6:17 P.M. – The Society
Location Unknown
Froot glanced outside the door to her room just to make sure that nobody could see her before ducking back in, casting an illusion on herself, casting another one on her bed, and sneaking out under the magical veil that protected her from being seen.
Still, she knew she had to be stealthy regardless, considering that the veil only kept her from being seen, not heard. And these guards usually had pretty good hearing.
Froot slipped through the hallways until she found the room she was looking for, knocking softly on it twice and hoping for the best.
Despite Froot's worries, the door opened for her and allowed her in. Froot quickly ducked into the room and dispelled the veil, making herself visible to the room's occupant, a girl about her age with long white hair and light brown-ish gold eyes.
"Sorry if I spooked you, Vei," Froot chuckled.
"I'm still not used to you doing that," Vei giggled before noticing that Froot seemed a little tense. "You look kinda frazzled, Froot. Care to tell me what got you so spooked?"
"Well... I'm not sure if you'll believe me," Froot admitted. "It's... about this place."
"If by that you mean 'the Society is a bunch of lies', then I already figured that out long ago," Vei admitted, which surprised Froot. "Yeah, I've known for a while that this whole shtick of developing our unique talents is a complete crock of crap. The only reason I can't really do anything about it myself is because of that stupid Prime Field they have up around the facility that's disrupting my powers."
Froot looked back at the door and grinned mischievously. "Well, what would you say if I told you that, thanks to Melody, we might have a way to shut that Prime Field generator down?" Froot quipped.
That got Vei's attention. "I'm listening," Vei chuckled.
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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 95: Water Polo Washouts
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: December 5th, 2023
Story Summary: The one-hundred and thirty-first co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode ninety-five of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. After move-in day, the usual grind at Malibu University has begun again for the spies, but someone's here to throw a wrench into that particular plan. The Zanzibar Coach is back on the scene, and he's partnered up with someone who used to be a brilliant student but would rather take the easy way out with a device that can siphon intelligence from people, and surprise of surprises, she's decided to use it on the spies. This time, May, Haruka and Bridget are the targets since the Coach wants to use their water polo skills against the spies. Can May, Haruka and Bridget keep a hold on their skills, and can the spies pummel this partnership before their chaos spreads to the rest of Mali-U?
Author's Notes from Mat49324: We hope you enjoyed our last project, The Rage on the Stage. We had a lot of fun writing that one out, and this time, we're returning to the water for this new project. Do you recall in season 7 where I had written in May, Bridget, and Haruka trying out for the Mali-U Water Polo team, and they had made it? We also had them not join in a mission – Future Frenzy – due to a road trip with the WP team. I may have also mentioned that we have two villains teaming up this time, so hope you have figured out them both by now. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: Six to go! Today, we've got the New Adventures debut of another season 5 villain, since the TNA!spies have never actually fought Stacy before since The New Adventures branches off mid-season 4. So, this'll be interesting to write for someone I haven't before. We're getting ever closer to the season finale and the big triple digits, so let's not keep you waiting! Get ready to make a splash! 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?
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Act 1: A Matter of Brain Power
1:00 P.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
It was another usual day at Malibu University for the thirteen spies. Classes had just gotten under way for the Fall semester, and everybody was still sane for the time being since this was the first week that had come to an end.
"Well, first week is in the books already," Bridget stated as she was enjoying her lunch with Dawn.
As usual, Mat was occupying the TV for the penultimate round of the 2009 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. This time, the race was at Motocross 338 in Southwick, MA. It was the 250cc class that was on at the moment; calling the race were Racer X Writer Jason Weigandt, 4-time Motocross champ Jeff Emig, and Erin Bates as the pit reporter.
Sam and Melissa came back to the penthouse to see Mat patiently awaiting the first moto highlights.
"Another one of your races, Mat?" Melissa wondered.
"You bet," Mat replied after hearing her voice.
Sam elected to watch with him as that supportive fiancée; Melissa was no different since she and Mat are an item, too.
The moto 1 highlights had begun to show as Nick and Haruka came in the penthouse next with Alex and May in tow.
"Dude, is this season winding down?" Nick asked Mat when he looked and saw the Southwick race on.
It was reported that the championship chase for the 250cc class had been shaken up, and it did not take long for the spies to see what that was.
"Two more races including this one from Southwick," Mat replied.
While GEICO Powersports Honda rookie Justin Barcia #151 was fighting through the pack, it was reported that points leader Christophe Pourcel on his #377 Pro Circuit Kawasaki had got a terrible start.
Jeff: ...but for the 377, it did not go as well.
Jason: No, a bad start, had worked his way up to 5th, which was OK...
Suzuki's Ryan Dungey #10 led the way until he had given up the lead to Barcia, but the next shot showed a BIG turn of events...
"OH NO!" Mat gasped at seeing that Pourcel's Kawasaki had broke down.
Jason (continued): ...and then... Pourcel's engine expires! He's out of the moto – ZERO POINTS for our points leader!
Jeff: Just a devastating moto for the points leader...
The moto 1 highlights ended with Honda's Barcia winning his first professional moto of his career... Dungey in 2nd place, and Barcia's teammate Blake Wharton #61 in 3rd.
"Big oof for Pourcel," May sighed.
"Barcia got his first major win, though," Dawn quipped. "Kinda balances out."
Clover and Britney had returned to the penthouse with Blaine and Nozomi in tow when they saw what was going on as the second moto was to begin shortly.
Erin: A devastating 27th place finish for the number 3-7-7 of Christophe Pourcel... if you noticed his bike was smoking at the beginning of that first moto, well, the engine had a mechanical failure; what they did, they took the bike back, they couldn't isolate the problem, so they replaced it and put in a new engine, a brand new front tire, and you'll notice he's on the most inside gate pick to have a better start because he desperately needs these points.
"I sure hope Pourcel's still mentally in it," Mat sighed, obviously feeling terrible for him.
"He'd better be," Blaine replied after hearing the pit report from Erin Bates.
"Yeah, I was hoping a green bike would be champ," Sam sighed as well.
The second moto got under way with at least two guys getting stuck in the gate. To add to that, guys were also down in the first turn, including a yellow Suzuki on the outside.
Jeff: ...that's Wharton, I believe that was down in the first turn!
Jason: AND RYAN DUNGEY! No, no, no, that's not Ryan Dungey – my mistake – I'm trying to figure out the number... that is NOT Ryan Dungey who is down!
Jeff: That's Tobin!
It was Suzuki privateer Kyle Tobin #98.
The early leader turned out to be Tyla Rattray on his #411 Pro Circuit Kawasaki. As for Dungey and Pourcel, they were nowhere close to the front of the pack. Dungey was somewhere in the teens, while Pourcel was found in 39th place... out of 40 riders.
"Oh, this is the title right now..." Mat chastised at seeing how far back Pourcel was.
"This IS not good indeed," May commented.
"You sure hate to see a title being decided that way," Mat remarked.
"Weren't you picking Dungey to win the title, Mat?" Haruka wondered.
"Yeah, but like I said earlier, I hate to see this title being decided the way it is with Pourcel having the DNF in moto 1," Mat replied.
"Yeah, there are certain ways you wouldn't want to have to resort to in order to win, and that is definitely one of them," Nick quipped.
A replay of the start showed that moto 1 winner Justin Barcia WAS one of the guys who got stuck in the gate right next to Star Yamaha's Broc Tickle #43.
Jeff: ...Not sure if the gate flinched or what happened; it's not typical that that many riders would jump the gate, and then, of course you just see riders start to scatter here... that's actually Dungey that was stuck in the first turn! Pourcel was on the inside of him, so there's a good chance that that's why Pourcel was so far back off the start 'cause he was right there also!
Jason: Yeah, we said Dungey was down in the first turn; we had footage of the crash on the outside; Dungey was on a crash on the INSIDE, so indeed, Dungey DID get stuck in turn one! So, considering that, this is a pretty impressive comeback...
"No doubt it is," Nick stated.
As for the second moto win, Pro Circuit's Rattray had closed the door on that because he was pulling a gap on the field. Mat was also surprised at hearing that moto 1 winner Barcia had fought up to 8th place after being stuck in the gate!
"That's incredible to work up that fast, and we're halfway through now!" Mat exclaimed.
"I'll say," Britney stated.
At the checkers, it was Tyla Rattray your second moto winner, but a 6th place in moto 1 put him 2nd place overall. As for Dungey and Pourcel, Dungey finished the second moto in 4th, and Pourcel finished a disheartening 11th. In the overall, Dungey's 2-4 placed him 4th, and Pourcel's 27-11 put him 18th overall.
In terms of the overall win, Honda's Barcia had passed 5 more riders to get up to 3rd place, which gave him his first career 250cc Motocross overall win.
Regarding the points standings, Suzuki's Dungey had picked up a whopping 30 POINTS on Kawasaki's Pourcel to give him a good-sized 17-point lead, 459-442.
"Damn, talk about closing the gap," Nozomi chuckled.
"And outright passing it, too," Dawn noted.
"You still think this title chase is over now, Mat?" Dawn wondered.
"Well, there IS one race to go, but I think the days of overcoming these kinds of gaps are long over," Mat sighed.
"Totally sucks to be Pourcel now," Blaine replied, completely sympathetic.
"It's racing after all, but a reversal of fortune COULD happen," Mat stated. "Ryan Villopoto coughed up a 20-point lead because of a DNF after a rock busted his radiator just two seasons ago in the 250 class."
As the 450 broadcast began, everyone else joined Mat for that, even though the title chase for the 450cc class was over.
"Another mud race?!" Nick chastised.
"Actually, Southwick is not as bad as Budds Creek was last week," Mat replied. "It's sand, and the water has a place to go if it rains."
The first 450 moto highlights left Mat grinning as Suzuki's Chad Reed, the newly crowned 450 MX champ took the holeshot and the eventual win. In fact, at the checkers, it was an all-Australian podium with Chad Reed, Jake Moss #42 (in his second race for Factory Kawasaki as a replacement for the injured Ryan Villopoto), and Michael Byrne #26 finishing 1-2-3!
"How about that," Nick chuckled. "I can see why Chad Reed's your hero now, Mat."
As the second 450 moto began, it was Honda's Andrew Short #29 with the early lead.
Jason: Looks like Reed and Byrne up to 2nd and 3rd...
Mat was immediately confident at that point that it would be 5 overall wins in a row for Chad Reed. New Yamaha signee Matt Goerke on the #34 was running 4th and pressuring Michael Byrne for 3rd.
After lap 2, Reed executed his pass on Short, but Short retaliated and the two exchanged positions a couple more times before Reed made his move stick and began to pull a gap.
"You're right about one thing, Mat," May commented. "This track isn't as bad as the last race; THAT was a DISASTER!"
Suzuki's Reed led the way for much of the second moto, but Yamaha's Goerke had made it past Byrne for 3rd, and by Short for 2nd.
The next battle of note was for 6th between two privateers in #911 Tyler Bowers, and #16 John Dowd, a Massachusetts local by way of Chicopee.
Jason: Dowd, 44 YEARS OLD... and continues to get it done out here...
Mat chuckled at hearing that from the "old man," John Dowd.
"Proof you don't have to be a young'un in order to get things done," Alex chuckled.
"True that," Bridget quipped.
As the moto went on, Nick asked everyone if they were up for the Mali-U beach after Mat's race was over; everybody agreed to it.
Simultaneously, Mat was grinning at seeing Dowd move through the pack up to 4th place, and he was pressuring Michael Byrne for 3rd... especially after hearing Dowd "only had about 20 minutes of fitness in him."
"Taking one for the elder people... I love it," Mat laughed.
Sam chuckled herself, but she seemed happy herself that Dowd was on board a green Kawasaki.
Later, Dowd had made the move on Byrne for THIRD PLACE!
Unfortunately, the next shot was bad news...
"OH NO!" Mat gasped at seeing that race leader Chad Reed had crashed hard and knocked his visor off!
Jason: CHAD REED HAS HIT THE DECK! HE'S KNOCKED HIS VISOR OFF! I THINK HE'S LOOPY... THIS IS SO UNCHARACTERISTIC FROM CHAD REED, WHOM WE'D JUST MENTIONED HAS FINISHED AND SCORED POINTS IN EVERY SUPERCROSS AND EVERY AMA MOTOCROSS MOTO! JEFF, TAKE US THROUGH IT!
A replay came up.
Jeff: Chad is down! That's going to change everything! This is the FINISH line jump! Chad cross-ruts pretty hard, and look as he gets down, and then the bike just bounces over him! Even though this is sand, this is a REALLY HARD BASE OF SAND! You see him try to get up, and all of a sudden, he falls down to his knees... he got shaken up quite a bit on that one. We've seen him tumble... three or four times...
Mat sighed at seeing this turn of events.
Jason: And we say anything can happen in this game, and we mean it! Reed... is he now just mad at himself, because he's thrown obviously away the overall, which we don't even know now...
Reed angrily took his goggles off, as this was officially his first DNF of the season, and Yamaha's Matt Goerke had just inherited the lead.
"...yikes, that looked like it hurt," Nick stated.
"I just hope he's gonna be okay," Clover replied.
"He'll bounce back," May quipped. "Reed's a tough cookie."
Jeff: As it sits right now, Goerke with a 6-1 is gonna have 40 points, Michael Byrne with a pair of 3rds right now... tied in points, but of course, the better finish in the second moto's gonna give Goerke the overall if he can stay in this position!
Jason: Yeah, Dowd has passed Byrne now, so that is going to give Goerke the overall FOR SURE, but there is this UNIMAGINABLE CIRCUMSTANCE that John Dowd has a chance TO WIN THE MOTO! He's 11 seconds down on Goerke...
"At least the title's tucked away, but I'm still at a loss for words at what just happened to Chad Reed!" Mat chastised.
Sam, Britney, and Melissa immediately came to Mat's side.
The fans still cheered on John Dowd to at least win the moto.
Jeff: If Dowd can get by Goerke, that could possibly give Michael Byrne, who qualified 19th, give HIM the overall, so what an incredible day! Mother Nature has came in and completely shaken everything up!
Jason: Well, we had 6 first time winners this year; it all happened in the first half of the year... we're almost guaranteed a SEVENTH first time winner! Could it be Byrne? Could it be Goerke? Dowd was 10th in moto 1, so he's not going to be able to win the overall...
With about 5 minutes left and the two laps, Dowd had cut Goerke's gap to just 5 seconds!
"I have NOT seen ANYONE in an AMA Motocross go 3-3 for an overall win," Mat told everyone. "I'm thinking John Dowd can pass Goerke here..."
"I'm not so sure," Britney admitted.
Unfortunately, Dowd lost a second after the next lap.
"I don't know now..." Blaine commented.
As it turned out, Goerke pulled away from Dowd and took the second moto win, and the overall with his 6-1 moto scores! It was Goerke's first career moto and overall win, but the crowd was still appreciative of their local hero John Dowd finishing 2nd place in moto 2 at 44 years young!
The overall had Goerke and Byrne tied at 40 points each, but Goerke's moto win to Michael Byrne's 3rd was why he was credited the overall win.
"Hope you're okay after that, Mat," Melissa replied.
"I'll live," Mat sighed. "As I said... at least the title's settled, but I'm happy for Goerke to win this one, and I'm also proud of Dowd getting that 2nd place finish."
"Well, maybe Nick suggesting the beach is what you need to get over that," Britney suggested.
"Totally," Alex quipped. "I can't imagine if something like that would happen to me."
"Everything okay in here?" Henya asked as she walked into the penthouse. She'd been walking around Mali-U to get a good look at everything it had, knowing she'd probably be staying here with the spies for the foreseeable future. "It looks like the mood kinda did a bit of whiplash."
"Mat's Motocross race kinda didn't go how we expected," Sam answered. "We were gonna head down to the beach to try and cheer him up a bit. You in, Henya?"
"Oh, heck yes," Henya laughed.
Before any of the spies could prepare for the beach, however, the large sofa in the penthouse suddenly moved aside and allowed a large metal pipe to protrude from the floor.
Nick raised his hand and projected a psychic barrier to defend against the suction until it stopped, like clockwork.
"Guess the beach trip will have to wait," Britney sighed.
"Hey, the beach will still be here when we're done," Melissa replied as she hugged Mat to get him to smile again.
"Does Jerry have secret passages all over this place?" Henya gasped.
"Try all over Beverly Hills," Alex giggled as everyone suited up before jumping into the pipe.
Once everyone was in Jerry's office, the spies noticed that the viewscreen was already active and showing them the two villains they'd most likely be facing soon.
One of them was the Zanzibar Coach, but they didn't recognize the woman, who appeared shorter than the spies with thick, some somewhat wavy blonde hair with curled bangs split onto the left, and pale blue eyes.
"Um, who is this, Jerry?" Sam wondered. "Because I don't recognize her."
"According to our records, her name is Stacy, and she's apparently teamed up with the Coach for his next scheme," Jerry explained.
"She used to be just a struggling student at Malibu University a couple years ago, right around the time you all started there," RiCO explained after materializing in the office. "She was actually really smart, but she decided she'd rather take the 'have others do my own work for me' route, and she created a machine that can siphon different kinds of intelligence from people."
"Yeesh, imagine if we had to deal with her on our first days at Mali-U," Clover chuckled. "That would have been a really scummy way to start our college days, huh?"
"Any idea where they were spotted last, Jer?" Sam wondered.
"Coach's signal is somewhere near the Beverly Hills National Sports Center," Jerry answered.
"Oh, it had to be that place," Blaine quipped.
"We can worry about that later," Nick replied as the spies moved to retrieve their gadget loadout. "Let's just get on out there and take care of both of these wingnuts."
2:13 P.M. – Beverly Hills National Sports Center
"Yeah, this still looks like the kind of place that Coach would hang out in," Sam quipped as the spies entered the sports center in search of answers.
"Wait, does this coach guy not have an actual name?" Henya wondered.
"One of the greatest mysteries of our spy careers, honestly," Nick chuckled, remembering how that discourse had gone down before. "The question of what this guy's actual freakin' name is."
"Hey, one of our baddies' villain name is just 'The Granny'," Alex chuckled. "Some of our rogues' gallery aren't really imaginative in the naming department."
"On that note, any sign of our resident ne'er-do-wells, Nick?" May asked Nick, who was busy using his psychic radar to scan the area for threats.
"Yup, we've got trouble incoming!" Nick exclaimed to put the spies on edge.
Before they could get to work, however, a bright light shined down on May, Haruka and Bridget for a couple seconds. When it dissipated, Stacy jumped down from a nearby ledge, holding a strange device in her hand. About two seconds later, Coach appeared as well from behind a corner.
"Well, well, if it isn't the losers who call themselves spies," Coach cackled.
"Better insults, buddy," Alex retorted.
"Wait a minute, something doesn't feel right," Haruka stated.
"Yeah, why can't I remember how to play water polo?" May gasped.
"Did you have something to do with that, Stacy?" Bridget proclaimed.
"How nice to see my reputation precedes me," Stacy laughed. "But yes, you wretches, your water polo skills are now ours. Now do you realize that you shouldn't have gotten in our way?"
In response, Bridget just grinned as she reached for her brooch. "Oh, you may have taken our water polo skills," Bridget taunted. "But we've got a lot more than just that up our sleeves. Sonic Mode, online!"
While Bridget transformed into Sonic Mode, May used her Emergency Gadget Transporter to summon her trusty anchor to her hands.
"I suggest you back off before I have to introduce your face to the business end of my anchor," May taunted. "And trust me, you don't want that."
"Then how about I just take those skills away from you, too?" Stacy retorted as she aimed her device for them again and activated it, only for the bright flash it emitted to be dissipated and sucked up into Henya's Wondercube.
"Nice try, but you're not getting the drop on us twice," Henya chuckled.
"Ah, looks like you've got a new patsy for me to play with," Coach proclaimed, marching towards Henya.
In response, Henya swung her Wondercube upwards to send a barrage of glowing cubes towards Coach and Stacy, knocking them both down to the ground.
"I'm nobody's patsy," Henya retorted.
"All right, everyone, let's commence with the beatdowns!" May exclaimed as the spies advanced on Coach and Stacy.
"HEY! THAT'S NOT CIVIL!" Stacy shouted.
"You're one to talk about being civil, after all, too!" Haruka exclaimed.
"Allow me to handle this," the Zanzibar Coach proclaimed as he had a trick up his sleeve.
May, Haruka, and Bridget teamed up at the same time the Coach executed his secret trick.
"Um, what part of 'we stole your talent' isn't sinking in?" Coach laughed.
"We haven't lost our ability to kick your asses, if that's what you're trying to imply!" May exclaimed as she threw her anchor like a javelin straight into Coach, knocking him down. Nick raised his hand to psychically yank the anchor towards Stacy, who couldn't dodge in time as was knocked down as well.
Haruka was already over there before Stacy could get back up, stomping on her foot to make her jump back to her feet and leaving her wide-open for Bridget to come speeding by and land a few back-and-forth hits before landing one last flying kick that sent Stacy tumbling.
What they didn't know was that the Coach had used his aerosol can before he was knocked down, and Haruka happened to be in the crosshairs.
"OH! THAT STINKS!" Haruka chastised and waved her hand to get the smell away.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg, girlie," Coach sneered.
As Haruka got set to fight back, something came over her like she had no idea what she'd planned to do.
"Haruka?!" May chastised.
Nick didn't need to be told anything and used a psychic bubble to encase Haruka and get her to safety.
"What just happened?" Sam asked Haruka.
"...I don't know," Haruka replied. "I just wanted to fight back, but I couldn't remember what I wanted to do or how."
"That's strange," Sam remarked.
"No time to figure that out," Clover told the others.
"I think that can of aerosol just took away more than Haruka's water polo skills..." Nick chastised.
"How very astute, boy," Stacy laughed. "Now why don't you give it a sniff?"
Stacy threw another aerosol can towards Nick, but he grabbed it in his psychic hold and tossed it far away.
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for any more of that," Nick retorted as he blasted Stacy down with a Final Shine Attack.
"Damn it!" Coach swore after their plans had been temporarily ruined.
"I've got a secret weapon before retreating..." Stacy sneered.
She threw another smoke bomb at the spies with that same stench Haruka couldn't avoid inhaling.
On the other hand, Nick had encased everyone in a psychic bubble, only to see the Coach and Stacy had gotten away.
"Crapbaskets!" Blaine swore.
Shortly after that, a small device was left in front of the spies. It turned out the spies had a water polo matchup in twenty minutes – specifically May, Bridget, and Haruka. To add to that, the entire Mali-U Water Polo team had been taken hostage.
"Double crapbaskets!" Britney added.
"They all already know Haruka's the closest to a water polo background," Bridget stated. "And me having a background in the track team."
"No doubt," May sighed in relief. "Our coach has been very supportive and giving us a chance to show what we got... even though Haruka, Bridget, and I come off the bench."
"But I bet they don't know about... this," Alex cringed.
"Yeah, how exactly is the team supposed to play if the entire team's been taken hostage?" Melissa wondered.
"Yeah, that could definitely be a problem," Bridget quipped. "Are there anyone who could fill in for them?"
"Thankfully, we've got a bunch of alternates, just in case some of our players couldn't make it for whatever reason," Haruka answered. "I saw that picture that Coach sent us of our team, and I thankfully didn't see any of the alternates in that picture."
"Looks like we're gonna have to wing it," May stated. "We've still got a pretty good record regardless, so I think one possible loss won't be the end of the world."
"How about the three of you take care of that, and we'll keep investigating and looking for those two scoundrels?" Sam offered. "That okay with you?"
May, Haruka, and Bridget all nodded as Haruka took a step backwards and did a running charge forward, like she'd tried to do earlier before seemingly forgetting. "Hey, I remembered how to do that!" Haruka gasped.
"Maybe that means that the effects of Coach's aerosol spray are only temporary?" Nozomi wondered. "Seems like a good sign."
"Did you get all of that, Jerry?" Sam asked after flipping open her X-Powder to update Jerry on the current situation.
"Loud and clear, Samantha," Jerry answered. "While May, Haruka and Bridget are dealing with their game, I'm sending some extra help your way."
"Did somebody call for a combat instructor?!"
"Ah, Sortiliena, right on time," Alex chuckled as Sortiliena came skidding to a stop near them.
"I came as soon as Jerry told me there were issues going on," Sortiliena stated. "I'm more than willing to tag in while you three take care of your game problem."
"Much appreciated, Sortiliena," Haruka responded. "Just make sure you sock those two a few times for us, 'kay?"
"Roger that," Sortiliena answered as May, Haruka and Bridget rushed off to their water polo game, leaving the rest of the spies to figure out what exactly they were going to do.
That was when Sortiliena noticed the newest addition to the group. "And who might you be?" Sortiliena wondered.
"Oh, nice to meet you, miss Sortiliena," Henya replied, reaching out to shake Sortiliena's hand. "My name's Henya, and I've been helping the spies out lately."
"Henya's story is a bit of a crazy one," Nick stated.
"When is it not when it comes to you guys?" Sortiliena giggled.
"...okay, point," Nick conceded. "We'll give you the Reader's Digest version on the way. Speaking of which, RiCO..."
"Don't worry, Nick, I've been tracking them ever since they split," RiCO quipped, appearing on the screen of Nick's X-Powder. "I can see them both heading towards the ice hockey pavilion downtown."
"Well, then, let's go find those two and give 'em their scheduled lumps!" Nozomi proclaimed.
With that, the spies all set off for the ice hockey pavilion.
On the way there, however, the group was accosted by a quartet of strange figures wearing blinding white jumpsuits and visors that obscured their faces.
"Oh, not you freaks again," Nick groaned as the spies all shifted into a fighting stance.
"You will pay dearly for what you did to our other enforcers, Subject XIII," one of the mooks proclaimed.
"Didn't we tell you to go stuff a cork in whatever ugly faces you hide underneath those visors?!" Alex shot back. "Henya's not coming back to you, no matter what you think!"
"This is not up for discussion, you harlot," the second mook retorted, only for all four mooks to be blown backwards by a psychic pulse courtesy of a now-sufficiently pissed off Nick.
"And that's another thing you need to learn," Nick growled. "Insult my fiancée or my girlfriends or any of my friends at your own peril."
"Let me take care of this," Henya quipped as she took a step forward and aimed her Wondercube towards the mooks, opening a hyperdimensional pocket behind them.
"We will not fall for that trick like the others did, Subject XIII," a third mook retorted.
"Who said we're gonna kick you out the same way?" Sortiliena chuckled as she barged forward, jumping over one of the mook's attempts to punch her out and using her legs to smash two of the mooks into each other by their heads, then pouncing on the third mook and tossing him into the fourth mook, and finally judo-kicking the two mooks into the other two mooks.
This gave Nick a prime opportunity to send the mooks flying into the hyperdimensional pocket with a Final Shine Attack, Henya closing the pocket immediately afterwards.
"They're sure stubborn, aren't they?" Melissa quipped.
"Tell me about it," Henya stated.
"Well, considering those weirdoes have something to do with Henya..." Sortiliena wondered.
"We'll explain on the way, like we promised," Clover replied as the spies continued making their way to the ice hockey pavilion, hoping this distraction hadn't cost them precious time.
To be continued...
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Next time...
Sortiliena: You are one lucky girl, Henya, having survived everything you've been put through.
Henya: Honestly, I'm surprised I tolerated that nonsense for as long as I did. I'm just worried about the rest of my friends...
Sam: Don't worry about that. We promised you that once you're ready to 'storm the castle', we're coming with you to teach these punks a lesson.
Nick: And speaking of teaching punks a lesson, our scoundrels didn't scram, did they, RiCO?
RiCO: Nope, it looks like they're still in there, but I'd stay on your guard just in case they try to rope you into something wacky.
Coach: Welcome to our little arena, spies. So nice of you to drop by.
Stacy: It kinda looks like you're missing a few members.
Mat: That's really none of your business, is it?
Coach: If you want your friends back, they're going to have beat our little hockey challenge.
Stacy: And to make this extra interesting...
Nick: Yeah, I don't think so. You're not taking anything else from us, so give it your best shot, next time on Totally Spies: Water Polo Washouts, "Skill Over Luck"!
May: Man, it's tricky to have to act like you don't know how to play something you're good at.
Haruka: Hey, I think you're doing pretty good at acting. That's why it's called acting, right?