4:31 A.M. – The Shatterverse
Ancient Pyramid
Thankful for the chance Alex had given him, Nick rolled to a stop after being flung through the gateway and into what appeared to be the inside of an ancient pyramid.
Wondering what exactly he'd find here besides another shard of the Paradox Prism, Nick began exploring this oddly-decorated pyramid in hopes of finding his target before Captain Dread came calling.
Making sure to take slow steps so nothing could ambush him, Nick made his way through the twisting hallways, occasionally stopping to read the hieroglyphics printed on the walls of this tomb in hopes it would lead him to what he was searching for.
He was glad he'd learned how to at least attempt to translate hieroglyphics after that one caper in Egypt. He just hoped that he'd be able to do it on another caper, and that meant he had to find that Prism Shard quickly.
Thankfully, the hieroglyphs pointed him towards the center of the tomb, and eventually, he found himself in a small room with a coffin in the center.
And given the way the red and green shards in his Jetpack Backpack were reacting, the coffin probably had his target in there.
Walking up to the coffin and pushing the lid off as quickly as he could, Nick looked down and smiled, seeing the yellow Prism Shard being held by the mummy in the coffin.
Nick gently extricated the Yellow Prism Shard from the mummy's hands and turned to head back to the gateway...
...only to hear moaning from all sides.
Nick looked up to see seven or eight mummies, including the one he'd taken the Prism Shard from, all standing and surrounding him.
Man, this just isn't my day, is it? Nick thought as he prepared himself. Apparently, the mummies weren't going to just let him waltz out of the tomb with the Prism Shard.
Just then, as he prepared to escape, a horrifying thought struck him.
Why hadn't Captain Dread followed him?
If only holders of Prism Shards could pass through the gateways, then...
...oh, shit.
(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 107: Fleeting Feelings
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: May 24th, 2024
Story Summary: The one-hundred and forty-fifth co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode one hundred and seven of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. It's another Jellyfish Pirates emergency, as the spies' "favorite" ex-boyfriend James has been spotted skulking around Tachikawa kidnapping people's girlfriends in an attempt to get Sam to see his twisted way of thinking. Naturally, the spies are quick to jet over to Tachikawa to assist the Jellyfish Pirates in kicking James out of the country, but the whole "kidnapping girlfriends" plot might have hit a little close to home for Haruka, who's still trying to figure out how to confess her feelings for Nick. However, a sinister move from James and the sudden appearance of Captain Dread may bring Haruka's feelings into the open whether she's ready or not...
Author's Notes from Mat49324: Well, Calamity Call has been wrapped up, and that's where I had decided to start the 2010 Supercross season in the epilogue. Last time, the spies got sent back to the Datascape once again to clean out a virus altered by The Brain. Well, today, we will not be in the Datascape for three missions in a row. Also, if you have paid attention to other stuff away from missions, one in particular will be settled in this project. For now, here's The Blue Time Ranger with anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: And season nine has hit the midway point with another Jellyfish Pirates adventure! But this one's gonna have a lot of different dramatic points, including James and his James-ness, the possibility that Haruka might finally be revealing her feelings for Nick, and even backstory for Captain Dread and what exactly she needs the Paradox Prism to do. We've got all sorts of fun stuff today, so let's get right down to business! ROLL IT!
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters or locations created by us truly for the story. Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we did own Totally Spies, which we don't, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?
Act 1: Always a Chance
1:31 P.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
("Harukaze" by SCANDAL plays)
"Should I even be surprised that you've been following that blog again?" Haruka chuckled as she walked into the spies' penthouse and saw May sitting down at the desk, her laptop open and the browser on the blog page of Idol Opportunity.
"Their third Idol Travels World Tour is already in full swing," May quipped. "I'm just glad Nick and I didn't miss their last Beverly Hills show."
"Well, you'd never pass up an opportunity to hit up their show if it's in our neck of the woods," Haruka replied.
"You know me too well, Haruka," May laughed. "Oh, speaking of which..."
May looked around to make sure nobody else was in earshot, and Haruka knew what she was probably about to ask.
"If you must know, May, I've been thinking about it, and... I'm going to tell him tomorrow," Haruka stated. "We don't really have much to do tomorrow, so we should have all the time we need to get things sorted out with as little drama as possible."
"Remember, Haruka, I think you're just worrying too much," May answered. "Just let things flow as the will, and we'll take care of the rest once we've gotten that out in the open."
"Maybe," Haruka admitted. "Was it hard for you to keep your feelings a secret for as long as you did?"
"I didn't keep it secret as long as you probably did, but it was still pretty hard," May responded. "Even though it turned out I really didn't have anything to worry about."
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, getting a call from RiCO on the way.
"If it's about James, then we already got the heads-up from the Jellyfish Pirates," Britney stated.
"Always on the ball, huh?" RiCO chuckled. "I've got your gadgets waiting in your Skyskimmer on the rooftop, so go ahead and jet over there!"
"Don't have to tell us twice," Sam quipped as the spies all landed on the rooftop so they could board the Skyskimmer and take off for Tachikawa.
"Stopping James again... what a mission," May groaned.
"Tell me about it," Dawn replied. "It's one thing to be persistent, but this is not persistence, it's PESSIMISM!"
"No arguments there," Clover scoffed.
"Safe to say James has taken a textbook definition of 'egotistical,'" Bridget stated. "That guy needs real help!"
"Totally!" Sam exclaimed in full agreement with Bridget.
She then noticed Mat was unusually quiet, but she knew why; Mat even had a bitter look on his face, too. Sam tried to put an arm around Mat to let him know she'd be there for him. Fortunately, Mat did not shove Sam away.
"Mat, maybe it's best if you just stay optimistic since that was just the first round, after all," Melissa tried to say to him.
"That's why I'm trying not to go that route for Chad Reed," Mat sighed. "Part of me feels that he should've stayed at Suzuki, though..."
Alex saw how down in the dumps Mat was, and she remembered she felt like Mat when the Beverly High Soccer Coach retired so abruptly.
"I'm sure things will get better," Blaine replied.
"...they better," Mat remarked. "I'm not counting Chad Reed out, but he better turn things around quick..."
"Mat, I admit, you sure have a lot of passion in Supercross, and Chad Reed particularly," May told him. "But you really show a lot of yourself this way..."
"I'll say," Melissa replied. "You show no bias or whatnot, and you're a helluva lot more patient than some others I know."
"Bro, I've no doubt you got a bright future as any journalist," Nick added. "You've got that drive to keep going no matter what gets in your way."
He also knew he did a "brotherly" thing trying to get a grasp on what made Supercross, and sports in general, Mat's true passion, and that Mat wasn't just left alone to his own thing.
"It also pains us to see you like this, too," Nozomi added.
"I just know it's hard to forget such a lousy race like that," Mat merely replied.
"Trust me, I know that feeling," Nick quipped.
"Like that one time the old Bev High track team took on those guys from Miami Dade," Bridget chuckled. "Oof, I almost feel bad for those amateurs. Key word being 'almost'."
"You're not wrong, man," Blaine replied.
The spies then heard a ding.
"Oh, we're close to Tachikawa," Sam told the others.
Haruka, on the other hand, managed to keep a straight face despite a slight glance at Nick.
5:51 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
("Touchdown" by Garrett Douglas plays)
May looked around for the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates until she then noticed Akira waving them down.
"So, we heard you had a problem with James?" Bridget asked after exchanging hellos.
"Yes, we are," Dizzy replied.
"We had no clue who this James character was until April figured it out," Akira added.
"How?" Alex wondered.
"Well, at first we weren't entirely sure what his deal was, besides the fact that he looked like a creep," April answered.
"But when we started tailing him to make sure he wasn't causing any trouble, we heard him mention you, Sam," Fena stated.
"That, combined with that crazy look on his face and the missing people reports that started around the time we first saw him, let us put the pieces together," Yuki quipped.
"Surprised you 'dated' him, Sam," Jam commented.
"More like used her," Clover corrected.
"Just call him egotistical because he won't accept that I am engaged," Sam scoffed.
"Oh, so he's one of those self-absorbed pricks, huh?" Jam chuckled.
"That's putting it mildly, Jam," Mat stated. "We actually haven't had to deal with him for a while. We were just hoping it would be longer..."
"Yeah, he sounds like a real pain," Mira sighed.
"Ooh, you don't know the half of it, Mira," Melissa responded. "He just never learns, no matter how many freakin' times we take him down."
"And lord only knows why he's kidnapping women, especially around here," Nozomi noted. "How about we go and find him and kick his keester a few dozen times already?"
"Now you're talking my language, Nozomi," Nick chuckled as he used his psychic radar to search the area for any sign of James.
The entire group followed Nick as he continued to search the suburban area of Tachikawa for their target while the spies regaled the Jellyfish Pirates with tales of their recent adventures.
"Wait, so, she escaped from a secret underground facility?" Dizzy gasped. "I thought that only happens in science fiction novels."
"Oh, man, you guys would have loved Henya," May giggled.
"I wonder where she is right now?" Dawn asked.
"Knowing Henya and her portals, it could really be anywhere," Alex quipped.
Just then, Nick quickly perked up and glanced to the northwest.
"Did you find him, Nick?" Sam wondered.
"I don't think it's James, but whoever it is, they sound panicked," Nick responded. "Let's go and check things out."
With that, the spies and Jellyfish Pirates headed off in the direction of those panicked thoughts, only to find a woman about their age running from somewhere in that same direction.
"H-Help, please! Somebody get this creep away from me!" the woman exclaimed.
"Whoa, whoa, miss, what's the matter?" Mira wondered, shifting into 'captain mode'. "Who's trying to be a creep?"
"I don't know who he is, but I was just out on a date with my boyfriend, and this crazy-looking guy just butt in and tried to kidnap me," the woman gasped. "I just managed to get away, but I think he's still chasing me. ...oh, god, what if he's the one who's been kidnapping women lately?!"
"Yeah, that sounds like a James thing he would do," Sam groaned.
"You just get somewhere safe, okay, miss?" May stated. "The Jellyfish Pirates will handle mister grabby."
The woman nodded and dashed off, leaving the spies and Jellyfish Pirates to get ready.
"She said she had a boyfriend," Clover quipped. "Oh, lord, if that's what he's trying to do..."
"Heads up, everyone!" Akira exclaimed. "Creep-a-tronic at five o'clock!"
Practically the instant James came into view, running like a crazy man and laughing manically, Nick blasted him down with a Final Shine Attack.
"You really could have left us alone for a lot longer than this, James," Nick taunted. "You know, spare us the trouble of having to deal with your pasty ass."
"But my plan worked like a charm, didn't it?" James chuckled. "After all, if I start kidnapping ladies, it'd literally bring you running anywhere, and right into my little spider-web."
"Oh, go and gag yourself with a rusty spork, you ego-driven maniac," Sam growled. "I don't know how many freakin' times I have to say this, but I'll keep saying it until you give up this pointless crusade. There is no place in my future for you, and THAT IS FINAL!"
"I'm sure you'll come around to my way of thinking soon enough, my dear Samantha," James quipped. "Otherwise, who knows how many more ladies might go 'missing'?"
"Not while we're on the clock, you self-absorbed Looney Tune!" Mira exclaimed, catching James' attention.
"And who might you meddlers be?" James wondered. "If you're with the spies, then you're clearly my enemies, too."
"...you know, I'm very glad you asked us that, James," May chuckled. "All right, everyone, let's do the 'thing' and tell this nutjob of an ex-boyfriend just who the hell we are!"
With that, the Jellyfish Pirates all got into position for their big speech.
"We are the guardians of Tachikawa!" May proclaimed.
"The worst nightmare of bullies everywhere," Mira proclaimed.
"Determined to protect the innocent!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Defending the dreams of the students!" April exclaimed.
"Putting troublemakers in their place," Souji continued.
"Making school life a fun place to be," Akira stated.
"Sticking it to anyone who would try to knock us down!" Dizzy shouted.
"Never forgetting our own dreams!" Fena proclaimed.
"And staying cool in the face of adversity!" Jam finished.
"Smiling in the face of danger, we are the Jellyfish Pirates!" all nine members exclaimed as they performed their group pose together.
"And as the official guardians of such, we're here to cave your face in," Dizzy shouted. "So let's get ready to throw down, James!"
Not waiting for a retort from James, the Jellyfish Pirates all charged into battle.
"Oh, this is going to be easier than I thought," James cackled as he prepared himself.
"Underestimate us at your own peril, jerk-face," Fena taunted.
James jumped forward to try and pounce on Fena, but she rolled away at the last second so that James only pounced on the concrete, giving Jam ample opportunity to slide in and knock James into the air with a rising uppercut punch.
Before James could recover, Mira ran in close, grabbed James by the ankles, and power-slammed him back into the ground.
May quickly summoned her anchor via her Emergency Gadget Transporter and slammed it into the ground right in front of James, missing his face by barely an inch.
"Now get up," May proclaimed. "We're not even close to done beating you down yet."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, but we'll have to pick up our business another time," James laughed. "I have lots to do, after all."
James then threw down a smoke bomb in order to cover his escape.
"Aw, man, I hate it when they do that," April groaned.
"We do, too," Clover chuckled.
"He thankfully didn't get far," Nick responded. "Let's keep going, shall we?"
"Wait, what about the other women that are still missing?" Haruka wondered. "After all, if James just kidnapped a bunch of women to lure us here, then they've gotta still be here in Tachikawa somewhere."
"I'm gonna go with the Jellyfish Pirates and try to find the missing ladies," May proclaimed. "The rest of you go after James and give him some much-needed lumps, 'kay?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sam quipped.
The group all split off, most of the spies heading off in the direction that James had fled in, with May and the Jellyfish Pirates going in another direction to try and find the missing women.
"Where's this guy get off doing something Eugene Snit would do?!" Clover chastised.
"We'll never know with our rogues' gallery, honestly," Bridget groaned.
"Snit better not be in cahoots with him," Nick remarked.
"Why did I ever think we'd have a future together?!" Sam chastised.
"It wasn't your fault, Sammy," Alex replied. "He spilled his guts to you, and now he's completely twisted everything around like it wasn't his fault! That's all on him!"
"Totally," Clover grimaced. "Where he got this line of thinking, I'll never know..."
"Save that for later," Britney told the group.
"You found something, Brit?" Sam asked.
"A couple of somethings, actually," Britney replied.
"Looks like some kind of powder," Nozomi observed. "And there's a note as well..."
She picked it up and cringed at the contents. Britney got a look, too.
"You better read this, Sam," Britney gagged.
Sam did so, and she was appalled.
"Break off your engagement or I will show the whole world how you and I worked together..." Sam read.
"What an egotistical jackass!" Clover exclaimed.
"But Sam found a heck of a replacement in Mat," Melissa pointed out.
"No doubt she did," Nick remarked.
Alex knew she was in the same boat with Nick after finding out her crush Chet was really Eugene Snit in disguise.
"Maybe Jerry and RiCO can fill in the blanks on this powder," Sam quipped and scanned it with her X-Powder.
On the side, Haruka had a bit of a hot flash in her body that her time to tell Nick was suddenly nearing.
Still, Haruka kept firm on her decision to tell Nick when this caper was over. She figured it'd be better than having to do it in the middle of a mission with tensions as high as they were from having to deal with someone like James.
"I think I'm picking up James' thoughts nearby," Nick told the others.
That was when Sam heard her X-Powder chirp.
"Guys, we've got a problem," May replied on the other end.
"Is it James?" Britney asked.
"He found us!" Mira corrected.
"Say what?!" Bridget chastised. "Where are you?!"
"We're down by the Skywhirl Tower," Dizzy stated. "You might want to hurry over here. We can take this doofus no problem, but I don't know if he's got something else up his sleeve."
"Don't worry, you guys, we're on our way!" Alex proclaimed. "Come on, everyone, let's get moving!"
As the spies headed off in the direction of the Skywhirl Tower, if they had stopped to look around, they might have noticed a strange light opening up on a nearby rooftop.
The strange light appeared to be a glass plate with cracks in it. Suddenly, that glass shattered outwards and a familiar purple glow surrounded the "doorway", the 'glass shards' hanging there in the air. Captain Dread stepped out of the rift and onto the rooftop before the rift closed up just as quickly as it had appeared, the "glass shards" retreating to reform the "glass plate" before it disappeared.
"Hmmm... so this is the dimension he hails from," Captain Dread chuckled as she glanced around Tachikawa. "Quite the quaint little place."
Captain Dread looked down at the Blue Prism Shard in her hands, then back towards the city. "I wonder... what can I do here to have some fun?" Captain Dread wondered as she used the power of the Blue Prism Shard to spread her senses out and find the spies.
Eventually, she did find them, but made sure to keep her 'probes' at low power, otherwise that psychic boy would no doubt pick up on her.
And what she found in one of them... well, it definitely intrigued her.
"Well, well," Captain Dread quipped. "This is going to be a lot more fun than I imagined. But I shouldn't just force my way there and bull-rush them about it. No, this one requires a little more... creative-ness."
Captain Dread flew in the opposite direction that the spies had headed off to, since she wanted there to be some drama.
What fun would it be otherwise?
7:12 P.M. – Tachikawa, Tokyo
The Skywhirl Tower
"Stand still, you little Japanese brats!" James growled as she ducked under a flurry of punches from both Souji and Akira, only for Yuki to leapfrog off of their shoulders and knock James back with a bicycle kick.
"Oh, you're definitely one to talk about calling other people 'brats' when that's exactly how you're acting!" Dizzy retorted as she spun around and kicked James away so that April could grab him in a full nelson and powerslam him back into the ground.
"What part of 'Sam has a fiancée that she loves very dearly' hasn't registered in your brain after god only knows how many years?!" Mira exclaimed.
"Oh, she won't be with that little Hawaiian dish for very long," James laughed. "Either she gets with me like she was always supposed to, or she's going to be in a whole heap of trouble. After all, she did work with me to kidnap the president..."
"More like you lied and bewitched her, you stubborn punk!" April shot back, stepping forward to land a right hook to James' face.
"And further, from what the spies told us, the president back then was actually a close friend of Jerry, so Jerry could easily let him know the actual truth, that you manipulated her into doing your wicked whims!" Fena shouted as she leg sweeped James off of her feet before actually spinning around and using her long hair (which she had let grow back recently) to whip in the face a la Shantae.
"So why don't you just give it up and take your lumps like a good little jerk?!" May exclaimed as she summoned her anchor and started swinging it wildly, forcing James backwards with each swing until she finally connected with an overhead strike and sent James sprawling.
"So sorry to cut and run, but I really do have an appointment with other matters right now," James quipped as he picked himself up. "Notably, preparing for my upcoming wedding."
"...are you seriously that whacked in the head?!" Jam growled. "Do you honestly think that Sam would ever kowtow to your selfish chicanery after everything you've done?!"
"It's inevitable, to be completely honest," James laughed. "Sam will be mine, no matter what she says to the contrary. She can't stop me, and whiny little brats like you won't stop me, either."
Before James could continue his gloating, he was suddenly knocked down by a Final Shine Attack to his back, courtesy of Nick.
"Then how about us, the peeps who have stopped you multiple times?" Nick taunted. "You really want to keep perpetuating this stupid runaround and see where it gets you?"
James glanced around at all twenty-two of the group surrounding him, and decided that a tactical retreat was the best option at this point.
"Make no mistake, Sam you will be mine before long, so enjoy your last day with that little punk," James cackled before retreating.
"...good lord, what you guys said about him doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what kind of egomaniac he is," Mira sighed as everyone regrouped.
"Sadly, it doesn't seem like he's going to stop anytime soon," Sam groaned.
"How, exactly, do you deal with him so often?" Dizzy wondered. "With what we've seen, James seems like he's incredibly unbearable to even be in the general vicinity of."
"Understatement of the freakin' millennium, Dizzy," Britney sighed.
"We actually haven't had to deal with him for a while, since that one time he actually went into the future with Boogie Gus to try and mess up our lives in that time period," Sam quipped.
"He went to the future just to make you his 'woman'?" Jam gasped. "Jeez louise..."
"Yeah, he's one of the exceptional few members of our rogues' gallery who manage to piss us off just on sight," Mat stated. "Especially me, with his constant attempts to get Sam to come back to him when she buried that shovel a long time ago."
"On that note, did any of you find where James might be keeping the women he's captured?" Alex asked.
"I thought I heard some shouting around here, so that's why we came to the Skywhirl Tower to check things out, and then mister happy jumped us," Mira explained. "It might be as good a place as any to check out first."
With that in mind, the entire group made their way into the Skywhirl Tower, Nick using his psychic radar to search for any sign of panicked thoughts that would lead them to the hostages.
"Man, why does the Skywhirl Tower always seem to find itself the centerpiece of some kind of trouble whenever your baddies find themselves here?" Jam wondered.
"Well, it is a major monument for our city," May chuckled. "Things like that really tend to just attract all kinds of troublemakers."
"Hey, yeah, did we ever tell you about that?" April laughed. "The Skywhirl Tower had a weird break-in literally just a few days after we got back from the Gion Matsuri."
"Some nutball had just been dumped by his ex-wife when she caught him cheating on her, and he started doing strange things just to try and win her back," Souji chuckled.
"By far the craziest thing he did was, and I wish I was kidding on this, actually streak completely naked around the Skywhirl Tower," Akira quipped.
"For some reason, he apparently thought that if he did some kind of 'grand romantic gesture', he could win his wife back," Yuki giggled. "He didn't realize until after he'd been arrested that all he really did was make a complete mook of himself."
"I guess love can really make people do crazy things, huh?" Nozomi replied. "Even if some idiots take it too far."
"Hey, I think I hear someone shouting," Haruka noted.
Sure enough, Nick focused his psychic radar on the area that Haruka had mentioned and headed that way to what appeared to be just an ordinary wall. But on the other side, the spies could now hear the panicked shouts of multiple women on the other side of the wall.
"Problem," Bridget stated. "How exactly do we open this 'door' without causing unnecessary damage?"
"Wait a minute, it looks like there's a little computer thing here," Nick quipped. "RiCO, would you mind?"
"No problem-o," RiCO giggled from Nick's X-Powder as he held it up to the computer so RiCO could do her hacking thing.
After about ten seconds, the 'wall' opened itself up to reveal a storage room with a bunch of scared women huddled inside it.
"Easy, ladies, we're here to rescue you," Mat proclaimed.
"Let me guess, a certain crazy guy put you in here?" Nick stated.
"Oof, crazy doesn't even begin to describe him," one of the ladies shuddered. "He was raving on and on about this one lady he's obsessed with, saying he'd 'get her to see my way eventually'..."
"Yup, that definitely sounds like James," Sam groaned.
"One of my besties was kidnapped by that weirdo, but she's not here, so..." another lady stated.
"Yikes, you think he's got even more hostages around Tachikawa?" Blaine wondered.
"That seems to be the logical conclusion," Sam responded. "Let's get these ladies out of here and into safe hands and then keep looking."
The group all ferried the women out of the 'safe room' and back into the city so the local police could take them to safety.
"Man, is it just me, or does it feel like James just keeps hitting new lows every time we face off with him?" Alex quipped.
"Yeah, it's like, just when you think he can't hit any further than rock bottom, some numbnut in your rogues' gallery throws him a shovel," Dizzy chuckled.
"That's the general idea," Melissa giggled.
"Thankfully, it doesn't look like James left the city," RiCO proclaimed from Nick's X-Powder. "He's still in Tachikawa, probably trying to find more ladies to snatch."
"Then let's head out and beat his pasty ass to the punch, shall we?" Bridget stated.
"Sounds like a plan to me, Bridget," Sam chuckled. "Shall we go stomp him, everyone?"
With a unanimous cry of "HELL YEAH", the spies and Jellyfish Pirates all set out to keep up the search for James...
...only for a blast of aquatic blue energy to strike the ground right in the middle of the group, sending everyone scattering in different directions.
"All right, who's the wise guy who just tried to hit us with that cheap shot?!" Mira shouted.
"Don't tell me that James found us instead..." Souji groaned.
May was the first to look up towards whoever had just attacked them, and her expression changed quickly.
"...um, May? Am I seeing this right?" April gasped when she noticed who was staring them down.
It wasn't James who had attacked them.
It was Captain Dread.
"Well, well, fancy meeting all of you here," Captain Dread quipped.
"It ain't so fancy for us, you witch," May retorted, summoning her anchor back to her hands.
"Are we seeing double, or are we just seeing things?" Akira wondered.
"Long story short, Captain Dread's a dimensional counterpart of May, but she's pure evil," Sam explained. "And she's after a reality-bending artifact from another dimension called the Paradox Prism."
"Really? 'Pure evil'?" Captain Dread chuckled. "How sad that you think you know everything about me just because I'm someone's dimensional counterpart. It seems like I need to teach you lot a lesson about making assumptions."
Captain Dread raised the Blue Prism Shard, using its powers to trap Haruka inside a bubble of blue light.
"I'll take this one as my, let's call it 'lock and key'," Captain Dread proclaimed. "I definitely expect you to follow me, but if you want to save her, you'd better hurry and do it fast."
With that, Captain Dread flew off with her hostage in tow.
"Okay, so, what just happened?!" Dizzy exclaimed.
"We'll give you the full rundown on the way," Nick responded. "Right now, we need to catch up to Captain Dread, because I don't think she has happy fun times in mind."
And as the spies took off to catch up with Captain Dread, May couldn't help but think that Haruka's feelings were about to be revealed.
She could only hope that the others would be willing to give her a chance.
To be continued...
Next time...
Dizzy: Wait, so you're telling me that your dimensional counterpart broke the Paradox Prism trying to keep it out of that Tim Scam's hands?
Alex: What's worse, I have a feeling Captain Dread isn't native to that particular dimension. What the heck she wants with the Paradox Prism is beyond me...
Nozomi: I'm more concerned with why she kidnapped Haruka.
Mat: Nutjobs like that rarely need a good reason to do the scummy things they do.
Mira: I just realized something. How are we supposed to track her? Since she's probably not a part of your rogues' gallery here, she might not be in your database for RiCO to do her usual thing...
RiCO: Never fear, Mira, I have just the solution. I'm actually tracking the energy signature emanating from the Prism Shard that Captain Dread's carrying.
Nick: Even interdimensional pirates can't hide from RiCO's all-seeing eye. Let's hurry up, everyone.
Bridget: Yeah, let's burn all the rubber to the next act of Totally Spies: Fleeting Feelings, "Strength of Heart"!
May: I still can't get over the fact that Captain Dread's actor actually looks so much like me.
Nick: I think that was kinda the point, May, what with the whole "dimensional counterpart" thing.