the ocean just before the robot shark could lunge to take a bite out of them.
"Holy crapbaskets, we actually made it," Mat sighed.
"The artifact thingy is safe, too!" Alex exclaimed.
No sooner did Alex say that than the spies heard the whirling blades of Jerry's personal helicopter approaching them.
"He doesn't waste any time, does he?" Blaine chuckled. "Even when it's just a test mission, he's always right on schedule."
"All right, Jerry, how'd we do?" Nick asked as he brought everyone on board the helicopter with a psychic bubble.
"Magnificent work, everyone," Jerry proclaimed as Alex set the 'artifact' on a nearby table. "You did a splendid job down there."
"And hey, you even beat the target time I set for you all!" RiCO giggled. "Way to go on that front!"
"I'm just glad that we're getting better at underwater missions," Sam stated.
"I'm just glad I can actually swim now," Nick responded. "Makes these kinds of missions so much easier..."
Before Jerry could give them a detailed breakdown of how they'd done on this latest test mission, everyone's eyes were drawn to a strange flash of light from nearby.
All of a sudden, a large purple portal with sharpened edges burst open where the flash had come from.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting that," Mat quipped.
"Um, you guys, that's a Quantum Rift!" Alex exclaimed, referring to a dimensional gateway that the spies had seen many times on one of their more recent adventures.
As something emerged from the Quantum Rift, Nick couldn't help but smile, especially when he recognized what was coming out of the rift.
It was a very fancy, high-tech pirate ship that still had the feel of a "pirate ship", even when it was decked out with all sorts of modern technology and digital readouts.
"It's... a pirate ship," Dawn stated. "Wait a minute, is that...?!"
"Ahoy there, mateys!" Patty exclaimed from the deck of the Fiertia as she and Pirate Nick waved to the spies. "Fancy meeting all of you here!"
"Hey, Patty, you stole my line, you know," Nick laughed as the Fiertia approached the helicopter, just then noticing his pirate self's rather serious expression. "...is everything okay, pirate me?"
"Well..." Pirate Nick answered. "That's... actually why we're here. The short version is, we need your help with something. There's this group of pirates in our dimension that are causing a lot, and I mean a lot, of trouble for us."
"To make another long story short, the Black Hope Pirates are basically a bunch of actually evil pirates that loot and destroy everything they want without a care in the world," Patty explained. "We've been tracking them down for a while, considering... well, that they're responsible for killing my hubby's parents."
"Sounds like you two have a bit of a personal stake in this," May quipped. "But I still have one question. Why do you guys need our help? Are the Black Hope getting a little too scummy for their own good?"
"Oh, that's an understatement," Patty replied. "Lately, they've been shipwrecking other pirates, slaughtering their crew, and taking all their treasure."
"And worse, they keep leaving their flag at every shipwreck we've investigated," Pirate Nick stated. "It's like they're toying with us."
"So, Jerry, I hope you don't mind if we borrow your agents for a bit," Patty proclaimed. "They might be our best chance to put an end to the Black Hope before they cause any more mayhem."
"Please take good care of them, then," Jerry answered.
"Make sure you kick their butts, got it?" RiCO replied.
"Oh, we're gonna do a lot more than that, I'm sure," Melissa quipped as the thirteen spies all jumped out of the helicopter and landed on the deck of the Fiertia.
"Shall we set sail, then?" Patty proclaimed as she turned the Fiertia around and sailed it back into the Quantum Rift they'd come from.
5:27 P.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Northwest Wave
"Man, it feels like forever since we've gone dimension-hopping, hasn't it?" Clover quipped once the Fiertia had returned to its home dimension. "This place looks almost exactly like I remember it..."
Clover's rambling was interrupted by the sound of a massive explosion from not too far off.
"What the hell was that?!" Mat shouted.
"Did the Black Hope strike again?!" May exclaimed.
"There's only one way to find out," Pirate Nick proclaimed. "Patty, you know what to do!"
"Aye-aye, hubby!" Patty responded as she turned the steering wheel and started piloting the Fiertia towards the disturbance.
"Talk about starting a summertime!" Mat chastised a bit. "I was ready to lounge poolside back at our beach house."
"Well, them's the breaks, Mat," May laughed. "But we got plenty of time to do that this summer."
"And your next series is starting soon, too, eh, bro?" Nick wondered.
"Motocross? Oh yes," Mat answered.
"Anyway," Haruka stated, getting back to the mission. "The Black Hope Pirates doesn't sound like good news to me after what Patty told us."
"Believe us," Patty quipped. "It's FAR from good news!"
"At their rate," Pirate Nick told the crew. "They'll be multi-millionaires before the end of this year!"
"Gotta give 'em one thing, that's one way to make fast cash, legal or not," Blaine commented.
"Totally," Clover replied. "I'd have shopping sprees daily with that amount of money..."
Sam and Alex groaned a bit since that was such a "Clover-like phrase" to them.
"Probably wouldn't max out a credit card either," Sam commented.
"Totally, Sammy," Clover quipped. "Don't tell me you and Alex wouldn't do the same..."
Nozomi, Bridget, and Haruka sighed, too.
"Well, we better not underestimate these pirates," Melissa quipped, getting back to the mission.
"David Bailey did that to Rick Johnson in the '80s," Mat commented.
"Precisely why we recruited you here," Patty told the others. "All of us, we're the only ones who can stop them!"
"We'll do what we can," Bridget stated.
That's when Nozomi pointed ahead after the spies heard some explosions and splashes.
"Is that them ahead?" she wondered.
Pirate Nick and Patty looked through binoculars to see if Nozomi was right or not.
"They better not think we have any money on this ship..." May chastised. "Because we DON'T!"
"Assuming that's them..." Britney quipped.
"That IS them," Pirate Nick told the crew.
"And as I'm sure you might've figured, they HATE competition!" Patty exclaimed.
"They even took out a boat that was out for pleasure like any other pirate ship would," Pirate Nick cringed.
"They didn't even care that two people on the boat were getting seasick," Patty chastised.
"Talk about cold-hearted," Alex commented.
Pirate Nick just caught wind of a cannonball that was headed their way.
Nick reacted in time with a psychic shot to deflect the cannonball. However, the shots didn't cease.
"I'm not up for dodgeball!" Clover complained.
"One dodgeball game's enough for me, honestly," Mat quipped.
"Is it me, or are these things coming faster?" Nick wondered as he continued to blast cannonballs away with psychic bolts.
"They're headed our way!" Pirate Nick exclaimed. "Get ready, everybody!"
Sure enough, the cannon fire eventually ceased as the Black Hope's pirate ship approached the Fiertia. Pirate Nick could tell that it wasn't their flagship, as that one was more reinforced than this one looked.
Once the two ships were close enough to each other, a trio of Black Hope pirates emerged from their cabin and started laughing like the madmen they were.
"Arr, it's been a while, pirate boy," one of the pirates proclaimed. "How have ye been doin'?"
"Don't you give me that crock," Pirate Nick growled, unsheathing his scimitar in response. "You know exactly why I'm here."
"Oh, you mean that peckish-looking ship over yonder that we already looted?" the second pirate chuckled. "Sorry, but you're too late. There's nothing of value left there."
"You heartless monsters!" Patty shouted, taking out her grandfather's pistol and aiming it for the pirates. "How much destruction and chaos are you going to cause until you're satisfied?!"
"As much as our leader wants," the third pirate laughed. "You know he's the one that's destined to rule the New World."
"Yeah, well, Alexei's insane if he thinks he's going to rule the world," Pirate Nick shot back. "And you're all insane for following him!"
"Oh, I think you're the insane ones for thinking just the two of you can stop us," the first pirate responded. "We're just anticipating the day when Alexei guts you like a fish, so he can rule the New World unchallenged. So go suck on those eggs, little pirate brat."
Having finally heard enough, Nick flew into the air, his right hand glowing a bright green.
"How about you suck on this?!" Nick exclaimed, thrusting his hand forward and firing off a Final Shine Attack to shatter the Black Hope ship's mast clean off of its hinges.
"Whoa, where the hell did all of you come from?!" the first pirate shouted as the rest of the spies made their presence known. The Black Hope pirates were so distracted by this that they actually didn't notice May sneaking up behind them, her anchor clutched in her hands.
"Call us the reinforcements," May proclaimed as she struck, knocking each pirate off of the ship and right into the water with one anchor swing each.
"You little wench! Who exactly do you work for?!" the second pirate snarled, only for Nick to encase all three pirates in a psychic bubble.
"That's really none of your business," Nick responded. "When you see your boss again, tell him we're coming for him soon enough."
Nick thrust his hand out and sent the bubbled pirates away.
"I just sent them on a little trip," Nick quipped. "By the time the bubble pops, we'll be long gone."
"There's a fair bit of treasure on this derelict little thing," Patty quipped, having jumped onto the Black Hope ship after Nick had sent its crew away. "No doubt the loot they swiped from those other people."
"Hey, I think I see another ship over that-a-way," Sam proclaimed.
Patty looked through her binoculars to be sure, and saw a rather destroyed ship just barely staying afloat.
"It's another wreck," Patty sighed as she carried the stolen treasure back onto the Fiertia.
"No one's on that ship, either," Nick replied after using his psychic radar. "No one alive, anyway."
"So, they just destroy other ships for the funsies, too?" Clover gasped. "How much lower can these nutjobs sink?!"
"Try 'slaughtering the entire crew'," Pirate Nick answered, to which the spies all looked appropriately shocked. "Every time the Black Hope has attacked another pirate ship recently, they killed all of the crew before wrecking the ship and taking the treasure."
"It almost feels like the only reason the Black Hope exists is to give honorable pirates a bad rep and make people think that these new pirates are no better than they were in the olden days," May quipped.
"That's pretty much their whole shtick," Patty answered.
"Say, one of those pirates mentioned something about a 'New World' when he was talking about their leader," Mat wondered.
"That would be this world," Pirate Nick replied.
"Basically, well over a hundred years ago, some eco-terrorist nutball wanted to test out his new solar energy system, but it malfunctioned horribly," Patty explained. "The energy output was enough to completely vaporize the polar ice caps, and it caused a flood that basically engulfed the entire world."
"Most of the old world is underwater now," Pirate Nick stated. "That's what most of the more honorable pirates became pirates to do, to unearth any remaining relics from the world before the Great Flood."
"Wait, wait, so flip-truckin' Edison caused basically the end of the world here?!" Alex gasped. "That's nuts!"
"And the Black Hope's not gonna stop with their delusions of grandeur unless we stop them," Patty proclaimed. "If we don't take them down soon, they might overrun what's left."
"And that's exactly the kind of thing we became spies to prevent, right?" Sam stated. "So let's keep tailing the Black Hope and stop them before they wreak any more havoc!"
"You sound just like Aifread," Patty giggled. "Grandpa was always gung-ho about his own hatred of the Black Hope."
"Fortunately, Patty and I did catch wind of a Black Hope stronghold recently, but we kept getting distracted by their attacks," Pirate Nick proclaimed as Patty took the main wheel. "I think that place would be our best bet to find Alexei."
"All right, hubby, let's set sail!" Patty exclaimed as the Fiertia turned around and started sailing to the southwest, hopefully towards the Black Hope stronghold.
"Hopefully we can beat them there," Haruka told the others.
"Yeah, that'd be a vital thing to do," Sam quipped, agreeing with Haruka's reasoning.
"As luck would have it," Pirate Nick pointed out. "Patty and I happen to know where Alexei is, and where the Black Hope Pirates are journeying to."
"Well, that's a big relief," Bridget sighed.
"Where is it?" Blaine wondered.
"Apparently, there have been rumors of a big stash of treasure somewhere out in the Hollow Current," Pirate Nick explained. "Naturally, the Black Hope laid claim to the area where it was rumored to be."
"Strange thing is, they haven't found anything there yet," Patty replied. "Either they were duped, or whatever is there is buried really deep. So, they set up a base there to search for it."
"Well, what're we waiting for?!" Sam exclaimed.
With that, Patty sped up the Fiertia to get to that destination.
7:11 P.M. – The Hollow Current
Black Hope Pirates' Hideout
"Land ho!" Pirate Nick announced to the crew as they docked at the stronghold.
"This is it?" Melissa wondered.
"This is it," Patty repeated.
"I'm already getting a case of the creeps," May commented, clutching Nick.
"Well, turning back isn't an option," Sam quipped.
Alex felt the same way May did, but she was able to keep herself composed.
"The lair is just barely within my psychic radar," Nick told everyone.
"I just hope they weren't expecting us to come," Clover commented.
"Totally," Nozomi stated in agreement.
"Believe us, we'll be ready for them!" Britney confidently replied.
Fortunately for everybody, there was no sign of the Black Hope Pirates anywhere.
"Looks like we beat them here," Mat replied after he had looked around.
"I'd hope so," Alex commented.
"So, where's the hideout?" Haruka asked.
Bridget tried to use her X-Powder for a reading, but all she got was a lot of static.
"No luck with our X-Powders," Bridget chastised.
"That's the one thing about this dimension that hasn't changed unfortunately," Clover complained. "Communication here SUCKS!"
"That's something we wish we could do about," Patty told the spies. "And we're sorry you're dealing with this."
"Hey, guys!" Dawn proclaimed as she and Haruka turned to face them. "I think we found it..."
"It definitely looks the part," Haruka admitted as she got a good look at how creepy the stronghold looked.
"Let's just hope that none of those creeps are trying to ambush us," Nozomi stated.
Nick used his psychic radar to check the area out. "I'm only detecting one other person here," Nick responded. "You think it might be Alexei?"
"There's only one way to find out," Pirate Nick answered as the spies made their way into the stronghold, sticking together to minimize the chances of an ambush.
"Man, it's too quiet here," Mat quipped. The only sounds at the moment were the lashing of the waves, which were especially rough all the way out here in the Hollow Current. "That typically means trouble."
"Man, look at all of this stuff," Melissa stated as the group passed by what appeared to be a treasure hoard. "They just brazenly left their treasure just lying around!"
"Few pirates have ever truly opposed the Black Hope, especially since Alexei took control of them," Pirate Nick explained. "Before Alexei took over, the Black Hope weren't really any more nasty than any of us real pirates, but that all changed after Alexei overthrew the Black Hope's previous leader and turned them into a bunch of cutthroat scumbags."
"And considering how rough the Hollow Current can get sometimes, not many pirates ever dared sailing through these waves on a bad day," Patty replied. "Thank goodness we reinforced the Fiertia specifically to deal with the Hollow Current."
"Pardon the interruption, but I think I see someone up ahead!" May proclaimed.
Just ahead of the spies, standing at the edge of a walkway, was a middle-aged man with spiky silver hair and carrying a very intricate sword in his right hand.
"Is that...?" Sam wondered.
"The one and only," Pirate Nick growled.
"I was wondering who would dare be so brazen as to dock at our stronghold," Alexei chuckled, turning around to face the group. "I must say, I'm surprised to see you again after so many years, Nick."
"Yeah, well, I'm not," Pirate Nick growled. "And if I were you, Alexei, I'd be quaking in my roughshod boots, because you know exactly why I'm here."
"Yes, how long has it been, exactly?" Alexei responded, casually twirling his sword in his hands. "How long since our last meeting?"
"I'm warning you, my hubby isn't in any mood for your twisted word games, Alexei!" Patty exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, I remember now," Alexei proclaimed, walking up to Pirate Nick and staring him down. "Wasn't it the time where I murdered your parents for defying me?"
Nick was instantly on the move, lunging forward to land a flying spin kick across Alexei's head that sent him stumbling backwards.
"That was a low blow, jackass," Nick growled. "Even for someone as twisted as you."
"My, my, it seems like you found yourself a long-lost brother or something," Alexei laughed after recovering himself. "It doesn't matter anyway. I highly doubt any of you little wretches will be walking out of this alive."
Alexei raised his sword, which began glowing a bright red, before swinging it in a downward slash. This caused a powerful blade of energy to erupt from it, causing the spies to scatter in different directions to avoid getting hit by the blast.
"Oh, great, this nutjob has powers, too?!" Alex shouted.
Pirate Nick and Patty, however, were more concerned with the glimmering ruby-red jewel embedded in Alexei's sword.
"Where did you dig up manufactured nethicite, you charlatan?!" Patty exclaimed.
"One of the many treasures collected by the Black Hope," Alexei answered. "That's all you need to know, really."
Alexei started slashing wildly with his sword, each swing causing a blade of energy to fly towards the spies. Thankfully, Nick planted himself in front of the spies and raised a psychic barrier to block each blast.
"Nice moves, little boy, but how long can you keep it up?!" Alexei laughed.
"Nick, think fast!" Patty exclaimed as she reached into her satchel and tossed something to Nick. After catching it by its handle, Nick quickly realized that it was Dein Nomos, a powerful weapon from another dimension that had been wielded by Professor Paradox during their battle with her at the climax of their previous dimension-hopping adventure. After the battle was over, Patty had claimed Dein Nomos as a "treasure".
"W-Where did you get Dein Nomos?!" Alexei exclaimed. "We've been trying to find that thing for years!"
"Oh, now you're concerned?!" Nick shot back as Dein Nomos began to glow in his grip. "Maybe you shouldn't have started writing checks your big mouth can't cash!"
Nick dispelled his barrier so he could charge down Alexei, slashing at him multiple times with Dein Nomos. Though Alexei managed to block each strike, the last one struck at the nethicite in his sword and cracked it.
Realizing what that meant, Alexei quickly jumped away from Nick, then threw his sword away, where it spun through the air away from the stronghold like a boomerang, before suddenly exploding in vicious fashion.
"Okay, are swords supposed to do that?!" Clover exclaimed.
"I guess this means we'll have to pick this up at a later date," Alexei proclaimed. "This won't be our last meeting, boy."
Alexei threw something to the ground that created a bright flash, and when it cleared up, he was gone.
"Nuts," Melissa groaned. "I still hate it when they do that."
"Wait, wait, so what exactly is this nethi-whatever that mister big bad was yapping about?" Alex asked.
"Manufactured nethicite," Patty responded. "From what my hubby and I have been able to gather, it's some kind of super-powerful, concentrated energy source that people were trying to put together to solve the looming energy crisis before the Great Flood decimated our world."
"But as you no doubt noticed, it's very unstable if not used properly," Pirate Nick continued. "You saw what happened when Nick cracked it with Dein Nomos, right? Certain reactions can have... very messy consequences."
Patty just glanced at Pirate Nick, remembering that particular incident when one of the Black Hope pirates had tried to crack open a piece of nethicite to get at whatever was inside. It hadn't ended well for that guy, to say the least.
"And from what Alexei said, the Black Hope must have more manufactured nethicite somewhere," Sam proclaimed.
"That means we need to go after him before things get even more chaotic than they already are," Mat responded.
"Well, then let's get back to the Fiertia and see if we can find another Black Hope base," Pirate Nick stated. "They're pretty common around the Hollow Current."
"Oh, and Nick? You can hold onto Dein Nomos for now," Patty proclaimed. "I've got a feeling it's gonna come in handy."
"Duly noted," Nick answered as the entire group retreated to the Fiertia so they could once again set sail and search for Alexei.
As the group did indeed set sail, there was a slight amount of frustration among some of them that Alexei was a foe instead of an ally.
Nick, however, looked on at Dein Nomos, its blade glowing softly in his grasp.
"Man, I'm feeling some strange power in this thing," Nick quipped. "I guess Professor Paradox wasn't screwing around when she yanked this out."
"How powerful IS this thing, anyway?" Blaine wondered as everyone looked at Dein Nomos, too.
"Well, we only started researching it after you guys went home on our previous adventure," Patty explained. "But apparently, Dein Nomos is an extremely ancient weapon in this dimension, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years ago."
"From what we could find, Dein Nomos was once used in succession ceremonies for an ancient kingdom," Pirate Nick continued. "It was supposedly infused with the great power of magic that the then-emperor's bloodline wielded, and that's why it was also used for succession ceremonies, since only one who could properly wield its power could take the throne."
"Then, a massive war happened over Dein Nomos, and the kingdom kinda just collapsed," Patty stated. "Dein Nomos was lost to history, at least until Professor Paradox yanked it out."
"Sounds like 2006 when everybody in Supercross jumped up to 450cc 4-strokes," Mat commented.
Sam and Britney chuckled at that comparison Mat shared.
"So, where do we head now?" Melissa wondered.
"Hopefully we can find out soon before one of us gets seasick from this trip," Clover stated.
"True there," Nick replied to Clover.
Fortunately, everybody was feeling fine... for the time being anyway.
"There's this rather dangerous-looking area somewhere nearby that we've seen a lot of Black Hope pirates checking out lately," Pirate Nick stated.
"So it seems like it'd probably be a perfect place for Alexei to squat," Patty replied.
"Well, hopefully that won't be too long," Bridget quipped.
For the time being, now was a good time to release some tension and stave off any seasickness.
"So, we hear you're on summer break?" Patty asked the spies.
"Oh, we are," Britney happily answered.
"I know I'm looking forward to mornings in bed with this one here," Mat added with an arm around Sam.
"I'm not gonna disagree," Sam giggled, especially considering Mat got what he wanted earlier with Yamaha's Chad Reed winning the 2008 Supercross title.
Britney and Melissa just grinned over it since they were just "side girlfriends" for Mat.
"Same for me with Nick," Alex quipped.
"And me, if possible," May added.
"Don't doubt it, May," Nick smiled.
"I'm kinda looking forward to more of the water hose fights or car washes we get this summer," Haruka stated, knowing how Nick always got turned on by her in a bikini.
"I'm looking to take part in one myself," Nozomi laughed.
"Next one is you and me then," Bridget told Nozomi since Bridget liked those car washes, too.
"Oh, I'm definitely down for that," Nozomi giggled.
"Personally, I'm looking forward to numerous dates with Blaine-y," Clover quipped.
"Sounds like you guys have your summer planned out," Pirate Nick commented.
"Oh, do we ever?" Dawn giggled.
"LAND HO!" Patty announced.
"It looks like just another ol' island," Haruka quipped.
"I wouldn't be too sure," Nick replied as he glanced at Dein Nomos, which was glowing brighter than it had been earlier. "Judging by how this bad boy is reacting, there's probably something very interesting nearby."
"I'm willing to bet that whatever the Black Hope is looking for, it might be what Dein Nomos is reacting to," Mat stated. "How about we dock and check things out?"
As the group left the Fiertia to explore the strange island, Dein Nomos' blade started glowing brighter and brighter as they moved, which allowed Nick to use it as a sort-of guide marker to where they were supposed to go.
Eventually, the group found themselves in front of a large stone altar, with two statues adorning it.
"Okay, not at all what I was expecting," Clover quipped.
"Hey, doesn't it look like those two statues are holding weapons?" Sam responded, pointing to the statues' hands. "And look, one of them is missing."
"I wonder..." Nick stated as he walked over to the statue without a weapon, then placed Dein Nomos in its hand.
All of a sudden, the statue began to glow brightly, neon lines of light running all across it and onto the island itself. Then, before anyone could get their bearings, the island began to shake and rumble.
"Um... does anyone think we need to move? Like maybe back to the ship kind of move?" May wondered, her answer coming when the ground underneath them began to crack. "Yeah, I thought so! LET'S MOVE!"
After retrieving Dein Nomos, Nick encased the entire group in a psychic bubble so that he could float them all back to the Fiertia before the island itself fell apart completely.
Patty made sure to activate the boosters to pilot the Fiertia away from the collapsing island as it eventually vanished entirely under the waves, leaving only a large whirlpool where the island had once been.
"Okay, what the hell was that about?!" Bridget shouted. "Was that just a trap to deter any intruders?"
Pirate Nick and Patty took a good look with their binoculars, only to see something rather odd when they glanced at the whirlpool.
"Um, you guys... I think there's something at the bottom of that whirlpool," Patty quipped. "It looks like... ancient ruins. Ooh, hubby, my treasure senses are tingling like crazy."
"I feel the same way, Patty," Pirate Nick chuckled. "How about we head down there and see what all the hub-bub's about."
"Wait just a second, we're going down into the whirlpool?!" Alex gasped. "Can the Fiertia even do that?"
Patty just grinned and flipped a switch on the nearby control panel, and the Fiertia unfurled rocket boosters from its underside so they could fire and lift the Fiertia into the air.
Nick and the others had almost forgotten that the Fiertia was also a flying pirate ship, as it had flown through water, sand, and even dimensions on their previous adventure.
The Fiertia floated upward slightly, then flew towards the whirlpool that had just been created, and eventually started descending into the whirlpool, further and further until, just like Patty had said, they entered what appeared to be a set of submerged ancient ruins.
The odd part, though?
Even though water was supposed to be pouring in from above thanks to the whirlpool (and indeed, it was), the water wasn't reaching the ruins. In fact, everything in this area seemed to be completely frozen in time.
"Wow, this is pretty freaky, huh?" Nozomi quipped. "It's like time decided to just... I don't know, stop working in this place."
"And Dein Nomos is shining like the freakin' sun," Nick responded.
"...it makes sense now," Pirate Nick gasped once he recognized where they most likely were. "We're in the ruins of Zaphias, the kingdom where Dein Nomos came from."
"Someone must have cast some kind of time-freezing spell on this whole place," Patty quipped. "Remember, some people in the old kingdom could use magic thanks to their emperor's bloodline."
"Just one mystery after another, huh?" May proclaimed. "Well, peeps and cronies, let's not waste any time, shall we? We have an ancient kingdom to explore here."
"That we do," Nick responded as the spies walked forward to catch up with Pirate Nick and Patty, ready to begin exploring the underwater ruins of Zaphias.
To be continued...
On the next episode...
Alex: Wow, this place is amazing.
Patty: Yeah, these underwater ruins can be pretty mesmerizing to look at.
Blaine: Does anyone think that we should keep an eye out for the Black Hope?
Pirate Nick: Good idea. I don't know if they can get down here, but considering Alexei, I can never be too sure with him nowadays.
May: Really makes you wonder what might be down here that its people would freeze the city in time to protect, huh?
Nick: That's always the fun part of mysteries, May, the path we take to solving them.
Patty: Well, I'll do the preview line so y'all can keep on lookout. We've got quite an interesting trip through time-frozen ruins for you all, next time on Totally Spies: Fractured Hope, "A Missive From 2,000 Years Ago"!
Pirate Nick: Well, let's see what else we can plunder down here.
May: ...the scriptwriter's lucky he's stuck back in our own dimension.