Jim's Folly

Hey, I must say…I know I said I'd never write little notes to reviewers, but Robbie2, you made my day. Thank you.

Honestly, reviewers, I have no idea how I'm going to get to the end of this story. I know it's going to be long and I know what's going to happen at the end. You must know what I mean, right? What goes in the middle?! I'll anxiously puzzle away as I write. J

For you, the readers, and for me (because I'm starting to get confused), I'm going to describe what time it is, basically.

Jim got to the Academy in the last few months of being fifteen. He visited home, came back to the Academy and started year two. Year two is the instruction of dance class. He turns sixteen three days after the phone call with Sarah. When he graduates, he'll have just turned eighteen. Two more years to go. Got it. Okay, that makes a fair bit of sense…but knowing what's coming, you can expect another timeline in the future. ^_^

Chapter Two

~Two weeks after the assessment~

"So, she knows about my criminal record and she doesn't seem to be cracking the whip any tighter than the others," Jim relayed to his mother over the phone.

"Really? Well, that could prove that this Academy has better and nicer teachers than Amelia said, right?" Sarah replied. Jim smirked. "I think the Captain was trying to scare me," he stated, as-a-matter-of-factly.

He heard Sarah's smile in her voice as she told him how proud of him she was. "Jim, I want you to know that you're welcome to come home if it gets too hard for you, okay?"

Jim nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "I know. Thanks, Mom."

"I also want you to have a happy birthday, okay Jim? I wish I was there to celebrate your day," she said. Jim's birthday was in three days. Jim smiled. "Thanks. I'll be fine," Jim replied.

"Morph misses you already," Sarah said. Jim bit his lip and felt a twinge of pain in his heart. He missed his family already and he'd only been gone for a few weeks since last Christmas' visit.

He could hear B.E.N. crashing around in the background and he chuckled. "Does B.E.N. miss me too?" he asked his mother. She laughed. "Oh, of course…"

"He's not trashing Delbert's place too much, is he?"

"No, not at all. Don't worry, Jim. You focus on your school work."

Jim heard B.E.N. scream happily and groaned, knowing he'd have to talk to the over-excited robot sooner or later.

"Is that Jimmy?! Can I talk to him? Oh, please, I want to talk to him!"

Jim heard scuffling as Sarah handed the phone to the rusted robot.

"Hiya, Jimmy! How are ya?! Are they bein' good to ya?" he demanded.

Jim couldn't help but smile as he answered B.E.N.'s questions.

After saying hello to Morph and saying goodbye to his mother, Jim hung up the phone and began to straighten up his room.

His mom didn't fade from his mind right away, in fact, he thought about her long after the conversation was over.

During the construction of the BenBow Inn, Sarah, Morph and B.E.N. were staying with Delbert Doppler. Amelia, Delbert's new love interest, had rented her own place near the doctor's manor on Montressor.

Jim was disappointed that he wasn't going to be around for a lot of the Inn's construction, but he knew he'd be able to help out from time to time.

The unveiling would be quite a fiasco, and he couldn't wait.

There was a knock at his door and he frowned. "Who is it?" he called.

The reply was a voice he didn't recognize. "M'name's Rowan, Jim. You'll recognize me if you open the door."

Jim, full of curiosity, opened the door. Sure enough, Jim recognized this boy from his dance class. The boy was tall and thin like Jim, though his skin was blue and he had a long, thin tail with a spike at the end. Rowan extended his hand to Jim. "Nice to meet ya, Jimmy."
"It's Jim," Jim replied, studying Rowan carefully as he shook his hand. The fingers Rowan had offered were also blue, and the dark blue nails were long like claws.

"So," Jim said, opening the door to invite Rowan inside, "Where are you from?"

"Ydredin. Doubt you've heard of it, but it's popular in its own way, I guess."
Rowan's speech was slowed by an accent which wasn't as thick as the either of the Captains', but Jim could still detect an accent.

"You? Where're you from?" Rowan asked in return.

Jim scratched the back of his neck and sat in a chair across from Rowan, who'd chosen to sit on Jim's bed, much to Jim's disgust. He'd just made his bed. He'd have to do it again.

"Montressor," Jim replied. "Heard of it?"

"Yeh," Rowan said with a nod. "Dingy little planet? Kinda…small? Dirty?"

Jim felt his defense bubble at the back of his throat. He then remembered Captain Raven's instructions from a few days ago: "Jim, try to calm your temper."
 "Naw," Jim replied, suppressing his urge to demand Rowan take his comment back.

"Montressor's cool. I like it there."
"Only home you've ever known?" Rowan asked, raising a dark blue eyebrow. His hair, like his skin, was blue, but darker. Jim noticed that his eyes were yellow.

(Author's Note: Think Kurt/NachtCrawler from X-Men. Not an exact replica, but similar.)

"Yeah," Jim replied. What was Rowan's point?

Rowan leaned back against the wall and smiled, baring pointed teeth. Quite a creature.

"What do you do for fun around here?"

Jim shrugged, tapping his boots against the ground lightly. "Not much. Anything fun to do?"
"Spy on girls?" Rowan suggested. Jim raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that too third-grade?"

"Not if you do it the big-boy way…" Rowan said. Jim frowned. "Not interested."

Now it was Rowan's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Not interested! Jim, the boy who can dance a storm with that girl in dance class-"

"Amy," Jim stated.

"-isn't interested in girls? What are ya, some kinda freak?"

"No, I just…don't think it's interesting to 'spy on girls.' Sounds dumb to me. Got any ways to solar surf?" Jim suggested. Rowan grinned widely, baring more pointed teeth.

"I like the way you think, Jimmy." He rose to his feet and started toward the door. "There aren't any places on campus, but there's a great canyon a few miles north," Rowan said, opening the door with his tail.

Jim stood, smiling. "Sounds good to me," he replied. As he grabbed his coat, Jim was excited, but he still couldn't hide the nagging feeling that doing what he was about to do was wrong.

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Rowan passed Jim a rather ruddy-but-sturdy solar surfer and smiled, flashing his pointed teeth. "Ready to go?" he asked. Jim chewed on his bottom lip anxiously. "Are you sure about this?"

"Aw, sure! I've never been caught before," Rowan replied.

"So it's not…allowed?" Jim questioned. Rowan shrugged, shaking his shoulder length blue dreadlocks behind him.

"Not that I know of." A pause. He grinned mischievously. "I thought you were a risk taker."
Without further comment, Rowan took off into the sky.

Jim watched him for a moment. Rowan was a show-off, he noticed. He was steering the surfer with his tail. No doubt to show off and prove to Jim that he could be more of a trouble maker.

Not only did Jim not want competition, he didn't want to be mocked and made a fool in front of…well, no one. Jim narrowed his eyes in concentration and tested the surfer slightly before trusting it and taking to the sky as well.

Things were going well. Jim was bringing a few smiles and shocked looks to Rowan's face as he twirled and spun here and there, but Jim didn't trust the surfer enough to unfurl the sail to show him his helicopter trick.

It wasn't long before he and Rowan had a race going. Off to the mountains they were headed, and they were both neck in neck before they heard the sirens.

"Hey, you! Boys, this is the police! Stop your vehicles and descend in a civil fashion."
Jim's heart skipped a few beats and his pulse quickened. He breathed heavily. "Not again," he whispered. He glanced at Rowan, whose eyes were livened with fire. "No, Rowan, don't!" Jim cried as Rowan took off, leaving Jim and the two robo-police in his dust.

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