On Today's Episode: The spies explore the underwater ruins of Zaphias in hopes of finding whatever the Black Hope is trying to lay claim to. Could it be treasure? Ancient power? Or is there something more sinister that lies in wait, something that the people of Zaphias would resort to freezing the kingdom in time for? It's a race against the Black Hope to discover the secrets of the ruined kingdom...
Act 2: A Missive from 2,000 Years Ago
9:20 P.M. – Underwater Ruins of Zaphias
"Wow, this place is amazing!" Alex proclaimed.
"I'll second that," Clover remarked. "You could fit the Groove in here, and even our beach house, too!"
"Probably bigger than Atlantis," Nick commented.
"Yeah, these underwater ruins can be pretty mesmerizing to look at," Patty told them.
The spies then got set to explore the ruins.
"Does anyone think that we should keep an eye out for the Black Hope?" Blaine wondered.
"Oh, good point," Mat quipped.
"Good idea," Pirate Nick replied. "I don't know if they can get down here, but considering Alexei, I can never be too sure with him nowadays."
"He's THAT villainous?" Sam wondered.
"Believe us, he's bad news and far from the ally some of you might've been hoping for," Patty emphasized.
"But this Dein Nomos should be a sign to beat him, right?" Mat wondered.
"Here's hoping," Patty quipped. "He seemed to be pretty surprised that we had it."
"Really makes you wonder what might be down here that its people would freeze the city in time to protect, huh?" May wondered.
"That's always the fun part of mysteries, May, the path we take to solving them," Nick pointed out.
"True that," Britney stated.
"So, let's dock ship and get to wherever we need to go," Sam emphasized.
"Just follow the glowing sword, I guess," Nick stated, holding Dein Nomos out and using its glow to pinpoint where they needed to go.
As the group traversed through the ruins, they would occasionally come across statues of people in various states of panic, though some looked confident and resolute instead.
"These must be the remaining citizens of Zaphias," Nozomi quipped. "I guess some of them couldn't escape before the time freeze was cast."
"And I'm willing to bet that this spell is the only reason why these ruins are still intact and not being crushed by the literal ocean all around us," Bridget stated.
"Magic is very strange sometimes," Patty proclaimed.
"Oh, tell me about it," May laughed. "Reminds me of this one guy who likes to think he's a real magician, but it's really just a bunch of charlatan tricks."
"I hope we don't have to deal with him again for a while, especially after what he tried to do to me," Sam quipped.
As the group continued their expedition through Zaphias, they noticed that some structures had glistening jewels embedded in them, and some of the statues of Zaphias citizens were clutching the jewels as well.
"W-wait, isn't that..." Alex gasped.
"Manufactured nethicite," Pirate Nick proclaimed. "I'm starting to figure out why this kingdom was ravaged so badly if this stuff is here."
"...I think I get it, too," Sam gasped. "This nethicite stuff is how the ancient kingdom used their magic, right?"
"Bingo," Patty answered.
"Hold on, they just left this stuff here for any would-be rapscallion to take?!" Blaine gasped.
"I think the pathway was sealed by that altar on the island before it collapsed," Nick responded. "And only someone who had Dein Nomos could unseal it. That's probably why Dein Nomos was the 'key' to this place, so to speak."
"And now more mysteries just keep popping up," Melissa stated.
"Well, we're not gonna solve 'em by standing around here, that's for dang sure," May proclaimed. "Let's keep looking for something to go on."
And so, the journey through Zaphias continued.
"I'm honestly shocked we haven't run into any of the Black Hope yet," Dawn quipped. "You'd think they'd notice a giant whirlpool that leads into ancient ruins, huh?"
"Maybe none of them have ships like the Fiertia that can freakin' fly," Britney giggled. "Advantage us, I suppose."
"And my psychic radar isn't detecting anyone besides us here for the moment," Nick replied. "Though I'm sure that doesn't mean there isn't danger here, so let's stay on our toes."
Eventually, the group found themselves in what appeared to be a gladiator arena of sorts.
"Oh, that's not inconspicuous at all," Mat proclaimed rather sarcastically.
Nick took a good look at Dein Nomos, which was once again glowing insanely brightly. "There's something here," Nick quipped. "Or rather, someone."
Nick's theory was quickly proven right when a flash of red light appeared above the group, and from that light came Alexei, a new sword in his hands and aiming it straight for Alex's head.
Naturally, Nick put a stop to that by creating a psychic bubble around the group to block Alexei's attack, followed by popping the bubble, its recoil sending Alexei tumbling backwards.
"Nice try, guy," Nick taunted. "Did you forget that I'm psychic?"
"You must be truly impressive if you could sense my approach, despite using teleportation magic," Alexei admitted.
"Well, that, and it helps that I have a sort-of beacon to guide me," Nick quipped, gesturing to Dein Nomos in his hands. "Now, how about you explain what you're doing here before I have to carve you up like a Thanksgiving turkey?"
"Simple," Alexei proclaimed, clutching at a piece of manufactured nethicite in his hands. "As you've probably already figured out by now, manufactured nethicite is the crystallized essence of the kingdom's magical prowess. It was both their greatest blessing and their eventual undoing. By recklessly misusing their magical powers, war broke out over the throne and did irreparable damage to the kingdom. The only remaining members of the emperor's bloodline sealed that power into nethicite and used the remainder of their own power to freeze the remains of their kingdom in time."
"And that would explain why you've been so obsessed with manufactured nethicite, am I right?" Patty shot back. "Because you're trying to harness the magical power of Zaphias?!"
"Quite right, my dear," Alexei chuckled. "With the power of magic on my side, the Black Hope will reign supreme over this flooded world, both old and new. It's that easy to follow, really."
Nick spun Dein Nomos around before aiming it for Alexei. "Yeah, well, where my friends and I come from, we've run into more than our fair share of megalomaniacal madmen like you, Alexei," Nick taunted. "And, in case you missed the memo, we've stomped every single one of them."
"You and I still have a score to settle, Alexei," Pirate Nick proclaimed, drawing his scimitar. "And we're never going to stop hounding you until I avenge mom and dad."
Alexei just laughed in response. "It's not my fault their curiosity got the better of them," Alexei proclaimed. "And they paid the price for it."
In a move nobody expected, Pirate Nick charged forward, taking advantage of Alexei's gloating, and slashed him across the chest with his scimitar, leaving a very visible gash where he had struck.
"...holy crapbaskets," Melissa gasped.
"I warned you, didn't I, Alexei?!" Pirate Nick shouted. "I'm through playing games with you!"
"Such fire in those eyes, boy," Alexei laughed. "If only you'd shown that same fire when I killed them."
"All right, this creep's askin' for it," May growled, twirling her anchor around in her hands (she'd borrowed one from the Fiertia when they'd arrived in this dimension). "How about we start planting our boots into his keester?"
"Music to my ears," Nick proclaimed, readying Dein Nomos as the rest of the spies prepared for battle as well.
"As Pirate Nick said, you were warned," Clover taunted.
"You better call yourself lucky he didn't skewer you like a piece of shish kebab," Alex added.
"I'll determine when I'm lucky, thank you very much," Alexei sneered.
May took that as a green light to execute a sneak attack on Alexei. She hurled the anchor directly at Alexei. Nick sensed May's attack and ducked, leaving Alexei having a clear vision of May's hurled anchor directly in his path. It was a direct hit right on Alexei's face.
"Not lucky there..." May laughed as Alexei rubbed the point of impact.
"Better get used to it," Haruka proclaimed. "Because that's only the beginning!"
("Buttercup (I'm a Super Girl)" by Shonen Knife plays)
"Oh, really?!" Alexei sneered in retaliation.
Knowing the ruins were above water, Sam, Clover, and Alex all whipped out their Wind Tunnel 9000s in an attempt to sweep Alexei off his feet... literally. Combining their thrust, the three main spies managed to send Alexei on his backside.
"No way you can beat THAT!" Clover taunted.
"I haven't begun to fight!" Alexei boasted and charged for the spies.
Clover backflipped over Alexei, leaving him wide open for Patty to rush in and start slashing at him with her pirate's knife. Though Alexei dodged each swing, this did leave him blind to Nick charging towards him from behind, and he took advantage of this fact to slash at his back with Dein Nomos.
Not satisfied with just this, Nick leaped into the air, and after Patty moved out of the way, he channeled the power coming from Dein Nomos and performed five lightning-fast slashes, each slash sending a wide blade of bright red energy careening into Alexei.
"You wanna suck on that?!" Nick shouted.
"Well, he's got a lot of oomph," Bridget commented, not underestimating this new foe.
"No doubt," May quipped.
"Alexei is just as bad as the Black Hope Pirates," Pirate Nick replied. "I should know..."
"We believed ya from the start," Mat stated.
"And you haven't seen what else I can do since I control these underwater ruins," Alexei remarked.
"Wait, what was that?!" Melissa shouted.
With that, Alexei simply gestured to the nethicite embedded in his sword as he unleashed his powers, which made the ruins sink underwater.
"CRAPBASKETS!" Nick chastised. "I didn't think he could do that!"
As the water level covered the spies' ankles, there was still time to equip the UPWATIs; this time, Alex backed off on the UPWATI punch line, much to Nozomi and Mat's delight.
"Unfortunately, this is our only option," Sam told everyone.
"But we can make due haste with the hand we're dealt with," Melissa quipped.
"I'm seconding that," Dawn added.
The thirteen spies all equipped the UPWATIs before it was too late.
"Good luck, spies," Patty replied. "I don't know if we can help you..."
"We'll think of something," Blaine quipped.
"Now, how do we compensate?" Haruka wondered. "Ideas, anyone?"
"It doesn't seem like you're really equipped to fight underwater, does it?" Alexei chuckled, his body surrounded by a dark red glow.
"That's mistake number seven, buddy," Bridget quipped. "Underestimating your opponents is a bad idea."
Even as Alexei rushed in to attack her, Bridget swam slightly backwards, deactivating her UPWATI and equipping an Aqua Lips Waterproof Lipstick before reaching for her X-Powder. "Sonic Mode, online!"
Just before Alexei could strike, Bridget's body was surrounded by a bright light that forced Alexei to back off. When the light cleared, Bridget's hair had come free of its braids and flowed down to about her waist, and she was wearing a synthetic emerald-green swimsuit that radiated blue light across its lines.
"Now let's see you talk your talk, Alexei!" Bridget exclaimed, swimming forward at incredible speeds to punch Alexei with a wicked right hook. Alexei quickly recovered and swung his sword again, but it only cut the water where Bridget had just been, and she swam around to kick Alexei in the back.
No matter what Alexei tried, he couldn't keep up with Bridget's overwhelming speed and kept getting knocked around until Nick was finally able to swim over and once again strike at Alexei's sword with Dein Nomos, specifically towards the nethicite embedded in the blade.
Alexei swam away as fast as he could from his sword when it finally exploded, a burst of red energy expanding outwards from the broken blade.
Just then, Nick noticed flashes of light from both nearby and far away. Specifically, all of the other manufactured nethicite that the statues had been clutching were reacting, glowing violently almost as if in response to Alexei's exploding.
After a few seconds, multiple loud explosions resounded across the ruins.
"Oh, who thinks that was any sort of good?" Melissa wondered.
Sure enough, more water started pouring in from high above, and now Nick realized what had just happened.
"Oh, shit," Nick gasped. "The nethicite we've seen down here must have reacted to Alexei's. Now, they've all blown sky high, and that must have caused enough of a magical reaction to cancel the time freeze that's keeping these ruins from getting crushed by the ocean. So, long story short, we need to get back to the Fiertia and ditch this place now!"
"Okay, I'm definitely down for that!" Clover exclaimed. "I'd rather not be an ancient relic!"
"This isn't over, Alexei," Patty proclaimed. "Not by a long shot."
"Wouldn't dream of it, little lady," Alexei laughed before swimming away himself.
"We can deal with him another time," Mat quipped. "Nick's got the right idea. Let's get the hell out of here!"
No one needed to be told twice as they all swam for their lives, hoping to make it back to the Fiertia before the ocean buried them.
As the spies made their way to the Fiertia, many of the different structures around them began to collapse and disintegrate from the seawater pouring in from above.
Occasionally, a large pillar would fall in their pathway to obstruct them, but Nick simply slashed through it with Dein Nomos to allow a clear shot through.
"Oh, please tell me the Fiertia's still intact..." Nozomi pleaded.
Thankfully, when the spies managed to return to the point where they'd started exploring, the Fiertia was still in one piece, though water was pouring in around it rather quickly.
"Come on, everyone, let's move!" Sam shouted as the group boarded the Fiertia, Patty activating the control panel swiftly and causing the Fiertia to start flying upwards, back through the hole they'd entered the ruins through until they were back on the oceans of the Hollow Current.
They could do nothing but watch the whirlpool collapse in on itself and then seal itself up, leaving no trace that it or the ruins had ever been there.
"...it's gone, isn't it?" Britney wondered.
"Looks like it," Pirate Nick replied. "Sadly, this wouldn't be the first time the Black Hope has gotten away with something like this."
"About five years ago, we were chasing the Black Hope to a treasure we'd found in an ancient tower, and they actually got to it first," Patty explained. "But what they didn't realize was that the treasure they found was embedded in something that was keeping the entire tower stable. We tried to warn them against it, but sadly, they didn't listen, and the whole dang tower collapsed."
"Patty and I barely escaped by the skin of our teeth, but the Black Hope lost two of their best fighters in that tower," Pirate Nick stated. "...and... they took their revenge on me for that not much later."
No one needed any further explanation to know what Pirate Nick meant by that.
"Hey, don't worry about a thing, 'kay?" Nick quipped. "We'll stop them no matter what it takes. They're not going to get away with what they've done any longer."
"Yeah, we're gonna take Alexei down for what he did to you," May proclaimed. "And I mean all the freakin' way down."
"You think he escaped before Zaphias collapsed?" Alex wondered.
"Knowing Alexei, he probably did," Pirate Nick answered. "I wouldn't be surprised, to be honest. He's gotten out of worse scrapes before."
"Then let's set sail and keep chasing him," Patty proclaimed, leaning over to kiss Pirate Nick on the cheek. "We'll follow that scurvy sea dog to the depths of hell if we've got to."
His determination renewed, Pirate Nick followed Patty to the Fiertia's control deck so they could set sail and continue the chase.
As the spies chatted about how they were going to find Alexei and the Black Hope, Nick glanced towards the rising sun off in the distance, as the choppy waters of the Hollow Current gave way to the calmer waves of the Moonflow Tides.
Trust me, Alexei, Nick thought. You're not getting away with what you've done any longer.
"Any idea where he could've gotten to now?" Nozomi wondered.
"We're working as hard as we can to pinpoint Alexei's location," Patty told them.
"This might take a while," Pirate Nick added.
With that, the spies felt this was a good time to release a little tension.
"So, Mat, you think Chad Reed's gonna get a second title this year?" May wondered.
"Actually, Chad Reed's under a Supercross-only contract with the San Manuel Yamaha team," Mat pointed out. "But in my book, that's fine. I'm just hoping defending champ Grant Langston returns after what happened to him at Anaheim 3."
"What was that?" Sam asked.
"Well, apparently, Langston had blurry vision in his eye, and now, I'm hearing it's an eye tumor," Mat answered.
"Oh, gosh!" Britney chastised.
"At this rate, I'll be surprised if he lines up at the first round," Blaine commented. "Tumors are known to take a long time to heal."
"I think I can concur there," Nick stated, overhearing the conversation going on.
"First round's from Glen Helen this year," Mat went on about the 2008 Motocross season. "Feels like old times, honestly."
"How so?" Alex wondered.
"Glen Helen served as the opener of the Motocross season from 1998 to 2003 that's why," Mat answered. "Until Glen Helen got moved to the last round from 2004 to 2007."
"Makes sense from your viewpoint," Melissa commented. "Change is always a challenge to get used to..."
"Tell me about it," Dawn quipped.
"No Chad Reed, no Kevin Windham, but I'm sure as hell hoping Ryan Villopoto gets back on track over the summertime after how Supercross went for him," Mat remarked.
"You gotta feel for him," May replied. "But I feel that was on him because that gap's a hole you could drive a truck through!"
"My thoughts exactly," Mat stated.
"I guess time will tell us," Sam replied, shoulder-hugging Mat.
"Totally," Clover added.
In the meantime, May went over to where Pirate Nick was. He was looking off in the distance, obviously with Alexei fully on his mind.
"We're gonna get this guy to say uncle if it's the last thing we do," May insisted.
"I sure hope so," Patty told May. "My hubby didn't have enough to get Alexei the first time and he retreated."
"Do you know his weak point?" May wondered as she turned to Patty as well.
"Well, you've seen all those fancy tricks he can do?" Pirate Nick proclaimed. "Problem with that is, he's kinda useless without his weapons."
"Why do you think he keeps bringing manufacture nethicite with him every time we've encountered him so far?" Patty quipped. "He's not much in a fight otherwise, so we just have to corner him without any of his fancy toys and he's a goner."
"Sounds simple enough," Nick replied.
"And look at that, we just got a reading on where Alexei got to," Patty added.
Everyone overheard and came to hear the details.
"I think we've found another Black Hope stronghold out here in the Moonflow Tides," Pirate Nick explained. "No doubt they're digging for more nethicite."
"Then we'd better stop them before any more trouble pops up," Sam proclaimed. "Lead the way."
"On it!" Patty exclaimed as the Fiertia began to sail towards the direction they'd picked up on.
12:43 A.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Black Hope Stronghold
"No less creepy than the other places we've been to, honestly," Clover stated as the Fiertia docked at the Black Hope's stronghold.
"Hold it right there, intruders!"
Five members of the Black Hope had arrived almost instantly after the Fiertia docked, all aiming their pistols for the spies.
"What are you doing here, you meddlers?" one pirate proclaimed.
"One false step and we'll blow your heads clean off of those pretty little shoulders!" a second pirate cackled.
Nick solved that problem by raising his right hand to entrap all five pirates in a psychic bubble, then tossing them out to sea.
"Oh, just go cool off for once in your lives," Nick taunted as the spies stepped off of the Fiertia, Nick unsheathing Dein Nomos just in case. "All right, Alexei, just where the hell are you?! We know you're here, so just come on out of hiding so we can pummel your ass into submission!"
It only took a few seconds for Alexei to show himself, but this time around, he was wielding a sword that appeared to be a fabrication of Dein Nomos itself, with another piece of manufactured nethicite embedded into its hilt.
"You people are far more stubborn than I gave you credit for, apparently," Alexei admitted.
"Yeah, well, where we're from, we get that a lot," Mat retorted.
"Always insisting on stopping me," Alexei laughed. "When you know that I am destined to rule this ball of water and rock."
"And there's another thing," May proclaimed. "You still haven't told us why you think you're the only one who can 'rule' this world! You wanna explain that before I give you an anchor upside your head for killing Pirate Nick's parents, you sleazebag?!"
"So vulgar for a young lady," Alexei chuckled. "But, I suppose you deserve that much, at the very least."
Alexei walked over to the edge of the platform. "I'm sure that all of you have seen the state of this world, am I wrong?" Alexei proclaimed. "Over a century with most of the world submerged under the ocean due to the whims of a madman. I know that the world you come from is nothing like this place. And you've seen everything that has happened since the Great Flood. Pirates have overwhelmed this world, digging up anything that they wish with zero regard for the consequences."
Alexei raised his False Dein Nomos and pointed it towards the sky. "It is a world that has truly lost its way," Alexei stated. "It was for this very reason that I decided that if no one will truly step up to take a hold of this shattered world and lead it to the greatness it was always meant to be before the Great Flood, it may as well be me. You wretched pirates aren't welcome in this world, anyway."
"There's your first problem, thinking that most pirates are exactly the same as they were in the olden days," Patty shot back, not buying Alexei's excuses for a second. "Most pirates nowadays are pretty nice people who only have to fight when they need to defend themselves. The only reason we still have bad pirates is because of you and the Black Hope trying to emulate the scurvy dogs of days past."
Patty loaded her grandfather's pistol and aimed it for Alexei's head. "And just stuff the comment about grandpa, because I know it's coming," Patty proclaimed. "Aifread was one of the most amazing pirates I've ever had the pleasure of knowing."
"But he was still a pirate," Alexei taunted. "And therefore unworthy of life."
Surprisingly, May was the one to take offense to that statement, charging in while Alexei was still monologuing and beaning Alexei upside the head with her anchor.
"Watch how you talk about Aifread around us, buster," May growled. "Because I'm coming for that fake sword of yours next."
"Oh, like you're in any position to defy me," Alexei laughed, swinging his False Dein Nomos towards May in an attempt to end her right then and there, but Alex put a stop to that by shielding herself and May with an All-Weather Umbrella.
"Go suck on those eggs, buddy!" Alex exclaimed.
"Cute, but utterly pointless," Alexei chuckled as he swung the False Dein Nomos again, this time unleashing a blade of red light that actually shattered the All-Weather Umbrella's shield. Before Alexei could capitalize, however, Nick blasted him in the back with a Final Shine Attack.
"You wanna try that on me, you son of a bitch?" Nick proclaimed, clutching the actual Dein Nomos in his right hand.
"With pleasure," Alexei responded, charging forward to meet Nick, their blades clashing multiple times.
"Anyone got any ideas to disarm him?" Sam asked.
"I think I've got something," Melissa replied. "But we're probably gonna need to make sure Alexei's still occupied before we go after him."
"All right, then, lay it down for us," Britney quipped.
"Well, since we've got thirteen of us," Melissa explained. "We should spread out and repeatedly attack him to get him to lose his weapons!"
"I like that idea," Nozomi quipped.
"Let's do it, then," Sam added.
"I can create a diversion with a little old-school taunting," Nick replied.
"And we can improvise once you've got Alexei cut down to size," Pirate Nick added.
"That was the plan," Melissa giggled.
"Ah, such insolence," Alexei laughed as he backed off from Nick's assault and proceeded to teleport away before Nick could land a decisive blow.
"Of course he would!" Nick shouted.
"No worries, we'll pinpoint where Alexei got to," Patty quipped.
Minutes later, Pirate Nick and Patty were able to use the Fiertia to go in Alexei's direction.
"Brace yourselves, everyone," Nick told the others. "I know we're in for the fight of our lives!"
"Of course," Alex quipped. "But there's no enemy that can beat us!"
"You couldn't be more right," Bridget remarked to Alex.
"We'll get you there now," Patty told the others. "And away we go!"
1:35 A.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Mysterious Island
"Okay, definitely wasn't expecting this," Nozomi quipped as the spies meandered around the island they'd docked at to try and find Alexei.
"I've got something," Britney told the others and held the Wind Tunnel 9000.
Haruka and Melissa were also on board, holding Wind Tunnel 9000s of their own.
"Can't go wrong with this either," Clover quipped with the Dynamite on a Stick.
"Plus, Alexei can know what it's like to 'dance' from this," Alex giggled with her Laser Lipstick.
"And I have my trusty anchor, and this..." May added, holding a Laser Lipstick, too. "To double the fun..."
"Well, I guess we got what we need," Sam remarked.
"All we gotta do is find him now," Mat emphasized.
Blaine, Melissa, Dawn, and Nozomi had their own gadgets as well.
"Careful, spies," Pirate Nick called out. "Remember that Alexei's a formidable opponent..."
"Noted," Mat called out. "We'll be ready if he tries to set a booby trap."
"Hold on," Blaine spoke up. "What are Pirate Nick and Patty gonna do?"
"We'll be right here, don't worry," Pirate Nick proclaimed. "No way am I missing out on my chance to take Alexei down for what he's done to us."
"And we'll gladly step in for any battling if need be," Patty concluded.
Everybody moved forward and looked in every direction to try and snake out Alexei in the flesh.
"Let's just remember that this guy is good," Sam told everyone.
"I wonder how we can sniff him out or something," Nozomi stated.
While Nick used his psychic power from one of his hands as a makeshift flashlight, he also kept his radar working.
"We should be close," Nick told everyone.
Melissa looked around using the Cyberjacker Sunglasses, and when she got a reading, she fired her Wind Tunnel 9000.
"I got something!" Melissa proclaimed.
Sure enough, Alexei stumbled into view before regaining his composure, still clutching the False Dein Nomos in his hands.
"Quite resourceful, aren't you, you little brats?" Alexei proclaimed. "I figured you would have had the common sense to not follow me after earlier."
"What did we tell you, Alexei?!" Patty shot back, brandishing her scimitar. "We specifically told you that we'll chase you to the ends of this earth, even if we have to follow you all the way to hell and back! You're going to pay dearly for killing my hubby's parents!"
"Oh, and what are you going to do, kill me?" Alexei laughed. "Don't you two have a code of sorts?"
"If we have to, then we will," Pirate Nick responded. "I can't speak for the spies here, since we don't know all of their exploits. But we're not them. Even if we're honorable pirates, we're still pirates. Sometimes, you've gotta do what you've gotta do, especially when it comes to unrepentant scumbags like you, Alexei."
"Oh, I'm the scumbag, am I?" Alexei taunted. "That's awfully smug talk for someone who doesn't know what they're up against."
Alexei raised the False Dein Nomos to the sky, channeling its power and actually causing a bolt of lightning to be drawn from the clouds and strike the blade, surrounding it with electricity.
"And anyone who gets in my way will be punished," Alexei chuckled.
"Remember the plan, everybody," Melissa proclaimed. "Spread out and keep the pressure on, then disarm him the first chance you get!"
The thirteen spies all spread out in a circle formation to keep Alexei from escaping, with Nick taking point with Dein Nomos, and Pirate Nick and Patty backing him up.
"We end this here and now, Alexei," Nick stated.
"You're not escaping this island alive," Pirate Nick proclaimed.
"Is that a threat?" Alexei cackled.
"No," Patty retorted. "It's a promise."
"And if there's anything that I have in common with other me here, it's that I never break my promises!" Pirate Nick shouted as he charged in to attack Alexei, who jumped away from him, only to be sent flying into the air thanks to Alex throwing a Tornado in a Can of Hairspray at him.
Melissa continued the attack by flying into the air after Alexei and blasting him back into the ground with a Cyclone Blast Hairdryer blast.
"Pour it on!" Melissa exclaimed.
Sam, Alex, and Clover were the first to dogpile on Alexei, giving Mat and Britney an opening to try and snatch the False Dein Nomos away from Alexei.
A powerful pulse wave threw all five of them off of Alexei, but this left him open for May to charge in and start wailing on Alexei with her anchor.
While this was happening, Haruka, Bridget and Nozomi all fired their Laser Lipsticks at Alexei, forcing him to "dance" away to avoid the blasts.
Dawn and Blaine jumped forward in order to pin down Alexei, with Dawn kicking the False Dein Nomos away from him, though Alexei was able to jump up and shake them off, quickly moving to retrieve his weapon.
This, though, only left him wide open to Pirate Nick and Patty, who both slashed at his back with their scimitars, and this left Nick to strike the weapon with the real Dein Nomos, directly in the manufactured nethicite embedded in it.
Naturally, Alexei made a move to get away, only for Nick (who had backed away a respectable distance) to ensnare him in his psychic hold.
"Sorry, Alexei, but you lose," Nick proclaimed.
Alexei could only scream in abject terror as the nethicite exploded in a bright red flash, destroying the False Dein Nomos and instantly knocking Alexei unconscious while also throwing him into the ocean.
"...wow," Alex quipped. "That was definitely an interesting way to end a fight."
"But it looks like we sent that jerkoff to Davy Jones!" May proclaimed. "Nick, can you sense him anywhere nearby?"
"Nope," Nick replied, spinning Dein Nomos in his hands. "I think we got 'em. There's no way he could have survived an explosion like that at point-blank."
"That's exactly what happened to another Black Hope guy who tried to crack open a piece of nethicite," Pirate Nick stated. "It didn't end well for him, to say the least."
The spies continued to trade stories with Pirate Nick and Patty as they headed back to the Fiertia so they could prepare to send the spies back to their home dimension.
However, none of them noticed a bright red glow coming from the water as they sailed away.
To be concluded...
On the next episode...
May: Well, that was certainly an adventure, wasn't it?
Patty: We really can't thank you guys enough for helping us out, you know.
Sam: Hey, it's what we do, right?
Alex: Ooh, I can't wait to tell Jerry that we explored an ancient underwater city!
Pirate Nick: Well, then shall we fire up the Rift Generator and take you all home?
Nick: ...
Mat: Everything okay, bro?
Nick: Something doesn't feel right. Why am I only now getting this "that was too easy" feeling? I guess we'll just have to be ready for the final act of Totally Spies: Fractured Hope, "A Duel to the Death"!
May: Yeah, that title's not ominous at all.