Coming Up Next: The spies finally head to the fifth floor of the Sparkle Theater in order to confront Madame Grape and end her ambitions once and for all. Naturally, it's not gonna be that easy, as Madame Grape has warped the fifth floor to her liking, needless to say that she's still a tough customer with powerful magic. Bridget will have to recall all of the techniques she learned in the plays in order to overcome this final opponent. Can Bridget give the performance of her lifetime to defeat Madame Grape and save the Sparkle Theater?
Act 5: A Magnificent Final Performance
2:42 P.M. – The Sparkle Theater
5th Floor – Unknown Location
"...whoa, what the heck is all of this?" Clover wondered as she looked at the surroundings.
Needles to say, the fifth floor of the Sparkle Theater was absolutely nothing like the spies had expected it to be. The landscape around them was warped and malicious in a way that resembled the oddity of the door worlds that Bridget had explored, with the overall aesthetic of a masquerade ball that made this floor look much larger than it actually was.
"Talk about your malicious redecorating," Alex commented.
"Tell me about it," Sam added.
"I don't like this, you guys," Bridget told the group. "This place just screams 'trouble' to me. Not to mention Madame Grape could be anywhere up here."
"I guess all we can really do is start looking, huh?" Mat wondered.
"Seems like a logical thing," Nick quipped.
"I think I've seen parts of this place before," Blaine stated.
That caught everyone's attention.
"...really?" Clover wondered.
"Yeah, I think I was investigating up here before I got nabbed by the Sour Bunch," Blaine answered.
"That's lucky for us," Nick commented.
"Which would explain why Madame Grape put that barrier up, so nobody could meddle up there after that," May deduced.
"Let's not waste any time, shall we?" Nick told the others. "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."
"I definitely concur," Bridget remarked. "Let's find Madame Grape with all the speed!"
As the eight spies headed off into the fifth floor, they quickly found that many members of the Sour Bunch were blocking the way, and the area up ahead resembled a wild west saloon.
"Oh, we're doing this, are we?" Bridget quipped as she used her Sparkle Power-infused waist ribbon to transform into her cowgirl outfit.
Just as the Sour Bunch goons came charging for her, Bridget lashed out with her yo-yos, using them to fling goons every which way so the spies could continue onwards.
At the edge of town, a larger Sour Bunch goon dressed up as a cowboy gunslinger aimed his gun towards the spies. Bridget wasn't having any of that, though, taking out her prop gun and firing it towards the gunslinger before he could react, dropping him to the ground and causing the door to the nearby saloon to open. Much to the spies' confusion, the door resembled the ones that led to the "door worlds" in the basement.
"I thought we took care of those door worlds," Clover quipped.
"This is probably Madame Grape's final line of defense," Bridget answered. "Making us go through everything we've already been through in the plays before we can get to her. Well, then, if that's what she wants, I'll show her exactly why I'm the star here."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Bridget," Nick chuckled as the spies all headed through the door and found themselves in a frozen landscape, much like the ice skating play.
"Hey, I think I see a nasty wizard up there," May stated, pointing up towards the castle ahead.
"Then allow me to go and stomp him again," Bridget proclaimed as she transformed into her ice skater outfit before beginning her trek up the mountain, skating as fast as she could while the spies followed her.
Occasionally, a Sour Bunch goon would jump towards her, but Bridget simply did a fancy ballet twirl to knock the goon away so she could keep her momentum. The rest of the spies decided to play keepaway, hanging back and firing on any Sour Bunch goon who tried to get the jump on Bridget so she could skate up the mountain unimpeded.
Eventually, they got to the top where the castle awaited, and the wizard from the play started firing balls of dark magic towards the spies.
"W-Wait, that's not the actors we rescued, are they?!" Alex gasped.
"No, I think they're just duplicates of the plays' villains that Madame Grape created," Bridget noted. "It wouldn't surprise me that she'd try something like that."
"Good, because that means we don't have to hold back!" Nick responded as he fired a Final Shine Attack to knock the wizard down and allow Bridget to skate in a figure eight around it, a flash of Sparkle Power annihilating it on the spot.
The opposite hallway revealed another door for the spies to enter, so they did just that, finding themselves in a large bank complex like in the thief play.
"I don't think that Black Mask character is gonna be interested in mercy this time," Alex quipped as a figure dressed like Black Mask stepped forward to greet the spies.
"Oh, let him," Bridget answered as she transformed into her phantom thief outfit. "I'm not scared of posers like him."
As Black Mask sauntered forward before lunging in an attempt to pounce on the spies, Bridget fired her grappling hook to snatch up Black Mask and yank him down to the ground, followed by lasso-ing him up with her yo-yos and spinning him around before tossing him into the opposite wall, sending him crashing through that wall and another wall and finally directly into the bank's safe before he collapsed.
The safe swung itself open to reveal another doorway.
"Is he gonna be okay?" May wondered.
"I don't think this one's even real," Clover answered. "I think we can just leave him there."
"Sounds good, because we should probably get motor-ing," Bridget quipped as the spies all headed through the doorway and into a kung-fu dojo, where a crowd of Sour Bunch goons were waiting for them.
"Sorry, boys, but we're not in the mood for a gang-up attack today," Bridget taunted as she transformed into her karate outfit. "Now get out of our way or you're gonna have a headache in the morning."
The Sour Bunch goons all charged anyways.
"...that's what I thought," Bridget quipped as she charged into the crowd of goons, striking them with her bucklers and knocking them all away with each strike.
One larger goon attempted to leg sweep her, but Bridget simply jumped over that lazy attack and punched forward with both bucklers, sending the goon careening into the gong hanging above the throne. The gong's ringing caused another doorway to appear behind the emperor's throne.
"Two to go," Sam stated. "Hopefully it won't be much longer before we reach Madame Grape and take her down."
"Let's keep hurrying, then," Alex stated as the spies all entered the doorway, finding a large castle on the other side.
"...oh, that's not pleasant," Blaine groaned.
"Welp, you've got an actual ninja on your side this time," Bridget chuckled as she transformed into her ninja outfit. "Now watch me clean house."
Bridget rushed forward, running across the seemingly razor-thin wires connecting each area to itself, and throwing kunais to dispatch any Sour Bunch goons who were hiding in the shadows.
After grappling across a chasm with her yo-yos, Bridget hopped across a series of stone perches before lunging forward to send another Sour Bunch goon flying with a double kunai strike, and this caused yet another doorway to appear, hopefully the last one.
The spies didn't waste a second in heading into the door, coming out on the other side in a large city area, only to see that a large cluster of meteors was rapidly approaching the city.
"Oh, that's just not funny!" Mat shouted.
"Don't you worry, Mat," Bridget quipped as she transformed into her space hero outfit. "Watch a real hero of space get down and dirty."
With that in mind, Bridget flew up into the air, using the rocket pack on her outfit's back to do so, as she fired her laser pistol towards the smaller meteors to destroy them, and using her yo-yos to hurl chunks of the broken meteors into the larger ones to destroy them as well.
However, hiding behind one of the meteors was an alien creature similar to the one that May had played as in the play. It roared loudly in her face, but Bridget wasn't impressed, hooking it with her yo-yos and spinning it around before throwing it into a black hole at the very top of the 'room'.
Once Bridget had landed back on safe ground to the applause of the spies, another doorway appeared, though this one was adorned with a symbol resembling Madame Grape's masquerade mask.
"Looks like it's finally time to put an end to this nonsense," May quipped.
"I hope you're ready, Madame Grape, because you're not getting away with what you've done any longer," Bridget proclaimed.
After one last double-check to make sure that all of their gadgets were functional and working properly, the spies all entered this final doorway and found themselves on a large stage similar to the ones where Bridget had fought Madame Grape's 'generals' in the door worlds.
"Huh. That fits," Bridget noted as she returned to her normal clothes.
"I don't know if I'm jinxing anything by saying this, but... where the heck is Madame Grape?" Alex wondered, seeing nobody in the room but them.
"Ooh, she better not have ghosted us," Clover growled. "I hate it when people do that, like that one guy who totally promised he was gonna go out with me, only to ditch me at the last second for freakin' Mandy! I mean, who does that?!"
"Is Mandy that bad?" Blaine asked, obviously not knowing who Mandy was.
"Oh, do we have some stories for you when we're done here, Blaine," Sam chuckled.
"Don't worry, my lovelies, I will not keep you waiting any further."
All of a sudden, spotlights shined down on the stage all at once, and flashes of purple light coalesced onto the main stage platform, eventually forming into Madame Grape herself.
"After all, you've fought so long and hard to get here," Madame Grape proclaimed. "Welcome, spies, to my glorious stage."
"It doesn't look any different from the others, though," Clover retorted.
"All in due time," Madame Grape chuckled, floating downwards to observe the spies, Bridget in particular. "Oh, how I've been waiting for you specifically, Bridget."
"Is it because I'm the star and you're not?" Bridget taunted, twirling her yo-yos around herself. "Seriously, get over yourself."
"It's quite simple, really," Madame Grape laughed. "Your brilliant luster and magnificent presence has built up the hopes and expectations of everybody here in the Sparkle Theater. And, of course, the bigger their dreams... the greater their despair when I crush and shatter them all, in order to complete the finest and most decadent tragedy of all time!"
"Wait just a chicken-fried minute, is that why you never really interfered in our escapades?" Alex gasped.
"Naturally," Madame Grape sneered. "Oh, how I have waited for this. In order to complete my ultimate stage, I need someone like you, Bridget, to play my foil."
Bridget simply stepped forward, spinning her yo-yos around. "Well, if we're gonna go, then let's freakin' go already," Bridget proclaimed. "I'm kinda sick of waiting to pop you one."
"Then come at me, Bridget, all of you, and let us begin our great tragedy!" Madame Grape bellowed, her magic staff appearing in her hands as she used it to transform the stage into a battle arena resembling a ballroom. "IT'S SHOWTIME!"
"All you had to do was ask!" Bridget exclaimed as she charged towards Madame Grape, swinging her yo-yos in different directions to keep her guessing.
Sure enough, Madame Grape juked in one direction, but before she could fire a blast of magic, Bridget socked her in the face with her other yo-yo.
Nick took advantage, leapfrogging off of Bridget's shoulders and firing a Final Shine Attack directly into Madame Grape's face, sending her reeling.
"I would advise against underestimating us, you know," Nick taunted. "Many a bad guy has done that with us and regretted it."
"Maybe, but unlike them, I actually have the power to back it up!" Madame Grape cackled as she waved her wand to open up vortexes of dark energy on the floor that attempted to suck the spies into them.
"Everyone, get into the air, quickly!" Sam shouted, and everyone took off into the air with their Jetpack Backpacks to avoid the pull of the vortexes.
Suddenly, Madame Grape opened up another vortex right in front of Sam, where it seemed like she had no chance to dodge away.
Bridget quickly ran over and swung her yo-yos at the vortex, charging them with Sparkle Power to force the vortex to close just in time.
"So, you're more skilled than I was led to believe," Madame Grape quipped. "That's just fine. I know how to improvise, after all."
Madame Grape aimed her staff downward and fired a shot from it. When that shot hit the ground, it exploded outward as a dark shockwave that Bridget was forced to jump over, only to be snatched out of the air by dark chains bursting from the walls.
Bridget simply smirked and let out a flash of Sparkle Power around her to destroy the chains and deck Madame Grape in the face a few times with her yo-yos.
Sam and Mat both took aim and fired Electromagnetic Curling Irons into Madame Grape's back, causing her to turn towards them.
"...I'm not sure if that was a good idea," Mat admitted.
"Stop interfering in my grand design!" Madame Grape shouted, waving her staff and conjuring a large sphere of dark energy that she threw towards Sam and Mat.
As they braced themselves, they were suddenly surrounded by a psychic bubble that reflected the dark sphere right back into Madame Grape.
"No dirty tricks on my watch, you sour little tart," Nick taunted.
"Resorted to calling names, have we?" Madame Grape snickered. "You must be losing your composure if that's what you're doing."
"Oh, hardly," Bridget retorted as she started running forward.
Madame Grape attempted to cast a spell and stop Bridget in her tracks, only for May to throw a pair of Incendiary Earrings that stuck to Madame Grape's back and exploded, stunning her long enough for Bridget to get right in her face and blast her backwards with a flash of Sparkle Power.
"How about we bring down the house?!" Alex exclaimed, aiming a Sonic Disintegrator Boombox towards the ceiling and activating it to rumble the surrounding area. This caused parts of the arena roof to shake loose and fall down, clonking Madame Grape in the head.
"...I see how it is, then," Madame Grape proclaimed, her staff glowing ominously. "If that's how you wish to play... then shall we turn up the heat?!"
Madame Grape aimed her staff downward, towards the stage, and unleashed a flash of dark magic that spread out across the entire area and transformed the stage itself into a large, circular arena with molten lava flowing all over the floor, forcing the spies to take off into the air.
"Man, I'm just glad we didn't really waste any of our Jetpack Backpack fuel during this caper," Alex admitted. "That was way too close..."
"We haven't even gotten started yet," Madame Grape laughed as she started floating in the center of the arena, surrounding herself with dark projections of what looked like backup dancers, all of them surrounding her in a ring shape. "So don't any of you go and die on me!"
"Well, this might be a problem," Blaine quipped. "Anyone see a weak point here?"
"I think we've gotta get rid of these backup dancers first," Sam noted. "There's too many protecting Madame Grape."
Bridget started them off, using her Sparkle Power-charged yo-yos to attack the backup dancers and leave holes in the "wall".
After creating a few more holes, Nick fired a Final Shine Attack through one of the gaps to hit Madame Grape in the chest, causing her to reel back before reorienting herself and renewing her shield.
Just then, geysers of fire shot up from the lava below, forcing the spies to fly slightly higher so they didn't get swiftly roasted.
"Man, this is getting intense," May admitted as she fired her Wind Tunnel 9000 alongside Blaine to clear more holes in Madame Grape's shield.
"Why won't you just fall already?!" Blaine exclaimed.
"Because I am the star here," Madame Grape taunted. "And the star does not fall so easily."
"Um, isn't that supposed to be my line?" Bridget laughed as she used an Insanely Powerful Portable Vacuum to suck up some of the 'dancers' (she knew they weren't real, after all) and leave a considerable gap in her shield.
Blaine naturally took advantage of that opportunity, firing his Wind Tunnel 9000 through the gap to send Madame Grape stumbling again.
After she reoriented herself, Madame Grape raised her staff again, and this caused dark purple trains to start running across the floor and ceiling of the arena, forcing the spies to stay in the middle to avoid getting run over.
"Man, we don't have much room left to work with if this keeps up," Clover admitted.
"Then we'd better finish this quickly," Sam answered.
More fire geysers shot up from below after the trains receded, and one of them actually caught Alex's Jetpack Backpack and caused her to start falling towards the lava.
Nick reacted without thinking, catching Alex in his telekinetic hold just in time and bringing her closer to him.
"Oof, I was almost a good ol' roast beef," Alex quipped before leaning back to kiss Nick on the cheek. "Thanks for saving my butt, Nick."
"Hey, I wouldn't be doing my job as your boyfriend if I just let you get turned into a pork cutlet or something like that," Nick answered. "Oh, by the way, I gotta cook you guys my mom's famous pork cutlets one of these days, they're out of this world."
"You won't be getting that last meal as long as I'm here!" Madame Grape proclaimed, unleashing a large blast of dark magic from her staff, thinking Nick couldn't possibly both dodge it and keep Alex safe.
So, naturally, Madame Grape was surprised when Nick simply surrounded both himself and Alex with a psychic bubble, the dark blast bouncing harmlessly off of the bubble.
"Nice try," Nick quipped as he dismissed the bubble before firing a flurry of psychic bolts to create gaps in the shield, and Alex fired an Electromagnetic Curling Iron into Madame Grape's chest, causing her to gasp in shock and her shield to dissipate completely. "I think that's your chance, Bridget! Go on and finish her off!"
"By all means," Bridget chuckled, surrounding her whole body with Sparkle Power.
"N-No! This... this cannot be!" Madame Grape gasped, too stunned to defend herself. "I cannot be defeated by mere children!"
"You shouldn't have egged us on, then!" Bridget retorted as she aimed her hands for Madame Grape, unleashing her gathered Sparkle Power in the form a giant wave of light that consumed Madame Grape.
All Madame Grape could do was scream in disbelief as the wave of Sparkle Power engulfed her, disintegrating her completely. All that remained was her masquerade mask, which clattered to the stage platform. The instant Madame Grape was gone, the arena dissolved and returned everyone to the stage, thankfully with a solid floor and no lava. Everything around them seemed to return to normal as well, which most likely meant that the spell distorting the fifth floor had come undone with Madame Grape's defeat.
"...holy crapbaskets, did we do it?" Alex gasped.
"I think we did!" May shouted.
"I'm honestly surprised that Madame Grape just... you know, disintegrated when Bridget took her down," Mat quipped. "I figured it would purify her or something like that..."
"I think Madame Grape wasn't exactly human," Bridget answered. "My ribbon was giving me a vibe that she was some kind of darkness given form by her own dark magic."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, really, given all the wacky sights we've seen on our own adventures, huh?" Clover admitted. "Like that guy who sucked up people's souls in order to be immortal, only for him to turn to literal dust when we broke his jewel..."
"Congratulations, everyone!" Leon exclaimed as he and the rescued actors arrived on the scene. "I just knew you were going to be victorious!"
"All in a day's work, really," Nick chuckled.
"I really wish I'd been able to see that fight," Pauline admitted. "It sounds like it was a real humdinger!"
"Oh, you and your disposition for special effects-laden fight scenes," Clancy teased.
"Hey, if they're flashy and fun, it's good enough for me!" Pauline sputtered.
As the actors bantered amongst each other, Bridget suddenly felt a little nervous, remembering what she'd promised herself that she'd do once Madame Grape was defeated.
Willing none of that nervousness to show on her face, Bridget walked up to Nick and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh, what is it, Bridget?" Nick asked.
Bridget tried to think of how exactly to word this, knowing that this would be tricky to explain correctly...
...but then, she heard a deep, menacing laugh.
"...um, what was that?" Alex gasped.
"Too soon."
"Hold on a minute, that voice sounds familiar," Blaine noted. "Oh, please don't tell me..."
Sure enough, Madame Grape's masquerade mask was floating in the air, and it had gained eyes that resembled Madame Grape's own.
"How the hell are you still alive, you little freak show?!" May shouted.
"Too soon," Madame Grape chuckled. "It's much too soon to end things right here. After all, we haven't even gotten to the finale yet, have we? My dark powers are destined to dull your incessant Sparkle Power, Bridget. And I assure you, such a magnificent tragedy will be played out, no matter what you think you can do to stop me!"
Before any of the spies could possibly make a move to destroy the mask, said mask started floating higher before unleashing a gigantic wave of darkness from itself that started destroying anything it touched.
"Um, I'm not sure about you guys, but I think that's our cue to, I don't know, get the hell out of here!" Bridget exclaimed.
The spies all turned tail and ran for the hills, Leon and the actors following as the dark wave continued to annihilate whatever it touched.
After reaching a dead end in the fifth floor lobby, Nick decided that a little bit of extra property damage was the lesser of two evils and blasted out a nearby wall with a Final Shine Attack so they could all escape.
Just then, however, Madame Grape's dark wave caught up with them, and Bridget instinctively raised her hands to create a barrier of Sparkle Power around everyone that would hopefully protect them.
The dark wave struck Bridget's barrier and she instantly lost consciousness.
Thankfully, it only took her about another couple minutes to wake up from that, only to sit up and gasp in horror when she saw what had happened.
All eight spies were resting on a small island of rubble just outside, with Leon and the rescued actors on another one.
"...what happened?" Bridget gasped, even if she knew exactly what had happened. It was unmistakable and unavoidable.
The Sparkle Theater had been utterly destroyed by Madame Grape's final desperate attack. In fact, most of the surrounding island that the Sparkle Theater resided on was in ruins as well.
"It's... all gone?" Bridget shuddered. "Just like that?"
"Wait, hold on, how many people were still in there when that stupid mask blew everything to kingdom come?!" May gasped.
"Can you sense anything, Nick?" Sam wondered.
Nick did a quick psychic radar scan, only to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Most of the patrons already evacuated," Nick answered. "There's a few injured from the collapse, but from what I can tell, they don't feel too serious. But... I'm also sensing a massive energy source coming from where the theater was."
"That's just great, Madame Grape's still not satisfied after wrecking the Sparkle Theater?!" Clover growled.
Suddenly, a large mass of darkness sprung forth from the ruins of the Sparkle Theater and floated into the air, slowly but surely forming into a grotesque monster. This monster resembled a gigantic version of Madame Grape's masquerade mask with evil purple eyes, disembodied hands resembling Madame Grape's gloves, and a headpiece that resembled buildings like the Sydney Opera House.
"My tragedy has only just begun," the creature bellowed, its voice echoing all over. "Now you will all bow to the majesty of Grape the Great!"
"Oh, this is bad," Leon groaned. "Not only is the Sparkle Theater destroyed, but if Madame Grape gets off the island, she might go after the city next! It truly is the end..."
"Then we've gotta stop her right here and now," Bridget proclaimed as she stood up.
Before anyone could formulate a plan of attack, though, Grape the Great launched a gigantic laser blast at the spies that shattered a concrete wall they had been hiding behind, and the rubble collapsed downward, effectively burying Bridget underneath it.
"BRIDGET!" the spies all shouted.
"Do not weep for the poor girl," Grape the Great laughed. "She fought well, but it was destined to end in tragedy. As I had foreseen."
"...you are going to pay for that," Nick growled, his psychic aura exploding to life around him so fiercely that it actually cracked the ground underneath him.
"And what do you think you can do to stop me?" Grape the Great taunted. "The only one who had any hope of truly ending me is buried alive, and probably already shuffled off this mortal coil."
Just then, the darkness being exuded from Grape the Great was illuminated by waves of blue light. The spies all glanced around to see what was happening now, and they could see hundreds upon hundreds of clusters of bright blue light flowing in from all over what was left of the island.
"I don't think that's Grape doing that," Blaine admitted.
"Wait... that's Sparkle Power!" Perry gasped.
"Everyone on this island is offering their Sparkle Power to help us out!" Leon exclaimed.
The droves of Sparkle Power all flowed towards the rubble pile that Bridget had been trapped under, causing the area to shine a bright aquatic blue.
After about ten more seconds of this, the light fell silent, and everyone waited for a sign that Bridget was all right.
But just as Grape the Great was about to launch another attack, all of that rubble was swiftly thrown aside, and a burst of aquatic blue light streaked off into the sky.
That streak eventually flew high enough to be level with Grape the Great's gigantic mask, and it finally revealed itself to be Bridget, alive and well, though her outfit had radically changed.
Bridget was now wearing a turquoise bell-sleeve gown with pastel blue edges and hem, which folded toward the shoulders to bare them and, through a triangular opening, revealed a white petticoat at its base, along with a silver crown on her head with four gems, two rubies at the front and back and two sapphires at the sides, a topaz brooch with silver star setting, gold four-pointed star earrings, and silver round-toe high heels. The entire dress was shimmering a bright blue, surrounding Bridget with an almost heavenly glow.
"...wow," Alex gasped. "Now that is breathtaking."
"All that Sparkle Power must have given her that new form," Nick stated. "Everyone's putting their hopes in Bridget."
"How exquisite," Grape the Great chuckled. "Just as I expected, it is to be our final showdown with you, my formidable adversary, and..."
Grape the Great attempted to charge, but Bridget simply held her finger up as if to signal 'wait a minute'.
"Just one moment," Bridget quipped before flying back down to where the spies were waiting.
"Man, that dress blows all of mine out of the water!" Clover laughed. "And I don't usually admit that."
"Looking good there, Bridget," Nick stated.
Bridget smiled affectionately at Nick, realizing that this was probably her best opportunity. She floated a little closer before grabbing Nick by the hands and yanking him closer to her so she could kiss him with all the passion she could spare at the moment.
Amid most of the spies' shocked expressions, Bridget pulled back and gave Nick one last smile before flying back into the sky to confront Grape the Great.
"Um, Alex? You just saw that, right?" Sam gasped. Much to the spies' surprise, Alex didn't look shocked, simply smiling.
"Yes. Yes, I did," Alex replied.
"Let us end this, Bridget," Grape the Great proclaimed. "My tragedy versus your hope. Which will win out in the end, I wonder?"
"Let's find out, then," Bridget retorted as she began to fly around Grape the Great, flicking her hands to occasionally fire bolts of Sparkle Power at her opponent, though hitting the hands didn't seem to do much of anything.
Probably gotta hit her in that gaudy mask of hers, Bridget thought.
Grape the Great waved her hands and sent large vortexes of dark energy spiraling towards Bridget as she flew around, but Bridget simply waved her own hands and dispelled the vortexes with a burst of Sparkle Power.
Bridget's suspicions were confirmed when one stray bolt she'd fired sailed past the hands and hit Grape the Great in her mask, causing her to grunt in pain.
"Oh, if you think that hurt, then see how you like this!" Bridget laughed as she concentrated for a few seconds, then opened her hands to fire a Sparkle Power laser into Grape the Great's mask for a couple seconds, finally causing some visible damage.
As Bridget continued to fly around Grape the Great, more vortexes opened up in different patterns, obviously attempting to suck her into them, but Bridget easily dodged through the ones she could while countering the ones she couldn't with a few bolts of Sparkle Power.
Whenever the vortexes let up, Bridget stopped to fire a Sparkle Power laser into Grape the Great's mask, noticing that it was getting more and more damaged with each attack she threw at it.
"Hey, you're not looking too good over there," Bridget taunted.
"You will not live to regret mocking me!" Grape the Great bellowed as she shifted slightly, and purple chains of dark energy burst from the rubble of the Sparkle Theater, all attempting to constrict Bridget.
Much to Grape the Great's surprise, though, Bridget simply did a twirl and destroyed the chains with a flash of Sparkle Power.
"You just don't get it, do you, Grape?" Bridget taunted as she kept flying around and flinging bolts of Sparkle Power into Grape the Great's mask. "You see how much Sparkle Power I'm wielding, right? This power came from practically everyone here on this island. They believe in me, and they're putting their hopes in me to save them from the likes of you! You claim to want to create 'the greatest tragedy', but you forgot something very important."
"And what would that be?" Grape the Great retorted as she tried to make dark spikes fall on Bridget, only for the glow surrounding her to dissolve them before they could make contact.
"You didn't realize that anybody can be the subject of a tragedy," Bridget proclaimed. "That includes the one trying to tell the story."
Bridget fired another Sparkle Power laser into Grape the Great's mask, cracking it further and sending the creature reeling backwards. Bridget saw her opportunity to end this fight and flew forward at super high speeds.
Grape the Great wasn't going to just sit down and wait for her end, however, so she crossed both of her hands in front of her to hopefully block Bridget from reaching her.
Bridget collided with Grape the Great's first hand and pushed forward, breaking through it with only minimal effort. The second hand took a little more effort, but Bridget broke through that one as well.
All that was left was the mask itself, and with it as damaged as it was, Bridget could now see a large dark core behind the mask, no doubt what remained of Madame Grape from earlier.
Bridget reared back, charged up her right fist with Sparkle Power, and punched forward with all her might, breaking through the damaged mask and splitting it in two. Both halves of the destroyed mask floated away, as did the hands and the arena headpiece, to leave the dark core vulnerable.
Naturally, Bridget didn't want to give Grape the Great any chance to reform herself and drag this fight out longer than necessary, so she got right to work, battering the core with a barrage of Sparkle Power bolts, savoring each shout of pain that Grape the Great let out with each hit.
After a little bit of this, Bridget flew backwards before blitzing forward at ultra-fast speeds, an aura of Sparkle Power surrounding her body.
Grape the Great tried her hardest to reform herself for protection, but her parts came back too slowly and Bridget made contact, and with one last loud battle cry, she ripped her way through Grape's dark core and burst right out the other side, completely destroying the core in the process.
In utter disbelief that Bridget had been proven right, Grape the Great could only bellow in absolute defeat as her hands disintegrated into light, the stage headpiece completely shattered, and the broken pieces of her mask fell towards the ground, dissolving completely before they even touched the rubble.
Almost immediately following Grape the Great's defeat, the sun began to shine back over what was left of the Sparkle Theater, the sun having been blotted out around the island by Grape the Great.
Satisfied that Madame Grape wouldn't be coming back from that, Bridget flew back down to where the rest of the spies were waiting for her.
"Oh, my goodness, that was amazing, Bridget!" Alex laughed.
"Yeah, way to show that creepy mask lady who's really the boss!" Clover exclaimed.
"I kinda feel dumb for not realizing that her dark core didn't expose itself like all the other fights when we beat her the first time," Bridget admitted. "Maybe this all could have been avoided..."
Just then, Bridget got an idea. After all, this giant surge of Sparkle Power had given her this amazing transformation and the power she needed to finally put Madame Grape down once and for all. Maybe it could also fix this problem, too.
Closing her eyes and concentrating, Bridget raised her hands. A couple seconds later, an immense shockwave of Sparkle Power erupted from her hands and spread out across the entire island. In one last flash, the entirety of the Sparkle Theater had been repaired like it had never been destroyed in the first place.
Once that was finished, Bridget snapped her fingers, and all of the Sparkle Power she was using surrounded her before flying away, back to the people that had given it to her, and her radiant gown faded away, leaving her in her normal clothes.
"And that should be case closed," Bridget stated. "Madame Grape's gone for good this time, the Sparkle Theater's been fixed, and everyone who got brainwashed by the Sour Bunch should be waking up now."
"Yup, I'd say that's a job well done, right?" Sam stated matter-of-factly.
"Actually, I think there's one more thing that we've gotta address," Mat noted. Thankfully, nobody looked even remotely upset about that, but Bridget figured that now was the time to explain.
"About that," Bridget sighed. "So... I'm sure you've probably already figured it out thanks to that big ol' smooch I laid on Nick before I went to go fight Madame Grape, but... yeah, I kinda fell in love with Nick a little while ago."
"Was it recently, or did it build up for a while?" Clover wondered.
"Kinda a mix of both, really," Bridget answered. "You can also probably figure out why I didn't say anything, because I didn't know what Alex would think. But, when she and I were exploring that door world together, she figured me out, and thankfully, she was very understanding and told me she didn't mind sharing, because it was me. I wanted to wait until we were done with all of this to actually tell Nick how I felt, so I wouldn't get interrupted by Madame Grape or her shenanigans."
"Yeah, you wouldn't want a maniacal dark witch interrupting your big romantic moment, eh?" Sam chuckled.
"I kinda had a feeling, watching you during some of those plays," May quipped.
"So, then... you're all okay with this?" Bridget asked, allowing herself to hope.
The remaining seven spies all glanced at each other for a bit, then nodded to Bridget. And with that, she finally allowed herself to express those feelings, and jumped into Nick's arms to hug him.
The moment was cut off when the spies heard cheering all around them. They looked up to see everyone who had been in the Sparkle Theater cheering loudly for the ones that had saved the theater.
"Looks like we did good, everybody," Blaine stated.
"You all can stop by here for a visit anytime you wish," Leon proclaimed. "We'll be sure to prepare some first-class seats for you when you do. After all, it's the least we can do for the ones who saved us all."
"Oh, stop, we're just doing what we do," Bridget giggled as she noticed a W.O.O.H.P. helicopter flying towards the island, which meant it was time to head back.
"We must get back to preparing for our scheduled plays, but know that you will always be welcome here at the Sparkle Theater," Leon stated as he and the rest of the actors returned to the theater.
5:48 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
"Magnificent as always, spies," Jerry proclaimed once the spies had returned to W.O.O.H.P. for the post-mission debriefings. "Once again, you have gone above and beyond in your duties."
"Almost literally at one point, too," RiCO giggled. "We were watching that whole final fight with that monster that Grape turned herself into, and I was on the edge of whatever constitutes as a 'seat' for artificial intelligence."
"I really had a lot of fun flexing my acting muscles during those plays, honestly," Bridget quipped. "I didn't think I was that good of an actor, but everyone loved my performances, so I guess it all worked out in the end."
"You could probably make it as an actor if you weren't part of W.O.O.H.P., huh?" Alex chuckled.
"I'm keeping my options open, just in case," Bridget laughed.
"As for you, Blaine, we are infinitely glad you are safe and sound," Jerry stated.
"It was a little rough for a while, being forced to do the Sour Bunch's bidding, but I'm just glad the others got me out of that jam before I did something I'd regret."
"And with that, I'll do the favor of sending you guys back home," RiCO quipped. "I'm sure you want to rest in your own beds, considering you've been at the Sparkle Theater for just about three days now."
"Yeah, I'm about ready to get our summer started right!" Clover proclaimed. "Especially now that I've got a date..."
"Just let her have her moment, May," Bridget giggled as RiCO waved her hands to send the eight spies back to the beach house.
6:01 P.M. – The Spies' Beach House
Clover and Blaine elected on a walk around the neighborhood together while Sam, Mat, and May were going to use the pool before dinner. Alex was on her way to the pool as well, but she got distracted at seeing Nick and Bridget heading to the front yard.
"What are they...?" Alex wondered.
"Feels like back in Mistralton," Bridget giggled at Nick.
"You got that right," Nick laughed as he got a look at Bridget, who sported a two-piece light blue swimsuit with yellow stars on it.
Alex calmly watched from a safe distance for a little while and observed how they handled car washes.
"Ack, you're really doing that again?!" Bridget gasped as a spray of water got her in the shoulder.
"Should have kept your eyes open," Nick chuckled as he prepared to strike from the side, only for Bridget to whip out her yo-yos and use them to yank the hose over to her.
"You should have kept your eye on the birdie!" Bridget laughed maniacally as she rapidly sprayed Nick...
...until the hose suddenly wasn't in her hands anymore. In fact, it was hovering slightly above the car, glowing a soft yellow.
"What was that about a birdie, you goof?" Nick proclaimed as he started spraying Bridget back in retaliation.
"H-Hey, Hey, no fair using telekinesis!" Bridget sputtered as she tried to defend herself.
"It looks like fun," Alex stated from the sidelines, which got Nick and Bridget's attention.
"Alex, how long were you over there?" Nick asked.
"Not very long," Alex replied with a giggle.
"You wanna try one day, I'm guessing?" Bridget laughed.
"Totally," Alex giggled. "It's all fun and games with pretty minimal risk."
"Uh-huh," Nick remarked. "Unfortunately, I've been on the wrong end of a spraying in the eyes a few times."
"Same," Bridget added. "It was always when we offered to help out with our parents' cars, too. We were pretty rambunctious kids growing up, you know."
"Yeah, like that one time where you actually ducked under my dad's truck to get away, and I had to spray you in the butt to get you out," Nick quipped.
"...I was hoping you forgot about that," Bridget admitted. "Not my finest moment, really."
In the meantime, Mat, Sam, and May were already swimming in the pool.
"Glad that mission is all wrapped up," Mat stated.
"You said it," May commented.
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Not to change the subject, but it's good to know that Clover finally found someone in Blaine," Sam commented.
"I second that," Mat remarked.
"But Bridget and Nick... I didn't really see coming," Sam continued.
"Given that those two have pretty much known each other since they were babies, I'm surprised I didn't see something like that happening sooner," May admitted. "I'm pretty sure they might have become a couple first if we hadn't moved here to Beverly Hills."
A while later, Nick, Bridget, and Alex joined the pool party.
Before long, the pool was very lively, even after Clover and Blaine came home and called out to them, which got everyone's attention.
"Room for two more?" Blaine asked.
"That better be a yes," Clover giggled.
Sam and Alex nodded.
"Guys, anybody up for a pizza to celebrate me and Nick?" Bridget offered.
"Ooh, that means it's time for the Second Great Beverly Hills Pizza Topping Debate!" Alex laughed.
"...you actually named it?" Nick chuckled.
"Hey, you should have seen some of the pizza debates we got into when we were a little younger," Clover quipped. "But I think they'll be a little more interesting now that we're double what the old team used to be."
After a very, very spirited toppings debate, Nick and Bridget offered to go and pick up the pizzas, mostly so Clover could spend some time getting to know Blaine better, as they hadn't really had any time to do so while they'd been at the Sparkle Theater.
"...I honestly still find it hard to believe, you know that, Nick?" Bridget admitted. "You know, that I actually get to be your second girlfriend. After all, don't they say that the guy almost never goes for his childhood friend?"
"Oh, that's just a silly anime cliché and you know it," Nick chuckled. "You know something, though? I'm gonna be honest with you, Bridget. I thought about it after we were finished up our business at the Sparkle Theater, and... well, if we hadn't moved to Beverly Hills and met Alex and the others? I might have fallen in love with you first."
("Moon Light" by Hoshimachi Suisei plays)
Naturally, Bridget was pretty surprised to hear that. "R-Really?" Bridget gasped.
"Hey, it makes sense when you stop and think about it," Nick quipped. "You and I, we're two peas in a pod. We've been lifelong friends, we click in so many ways, and we're practically the perfect pair. Looking back on things, I think the reason I didn't consider that option before we moved to Beverly Hills was because of what happened the last time I tried to ask a girl out and it ended badly..."
"I still wanna smack that hussy for acting the way she did," Bridget noted, that incident clearly still a sore spot for her. "She really hurt your feelings, and I don't think I ever really got over that."
"Really, you stewed over it longer than I did," Nick noted as he reached out to pull Bridget closer to him. "But I guess that's life, to be fair. You never know what it's gonna throw at you."
"That's definitely one lesson we've learned from our time at W.O.O.H.P.," Bridget giggled before leaning over to kiss Nick on the cheek. "Oh, by the way? I love you, Nick."
"I love you, too, Bridget," Nick replied as he moved to kiss Bridget on the lips, one she happily returned. "Now let's go and get that pizza before the others start getting antsy."
"You mean like the time May was practically bouncing in her seat to go see that one band?" Bridget laughed. "And the literal chair-flipping rage when she found out the concert had been canceled?"
"Yeah, like that, only with hopefully much less chair-flipping," Nick chuckled.
Nick and Bridget reached out to hold hands as they picked up the pace to run towards the pizza place, enjoying their new relationship.
9:45 P.M. – Location Unknown
"I'm seriously starting to wonder what the point of forming this group was if we haven't actually committed a scheme yet," Tim Scam groaned as he and the others paced around the place they'd been instructed to gather at.
"Well, to be fair, Terrence wants to make triple sure that our first plan is one for the record books," Myrna Beesbottom answered. "A plan that will absolutely take down those wretched spies."
"Yeah, well, you know they keep messing up our funky flow, ya know that, right?" Boogie Gus snipped. "Did you hear about all that madcap nuttery that went down at the Sparkle Theater? They apparently dealt with actual magic, nothing like that Kandinsky guy's stage parlor tricks, and the spies still whooped that booty!"
"Please stop talking about 'whooping booty' already," Helga von Guggen quipped. "You already sounded like a broken record player the first time you complained about that."
"Don't diss the record player!" Boogie Gus snapped back. "All I'm sayin' is that those little nutmegs are provin' to be way more of a brain ache than we thought!"
"There is no need to worry, my LAMOS compatriots."
The four villains all looked towards the opposite end of the room as Terrence Lewis, the group's leader, made his entrance.
"Once we have possession of all five Deep Power Stones, it won't matter how skilled they are," Terrence proclaimed. "After all, that's when we will have all the power."
"Have you actually found any of them?" Scam asked.
"Thanks to some choice information from the villain grapevine, I have managed to procure the general location of all five stones," Terrence answered. "We just have to find them before the spies can."
"And if Lumiere did all of that fancy nonsense with just one stone, imagine what we could do if we had all of them!" Myrna cackled.
"I hope those spies are enjoying their victory at the Sparkle Theater, because it will be the last victory they ever know," Terrence bellowed. "When they feel the full wrath of the LAMOS... they are doomed."
Totally Spies the Movie: The Greatest Showtime
~The End~
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Final Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: Thank you all for coming to the show, everyone! Our ninth movie is complete! This was a fun one, if I do say so myself. This particular movie was primarily inspired by Princess Peach Showtime!, said princess' first solo game in almost twenty years. Like I said, I get inspiration from the weirdest of places. And Bridget finally got to confess, too! Just to clear the record, this is the only extra girlfriend Nick is going to get in this series of movies, mostly because of the smaller team size, and since May's already got her claim in the main 'verse, I figured I'd shake that up here. Also, if the post-credits scenes are anything to go by, the LAMOS might be taking the spotlight for the next movie, but we'll get to that when we get to that.
And with this show concluded, we're riding right into the eleventh season of Totally Spies: The New Adventures! I'll be getting season eleven started, and the season premiere involves another villain who hasn't shown up in The New Adventures until this moment. A certain spoiled, bratty princess is on the quest for revengeance, but you'll have to wait to see how far she'll go until the season eleven premiere, The Spoiled Brat Soiree, which will be posted by me. So, until next time, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, enjoy this preview of The Spoiled Brat Soiree, and we'll see you next mission!
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"And she sticks the landing!" Alex laughed as everyone landed inside of Jerry's office for the mission briefing.
"Sorry your break couldn't last longer, spies," Jerry admitted as RiCO materialized in the office. "But as you know, villains never take breaks."
"Tell me about it," Clover quipped. "It'd make our job easier, but when do villains ever want our job to be easy?"
"Let's just get down to business, then," Nick responded. "Who's being a nut loaf today?"
RiCO waved her hands to display a video feed they'd captured from a faraway island, one that Sam, Alex and Clover definitely recognized.
"We've picked up some interesting activity somewhere on Proasis Island," RiCO explained. "We're not entirely sure what, but we know it can't be anything good."
"Oh, wonderful, that probably means it's Felicity Fences again," Sam groaned. "I was hoping to never hear that whackjob's name for a long time."
"Let me guess, she's throwing another hissy fit because she doesn't own every single man in this world?" Alex asked.
"Is this Felicity character really that petty?" Haruka wondered.
"Oh, you have no freakin' idea," Clover answered. "She was literally snatching up a bunch of hunky guys just to make them part of her personal zoo and get rid of them when she got bored."
"If she's back on that island, then we'd probably better get moving before anyone else gets captured," Melissa stated.
"While you're there, spies, see if you can figure out who's financing her plot," Jerry noted. "Even though she was getting her money from her father, he's still in containment."
'So that probably means somebody else is funding her little project," Bridget realized. "Yeah, we'd better hurry."
"Then off to Proasis Island we go!" May proclaimed as the spies all retrieved their gadget loadout and headed off for the Skyskimmer.
To be continued in Totally Spies: The Spoiled Brat Soiree...