On Today's Episode: Mat and Blaine have been brainwashed by Ariel's new magic stone, which leaves the spies in quite a pickle. Even if they can break the brainwashing magic, what else do Ariel and the Sisterhood have waiting in the wings? Can the spies scuttle Ariel's demented schemes and keep the citizens of Beverly Hills from destroying each other in their magic-fueled rage?
Act 2: The Best-Laid Plans
"Okay, I definitely wasn't expecting that!" Clover exclaimed as the mind-controlled Mat and Blaine continued to advance on them.
"Rules for villains, number eighty-four," May quipped. "When brainwashing your foes, always go for the ones that are closer to your targets."
"Wait a minute, I thought she could only control women that were descendants of the Sisterhood," Nozomi proclaimed. "Is this stone different, then?"
"Yeah, and what was that crack about only being able to use your stone on the first full moon of the fall, huh?" Alex shouted.
"Yes, this magic stone doesn't have those limitations," Ariel laughed. "It's a wonder what you can find in ancient ruins these days, isn't it?"
Before anyone could react, Ariel then aimed her magic stone for Nick...
...only for it to seemingly have no effect on him.
"Yeah, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that if you wanna mind-meld me, lady," Nick taunted. "My psychic powers make it extremely difficult for that to work on me by normal means. The only person who's ever brainwashed me was a psychic who was actually on my level."
"Then I guess we do this the old-fashioned way," Ariel laughed as she pointed her staff towards the spies, causing Mat and Blaine to lunge towards them.
May easily dodged the jumps even as Blaine rushed her, moving in to start fighting back as he tried to take her down.
"Come on, you two, snap out of it!" May shouted, making sure not to summon her anchor, since these were her friends she was fighting off.
Sam, though, had officially had enough, glaring at Ariel with all the hatred she could muster.
"Oh, now you're seriously asking for it, you bitch!" Sam snarled. "Nobody brainwashes my honey-bunches and gets away with it!"
"Sam, get back here! We need a strategy!" May exclaimed, only for her shout to fall on deaf ears as an enraged Sam rushed straight for Ariel.
"I don't need no strategy yet!" Sam growled.
With that, she immediately attempted to take out the magic stone herself via a kick, but Ariel confidently moved away.
"I think that green suit you had on at the beach made you a wrestler and part of the Sisterhood," Ariel commented.
"The swimsuit doesn't make me a wrestler, and never will..." Sam growled.
"You know, now that I've got a closer look, she does look a little bit like me..." Britney quipped.
The spies continued to ward off the others of the "Sisterhood" that tried to trap some of the spies so Mat and Blaine could pummel them.
Several came after Melissa and Bridget, but they quickly solved that by using their Expandable Cable Bungee Belts, causing all four of them to run into each other like football players charging for the ball.
"Ouch," Bridget cringed. "I'd hate to see how much brain damage they'll have."
"You and me both," Melissa replied.
"Another reason why I stay away from playing football," Bridget added.
In the meantime, a mind-controlled Mat and Blaine were still relentlessly going after the spies.
"Open your eyes, guys!" Alex chastised.
"We're not the enemy!" Haruka added. "Ariel is!"
Blaine and Mat didn't seem to listen as they still cornered the spy team.
"Okay, this calls for drastic measures," Nick proclaimed, activating his psychic powers.
"Nick, are you nuts?!" Clover chastised, not wanting Blaine to be harmed.
"I'm sorry, Clover," Nick replied. "But Mat and Blaine aren't leaving us any choice..."
With that, Nick went ahead and used his psychic hold to stop Mat and Blaine in their tracks.
"Glad you resorted to that," Clover stated with a sigh of relief.
"We're not getting anywhere if Ariel keeps summoning more of her mooks!" Nozomi chastised.
Haruka and Britney looked to see how Sam was coming along with Ariel.
Sam was still above and beyond pissed at Ariel's actions.
"There's no volcanic ash like last time," Clover told the others.
"Ideas, anyone?" Britney wondered.
They knew time was of the essence and that Nick was still holding Mat and Blaine in his psychic hold.
In the meantime, one of Ariel's mooks had grabbed Sam, which she groaned over.
"HEY!" Sam yelled.
Ariel wasted no time and shone her magic stone over the spy team in an attempt to have them fight each other.
Nick quickly raised his left hand to project a psychic bubble around the rest of the spies to protect them from the hypnotizing effects of Ariel's stone, but this left him unable to keep his hold on Mat and Blaine, who immediately pounced on him.
"Oh, crapbaskets!" May shouted.
"At least he saved our butts," Alex responded. "But now my hubby's in trouble!"
"I'm willing to bet that we have to break Ariel's stone if we're going to get out of this pickle," Nozomi quipped.
"Just give up and don't resist," Mat proclaimed in a monotone voice.
"It will be so much easier on you if you join us and spare yourself the pain," Blaine stated in the same monotone.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in joining a psycho wrestling cult, thank you very much!" Nick exclaimed as he managed to free his arms enough to unleash a psychic pulse around him that knocked Mat and Blaine to the ground.
And just like that, Mat and Blaine shook their heads and looked at each other in confusion.
"Wait, what's going on here?" Mat wondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Blaine quipped.
"So, you can actually undo my brainwashing," Ariel proclaimed. "Well, sad for you that I can just mesmerize them again."
Ariel raised her magic stone, only for Nick to fire off a Final Shine Attack that rather handily destroyed the stone, much to Ariel's shock.
"There, try your dumb spells now," Nick taunted.
"Ah, but this is only a minor setback," Ariel laughed. "I have more where that came from. But, should you really be worried about me, or should you try and find your precious Samantha?"
Mat looked around the theater area, and sure enough, there was no sign of Sam anywhere.
"Oh, crapbaskets, that mook must have taken Sam away while we were busy with everything else!" Bridget gasped.
"Where is she, you nutball?" Mat growled. "I'm not going to ask you again!"
"Hmph," Ariel scoffed. "Like I'd deign to listen to a man in my own life. But, if you ever wish to see your precious one again, come to my lair at Mount Saint Helens. Don't keep me waiting."
Ariel raised her staff and created a large smokescreen to cover her escape. When it cleared up, Ariel and all of her mooks had vanished.
"Of course she'd chicken out!" Alex shouted.
"Wait, isn't Mount Saint Helens where we fought her off last time?" Clover quipped.
"It kinda makes sense that she'd build her villain lair there," Nick proclaimed before flipping his X-Powder open. "Jerry, RiCO, we need a Skyskimmer pick-up."
"One's already coming your way, everyone," RiCO responded just as a Skyskimmer parked itself just outside of the amphitheater. "Speedy rides at your service!"
"You rock, RiCO," Nick responded as the spies all climbed into the Skyskimmer. "Now let's go get Sam back!"
With that, the Skyskimmer took off into the sky.
During the flight, Nick couldn't help but notice how upset Mat was. He couldn't blame him, either, especially considering that it was the love of his life that had just been spy-napped.
Nick knew what that felt like, considering the times that Alex had been spy-napped by their rogues' gallery.
"Hey, bro, don't you worry about a thing," Nick stated. "We're gonna get Sam back, and that's a promise. And you know me and promises, right?"
"Damn straight," Mat proclaimed as he fist-bumped Nick.
10:09 P.M. – Mount Saint Helens
"Man, has it been a while since we've been down here," Alex admitted as the Skyskimmer touched down at the base of Mount Saint Helens.
"And look at that, I think we can see Ariel's lair," Melissa stated as she pointed to above them, towards a bunch of pathways around the volcano that led up to an ancient-looking building near the top, paths and buildings that clearly didn't belong here.
"Seriously, how did she manage to build this place?" Haruka wondered. "I don't think Ariel would be the type to rob banks for funds or anything like that..."
"Another mystery that may forever go unsolved," Nick chuckled. "Regardless, let's head on up so we can get Sam back before Ariel tries anything skeevy."
Nothing else needed to be said as the spies began their trek up the volcano, occasionally having to use their Jetpack Backpacks to cross between large gaps in the pathways.
"I'll admit this, Ariel has some good taste when it comes to designing villain lairs," May quipped. "I'm really digging this oriental style."
"Let's discuss interior design when we get Sam back, okay?" Clover responded.
"Sorry, just making an observation," May stated.
Mat clenched his fists, hoping that Ariel wasn't doing anything to hurt Sam.
Just you wait, Sam, Mat thought. I'm coming to get you back.
("Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx plays)
"Well, where do we start?" Nozomi wondered.
"I certainly hope Sam's resisting rejoining," Britney replied.
"Where is she most importantly?" Clover wondered.
"It doesn't help this place is seemingly like a maze," Blaine chastised.
"That might have been Ariel's M.O.," Haruka pointed out. "Make us guess which way to go while she possibly has mooks waiting to surprise us."
"Good point," Melissa quipped.
"So, do we split up or stick together?" May asked.
"Stick together," Nick replied. "And hope that we get to Sam and Ariel quickly."
"And hope that Sammy hasn't fallen under the influence, too," Alex added.
Mat kept a positive outlook, which Britney and Melissa certainly noticed.
"Are we going in circles, or are we getting somewhere?" Dawn wondered after quite a while.
"I'd like to think we're getting somewhere," Blaine answered.
Nick used his psychic radar to get a reading on Sam while Clover used her X-Powder to track Sam's X-Powder.
A while later, the blip on the screen went away.
"Damn it! Ariel's destroyed Sam's X-Powder!" Clover chastised.
"Or turned it off, I hope," Bridget replied, trying to be optimistic.
"Totally," Nozomi quipped.
"Ariel didn't tell us anything while we were under her influence, early heads-up," Mat pointed out.
"Obviously," Nick replied.
"Ariel better be ready to reap what she sows," Haruka growled.
"Believe me when I say I have something worked out when we DO find Ariel," Sortiliena replied. "And I could use your help with that, Mat, since you're the one who's seeing Sam."
"Just say when," Mat quipped.
"Um, there's a big blockade over here," Nozomi stated, pointing to a large circular slab that was blocking the way forward.
Nick raised his glowing hand towards the slab. "Then allow me to make a door," Nick responded as he blasted a large hole in the door with a Final Shine Attack so they could ascend a small tower, jumping up large steps and avoiding altars that shot green energy spheres towards them.
Eventually, they exited the tower and started flying across more large gaps until they reached a bridge that connected to the much larger building near the top of the volcano.
"This has been a very strange trip," Haruka quipped.
"And I have a feeling it's going to get even stranger once we get to the top," Nick proclaimed. "So stay on your guard, everyone."
Meanwhile...
"You're never gonna get me back in the Sisterhood, period, Ariel!" Sam proclaimed.
"Correction," Ariel sneered. "I can, and I will!"
Two more mooks came to subdue Sam while Ariel used her magic stone to get Sam back in the Sisterhood.
Sam only looked at the bright lights for two seconds, but she immediately fought the natural action of getting drawn into the lights.
Don't look at it... Sam thought.
Unknown to anyone, the spies had found their way through and saw Ariel and her mooks in the act. Clover and Alex got their attention with two shots from their Laser Lipsticks aimed directly at Ariel's magic stone.
"You're not taking my girl away!" Mat proclaimed to Ariel.
"Now's the time, Mat," Sortiliena remarked.
"Ah, so the meddlers have arrived right on schedule," Ariel laughed. "And just what do you think you're going to do now that I have your little girlfriend in my grasp?"
"Oh, you'll see if you don't let her go this instant," Mat growled.
"Well, that's too bad, because she is going to return to the Sisterhood, no matter what she says about it," Ariel proclaimed, once again aiming her magic stone for Sam.
"Okay, then, don't say we didn't warn you!" Sortiliena exclaimed, doing a backflip to right in front of Ariel and kicking her hand away from Sam before lashing out with her other foot to kick her towards Mat, who barged in and shoulder-tackled Ariel back towards Sortiliena, who once again sent Ariel towards Mat with a gut-check.
This strange game of melee pinball continued until both Mat and Sortiliena lashed out to punch Ariel from both sides, causing her to crumble to the ground in a daze.
May did the honors of chasing the mooks holding Sam away with her anchor, so that Sam could run up to Mat and hug him tightly.
"Are you doing all right, Sam?" Mat asked.
"Just peachy, honey," Sam responded. "But I'll feel even better once we piledrive this pathetic excuse for a wrestler."
"Now you're speaking my language," Mat proclaimed.
"You won't be embracing him for long, Samantha," Ariel proclaimed as she picked herself back up.
"I don't care what you have to say, Ariel," Sam shot back. "I am not rejoining your sick little cult, and that is final!"
Sam punctuated her point by knocking Ariel into the air with a snap kick, followed by Mat leaping off of her shoulders to volleyball spike Ariel back to the ground.
Nick fired psychic bolts all around Ariel to keep her from moving so that May could charge in and start wailing on Ariel with her anchor.
"Barbaric little pirate," Ariel growled.
"That's Jellyfish Pirate, thank you very much!" May shot back as she knocked Ariel back with an overhead smash. "Get the name right!"
"I'd prefer not to," Ariel stated as she aimed her magic stone for May, only for it to be shattered by a home-run swing from May and her anchor.
"And she's outta here!" May laughed. "No pansy magical rock can survive the almighty anchor!"
"Just give it up, Ariel," Britney proclaimed. "You're not going to beat us this time!"
"Sorry, but I will not give up my ambitions just because a bunch of snot-nosed little girls told me to," Ariel laughed as she raised her staff.
The spies all prepared themselves, thinking that Ariel was about to attack them, only for Ariel to instead turn around and aim her staff towards the ground far-below, unleashing a cascade of dark-red lightning bolts from the jewel on the staff.
The bolts all flew down to the ground below and tore at it until something started to break through the ground and rise up hundreds of feet into the air. It appeared to be a gigantic oriental tower decorated with all kinds of moon-related artwork.
"And what, if you wouldn't mind, is that?!" Sortiliena exclaimed.
"That is our secret lair, the Full Moon Tower," Ariel laughed. "We buried it deep beneath the earth in case we ever needed it for our plans. I didn't want to have to resort to this step, but you've forced my hand."
"And just what is the Full Moon Tower supposed to do?" Sam wondered.
"Oh, that one's so easy, even your feeble minds could comprehend it," Ariel proclaimed. "The Full Moon Tower, once I've collected all of the magic stones that I need, will be able to project my hypnotizing spell across this entire world, and every single woman on this planet will fall under my spell, chosen one or not. Then we'll see which gender is truly superior to everyone else."
"Listen, you," Nick retorted. "I'm a firm believer in girl power myself, but what you don't seem to get is that if you get rid of all the men, that's it for the human race, you know!"
"Necessary sacrifices to ensure my vision comes to pass," Ariel cackled as she raised her staff to create a flash of red light. When it cleared up, Ariel and her mooks had all vanished, no doubt on their way to the Full Moon Tower.
"Okay, that officially settles it," Alex quipped. "That chick is crazier than Mindy was acting at that punch social."
"Oof, don't remind me of that utter disaster-fest," May sighed. "I'm just glad that Mandy was there to keep Mindy in line."
"I'm just glad that Mandy's actually acting friendly to us nowadays," Clover admitted. "But let's focus on that later. Right now, I think we need to start climbing this tower before Ariel can pull off her crazy plan."
The spies all flew off towards the Full Moon Tower so they could find Ariel before she could enact her scheme.
12:53 A.M. – Full Moon Tower
("Circles" by Post Malone plays)
"What's our game plan now?" Mat wondered as they got to the Full Moon Tower.
"Just wait and see for now," Nick replied.
Sam went to her leader perspective after they left the Skyskimmer; she motioned to the team to be quiet so they could go for the silent approach.
"Sooner or later, Ariel will get what's coming to her," Sam whispered to everyone.
"Couldn't agree more," Blaine commented.
Sam led the way through the Full Moon Tower with Nick using his psychic radar to pinpoint where Ariel may have gotten to.
"These villains don't make it easy for us other than where they were the first time around," Clover commented.
"Unfortunately, that's what a villain's supposed to do," Nozomi stated.
"No question about it," Haruka added.
The spies moved forward with Sam leading.
One of Ariel's mooks that was hiding, tried to execute a sneak attack on the thirteen spies, but Nick was quick to answer to that.
"Not on my watch, lady!" Nick proclaimed.
"So, they're trying to ambush us like before," Clover scoffed as more of Ariel's mooks came out of hiding.
"Old tricks don't work in this case for you," May proclaimed, summoning her anchor.
Unexpectedly, Ariel came out of hiding as well.
"So, the rat's out of the sewers," Haruka proclaimed.
"Better believe it," Ariel sneered. "You sniveling little wretches walked into my trap, just like before..."
"And I'm set to ruin that..." Nick proclaimed.
Two of the lion statues in the back of the room suddenly came to life, their eyes glowing green, before they lunged for Nick, but he simply backflipped over them before landing and slamming his palm into the ground. This caused a wave of light to fly under the two lion statues, and this caused them to start floating helplessly in the air, which gave Nick a chance to blast both statues into rubble with a Final Shine Attack.
"You were saying?" Nick taunted.
"How do ya like them apples, Ariel?" Sam retorted.
"This isn't over yet, girlie," Ariel sneered.
"Your 'best for last' won't fly with us," Bridget proclaimed.
"On the contrary..." Ariel sneered again as more mooks came out from behind them. "Yes, they will..."
The mooks took some of the spies hostage and Ariel activated her magic stone to put the spies under her influence.
"Don't fight it, boy," one of the mooks chuckled. "Just let it happen..."
"Um, yeah, no," Nick responded, yanking his arms close to bash the two mooks into each other and knock them out.
Nick turned around just in time to see Haruka, Bridget, May, and Nozomi all advancing on him with the same vicious look in their eyes.
"Oh, crapbaskets," Nick quipped as the four spies all lunged for him at the same time, forcing him to surround himself with a psychic bubble to protect him from their attacks.
"You can't stay in there forever, you know," Ariel laughed. "And, if I'm correctly, you're involved with two of those ladies. You wouldn't dare fight your girlfriends, would you?"
Nick's response to that was to snap his fingers and pop the bubble surrounding him, the recoil knocking the four brainwashed spies away from him.
"Then you're severely underestimating what I'd do for the people I love," Nick taunted as May rushed at him, swinging her anchor in wide, sweeping strikes. Nick deftly dodged each one before reaching out to snatch the anchor in his psychic hold and yank it away before knocking May down with a psychic pulse.
It took a couple seconds, but May shook her head in confusion before looking up at Nick as he extended a hand to help her to her feet.
"Did I just get brainwashed again?" May asked.
"Yeah, you kinda did," Nick quipped as he handed May her anchor. "Ariel thinks I wouldn't go to bat for you all even when you've been mind-freaked."
"How wrong she was, huh?" May laughed as she leaned over and kissed Nick on the cheek. "Now, how do we get them to wake up? Because they're moving all over the place."
Bridget transformed into Sonic Mode and blitzed towards Nick, and he was just barely able to dodge the lightning-fast punch that Bridget sent his way.
While Bridget turned around to strike again, May noticed that Ariel wasn't paying attention to them, having turned towards the rest of the spies to harass them.
May decided to take advantage of that, motioning to Nick to keep the other three hypnotized spies busy while she did her own thing.
"I really don't know why we have to go through this little runaround of ours," Ariel proclaimed. "Just submit to our fold and this won't have to be resolved with any more violence than is necessary."
"Oh, sure, you'd like us to believe that after everything you've already done, don't you?" Clover shot back.
"You're seriously delusional if you think we're just going to kowtow to your selfish desires, Ariel," Sam growled.
"But that's the best part, you see," Ariel laughed. "Once the Full Moon Tower is ready, you won't have a choice in the matter. So I'd savor what remaining free will you have left before you all become my servants."
"Do you want me to come over there and clock you one?!" Melissa shouted.
"How about you do the clocking?" Ariel chuckled as she aimed her magic stone for Melissa.
Melissa attempted to resist the stone's spell, even as she started getting woozy.
"Yes, succumb to my power," Ariel laughed.
Ariel's laugh suddenly became a cry of pain when May swung her anchor and hit Ariel's hand with it, causing her to drop her magic stone and cry out in pain. As the magic stone dropped to the ground, May swung her anchor overhead to smash the magic stone into pieces.
This instantly undid the brainwashing on Haruka, Bridget, and Nozomi, and they stopped in their places. Most notably, Bridget was right in Nick's face after attempting to knock him down with a super-fast kick.
"...um, Nick? Why are you holding my foot in a way that makes it look like we're dancing?" Bridget wondered.
"Blame Ariel for that," Nick quipped. "May just smashed her magic stone, so you're all free of the spell."
"Ooh, now you really stepped in it, Ariel," Nozomi proclaimed as she jumped in while Ariel was still clutching her hand, flipping onto her hands and twirling around, landing at least four spinning kicks that knocked Ariel down to the ground.
As Ariel picked herself up, Haruka grabbed Ariel from behind in a full nelson before power-slamming her into the ground, and this gave Bridget the chance to dash forward and send Ariel tumbling with a lightning-fast sliding kick to the face.
"I see we will need more time before we are ready to conclude our business," Ariel admitted as she picked herself back up. "If you feel you are ready, meet me at the top of the Full Moon Tower, and we shall settle our score there. Don't keep me waiting."
With that, Ariel retreated for the moment, her mooks following.
"Ooh, man, that was a trip," Haruka admitted. "Being brainwashed is never fun, really."
"Tell me about it," Sam sighed.
"Well, I think we'd better hurry on up the tower before this gets even uglier than it already has," Blaine quipped.
"Yeah, I still owe Ariel some lumps for trying to brainwash my boyfriend!" Sam proclaimed.
"Then let's get up there so we can deliver the lumps as ordered," Nick stated as he used his psychic radar to pinpoint which direction they needed to go, eventually getting a ping in the northeast direction.
"Ugh, these goons aren't letting up!" Melissa groaned when some more mooks came out of hiding.
"No matter, we can hold 'em off!" May proclaimed as she used her trusty anchor to at least harm them physically.
"Totally!" Sam exclaimed.
Nick used his psychic powers to form a bubble around the spies to protect them from being pummeled.
"That psychic hooey of yours is breaking all the rules of fair fights, kid!" one mook complained.
"Nobody ever said what's 'fair,'" Nick sneered.
"All's fair in love and war, after all," Bridget proclaimed.
"And if there's one thing you're not proficient in... it's speed!" Haruka exclaimed.
Bridget activated her Sonic Mode and started dashing every which way. All the mooks had nothing but trouble trying to snatch her.
"Way to show 'em, Bridget!" Alex cheered.
"I'm getting in the spirit, too," Clover remarked as she used her Expandable Cable Bungee Belt.
Alex, remembering the prior mission with Ariel, got in the spirit as well with Clover; Sam was no different.
"Totally cowgirls, girls," Clover quipped.
Sam, Alex, and Clover then used their ECBBs to snatch up the mooks.
"The cowgirls are still in us!" Sam quipped as the three shared a high-five.
Two other mooks came after Britney and Sortiliena and Britney used the Expandable Mascara Brush as a javelin to push the first mook backwards and flat on her back.
Sortiliena waited for the mook to get close to her before leaping over her, though the mook attempted to knock Sortiliena out of the air, the combat instructor simply parried the move before landing and lunging forward with a flying kick that knocked the mook into the nearby wall.
"Nice try," Sortiliena giggled.
"Great move, Brit!" Dawn commended.
Melissa and Dawn were cornered by three other mooks who were charging at them.
"No place to go but up," Melissa quipped, using the Helicopter Hand Fan.
In the end, the three charged into each other hard and were left pretty dizzy.
"Yeesh... hope their brains aren't scrambled after that..." Dawn cringed.
"Hey, girls," Haruka stated as she held off a couple of mooks with May. "I think these mooks are a diversion..."
"True," May replied. "Let's take care of these mooks so we can move on. Now eat anchor, you punks!"
Four mooks all encircled May, but she spun her anchor around her to drive them all back before Nick sent them all tumbling with psychic bolts to the back.
With that, the spies were ahead to stop Ariel, and thankfully, it only took one extra flight upwards to catch up with her.
"There she is!" Britney proclaimed.
Ariel looked behind and was shocked to see them.
Mat and Blaine teamed up to attack Ariel first before Ariel could even comprehend the current dilemma in front of her.
"I can't believe you had the gall to try to turn me against my girlfriend the way you did," Blaine remarked.
"Same here!" Mat proclaimed. "I guess the only thing you're missing is your mermaid tail, is it?"
Haruka and Bridget overheard that and got some major laughs out of it. How many other Ariels were out there, after all?
To say that Ariel was steaming mad was an understatement. She then used her magic stone on the rest of the spies again while another mook came out of hiding to grab Nick to prevent him from using his psychic powers.
"Try using your mind tricks now," one of the mooks laughed.
Nick just smiled, remembering the trick he'd used on Wink Weatherdale so long ago, and concentrated his psychic powers into the part of his arms that the mook was grabbing, heating up that area rapidly and forcing the mook to let go lest she get burned.
"Never gets old," Nick laughed as he raised his right hand to create a psychic bubble around the spies to protect them from the effects of Ariel's magic stone, then barged in to shoulder-tackle Ariel to the ground.
"You are starting to vex me, you little psychic brat," Ariel growled.
"Why don't you tell it to someone who cares, you wanna-be fake wrestler?!" Nick taunted, chuckling to himself at how offended Ariel looked at that crack.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy tearing you to shreds," Ariel proclaimed as she got back to her feet and rushed at Nick, aiming her staff for his head.
Nick simply leg-sweeped Ariel off of her feet before reaching out to snatch up her magic stone and blast it to pieces with a Final Shine Attack.
"That's four of your precious magic stones we've broken today," Nick laughed. "Do you really wanna push your luck and make it five?"
"We'll see how it feels to run your smart mouth once my plans have come to fruition," Ariel shot back as she picked herself up and retreated once more, her mooks following her.
"Aw, man, how many times is she going to chicken out on us?!" Nozomi shouted.
"We're almost to the top of the tower," Sam proclaimed. "She doesn't have anywhere left to hide."
"Well, then, let's go to the top and put an end to this nonsense," Mat responded.
That was all the spies needed to head up the nearby stairway that would take them to the very top of the Full Moon Tower so they could put a stop to Ariel's schemes.
If they'd stuck around just a little longer, though, they would have noticed Irida peeking around a corner, still trying to find the strange light she'd sensed.
After waiting to make sure she wouldn't be seen (she was surprised that Nick hadn't sensed her, being a psychic, but she figured he probably didn't automatically scan the thoughts of everyone around him), Irida jogged down the opposite staircase that led down the tower until she reached one of the side rooms on that floor.
Kicking the door down, Irida made her way into the room in question, and sure enough, another Genesis Portal was shimmering in the middle of the room.
Irida raised her hands, which started glowing with a silver light, before clapping them together, which thankfully caused the Genesis Portal to close.
"There's another one taken care of," Irida quipped. "I'd better get out of here before that wrestler lady or her minions figure out I'm here."
With that in mind, Irida ran up to the nearby window, kicked it out, equipped a Padded Shoulder Portable Parasail, and used it to sail out of the Full Moon Tower down towards her pickup near ground level.
As she sailed downwards, Irida once again wondered why exactly Genesis Portals were showing up again. Hopefully she'd be able to find some answers soon.
To be concluded...
-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...
Alex: Hey, we made it to the top of the tower!
May: ...only to run into a mook trap!
Clover: Seriously, how many mooks do you need to fight us?!
Ariel: As many as I feel the need to, little girl. Now you will feel the full, unbridled wrath of the Sisterhood!
Sam: I don't know how many times I need to brick this into your thick skull, Ariel, but I am never joining your sick cult, and that's the end of that story!
Nick: She's not listening, Sammy. I guess we're just gonna have to beat it into her.
Sortiliena: It's been a while since I got to do the preview line, so I'll say it this time. We've got quite an interesting finale to show you all, next time on the final act of Totally Spies: Re-Recruitment, "Trouble on the Tower"!
Nozomi: Don't think you're going to wrestle our victory away from OH FOR THE LOVE OF DILL PICKLES
May: ...it was only a matter of time. Excuse me, y'all, I'll be right back.