"Target acquired, guys!"
Thirteen-year-old May couldn't stop the scowl from forming when she saw what was happening on the baseball field where they thought no one could see them.
A rather burly (for his age) boy was bearing down on a girl about May's age, the bully's intent obvious. The mere sight of it made May's blood boil, especially considering their reputation.
"He must be new here, then," April sighed as she took stock of what exactly was happening. "Because he clearly doesn't seem to know that you'd come for his face, May."
"Akira, do you have any info about him?" May asked to her 'lookout'.
"From what I've been able to gather, the bully's definitely a new kid," Akira answered as he gauged the situation. "A lot of bullies around here know our reputation, so they usually only bully at their own peril or... wait, what?"
May looked back towards the unfolding scene out there, only to see something that baffled her.
A girl about May's age with short, dark-red hair and blue eyes was marching towards the bully, an incensed expression highlighting her face.
"W-wait, what the heck is Ami doing?!" May gasped.
"Please don't tell me she's going to confront that bully all on her own?" Mira asked.
"She's going to confront that bully all on her own," Souji replied.
"Dang it, Souji, I said don't tell me that!" Mira shouted.
The bully continued to advance on his target, a thirteen-year-old girl with pink eyes and raspberry pink hair tied up in two high pigtails, as she shuddered under the shadow of the much larger boy.
"Yeah, you should be scared, shortstack," the bully proclaimed, holding something in his hand that the girl was trying desperately to retrieve. "And stop fretting over this stupid love letter. You really think anyone will love you?"
"Hey, jerk-o!" Ami shouted, catching the bully's attention just long enough for her to grab him by the shoulders and spin him around, making the bully dizzy long enough for her to take back the object in his hand, which turned out to be a letter.
"All right, girl, what's your damage?" the bully growled.
"My damage is you," Ami shot back. "You really think you have the right to insult and mock her just because she's a little shorter than most of us?! What part of your brain malfunctioned to make you think that?!"
"Oh, don't think you're gonna stop me, you little scrawny thing," the bully laughed.
After a second of cringe, May braced herself for Ami's response, as she hated being called scrawny.
"I'm not scrawny, you jerk, I'm svelte," Ami proclaimed. "There's a difference!"
The bully took advantage of this moment to lunge at Ami, but she responded by extending her leg so that the bully tripped over her and fell flat on his face.
"Ooh, that's it, girly girl, you're dead meat!" the bully snarled once he'd picked himself up. "Prepare for pain!"
"I don't think so, buddy!"
The bully looked to his left just in time for the remaining six members of the Jellyfish Pirates to come charging in to support Ami.
"And who are all of you?" the bully asked.
"Oh, I'm very glad you asked," Ami cackled as she joined her friends.
"We are the guardians of this school!" May proclaimed.
"The worst nightmare of bullies everywhere," Mira proclaimed.
"Determined to protect the innocent!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Defending the dreams of the students!" April exclaimed.
"Putting troublemakers in their place," Souji continued.
"Making school life a fun place to be," Akira stated.
"And sticking it to anyone who would try to knock us down," Ami finished.
"We are the Jellyfish Pirates!" all seven members exclaimed.
"And you wouldn't really do well going against all seven of us," Ami stated. "That wouldn't end well for you."
"Everyone in this school knows of our stance on bullies," Souji proclaimed.
"And you'd do well to do the same," May stated rather matter-of-factly.
Despite weighing his options, the bully quickly realized that he was outnumbered, and decided to cut his losses and retreat, shouting that this wouldn't be the last they saw of him.
"Does he really have to use such a cliché line?" Akira asked.
"Just ignore him," May sighed as she glanced at the girl that the bully had been harassing. "Are you doing okay, Manami?"
"Thank you for getting him to go away," Manami responded as Yuki helped her to her feet. "I don't know why boys like him feel like they have to mock me just because I'm shorter than most people here..."
"He's new here," Mira replied. "So he had no idea that bullies around here only bully at their own peril, unless they want to face the wrath of the Jellyfish Pirates."
Ami walked up and handed Manami back the love letter that the bully had taken from her. "If that bully knows any better, then he won't bother you again," Ami stated. "Now... go get 'em, girl."
Manami smiled at Ami before rushing back into the school to find the boy she was planning to give her letter to.
"Well, that was... a thing," Yuki giggled.
"Honestly, it's fun to make new bullies cower in fear at the awesomeness of the Jellyfish Pirates!" May proclaimed. "That shows that we're not messing around when it comes to protecting this school."
"No kidding," Ami replied, hoping that no one saw her expression change. Ever perceptive, though, May quickly picked up on it.
"Hey, Ami, you just did the scowly thing again," May stated. "Is everything okay?"
"I guess nothing gets past you, does it?" Ami sighed. "I have to go visit my dad this weekend."
That was enough to silence the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates, as they knew that Ami didn't have the best relationship with her father. Her parents had split up a few years ago, and it had been pretty messy. Currently, Ami was living with her mother and occasionally (about every two or so weeks) went to visit her father for a weekend. Her father wasn't actually abusive or anything like that, but the divorce had clearly taken its toll on him, and he tended to just let Ami do her own thing and not really acknowledge her.
"Oof, after that call you heard last week, he's probably not in a good mood right now," Mira answered.
"Yeah, and I'm probably gonna need extra bravery and hope dad doesn't get super-angry about it again," Ami sighed. "Well, guess this is our stop, you guys. I'll see you all after school."
As Ami turned to walk down the opposite hallway towards her next class, May immediately turned back to the rest of her friends.
"You guys, we have to do something for her before she goes by her dad," May proclaimed.
"But what exactly can we do?" Yuki asked. "I don't want to do anything that might..."
"Not like that, Yuki!" May shot back. "We just gotta get her to cheer up so she won't go over by her father all sulky and downtrodden! We wouldn't be doing our jobs as the Jellyfish Pirates if we didn't help our own when they're down in the dumps!"
"Spoken like a true first mate, May," Mira giggled. "What did you have in mind?"
"Okay, here's my idea," May quipped as the others closed in.
Two days later...
"Oh, hey, Manami!" May exclaimed as Manami walked by. "How did things go with that boy?"
Manami didn't immediately answer, but the blush on her face told May everything she needed to know.
"See, I told you it'd work out," May giggled. "Don't let bullies or other jerks stop you from doing what your heart tells you."
"You've been reading those silly romance novels that Johnny recommended, weren't you?" Manami laughed.
"H-Hey, they're fun and interesting!" May sputtered before re-composing herself when she saw Ami walking towards the school's main lobby. "Oop, I gotta jet, Manami, our big surprise for Ami is calling!"
Manami nodded and walked down the opposite hallway as May moved to intercept Ami before she could leave.
"Hey, hey, where are you off to in such a hurry?" May quipped.
"The obvious answer: I'm heading home," Ami responded.
May grinned widely, confusing Ami. "Not without us, you're not!"
Naturally, Ami was stumped at what May was trying to say. "I-I'm sorry, what's the context that I'm missing here?" Ami wondered.
"All right, you guys!" May called, to which the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates emerged from behind the nearby pillars. "Simple answer, Ami: we're all gonna have a sleepover with you tonight!"
"W-wait, what?" Ami gasped.
"May couldn't help herself," Akira laughed. "She saw you get upset over going by your dad, so she wanted to do something to cheer you up."
"We talked about it over the past couple days, and after we got our parents to agree with it, we all decided that we're gonna have a good old-fashioned Jellyfish Pirates sleepover at May's house," Mira stated.
"You guys..." Ami stuttered, her frown slowly being replace with a wide smile. "You're really doing all this for me just so I won't be upset when I go to see my dad?"
"It's the duty of the first mate to take care of their fellow crew when the captain's not around," May responded. "And besides, you're our friend, Ami! Why wouldn't we want you to be happy?"
That was all the convincing Ami needed to call her parents and ask for permission to attend the sleepover, which was given swiftly.
Naturally, chaos quickly erupted when Souji claimed to be the best Super Smash Bros. Melee player of the group, to which May immediately countered with the fact that she'd actually been to a tournament at her school.
Within minutes, the Jellyfish Pirates were engaged in a rather raucous Smash Bros. battle, and as Ami sat back and watched the madness unfold (she wasn't really into video games like everyone else here), she couldn't help but feel happy that she had so many wonderful friends who were willing to pick her up whenever she felt even the slightest bit down.
The video game showdown continued until well past midnight, which finally ended with May claiming victory over Souji. Ami knew that May was going to have a heck of a time lording this victory over Souji, what with Souji being a bit of a sore loser when it came to Smash.
Once everyone had headed off to sleep, it was just her and May still awake, so she decided to say her piece while she was still here.
"Hey, May?" Ami asked. "You... you still awake?"
"After that intense match, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight," May admitted. "Still got the adrenaline pumpin', after all. What's up, Ami?"
"I... I just wanted to thank you for going so far out of your way just to cheer me up," Ami replied. "You didn't have to do that, you know..."
"But I wanted to," May responded. "No friend of mine is going to be down in the dumps as long as I have something to say about it."
"And, that's another thing," Ami continued, blushing slightly. "I'm just happy that I got to be part of your circle of friends. I didn't really have many friends when I started middle school, so..."
"Well, that's what friends do, right?" May giggled, leaning over to hug Ami. "You're not gonna go through middle school as a loner. I can guarantee that right here."
"Thanks, May," Ami replied. "Well, I guess we should probably get to sleep."
"Yeah, my hair's gonna look like a madhouse in the morning, I can guarantee you that," May laughed.
With that, May and Ami set up their sleeping bags in the living room (since Mira, April and Yuki had claimed the guest room, and Akira and Souji had taken May's room as revenge for losing the Smash Bros. battle) and prepared to set off for dream land.
Before sleep claimed them both, however, Ami reached out to hold May's hand, grateful to have such an amazing friend.
2:18 P.M. – Malibu University, The Spies' Penthouse (present day)
"And... that was the last time you saw her?" Alex asked carefully, knowing that it was still a hard topic for May to talk about.
"Yeah," May replied as she finished her tale. "It wasn't until that following Monday that... I learned that Ami had been murdered..."
"That's gotta be one of the worst feelings, not knowing someone you love is gone until it's too late," Britney admitted.
"That's pretty much what happened with my grandma," Nick answered, leaning over to hug May.
May looked out towards the sunny sky as she came to a decision. "When Spring Break gets here, I wanna go back to Tachikawa for a bit," May stated. "I miss the rest of the crew, after all."
"That sounds like a plan, honestly," Sam stated.
As May continued to regale her friends with tales of the Jellyfish Pirates' exploits, she couldn't help but think about how much Ami had opened up since she'd first met her, going from a lonely girl in an unfamiliar town to a passionate young woman with a grudge against bullies.
And May knew for sure that if Ami could see her now, she would be so proud of how far she'd come.
Totally Spies: Fantastic Flashbacks
~The End~
And that's MY first oneshot in the books!
I honestly debated what to do for my first oneshot story, whether it be a birthday oneshot for one of my OCs (May definitely deserves one, because when she got to celebrate her sweet sixteen, the events of Shattered Memories happened and... yeah) or something else, but I eventually settled on this one, a little flashback to May's time in the Jellyfish Pirates.
This... may also be setting up a future episode of The New Adventures, since I want to flesh out the Jellyfish Pirates a little more than I did in Shattered Memories, but we'll get to that one when we get there.
As for oneshots, my next one is going to be May's Marvelous Birthday, for the reasons stated above, and Mat will be helping me with that one. Beyond that... I'll just see what inspiration smacks me in the face with all the force of May's anchor, hehehe.
Well, until next time, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, and I'll see you next mission!
Stay gold,
The Blue Time Ranger