Me: Izzy! Question.

Izzy: What?

Me: In the last two chapters, you made two, count 'em, TWO Team Rocket jokes! Yet when I make a Team Rocket joke, you go bananas. Care to explain yourself?

Izzy: Pfft! You know perfectly well the joke I hate is when you have us and/or a dimension's characters blasting off. What I did was dress up three members of the RP crew as Team Rocket. It's much different and better than your jokes!

Me: ::Growls:: Oh I'll show you a joke alright. ::Turns to the camera:: Before we get to business, I'd like to say that I appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far. I've never seen longer reviews for any of my fics! I'm really going have to consider writing for this fandom more! In any case, I want to answer one of my reviews.

To mike2000: I guess there could be such a thing as movement wizards. The only things I've ever read that had to do with wizards and witches was up to the third Harry Potter book, so I don't know all that much on the subject. In any case, that's not Izzy's expertise, although I have played with speed in some of my past fics. As for your other questions, you'll find out in due time.

Enjoy the chapter, folks!

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Last time on The Runaway…

(To the tune of "Believe in Myself" [Tails' theme in Sonic Adventure 2])

Sam: Hi. Sam Dullard here to tell what happened because I was in the last chapter long enough to know what went on!

Me: ¬  ¬ Just stick to the script.

Sam: Alright. Anyway, we were in the hospital visiting Izzy after he got close to being killed. We found out that he's a wizard. He used some spell to put us in his mind and show us everything that happened from when he got his wand until his parents' demise. He's been running for six years to avoid capture or worse. What's more is that his best friend, Adrian is in alliance with the Wizard King, whoever he is. Who knows what will happen now.

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The Runaway Ch. 7: The Meeting

After gathering Izzy's stuff in the park, the Rockets took him to their place. Everybody was now sitting in the living room. Izzy had his face buried in a book. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses, cape, and hat. He was wincing and groaning in pain whenever he turned a page. Otto, clearly fed up from all the noise, took action.

"Uhh…Izzy, what are you looking for?"

"I'm—Ouch!—looking for—Oohh!—a healing—Ack!—spell. Ow!" Izzy replied while turning pages. "Ahh! Here it is! The healing spell." He then stood up, ignoring his pain. He started mumbling words that none of the Rockets were able to understand. He started to get louder and louder until he was nearly screaming.

"And…HEAL!!!" A pink light surrounded Izzy. All of the bruises on his face started to disappear, as well as all of his other injuries.

"Ahh much better." He gave a yawn and his eyes widened in realization. "Quick! Tell me where I'm going to sleep!"

"Uhh…You'll sleep on the couch. Why?" Ray replied.

"When I—::Yawn::—use that healing spell, I have to sleep for awhile." Izzy answered while moving towards the couch. "It's a side effect of its use." He then laid down and started to close his eyes. "See ya in the morning…" And he was out. Reggie got a blanket and put it over him.

"It's late. You guys should be getting to sleep too." Ray said.

"Awww!" Otto & Reggie groaned.

"You have work tomorrow, Otto." Ray reminded.

"Oh yeah… Forgot about that." Otto said and he trudged upstairs followed by Reggie. They soon went to sleep.

Later…

"Izzy…" A voice said. Izzy, who was standing in an open field, looked around in shock.

"Who's there?"

"Don't you remember me?" The voice asked as a figure came into view. Izzy gasped.

"Adrian? Is that you?" The figure nodded. Before Izzy can go off on a rant, Adrian spoke.

"Meet me at the top of the Bruised Man's Curve mountain boarding course tomorrow at one. Come alone."

"What? How do I know you won't try anything?" Izzy asked.

"I won't. I only wish to talk. To catch up." Adrian replied. Izzy gave a snort and crossed his arms.

"You probably only want to get me to join the king."

"I want to talk to you under my own will. The king has nothing to do with this."

"Hmph!"

"Please Izzy. For your best friend?" Adrian pleaded. After a few moments, Izzy uncrossed his arms.

"Fine. If you try anything—"

"I won't. I promise."

"And another thing, don't you ever go into my head while I sleep again!"

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Izzy opened his eyes and sat up.

"He can just go into people's heads like that?" He asked himself quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up. His ears picked up the sound of something cooking and someone talking. With a groan, he stood up and stretched his arms. He walked into the kitchen, where Reggie was talking on the phone. Her back was to him. He sat down at the table.

"Wow! That's great, Tito! See ya later." Reggie said and she hung up the phone. She turned around and screamed when she saw Izzy sitting there. Shocked, he turned around.

"What's your problem?" He asked while cleaning his ears.

"When did you come in?!"

"Uhh… Just a second ago. Are you always this jumpy in the morning?"

"When people sneak around, yeah!"

"I wasn't sneaking around." Izzy said innocently. "I just walked in and took a seat."

"Oh. Well, if you're thirsty, you can just get some O.J." Reggie said as she calmed down. Izzy went to the fridge. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled please." Izzy replied. Just then, Otto & Ray walked in the room.

"What was that screaming about, Rocket Girl?" Ray asked after everybody exchanged good mornings.

"I was just scared when I saw him." Reggie replied while pointing to Izzy, who was pouring some orange juice into a cup. He walked to the table and sipped on his juice.

"So who was on the phone, Reg?" Otto asked. Reggie put on a grin.

"Oh that was Tito. Guess what? Keoni's coming here for a week!" Otto put on his own grin.

"Awesome!" He then thought, 'Finally, someone to talk to about this whole Twister mess.' On his last visit to Ocean Shores, Keoni had come out and said he was gay. Everybody took it pretty well.

(A/N: I don't know if there are any Keoni fans out there, but don't kill me over this decision! I just had a hilarious idea for the next chapter and I kinda need him for it.)

Izzy yawned and gave the Rockets a questioning look.

"So who's Keoni?"

"He's Tito's nephew. He comes from Hawaii for a visit every once in a while." Otto replied.

"When's he coming?" Ray asked.

"His flight should come in at three." Reggie said. Everybody else looked shocked.

"Three o'clock today!?" Otto & Ray yelled.

"Uhh…yeah."

"That means we should go to the airport early to meet him." Ray said to himself. "I guess there's no work for you two today then." Otto & Izzy gave a cheer. "Would you like to go meet Keoni, Izzy?"

"Sure. I'm probably going to meet him sooner or later anyway." Izzy replied. He then looked at the nearby clock. It read, "9:45."

'I gotta leave to meet Adrian soon…' He thought with a hesitant tone. He turned back towards everybody else. "What time are we leaving?"

"It's best to leave early, so we'll go at two." Ray replied. "If you guys have to go anywhere today, make sure you're back before we leave." Everybody then had breakfast, which consisted of eggs and bacon. Afterwards, Izzy walked back into the living room and grabbed one of his magic books. Groaning at the thought of him screaming to use another spell, Otto walked up to him.

"Whatcha doing?"

"I'm looking for a spell to repair my clothes. They got badly damaged in that fight." Izzy replied. Otto took a close look at his clothes. His pants and shirt were slightly burned and torn up. His cape, which was sitting nearby, was even more tattered.

"Ok. Here it is." The wizard took a deep breath. Otto's eyes widened.

"Wait!" He yelled. Izzy looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Uhhh… Why don't I loan you some of my clothes to wear? It's way too hot for the clothes you're wearing." Izzy put a thumb to his chin.

"Good point, but are you sure I would even fit in them?" He then stood up. Otto looked him over.

"Yeah. You may be a bit bigger than me, but I think I got something you can wear." He went upstairs. A few moments later, he came back with a black shirt and a pair of magenta jean shorts. "Here ya go."

"Thanks. Where's your bathroom at?" Izzy said as he took the clothes.

"Upstairs. First room on the left." Otto replied. Izzy walked up and went to the bathroom, which was by Reggie's door. After finding a towel and taking off his clothes, he turned on the shower and stepped in.

'Ahhh… A refreshing shower beats using a cleansing spell any day.' He thought as he let the water relax his muscles. He then applied the soap.

'I wonder what Adrian wants to talk about.' He rubbed the soap on his arms. 'He probably would try to get me to join the king and try to destroy all humans or this could be a trap. I better stay on guard.' He finished up with the soap and rinsed himself off.

'Still, I have some questions I want to ask. Like for one thing, how powerful did Adrian become since I last saw him?' He then put some shampoo in his afro-like hair and lathered it up. 'In all seriousness though, I better keep my questions less personal. Like what does the king want me for?' He rinsed off his hair and turned the water off. He stepped out and started drying himself.

'Anyway, I got plenty of time to kill before I deal with Adrian. I just hope that our talk will be over before I have to go to the airport. I better go buy a new watch.' He put on his new clothes and looked in the mirror. 'Not bad. What kind of clothes are these?'

(Me: Skater clothes. I told ya I would get them for ya.)

'Cool.' He then left the bathroom and went back to the living room.

"That was a good shower. Now, to repair my cape." He opened the book again. Otto, who was watching TV, looked over and his eyes widened again.

"Oh crap."

"Something wrong?" Izzy asked as he found the spell again.

"Oh no. Nothing at all." Otto put his hands over his ears. Izzy mumbled some magic words. Otto, after a long time of waiting, didn't hear him get any louder. Surprised, he put his hands down as Izzy snapped his fingers. Instantly, the cape and his other clothes (which he brought down from the bathroom) glowed with a blue aura. All the tears and burns repaired themselves and disappeared. When the spell ended, Izzy grabbed his cape and tied it around his neck. He put away the other clothes.

"Uhhh… What?" Izzy looked at Otto, who had a confused look on his face.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah... Weren't you supposed to yell to use that spell?"

"No. That healing spell I used last night is actually the only spell I've ever used that requires me to scream. Go figure." Izzy replied as he got his shoes on, grabbed his hat & sunglasses, and went to the door. Otto looked at the camera grimly.

"If we were doing animé type stuff in this fic, I would've fallen over." He then grabbed his skateboard gear and went with Izzy outside. The wizard was doing some light stretching as Twister & Sam came out from their respective houses. They all exchanged hellos.

"You seem ok." Sam said to Izzy, who nodded.

"Thanks. I just used a quick healing spell."

"You mean quick and loud!" Otto said.

"Yeah!" Twister agreed. "I bet they heard you in Mexico!" Everybody laughed at that one.

"So did you hear? Keoni's coming."

"Yeah. Reggie told us already before she went to Mad Town. You guys coming?" Sam asked.

"Sorry. I have…something to take care of." Izzy said. "Umm… Do you guys know where the mountain boarding course is?"

"Which one?" Twister asked.

"Ummm… Bruised Man's Curve?" Izzy answered, trying to remember his best friend's words.

"Bruised Man's Curve!?" Everybody else yelled. Izzy looked slightly irritated.

"Do ya know where it is or not!?"

"Uhhh… It's on the outskirts of town. Past the Chemical Plant Zone." Sam replied.

"o     O"

"That's the name of the industrial district."

"-     - There are way too many Sonic references in this fic." Izzy said with a sigh.

"Tell me about it." Everybody else agreed.

(Me: Hey, it's like my favorite game series! Give me a break!)

"Anyway, why do you want to go up there for?" Otto asked.

"I just need to do something. I'll be back in time to go with you guys to the airport." And with that, Izzy ran off towards the pier. He went to a watch shop on the boardwalk and bought a sport watch. It was mostly black and the face had some red on it.

(A/N: Sonic Reference no. = Who knows! Take a guess at who this refers to! =P)

After getting it set up, Izzy noticed that it was 12:45.

"Time passed that fast!?" He asked as he started running.

(Me: Eh. Better than making you be bored for an hour or so.)

"Point taken." He then used Rocket Accel to reach Bruised Man's Curve. Considering what time it was, it was strange that the place was empty. No one was seen boarding. Izzy looked up and noticed how rough the course looked. Jagged rocks jutted out from the sides, which made the place look scary to anybody without any experience.

'Weird. People would be nuts to try to ride in that kind of course!' He thought. 'But why is it empty? Adrian must've scared the people off.' He shook his head at his friend's possible actions. Izzy thought he heard something, so he turned around. He saw no one though. He turned around and ran towards the top of the mountain. With his speed, he just bounced off the many rocks to climb to the top. When he got there, he saw his best friend looking ahead. His back was turned away from Izzy.

"I see you got here with no problem." The boy said.

"Alright Adrian, I'm here, so what do you want?" Izzy asked. Adrian then turned around. At the sight of the dark haired boy, he blushed.

'Man! He's so much better looking than I thought.' He thought. He shook his head. "Uhh… How are you?"

"Considering I've been chased across the country for the past six years, pretty good actually. You?" Izzy replied.

"I'm good. I've been serving in the king's personal army for a few years." Adrian said. Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"You're my age. How could you serve in his army?"

"I've gotten pretty strong since you left. Also, the king has been getting rather desperate." Adrian replied.

"Is that so? How strong are you anyway?" Izzy asked.

"Strong enough to do this." Adrian lifted himself into the air and floated for a few seconds before he landed. Izzy stared wide-eyed for a moment before recollecting himself.

"And I guess that spell you used last night is another result of your training?" Adrian nodded.

"It was a dream charm. I can go into anybody's mind and do whatever I want with it while they're sleeping."

"Good for you. Don't ever do it to me again." Izzy said with ice in his voice.

"Why are you being like this?" Adrian asked. "You're completely cold to me."

"In case you don't remember, my parents were killed by the one you swear allegiance to and he ordered my wand to be taken away." Izzy replied, crossing his arms and looking away. "Something like that, plus getting betrayed will do that to you."

"I didn't betray you." Adrian said, looking at the ground. "Do you want to know why he did that?"

"Because he's a sadistic freak?"

"No. He fears your power." Adrian answered. Izzy gave him a shocked look.

"What power? I'm only a low level. I can't fly! I didn't even get through the sixth grade! I don't even have my wand."

"I know all that. I still don't get what his deal is." Adrian said. "He said that you may be the greatest wizard of all."

"He's nuts." was all that Izzy offered in response. "I mean, who just destroys a child's parents and chases him all over the country?" Seeing that Adrian had nothing to say, he continued. "As soon as I get enough money, I'm outta here."

"You see, there's a problem with that."

"What is it?" Izzy sighed.

"Well…the king cursed you."

"What!? How? What's the curse!?" Izzy yelled.

"You can't leave the country by any means whatsoever. You can't run out or fly out." Adrian explained.

"So, I'm stuck here then?"

"Yeah." Adrian said with a nod.

"Why does he think I might be the greatest?"

"Well for one thing, you got a golden wand instead of a wind element wand and you have super speed. Only the best wizards have that kind of power." Adrian replied.

"So? I'm sure the king must have super speed as well." Izzy said. Adrian nodded.

"He does, but the wand is what bothers him." Izzy looked slightly hopeful.

"So he still has my wand?"

"Yeah. But he wouldn't let anybody go near it. Not even the wand's true owner."

"I'm not surprised. Why doesn't he just use it then?" Izzy asked. Adrian shook his head and laughed.

"You and I both know that only the wand's true owner can wield it."

"If I'm a so-called 'threat' to his monarchy, why doesn't he just come here and kill me? He's certainly got the power."

"He's not stupid enough to destroy the wand when he can exploit its power." Adrian answered. Izzy gave a grin at that.

"So he does want me to join him. Typical."

"Yeah. Wanna join?" Adrian joked. They both laughed.

"Hell no. You wanna help me reclaim my wand?" Adrian walked up to Izzy.

"I'd go with you to the ends of the earth, but I can't betray my king." He was now a little closer than Izzy wanted. The taller brunet started to blush furiously.

"W-Well if you can't, then we have nothing more to discuss." Izzy turned and was about to leave.

"Izzy wait." Adrian held out his hand and grabbed Izzy's arm. The taller boy turned around. "Look. The king is starting to get impatient. He's coming." Izzy gasped.

"What? When?"

"I don't know, but he said he'll strike before the end of the summer."

'So that explains the feeling I got when I came to this town.' Izzy thought.

"What'll you do?" Adrian asked, breaking him out of his reverie.

"I don't know. I'll train and hope for the best." Izzy looked at his watch. "I've gotta go. It was nice to see you again, although the next time we meet, we'll probably be enemies." Without waiting for a response, he jumped down and ran off.

'Bye. I hope that we never have to fight.' Adrian thought before he flew off.

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'I can't believe this is happening. I'll have to make my stand.' Izzy thought as he ran. 'I have to start training immediately, but how can I without letting them know of the danger that's coming?' He looked at his watch.

'Crap! It's five to two. I gotta get back.' He used Rocket Accel to reach the Rockets' house just as everybody was getting into Ray's car.

"You made it." Ray said.

"Yeah…" Izzy panted as he climbed in the set of seats behind the middle set of seats. Tito was in the front passenger seat, Reggie & Sam were in the middle set, and in order from left to right, Izzy, Otto, and Twister sat in the third set.

The old-looking green car left the cul-de-sac and drove off to the airport.

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A/N:

If you are reading this, then congratulations! You've officially got through the first half of the fic! After this chapter, things are gonna get interesting. We're talking longer chapters (with only one exception), comedy, and plenty of action! So, what's going to happen next for our heroes? Find out on Friday's edition of The Runaway!