Chapter 2: Some Rescuer You Are!


Suezo was the first one up. He glared violently at Jareth, a vein beginning to pop out of
his forehead. "Whadaya mean, a lot of trouble?!"

"Yeah!" Genki joined him, standing on his rollerblades and somehow managing to
balance. "We don't cause trouble! We're looking for the Phoenix, and we're gonna defeat
Moo!"

"Well I can hardly say you're doing a good job," Jareth growled, "There is no Phoenix
here. No Moo either, and even if he was, a bunch of kids couldn't kill him. If you want to
even come close to finding your Phoenix, you should analyze the disk before unlocking
it. Because if it isn't the Phoenix…" she looked at Mocchi. "Some monsters will just
slow you down."

Genki's temper flared, and his posture showed it. "Mocchi doesn't slow us down!" he
snarled. "He's a great fighter, and one of my best friends! He's probably a better fighter
than you!"

Jareth smirked. "You've got spunk, kid. Too much if you ask me. Now, would you care
to test that little remark of yours, or will you admit to speaking irrationally?"

"We can win, chi!" Mocchi shouted, punching the air.

"Very well…" Jareth gave the group a bored glance. "Zurath and I will fight any two of
you. If we win… I get something that I want from you guys. Your most valuable
posession, most likely. I like money, though I doubt you have any of that. If we lose…
I'll give you this." She pulled a fake Mystery Disk from under her cloak.

"A Mystery Disk! All right, Mocchi, let's go!" Genki pulled on his skates and rushed
forward.

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard, CHI!" The air was suddenly filled with a tornado of the
deadly petals, all of them aimed at Jareth and Zurath.

"Fire Wall!" Jareth snapped. Fire erupted from her fingertips, destroying the petals as
they came close to her. "As you can see, you're up against a little more than you
bargained for." She stepped aside and Zurath took the lead.

"Evil Bomb!" a small ball of energy began to form in Zurath's hands. After a couple of
seconds it grew very large, flying at Genki and Mocchi and colliding with them,
detonating and leaving a hole in the ground.

"Genki!" Holly screamed as Genki crashed to the ground.

"And the victory goes to… us." Jareth hardly seemed interested in Genki and Mocchi's
situation. "I'm impressed with you, Zurath.. You're the first person your age that I've met
who can fight like that. I knew you'd be good, but I've seen trained soldiers who can't
pull off an Evil Bomb attack like that. You've got a real future as a fighter."

"It's not… over… yet…" Genki growled, pulling himself to his feet. "This battle… isn't
over… we'll beat you…"

"You've got determination, kid." Jareth pulled her hood back so everyone could see her
smirk, and the fact that she hadn't even broken a sweat. "And I respect that to some
degree. But it takes more than determination to defeat me. Do you really want to keep
going?" Her voice had gone from arrogant to disdainful. "Give up now… and maybe I'll
let you live."

"I… never give… up…" Genki gasped.

"Turn Assault!" Zurath shot out from his spot beside Jareth and knocked Genki and
Mocchi into the air. They crashed to earth at the same time, eyes spiraling.

"Now I know I am the victor," Jareth said lazily. "When the kids recover, you can decide
on my prize. They're little kids, so I won't kill them. Under any other circumstances I
will."


That evening…


"What are we going to give this guy anyway?" Tiger asked the group. "He asked for our
most valued possession. We can't give him the Magic Stone…"

"For your information," a voice from nearby called, "She does not want your Magic
Stone." Zurath slithered into the clearing. Everyone flinched. "Don't worry, I won't
attack you."

"Prove it," Golem snapped.

"I can't." Zurath sighed. "You have my honor as a warrior, but that's all the promise I
can give you. It's up to you whether or not you'll trust me. I don't expect you to, after
this afternoon, but I might be able to help you."

"All right, we'll listen to what you have to say." Holly sighed. "We don't have much of a
choice. We can't think of what to give Jareth."

Zurath shrugged. "If you're at a loss for ideas, just hand over all the cash that you're
carrying."

"We thought about that," Hare said sadly, "But we're pretty much broke. And if we did
have money, we'd have spent it on food and a proper place to sleep tonight, and maybe
medical attention for Genki and Mocchi."

"We don't need medical attention!"

"CHI!!!"

Holly sighed. "Bad patients."

Zurath smiled. "They should be okay, provided they don't get into any more fights for
about a week."

"I'm FINE!!!!" Genki yelled. "And just to prove it to you, I'm gonna fight her again and
win, so we can have that Mystery Disk, and not have to give anything up!"

"I've heard of confidence, but you really take it to a new level, Genki." Zurath shook his
head. "It would be incredibly stupid to fight with Jareth again. You're already in bad
shape, and she would have no qualms about hurting you even more. She may even kill
you this time. Believe me, she's more than capable of doing so."

"I'll win. I'll fight her one-on-one so you can't beat me up while she's protecting you. I
can do it! I know I can!" Genki stood, and Holly sighed.

"Fine. I'll go and get Jareth. But please, boy, don't blame me when Jareth puts you in
traction. She will, I know it."