Chapter 4:Don't worry, be happy
I apologize for getting ahead of myself in this story. The next part I will tell you
about is completely irrelevant to Jim and Azalea, but is important to the story nonetheless. We
must also go a few weeks back.
Sally walked into the office of Marcus Chestnut. He immeadaetely stopped grading the
papers on his desk. "Princess Sally Acorn!" he exclaimed. "Have a seat please."
"Thank you." Sally said, sitting down. "I'd like to speak with you about the humans you
had sent out of the school a few days."
"Ah, that." Chestnut said confidently. "Yes, the two over- humans were disrupting a
student. I felt it prudent to stop them. And they resisted."
"According to a friend of mine, it was the mobian who attacked first." Sally replied.
"I'm sorry, your liege, but the overlanders were the attackers." Chestnut replied.
Chestnut had made a fatal error. "You're saying that the people I trust are unreliable?"
Chestnut nearly fell over himself. "Of course not! It's just that these humans were-"
"Mr. Chestnut, your words are that of a bigot." Sally said.
"I am no bigot!" Chestnut protested.
"Then, I think you'll do fine." Sally said. "You see, Arcadia's started this program in
which teachers from different worlds would come and spend a semester teaching other students. I
think a year on earth should be a good learning expierience for you."
"Princess Acorn, with all due respect-" Chestnut began.
"This isn't up for negotioation." Sally replied. "My father may have permitted you acts,
but I will not tolerate bigotry of any form in a kingdom I've work so hard to keep standing!"
And with that she walked out.
************
Jim stood in the desert. Where was he? All he could see was sand for miles and miles
around. The Ancient walker had just dropped him there. And he hadn't helped Bit's disposition
with his mystical mumbo-jumbo at all. Jim was given these choices to decipher:
A)Something about glass and dying
B)Forty-two!
C)What the hell?
D)Some of the above
So, here Jim was, confused beyond belief. Jim looked at the sun and started trudging
north. "In times of trouble..." Jim said to himself. "Stay confused. You'll feel a lot better."
The ground began to tremble right then. "That can't be good." Jim observed. He was right.
A giant sandworm popped out of the ground snarling. "I think I'm in trouble..." The sandworm
roared splaying saliva on Jim. "I know I'm trouble!"
"Well, if I'm going out," Jim said, taking out his staff. "I'm doing it like a man!"
The Sandworm charged down for him, but Jim was prepared. "Ka...me...ha....me...HA!!!"
The blast flew from his staff and hit the sandworm dead-on. This only seemed to anger
the sandworm more. Jim charged for another kamehameha. "Ka...me...-AAAH!" The sandworm was too
quick and gobbled Jim like a bullimic would a chicken Mcnugget. Right after that a lightning bolt
hit the sandworm, and it split in two, a wet Jim in the middle. "That was fun. Let's never do it
again."
"Well, well." a voice said. "Look what the worm dragged in."
Jim turned to see an ant in an aussie outfit. Jim for a split second, wondered what kind
of teeth he was wearing. "Archimedes?"
"That's my name." Archimedes replied. "What's an overlander doing this far in the
Sandopolis zone?"
"First, I'm not an overlander, I'm a human. and I don't know how I got here."
Jim said. "So, I got all the way to Angel island, huh?"
"Yeah." Archimedes said. "We're not too far from Echidnopolis though. Follow me."
It was about an hour's walk to Echidnopolis and Jim walked to the EST station.
"Hello, young man." The officer at the top said. "How can I help you?"
"Yeah, can you get me the next flight to Knothole?" The echidna looked at him. Jim
didn't see why. The guy seemed pretty okay with the fact that Jim was a human. "Um, Constable
Remington, where is Knuckles?"
"He's with the gamemaster last I heard." Remington replied. He looked at Jim. "What's
your name young man?"
"Jim Silver." Jim said.
"Really?" Remington said. "Sir Bault was just here looking for you!"
"Okay." Jim said. "So, he doesn't think I'm dead?"
"Apparently not." Remington said. "Wait here."
Half an hour later, Anthony, Jenna, Lars, Azalea, and Knuckles came to the station.
"Bout time." Jim said. "The whole crew's here, eh?"
"Jim, what the hell happened?" Anthony asked. "One second you're fighting Packbell, the
next you're gone."
Jim went into a detailed(though very quick) explanation of his visit to
the astral plane and his conversation with the ancient walker.
"You expect us to believe that the ancient walkers took time to save you from
explosion and show you a bunch of mirrors?" Knuckles asked.
"No." Jim admitted. "But you're the good guys. You automatically believe every word is
true."
Anthony shook his head. "Fine."
"I don't get it though." Jenna said. "Why you?"
"Why not me?" Jim said. "Why'd you bring the whole posse here, Anth?" he asked. "Wouldn't
it do you better to split up?"
"We did." Anthony explained. "Sonic's leading another group, so are Mario and megaman."
Jim shrugged. "Listen...can you just give me a break for a bit? I'm dead tired."
********
Salazar opened his eyes. "Someone just popped in and out of the Astral plane." he told
himself. He closed his eyes. "Ah, yes. They're on Angel island right now. Two wizards...
Neo-mages, I can sense their magical origin." He opened his eyes. "Not very strong, but much
potential. Perfect additions for the merlin cannon." He looked at the crystal ball, having
swirling colors. "How strange is it that to invoke justice, I need to be as cruel and callous as
those I intend to destroy?"
He shook his head. "Hawever I cannot risk myself here." He turned. "I guess now is the
time to finish Hyper Mecha Sonic." he looked to work bench. A lifeless robot stood there in
what looked like Metal Sonic if he had taken steroids. "As soon as you are finished, the world
will expierience justice."
********
Jim and Azalea walked into Washu's lab to find a new piece of machinery in the lab.
It was a seat surrounded by a number of controls. "Hi Washu-chan." Jim said, going by her
preffered name. "What's with this stuff?"
"Well, you see from our last experiment, I found out that magic affects your brainwaves
differently, increasing your reflexes, reasoning, intelligence. Y'know. So, I decided to do
another test, though I must admit, this one of my less capable inventions."
"So, what is it?" Azalea asked.
"It's a zero system." Washu explained. "It analyzes data from the attack formation, the
mobile suit's capabilities, and pumps that info into the pilot's brain. This tells the pilot
what move to make, increasing his reaction time to nearly zero, hence the name. The problem is
that after awhile the system runs out of information to give, so it draws it from the pilot's
brain. The problem with that is that unless the pilot is completely focused, with absolutely
nothing else but the opponent on his mind, every doubt, every petty distraction will be magnified
and one of two things will happen. Either the pilot will stop alltogether moving, or he'll go on
a mad killing frenzy."
"Like in Gundam wing." Jim said.
"Exactly." Washu said. "Fortunately, this is hooked up to a simulator and not a real
mobile suit. That should prevent any mass destruction." Azalea thought she saw Washu's mouth
twitch.
"so, why are you doing this anyways?" Azalea asked. "Don't the risks show that it's
dangerous."
"Yes, well, I have a theory that since your magical abilities focus your minds better,
that you'll be able to focus zero better."
"Makes sense." Azalea said.
"I'd like Azalea to go first, because I've never actually seen a female work in a zero
system."
"Okay." Azalea said. She stepped in. "Okay. You move it like this, right?" She asked,
pushing one of the sticks. "Okay. You can start the simulation." Jim watched as Azalea move
the sticks. During the fifteen minutes she was in, Washu would say things such 'hmmm' and
"interesting reaction considering the situation."
"What the- I was hit!" Azalea cried.
"It's designed to make varied enemies until you're destroyed." Washu explained. "Don't
take it personally. Your response to the zero system was paricularly interesting."
"Why?" Azalea asked. "what happened?"
"Your brain interacted slower to the zero system than a male would." Washu explained.
"this caused a reaction to the zero system to send you information faster. So fast, in fact,
that you didn't expierience the warping effects of zero."
"Oh. Cool." Azalea said.
"But...I'm not sure whether that's because you're a wizardess or because you're female."
Washu said. "In any case, there's one way to find out. Jim, it's your turn."
Jim, who had been playing with Ryo-ohki scratched the cabit's head and came forward.
He strapped himself into the psuedo-cockpit and put both hands on the shift sticks. "So, what
weapons does this have?" he asked.
"A beam-saber, head vulcans, a buster rifle, and fin-funnels." Washu informed.
"Okay." Jim said. "Let's see what this thing can do. Turn it on."
Immeadately, Jim was engulfed in starlight. He began tapping at the console.
[Mobile suit found.] the screen said. [Identifying...Gouf.]
"Allright." Jim said. "Washu didn't cut me any brakes. That's okay though." The Gouf
charged forward. "Stupid computer." Jim said. "I forgot. Goufs are land machines." Jim aimed the
buster rifle at the Gouf's cockpit and fired. "Let's hope the next one isn't a guntank." Jim said
smugly.
The next Mobile suit was a Zaku-II. "Perfect." Jim commented. The Zaku had a gun too, but
his was a rapid-fire weapon, not energy. The controls of the suit were near perfect. It seemed
to read his mind rather than his movements as he dodged the firing of the zaku. Jim fired
again and agan until he shot down the Zaku. "Out of power already?" Jim threw the rifle and
ignited the beam-saber.
Jim couldn't believe what the next one was. "Wing Zero?" he asked. The zero ignited it's
beam-saber also. Jim and Wing Zero traded endless blows. It was this time that Jim began to
feel the effects of the Zero system. Jim suddenly felt a weird sensation, as though he couldn't
move. Then the screen went black.
"Huh?" Jim asked. "What happened?"
"You were destroyed, but if it's any consolation, Wing Zero destroyed you at the
same time."
Jim shrugged. "So, how'd I do?"
"Almost exactly the same as Azalea's, except you reacted quicker to the Zero system
against Wing Zero." Washu informed. "It seems that neo-mages operate similarly under easy
conditions, but under pressure, the male brain seems to be more subject to the zero's effects.
"I think I got it." Jim said.
"Good." Washu, said taking her holoboard and projecting an image with it. "Our next
unit is robotics. We'll be building this."
Jim gaped. It was obviously a cross-section for the Nu gundam. "You...have the technology
to build this?"
"Of course." Washu said. "I'm not the number one scientific genius in the universe for
nothing, y'know."
Then, a puppet version of Washu with an 'A' on it's chest came onto Washu's shoulder and
started yelling "Washu, Washu! You are the greatest!"
Then another Washu puppet, this one with a 'B', came too. "Washu, Washu! You are a
genius!" Washu then began laughing maniacly.
*******
"So, you a didn't even a know you were gone-a?" Mario asked. Jim was taking his saturday
off by hanging out in gardenia. He had met up with Mario, and they had started discussing the
strange turn of events against Packbell.
"Yeah." Jim said. "One sec I'm fighting with the metal man, next I'm in this other
dimension with a bunch of mystic babble."
"Metal Man?" Mario asked uncertainly.
"It's what I call Packbell." Jim explained.
"Ah. Well, I don't a get it." Mario said. "Why did a they just pick you a up and then a
drop you a down?"
"Kinda like asking if there's a god." Jim said. "I think it's just their way of having
fun. They show me a bunch of smoke and mirrors, pass it off as my future, and have a few laughs
behind my back."
"I a guess that a makesa sense." Mario said.
Then a toad ran over to them, franticly. "HEEEEEEELLLPPP!" it yelled shrilly. "ROBBERY!"
"What a is it a toad?" Mario asked.
"I was robbed!!!" Toad said frantically. "It was this big, blue robot that looked like
Sonic!"
Jim paused, hardly daring to believe it. According to Washu, Metal Sonic was a good
guy now. Then again, the robot's track record was aginst him. "You don't think..."
"There's a only one way to finda out." Mario said.
********
They were at the Masaki residence now. Accompanying them were Megaman and Sonic.
"But I don't get it." Anthony interjected. "Why would he steal jewels? It's just not something
Robotnik designed him for."
"Well, Eggman didn't design him to be a maiden guardian, but here we are." Megaman
replied.
"But stilla, I thought Metal Sonica was helping us." Mario put in.
"Let's not forgot everything he used to do though." Jim put in. "He was a servant of
Robotnik after all. This could be just some malfunction in his programming Eggman put in just in
case this kind of thing happened. I mean, he could have been linked to those earlier jewel
thefts."
"Good point." Anthony said. "But how come he was only seen this time?"
Then, Ashura greeted them. "Hi guys, what's up?"
"Tell me, Ashura, has Metal Sonic left the place anytime lately?" Anthony asked.
"Uh...no." Ashura said. "Why?"
"You know those jewel thefts in the news?" Jim asked.
"Yeah." Ashura asked. "What about them?"
"Well, we have some reason to believe it was Metal Sonic." Anthony said.
"Well, it wasn't him." a voice behind them said.
"GAH!" everyone yelled, turning to see Washu.
"Christ, Washu." Sonic said. "DON'T DO THAT!"
"And how exactly do you know he didn't do it?" Megaman asked.
Metal, who must have been listening from a distance caame down the steps. [Because I
told her.]
"You see, after the robberies all over Arcadia, I decided to map all the serious gem
stores, and I got an energy signal similar to Metal Sonic's, only much stronger. I asked Metal
himself, since I entered a chip into him where if he's confronting me, he has to tell the truth."
"Convient." Jim commented.
"Yes, very." Washu said. "Since there's a Metal-imposter out there, I tracked for an
energy like Metal Sonic's and it seems, he's coming after you, Jim." Washu opened her holo-pad.
"And Azalea."
Everyone exchanged glances. "Where is she?" Jim asked.
"He's movin' towards Anthony's house." Washu said, pointing at a red blip on her holopad.
"Draw your own conclusions."
"Let's get going!" Jim exclaimed. "If this guy gets Azalea, he'll come after me next."
Jim opened a capsule revealing his skim-board and sped off withouy another word.
"Well, well." Megaman said. "Looks like someone has a crush."
"Let's get going!" Sonic said, starting to run.
"Wait, Sonic." Anthony said. "We're not fighting in this one."
Sonic promptly stopped running and almost tripped over himself. "Why not?"
"The original reason I was looking for other types of mystical energies is to find out
more about descendancy powers." Anthony explained. "I found out even more than I expected. and
just as it was my destiny to become the next gamemaster, it's their destiny to re-create the
order of wizards. But that will never happen if we become mother-hens to them."
"Huh." Mario said. "Quite an accomplishmenta. But what if hea getsa killed?"
"Don't worry." Anthony said. "I can sense Jim fine. If his life gets dangerous, I'll
teleport there and pull them out."
**********
Jim was in Mobius, and gaining towards Anthony's house until he saw Azalea facing off
with the psuedo-Metal Sonic.
"These arrows can't hurt me!" Mecha-Sonic(which he will be reffered to as from now on)
yelled. "I am made of Iron, the one substance resistant to magic!"
Jim didn't bother to say anything, but revved his skim-board to full-power and slammed
it into Mecha-Sonic. The metallic hedgehog fell over into the dirt.
"Geez, and I thought Buttnik's stuff looked ridiculous!" Jim commented. "But Metal Sonic
on steroids? That's just classic! And why are you following me?"
"Jim, what the hell are you doing here?" Azalea asked.
"Someone needs to help you." Jim said, seeing the bruise on her face, and the cut on her
forearm. "And I'm just the guy to do it!"
"I am no minion of the Eggman." the robot said. "I am Mecha-Sonic, capturer of magical
souls and extension of myself. And I need your soul now. Now, I can kill you quietly, or
you can fight the inevitable."
"Really?" Jim asked, taking out his staff. "Bring it on, 10 W-40 breath!"
"Careful, Jim." Azalea said, getting into a fighting stance. "Don't let his claws get
you, they're really sharp. And Magic doesn't work against him."
"So, we can't use spells." Jim said. "So, we'll just have to rip him limb from cybernetic
limb!"
"I'd like to see you try." Mecha Sonic said. Then it moved to do something with it's
claw, and Jim raised his staff to block. "Impossible!" he exclaimed. "How can you be fast enough
to block that hit?"
Jim blocked several mre hits from Mecha Sonic, and Mecha Sonic just dodged a kick from
Azalea.
"It seems that I underestimated your abilities." Mecha-Sonic said. "No matter. I
will simply- zzzzt!" Jim had charged and cut the robot in half.
"And that's why you always keep your guard up." Jim said.
"Mythril..." Mecha-Sonic said slowly... "Only one type of wizard could have a weapon
like that! You must be Alastor Moor's descendant!"
"Nice deduction, circuit brain!" Jim replied. "A little late, though."
Mecha-Sonic's eyes brightened. "Really?" as he said that, the wires from his botton half
extended to his other half, and he was rebuilt so to speak. "You don't say?"
Jim struck again, and Mecha-Sonic barely dodged it. Mecha-Sonic threw a punch at Jim,
but Jim ducked and did a sweep. Mecha-Sonic jumped, but was hit in the by an chest arrow
from Azalea.
"Bull's eye!" She cried.
This gave Jim an opening. He raised his staff and sliced off the head of the robot. This
proved fruitless as the robot's eyes glowed and he pulled itself back together.
"Delaying the inevitable." Mecha-Sonic said. Then, with blazing speed, Mecha-Sonic
charged after Jim and launched punches faster than Jim could block.
As Jim got pummeled, his staff flew out of his hands and he hit the grass hard. "Maybe
I oughta try out that Kai-o-ken."
Mecha-Sonic loomed over Jim, standing atop, looking intimidating. "Any last words before
I go after your little friend?"
Jim noticed Azalea had another arrow strung and was aiming it at Mecha-Sonic. This
gave him a small idea. "Sure." He said, begining to glow red. And with amazing speed, Jim jumped
up and kicked Mecha-Sonic in the face. Mecha-Sonic reeled towards Azalea, and getting the idea,
Azalea landed another arrow through Mecha-Sonic. "How about 'gotcha?'"
Jim ran for his staff, and armed again, he was ready for another round with the robotic
offendor. Jim launched his staff again and cut off Mecha-Sonic's arm. Mecha-Sonic's eyes
brightened and rewired his arm.
Then Azalea figured it out. *His regenerative capacities must be stored in those visual
units!* she thought, stringing another arrow. *If I could just get a clean shot..."
But Mecha and Jim were locked deep in battle. "Double Kai-o-ken!" Jim yelled, his red
aura expanding. Jim then sliced off one of Mecha's legs. His eyes glowed again, and he
regenerated.
"It doesn't matter if you slice me up into molecules, I'll still regenerate." Mecha
said. "You'll wear out."
"But you're not perfect." Jim replied. "I'm bound to find your weakness sooner or later."
Then Jim heard something. *His regenerative capacities must be stored in those visual
units! If I could just get a clean shot...*
Jim needed no more said. He tackled Mecha and struggled his way to a Nelson. "AZALEA!"
he yelled. "Shoot him, quick! I can't hold this for very long!"
Azalea's arrow flew quickly into Mecha Sonic's "eyes". Then Jim went out of the Nelson
and sliced the head off of Mecha-Sonic.
*********
Salazar fell to his knee in pain. "Perhaps putting my soul into a machine to do my dirty
work was not the best solution. Those children have developed their skills far beyond what I had
expected. And they are Moor's descendants. That complicates everything." Salazar said. "My soul
will rest the judgement of destroying the two people most like to restore order to the world of
magic..." His head bowed. "But sacrifices must be made. The world of magic suffers where the
world in general gains. It's no question which requires more priority."
He stared at the crystal ball with it's glowing colors randomly changing. "Soon enough...
Soon enough."
*******
"So, who do you think was going after us?" Jim asked. It was hours later, and they
were in Anthony's house watching tv.
"I don't know." Azalea said. "They either have a lot of magic or a lot of technology, or
both. Say, how did you figure out that the eyes were his weak point?"
Jim was taken aback by this question. "You told me...didn't you?"
"Well, I thought it." Azalea said.
"Hmm..." Jim said. "HMM... Maybe when Neo-mages emotions are at similar levels they can
send telepathic messages to each other."
"There's a theory." Azalea said.
"I just wanna say... thanks for the help." Jim continued. "With you, I wouldn't have
lasted-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Azalea said promptly. "Don't thank me. If it weren't for you, I would
have been dead fast."
"But if it weren't for you I'd have been fried as well." Jim replied. "How about this.
We both would have died without each other's help."
"I guess that's true." Azalea said. "But you didn't have to come. It was my fight, I
should have finished it."
"Bullshit." Jim said. "Even if I let you die there, he would have come for me later. So,
from this day forward, we're a team." He extended his hand to Azaela.
Azalea smiled. "Okay, a team. And friends."
"And friends."
End Chapter 4.
I apologize for getting ahead of myself in this story. The next part I will tell you
about is completely irrelevant to Jim and Azalea, but is important to the story nonetheless. We
must also go a few weeks back.
Sally walked into the office of Marcus Chestnut. He immeadaetely stopped grading the
papers on his desk. "Princess Sally Acorn!" he exclaimed. "Have a seat please."
"Thank you." Sally said, sitting down. "I'd like to speak with you about the humans you
had sent out of the school a few days."
"Ah, that." Chestnut said confidently. "Yes, the two over- humans were disrupting a
student. I felt it prudent to stop them. And they resisted."
"According to a friend of mine, it was the mobian who attacked first." Sally replied.
"I'm sorry, your liege, but the overlanders were the attackers." Chestnut replied.
Chestnut had made a fatal error. "You're saying that the people I trust are unreliable?"
Chestnut nearly fell over himself. "Of course not! It's just that these humans were-"
"Mr. Chestnut, your words are that of a bigot." Sally said.
"I am no bigot!" Chestnut protested.
"Then, I think you'll do fine." Sally said. "You see, Arcadia's started this program in
which teachers from different worlds would come and spend a semester teaching other students. I
think a year on earth should be a good learning expierience for you."
"Princess Acorn, with all due respect-" Chestnut began.
"This isn't up for negotioation." Sally replied. "My father may have permitted you acts,
but I will not tolerate bigotry of any form in a kingdom I've work so hard to keep standing!"
And with that she walked out.
************
Jim stood in the desert. Where was he? All he could see was sand for miles and miles
around. The Ancient walker had just dropped him there. And he hadn't helped Bit's disposition
with his mystical mumbo-jumbo at all. Jim was given these choices to decipher:
A)Something about glass and dying
B)Forty-two!
C)What the hell?
D)Some of the above
So, here Jim was, confused beyond belief. Jim looked at the sun and started trudging
north. "In times of trouble..." Jim said to himself. "Stay confused. You'll feel a lot better."
The ground began to tremble right then. "That can't be good." Jim observed. He was right.
A giant sandworm popped out of the ground snarling. "I think I'm in trouble..." The sandworm
roared splaying saliva on Jim. "I know I'm trouble!"
"Well, if I'm going out," Jim said, taking out his staff. "I'm doing it like a man!"
The Sandworm charged down for him, but Jim was prepared. "Ka...me...ha....me...HA!!!"
The blast flew from his staff and hit the sandworm dead-on. This only seemed to anger
the sandworm more. Jim charged for another kamehameha. "Ka...me...-AAAH!" The sandworm was too
quick and gobbled Jim like a bullimic would a chicken Mcnugget. Right after that a lightning bolt
hit the sandworm, and it split in two, a wet Jim in the middle. "That was fun. Let's never do it
again."
"Well, well." a voice said. "Look what the worm dragged in."
Jim turned to see an ant in an aussie outfit. Jim for a split second, wondered what kind
of teeth he was wearing. "Archimedes?"
"That's my name." Archimedes replied. "What's an overlander doing this far in the
Sandopolis zone?"
"First, I'm not an overlander, I'm a human. and I don't know how I got here."
Jim said. "So, I got all the way to Angel island, huh?"
"Yeah." Archimedes said. "We're not too far from Echidnopolis though. Follow me."
It was about an hour's walk to Echidnopolis and Jim walked to the EST station.
"Hello, young man." The officer at the top said. "How can I help you?"
"Yeah, can you get me the next flight to Knothole?" The echidna looked at him. Jim
didn't see why. The guy seemed pretty okay with the fact that Jim was a human. "Um, Constable
Remington, where is Knuckles?"
"He's with the gamemaster last I heard." Remington replied. He looked at Jim. "What's
your name young man?"
"Jim Silver." Jim said.
"Really?" Remington said. "Sir Bault was just here looking for you!"
"Okay." Jim said. "So, he doesn't think I'm dead?"
"Apparently not." Remington said. "Wait here."
Half an hour later, Anthony, Jenna, Lars, Azalea, and Knuckles came to the station.
"Bout time." Jim said. "The whole crew's here, eh?"
"Jim, what the hell happened?" Anthony asked. "One second you're fighting Packbell, the
next you're gone."
Jim went into a detailed(though very quick) explanation of his visit to
the astral plane and his conversation with the ancient walker.
"You expect us to believe that the ancient walkers took time to save you from
explosion and show you a bunch of mirrors?" Knuckles asked.
"No." Jim admitted. "But you're the good guys. You automatically believe every word is
true."
Anthony shook his head. "Fine."
"I don't get it though." Jenna said. "Why you?"
"Why not me?" Jim said. "Why'd you bring the whole posse here, Anth?" he asked. "Wouldn't
it do you better to split up?"
"We did." Anthony explained. "Sonic's leading another group, so are Mario and megaman."
Jim shrugged. "Listen...can you just give me a break for a bit? I'm dead tired."
********
Salazar opened his eyes. "Someone just popped in and out of the Astral plane." he told
himself. He closed his eyes. "Ah, yes. They're on Angel island right now. Two wizards...
Neo-mages, I can sense their magical origin." He opened his eyes. "Not very strong, but much
potential. Perfect additions for the merlin cannon." He looked at the crystal ball, having
swirling colors. "How strange is it that to invoke justice, I need to be as cruel and callous as
those I intend to destroy?"
He shook his head. "Hawever I cannot risk myself here." He turned. "I guess now is the
time to finish Hyper Mecha Sonic." he looked to work bench. A lifeless robot stood there in
what looked like Metal Sonic if he had taken steroids. "As soon as you are finished, the world
will expierience justice."
********
Jim and Azalea walked into Washu's lab to find a new piece of machinery in the lab.
It was a seat surrounded by a number of controls. "Hi Washu-chan." Jim said, going by her
preffered name. "What's with this stuff?"
"Well, you see from our last experiment, I found out that magic affects your brainwaves
differently, increasing your reflexes, reasoning, intelligence. Y'know. So, I decided to do
another test, though I must admit, this one of my less capable inventions."
"So, what is it?" Azalea asked.
"It's a zero system." Washu explained. "It analyzes data from the attack formation, the
mobile suit's capabilities, and pumps that info into the pilot's brain. This tells the pilot
what move to make, increasing his reaction time to nearly zero, hence the name. The problem is
that after awhile the system runs out of information to give, so it draws it from the pilot's
brain. The problem with that is that unless the pilot is completely focused, with absolutely
nothing else but the opponent on his mind, every doubt, every petty distraction will be magnified
and one of two things will happen. Either the pilot will stop alltogether moving, or he'll go on
a mad killing frenzy."
"Like in Gundam wing." Jim said.
"Exactly." Washu said. "Fortunately, this is hooked up to a simulator and not a real
mobile suit. That should prevent any mass destruction." Azalea thought she saw Washu's mouth
twitch.
"so, why are you doing this anyways?" Azalea asked. "Don't the risks show that it's
dangerous."
"Yes, well, I have a theory that since your magical abilities focus your minds better,
that you'll be able to focus zero better."
"Makes sense." Azalea said.
"I'd like Azalea to go first, because I've never actually seen a female work in a zero
system."
"Okay." Azalea said. She stepped in. "Okay. You move it like this, right?" She asked,
pushing one of the sticks. "Okay. You can start the simulation." Jim watched as Azalea move
the sticks. During the fifteen minutes she was in, Washu would say things such 'hmmm' and
"interesting reaction considering the situation."
"What the- I was hit!" Azalea cried.
"It's designed to make varied enemies until you're destroyed." Washu explained. "Don't
take it personally. Your response to the zero system was paricularly interesting."
"Why?" Azalea asked. "what happened?"
"Your brain interacted slower to the zero system than a male would." Washu explained.
"this caused a reaction to the zero system to send you information faster. So fast, in fact,
that you didn't expierience the warping effects of zero."
"Oh. Cool." Azalea said.
"But...I'm not sure whether that's because you're a wizardess or because you're female."
Washu said. "In any case, there's one way to find out. Jim, it's your turn."
Jim, who had been playing with Ryo-ohki scratched the cabit's head and came forward.
He strapped himself into the psuedo-cockpit and put both hands on the shift sticks. "So, what
weapons does this have?" he asked.
"A beam-saber, head vulcans, a buster rifle, and fin-funnels." Washu informed.
"Okay." Jim said. "Let's see what this thing can do. Turn it on."
Immeadately, Jim was engulfed in starlight. He began tapping at the console.
[Mobile suit found.] the screen said. [Identifying...Gouf.]
"Allright." Jim said. "Washu didn't cut me any brakes. That's okay though." The Gouf
charged forward. "Stupid computer." Jim said. "I forgot. Goufs are land machines." Jim aimed the
buster rifle at the Gouf's cockpit and fired. "Let's hope the next one isn't a guntank." Jim said
smugly.
The next Mobile suit was a Zaku-II. "Perfect." Jim commented. The Zaku had a gun too, but
his was a rapid-fire weapon, not energy. The controls of the suit were near perfect. It seemed
to read his mind rather than his movements as he dodged the firing of the zaku. Jim fired
again and agan until he shot down the Zaku. "Out of power already?" Jim threw the rifle and
ignited the beam-saber.
Jim couldn't believe what the next one was. "Wing Zero?" he asked. The zero ignited it's
beam-saber also. Jim and Wing Zero traded endless blows. It was this time that Jim began to
feel the effects of the Zero system. Jim suddenly felt a weird sensation, as though he couldn't
move. Then the screen went black.
"Huh?" Jim asked. "What happened?"
"You were destroyed, but if it's any consolation, Wing Zero destroyed you at the
same time."
Jim shrugged. "So, how'd I do?"
"Almost exactly the same as Azalea's, except you reacted quicker to the Zero system
against Wing Zero." Washu informed. "It seems that neo-mages operate similarly under easy
conditions, but under pressure, the male brain seems to be more subject to the zero's effects.
"I think I got it." Jim said.
"Good." Washu, said taking her holoboard and projecting an image with it. "Our next
unit is robotics. We'll be building this."
Jim gaped. It was obviously a cross-section for the Nu gundam. "You...have the technology
to build this?"
"Of course." Washu said. "I'm not the number one scientific genius in the universe for
nothing, y'know."
Then, a puppet version of Washu with an 'A' on it's chest came onto Washu's shoulder and
started yelling "Washu, Washu! You are the greatest!"
Then another Washu puppet, this one with a 'B', came too. "Washu, Washu! You are a
genius!" Washu then began laughing maniacly.
*******
"So, you a didn't even a know you were gone-a?" Mario asked. Jim was taking his saturday
off by hanging out in gardenia. He had met up with Mario, and they had started discussing the
strange turn of events against Packbell.
"Yeah." Jim said. "One sec I'm fighting with the metal man, next I'm in this other
dimension with a bunch of mystic babble."
"Metal Man?" Mario asked uncertainly.
"It's what I call Packbell." Jim explained.
"Ah. Well, I don't a get it." Mario said. "Why did a they just pick you a up and then a
drop you a down?"
"Kinda like asking if there's a god." Jim said. "I think it's just their way of having
fun. They show me a bunch of smoke and mirrors, pass it off as my future, and have a few laughs
behind my back."
"I a guess that a makesa sense." Mario said.
Then a toad ran over to them, franticly. "HEEEEEEELLLPPP!" it yelled shrilly. "ROBBERY!"
"What a is it a toad?" Mario asked.
"I was robbed!!!" Toad said frantically. "It was this big, blue robot that looked like
Sonic!"
Jim paused, hardly daring to believe it. According to Washu, Metal Sonic was a good
guy now. Then again, the robot's track record was aginst him. "You don't think..."
"There's a only one way to finda out." Mario said.
********
They were at the Masaki residence now. Accompanying them were Megaman and Sonic.
"But I don't get it." Anthony interjected. "Why would he steal jewels? It's just not something
Robotnik designed him for."
"Well, Eggman didn't design him to be a maiden guardian, but here we are." Megaman
replied.
"But stilla, I thought Metal Sonica was helping us." Mario put in.
"Let's not forgot everything he used to do though." Jim put in. "He was a servant of
Robotnik after all. This could be just some malfunction in his programming Eggman put in just in
case this kind of thing happened. I mean, he could have been linked to those earlier jewel
thefts."
"Good point." Anthony said. "But how come he was only seen this time?"
Then, Ashura greeted them. "Hi guys, what's up?"
"Tell me, Ashura, has Metal Sonic left the place anytime lately?" Anthony asked.
"Uh...no." Ashura said. "Why?"
"You know those jewel thefts in the news?" Jim asked.
"Yeah." Ashura asked. "What about them?"
"Well, we have some reason to believe it was Metal Sonic." Anthony said.
"Well, it wasn't him." a voice behind them said.
"GAH!" everyone yelled, turning to see Washu.
"Christ, Washu." Sonic said. "DON'T DO THAT!"
"And how exactly do you know he didn't do it?" Megaman asked.
Metal, who must have been listening from a distance caame down the steps. [Because I
told her.]
"You see, after the robberies all over Arcadia, I decided to map all the serious gem
stores, and I got an energy signal similar to Metal Sonic's, only much stronger. I asked Metal
himself, since I entered a chip into him where if he's confronting me, he has to tell the truth."
"Convient." Jim commented.
"Yes, very." Washu said. "Since there's a Metal-imposter out there, I tracked for an
energy like Metal Sonic's and it seems, he's coming after you, Jim." Washu opened her holo-pad.
"And Azalea."
Everyone exchanged glances. "Where is she?" Jim asked.
"He's movin' towards Anthony's house." Washu said, pointing at a red blip on her holopad.
"Draw your own conclusions."
"Let's get going!" Jim exclaimed. "If this guy gets Azalea, he'll come after me next."
Jim opened a capsule revealing his skim-board and sped off withouy another word.
"Well, well." Megaman said. "Looks like someone has a crush."
"Let's get going!" Sonic said, starting to run.
"Wait, Sonic." Anthony said. "We're not fighting in this one."
Sonic promptly stopped running and almost tripped over himself. "Why not?"
"The original reason I was looking for other types of mystical energies is to find out
more about descendancy powers." Anthony explained. "I found out even more than I expected. and
just as it was my destiny to become the next gamemaster, it's their destiny to re-create the
order of wizards. But that will never happen if we become mother-hens to them."
"Huh." Mario said. "Quite an accomplishmenta. But what if hea getsa killed?"
"Don't worry." Anthony said. "I can sense Jim fine. If his life gets dangerous, I'll
teleport there and pull them out."
**********
Jim was in Mobius, and gaining towards Anthony's house until he saw Azalea facing off
with the psuedo-Metal Sonic.
"These arrows can't hurt me!" Mecha-Sonic(which he will be reffered to as from now on)
yelled. "I am made of Iron, the one substance resistant to magic!"
Jim didn't bother to say anything, but revved his skim-board to full-power and slammed
it into Mecha-Sonic. The metallic hedgehog fell over into the dirt.
"Geez, and I thought Buttnik's stuff looked ridiculous!" Jim commented. "But Metal Sonic
on steroids? That's just classic! And why are you following me?"
"Jim, what the hell are you doing here?" Azalea asked.
"Someone needs to help you." Jim said, seeing the bruise on her face, and the cut on her
forearm. "And I'm just the guy to do it!"
"I am no minion of the Eggman." the robot said. "I am Mecha-Sonic, capturer of magical
souls and extension of myself. And I need your soul now. Now, I can kill you quietly, or
you can fight the inevitable."
"Really?" Jim asked, taking out his staff. "Bring it on, 10 W-40 breath!"
"Careful, Jim." Azalea said, getting into a fighting stance. "Don't let his claws get
you, they're really sharp. And Magic doesn't work against him."
"So, we can't use spells." Jim said. "So, we'll just have to rip him limb from cybernetic
limb!"
"I'd like to see you try." Mecha Sonic said. Then it moved to do something with it's
claw, and Jim raised his staff to block. "Impossible!" he exclaimed. "How can you be fast enough
to block that hit?"
Jim blocked several mre hits from Mecha Sonic, and Mecha Sonic just dodged a kick from
Azalea.
"It seems that I underestimated your abilities." Mecha-Sonic said. "No matter. I
will simply- zzzzt!" Jim had charged and cut the robot in half.
"And that's why you always keep your guard up." Jim said.
"Mythril..." Mecha-Sonic said slowly... "Only one type of wizard could have a weapon
like that! You must be Alastor Moor's descendant!"
"Nice deduction, circuit brain!" Jim replied. "A little late, though."
Mecha-Sonic's eyes brightened. "Really?" as he said that, the wires from his botton half
extended to his other half, and he was rebuilt so to speak. "You don't say?"
Jim struck again, and Mecha-Sonic barely dodged it. Mecha-Sonic threw a punch at Jim,
but Jim ducked and did a sweep. Mecha-Sonic jumped, but was hit in the by an chest arrow
from Azalea.
"Bull's eye!" She cried.
This gave Jim an opening. He raised his staff and sliced off the head of the robot. This
proved fruitless as the robot's eyes glowed and he pulled itself back together.
"Delaying the inevitable." Mecha-Sonic said. Then, with blazing speed, Mecha-Sonic
charged after Jim and launched punches faster than Jim could block.
As Jim got pummeled, his staff flew out of his hands and he hit the grass hard. "Maybe
I oughta try out that Kai-o-ken."
Mecha-Sonic loomed over Jim, standing atop, looking intimidating. "Any last words before
I go after your little friend?"
Jim noticed Azalea had another arrow strung and was aiming it at Mecha-Sonic. This
gave him a small idea. "Sure." He said, begining to glow red. And with amazing speed, Jim jumped
up and kicked Mecha-Sonic in the face. Mecha-Sonic reeled towards Azalea, and getting the idea,
Azalea landed another arrow through Mecha-Sonic. "How about 'gotcha?'"
Jim ran for his staff, and armed again, he was ready for another round with the robotic
offendor. Jim launched his staff again and cut off Mecha-Sonic's arm. Mecha-Sonic's eyes
brightened and rewired his arm.
Then Azalea figured it out. *His regenerative capacities must be stored in those visual
units!* she thought, stringing another arrow. *If I could just get a clean shot..."
But Mecha and Jim were locked deep in battle. "Double Kai-o-ken!" Jim yelled, his red
aura expanding. Jim then sliced off one of Mecha's legs. His eyes glowed again, and he
regenerated.
"It doesn't matter if you slice me up into molecules, I'll still regenerate." Mecha
said. "You'll wear out."
"But you're not perfect." Jim replied. "I'm bound to find your weakness sooner or later."
Then Jim heard something. *His regenerative capacities must be stored in those visual
units! If I could just get a clean shot...*
Jim needed no more said. He tackled Mecha and struggled his way to a Nelson. "AZALEA!"
he yelled. "Shoot him, quick! I can't hold this for very long!"
Azalea's arrow flew quickly into Mecha Sonic's "eyes". Then Jim went out of the Nelson
and sliced the head off of Mecha-Sonic.
*********
Salazar fell to his knee in pain. "Perhaps putting my soul into a machine to do my dirty
work was not the best solution. Those children have developed their skills far beyond what I had
expected. And they are Moor's descendants. That complicates everything." Salazar said. "My soul
will rest the judgement of destroying the two people most like to restore order to the world of
magic..." His head bowed. "But sacrifices must be made. The world of magic suffers where the
world in general gains. It's no question which requires more priority."
He stared at the crystal ball with it's glowing colors randomly changing. "Soon enough...
Soon enough."
*******
"So, who do you think was going after us?" Jim asked. It was hours later, and they
were in Anthony's house watching tv.
"I don't know." Azalea said. "They either have a lot of magic or a lot of technology, or
both. Say, how did you figure out that the eyes were his weak point?"
Jim was taken aback by this question. "You told me...didn't you?"
"Well, I thought it." Azalea said.
"Hmm..." Jim said. "HMM... Maybe when Neo-mages emotions are at similar levels they can
send telepathic messages to each other."
"There's a theory." Azalea said.
"I just wanna say... thanks for the help." Jim continued. "With you, I wouldn't have
lasted-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Azalea said promptly. "Don't thank me. If it weren't for you, I would
have been dead fast."
"But if it weren't for you I'd have been fried as well." Jim replied. "How about this.
We both would have died without each other's help."
"I guess that's true." Azalea said. "But you didn't have to come. It was my fight, I
should have finished it."
"Bullshit." Jim said. "Even if I let you die there, he would have come for me later. So,
from this day forward, we're a team." He extended his hand to Azaela.
Azalea smiled. "Okay, a team. And friends."
"And friends."
End Chapter 4.