7:18 P.M. – Unknown Location

She knew she was finished.

She knew that because of the gigantic hole in her chest that not even the best medicine of this world could possibly keep closed.

But she soldiered on anyways. She knew she had to find the portal device before he caught on to her.

It was a gamble, she knew that. But it was a gamble she had to take if she wanted there to be any hope left for this world.

As steadily as she could (hole in the chest, after all), she opened the door to the room that hopefully still contained the last shred of hope this world had left.

To her utter relief, it was here, and it was still intact. She couldn't help but smile as she slowly shuffled towards the large gateway and its control panel. But alas...

"I guess I should have figured you'd make a break for the Oracle Drive."

Willing none of her fear to show on her face, she turned around to face her attacker, a face she knew all too well despite how much he'd changed.

"Yeah, then why did you let me if you knew I was gonna use it?" she shot back even as she coughed up blood. She slowly backed up as he approached her, obvious murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

"I just figured I'd give you that speck of hope before I crush it in my palms," he responded. "After all, all of your other comrades are dead, Alex. And you'll soon be joining them, sweetheart."

"Don't you dare say that," Alex growled. "You lost the right to call me that after what you did. The whole city's been destroyed, W.O.O.H.P. is gone, Jerry's dead, just like the rest of my friends, and god knows what else you've done! What the hell happened to the kind and loving boyfriend I used to know?! Answer me that, Nick!"

"Am I supposed to feel bad just because you're trying to remind me of what I've done?" Nick laughed. "Sorry, pumpkin, but I destroyed that bridge a long time ago. As entertaining a punching bag you make, I feel like you've lost your appeal."

Alex couldn't believe he was still talking. But that gave her a chance that she desperately needed.

"So, since I'm a courteous man, I'll ask you one more time," Nick proclaimed, aiming his hands towards her, both palms glowing with an evil-looking red light. "Do you have any last words?"

Alex reached out for the control panel of the Oracle Drive. "Yeah," Alex coughed. "Thanks for talking, asshole."

Before Nick could react, Alex slammed her palm into the control panel's buttons, causing the Oracle Drive's gateway to fill up with a blinding golden light. Not wasting any time, Alex dove into the portal, but not before blasting the control panel with her last Laser Lipstick. This caused the gateway to fizzle out after she fell in, but before Nick could follow.

As she fell through the tunnel of refracting colors, Alex's only thought was hope that she could find someone in whatever dimension she was being sent to that could save her world before it was too late.


(Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.)

Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger are proud to present:
Totally Spies!: It's About Time
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: October 16th, 2020

Story Summary: The twenty-fifth joint project between Mat49324 and The Blue Time Ranger, collectively known as Totally Spies: The New Adventures. One peaceful day, a strange portal opens and takes the spies straight to another dimension, one that is in desperate need of their help. Here, W.O.O.H.P. is no more, the city of Beverly Hills and everything surrounding it for miles has been destroyed, and the people live in fear of the Shadow, this dimension's version of Nick who was consumed by the darkness in his heart after losing everything dear to him. The spies are in for the fight of their lives as they traverse this desolate dimension in hopes of stopping this evil Nick before he subjugates the rest of the world. But can the spies actually stop the Shadow and save this world, or are they merely delaying its inevitable demise?

Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: At long last, we have reached the season two finale! Inspired slightly by the dimension-hopping shenanigans of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, things are gonna get messy on today's adventure. I won't bore you any longer, so let's get right into it!

Author's Notes from Mat49324: Our landmark 25th project is here now. We hope you enjoyed Strange Feelings as much as we did writing out our parts. Stay tuned for our "movie" fic, Beyond the Looking Glass HD Remix after this, too. If you thought our S1 finale, Mental Maladies was something, wait till you see THIS one!

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 created by us truly for the story (in this case, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, Dawn, and Melissa on my side, and Mathew on his side). 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?


Episode 1: The End is Near

10:34 A.M. – Malibu University, the Spies' Penthouse

"Look at them," Sam giggled.

"It certainly is an adorable picture," Britney admitted.

Mat just smiled as he and his two girlfriends beheld the sight in front of them. Nick, Alex, and May were all together on the big couch of their penthouse, all asleep and leaning against each other. Despite the fact that it was a common sight around here lately, it was still the most adorable thing ever, in Sam's personal opinion.

"Honestly, I don't know if I have the heart to wake them up and disrupt this perfect scene," Nozomi giggled. "But remember, that big Super Smash Bros. tournament is tonight, and May's been chomping at the bit to be ready for it."

"Guess it's a good thing it's a Saturday, huh?" Clover stated.

"And if you remember correctly, May was up all night preparing," Haruka responded, making sure to take a picture with her phone before they had to inevitably wake them up.

"Okay, so who's gonna have to be the moment-ruiner and wake them up?" Bridget asked.

The answer to that question came in the form of a large gateway of shimmering golden light opening up in the center of the room. Before any of the spies could make a move to investigate, someone came flying out of the portal and crashed into the sleeping trio before bouncing back and falling to the floor.

"Ughwhahapen?!" Alex stuttered as she leaped to her feet.

"Speak words, Alex," May quipped, only to notice something on her shirt. "W-what the hell?! Why is there blood on my shirt?!"

"All right, who's the wise-ass?!" Nick proclaimed, his psychic aura flaring to life as he faced down their supposed attacker.

He immediately let out a big gasp of shock when he saw what appeared to be Alex lying on the floor, clutching futilely at a big hole in her chest. Nick turned around to see the Alex he knew fully intact, his gaze shifting between the two of them as if trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

Other Alex looked up, only for a momentary flash of fear to adorn her expression when she saw Nick looking down at her. Thankfully, that fear dissipated when she noticed how concerned he looked. And that could only mean she'd made it safely to... wherever the Oracle Drive had decided to take her.

"Um, am I seeing things, or is there two of Alex in here right now?" Clover gasped.

"C-Clover?" Other Alex gasped, looking around the penthouse to see the concerned faces of the friends she never thought she'd see again. "Sammy? N-Nick? Oh, my god, it's r-really you..."

Nick was on the move immediately, grabbing Other Alex in his psychic hold and gently lifting her up into a stable position, so as to not aggravate her wound any further. And when he managed to catch a glimpse of her mind, Nick was shocked to realize that he could actually feel her life slipping away from her.

"Alex, what happened to you?" Nick asked.

"My... my world..." Other Alex gasped, knowing she didn't have much time left. "I... I'm from... another dimension... where I come from, my world... my world's been decimated... by an evil man... called 'the Shadow'..."

"Definitely sounds like a bad guy name," Melissa admitted.

"He... he's ruined everything," Other Alex continued. "Beverly Hills... has been wrecked... W.O.O.H.P. was destroyed, Jerry included... and, the worst part is... you're all dead..."

"W-wait, you're saying all of us kicked the bucket in your world?!" May exclaimed.

"Yes... you were all murdered at the Shadow's hands..." Other Alex replied. "And... he's frighteningly powerful, too... and he already controls the entire country... if he isn't stopped soon... he may just subjugate everything that's left of my world..."

"Okay, so I guess that brings us to the question I'm sure we're all going to ask," Sam proclaimed. "If you want us to stop this Shadow guy and save your world, how exactly do we get there? I assume since you're from another dimension, you'd have a way to get back there..."

Other Alex reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device that she handed off to Nick. "This... is a compact version of W.O.O.H.P.'s final invention in my world, the Oracle Drive," Other Alex gasped. "It's basically a dimensional gateway. I smashed up the one that took me here so the Shadow couldn't follow me back, so... you'll have to keep that one if you want to return to your own world..."

Other Alex began coughing nastily, making the others realize that she was about to die from her wounds.

"Hang in there, other me!" Alex proclaimed. "We'll stop this evil jerko for you, we promise!"

"...t-thank yo-you, me," Other Alex coughed. "Seeing you... seeing you all a-alive and well here... th-that's... all the hope... I need..."

Other Alex went completely limp in Nick's hold. A quick scan of her mind revealed absolutely nothing.

"...she's gone," Nick sighed.

"Well, this is a pretty downer way to start a mission," Clover admitted. "So... what do we do?"

Nick looked up, a fiery determination blazing in his eyes.

"Simple," Nick proclaimed. "We're going to go to this other dimension, we're going to find this Shadow jerkoff, and we're going to put him six feet under for everything he's done."

Nick used his free hand to activate the miniature Oracle Drive he'd been given, creating another golden portal of light in the room. "It's our duty as agents of W.O.O.H.P. to protect the peace, even if means we have to cross time and space to do so," Nick stated.

"I literally could not have said it better myself, Nick," Sam proclaimed. "Let's cross through this portal and do what we do best."

The twelve spies donned their spy suits and walked through the portal, eventually coming out on the other side in what could only be described as a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Destruction and ruin in every direction, most of Beverly Hills completely unrecognizable, and oppressive dark clouds hung over the sky, blotting out the sun that couldn't shine through even in the middle of the day.

The only landmark that was still around, somewhat, was the ruins of the W.O.O.H.P. building in the distance.

"Wh-what..." Sam gasped. "What in the hell happened here?!"

"That other Alex wasn't kidding when she said that the Shadow wrecked Beverly Hills," Mat replied. "There's almost nothing left here..."

"Ooh, now I'm super miffed!" Alex exclaimed. "Let's go find that Shadow guy and kick him so hard that his eyes pop out!"

"First things first," Nick stated, using his free hand to move some of the ground nearby and looking at the body of Other Alex in his hands. "Let's give her a proper burial."

All of the spies pitched in to help, even placing a custom headstone for her that Nick imprinted with the words Alex herself had suggested.

A ray of hope that even death can never snuff out

"I promise you, we'll avenge you and your friends, and everyone who's been subjugated by the Shadow," Nick proclaimed as Alex and May hugged him from both sides.

"We're here for ya, Nick, no matter what," May stated matter-of-factly. "We promise you that."

"Yeah, no matter what," Alex replied.

"Thanks, you two," Nick replied. "I definitely needed that. All right, everyone, let's move."

With Other Alex properly buried, the spies set out into the destroyed Beverly Hills to find the Shadow and put an end to his reign of terror.

"I don't think it'll be long before we find our 'other selves', eh?" Clover wondered.

"I'd bet money we will," Sam deduced.

"Talk about dark times here," Haruka stated, changing the subject to the spies' surroundings.

"Is this REALLY what the world would look like without W.O.O.H.P.?" Mat wondered.

"Yeah," Nick simply answered.

"It's our duty to keep the present world back home from turning to this after all," Sam emphasized.

"I think a bigger question is, who's our villain this time?!" Bridget asked.

"Yeah, that's a good point," Nozomi added.

"I don't think it's someone from our rogues' gallery this time," Clover remarked.

"And I don't think it's Psykos or Professor Genesis this time," May stated.

"No doubt," Dawn replied in agreement.

"Any ideas yourself, bro?" Mat asked Nick.

"All I know about our bad guy is that his name is the Shadow, and he's 'frighteningly powerful'," Nick answered. "Considering we're dealing with an unknown here, it's hard to pinpoint who might be behind this."

"Who'd have thought this would be what would happen without spies like us," Alex quipped.

"Or even police, for that matter," Mat added.

The spies continued moving on to who-knows-where.

"How do we even know what or whom to look for?" Melissa wondered.

"Well, everything 'out of the ordinary' is all around us for starters..." Clover remarked.

"And that 'other me' Nick discovered is now six feet under," Alex added in.

Nick looked to be in thought over what Other Alex's final words were, specifically the words on the custom headstone placed over the makeshift gravesite.

"I guess that means we better find the 'Other Us' as quick as we can," Britney stated.

"Good idea, Brit," Sam stated. "Maybe THEY can tell us something we don't know."

The spies moved on.

"Geez, this place is enough to piss ya off about what happened," Mat stated.

"Tell me about it," Haruka replied.

"Rules for villains, number forty-six," May quipped. "Dank atmospheres like this are enough to tick the good guys off."

"That's a good one there," Sam replied.

After sometime, the spies came across a big pile of rubble.

"A prime example of that rule," May quipped.

There was a rustle in the rubble; Sam's attention was certainly piqued when groans were heard, too.

"Did you hear what I hear?" Sam asked the group.

"I'll help ya, Sammy," Clover proclaimed as the two girls ran up to the rubble to save the said people.

Sam and Clover threw the rubble away to their sides to find that was Other Sam and Other Clover, and they were groaning badly as if they were on death row, too.

"OH NO!" Sam and Clover exclaimed at this sight.

"I think I get it now," Nick proclaimed.

"Get what, bro?" Mat asked.

"The Shadow's been hunting down anyone that's left of W.O.O.H.P.," Nick answered. "Alex's other self said all of her friends were killed by the Shadow. He must have been trying to finish the job before this Alex came to our world."

"Is... is there any way we can help them?" Alex asked. "I don't want any more people to die while we're here..."

Nick raised his hands to envelop Other Sam and Other Clover in his psychic hold and slowly lift them into the air so not to aggravate their wounds any further.

Before Nick could respond, however, he sensed someone behind him, only to hear the telltale click of a weapon being pointed at him.

"Let them go right now if you want to keep your head."

Clover was the first to recognize the voice, turning around slowly to make sure she was hearing things right.

And sure enough, a slightly older Mandy could be seen pointing a weapon towards the spies, a positively murderous expression on her face.

"Wait a minute, Mandy?" Clover gasped. "Is that actually you?"

Mandy didn't take well to that, firing a few laser blasts from her weapon and forcing the spies to scatter.

"I said let them go, you murderer!" Mandy screamed.

"W-wait, murderer?!" Nick gasped. "What exactly are you talking about?!"

"Don't you play coy with me," Mandy snarled. "After what you did, you honestly think I'm going to back down?! Even if I don't stand a chance, I can still take you with me!"

Nick handed off Other Sam and Other Clover to the Sam and Clover he knew before letting his psychic aura flare to life around him. "All right, Mandy, I don't know why you're suddenly trying to blow our heads off, but there's no way in hell I'm going to just lie down and take that!" Nick proclaimed.

However, instead of attacking again, Mandy froze in her tracks, completely awe-struck at Nick's golden aura.

"W-wait," Mandy gasped. "You... you're not..."

"Um, Mandy, can you please start making sense?" May asked. "Because I'm really confused right now."

"M-May?!" Mandy exclaimed, now noticing the rest of the spies. "You're alive?! You're... you're all alive?!"

Realizing that she'd almost made a horrible mistake, Mandy quickly recomposed herself before gazing at the group. "It's honestly really good to see you all again, even if you're not the same friends I knew," Mandy stated. "And I'm willing to guess you'll want some explanations?"

"That would be nice," Sam replied as she looked worryingly at her other self.

"Well, let's get them to the base, and I'll explain everything," Mandy proclaimed. "Follow me."

3:17 P.M. – Ruined Beverly Hills, Resistance Base

"Well, this is the place," Mandy stated as she entered her keycode into the door control panel, letting it slide open and allowing the group inside. "Welcome to the Resistance."

Many people of different ages could be seen milling around the base, operating computers, drawing up battle plans, and generally making themselves useful.

"We're pretty much all that remains of W.O.O.H.P. after it was destroyed," Mandy explained. "After the Shadow took over, we few remaining agents banded together in hopes of one day freeing this world from the Shadow's grasp."

"Wait, you were an agent of W.O.O.H.P. in this world?" Clover asked, remembering the one time Mandy had been made a spy in their world. It hadn't been fun, for lack of better words.

"Yup," Mandy quipped. "And, unlike your me, you and I actually get along quite well here."

Quite a few Resistance agents stopped to gasp in terror when they saw Nick with Mandy and her group.

"It's all right, everyone," Mandy proclaimed to put her fellow agents' minds at ease. "This is not exactly who you think it is, I promise."

"All right, Mandy, now that we're here, I think you owe us some answers," Nick replied. "So, how about we start with why you tried to blast me into a laser salad?"

Mandy sighed heavily before moving to a nearby computer console and typing in a few commands. "I assume you know what happened to our world?" Mandy asked.

"The Shadow," Alex proclaimed as two medical agents moved to take Other Sam and Other Clover to the infirmary to tend to their wounds. "He supposedly wrecked everything, from what I heard."

Mandy pressed a key on the control panel, and the nearby screen blipped to life to show a full-body picture of the Shadow. "Does he look familiar to any of you?" Mandy wondered, fully expecting the looks of shock and horror on the spies' faces.

"Am... am I seeing this right?!" May exclaimed.

"Holy crapbaskets," Alex proclaimed.

Nick's disbelief took the proverbial cake, however.

"That... that's me," Nick gasped.

Mandy nodded as she pulled up more files. "Correct, Nick. The Shadow used to be the you of this world," Mandy explained, the memories flashing back to her like it was only yesterday. "However, a mission that went horribly wrong cost him the lives of most of his friends and family. He... he snapped after that. And a villain took advantage of it, using a powerful machine to corrupt him and turn him to the dark side."

"And from all of this devastation, I guess it worked?" Mat stated.

"Yeah, a little too well," Mandy continued. "Though the villain had successfully corrupted Nick, he refused to be brainwashed, and decided to take his revenge on the world that wronged him. We all tried to reason with him as best we could, but... he was too far gone. That led to the Day of Darkness, as we call it. He slaughtered everyone at W.O.O.H.P., agent and villain alike. Of the spies that used to be Nick's friends... only Sam, Alex, and Clover survived."

Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing.

And even worse? He knew that he had the potential to become just like the Shadow if something like that would ever happen to him.

Both Alex and May seemed to sense Nick's distress and immediately moved to hug him tightly.

"Nick then rechristened himself 'The Shadow', as if the world had wanted him to be dark," Mandy continued. "It's been two months since that day. The remaining agents who had escaped the Day of Darkness all banded together to form the Resistance in hopes of eventually toppling the Shadow. And recently, our Alex took off to find something that could help us, and I assume she succeeded, considering you're all standing in front of us right now."

"Ugh, my head hurts," Other Sam groaned as she and Other Clover walked into the main room, looking exhausted but otherwise all right.

"Should you two even be up right now?" Mandy asked.

"Well, doc said we could move around just fine," Other Clover replied. "But we're probably not going to be fighting until we're fully recovered. Whoever got us back here got us back just in time, too."

"Yeah, if you hadn't gotten us here when you did, we probably wouldn't have survived," Other Sam stated. "W-wait, where did Alex go?!"

Other Clover glanced at the group Mandy had brought with her, only to see Alex standing among them, even if she looked different.

"Alex? Is that actually you?" Other Clover asked.

"Well... frankly, yes and no," Alex answered. "My friends and I are from another dimension. But... I wish I could offer more comforting words, but... this world's me is dead."

Other Sam and Other Clover gasped in shock, as did most of the nearby Resistance agents.

"W-what... what happened?" Other Sam asked. "The last thing I remember was her splitting off from us to find the Oracle Drive, but..."

"She found the Oracle Drive and dove into our dimension," Nick explained. "She explained the situation to us, but I guess the Shadow must have attacked her on the way there, because she was badly wounded and... she died just before we made the jump back here. She sacrificed her life to get us here..."

A deafening silence filled the room as the agents and the spies mourned the passing of Other Alex.

"...and that's why we're going to find the Shadow and tear him apart," Nick growled, his aura flaring to life around him. Alex and May stayed by his side, still holding his hands. "I don't care that he's this world's version of me."

Nick looked upwards, unyielding rage blazing in his eyes. "What he's done... is unforgivable."

Mat couldn't believe that the Shadow looked like an evil twin of Nick; everyone else couldn't either.

"How long ago did this happen?" Clover wondered.

"In this world, it was about two months ago," Other Mandy answered.

"You don't think..." Bridget started, thinking Professor Genesis might be in cahoots.

"I don't know," Nick answered.

"But it's bad news regardless," Haruka stated.

"Your girls tried to get through to him, and not even Alex could get him to listen to reason," Other Mandy told the group. "You may be our only chance!"

"I think we can stop him," Sam proclaimed.

"We CAN, AND WE WILL!" Nick angrily exclaimed.

"So now, first step is determining where to go," Mat stated.

"My radar only goes up to five miles," Nick reminded. "I'm sure the Shadow is further away than that..."

"Yes, that's right," May groaned.

"I can help there," Other Mandy stated.

She went and came back with a unique radar gizmo. "Lucky thing this baby was spared," she commented.

"What's that?" Sam wondered.

"A special radar detector, the Anomaly Analyzer," Other Mandy answered. "It's designed to detect any anomaly within 1000 miles. This'll come in handy than the five-mile radius Nick's power can do."

"Well now!" Nozomi exclaimed.

"That'll DEFINITELY be handy for sure," Alex remarked with a grin.

"Is it easy to operate?" Mat wondered.

"I just used it the other day," Other Mandy answered. "It is easy – just plug in whatever anomaly you're looking for like a UFO for example, and then just go in any direction. It'll ping and vibrate when you're close, and make a noise when you're VERY close."

"Wow, major thanks!" May replied.

"You can fully repay the favor by stopping the Shadow," Other Mandy told the spy crew.

"Believe us, we will!" Britney proclaimed.

"Let me program this gadget," Sam requested.

She plugged in Nick's psychic power into the Anomaly Analyzer. A green light flashed, and a radar screen showed on the screen.

"Wow, this is totally cool!" Clover commented. "Maybe I'll need something like this the next time there's a half-off sale on shoes at the Groove!"

Sam and Alex chuckled at that.

"Now, let's get on our way," Mat proclaimed.

With that, the spies were on their way. Sam held up the Anomaly Analyzer as they went on.

"I hope this gizmo lives up to its name," Dawn remarked.

"Hey, Nick," Mat replied. "If the Shadow looks like your evil twin, does this mean that the Shadow has the same powers as you?" he asked.

"If he's this world's me, I'm pretty sure he can do practically everything I can and then some," Nick admitted. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"And I thought time travel was a cornucopia of disturbing concepts," May quipped.

"Wait, you guys," Alex asked. "Does our W.O.O.H.P. even know we're gone?"

"Let me give it a shot," Haruka replied, opening her X-Powder, only for the screen to show nothing but static as she tried to connect. "Nope, no dice. I guess other dimensions are technically outside of W.O.O.H.P.'s coverage zone."

"So it's all up to us until we can get home, huh?" Nozomi stated.

"Looks that way," Sam responded as she continued to sweep the Anomaly Analyzer around in hopes of finding something.

Thankfully, it didn't take too much longer, as the Anomaly Analyzer began to vibrate in her hands.

"Hey, it looks like we've got a lock on something!" Sam exclaimed.

"All right, fearless leader, lead the way!" Clover proclaimed.

The group broke into a run as the Anomaly Analyzer continued to vibrate, eventually making a loud pinging noise, which meant they were getting much closer to their target. Nick was making sure not to activate his own psychic powers until they found what they were looking for, so as to not mess with the Anomaly Analyzer.

But as the spies drew ever closer, Nick could suddenly sense the thoughts of other nearby people...

...before they suddenly went silent.

"Nick?" Alex asked. "What's wrong?"

"I can sense other people just up ahead," Nick stated. "At least... I could. I heard a loud scream and then... nothing."

"Oh, god, that means people are dying, aren't they?" Dawn gasped.

"And I don't think I need three guesses to figure out who's responsible," Melissa proclaimed.

With that, the spies picked up the pace, eventually reaching a large, flat field that appeared to originally be a shopping mall of sorts.

"This... this was where the Groove used to be," Sam stated.

"Oh, damn it all, even the Groove's gone in this upside-down dimension?!" Clover shouted.

Clover's complaints were quickly silenced when someone, most likely an agent of the Resistance, started running towards them...

...only for a blood-red energy blade to descend from the sky and impale the man through the chest, killing him instantly.

"W-what... what the hell did I just...?!" Clover gasped.

Nick's eyes were the first to follow where that energy blade had come from, and sure enough, the Shadow was there waiting for them, floating high in the sky.

And just like Other Mandy had shown them, the Shadow looked exactly like a slightly older Nick, the only real differences being the weary, evil-looking eyes, being a couple inches taller, and the downright sinister blood-red psychic aura surrounding his body.

"He really thought he stood a chance," the Shadow proclaimed. "How distasteful."

The Shadow's eyes caught another group of people nearby, and he floated down to them, all of the spies immediately shifting into fighting stances.

"Well, well," the Shadow laughed. "Will wonders never cease? It seems like that little frump who used to call herself my lover actually made it where she intended to go after all."

"You're calling me a frump, you jackass?!" Alex growled. "Look at you! Don't you have any remorse for what you've become?!"

"That's what your other self tried to say to me before I ended her," the Shadow replied. "I assume she died? Please tell me she died."

"We're only giving you one warning, sicko," Mat shot back. "Back off or we're going to pound you into a bloody pulp."

"Empty threats," the Shadow laughed. "But nothing more."

The Shadow floated closer to Alex, disregarding the other spies, to stare intently at her. "Aren't you scared of me?" the Shadow proclaimed. "You don't look like you're much braver than she was."

"Don't test me, or else," Alex taunted.

"Or else what?" the Shadow cackled, reaching out to put his hand on Alex's face.

That set Nick off tremendously, his golden aura exploding to life around him instantly as he dashed forward to slam his fist into the Shadow's face, sending him bouncing down the path.

"That's what, you son of a bitch," Nick growled. "You touch my girlfriend with those greasy hands of yours again, and you're going to lose those hands, you understand me?!"

The Shadow quickly picked himself up, grinning all the while. "Oh, this will be fun," the Shadow laughed. "I haven't had a real challenge since I awoke to my true purpose."

"You mean you let Professor Genesis or whoever it was turn you to the dark side!" Nozomi shouted.

"I lost everything that day!" the Shadow snarled, his aura exploding outwards. "I lost everything that I ever held dear because of that monster. What other choice did I have?!"

"...so you're saying that you just gave up?!" Nick shot back. "You just let yourself succumb to darkness without even bothering to fight back?! Sounds like the will of a coward to me."

"I guess you're lucky that Genesis is still locked up somewhere," Alex quipped, only for the Shadow to smile wickedly. "...what's so funny?!"

"Oh? Didn't you hear?" the Shadow cackled. "I assume you know about what I've done. When I destroyed W.O.O.H.P. and slaughtered everyone there, I didn't just kill their agents. I also killed all of the villains they'd locked up. Every. Single. One. They deserved their fate for taking everything I loved away from me. They're never going to learn their lesson, anyway."

"...you're insane," Nick growled. "You may look like me, but you're nothing like me!"

"Is that a fact?" the Shadow laughed. "Despite all the differences, I technically am you. You could suffer the same fate if you lose everyone you ever cared about."

Before Nick could respond to that, both Alex and May hugged him from both sides.

"Yeah, but we're never going to let that happen!" May shouted. "We're not dying anytime soon, you shadow-dipped ripoff artist!"

"We're Nick's support pillars," Alex exclaimed. "And that means we'll keep Nick strong whenever he can't!"

"But every pillar eventually crumbles, no matter how strong," the Shadow proclaimed. "And what then? Your bonds will not last forever."

"Says the nihilistic psychopath who didn't even try!" Dawn taunted. "You just rejected everything because you couldn't handle it!"

"I guess your bonds weren't as strong as you thought if this is how you turned out," Melissa challenged.

"How dare you mock me?!" the Shadow shouted, his aura growing larger and more fierce. "How dare you mock my pain?!"

"Um, buddy, we have every right to mock your pain when you're the one inflicting that pain on everyone else just because you're a washed-up dark-side freak!" Clover shouted.

"You know what my biggest mistake was?" the Shadow growled. "When Sam, Alex and Clover fled W.O.O.H.P. before it came down on their heads, I simply assumed they wouldn't have the balls to challenge me, so I let them be. Instead, one of them needlessly sacrifices herself to bring all of you here when I should have ended her very existence that day. I gave them the choice to stay and fight, or flee with their tails between their legs."

Nick prepared himself as the Shadow tensed up.

"I won't give you that choice EVER AGAIN! PREPARE TO DIE!" the Shadow screamed as he charged to attack the spies.

To be continued...


Next time on Totally Spies: It's About Time...

The Shadow: Face me, you wretched cowards!

Nick: Oh, we're the cowards?!

Mat: You're the one who blew it, buddy boy, so don't give us that crock!

Haruka: All right, serious talk now, how do we take this nutball down? He's got practically all of Nick's powers!

Nozomi: But that basically means we know all of his moves, right?

May: Ooh, that's giving me a wicked idea. You up for it, Alex?

Alex: Oh, I'm game! Anything to put this ripoff in his place!

Nick: Well, readers, we're already cranking up the intensity, aren't we? And I promise, it's going to get even crazier, next time on Totally Spies: It's About Time, "You Require Motivation"!

Bridget: ...is it me, or is that chapter title extremely ominous?