On Today's Episode: With the spies forcibly sent back to the real world and temporarily locked out of the Datascape, RiCO has taken it upon herself to confront ViA and Lady Dragon before they can destroy the Deep Log's core, an action that would essentially mean the end of the Datascape. Can RiCO utilize the powers of her new DiVE Armor to save the world she calls home, even if she has to make a sacrifice she'd rather not make to do it?
Act 3: Terminate Program
12:43 A.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Jerry, let us back in!" Sam shouted, as many of the spies were still in disbelief over what RiCO had done. "We have to get back in there and help her!"
"I wish I could, Sam, but RiCO has locked all entryways into the Datascape, and I suspect that she won't open them back up until she is finished," Jerry answered.
"Why the heck would she do something like that, though?" Mat wondered. "We're friends, aren't we?"
"Wait, remember what ViA said when he 'merged' with iCO?" Nick quipped, catching everyone's attention. "He said something about the merge being permanent. Maybe..."
"Hold on, you don't think she's actually going to..." Alex gasped.
"Maybe that's why she sent us out of the Datascape," May noted, the realization dawning on her. "She feels like this is something she's gotta do herself, even if... even if she may not want to do it."
"I just hope she's going to be all right in there," Bridget admitted. "Even if she's got that fancy new armor, who knows what ViA's got up his sleeve in his own new form?"
"Looks like all we can do at this point is watch and hope she makes it out all right," Henya answered.
"You'd better come back to us, RiCO," Haruka proclaimed. "You'd better..."
12:47 A.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape
The Deep Log – Core
"Ah, so this is the core of the Deep Log," Lady Dragon chuckled as ViA joined her, now in his "true form". "How magnificent it is, and how magnificent it will be to finally subjugate this digital world so that I may control it, and W.O.O.H.P. as a whole."
"This game ends here, Lady Devil!" RiCO shouted as she glided onto the scene, the golden highlights of her DiVE Armor gleaming brightly in the light of the core. "You really have no idea what you're about to do, do you?!"
"But of course," Lady Dragon quipped. "I intend to destroy this core and reformat the Datascape to my liking. Quite effective, don't you think?"
"You still don't get it," RiCO shot back. "If you delete the core of the Deep Log, that means that the entirety of the Datascape will go down with it! That means you, too! And you should know this, but getting de-rezzed is probably way worse than death!"
"Oh, save the histrionics," Lady Dragon taunted. "ViA, please take her down for me."
"With pleasure," ViA laughed as he stepped towards RiCO. "Well, you may have gotten something to even the playing field between us, but can you really do what you have to do? Even if that means..."
"I already made her a promise," RiCO countered, leveling her own beam saber towards ViA. "And I learned from a very dear friend that promises are meant to be kept, even if it means doing something I'd rather not do. My mind is made up. So, all I have to say to you, ViA, is..."
RiCO clenched her beam saber as she brought it up in a fighting stance. "Prepare yourself!"
"Oh, bring it," ViA laughed as he rushed forward to attack. Their beam sabers met each other, both weapons clashing over and over as ViA and RiCO fought for position.
Eventually, RiCO managed to hit ViA across the side with a horizontal slash before raising her free hand to conjure a trio of neon-blue energy orbs that she shot rapid-fire into ViA, pushing him backwards.
"Is that really all you've got, little data girl?" ViA taunted.
"Oh, believe me, I'm just getting started," RiCO laughed, raising her hand and surrounding herself with a trio of crystalline data pillars. "I haven't even scratched the surface of what I can do with my new DiVE Armor!"
"Give me a good show, then!" ViA laughed as he jumped through the air and swung his beam saber down to send a barrage of energy blades onto RiCO, only for the crystal pillars to absorb and redirect the attack with double the force.
RiCO kept up her attack, taking flight into the air with her DiVE Armor's wings and transforming her free hand into a laser cannon to rain down laser fire on ViA from above.
While ViA was busy cutting the shots with his own saber, RiCO dropped down from the sky like a bullet and jabbed her saber into the ground, creating a shockwave that blew ViA backwards.
While ViA was stumbling, RiCO slashed her saber across ViA's side before striking him in the head with a jumping kick.
"Resorted to kicks, have we?" ViA cackled as he spread his own energy wings to unleash a barrage of pink energy needles from the sky above him. RiCO waved her hand, which had returned to normal, to conjure a barrier around herself to protect her.
"You can't hide in there forever!" ViA proclaimed as he rushed forward to start slashing at the barrier.
"...who said I was hiding?" RiCO chuckled.
ViA only had time to curse his own carelessness as RiCO snapped her fingers to explode the barrier outwards, the blast knocking ViA away.
"I picked that one up from Nick," RiCO giggled.
"Your friends' tricks won't save you from me!" ViA bellowed as he recovered and sent out a laser blast that zigzagged around the area for a while, forcing RiCO back onto the offensive.
While the fight was going on, Lady Dragon began attempting to hack into the area, hoping she could find a way to take out the Deep Log's core, but her screens only displayed that cartoon-ish RiCO face.
"Yeah, I don't think so, Lady Flop," RiCO taunted. "My DiVE Armor's doing all the work in deflecting your crude attempts to mess with everything around here, which means I can focus on the fight in front of me!"
"Stand still, you little gnat with wings!" ViA growled as he pushed RiCO back by hitting her square in the chest with a crimson-red laser blast, only to find that the attack hadn't done any damage to RiCO.
"Oh, who's the gnat here?" RiCO retorted. "Definitely not me."
"We'll see how much you laugh when I scatter your code to the digital wind!" ViA bellowed as he fired lasers in all directions to keep RiCO guessing.
He's losing his composure, RiCO thought. That means I've got him on the ropes. I just need to get him in a good position, and then I can end this.
RiCO threw up barriers around herself to deflect any of the lasers that came her way before charging towards ViA, who had made his beam saber grow to an enormous size.
"Oh, overcompensating for something, are we?" RiCO laughed, getting ViA angry enough to make him swing his elongated saber early, allowing RiCO to easily dodge him and close in.
"Command Line: Program Restrain!" RiCO shouted, slamming her palm into ViA's chest and sending a restraining code into his own program, causing neon-blue chains to burst from all over the place and capture ViA in his place, restraining him so that RiCO could hop back and prepare for the finishing blow.
RiCO held her beam saber high above her head, energy exploding upwards around her and transforming the blade into something that resembled a large angel feather with razor-sharp wings. RiCO took a step back and drew her new weapon back.
"W-Wait, wait!" ViA sputtered, trying his best to think of something that could save him. "You know that if you destroy me, you'll destroy iCO, too! I forcibly merged our programs so that you can't get rid of me without killing your sister, too!"
ViA, naturally, was saying this to throw RiCO off of her game, hoping she would hesitate when it really counted.
Instead, only steely determination stared back at him.
"My sister would make that sacrifice if it meant ensuring our world stayed safe from monsters like you," RiCO proclaimed. "I've already made peace with that decision, no matter how much it's going to hurt afterwards. Now get out of my home."
With that, RiCO's weapon started glowing brightly, and ViA tried to think of anything else that could give him a chance, only to hear the four words that sealed his fate.
"Command Line: Brilliant Phoenix!" RiCO shouted, her voice echoing as she stepped forward and swung her feather blade horizontally, severing ViA in half at the torso, before swinging it downwards to cut those halves in half as well.
The only expression remaining on ViA's face was shocked disbelief as he exploded in extravagant fashion into fragments of light that quickly dissolved before they could even touch the ground.
Lady Dragon, of course, was beyond shocked that RiCO had actually gone through with the deed, and her just standing there gaping at the scene gave RiCO more than enough chance to wave her free hand and entrap Lady Dragon in chains of light.
"Now stay out of the Datascape if you know what's good for you," RiCO proclaimed as she opened a data portal so she could push Lady Dragon into it, sending her back to the real world so the spies could send her back off to containment.
Once the area was calm again, RiCO teleported herself out of the Deep Log and into Sector B of the Datascape, her DiVE Armor fading away and leaving her in her normal outfit. As she stored the DiVE Armor program away for future use, she felt that sadness coming, as she'd expected it to once the drama of the battle had faded.
"...everything okay, RiCO?"
RiCO turned around and saw that Nick was standing right behind her, having come back to the Datascape the instant that the gateways had been unlocked.
Finally, RiCO couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears, throwing herself into Nick's arms and crying loudly for the loss of her sister. She'd already made peace with the fact that iCO would be gone, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt her to have to do it.
"Hey, if you want my two cents, she'd be so proud of you, RiCO," Nick stated as he hugged RiCO back. "You pushed through and did what had to be done, even if it hurt you. That takes real strength, if you ask me."
"And remember, RiCO, we have our own copy of iCO's source code on our servers, at your insistence," Jerry replied from one of RiCO's data screens. "So, even if it takes us a while, you will have your sister back sooner or later."
"...yeah, you're right," RiCO answered. "This isn't goodbye. It's merely... 'see you later', right?"
Nick simply nodded to her as RiCO leaned over to kiss him on the cheek out of gratitude before he returned to the real world.
1:16 A.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Well done as always, everyone," Jerry proclaimed once Nick had returned to the office. Lady Dragon had already been hauled off to containment practically the instant she'd been thrown back into the real world. "The technology officers are going to work as hard as they can to restore iCO."
"You gonna be okay, RiCO?" Alex asked. "I mean, no matter how much you accepted what you had to do, it really must have hurt..."
"Yeah, it definitely did," RiCO answered after materializing in the office. "But it's like I said to ViA before I ended him, I know that iCO would make that sacrifice to save our home."
RiCO wiped a few tears out of her eyes before smiling at the feeling. "Man, I'm even crying," RiCO quipped. "Humanity really is infectious, isn't it?"
"That's for sure," Melissa replied.
"Now then, I'm pretty sure you all need a good night's sleep, considering how freakin' late it is, so I'll send you all back home," RiCO stated. "You all just leave iCO to us."
No one was complaining about that as RiCO waved her hand to send all fourteen of them home.
1:25 A.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
"I'm hoping iCO will somehow be restored," Mat told the others when they got back and closed everything up.
"You and me both," Haruka added.
"Reminds me of what happened to Pourcel at the last race at Southwick," Mat commented.
"Yeah, speaking of which, that last race of yours is tomorrow, isn't it, Mat?" Melissa wondered, coming into the den.
"Yes it is," Mat answered. "And I'm clearing my desk for that finale, even though the writing could very well be on the wall, at least the 250 class anyway."
"What's the gap again... twelve?" Melissa asked Mat.
"Seventeen," Mat answered.
"That IS pretty sizeable," Melissa commented. "But Nick knows that anything can happen, as do you."
11:02 A.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
The Next Day
After everyone had some breakfast, everyone joined Mat for the final round of the 2009 Motocross season. Calling the final round of the season were Racer X Writer Jason Weigandt, 4-time Motocross champs David Bailey and Jeff Emig, and Erin Bates as the pit reporter.
"Should we make any bets here?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, why not," Bridget giggled.
As luck would have it, the 250cc class broadcast was first up.
"Is this the 250 title?" Mat asked the others regarding the bets.
"Sure is," Nick chuckled.
"Maybe I'll take part, too," Henya giggled.
Everyone knew who Sam was voting for as the 250cc Motocross champ, but with 17 points to make up, the odds of that looked pretty slim for Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Christophe Pourcel.
Currently, Suzuki's Ryan Dungey on his #10 led the series over Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Christophe Pourcel, 459-442.
"So, what's the consequence for the losers?" Alex wondered as the moto 1 highlights began.
"Hmmm... I might have something for that," Henya giggled.
The moto 1 highlights had showed Dungey made multiple errors, but he got his act together after that; then, Pourcel took the lead after GEICO Powersports Honda's Blake Wharton #61 had gone down, and it turned into a battle for 1st between the title contenders.
David: ...What he was trying to do was slow up the pace. Every time Dungey got ahead of him, he got that lead straight back and tried to control the pace and slow it down, hoping that his teammates would catch up and help him in the points.
Jason: But it didn't happen. They battled all the way down to the checkered flag. Pourcel ends up with the moto win; he pulled out every trick he had, but in the end, all he ends up with is the moto victory and the points lead is still 14 for Dungey heading into this second and final moto of the year.
That meant Ryan Dungey needed to finish 9th or better no matter what, and he would be the 2009 250 Motocross champ.
"Well, here we go," Mat stated as the final moto of the year for the 250 class got under way.
Pourcel got the early lead while Dungey got a bad start and was running around 10th place.
"Ooh, he's got a chance now," Bridget remarked.
"We might have a race," Dawn commented.
Just before the completion of the first lap, Pro Circuit's Austin Stroupe crashed just after he got around Dungey.
"Right as he got ahead of him, too," Alex sighed.
"It's always those little ones that get ya," May quipped.
Jeff: After the first moto, Pourcel had some words... I think he was really looking for some help from his teammates, and they just were absent, and it was just the two points leaders out front, and that's really what Pourcel needed, but it's interesting because the dynamics of the race team and different riders... I don't believe that Christophe has gotten along well with everybody; maybe here in this last moto, that hurt because those guys weren't there working for him.
"That's a shame to hear from someone like Pourcel," Mat commented. "Your teammates can only do so much..."
"I'll say," Melissa replied in agreement.
"Totally," Clover added.
Currently, Dungey had moved up to 5th place, which was more than enough to clinch the championship.
There was certainly no fight for 1st place because Pourcel was long gone and 8 seconds ahead of 2nd place.
"Looks like nothing dramatic is going to happen like you showed us before, Mat," May stated, remembering back to when Mat showed them Steel City 2001.
"Yeah, but it's still a shame the title had to be decided the way it did with Pourcel's engine crapping out at the last race in Southwick," Mat remarked.
"I know that feeling," Haruka stated. "During our water polo season, we got a win, but the other team's star player was unavailable for the last quarter due to stomach cramps."
Dungey had already moved up to 2nd place, but Pourcel was long gone. Dungey would still win the title by 11 points if the moto were to end right now.
Currently, there was a battle for 3rd going on between Blake Wharton, and new rookie Blake Baggett on a #579 Kawasaki.
"I have a feeling this guy will be something to talk about in the future," Mat told the others in reference to Blake Baggett.
"Not going to doubt that," Nick remarked.
Later on, there was a rundown of four bad moments for Christophe Pourcel. That started with him jumping on a red-cross flag at Hangtown; second, his designated gate bounced at Thunder Valley; third, his holeshot in moto 2 at Budds Creek was negated because the 30-second card girl made a mistake and the moto was red-flagged; finally, the big dagger of all... his engine expiring in the first moto at Southwick.
"That's gotta suck," Melissa stated.
"Sometimes you just get the short end of the stick," Nick responded.
"Crazy stuff indeed," Mat replied with a nod.
David: You know, it's gonna be a bummer flight home for him knowing that he should be celebrating, and they had just about had T-shirts printed for this championship. To go out and ride like this, and get the better of Dungey today is like, "Pfft... Man, I had this thing..."
Mat could only nod at that statement as it went on.
"I can't help but feel bad for Pourcel," Dawn replied after hearing that statement, too.
"Yeah, that's always a bummer, that feeling of 'I HAD THAT'," Bridget quipped.
"Yeah... but I'm already calling Pourcel the champ for next season with Dungey moving out," Mat boldly stated.
With a lap to go, there was a pit report from Erin Bates regarding one of the PC riders.
Erin: Well, Pro Circuit Kawasaki wanted to bring in all the backup they possibly could, but the #411 of Tyla Rattray after coming off his first career moto victory last weekend, having a second-best career overall with 2nd place... unfortunately, things did not go as planned, as he wanted to finish off the season strong. He crashed during first practice, he bruised his right knee... ended up losing his front wheel off an off-cambered corner, and then another rider crashed into him. He was icing it; it was extremely swollen, he had it elevated, but unfortunately, a 21st place during the first moto, he opted not to come out for the second moto.
"That's a shame," Haruka remarked.
"No doubt," Alex stated.
Nothing dramatic happened indeed.
Jason: And the 377 of Christophe Pourcel is on his way to winning both motos at Steel City, and with that, yet another overall victory, but it will not be enough! Christophe Pourcel WINS at Steel City, but that's only the battle; the war is gonna go to #10, and what a war it was all season long... RYAN DUNGEY WINS THE LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE 250 CLASS! The pressure was on, and Dungey was able to respond! He finishes 2nd in both motos...
"I'm thrilled for Dungey," Mat replied with a grin of his own. "He made me look like a genius, but like I said earlier, you sure hate to see a title decided the way it did."
"True," Bridget stated.
It was all smiles in the Suzuki tent, as Dungey was awarded the #1 plate for winning the 2009 250cc Motocross title. To add to the fold, last year's 250 champ, Ryan Villopoto was in attendance and presented Dungey with the #1 plate. There were shirts printed with an inspiring quote saying, "Champions may fall, but they never quit."
"Well put," Sam chuckled at that quote.
The overall results at Pourcel with a 1-1, Dungey with a 2-2 and Blake Wharton with an 8-3 for 3rd place. The final points standings had Dungey as the champion indeed by 11 points over Pourcel, 503-492; finishing 3rd was Brett Metcalfe with 378.
"Dude, I'm not gonna doubt your prediction on Pourcel winning this title next year," Nick told Mat.
"Same," Blaine added.
With that, it was time for the 450cc class.
The 450cc moto 1 highlights showed Jeff Alessi on his #801 privateer Honda get the early lead, but it was Honda's Andrew Short who got around Alessi for the lead, and the battle for 1st place was between 2 Hondas and a Kawasaki. Short and Honda teammate Ivan Tedesco were the red riders, and Tommy Hahn on his #48 Canidae Kawasaki was the other battler. Hahn and Short exchanged the lead until Tedesco got it; Tedesco bobbled, and later fell off-camera.
As for the champ Chad Reed on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki, he was not battling up front, but Reed, who was running the #1 on his Suzuki for the final round, was able to get around his teammate Michael Byrne #26. Reed and Byrne would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively behind Tommy Hahn, who won the first moto. As for Tedesco and Short, they fell to 4th and 5th place finishes respectively.
"Looks good for Reed," Mat stated after seeing the end results of moto 1.
"Here's hoping," May replied.
The second and final 450 moto of 2009 began with KTM's Justin Brayton #114 getting the early lead, and Chad Reed was able to find his way up to 2nd place immediately.
"Oh, Brayton's gonna be a sitting duck pretty soon," Mat stated with a grin.
Unfortunately, Reed crashed a few turns later.
Jason: HE JUST DID!
David: Gave it up...
Jason: UNBELIEVABLE! Uncharacteristic again from Reed – he's down!
Jeff: There's Byrne on the inside...
"Oh, not again..." Mat sighed as Reed got going around 15th or so.
Jeff: ...is this gonna slow his momentum here?
David: No, you know what's gonna happen now? Now he's mad! He needed to get fired up in the first moto! He took 15 minutes to get going; he's not going to take 15 minutes this time. He's ticked off, he's going "That was a dumb move! That just possibly cost me the overall..."
Reed then bobbled again, but he didn't crash.
"Boy, if the title wasn't tucked away, I'd just be REALLY PISSED now!" Mat sighed.
At the conclusion of the first lap, he was indeed in 15th place.
"Oof, all the way back there," Britney noted.
"Hey, that just happens sometimes, and it does suck," Bridget answered. "Believe me, I know."
KTM's Brayton still led the way with Kawasaki's Jake Moss #42, and Honda's Short was running in 3rd. In 4th was another surprise in Colton Facciotti of Canada on a #361 Yamaha 450. Moss then made multiple stabs for the lead on Brayton as the moto went on, but Moss made multiple bobbles.
"Doesn't look like Reed's going get win #6 this season," Mat sighed again.
Moto 1 winner Tommy Hahn was running in 3rd place.
After seeing Reed was running in 10th place, some of the spies couldn't help but think that Mat was right.
"Bro, I can only imagine how disappointing this has to be, even if the title's decided," Nick told Mat, completely sympathetic.
"Yeah, but things could be worse," Mat sighed.
A sighting of Chad Reed had him in 9th place.
Jason: Lots of silly season rumors swirling. We've heard that Reed's teammate Ryan Dungey should be back on the Suzuki team next year to ride a 450. The way things are with teams' budgets right now, Suzuki doesn't know if they'll be able to keep Reed on board, although of course, he would like to stay and they would like to keep him. So we've heard all kinds of different colors rumored to be Chad's right next year...
"Well, he better make a decision quickly," Mat commented.
To make matters worse, he began to mysteriously slow down, much to Mat's dismay.
"What's going on?" Blaine wondered.
"I can't believe this after the happiness two weeks ago..." Bridget chastised, feeling for Mat.
A couple minutes later, there was a shot of Chad Reed pulling out of the moto as if things could not be any worse.
"Not again..." Mat sighed.
Sam and Britney could see how frustrated he was, and both just gave him pats on the shoulders.
"He's still the champ though," Britney quipped.
"I know, but you still hate to see him end the season like this!" Mat remarked.
"I know that feeling," Nick stated. "There was this one football team I used to watch who had a really skilled rookie quarterback who took them pretty far, but he got injured near the end of the season, and due to a combination of bad luck and some other teams who had a late-season surge, they missed the playoffs despite their best efforts."
Jason: Hey, what happened to Chad Reed? Erin, can you figure that out for us?
Erin: He's been making uncharacteristic mistakes all day long, but I just ran back to the pits to find out why Chad had pulled off. His bike was already sitting there on the stand, but he was in his own personal rig, not even at the factory hauler. His wife, Ellie, came out and told me he is throwing up violently in the toilet right now. There's no way he can come out for an interview, nor do we actually want him to, but I guess he's been sick all day long – probably the same stomach sickness he's been dealing with all season long.
Jason: Well, Erin tried at least...
"Well, that explains everything," Mat cringed. "I guess 'Thank God for small favors,' then..."
"Trust me, I can relate," Bridget quipped. "Some people feel like they have to compete even when they're feeling under the weather. I'm looking at you, Kikki..."
On another note, Facciotti, who was running as high as 4th, had reportedly crashed and was out of contention.
At the checkers, it was Justin Brayton with his first career 450 moto win, but an 11th place finish in moto 1 put him 3rd place overall. Jake Moss would finish 2nd, and Ivan Tedesco in 3rd in the final moto of the year. The real winner, however, was that Canidae Kawasaki #48 of Tommy Hahn, who crossed the line in 4th in the second moto.
For Tommy Hahn, he became the 7th different winner in 12 rounds in the 2009 Motocross season.
"You okay, Mat?" Alex wondered.
"I'll live," Mat sighed.
"Well, let's find out who lost the bet for the 250cc title," Nick laughed.
"I think the only ones who lost that one were May and Haruka," Dawn noted.
"You said you had an idea for the loser's thing, Henya?" Mat wondered.
Henya chuckled slightly, and May and Haruka both glanced at each other, wondering what she had in store for them.
Henya simply led both May and Haruka into the pool area, then typed something in on her Wondercube before aiming it into the air. Nick assisted by using Zero Gravity to make May and Haruka float in the air above the pool, after which a hyperdimensional pocket opened right above them, swiftly drenching them both with a downward geyser of water that also sent them crashing into the pool.
"Okay, that was... inventive," Haruka chuckled after she and Haruka had fished themselves out of the pool.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, what are we waiting for?!" Nick exclaimed as he dashed for the pool, and naturally, the rest of the spies followed suit.
4:15 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape
Sector D
"Looks like this area's clean, too," RiCO quipped as she continued her usual sweep of the Datascape, searching around for any trace of viral activity that Lady Dragon might have left behind. "All right-y, then, let's try Sector E next."
"Busy sweeping?"
RiCO spun around to see Nick standing right behind her, surprised to see him here in the Datascape.
"Oh, Nick, I didn't know you were here," RiCO stated. "Is... everything okay?"
"Pretty much," Nick replied. "Classes are all done for the day, so I figured I had a little time. I was actually gonna ask you that question, RiCO."
"Guess you could see right through me, huh?" RiCO chuckled as she and Nick sat down near the Sector D signal tower. "I know I've been through this before, but even though I know iCO can and will be restored sometime soon... it still hurts."
"It always does when you lose someone you care about," Nick replied. "I could definitely tell you stories about that."
"You wanna know something funny, Nick?" RiCO asked. "I really believe you guys all changed me for the better."
"How so?" Nick wondered.
"Remember, I was originally created to be your new A.I. assistant," RiCO stated. "Even if I had a different personality than GLADIS did, I thought that would be all I'd be doing, even if Jerry constantly reassured me during my creation 'oh they're going to love you'. But as we all went on adventures together, diving through everything this world could throw at us... I really think all of you sticking by me, influencing me, really helped me grow as my own person. I know it might be weird to hear what's essentially a computer program saying that, but..."
"Oh, stop that, RiCO," Nick quipped. "W.O.O.H.P. has some of the most advanced technology in the world. I'm honestly not surprised that they created an A.I. that could think and grow like a human could."
"I mean, look at me," RiCO chuckled. "I can get mad at idiots like Lady Dragon, I can freak out when things aren't going as planned, I can make my own decisions on what I use these abilities for..."
RiCO couldn't help but smile at her next thought despite the twinge of sadness it brought her. "...heck, I can even cry and get sad when something like this happens."
"That's just what life is all about, A.I. or human," Nick responded. "You grow from your experiences. And if you want my opinion, we really couldn't have asked for a better partner."
"You know, Nick, you really are a sweetheart, you know that?" RiCO giggled as she leaned over to hug Nick.
"Alex has said that quite a few times, yes," Nick quipped.
"Well, then, if you've got some time to kill, wanna help me take out some viruses?" RiCO offered.
"Eh, why the heck not?" Nick responded as he and RiCO jogged towards the nearby teleporter to head to Sector E.
7:38 P.M. – The Society
Location Unknown
"Ready to rock, Vei?" Froot asked once they were in position.
"Oh, you freakin' know it," Vei answered as she fist-bumped Froot. "Let's take care of business."
Froot raised her right hand and snapped her fingers, using her illusion powers to conceal herself and Vei as Society guards.
Once Froot was sure they were full concealed, they stepped out into the hallway and started walking towards the area where the Prime Field generators were situated.
As to be expected, a couple of the guards standing in front of the door to the generator room were fidgeting slightly, no doubt wondering what exactly was going on in there.
"Um, excuse me, is everything okay?" Froot asked, modulating her voice to sound more masculine so as to not arouse any suspicion. She had quite the vocal range, after all.
"It appears that something has gone awry with the Prime Field generator," one of the guards answered.
"Mind if we take a look and see what might be wrong?" Froot replied.
The two guards stepped aside to allow Froot and Vei inside the generator room, and once they were out of sight, Froot dropped the illusion.
"That was way too easy," Vei admitted.
"Hey, the guards here are kinda, let's call 'em 'ultra-cocky'," Froot chuckled. "They think nothing can go wrong around here, so they get easily flustered when things do go wrong."
"Hopefully that'll work to our advantage," Vei quipped. "Now let's go mess this thing up."
Froot smiled in her usual cheeky way. "Exactly what I was thinking, Vei."
Totally Spies: Irate Internet
~The End~
Final Note from Mat49324: Well, that's all she wrote for Irate Internet. I wonder if anybody saw that coming to iCO during the final battle; I know I didn't. Anyway, what you saw in the epilogue is the last of the 2009 Motocross season. So, for the time being, it's back to regular sub-plots and/or epilogues until we get to 2010 Supercross, which will be sometime next season. For now, we hope you enjoyed this project, and that you stay tuned for our next one, which will be on my page. I've titled it Riveting Reality. I won't say much else until we get to that... just to build a little suspense. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Final Note from The Blue Time Ranger: We've shut down the computer for this story, everyone. Were any of you expecting that craziness during the final fight? Like I mentioned earlier, this was inspired by the finale of the mobile game Mega Man X Dive, which RiCO, iCO, and ViA were all borrowed and repurposed from. And yes, iCO will be back in the future, just not right away. Probably around the next time we have to head into the Datascape, whenever in season nine that might be.
All right, with that out of the way, let's talk about the next caper of Totally Spies: The New Adventures. We've only got four to go before the finale and the big triple digits, and this one involves a reality show and two villains who want to use it to mess things up. Catch all of the riveting stuff next time on Riveting Reality, which will be posted by Mat. So, until next time, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, enjoy this preview of Riveting Reality, and we'll see you next mission!
"A reality show, huh?" Nick quipped. "I don't think I've ever been on one of those before, and I've really been a part of everything thanks to W.O.O.H.P., really."
"You know what, I'm game," Mat stated. "Something to pass the time, right?"
"I'll take that chance, too," Blaine replied. "You never know, we could have some fun."
"All right, looks like we're all in!" Clover laughed.
A loud beep resounded nearby, and Nick was already raising his hand to project a psychic bubble around everyone to protect them from the suction of the water.
When that suction stopped, however, a large metal pipe swiftly unfurled from the ceiling and sucked everybody into it before Nick could react to that.
Jerry was quite proud of himself when all thirteen spies, Henya included, came falling onto the large mattress.
"Dang it all, he's getting smarter," Alex sighed.
"I do have to keep you on your toes, spies," Jerry quipped.
"...okay, point," Nick conceded as the spies all jumped to their feet and changed into their spy suits. "Who's got a business appointment with our boots today?"
RiCO materialized into the office and waved her hands to change the office viewscreen to a dual mugshot of both Eugene Snit and Marco Lumiere.
"Ah, it's these two sour grapes," Melissa groaned.
"...huh. That's an image," Henya quipped.
"I kinda wish Hikari was here so she could knock some sense into this guy," Nozomi chuckled. "After all, I think Lumiere's kind of her nemesis now after the last few times."
"Any sign of our two resident nutballs?" Sam wondered.
"We last spotted them skulking around somewhere downtown," RiCO answered. "And I'm sure you already know how to handle mister disguise man."
"Dang right we do," May chuckled.
"Well, then, everybody, let's head downtown and see what we can do about these lug nuts," Nick proclaimed as the spies all moved to retrieve their gadgets before RiCO sent them out of the building to begin their investigation.
To be continued in Totally Spies: Riveting Reality...