Coming Up Next: With one of the missing actors found and a minion of the Sour Bunch defeated, the spies continue assisting in the plays in hopes that this will help them free everybody else who's still missing. Bridget gives it her all in the performances, even learning how to properly wield Sparkle Power in the plays, but this just raises questions about what exactly Madame Grape and the Sour Bunch are hoping to accomplish by corrupting Sparkle Power. Can it just be for petty reasons, or is Madame Grape after more destructive aims?
Act 2: Puppets on Expensive Strings
6:14 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
2nd Floor Lobby
"Hey, everybody, we're back!" Bridget laughed as she and Nick ran up the stairway into the second floor lobby, where Leon and the five remaining spies were anxiously waiting for them.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all right, Bridget," Mat sighed in relief.
"Yeah, what exactly happened?" Alex wondered. "We had that goon guy cornered and then he just sucks you into a strange door!"
"There's a bunch of doors like that down in the basement, apparently," Nick explained. "I headed down there to investigate, since I caught a strange set of thoughts. I found those doors in the basement, and I entered the one with a cowboy hat on it, and then I apparently went through a cheesy western movie until I found the villain actor and a monster that belonged to the Sour Bunch. Bridget wasted it pretty quickly, though."
"Yeah, I've apparently learned some magic, too," Bridget chuckled as she explained everything that had gone on in that basement door, along with the basics of Sparkle Power.
"So this Madame Grape is the leader of the Sour Bunch, then?" Sam stated. "It sounds like we're finally getting somewhere with all of this..."
"And I'm willing to bet that missing W.O.O.H.P. agent we're looking for is probably one of the ones who got nabbed by the Sour Bunch," Clover realized.
"We probably won't get many more answers until we can enter another one of those basement doors," May quipped.
"For now, let's all get back to the stage so we can finish up the play," Leon cut in. "The intermission is almost over, after all."
"Yeah, I'm ready to put on a show again," the villain actor chuckled.
"Oh, wow, Perry, you're all right, too?" Leon gasped.
"Yeah, he was tied up in the room where I went toe to toe with that weird bird monstrosity," Bridget replied.
"That's wonderful, Bridget!" Leon laughed. "I knew I made the right choice in enlisting you to help us out."
"Oh, stop, I'm just doing what I can to help out," Bridget giggled.
"All right, everybody, let's get back on stage, shall we?" Alex laughed as everyone headed back to the Wild West stage.
"So, what's this particular scene?" Nick wondered.
"This one's going to be the big confrontation between Dead-Eye and Massimo," Leon explained.
"You've already rounded up the rest of my gang, so all that's left is me, but I definitely ain't gonna make it easy for ya," Perry explained.
"Ah, the long-awaited showdown at high noon," Bridget chuckled. "Sounds like something I can do."
"Are we still narrating?" Mat asked while Sam looked on.
"Yes, indeed," Leon remarked. "In fact, the both of you will be narrating the entire play."
"Works for me," Sam stated.
"If this were sports, maybe this is my calling," Mat commented.
"I could see you as a narrator considering how big a fan of Motocross you are," Nick told Mat.
"Well, either that or a sports reporter," Mat replied.
"And Bridget's the main star?" Clover wondered.
"That's correct," Leon answered.
Clover sighed since her chance at "stardom" this way had already gone up in smoke.
"If I didn't know any better, you've got someone who adores the limelight in this capacity," Leon told the spies.
"Guilty as charged, eh?" Clover chuckled.
"No shame in that," Leon quipped.
"Well, let's get this scene under way, then," Bridget remarked.
"Go get 'em," May encouraged.
Once everyone was set up back in the same positions they'd been in before the Sour Bunch had interrupted, the second act of the play commenced.
"Once the rest of the Rowdy Crew had been rounded up, Dead-Eye made her move to confront Massimo at high noon," Sam narrated.
"Dead-Eye was finally ready to take down the scoundrel that had forced her into this life, and nothing would stop her now," Mat narrated.
"All right, Massimo, this is your last chance to show your face before I turn it into something that wouldn't even resemble those fake museum paintings that you stole," Bridget proclaimed, once again dressed in her cowboy outfit thanks to the magical ribbon that Leon had granted her. He had told her that she could use the Sparkle Power inside the ribbon to change her outfit with just a thought, which would be very useful for whatever other kinds of plays they had here.
"Ah, but you've fallen right into my trap, little lady," Perry cackled, and the audience all gasped in surprise at this. "Why do you think I led you out here where there's just a cliff and nothing else? Today's the day I end you and stake my claim as the greatest outlaw in this world."
As Perry aimed his gun for Bridget (once again just a prop gun, thankfully), she responded by whipping out her own yo-yos and swinging them towards Perry in multiple different directions. Perry managed to dodge under an overhead swing, only for Bridget to snatch the gun out of his hand with one yo-yo and then hook his wrist with the other.
"Give it up, Massimo," Bridget taunted. "You're through."
"Oh, I don't think so, Dead-Eye," Perry laughed maniacally. "I ain't leavin' this world alone."
Before Bridget could react, Perry had yanked his wrist backwards, and since Bridget's yo-yo was still hooked, it caused Bridget to stumble forward as well, and they both fell off of the 'cliff' (though in reality, they were both hiding behind the large cliff prop just out of sight).
"We're going to oblivion together!" Perry cackled.
After a short 'struggle', a loud and fading scream could be heard, and Bridget slowly clambered back onto the cliff prop, gazing wistfully downward at where her opponent had 'fallen'.
Dang, she really can act, Nick thought as he continued to stay in the rafters to keep his eyes, ears, and psychic senses open for any sign of the Sour Bunch.
"And with that, the Rowdy Crew had been defeated at last," Sam narrated. "Despite the skirmish seemingly ending in their leader's demise, somehow, Dead-Eye knew that this wouldn't be the last she saw of them."
And with that, the play was over. All of the actors involved, Bridget and Perry included, came back out to deliver the final bow to their audience, who were all applauding the performance.
"Nice going, guys," Leon quipped once the play was over and Bridget had reverted back to her normal clothes.
"That was a great one, indeed," Alex giggled.
Nick then sensed something nearby.
"Something up, Nick?" May wondered, noticing.
"I don't know," Nick replied. "Something in my radar kicked in..."
"You think the Sour Bunch is acting up already?" Bridget sighed. "Didn't we just annihilate one of their 'generals'? You'd think they'd slink off for at least a bit, right?"
"Oh, I just wanted to see who actually has the gall to oppose me."
The seven spies all raked their gazes around to try and find who had said that, and then, she appeared in a bright burst of purple light, revealing herself to be a young adult woman with long, curly purple-ish blue hair, a golden masquerade mask covering her face, and a large blue hat and a purplish-blue dress with a poofy skirt and a gem on the bodice. In her right hand she carried a golden staff.
"And lo, it's a bunch of teenagers," she chuckled. "How droll."
"I'm gonna take a wild shot in the dark and guess that you're Madame Grape?" Mat retorted.
"Correct, my dear boy," Madame Grape laughed. "I am the illustrious Madame Grape, wicked playwright extraordinaire and leader of the Sour Bunch."
"Not just a little full of herself..." Clover quipped.
"Make your jokes while you can, little girl," Madame Grape responded. "Otherwise you may not like the punchline."
"While you're here taunting us, do you want to explain what exactly you're doing to the Sparkle Theater, capturing all their actors and causing chaos for everyone?!" Alex shouted.
"Oh, nothing too fancy," Madame Grape answered. "I simply wish to create the ultimate tragedy, and what better place to do so than at a place of joy?"
"Yeah, you're really starting to sound like most of our rogues' gallery," Bridget taunted, and Madame Grape certainly noticed the glowing ribbon around Bridget's waist.
"Ah, so you now wield Sparkle Power," Madame Grape stated. "How very interesting. It will be quite fortuitous when we meet in conflict."
"Why don't we just do it right now?" Bridget retorted. "Spare us the trouble?"
"Patience, my dear. We'll have our big fight yet," Madame Grape retorted. "I just want to wish you good luck in finding the missing actors. You'll definitely need it."
With one last noblewoman's laugh, Madame Grape vanished in another flash of purple light.
"She's definitely got the arrogance down pat," May noted. "What a hag."
"At least we have a leg up on her," Sam stated. "We'll just have to keep participating in the plays, because if what Nick told us about the basement is true, I have a feeling that fixing the plays will help us open those doors and find the rest of the missing actors."
"So, then, is there another play we'll be doing tonight?" Bridget asked.
"We have another one scheduled in about an hour and a half," Leon answered after checking his itinerary. "When you're all ready to go, meet me at the larger stage down on the first floor."
The spies all nodded, knowing that they were probably going to be sticking around the Sparkle Theater for quite a while. They were just glad that school was over for the summer so they didn't have to worry about missing anything.
8:18 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
1st Floor – Stage 2
It was about ten minutes before the next play was scheduled to begin. Sam and Mat had taken their positions at the narration table, Alex and May were fixing up the props for this play, and Clover was actually practicing for her own role, as Leon had found a part for her to play in this show, given that another one of their actors had gone missing, no doubt a victim of the Sour Bunch.
Backstage, Bridget was waiting for her signal to suit up, though she was a bit nervous, given what kind of play they'd be performing this time around.
"...welp, no time like the present to learn, then," Bridget conceded as she grasped a part of her magical ribbon and concentrated on channeling its Sparkle Power, causing it to fly around her for a couple seconds. After a bit, the ribbon constricted around her waist, surrounding her with light and transforming her outfit again.
When the flash cleared, Bridget was wearing a short, light blue dress with a white feather band surrounding the waist, transparent sleeves that had a gradient to blue towards her hands, white tights that contrasted to cyan on her feet, and a set of deep ocean turquoise heels on her feet attached to stainless steel skating blades. Bridget's dress had a transparent neckline and a high collar resembling a thin blue choker and a brooch is present on the front, the skirt and gloves had an ice crystal texture on them with the same pattern present on a long translucent band that dragged from her back, she had a white feather headdress atop her head, and she now wore blue earrings that looked like ice crystals.
"Ooh, definitely fancy," Bridget chuckled as she wondered how she was going to pull this particular play off. After all, she had never really been that good at figure skating, even if she'd done some regular old roller skating every now and then as a kid.
"Everything okay in here?" Nick asked as he peeked into the backstage to check up on Bridget, only to notice her new dress. "Wow, you look pretty dashing in that."
"Says the guy who wore a princess dress to his middle school homecoming dance," Bridget giggled.
"H-Hey, that was a dare from May, and I was younger and knew no better," Nick quipped.
"I'm just thinking about if I have the skill to actually make this one work," Bridget admitted. "I've never been a figure skater, and even though Leon told me that my ribbon's accumulated Sparkle Power will help me out with most of the 'heavy lifting', I'm still worried that I might make a mistake here..."
"Honestly, Bridget, if you want my opinion, I still think you're gonna do great out there," Nick stated. "You've never been afraid to try new things, even if it's tricky for you. If I remember correctly, that was you with your yo-yos back when you got them, and look at you now, you're a yo-yo slinging master."
Nick took a couple steps closer. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... I know you've got this, Bridget," Nick proclaimed. "If there's anybody I know that can take on a challenge like this, it's definitely you."
Bridget couldn't help but blush slightly at that. Nick had always been very forward about how skilled he thought she was.
"...you've always believed in me, haven't you?" Bridget chuckled.
"Hey, you've been my best friend for, essentially, our entire lives, and I highly doubt that's gonna change anytime soon," Nick stated.
Bridget took a step forward so she could give Nick a hug.
"Now go out there and knock 'em dead," Nick quipped.
"You got it," Bridget responded as she raised her hand, and Nick answered by giving her a high-five before Bridget left for the stage, Nick following closely behind so he could jump back into the rafters and keep an eye out for the Sour Bunch.
"As the young princess finally emerged from her castle, she was shocked to discover that her kingdom had been completely frozen over, sentenced to eternal winter at the hands of a malicious and jealous wizard," Sam narrated as the play began.
"With no time to waste, the princess suited up and set out into her frozen kingdom, determined to find the wizard and make him regret what he'd done," Mat narrated.
As the music section began to play a jaunty winter-esque ditty, Bridget emerged from the castle prop, skating across the path that she had learned from Leon. This stage was naturally much wider than the one for the Wild West play had been, which gave Bridget and the other actors more room to work.
Much to Bridget's relief, she found that she could actually ice skate reasonably well thanks to the Sparkle Power in her dress.
A few other actors joined Bridget on her skating path, the four of them skating mostly in sync as they followed the narration towards what appeared to be a dome of ice.
"What could be in there?" one of the actors wondered.
"I've... seen this design before," Bridget proclaimed. "I remember my mother telling me about the kind of places this wizard and his goons like to hide out in."
"Well, then, shall we investigate?" another actor quipped.
After skating through the 'door' to the ice dome, the sets changed to the inside, which now resembled an icy battle arena, no doubt for the minions of the evil wizard that was the villain of this play.
"I can practically feel Clover vibrating with anticipation back there," Alex giggled as she watched the play, with Clover waiting just off stage for her opportunity. "She actually took figure skating lessons to impress a boy once."
"Knowing Clover, I'd believe that," May chuckled.
As Bridget and the other three actors continued to skate around, investigating the ice dome, the other three actors suddenly fell down with dramatic gasps, though Bridget knew it was just part of the play.
"All right, then, show yourself, you vile fiend!" Bridget proclaimed, readying herself.
The actor playing the wizard's henchman was supposed to skate in from the west. However, it took a couple seconds longer than expected, and the actor came skating in from the north instead.
Nick was the first to notice that this actor had a golden mask on his face, readying himself to send a telepathic message to Bridget.
Bridget, you've got a Sour Bunch goon coming your way! Nick thought.
I see the mask now, Bridget thought. I've got this one.
Bridget skated around so that she was facing the Sour Bunch goon as he skated towards her.
"Bridget, watch out!" May exclaimed.
"I've got this," Bridget remarked and lifted her leg up like she were kicking a football.
She got a direct hit on the Sour Bunch goon and his mask, which was enough to send the mask flying. The goon was covering his face like he'd just been scratched by something.
"I play my cards right all the time..." Bridget remarked. "Don't screw with me, or us for that matter, because I'm not your type!"
"Well spoken," Mat commented.
"I'll second that," Nick chuckled.
Sam saw an opportunity to finish that Sour Bunch goon and took it, making sure to not stay on the stage any longer than she had to as she pounced forward and grabbed the goon in a headlock before dragging him off the stage.
"Great moves, Sammy!" Alex exclaimed.
"All in a day's work..." Sam quipped.
"And you wonder why I love this girl," Mat added, which made Sam giggle.
"Far from done here," Nick reminded as some more Sour Bunch goons came into view.
"Leon, it looks like this is going to get pretty rough," Mat deduced.
"Yeah, I get that," Leon replied.
"Believe us when we say we can take care of ourselves," Sam quipped.
The other actors didn't need to be prompted and took off with Leon.
"We're in the middle of a play here, you know!" Clover exclaimed as she whacked another Sour Bunch goon in the face. "And I'm still waiting for my part, so buzz off!"
Bridget skated around as another goon tried to jump on one of the retreating actors, throwing out her yo-yos to hook the goon and swing him around before eventually throwing him into the nearby "iceberg".
During the battle, Mat noticed one of the mooks had dropped something and picked it up.
"Maybe that'll be their downfall," Mat commented.
"Watch out, honey!" Sam shouted as she fired her Laser Lipstick just in time to prevent another Sour Bunch goon from grabbing him from behind.
"I hope you've had enough," May remarked at the extra goons.
"No way you're getting this back," Bridget taunted and held the mask. "What, exactly, is your obsession with this mask?"
"It just proves our superiority," one goon laughed as the rest of the goons decided to retreat.
"Is that the M.O. of this?" Mat asked Bridget.
"My guess is that it is," Bridget deduced.
"What do we do now?" Alex wondered.
"Looks like all of the goons wisely decided to book it," Nick quipped after using his psychic radar to check out the area. "So how about we finish this play so the audience doesn't have to keep waiting?"
"Sounds good to me," May chuckled.
After apologizing for the delay (the audience was thankfully very understanding), the play resumed with no further troubles, eventually leading to Bridget and a couple other skating actors skating up the path towards the "mountain" where the evil wizard was waiting.
"All right, you, why don't you show yourself?!" Bridget exclaimed. "You're going to pay for what you did to my kingdom, and I intend to see that justice is done!"
And with that, the "wizard" emerged... and it was Clover, dressed up in a fancy wizard's robe and doing all sorts of maniacal hand gestures.
"I don't know who's being the bigger ham bone right now," Alex chuckled from behind the scenes.
"I mean, Bridget's the star, so it's required she be hammy when she needs to, but look at Clover," May laughed. "I think she's overdoing it, even for Clover."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA, who dares enter my palace of terror?" Clover bellowed in her most dramatic voice before glancing at Bridget. "Oh, it's just you, little princess. What makes you think you can stop me as you are now?"
"Did you really think I was just going to let you abscond with the life of my kingdom just because you're jealous of what we've got?" Bridget retorted. "Hey, I'm not like those other snooty princesses from two kingdoms over. When there's a problem in my kingdom, I'm there to help like any good princess should."
"Well said, my dear," Clover cackled, raising her hands. A few extra actors who also wielded Sparkle Power used theirs from the rafters to create an array of dazzling special effects that would signify their upcoming "battle". "However, you made a foolish mistake in challenging me. Now prepare to meet your end!"
And with that, Clover and Bridget began their "battle", skating around in different ways and clashing when necessary.
After a few more minutes, Bridget was able to deal the final blow by way of charging up her yo-yos with Sparkle Power, much like she'd done against Disco Wing, and swinging them out to strike Clover in the chest, who reeled back and started 'melting'.
"Curse you, p-princess!" Clover bellowed as she continued to 'melt'. "D-Don't think this is the end! Someday, I will return!"
Eventually, all that was left of Clover was her wizard's robe (in reality, she'd escaped through a hidden door under the stage).
"And with that, the nefarious wizard had been defeated, and her icy grip on the princess' kingdom had been broken," Sam narrated.
"Despite this victory, the princess was quite sure that the wizard would return as some point, as she had promised, so the princess would make sure to prepare herself and her kingdom if that day ever comes," Mat narrated.
With the play over, Bridget and the rest of the actors, Clover included, all skated back out onto the stage to give their final bows to a rather enthusiastic applause.
After everything was concluded, the spies met up with Leon just outside the stage lobby.
"That was actually pretty fun," Bridget chuckled as she snapped her fingers to return to her normal clothes. "I didn't think I could figure skate that well, really..."
"Well, you pulled it off with aplomb, just like I knew you would," Leon proclaimed. "Problem is, our original wizard actor is still missing..."
Bridget suddenly felt a bit of a twinge from her waist ribbon, as if the Sparkle Power in her ribbon was reacting to something. And she had a pretty good idea what it was, too.
"What's up, Bridget?" Clover wondered.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think one of those doors in the basement just opened up," Bridget quipped. "My ribbon's reacting to something..."
"Then why don't you go and check it out, Bridget?" Sam stated. "You're the one wielding Sparkle Power, so you might have the best chance at figuring it out."
"We're all gonna go with Leon so he can arrange where we're gonna sleep tonight," Mat replied. "It is past ten o'clock now, after all..."
"Ooh, I hope those rooms are as fancy as the rest of this place..." Clover giggled.
"Is this really the time, Clover?" May quipped.
And with that, Leon led Sam, Alex, Clover, Mat and May towards their quarters while Nick and Bridget headed down the stairway into the basement.
Sure enough, Bridget's hunch was spot-on, as one of the five remaining doors now had an image imprinted on it, that of a skate.
"Looks like Sammy nailed it," Bridget stated. "We fix the plays, and we open these doors."
"Hopefully, our missing wizard guy or gal is in there," Nick quipped. "Let's get moving, then, shall we?"
Bridget nodded, raising her yo-yos up and channeling her Sparkle Power to force the door to open so they could both head inside.
Inside the door was a long, winding path up a frozen, snowy mountain, much like in the play, only this one seemed real.
"...of course," Bridget sighed.
"At least we don't have to skate up this one, it seems," Nick replied.
"Thank goodness, says this observer," Bridget chuckled as she and Nick began heading up the mountain, occasionally stopping to scrap with more Sour Bunch goons as they did so.
"Oh, hey, did you or the other figure out anything about that mask that you swiped from that Sour Bunch goon?" Nick wondered.
"From what Sam could tell, there's something in the mask that seems to hypnotize its wearers," Bridget answered. "And that's starting to make me think that at least some of the missing actors have been mind-molded into becoming members of the Sour Bunch..."
"That's about what I expected," Nick quipped.
The trip up the mountain was long and arduous, especially with all the icy surfaces and other Sour Bunch traps, but Nick and Bridget persevered, eventually making it to a small hut with another door similar to the one they'd entered this hideaway through.
Knowing something crazy most likely awaited them in there, Nick and Bridget pushed the door open and headed inside, now finding themselves in a large stage area much like where they'd fought Disco Wing.
And just like before, one of the actors, namely the wizard actor from the ice skating play, was bound by magical ribbons at the other end of the stage.
Bridget unsheathed her yo-yos and moved to cut those ribbons apart, only to be knocked back by a blast of dark purple energy.
"Oh, look who decided to show up," Nick quipped.
The one who had fired that attack was none other than Madame Grape, her staff glowing brightly.
"I'm flattered you came all this way for little ol' me," Madame Grape laughed. "The hero of the Sparkle Theater making her way through all of my devious traps just to find the real star of the show?"
"Oh, just stuff that mask in your mouth and save us the trouble," Bridget taunted. "If you want to fight, why don't we just go ahead and get it on already?!"
"If you wish, little girl," Madame Grape chuckled as she aimed her staff towards Bridget.
"In case you missed the memo, lady, allow me to clue you in," Bridget taunted, whipping her yo-yos around her in a show of intimidation. "My name is Bridget. Don't you go and forget that, now!"
"All right, then, Madame Grape," Nick proclaimed, his psychic aura flaring to life around him. "You want to dance? Then let's freakin' dance!"
"Oh, I'd be happy to put you both in your place," Madame Grape cackled as she advanced on Nick and Bridget.
"I think it's time we showed you some real order!" Nick emphasized.
"I should be saying that to you!" Madame Grape sneered. "But if you really want to make your graves, I'll be happy to shovel the dirt!"
"If anybody's got graves, it sure as heck isn't us," Bridget stated.
With that, Madame Grape went for them, but Nick and Bridget easily split directions.
"You're done for now," Nick remarked.
Bridget started things up with some Ice Queen Perfume.
"Time for you to do some real SLIDING!" Bridget emphasized and aimed at the floor.
Madame Grape had a hard time trying to keep her balance on the icy floor.
"Looks like you totally suck on ice!" Bridget boldly proclaimed.
"You're just a bunch of grape juice now," Nick added as he fired plenty of psychic shots at Madame Grape herself.
"If I were you, I'd workshop some better insults before your inevitable tragedies," Madame Grape chuckled as she waved her staff to fire purple lightning bolts towards Bridget.
Nick raised his hand to project a psychic barrier in front of Bridget that easily dispelled the blasts.
"Sorry, but that lightning was pathetic," Nick taunted. "I've seen other baddies in our rogues' gallery that could make better lightning than that."
"Make your quips while you can," Madame Grape laughed before rushing forward, purple energy surrounding her as she did so.
Bridget charged her yo-yos with Sparkle Power and swung them both out in an X-strike, intercepting Madame Grape's charge attack. Bridget didn't waste a second in going on the offensive, whacking Madame Grape multiple times with her super-powered yo-yos until knocking her down with an overhead swing.
"Who's the one that's getting their keester kicked, lady?" Bridget taunted.
"Oh, but I've only just begun to perform, my dears," Madame Grape laughed as she began twirling her staff around, Nick and Bridget preparing themselves for whatever Madame Grape was going to pull.
Meanwhile...
11:02 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
Studio Quarters
The rest of the spies had been given places to stay within the studio, and they weren't necessarily cramped up, so to speak.
"Well, these digs aren't necessarily cheap, per se," Clover commented once everybody was settled in.
"The only thing is there's no shower... at least I don't think so," Mat pointed out.
"True," Alex remarked.
"Maybe ask Leon if he comes by again," May suggested.
"And we had a decent dinner courtesy of him," Sam added.
"Totally," Clover replied. "But I think I speak for all of us when I say I didn't expect our summer to start this way..."
"I'll second that," Mat quipped.
"And I wanted a pool day to start summer with a bang, too," Sam sighed. "But what can ya do?"
"Well, we'll have plenty of time after this," Mat replied, trying to look on the bright side.
After Leon came walking by, Mat asked if there was a shower by chance. Thankfully, Leon said that there was one near the elevators that moved between the theater's floors.
Alex waited up for Nick and Bridget to return from checking out more of the studio. When it got to almost 1 A.M., they still didn't return; some of the other spies could not find any further stamina to stay up and got some sleep.
"Where could they have gotten to?" Alex wondered.
Back inside the basement stage, Nick and Bridget jumped to either side to avoid a dark purple buzzsaw that Madame Grape was now throwing towards them.
"Wow, you're just after all the murder instruments today, aren't you?" Bridget quipped.
"Better tools to create a suitable tragedy, my dear," Madame Grape chuckled as she waved her staff and conjured a bunch of dark purple spikes around her opponents.
Bridget used one of her yo-yos to pull Nick close to her so that Nick could raise his hand and cover them both with a psychic bubble that protected them both from the barrage of spikes.
"You know you can't stay in there forever," Madame Grape taunted as she flew closer to actually start whacking the bubble with her staff. Though the bubble held firm, Nick suddenly thought of a devious idea.
As Madame Grape wound up for one more strike, Nick snapped his fingers, and this caused the bubble to pop outwards, the recoil blast knocking Madame Grape away and disorienting her.
"That's what happens when you focus too much on trying to club us," Nick quipped.
"You think you're funny, do you?" Madame Grape growled as she lunged forward and aimed her staff for Nick, only for Bridget to throw out her yo-yos and hook them around the staff before yanking it away and throwing it into the wall, where the crystal on the staff shattered upon impact.
"There, try your dumb fake-y magic tricks now," Bridget retorted.
"In any case, I've had my fun for now, so I will take my leave," Madame Grape conceded. "I do sincerely hope you grow even stronger in Sparkle Power by the next time we meet, Bridget. It would be most enjoyable."
With that, Madame Grape snapped her fingers and disappeared in a flash of purple light.
"Thank goodness," Bridget sighed. "I was worried she'd never shut her yap."
With that matter thankfully settled for the moment, Bridget ran over to the opposite end of the stage and swung her yo-yos out to sever the magical ribbons keeping the wizard actor captive.
"You doing okay there, mister 'wizard'?" Bridget asked.
"I should be now, since you drove that crazy witch away," the wizard actor sighed in relief.
"Knowing Madame Grape, I'm pretty sure she'll be back at some point," Nick quipped.
"Are the rest of my fellow actors okay?" the wizard actor asked.
"We've only found you and the villain from the Wild West play so far, but we're making progress on finding the others," Bridget responded. "We figured out that if they plays get finished up, these strange doors open and lead us to other missing actors."
"I'm starting to wonder what Madame Grape's real endgame is," Nick wondered. "It can't just be to screw over the Sparkle Theater, though that would jive with a lot of our rogues' gallery and how petty they are..."
"I guess all we can do at this point is keep fixing the plays, finding the missing actors, and wring those answers out of Madame Grape at some point," Bridget noted. "For right now, though, let's get you out of this place."
The wizard actor nodded as he followed Nick and Bridget through the stage door and back into the basement of the Sparkle Theater. Much like the Wild West door, the ice skating door shined with a blue light and disappeared, leaving only four remaining doors in the basement.
"...holy crapbaskets, how late is it?" Bridget gasped when they saw how dark it was after returning to the first floor from the basement. "How long were we fighting Madame Grape in there? It certainly didn't feel like it was too long..."
"Maybe time is all weird in some of those door worlds," Nick quipped. "Given how they seem to be created by some form of magic, I wouldn't really be surprised."
"You should probably find Leon and let him know you're all right, buddy," Bridget stated. "We've probably gotta get back to our quarters before the rest of the spies start worrying about us."
"Don't worry about me," the wizard actor responded. "I know my way around here like the back of my hand by now."
As the wizard actor, his actual name being Clancy, made his way to the elevator to let Leon know he was all right now, Nick and Bridget decided to head towards the studio quarters where they were all going to be staying for the foreseeable future.
But as they got closer to their destination, Nick glanced towards the nearby stairway that led upwards towards the second floor.
"Did you sense something, Nick?" Bridget asked. "Was it a member of the Sour Bunch?"
"I think so," Nick quipped. "But whoever it is, they seem different from their regular ol' goons."
"...you think it might be that mysterious W.O.O.H.P. agent that Jerry tasked us with rescuing?" Bridget wondered. "Because given what we learned about their masks, I'm starting to think that, if that agent was captured by the Sour Bunch, they might have been turned into one of their goons."
"Seems like a good hunch," Nick answered. "Let's see if we can figure this one out."
Nick and Bridget began to follow the goon as stealthily as they could muster, especially this late at night.
The goon in question appeared to be silently communicating with someone through what looked like a radio transmitter in their mask. It was mostly dark enough that Nick couldn't immediately tell if this goon was a guy or a girl.
However, after a few more steps, the goon finished their communication and moved to head down towards the elevators...
...only to run smack into Nick and Bridget as they did so.
"End of the line, buster," Nick taunted.
Now, in the dim lights of the elevator stairway, they could clearly see that this was goon was, in fact, a guy, though his face was still mostly covered by the mask that all the members of the Sour Bunch wore.
"Damn, I didn't think you'd be out this late," the goon quipped. "What, are you suddenly night owls?"
"Yeah, well, we just spent some time getting in a row with your boss," Bridget shot back, twirling her yo-yos around herself. "Did you want some of the beatdown that we handed her, too?"
"Yeah, well, Madame Grape is only going to get stronger, you know," the goon laughed. "Once she's reached her full power, you're finished."
"Um, if Madame Grape knows as much about us as you claim she does, then she should know what we've accomplished," Nick retorted. "If she really thinks she's just going to run roughshod over the Sparkle Theater, then she's got another thing coming."
"Go ahead and be overconfident while you still have the chance to," the goon cackled. "You won't stop Madame Grape once her plan comes to fruition."
Having said everything he felt like saying, the goon raised his hand and teleported away in a flash of dull purple light.
"Jeez, I hate it when they teleport..." Bridget groaned.
"And on that note, I think we've had about enough for one day," Nick stated. "Let's finally hit the freakin' hay so we can be at full strength for tomorrow's plays, 'kay?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Bridget quipped as she and Nick headed back down towards the studio quarters. "So... do you think I did well in those plays, Nick?"
"You killed it, just like I knew you would," Nick chuckled. "It's like I said earlier, if there's anybody that could pull something like this off, it's definitely you."
Bridget couldn't help but smile brightly as she leaned over to hug Nick, not even really noticing the blush on her face as she did so.
Down in the studio quarters, Alex was seriously considering just falling to sleep and waiting until morning to see if they were all right, as she knew those two could more than take care of themselves. However, just as she was about to exercise that option, the doors to the quarters opened up and Nick and Bridget both stepped in, both of them fine but clearly exhausted after everything that had gone down today.
"Hey, you finally made it," Alex quipped.
"Yeah, sorry about that, our trip through the basement doors took a little longer than we thought, considering we had a row with Madame Grape," Bridget chuckled.
"Oh, jeez, she came after you there, huh?" Alex replied.
"Yeah, but we managed to send her packing for the moment," Nick responded. "We were actually on our way down here, but we ran into another Sour Bunch goon, and we figured out that this particular goon might just be that missing W.O.O.H.P. agent."
"Oh, wow, really?" Alex gasped.
"He nope'd out after we confronted him, but I have a feeling we've just gotta get that mask off of him and he should get back to normal," Bridget stated. "But for now, I'm gonna hit the hay. I am bushed, and I'm gonna need my rest for tomorrow. Good night, you two."
With that, Bridget walked over to her own bed, while Nick and Alex sat down on the one they'd be sharing.
"Sounds like we've all had quite the day, haven't we?" Alex giggled.
"Tell me about it," Nick quipped. "Here's hoping we're that much closer to unraveling Madame Grape's schemes."
"You know, Bridget really is an amazing actor," Alex admitted. "I got to watch most of the plays, and she just knocked it out of the park."
"Bridget was actually in a few elementary school plays when we were younger, and she used to have the biggest case of stage fright, if you'd believe that," Nick chuckled.
"I probably wouldn't have been much better," Alex laughed.
As Nick and Alex continued to chat until they were too tired to stay awake, quickly falling asleep together, Bridget was still awake, pondering something that had happened earlier.
When Nick had complimented her on her stellar acting skills earlier, she initially thought that she hadn't noticed the blush on her face when she'd hugged him.
But she did notice, only pushing those particular thoughts down since she knew the obvious problem with that.
The conundrum here was that Nick was already in a relationship with Alex. And given she wasn't sure what Alex would think of this, even if she seemed like she'd be the most understanding, Bridget was definitely at a crossroads on how to reveal this.
Bridget had always been naturally close to and affectionate with Nick. It was pretty much a given considering that they were the best of friends, having known each other their entire lives. And that definitely hadn't changed during their recent adventures with the spies.
But recently, Bridget had finally begun to realize that the nature of her feelings had changed just slightly enough, and didn't it just figure that she'd only fully realize that after her best friend had already entered a relationship.
At the same time, though, Bridget knew that she had to spill the beans eventually, because she'd seen more than enough television shows and anime where this particular secret had been kept in too long and it caused a lot of problems when it came out at the worst possible time.
As she lay there thinking about how to handle this, Bridget came to a decision.
I'll tell him after this mission, Bridget thought. After all, we don't need 'relationship drama' while we're still busy dealing with Madame Grape and the Sour Bunch.
And that thought finally allowed Bridget to fall to sleep. She knew she'd need all of her strength for the next couple plays, whatever they were.
To be continued...
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Next time...
Clover: Oh, man, I needed that nap.
Sam: I think we all did, Clover.
Leon: I'm glad you all found Clancy. It seems we're one step closer to unraveling this problem.
Bridget: But that just presents another problem. Now that the Sour Bunch is onto our plan, I'm sure they'll be trying that much harder to sabotage the plays...
May: Then we'll just have to hit 'em back twice as hard!
Nick: And we're probably going to have to keep an eye out for that one particular goon, since I'm pretty sure that's our missing W.O.O.H.P. agent.
Clover: Ooh, he was a guy? You gotta tell me if he was cute.
Mat: ...Clover, is now really the time for that?
Clover: What? I was just curious.
Bridget: We'll worry about that when and if we cross paths with him again. For now, let's just get ready for the next play, next time on Totally Spies the Movie: The Greatest Showtime, "A Rather Sour Reception"!
May: ...I thought we were done with these lame-o puns. We had such a good run...
Alex: Hey, at least they're just in the act titles, where they make more sense, and not in our scripts.
Bridget: I'm gonna tell my "other self" to watch the scriptwriters, just in case.