Unknown Time – The Still World
"Man, she's hyper today, isn't she?" Cecilia chuckled as the Arbiters followed Gigi, who was still hopping along the floating platforms to find any Collective goons that were currently here.
"She really wants to get out of this place," Raora answered. "I'll admit, this place creeps me out, too, but..."
Suddenly, a loud gasp of shock from Gigi caught everyone's attention, and they followed Gigi to a higher platform. This platform, however, held something entirely different from everything else.
This platform housed what appeared to be a British restaurant, only in distorted and warped pieces, and there were even a few people here, though they had been turned to stone with shocked expressions on their faces.
"...it happened again, didn't it?" Elizabeth sighed. This was usually the fate of anyone who ended up getting sucked into the Still World without special protection like them. "Another part of our world was swallowed up by a rift."
"I swear, Null must be doing this on purpose," Gigi growled. "Those Collective nut loafs don't have that kind of power."
"But I thought Null couldn't do anything while it's sealed away?" Cecilia wondered.
"Probably a consequence of the seal weakening," Raora answered. "Null is using what little power is has while sealed to open those rifts and swallow up parts of the living world."
"Its eternal desire to return everything to the void, where only it and absolutely nothing else exists," Elizabeth stated.
"Well, we're not going to let that happen as long as we're still breathing!" Gigi proclaimed. "I think I'm actually willing to stay here a bit longer, if only to pound those Collective freaks for what they've done!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Gigi," Raora giggled. "Let's keep moving, then."
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(The pages constantly turn, no matter how long the reader takes. When one story ends, another story will inevitably start. In the end, there is only a new beginning.)
Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger are proud to present:
Totally Spies: The New Adventures
Episode 120: Lustful Lifeguards
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: November 15th, 2024
Story Summary: The one-hundred and sixty-second co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode one hundred twenty of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. A bunch of beachgoers at the Mali-U beach are getting stuck out in the wide ocean, so the spies decide to step in and help out, even if one of the students might have developed an infatuation with Haruka, not knowing she already has a boyfriend. The spies will quickly discover that this epidemic of misfired swimmers is actually the work of Edison and Geraldine Husk. Can the spies manage to beat back another LAMOS plot and hopefully drill it into one particular student's head that Haruka is already spoken for?
Author's Notes from Mat49324: Well, it's time now for our next project. We hope you enjoyed Clock Cleaners, and that you'll enjoy this new one. Let's just say this one came as another inspiration from an episode of Baywatch Hawaii from the early 2000s. Now, I did get an inspiration from another episode with Sentimental Showdown... and how ironic that it happened again. We're getting closer and closer to the spies celebrating another summer off, and it'll be very soon. In the meantime, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: I think Mat likes Baywatch a lot, can you tell? Regardless, we're halfway through season ten, but the ball keeps on rolling as we inch closer to the summertime (at least in-story; it's almost winter over in my neck of the woods and UGH), and in a rare case, we technically have two LAMOS plots in a row! Funny story: I initially thought Geraldine was part of the LAMOS as well (mostly because I hadn't seen the show in a while before The New Adventures really got started), hence why she is in The New Adventures, but no actual dice in the original show. We've come too far to change that now (OR HAVE WE?!), so let's get this crazy adventure started! ROLL IT!
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters or locations created by us truly for the story. Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we did own Totally Spies, which we don't, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?
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Act 1: Swept Out to Sea
12:59 P.M. – Malibu University
Beach Area
The spies were busy enjoying another day at the Mali-U beach with the Spring term winding down, and summer vacation getting closer and closer. For a change, Nick, Dawn, and Haruka were out in the ocean together snorkeling. Dawn could see Nick looking at Haruka, who went with a two-piece once again when they came up for air.
"You got it bad with her, Nick," Dawn teased.
"That's just typical Haruka," Nick chuckled. "I'm used to it by now."
Haruka, naturally, took advantage of this opportunity and swam up to sweep her hand forward, splashing both Nick and Dawn at the same time.
"R-Really necessary, Haruka?!" Dawn sputtered.
"Too easy," Haruka laughed, only to be telekinetically yanked underwater by Nick.
"There, now we're even," Nick retorted.
Four of the spies were doing a beach volleyball game – particularly Clover, Blaine, Nozomi, and May – while some were checking out the view, and others were in the water cooling off.
"Perfect," Sam giggled and stretched in her red and white tie-on bikini.
She also had a smoothie with her to keep cool.
Mat was sitting beside her in his board shorts and sighed; he still wasn't over what happened to Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto #2, who crashed himself out of the series at the last race in St. Louis. However, something else seemed to cross his mind, which Sam noticed.
"Need I ask, Mat?" Sam wondered.
"Well, as disappointed as I am that Villopoto's out, I think this is a golden opportunity for Chad Reed to win his first race of 2010 before Supercross is over..." Mat replied. "But at the same time, I'm hoping you're just peachy despite a green bike's not winning the Supercross title this year after Christophe Pourcel locked up the East title at Houston?"
"Pretty much," Sam giggled. "You know me so well, honey."
"And how do you know that Ryan Dungey's the champion already?" Melissa asked, having overheard. "Nozomi said it isn't over..."
"Well, 'leg injury' is the key word," Mat started. "So, I don't see Ryan Villopoto showing up for the next round in Seattle, even IF he's 36 behind and the only one with a chance to rob Dungey of the title."
Sam noticed Mat had carved a 5, a 2, and a 14 in the sand as well.
"What's that about?" Sam wondered.
"I can already see how the series is going to end," Mat answered. "Ryan Dungey... Ryan Villopoto... Kevin Windham."
He'd pointed at the 5, 2, and 14 to signify their numbers.
"What's going on?" Bridget asked, coming back with some lunch.
"MY SERVE!" May shouted as she leaped into the air to knock the ball towards Nozomi, who jumped off of May's shoulders and spiked the ball with both hands, sending it sailing past Clover and Blaine before they even knew what had happened.
"Basically that," Michi chuckled, dressed in a striped purple two-piece.
May was the first to notice what some of the girls were doing around Mat.
"I'm just hoping the worst is over, and Chad Reed can salvage this lost season with a win before Supercross is done," Mat told the others when May came to see what was up.
He looked to see Alex, Britney, and Michi were enjoying the ocean; simultaneously, Blaine, Clover, and Nozomi were all going to the ocean to cool off.
"Hey, I'm sure he's gonna come out of this with a way to hold his head high," May quipped. "Reed's one tough cookie, after all."
"I'm hoping Chad Reed being a dad will give him that spark to get a win before Supercross is done," Mat remarked.
"Regardless, I'm sticking by you," Sam told Mat.
Before long, the spies looked off in the distance to see Nick and Haruka waving an arm at the lifeguard on shore to get his attention.
"Hey, what's going on?" May asked.
"Oh, that looks like trouble," Alex quipped. "It looks like some of the swimmers are getting dragged out to sea!"
"Oof, I'm starting to think that someone in our rogues' gallery might be behind that," Melissa noted.
As the spies moved in to assist, Nick and Haruka were already swimming out alongside the lifeguard to help out the swimmers who'd been dragged away, Nick in particular feeling very glad that he could actually swim now.
"You okay there?" Haruka asked as she grabbed one swimmer and pulled him away from the wider ocean.
"Y-Yeah, I don't know what just happened," the swimmer gasped. "They didn't say anything about possible riptides today, did they?"
"You just let us worry about that, okay?" Haruka chuckled. "You doing good over there, Nick?"
"Yup, I've got two more," Nick responded. "I think that's all of them, so let's get back to shore before something else wacky happens."
With that in mind, both Nick and Haruka swam back to shore, and the small gaggle of swimmers all moved as far away from the water as they could, having clearly had enough of swimming for one day.
"Whew, that was close, huh?" Bridget quipped.
"And now I'm definitely sure that somebody from our rogues' gallery might have something to do with this," Haruka responded. "The swimmer I rescued said there wasn't supposed to be any riptides today, and I'd think the beach would be closed if there were."
"Yeah, I definitely smell a rat or two," Sam stated. "Let's get our butts over to W.O.O.H.P. and see if Jerry knows anything about what might be going on."
With that, the spies all left the beach and started making their way to W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters, though if they'd stayed longer, they would have noticed the swimmer Haruka had saved staring wistfully in her direction.
1:43 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Ah, you're right on time, spies," Jerry proclaimed as the spies and Michi all entered his office and changed into their spy suits.
"We had to rescue some swimmers who got dragged away by the current, and we figured it had something to do with our baddies," Alex responded.
"You seem to know who it could be, right?" Blaine asked.
"That would be these two weirdoes," RiCO stated as she materialized in the office, waving her hands to change the office viewscreen to a mugshot of both Edison and Geraldine Husk.
"Well, well, we haven't had to deal with him in a while, huh?" Nozomi chuckled. "I still have a mind to pop that guy in the face for what he tried to do to my parents."
"And of course Geraldine's back," Clover groaned. "I've really had enough of her skanky face to last me the rest of my life."
"I shudder to think what those two creeps are cooking up together, so how about we head out and deliver their scheduled beatdowns?" May quipped.
"Hey, don't forget about me!" Sortiliena exclaimed as she ran into the office and skidded to a stop.
"No chance in heck we'd ever do that, Sortiliena," Britney chuckled.
"You always seem to show up right when these LAMOS guys are on the loose, huh?" Michi noted.
"Oh, guess I didn't explain that last time, huh?" Sortiliena giggled. "Basically, the LAMOS kidnapped one of my students and tried to use me as their pawn to take down W.O.O.H.P., but the spies helped me out of that predicament. So, basically, whenever they have to deal with someone from the LAMOS, I always show up to assist them."
"You think they'd get sick of you kicking their tails by now, huh?" Haruka laughed.
"Has there been any sign of either of them?" Sam wondered.
"We're still tracking Edison, but Geraldine seems to have made her way downtown," iCO answered, the office viewscreen now displaying a map of the downtown area, a blinking dot showing Geraldine's precise location.
"Then let's go do what we always do, shall we?" Nick proclaimed.
2:16 P.M. – Downtown Beverly Hills
"I don't see her anywhere nearby," Dawn noted as the spies headed towards the downtown park, still searching for Geraldine. "You don't think she chickened out, do you?"
Nick glanced upwards when he sensed something approaching them.
"Nope, she's trying to ambush us from above!" Nick exclaimed.
As Geraldine prepared to fire on the spies, Michi thought of something clever and raised her hand. A large green portal opened right in front of Geraldine, and she didn't have time to change her orientation, only gasp in surprise as she flew headlong into the portal.
Michi raised her other hand and opened up another portal near a statue in the park area, causing Geraldine to fly out of it and smack headfirst into the statue.
"Okay, that was funny," Alex giggled.
"...oh, wonderful, we've got another genius who can create portals," Geraldine groaned. "Have I mentioned that your kind is really annoying?"
"Yeah, well, get used to it," Michi taunted.
"Why is it that every time I see you, you seem to have another new meddler joining your entourage?" Geraldine quipped as she picked herself back up.
"Maybe that's none of your business," Mat retorted. "And where, pray tell, is your partner?"
"Oh, he's elsewhere, working on something for our plan," Geraldine responded. "So you'll just have to play with me for a little bit."
Sortiliena stepped up first, immediately shifting into a fighting stance.
"Oh, we're gonna do more than just 'play'," Sortiliena taunted. "I hope you're ready for a smackdown, Geraldine, because that's exactly what we're giving you!"
"We don't know what you've got in mind, but consider your plans cooked!" Alex exclaimed.
"Oh, I would not consider that at all," Geraldine sneered.
"What's with you disturbing our beach day and going after the student body, too?!" Clover asked, demanding an answer.
Melissa and Dawn immediately went for Geraldine before she could give an answer, Melissa bum-rushing her and sweeping her legs out so that she fell to the ground, only for Dawn to use an Anti-Gravity Propulsion Ring to float Geraldine into the air. This allowed Melissa to leapfrog off of Dawn's shoulders to get enough height to snap kick Geraldine back to the ground.
"Very rude to attack when someone's asked a question..." Geraldine remarked with a few clicks of her tongue.
"Either way, we're getting an answer out of you..." Dawn retorted.
"Not if it relates to our 'master plan,' which does..." Geraldine stated.
"Where have we heard that before?" Nick asked rhetorically.
"For the record, I wasn't there when all the beachgoers were in trouble..." Geraldine added with a sneer.
"Yeah, even so, we know either you or your partner is probably responsible for that, so you still gotta take your lumps," Nick quipped as he fired off a Final Shine Attack to send Geraldine reeling backwards.
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Geraldine laughed. "Once I'm finished with you, I'm definitely going to be let back in!"
"And what, exactly, does that mean?" Clover retorted as Geraldine tried to jump-kick her, only for Clover to dodge easily.
"...you got kicked out of the LAMOS, didn't you?" Sortiliena chuckled when she realized what Geraldine was getting at.
"They said they didn't need me dragging them down!" Geraldine shouted.
"Well, this is certainly a plot development," May giggled as she swung her anchor at Geraldine, who just barely managed to dodge it.
Geraldine tried to execute another attack on the spies, but she felt a slightly blurred vision due to Michi's portal attack where she went head-on into the statue.
"This is surprisingly easy this time around!" Nozomi commented.
"Looks like you're losing your touch, Geraldine," Sortiliena remarked.
"Lucky break for us," Clover stated.
"Allow me to do the coup de grace," May proclaimed and summoned her anchor.
She then hurled her anchor at Geraldine and got a direct hit.
"Your portal trick really worked this time, Michi," Sam remarked.
"My sentiments exactly," Mat added. "James Stewart and Ryan Hughes have nothing on these hits to the noggin..."
"That's not all I can do..." Michi told them.
"Oh, and what can you do beside making portals like that cube girl?" Geraldine wondered.
"Watch and learn," Michi responded, her body beginning to glow a bright green. "You might be surprised. Hey, even I'm learning new things to do with these powers of mine."
Geraldine decided to not give Michi a chance to strike and charged for her, only to slow down slightly before she got there, no doubt still a little off her game thanks to Michi's stunt.
This allowed Michi to unleash her gathered power by raising her hand, forming a construct of green energy shaped like a door, and snap her hand down to send the door crashing onto Geraldine's back, instantly flooring her.
Geraldine continued to struggle with occasional neck pain and brain fade from that hit to the statue.
"If only these battles were this easy," Bridget remarked. "Sonic Mode, online!"
Before long, Geraldine could no longer keep up with what attacks the spies had and felt the best alternative was a tactical retreat.
"Folded like a little bitch," Nick quipped.
"I'll take full credit for the portal," Michi laughed.
"At least Geraldine left a calling card behind," Nick stated.
"What'd you find?" Britney wondered.
It looked like an asterisk-shaped gear.
"Hey, I saw something like that when that swimmer was in trouble at the Mali-U Beach!" Haruka exclaimed.
"You did?" Melissa wondered.
"Hopefully Jerry and RiCO can make something of this back at WOOHP," Sam told the spies.
"We certainly can," Jerry stated upon Sam calling him up on the X-Powder.
"With some time, of course," RiCO added.
"We were cornered by Geraldine immediately, too," Clover told Jerry and RiCO before they could ask how things were going.
"Yes, we can see that did happen," RiCO told them.
"And WOOHP satellites aren't picking up any disturbances either," Jerry added. "Why don't you spies come home and consider the mission 'on hold' for now..." Jerry told them before hanging up.
The spies gave some cheers.
3:12 P.M. – Malibu University
Beach Area
The spies returned to Mali-U and saw that lifeguards had closed the beach area while they observed any possible rip currents or choppy conditions.
"I bet this is from earlier today," Bridget deduced while she stood next to Sam and Haruka.
Before long, they were given the "all clear" sign, and students began to enter the beach area.
"Hopefully Jerry and RiCO find out about that gear that Nick found," Haruka told Sam and Alex, who were walking back with some treats to stay cool.
Haruka also had gotten Nick a small ice-cream to surprise him with.
"Totally," Alex commented. "How'd that gear play in to what you saw out there, though?"
"I just barely caught sight of something retreating after I saved one of the swimmers," Haruka answered. "I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I saw that exact same gear on it."
"Probably one of Edison's inventions, I'm pretty sure," Alex quipped.
"Something tells me that gear might only be the tip of the iceberg..." Sam deduced.
For now, the three spies walked back to see a bit of a surprise themselves.
Someone was approaching Haruka, clearly a little nervous about something he wanted to talk about. And some of the spies recognized him as one of the swimmers that Haruka had saved earlier.
"H-Hey, you're the one that saved me from that current, right?" the swimmer asked.
"Yup, that's me, all right," Haruka chuckled.
"I still don't know what really happened out there, but I just wanted to thank you again for getting me out of that jam," the swimmer answered.
"Hey, it's just what anyone would have done," Haruka quipped. "Don't need to give me special treatment."
The swimmer just nodded and ran off to rejoin his friends.
"Well, that was interesting," Alex noted. "...hey, where'd Nick go?"
Haruka looked around, only to see Nick and May both surfing out on the water, looking like they were having some sort of race.
"I guess that answers that, huh?" Melissa laughed. "Look at that little ham bone."
"Hey, Sortiliena, do you know how to surf?" Bridget wondered as Sortiliena walked up to the rest of the group, dressed in a dark blue two-piece swimsuit.
"Thanks to Ronye, you bet," Sortiliena chuckled. "And oh, man, those lessons were a completely different kind of hell. My forte is combat, not surfing..."
"That's pretty much what I said when I first learned how to surf," Sam responded. "I'm good at a lot of things, but surfing was quite plainly not one of them. And even now, I'd like to think that I still haven't really mastered it, just gotten good enough to actually do it without making a mook of myself..."
"Hey, we all have things we're not good at," Haruka chuckled as Nick and May returned to the beach.
"Yeah, the infamous story of me not being able to swim for jack or crap for most of my life," Nick quipped. "I really have Haruka to thank for me finally getting off my keester and learning how to swim."
"If your swim coaches who were literally there to do that couldn't help my best buddy swim, I figured it was up to me," Haruka answered as she handed Nick the ice cream cone she'd gotten for him. "Here, it's double chocolate fudge."
"You know me so well," Nick laughed as he took the cone and leaned over to kiss Haruka on the cheek.
"I kinda have to, considering how long we've known each other," Haruka giggled.
"You know, I'm honestly surprised you two didn't hook up sooner, since you've been friends for most of your lives," Michi admitted, once again wearing a purple-striped two-piece.
"I guess that might be my fault, honestly," Nozomi chuckled. "I was Nick's first girlfriend, way back when we were twelve, but when my family and I moved to Fukushima, we had to let it go. And now that I think about it, I wonder if that had something to do with why Haruka kept fretting so much over it..."
"I guess I might have misunderstood why you two had to let that relationship go, and my brain can be... really not nice to me sometimes," Haruka sighed.
"Oh, trust me, I can relate," Nick quipped, knowing that particular feeling all too well. "And I think by the time I might have considered that as an option, that was when we'd moved to Beverly Hills, and I fell head over heels for Alex."
"Yeah, that definitely put a stop to any chance of that happening," Haruka teased. "But I was never bitter about it, Michi. I was just happy that Nick found someone he really loved."
All in all, the spies had a good beach day, especially after what had happened earlier today with Geraldine. However, as the spies left the beach, they once again missed that one particular swimmer staring towards Haruka.
5:11 P.M. – Malibu University
The Spies' Penthouse
"BLUE SHELL, BITCH!" May shouted as she sped past Bridget. The spies were currently playing Mario Kart Wii after their time on the beach.
"Ugh, have I mentioned how much I hate this freakin' track?!" Bridget exclaimed. "I seriously hate Moonview Highway!"
"I told you that a while ago, didn't I?" Nick chuckled as he threw a Red Shell to go after Haruka.
"Yeah, this track is seriously a pain in the OH WHAT THE HELL?!" Haruka responded. That last shout was due to the fact that one of the many cars that made up the 'traffic' on this course had run her over from behind without any warning. "Okay, whose 'genius' idea was it to make the traffic in this level come at you from behind while you can't freakin' see it coming?! That's such bullcrap!"
"Why do you think I hate this track so much?" Nick responded. "One of quite a few BS tracks in this game, sadly."
"Yeah, this may be a hot take, but I genuinely think this game's Rainbow Road is probably the most annoying of the bunch so far," May admitted as she sped along to take first place, with Nick not too far behind. "That's something I hope they fix for the next Mario Kart, whenever that may be."
Before the spies could shuffle the controllers around and prepare for the next round, their television flickered slightly before displaying an image of Jerry and RiCO at W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters.
"Guess our break had to end at some point, huh?" Clover noted.
"Hey, it was fun while it lasted," Michi quipped.
"Did you two figure out anything about that gear that Nick found?" Sam asked.
"As you might have expected, yes," Jerry answered.
"I did some research on that gear, and a lot of similar kinds of gears have been stolen lately," RiCO responded. "No doubt for whatever dastardly contraptions that Edison is creating."
"Furthermore, I reviewed some video footage of that disturbance with the swimmers, and I noticed that the machine-like thing that Haruka had seen wasn't using any kind of cables or ropes to drag the swimmers underwater," iCO stated. "It must be some kind of tractor beam gizmo."
"That would fit Edison, honestly," May chuckled.
"Has there been any sign of him?" Sortiliena asked.
"Yup, I've already got a lock on him," RiCO answered. "It looks like he's heading towards Venice Beach."
"Oh, great, he's probably going after more swimmers, isn't he?" Melissa groaned.
"Well, then, let's all suit up and go teach him a lesson on that front," Alex proclaimed.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" May responded.
6:01 P.M. – Venice Beach
"Hope we beat Edison here," Britney commented.
"Well, we're at the site of where RiCO picked up Edison, after all..." Sam deduced.
"What do you bet odds are we're going undercover as lifeguards?" Nick told everyone.
"Great..." Nozomi groaned. "The LAST thing I wanted to go undercover as..."
"I think a pool is more forgiving than the ocean," Clover commented.
"Except it's after 6:00, so logic says that lifeguards are off duty by now..." Sam remarked.
"Not in this case," Bridget stated, pointing to her right.
A group of about six swimmers were having trouble trying to stay afloat, and multiple lifeguards were running into the ocean to save them.
"No choice, Nozomi," Alex sighed.
"Time to go undercover then," Nick insisted.
"Now we can check this off our undercover jobs list," Clover commented.
While everyone used their devices to change outfits to red swimwear (as per all lifeguards), Sam, Clover, Alex, Nozomi, and Nick started to run in the ocean after to see if they could help.
"Wait a minute..." May remarked. "All lifeguards are supposed to have some rescue cans..."
With that, she used her EGT to create authentic rescue cans so they wouldn't raise any suspicion.
"That's right..." Mat stated, remembering that for a fact.
With that, the same five spies joined the lifeguards already in the water.
Mat, Melissa, and Britney used the Binocular Shades to see how the swimmers were doing, and where the rip tides were coming from.
"Did anybody notice if any rip tides were taking place to the West?" Mat asked.
"We'll go look," Blaine volunteered as he went with Haruka and May.
Fortunately, some of the lifeguards were able to bring some of the swimmers back, but they heard at least two more were underwater.
"We better help..." Alex told the others.
Deciding to avoid using the UPWATIs this time for obvious purposes, the spies worked to help the on-duty lifeguards get the swimmers to safety. During that time, Sam got Nick's attention and pointed to her left to see another of those gears Nick found earlier.
Nick could only raise his eyebrows in surprise, but Alex used her Laser Lipstick to destroy the gear so Nick could pick it up. All the spies resurfaced for air before going back down to see one more swimmer down, and Nick handed him off to the lifeguard with the rescue can.
Back on land, Blaine, Haruka, and May returned from scouring the beach and seeing if there were any other man-made rip tides taking place.
"Did you guys find anything?" Dawn asked.
"Nothing," Blaine groaned.
"That's weird..." Britney commented. "If it were rip tides, they'd likely effect the entire beach, right?"
"I'm no expert on sea conditions, but I think Britney's right on the money here," Mat deduced.
"Guys, they're coming back," Bridget told the others as Sam, Clover, Alex, Nozomi, and Nick returned.
They were soaking wet and wheezing after that daring rescue.
"That was totally rough!" Alex chastised.
"Did you see Edison anywhere?" Sortiliena asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Not even a glimpse..." Clover wheezed. "But I see what Nozomi meant about being a lifeguard at the beach..."
"Hey, Haruka did say that she might have seen some kind of machine when she rescued those swimmers at Mali-U, right?" Michi stated. "Maybe Edison's using his machines to do his dirty work while he kicks back at his lair place. From what you've all told me, that sounds like something he'd do..."
"Good point," Sam answered. "Maybe we should see if we can find those machines and take them out instead."
"That sounds like a good call to me, Sammy," Clover quipped.
Once the spies were sure that everyone who needed to be rescued had been rescued, they all dived back into the water and started swimming out, equipping their UPWATIs after a certain distance. Michi surrounded herself with a green glow that seemed to allow her to breathe underwater.
"Man, you really can do a lot of cool things with those powers of yours, huh?" Haruka chuckled.
"I'm still learning what I can do with them," Michi answered. "But I'm still wondering why the Collective gave me these powers, especially considering that I'm somehow important to whatever their big scheme is..."
"Hey, if we come across any more of their goons, we'll do our best to make 'em spill their secrets," May responded. "They won't get away with whatever they're planning as long as we're around."
Michi couldn't help but smile at that.
As the spies continued to swim around to find any trace of Edison's machines, they eventually caught sight of a small drone "swimming" towards them.
Before Nick could blast the drone down, it stopped in front of the spies and projected a hologram of who else but Edison.
"Well, well, we meet again, spies," Edison laughed. "I have to say, it has been quite a while since the last time we scrapped, hasn't it?"
"Not long enough, in my honest opinion," Nozomi retorted. "I've still got quite a few bones to pick with you for what you tried to do to my family, you know."
"One step at a time, I assure you," Edison replied.
"I'm willing to bet that you're all tucked away in your secret lair, working on some kind of new invention to take us down," Melissa quipped.
"How astute of you," Edison chuckled. "And I'm sure Geraldine's keeping you busy while I fine tune our latest masterpiece."
'We actually sent her running like a folded origami crane, you weirdo," Michi taunted.
"You always seem to have some kind of new tag-along with you whenever we cross blades, don't you?" Edison stated, since he'd obviously never seen Michi before. "But it doesn't really matter at this point, does it? You probably won't even see our latest creation coming."
"Um, actually, we've already got a pretty good idea just how you're abducting these swimmers," Haruka responded.
"Oh, please, those are child's play compared to what I'm working on right now," Edison commented. "But, I don't want to spoil the surprise, so I'll leave it at that for now. In the meantime, how about we..."
Nick had finally had enough, destroying the drone with a Final Shine Attack.
"Jeez, these guys and gals really don't know when to shut their yaps, do they?" Michi quipped.
"That's a thing with a lot of our villains, probably most of them," Mat answered. "It's kind of a common thing in our rogues' gallery."
"I'll have to introduce you to the 'rules for villains' sometime," Haruka chuckled.
"...there are rules for villains?" Michi wondered.
"Oh, that is a story in and of itself," May laughed.
Before the spies could brainstorm on where to go next to hopefully find Edison, Haruka picked up on something that seemed to be approaching them rapidly.
Before anyone could react, however, that something, now visible as a very large robotic piranha, swam towards the spies and clamped its mouth shut over both Mat and Melissa, trapping them inside its maw as it swam off deeper into the waters.
The spies could only float there, stunned that they'd been ambushed like that.
To be continued...
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Next time...
Sortiliena: ...okay, what the heck just happened?!
Dawn: Some kind of robot fish just snagged Mat and Melissa!
Nick: And just like that, Edison's already crossed another line. He must have forgotten that messing with my family is a major red flag.
Sam: Same with Mat. Come on, everybody, let's swim after that thing!
Bridget: Already on it. Sonic Mode, online!"
Michi: Wow, she can even go super-fast like that underwater, too?
Nick: Yep, on both land and sea. Not so much the air, though.
Sam: Come on, let's cut the small talk and go after Bridget! I'm not leaving my hubby in the jaws of that Jaws ripoff!
Bridget: Don't worry, Sammy, we're all over this, next time on Totally Spies: Lustful Lifeguards, "Chased By the Current"!
Melissa: ...wait, who is that I hear singing? Hold on, is that Liz?!
Gigi: Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that Liz is an amazing singer.