7:21 P.M. - Kedaro Station, Cordelion
Rubicon Forge
"How's it looking, Glitch?" Ashley asked as she walked through the dilapidated hallways, her Shock Ravager clutched tightly in her hands.
"Still no sign of that thing we ran into on the way down," Glitch answered.
"That's a good sign, at least," Ashley admitted. "I do not want to face that thing at all right now, especially since we're so freakin' close to our goal..."
In retrospect, Ashley really should have learned advice for heroes number two.
As Ashley fired her Mass Inverter to float away a bunch of broken water pipes that were blocking a doorway, she followed it for a few steps until she heard a low growling noise.
And it sounded like it was getting closer with each passing second.
"...did I jinx something?" Ashley moaned.
Her answer was given when the same monster she'd seen earlier smashed its way through a busted gateway, its burning gaze set on her and its spines flaring upwards while glowing a sinister yellow.
"I think it's mad," Glitch stated.
"Oh, you think?!" Ashley shot back, switching to the Negotiator and firing a rocket from it in hopes of at least repelling the creature.
Instead, much to Ashley's horror, the rocket simply bounced off of the creature's tough outer shell.
"That... wasn't supposed to happen," Ashley quipped.
"It appears that its outer shell is tough due to living at these pressures for so long," Glitch answered. "I doubt your weapons will do much, if anything, to it."
"Oh, now you tell me," Ashley groaned as the creature advanced on them.
(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 86: Button Mashers
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: July 24th, 2023
Story Summary: The one-hundred and eighteenth co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode eighty-six of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. In the midst of their next Idol Travels World Tour, the members of Idol Opportunity seem to be disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Naturally, the spies are on the case, but when Kanami is next to be kidnapped, they discover the culprit is Skip Joystick, a rejected video game designer who's (of course) out for revenge. To that end, he's created a video game based on the adventures of Idol Opportunity and trapped them in there, only in this game, the danger is very real. The spies will have to jump into the game to save the members of Idol Opportunity and hopefully defeat Skip Joystick before they all run out of extra lives...
Author's Notes from Mat49324: It's time for #86 as we get closer to ending season seven of Totally Spies: The New Adventures. We hope you enjoyed our last project, Melee on Vacay, and that you'll enjoy this one, too. Not only are we going to be featuring a group not seen since S4, but we have an S6 villain we've yet to use in Skip Joystick (doesn't that sound a little fruity to you?) this time. Anyway, as a little prelude to our next project, let's just say that is going to involve quite a bit of water since it's still summertime here. Anyway, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: Three to go in season seven and we're bringing back the idols for the first time since season four, and also, we have an OG season six baddie! For those not in the know, Totally Spies: The New Adventures branches off after the events of "Like, So Totally Not Spies", so we haven't featured any villains from season six until now. So this will technically be the spies' first time facing off with him. It's gonna be a big show, so let's jump on the karaoke machines and 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 or locations created by us truly for the story. 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?
Act 1: Shiny Smily Story
9:34 A.M. – The Spies' Beach House
("Shiny Smily Story" by hololive IDOL PROJECT plays)
"I can probably guess what you're listening to," Nick stated as he walked into the kitchen and saw May sitting there in one of the chairs, slowly bopping back and forth to whatever she was listening to on her headphones.
"Oh, you know me so well," May chuckled as Nick sat down next to her. "Idol Opportunity's in the midst of their next world tour."
"I'm surprised they haven't changed the tour's name," Nick quipped. "Isn't this their third one in just as many years?"
"I guess the name just kinda stuck with them," May replied. "And to be fair, apparently Piers has never been good with fun names. The 'Idol Travels' thing was Marnie's idea."
"Good point," Nick noted. "Is the tour making a stop in Beverly Hills?"
"Yeah, but not 'til October," May answered.
And of course, Nick was already on his phone to place the order. Nick and May had learned from the horror stories of the first Penny Arcade Expo (nowadays it was just called PAX) that when it came to big anticipated events like this, if you wanted tickets to it, you had to buy them as soon as possible. Most of the tickets to the first PAX had sold out within literal minutes, after all.
"Aaaaaaaaand done," Nick quipped. "We're officially headed to the show."
"Have I ever told you how much you rock, Nick?" May giggled as she leaned over to kiss Nick on the cheek.
"A few times, I suspect," Nick replied.
"Look at you two, huh?" Melissa giggled as she and Mat walked into the kitchen. "Not wasting a second."
"Opportunity knocked and we had to take it," May quipped.
"So, sis, how's your arm doing?" Nick wondered. Both Mat and Melissa had been injured during the spies' last caper about a week ago.
Melissa smiled as she moved her left arm to put Nick's mind at ease. "It feels like I'm back to full, but I'll try to take it easy if we get a caper soon, just in case," Melissa explained.
"Pretty much the same here," Mat responded. "I keep forgetting just how amazing W.O.O.H.P.'s medical technology is that they can heal injuries in so much less time than it would usually take."
Suddenly, a chorus of surprised gasps came from the other room.
"...I think I know what that was," May quipped just as another large metal tube sprouted from the ceiling and aimed for them. Nick raised his hand to project a psychic barrier to defend against the suction until it stopped.
"Well, then, let's go and see what ne'er-do-well is on the loose today," Nick responded as the four of them jumped into the tube.
Once all thirteen spies were gathered in Jerry's office, they all noticed something odd.
Namely, they didn't recognize the bad guy that was currently being displayed on the office viewscreen.
"Huh, I wonder who that is," Clover quipped.
"Apparently, he goes by the alias Skip Joystick," Jerry explained. "He's not in our database, so that can only mean he has turned to villainy fairly recently."
"From what we've been able to gather about his schemes, he appears to have once been a video game designer who was rejected by developers for his more... 'outlandish' game ideas," RiCO stated as she materialized in the office.
"Kinda sounds like what Lady Dragon used to be until she decided to focus all of her effort on taking over the Datascape," Melissa noted as the spies moved to gather their gadgets for the mission.
"How did you find out about this guy?" May wondered.
"It would appear that your friends from Idol Opportunity were the ones who brought Skip to our attention," Jerry stated. "They were practicing for the next leg of their tour until a couple members suddenly vanished under mysterious circumstances."
"So, we're gonna have you all fly to Akihabara and meet up with the remaining members so you can get to the bottom of this," RiCO proclaimed. "The Skyskimmer's already charged up for all of you."
"Well, looks like you get to see them before the concert again, huh?" Nick quipped.
"And if this joystick guy hurts even one hair on their heads, I'm gonna snap something," May responded as the spies all headed off to the Skyskimmer.
"That'll be two of us," Nick told May.
"But I also know what Mat means now that this is becoming a habit when it comes to the Jellyfish Pirates," May added.
"No doubt," Melissa commented.
"Don't forget how many times we ran into multiple versions of Ami," Mat added.
"Yes, that's what I was also getting at," May quipped.
"Have you heard anything from them lately, May?" Nozomi wondered.
"Last I checked, they're doing all right," May answered. "They're just doing the typical summer thing and enjoying what time they've got before school inevitably calls them back. Ooh, when this mission is over, I've gotta tell you about what Souji did at the park..."
"Anyway, hopefully Idol Opportunity is still able to fill in some more blanks," Sam quipped.
"You talk about pathetic villains... sounds like this guy ranks up there," Mat commented.
"No doubt," Alex replied. "Giving gamers a bad name for sure."
"Absolutely," Nick added.
He then gave a gentle elbow to Melissa, quietly asking her about her moment with Mat.
"We were just cuddling on the couch," Melissa giggled. "It was just nice to get some time with him, especially after what happened on our last mission."
"Get in every moment you can," Nick responded.
The Skyskimmer went through the skies to Akihabara. Sam and Mat even had a few moments together, too, as did Nick and Alex.
2:00 P.M. – Akihabara, Japan
Idol Opportunity's Studio
"Fast flights... nothing like 'em," Clover stated, stretching.
"You got that right," Bridget replied as they got out.
Fortunately, they all saw Marnie and the rest of Idol Opportunity nearby waving them over.
"We're glad you showed up," Marnie stated, feeling relieved.
"Yes, we're here, Marnie," Sam quipped.
"By the way, May told us about your engagements," Marnie stated right away to Sam and Alex. "Congratulations."
Sam and Alex were surprised to hear this, but they did respond with a couple of thank you's.
"I suppose you'll want us to fill you in, eh?" Marnie wondered.
"That'd be great," Blaine stated. "Sounds like the Skip Joystick fellow is really looney!"
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Marnie stated. "But anyway, Seven was the first of us who was nearly captured."
"He went after Seven first?!" May chastised.
"Yes, but Seven swiftly got away," Marnie told the spies as she led them to their studio.
"Good thing, too," May replied.
"Unfortunately, Ruri wasn't as fortunate," Marnie replied. "And neither was Piers."
"How'd that happen?" Alex wondered.
"This weird guy came up to them on one of our trips through the shopping district," Sonia answered. "He seemed harmless enough, even asking for an autograph, but once Ruri gave him one, he used this strange device that... oh, it was weird. It's like he turned them into video game sprites or something and made them disappear..."
"Anyway, where did you see any activity?" Haruka asked.
"Well, unfortunately, it happened just after we got food from a Yakiniku restaurant," Marnie answered. "But at the time, I didn't think anything of it until Piers wasn't with us anymore; we went to the cops, but they said they couldn't do much."
"Lucky thing we can do more," Britney commented.
"So, where do we start?" Dawn wondered.
Before anyone could discuss that, Nick tensed up slightly and turned towards the exit to the studio.
"I think I know that look well enough by now," Kanami noted. "There's trouble nearby, isn't there?"
"That seems to be the thing," Nick quipped. "Let's get moving, everybody."
With that, everyone exited the studio and followed Nick towards the source of the trouble, which led them back into the shopping district of Akihabara where Ruri and Piers had been kidnapped.
And sure enough, there was someone in the crowd holding what appeared to be a small game console that emitted a bright blue beam of light, turning anyone it touched into pixels that were absorbed into the console's transmitter.
"That must be the guy," Marnie quipped.
"Yeesh, he even looks like your stereotypical nerdy guy," Clover noted.
"Let's pontificate on that later," May responded.
As the spies all stepped up to confront the man who could only be Skip Joystick, he looked in confusion at them, clearly having not met them before.
"And who are all of you supposed to be?" Skip wondered. "Are you here to try and stop me?"
"Take a wild guess, sleazeball," Melissa taunted, shifting into a fighting stance.
It was only then that Skip noticed the rest of Idol Opportunity behind the spies.
"Ah, so you're all back to surrender, I take it?" Skip laughed.
"More like we're here to kick your freckled face up and down Akihabara for kidnapping the members of my favorite band!" May retorted, using her Emergency Gadget Transporter to summon her trusty anchor. "Now let Ruri and Piers go before we smash that knockoff Super Nintendo of yours!"
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Skip taunted. "That's where I'm holding them, inside my game. Break that, and you're never getting them out."
"Oh, now he's asking for it," Nozomi proclaimed. "Everyone, let's get nuts on this doofus."
Marnie jumped over May so she could draw first blood herself, landing in front of Skip and leg sweeping him off of his feet, Nick flying into the air to catch the Swirl Console before it could hit the ground.
"Nice one, Marnie!" Mat exclaimed.
Nick gently set the Swirl Console aside before letting his psychic aura explode to life around him. "All right, then, so we're doing this the hard way," Nick proclaimed.
Suddenly, however, the Swirl Console began to shake ominously before projecting a blast of blue light that caught Nick, Alex, May, Nozomi and Kanami, turning them into pixels that were absorbed into the Swirl Console.
"Oh, you did not just do what I think you did," Melissa growled.
"So what if I did?" Skip laughed as he took advantage of the spies' shock to retrieve the Swirl Console. "And here's a tip for you, sweetums: the only way they're getting out is if they can clear the game I'm developing for that console. And the odds definitely aren't in their favor."
Melissa gasped at Skip, clearly offended that he'd just called her "sweetums", but her response was taken by Mat, who took a few steps forward and lashed out with a wicked right hook that struck Skip in the face and sent him reeling backwards.
"Hey, I'm the only one allowed to call her 'sweetums' or any variation thereof," Mat proclaimed.
Instead of continuing to fight, knowing that he didn't really have any combat abilities out here, Skip wisely decided to make a strategic retreat.
"Okay, this just turned into a real problem," Bridget stated. "We'd better follow him, and fast."
"Let me just make a call to Seven and Rain so they can keep an eye out for this punk," Marnie quipped, bringing out her cell phone to call her fellow idols while they followed the spies deeper into Akihabara, hoping to find their captured friends before it was too late.
2:36 P.M. – Skip Joystick's Game
The World Map
Nick slowly opened his eyes, only to find an incredibly strange sight when he did so.
Alex, May and Nozomi were currently beside him, and they all appeared to be standing on what seemed like a map of the continent of Japan, with glowing blue pathways connecting large circles across the map, only one of which was glowing a bright yellow, with the others blank.
"I have several questions," Alex quipped.
"It looks like we're on some kind of world map," May answered. "I have a feeling that we got sucked into whatever wacky game that Skip was developing on that console."
"I don't see Kanami anywhere," Nozomi noted. "You think she got trapped in here like Ruri and Piers?"
"And I'm willing to bet that the only way we're gonna get them out is if we beat this game," Nick stated.
"Not gonna lie, I kinda like this world map music," Alex giggled. "Nice and soothing."
"You're the most 'gamer' out of all of us, May, so how do we proceed?" Nick asked.
"It looks like there's only one level open right now," May quipped. "I'm sure the other levels will open us as we keep moving."
"Well, then, let's hop on into level one and get this show on the road, shall we?" Nozomi stated.
May walked forward and pressed her foot down on the portal to the first level, and the area distorted around them until resettling into a place that looked like Japan.
"...wait a minute, I know this place," May gasped when she recognized the location they'd been sent to. "If my eyes aren't deceiving me, this is the stadium where Idol Opportunity had their very first concert together!"
"Wait, wait, so did Skip make his game about Idol Opportunity or something?" Alex wondered. "Because that's incredibly creepy if that's why he's going after them."
As the four spies crossed the runway into the stadium (which was oddly empty despite the sounds of cheering crowds; Nick simply chalked it up to video game logic), they didn't get far onstage before being suddenly surrounded by people.
"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" Nozomi gasped.
"They look like crazy idol fans," Alex noted.
"That's probably because this is an enemy rush," May responded, glad to know she could still use her anchor in here. "These 'fans' are probably just common game enemies designed to look like crazy Idol Opportunity fans."
"And the only way we're getting to the level boss is if we stomp them first, right?" Nick quipped as he prepared for a battle.
"Looks that way," May answered as she hefted her anchor to prepare for the 'fans' rushing them.
"So, where exactly was this stadium at?" Alex asked May.
"From what I remember, I think it was the Tokyo Dome in Akihabara," May answered as she kicked a 'fan' away from her. "I think it opened in 1988 and it was Japan's first all-weather multi-purpose stadium."
"I think I remember seeing that on TV, honestly," Nick remarked.
"This is all new to me," Nozomi commented.
"So... what're we supposed to do?" Alex wondered. "I may be the gamer, but I don't know where to go here since I'm into the action-y kind of stuff."
"I'm pretty sure we've gotta get through this crowd of enemies first," May answered as she swung her anchor to send a 'fan' flying, its body dispersing into pixels as it flew away. "Usually, in action games like this, a horde of enemies is typically guarding something important, either a treasure or the boss itself."
"Then let's get to the stomping, shall we?" Nick quipped, firing a Final Shine Attack from his right hand and sweeping it across the 'fans', defeating the enemies rather handily.
2:59 P.M. – Akihabara, Tokyo
In his lair, Skip Joystick looked on evilly at the four spies in his game.
In the meantime, the remaining spies were following Marnie to find the rest of Idol Opportunity, hopefully unharmed, too.
"It'd help if we knew where to look," Mat told the others.
"Maybe Jerry and RiCO could fill in the blanks there," Sam quipped in her leader tone.
She then got out her X-Powder to call them.
"Maybe if we find Skip Joystick, we can pry it out of him," Haruka told the others.
"Indeed you could," Jerry replied as his visage appeared on Sam's X-Powder.
"We're working on pinpointing the rest of Idol Opportunity," RiCO told them.
"Any idea where they went?" Clover wondered.
"I can't get an answer from Piers or Ruri!" Marnie added.
"We've locked on to them," RiCO replied shortly after. "But you won't believe where they're at..."
"Where?!" Bridget chastised.
"The top of Mount Fuji," RiCO answered, as if she were shocked herself.
"That's even farther than you think," Marnie replied, rather concerned.
"Sorry, people, but that's where I'm picking up their thoughts," RiCO stated.
"We may only have a small amount of time to get there," Britney told the others, alarmed.
"No worries, guys," Bridget quipped. "I can get us there in no time!"
"Right, her Sonic Mode!" Melissa exclaimed.
"No doubt," Blaine added.
"Hold on tight, everyone! Sonic Mode, online!" Bridget shouted as they made a break for Mt. Fuji.
3:13 P.M. - Skip Joystick's Game
Tokyo Dome
"Is that all of them?" Nozomi asked once the 'fans' had stopped respawning every few seconds.
"Looks like it," May quipped, pointing towards an area of the main stage that had changed after defeating the last of the enemies. At the bottom of the stairs leading to the main stage was a star-shaped blue crystal. "And that's gotta be a save point, which can only mean we're about to face the level boss."
"I'm already dreading wondering what the boss is going to be," Alex admitted. "After all, I still remember some of the nonsense that Lady Dragon put us through in her games."
Nick led the way, keeping his powers on standby. After touching the save point to record their progress (he had no idea if there were 'extra lives' for them inside this particular game, but he wasn't about to risk that), the four spies headed up the stairs to the main stage.
And right there, waiting for them, was Ruri.
"Wait, we found her already?" Alex gasped.
"...wait, something's not right here," May responded. "Stay on your toes, everyone."
Almost as if someone had listened, Ruri took a step back, her form glitching out heavily before transforming into something very different.
When the glitching faded away, Ruri had transformed into something resembling an alligator snapping turtle, its brown upper shell divided into three segments, with a yellow section around it, its lower shell and lower jaw flat and are pale yellow, its head sprouting a yellow horn and two large sections coming off of it, its eyes white and somewhat rectangle shaped with small pupils, two yellow circles connecting its head to its lower jaw, and a long tail with two spikes sprouting from it.
"Okay, what the hell?!" Nozomi shouted, taking a reflexive step backwards.
"I don't know if that's actually Ruri or if it's a boss enemy designed to look like her, but let's trash it first before we contemplate that!" May shouted.
Cursed Ruri shambled forward before lunging to attack May, but she was quicker on the draw, knocking the boss backwards with a swing from her anchor even as it recovered quickly, tucking itself into its shell and spinning forward much like Bowser's up special in Smash Bros., forcing May to dive away.
After spinning around the arena a few times, Cursed Ruri jumped towards Nozomi, attempting to crush her in its powerful jaws.
"Bad turtle thing!" Nick taunted, blasting Cursed Ruri away with a Final Shine Attack.
After landing back on the stage, Cursed Ruri spun around in its shell again, unleashing a storm of bubbles that flew towards the four spies before popping rather violently.
"Spread out!" May shouted, and the four of them listened and spread out across the stage to have the best chance at avoiding all of the exploding bubbles.
When the bubbles stopped, Nozomi saw her opening, equipping a Metal Masher Boxing Glove and punching the ground right next to Cursed Ruri, the rumble from the impact flipping it over onto the opposite side of its shell, leaving it helpless.
After a few seconds of attacking it with everything they could, Cursed Ruri flipped back onto its feet before jumping into the air and creating a whirlpool underneath itself.
"Yeah, I'd stay away from that," Alex quipped, wondering how a whirlpool could happen in a place with no water, only to realize that they were in a video game that didn't quite conform to the laws of the real world.
When the whirlpool dissipated, Nick took to the sky and blasted Cursed Ruri from above with a few psychic bolts to get its attention on him, allowing May to finish the fight with a home-run swing that sent Cursed Ruri flying into one of the stage rafters before crashing to the stage floor, attempting to pick itself up before slumping down in defeat and exploding into a shower of glowing polygons.
When the stage was calm again, a small trinket popped up in the center of the stage right next to a portal of light, no doubt one that would take them back to the world map.
May moved to retrieve the trinket, knowing it was probably a key item that they'd need for later, before all four spies walked into the portal, finding themselves back on the world map.
The circle representing the first level changed to green, signifying they'd cleared it, before one of the glowing pathways connected it to the second circle.
"Welp, guess it's on to level two, then," Alex noted.
"Things are probably gonna get tougher from here on, though, so be prepared for anything," May quipped.
"Ah, the gamer motto," Nick chuckled. "Always be prepared for anything at any time."
"Truly," Nozomi giggled as the four spies headed across the map to enter level two.
3:43 P.M. – Mount Fuji
"Any sign of them?" Melissa wondered as the spies made it to the point of Mt. Fuji where Ruri and Piers' signal had been coming from.
"That's odd," RiCO stated from Sam's X-Powder. "For whatever reason, Piers' signal just disappeared, but Ruri's is still in the same spot..."
And they could see why, as lying just ahead of them on an outcropping was Ruri herself, and she appeared to be just waking up.
"Ugh, my head hurts..." Ruri groaned, only to look up and see Marnie and Sonia approaching, along with most of the spies. "M-Marnie, what are you doing all the way up here on what I can only assume is Mt. Fuji?"
"Looking for you, silly," Marnie chuckled as she ran up to hug Ruri.
"Was I trapped somewhere?" Ruri wondered. "Last thing I remember was talking to Piers about the next stop on our tour, and then this weird guy shoves something in our faces, and then... everything's a blur."
"Well, long story short, you were trapped in a video game," Mat answered. "If you're back out here in reality, that can only mean Nick got you out somehow. Unfortunately, it looks like Marnie and Sonia were the only ones who didn't get trapped yet."
"Wait, game guy got Kanami, too?" Ruri gasped.
"Seems that way," Dawn responded. "Seven and Rain apparently got lucky and managed to get away when he tried it on them."
"Oop, speaking of which, I just got a call from Seven and Rain, and they're under attack at the Brilliant Lights Stage back in Akihabara!" Marnie exclaimed.
"Probably Skip taking advantage of our predicament," Britney quipped. "Let's get back there, stat!"
"And you thought getting up Mt. Everest was tough..." Mat commented, considering where they were.
"No doubt," Blaine replied.
"Going down's not a problem," Bridget quipped. "Sonic Mode, online!"
Everybody gathered around, and Bridget kicked up the juice one more time and sped back down Mt. Fuji.
"Forget the cold temps then," Clover replied.
"Totally," Haruka groaned, glad they were away from the cold.
5:59 P.M. – Akihabara, Tokyo
Brilliant Lights Stage
"I hope we're not too late," Sam stated when they got to Akihabara.
They could all see that some of Skip Joystick's video game cronies were unleashing their wrath on the premises.
"I guess that Skip fellow's been busier than we thought," Bridget remarked.
"That's an understatement," Marnie gasped. "This lunatic won't get a 'thank you' from us if he was going to do something like this on his own..."
"I don't think our rogues' gallery is expecting a 'thank you,' regardless of what their schemes are," Sam told Marnie.
"One thing's for sure, this guy should've had a plan B in his future instead of resorting to this..." Mat groaned. "I guess it's a good thing I chose being a sports journalist over game design then..."
"I'll say," Melissa replied, since that did lead to her finding love.
"Buckle up, guys," Sam stated in her leader tone and getting out some gadgets. "We're going to a game war here!"
Mat and Blaine were already equipped with Laser Chapsticks as their "guns."
"So typical of guys," Dawn chuckled.
She knew Nick acted similarly to the way Mat and Blaine just were.
Two mooks attempted to get close to Melissa, only for Mat to blast them away, leaving Bridget some room to work as she blitzed back and forth to de-pixelize mook after mook.
Melissa jumped back into the fray and spun around her Helicopter Hand Fan, deleting any mooks who got too close.
Before long, the mooks were all de-pixelated.
"Thank goodness that's over," Britney sighed in relief.
"We have to find Seven and Rain!" Marnie exclaimed. "I don't even see them anywhere!"
"Maybe we'll get lucky, and they'll be in the vicinity," Haruka remarked, trying to be optimistic.
"Hopefully Nick and the others are coping well," Dawn stated.
"Anyway, you have anything new to share with us, Ruri?" Britney wondered.
"I wish I could," Ruri admitted. "I really only know as much as all of you do."
"Well, it was worth a try," Mat commented.
But just as the spies were about to split up to search the stadium for Seven and Rain, they heard the sound of a tolling bell coming from the main stage area.
"...wait, is someone singing?" Dawn wondered.
"Hey, that's Seven and Rain!" Marnie shouted as she started running towards the main stage, Ruri and Sonia right behind her and the spies following.
("Here Comes Hope" by IRyS plays)
When they reached the main stage, they all saw more of Skip's digital mooks attempting to swarm Seven and Rain, but the two sisters were easily sending mooks flying left and right.
"Bad minion boys! No touching allowed!" Seven shouted as she jumped over a mook trying to punch her, then pounced on said mook and punched him in the face, causing him to collapse into glowing polygons that swiftly dissipated.
Rain swung her light sticks around her to drive another pair of mooks away before attacking a third with them, much like she'd used those swords while being brainwashed by Sebastian.
Once the mooks had all been de-pixelized, Seven and Rain both high-fived each other before noticing the group that had been watching the "show".
"I guess you didn't need our help after all, huh?" Sam chuckled.
"Well, once we realized that those guys weren't even real, that meant we didn't need to hold back," Seven chuckled.
"I would assume you're all here to take care of that weird guy who tried to trap us in his game system?" Rain wondered.
"Right on the money," Melissa responded. "Problem is, he's already captured most of Idol Opportunity, and Nick, Alex, May and Nozomi went into Skip's game to free them."
"Wait, they're inside a game?" Seven gasped. "...then again, when it comes to your rogues' gallery, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a lot of them are kinda off their nut."
"Here's the cherry on top of the double chocolate cake," Bridget quipped. "Apparently, Skip Joystick is a baddie we've never faced before, so that means we can add another nut to the list."
"And boy, is that list long," Clover chuckled.
"So, is there anything we can do to help?" Rain wondered.
"I guess the best thing you can do right now is to stick with us until we can find Skip and wail on him," Dawn stated. "Nick and the others are working on freeing the rest of Idol Opportunity, and I can only assume they're going to stay inside the game until everyone's out safely, even if they found a way out."
"That sounds like Nick," Seven giggled.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have an update for all of you," RiCO proclaimed from Sam's X-Powder. "I just a got a lock on Piers' signal, and it appears he's somewhere in Shibuya."
"Well, let's hurry and go save my brother, shall we?" Marnie responded as the spies all left the Brilliant Lights Stage just as a Skyskimmer parked itself out front, allowing the group to take off for Akihabara.
On the way there, Melissa flipped open her X-Powder, trying to see if she could somehow contact Nick despite them being stuck in Skip's game.
And she was relieved to see that she actually managed to get a connection through, despite the video feed looking static-y and pixel-y.
Guess that fits, Melissa thought.
"Is everything okay in there, you guys?" Melissa asked.
"We were kinda wondering the same thing," May answered. "Mister joystick guy isn't giving you any trouble, is he?"
"No more than usual, really," Mat replied. "But we at least found Ruri safe and sound."
"That can only mean we freed her when we beat the boss of this game's first level," Nick quipped. "And I'm willing to bet the other members of Idol Opportunity are gonna be freed the same way."
"That would explain why their signal was weird when we got to Mt. Fuji..." Sam noted. "Well, right now, we're heading off to Shibuya to track down Piers and hopefully find Skip before he causes any further trouble."
"We're gonna stay in the game for a while until we can free the others, so don't worry about us, 'kay?" Alex stated. "You all just focus on the game dude."
"Naturally," Britney chuckled as the transmission cut out, the Skyskimmer flying as fast as it could towards Shibuya.
To be continued...
Next time...
Alex: Okay, so what's this level supposed to be?
May: Wait, wait, I know this place. This was Ruri's old modeling studio!
Nozomi: Wait, she used to be a model?
May: Yeah, she was initially trying to become a fashion model before she got drawn into the idol lifestyle.
Nick: Kinda makes you think Skip would stick Ruri in this level, then, right?
May: You'd think.
Alex: Ooh, boy, mooks at three o'clock!
Nick: And judging by what they're wearing, I think I know who the boss of this level might be. But let's take care of these mooks first, next time on Totally Spies: Button Mashers, "Connect the World"!
Rain: Wow, Seven, your choreography's gotten a lot better since last time.
Seven: Yeah, these studio trainers know their stuff.