4:13 A.M. – Somewhere in Beverly Hills

"Okay, so, let me get this straight," Geraldine Husk asked, trying to comprehend what her partner was telling her. "You want to go inside the database of the computers at W.O.O.H.P.?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but there's actually a whole entire world in there," Geraldine's partner Lady Dragon responded, checking her devices to make sure everything she needed was ready to go. "I've been there twice, actually."

"And if what I heard through the villains grapevine is correct, you failed both of your schemes that involved that place," Geraldine huffed.

"What can I say? Third time's the charm, right?" Lady Dragon laughed. "This time around, though, I'm taking a different approach to our eventual digital conquest."

"Eh, what the hell? Can't be any worse than some other schemes I've seen lately," Geraldine admitted. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Take a look at this," Lady Dragon stated, pointing to the data screens nearby.

"Hmmmm... that's actually a pretty wicked idea," Geraldine laughed.

"I know, right?" Lady Dragon cackled. "I'll admit, those spies are very skilled... but are they lucky enough?"

"We'll make sure that luck isn't on their side this time," Geraldine proclaimed. "Then we'll see where their precious skills can get them."

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(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 40: Luck Be a Lady Tonight

Story Rated: T for Teen

Story Created: July 19th, 2021

Story Summary: The fifty-second co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode forty of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. Lady Dragon is once again attempting to mess with virtual reality inside the W.O.O.H.P. Datascape, but this time, she's brought Geraldine Husk into the fray, and they've captured Britney and May and trapped them both within the Datascape. In order to save their friends, the remaining spies will have to trust their luck and conquer different challenges in order to find Britney and May. Is lady luck on the spies' side, or will the villains finally get a W?

Author's Note from Mat49324: Well, after we got through with our second movie project, Rift Apart, it's now time for our 52nd project together, and the BEGINNING of our 4th season of Totally Spies: The New Adventures. Hard to believe it's taken us that long to get to this many projects despite the period of time we didn't connect with each other. For a recap, we completed 2 projects together in 2005, fell out of contact for over several years, and resumed our projects in the summer 2019. It then became what we call Totally Spies: The New Adventures after we finished Disillusioned Memories. We envisioned our first to take place sometime after the LAMOS disbanded in mid-season 4. Our second and third seasons were around the 5th season in the TV series – hence we had the spies jet off to Mali-U for the Spring and Fall terms, and spend the summers at their beach house. The only thing I never anticipated from day 1 of our projects was the team expanding to 12 spies... then 13 with Blaine's addition. For now, we're ready for the opening episode of S4, Luck Be a Lady Tonight. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger if he has anything he'd like to say.

Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger: Luck can be a fickle mistress sometimes, can't it? Especially when they make whole entire games based around luck of the draw. That, my fellow fanfic writers, is why I will never touch Mario Party. I've seen what those games can lead to (COUGHRUNAWAYGUYSCOUGH). But enough of that, it's time to begin season four of Totally Spies: The New Adventures! And believe it or not, this is actually the fifty-second co-op project that Mat and I have done together! When you add all eleven of our co-op one-shots to all thirty-nine episodes of The New Adventures, then add the big movie that we just completed, that's A LOT! Holy crapbaskets, that's incredible! I hope we can keep this going for as long as we can dream up new ideas! But anyway, I've rambled long enough, let's get season four 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?

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Act 1: Luck of the Draw

3:00 P.M. – Malibu University

It was another normal spring day at Malibu University. Mat had just finished his Journalism class for the day, having just gotten an assignment of his own to do – a 45-second story or longer with at least two people to interview. He sported some knee-length shorts and another of his Motocross shirts, but this one was green and white and read "Metcalfe 123" on the back, which signified Australian Supercross racer, Brett Metcalfe.

"I know exactly what I plan to do for a story," Mat told himself.

He planned to do a sports story on either the Mali-U swim team or the volleyball team. Mat ultimately decided on the volleyball team... and interviewing Melissa first.

Unknown to him, Britney happened to notice Mat heading to the Mali-U beach.

Strange... Britney thought.

She knew better than to be really nosy on others, but she followed Mat anyway.

On the way, Mat saw Melissa just finishing up a swim in the ocean. He could see the bikini she had on – a black tie-on; it caught his attention in a way, but Mat summed up the guts to talk to her.

"Hey, Mat," Melissa greeted.

"Hey... I was wondering..." Mat stuttered a bit.

"Mind walking with me?" Melissa cut in. "I got beach volleyball practice soon."

Mat nodded and did so.

"I have a story to do for my Journalism class that's due in a week, and I was kinda wondering if you'd like to help me out in a way?" Mat told her.

"What kind of story?" Melissa wondered.

"Well, I was going to do this on the upcoming ladies' volleyball game, so I thought maybe I'd get a quote from you and another one from the team," Mat explained. "And get a shot or two of your practice, too."

"Yeah, okay," Melissa quipped. "Let me just let my coach know."

Meanwhile, Britney didn't hear a word said and immediately ran off while Mat and Melissa went to Melissa's beach volleyball practice for the day.

3:20 P.M. – The Spies' Penthouse

"You saw Mat with Melissa?" Sam asked Britney.

"Uh-huh," Britney replied, slightly worried.

"Hold on a minute, Brit," Nick remarked. "I think this is a bit premature to jump to that conclusion."

"I agree," Bridget quipped. "Mat's not the kind of person who'd throw away everything he and Sam have been through for something with Melissa."

Blaine, who was hanging out in the spies' dorm, thought about this himself.

"Any thoughts, Blaine?" Dawn wondered.

"Not off the top of my head," Blaine answered. "But I do think Nick has a valid point."

"Hey, I know my sister pretty well by this point," Nick quipped. "She is my sister, after all. Maybe Britney just didn't hear what they were talking about?"

"I'm with Nick here," Dawn added.

"We really shouldn't be going this route, Britney," Nozomi added.

"Brit, if I were you, I wouldn't go attacking Mat about this," Alex quipped. "Nick could be right, after all..."

"Plus Mat decided on going with anything related to being on TV, too," Clover pointed out.

"If at all," May pointed out. "I know Mat and Sam were totally meant to be; I highly think we've got nothing to worry about."

"Totally!" Bridget proclaimed. "The last thing we should do is give Mat something cruel he doesn't deserve."

"I was just... I really want this to work with us," Britney sighed.

"I know you do, Brit," Alex replied, putting her hand on Britney's shoulder. "And it's like Nick said, this could just be a big misunderstanding. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened to us, right?"

"Oh, would Johnny have had some stories for you about all the times it happened to me in middle school," May laughed.

"Hey, everyone, what's with the big ol' pow-wow here?" Melissa asked once she and Mat walked into the penthouse.

Seeing as Britney was suddenly nervous for probably obvious reasons, May decided to field that question.

"Well, Britney was a little freaked out about something she saw earlier, and well..." May answered, trailing off in a way that made it obvious.

"Wait, that?" Melissa gasped once she made the connection.

Before any more discussion could be had, the spies all heard a loud beep in the penthouse area, and they knew what that meant.

Nick prepared himself, just waiting for their boss' latest attempt.

Sure enough, a large metal pipe descended from the ceiling, and Nick raised his right hand to create a psychic barrier to shield everyone from the suction...

...only for a second pipe to emerge from the ceiling behind the spies and suck them all inside of it.

One tube ride and crash landing in the office later, Nick shook his head, unable to believe that Jerry had caught on to him.

Jerry's grin as he walked up to the spies only confirmed it.

"You did that on purpose," Nick proclaimed.

"Maybe," Jerry replied.

"It was maybe my idea?" RiCO giggled as she materialized in the office.

"I guess it was bound to happen eventually," Alex laughed as the spies all hopped to their feet and used their X-Powders to change into their spy outfits. "Well, down to business, it seems. Who's on the list today, Jerry?"

RiCO waved her hands to shift the large viewscreen's image to that of two familiar villains, Lady Dragon and Geraldine Husk.

"Oh, goodie, little miss game designer's back," Melissa groaned. "Let me guess, she's trying to pull some nasty scheme with the datascape again, right?"

"She's probably on that whole 'third time's the charm' mentality, but yes, we believe so," RiCO answered. "I detected some strange anomalies in the datascape after my latest firmware update, and when I went to investigate, I fought some viruses that had Lady Dragon's signature all over them."

"That sure sounds like her lately," Mat quipped.

"But now there's another question," May responded. "What's Geraldine's game? Why is she helping Lady Dragon with this particular plan?"

"I guess the only way we're going to find out is if we head into the datascape and intercept those two before anything can happen," Nick proclaimed. "Shall we, RiCO?"

"Oh, we most definitely shall," RiCO laughed as she vanished for the moment. "I'll meet you all inside!"

A large raygun-like device descended from the ceiling of the office and activated, bathing all thirteen spies in an aquatic-blue light. When the light cleared, they had vanished from the room.

3:35 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape, Sector E

"Back in the digital world once again," Nick quipped as the spies all met up with RiCO in Sector E of the Datascape, the world within W.O.O.H.P.'s computer network. "It hasn't felt like too long since we took down CHAD, honestly..."

"Is this where you first discovered those viruses, RiCO?" Sam asked.

"Exactly," RiCO answered. "I figured this way, we could follow their trail and hopefully catch them by surprise."

"I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you, spies."

The spies all turned towards the source of that voice, and sure enough, Lady Dragon and Geraldine Husk both emerged from behind a pillar that acted as a barrier.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you," Alex taunted. "Where were you all the other times your own cockiness got the better of you? Or do we need to give you a crash course in rule seventy?!"

"Shows what you know, spies, because we've got something different for you today," Geraldine cackled.

"Oh, what, you really think you're going to surprise us?" Nick shot back, his psychic aura flaring to life around him. "After everything we've seen lately? If I were you, I'd shut your yaps so we can come over there and thump you both back to the real world!"

Lady Dragon simply grinned evilly before snapping her fingers.

Britney and May didn't even have time to get surprised as beams of light surrounded them, and when they cleared up, both of them had vanished completely.

"...you're going to regret that," Nick growled.

"Ditto on that, bro," Mat proclaimed.

"Are you just going to stand there jawing at us, or are you going to go and save your friends?" Geraldine laughed.

"And don't think it'll be as easy as it's been lately, you wretches," Lady Dragon responded. "Let's just say... I hope you're lucky."

Lady Dragon pressed a button on her wrist device to teleport her and Lady Dragon away before the spies could go after them.

"...what did she mean by 'lucky'?" Bridget wondered.

"Let's dwell on that when we actually find Britney and May," Mat replied. "I do not want to know what those bitches might be doing to our friends..."

"Any idea where they might be, RiCO?" Clover asked.

"Their signals are being jammed, so I can't get any precise readings," RiCO answered as she opened a data screen to scan for Britney and May's current location. "But I'm getting something around Sector B, so let's make with the haste and go save your friends!"

"Roger that!" Sam proclaimed.

The spies headed directly for Sector B.

"You two wanna clear the air here?" Dawn asked Melissa and Mat.

"Easy – story for my Journalism class," Mat immediately explained. "Besides, Broadcast Journalism is totally appealing to me and a perfect way to be on TV."

"I told my coach and he was perfectly fine with Mat being there and getting his story done," Melissa added in, sticking up for Mat.

"Plus, I told Mat that Melissa was down at the beach and I was with her," Haruka added. "But I had a class myself, so I had to leave her."

"And you didn't say anything about that because...?" Clover asked.

"Probably because I didn't know that that was what Britney thought might have happened," Haruka quipped.

"And it was just dumb luck I'd think that she was on the beach after all," Mat added. "No harm, no foul, right?"

"It was really just a string of coincidences that just kinda went in the wrong direction," Melissa admitted.

"That does kinda happen a lot with us," May quipped.

"I highly thought we didn't have anything to worry about," Nick quipped. "I guess May was right."

Sam had a feeling May was right anyway, but she still gave a sigh of relief that the worst-case scenario was not going to happen.

"Anyway, if that's all done," Haruka remarked. "WE'VE got a mission to do and two allies to save!"

Melissa REALLY wished that Britney wasn't one of the spies that were spy-napped so she could really tell Britney that nothing was going on between she and Mat... and that three girlfriends seemed to be "too much."

3:59 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape, Sector B

"Can you sense anything now since we're in Sector B, RiCO?" Blaine wondered.

"I think I'm picking up something now," RiCO answered.

"What is it?" Alex wondered.

Something in RiCO's analysis made her uneasy.

"BRIDGET, OUT OF THE WAY!" RiCO yelled.

Bridget didn't question things and jumped out of the way to see creatures pop up out of the ground in an attempt to capture her, too.

"Oh boy..." Bridget sighed, now knowing she was close to getting captured herself.

"So, THAT'S their game?" Nick wondered. "Booby traps everywhere?!"

"Gotta give 'em one thing, it IS pretty original," Clover commented.

"Reference rules for villains, number fifty-seven," Haruka quipped.

"I wish there was something that told us where in Sector B to get to..." Sam chastised.

"I think I see something towards one of the corners," Nozomi told the others while using the Cyberjacker Sunglasses.

"I'll be able to get you there with minimal troubles," RiCO told the spies.

She analyzed the floor to find a free spot and put her hand down to create a makeshift glass covering to protect the booby traps from happening.

When the spies made it to the corner of Sector B, they could see it was a regular slot machine.

"Slots?" Clover wondered. "Talk about old school..."

"No, seriously," Mat remarked. "Slot machines are known to piss ya off repeatedly. Makes sense that they'd go this route."

"I guess we have to play to unlock the next sector then," Bridget told the others.

She stepped forward and pulled the lever. Bridget ended up with a seven, a double bar, and an orange. Nothing happened.

"Let me try," Nick commented after Bridget had three more failed attempts.

Haruka stood behind him. Nick had a little better luck than Bridget did with two sevens and two double bars on five different pulls, but nothing opened the gateway to the next sector.

"Damn!" Nick swore.

"I think I have a lucky touch in me," Mat remarked.

Melissa appeared behind him and they both grabbed the lever, much to both Sam and Mat's surprise. They both shrugged their shoulders at what just happened. It turned out to be three sevens and that opened the way to the next sector.

Nozomi immediately looked at Sam.

"You heard what Mat and Melissa told us, Sam," Nozomi immediately told her. "You REALLY don't have to worry about anything as May deduced earlier."

"My question is, can we convince Britney that?" Sam asked. "We never got to explain the situation to her before she and May got spy-napped."

"What do we deal with next?" Blaine wondered.

"And more importantly, how're we gonna get Britney and May out of who-knows-where?" Nick added.

"My question of the day is, what are those two dastardly villains scheming?" Melissa asked. "Why exactly did they kidnap Britney and May when they could have literally gone after any of us?"

"I swear, we'll never know how some baddies' minds work," Mat answered. "Forever one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Regardless, if I find one hair out of place on Britney's head when we find her, I'm gonna thump those villains. Preferably in the head."

"Ditto on that, bro," Nick replied. "Let's keep moving and see what we can find."

Eventually, the trip through sector B was once again road-blocked by...

"...wait, is this a board game?" Bridget asked.

"Oh, lord," Nick groaned when he recognized the setup of this particular board.

"Everything okay, Nick?" Alex asked.

"I recognize this board," Nick quipped. "It's from flip-trucking Mario Party."

"Wait, is that what I heard you screaming about the other day?" Mat asked. "I didn't know you weren't a fan of Mario Party..."

"Oh, when I was a kid, I hated it," Nick admitted. "I'm seriously not a fan of games where luck is the big deciding factor in whether you have a good time or not. Just ask Melissa about that..."

"Big bro's just salty that I was so much better at it when we were kids," Melissa giggled. "I was the Mario Party master growing up."

"Many an N64 controller was thrown at some of the nonsense I had to deal with," Nick sighed.

Melissa chuckled as she stepped forward to observe the board. "Looks like we just need to have twenty coins by the time we get to the end of the board, and then we can get the Star and open the way forward," Melissa observed.

"Hopefully that's all we need to do," Nick quipped as he and Melissa stepped up to take the challenge.

A large, blue dice block appeared above Nick's head. Knowing he had to time this just right to get the best roll, Nick counted down in his head before leaping up to hit the block with his fist, rolling a five and letting him move five spaces on the board to a blue circle that gave him three coins.

Melissa was next, rolling a seven and landing on a double-ringed blue space that gave her six coins.

"I'm just waiting for something to go wrong," Bridget proclaimed. "This is based off of Mario Party, after all."

"Just be thankful it's not Dokapon Kingdom," Haruka responded. "That game is even worse than Mario Party in the 'screwing over your friends' department, if you want my two cents."

After a couple more rolls, Nick landed on a large "VS." space, and when the area started rumbling, Nick prepared himself for a fight as a large virus emerged from just ahead of them, shaped like a praying mantis.

"At least they're getting more creative with their virus designs," Nick stated as the virus charged him and he flipped over it, thankful he wasn't locked onto the game board during this. While he was in the air, Nick fired a few psychic bolts into its back while Melissa unleashed a Cyclone Blast Hairdryer shot to push the virus away from the game board and allow RiCO to blast it with an anti-virus beam that swiftly deleted it.

Once the virus had dissipated, both Nick and Melissa were rewarded with ten coins.

"Almost there," Nick proclaimed. "Please don't screw us over..."

Thankfully, it only took one more roll each to reach the final gate with over twenty coins, allowing Melissa to pay the tool, claim the Star in question, and use it to open the gateway blocking the spies from progressing further into Sector B.

"Told ya I'm the Mario Party master," Melissa giggled as she and Nick high-fived each other. "Feel like challenging me in Mario Party 8 later? I did just get it, after all."

"Oh, you're on," Nick proclaimed.

"All right, everyone, let's get moving," Sam stated. "Hopefully we won't have to face too many more of these luck-based challenges."

"Lady Dragon knows what Mario Party is," Nozomi quipped. "I highly doubt we're done."

4:27 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape – Somewhere in Sector B

"Well, this stinks," May sighed as she paced around the digital cage that she and Britney were currently trapped in. "If I had my anchor right now, this cage wouldn't be a problem..."

Before May could pontificate any longer, she noticed that Britney still looked unsure of something.

"...he wouldn't cheat on me, would he?" Britney asked.

"Brit, listen, okay?" May proclaimed. "Mat would never do such a thing. I know that for an indisputable fact. Why would you think he'd ever do that?"

Despite May's reassurances, Britney still looked unsure, and May couldn't blame her. This always happened in situations like this, after all.

May could only hope that the others would arrive to rescue them soon, so they could clear the air for sure. But she knew that Mat would never cheat on Britney or Sam. It just wasn't in his nature.

I just hope Britney's willing to listen when we get to that point, May thought.

Britney sighed over all that had just happened – seeing Mat with Melissa, and now being spy-napped by Lady Dragon and Geraldine Husk.

"Comfy?" Geraldine asked the two spies sinisterly.

"What do you want with us?!" Britney growled.

"And don't think the same thing you tried on Mat is gonna work this time around," May added, remembering back to the last time Geraldine was at the helm of a sinister plan (with Natalie Valentine).

"You think I'd go with the same thing that backfired on me before?" Geraldine sneered.

"At least you know what rule thirty-six is..." May sighed.

"Let us OUT!" Britney demanded.

"I wouldn't count on that..." Geraldine sneered again.

"Call this a prelude to seeing your meddling friends' demises," Lady Dragon added, coming in and holding May's EGT.

"That belongs to ME, ya know!" May growled.

"Not anymore," Lady Dragon scoffed.

She kept May's EGT on her person. Geraldine, however, increased the security of their virtual prison.

"Great..." Britney chastised.

May checked her X-Powder, but it didn't catch a good signal in virtual reality – partly because of the virtual prison she and Britney were held in.

"I guess we'll have to wait until Nick and the others come to rescue us," May groaned.

Britney had the most on her mind besides being spy-napped.

"Brit, I hope you remembered that Mat wanted to go into anything related to being on TV as his major..." May reminded her.

"I know that," Britney responded. "I just..."

In the meantime, May decided to hit a button on her X-Powder to contact the other spies to let them know that they were okay at least – for starters anyway.

Meanwhile...

"I wonder how we're gonna find Britney and May if we have to go through more sectors," Bridget told the others.

"I think they're in here somewhere," Nick told them after using his psychic radar.

"Are they close by?" Blaine wondered.

"I sure hope so," Mat added.

"Where do we head now, RiCO?" Melissa wondered.

"Hold on," Sam interjected and checked her X-Powder. "That's May's signal!"

"I hope that's just a sign that she and Britney are okay," Mat stated.

"If at all, I don't know what made Britney think you were cheating on her, Mat," Dawn commented. "Especially since you wanted to go into anything related to being on TV after all..."

"I guess that's all in the female mind somewhere," Mat sighed.

"Somewhere in there, honestly," Haruka quipped.

"Maybe she saw you two talking and some part of her mind just automatically assumed the worst," Nick answered. "Believe me, bro, I've been down that road before."

"Advice for heroes, number eleven," Haruka quipped. "Don't let any discord interrupt or impede your progress."

"Ain't that the truth," Mat replied.

"Guys, they're close by," Nick told the others.

"That should be good, then," Nozomi remarked.

The spies continued on until they heard some cheers, and some confetti being thrown at them.

"What the heck's going on here now?!" Clover chastised.

"It looks like a kind of trivia question round," Bridget observed.

"You would be right," Geraldine's voice sneered at the eleven remaining spies.

"So, you had the balls to show your faces, did ya?!" Nick growled.

"Look up there!" Mat gasped.

Britney and May were sitting in their virtual prison on a big screen jumbotron.

"It's Britney and May!" Sam proclaimed.

RiCO immediately did a scan of Sector B.

"Consider this a prelude to our victory after all," Lady Dragon sneered. "They're just a start, and after we capture some more of you meddlesome spies, W.O.O.H.P. won't have a single prisoner accounted for..."

"Believe us when we say you're not going to succeed!" Nozomi proclaimed.

"Empty threats," Geraldine mocked. "Step up if you dare..."

"Do we have a choice?" Blaine commented.

"Spies, careful," RiCO stated. "This is a LIGHTNING trivia gimmick going on here."

"Then I'm the girl for the job," Sam quipped.

Just as she took a step forward, she went right into an invisible barrier.

"Sorry, but you're not the girl we want," Geraldine cackled at Sam.

Blaine tried walking forward and he made it through no problem. When Nozomi tried to walk through next, she got through no problem either. Bridget, Mat, and the others tried as well, but neither had any luck.

"What gives?!" Nick chastised.

"We choose who gets to play this round," Lady Dragon sneered.

"Oh, now you're just asking for a stomping, aren't you?!" Nick shouted.

"Well, aren't you a generous seer of our talent," Nozomi taunted.

"Just step up to the podium so we can get on with it," Geraldine retorted. "You'll have to answer three questions in order to move on. And I don't think I need to explain what happens if you get a question wrong..."

While all of this was happening, RiCO was secretly typing in commands on her data screen in hopes of finding a way to help the spies before anything... well, shocking could happen to them.

They must really be rubbing off on me, RiCO thought.

"All right, first question," Lady Dragon proclaimed. "What year did the video game Donkey Kong 64 first release?"

"Are we being timed on this?" Blaine wondered.

"Take as much time as you need," Geraldine replied. "We're patient for once."

After about ten seconds of thinking, Nozomi was the one to answer.

"November 22nd, 1999," Nozomi proclaimed.

"...correct," Lady Dragon groaned. "I'd better make the next question harder."

"I could have answered that one for ya," Nick quipped. "Oof, don't even remind me of the hell I went through trying to get that freakin' Nintendo Coin..."

"Second question," Geraldine stated. "What was Final Fantasy IV's name changed to in the localized versions?"

"That would be Final Fantasy 2," Blaine responded.

"W-what?! How did you...?!" Lady Dragon gasped.

"Because May loves Final Fantasy IV and she tends to not shut up about how much she loves it," Blaine laughed. "That's how I learned about the... weird localization decisions."

Nick could have sworn he'd seen May flash a thumbs-up in response.

"All right, then, final question," Lady Dragon laughed. "For the first trailer of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, who were the characters that were revealed in it?"

Lady Dragon and Geraldine looked at each other and smiled, expecting an easy victory. But they clearly underestimated how much Smash Bros. the spies had played up to this point.

"The returning characters were Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Samus," Nozomi proclaimed.

"And the newcomers were Meta Knight, Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Wario, and Solid Snake," Blaine responded. "Still can't believe that's actually a thing..."

Of course, the two villains were flabbergasted.

"We're avid Smash players," Nozomi giggled.

"Got it!" RiCO exclaimed, pressing a button on her data screen and unleashing a wave of blue light that dissolved the trivia podium and jumbotron, returning this area of Sector B to normal. "How quickly you forget that the datascape is my home. And no one knows my home better than me."

"Curse you damned spies, this isn't the end!" Geraldine exclaimed as she and Lady Dragon made a hasty retreat, not noticing the tracker Haruka had slipped on her.

"Guess we're kinda lucky that last question was about Smash," Alex laughed. "Considering how much we play it..."

"Those two probably thought we didn't have time for it, given our busy schedules," Nick stated. "Big mistake, ladies."

"I'm picking up on the signal from May's X-Powder again!" RiCO proclaimed. "That means they can't be too far away now!"

"Well, what are we waiting for, peeps and cronies?" Haruka exclaimed. "Let's go bust 'em out!"

True to RiCO's word, it only took a few more minutes of traveling to reach the area where Britney and May were being held, and it thankfully seemed like there were no more obstacles in their way.

"Hey, weary travelers," May teased. "What are y'all doin' round these parts?"

"Looking for some friends of ours," Nick replied.

"Hold on just a second... there!" RiCO proclaimed, hacking into the gate controls and dissolving the cage so that Britney and May could jump down and land on the ground.

Almost immediately, Britney threw herself at Mat, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

"Hey, Brit," Mat proclaimed. "I'm sorry if I unintentionally upset you..."

"I'll admit, I had doubts like any normal person would," Britney answered. "But wanted to hear it from your own mouth, Mat, before I made any decisions I'd regret."

"Okay, here's the honest, unavoidable truth," Mat responded. "I was just interviewing Melissa about her upcoming volleyball game as an assignment for my Journalism class. That's all that happened, I swear."

"Trust me, Britney, he's telling the truth," Nick proclaimed. "Psychic, remember?"

"I tend to forget that you can read minds sometimes," Britney laughed. "If Nick's vouching for you, then that's enough for me, Mat."

Not wasting any more time, Britney leaned in to kiss Mat, a kiss he gladly returned.

("Satisfaction" by kz (livetune) feat. Hatsune Miku plays)

"I guess I was just scared," Britney admitted. "I really do want this to work, Mat, no matter what gets thrown our way..."

"Hey, I promised you, right?" Mat replied. "And to take a page from one of my best friends, I never break my promises."

Nick and Alex just smiled at each other, especially when May moved to hug Nick, clearly happy to see him again as well.

"All right-y then, now that we're all back together, let's high-tail it after our dastardly duo!" Haruka proclaimed, opening up her X-Powder to check her tracker. "According to my tracker, they're currently heading southwest."

"That's towards Sector F," RiCO replied. "Let's get moving!"

Now fully reunited, the spy team followed RiCO through the area, eventually leading to a teleporter that would take them to one of the different sectors. (Jerry and RiCO had installed them in a firmware update after Sophia's visit, at the spies' insistence.)

Britney reached out to hold Mat's hand, and Mat reached out with his free hand to hold Sam's hand, and Nick did the same thing with Alex and May as the teleporter activated, surrounding the group with a column of light and sending them off to Sector F to continue the chase.

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...

Britney: So, what did those two put all of you through?

Sam: Well, they're basically testing our luck in different ways.

Britney: Oof.

Nick: 'Oof' is right, Brit. And I swear, if I ever see another Mario Party board in here again...

Melissa: ...ummmmmmmm...

Nick: ...there's one right in front of us, isn't there?

May: Can I say 'no'?

Nick: ...ugh. Let's just get this over with.

Britney: Hey, I get to say the preview line for once. Well, it seems like our luck isn't done being tested yet, so tune in to the next act of Totally Spies: Luck Be a Lady Tonight, "Born Lucky"!

May: Hey, there's even a note in here. "Sorry about the last few preview writers and their propensity for dumb puns, I promise you that won't happen with me". Here's hoping, guy. I've got my eye on you...