Well, this chapter is massive, even for me. It has literally taken up every spare moment of my time lately, since I knew that some readers would be crazy enough to mob my house or something to get me to finish this….no, wait, none of you know where I live. I forgot about that. Hmm, posting on the 'net has its advantages….
I'd like to thank everybody who's stuck with me through this mess. Sadly, the story's drawing to a close, and blah blah blah. I'll spare you the usual speech about 'it's been fun' and 'all good things must end', 'cause we already know all about that shmosh anyway.
My letter-opening section now has a name! Henceforth, it shall be known as 'Going Postal'. I'll be updating the earlier chapters with this improvement, as well. Some of you (actually, only one of you, but who's counting?) complained last chapter about the length of Going Postal, and I sympathize. I know it's frustrating for you to wait so long for the next chapter, only to find out that half of it isn't even the chapter at all—and I admit I went a bit too crazy last time, what with the role-playing and everything. So I'll try to make that section bit smaller in proportion to the chapter itself in the future.
The earlier chapters will be receiving various makeovers in the future when I get around to doing them. So far, I've already re-posted Chapter Five (Food Chain) with more scenes and other fun stuffs. Check it out if you want.
Due to popular request, there shall be various guest appearances in this chapter. Bet that gets you all excited, doesn't it? [smiles]
In the near future, there will be a new story whose events coincide with this one, and will tell the trials and tribulations of the SEGA characters in greater detail. Keep an eye out for it.
Oh, and here's a random question for you to ponder deeply: I mean what I mean, but if I don't know what I mean, how can you mean what I mean, y'know what I mean?
* * * * * Chapter XIII World Tour, Part One * * * * *Two eyes.
Yellow eyes.
Fiendish. Menacing. Evil in its basest form. Misery and other nasty stuff, condensed and packed so tight that it could easily explode at a second's notice. That, was the essence of his character.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. But if that was true, he thought, then it would explain why nobody has ever managed to make complete eye contact with him before. His face was hidden in shadows, it's native element, where he always felt most comfortable—and where people didn't go into seizures whenever they saw his face.
Because yes, it is true, he really WAS that ugly.
And yes, it is true, he DID have the guts to admit it. Unlike other people he knew.
He turned around, robe billowing slightly for effect. He loved his robe. It made him feel so evil and classy, like Darth Vader. In fact, the only things he considered truly precious to him in his greedy, selfish, black pit of a heart were his hat, his robe, and his spells.
Yes. His spells…his pride and joy. The one thing that set him apart from the rest of the insects in this pitiful little world. The characteristic that made him…him.
"Hey, BM!" A cheerful, brainless voice that reminded him closely of an idiot surfer he'd met once, drifted over. "Look, look! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!"
The speaker was clad in more metal than a robot, waving a sword wildly about with the hand he was using to get BM's attention. "Hey, BM! Over here!" He yipped, more excited than a 10-year-old on a sugar high.
"I see you already, you idiot." BM snapped. "And what are you talking about? What hat?"
The armored man paused his waving, lowered his arms, and cluelessly scratched his bushy red hair. "Huh?"
"The hat! The one you just told me about! Where is i….oh, never mind." The black magician finally gave up, turning back to his walking after giving the man a look of disgust and deepest loathing.
BM, also known as Black Mage, hated idiots. In fact, he hated a lot of things. He hated the fact that he wasn't ruler of Earth by now. He hated the three other morons that had somehow conned him into traveling with them. He hated himself for being careless enough to get conned. He hated every single city villager he passed by, because they always said the same sentences to you, no matter how many times you spoke to them.
He also hated the sky, because the sun never, EVER set--until he and the group checked into an Inn, that is. This was a fact he found extremely unsettling, of course, but didn't really care enough to do anything about.
He also hated the forest imp they'd run into several miles back, because it had dropped several valuable spell components—which of course had been confiscated along with all the other stuff the enemy had dropped for unknown reasons, by the party's contractual 'leader'.
He sent glares of pure hatred at this leader now. Everyone called him Thief, because that was what the guy was—a thief. Pickpocket, robber, burglar, and a hundred other words could have also been used, he supposed, but somehow 'Thief' seemed to fit the man best.
He was of Elven race—and still wore Elven-style clothing, so this fact was pretty damn obvious. Cerulean hair tousled above a well-tanned face, long slender ears nearly hidden within their locks. He wore plain brown leather for his armor, because he was so fast that it didn't matter what his defense was like; the enemy would still miss him, every time.
And Black Mage admittedly held a sort of begrudging respect for this Thief, because the guy was good at what he did.
REAL good.
Hell, Thief could steal the actual clothes off of any man or woman without him or her noticing—he was just THAT good.
Hmmm…steal the clothes off of a woman….Black Mage grinned sinisterly, although the expression was completely hidden. Maybe, if he paid Thief enough, then the guy could lend some of his…services. For it was true that one female had captivated BM's heart, and he certainly wouldn't mind if Thief did that to her….
"Excuse me, but I do believe I just heard some profitable thoughts coming from this direction." It was Thief, flashing has charming award-winning smile that he always used to persuade anyone into buying anything from him. The guy was a real smooth-talker, better than a lawyer or even a car salesman. His eyes never revealed anything, always darting from place to place unless he wanted someone to think he was telling the truth. In those cases, he stared a person straight into the eyes, like he did now. "Please let me remind you that I would be most happy to perform any menial tasks that require doing, if there is some sort of…..shall we say…..'compensation' for the done deed."
Black Mage gave a noncommittal grunt that didn't phase Thief in the least. The Elf was far too confident and clever for that. He gave another smile full to bursting with good-natured charm. "Perhaps you would like a particular item to be….obtained?" He made a show of looking like he was thinking hard. "I could probably be able to find some…..pre-used clothing for you."
Behind them, the red-armored redhead blinked in confusion. "Huh? Why would you need more clothes, BM? Did you run out of robes or something?"
Black Mage clenched his fists and eyes shut so tight it hurt. Must…keep…control…must…not…kill…morons…must…use…for…ulterior…motives…
"I could probably find some type of garments for you." Thief assured him. "Such as…oh, I don't know…women's clothing?"
Black Mage stopped walking and turned to glare fully at his companion. "Now, cut that out!"
"Perhaps something more specific….maybe long hooded robes with red trim?"
"Stop it!"
"Robes belonging to a specific type of person, like, say, a Wizard of the Healing Arts?"
"I swear to Khaos, that if you utter one more word I will go STAB-CRAZY with my ever lovin' KNIFE in your BACK! GOT IT?"
"A wizard such as, our off-and-on traveling companion White Mage, perhaps?"
"RIGHT! That does it!" BM roared, reaching into his pocket to pull out—
--nothing. His fist closed on empty air.
"Lost something?" Thief grinned, holding up a long, slender dagger with a well-kept blade. "Quite good taste in weaponry, if I do say so myself, although I would prefer something with a little more weight to it—"
"Give. It. Back." BM snarled, his patience running on nothing more than mere fumes. "NOW."
"—but I suppose that, if given enough time, one may get used to such a design--"
"FINE!! EAT ELECTRIC DEATH, YOU BASTARD!"
A moment of charging, as BM spoke unholy incantations, summoning forth all that is nasty and bad from the fiery depths of Hades itself. His eyes opened to reveal pupils wreathed in flame.
"BOLT 3!!"
A massive strike of electricity perfectly nailed the spot where Thief stood—
--except that the elf wasn't there, but instead was in front of the red-armored man that had spoken earlier, twirling his sword around playfully. "Don't mind if I borrow this a sec, do you Fighter? I'll be quick." Before an objection could be made, he was gone again, running too fast to be seen.
"OW!" Black Mage grunted as something cold, hard and flat collided with the back of his skull, throwing him to the ground. Thief stood triumphantly above him, Fighter's sword still cocked in the position where he'd swung it. "There we go." The Elf Prince snickered. "Come now, Black Mage, surely you haven't forgotten our contract? Article III, Paragraph XII clearly states that you are not to, under any circumstances, attack me. Unless of course, I'm being possessed, in which case you may only attack hard enough to free my mind, and not to maim or injure my person."
Black Mage let out a guttural growl, gloved fists clenching.
"HEY! What happened to my sword?" Fighter yelped, finally noticing that his beloved weapon was missing. He looked up at the other two, and his eyes widened in excitement. "Ooooh, Thief! Where'd you get that cool-lookin' blade from?" He asked while running over. "Cool, it looks just like mine does!"
"It is yours, IDIOT!" BM roared as he sat up, dusting dirt and grit from his robes. "Thief, stop that mind-reading psycho crap. I've had just about enough of it. Fighter, just stop. Period. Got it?"
"Er, nope." Fighter grinned, in a confused sort of way. "You kind of lost me at the 'mind-reading' part."
Thankfully, Fighter was saved from a rather messy death by the party's fourth member, clad in crimson robes and a long red fedora. A white feather stuck out of the fedora's brim, matching the snowy long hair that flowed down from underneath it. The eyes revealed under the brim were crafty, carefully viewing everything as if to record each tiny detail within. "Will you three hurry up?!" He demanded. "How will we ever get the sub-quest EXP at this rate??"
Black Mage's eyes glittered with malice. "Why don't you just take your EXP, and shove it up--"
"An excellent idea, Black Mage!" Thief interrupted. "We'll get going right now, and no more breaks until we get this job done and are paid for it! Come on, up you go!" And with that, the elf nearly dislocated BM's shoulders while roughly hauling him to his feet.
People miles away could hear the stream of loud obscenities the black magician employed at that moment.
* * * * *
Knowledge is Power (The Yellow World)Part One
* * * * *
Kapi was filled with a brief tingling, hazy sensation as she entered the portal and was immersed in intense golden light. A wave of dizziness overcame her, and suddenly her insides flip-flopped as she found herself flying forwards with no way to stop.
She had only half a second to see the ground speeding towards her before she hit it face first, splattering dirt and mud all across her features. She sat up, gagging and coughing up some of the brown slime that had entered her mouth. "Ow," She whined when she was able to speak again, glaring angrily up at the reddish portal that had opened in midair. Stupid thing had dumped her out of it while it was facing downwards.
The portal closed with a definitive whoosh of air. She stood up and futilely tried to wipe the mud off, finally giving up and looking around at her environment.
It was a brightly lit forest, filled with various indigenous trees that stood tall above her, their arms curving upwards to form an almost interlocking ceiling of branches and leaves. She shaded her eyes with one arm and continued to look up. It seemed to be around midday, judging by what she could see of the sun's high position through the canopy above her.
Any further thinking on her part was suddenly interrupted when a shout (a human shout, she noticed) came from behind her. "Oh wow, Red! Look at that!"
She swerved around to size up her attacker and was startled to see two young kids of around 11 years old staring excitedly at her. One wore a red-and-white baseball cap adorned with some logo Kapi was unfamiliar with over a mess of black hair; he wore lime-green fingerless gloves, blue jeans, and a white/blue jacket over a jet black T-shirt. The other was a slightly taller girl with spiky red hair that had been done up into a single bunch near the back. Black suspenders were strapped snugly over her yellow sleeveless shirt and held up her short jeans perfectly, showing off her slender legs.
She blinked at them. What an odd couple they were.
"Quick, Red! What does Dexter know about it?" The red-haired girl exclaimed, tapping the boy's shoulder excitedly. "Maybe it's a new species!"
The boy arched an eyebrow and brought out a palm-sized microcomputer, painted a flaring fire truck red. "Misty, please don't call me that!" He pleaded; opening the computer like one would a book. "How many times do I have to ask you before you use my real name?" He pointed the head of the computer at Kapi before any more could be said on the matter. "Dex, identify."
To Kapi's astonishment, the computer made several beeping noises before it actually spoke. "No known data found on subject. 98.01% chance of new species discovery."
"I knew it!" Misty clapped her hands gleefully. "Let me catch it, Red! Please?"
"No way!" 'Red' laughed, unclipping a colored ball from a belt around his waist. "This one's mine!"
Kapi sweat-dropped, wondering what the heck these two were babbling about. The ball that Red held was metallic; painted crimson on one half and white on the other. On one side, in the middle of where the two colors met, was a single button. Red pressed this button as he hurled the ball in her direction with a yell. "Pokèball go!"
The ball hurtled towards her, slowly opening to reveal a blinding white light. Kapi's spear was off her back and in her hands in one fluid motion. Without so much as a blink of hesitation she swung it like a baseball bat, slapping the ball out of the air before it even got near her.
Misty snorted with laughter and Red growled, seething as the ball bounced once on the ground and vanished into the woods without a trace. "Tough luck Red. This one carries a weapon, like a Farfetch'd."
"Dangit! I paid a fortune for that Great Ball!" Red tantrumed, nearly hopping with rage. "Fine! We'll do this the hard way! Pikachu, SIC 'ER!"
Kapi's eyes widened slightly. Pikachu…..why does that name sound so familiar?
A yellow mouse bounded forward from where it had been hidden behind Red's shoes, electricity cracking from its cheeks. Kapi's eyes widened even more as she saw a faint flicker of purplish light flash from its dark eyes.
* * * * *
"Pikachu?" Kapi blinked, raising one eyebrow in interest."Who's that?"
"Oh, we never told you about him?" Mario glanced up, surprised. "He's a large, yellow mouse that can shoot electricity from two red pouches in his cheeks."
"He's part of the species Pokèmon, and wound up in Dreamland by sleeping." Kirby added. "He can't speak English; the only thing he can say is his name, although I can still understand him 'cause I'm so familiar with his kind."
Kapi was genuinely curious by now, turning to fully face the two. "Really? What happened to him?"
Mario frowned, as if remembering something unpleasant. "He got possessed by Dark Matter before we got here." The plumber replied shortly, waving a hand in the direction of the tunnel. "Now he's just like you were before we freed you."
* * * * *
Kapi blinked wordlessly as the memory washed over her. So THIS was the Pikachu they'd been talking about.
The purplish light flashed from Pikachu's eyes again, and Kapi frowned. He must still be under Dark Matter's control, she realized. Pikachu grinned evilly at her, rubbing its cheeks as voltage began building within them. She narrowed her eyes. But, why did Dark Matter make it come back here?
Before she could think of an answer, Pikachu sent a blazing yellow arc of electricity in her direction. "Pika-CHUU!"
Kapi yelped and threw all of her weight into a frantic dodge off to the side. The bolt missed her by inches, sizzling the air near her scales as it passed. "Hey, knock it off!" She finally growled, struggling back to her feet again.
Both Misty and Red froze when they heard her speak. "Misty!" Red gasped. "Did you, uh, just hear the same thing I did?"
She nodded. "Y-yeah. It-t talked, and I-I understood what it said!"
Red's face suddenly lit up like a sunbeam. "I've never heard of a Pokèmon that could speak human languages, before! This is DEFINITELY a new species!" He cheered, excitement shining in his pupils. "I'm gonna catch it for sure, now!"
"What are you talking about?!" Kapi exclaimed, waving her spear in the air menacingly to ward off another attempt at attack. "I have no idea what you mean by 'Pokèmon', but I know I'm not one of them! My name is Kapi, and I'm a Koopa from the Mushroom Kingdom!"
Misty and Red looked puzzled.
"Mushroom Kingdom?" Red blinked, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully before shaking his head. "Never heard of it."
"Sounds made-up if you ask me." Misty agreed, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I think you're just trying to get out of being caught."
Pikachu, however, had an entirely different reaction. His eyes flared as the Dark Matter possessing him recognized that name. It had been to the Mushroom Kingdom before. It peered closer at Kapi. In fact, she seemed rather familiar…..
* * * * *
"Stay BACK, DAMNIT!" Kapi roared, whirling in a circle as she brought her fists to bare against the attackers that had surrounded her. Her spear lay abandoned and useless beyond them, leaving her unarmed save for her limbs and strength. "I'm warning you!" She growled, struggling to swallow her fear. "D-don't you touch me!"
Karl grinned lifelessly from within the attackers' ranks, purplish light flashing from his eyes. "Oh come on, Kapi. It's not that bad once you get used to it. It won't hurt, we promise."
"NO!" Kapi screamed, clutching the sides of her head. "NO! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, DAMN YOU!"
The friendliness left Karl's voice. "It's over, Kapi. You'll join us. Now."
Kapi screamed long and loud, as she felt the entirely alien presence of Dark Matter fill her, blocking out her thoughts, suppressing her free will, tossing her into black unconsciousness…..
* * * * *
Pikachu snapped out of the memory and stumbled back a couple steps. HER! The one who'd escaped it in Mushroom Kingdom with the help of that miserable pink Dreamlander! It's surprise turned to rage in a microsecond. It growled. Very loudly. "Piiiiikaaaa….."
Red and Misty turned their attention to the Pokèmon in front of them, which was practically frothing at the mouth with rabid fury.
"Uh, Pikachu? Are you okay?" Red asked out of concern for his miniscule friend. "Is something wrong?"
Pikachu didn't reply, but suddenly leaped with a frightful roar at Kapi, aiming for her throat. "…..CHUUU!"
Dark Matter remembers me! The she-Koopa thought with distain, blocking the wild charge with a low swipe of her spear and leaping backwards to put some room between them. Microseconds later an arc of electricity turned her previous location to cinders. Pikachu snarled, readying another bolt.
By now, Red was becoming frantic. "Pikachu! What are you doing?!" He yelled, shocked at his pet's behavior.
Misty was more calm about the situation. "Hey Ash, it's okay." She understood, turning to reassure her friend. "He's just helping us catch this whatever-it-is. Obviously, we've got to tire it out before it'll let itself be caught!"
He sideyed her, distracted for a moment by her sentence. "That's tru--hey, waitaminute! You used my real name!"
She blinked at him in confusion, then frowned, realizing her error. "Well, don't expect me to make a habit out of it," She grumbled as she unhooked one of her own Pokèballs from her jeans belt. She tossed it onto the battlefield with a throw that would have made a pitcher weep. "Staryu, I CHOOSE YOU!"
Out of the ball burst a large brown starfish, with a gleaming red jewel in its middle that was surrounded by yellow protective plating. Despite not having a visible mouth, it let out a wild cheer as it turned to Misty for instructions. "Hiyah!"
Misty pointed at Kapi, who was barely avoiding being fried by repeated electric discharges while trying to keep an eye on her, Ash, and Pikachu at the same time. "Staryu, use your Special Beam Cannon to slow it down!"
Ash did a double take. "Huh? Special Beam WHAT?!"
Misty smiled mysteriously. "It's a new technique I taught her, Red. Just chill out." She crossed her arms and leaned against a tree to watch as Staryu lifted up into the air, its jewel glowing ominously.
Across the clearing, Kapi grimaced. She'd been backed up against a tree by Pikachu's volts as she desperately tried to block them with her non-conductive wood spear. "Oh man, not good…"
Finally, Kapi made the mistake of touching her spear's pointed, metal head during one of Pikachu's attacks. Although the wooden length of the spear did not conduct electricity, the head sure did. Kapi got quite a literal shock as the spear basically exploded out of her hand with a sharp crackle.
"Eee-YOW!" She yelped, hopping from foot to foot and cradling her badly-burnt hand as tears sprang to her eyes. "Argh! Owowowowow!" The hand was still smoking as Kapi watched, every nerve of it not burned to nothing sending her all the pain signals they could muster.
"Yahay…"
She glanced up, pained tears blurring her vision. "What in the world…?"
"Hahay…"
The Staryu, floating next to Pikachu five feet away, was glowing blindingly bright as massive waves of energy built up within its jewel. Two of its arms were pressed to the jewel tightly, shining with a purple, electric light. It suddenly curled up, pointing all its arms at her before giving a massive spasm outward.
"HAH!"
A massive, purple, streaming jet of coiled energy blazed forth from the jewel, aimed directly at Kapi. Her eyes widened.
"Oh, shi--"
The beam collided into her abdomen with the speed of a supersonic jet, punching her clear through the tree trunk behind her without even slowing down. She screamed long and loud, feeling her unprotected stomach being burnt worse than her hand as the beam finally sizzled out seconds later, the force of it sending her soaring away into the forest.
Back in the small clearing, Ash's jaw had become unhinged as he watched Kapi vanish in-between the trees. Slowly he turned to face the smugly grinning Misty. "You have GOT to tell me how you taught Staryu that."
Misty arched an eyebrow, grin never waning. "Later. C'mon, lets go after that Kapi Pokèmon before it gets away!" As she spoke, Pikachu glanced at Staryu and nodded once in thanks, before bounding ahead after the airborne Koopa.
"Hey!" Ash yelled after the Pokèmon, running to catch up. "Wait for me, Pikachu!"
Misty walked over to Staryu and smiled, patting it affectionately. "Good job! C'mon, let's go after them!"
"Hiyah!" Staryu agreed, floating after her as she followed her two companions.
* * * * *
A muted rumble of thunder vibrated the walls, and the distant pattering of raindrops beat a steady rhythm on the roof. He paid it no mind; weather couldn't affect him, anyway. He was invincible, and untouchable. And he knew it.
"Is everything in place?" He asked, folding his suit-covered arms as his piercing gaze raked across those present at the long conference table. One of them swallowed nervously and spoke.
"Y-yes, sir. Th-the troops-s are in p-position now, s-sir."
He grinned, coldly and maliciously, an expression devoid of warmth or emotion. "Excellent. All is going according to plan, then." He paused, fiery eyes fixing on another individual seated at the table's far end, covered in shadows like he was. He kept the room dimly lit on purpose, to keep any of his subordinates from seeing him and therefore guessing his identity. It was a good advantage in his line of work. "How long will you need to prepare?" He asked of the second mystery person.
Two eyes opened to stare back at him, their pupils glowing an eerie violet in the shadowed darkness. "Three hours," A solemn reply drifted up from the abyss, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. "That is all."
He snapped his fingers. "Done. I trust you shall take care of any resistance you encounter?"
The pupils didn't reply, their gaze telling him all the answer he needed. His grin turned sinister. "Good. Go do whatever you have to do; we will provide backup support."
Again, the pupils were silent. Without any sign of farewell, they blinked out of existence, their owner having vanished from the room. More than one of those present shivered uncontrollably at the display, and he took a moment to regard them. This mission would be one of their most important in the history of his organization. They could not afford to fail this time.
He let out a quiet chuckle of amusement and rare delight. They would not fail. Not with the help he now had. The chuckle grew louder, becoming an insane, crazed laugh that made the cowering visitors want to run for the nearest exit. But they didn't. They couldn't. Not if they knew what was good for them.
Outside, stormclouds covered the sun.
* * * * *
Kapi took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and glared at the stream for the fifth time.
She'd had a rough landing…'rough' being an understatement…but she'd lived through it. After resting a couple minutes to regain her strength, she could hear Pikachu running through the woods after her, and had opted to start moving again.
It was agony for her. Her whole body was bruised and sore from her headlong flight and subsequent crash landing. Her left hand was completely unusable after being burned from her spear's mini-explosion, and she'd had a difficult time drawing in a full breath. With every step, fiery spikes of pain had lanced through her, and her legs begged her to stop.
But she could not. She would not.
A twig snapped somewhere in the distance behind her. She jumped a little, then forced herself to calm down, telling herself it was just a squirrel or something.
She couldn't rest while she was still being hunted.
It was an interesting part of the Koopa species' biological makeup-their abnormal ability to produce adrenaline at an increased rate for much greater periods of time than other animals, thereby allowing them to fight or flee long after anyone else would have collapsed from exhaustion. Kapi's adrenaline was still running high from her instinct-spawned battle with Pikachu, thus giving her the energy to continue on even while her limbs screamed for rest.
She'd struggled through what she thought was every possible obstacle the forest could throw at her; from tangled, nearly impassable sections of brush, to sharp branches that tore at her hide as she passed, to thorny vines that occupied every other spot where she walked, to nearly-hidden tree roots that tripped her up and sent her sprawling into a massive bunch of poison ivy. Eventually she'd reached a respite in the endless trees, and had dared to think she had finally arrived at the forest's edge. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, however, that she looked down and was greeted by this damned stream.
She gave it a once-over. On the stream's opposite bank stood more of this blasted never-ending forest. The water was unpolluted and clean. Though wide, it was not deep, and the current seemed calm enough for her to swim. Deciding she stood better chances in the water than on land at the moment, she took a massive breath in and dived under the surface.
Her system registered shock the moment her skin touched the clear liquid, almost causing her to release her breath in a huge bubble. COLD! Cold, cold, cold, cold! The water was freezing! She shivered wildly, struggling to move her numbing limbs in swimming motions. As a Koopa, she was a bonafide natural at swimming; her ancestors were as much at home in the water as she was on land. Though the original Koopas had long since evolved from marine life forms to air-breathing, warm-blooded bipeds, the species was still very much adept at a marine lifestyle.
And so it was that after a few moments Kapi's body temperature began to adjust to that of the water, leaving her feeling quite comfortable in its depths. She swam leisurely, only occasionally coming up for a breath of air as she traversed the small channel and climbed out onto its opposite bank. She collapsed on the sandy soil, muscles aching. The adrenaline that had fueled her before was now draining from her body as her sense of immediate danger vanished, leaving a tired weariness in its place.
"No," She gasped, muscles trembling as she tried to push herself up to her feet. "I can't rest…..not yet…..gotta…..gotta go on….."
"Look, Misty! There she is!"
Kapi sighed and collapsed, knowing she could fight no longer. She was unable to stop the red-and-white ball that hurtled towards her, or the bright light that erupted from it and engulfed her…..
* * * * *
Suddenly Kapi was aware of her surroundings again. Those surroundings, however, were far different from those she'd seen a second ago. She blinked, completely disoriented and more than a little nauseous. She didn't even notice the fact that she'd been mysteriously healed, or that her strength had returned in full; she was too busy trying to keep her lunch down to care. Staggering to one side, she gasped and took several deep breaths to ease her upset stomach. Finally the abdominal cramps faded, and she stood up.
"Alright, Kapi! Let's see what you can do!"
The Koopa in question turned around to face Red, expression one giant frown. "What? What are you talking about?!" She waved her arms wildly. "What happened?! Where am I?!?"
"Oh my gosh, she CAN speak English!"
Kapi rotated 180 degrees in the direction of the new voice. There stood a boy around as old as Ash, but wearing a navy blue turtleneck and slacks. He was brushing several strands of spiky brown hair out of his eyes, which were currently bugged out in disbelief. In front of him stood a large red dragon, with massive wings and a tail tipped by a plume of flame. Two horns on its oblong skull gleamed in the red light as it spouted a short burst of fire into the air from its mouth. Its eyes fixed on her, their intent obvious. She slowly closed her open jaw and reached for her spear.
Her hand closed on empty air. "Hey!" She yelped suddenly, fearful without her weapon. "Where's my spear?!"
"Oh, that!" Ash tossed the familiar staff to her. "I was carrying it for ya, sorry."
Relief washed through her as her hands gripped the wood like an old friend. "That's okay. But could someone please tell me what's going on?"
"You're gonna fight my Charizard." The blue turtle-necked kid replied with a sneer, his confidence replenished after seeing a glimpse of her fear. "Good luck, 'cause you'll be barbequed to a crisp if he doesn't think you're challenging enough." The dragon roared an affirmative, agreeing with this statement.
Kapi put on a blank, emotionless expression, one she always wore whenever she was on the field. Great, just great. "Battle to the death?" She asked grimly. The boy shook his head.
"Of course not! You guys fight until one of you gets knocked out." He rolled his eyes contemptuously. "Geez, for a Pokèmon that can talk to humans, you're not very smart, are you?"
She arched an eyebrow, carefully measuring up her opponent. "Hey, I'm new at this. Give me a break."
The Charizard snorted out a smoke ring at her. It obviously thought this fight would be no contest. Surely its master knew better than to send him up against such a small opponent! Its tail swiped around and Kapi jumped over it, smacking his flank with the broad side of her spear's head. It bared its many sharp teeth at her, snarling. She just gave him a cold, calculating smile in return.
Faster than Kapi could track with her eyes, the Charizard's claws lashed out and caught her around the neck. Her eyes widened in surprise, having not expected the large creature to be so fast. Fortunately for her, something odd happened at that moment.
A warm, tingling sensation began at the base of her spine, curling up her backside and spreading through her shell. The feeling swirled up her neck and pounded through her skull, leaping over her shoulders and crawling up her arms until it coalesced at her fingertips. She gasped at the alien sensation, dropping to one knee in surprise as the brown-haired boy laughed smugly and the Charizard growled in triumph. "What's the matter? Feeling a little sick?" The boy taunted, unaware of the change overcoming her.
Kapi barely heard him. Pressure was building within her hands, which were getting uncomfortably hot. The tingling sensation was getting stronger; she could feel her spear growing warm under her fingers…..
* * * * *
He flew past a flock of migrating ducks, drifting with the wind and casually wondering when he should start his planned agenda. It wasn't like he was any real hurry—he had all the time in the world, after all.
So absorbed in his thoughts was he, that he began to pay less attention to his surroundings. It was a mistake he discovered all too well as he was barraged by a massive onslaught of power that hadn't existed moments before—over his mental connection to the magical plane, it seemed like an atomic explosion. Huge. Massive. So potent, in fact, that the shockwaves of it alone nearly threw him out of the air.
What in blazes--?! His thoughts roared, confused as he sensed more than felt the massive energy spike. He hadn't been aware of such a surge of power since ages ago, when he met the Other, a being even more powerful than himself. His eyes narrowed at the implications of this thought. No, this energy was not the Other's, its signature was too different—too erratic. But one thing was certain: whoever it belonged to, it was too powerful to ignore.
Something big was about to happen. He began to go into a teleport, but found he couldn't—the massive energy waves were blocking him somehow. He cursed. Seems he'd have to get there the 'old fashioned' way, then.
Looking around at his fantastic high-altitude view of the countryside, he finally picked out an area the waves seemed to be coming from and changed direction to take him there. Willing himself to go faster, he hoped against hope that he wouldn't arrive too late to see the fireworks.
* * * * *
The turtleneck-wearing boy stopped speaking when he noticed that Kapi's spear, as well as her hands, was starting to glow a cold blue. "Huh??" He exclaimed. "What's going on?!"
The Charizard holding her 'round the neck roared in sudden pain and released her, its hands burnt and smoking. Alarm began to sweep through it as it stumbled backwards, waving its hands around frantically to cool them off. This opponent was a water type!
With Pokèmon, there is usually an intricate relationship between which element a creature is affiliated with, and how much damage they can do to their enemy. If, such as in this case, two opposing elements are pitted against one another, one element will be extremely effective…..while the other will do little to no damage at all.
Charizard crouched into a defensive posture, actually beginning to become afraid. Normally he'd win this match hands-down, but if she was so effective against him, he wasn't sure…..
Something new was flowing through Kapi, welling up from deep inside, pushing outward, unstoppable, uncontrollable, channeling itself through her limbs and taking shape in her hands, pumping into her spear; she yelled and tried to let go of her weapon, but found she couldn't. The pressure was immense now, and she felt like her skin would burst. The glow around her hands and spear grew brighter and brighter, blocking out everything in front of her, filling her vision. The power actually lifted her into the air a couple feet, buoying her up on the mysterious blue light. She gasped and feebly struggled, trying to break the hold it had over her, controlling her limbs-
Then, mercifully, it stopped. The light slowly faded and set Kapi back down onto the ground, where she dropped to one knee again. Nothing happened for half a second more, and Kapi dared to believe that whatever had happened to her was over.
Then the light coalesced into a massive orb at the head of her spear. Cool liquid exploded out of the weapon's arrow-shaped head; a massive, unending wall of pressurized water, slamming into Charizard and throwing it head-over-heels into a tree with a surprised roar and a fierce cloud of steam. On the other end of the wave, a completely surprised Kapi was blown backwards several meters by the recoil, where she hit the ground like a bag of bricks and lay unmoving, completely spent. The water mysteriously gushing out of her spear slowly trickled to a stop, until there was nothing more than a few drops glistening on its surface.
* * * * *
He frowned, now more confused than ever. His connection to the magic plane had just reported a drastic drop in the energy signature. However, the energy had almost immediately began building again, from what he could tell, and was slowly gaining strength at a less rapid rate than before. Puzzled, he continued his flight. Perhaps he'd find the answers to his questions when he arrived at the problem's source…
* * * * *
Silence declared complete dominion over the area. No one moved or spoke, all staring in quiet shock at the two combatanants who had been locked in fierce battle a second ago. Finally Kapi lifted a weak hand, to confirm that she was tired but all right. Ash's slack-jawed expression slowly turned to one of surprised delight. "I won….." He murmured, eyes growing brighter as the implications of what just happened coursed through him. "I won!"
He leaped into the air, whooping gleefully. "I DID IT! I DID IT! I WON! WHOO-HOO! HOORAY! AH HA HA!" Suddenly pausing, he sneered at the brown-haired, turtle-necked boy. "Tough luck, 'Blue'! Better luck next time!" He cackled, thumbing his nose in the boy's direction. "Whazzamatter? Big tough Charizard scared of a widdle biddy turdle?"
The boy named 'Blue' stood silent, fists clenched, face white. "What the heck WAS that?!" He yelped out at last, open shock written all over his expression. "That's not a Pokèmon Attack!"
"It is now!" Misty snickered from next to Ash, who had resumed leaping around in joy. "Kapi is a new species! We found her a couple days ago at Viridian Forest!"
Blue's shock turned to indignant fury. "You WHAAAT?!?" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Ash pointed a Pokèball in Kapi's direction and hit the button in its middle. The ball opened, its white light quickly scooping Kapi up and retreating her to its warm, comforting depths. For some reason, he couldn't stop laughing at Blue's expression. "C'mon Misty, let's go find someone more CHALLENGING to beat!" He guffawed, walking smugly away from his silent rival. Misty followed, grinning herself.
When they were out of earshot of Blue, Misty suddenly rounded on Ash, her smile gone. "All right, give her to me. Now."
Ash blinked, looking at her oddly. "What are you talking about?"
"Kapi, of course. She's a Water type; they're my specialty!"
Ash's eyes widened and he suddenly clenched Kapi's ball in both his fists protectively. "Uh-uh, forget it. She's mine; I caught her!"
"Hey, the only reason you caught her is because MY Staryu helped!" Misty replied, fury rising.
Ash cringed at her expression, knowing he'd regret what he was about to do; refuse her point-blank. Whenever Misty got mad, the result was always the stuff of legends for years afterwards. He knew this. But Kapi…..he liked her. A lot. Almost as much as Pikachu, who'd been strangely moody ever since he found out that he couldn't fight Kapi anymore because she'd been caught.
Deciding to try and buy himself some time, Ash glanced down at his best friend, who'd opted to stay out of the fight with Blue. "Hey, Pikachu! What do you think?"
The electric mouse glared angrily at Kapi's ball for a second, then shrugged carelessly. Ash's expression grew confused. "Pikachu? What's wrong with you? You're not like this normally…"
The Pokemon slowly rose his eyes to meet the human's. It saw endless feelings of love and companionship being radiated from this organism, and it knew that those feelings were reciprocated the same amount, if not more. Dark Matter could feel its hold on Pikachu relent a bit. The mouse smiled, and pointed at its master. "Pikapi!"
Ash smiled in relief, glad his friend seemed to have come back to himself. "All right, then."
"NOW JUST WAIT ONE SECOND! That doesn't prove anything!" Misty roared angrily, fists shaking at her sides. "Pikachu's YOURS, Red! Of COURSE he'd take your side! You always get the best Pokémon, it's not fair!"
"Hmmm. What we need is an impartial third party…" Ash replied thoughtfully. Pikachu's eyes lit up with an idea. He tugged on Ash's shirt to get his attention, then made a face with his eyes pressed out into a flat line, expression aloof. Looking at him, Ash was reminded by another of his long-time friends. "You're right, Pikachu! That's perfect!"
Misty arched an eyebrow. "Huh? What's perfect?"
Ash opened his mouth to explain, but was cut short as Kapi's ball began shaking ominously, a trail of water leaking from its edges. Misty and Ash's eyes widened. "Uh oh…" They murmured, mentally cringing for what they knew would come next.
KABOOM. The ball exploded as a geyser of water slammed out of it, tossing Kapi out and onto the grass and throwing Misty and Ash several feet into the air. "Yaaaaaaahhhh!" The former screamed as gravity reasserted its control over them
"Ow!" Kapi yelped as the Cerulean City Gym Trainer landed on top of her, knocking the breath from her lungs. A second later, Ash landed on top of Misty. Kapi's eyes bugged out from the sheer force of their combined weight. "GACK!"
"Uh, Ash, you're a nice guy and all, but would you mind GETTING OFF?!" Misty growled, squirming to get out from underneath him.
Kapi crawled out from under both humans and staggered upright, breathing heavily. "I…don't like it…in there." She finally gasped out, bent over with her hands on her knees. "Keep…that damn…ball…away from me."
Ash shrugged as he stood up and helped Misty to do the same. "Okay, if that's what you want. Pikachu doesn't like being inside Pokèballs, either."
At the mention of Pikachu's name, Kapi was reminded of Dark Matter's current hold on him. "Listen, I've got something important to tell you about your pet--" She began.
"Who? Pikachu?" Ash interrupted, grinning. "Oh, he's not my pet. We're more like best friends than anything else."
Kapi blinked. "Er…right. Well, anyway…..uh, how should I put this.....er, has he gone missing for any length of time in the past two days?"
Ash blinked, mimicking her. "Yeah, he has. Yesterday he fell asleep and wouldn't wake up, and after I went to get a doctor he…..vanished. We didn't find him until four hours later. But how'd you know about that?"
"It'll take too long to explain. I'll just say that a couple friends of mine encountered him at my home in the Mushroom Kingdom during that time. They told me that shortly after they'd found him, he'd been possessed by a--"
"PIKA--CHU!" Zap. A strong bolt of lightning suddenly rampaged through Kapi's body, setting her nerves on fire. She gasped, muscles twitching spasmodically as she instantly blacked out and collapsed.
* * * * *
He arched an eyebrow. The energy spike had just stopped abruptly, fading away to nothingness like it'd never been there at all. But in its wake he could detect something else, another power source close to where the first had been; it was extremely faint, and probably wouldn't have been noticed at all if he wasn't so close to it. He arched his other eyebrow. Huh, that was interesting. This new energy was totally different from the known energies that Pokèmon produced, not matching up with any of them. Somehow, he couldn't help but sense a familiarity about it, like he'd felt it before at some point…he searched his memories but came up with no explanation.
He was very close now: just a few more seconds, and hopefully all would become clear.
* * * * *
Ash's shocked stare slowly traveled from Kapi's smoking body to Pikachu, whose cheeks were still crackling with some of the electricity he'd just thrown. The Pokèmon glared at him as if to say, 'What?'
Then his eyes briefly flashed with a purplish light. Ash suddenly frowned, recalling the tail-end of Kapi's attempted warning: "…..he'd been possessed….." Now he understood why Pikachu had been acting weird. Everything suddenly seemed to fall into place.
"What are you!" Ash suddenly yelled at the yellow Pokèmon. "What have you done to Pikachu?! Tell me!"
"Red!" Misty chastised him softly, staring at Pikachu in much the same way Ash had. "Don't yell at him! He's just a....." She trailed off as Pikachu suddenly smiled in a very sinister, evil way. The purple light flared brighter, but he still remained silent.
"TELL ME!" Ash bellowed, completely disregarding Misty's words as his fists clenched tightly out of worry for what had happened to his friend. "DANG IT, TELL ME NOW!!"
The Pokèmon stared intently into Ash's eyes, and a voice spoke in the human's mind. It said two words, but those words were enough to chill Ash's blood and make his stomach drop out from underneath him.
"Dark Matter."
* * * * *
"I knew it." He muttered, hovering high above the scene and watching Ash's reaction. "That energy signature had to belong to Dark Matter." The speaker clenched a fist. He had encountered the evil purplish presence called Dark Matter before, long ago. The results had not been pleasant, but he had survived to talk about it nonetheless.
He would not let that parasite infect his world again. Sweeping downwards with a simple mental command, he decided it was time to force his hand…..
* * * * *
Generation Gap(The Light Blue World)
Part One
* * * * *
Dr. Light sighed, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "It's no use." He muttered. "I can't find him anywhere!" Turning away, he slowly shook his head. "Where could he have gone, anyway?"
"Hi, Dr. Light!"
The elderly scientist's thoughts stopped. For a moment, he thought his heart had, too. At the lab's door stood none other than the one person he'd been searching for, smiling nervously at him.
"Mega Man? Rock?" Dr. Light asked in stunned disbelief, and Mega winced. Dr. Light only used his real name in that tone when he had been seriously and almost terminally worried about him…
"Yah, that's me. Unless I'm greatly mistaken." Mega smiled. He took a furtive look around for Proto, but the red robot had disappeared as per usual. Finally shrugging, he stepped into the lab.
Dr. Light still seemed to be in a state of shock, because he hadn't made another sound or even moved from where he stood, in front of a conglomeration of complex equipment that covered one of the lab's walls.
The elderly scientist's mouth worked soundlessly for several seconds, before a light seemed to come on within his eyes. He rushed forward and suddenly grabbed Mega up into a bear hug, surprisingly strong considering Light's age. "I thought I'd lost you, boy!" The scientist gasped out, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.
Mega's surprised expression softened with compassion. "Aw, Dr. Light, I'm sorry. I know you must've been upset…"
Light suddenly pulled away, sniffing and wiping water from his eyes. "Yes, well, that's true, I was. We all were, Rock."
Mega looked down at his oversized feet sheepishly. "Yeah, I know…"
The conversation might have continued further, had a feminine screech not come reverberating down the hallway outside the lab. "WHAAAT??! HE'S HERE?! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"
Mega grimaced again. "Aw, crap."
Light let out a small chuckle. "Ah yes, that would be your sister who just spoke, I believe."
Mega whirled to face the door he'd come through and began to rapidly backpedal away from it. "Oh no, this is not good." He uttered, face devoid of any kind of mirth. "How'd she find out I was back?"
"I'M GONNA WRING HIS SCRAWY LITTLE NECK! HE'S GONNA BE A SODA CAN WHEN I'M DONE!" The feminine voice screamed.
Mega's back hit the lab's far wall. That scream had definitely been closer than the last one. In fact, if he listened hard enough, he could hear a faint clanging of metal feet against a metal floor as something came charging towards the lab. Mega looked around desperately. Nowhere to hide. Two flat lab tables lay in the middle of the room, clean and shining. Countless pieces of data equipment cluttered sets of stacked shelves on the right side, and most of the electronic junk one would expect to find in a lab was connected to the wall on his left. Behind him sat the supercomputer. The only entrance and exit to the lab was the door he'd come through; escape was not an option.
Mega's eyes stopped when they came to Dr. Light, who stood calmly next to him as if nothing had just happened. He wore a good-natured smile that caused the skin near the corners of his eyes to wrinkle up, and his eyebrows were slanted in an apologetic way. "Sorry Rock." He shook his head. "It looks like you'll have to face the music, so to speak."
Mega turned his terror-filled eyes back to the door as something forcibly hit it on the other side, slamming it open.
* * * * *
--------------------
Meanwhile, one hundred years in the future.....
--------------------
"Hey, X!" The crimson-armored reploid yelled from his spot up on the rafters, where he was casually leaning back on a cross-beam and working a crossword puzzle. "What's a four-letter word for 'something you shouldn't do with your dog'?"
Far below, one of several highly-advanced robots that were busy milling about and performing training exercises glanced up at the mention of his name, brushing a few strands of wavy black hair out of his eyes. He was short in comparison to those around him, barely topping five feet. What made him stand out even more, though, was the fact that he was dressed in nothing more than a plain T-shirt and blue jeans, a stark contrast to the battle armor that the others wore. "Cripes, Zero," He exclaimed in awe, "how'd you get all the way up there?"
The aforementioned reploid leaned over and shot his friend a crooked half-grin. "Why, I sprinkled some pixie dust on my noggin and thought happy things! Why do you ask?"
X unconsciously rolled his eyes, suddenly grinning himself. "Doctor Cain's been looking for you, ya know. Said something about tying you to a flagpole by your ponytail for spiking his coffee with Vodka yesterday."
Zero snorted. "Over my dead body," He replied, shooting a protective glance at the long golden river of hair that spilled down his back before returning to his puzzle. "Besides, the old coot deserved it. Been getting way too uptight lately, what with almost single-handedly administrating us Maverick Hunters like he is; it'd do him some good to relax. Do you know a word that means 'Dance of the Pineapple' and begins with the letter 'I'?"
"C'mon back down here, Zero."
The crimson Hunter pouted, gesturing towards the puzzle he held in his hand as he waved it in the air. "Aw, X! But I was just starting to make some headway on this thing!"
"I mean it." The tone in X's voice could not be argued with. Grumbling, Zero leaped straight off his perch in a move that would have been considered suicide by many. Down below, people glanced at the growing shadow on the ground, looked up, and started scrambling out of the way with various yells before Zero landed with a definite CLANG of metal on metal.
He grinned sinisterly as he slowly stood up to his full, towering height, staring at the number of young reploids that were openly gaping at him for having tried something so stupid. He suddenly roared and charged a few feet towards them, causing everyone in the group to scream and trip over themselves trying to run away. Unable to keep a straight face any longer, he doubled over laughing as X walked over, shaking his head.
"Zero, you're gonna give those newbies heart attacks if you keep that up."
"Ya can't have a heart attack if you're a machine, X!" Zero crowed, slapping his considerably shorter companion on the shoulder as they began to walk through the crowd towards the Training Room's exit.
X's blue eyes glared at him seriously. "You know what I mean."
Zero waved his companion's worries away like one would a pesky housefly. "Ah, they know I'm jes' kiddin'. So anyway, what's so important that you had to make me come down here? Alia turn her hair purple again?"
X's mood flip-flopped as his face screwed up with the effort of keeping in laughter. "No, although she is still mad about that. Right now I think she's plotting revenge against the mechanics that pulled it off."
"Yeah," Zero said wistfully as he clasped his hands behind his head, "there's nothing like a good-old shampoo swap to lighten up an April Fools' Day." He glanced at X out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't even think about it." X stated flatly with a smile, knowing what that look meant. "I keep all my shampoo locked up, night and day." He finally looked up at his friend's disappointed expression. "It pays to be paranoid when you live with a rowdy bunch like this."
"Indeed it does," Zero nodded, suddenly grabbing X in a headlock and drilling a knuckle into his unwisely bare skull, "especially if you're friends with me!"
"Wha--? Zero! Ow! Hey, that hurts! Knock it off!" X protested, struggling vainly to escape.
"Say 'I love Uncle Fester's shorts'!"
"No way!" X growled, still struggling.
Zero increased the pressure on X's head with his fist. "Say it!" he demanded.
"Ow! Okay, okay! I love Uncle Fester's shorts! There, you happy?!"
Zero finally released the hapless X with a triumphant grin. "I always knew you had bad taste X, but I didn't know it was that bad!" He cackled.
"Look, could we please get back to the point?" X grumbled, massaging his head. "The guys in Surveillance say they've found something interesting in Europe and want us up at the Command Center to be briefed. They wouldn't tell me what about, though."
"As usual." Zero grunted, face brightening. "Oh well, guess we'll just have to go find out!" Without warning he activated his teleporter, transforming into a red beam of light that shot up through the ceiling and disappeared. X jumped a little in surprise and looked around, suddenly alone. "I hate it when he does that." The reploid muttered before warping, himself.
* * * * *
"Uh, Roll, I can explain! Really!" Rock began hastily, hands held up in self defense.
The female robot in the doorway seemed not to have heard. Around Rock's height, Roll had the appearance of a little girl; but looks could be deceiving. She wore a simple red dress with white frilly lace underneath, and her hair was done up into a ponytail by a big green bow. Currently she was staring Armageddon at poor Rock, eyes aflame. "YOU!" She roared, blonde hair askew and breathing hard as she began to stomp forward. "YOU RECKLESS, INCOMPETENT, SELFISH LITTLE--"
A whistle.
Suddenly there was a fourth person in the room, standing defensively in front of Mega. "Whoa, sis, cool off." The red-armored, visored robot warned. An oblong oval shield was held ready in his right hand, while his left was formed into a Mega-Buster…just in case.
Behind him, Mega pretty much collapsed from a combination of shock and relief. "Proto! Bro!" he gasped, the gratefulness in his voice evident even to him.
Proto stepped forward. "Look, I know Rock can be an idiot sometimes—God knows I've seen my share of the stupid ideas he can get!"
Mega blinked. "HEY!"
"But I found him outside just now, and he explained to me why he was gone. Trust me, there is a good reason for it this time!" Though Roll couldn't see it behind the dark visor he always wore attached to his helmet, she knew her brother's expression was gentle. "Please, just hear him out first. Okay?"
Roll gritted her teeth, shut her eyes tight, and took several deep breaths. "Okay, fine. But this had better be good." She growled out at last.
Mega stood back up, taking off his helmet to scratch his scalp in puzzlement. "I don't know whether to be grateful or insulted…"
"Just go with the latter and we'll say you owe me one. 'Kay?" Proto grinned. "Anyways, I'll be going now. Better start talkin', bro." The bright red flash of a teleport shot through the ceiling, and the mysterious Red Raider was gone.
Rock gradually turned to face his two closest relatives. "Okay, here goes….."
* * * * *
X materialized as a blue beam that slammed into the ground and coalesced into a solid shape again. Zero glanced over at him from where he stood next to a squat, yellow-painted reploid fiddling with a bunch of indecipherable equipment and listening closely to a pair of headphones. "Heya, X!" The reploid waved cheerfully. "Glad you could join the party."
"Hi Double!" X returned the greeting just as cheerfully, striding up beside them. "What's the news?"
"Ah, ah ah!" Double chastised, wagging a finger. "Can't say anything yet. Wait a bit and you'll find out; Cain wants the rest of the leaders here first."
X glanced at Zero, who shrugged. "Told me the same thing."
X's smile faded away. "It must be pretty big if he wants us all here."
"Darn straight, X. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, here they come now!"
As soon as Double announced that, the doors at the room's posterior opened, and a number of differently-shaped robots walked in, accompanied by one elderly human male in long blue robes with red trim who leaned heavily on a ancient wooden walking stick as he limped over.
"Hullo, Doctor Cain," X greeted formally as the human arrived at the station. The human gave him a kindly smile.
"X please, knock it off with the titles already. You know I don't care for them any more than you do." He spotted Zero at that moment, leaning against a computer screen and whistling a nameless tune. "YOU." He growled, brandishing his stick like a sword as he pointed it in Zero's direction.
"Who, me?" Zero asked innocently, looking shocked as he pointed a finger at his chest.
"Don't give me that. You know what you did." Cain snapped. "Just remember Zero, that the next time some crazed Maverick decides to tear off your limbs and use them for Q-tips, don't expect me to rebuild your sorry hide again."
Zero smiled wide, not intimidated in the least. "Good to see you too, Doc! How ya been?"
The elderly human grumbled something X was glad he didn't hear, because Zero burst out into gleeful laughter in response. By experience, X knew that meant it had either been an insult or one of its many close relatives, because Zero typically regarded them as hilarious.
One of the reploids that Cain had walked over near Zero, glaring angrily. "Knock it off," He warned in a low growl, furious that someone was being so rude to Cain.
Zero paused his mirth for the smallest of picoseconds to stare at the dragonlike reploid that had spoken, then began laughing all over again. Beyond anger by now, the reploid darted one hand out and slapped Zero upside the head. "Shut up!" He snarled, not noticing X, Cain and Double wince simultaneously behind him.
The reaction was instantaneous. Without a sound Zero snapped around to face his attacker, a pulsing green blade of plasma clenched in his right fist. Before anyone could react Zero jerked the blade upwards, neatly slicing the reploid's hand off at the wrist.
Nobody moved for several moments, all staring at the mutilated stump at the end of the dragon reploid's arm. He appeared to be in shock, himself, since he didn't start screaming in pain just yet. First he looked up at Zero's cold, stony expression, then back to his arm, then up at Zero again. THEN he began screaming.
"MY ARM! MY ARM! YOU (expletive deleted), YOU CUT OFF MY BLOODY ARM!!" He howled, glaring fire and brimstone at the swordsman through his pain as he clutched his limb weakly to his chest and hopped up and down.
In one smooth motion, the blade was now an inch from the reploid's neck. Stunned, he forgot the excruciating pain signals his arm was sending him and stared in mortal terror at Zero's face. The Hunter's gaze was cold and piercing, face stone still, former smile nonexistent.
"The only reason you are not dead right now, Magma," Zero spoke softly, "is because you're one of our best hunters. Do that again, though, and I guarantee a disembodied hand will be the least of your concerns." He pressed the blade half an inch closer to the reploid's main fuel line, located where a human's jugular would be. "Got it?"
Magma Dragoon was, to say the least, unnerved. Unable to speak, he could only nod mutely. Zero slowly withdrew his blade, eyes not straying from Magma's.
X quickly approached them both and placed a concerned hand on Zero's shoulder, sending Magma a pitying glance. "Sorry 'bout that, but you should've known better. He's done worse to others, you know."
"Damn straight." Zero agreed, blade still active at his side. X frowned. "Magma, get over to the hospital wing and get your arm re-attached. I wanna have a word with the Commander."
Magma obediently scooped up the severed limb from where it lay discarded and lifeless on the floor, racing out of the room and away from Zero as fast as his hydraulically-enhanced legs could take him. As soon as the room's door hissed shut behind him, X began to speak to his blonde friend.
"As for you, you REALLY need to ease up a bit." He snapped. "He didn't mean a thing by it, and you know it. I mean, honestly Zero! What the hell has gotten into you lately??"
Zero turned the full wrath of his glare upon the diminutive blue hunter, who crossed his arms and frowned harder, not scared at all. They both knew very well that they were equals in battle, and that X could easily defend himself if attacked.
"Zero, this is no joke anymore." Cain spoke up, voice filled with stern concern. "You've gotta stop chopping people's limbs off when they look at you funny. You can't solve all life's problems through violence, you know."
"That sounds like something you'd say, X." Zero muttered. The entire monolouge seemed to have gone completely over his head--he resheathed his plasma blade with a dark grin, as if he'd found the whole incident amusing for some reason. "Well, whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway." His eyes glanced briefly at the door Magma had exited through, and X caught the silent message they sent; that it did, despite his words. Zero finally turned to look at Cain, arching an inquisitive eyebrow. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand!" He exclaimed brightly. "What's up, Doc?"
The tension in the room seemed to lift, somehow. X's frown disappeared as he fought to control a smile, and Dr. Cain rolled his eyes. "Funny." He snorted. "Excuse me if I don't roll on the floor with laughter, I've got a bad back." He turned to Double, and nodded.
The yellow tech 'bot tapped at a few keys, bringing a map of Great Britain up on the screen. While most of the islands were filled in with green (indicating an 'all clear' status), one section at the south of the largest one had been highlighted in an angry red. Double pointed at this section as he began speaking. "We've found some unusual magnetic wave readings coming from this sector in the past couple hours. We can't figure out what's causing it, because its scrambling the probes we've sent in."
"What have those crazy Brits gotten themselves up to now?" One of the reploids chuckled good-naturedly before being silenced by a single look from Cain.
"Are the Mavericks behind it?" X suggested as he folded his arms, eyes scouring the map.
Double thought about that for a second. "Possibly; after all, we can't know for sure until something gets in there and finds out. However, it seems a bit too random to be their work. No, I think something unrelated to the Mavericks altogether is causing the problem."
"So what do you want us to do?" Zero grunted carelessly, eyelids half-closed. "Go in there and take a peek?"
Double shook his head. "No, not yet. Like I said, it's been scrambling everything we've sent towards it. We need to insulate your systems first, to prevent the same fate from befalling you."
"Lovely." Zero muttered. "How long will this take?"
Double smiled. "Oh, I'd say only a couple days at most for each of you."
"A COUPLE--?!" Zero bellowed, impatience rising to the surface. "That's ridiculous! Whatever's causing that could be long gone by then!" He waved a hand wildly in the direction of the screen, vaguely indicating the problem area.
Double shrugged. "If you'd like to be reduced to the mental efficiency of a toaster by going in unprepared, be my guest."
Zero's mouth snapped shut angrily, unable to counter this logic. Instead, he just glared silently.
X sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. "Do what you have to do, I guess." He nodded. "Fine, we'll cooperate. What do you want us to do?"
Double turned off the map as Cain approached X. "Well, you'll each have to report to Maintenance to get the upgrades. We'll start with you."
X nodded, saluting his superior sharply. Zero jammed a fist in his mouth to stifle a snicker.
* * * * *
"Commanders X and Zero! What is your status? Over."
X slowly raised his wrist-mounted communicator and spoke into it, staring openly at the sight before him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He barely remembered to add an 'over' to the end of this sentence.
Zero had his beam saber out and fully charged, snarling and silently daring anything to attack him. Magma Dragoon carefully watched him out of the corner of one eye, staring at the phenomenon with the other.
"What do you mean? Over."
X really didn't know how to describe the swirling, rainbow-colored portal several meters away from them, sucking anything lighter than a robot into it like a collapsed star. "There's a…..hole in the air." He finally answered. "Over."
"A what, over?"
"A hole in the air. It has lots of different colors in it and seems to be acting like some sort of vacuum. Over."
"Commander, not to be disrespectful or anything, but have you been drinking today? Over."
X frowned at the comm. "No, I haven't, and reploids can't get drunk, anyway. It may not sound like it makes much sense, but it's true."
Zero suddenly grabbed X's wrist and spoke into the communicator. "Put Cain on the line, and hurry!" X nudged him, and he hastily added; "Over!"
"Excuse me, but who the hell are you, over?!" The voice at the other end demanded. Zero bristled at being spoken to in such a tone.
"COMMANDER ZERO OMEGA, YOU LOUSY PIECE OF--" X jerked his arm away before the sentence could complete itself. "Sorry about that," He spoke instead, "but you really oughta let Cain hear this, over."
"A-affirmative." The voice stuttered, in a tone of what many would consider open horror. Apparently its owner had realized that he had just mouthed off a commanding officer. "I-I'm connecting you to his secretary now, X sir. Over…"
* * * * *
Cain laid down on his bed and let out a pain-filled moan as he applied a fresh ice bag to his forehead. "Shouldn't have had that extra whiskey last night….." He grumbled, gently balancing the bag on his sore scalp.
Then built-in intercom crackled overhead. "Sir, Commander X is calling for you." His secretary reported.
Cain winced at the loud sound. "Tell him I passed away."
"Yes, sir." The intercom fell silent, and Cain sighed, sinking back down into his pillow.
* * * * *
"I'm sorry, but Doctor Cain is in a meeting right now, sir. Would you like me to take a message?"
"Oh, to heck with this." Zero growled, breaking into the conversation on his own communicator. "Contact Double for me, willya?"
The voice suddenly grew terrified, as if Death itself had joined the conversation. "AH! Y-yes s-sir, Com-m-mander Zero!! R-right away, s-sir!" It squeaked in outright fear. There was silence for a few moments.
"Why is everybody afraid of me today?" Zero grumbled, shooting a glance at X.
The azure Hunter shrugged and smiled. "Maybe it's just your way with people."
Zero opened his mouth to retort, but stopped as a cheery yellow robot's voice floated over their speakers. "Hellooooo, ladies and gents! What can I do for ya?"
"Double, could you hack me into Cain's room?" Zero asked, now much calmer than before.
A wicked grin was audible in the answer. "Sure, buddyroe! Just hold on a sec….." The sound of a keyboard clacking away could be heard in the background. "There! Fire at will!"
Zero took a deep breath…..
* * * * *
"HEY DOC, WAKE UP!!!!!"
Cain shrieked at the onslaught of sound that sent burning spikes of pain slamming into him. His frail body spasmed and leapt off his bed, sending the ice pack hurtling across the room. Muffled laughter that sounded suspiciously like Magma Dragoon's could be heard on the overhead speaker now. "Rise and shine, Cain!" Zero bellowed again, happily.
Cain's body shook with unrestrained rage as he stood alone in the middle of the floor. He recognized that voice. "Zero," He snarled, "how did you get this number?"
"Pulled it out of a hat! Doesn't matter; X wants to chat! I'll hand you over to him, now….."
Even X's voice sounded amused. "Been getting into the whiskey again, huh Doctor?"
"Oh, shut up." He snapped, fetching his ice pack from the far corner and sitting down on his bed in a huff. "What's all the fuss about, anyway?"
"Oh yeah, sure, change the subject," Zero snickered faintly, but X interrupted him. "Well sir, we've arrived at the problem location and have met…..unusual findings."
Cain's interest perked up. "Go on."
X hesitated before replying—how should he put it?—but Magma had calmed down enough to throw his two cents in at that moment. "Sir, readings indicate massive space/time fluctuations at these coordinates, which have caused an ovalesque multidimensional relocating anomaly to form in midair."
"A portal, you mean." Cain translated.
"Yes sir." X confirmed with some relief and a grateful nod towards Magma Dragoon, although Cain wasn't able to see it.
"Yeah, it's got all these pretty colors 'n stuff." Zero chimed in. "Hey, why don't we jump in and see where we end up?"
"Precisely the kind of suggestion I'd expect you to make, Zero." Cain replied dryly. "You don't just go gallomphing off wherever it strikes your fancy--"
"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt, Doc," X cut in suddenly, "but Zero entered the portal just now without waiting for your reply."
The doctor stiffened. "What?! Quick, get him back out of there!"
"Yes, sir!" X hastily replied before cutting the connection. "C'mon Magma!"
The red robot grinned, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. "This oughta be interesting."
Together they entered the portal, their sensors becoming immediately overloaded by light and sound…..
* * * * *
FLASH. A split second of multicolored light filled the room, and suddenly a red-clad figure was lying woozily on one of the lab tables.
"Gack!" Mega staggered backwards, arms held over his eyes. "Geez, Roll, talk about a weird time to take a picture!"
"It wasn't me!" His sister's voice cried out. "What happened? I can't see!"
"It's all right you two, just calm down." Dr. Light reassured them. "You had a temporary overload in your visual receptors, that's all. They'll come back on in a moment."
True enough, Mega's vision slowly began to fade back in. As it did, he noticed something was different in the room.
"Who's THAT guy?" He exclaimed.
A tall, armored figure was laying sprawled on one of the tables. As Mega watched, he opened his eyes and slowly sat up, long blonde ponytail swinging back and forth with his movement. "Uuuunnngh," He grunted, holding one hand to his twin-spiked helmet. "Alright, which jerk hit me?" He woozily scanned the room, eyes pausing on Mega Man. "X, is that you? How'd you change armor so fast?"
Mega Man stared. "Huh?"
Unseen to all, Dr. Light's face went white at the name X. Mega's expression changed from one of complete confusion to growing alarm. "Wait a minute, who the heck are you?!" He demanded, backing away before he remembered that he was already up against the wall. "I'm not X, my name's Rock!"
Zero blinked again, as he felt his sudden mental fog lifting. Rock? That name sounded vaguely familiar, but he didn't know how…..or why…..
Then he saw the face of the human standing next to Rock. And his eyes widened.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
A vision of hatred, clad in white, with crazy hair and a moustache…..
Blood on his hands…..
Headaches…..
Death…..
Destruction…..
An insane laugh…evil black eyes…..
"YOU MUST KILL HIM!"
A man with a white beard. Blue eyes. Kind smile.
"My rivalry with him is what gives me motivation in life….."
"NO!" Zero suddenly shrieked, forgetting he was on a lab table as he frantically scooted backwards. "NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! GET BACK!" His voice was full of panic and fear, fear like he had never known before. Eyes wide, breath coming in short gasps. He ignited his saber, pointing it towards Light with one trembling hand as he backed away some more, and fell off the table's edge. "Wha--! UMPH!"
Mega Man shot his creator a quizzical look. "Dr. Light, where do you come up with the ideas for these loonies from? I mean, programming your own creation to be scared of you? That's just nuts."
The doctor slowly shook his head, hands held up in a helpless shrug. "He's not one of mine, Rock. I've never seen him before in my life."
Mega arched an eyebrow and glanced over at Roll, instead. "Did you invite this guy over, sis?"
"Hey, don't look at ME!" She protested, eyeing the stranger warily. Instantly, Mega Man grew suspicious. Could this be one of Wily's bots?
After a few seconds of silence, the red robot's head slowly looked around the table leg at Dr. Light. "S-stay away….." He growled shakily, saber still activated and thrumming. Mega Man instantly put up one hand in front of the Doctor, stepping forward to protect him at all costs.
"What do you want with Dr. Light?" He asked, voice hard and cold.
"I--"
Flash. Another multicolored light lasting mere milliseconds, and two more bodies seemed to topple out of the ceiling onto the floor.
"Ow." One of them grunted, recovering quickly. He rubbed his blue helmet as he staggered upright. "Some ride….."
If Dr. Light had seemed pale when he heard the first stranger speak, it was nothing to how he looked now. He almost seemed dead on his feet as he stared with wide, horrified eyes at the familiar shape before him. He recognized this individual. He recognized him, because he was still building him.
"X?" The doctor slowly asked, in a trembling voice.
The blue reploid blinked. "Yeah, that's me. What do you—EH?" He had seen Dr. Light, and stopped moving for two whole seconds.
"Oy, dang, somebody get the number of that paperboy's bike!" Magma grunted, hauling himself first to his knees, then his feet. "Hey, X. What just happened?"
In reply, the azure eyes of Mega Man X rolled up into his head, and he fainted on the spot.
Magma blinked. "Ooookay, never mind then. Hello, sirs--" He checked behind himself and found Roll there—"uh, and madam. Sorry for the abrupt entrance, but X here and me were just looking for a red robot with a blonde ponytail. He jumped through a space/time portal without permission, you see. Has he been around by any chance?"
Mega Man pointed at the lab table. "Try checking under there." He responded dryly.
Magma blinked and bent down for a look. There huddled Zero, arms wrapped around his knees, wide, frightened eyes staring at nothing, clutching his saber like a lifeline. He was whimpering softly to himself and slowly rocking back and forth, like a scared child. Magma blinked again, rubbed his eyes, and took another look. No change. The reploid who not two days earlier had mercilessly removed one of his limbs was now looking like a whipped puppy, helpless and vulnerable.
"Uh…..Commander Zero? Sir?" Magma asked uncertainly, afraid to get too close in case Zero had a relapse to what he'd done days earlier. "Sir, are you okay?"
Zero turned to stare at him, and his eyes seemed to re-focus. The light of coherency appeared in their pupils. "M-magma? Magma Dragoon?"
"Sir, X and I jumped into the portal after you. Um…is everything all right?"
Zero hastily crawled out from his hiding place and stood up, slightly embarrassed. "X, too? Where is he?" The red Reploid looked down. "Oh, nevermind." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, and slowly grinned. "Uh, yeah. I'm cool. I, uh, just dropped in and saw who else was here."
Magma took another look at the room's occupants, and scanned his memory files. Surprisingly, he found three exact matches. The records were extremely old, but their pictures clearly depicted the faces of two males and one female. Doctor T. H. Light, scientific genius of the 21st century. Mega Man, a.k.a. Rock, Light's second successful experiment in the field of robotics. Roll, Light's third creation and housekeeper, widely regarded as Rock's 'sister'. Magma blinked, and gave an irritated rumble.
"Somebody help X wake up. I think I know why he passed out." He murmured.
* * * * *
Fantasy Denied(The White World)
Part One
* * * * *
As soon as Kirby stepped out of the portal, he was attacked.
There wasn't any time for him to see who it was--all his half-blinded vision could make out was a dark blurry shape flying towards him. Caught unawares, he stumbled backwards and tripped, falling flat on his back and saving his life. The shape flew on unobstructed over his head, passing out of his view as the world grew clearer around him.
Either the portal's destination had been grossly miscalculated, or he'd entered his home world in the middle of a dream. The environment was that of a lush tropical forest that smelt of deep dark earth and blooming flowers. Exotic bird calls and the rumble of a distant waterfall saturated the air, which dripped with an after-the-rain moisture--Kirby could feel some of the vapor in the air immediately form beads of water against his skin. Tall trees shaded the small clearing in which he lay, their wide branches bent crookedly up towards the sky. He glanced behind him in the direction the dark object had flown in, and saw a sharp hunting knife lodged firmly in the bark of a tree trunk. Kirby gulped from nausea as he realized what a close shave he'd just had. Where had that knife come from?
He got his answer when a second knife whizzed by his head, missing him by centimeters and embedding itself next to the first knife. Kirby jumped a little and looked around in the direction of its source, eyes wide.
Against all possible odds, a living, breathing dinosaur stood hunched in a defensive posture from the shelter of the trees at the clearing's opposite end. The species was familiar to Kirby--let's see, what did the humans call them? Oh yes, velociraptors. It stood on its hind legs, rusty brown metal plating covering its vulnerable chest and stomach. It held a heavy mace in one hand, and the other held a third knife at the ready.
"What the heck?!" Kirby yelped, except that wasn't what he said. The words that exited his mouth were some strange, garbled language in a voice much more high-pitched than his normal one. He blinked, and repeated the words to himself. Again, what he said did not match what he was thinking.
He looked up at the bipedal raptor again. Somehow, he was speaking a language he was unfamiliar with. How, he did not know. He looked down at himself and very nearly groaned.
The form that this dream had bestowed upon him was also that of a dinosaur, but of a different species than the raptor. Again he briefly wracked his brain for its scientific name. Protoceratops. That's it. A cousin of the infamous three-horned triceratops, this form only had one horn--located just above his beak-like mouth, where the 'nose' was. His skin was a light salmon pink in shade, with darker hues of purple running up along his backside. He faced the raptor again, more nervous than before. This form didn't have hands, but rather elephant-like toes; he wasn't sure he'd be able to defend himself against this sharp-clawed predator with just the tiny horn as his only weapon
"Tricky! Look out!"
The words were in the strange new language Kirby was speaking in; yet somehow he understood their meaning without translating them in his head like he normally did. It came from a tan blur that leapt out of the forest at that moment, jumping in-between him and the raptor. One smooth movement, and the benefactor whipped out a sleek sliver gun.
The armored velociraptor barely had time to blink in surprise before a small red laser stabbed through its arm. It yelled in confused pain for a couple moments, clutching at the deep wound that was already starting to bleed heavily. Finally it cast one furtive look in Kirby's direction and fled.
Kirby's rescuer turned to regard him, twirling the gun on one finger and holstering it. "Are you okay, Tricky? Did he get you?"
Words burst from Kirby's mouth before he could think of a reply. "Fox? Fox McCloud, is that you?"
The fox grinned, patting Kirby lightly on the frill around his scaly neck. "Good to see you too, buddy. Again, are you hurt?"
"Uh, no, I-I'm okay. What are you doing back on Dinosaur Planet?"
"I came back to visit you, of course." He looked over at where the raptor had been standing when he arrived. "Looks like I did so just in time to save your tail again." His grin became a smirk. "What would you do without me?"
"Is that why you're here? Just to see me?" The words spewed from Kirby like lava from a volcano; he couldn't stop them even if he tried. Such was the nature of dreams, where their creators always have some degree of control over what happens in them--including what others say and do.
"Uh, well…to tell you the truth, we've gotten another job." He replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Our destination is near here, so I thought I'd swing by on the way." He arched an eyebrow. "Plus, I was also wondering if you'd mind coming with us."
"Really?" Kirby squeaked, in a voice of excitement that he didn't feel.
"Hey, you are an official member of team Star Fox, after all." He grinned. "So what do ya say?"
"Well—"
The surroundings began to shift and fluctuate crazily, and Kirby recognized the end of the dream approaching. Fox stood waiting for his answer a couple seconds more, before vanishing with the surrounding jungle.
Kirby looked back down, at his pink, rotund self. He sighed in relief. "Good to be home again," he murmured.
* * * * *
Timed Salvation(The Green World)
Part One
When the blazing green afterimages imprinted on his vision finally faded, Mario stood up to see where he was. He blinked rapidly in disbelief, then slapped his forehead. "Aw, no! Not here again!"
Hyrule Field's yellow-green grass swayed around him, seemingly endless in every direction. Mario was barely able to make out the structure of a castle in the distance, and the closer shape of Lon Lon Ranch's tall walls. Only meters behind him was a massive, thick forest that seemed to block out all light within its borders.
Mario sighed and sat down, thinking. "Let's see. If I was a grumpy and sarcastic MagiKoopa intent on hiding something as big as a power generator in this world, where would I put it?" He glanced around, as if expecting an answer. Of course he received none.
Mario slammed a fist into the dirt out of sheer frustration. "Dangit, I don't know anything about Hyrule's geography! It'll take me forever to find the generator like this!" After a few minutes of fuming, reason entered Mario's thoughts. "Maybe I should go ask Malon. She could probably help."
Thus decided, he stood up and began walking towards the distant ranch walls.
"Hey!"
The small, shrill voice stopped him in his tracks. Blinking, he turned around and was almost immediately accosted by a small glowing thing that flew in his face, two nearly-transparent wings fluttering rapidly. "You're Mario, right? Do you know where Link is?" It asked.
Mario jumped slightly. "Huh?? Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I'm his fairy partner! Navi!" The glowing thing replied angrily. "Saria told me he'd visited the Lost Woods yesterday," She added in a quieter tone. "She said that Link was helping two outsiders named Mario and Luigi get back to their homeland. You're one of them, aren't you?"
Wary, Mario slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm Mario. I'm not too sure where Luigi is, though." The statement left him feeling slightly uneasy. He really hadn't thought of where his brother could be, or what his current condition was. Worry began building within his thoughts, and he shook them off before they could turn into panic. He frowned. "Navi…gee, that name sounds familiar. I think he did mention a Navi at one point…"
"Do you know where he is??" Navi squeaked excitedly. When Mario shook his head, her tiny heart sank in disappointment. "Sorry I can't help you." He amended quickly. "I'm currently heading to Lon Lon Ranch for some advice, you see."
"On what?" The fairy asked curiously, flying around to face Mario as he turned away from her.
Mario frowned again, faintly irritated for some unknown reason. "Well, the well-being of the universe quite literally depends on it."
He began to walk forward in the ranch's direction again, but the fairy flew back into his path, even more curious. "Really? How come?"
Mario gave her a warning glare. "You don't want to know."
"Try me." The fairy responded boldly, brave for her tiny size. Mario sighed and tossed his hands up into the air.
"Well, basically this reality, as well as every other possible one, are on the verge of collapsing and destroying everything. I'm trying to find a machine that will help turn a force field one-sixth of the way off, so that we'll be able to get through the field eventually, take a magical talisman beyond, and put it back in its proper universe so everything will return to normal. There, satisfied?"
Navi's wings almost stopped beating, so great was her shock. Finally she blinked. "Um, yikes. Half of that went straight over my head, but if you're looking for something you'll want to try the Lost Woods. It's the best hiding place around."
Mario turned around to face the solid wall of trees. "What, you mean THOSE woods?" He asked apprehensively.
"Yeah. You'd better stick with me when you go in there; if you don't, the results won't be pleasant." She fluttered over to his shoulder and perched there, dimming her glow enough so that Mario could get his first good glimpse of her. She appeared human, with the obvious exception of two wings poking up below her shoulders. She was dressed in a one-piece dress that seemed to be composed of a leaf wrapped around her slim body. A shock of short bluish hair topped her cute face and pointed ears, which were beginning to redden under his studious gaze. "What?" She demanded at last.
Mario blinked and shook his head, starting to walk towards the forest so quickly that Navi almost toppled off her perch. "Nothing. Never mind."
Navi righted herself with a glare. "Hey, watch it!"
"Sorry."
Together they entered the forest. Mario frowned at the thick canopy, which blocked out virtually all light from above, and the tall, thick trunks that stood like silent guardians around him. They reached up from the ground in every direction, casting everything into a shadowed semi-darkness that lessened visibility beyond a few feet. "Man, I wish Link was here….."
--------------------
"Man, I wish Navi was here." Link grumbled. "She could help us out of here, no problem."
Luigi stopped walking, causing Link to almost collide with him. "Hey, what's the holdup?" The young Hylian demanded.
The green plumber turned to face his companion with a sheepish look. "I just realized two things."
"What?"
"First, that we're not in Bowser's castle after all."
Link blinked.
"You see, Bowser's place uses gas-powered torches." Luigi continued. He held up the torch in his hand. "They can't be removed from their holders, unlike these."
Link looked at his own torch. "It took you all this time to notice that?" He rolled his eyes. "What else?"
"Second, my torch is about to go out." The light in the area suddenly dimmed substantially. "Correction: it just went out."
Link grimaced. "Oh, wonderful." He looked at his own torch—it seemed ready to fade out as well. He shook his head. "Not good."
"However, there is some good news." Luigi mentioned.
"What's that?"
"I can see light up ahead."
Link's head jerked back up. Sure enough, a small hole of whitish light was visible far off in the distance. "All right, maybe we'll finally get out of this place!" He grinned.
* * * * *
End of World Tour: Part One
(*Dum dum DUM!* To be continued! *DUM dum dum!*)
* * * * *
"Going Postal"[Our scene opens inside an average adolescent room, average in the fact that it is messy enough to contain its own fossilized remains within the foot-deep layer of junk encrusted over the floor. A large feline sits industriously typing away at a keyboard, seated at a computer workstation in front of the room's one and only window. The alarm clock off to the side reads 3 a.m.]
Stoney: Ugh…[Blearily stares at computer screen] Must…finish…chapter…
[The sound of a teleporter blasts through the room. Suddenly, a tall figure in full red battle armor is standing next to Stoney]
Samus Aran: Can't sleep?
Stoney: No, I'm [yawns loudly] writing a new part of The Crossover Saga.
Samus: Ah yes, of course. What else would you be doing in your spare time?
Stoney: Don't be so sarcastic.
Samus: Sorry. [Leans over to read the text on the screen; there is a long pause]
Stoney: [Finally stops typing and stretches] Well, that was gruesome.
Samus: Wanna read some mail as per usual?
Stoney: If I can stay awake long enough. Wha'cha got?
Samus: [Shrugs] a whole bunch of stuff. DK, bring it in!!
[A giant brown gorilla with a red tie bursts through the room's door, carrying a few metric tons of mailbags over his shoulder; he tosses it onto the floor, resulting in vibrations that register 5.5 on the Richter scale. The gorilla waves once with a big grin and leaves.]
Stoney: [Stares, wide-eyed] Jumpin' Jack Calloway, that's a lot of mail!
Samus: Yeah, it just doesn't stop coming in…
[Pause]
Stoney: [Smiles] True, but I like it that way! [Picks a random postcard out of the first bag. It has a picture of a lovely beach scene on the front; on this beach are several bikini-clad supermodels, gathered around a specific individual who is leaning back and sipping some lemonade under an umbrella]
Stoney: [Squints a little] Waitaminute, I think I recognize that guy… [Flips postcard over to read the return address] Yup, I thought so! This comes from Gamemaster Anthony Bault, currently vacationing in the Caribbean! Let's see what he has to say:
"Dammit...just
when that treaty was set too...
Oh well...I heard the other world leaders didn't sign because Bush was still
pissed at Saddam.
Anyways...still looking good, Stoney! And thanks for the cameo!"
Stoney: [Blinks] Treaty? What treaty? Bush was signing a treaty? Huh? What? [Clutches head and moans] Arrgh, I'm so confused…
Samus: [Smirks, although you can't see it behind her helmet] What, do you have a 5-second memory or something? Don't you remember what happened last chapter?
Stoney: [Stops moaning, and stares blankly off into space for several seconds] …no.
Samus: Here, maybe another letter will clear your head. This one's from continuing writer AnT:
"So the Crossover Saga truly begins. So you say the world to not be taken likely of is our world, huh?"
Stoney: I did? That's odd, I don't remember it. But then again, I think I was drunk when I wrote the last chapter…
"You know, this sort of seems like a story I was planning to write. I'm sure I told
you about it. Let me say its, hopefully, not a rip off from Anthony Bault's or
yours. I've been planning this years before I read those."
Stoney: Hmm, let me guess. It was a story with an overdramatized-yet-flat main character, who grows up in a poor backwards village somewhere, goes on wild adventures with a few friends, and winds up having to save the world and/or universe from a flat villain. Am I right?
Samus: No, that's the plot for modern RPG's…
Stoney: Rats. I always get those two mixed up.
Samus: Now that you've completely alienated most of the audience, shall we continue?
"Lets say it involves games, anime, cartoons, and authors."
Stoney: Speaking of whom, I just realized that some of these letters might have questions for the cast.
Samus: Shall I?
Stoney: Please do.
Samus: Roger that. Teleporting now…[Presses a few buttons on her gun arm and fires at the middle of the room. But instead of a projectile, a flash of light emerges. Suddenly, mass confusion ensues as every cast member simultaneously appears!]
Mario: Huh?
Mega Man: Gwah?
Luigi: Eh?
Kirby: @&%$??
Pikachu: Cha--?
Bowser: Roar?
Sonic: Um?
Link: Er?
Random Chocobo: Qweh?
Peach: Who?
Daisy: What?
Mecha: Where?
Kapi: When?
Kamek: Why?
Malon: How?
X: Which?
Another Random Chocobo: Wark?!
Fighter: Applesauce!
Black Mage: HADOKEN! [Crispy-fries Fighter]
Thief: [Winces] Ouch.
Red Mage: Indeed. [Nods]
Zero: [Pointing at Fighter} HAHA!
Samus: Riiiight…
Stoney: [Sweatdrops] Continuing…[reads over the letter again] Authors, such as yourself? Yeah, I'm on to you, AnT! I bet you were gonna subtly attempt to make a self-insert fic, weren't you? WEREN'T YOU?? ADMIT IT, DARNIT!!
Samus: Deep breaths, Stoney. Take deep breaths.
"Nice chap by the way."
Stoney: He was rather nice, wasn't he?
Kapi: [Slaps forehead] Uh, would somebody mind telling me how I got here?
Fighter: …no. Wait, yes. Maybe? No!…Or yes! Um, what was the question?
Black Mage: HOW did you survive?!?
Fighter: I just…[Goes into dramatic pose] …BELIEVED!
"I can see why this took you so long. I mean that weird thing before the casting. Woo. I gotta learn not to write my stories too chaotic. Hope you update sooner this time."
Everyone Except Stoney: [Glare]
Stoney: Er, um…[Sweatdrops] Crap, maybe I should stop writing cliffhangers at the ends of my chapters. You guys seem to be getting tired of all the waiting. Believe me, I understand. Waiting is hell. Sometimes I hate myself for what I put you poor readers through. [Sighs] FierceDiety666 sez:
"A cat... yah. Well, you are an amazing writer."
Stoney: No I'm not! STOP TEASING ME! [bursts into tears]
Link: [Pats him lightly on the head] There, there…
"Just update, keep the letters to a minimum, and list
the known portals. Oh, and add Skies of Arcadia in too."
Stoney: [Magically stops crying] Can't, never played it.
Mario: Has that title come out on the Gamecube yet?
Samus: He apologized earlier for the long letter segments…and as for how many portals there are, nobody knows. It's probably a really, really big number, though.
Kirby: Well, theoretically, squillions of them are being created each nanosecond.
Mega Man: [Thinking out loud] Let's see, the universe is approximately 46, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 years old, so if you divide that down to nanoseconds, then multiply that… [Face scrunches up for a moment, then goes blank] Syntax Error.
[X and Zero eye each other, and the latter doubles over laughing]
Mega Man: [Suddenly shakes self back to consciousness] What the--? What just happened?
Stoney: [Ignoring this whole display] I'll probably continue to
put newer portals in this story as long as I don't run out of colors to use.
God forbid I should start referring to a portal as 'Raspberry', 'Electric
Neon', or 'Polka-Dotted In A Pattern That Looks Kinda Like A Marshmallow When
You Turn It Sideways And Squint A Little Bit', like the company Crayola does
with their markers. [Shudders]
"Where the #^(% did Sigma come from?"
Zero: [Laughing too hard to speak]
X: Blueprints and a bunch of scrap metal, probably…
"I
WANT
ZERO
AND
FLAMING
PIANOS
OF
JOY"
Zero: [Calms down, finally] Hey, lookit that! I've got fans! YAAAAY!
Stoney: Wait. Stop. No more of that crap, okay? It is WAY too late at night for loud cheering right now…
Samus: What about me? Can I cheer?
Stoney: Oh, you're okay. I need you to wake me up in case I doze off in the middle of reading letters. Zero's another matter, though.
Zero: Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna cheer anyway! Wha'cha gonna do about it, huh?? [Activates Z-Saber and menacingly waves it inches from Stoney's nose] Nyah nyah nyah nyah, nyah! I dare either of you to try anything!
Stoney: Can't back down from a dare…[Shrugs] Okay. Samus, care to do the honors?
Samus: Gladly. Activating teleporter, now… [Presses a few buttons on her gun arm and fires a blast above Zero's head. In a flash of light, a flaming piano appears in midair.]
Zero: [Looks up] HOLY--
[WHAM!!]
Zero: OW!!!
Samus: [Smiling] I love technology.
X: ZERO! ARE YOU OKAY?? SPEAK TO ME!
Zero: [Sitting down with a dazed expression, his head protruding through a hole in the still-burning piano] I don't wanna eat the spinach, mommy…[passes out]
Kapi: [Douses the flames with her spear]
Stoney: [Chuckles] Well that certainly gave me some joy. Next reader!
Malon: [Rummaging through the letter bags] Hmm, here's one.
Stoney: Okay, let's see it! [looks at the envelope's return address and gasps in shock] HOLY HELL, IT'S THE DRAGONBOY!!! Welcome back, Billy-buddy!
[Random applause is heard as Stoney rips the letter open and begins reading]
"Hiya, Stoney! Miss me?"
Stoney: Yes, but out of curiosity, what would you do if I said no?
"I love this chapter, especially since you said there'll be more action. Dialogue is necessary and great, but I like action a lot, too. Lights and camera would be nice also (I'm sugar-high, ignore me)...
Stoney: QUIET ON THE SET, PEOPLE!!!
Kamek: [Wincing and covering his ears] Ow. Don't ever, EVER do that again. [muttering] Louder than a friggin' airhorn…
Stoney: [Grins] Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
"I can also think of some stuff you've kinda hinted at that I bet'll be coming in soon, heh heh heh..."
Stoney: [Coughs loudly and avoids eye contact with everyone] Uh, I don't know what you're talking about. Nope.
"And Bowser's become a semi-sorta-good guy! Yippee!"
Bowser: [Rolls eyes]
"*Does his special happy dance*"
Stoney: [screams and holds paws up in front of his face] AAH! MY EYES! THEY BURN! I did not just see that, I did not just see that…[takes deep breath] Okay, I'm better now.
Random Chocobo: Qweh?
Kirby: All right, who let the two giant chickens in here?
"And I'm mentioned, here and in the last chapter! That always gives my little ego a big rush!"
Stoney: [Shrugs] It's not that difficult to get mentioned, really…
Samus: Unless your name is three paragraphs long or something.
Stoney: Samus, do you mind?
Samus: Heh, sorry.
"And I'm done! Now if you'll excuse me... *hides under a mountain of garbage*"
Stoney: I'm not even gonna ASK what that is all about…Sparky the Seventh Chaos is next! Her letter is as follows:
"Aie! What a plot twist!"
Samus: Be afraid. Be very afraid.
"*gulp* ...well, I think you know who I wanna request. Give you a hint: he has a white ruff above his heart, and his name is spelled S-H-A-D-O-W. ^_^"
Sonic: [Growls] What is it that people see in that Faker, anyway?
Stoney: COME ON, people! I just wrote a whole new frickin' STORY based on Shadow! What more could ya possibly want? Besides money, power, fame, world peace, a cure for cancer, less pollution, and new shoes, of course.
"I'm hopeless."
Kamek: Yes, you are.
"Well, hope you can update soon!"
Stoney: I just have, so here you go! Dr. Sipp, the world-renowned professional on toenail transplants, sent in our next letter:
"Mail bomb? Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of eating your cheesecake."
Stoney: OH DEAR CREEPING GODS, NO! Cheesecake is my favorite dessert! [exposes claws on his paws] Anyone who touches my slice DIES. Understand?
"And no, I am not related to Dr. Pepper."
Stoney: You sure? 'Cause I heard from Sprite that Coke told
Mountain Dew about how Mr. Pibb found out somebody named Sipp was asking Dr.
Pepper for money.
Fighter: [Opens mouth to speak]
Black Mage: [Claps hand over Fighter's mouth] DON'T EVEN SAY IT!
"*ahem*"
Stoney: *Cough* *wink* *nudge-nudge*
"Well, nice chapter there, although I haven't quite forgiven you for leaving me
on a cliffhanger… Sonic ;_;"
Sonic: Yeah, what?
Stoney: She wasn't talking to you, she was talking to me about you.
Sonic: Oh. Should I still be interested?
Stoney: Yes.
Sonic: Okay, I'll be over here eavesdropping, then.
Pikachu: Chachu, ki papa: (And now, back to the letter:)
"So keep writing."
Stoney: Or else?
"Request video game character? Heh.. heh.. Nevermind."
Stoney: Aw, come on! What were ya gonna suggest, huh? Huh?! HUH?!? Me wanna know!
"You should send your 'What if Metal and Sonic switched places?' story to
NetRaptor."
Stoney: I would, but the idea of somebody as talented as she is actually reading my junk is embarrassing enough to force me into early hibernation.
Mecha: What's this about me and S-so, S, S-son…the hedgehog switching places?
Stoney: Different storyline. Forget it.
Mecha: I'm a robot; I can't.
Kamek: [Cracks knuckles while grinning evilly] That can be fixed…
"You're proud of me? *sniffs happily* All I ever wanted was to make you proud..
my dream has finally come true! *is promptly yanked away by a rather irate Robo
Knuckles*"
Stoney: [Blows nose to the accompanying sound of a trumpet blast] Aw, stop that! You're making me get all sentimental.
Mecha: Greetings, Mecha Bot Four. What is your destination?
Robo Knux: They've got a special discount sale going on at Mel's Auto Parts for aspiring authors, and Sippy here still owes me for that bet we made last week, so I'm going to get upgraded! Bye!
Sonic: [Sarcastically] Gee, how uncharacteristically selfish of him…
Stoney: Well, here's an interesting little postcard from Starlight the Wanderer!
"I greatly look forward to the next chapter! *Pouts in turn* You didn't answer 'bout Mewtwo...WAH! "
Mewtwo: [Teleports into the room] WHY IS EVERYBODY OBSESSED WITH ME?!? ARRGH!
Stoney: Aw geez, ANOTHER guest appearance?
Mewtwo: Shut up before I use pyrokinetics to make your head explode.
Everybody Else: ……
Mewtwo: Much better. Now where was I…? Oh yes. WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE PICK ON ANOTHER FRIGGIN POKÈMON, HUH?!? I AM SICK OF GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION!!! [stops for breath] All right, I'm done.
Stoney: Why are you complaining? At least you're not as popular as Pikachu is…
Pikachu: KAPA! (YEAH!)
Mewtwo: Um, that's because…uh…errgh, DIE! [Points finger at Stoney]
Stoney: EEP! [He ducks. Outside the window, a squirrel's head explodes]
Mewtwo: ……
Stoney: ……
Everyone Else: ……
Mewtwo: [Sweatdrops] …um…
Random Squirrel: You bastard, that was my aunt! GET 'EM, BOYS!
Mewtwo: Shit! [Gets chased away by a horde of rabid killer squirrels]
"Ok, done. I'm a male by the way, of the age of around 16.
Stoney: Oh good, now I won't have to keep referring to you as 'that person from that place who once said that thing in a review'. I can just say, 'him'.
Samus: Don't be sarcastic to the readers, Stoney.
"I am currently working on a novel."
Stoney: Could you send me a signed copy?
"I like your list of quotes, and need to tell the 'Everything bows to success, even grammer' one to my english teacher. For now, C-ya!"
Stoney: I'd correct your spelling, but it bows to success, too…whew, just a couple more letters to go. Then I'll be able to sleep. Here's a letter, from…FierceDiety666…? [Blinks]
[Long pause]
Peach: Again?
"I needed to review again. I'll make it quick. I am completely in with Yoshiman on 8-Bit Theater being in the fic.
Thief: [Grinning] I, er, 'persuaded' my fellows to join this cast after learning about the paychecks we'd get. Don't worry.
"Second, I am all for Zero and Shadow in the fic."
Zero: Hey, I'm still here! What are you talking about?
Sonic: [Trembling with rage]
"As for the three portals, I want them to lead to 8-bit, 21XX, and Metal Combat. Forget SOA."
Daisy: Ever hear of the word 'please'?
Stoney: But I haven't played Metal Combat, either! I'm deprived, I know…and why are there so many Shadow fans? Is he part of the Mafia or something?
Sonic: I wouldn't put it past him…
Luigi: [In full-blown Italian accent] Leave-a the gun. Take-a the canolli.
Mario: [Eying his brother warily] Don't do that. It creeps me out.
X: 21XX is really the same world as my little bro Mega's, the only difference being time. So, it's also the Light Blue World.
Stoney: [Picks out one envelope] This is the last letter for tonight, guys. I'm wiped. [Pauses to read return address] This is from someone named Tiggera.
Samus: Well go ahead, read it then!
Stoney: Okay, okay! It says:
"Dude! I love this story!"
[Pause]
Samus: Well?
Stoney: Uh, that's all it says.
[Samus blinks, grabs the letter, and flips it over to see if anything's written on the back. Nothing's there]
Bowser: Ah yes, short and sweet. Just how I like 'em!
Stoney: Okay, that's all I'm gonna respond to for now. Samus, if you would be so kind…?
Samus: I'm on it. [Points her gun at the cast and fires. Another flash of light, and they're gone]
Stoney: Thank you muchly.
Samus: No prob. Be seeing you around. G'night! [Teleports away]
Stoney: [Turns to look at the computer screen again, and yawns] Well, I sure hope the readers'll like this. [Shuts computer down]
[Fade-out. Don't forget to review, people!]