1:54 P.M. – Somewhere in Beverly Hills
She looked down on the city that they lived in.
It had been quite a while since she'd attempted to make a play against the men of the world, no thanks to those accursed spies interfering with her plans.
But this time would be different.
As she clutched the glowing stone in her free hand, she sneered down at the city of Beverly Hills, knowing that their reckoning would come soon enough.
After all, she'd been waiting far too long for her shot at revenge.
And now, thanks to this new power of hers, vengeance would be hers at last.
"Just you wait, Samantha," Ariel laughed. "Once you're back under my command, you'll all regret ever crossing me."
Ariel spun her staff in her hands before walking away from the cliff for the moment to prepare for the next stage of her plan.
It wouldn't be long now.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
(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 52: Re-Recruitment
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: February 19th, 2022
Story Summary: The seventy-first co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode fifty-two of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. The Sisterhood's leader, Ariel, has resurfaced after a long time with every intent of bringing Sam back into her fold, but this time, after realizing how much the spies have expanded their team, she decides to make them go after each other so she will have free reign to unleash a cataclysm on Beverly Hills. Can the spies keep Sam away from Ariel and scuttle her sinister scheme before Beverly Hills suffers?
Author's Note from Mat49324: Well, after we got through a wacky project in Fashionista Follies, which involved an old fashion enemy and member of the L.A.M.O.S. in Helga von Guggen, we're set to go for episode 52, which is involving a certain one-time only villain from S2. This time, we're dealing with a certain wrestle-crazy woman to turn women against men and other certain women. It's Ariel, the villain from S2's W.O.W.; I can say you'll be in for another whopper here as the summer winds down for the spy team. Oh, and on another note, I hope you have checked out my newest one-shot, Aquatic Antics. Again, I had assistance from The Blue Time Ranger. I've already gotten four reviews, and am certainly hoping for more. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger: As summer comes closer to its end (in-story, of course; it's still winter on my neck of the woods), we have another formerly one-shot villain who's back for another crack at the spies. It's fun to bring these one-off baddies back to see what they might be capable of nowadays. All right-y then, let's get this underway! 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?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Act 1: Match of the Millennium
4:10 P.M. – The Spies' Beach House
It was another summer afternoon for the spies. They were all enjoying another day of summer break since the Fall semester at Malibu University was just around the corner.
"I know we never got to say this earlier, but... congratulations on getting hitched, Alex!" Clover laughed.
"Yeah, we were wondering when Nick was finally going to pop the question," Sam giggled.
"I honestly had no idea he was even planning it," Alex replied. "But looking back, I'm so happy he finally did it. That proposal was magical."
Melissa came downstairs in a bikini set for another car wash for the summertime. Nick was behind her in his board shorts. They both found Mat occupying the TV, but instead of another Supercross or Motocross race, he was watching an episode of Jeopardy!
"The Sun Also Rises," Mat stated in response to a clue.
"Say what?" Nick wondered.
Melissa realized Mat was watching Jeopardy! and saw one contestant responded with Mat's guess and was right; she was pretty impressed.
"How'd you know that, Mat?" Melissa wondered.
"I just know stuff, I guess," Mat answered, shrugging his shoulders.
He then looked to see Melissa in her bikini, and Nick ready for their next car wash.
"Dude, are you doing okay after that last race at Washougal?" Nick wondered, remembering how Mat reacted after that last race.
He remembered Mat was pretty stunned after Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto had his moto win streak stopped at 16 and overall win streak stopped at 7 after Suzuki's Ryan Dungey spoiled the party with the overall win at Washougal with a 2-1 to Villopoto's 1-2.
"Ah, things happen," Mat replied. "The title chase is a done deal, anyway."
"Well, we were gonna..." Melissa started until Mat heard another clue being read about the novel The Great Gatsby.
"Nick Carraway," Mat blurted out, turning his head to the TV.
Again, he was right, surprising both Nick and Melissa; simultaneously, Nick was looking to see if Sam was nearby so she could see this. As luck would have it, Sam was coming down, and Nick motioned her to be quiet; he then motioned to Mat, who wasn't suspecting a thing.
"...gonna do our next car wash," Melissa finished her statement with a light punch to Nick's chest.
"No worries, bro," Nick replied. "I'll get a few shots of her for ya."
Melissa couldn't help but look at Nick in a slightly confused way as they headed outside.
In the meanwhile, Sam took Nick's word until she heard Mat come up with more right answers related to works of literature. After 10 right answers was when Mat finally did notice Sam and her surprised look on her face.
"How long were you there?" Mat wondered.
"Not long," Sam answered. "I didn't know you were so well-versed on works of literature..."
"Actually, I haven't read much of those works, but I only know stuff from past episodes I've watched in my life," Mat admitted as Sam sat with him.
To say that Sam was extra surprised was an understatement.
"I never saw this side of you before, Mat," Sam quipped. "But I love it."
Sam got some answers right, too, but Mat's right answers certainly piqued Sam's interests more and more.
"ACK! NOT THE FACE!" was the extent of what Nick could sputter as Melissa blasted him with the hose, having gone right for the first strike.
"That's what you get for not having better reflexes, big bro!" Melissa giggled.
"All right, Melissa, you've officially forced my hand," Nick proclaimed as Melissa fired on him again, raising his hand to psychically stop the water in mid-shot and send it right back at Melissa.
"H-Hey, no fair using your powers!" Melissa sputtered.
"You never said I couldn't," Nick laughed.
"Bravo!" Dawn teased as she clapped at their shenanigans.
Back indoors, Alex and Clover caught wind of Mat's intellect as well until it was time for Final Jeopardy.
"I'm a bit surprised you don't show this side of you around us," Alex told Mat.
"I hate to brag," Mat chuckled. "But over half the time, I don't get certain opportunities like this."
"I'll give ya that," Clover commented.
That was when Alex, who had her green bikini on already, went out to the pool to meet Nick once he and Melissa were done car washing. Sam, Clover, and Mat went to see how the end turned out; they could see Melissa and Nick were dripping wet, and Dawn was outside.
"Oh, my goodness," Nozomi giggled, which caught the attention of the three.
Haruka, Bridget, and Britney were also in tow, as was May.
"I can't believe I'm not out there," May joked.
"May, you've done two already," Sam pointed out. "One of them was with me."
"...point," May giggled. "But one of these days before summer break is over, I'm gonna get him good."
"I'd definitely pay to see that," Sam laughed.
Meanwhile, outside, Nick and Melissa had just finished with another water battle. Both were sopping wet after Nick managed to spray Melissa around her bikini top.
"Okay, that was a trip," Melissa giggled.
"You gotta admit, I got you good," Nick chuckled.
"Yeah, because you used your psychic powers to reflect that blast back at me!" Melissa exclaimed.
"Had enough, Melissa?" Nick asked.
"For now," Melissa proclaimed. "But this water fight's far from over..."
"Until the next round, then," Nick laughed as he and Melissa fist-bumped each other.
With that, Nick went to the backyard to meet Alex at the backyard pool; everybody else had agreed to join in a bit. Nick and Alex decided to start with some tanning before...
"Hey, Nick? Do you hear something?" Alex asked when she heard something rustling nearby.
"Yeah, I definitely did," Nick quipped.
When Nick and Alex both turned around to see who or what had made the noise, they noticed a small puppy moving through the bushes.
After an intense staredown that lasted about eight seconds, the puppy quickly retreated.
"Was that... a puppy?" Alex asked.
"No doubt," Nick replied. "But what was it doing in our backyard?"
The answer to that question seemed to come in the form of a sudden battle cry from outside.
"And what the heck was that?!" Alex gasped.
"Whatever it was, it sounds like trouble," Nick responded.
After changing back into their normal outfits, Nick and Alex peeked over the backyard fence and noticed that two random women were running down the street before catching up with two random guys and slamming them into the ground with german suplexes.
"Okay, overkill much?" Alex quipped.
"That is what you get for not being chosen," one of the random women proclaimed. "Long live the Sisterhood!"
That name caught Alex's attention. "Oh, lordy, I was hoping to never hear that name again," Alex groaned.
"What's the 'Sisterhood', and why is it not of the traveling pants?" Nick asked.
"Basically, the Sisterhood is this ancient guild of women warriors who think they're the rulers of the world, so they want to get rid of all men and 'inferior' women," Alex explained. "Their leader actually brainwashed Sammy into the guild since she's part of the 'Chosen One' bloodline on her mother's side."
"From the way you tell it, it sounds like it's been a while since you had to deal with Ariel," Nick quipped.
"I was hoping to never deal with her again, but revengeance is a dish best served cold," Alex sighed.
"Well, then, let's go show her the door," Nick stated as he encased both him and Alex in a psychic bubble, then lifted it over the backyard fence and towards the rampaging women.
Nick and Alex used their X-Powders to change into their spy suits before confronting the women.
"Oh, look, it's another worthless man," one of the brainwashed women proclaimed.
"I'm going to have to ask you to cut the reverse sexism right there," Nick shot back. "I've heard enough of that recently."
"All those who defy the Sisterhood will be put in their place, no matter who they are!" the second woman shouted.
The second woman rushed forward, only to be tripped by Nick so that Alex could restrain her.
"All right, you, where's your leader?!" Alex exclaimed. "I know she's the one behind all of this!"
"Our glorious leader would never deign herself to deal with such lowlife scum!" the first woman exclaimed before rushing over to punch Nick, only for him to catch her hand in mid-swing.
"And now you're actually starting to get on my nerves," Nick retorted. "Now tell us where Ariel is before we get angry. And trust us, you don't want that."
"We would never betray our wonderful leader!" both women exclaimed.
"It's all right, ladies. I was planning to make a house call anyway."
Nick heard footsteps approaching before forcing himself to duck so that he didn't get a staff pommel to the face courtesy of Ariel herself.
"That was low," Nick taunted as he jumped back up to kick the staff out of Ariel's hands. "I thought you warrior-types fought with honor and all that crapola."
"Such predictable words from an inferior man," Ariel proclaimed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. And look here, it's one of those unlucky spies who ruined my plans last time."
"I don't know what you're planning this time, Ariel, but we're still going to scuttle that plan like we did before!" Alex shot back.
"Like I would listen to the words of a filthy wretch like you who wasn't even a Chosen One," Ariel sneered, only to find herself blasted backwards courtesy of Nick and a Final Shine Attack.
"Watch your mouth around my fiancée, you hussy," Nick growled. "You're dangerously close to crossing a line that you're not meant to cross."
"Ah, so the team has grown, has it?" Ariel laughed. "That'll be useful for my plans. But alas, we must continue our little playdate another time. Warriors, to my side!"
The two brainwashed women rejoined Ariel as she threw a smoke bomb to the ground to cover their tracks. By the time Nick was able to use a psychic pulse to clear the smoke away, they were gone.
"Well, nuts, why do they keep doing that?" Alex wondered.
"One of the greatest mysteries of our time," Nick quipped.
"Okay, so... what was all of that about?!"
Nick and Alex looked back towards the beach house to see that everyone else was peeking over the fence to see what exactly was going on.
"We all just heard a disturbance going on, and then we see you two fighting that Sisterhood character again," Clover stated.
"Yeah, Ariel's back in town," Alex responded.
"No doubt she's after me again," Sam sighed. "I've had enough of that for one lifetime, really."
"How about we head to W.O.O.H.P. so we can gadget up and go after miss wrestler?" Nozomi stated.
That was all the group needed to suit up and make a break for W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters.
5:29 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Oh my," Jerry proclaimed when the spies told him the news.
"Something tells me Ariel is after Sam again," Clover replied.
Mat exhaled and clutched Sam; on the other hand, Sam was still having bad memories of being under that influence of harming all men and weak females.
"I won't let that happen, Mat-honey," Sam assured him.
Mat nodded, trusting Sam in this predicament.
"Where's the nearest reading of Ariel at now?" Bridget wondered.
"Scanning now..." RiCO quipped, coming into view.
"I think this is one time where I'm glad our moms are not here in BH," Clover commented.
"Tell me about it," Alex quipped, not wanting to think about if that was her in Sam's position and her mom and relatives were of Ariel's absurd ancestry.
"Brit, believe us when we say that she certainly resembles you when you get your first view of her," Sam stated.
"Oh, gosh," Britney cringed at hearing that.
"Spies, I've located Ariel, and brutal activity going on at Santa Monica Beach," RiCO told the spy team.
Jerry was able to use his viewscreen to give the spies a picture of what was going on. It was full of female beachgoers picking wrestling fights with others, and lifeguards having absolutely no luck trying to stop the fighting going on.
"It's another warzone!" May proclaimed.
"I don't know how WE can stop all that going on," Nozomi chastised.
"We will..." Sam quipped. "Somehow..."
"RiCO and I will look into what Ariel's master plan is," Jerry told the others. "Try and diffuse all the mayhem going on, all of you!"
"We will, Jer," Nick quipped.
With that, the spies were given their gadgets and high-tailed it out of W.O.O.H.P.
"We better look the part, at least," Melissa told the others.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to do that," Clover quipped, agreeing with Melissa's suggestion.
"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea," Nick stated. "Let's 'get into character', shall we?"
The spies all changed into their swimwear as they got closer to their target.
5:59 P.M. – Santa Monica Beach
As was seen on Jerry's viewscreen back at W.O.O.H.P., the beach was full of beachgoers pummeling each other via wrestling moves, and Ariel with a sinister grin on her face.
"There she is!" Britney proclaimed.
"Let me wreck her rhythm," Sam told the others as she weaved through the crowd of angry beachgoers as best she could.
"That's right, my lovely women warriors," Ariel proclaimed. "Erase the unworthy from this world so that the Chosen Ones may rule it."
"SURPRISE, BITCH!" Sam shouted as she leaped through the throng of people to tackle Ariel to the ground.
"I figured you, of all people, Samantha, would be above such dirty tricks," Ariel sneered as she picked herself up.
"Yeah, well, when we're dealing with nutballs like you, sometimes you have to play dirty," Sam responded.
"You'd better start explaining yourself right now, you Xena ripoff," May proclaimed, using her Emergency Gadget Transporter to summon her anchor to her hands. "Because I'm pretty sure you know what I'm going to do to you with this."
"Why do you follow these worthless men and women?" Ariel responded, walking closer to May as she did so. "You should understand that the Sisterhood is destined to rule the world. Though you may not be a Chosen One, that doesn't mean that I am unwilling to accommodate those who truly wish to join our cause."
"You listen here, Ariel," May shot back. "While I'm definitely a firm advocate of 'girl power' and all that, but what you don't seem to understand is that if you get rid of all the world's guys, then that's game over. Do you not even care about that?!"
"I gave you a chance," Ariel sighed. "Truly, I did."
Ariel lunged forward and started swinging her staff towards May in hap-hazard strikes that May was easily able to deflect with a swing of her anchor.
"I'm the one who should be saying that," May taunted. "NOW EAT ANCHOR, PUNK!"
Ariel only had time to gasp in shock as May thrust her anchor forward to collide with Ariel's chest, knocking the wind out of her.
"Enough of this," Ariel gasped. "I think it's time I reclaimed what's mine, anyway."
Ariel reached into her uniform to take out her magic stone and aim it towards Sam, who suddenly felt woozy.
Realizing what was probably happening, Nick raised his right hand to encase Sam in a psychic bubble, and when he did so, Sam no longer felt woozy.
"Psychic powers for the win," Nick taunted as he blasted Ariel backwards with a Final Shine Attack.
"I guess I'll have to make a strategic retreat for the moment," Ariel admitted. "But this won't be our last meeting, not by a long shot."
Ariel slammed the pommel of her staff into the sand, creating an eruption of sand around her. By the time it cleared up, she was gone.
"Seriously, can they come up with original lines for once?" Melissa groaned. "Because that's really getting old."
Before Nick could use his psychic radar to sweep the area for Ariel's location, one of the brainwashed beachgoers rushed in to grab him from behind, only for Nick to throw out a psychic pulse that sent the girl crashing back into the sand.
Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick and wake her up, causing her to look around in confusion before noticing the other fighting beachgoers.
"You might wanna beat it for now," Sam stated. "We've got this under control."
The girl nodded and retreated to a safe distance while Nick dashed around the beach throwing out psychic pulses to snap the beachgoers out of their rage before rejoining the spies.
"Well, that's one problem solved," Nick quipped. "But I've got a feeling that we're not done yet."
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, it seems," RiCO stated from Nick's X-Powder. "I'm picking up another report of women going ballistic near The Groove!"
"Wonderful, just what we need," Nozomi groaned.
"Need some help down there?" a voice called out to them. The spies looked up just in time to see W.O.O.H.P.'s combat instructor Sortiliena Serlut fall down from the sky, no doubt having just jumped down from the W.O.O.H.P. chopper that was heading back to HQ.
"Hey, Sortiliena, long time, no see!" Alex exclaimed.
"A little birdie told me that you all were dealing with another nutball from your past, so I figured I'd stop by and offer my assistance," Sortiliena explained.
"Couldn't have jumped in at a better time, Liena," Nick quipped. "We've got to get to The Groove right stat now, before those people rip each other apart."
"Well, then let's go and take care of business!" Sortiliena proclaimed.
"Glad to see ya again, Liena," May replied.
"Same to you," Sortiliena stated. "I can see why you all looked the part, though..."
She had a grin on her face, knowing she got to spend some beach time with them before.
"We're definitely gonna have a fight on our hands with this one – no pun intended," Nozomi replied.
With that, Sam, Clover, and Alex told Sortiliena about Ariel and the Sisterhood.
"Sounds like a criminal in itself," Sortiliena commented.
"Believe us," Sam remarked. "If I have to get in a gaudy wrestler's outfit again, I will NOT live it down!"
With that, all the spies concluded their "look the part" segment by using their devices to go from their swimsuits to their spy uniforms.
Sortiliena was quick to notice the sun reflect off of Alex's engagement ring; she was quick to deduce that Nick had popped the question already. They then used their Jet Pack Backpacks to take to the sky to get to the Groove.
"Holy crapbaskets, he proposed to you, Alex?" Sortiliena gasped.
"Yup," Alex giggled, showing off her ring. "Nick popped the question while we were stuck in a whole other reality, too."
"...a whole other reality?" Sortiliena wondered.
"Oh, man, Liena, you missed one hell of an adventure," May laughed. "But we'll tell you later, after Ariel's been taken down."
6:43 P.M. – The Groove
"Oh, goodness!" Haruka proclaimed at all the mayhem going on between shoppers.
"This is even worse than the last mission with Helga!" Clover chastised.
The spies went through the Groove and saw mall security having absolutely no luck getting the mayhem to cease.
"The same thing as on Santa Monica," Melissa chastised.
"But the one thing I don't see is the ringleader of it all," Dawn added, referring to Ariel.
"Knowing her, she ought to be close by," Sortiliena deduced.
"I guess the only question is where," Nick stated.
The spies were startled to see two people battling each other and even shattering a window, much to the shop owner's dismay.
"Does that answer something?" Blaine wondered.
"Yes and no," Mat answered. "I still don't see Ariel anywhere."
"Well, she's definitely in the vicinity," Bridget replied.
"Let's just hope she's not planning another surprise attack," May added.
"Totally," Clover remarked, remembering they fell victim to a sneak attack themselves when trying to save Sam.
"I sure hope you have some tricks up your sleeve, Sortiliena," Bridget stated.
"I might have a couple," Sortiliena remarked. "But we gotta find Ariel first."
"And hope none of us fall under her influence," Sam replied.
Nick used his psychic radar as an attempt to get Ariel out of hiding.
"See anything, anybody?" Mat wondered.
"I'm sensing a certain troublemaker near the entrance," Nick quipped. "How about we go and say hi?"
That was all the spies needed as they fought their way through the throng of people going at each other's throats in order to confront Ariel before she could get into The Groove and make things worse than they already were.
"The plan is coming together quite smoothly from the looks of things," Ariel laughed as she observed the chaos that her Chosen Ones were creating. "I'd love to see those inferior wretches try and stop me now."
"Well, you dip, we'd be happy to oblige!" Nick exclaimed as he shoved an arguing couple aside and fired a Final Shine Attack to knock Ariel down.
"Resigned to throwing out petty insults, I see," Ariel chuckled.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Sam retorted. "I don't care what you say to me, I'm not joining your cult of wrestling morons, and that's final!"
Ariel glanced at her opponents before coming to a conclusion on how she could deal with this problem.
"That really is so sad, Samantha," Ariel proclaimed. "Because I'm just going to have to eliminate you instead."
"And you really think you're going to get away with that?" Melissa shot back. "We've trashed our fair share of evil schemes, in case you forgot about that since the last time you scuffled with us."
"So why don't you just drop the condescending words and come at us?" Nick challenged. "Unless you're, ya know, chicken."
"Oh, you're definitely asking for it now, boy," Ariel growled, raising her staff for a fight. "I suppose I'll have to teach you a lesson."
Nick quickly fired another Final Shine Attack, only for Ariel to slam her staff into the ground and create a dark red barrier of light in front of herself to protect her from the blast.
"Okay, so you're a little better than the others were," Nick quipped. "But don't think that means you've won, Ariel. Rule seventy, after all!"
Nick took off into the air and started peppering Ariel with psychic bolts, eventually managing to sneak a few shots in while Ariel was turning, as she seemed to be only able to project a barrier in front of herself and not all around herself like he could.
While Ariel was distracted by following Nick, Sortiliena closed in and did a leg sweep to knock Ariel off of her feet, dispelling her barrier in the process. Not done just yet, though, Sortiliena uppercutted Ariel before grabbing her by the legs and slamming her back into the ground.
Ariel jumped back to her feet and started swinging at Sortiliena, but the combat instructor easily dodged each wild swing.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Sortiliena laughed. "You've got some skill, I'll give ya that, but against someone like me, who trains others how to fight, you're kinda outclassed!"
Ariel thrust her staff outwards, only for Sortiliena to grab it mid-thrust and yank it out of Ariel's hands.
"So try and come back when you don't suck!" Sortiliena shouted as she swung the staff hard, clocking Ariel across the head and sending her stumbling backwards.
"Way to stick it to her, Liena!" May laughed.
"Thank you, I try," Sortiliena giggled.
Ariel leaped back to her feet and retrieved her staff. "I see that you're all going to be a problem," Ariel quipped. "And I know exactly how to rectify that problem."
Ariel raised her magic stone towards the spies.
"Seriously? You tried that earlier, and it didn't work because of my powers," Nick taunted. "How about you get a new act?"
"Well, if you insist," Ariel laughed as she clutched her magic stone and surrounded both Mat and Blaine with a spherical red bubble that trapped them in there. "Now, either you surrender yourselves to my army or these little worthless toys will never see the light of day again. You have twelve hours to make your decision."
With that said, Ariel waved her staff to create an explosion of red light around her, and when it cleared, Ariel was gone with Mat and Blaine.
Clover was very rightfully pissed, while Sam was mostly in shock at what had just happened.
"Wait, did Ariel seriously just nab our guys?!" Melissa shouted.
"She would do something like that," Alex quipped. "But why didn't she grab Nick, too, if she was going for our guys?"
"Probably because she knows Nick can break that kind of thing with his powers," Nozomi stated.
"Damn it all, she took advantage of rule four, too," Nick growled. "I hate when they learn."
"We'll whine about villains learning from their mistakes later," May proclaimed, summoning her anchor to her hands. "Right now, let's hurry and find Mat and Blaine before little miss wrestler does unsavory things!"
"If she even dares..." Sam snarled.
"Then we'll kick her where the sun don't shine!" Clover proclaimed.
"I'll contact Jerry and RiCO so they can help us track them down," Sortiliena quipped as she flipped her X-Powder open. "Let's get our guys back!"
"We totally better hurry," Clover proclaimed.
"Jerry, RiCO, we're in need of your assistance," Sortiliena replied through her X-Powder.
"What's the update?" Jerry wondered.
"Ariel made off with Mat and Blaine," Alex chastised.
"Oh my..." Jerry remarked.
"Scanning now..." RiCO replied, not needing to be told anything more.
"I don't get it," Melissa stated while waiting. "What would Ariel want with Mat and Blaine since she says 'Sisterhood'?"
"She's likely gonna bargain for them with us," May deduced.
"Or perhaps re-recruit Sam no questions asked if we don't comply," Britney added.
"That's likely her intent," Sam growled.
"Got something!" RiCO proclaimed. "Mat and Blaine's comm signals are hanging out around the Old Beverly Hills Amphitheater!"
"Oof, that old place again?" Clover quipped.
"Well, I guess that's our next stop," Nick proclaimed.
"I just hope this doesn't turn into a déjà vu of the first time," Alex remarked.
"Well, I guarantee we'll be set for them," Clover proclaimed, remembering how Ariel's cronies were ready for them already.
8:15 P.M. – The Old Beverly Hills Amphitheater
As the spies got there, Nick scanned the area to dodge any surprises.
"They won't know..." May remarked until she dropped her anchor while they were airborne.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as May's anchor fell on one of Ariel's cronies.
"Well, that takes care of one," Bridget chuckled.
"But they know we're airborne," Dawn added.
"That they do," Sam replied. "This is gonna get ugly, guys."
Blaine and Mat, who were locked up, saw what was going on.
"Clover and the others are here," Blaine told Mat.
Mat could see Sortiliena was leading the charge for a change, along with Sam.
"Eat foot, you sickos!" Sortiliena shouted as she jumped from mook to mook, knocking each one down with a spinning kick.
May moved to retrieve her anchor before swinging it in multiple directions to scatter more mooks every which way.
Still more mooks surrounded the two of them, but May and Sortiliena glanced at each other with a twinkle in their eye.
"You thinking what I am, Liena?" May quipped.
"Oh, yeah," Sortiliena laughed as May extended her hand so that Sortiliena could take it, thus allowing May to spin both Sortiliena and her anchor around in a vicious whirlwind attack that knocked over a bunch of mooks.
"That looks like a lot of fun," Alex giggled.
Sam and Clover found a hole to get out of the battle and get to Blaine and Mat.
"We're here now," Sam quipped.
"Hold on!" Mat proclaimed. "You've walked into a trap!"
Sam only had time to look up as a large metal cage started descending from the sky towards them.
Thankfully, Nick was on hand, spreading his arms out to create a large psychic bubble around everyone nearby so that the cage simply bounced off of the bubble and crashed to the ground.
Nick then followed this up with a Final Shine Attack to break down the door of the cage that Mat and Blaine were trapped in, allowing them to break free.
"Rules for villains, number thirty-three," Nick quipped.
"So, you're smarter than I thought," Ariel proclaimed as she stepped out of the shadows. "That means this will be even more fun."
"And what, pray tell, would be fun for you?" Nozomi taunted.
"Oh, just... this," Ariel cackled, raising her magic stone towards Mat and Blaine.
A few seconds passed, and then Mat and Blaine both turned back towards the spies, their eyes dull and glowing the same dark red as Ariel's magic stone, and advancing with obvious intent.
"...oh, crapbaskets," Nick gasped.
To be continued...
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
On the next episode...
Clover: Okay, I definitely wasn't expecting that!
Nozomi: Wait a minute, I thought she could only control women that were descendants of the Sisterhood!
Ariel: This magic stone doesn't have that limit. It's a wonder what you can find in ancient ruins these days, isn't it?
Sam: Oh, now you're seriously asking for it, you bitch!
May: Sam, get back here! We need a strategy!
Nick: Well, this is quite the pickle we're in here, readers. But it hopefully won't be long until we can solve this pickle, next time on Totally Spies: Re-Recruitment, "The Best-Laid Plans"!
Mat: I don't like how ominous that chapter title is. Can I speak to the director about that?