10:34 A.M. – Dearly Beloved Memorial Hospital
Three Months Ago
Nick was a little worried to not see Sarina in her room when he came to visit, wondering if something had happened since the last time.
"Sarina?" Nick asked.
"I'm right here, silly, don't worry."
Nick spun around as Sarina came in, wheeled by one of her attending doctors. Much to Nick's relief, she appeared to be fine.
"Sorry if I got back a little later than usual," Sarina quipped as she sat down on her bed. "There was a new doctor today because one of my usual attending doctors was out sick, and the new guy's... shall we say, a little too picky about things."
"That was pretty much my dad when he started here," Nick chuckled. "Always had to make triple sure that everything was up to code."
"Say, Nick? I wanted to talk to you about... what I did the last time you came to visit," Sarina admitted. "I know we've only known each other for about a month, and that... that wasn't too much, was it?"
"I'm still here," Nick responded. "That is what I promised."
"Ever since my diagnosis, I... tend to get attached to people," Sarina sighed. "Considering my parents..."
"Yeah, I kinda figured," Nick quipped, glad Sarina had changed that subject. He was still angry with Sarina's parents for just giving up so easily.
"I didn't want you to think I went too far too fast or anything..." Sarina stuttered.
"Hey, whatever makes you comfortable," Nick answered. "I promised I'd stick with you no matter how long you have left, and I meant it. A little physical affection ain't gonna drive me away."
"...thanks, Nick," Sarina responded as she scooted closer so she could hug Nick. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
(The pages constantly turn, no matter how long the reader takes. When one story ends, another story will inevitably start. In the end, there is only a new beginning.)
Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger are proud to present:
Totally Spies: The New Adventures
Episode 131: The Cruel Crushing Inventor
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: April 18th, 2025
Story Summary: The one-hundred and seventy-fifth co-op project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, and episode one hundred thirty-one of our mission-based series Totally Spies: The New Adventures. The Inventor has a new scheme after a long absence, so the spies naturally head out to stop him. But they quickly run into trouble when Mat, upset that his Motocross season isn't going well, takes a big risk and ultimately pays for it, injured enough to be sidelined from the mission. However, as more and more of the spies continue to be affected by the Inventor's creations, can they find a way to pull through before the worst comes to pass?
Author's Notes from Mat49324: We hope you've enjoyed season 11 so far because we're almost at the halfway point in the 13-project series. If you've seen prior projects' epilogues or sub-plots, that's going to be addressed again in this one because that's how 2010 Motocross has gone if you're in Mat's camp. It's fine if you don't care for the racing since this was 15 years ago today. We just hope you enjoy our projects, and that's the main thing. One thing that IS happening is we're using a villain we haven't used in quite a while; I'll leave it at that. Anyway, here's The Blue Time Ranger for anything he'd like to say.
Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: We're close to the midway point of this season, and the Inventor is back to inventing! I don't think we've used him as a villain since A Matter of Family, and that was all the way back in season two! How far we've come, eh? Also of note, our season eleven movie is complete as of this story's beginning, but you all know when you'll see it, so I won't repeat myself. With that squared away, let's get to inventing! ROLL IT!
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters or locations created by us truly for the story. Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we did own Totally Spies, which we don't, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Act 1: Check Build Quality
11:50 A.M. – The Spies' Beach House
As the summer vacation continued for the spies at their beach house, everybody was busy just finishing up making their lunches while Mat occupied the TV again for the seventh round of the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. This time, they were racing at Spring Creek Motocross Park in Millville, Minnesota. The 250cc class broadcast was just about wrapping up, and Trey Canard on his #38 Factory Connection Honda was leading the way en route to his second straight win of the season after winning the last race at Red Bud in Michigan. However, the weather was the big story next to points leader Christophe Pourcel fading badly in the second moto after winning the first moto.
"Ah, sweet lunch!" Nick sighed, having made a sandwich.
"Pourcel, you gotta be kidding me..." Mat chastised.
"Is it me or is the rain getting a little harder?" Bridget wondered.
"It's definitely not you, Bridget," May deduced.
"What's with Pourcel, bro?" Nick wondered, having seen that Pourcel was almost at the end of the top 10 in 9th.
"I don't know," Mat sighed. "But this is what Pourcel's done just about all season long. He'd do good in the first moto, but choke in the second moto. I thought this would be a mulligan of sorts since it's raining, but it's not."
Clover gave a bit of "humph" that her "French rider" was not going to win this one.
"Oy vey..." May sighed. "Clover, PLEASE let me not do the oy veys anymore..."
"At least Pourcel has a healthy points lead, but these kinds of motos can add up on you quickly," Mat stated, showing some real concern.
"Totally," Nick remarked. "I've seen baseball teams do something similar, where one that they absolutely crush their opponents by a score of, like, 11-3, but the next day, they get their own asses handed to them."
"Shouldn't have gone ape-shucks the day before, pretty much," May chuckled.
Haruka cuddled next to Nick, remembering that moment herself.
"I have to say that creek there looks pretty fun," Melissa commented.
At the end of the second moto, Trey Canard was your winner; Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Dean Wilson #108 finished a distant 2nd, and FC Honda's Justin Barcia #17 came home in 3rd. Moto 1 winner Christophe Pourcel had come home in 10th – 5th overall.
In the overall, Canard's 2-1 (47 points) had him the overall winner to Wilson's 6-2 (37 pts.) and Pro Circuit's Tyla Rattray's 4-4 (36). In fact, Rattray tied Weimer and Pourcel at 36 apiece, but due to his 4th place finish, he was awarded 3rd overall to Weimer's 5th and Pourcel's 10th.
"I'm sure there won't be anything to worry about," Sam quipped.
"I hope not," Mat replied as Britney and Melissa were there, too.
The 450cc broadcast began with immediate highlights from the first moto, and it also showed the return of Kevin Windham #14, now on the Red Bull Honda squad. Windham had been absent since the Vegas finale because he had a Supercross-only deal with the Factory Connection Honda team before he got a phone call to fill in for the injured Davi Millsaps #18, who was out for the rest of the summer due to a kidney injury at the Budds Creek race.
After hearing more news, Mat was immediately disappointed that defending champ Chad Reed on his #1 Monster Energy Kawasaki did not complete the first moto due to a bike problem while more highlights were being shown.
"Oh no, not again," Melissa groaned.
"Hey, Windham's back!" Blaine exclaimed. "Wasn't he hurt earlier?"
"No, Windham's under a Supercross-only deal," Mat replied. "I came across news earlier this week that Team Honda will have him for the rest of the Motocross season."
"I bet that's a tall order," Dawn presumed.
"I doubt that," Mat stated. "Windham's got no pressure, but obviously Davi Millsaps is on the sidelines after his bad crash at Budds Creek."
As the first moto highlights continued, it was reported that Kawasaki's Reed had a neck injury prior to the Millville race, and he was shown exiting the track... much to Mat's dismay once again.
The first moto would go to points leader Ryan Dungey, the rookie, on his #5 Rockstar Makita Suzuki with Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha's Josh Grant #33 finishing 2nd, and Team Honda's Andrew Short #29 (who won this event in 2005 in the 125cc class at the time) finishing in 3rd. Kevin Windham, in his return to Motocross, would finish 5th after leading the first half of the moto.
Mat sighed and shook his head again, as it was later announced that Chad Reed would not be on the starting gate for moto 2.
"This year has REALLY pissed me off, and then some!" Mat complained.
Melissa put a hand on his shoulder, but Mat was still way too upset again that this season turned out to be a continuing nightmare for Chad Reed.
"Mat, have you thought about just not watching the races altogether?" Nozomi suggested as the second 450cc moto got under way.
"It's only 6 rounds remaining, but I'm not doing that at all," Mat replied. "There's still the 250cc title chase, and I want to see if this is the race where Dungey loses, too."
Nick looked at Nozomi, surprised she'd even think to ask that.
In the meantime, Ben Townley on the #101 Troy Lee Designs Honda was leading the way until a future shot saw him down on the track and Team Honda's Short had taken the lead. It was also reported that Josh Grant, who was 2nd in moto 1, was way back in 12th while moto 1 winner Dungey had fought up to 2nd place after rounding the first lap in 5th.
Sam couldn't help but feel bad (and worried) for Mat.
"Maybe a little fun in the pool after this will do you good, Mat," Britney suggested.
Just before the end of lap 3, Suzuki's Dungey found his way around race leader Short.
"This is just getting really irritating!" Mat chastised.
The only thing of significance left was that Kyle Regal on his privateer Merge Racing Honda #41 had passed Kevin Windham for 3rd with a new line in the sand whoops only to crash in almost the exact same section a lap later.
In terms of the win, Suzuki's Dungey had shut the door on that because he had pulled as much as a 20-second gap on Short.
That was when a future shot showed Regal had fought back up to 3rd place again, and Canidae Suzuki's Tommy Hahn #10 was in the pits due to a flat front tire.
"Talk about impressive for Regal!" Mat exclaimed. "But I just can't believe Tommy Hahn's luck sometimes..."
"Totally," Alex remarked.
"Hey, luck is a really fickle bitch sometimes," Melissa quipped. "Trust me, I know that for sure."
"We've all been there at some point in our lives," Bridget answered.
As the moto wound down, Regal continued his impressive ride by passing Andrew Short for 2nd place!
"Anybody losing any bets now?" Mat wondered.
"I might be," May admitted.
At the checkers, it was Ryan Dungey once again with the 1-1 sweep, and his sixth straight overall win of the season; it was also moto wins 9 and 10 for the rookie. Regal finished 2nd in moto 2, and Short finished 3rd; Kevin Windham finished 4th. Josh Grant, who was as far back as 12th early on, had finished 10th.
In the overall, Short still finished 2nd with his 3-3 (40 pts.) and Regal's 8-2 moto finishes (35 pts.) matched his 3rd overall at Freestone.
In the points standings, Dungey extended his points lead to 89 over Andrew Short, 318-229. As for Chad Reed, he'd fallen to 6th in the standings due to his troubles. To say Mat was discouraged by this race was an understatement; what was supposed to be a redemption season for Chad Reed turned into a continuing nightmare.
Nick and Blaine looked over at Mat to see he was very much displeased with how Millville turned out. Obviously, Sam, Britney, and Melissa were worried the most.
"Mat, isn't there anything we could do to help?" Britney offered while Nick decided to telekinetically float May over to the pool and drop her into it.
Mat couldn't even answer Britney's question because he was really feeling defeated.
"If there's one thing I know..." Nick remarked to Britney, thinking about some prior March Madness games. "Days like that are hard to forget in sports."
A while later, everybody got another pool day in, but Mat was a little slow to join the fun. Surprisingly, May even abstained from one of her Pirate Dives, too, knowing that this probably wasn't the time.
"Hey, Mat, if it makes you any better, I've been where you are," Bridget tried to say to him. "There was a time early on in my time with the old high school track team where I ended up twisting my ankle and had to miss a good chunk of the season. I hated it, considering how it just seemed to happen out of nowhere. Despite that, my team actually ended up still winning most of their meets until I came back, but my dumb teenage brain decided to think 'oh what if they don't need me anymore'. Trust me, bad luck sucks. I'm just glad that Zoey and Kikki yoinked me out of that mindset before it got too far."
"The point is, we all have bad luck at some point, and I know it sucks, but we just push through as best we can," Nick answered. "The big difference here is that you've got us to help you out."
"That's true," Mat quipped. "And honestly, we've already seen a bunch of scenarios where one of us had some really bad luck and snapped without friends to reel them back in."
"That's all it typically takes," Haruka admitted. "Just one bad day."
Inwardly, Nick wondered if there were any other versions of himself in the multiverse that had been through that. After the Shadow, he wouldn't be surprised.
Especially considering that girl that was stranded in the White Space seemed to know him, or at least that dimension's version of him.
Before Nick could continue pondering that wrinkle, Nick heard a beep from nearby and surrounded everyone with a psychic bubble to pull them out of the pool, and just in time, as the pool had become a whirlpool.
"Nice try, Jerry," Nick chuckled, unaware of the metal pipe that had sprouted from the floor behind them until it had already activated, sucking all thirteen spies into it.
1:17 P.M. – W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
Jerry's Office
Jerry couldn't help but give a cheeky grin as the spies all fell into the office.
"Dang it all, he's getting sneakier," Alex quipped once everyone managed to get their bearings.
"I do have to keep you on your toes once in a while," Jerry chuckled.
"...okay, fair point," Blaine conceded.
"Okay, now that we're all here, who do we have to knock around this time?" Nick wondered as the spies all changed into their spy suits.
"Remember this weirdo?" RiCO chuckled as she materialized in the office and waved her hands so that the office viewscreen showed off a mugshot of the Inventor.
"Oh, lordy, he's back on the scene?" Clover groaned. "It's been a while since we've had to deal with that guy."
"Yeah, that was the time when he and Edison tried to brain bleach my parents to do his bidding at all those power plants in Japan," Nozomi quipped. "I still owe him some lumps for that."
"What kind of crazy inventions does he have up his sleeve this time around?" Sam wondered.
"That's what you're all gonna find out," RiCO answered as she pulled up a map of California. "I picked up a signal from one of his crazy contraptions somewhere in Venice Beach, so you'll be heading there first."
"It feels like it's been a while since we've been there, huh?" Haruka quipped.
"Well, everybody, let's do this thing!" May proclaimed.
"Oh, wait, just a second!" RiCO called out before the spies could run off. "I forgot to tell you this last time, but iCO and I ran the samples of the biorhythms you sent us from those arguing couples."
"Is there anything suspicious?" Mat asked.
"That's the weird part," RiCO admitted as she showed off the brainwave scans she and iCO had been poring through. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. It doesn't appear to be hypnosis of any kind, but something is warping their body responses and spiking their aggression levels to insane heights."
"That would explain why they were basically at each other's throats," Nozomi stated.
"You don't think the Inventor was behind that, do you?" Sam queried.
"To be honest, this doesn't look like it's the work of any of your rogues' gallery," RiCO admitted. "But we'll keep scanning what we've got and see if we can figure something out. You just go and stop the Inventor!"
"Roger that, RiCO!" Alex responded as the spies all headed out.
1:45 P.M. – Venice Beach
"Any sign of that guy?" Britney asked once the spies had made it to Venice Beach.
"Nothing yet," Mat answered.
"I just hope he doesn't have another stupid Megazord waiting in the wings," Haruka stated. "I've kinda had enough of dealing with those things."
Just then, Nick's ears picked up the sounds of spinning drills approaching them fast.
"Hit the deck!" Nick shouted, throwing his hands down to telekinetically yank everybody down to the ground, just in time avoid a barrage of drills that had been fired towards them.
Once everyone was back on their feet, Nick heard more drills coming their way and raised a psychic barrier so that the drills hit the barrier and shattered instead.
"I'd commend you for actually trying something different if you weren't trying to kill us," Nick chuckled before clenching his fist, his psychic aura exploding to life around him. "Now why don't you show yourself so we can smack you one?"
True to form, the Inventor made his presence known, wearing a metal shoulder pad that had a small cannon and a laser gun attached to it, along with four metal tendrils sprouting from the back of the suit.
"Ah, it has been a while, hasn't it, you little dullards?" the Inventor laughed. "Oh, I've been looking forward to trying out some of my newest devices on you."
"Well, sor-ry if we're not interested in whatever wares you're peddling," Clover retorted. "We've got a summer to get back to, so how about we just get to the part where we kick your butt back to containment?"
"Sorry, but that's not happening this time," the Inventor proclaimed.
"Oh, is that a fact?!" May taunted as the spies prepared to attack.
"It is very much a fact!" The Inventor sneered.
"What's a real fact is us stopping you!" Haruka exclaimed.
"You won't..." The Inventor replied. "But good luck trying..."
He immediately started shooting out cannons at the thirteen spies.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Alex presumed.
Each of the thirteen spies dodged the shots easily. This went on for a bit until Sam, Bridget, and Nozomi felt a wave crash into their boots; they noticed it, and Sam developed a bit of an idea.
"Maybe don't get distracted!" the Inventor laughed as he aimed two of his suit's tendrils towards the spies, only for May to swing her anchor and knock him back.
"And maybe you need to learn how to fear the anchor," May quipped. "It's been way too long since the last time."
As the Inventor maneuvered one of his laser cannons to shoot at May, Alex threw an Anti-Gravity Propulsion Ring towards the Inventor to send him floating helplessly into the air.
"Maybe this could work," Sam stated.
She then motioned to Bridget and Nozomi about possibly using the salt water from the beach to try to short out Edison's armor or mess it up in any way.
"It isn't electric, but it's worth a shot," Nozomi commented.
"Regardless, I'm on board," Bridget remarked.
Nick saw the game plan going on between the three of them; he didn't need to be prompted and proceeded to get The Inventor to turn his back so he wouldn't see it coming.
As the Inventor attempted to approach them, Nick fired a psychic shot that missed wide, but accomplished Nick's intent of diverting the Inventor's attention.
"Um, what exactly was that, boy?" the Inventor laughed.
That gave Sam and Nozomi the perfect chance to grab the Inventor by both of his arms, thus allowing Bridget to transform into Sonic Mode and run around a bit before dashing towards the Inventor to kick up a wave that splashed him and caused his suit to lock up.
Once that happened, May snuck behind him to whack him in the back with her anchor and send him stumbling.
"That. That's what that was," Nick taunted.
"I've got you now..." the Inventor sneered.
Mat looked over to see that Bridget was coming straight for the Inventor's armor.
"Sorry, but you've got it backwards!" Bridget shouted as she was shot and hit the right-hand side cannon.
She then used a proverbial Homing Attack to ricochet to destroy the four metal tendrils. The end result left everyone satisfied, except for the Inventor.
"Take THAT!" Bridget proclaimed.
"Damn it!" The Inventor swore. "Consider this a draw, then..."
"No, we consider this a win!" Clover shouted and fired her Laser Lipstick at the Inventor's destroyed armor to really disable everything.
One of Clover's shots caused one of the Inventor's ammo to fall out of the destroyed cannon and onto the sand, and directly at Haruka's feet.
"Don't mind if I do," Haruka quipped.
"You still think you can beat us now?!" Alex proclaimed to the Inventor.
"Mark my words... I will..." The Inventor declared and disappeared via a smoke bomb.
"Crap, we again didn't see this coming..." Dawn groaned.
"Maybe not, but we can at least fill in some more blanks with this," Haruka quipped, showing the bullet left behind.
"How so?" Blaine wondered.
"I found some writing on here," Haruka pointed out.
Sam checked out the writing with her X-Powder; there was an unknown address on it.
"It looks like coordinates," Sam noted. "Can you translate 'em for us, RiCO?"
"All over it," RiCO answered, and after about ten seconds, the location flashed on Sam's X-Powder.
"H-Hey, isn't that the old Beverly Hills Hotel?" Alex gasped, still vividly remembering "the getaway that went wrong".
"Whatever happened to that place?" Nozomi wondered. "After the Into the Night Hotel opened up, the old place kinda just... stopped. Especially considering that the old hotel building looks like it's seen better days."
"From what I remember, there was some kind of accident that forced them to condemn the old building," Haruka answered.
Britney looked over at Mat, who still didn't look like he was over the Millville race. "Mat, are you all good?" she asked.
"Still not over Millville, but aside from that, I'm fine," Mat replied.
Sam and Melissa took his word for it while Britney just took his word on the matter.
"Let's hurry up and find that Inventor guy before he starts any trouble," Blaine stated as everyone set out for the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Sure enough, the Inventor was waiting for them at what was left of the old hotel building, wearing a brand new mechanical suit with metal crab claws, a jetpack function, and a sci-fi helmet to protect his head.
"Should I even be surprised that you've got another suit for us to wreck?" Clover taunted.
"Oh, you won't be wrecking this one," the Inventor retorted. "Let's just see you try."
"You'll have to excuse us if we're not in the mood for your crap right now," Melissa retorted as she brought out a Helicopter Hand Fan.
"So how about we just send you back to containment right here?!" Dawn proclaimed as she whipped out a Cyclone Blast Hairdryer.
"Just try and stop me, you little brats!" the Inventor laughed as he started clashing his claws together.
"That's the idea," Nozomi quipped as she ran forward to start attacking. "I've got some long overdue lumps to give you after what you and Edison tried to do to my parents, so I hope you're ready!"
"Um, what part of my helmet are you not seeing?" the Inventor laughed.
The Inventor would quickly have to eat his words when Nozomi jumped onto her palms and started twirling her feet around, scoring multiple hits on the Inventor's helmet hard enough for him to feel the impact even through it.
"And what part of 'shut up and take my lumps' did you not understand?" Nozomi laughed as she kicked the Inventor backwards again.
"But I'm just getting started, little karate girl, so if you really think you can take me at full force..." the Inventor taunted.
"Happy to oblige, buddy!" May shouted as she, Nick and Alex all rushed forward to lead the attack...
...only for a Quantum Rift to open right in front of them. They naturally couldn't stop at the speed they were going, and all three of them tumbled through the rift and into the White Space.
"Back here again, huh?" May quipped.
"Is this that weird dimension you and Nick found yourselves in during that whole movie business?" Alex asked. "It looks so... wrong."
"You think we'd be used to that by now," Nick sighed. "I'm just wondering if we can figure out anything else about this place."
"Hey, is that Sarina over there?" May wondered, pointing to just ahead. Indeed, Sarina was staring at a colorless version of a building she had known in life.
"Oh, you came back?" Sarina asked when she noticed the three spies.
"Yeah, it's kinda hard to tell when we're gonna get pulled here," Nick admitted. "Dimensional travel is still a cornucopia of disturbing concepts even after all these years."
Nick was about to ask Sarina if she knew anything more about how she'd seemingly come back to life, only to stop in his tracks when he felt malicious intent coming from somewhere nearby.
"...uh-oh, I know that look," May quipped.
"Get away from her."
The three spies looked up to see who had said that to them, only to find a strange sight that shouldn't really have surprised them, but it still did.
It appeared to be another version of Nick, only younger than them, about Sarina's age, floating in the air just above them. And his hands were glowing a sinister shade of red.
Sarina looked up as well, only to gasp in surprise when she realized that it was the Nick that she knew. But what was he doing here?
("Don't" by Azumi Takahashi and Lotus Juice plays)
"I said, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Other Nick snarled as he raised his hands to fire blasts of that eerie red light at Nick, Alex and May, forcing them to scatter to avoid them.
Nick wasn't sure what it was, but something was telling him that he really didn't want to get hit by those blasts.
"Whoa, buddy, what's your damage all of a sudden?!" Alex exclaimed.
"You've got some nerve poking your way around here," Other Nick retorted as he continued to fire more blasts towards his opponents.
"Hey, you're the one who just started having a conniption out of freakin' nowhere!" May shouted. "So unless you want an anchor to the face, you'll back off."
"You're not ruining the one good thing I have left, you understand me?!" Other Nick screamed, clearly choosing not to listen as he flew down and punched Nick in the gut to send him skidding backwards.
"...oh, we're playing that game, are we?!" Nick shouted as he charged back into the fray to clash with his doppelganger, the both of them flying high up into the sky to fight it out.
Naturally, Sarina was very confused as to what was happening. She'd never seen that kind of expression on her Nick, not even when she'd told him why her parents never visited her anymore.
What had happened since her death and seeming rebirth?
"Hey, you doin' okay over there?" Alex asked.
"I'm just really confused," Sarina admitted.
"Trust me, we get that a lot, too," May chuckled.
"Nick, the one I know at least, was never like this," Sarina stated. "I'm not sure if something in him changed after I died..."
"We've seen that before, where a Nick from another dimension lost everything he loved, and he snapped," Alex answered. "I'm starting to wonder if that's what happened here."
"And is it me, or does that glow surrounding his hands look real familiar to you, Alex?" May wondered.
"...you know what, it does," Alex gasped. "It looks like that glow we saw on those arguing couples. I sincerely hope that he's not the cause of that..."
Other Nick shoved Nick backwards, only to snap his gaze down to Alex and May, his eyes burning with barely-repressed rage.
"I thought I told you to keep your filthy hands off of her!" Other Nick exclaimed as he tried to fly down and attack them, only to be stopped by Nick.
"You shouldn't be treating other girls like possessions, you know," Nick retorted. "She can think for herself."
"...how dare you," Other Nick snarled. "You have no idea what Sarina meant to me!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do, but from what I can gather about this whole place, you must have done something you're probably not supposed to do in order to bring her back," Nick responded. "And think about this, because I said this to the Shadow, too. Would Sarina really want you to turn into this kind of rage-monster because of what happened to her?"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Other Nick shrieked as he charged forward to punch Nick's lights out, only to run headfirst into a psychic barrier.
"Okay, ladies, I think we need to get the heck out of here before he brings this whole dimension down on our heads!" Nick exclaimed. "Is there another rift anywhere close by?"
"Yup, there's our ride back!" May answered when she noticed a Quantum Rift opening up right behind them that led right back to their own dimension.
"You gonna be okay here?" Alex asked.
"Nick wouldn't hurt me, no matter how mad he is," Sarina answered.
I sincerely hope you're right about that, Sarina, Nick thought as he blasted Other Nick backwards with a pulse wave, giving him just enough time to fly back down and grab both Alex and May so they could make a break for the Quantum Rift.
Thankfully, the instant they'd crossed through the rift again, it closed behind them, preventing Other Nick from following them.
Nick quickly surrounded himself, Alex and May with a psychic bubble to deflect the drills that had been flying their way.
"Really, science man? Trying that tactic again?" Nick taunted.
"Are you guys all right?" Melissa asked. "You all fell through another Quantum Rift again. ...was it the White Space?"
"We'll explain later, when we're not in the middle of a smackdown," May responded.
"You won't have the chance while I'm still here, you know!" the Inventor laughed.
"Look, buddy, I'm really not in the best of moods right now, and you do not want to make it worse for me," Mat growled.
"Oh? And what will you do if I do decide to prod you about it?" the Inventor laughed.
And that was all that Mat could stand.
"I'm gonna kick your freakin' ass, that's what!" Mat snapped as he rushed in to clobber the Inventor.
"Mat, get back!" Nick exclaimed, having realized that the Inventor was deliberately trying to goad Mat into attacking.
Sadly, Nick's warning came too late.
Mat took a step back before lashing out with a wicked right hook to try and knock the Inventor's helmet off of his face...
...only for the Inventor to deploy a hard light shield to deflect Mat's blow.
"Look at that, you fell for it!" the Inventor laughed as he took one of the hard light panels and actually slammed it into the side of Mat's head, causing him to stumble backwards.
Not finished yet, the Inventor fired off another drill, and this one actually hit its mark, leaving a cut across Mat's right arm.
The spies could only stare in horror at what had just happened.
To be continued...
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Coming up next...
Sam: M-Mat, are you okay?!
Britney: W-What did that jerk do to him?!
Sam: I... I think he might have a bit of a concussion from that blow to the head.
Inventor: Now do you see that you shouldn't have gotten in my way? It was way too easy to goad that little brat into walking right into my little spider web.
Sam: ...I'm going to hurt you.
Inventor: What was that, dearie? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my inevitable victory.
Nick: I'm sorry, let me elaborate for her: now we're really going to hurt you.
Inventor: You really think you can get through my shield?
May: That's your cue to leave.
Melissa: Is Mat going to be all right?!
Sam: I'm not entirely sure.
Nick: Regardless, I think we need to get him to W.O.O.H.P. on the double, next time on Totally Spies: The Cruel Crushing Inventor, "Bedlam Blueprint"!
Mat: Wow, it actually looks pretty real, huh?
Nick: Oof, it reminds me of all those hospital dramas with realistic-looking surgeries, if you know what I mean.
May: Methinks they did too good a job at making it look realistic.