Yeah, I have to apologize. I was on vacation since last Wednesday, which is why there hasn't been an update in so long. I'm glad, though, that I have some new readers!

To Loverly Light: Thanks again! And as for Sean, maybe he is, maybe he isn't. You'll see why.

To MegamanV2: Have you played the Star Force games? All the characters from the future are from Star Force, and "Wave Change" is when they fuse with their alien counterparts.

To Ri2: Which time period?

Well, anyway, I'm back, and here's your chapter!

Chapter Four: Disco Inferno

Lan and Geo woke up, looked at the alarm clock, and groaned simultaneously. No matter what century you live in, everyone hates Mondays.

I wish I hadn't been down at the lab all night, thought Lan ruefully. He had ended up with a lot more questions than he had answers. He recalled the conversation…

FLASHBACK

"Lan, what happened? You look pale."

"Dad, I would be surprised if I wasn't pale."

Lan recounted what had happened the previous day, sparing the fact that he had had a grenade thrown at him. That really wasn't the kind of thing you told your dad. His eyes got wider and wider, and he gripped Lan on the shoulders.

"Did you say theS.E.I.S.M.O.S.? No way… I thought… Even he wouldn't be stupid enough to try… You say he just disappeared in a flash of white light? And his navi went with him?"

"Yes," Lan replied, unable to see why his dad was so excited.

"Well," he said, taking a deep breath. "He's not dead. But he's not much better off."

"What do you mean?" asked Lan, clearly alarmed.

"… I can't tell you that. But know one thing. There are going to be more of them. If you fight another one, it is imperative that you bring back their PET. I need to analyze this new system.

"O-Okay, Dad."

END FLASHBACK

He sighed. He sure hoped that Sean was okay.

"So, Geo," he asked. "Where are you going for school?"

"Oh, we transferred to your school, Elex High." Geo replied cheerfully. Lan groaned. Now he would probably have to show him around the school or something.

At this rate, he thought, I'll never get more than two seconds alone with Maylu.

Luna smiled as she got ready for school. If it weren't for her, they would have never gotten into the school. She had gotten an expert hacker, and she had done it the easiest way. She had jacked in to a shady part of the internet (They had called it the Undernet, for some strange reason), held a lot of money beside her, and pretended to read a book. Then, when a punk navi inevitably attempted to pickpocket her, she grabbed onto him and threatened to rip his head off if he didn't tell her where the best hacker in town lived. He had quickly pointed her to a secure link out of the Undernet. After informing the owner of the link that she had some business for him, (and flashing a couple million zenny) he graciously let her in. The Homepage of the hacker was a paradise. It was built to resemble a huge beach, and had all the digital luxuries you could ask for. Luna could only assume that the hacker had made it himself. The hacker's navi met her inside and introduced his operator as Tech. He then paused, and Luna assumed that she was supposed to know who this "Tech" was.

"Obviously," he had said disdainfully, "You are new to the black market. Every high ranking official in the Undernet hires Tech when they need a job. He's a legend! Even the surface dwellers should know who he is! He's the most wanted hacker in the world!"

"Oh yeah, that Tech!" she said, just to placate him. Then, a nerdy sounding voice rang out from overhead.

"Subject analyzed: Unknown girl, fused with the alien Ophiuca. Due to insufficient technology to perform that capability in present times, she is most likely from the future, transported against her will, or else she would have brought her own technology and wouldn't need me. Most likely requires false documents proving the story an idiot comrade told the people they met when they landed. And has no idea who I am! Jerk."

"H-H-H-How did you know that?"

"Being the most incredible hacker in the business gives me the ability to solve nearly any puzzle or problem given to me. Sherlock Holmes is an amateur compared to me. He didn't get cool gadgets… Or make millions. Which is why I let you into my house. So get cracking on the requests."

Faster than she could tell him what she wanted, he had printed her passports for all of them, created them a "computer past" in Netopia which would testify where they lived, the schools they went to, etc., gotten them places in Elex High, and had two coffee breaks. The whole thing took less than fifteen minutes… and ten minutes were for the coffee breaks. Dazed, Luna paid, and left, paying no attention to the smirk on Tech's navi's face, or the transmitter that had been placed on her.

Luna laughed as she went out the door of Yai's mansion. The best part was, she had put Geo with her in the accelerated program, while sending that lame excuse for a pop star, Sonia, with Bud in the "slow group". She had finally got one-up on that has-been! Laughing hysterically, she went on to school, still unaware that there was a transmitter inside her Transer.

Sonia bolted out of bed.

"I know that feeling! I just got one-upped by that selfish, rich little…"

"And now you wake up?"

Everyone was finally at school. Lan felt like getting down on his knees and shouting for joy when the job to show Geo around was given to some kid in the accelerated track. He felt like spontaneously combusting, however, when he heard that there was a huge pop quiz in history, science, and math. After the worst of the three, the science test, he burst out into his lunch break, gasping for relief.

"Oh, please," Chaud remonstrated, rolling his eyes. "The science test wasn't that hard."

"How would you know?" countered Lan. "You're a senior; you didn't even take our test."

"Yes, actually I did. The teacher paid me to make the test."

"You have got to be kidding me…"

"I don't think it's fair," moaned Bud. "We haven't been here at all and we have to take these tests too!"

"We still have math after lunch," Maylu reminded everyone. "We should study to make sure that we get a good grade!"

"Who needs studying?" asked Dex, stuffing his face, "I'm eating fish! That's brain food!"

"Dex, Goldfish aren't real fish, you know. They're just shaped like fish."

"Uh-oh."

After they finished the brutal math test, the kids got a short free period until the others were done. Miraculously, Lan had managed to finish the test early. The only other person out in the hall was Maylu.

And if at first you don't succeed… Better hurry, or we'll be rudely interrupted again…

"Maylu… Couldyoupleasegoonadatewithme?"

"What?" Maylu asked, looking confused. "Could you say that a bit slower?"

"I said, could you please…"

"Attention Lan Hikari, please report to the principal's office immediately!"

I knew it.

Well, Lan wasn't in trouble. The principal just needed some help expulsing some viruses from the freshman building that had gotten lose during some moron's experiment. The principal gave him the rest of the day off of school to get rid of them. And of course, right when he left, evil took its opportunity to strike…

Maylu was thinking.

That's three times, now, Lan tried to say something and was interrupted. Could he finally have really noticed me? Or is it just wishful thinking… I don't know. It's been six years since I've started liking him and still, nothing. Maybe, maybe I should try something different. I'm sixteen, after all. I just don't know…

But her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden blare from the loudspeakers.

"Attention idiots! This is your resident pyromaniac and ladies man, Mr. Match!! I am now in complete control of this school. Girls, swoon in delight!"

"Who are you talking to, Match?" called Chaud, smirking. "I don't think your mother is here."

"What was that? Huh? What was that? I dare you to say that to my face, you little Official brat!" Chaud rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please. You never follow up on your empty threats. You are such a loser."

"A loser who's burning your school to ashes!" Chaud glanced out the window and saw half of the school was already a blazing inferno.

"Damn, that guy moves fast."

After calling for an evacuation, Chaud and the others ran to the principal's office, jacking into the computer.

"Let me guess, Match," asked Maylu. "Now you're about to pull out your PET, go all S.E.I.S.M.O.S. activating… program on-line…, and try to blow us to bits.

S.E.I.S.M.O.S. activating… program on-line…

"Called it."

Match grinned as he began shooting flames out at the kids.

"Not only does S.E.I.S.M.O.S. let me shoot fire, it also gives me superior comeback lines. By the way, Chaud, at least I actually have a mother!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Ooh, did I touch a nerve?" smirked Match, obviously enjoying himself. "Why don't you run home and cry to mommy, OH WAIT, you don't have one."

"I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!!" Chaud screamed as he launched at Match, only to get a blast of flame in the face.

"God, it was all worth it just for that." With Chaud unconscious, Protoman was running pretty much on autopilot, without any chips. He dashed around Flameman, slashing with his sword, but Flameman stopped him whenever he got close. Geo, Luna, Sonia, Bud, and Pat had wavechanged and were fighting Match close up. He fired both of his flame cannons at them, blasting the principal's room into smithereens.

The principal won't like this… thought Luna as she was caught by a super-effective fire blast and crossed out. Flameman had already deleted Roll and was concentrating on getting rid of Gutsman.

"He's trying to pick off our weakest members first!" called Protoman. "Then he'll have us defenseless!"

"Guts-Guts! Gutsman not weak!" After saying this, he tripped and was deleted by a fire blast.

"Suuuure."

"There's no way we can beat this guy without Lan!" Yai wailed. She was almost out of rare chips. "Try this, Glyde! Meteor Red Sun! Blue Moon Ray! Program Advance: SunMoon!" The two satellites appeared above Glyde's head and began laying waste to the battlefield. Flameman was only taking a small amount of damage, however. Geo couldn't believe it. Even if they managed to beat him, they would be trapped on the third floor of a burning building. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he suddenly got hit on the head with a large piece of falling rubble. He blacked out instantly.

When Geo "awoke", he was in a black void, completely unfamiliar to him. He had no idea what was happening. Then, three familiar faces appeared.

"Pegasus! Leo! Draco! How did you guys get here?"

"Well," Pegasus said in his cold, wise voice, "Assumedly, you are the ones to whom we will give the Star Force, two hundred years from now."

"And," rumbled Leo, "The ones who will obtain the Ooparts and assume the power of the Tribe Forces."

"However," rasped Draco, "Neither of those will allow you to defeat the evil that is haunting the land."

"You mean that fiery dude back there?" asked Omega.

"Even worse than him will come for you soon," replied Pegasus, "So you must be ready."

"We will give you the power of the Star Knights," continued Leo.

"The who?"

"The Star Knights," reprimanded Draco. "They were immensely powerful warriors who started the three Tribes, back in Prehistoric times. They created the Ooparts, and were completely invincible to lesser mortals. Now, we shall lend you their power."

Pegasus stepped forward, and the Sword of Berserker appeared in front of him.

"The first of the Star Knights was Azrael, the head of the Berserker Tribe. He had a dual element: Aqua and Electric. That meant that his sword froze people, and then could shoot lightning blasts to do more damage. He could also fly." Pegasus touched the sword with his hoof. Icy blue lines went through the sword, it became bigger, and Pegasus' crest appeared on the hilt. Next, Leo came up, and the Saurian Skull appeared.

"The second Star Knight was Vöndr, the head of the Saurian Tribe. He fought in a huge suit of armor made of a dinosaur skeleton. He also had a giant mace which he enjoyed crushing people's skulls with, which is probably why he had a skull on the mace." He touched the skull with a paw, and it elongated into a huge mace, with Leo's crest on the handle. Finally, Draco came up and the Shuriken of Shinobi appeared.

"The final Star Knight was Kiselt. He was a ninja, and could disappear at will. He fought using shuriken. And that's about it. However, he had more powers than the other two. You just have to find out what he can do." And with that, he touched the shuriken with his head and his crest appeared on it. Geo took all three of the new weapons gratefully.

"And also, one more thing," continued Pegasus.

"We would like to give you these Legend Force cards," agreed Leo.

"Each one is an instant kill. But you can only use each once before it disappears forever," warned Draco.

Geo got: "InfiniteKick", "MachineSeed", "FlameBlast", "DarkRain", "BerzerkSlash", "JammerSmash", and "IceBreaker"! (These are my actual best combos. Lame names, I know, but the name doesn't matter when you 1-hit K.O. anything.)

Now I'm ready to defeat Match.

When Geo returned to the real world, no time seemed to have passed. He quickly whipped out his sword and shouted:

"STAR KNIGHT: AZRAEL! TRANSFORM!" He was instantly infused with a sense of awesome power. All of the cards in his folder were ready for use instantly. He lunged in and struck Match with his sword, freezing him solid. Then, he flew up and shot an Elec-blast from his sword, hitting him again.

"This thing is incredible!" he yelled. He activated two cards with his mind: TidalEdge and StrikeEdge. The power of both swords was boosted and he charged them together.

"TRAINCOMBO!" he yelled as he slashed with both swords. As Match was dazed, he pulsed into the computer to finish Flameman off.

"Star Knight Big Bang: Magician's Sword!" First, a circle appeared around Flameman, freezing him instantly. Next, his sword became charged with a huge amount of electrical power. He zoomed in and slashed with the sword twice, bringing it down for a third hit with a huge explosion. The power he emitted was so strong that he was instantly shot out of wave form. When he had the strength to look up again, he saw that Match was going through the same thing that had happened to Sean. At that moment, he disappeared in a blinding flare of light.

The firemen managed to get everyone out safely, but the building was completely destroyed. The principal screamed as he came back with Lan from the freshmen building to see the school burnt to a crisp. Lan searched the rubble for Match's PET, but all he found was a twisted lump of circutry. How many more would waste their lives before he managed to recover a PET?

--

"So, Mercury. The second one has also failed in his task?"

"Yes, sire"

"Very good. He will have no choice but to play his hand and release the Spirit Keys. And when he does, we'll be ready."

--

Yay! I finished. Just want to make things clear: Mercury is not the Stardroid Mercury. Sunstar is not the evil voice. And if anyone is wondering, Azrael is, IIRC, the angel of death. (Cause he can fly, you know?) Vöndr was a norse giant. Kiselt… I have no idea. It just popped into my head. For some reason, it makes me think elf. Maybe a name from Lord of the Rings I subconsciously remembered? The world may never know. So, yeah. Please read and review! Please?