Jacob: (enters riding a mini-motorcycle) Okay, Jordan, I got the prop you wanted.
Jordan: That was pretty early. We haven't even finished Act 1 yet.
Jacob: Ah, I just decided to get it out of the way.
Max: What're you going to do with that?
Jacob and Jordan: NOTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW… yet…
Jaron: Why do I have this sense of doom?
Kaitlin: Let's just start the chapter before someone pulls a muscle.
Chapter Seven
Time for a Break
Jaron ran as fast as he could toward the shouts, not bothering to stop for a break, knowing that the one he sought for was near. Closer…closer…
And then he saw it. An elven girl and a chestnut-haired boy were being menaced by a strange dinosaur-like creature. But then he saw the boy hiding behind the girl.
It was--
"Well? What was it?
"I can't really remember."
"Huh…"
"I wish I could remember. I think it was something dark and creepy, though."
"Maybe it was so horrible your mind couldn't take it?"
"That could be it…"
The five of them (Jaron, Kaitlin, Max, James, and Namine) were in Twilight Town, following Jaron's traveling whims again. Not a single one of them knew why Jaron thought the guy he was looking for might be here, but as Max said, "You never know, and at least we don't have to bust some heads, right?" This lead to mutual agreement from everyone.
"Hey, I know it's called Twilight Town," said Jaron as they walked out of the train station, "but is it ALWAYS twilight here?"
"Yeah, otherwise it wouldn't be called TWILIGHT Town, Jaron," said Kaitlin.
"Does that mean it's never nighttime here? When do they sleep?"
"How the heck should I know?!"
"I never get tired of their arguments," Max said as Jaron and Kaitlin began to bicker. James winced.
"Well, I do. Can't they stop for at least a while?"
The argument had reached a fever pitch. "WHO CARES IF THEY HAVE 12 O'CLOCK OR NOT---Jaron, are you even listening?!"
Obviously, he wasn't. Jaron had become distracted by someone walking past them during their argument--someone wearing white and with spiky blonde hair. There was something about him that seemed familiar to him…
"Jaron? JARON? Hello? Earth to Mr. Roxai? HEY!"
"Huh? W-what?"
Kaitlin rolled her eyes. "You never listen…"
(Jordan: Seeing as Jacob has confused this bit as a dream, NOT a flashback, numerous times, I will now say that this IS a flashback, NOT a dream.
Tom Servo: I'm not really getting it.
Kaitlin: Shaddap and sit down, already.)
"Sorry, I was kinda distracted…" Kaitlin shook her head.
"…Mmph…"
Everything seemed blurry and vague. Jaron blinked several times, then everything became focused. "Ow…where am I?" He put a hand to his head, trying to think clearly, but stopped when he saw said hand. Or rather, paw.
A paw? What the--
Realization struck him like a load of mufflers. I'm a hedgehog again.
He didn't feel scared, like last time. Instead, he just examined his paw with an expression of curiosity.
"Oh, you're awake!"
Jaron turned to his left and saw that Max was sitting in a chair next to the bed, Namine in his arms. "About time, too. Kaitlin said she'd wake you up with a blowhorn if you didn't get up soon."
"She did?" Jaron sat up. "Well, I'm glad she--what?" Max had started snickering. "What's so funny?"
"Y-your pillow…it…Ahahaha!" Jaron, utterly confused, scratched his head…and his hand touched something soft. Yes, the pillow had been stuck to his headspikes.
"Oh, jeez…" Tugging at it had no effect whatsoever, as it was stuck better than a plunger incased in a morbidly large amount of glue. "Can you help me out here?" It wasn't any much different with Max helping. After a few minutes of tugging, grunting, and sneezing (feathers), they managed to tear the pillow off, with both of them covered in so many feathers they looked like pigeons. "That didn't work well, did it? I'm gonna have to pay for that pillow…"
"Don' worry about it," Max said calmly, brushing the feathers off his arms. Namine sneezed.
Jaron shrugged, picking her up. "Well, anyway, what happened?"
"You don't remember?"
"No…"
"Well, when you shook that Zane guy's hand, you just collapsed. We had to carry you into this Toad House."
"How long was I out?"
"A few weeks."
"WHAT?!?!?!" He nearly dropped Namine.
"Hey, I'm kidding! You've been out for only a few hours."
Jaron sweat dropped. "Don't joke like that, Maxwell."
"Hey!"
Jaron rolled his eyes. Looking around, he saw a surprising sight: Ranulf, sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. "What's he doing here?"
"Oh, that guy? He ran into us when we were carrying you in here and wanted to make sure you were okay. Is he the guy who gave you that ball?"
"Yeah, and he nearly gave me a concussion. Is he awake?" Jaron stepped toward Ranulf. He didn't move at all. "Hello? Earth to cat-man?" Nothing. "OY!!!"
"Huh?! Wa?! Who's attacking?! What?!" Ranulf jerked awake, looking around wildly.
"Right here."
"Oh, hey! Glad to see you're up." Ranulf stood up, yawned, and stretched simultaneously. "Thought you'd never get up."
"Why are you here, anyway?" Getting right to the point, I see.
"Is it so wrong to be concerned for a friend?"
"You made me chase after you and had me suffer minor pain and embarrasment just so you could give a hunk of glass, and you say I'm your friend?"
"Well, yes."
Jaron stared at him. "…Ah, well, whatever, I guess. Thanks for your concern, anyway." Looking around, he then said, "Where's my stuff?"
"Kaitlin has it."
"…"
"Uh, well…"
"Max, who has my stuff?"
"Uh, that Tom robot took it…"
"WHAT?!?!?!?! If he touches my mom's badge, I--" Not even bothering to finish, he tore through the door in pursuit of Tom Servo and his legions of the undead.
(Kaitlin: Jordan…
Jordan: I'm not erasing that part.
Jacob: Kaitlin, you should know that Jordan usually does what he wants, no matter the consequences.
Rika: I'm still trying to cope.)
Seconds later, Jaron ran back inside. "Hey, where is he, anyway?"
At the dojo, specifically.
"You call that a kick?" Kaitlin said mockingly as she ducked Zane T.'s roundhouse. "Come on, show me something' real, pipsqueak!"
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!?!!?" Zane shrieked (Word to the wise, don't ever call him a pipsqueak). Leaping over Kaitlin, he delivered a swift boot to the back, yelling, "I'LL SHOW YOU SOMETHING REAL, YOU LITTLE---"
Meriee sweat dropped. Zane… Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Jaron come in. "Oh, you're up!"
"Hi Me--" Jaron stared at her. "Aren't you shocked or anything?"
"At what?"
"At my appear--" Raising a hand to his face, he saw that it was back to normal. "Er, nothin', nothin'. Where's Tom?"
"Why do you ask?"
"He--" Jaron was cut off as Kaitlin shrieked, "TAKE THIS, YA FLY AGARIC!!"
CRASH!!!!!
"THAT DOES IT!!! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"What are they doing?" Jaron asked, confused.
"Oh, Kaitlin asked Zane if they could spar a bit while you were asleep. She said she had to do something other than sit around. I think they're taking it too far, though…"
"Nah, Kaitlin always fights like that," Max said as he came in. Meriee looked at him in alarm. "What?! She does?! But--" "Relax," Jaron said calmly, his eyes on the fight. "She won't actually try to seriously hurt Zane."
"How can you tell?"
"We know her too well. By the way, where's Tom?"
"Oh, he's over there," said Meriee, pointing.
Despite Crow's protests saying that this was an invasion of privacy, Tom had ignored him, saying, "I'm not going to steal anything, you worrywart," completely missing the point. So far, though, he hadn't found anything interesting: some clothes, a toy tank, a Gameboy SP, a bracelet, a keychain, and a weird looking egg-shaped badge, which was what he was now holding. "Why the heck would he have this thing?" he asked no one in particular.
"It was my mom's, ya dummy."
Tom turned to see Jaron looking at him, a look of irritation on his face. Ripping the badge out of Tom's grip, Jaron said, "Why are you goin' through my stuff? That an invasion of privacy, you know."
"Hey, I'm not stealing anything, am I?"
Jaron sweat dropped. "That's not the point, man…"
Back with Zaned and Kaitlin…
The two of them stood before the other, panting heavily. "You (huff) don't quit, (huff) do you?"
"(Huff) Never, you (huff) firebrand," Zane said, gasping.
Kaitlin smiled. "Huh…" Without warning, Kaitlin fell to his knees. "I give up."
Zane looked surprised. "What?"
"PSYCHE!" POW!!!
I'd like to add now that Kaitlin does not limit herself to do things of a dark and deviously tricky nature. No, she doesn't cheat, but she can be sneaky. (She once displayed this by stealing my Subway coupon the other day. I still haven't let her hear the end of it.)
"YOU DIRTY LITTLE---" Zane, obviously ticked by her deception, could barely speak anything cogent. He now rushed at Kaitlin, fist brought back, clearly not caring that she could break me (the author(s))in half with little to no effort.
Max shut his eyes. "I can't watch…"
WHAM!!! "Oof!"
"Huh?" Max opened his eyes to see that Zane had slugged Kaitlin in the breadbasket. His victory immediately dimmed, however, as Kaitlin grabbed him, swung him over her head, and delivered a piledriver. (She's the niece of a semi-pro wrestler, remember.) Meriee winced. "That looked brutal…"
"Nah, that wasn't her worst." Meriee whirled around to stare at Max, looked shocked. "What?!"
Max nodded. "Yeah, she can do a lot more than that. Her Triumphant Bomber is the nastiest thing you'd ever seen. What surprised me was that Zane's punch hit her. She's not the kind of person to let her foe hit her. Maybe--"
"I'm thinkin' the same thing," said Jaron, who had come up to them after stuffing Tom in the wastebasket. "Kaitlin is stronger than Zane, but he's faster than her."
"Never thought I'd see the day, though."
"Oh, come on, nobody wins forever, you now that. By the way…" Jaron looked around. "Where the heck is James? I haven't seen him…"
POW!!! "TAKE THAT!!!"
Kaitlin leaped back from Zane, a fresh bruise forming on her arm. This kid's got style, I'm give him that. Maybe I'll break out the big guns. "Alright then, Zane," she said out loud, "Time for me to show you my secret weapon!"
"W-what?!" Max looked from Kaitlin to Zane, shocked. "You're insane! You can't--"
"I can and WILL, so shut your yap!" Max cringed. Kaitlin turned to Zane. "Well?"
"Give it all you've got," said Zane. "I can take everything you throw at me!"
"Isn't that exactly what the other guy said?" Jaron asked.
"Yeah, and he ended up in the hospital."
Meriee looked unnerved.
Kaitlin closed her eyes. "Okay…Deep breath…" Her eyes snapped open. "Here I come!" She rushed forward so quickly before anyone realized she started saying anything. Reaching Zane before he realized she was there, she slammed him in the stomach, throwing him into the air. Leaping up upward, she kicked him in the back, sending him further into the air, then grabbed him and tossed him up even further, then, being directly over him, reached her fist back, then slugged him with every bit of her power. "HHHHEEEEEEEYAAAAAAH!!!!"
CRASH!!!!! That was the sound of Zane hitting the floor (I'm amazed it didn't leave a crater). Kaitlin landed right next to him, doing her best not to fall over. "Ugh…that…took a lot outta me."
Meriee looked as if she was about to run forward, but Jaron held her back. "Hold on, he's not dead or anything." Meriee looked at him, worry in her eyes. "Just wait a bit."
Kaitlin edged toward Zane's body, looking wary. "He's not dead, is he…?"
Of course he wasn't. When Kaitlin was close enough, Zane jumped onto his feet and punched her full in the face. "GOTCHA!!!"
"OW!" The force of the punch knocked Kaitlin over and onto her back. "Agh…ow, ow, ow, ow… Okay, NOW it hurts…!"
Jaron and Max winced. Meriee, however, ran toward Zane, who had fallen to his knees after punching Kaitlin. "Zane!" Said Toad looked at her as he tried to stand. "Oh, hey, Meriee…"
As Meriee attended to Zane, Kaitlin got up as she tried to stop a minor nosebleed. "Jeeze…are you made of aggregated diamond nanorods?!"
(Jaron: Aggra-wha?
Jordan: Really hard stuff. Even harder to pronounce.
Max: Uh-huh.
Jacob and Rika: Yeah, right…)
"Nah," said Zane as Meriee helped him up, "I just never say die!"
"But you've just said--" Tom began, but Kaitlin gave him one glance and him fell back, completely cowed.
"Max, could you give me a tissue or something?" After giving her one, Max looked around and realized something. "Hey, where's James?" "RAWR!"
"AAAAGH!!!!!" Sneaking up on someone from behind and yelling to startle them hardly gets old.
"Where were you?" asked Jaron.
"Oh, here and there," James said vaguely.
Oh, that's specific… Thought Kaitlin as she wiped her nose. Putting away the tissue, she saw a large bruise on James' arm. "James, you've got a pretty nasty bruise, there."
"What? Oh, this is nothing--"
"What d'you mean, nothing? It looks like you cushioned it with bricks, or something…"
Twilight…
There was something about it that attracted Jaron, yet he never knew what. As his friends spoke with Zane, Meriee, and the robots, he leaned on the windowsill as he stared out into the sunlight glinting off the roofs of Toad Town. He wasn't in the mood to appreciate it, though.
So much for getting help from Merlon, he thought bitterly. I'm nowhere close to finding that guy from the weird dreams of recent… Who is that guy, anyway? Is he even real? Why can't I just--
"Well, someone's certainly silent," said Kaitlin as she sat down next to him. "What's up?"
Jaron thought for a moment. "…I'm just wondering about…you know…that guy…"
"Ah, yes, the blonde fellow from your dreams," said Kaitlin. "Well, we have at least one hint, right? Better than nothing."
"But I don't even know anyone with blonde hair!" Jaron said, frustrated. "Well, except that one guy…"
"What one guy?"
"That guy from Twilight Town, remember?"
"Jaron, we've told you, we didn't see anyone like that there. Are you sure you weren't seeing things?"
"…Let's talk about it later." Jaron looked over to Max and the others. "What're they talkin' about?"
"Oh, this an' that…"
"You've been to Kanto?!"
"Yeah! And Johto and everything!"
"And you're the ones who saved the world?"
"Yes, and it was all thanks to the great Tom Servo and his trusty sidekick, Crow!" Tom declared pompously.
"Who d'you mean, sidekick?! YOU were the sidekick!"
"WHY, I oughta---"
Ignoring their antics for a moment, Max and James turned to Zane and Meriee. "So, those Dentes Rhohos things, they were turning Pokemon into monsters?"
"Well, sort of," Said Meriee.
Max thought for a moment. "So, those were the things that kidnapped James…"
"Huh?"
"A while ago, before we met Jaron and Kaitlin," James explained, "I was kidnapped by these freaky dinosaurs and a weird looking Zangoose, but Max came after me and freed me before they…um…"
"You were? Thank God they didn't transform you. I guess that explains why we didn't see you with Ho-oh."
"What do you m-- YOU SAW HO-OH?! When, where, how?!?!"
"Hey, hey! No need to get jumpy! We'll tell you about it…"
Jaron and Co. managed to get rooms at the local inn, that night. As his friends talked to the others in the lobby, Jaron decided to go to bed. As he stared up at the ceiling on his bed, he thought about what they would do next. "Maybe I'll talk to Merlon in the morning," he said aloud. With that, he rolled onto his side and went to sleep with his Shinx plushie held close to him, blissfully unaware of the chaos, carnage, evil, and swans he would encounter the very next day…
Something moved.
…I need to be asleep, thought Kaitlin. I will turn around, get up, and slug whoever is keeping me up at six o'clock in the morning. I will open my eyes first.
She did so--and regretted it.
"Croagunk?"
"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Jacob: What a way to end a chapter…
Rika: So, Kaitlin, that explains your hatred for Croagunk, then?
Kaitlin: Shut… up…
Jaron: (Is bright red) Y-you said you wouldn't mention the plushie!
Jordan: I did? Sorry…
Max: Nice Pokemario reference there.
Jordan: Thank you.
Tom: So, who won that fight?
Jordan: No one did. They were both holding back.
Tom and Crow: ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?????????????!!? (are now speechless)
Jordan: ANYway, that's it for this chapter. The next one is supposed to be more exciting- and it involves swans.
Everyone except Tom: ?????
Tom: (Wrings hands like a mad scientist) Yes, YES! The swans will cause mass hysteria in the streets! Looting and rioting will erupt and run rampant, and the world as we know it will be TORN ASUNDER!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
(Everyone except Jordan looks unnerved.)
Jordan: Have a nice day!
(Note: Pokemario is a Fanfic by NUTCASE. Also, If you are in need of any more disclaimers, check at our profile page)
