Chapter 2…
Teal, Loon, and Fortune didn't stop their running until the dig site was far behind them. Loon was flat on his back while Fortune was summoning water to moisturize her drying scales. Teal, though, was reinvigorated with their new discoveries.
"Okay, let's see what we got here," he said as he dug out the lamp. "Right…know what this is?"
"Something very old and dirty?" Loon asked.
"I think I saw illustrations of it in training," Fortune said, looking over. "I believe it's called a 'magic lamp'."
"What's it do?" Teal asked.
"I…don't really remember," Fortune said. "Just rub it a bit and…something happens, I think."
"Well, guess we'll find out, then," Teal said as he began rubbing the lamp.
"Wait, it could result in something destructive like," before Fortune could finish, blue smoke burst out of the lamp, followed by explosions of fireworks.
Then, a form slowly emerged from the lamp's spout. It was big, blue, and seemed to be yelling as it slowly took on a humanoid form. Massive arms were flexed and it floated higher and higher…
Before it suddenly yelled out, "HOY!"
The form was of a masculine, blue human-looking entity with pointed ears and a short, curly beard and a small ponytail. He didn't seem to have feet, instead a trail of smoke leading back to the lamp, and a set of golden cuffs around his wrists. He stretched as he proclaimed. "TEN THOUSAND YEARS…can give you such a crick in the neck. Hang on a sec…" he then lifted his head off his shoulders and turned it around while letting out a relieved shout, "WOW, DOES IT GOOD TO BE OUTTA THERE! I'm tellin' ya, it's good to be back, ladies and gentlemen, where ya from what's your name?"
With that, the figure thrust its tail at Teal, which had the head like a microphone. Teal looked at the strange contraption, having never seen anything like it. He looked at Loon and Fortune, who just shrugged. Awkwardly, Teal cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Um…it's, uh…Teal, Knight of Empathy," Teal stated. He looked around, wondering where that loud echo was coming from. "Hey! How'd that happen?"
"Teal, eh? Guessing you're not from around around here, aren't ya? Or's the hair just part of a new Sonic cosplay?" the entity asked, a large neon sign reading 'Teal' appearing next to him. "Whatever, hello Teal! Nice to have ya on the show! Can we call ya…wow, name's pretty short. Was kinda expecting something like TLSoulDude or something. Guess we could call ya somethin' like 'Tea'…" with that, a monocle and bowler hat appeared on his face. "Just say it like, 'cheerio, guvnuh, time fer Tea'."
"What curse have we unleashed upon the world?" Fortune asked, timidly.
"Hey, you got a monkey boy and a fish girl? You're Fictorians, aren't ya? Haven't seen YOU guys in a few millennia!" the entity said. "Guess it was only a matter o' time before one o' you guys became my master…"
"Wait…hold on. I'M your master?" Teal asked.
"THAT'S RIGHT! HE CAN BE TAUGHT!" the entity said, slapping a graduate cap onto Teal's head and a scroll into his hand. "What do you wish of me?" with a poof, he suddenly became Arnold Schwarzenegger, "DE EVAR IMPRESSIVE…" with a whirl, he was suddenly encased in a cube. "THE LOOOONG CONTAIIIIIINED…" with another poof, he suddenly had a ventriloquist dummy. "The often imitated but NEVER…" with a whirl, the three Fictorians were surrounded by duplicates. "Duplicated-cated-cated!" He then stopped as a spotlight shone down on him from…somewhere. "Genie…of…the…LAAAAAMP!"
With another poof, he turned into Ed Sullivan. "Right here, direct from the lamp. Right here for your very much wish fulfillment."
"Wait, WISHES?" Loon asked, eagerly.
"THREE wishes, my simian friend. A one wish, a two wish, and a three wish. Then I make like a banana and split. And IX-NAY on the wishing for more wishes," the genie said.
"Aw…guess it'd still come in handy," Loon said, a little deflated but still excited.
"I don't know, Lady Grandmaster might take exception to it," Fortune commented.
"Lady Grandmaster?" Teal asked, suddenly feeling like he was forgetting something.
"Hey, we could all use a little more stuff," Loon commented. "I want more of those stories from human history with giant robots and people with swords as big as they are!"
"It IS amazing how they could lift those without magic," Fortune nodded.
"Guys," Genie proclaimed, flicking his fingers as he sent the three back into more comfortable seating. "So, how about ya ruminate whilst I illuminate the possibilities!"
He suddenly expanded, slamming down in front of them before singing. As all of the magical happenings went on around them, though, Teal was just struggling to remember something. He had forgotten something, but he was struggling to remember.
Genie: Well, Ali Baba had them Forty Thieves!
Scheherazade had a thousand tales!
Well, master, you're in luck,
'Cuz UP YOUR SLEEVES!
YOU GOT A BRAND OF MAGIC THAT…
"THE CONCERT!" Teal shouted, a look of horror on his face.
There was an audible record scratch. Genie halted his song, looking wrong-footed. "Uh…what?"
Teal began hurriedly packing away the items they found. "WE'RE MISSING THE CONCERT! LADY GRANDMASTER'S GONNA KILL ME! Actually, double-kill me. DAD'S GONNA SKIN ME FIRST!"
"HOW'D YOU FORGET ABOUT THAT?!" Fortune shouted.
"SHOULD'VE TIED A STRING ON YOUR FINGER!" Loon shouted. He then noticed a small string tied around his own finger. "Huh. Forgot why I put that there."
"WE'LL HAVE TO DO THIS LATER, GENIE!" Teal said. "Uh, you good to…?"
"Right, right. Forgot what fanmake this was," Genie murmured, flowing into the lamp.
"Gotta get down there…gotta get there fast…" Teal said, fiddling with a watch-like device on his wrist. With a sudden burst, a pinkish-purple wormhole opened. Loon and Fortune hopped in. Teal went in last, the portal closing behind him.
Once again, they did not realize they were being watched. Three hyenas came out from beyond the dunes. One was snickering and chuckling while two others were evaluating this to the best of their ability.
"Ugh, I'll be tastin' sand for a week," said one of the hyenas with a gruff, masculine voice. All the while, he kept spitting.
"Told ya not to hide IN the dune there, Banzai," said the other with a husky, feminine voice.
"Shaddup, Shenzi," the hyena, Banzai, grunted.
"Now, ya see what just happened there?" asked the other hyena, Shenzi. "Guess the boss was right—keep an eye on this place and Fictorians were gonna show up, sooner or later."
"I dunno, whadda YOU think, Ed?" Banzai asked. The third hyena, Ed, just laughed at that.
"Exactly," Shenzi said. "Go tell Boss."
With a whirl of green and black energy, the three hyenas vanished.
In the Fictorian Realm, there was a vast desert of purple sands. The three hyenas ran through the wilderness, finding a congregation of hyenas. In the center, though, was a humanoid figure, face hidden by the hood of a ragged cloak. His arms appeared to be covered by metal gauntlets, and a set of vulpine feet were covered by sandals. The three reported to this figure.
"I see…perhaps the time has come," the figure said, getting to his feet. "The youngsters rush to the concert…I remember musical festivals when I dwelled among the people of Fictron."
Shenzi gave Banzai a look that just said, "Here we go again". This was hardly the FIRST time he took time to pontificate about his coming to them, but what could they do?
"But then…they forsook me. Blessings come from the heaviest wounds, however," he said, flexing his fingers. "I found my true calling…my true family. Shenzi, Banzai, Ed. Follow those three. They could be useful for ending both the Grandmaster and the plague of mankind."