On Today's Episode: The spies chase the Virus out to the Deep Log in order to stop it for good with Tetsuo's multi-agent program, but like any good member of the spies' rogues' gallery, the Virus isn't quite finished yet. The spies will have to keep the Deep Log safe long enough for RiCO and iCO to utilize the multi-agent program and delete the Virus for good. Can they stop this digital terror, or is this the end of the line?
Act 3: Network Issues
7:38 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Datascape
The Deep Log
"This is the end of the line, virus boy!" Alex proclaimed once everyone had caught up with the Virus in the Deep Log.
"I hope you're ready to be deleted for trespassing in our world!" iCO remarked.
"You don't wanna know how many lines you've crossed in here," RiCO added.
"Oh, this isn't over in the slightest..." the Virus shot back.
"Why don't you just quit your yapping and sit still so we can get rid of you?!" Clover dared.
"I just remembered something that was coded into me during my restoration." The Virus sneered."I believe now is the perfect time to test it out."
The spies then heard some rumbling and the area began to distort and change.
"Um, what the heck is going on around us?" Melissa wondered.
"It must be the Virus' little 'surprise'!" Nozomi deduced.
"Not going to argue there," Sam stated.
The area around the group eventually transformed into a large, circular room with a pit in the direct center, and rising from that pit was the Virus, having taken on a strange new form, resembling two massive, red cylinders that were being projected from a small, spherical device between the two, said device mostly silver with a red, circular light displayed on it, the light surrounded by four black triangles. The bottom cylinder was featureless, while the upper one sported the Virus' face.
"You cannot hope to defeat me in this form," the Virus bellowed. "You may as well just give it up now."
"Yeah, well, I say bring it on!" Bridget proclaimed.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," RiCO remarked.
"You better declare yourself the loser before we get you..." Blaine called out.
"Like you have any hope," the Virus chuckled, until RiCO raised her hand to show it her new bracelet. "...what is that?!"
"Oh, now you're scared? What, are you regretting having messed with us? It's time for us to delete you!" RiCO proclaimed.
"Eliminate all threats," the Virus droned, spawning a rotating ring of square-shaped walls around itself that began to spin around, keeping the spies from getting close.
"All right, now you're just being annoying," Clover taunted.
"I think we've gotta break a couple of those walls so I can get a good shot at it," RiCO stated. "I need to inject the multi-agent program into a specific spot to do the most damage."
"Well, then, let's get the heck to work, shall we?" Sortiliena laughed, waiting for the walls to stop spinning before running towards one of them and kicking it multiple times.
Naturally, the Virus wasn't just going to let the spies attack it willy-nilly, and summoned multiple digital mooks to keep the spies busy.
"We'll handle the mooks, RiCO," Dawn stated. "You and iCO just focus on breaking through that wall!"
"Let me help with that," Nick quipped as he flew into the air and blasted one of the closest walls with a Final Shine Attack, swiftly shattering it into pixels.
Haruka fired an Electromagnetic Curling Iron into another adjacent wall, breaking that one as well and opening up some more room for RiCO to work.
With iCO watching the walls to make sure they didn't have any tricks up their sleeves, RiCO placed herself in front of the gap in the walls and aimed her right hand towards the Virus.
The golden bracelet on her wrist shined with a violet light, and a purple data screen opened up in front of her before RiCO fired a beam of purple energy from her palm and directly into the Virus' form.
From the Virus' panicked groans, she was doing something right.
RiCO kept firing the beam for as long as she could, hoping to eventually expose the Virus' core.
"RiCO, incoming!" Alex exclaimed, and RiCO looked up to see the ring of walls floating into the air before slamming back down, firing lasers from them as well. RiCO quickly disengaged her firing sequence and dove to the right to avoid the attack.
"Did that work?" Britney wondered.
"I did some damage, but not enough," RiCO answered. "I've just gotta keep at it."
"Hey, buddy, no cutting in line!" Bridget exclaimed as she dodged a mook trying to grab her, transformed into Sonic Mode, and blitzed forward to send the mooks flying in all directions.
After a little more mook fighting, RiCO eventually found the hole in the wall and started firing the multi-agent program into the Virus again.
"Eli-i-i-m-m-inat-at-ate a-a-all-l-l thrr-e-re-e-ats," the Virus droned, its stuttering indicating that RiCO was doing decent damage to it.
"Oh, what, are you getting slow in your old age?" RiCO taunted.
Suddenly, the walls slammed down a lot faster than earlier, knocking RiCO backwards. After cutting a backflip to regain her posture, RiCO looked up just in time to see the broken walls repairing themselves.
"I'm honestly surprised it's not just healing the damage it's taken," Nozomi admitted.
"That's because the multi-agent program is attacking that particular code alongside damaging it enough to expose its core to us," iCO explained. "It can't heal as long as its self-repair code is damaged, but we can't give it any chance to fix that up, or we're back to square one."
Among the crowd of mooks, Boogie Gus seemed to show up among them.
"W-Wait, how are you here?!" Sam shouted as she fired a Cyclone Blast Hairdryer into Boogie Gus. "He and the Brain are supposed to be locked up, right?!"
"It's fine, Sam, that's just a digital copy that the Virus made, not the real deal," RiCO responded as she unleashed a data shockwave around her to get rid of more mooks.
All of a sudden, Boogie Gus silently laughed and started growing in size until he absolutely towered over the spies.
"Okay, that's not funny in the slightest!" Alex exclaimed.
As the giant Boogie Gus marched forward, Nick glanced towards the outer edge of the ring-shaped arena, having seen something odd over there.
I wonder... Nick thought as he turned around and ran along the ring towards that distortion.
Boogie Gus noticed Nick quickly, and raised his hand to create a large wall in Nick's path.
Exactly what Nick was hoping for.
Before the rest of the spies could question what was happening, Nick started climbing up the wall before landing on the top, then leaping off of it and charging forward, spinning around mid-flight just for good measure before jamming a psychic blade into Boogie Gus' head, causing him to jerk back in disbelief before shattering into pixels. This also got rid of a good chunk of the mooks as well.
"Nice one, Nick!" RiCO laughed.
"It just came to me," Nick chuckled as he blasted another wall with a flurry of psychic bolts to break it, allowing RiCO to slip in and continue firing the multi-agent program into the Virus.
The Virus' face started looking more and more pained as RiCO continued her attack, which could only mean that they were getting close to putting the finishing touches on this fight.
A random mook attempted to jump on RiCO while she was busy with the multi-agent program, but Sortiliena grabbed the mook by its shirt collar and tossed it into a crowd of other mooks, knocking them all down like bowling pins.
"STRIKE!" May shouted as she bashed mooks away one by one with her anchor.
Eventually, the Virus froze in its place and started spinning around, spouting random gibberish as it did so, eventually exposing what appeared to be its viral core.
"I take it that's a good sign?" Clover asked hopefully.
RiCO double-checked her data screens and smiled.
"Yup! The self-repair code's been destroyed and its viral core just got exposed!" RiCO proclaimed. "That means it's time to end this. You with me, iCO?"
"Always," iCO answered. "Let's do this."
RiCO and iCO got into position beside each other, golden data screens appearing around them before eventually absorbing themselves into them. RiCO and iCO raised their hands towards the stuttering Virus.
"Command Line: Full Delete! IN STEREO!" RiCO and iCO shouted together, a large burst of golden light erupting from their palms and blasting the Virus' core, deleting it swiftly.
The Virus reverted to its original form before adopting an expression of disbelief, eventually shrinking down to nothing and dissipating entirely. The arena around them also dissolved, returning the original appearance of the Deep Log.
"And virus boy is toast!" Alex laughed once everything had calmed down.
"What did I tell ya?" RiCO proclaimed. "In the end, the super-advanced artificial intelligence sees all."
"All right, then, if that's all settled, let's get the heck out of here, shall we?" Mat chuckled.
"I'll take care of that for you," iCO responded, waving her hand to open a portal back to the real world so the spies could all cross back over.
8:19 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Once again, a job well done, spies," Jerry proclaimed once the spies were all back in his office. The office viewscreen was showing a video feed of both Boogie Gus and the Brain sulking in their containment cells.
"All in a day's work, Jer," Sam chuckled.
"And what about you two?" Alex wondered, looking at Tetsuo and Adam.
"Actually, we've been hired by W.O.O.H.P. to work in their technology division," Tetsuo stated.
"You know, just in case anything like this happens again," Adam replied. "That way, we can help out when we're needed."
"Yeah, especially considering that a lot of our baddies lately seem to like recycling their old creations," Melissa quipped. "Some kind of twisted mockery of rule thirty-six..."
"In any case, I'm sure you're all tired after that trip, so I'll do the honors of sending you home," RiCO quipped, waving her hand to send the spies back to Mali-U.
7:02 P.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
Two Months Later
The spies were fully over that last mission in the Datascape.
The Fall semester was over, as was the Christmas season, and Mat was occupying the den of the penthouse that evening for round 1 of the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship. Calling the race were Ralph Sheheen, "The G.O.A.T." Ricky Carmichael, and 1997 Supercross champ Jeff Emig; Erin Bates also served as the pit reporter (as usual).
Some of the spies were helping themselves to some of Mat's spaghetti that he finished up prior to the start of the TV broadcast.
"Good stuff... thanks, Mat," Bridget replied after she had some.
"Totally... thanks," Alex grinned.
As the pre-show continued, Mat could only look on and hoped that Chad Reed, now on his new Monster Energy Kawasaki #22 KX450F, had come in ready for the 2010 season. Nick certainly noticed this.
"Hey, man, what's with you?" Nick asked Mat after sighing. "I thought you were hyped now that Chad Reed's on Kawasaki."
"It's not so much that," Mat remarked. "Chad Reed's deal wasn't finalized until maybe just before December or so because he had an offer to stay with Suzuki, and Reed decided to wait to see who had the biggest budget."
"Pretty money-hungry, if you ask me," May commented.
"Well, I won't question it if he shows he's the same Chad Reed that I've gotten to know for the last 7 years," Mat commented.
"What about that Dungey guy?" Melissa asked.
"I don't think I'd put him as the champion, but I do think he will have good rides here and there," Mat deduced. "But if Chad Reed's not up to speed, he can get there with Ryan Villopoto as his new teammate on Kawasaki."
"That's true," Nick replied, remembering a few races he'd seen with Mat.
The Supercross Lites class went first with Star Racing Yamaha's Broc Tickle #20 taking the first heat race, and Jake Weimer on his #12 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki taking heat #2, but the man on the move was Weimer's teammate Josh Hansen on the #100.
"Well, my pick for the West title's backing me up," Mat commented on Weimer's heat win.
Hansen ended up 3rd in the heat race, and Factory Connection Honda's Blake Wharton #21, who crashed in turn 1, came back for the 9th and final transfer spot.
When the Supercross class heats began, Chad Reed was in this heat race, but he got a terrible start while his fellow Aussie Dan Reardon on his new #122 MotoConcepts Yamaha got the early lead. Honda's Davi Millsaps #18 got around Reardon for the lead and so did 450cc rookie Ryan Dungey on his new #5 Suzuki just before the completion of the first lap while Chad Reed was buried back around 6th, much to Mat's dismay. A replay of the start showed Reed got a little sideways out of the gate, and the bottleneck of riders had forced him to check up.
"Lucky this is just the heat race," Mat replied. "But this isn't the same Chad Reed I saw last year..."
"Hey, sometimes you've just got a bit of a slump to get through," Haruka noted.
"It happens to the best of us," Bridget quipped.
It wasn't until lap 4 when early race leader Dan Reardon had crashed and his Yamaha went over one of the turns. Everybody had reacted to that.
"Yikes," Melissa stated.
"And his bike went flying, too," Britney replied. "Double yikes."
"I just hope he's okay," Dawn answered.
Reardon was now flat on his back and being attended to by the medical crew.
"I don't see Reardon coming back for the LCQ," Mat commented.
Honda's Millsaps won the first heat race with Dungey in 2nd; Chad Reed crossed the line in 3rd, but Mat still had mixed feelings about that finish.
"Hey, that Lawrence guy is back?" Haruka wondered after the next shot showed Jason Lawrence on his #338 white Yamaha, who was running in 9th place.
Jeff: Unbelievable for Lawrence here is only had about six times on the bike leading up to this event and is gonna make it through the first heat.
Ralph: Reason being he was recently in jail... been released... here he is, he's still under house arrest for some two hundred more days, but Jason Lawrence is going to the main!
Lawrence had crossed the line with the 9th and final transfer spot to the main.
"I'm certainly not picking him for ANY title," Mat told them. "He's completely done for. Serves him right, honestly."
"Yeah, he's kinda got that vibe of 'there's a line you don't cross and he crossed it'," May quipped.
The heat 1 results had a surprise in Grant Langston, in his first race back since Anaheim 3 2008 due to that eye tumor, who finished in 6th.
Heat #2 saw a big surprise hole-shooter. An unknown Suzuki rider was out front by quite a bit.
Jeff: WHAT A HOLESHOT!
Ricky: What a start!
"Holy shit!" Mat exclaimed.
Ricky: That's some Suzuki power right there!
That turned out to be Austin Stroupe on a #45 Factory Suzuki who had the early lead.
Jeff: And Austin Stroupe, a Lites rider on the East, elected to ride a big bike here on the West. What a way to start!
Stroupe led for just a lap or two before Yamaha's Stewart got around him and disappeared.
Defending Anaheim 1 winner Josh Grant on his #33 Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha was running in 8th place until a replay of what happened during practice on the Tuesday prior to the Anaheim opener. Grant had crashed hard while going through some whoops and was thrown into the face of the next jump.
"Oh, geez..." Mat cringed at that crash.
Some of the spies were no different; it was later reported Grant was riding with a broken nose.
Stewart would win the heat race easily, and Josh Grant just barely qualified for the main with the last transfer spot in 9th place.
Some of the spies helped Mat in the cleanup after all his spaghetti was taken. They were all done by the time the Lites main event was to begin.
"Thanks, Mat," Nozomi grinned after everyone was finished eating.
"Yes, thanks," Melissa giggled.
Britney showed her thanks with a kiss on Mat's cheek; Sam kissed Mat on the lips, and Melissa took Mat's other cheek.
"You're welcome," Mat replied.
With that, some of the spies got some sodas or water to wash down their dinner.
"I'm taking Weimer for the win," Mat told the others.
"Yeah, that's kinda what it's looking like to me, too," Nozomi stated.
The Lites main event started with two Pro Circuit Kawasakis out front in Jake Weimer and Josh Hansen.
"Aw yeah!" Mat cheered at seeing both Weimer and Hansen leading the way.
However, just after the completion of the first lap, Josh Hansen slid out and crashed.
Ralph: BIG MISTAKE! Down he goes! He loses 3... 4... 5, and a whole bunch of other positions maybe before he's done.
Ricky: Very easy to do that – beginning of the race, the dirt's very loose...
"Oh, well..." Mat sighed.
"That's too bad," Alex commented.
Just shortly after that, another rider had gone down, and that was French newcomer Gautier Paulin #321 on the Star Racing Yamaha courtesy of Trey Canard.
Ralph: Down goes Gautier.
"Who?!" Britney wondered until she saw a graphic with his name.
"Ooh, Frenchy," Clover giggled as a replay came up.
"Don't even, Clover," May groaned.
Jeff: Watch this here – oh, Canard triples in... steals the line...
Ricky: Oh, just hit his right foot... down he went.
"He never saw that coming," Mat replied.
"I'll second that," Dawn stated.
Weimer still led the way in the meantime with Ryan Morais on his new #116 Canidae Suzuki in 2nd, and Trey Canard in 3rd.
A future shot showed Hansen had crashed for the second time.
Ralph: You know, he moved to Australia, didn't even take a cell phone with him! Didn't want to talk with anybody – just wanted to focus on his racing.
Ricky: Wow...
Jeff: I'm not sure I could do that...
Nick merely chuckled at that statement.
"I'm pretty sure you're liking this so far," Blaine told Mat.
"I know Sam is," Mat chuckled.
Sam giggled and nodded since a green bike was out front.
Simultaneously, around halfway, Canard made the move on Morais for 2nd place.
Weimer went unchallenged and logged the first win of the 2010 Supercross Lites West season. Trey Canard came home 2nd, and Ryan Morais finished 3rd.
"Well, that went like I predicted," Mat stated, and then he saw Hansen had finished 8th after two crashes. "Outside of Hansen's 8th of course."
Pretty soon, it was time for the Supercross class main.
"Okay, here we go," Nick stated.
"I don't think I have to say it, Mat," Bridget then told Mat, who nodded in response and knew that they were behind Mat in cheering for Chad Reed.
A few minutes later, the Supercross main event commenced.
Ricky: OH!
Ralph: And it's Dungey getting the SPIKE Holeshot, and Villopoto is 2nd, and Stewart is 3rd, and where's Reed?!
Mat sighed a bit.
Jeff: Can you believe it? Ryan Dungey stepping up to the big bikes, grabs the holeshot?!
Ricky: This is what everybody wanted to see right here.
Ralph: Chad Reed is back in about 6th position – not where he needed to be.
Mat groaned at the so-so start for Reed, but little did he know that was only a prelude. Moments later, after Dungey led the first lap of the 2010 season, Chad Reed was riding slow already.
Ralph: Reed having problems on his Monster Kawasaki, the first race on the new bike, AND THE TWO-TIME CHAMP IS OFF GOING TO THE MECHANIC'S AREA!
Ricky: Something's wrong with his bike, Jeff!
"Oh, no..." Mat chastised.
Jeff: They're looking down at the front end; looks like uh... now if the front brake rotor got bent...
Ricky: You can't ride with that...
"Oof, that's gotta suck," May quipped.
"Yeah, especially when you're in the middle of a ride," Nick noted.
Chad Reed was already walking away in complete disgust, much to Mat's dismay.
Jeff: Devastating for his title hopes here! This is not how Chad Reed wanted to start 2010.
"Oh no..." Mat complained.
Ralph: Let's go to Erin with Chad Reed...
Erin: Guys, a devastating moment for Chad Reed here at the season opener. Chad, you're walking away; this is almost déjà vu of what happened to James Stewart last year; what exactly happened?
Chad: Yeah, and I guess James pulled it off last year, so... disappointing; it's been a rough day, and I was just trying to get out front, and it was just a racing move. Stroupe – we were all amongst everyone – Stroupe turned down early and I rammed right into him, and my front wheel went right into his footpeg, and immediately I felt it all break... spokes. What do you do? You live and learn, and it's what happens when you get a shitty ass start like that...
Mat got a chuckle out of that last tidbit before he could only shake his head in complete disappointment.
Erin: James is your ultimate rival out there, but what does it do for your hopes knowing that he was able to come back from what happened last year?
Chad: You just got to concentrate like he did last year... race each and every week and go for it. This is not the ideal, but like I said, it was a rough day, and... go watch the main event from the sidelines; this is the first time for me ever.
Erin: Tough break for Chad Reed. Regroup, we'll see you back next weekend.
"Damn it..." Mat groaned. "This was THE LAST THING I wanted to have happen..."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Nick replied, completely sympathetic for Mat.
A replay didn't really offer much help, other than Suzuki's Stroupe moving over on Reed and nearly hitting Stewart.
"I still don't see what went wrong," May commented.
"Neither do I," Sam replied.
Jeff: If the footpeg gets into the front wheel, it can break all of the spokes out, and if it was the brake rotor, he might be able to ride with a bent brake rotor, but with broken spokes... end of the race!
Mat just sighed at this real unfortunate turn of events so early in the season. A later replay showed that Austin Stroupe had gone down and was hunched over.
"Oof, my favorite color, too," Alex sighed.
"Yeesh, is this just bad luck city today?" Haruka wondered.
"I don't know what's going on here, but it seems like it's the weirdness of Anaheim 1 again," Mat commented.
Ryan Dungey still led the way by over a second over James Stewart after 6 completed laps out of 20.
Ralph: It seems like Jason Lawrence has problems, too, Erin?
Erin: There's problems happening everywhere down here on the floor, you guys, but you're taking a look at the number 3-3-8 of Jason Lawrence riding his way off the track back up into the pits through the tunnel. What exactly happened? It was pretty straightforward: he did get out of jail just the day of Christmas, he's not prepared, he said he's absolutely exhausted, he's going to call it a day.
Ralph: He only rode six times in the last five months...
"Whoever picked Jason Lawrence to win this race had to have been stone-cold crazy," Mat remarked. "Like I said earlier... good riddance."
"To be fair, just getting out of jail wouldn't always put you in a good mindset to do something like Motocross literally the next few weeks," Nick admitted. "Even if that definitely doesn't excuse Lawrence's general asshole-ery..."
"Hey, there's a 'DNS' under Grant's name," Haruka replied, changing the subject.
"Oh, I bet it has something to do with that practice crash," Mat deduced. "That means Grant didn't even line up for the main!"
"That was a pretty bad crash," Britney commented.
Ralph: Let's go back to Erin.
Erin: Well, guys, Austin Stroupe is getting on the back of his bike here. He's all dirty and dusty after he ended up getting in a collision with Josh Hill... Austin, take us through what happened from your perspective.
Austin: ...What?
Erin: Take us through what just happened from your perspective.
Austin: Ah, I got into it with Hill and he just kind of hit me. I guess that's racing, but whatever.
Erin: Tell us about getting into Reed at the start.
Austin: Ahh... I dunno. It wasn't good! I went down, so it was no good.
Erin: These riders are falling like victims down here on the floor.
Ralph: Tough night for the rider out of North Carolina, Austin Stroupe.
"I think he should be okay for the East series," Mat sighed, still disappointed about Chad Reed.
Sam knew she REALLY had to be there for Mat now.
"It's only round 1," Sam tried to say.
"True, but you CAN lose the title in the first round..." Mat groaned.
"Bro, if Stewart won 7 in a row after that, Chad Reed should do the same thing here, right?" Nick wondered.
"I haven't seen a win streak like that from Chad Reed in a long time..." Mat replied. "I doubt it... especially with this talent pool."
In the meantime, Dungey and Stewart had distanced themselves from 3rd place, Ryan Villopoto #2 on the Monster Energy Kawasaki. That was when Honda's Andrew Short #29 and #14 Kevin Windham on the Factory Connection Honda got around that #2 Kawasaki.
"Man, what a contrast," Blaine sighed, also sympathizing with Mat.
With 7 laps to go, Dungey had pulled his gap to over four seconds on James Stewart.
Ralph: Josh Grant got a huge win here a year ago! WHAT A STATEMENT this would be if Ryan Dungey can pull this off – won a Supercross Lites Championship in 2009, won the Motocross Lites Championship in 2009, and a part of the Motocross des Nations team that won the title in '09! What a way to start 2010!
Ricky: If he can get to the 3 more lap to go mark, it's on!
"I think it's beginner's luck," Mat commented. "But if Dungey holds him off... I'll be shocked..."
"I see what you're getting at, Mat," Melissa quipped.
With a few laps to go, Dungey still led the way, but Stewart was setting him up. Finally, Stewart got by Dungey with 3 laps to go.
"For your sake, Mat, I hope Dungey gets Stewart back somehow," May replied.
However, Dungey did not let Stewart get away.
Ralph: Let me tell you this – the gap between Dungey and Kevin Windham, who is running in 3rd... is TWENTY-NINE SECONDS! That'll tell you the pace that Ryan Dungey's been running out here tonight.
Ricky: Last lap right here... coming up...
Mat perked up since Dungey had caught up to Stewart.
"Put him DOWN if you have to..." Mat replied, showing a bit of excitement.
Dungey tried everything he could until...
Ricky: I like Dungey's line here... oh, Stewart's going to take him wide...
Ralph: He tries to cut inside...
Jeff: DUNGEY SLIDES OUT!
Mat groaned, as that slide from Dungey came at the worst time!
Ricky: IT'S OVER!
Ralph: BUT JAMES STEWART KNOWS HE HAD A FIGHT ON HIS HANDS HERE TONIGHT IN ANAHEIM 1, BUT HE TAKES THE WIN AND THE SERIES POINTS LEAD HEADED TO CHASE FIELD IN PHOENIX! BUT WHAT A RIDE BY RYAN DUNGEY!
"It's always when you don't want it to happen that it happens, right?" Melissa chuckled.
"That's why I usually try to keep my mouth shut during sports events," Nick quipped. "My dad jinxed us once when I was young, and, well, oof."
Kevin Windham even rounded out the top 3 in 3rd.
"Your take, Mat?" Bridget asked.
"Gutted for Chad Reed, a little disappointed in Ryan Dungey in a sense..." Mat replied, but he couldn't go on anymore. It was clear he was feeling down in the dumps already.
"Man, I thought we were all past this for Mat's sake," Nozomi sighed.
"Looks like we all have to be there for him," May replied. "Especially you, Sam."
"I'm afraid so," Sam sighed, hating to see Mat like this already.
Haruka glanced at an unsuspecting Nick again, still trying her best to think of when she could explain everything.
After watching Nick for just a bit, she came to a decision.
I'll tell him after our next caper, whenever that is, Haruka thought. I owe him that much. After all, we've been friends the longest. I just know he'll understand. I hope...
2:08 A.M. – The Shatterverse
"Oh, don't make me laugh," Captain Dread proclaimed, though she chuckled anyway. "You were just out here saying you wanted him to pay for destroying your dimension. Why the sudden change in mindset?"
"I was blinded by my grief," Alex admitted. "I lost pretty much everything I knew, and the only one I still had left was the one who caused all of this? Of course I'd be mad. But when I actually got a chance to stop and think, Nick didn't do it on purpose. He was only trying to keep it out of Scam's hands."
"But he still destroyed practically an entire dimension," Captain Dread retorted. "That doesn't at least unnerve you, knowing the boy you thought was your friend was capable of such wanton destruction?"
"Hey, if I'd have known breaking the Prism was going to do this, I would have found another way to move it!" Nick exclaimed, still trying to escape the whirlpool that had him trapped. "But do you really think it would have been better for flip-truckin' Tim Scam to have it?! Freaks like that can't be trusted with the power to shape reality!"
"And for that matter, what's your aim?" Alex wondered. "Why exactly are you searching for the pieces of the Paradox Prism?!"
"The power to turn thoughts into reality," Captain Dread chuckled. "The power to reshape everything around you. That's quite the incredible power, if I do say so myself."
"Answer the question, you bitch!" Alex shouted, reaching for something in her Jetpack Backpack while Captain Dread was distracted.
"With the power of the Paradox Prism at my side, I can do whatever I want," Captain Dread proclaimed. "But what I'm after specifically isn't something you'd understand for someone as young as you. So why don't you just..."
Captain Dread was suddenly sent reeling when an Electromagnetic Curling Iron blast struck her in the back of the head, forcing her to relinquish her hold on Nick.
"Hurry for the gateway, Nick! I'll hold her off as long as I can!" Alex shouted.
Nick mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Alex before taking off towards the yellow gateway, hoping that he could find the remaining Prism Shards before Captain Dread did.
Totally Spies: Calamity Call
~The End~
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Final Note from Mat49324: Well, that's all she wrote for Calamity Call. Would anybody have guessed another visit to the Datascape to fix the phone lines in WOOHP? I wasn't thinking we'd go back to the Datascape myself, to be honest. Let's just say that this was partly inspired by an episode of Law & Order: SVU with the mysterious kid, Maria, calling Detective Benson asking for help. Anyway, I've also begun the 2010 Supercross season simultaneously, and let's just say this is a season that won't be to Mat's liking one bit; that's where I'll leave it. For now, we hope you will be on the lookout for our next project, which will be authored by The Blue Time Ranger. He's titled it Fleeting Feelings, and if you've been paying close attention to Haruka, the "elephant in the room" will be revealed in that project. Here is The Blue Time Ranger for his final thoughts on Calamity Call.
Final Note from The Blue Time Ranger: And we're all wrapped up with this long-as-hell call! I definitely wasn't expecting to go into the Datascape again so soon after the last one, since we usually keep our Datascape adventures to one per season, but hey, gotta mix things up every now and again, right?
With that out of the way, here's what's coming up on the next episode of Totally Spies: The New Adventures! It's once again time for another Jellyfish Pirates caper, this one involving a certain psycho ex that we haven't tango-ed with since season six. (I'm not counting Another Side, Another Story, because that was a different set of spies.) And if you've been paying attention to Haruka since Down With the Sickness, you know she has something to hide. Something that might be revealed next time on Fleeting Feelings, which will be posted by me. So, until next time, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, enjoy this preview of Fleeting Feelings, and we'll see you next mission!
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The conversation was interrupted when May's X-Powder began to beep, only instead of the regular W.O.O.H.P. beep, it was playing a jaunty anime tune.
Knowing who was probably calling her, May closed her laptop and moved for the dresser to grab her X-Powder, opening it up to answer the call.
And just as she'd expected, the Jellyfish Pirates were shown on the video screen, specifically Mira and Dizzy, as the rest of the group were out in the distance, apparently searching for something.
"Can you hear us all right, May?" Mira asked.
"Loud and clear, captain," May replied, happy to see that Mira was back to her old self. The last time the spies had been in Japan to see the Jellyfish Pirates, Mira had gone through a bit of a crisis on whether or not she was fit to be the captain of the group, but Natalie Valentine's attack on the Gion Matsuri had restored Mira's confidence. "What's goin' on over there?"
"Well... Akira and Souji saw someone you might know," Mira answered, taking out her phone to show the picture she'd taken, that of a certain psycho ex-boyfriend the spies were very familiar with.
"W-Wait, hold on, what in the holy heck is James doing in Tachikawa?!" May gasped.
"We're not sure, but he's been acting really creepy whenever we've seen him lurking," Dizzy explained. "And recently, there have been reports of missing women all around the Tachikawa area, starting almost around the first time we noticed him."
"Sounds like a James thing he'd do," Haruka groaned.
"Hold on, what's this about him?" Sam wondered, having heard James' name when the rest of the spies entered the penthouse.
"Welp, apparently, James is in Tachikawa kidnapping women for whatever reason," May responded.
"And how much do you wanna bet that this has something to do with his latest scheme to take Sam away from me?" Mat sighed.
"It's James' M.O., so of course he'd try something like that," Nick quipped. "We'd better get to W.O.O.H.P. and gadget up."
"We'll be there just as soon as we can, Mira," May stated. "And then we'll all group up and kick his face in together."
"Sounds like a plan, May," Mira proclaimed. "We'll see you soon!"
With that in mind, the spies all left Mali-U and took off for W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters.
To be continued in Totally Spies: Fleeting Feelings...