Coming Up Next: The Sparkle Theater case continues into day three, with the spies continuing to deal with the Sour Bunch while Bridget channels her inner ninja and even becomes a space hero. But once the monsters in the door worlds have been defeated, will that really be the end of it? Or, like Bridget predicts, will Madame Grape only show herself once all the missing actors have been found? And is Madame Grape possibly plotting something sinister for the Sparkle Theater behind the scenes?
Act 4: The Curious Case of the Grueling Grape
5:45 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
4th Floor Lobby
"Wow, it's like the floors get more and more extravagant the higher up we go," Alex giggled once the spies had reached the lobby of the Sparkle Theater's fourth floor.
"We host some of our more elaborate plays up here, since the stages on floor four are larger to accommodate bigger and better experiences," Leon explained.
That was when Nick noticed a strange sight nearby.
"Hey, what do you think that is?" Nick asked, pointing towards the stairway that led up to the fifth floor, the entrance blocked by a dark purple barrier with six notches on it, with only two notches still filled in.
"It looks like some kind of barrier," Sam quipped. "And I have a feeling I know who's waiting for us up there."
"Yes, we've been locked out of the fifth floor ever since Madame Grape and the Sour Bunch took over the theater," Leon answered.
"That confirms my suspicions, then," Bridget noted. "Once we free the last two missing actors, then we can go after Madame Grape."
By this point, Bridget noticed that Clover looked substantially happier and much calmer than she had before.
"Let me guess, you finally caved and decided to ask Blaine out?" Bridget laughed.
"And he said yes!" Clover squealed.
"We're gonna wait until this whole thing is over to make actual plans, considering it'd be tricky while we're still dealing with this," Blaine chuckled.
"We should probably head to the stage to get ready for our next play," Leon quipped.
"Yeah, so we can get this wrapped up as soon as possible and get back to enjoying our summer," Mat stated.
No one could argue there as they followed Leon towards the nearest stage.
"Major kudos to you for knowing this studio like the back of your hand, Leon," Nick told Leon.
"My sentiments exactly," Sam quipped.
"And as Mat said, we've got a summer to enjoy!" Alex exclaimed.
After a little while more, the spies and Leon found the stage, and it was pretty large, just like Leon had stated, with much more elaborate props and locations.
"Ooh, fancy," Clover chuckled. "So, what's the next play about?"
"The next play we're going to have you star in is, essentially, a ninja-themed story," Leon responded.
"Ooh, nice!" Bridget laughed. "I've always really liked ninjas, so that's right up my alley."
"You only say that because of the Ninjetti," Nick chuckled.
"It's not my fault their costumes are so cool," Bridget admitted.
"It looks like fun," May commented.
"I admit I had quite a bit of fun concocting certain parts of this play myself," Leon told the spies.
"I'd think so," Mat chuckled.
"Well, let's get this thing going," Nick emphatically replied.
"What about Blaine, though?" Clover asked.
"If there's nothing for me, I am fine with being on the sidelines," Blaine stated.
"Actually, I think you can keep helping Clover with rearranging the props for this set," Leon answered. "I've noticed that you two work pretty well together, despite having just met."
"Aw, you did notice?" Clover giggled.
"Oy," May sighed.
With that taken care of, everyone got set for the next play, with Sam and Mat once again on narration duties, Nick and Alex on the rafters keeping an eye out for the Sour Bunch, and Clover, Blaine and May all assisting with the props.
Backstage, Bridget couldn't help but feel another twinge of excitement as she prepared to suit up, realizing that she really was actually good at this whole acting thing. She could only guess that it came from a lifetime of watching those kinds of movies alongside Nick.
Realizing that she needed to focus on the now, Bridget tugged on her waist ribbon, and it did its thing as always, spiraling around her a couple times before constricting around her waist and surrounding her with a flash of Sparkle Power.
When the flash cleared, Bridget was now wearing a heart themed forehead protector and yellow ribbons in her hair, a fuchsia ninja dress with fingerless gloves, loose sleeves, and a big red ribbon on her back with pink orbs, ninja themed sandals and socks, along with black over the leg pieces above her knees.
Bridget twirled the two kunai that had appeared in her hand (they weren't actual kunai, just prop ones) and glanced towards the door to the main stage. She had felt something odd near the stage.
Before they could really get the play started, the spies saw a shot fired from who-knew-where, and Bridget realized that was not part of the act.
"Surprise..." Madame Grape sneered and cackled after coming out of hiding.
"What in the world?!" Alex chastised.
"And just what the heck are you doing here?!" May exclaimed. "I thought you were holed up behind your little barrier thing?!"
"That's because this isn't actually the real Madame Grape," Bridget answered, confusing everybody. "The Sparkle Power in my ribbon is telling me that this is just a hologram-like projection."
"You have grown quite proficient in wielding Sparkle Power, just as I expected of you, Bridget," Madame Grape laughed in that rather annoying way. "I simply wanted to observe your progress and see how far along you've come."
"Well, then, why don't you come out from behind your dumb little shield and take us on for real?" Alex taunted. "What, are you chicken?"
"Hardly, little girl," Madame Grape retorted. "We will clash soon enough, make no mistake. After all, the greatest tragedies come from the greatest hope, don't they? Just go ahead and keep putting everything back together. It'll make it all the more delicious when I completely crush that hope underneath my heel. Good luck until that moment comes, Bridget. Do try not to disappoint me by bowing out early, would you?"
With another annoying laugh, Madame Grape's projection disappeared in a burst of violet light.
"Jeez, what a hag," Nick quipped. "You really weren't kidding about that, huh, Bridget?"
"Something you'd have to see with your own eyes to believe," Bridget chuckled.
"Wait, that's Madame Grape?" Blaine gasped, as he hadn't actually seen Madame Grape before his capture and indoctrination into the Sour Bunch. "Yeah, she's definitely some kind of hag."
"Well, then, how's about we get this play started?" Mat stated. "The sooner we find those last two missing actors, the sooner we can kick Madame Grape's floating keester for real."
And with that, the group all split off to their assigned roles as the audience for the play began to start filing in.
"A lone figure in ninja garb ascends the peak of the Emperor's mountain, determined to steal back something of great value that was taken from her," Sam narrated.
"But little did she realize that the challenges awaiting her would be perilous even for someone as skilled in the ninja ways as her," Mat narrated.
A spotlight shined down on the Emperor's Castle, and Bridget stood at the base of it, gazing up towards her target at the very top. She knew that she was supposed to consider this merely a "business transaction", as her clan's code dictated, but she had always considered herself a soft-hearted warrior, especially towards the clan leader who had been like a second father to her.
"I've made it at last," Bridget proclaimed. "When I find you, Emperor, you're finished. Not even your most stalwart defenses can save you from someone who uses the shadows to their advantage."
Bridget began hopping up the perches and points as she traversed the treacherous path up the mountain towards the castle, occasionally running across an extremely thin rope connecting two destroyed bridges (she did have a tether from the rafters above helping her stay on) and stopping to stealthily dispatch any of the emperor's guards that she ran across.
As the play went on, Nick continued to keep both his eyes and his psychic sense out for the Sour Bunch, though he had a feeling that they probably wouldn't be seeing much more of the Sour Bunch outside the door worlds, if what Madame Grape had said was to be believed.
Hey, we've beaten what seems like impossible odds many times before, Nick thought. Just let Madame Grape try something, we'll squash her flat like the grape she is.
About forty minutes later, through many twists and turns, the play was nearing its completion, with thankfully no interruptions from the Sour Bunch, which meant that Bridget could jog forward and kick open the door that led inside the throne room of Emperor Odeo.
"This inane game of yours ends here, Emperor," Bridget taunted, her tone of voice doing little to hide her disgust for the Emperor's methods. "Now come out so I can strike you down."
"Tread carefully, little ninja, or you will fall like so many others before you," Emperor Odeo bellowed as he made his appearance, played gloriously by Blaine. Clover had offered to let Blaine take a shot at this whole acting thing, and he seemed to be taking to it like a duck to water.
"Trust me, I'm nothing like the others that you've taken care of," Bridget retorted. "...I'm a whole different breed of ninja."
Bridget swiftly tossed a kunai towards Blaine, and though he managed to deflect it with his bare hand (the kunais weren't actually sharp at all, remember), Bridget used that opportunity to slip into the shadows. This was her element. This was where she thrived.
Power Rangers Ninja Storm, eat your heart out, Bridget thought to herself.
"Come on out already, little girl," Blaine stated. "It is ill-advised to hide from me."
"Oh, who said I was hiding?" Bridget chuckled as she slipped behind Blaine to throw one of her yo-yos around his neck and pull back to yank him upwards (he was actually suspended from a tether that pulled him up thanks to Alex and Clover, so he wasn't in any actual danger). "I just wanted you to think I was, so I could get behind you and end you while you were none the wiser. Now you're gonna pay for everything you've done to my clan."
"...you may kill me, but that doesn't mean my shadow will stop looming over you," Blaine growled. "I am ever-lasting! I am eternal!"
"You're annoying me is what you're doing," Bridget retorted. "Just shut up and expire already."
Bridget gave one more yank, and that was finally the end of the Emperor, Blaine falling back down to the ground completely still. Bridget walked over to just behind the emperor's throne and retrieved the item she'd come to take back, glancing out at the setting sun as she did so.
"With the evil emperor's tyranny finally expunged from the land, the world of ninjas could breathe a sigh of relief at long last," Sam narrated.
"Still, the ninja knew this was no reason to get complacent, as a new, much more dangerous threat would no doubt appear in due time," Mat narrated.
And with that, the play was over, all of the actors coming out to take their final bow.
After the end of the play, the spies all met up out in the lobby like always to discuss events.
"Dang, Bridget, you make a mighty fine ninja," Alex chuckled.
"I'd like to think that Power Rangers kinda gave me at least an idea of what to expect," Bridget quipped as she tugged her waist ribbon to revert back to her normal clothes. "They've done ninjas before, after all."
And just like clockwork, Bridget quickly glanced down towards the stairway that led back to the lower floors.
"Guess it's time to tackle the basement again," Bridget proclaimed, twirling her yo-yos in her hands. "Who's coming with me this time?"
"I am," Mat volunteered.
"Same," Nick added.
Hearing Nick volunteer gave Bridget a smile in her heart, but she could keep her surprise in until the time was right; with that, the three of them went off with Bridget leading the way.
"You seem extra inspired, Bridget," Mat commented.
"Yes, I'm a little surprised myself," Nick remarked.
Bridget took a deep breath inside.
"You don't know the half of it, Nick," Bridget told him.
"Maybe that lead role did wonders for her," Mat told Nick.
"No doubt it did," Bridget replied, overhearing the boys.
Nick had a quizzical look on his face, thinking there was something more to it than that, but he kept it to himself.
"So, what are we looking for?" Mat asked.
"There should be another door like the ones in the basement inside that door world," Bridget answered, recalling her previous experiences in the door worlds. "That's usually where the missing actors are being held."
"But I'm pretty sure we'll have to contend with something to free them," Nick quipped, remembering their fights with Disco Wing and even Madame Grape.
"Hope we do come across that, then," Mat stated.
With that, the three of them checked out the basement.
"I have to say one thing," Nick commented. "This basement is almost as clean as my folks..."
"And I'm one who never had a basement back home," Mat added.
"There were six doors when we first made it down here, right, Bridget?" Nick wondered.
"Yeah, but the other four vanished once I freed the actor and beat the baddie in them," Bridget answered. "That just leaves these last two."
"Well, then, let's not waste any time and go check it out," Nick quipped as Bridget channeled her Sparkle Power to open the door for them.
Inside the door world was a large ninja compound resembling the one Bridget had seen during the play, with a mountain that led up to Emperor Odeo's castle.
"Wow, this place is really weird," Mat admitted. "And I've seen some weird things in my time as a spy, believe me."
"We'd better stay on our toes," Bridget stated, readying her yo-yos. "We're not alone here."
Almost as soon as Bridget had said that, multiple Sour Bunch goons dressed in ninja gear all jumped out of the shadows to ambush them.
Bridget simply whipped her yo-yos around her to clock the goons and scatter them, while Mat fired his Laser Chapstick to snipe one of the goons trying to dive from the ceiling, and eventually Nick just blasted the whole darn roof with a Final Shine Attack to cause the roof to cave in on the goons, forcing them to retreat.
"Any sign of that other door?" Mat wondered as they left this area.
"My Sparkle Power usually leads me to the door," Bridget quipped as they traversed up the mountain. "It hasn't let me down yet."
9:34 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
4th Floor – Stage 2
With that, the five remaining spies were back at the stage.
"I think Bridget's got a future in this gig," Alex told the others.
"And give me a run for my money," Clover cringed.
"Clover, might we remind you when you fudged up the Les Misérables role?" Sam countered.
"Don't remind me..." Clover groaned before May could even ask about that.
"Must have been pretty cringe-worthy," May merely commented.
"Anyway, what do we look for?" Blaine asked.
"I guess we'll know when we find it," Sam deduced.
"I think I found something already," May announced.
"What is it, May?" Alex wondered.
"It looks like... another one of the Sour Bunch's masks," May noted after picking up the mask in question. "Maybe something in it will tell us what's making the goons act the way they are..."
"You think they're being controlled like I was?" Blaine asked.
"That's the idea I've got," May replied before opening her X-Powder. "Hey, RiCO, sorry it's been a while, we've just been caught up in a lot of things here at the Sparkle Theater. Could you scan this mask we found for us?"
"Not a problem at all," RiCO answered as May placed the mask on her X-Powder so RiCO could scan it. "Hmmm... it looks like the mask plays a small hypnotic melody that will ensnare anybody who wears it."
"We figured as much," Sam stated. "That's why Blaine was wearing one when we found him."
"W-Wait, you found the missing agent?" Jerry gasped.
"Yup, he'd been captured by Madame Grape and brainwashed by the Sour Bunch," Alex noted. "But Bridget got him back to normal by breaking the mask he'd been forced to wear."
"That is pretty strange," RiCO quipped. "Given what you've told us about Madame Grape, it seems like her magic powers may actually be the real deal, and yet she uses an old-school method like this to mind control people."
"Probably just a sucker for the classics," Clover chuckled.
"We're gonna keep on this until we've taken care of Madame Grape, because she seems like she's gonna keep perpetuating this runaround unless we stop her," Sam proclaimed. "We'll keep you and Jerry posted."
Back inside the door world, Bridget threw out one of her yo-yos to ring the gong just above Emperor Odeo's throne, and the ringing caused the doorway they'd entered the castle through to be replaced with another copy of the door they'd entered this world in.
"Is that the door we're looking for, Bridget?" Mat wondered.
"Yup," Bridget quipped. "All in who's going in, right?"
Nick did the honors of pushing the door open to reveal another fancy stage, with another captured actor tied up on the edge of said stage. Judging by some of his costume pieces, this was the actor who was originally planned to play the role of Emperor Odeo in the play.
"Hey, there he is!" Mat gasped as he ran forward to try and save the captured actor.
Bridget quickly threw out her yo-yos to hook them around Mat's waist and then yank them back to pull him back towards them, and just in time, as something crashed down from above the stage, obviously intending to crush them.
It appeared to be a mechanical cat monster with green eyes, a collar that resembled a film reel, with gold goggles, a fanged mouth and clawed hands with purple paw pads.
Purrjector Cat let out a loud, distorted meowing sound that transformed the area into a rather cartoony living room set.
"Oh, so the kitty cat slinks out to play, huh?" Nick taunted.
Purrjector Cat occasionally peeked out from behind the set and attempted to swipe at its attackers with its paws and tail, while also dropping little bombs that were shaped like mice to try and catch them.
After a bit of this, Purrjector Cat created two shadowy paws that struck the ground at the same time, rumbling the area enough to knock Nick, Mat and Bridget off balance, but also making all the bomb mice on the field jump into the air and explode.
Seeing this, Bridget began to think. "Hmmm... I wonder," Bridget chuckled as the three of them continued to dodge Purrjector Cat's attacks and the bomb mice.
Nick quickly stopped to fire a Final Shine Attack at Purrjector Cat, only for it to create a barrier that absorbed the attack.
"...well, wasn't expecting that," Nick sighed.
When the shadowy paws emerged again, Bridget charged her yo-yos with her Sparkle Power and whacked one of the bomb mice to make it stop in place. This way, one of the shadowy paws came down on it, causing it to explode and cause Purrjector Cat to fall to pieces momentarily, its dark core falling to the ground in the process.
Bridget moved towards it, striking at the dark sphere with her yo-yos until the sphere retreated upwards and Purrjector Cat reformed around it.
Not much seemed to change for the duration of the fight besides Purrjector Cat performing its paw attacks with more frequency, so it thankfully didn't take too much longer to expose Purrjector Cat's core for a third time, where Bridget swung her yo-yos in a fierce overhead strike that finally destroyed the dark core and Purrjector Cat along with it.
Upon Purrjector Cat's defeat, the living room set collapsed in on itself and dissolved in a burst of light, returning Nick, Mat and Bridget to the stage area with the emperor actor.
Bridget ran over and swung her yo-yos to sever the magical binding keeping the actor trapped, allowing him to land safely on his feet.
"You doing all right there?" Bridget asked.
"I was wondering how much longer it'd be before I became a snack for that cat thing," the actor, actual name Christoph, admitted. "Thank you so much for coming to my rescue."
"It's kinda what we're here for," Nick quipped. "Now how about we get the heck out of this place before more goons show up and ruin our fun?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way through the entry door and back into the Sparkle Theater basement. The ninja-themed door shined brightly before dissolving completely, leaving just the one remaining door.
"Soon, Madame Grape," Bridget proclaimed. "Soon, we're comin' for ya."
While Christoph went to go find Leon, the three spies all returned to the fourth floor lobby to reconvene with the other spies.
"Hey, you're back," Blaine quipped. "I assume things went well down there?"
"Just one more door left down there," Bridget answered.
"That tracks with the fact that another notch on that barrier vanished as well," Sam stated, gesturing to the dark barrier still blocking their way up to the fifth floor. "Sounds like we've got one more play to fix before we can go after Madame Grape."
"Yes, but that play's not scheduled until tomorrow afternoon," Leon answered. "And considering that it's pretty late and you all no doubt need your beauty sleep..."
"Oh, tell me about it," Clover giggled.
"Methinks she's getting a little too giddy," Alex noted.
"She's probably just happy that she might have finally found a long-term boyfriend like you and I did," Sam quipped.
"Here's hoping, right?" May noted.
As the spies all returned to their studio quarters to rest for the night, Bridget couldn't help but think about how she was going to tell Nick how she felt, especially considering that would most likely be soon, considering how close they were to opening the way to Madame Grape.
All the same, Bridget resolved to keep that until it was actually time, since fretting over it wasn't going to get her anywhere.
As she prepared to hit the hay, Bridget and Alex caught each other's eyes and winked at each other before turning in for the night.
10:34 A.M. – The Sparkle Theater
4th Floor – Lobby
"Ah, I feel even more refreshed now," Clover giggled once all eight spies had convened back on the fourth floor lobby after finishing their morning routines.
"I'm pretty sure I know why that is," Alex teased while glancing Blaine's way.
"So, we've really got only one more missing actor to find?" Mat wondered.
"Seems that way," Sam answered.
"And we should probably not waste time and get ready for that play," Leon stated. "Because I have a feeling that once that last actor is found, things here are going to get pretty chaotic."
"When don't things get chaotic when we're involved?" Bridget giggled.
"It's a curse, I tells ya," Nick sighed as the spies headed to the second stage on the fourth floor to get ready for this last play.
There was a real sigh of relief with some of the spies upon hearing there was one more missing actor.
"The end is near, guys," Mat sighed.
"No doubt it is," Bridget stated. "But I will admit I'll miss this acting gig until the next time..."
"Something tells me Clover would have major competition from Bridget," Mat told Nick.
"Honestly, I'd love to see them have a little 'acting competition' and see who comes out on top," Nick quipped. "I mean, they were both hamming it up when we were helping Hikari film her own movies."
"I hope she's doing all right, really," Bridget wondered.
"I guess you really do know her well, then," Mat chuckled.
"I'm the diva of this bunch," Clover insisted.
"Well, Clover, I'd get used to seeing Bridget next to you," Sam giggled.
"Or you could share the spotlight, Clover," Bridget suggested with a couple of giggles.
"I'd vote that," Alex giggled as well.
Leon looked around as well, and he didn't find anything indicating that a missing actor was around here.
"I think we're good to go for this last act," Leon told the spies.
Nick was using his psychic radar to confirm Leon's statement.
"You see anything yourself, Nick?" May asked.
"Still working on it," Nick replied.
It was another two more minutes before Nick turned off his radar.
"Visibly, I don't see another actor in here," Nick told the others. "But something on my radar is going off like gangbusters..."
"Is it the missing actor?" Sam asked.
"I honestly don't know," Nick answered.
The spies then did a look around the fourth floor.
"Can you describe what your radar picked up?" Alex asked Nick.
"It feels like... it's honestly hard to describe, but it sounds like a weird combination of thoughts," Nick responded. "Some of them are clearly from Madame Grape, but others aren't."
"Well, it's something," Sam replied.
The spies searched high and low until Mat checked a corner and was startled at another Madame Grape hologram that was triggered.
"I hope you're enjoying yourselves down there, you meddling spies," Madame Grape laughed. "While you flit around on the lower floors, the stage I'm building for the ultimate tragedy is coming along smoothly. I do hope you make it up here in one piece, though. I wouldn't want the fun to end before it even gets started.
"How many of these holograms did she plant?" Clover wondered.
"I don't know, but let's hope that's the last one," May commented.
"Is your radar still going off, Nick?" Alex asked.
"Not right now," Nick quipped. "But I have a feeling it will once we're done here."
With that in mind, everybody headed onto the stage in order to prepare for this last play, with Sam and Mat once again on narration duties, Clover and Blaine on prop work, Nick and May standing on the rafters to keep an eye out for the Sour Bunch, and May preparing for another role in the play just backstage.
In the stage's dressing room, Bridget was preparing herself, ready to take care of this last play and put a stop to Madame Grape for good. She tugged on her waist ribbon, and it spiraled around her a couple times before constricting around her waist before enveloping her in Sparkle Power.
When the flash cleared, Bridget was wearing a red body suit with bright yellow detailing and white accents, a pair of blue robotic-like shoes, dark red gloves with gold cuffs and yellow fingers, a black and white belt to match the armor covering her chest, and a white helmet with goggles covering her eyes and a big lightning bolt shape above them.
"Ah, the space hero has arrived to save the day," Bridget chuckled. "Let's see what's out there, then."
Bridget made her way out of the dressing room and onto the stage just as a spotlight shined on the stage, which was full of asteroids and meteors, and the band started playing a slow but lively tune.
"Stranded in this dangerous asteroid field after losing track of her spaceship, the space hero must navigate the treacherous reaches of space in order to find her fellow crewmates and return home safely," Sam narrated.
"But little does she know that untold dangers lie in wait out here in space," Mat narrated. "For this sector is not what it appears to be."
Bridget floated onto the stage (she was actually floating, assisted by her Sparkle Power) like she was actually out in space, checking her wrist-mounted radar for any signs of life in this sector.
"...where are they?" Bridget wondered. "I should at least be getting a signal from somebody out here. This dang thing is supposed to be state of the art..."
A sudden movement caught Bridget's eye, and she glanced towards one of the meteors nearby. Thankfully, it was just another smaller meteor.
When Bridget was distracted, a large alien creature flew towards her, scaring the heebie-jeebies out of her.
"That was an actual scream of fright," Alex giggled.
"I don't think even Bridget knew that was coming," Nick chuckled.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Bridget growled, swinging her yo-yos out to bat the alien creature away. "I've got friends to find and a ship to get back to, so please buzz off!"
The play continued for another forty minutes, Bridget continuing to float through space and encounter strange alien creatures who apparently wanted her head.
Near the climax of the play, Bridget had finally found the space ship she had been separated from, only to see something grotesque also approaching it.
"Hey, foot fungus!" Bridget shouted. "You'd better stay the heck away from my friends."
The larger creature turned around and started laughing maniacally. Once again, May was apparently trying to out-ham Bridget, apparently.
"Ooh, but your little crewmates look so delicious," May cackled. "Why do you think I've been chasing you all over this sector?"
"...wait, is that why our ship crashed in the Vorlon Asteroid Field?!" Bridget gasped. "You set a trap for us, didn't you?!"
"How sad that you didn't figure it out in time to do anything about it," May laughed. "Your little space explorer friends are gonna be succulent snacks for Zorth the Planet Eater!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but in the name of the Trans-Galactic Coalition, this is the last planet you'll be eating!" Bridget retorted. "So why don't you just come and get some?!"
With that, Bridget and May began duking it out, letting out dramatic grunts in all the appropriate places as they fought each other.
After a few minutes of the fight, Bridget floated backwards and aimed her ray gun straight for the head of May's costume.
"Sorry, but you made the biggest mistake of your life in trying to screw with us!" Bridget proclaimed as she fired a burst of Sparkle Power from the prop gun that resembled a laser blast. The blast struck the head of May's costume and caused her to flip backwards before falling slowly towards the "planet" below them.
"You will never be rid of us! The Zorth are eternal!" May gargled as her "last words".
"Maybe, but not you, and not today," Bridget taunted as she floated towards the spaceship.
"And so, Zorth the Planet Eater was defeated, and the space hero reunited with her crew," Sam narrated.
"But as they continued their journey through this sector of the cosmos, they would have to be vigilant, for the Planet Eater was but one of many Zorth that called this sector home," Mat narrated.
Once the play was over, Bridget and May joined the other actors onstage to give a final bow to the audience.
With the play over, the eight spies all reconvened in the fourth floor lobby.
"It almost felt like you two were trying to out-ham each other out there," Sam giggled.
"Yeah, I kinda got a little too into it," May chuckled.
"That just proves you had a good time, to be fair," Bridget quipped as she tugged on her waist ribbon to return to her normal clothes.
"Is there still any sign of that last missing actor?" Blaine asked.
"Nothing yet," Nick admitted after another psychic radar scan.
Almost like clockwork, Bridget glanced towards the downwards stairway, knowing what that meant.
"I have a feeling he won't be missing for much longer," Bridget stated. "The last basement door just opened up."
"And that means it's go time again," Nick quipped.
"I'll be back in a flash, everyone," Bridget stated as she charged down the stairways and towards the basement.
Alex snuck a peek at the barrier that was still blocking the way to the fifth floor.
"You'd better watch your butt, Madame Grape," Alex proclaimed. "Because we're gonna be coming to kick it soon enough."
Down in the basement, the final door that still remained was now glowing, embedded with the image of the space helmet Bridget had worn during the play. She raised her yo-yos to channel her Sparkle Power, which opened up the door and allowed her push it all the way open and enter the final door world.
Inside the door world was a bunch of large planetoids arranged in a pathway, with occasional members of the Sour Bunch dressed up as aliens.
Bridget swiftly ran forward and jumped off the first planetoid, slowly floating towards the next one.
"Oh, goody, actual anti-gravity," Bridget sighed. "I always hated when they used anti-gravity segments in video games, especially when they decide to invert your controls for those sections. Annoying as heck, I know..."
Regardless, Bridget continued to jump from planet to planet, occasionally stopping to brawl with the Sour Bunch and knock them out of the planets' orbit, sending them floating away. Bridget wasn't too concerned, knowing they could teleport, no doubt a power granted to them by Madame Grape.
After running on the rings of a Saturn-like planet, Bridget jumped to another planet, and then to what resembled the spaceship that her "crew" had been trapped in during the play. And much to Bridget's relief, in place of the main hatch, there was a door identical to the one she'd entered this place in.
"All right-y, then, time to stomp one more baddie," Bridget noted as she pushed the door open to find herself on another stage, and sure enough, the last missing actor, the one who was supposed to play the giant alien.
"Hey, whoever's up there waiting for me, I know you're there already, so why don't you just come down here so I can stomp you and get this over with?" Bridget called out.
A loud roar answered her, and something did indeed fall from the ceiling to confront her, and it was a giant mechanical lion with a spotlight for a face, mirror plates adorning parts of its body, and the signature masquerade mask of the Sour Bunch covering its eyes.
Spotlion roared loudly, and the room transformed into a mostly square-shaped arena with multiple spotlights and mirrored wall panels. Spotlion jumped to one of the floating platforms and fired four dark orbs out from its body in a plus sign direction.
One of the orbs came Bridget's way, and she slashed at it with her yo-yos, her Sparkle Power turning the dark orb into a light orb and sending it flying back.
"...ah, I get it," Bridget chuckled as she figured it out.
Spotlion jumped to another floating platform and fired off a larger orb that bounced off of the mirrored wall panels and flew all across the room. Bridget dodged when she could, knowing that even if she purified an orb to hit back, it would only go straight back in the direction it had come from, so she had to make her shots count.
Deciding to try something different, Spotlion hopped to another nearby platform and fired three orbs, two going above and below it and one directly in front of it. Bridget purified that orb and hit it with her yo-yos to send it flying back into Spotlion, cracking its mechanical armor slightly.
This process continued until Bridget managed to hit Spotlion two more times with orbs, which caused it to shatter completely, its dark core dropping to the bottom of the arena. Bridget followed the core and whacked it multiple times with her yo-yos until it bounced back to the middle of the arena, Spotlion's body reforming around it.
The arena transformed again, mostly rearranging the layout of the floating platforms that Spotlion used to attack. Spotlion jumped to one and fired four orbs before jumping down and firing four more. Bridget danced around the orbs as best she could before purifying one and hitting it back, watching as it bounced off the mirrored walls to ricochet into Spotlion.
After hitting it with another orb, Spotlion suddenly fired a dark red laser beam from its "mane" that bounced off multiple walls. Bridget moved for cover, knowing she couldn't send that back.
Once the laser had dissipated, the process began anew, and Bridget eventually knocked a third orb back into Spotlion, shattering its body and exposing its dark core. Bridget smacked it a couple more times with her yo-yos before Spotlion once again reformed around it.
This time around, Spotlion decided to change things up, as after transforming the arena again, there were now suddenly two Spotlions, both of them firing multiple dark orbs at once.
As Bridget scurried around to avoid the orbs and find a safe place to attack, she did notice that, thanks to the bright lights shining in from the arena's spotlights, only one of the two Spotlions had a shadow.
"Guess that means the one with the shadow is the real one," Bridget quipped as she knocked an orb back into the real Spotlion.
After another hit, the two Spotlions were joined by a third, and all three of them fired criss-crossing laser beams that streaked around the arena. Bridget scampered around to avoid the beams until she parked herself underneath the Spotlion with a shadow, which seemed to be the only safe space.
Once the lasers receded, all three Spotlions started firing off orbs, which only made it that much harder to hit it. Still, Bridget persevered, waiting for the perfect opportunity before placing herself in front of the real Spotlion as it appeared to fire another orb at her.
Bridget swung her yo-yos out to reflect the orb back into Spotlion, shattering its body and once again exposing its dark core. It only took a few more whacks to completely destroy the dark core and put Spotlion out of its misery.
Once the dark core had been destroyed, the arena dissolved completely, leaving Bridget back on the stage she'd entered from.
"Hold on, buddy, I've got ya," Bridget stated as she swung her yo-yos out to sever the bindings trapping the alien actor.
"Oh, thank goodness you finally found me," the alien actor, real name Pauline, gasped in relief once she was back on her feet. "I don't even know how long I've been stuck in here with that accursed lion..."
"Long enough, methinks," Bridget chuckled. "Come on, let's get out of here. The others are waiting, after all."
Bridget and Pauline left the stage through the entrance door and wound up back in the basement of the Sparkle Theater, where the space hero door shined brightly before dissolving like the others had.
Almost immediately after, Bridget felt a strange pulse from her waist ribbon, no doubt reacting to something upstairs. Knowing that the finale was close at hand, Bridget and Pauline headed up the stairs as fast as they could to the fourth floor lobby, where the rest of the spies were waiting for them.
"How'd it go down there, Bridget?" Sam asked.
"Well, I did some anti-gravity planet hopping and fought a giant mirror lion," Bridget giggled. "So, yeah, pretty fun."
"You must have done something right, Bridget, because that barrier's acting all kinds of weird," Clover quipped. Indeed, the barrier blocking the way to the fifth floor was flashing and warbling, though it didn't seem to be disappearing as they'd expected.
"But if it's still up, how exactly do we get through it?" Mat wondered.
"We might be able to help with that," Leon answered as he made his presence known, followed by Perry, Clancy, Stephan, Johnny, and Christoph, with Pauline joining them as well. "I've been studying this barrier, and I believe we just need an extra dose of Sparkle Power in order to tear down this last defense so you can all get up there."
With that, Leon and the six rescued actors all stood in front of the flickering barrier and raised their hands, bright blue sparkles of magic flowing from their hands and into the barrier.
After about ten seconds of this, a loud sound like shattering glass boomed outwards, and the barrier finally broke apart and dissolved like snowflakes, leaving the stairway to the fifth floor accessible again.
"Hey, you did it!" Bridget proclaimed.
"We've expended all the Sparkle Power that we've been holding onto since we've been captured, so we may not be of much more use to you, we're afraid," Johnny stated.
"You'll all have to go up there and stop whatever Madame Grape and the Sour Bunch are scheming," Pauline replied.
"Well, everyone, looks like we're just about at the end of this caper," Alex quipped. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to stomp Madame Grape, and good."
"Remember, though, I highly doubt it's going to be that easy," Nick answered. "Because I'm pretty damn sure that Madame Grape hasn't shown us all of her tricks yet, and I'm also getting some really bad vibes coming from up there."
"Yeah, it feels like Madame Grape might have done something to the fifth floor while she's been holed up there," Bridget noted. "So I'd say we should be cautious."
"Whatever the case, Madame Grape better be ready, because we're gonna be shutting that demented 'tragedy' of hers down soon enough," May proclaimed.
After double-checking their gadgets to make sure they were all working properly, all eight spies ascended the stairway to the fifth floor, ready to finally search for Madame Grape and save the Sparkle Theater from her deadly ambitions once and for all.
To be concluded...
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Next time...
Clover: ...whoa, what the heck is all of this?
Alex: Talk about your malicious redecorating.
Bridget: I don't like this, you guys. This place just screams 'trouble' to me. Not to mention Madame Grape could be anywhere up here.
Mat: I guess all we can really do is start looking, huh?
Blaine: I think I've seen parts of this place before.
Clover: ...really?
Blaine: Yeah, I think I was investigating up here before I got nabbed by the Sour Bunch.
May: Which would explain why Madame Grape put that barrier up, so nobody could meddle up there after that.
Nick: Let's not waste any time, shall we? We've got a whole floor to search for that sour witch in, and I have a feeling that we're running out of time to do that.
Bridget: I definitely concur. Let's find Madame Grape with all the speed, next time on the final act of Totally Spies the Movie: The Greatest Showtime, "A Magnificent Final Performance"!
May: I almost want to talk about that thing that the prop department made, but I don't wanna spoil the finale, either, so...
Bridget: Probably best to just remain tight-lipped and let the readers figure it for themselves.