On Today's Episode: The battle with the Empress begins! The spies have a tough opponent on their hands, as even when it's thirteen against one, the Empress has quite a few tricks up her sleeve. Add to that the ticking clock of Mat's possible mutation, and it becomes a race against time. Can the spies triumph over the Empress and destroy the floating fortress before Helga and Fox unleash their army on Beverly Hills?

Episode 3: Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Naturally, the control room quickly descended into pure chaos as the spies charged into battle with the Empress.

"Stand still, you little witch!" Haruka shouted as she fired off a full-power Wind Tunnel 9000 blast at the Empress, only for her to tank it like it was nothing.

"Haruka, I don't think taunting her is gonna do anything productive," Nick quipped as he dodged a tail slap from the Empress and fired a Final Shine Attack into her back.

"Hey, I gave it a shot," Haruka admitted.

A loud squeak resounded, and all eyes were drawn to the Empress pouncing on Siren and holding her tightly, as if daring the spies to go through Siren to get to her.

"You absolute son of a..." Mat growled.

"That's right, you pitiful teenage fools!" the Empress laughed. "Bow down to me! You can't stop me like you did everyone else!"

Just then, the Empress buckled downwards, her grip loosening enough for Siren to break free and rush back to Nick's side. The cause of this was revealed to be May, having summoned her anchor to attack the Empress' legs.

"Hey, we're practically young adults now, you freak," May stated. "Now taste anchor!"

May slipped under the Empress' legs to deliver an anchor strike to her back.

"Are you feeling okay, Mat?" Sam asked as she and Mat stood side by side.

"No different from before, but I still say we hurry and take this monster down before it gets any worse," Mat replied.

"Monster?" the Empress giggled. "I am no monster. I am your Queen!"

"Yeah, yeah, bigger words," Nick shot back. "I guess we'll see where 'her eminence' really stands when you can't actually stand!"

Thankful for May distracting the Empress, Nick rushed in to use Zero Gravity and send the Empress floating for a few seconds, allowing him to blast her in the head with a Final Shine Attack.

"It's pointless, you know!" Helga laughed. "You can't beat the Empress! And soon, your little boy toy will become one of us!"

"Now, Empress, finish off these pathetic fools!" Fox proclaimed.

Just then, the Empress stopped in her tracks, glaring spitefully at Helga and Fox. "Who are you that would command me?" the Empress proclaimed. "I am the Empress. The true ruler! You seriously thought you could make me your movable pawn? Well, sorry to say, but I am the one destined to conquer this world with your army. You merely created my foot soldiers for me."

Before Helga and Fox could make a move to escape, the Empress leaped towards them and slashed her tail at them, catching them both on the chest and sending them to the ground.

"Okay, did not see that one coming," Nozomi admitted.

"It happens all the time," Haruka quipped. "Rules for villains, number thirty: make double and triple sure that your own creations can't turn against you. Lotta baddies that don't follow that rule, sadly."

When Helga and Fox were able to stand, they noticed that they were suddenly growing what appeared to be fish tails.

"Did... did they just start mutating?!" Bridget shouted.

Nick made his move, encasing Helga and Fox in a psychic bubble, then blasting a hole in the roof of the control room with a Final Shine Attack so he could flick his hand up and send the bubbled villains off to containment.

He had a feeling that things were about to escalate really quickly.

"Poor, pitiful fools," the Empress laughed. "They seriously thought they could order me around?"

The Empress sauntered over to another nearby console, eyeing it curiously. "I wonder... if this is the machine that made me so large..." the Empress proclaimed. "What would happen... if I took a full blast of it?"

"Oh, this can't be good," Alex gasped as a large ray-gun device descended from the ceiling and blasted the Empress with a beam of red light.

"EVERYBODY OUT!" Nick shouted, encasing the spies and Siren in a large bubble and flying out through the hole he'd made earlier.

Once the entire group was at a safe distance, they couldn't do much but watch as the entire flying fortress crumpled and exploded, its pieces falling into the sea and sinking.

The cause?

It was the Empress, affected by Diminutive Smalls's shrinking-slash-enlarging ray, growing rapidly until she was about seven stories tall, at least twice the height of the tallest building in Beverly Hills.

"NOW I AM UNSTOPPABLE!" the Empress bellowed, her voice echoing across the sea. "EVERYTHING IN THIS PATHETIC WORLD WILL BOW DOWN TO ME!"

"Holy crapbaskets, she's gigantic!" May shouted. "How the heck do we bring miss goliath down?!"

"I think I see something," Nick proclaimed. "But for the moment, I want the rest of you to go back to the island and make sure all the other super-animals are safe. If the Empress reaches that island, I don't know what she'll do to it."

"And what about you, Nick?" Alex asked.

"I'm going up there so I can blast that bitch down to size," Nick responded. "You just make sure all those animals are safe, and I'll deal with the Empress."

"Come back safely, got it?" May quipped.

"You know me," Nick replied as both Alex and May kissed him on the cheek.

Siren walked up to Nick and squeaked a couple times.

"What's she saying, Nick?" Haruka asked.

"She's coming with me, apparently," Nick translated. "Sounds like she's got her own beef to settle with the Empress. I'll keep her safe, you guys, I promise."

"And you never break a promise," Clover quipped. "Now go and serve that trash queen up extra crispy!"

"With a side of curly fries," Nick laughed as Siren hopped onto his back and held on tightly. Nick dissolved the psychic bubble so the rest of the spies could return to the island, allowing him and Siren to fly off towards the gigantic Empress.

Siren squeaked as Nick approached the Empress.

"You ready for this, Siren?" Nick asked, and Siren responded by kissing him on the cheek, leaving him surprised.

Siren squeaked a few more times in response.

"Like I said, I look out for my friends, and I never break a promise," Nick replied as he ascended to face the Empress.

"Well, well," the Empress laughed as Nick and Siren approached her. "You actually showed up."

"Of course I did," Nick shot back, eyeing the glowing red baubles around the Empress' wrists, knees, and headpiece. "You're not trashing my hometown or anyplace as long as I'm here!"

Siren let out a series of angry squeaks towards the Empress as well.

"Siren says that she's got beef with you, too," Nick stated. "So I hope you're ready for a double dose of hurt!"

"Oh, please try and entertain me," the Empress laughed.

("Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica plays)

"Don't mind if we do," Nick smirked.

Siren simply squeaked; Nick knew that Siren was in agreement with his statement.

"You're not gonna rule squat as long as we're around..." Nick assured.

"Easier said than done, boy," the Empress cackled.

"More like it's gonna be done," Nick corrected.

Nick fired a Final Shine Attack at the Empress, only for her to deflect it easily.

"Is that the best you've got?!" the Empress laughed.

"Believe me," Nick stated. "I'm just getting started, and you're gonna be wiping a lot of ass after we're done with you..."

"We'll see about that!" the Empress cackled again.

Nick charged in, but regardless of what he tried, the Empress was ready to pounce. Finally, Nick went for it, but was swatted back by the Empress like a bothersome mosquito.

Siren squeaked at Nick, and that got Nick's attention.

"You know a way to wound it?" Nick asked quietly.

"I'm waiting..." the Empress reminded.

When Siren finished squeaking, Nick turned back to the Empress, now ready to execute Siren's knowledge of the Empress' weak spot.

"You know, I grow tired of this waiting game," the Empress proclaimed, lashing out with a flying kick that Nick flew under. It seemed the Empress hadn't lost much speed to compensate for her new giant form.

This act exposed Nick to a bracelet on the Empress' left knee, notably its red jewel which was now glowing a bright red.

Nick and Siren nodded to each other as Nick flew backwards a short distance to charge up.

"You can come out of hiding any day now!" the Empress laughed.

"That's the idea," Nick taunted, firing off a Final Shine Attack to shatter the red jewel and snap the bracelet in half, causing said bracelet to fall into the ocean and the Empress to yell in obvious pain.

Jackpot! Nick thought, eyeing at least six more bracelets around the Empress' body. Probably gotta blast all of them to finish her off.

"Just because you figured something out doesn't mean you're going to win!" the Empress shouted.

"They say that every time, too," Nick taunted as he dashed backwards to avoid a flying punch, looking back to make sure Siren was still holding on to him.

Meanwhile...

5:51 PM – Unknown Island

Meanwhile, the other eleven spies had just arrived at the island to get the "experiments" under control.

Occasionally, Sam snuck some looks at Mat to make sure the mutations were not getting any worse. Thankfully, there was no change in Mat since then.

"I hope Jerry's any closer to an antidote," Mat told Sam.

"I hope so, too," Sam replied, a slight amount of worry showing in her tone.

The two looked on to see Clover showing her cowgirl techniques from the previous mission with stopping Terrence, Geraldine, and Kyle. One of the animal experiments was stopped dead in its tracks, courtesy of Clover's Expandable Cable Bungee Belt.

"Haven't lost my touch," Clover quipped.

"No, she hasn't," Melissa stated.

"I second that," Dawn replied.

Bridget then used her Sonic Mode to dash in circles to keep the other experiments looking around in an attempt to dizzy them.

"Now's your chance, guys!" Bridget exclaimed.

"Nozomi, heads up," Alex called out and threw the scanman radio to her.

"Right," Sam declared, remembering.

"Music soothes the savage beast, after all," Haruka replied.

Nozomi played the scanman radio, which caused all of Fox's experiments to grab their heads in vain. In return, Mat could feel synapses in his head throbbing as well.

"Uh-oh," Sam worriedly replied at seeing Mat.

Like clockwork, her X-Powder chirped before Sam could even think about asking Nozomi to stop playing the scanman radio. Thinking that might be Jerry, Sam called Britney and asked her to help with Mat. That was when Sam answered her X-Powder.

"Girls, how's the mission going?" Jerry asked, which made Sam sigh in relief inside.

"We're working on the experiments now," Britney told Jerry.

"Oh, good," Jerry remarked. "I've managed to work up an antidote that should cure Mat of his mutations."

"You have?" Sam asked on alert.

"Yes," Jerry replied. "Aim your X-Powder at him."

Britney noticed Mat's teeth were almost like an actual crocodile while Mat was having his headache from the scanman radio. Sam saw this and looked alarmed as well.

"I tested it on Helga and Dr. Fox," Jerry explained. "It worked like a charm. Just do it quickly, Sam – it SHOULD be effective on Mat."

A bluish puff of smoke came out from Sam's X-Powder and it was enough to have Mat cover his face. Obviously, his eyes burned slightly.

"Did it work?" Britney asked as she and Sam watched in hope that Jerry was right.

A few seconds passed, and Mat opened his eyes.

To everyone's relief, they were back to their normal color, and Mat no longer had crocodile teeth.

"Success!" May exclaimed.

"Just in time, too," Mat quipped. "I was seriously feeling like my head was about to burst back there."

Both Sam and Britney launched themselves at Mat, all three crashing to the ground in a tangled hug.

"Shoulda seen that coming, huh?" Mat laughed.

"We're just happy you're gonna be okay, Mat," Sam stated.

"Hey, remember what I said?" Mat quipped. "I'm tough."

"Oh, we know it," Britney giggled as she and Sam both kissed Mat on the cheek at the same time.

"Now that that's been settled," Jerry proclaimed. "I must ask, where is Nick?"

May picked up Sam's X-Powder (she had accidentally dropped it before her flying hug) and aimed it towards the scene in the distance, where Nick and Siren were battling the gigantified Empress. "Does that answer your question, Jer?" May replied.

"Good heavens!" Jerry exclaimed.

"What the heck?!" RiCO shouted.

"Apparently, Helga and Fox had borrowed some tech from Diminutive Smalls," Alex explained. "That's how some of the mutants were bigger than usual. We cornered the Empress, their ultimate creation that Nick's fighting right now, and after she turned on the mad scientists, she used that tech to pull a Rita Repulsa."

"That's why Nick wanted the rest of us to keep the other super-animals safe while he fought the Empress, so she wouldn't come after the island," Bridget stated. "I hope he's doing well up there..."

Nick swerved around to avoid another claw swipe, then fired a Final Shine Attack into the jewel on the Empress' left wrist bracelet, shattering that one as well.

"Four down, three to go," Nick quipped. "We're getting somewhere."

Siren squeaked loudly, alerting Nick to whatever the Empress was doing now.

"Surprise, boy!" the Empress proclaimed as she unleashed a pair of energy blasts from her eyes. Nick quickly raised a psychic barrier to block the blasts, only for the Empress to do it again and again, forcing him to stay in his spot to defend himself.

"Crapbaskets, we're not gonna get anywhere if she keeps spamming lasers all day," Nick groaned.

Siren squeaked a couple times before pointing towards an exposed spot on the Empress' body.

"You sure, Siren?" Nick asked, to which Siren nodded. "Okay, but be careful, got it? If you ever feel like you're in trouble, just jump off and I'll catch you."

Siren squeaked again as Nick pushed his barrier forward to send one of the Empress' eye beams back at her, dazing her long enough for Nick and Siren to fly in closer.

Once they were close enough, Siren leaped off of Nick's back and clutched onto the side of the Empress, climbing around her to keep her distracted.

"You little vermin!" the Empress bellowed, trying to snatch Siren off of her to no avail. "Let go of me this instant!"

Siren responded by kicking the Empress' side, and while the Empress attempted to reach down and pluck her off, Nick took advantage of their moment by shattering the right wrist bracelet with a Final Shine Attack.

Two more to go, Nick thought, eyeing the two remaining bracelets on the Empress' neck and crown.

While Nick flew upwards, Siren made her presence known by actually biting into the Empress' exposed skin. While the Empress yowled in obvious pain, Nick blasted off her neck bracelet, leaving only the jewel in her crown.

"We've got you on the ropes now, Empress," Nick proclaimed. "Do us all a favor and surrender peacefully!"

"You really think I'm going to fall for that load of nonsense?" the Empress laughed. "You must have some wires scrambled in your own head, boy!"

Siren leaped up to another perch, only for the Empress to snatch Siren up in mid-leap.

"I would suggest that you surrender immediately, because otherwise, I'm going to crush her into so much fine paste," the Empress proclaimed, clenching her fist as a warning. "And you wouldn't want that on your conscience, would you?"

All Nick could do in response was raise his hands.

"It's nice to know that you have more sense than I initially thought," the Empress laughed.

Nick just grinned. "Who said I was surrendering?"

Before the Empress could react, golden light exploded outwards from Nick's open hands, covering the Empress and everything around him in a massive golden bubble of light. Time had ground to a complete stop for everything inside the bubble.

Nick flew towards the time-stopped Empress, knowing he'd have to work fast, as he'd used up a lot more power than he usually would for a time stop, in order to completely freeze the Empress.

Nick lashed out with a flying kick to the Empress' hands, wrenching them apart just enough for Nick to grab Siren and flee to a safe distance.

I think I've got enough juice left in me for one last Final Shine, Nick thought. Better make my shot count.

After retreating far enough, Nick raised his free hand to charge up, and once his hand flashed green, he snapped his fingers with his other hand to undo the time freeze.

"W-What sorcery is this?!" the Empress shouted when she saw that her captive was no longer, well, captive.

"Just a magic trick," Nick proclaimed. "Keep your eye on the birdie, now!"

Nick fired off one last Final Shine Attack, the emerald beam of light streaking through the air and piercing through the final red jewel on the Empress' headpiece.

The instant the crystal shattered, the Empress lurched forward as her power left her, her entire form rapidly shrinking until she was back to her normal size before suddenly exploding rather violently.

"Okay, was not expecting that," Nick stated, flying down to the surface of the ocean in hopes of finding what, if anything, was left of the Empress.

Swimming there, in the very spot the Empress had been standing while giant, was a long-tailed fish, a crab, and an electric eel.

"So, she exploded into her component animals," Nick quipped. "Because why not?"

Siren squeaked twice, slightly confused.

"Yeah, I don't get it, either," Nick admitted. "But hey, Siren we did it! We beat the bad guys that did this to you!"

Siren squeaked happily before hugging Nick tightly.

"And... well, I kinda wanted to ask you this before we head back, but..." Nick sighed, catching Siren's attention. "Our boss probably just finished something than can cure all the mutated animals, by which I mean probably return them to being normal animals or normal people. I was wondering, did you...?"

It only took a couple seconds for Siren to understand what Nick was getting at, and she answered by shaking her head, followed by a couple squeaks.

"...you wanna be the island's guardian, huh?" Nick quipped. "Yeah, I guess you can't really do that as a normal old lobster, huh? All right, when we get back to the island, I'll tell Jerry that you wanna stay like this, okay?"

Siren nodded as Nick began to fly back towards the island.

Meanwhile, the other spies still had their hands full with the other animal experiments.

"Glad to have you back, Mat," Alex quipped. "Now how do we handle these animal anomalies?"

"Ideas, anyone?" Britney asked.

"I was kinda hoping you or Sammy had one, Brit," Clover stated.

The animals began to go for the eleven spies until a psychic shot made them all stop in their tracks.

"Allow me, Clover!" Nick proclaimed as he and Siren landed directly in front of the group.

"NICK!" May and Alex proclaimed.

"And Siren!" Haruka added.

Nick looked back to see Mat was indeed back to normal, courtesy of Jerry's antidote.

"Hey, Jerry got you back to normal, bro," Nick stated.

"I know, man," Mat replied. "Now I don't have to go back to Mali-U looking so freaky."

"Amen," Nozomi added.

"Nick, are you able to still use your psychic powers?" May asked.

"If so, I don't think they'd be very effective," Nick answered. "I used a lot of it to defeat the Empress, with Siren's help, of course, and it'll take a bit to recharge."

"Great, now what?" Melissa asked.

"Allow us, spies," went another male voice – Jerry's.

Other W.O.O.H.P. agents were in tow as well, suited up and everything.

"Great timing, Jerry," Dawn quipped.

Britney looked up and saw the W.O.O.H.P. chopper airborne and sprinkling the antidote over the experiments like a fire chopper dumping water over a burning building.

"You have it in liquid form, too, Jer?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Jerry answered. "In spray form, and liquid form."

"Nice thinking, too," Haruka commented.

Like clockwork, the effects of the antidote began to take effect. The experiments were now turning back to regular creatures.

"Hold on, Jer," Alex wondered. "If Mat needed a spray to turn back to normal, why liquid for these others?"

"They were probably further into the experiments like Siren was," Nick deduced.

"Exactly," Jerry remarked.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Mat stated. "It worked on me like a charm."

Britney and Sam nodded in agreement.

"Not to worry, agents," Jerry then announced. "We'll finish out here and have you taken back to campus immediately."

"Thanks, Jerry," Bridget quipped.

"We'll also turn Siren back to normal and..." Jerry continued on before Nick cut him off.

"Actually, Jer," Nick stated. "Siren wants to stay this way and... protect the island."

"I see," Jerry replied. "Is that truly what you wish, Siren?"

Siren squeaked a couple times in response.

"If anyone could do it, I know Siren could," Alex giggled.

"If that's what you want to do, Siren, then so be it," Jerry proclaimed. "W.O.O.H.P. will check in every now and then, just to make sure things are going well. Is that okay with you, Siren?"

Siren nodded, then turned back to Nick and squeaked twice before rushing over to hug him tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you, too, Siren," Nick stated as he hugged Siren back. "But you can be sure I'm gonna come visit every now and then, too, classes permitting. That's a promise."

The spies couldn't help but smile at the sight.

5:03 PM – Spies' Penthouse

"Glad that's over," Mat stated.

Sam and Britney were hugging him – Sam on Mat's right side, Britney on his left.

"That makes two of us, babe," Sam quipped.

"And I'll make it three," Britney finished out as both girls kissed Mat on his cheeks.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sam exclaimed, rushing over to grab something from the nearby shelf. "I was gonna give you this earlier, Mat, but we got sidetracked by our mission."

Sam handed Mat a gift-wrapped box. "I just wanted to get you something to thank you for that Italian dinner you took me to."

Mat quickly opened the box (he even tore off the main wrapping; Nick must have been rubbing off on him) to see a two-piece heart-shaped locket engraved with both his and Sam's names on it.

"I hope you like it," Sam asked.

"How could I not love it?" Mat replied, sweeping Sam into his arms so he could kiss her.

"That worked like a charm," Britney giggled.

"EEP!"

Sam and Britney glanced backwards to see Nozomi dragging Haruka away by her ear.

"Seriously, how many times do I have to ear-drag you when you start going all 'lovebird-y' over those two?" Nozomi groaned. "I'm sure your ear doesn't appreciate it."

"But it's fuuuuuuuuuuuun," Haruka whined as she always did whenever Nozomi did this.

"Nice to see some things never change, huh?" Mat laughed.

"Isn't that the truth," Britney giggled.

"Hey, have any of you seen Nick?" Alex asked as she walked into the penthouse. "I figured I'd see him after class, but no dice."

May glanced out the window, towards the setting sun in the distance. "Oh, I think I know where he went," May quipped.

5:18 P.M. – Siren Island

"Keep your eye on the birdie!" Nick exclaimed, using his psychic push to toss a large ball towards Siren, who immediately leaped into the air and reflected it back with a volleyball serve. The two of them kept up this relay until Siren managed to knock the ball back faster than Nick could react to it.

"Nice one, Siren," Nick quipped as he floated back to the ground. "You're getting better at volleyball, huh?"

Siren happily squeaked before pointing towards some of the animals that were swimming through the water around the island. One of them even resembled the Lightning Angler they'd fought on the way to the underwater base.

"Yeah, mister fishie's having the time of his life, huh?" Nick laughed as he watched the fish attempt to glare at other nearby animals. "So, Siren, how does it feel to be the guardian of an entire island?"

Siren squeaked multiple times as she explained how she felt about it.

"Yeah, it kinda sucks for some of these poor guys, being ripped from their natural habitat," Nick replied. "But at least with you around, they'll have someone to protect them. And if freaks ever come calling, you get to send them packing, right?"

Siren nodded, then gestured for Nick to come closer, as if she wanted to relay a secret. Nick stepped closer so he could receive this secret information.

Siren leaned closer, and to Nick's surprise...

...she actually spoke.

It was with great difficulty, as she had never spoken out loud before.

But it was two simple words that Nick understood quite clearly.

"Thank you..."

Totally Spies: Alchemy Anarchy
~The End~

Final Thoughts from The Blue Time Ranger: And we are finished! Man, did I have a lot of fun with this one!

There were two primary things that influenced this story's plot. The first is Crash Bandicoot. I am a SUPER fan of the Crash Bandicoot series, especially with the large-scale revival he's had in the past three years. That's where I got the whole "mutated animals created by mad scientists attempt to take over a thing" shtick.

The other is Shantae, specifically elements from the latest game, Shantae and the Seven Sirens. Siren is based off the Lobster Girl from that game, who is INCREDIBLY FEEPING CUTE AND ADORABLE, and the Empress is based off the game's final boss, the Empress Siren.

Also, Mat told me that jettmanas relayed something to me through Mat about this big block of text I always do at the beginning of each chapter of my bigger stories. That actually got me thinking on why I always do it on everything. I guess I've done it for so long that I got used to always doing it. But that's gonna change soon. Starting with the next story of The New Adventures onward, I'll be taking jettmanas's advice and only showing a block o' text at the beginning of the very first chapter, along with dumping the Previously on... bits, as well as only re-showing the cast list if I make any changes or additions to the cast. And as for the disclaimer, I started doing that more after most of the old stories on my old S.P.D. Gold Ranger account got nuked for having song lyrics in them even if I thought it was fair use, and I started doing the disclaimer all the time just to make sure no one could get on my case for not having it. Sorry for this big wall of text, I just felt like explaining things.

And finally, it's time to talk about the next chapter of The New Adventures! As you know, sometimes Jerry likes to spring surprise "tests" on the spies to make sure they're still on the ball. Gotta be prepared for everything, right? But this time, one of the spies has had enough of the surprise tests, and this might cost this particular spy her W.O.O.H.P. career. And that's not good when a certain memory-stealer is back for revenge. Find out all the juicy deets in the next story, Is It Over, Clover?, which will be posted by Mat when it's ready. So, until then, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, enjoy this preview of Is It Over, Clover?, and we'll see you next mission!

"Hello again, spies," Jerry greeted.

Clover immediately tuned out Jerry's next words.

"What've we got, Jer?" Mat asked.

Jerry immediately pulled up an empty cell and the photo of the escaped fugitive.

"Lester Crawley?!" Alex proclaimed.

"Apparently Lester Crawley has escaped and is coming after students at Mali-U, likely yourselves included," Jerry explained.

"This better not be another one of your 'sick tests', Jerry," Clover remarked.

Jerry was nice enough to overlook that.

"Then we better stop him quickly," Sam declared.

"I've got your gadgets ready, everyone!" RiCO stated.

"Sorry, RiCO, but... I'm not taking this mission," Clover stated.

Now, Jerry's nerves were shot, too, that Clover was refusing this mission.

"CLOVER!" Sam and Alex chastised.

"Clover, with all due respect, is this really the time for any of this?" Nick proclaimed.

"I'm still convinced that this is all another dumb 'test', since he keeps pulling this crap," Clover shot back.

"Clover, if I can make a point in Jerry's favor, and please don't freak out, okay?" Nick responded. "I'm sure you, of all people in this organization, know how many nutballs we've had to face off with. And each and every one of them has had a different diabolical plan waiting in the wings. I know it's probably not the most effective way to do it, but... we're agents of W.O.O.H.P., Clover. We have to be prepared for anything."

"Well, when you put it that way..." Clover sighed, conceding Nick's point. "But I'm still not going on this mission. Not until I get solid proof from Jerry that this isn't another test."

"At least I can say I tried," Nick groaned.

To be continued in Totally Spies: Is It Over, Clover?...