On Today's Episode: Nick's former girlfriend Nozomi has arrived in Beverly Hills, but she may be getting dragged into the spies' affairs quicker than expected, as yet another villain is apparently on the loose and plotting a revenge scheme, and it might be none other than Terrence, Jerry's evil brother! But what possible connection does Terrence have with all of the spies' recent cases?
Author's Note from Mat49324: Well, here we go since we've officially exceeded 3 chapters for the first time since the original Beyond the Looking Glass when we ended up finishing after 16 chapters. One thing's for sure, you won't be seeing 16 chapters here – definitely not even 10 chapters. Anyway, here we go!
Episode 4: Trouble Tumble
Nozomi was a very good listener as Nick and Haruka explained everything to her, gasping in all the right places and even reaching over to hug Nick when he mentioned Tim Scam.
Since the other spies were all waking up by now as well, they all pitched in to fill in their own perspectives on their recent adventures.
"So, basically, if we ever see Tim Scam again, I'm definitely going to introduce my heel to his face," Nozomi quipped. "Multiple times, if needed."
"That's basically what I said," Alex laughed.
"You guys and gals have been through a lot, haven't you?" Nozomi wondered.
"That's really putting it mildly," Haruka admitted.
"Our bad guys just don't know when to give it up, honestly," Clover answered. "But we'll keep stomping them until they do."
"Well, I wanna help you guys out however I can," Nozomi proclaimed, just then noticing that Nick was staring intently out the nearby window.
"...well, I think I know how you can start, Nozomi," Nick replied.
"Did you sense trouble, Nick?" Alex asked.
"Trouble of what kind, I'm not sure, but definitely trouble," Nick replied. "Honestly, after the past few days, I wouldn't be surprised if there's another baddie on the loose."
"Wait, you can sense that kind of thing?" Nozomi quipped.
"That's another long story, Nozomi," Nick replied. "I'll tell you on the way. Come on, everyone, let's move out!"
The spies, Nozomi included, all suited up and headed out to follow Nick towards the source of the trouble.
After a few minutes of intense searching, Nick's psychic radar eventually led them all to Beverly Hills' newest "supermall", The Groove.
"I'm definitely sensing some evil thoughts around here," Nick stated. "Lucky me that I know how to pick them out!"
Nick raised his hand to fire a few psychic bolts in the direction of a nearby civilian, only for said civilian to immediately spin around and reveal himself as Terrence Lewis, Jerry's evil twin brother and the former leader of the LAMOS.
"You again!" Clover shouted.
"Don't you ever know when to call it quits?!" Alex exclaimed.
"Ah, yes, the superspies," Terrence proclaimed. "I would say it's good to see you again after so long, but considering how you disbanded and incarcerated the LAMOS, I'll have to say otherwise."
"You brought that on yourself, buddy!" Mat shouted.
"And what kind of villain organization names themselves 'LAMOS'?" Nozomi wondered. "Seriously, do I even need to say the line?"
"The name's not important!" Terrence shouted. "What is important is my new revenge scheme."
"I'm not in any mood for revenge schemes today, Terry," Nick growled, his psychic aura flaring to life around him. "So how about you just prepare to get stomped into the concrete?!"
"That's something that won't happen today, tomorrow, or EVER!" Terrence sneered.
"This isn't how I wanted to spend a day after riding either," Mat replied and fired a shot from the Wind Tunnel 9000 at Terrence. "As if Tim Scam getting bomb-happy wasn't enough, YOU HAVE TO ADD TO THE STRESS!"
"I'm siding with my Mat-honey on that," Sam emphatically stated.
"Oh, and what are the main spy failures gonna do after the first time I literally toyed with you..." Terrence laughed, thinking back to when the spies were being promoted to Super Spies (remember S3's Evil Promotion Much?).
"Them's fightin' words, buddy boy!" Nick exclaimed.
"I'll second that," Nozomi quipped.
She looked to see Sam and Mat working together.
"You asked for this..." Mat chastised.
"Don't think you intimidate me!" Terrence shouted, rushing in to attack and knock them off their rhythm, but Sam and Mat weren't deterred, jumping to both sides of Terrence and punching him in unison. They followed up with four rapid attacks in perfect sync before knocking Terrence into the air with a dual rising kick, then finished by leaping into the air to slam their fists into Terrence and drive him back to the ground.
"Never gets old," Sam giggled.
Clover humphed at the current circumstances, too.
"I wanted a relaxing day, too after everything we've been through!"
"Believe me, Clover," Haruka remarked. "We'll get some relaxing time soon once we're rid of Jerry's family screw-up here."
Needless to say, Terrence didn't like hearing that one bit.
"I'll show you who the screw-up is since you couldn't save your girlfriend from her grim fate!" Terrence seethed, referring to Bridget.
"She's not my girlfriend, Terrence!" Nick corrected. "Try childhood friend who's better than you'd have been in ten lifetimes!"
Terrence merely humphed himself.
"And she's gonna pull through, too!" Haruka proclaimed.
"Well, if that's the case, she better think of something before W.O.O.H.P. is no more," Terrence cackled.
("Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down plays)
"...the hell are you getting at?!" Mat chastised.
"Don't tell us you planted a bomb inside?!" Sam shouted, nearly ready to break out into expletives.
"Oh, no, my dear," Terrence sneered devilishly. "I'm not the one to plant bombs like Tim Scam does..."
"Well, nonetheless," Nick proclaimed. "Your days of evildoing are VERY MUCH done!"
"And we'll see to that personally!" Nozomi added. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that I'm willing to bet money you won't see coming!"
"Who's this girl?!" Terrence joked. "An overzealous rookie?!"
"Wow..." Nozomi retorted. "No wonder Nick was right in saying you turned out to be a screw-up... but you asked for it!"
"Go get him, Nozomi!" Alex cheered.
Nozomi just charged forward. Terrence just laughed, not knowing Nozomi could REALLY pack a punch whenever she wanted, thanks to her karate.
"Let's see what you can do, girl," Terrence laughed. "Probably not much, from the looks of it..."
Terrence would quickly regret his words as Nozomi landed a flying kick to his face, followed by ducking down to attack with a leg sweep that knocked Terrence off of his feet.
Just as Terrence was picking himself up, Nozomi rushed in and struck Terrence with a karate chop to the back, followed by a spinning kick that sent him flying into a nearby bush.
"That's showing him, Nozomi!" Alex proclaimed.
"Never mess with Umi no Hoshi's karate goddess," Nozomi giggled.
"Oh, wow, I'd almost forgotten that nickname," Nick laughed.
Just as Terrence appeared to be losing, Sam thought of something and got the others' attention.
"What're you thinking, Sammy?" Alex wondered.
"As soon as Nozomi gets Terrence cornered, we'll gang up and prevent him from escaping," Sam explained.
"Great idea, Sammy," Clover remarked.
"I'll go and give Nozomi a hand," Nick replied and charged forward.
"All right, give us a sign if you can," Mat told Nick.
"Count on it, bro," Nick stated.
"What do you plan to use, Sam?" Haruka wondered.
"This," Sam replied, pulling out the bottle of stun-tan lotion.
"Great thinking, Sam," Mat commended. "That was what I was beginning to think to use myself."
"So, do you wanna do the sensible thing and surrender?" Nozomi proclaimed. "OR is that just not happening?"
"Ah, another W.O.O.H.P. agent who thinks she's better than I am," Terrence laughed.
"Well, I'm not actually a W.O.O.H.P. agent... yet," Nozomi countered. "I just can't stand stuck-up jerks like you who think they're superior to everyone. And if you're going after Nick and his friends, then that's more than enough reason for me to bring the pain."
Not willing to listen to anymore of Terrence's rambling, Nozomi rushed in to strike, blindsiding Terrence with a flurry of attacks before split-kicking him Sam's way so she could fire the Stun-Tan Lotion and paralyze Terrence in his spot.
"Now you're gonna tell us what's going on at W.O.O.H.P.!" Clover shouted at Terrence.
"Or do we gotta put you in a coma or something...?" Alex quipped.
Sam was already checking in with Jerry on her X-Powder in case Terrence wouldn't say a thing.
However, when Sam connected to Jerry's office, she could see alarms blaring in the background.
"Jerry, come in!" Sam shouted. "What's going on over there?!"
"Sorry if this seems out of place, Sam, but we have a major emergency on our hands," Jerry proclaimed. "It seems that my evil twin has escaped containment..."
"We already figured that part out, since we just had a row with him," Clover quipped.
"The major bad news is that a massive horde of villains is swarming the headquarters!" Jerry exclaimed.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Alex shouted.
"That must have been his big plan all along!" Mat proclaimed. "Him wandering around was meant to distract us!"
"Well, then, that plan ends right..." Nick started, turning around to encase Terrence in a psychic bubble, only to find that he had broken out of his paralysis and taken his chance to escape. "Oh, that son of a..."
"We'll worry about him later," Sam responded. "I think we need to take care of the bigger problem right now."
"Yeah, let's head inside before things get worse!" Haruka shouted.
12:15 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters, Jerry's Office
"Jerry, we made it!" Sam exclaimed as the spies found their way into Jerry's office.
"Thank goodness you're all here," Jerry proclaimed. "We could definitely use your help."
That was when Jerry noticed Nozomi among the group. "Oh, it seems you've picked up a new friend," Jerry stated.
Nozomi bowed slightly to Jerry. "Hajime mashite, Jerry," Nozomi replied. "My name's Nozomi, and I'm an old friend of Nick's. But I don't really think now's the time for introductions. What exactly is going on here?"
"Apparently, Terrence must have ransacked the containment facility when he escaped, and that allowed all of the prisoners to escape," Jerry explained.
"Maybe when this is all over, Jerry, you should build a new containment facility somewhere, one that's harder to escape from," Clover stated matter-of-factly.
"Once this crisis has been averted, I will get right on that, spies," Jerry answered. "For now, you must put an end to this invasion."
"That was always the plan, Jerry," Nick stated, his aura flaring to life around him. "All right, everyone, let's head out and squash this rebellion!"
With that, the spies split into three teams (Sam and Mat on team one, Nick, Alex, and Nozomi on team two, and Clover and Haruka on team three) to corral the rampaging villains and stop the invasion before it was too late.
"Man, it's chaos in here," Alex quipped. "Though I honestly wonder why all the locked up baddies didn't try something like this before..."
"Villains' minds are pretty odd sometimes," Nozomi admitted.
"Tell me about it," Nick stated, keeping his senses open for any possible sneak attacks.
And sure enough, Nick's senses alerted him to multiple targets approaching them quickly.
"Steady, girls," Nick proclaimed. "We've got trouble incoming!"
"Oh, you have no idea how much trouble you're in."
"Oh, lordy, please don't tell me that's who I think it is," Alex groaned.
The owner of that voice stepped out of the shadows to reveal herself as Myrna Beesbottom, with Helga Von Guggen and Boogie Gus standing behind her.
"Wonderful, as if we didn't have enough of the LAMOS to deal with lately," Nick growled. "You might wanna step back before you get thumped."
"Oh, I think we'll be doing the thumping today, you dumb spies," Myrna laughed. "After all, you need to be taught proper respect."
"How about all of the nope?!" Alex shouted. "We already told you, we don't need a nanny at our age!"
"Wait, nanny?" Nozomi wondered.
"Trust me, that's a story in itself," Nick quipped.
"Let's just end this fracas, already," Helga proclaimed.
"Yeah, let's pound on 'em like it's the eighties!" Boogie Gus exclaimed.
Just as the three villains began to advance, though, something shot by them fast enough to be unseen, knocking Myrna straight to the ground, then came back to strike at Boogie Gus and Helga, causing them to join Myrna in the pile. Nick quickly raised his hand to encase the three villains in a psychic bubble.
The cause eventually skidded to a stop near the three spies, and it turned out to be Bridget, clad in her Sonic Mode outfit and striking a silly pose.
"Dramatic entrance!" Bridget proclaimed.
"Bridget, you're okay!" Nick shouted as he rushed over to hug Bridget.
"What'd I tell ya, Nick?" Bridget giggled. "A silly little knife isn't gonna be enough to terminate me."
"Did Jerry check everything out for you, Bridget?" Alex asked.
"Yup," Bridget answered. "Jerry double and triple checked me before we got word of the invasion, and I'm pretty much back to full strength!"
"That's definitely a good sign, because we're kind of in deep trouble here," Nozomi proclaimed. "Oh, name's Nozomi, by the way. I'll introduce myself properly when we're not drowning in bad guys."
"Do you sense any other baddies nearby, Nick?" Alex asked.
"About three clicks that-a-way," Nick replied, pointing towards the southwest hallway. "Let's get going!"
"I heard the 'nanny' tidbit myself," Bridget remarked. "That's terrible of Jerry to do that to people your age, Alex."
"Tell me about it," Alex chastised. "Teens DON'T NEED NANNIES!"
"Anyway, dirty laundry aside..." Nozomi quipped. "Any idea where to go?"
"I think I sensed something that way," Nick replied, pointing to the west of their position.
"I'll go scout," Bridget stated, dashing ahead and doing a couple back-and-forth runs to expose a villain to the group, who turned out to be Willard. "Well, well, my sorta nemesis, we meet again."
"What are you doing back here, you speed freak?!" Willard shouted.
"Simple," Bridget taunted. "I'm here to put you back in your cell."
"And what makes you think I'll actually go back?" Willard challenged, only to be encased in a psychic bubble courtesy of Nick.
"That's what," Nick proclaimed.
Meanwhile, Mat and Sam were looking around the W.O.O.H.P. Containment Facility at all the open cell doors.
"This is what I call 'getting old'," Mat remarked. "How in the heck can all these prisoners escape so easily?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine, honey," Sam answered.
"I think that 'honey' should be directed towards me," went another voice.
The two lovers saw that was Tim Scam who appeared out of one of the open cells.
"Ugh, you again?!" Sam chastised. "I'm NEVER coming to you ANY DAY!"
"Better rethink that..." another voice added in.
It turned out to be Natalie Valentine that was the said voice. "Teamwork is strictly forbidden as of now..."
"Too bad for you," Mat replied. "We don't plan to honor that crap!"
"Got that right," Sam added.
"Save your villainous crap for the next heroes who actually give a damn, too!" Mat exclaimed.
Needless to say, that ticked off Tim Scam and Natalie Valentine.
"Team up again?" Sam asked Mat.
"Team up," Mat repeated.
"Then follow my lead," Sam told her boyfriend.
They both got running starts and did a front flip. They switched to a kicking position on the two said enemies – Sam went after Tim Scam, while Mat went after Natalie Valentine. Both of them got direct hits on the two enemies.
"Shame you made it too easy for us," Mat taunted as he and Sam shared a high-five.
"Don't speak too soon, kid," Another voice sneered. That turned out to be Helga von Guggen's assistant, Troad, and he was holding a bazooka.
Thinking fast, Sam grabbed Mat and rolled out of the way as Troad fired a net to try to snatch the cute couple like fish in a net. She rolled into the nearby wall, which made Troad cackle.
"Right where I was hoping you'd go..." Troad sneered.
"Not so fast, buddy boy," Sam quipped.
She was quick to get her Laser Lipstick out and fired two shots for Troad's bazooka. The first shot hit the weapon and the second hit Troad's right hand. It was enough to make Troad drop his weapon. Sam was quick to get the Net Throwing Extendable Rod Mascara out and fire a shot at the three villains.
"CHECKMATE!" Sam exclaimed.
She was greeted with a quick hug and kiss from Mat.
"That's for your quick thinking to save my backside," Mat quipped.
Sam merely grinned at his generosity, then she got back to being serious.
"Come on, let's find the others and regroup!" Sam proclaimed.
"Hopefully Haruka and Clover are having better luck than us," Mat replied.
The two of them ran past the three trapped villains while Mat got on his DS to update Jerry.
"Mat, you'll get your rest time soon," Sam assured. "I can feel it."
In the meantime, Haruka and Clover were looking around in another section of W.O.O.H.P. in an effort to find out what Terrence actually did.
"Do you see anything, Haruka?" Clover asked as she looked around one of WOOHP's many hallways.
"I'm not getting a reading yet," Haruka answered, her nose still in her X-Powder.
Clover thought back to when Marco Lumiere had spy-napped Alex and had made she and Sam solve rhyming riddles, and Alex was tied up at the top of W.O.O.H.P., holding on to a rope by her teeth. That also meant Sam, Clover, and Jerry had to save Alex within seconds.
"Maybe where Alex was held captive before might be the place!" Clover exclaimed.
"You wanna fill me in?" Haruka asked.
"Gladly," Clover remarked.
"I wish we could find a sign or something of where Terrence is though," Haruka stated before Clover even started.
As Clover regaled the story of Marco Lumiere and the time he'd kidnapped Alex, Haruka kept her eyes open for any clues that could help them decipher what Terrence's endgame was.
"Hey, I think that's Terrence's cell," Haruka quipped. "Let's check inside and find some info."
Haruka glanced around inside the cell, only to find nothing of interest...
...until she caught sight of a diagram on the wall of the cell.
"Got something, Haruka?" Clover asked.
"Let's take a look," Haruka replied, studying the diagram. It appeared to be blueprints for a rather sleek giant robot.
"Of course it's a big robot," Clover groaned.
"Rule sixty-one," Haruka replied. "But what exactly is it meant to do? I think that's the major question here. I don't think Terrence, of all people, would build a giant robot just for the sake of having a giant robot to sic on us."
A loud explosion from nearby drew Clover and Haruka's attention.
"Well, looks like duty calls," Clover stated. Haruka folded up the diagram and placed it in her Jetpack Backpack before following Clover towards the source of the explosion.
Haruka was the first to shift into a fighting stance when she saw who had caused that explosion.
"Of course you'd be here," Haruka growled as she stared down Nebula Grey, the man who had killed her parents eight years ago.
"How fortuitous that fate has given me a second chance to get back at you," Nebula Grey laughed. "Now, prepare to meet your maker."
"Sorry, but I'm not dying anytime soon, buddy," Haruka shot back.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that," Nebula Grey responded, charging towards Haruka.
His attack, however, was quickly interrupted by something sideswiping him at blinding speeds. Bridget quickly skidded to a stop before resuming her attack, landing at least six lightning-fast strikes before kicking him towards Haruka, who grabbed him by the shoulders and smashed him into a nearby wall, instantly knocking him unconscious.
"You were saying, jerkwad?" Haruka quipped as Nebula Grey was encased in a psychic bubble courtesy of Nick. "Thanks for the assist, you guys. Really satisfying to just bean him into the wall like that."
"Hey, Nick, are you sure you can bubble so many villains like this?" Alex asked. "I'm not sure if it's a drain on your powers or not..."
"If it's just putting them in bubbles to keep them trapped, I could do this in my sleep," Nick responded. "How's everything coming along on your end?"
"Well, Clover and I searched Terrence's cell, but all we found was a blueprint of what might be his secret weapon," Haruka replied, showing Nick and Alex the blueprint in question.
"Why am I not surprised that it's a giant robot?" Nick quipped.
"Which means he probably nope-d off to his own secret lair after setting all of these villains loose so he could work on that," Nozomi responded. "Which also means we probably need to clean up this invasion real quick-like."
"Here's hoping," Sam stated as she and Mat joined the group from the eastern hallway. "Mat and I just ran into Tim Scam again, and oof, did he make me uncomfortable..."
"Sounds like we're getting close to wrapping this up," Mat proclaimed. "It seems like the chaos is starting to dwindle the more villains we apprehend."
"Then let's keep going and put an end to this!" Nick exclaimed.
Thankfully, it didn't take the spies much longer to round up the grand majority of the escaped villains and return them to their cells where they belonged.
"Whew, let's never do that again," Clover quipped. "That was exhausting."
"Tell me about it," Bridget responded as she returned to her normal outfit.
"Once again, spies, I congratulate you on a job well done," Jerry proclaimed. "It would appear that most of the escapees have been successfully detained once again, and we plan to move them to another containment facility while we work on a new and more secure facility."
"That's good to hear," Alex replied. "Wait, then who are we still missing?"
"I know Terrence is probably one of the stragglers, since he no doubt left the instant the invasion began so he could hightail it to his secret lair," Nick stated.
"From what we can tell, it appears that there are only two cells still unoccupied," Jerry responded as GLADIS cycled through the viewscreens of the containment facility. "One of them is Terrence, as you theorized. The other appears to be..."
Jerry never got the chance to answer that question, as the office's alarms began blaring once again.
"Oh, what is it now?!" Nozomi shouted.
The viewscreen changed to show a floating weapons platform just outside of W.O.O.H.P., which held the Eclipse Cannon and a very pleased-looking Macker the Safecracker.
"Oh, crapbaskets!" Sam shouted. "That's the loose end I've been wondering about! We never actually dismantled the Eclipse Cannon!"
"Well, then let's get out there and put this guy back in his place!" Nick exclaimed.
It didn't take long for the spies to reach the rooftop of W.O.O.H.P. and take aim towards the Eclipse Cannon.
"Wait, he still doesn't have a new robotic arm?" Clover quipped.
"It hasn't been that long since I cut it off," Nick responded.
"You might as well give it up, you wretches!" Macker bellowed. "My beautiful Eclipse Cannon is poised to destroy your precious headquarters, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it from happening!"
"He's nuts," Nozomi quipped.
"Is that a fact?" Nick taunted.
"Oh, boy, are you asking to be vaporized?" Macker cackled. "Because I can do it right now if you want."
Nick raised his right hand to charge up as Macker reached for the button on his remote control.
"Say goodbye to your hopes and dreams, you meddlers!" Macker proclaimed.
As soon as Macker pressed the button, Nick unleashed a super-charged Final Shine Attack towards the barrel of the Eclipse Cannon as it prepared to charge up. The neon-green blast pierced through the cannon barrel and caused an overload of energy that made the Eclipse Cannon self-destruct, taking the weapons platform with it.
The explosion itself sent Macker flying off of the destroyed platform and into freefall for a few seconds until he found himself encased in a psychic bubble.
"That's three times this week," Nick taunted, his other hand raised to collect the seven Psy-Stones in a small bubble. "I'd take a long break from this villain thing if I were you, because that's not really a good look."
Nick flicked his right hand downwards to send Macker on his way to the containment facility, before floating back up to the rooftop.
"He blabbed for too long," Haruka giggled. "Rules for villains, number forty-nine: don't monologue any longer than you have to, because it gives the good guys time to ruin your plans."
"That seems like one a lot of baddies could learn from," Sam laughed as she opened her X-Powder. "Jerry, Macker is in custody."
"I saw it from here," Jerry proclaimed. "Marvelous as always, spies."
"And all that remains is Terrence," Mat stated as a Skyskimmer was brought up through the helipad elevator. "You probably already know this, but we're gonna go after him now."
"I've narrowed down Terrence's coordinates to central Tokyo, Japan," Jerry explained. "Nice work getting a tracker on him, Haruka."
"I try," Haruka teased.
"I'm taking these babies with me," Nick proclaimed as he stuffed the Psy-Stones into his Jetpack Backpack. "Just got a feeling that I may need them in case things get too chaotic out there."
"All right, everyone, let's move out!" Sam exclaimed.
"I think we're really racking up the frequent flyer miles without using a regular airline," Clover stated.
"That's putting it mildly," Mat replied. "I think I'm losing a bit of my strength a bit from this mission."
"Are you able to hang on a little longer, Mat?" Bridget wondered.
"I think so," Mat replied. "But if I can't go on any longer, I'll say something."
"Sounds legit," Nick replied. "I can't say I'd be any different if I were doing something similar to what Mat does as a hobby."
"True," Alex replied. "Track can wear ya out – same goes for soccer or any other sports, for that matter."
"Tell me about it," Bridget quipped. "There was this one time I sprained my ankle and couldn't go to the track meet, and my team was freaking out about it, since they consider me their secret weapon."
"But in the end, they still won, right?" Nick responded.
"I told Zoey that time and time again," Bridget proclaimed. "You don't always need to rely on me."
"Nick, how do you know when you'll need to use the Psy-Stones?" Sam asked.
"I just have a feeling I'll need them when we fight Terrence," Nick responded. "It's most likely gonna be if he tries to sic his giant robot thing on us."
"Then again, if Nick's powers were enough to stop the Eclipse Cannon, we're gonna need those to stop Macker if he's planning to annihilate Tokyo," Haruka emphasized.
Mat was still feeling a little exhausted from riding and the unexpected mission. That's when something came over Nick.
"Oh, yeah..." Nick spoke. "Who was that guy who stopped you on the track earlier, dude?"
Mat looked a little confused until he remembered back to riding, and a light bulb went on in his head. Everyone else looked at Mat as he gave his answer.
"That was a former pro rider I recognized from years of watching races on ESPN2," Mat answered. "To be specific, that was Ryan Hughes who stopped me on the track – former rider for Team Kawasaki, Team Honda, and Red Bull KTM."
"What was he saying?" Clover asked.
"Nothing very inflammatory if that's what you're getting at," Mat answered. "He was just giving me a few pointers for the next time I ride."
"Well, that's nice to hear," Sam replied.
"I have to admit that a few things he said made me chuckle a bit," Mat told them. "But he told me he likes a few things I do on a bike."
"Sounds like a nice guy," Alex quipped.
"You don't doubt a pro," Mat told the others.
"I hear ya," Nick replied.
Nozomi nodded in agreement. "You sure know a lot of riders, Mat. Wish I could've seen you ride myself."
"That's what years of watching races does to you," Mat laughed. "And believe me, Nozomi, I'll go ride again soon."
"Nonetheless, we were all impressed ourselves," Haruka chimed in.
Sam immediately hugged Mat.
"And we'll see to it that we get the rest time needed – especially you," Alex emphasized.
Before long, the spies landed in Tokyo.
5:00 P.M. – Tokyo, Japan (Tachikawa District)
"Aah, Tokyo," Clover remarked. "The home of sushi, low crime rate, and a former W.O.O.H.P. agent."
"Right!" Sam exclaimed, remembering that particular mission.
"And our old home, too," Nick stated.
Haruka and Nozomi were no different.
"Not here for pleasure though," Haruka slightly groaned.
"Well, step one is arrive here," Mat quipped. "Where do we go now?" he asked.
"I'll take the reins since we know Japan like the back of our hands," Nick answered, then looking at Haruka and Nozomi.
Nick extended his senses to search for any signs of Terrence or his possible evil lair while the spies all took in the sights of Japan.
"So, you three used to live here?" Clover asked.
"Yup," Nick answered. "In this particular city, to be honest."
"It's a pretty cool place, to be honest," Haruka quipped. "Sadly, we're not here for sightseeing, or we'd take you places."
"Do you sense anything, Nick?" Alex asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary around here," Nick answered. "But I'm pretty sure Terrence isn't here in the city."
"Yeah, that'd probably be too obvious," Nozomi replied. "Does your tracker say anything, Haruka?"
Haruka flipped her X-Powder open to check. "Hmmm... it seems like his signal stopped somewhere in a stadium," Haruka proclaimed.
"Ooh, that can only be one place, then," Nick replied. "The Tachikawa Velodrome."
"Well, you know this place better than any of us, so lead the way, Nick," Sam stated.
As the group followed Nick and Haruka towards the Tachikawa Velodrome, they just missed a girl about their age staring towards the group, having thought she'd seen someone she knew.
Maybe it was just my imagination, the girl thought as she adjusted her orange pirate hat before dashing back in the direction she'd been heading.
5:23 P.M. – Tachikawa Velodrome
"Well, this is the place," Haruka proclaimed. "Terrence's signal stops here, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of him out here."
"Then that once again means he's most likely underground," Alex replied. "Seriously, underground lairs are quite the cliché."
"Let's split up and try to find a way in," Nozomi stated.
"Hey, I think I found something," Mat quipped as he moved a cycle rack away from a rather suspicious-looking indention in the ground. Nick raised his hand to envelop that part of the ground in his psychic hold, allowing him to lift it up and reveal a tunnel that led downward.
"And we have officially hit paydirt," Nick proclaimed. "Because that definitely doesn't look like it belongs here."
"Well, then let's go check it out," Sam stated as the spies all started climbing down the ladder.
When the entire group reached safe ground, everything appeared to be shrouded in darkness until the lights all came on at once to reveal a very high-tech, sci-fi-inspired base.
"Wow, it's really futuristic," Clover quipped. "I definitely wasn't expecting that from Terrence.
"Rules for villains, number twenty-seven," Haruka replied. "Always make sure your secret base is themed around your current plans."
Just then, the nearby doorway slid open slowly and dramatically, enough to put the spies on edge.
"Methinks he knows we're here," Bridget quipped.
"Good," Nick responded, his right hand glowing. "I want him to know that we're here to shut down whatever his crazy plan is."
"How about we not waste any more time and head on inside so we can do that?" Haruka stated.
"Good point, Haruka," Nick laughed.
"Welcome, you meddlesome spies," the voice of Terrence resounded from nearby loudspeakers. "Welcome... TO MY LAIR!"
"Better introduction lines, Terry," Nick taunted.
"Ooh, you want to come up here and say that to my FACE?!" Terrence growled. "In fact, I'm perfectly expecting you all to come to the main control room so you can witness the instrument of your demise!"
"That's what we're planning," Bridget taunted. "So don't go crying to the authorities when we scuttle your plans, 'cause they're not gonna listen to your whining!"
"All right, everyone, let's head inside and end this!" Sam exclaimed.
Nothing more needed to be said as the spies entered Terrence's lair through the doorway that quickly slammed shut behind them, ready to stop Terrence and whatever he planned to do.
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: Yeah, despite all of the sci-fi this place has, it's still very creepy.
Haruka: Not to mention all the traps that I'm sure are waiting for us.
Nozomi: I assume they're typical in every villain's secret lair.
Sam: Oh, you don't know the half of it, Nozomi.
Nick: I think we need to stick together, everyone, since it looks like he's trying to split us up.
Haruka: Rules for villains, number fifty-five: if the good guys have a group, always attempt to split them up and pick them off one by one.
Bridget: Well, we're not gonna let that stop us!
Nick: So, readers, it looks like this is the end of the road! Can we stop Terrence and whatever trump card he has up his sleeve? You'll all find out next time on the final act of Totally Spies! the Movie: Beyond the Looking Glass HD Remix, "Fantastic Finale"!
Clover: ...I'm surprised there's no dumb pun this time.
Haruka: Yeah, don't the scriptwriters always save the dumbest puns for the finale?