!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROLOGUE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mini Ivan: "I bet I can go faster than you!"
Mini Garet: "You're on!"
Both put the pedal to the metal and zoom into the distance, leaving a large cloud of smoke which distracts Cynic from his business - whatever it is.
Lord Cynic: *Cough cough* "What the... HEY!"
Mini Jenna: (yawning) "What?"
Lord Cynic: "They took my Volkswagon... and my Volvo!"
Mini Jenna: "Your what?!"
Lord Cynic: "My cars! Get back here!" *Aimlessly runs after them.*
The other remaining Minis are woken from their slumber as Lord Cynic pelts after Mini Ivan and Mini Garet.
Mini Mia: "Do you think we should tell him?"
Mini Jenna/Mini Sheba: "... nah."
=
Mini Isaac: "Golden Sun doesn't belong to Lord Cynic. If it did... no, I don't wanna think about it..."
=
Chapter 3 - Immature Proposals, Secret Meetings, and Portable Potties
Garet and Co. strolled through town, Garet as the lead. He was still ghostly white after his experience, and the other two sniggered behind him.
"Its not funny!" Garet said, rounding on his friends. However, he had lost his respect due to Jenna's revenge, and instead of being intimidated, Ivan and Felix started to laugh. "Stop laughing!"
However, they continued to laugh, and Garet through his arms up in disgust and stomped on, huffing irritably. As he walked away, Felix and Ivan started chortling to themselves.
"To be fair, it was pretty nasty," Ivan admitted reasonably. Felix snorted.
"If you ask me, he deserved it." Ivan looked at him accusingly. "What?"
"_He_ deserved it?" Ivan said with a note of disbelief. "You had a hand in his little hoax too, remember?"
"Yeah, well, I -" Suddenly, Felix pager beeped inside his pocket (Don't ask me why they have those things...). Ivan looked at it curiously.
"What's that?" he asked, continuing to peer at the small blinking contraption.
"Er... some kind of electronic message thingy," Felix added slowly. "Kraden gave it to me," he added quickly, when Ivan gave him the raised eyebrow. "Anyway," he said, looking at the pager, "I'll be off. Important business to attend to."
And with that he sped off, leaving Ivan slightly confused, and highly suspicious.
@
Felix stopped in the forest, and immediately his eyes searched left and right, as if he was looking for something, or someone. Soon he started to tap his foot impatiently.
"She'd better not be leaving me here to be bored to death," he muttered to himself, but he bit his tongue in the process. "Oww!"
Suddenly, he heard a snigger in the bushes. Raising an eyebrow, he strolled over to them only to be zapped unexpectedly. He fell onto the ground, twitching, and the culprit revealed herself.
"Well, well," she said, observing the results, "I didn't expect such a puny bolt to have this sort of effect." She thought for a second. "Oh yeah, he's a Venus Adept... oh, oopsy," she added sarcastically as Felix got up, his face still twitching involuntarily.
"To be honest, that's a good look for you," Sheba said, still smirking. When he had at last regained control of his facial muscles, Felix glared at her.
"There are more subtle ways of saying hello," he muttered, to which Sheba simply shrugged dismissively.
"You have your way, I have mine."
She sat down on a tree stump as Felix stood against a tree, arms crossed.
"What kind of business is this, anyway?" he asked, frowning.
"Oh, just details on our little bet," Sheba said coolly, fidgeting with a twig in her hands. Felix looked at her strangely.
"What details?"
"I'm afraid there have been certain events that have taken place. You know what I mean. Anyway, these events have significantly affected the bet we made initially."
"What do you mean, "significantly affected the bet"?"
"Shh!" Sheba hissed, and she looked around apprehensively. "C'mere, we can't let anyone hear..."
Felix crouched to Sheba's level (quite painfully), and together they discussed the details of their bet.
@
Garet entered the markets as the colour returned to his face. Unfortunately for him, Jenna was staring as an armoury display just a few metres away (why, I have no idea). Garet spotted her immediately, and started to backtrack, but Jenna looked up and spotted him as well.
"Oh, Gaaaaareeeeeet!" she sang, and dashed after him. Garet spun around and sped off, screaming desperately. As Isaac and Mia strolled into the markets together (Isaac with an arm around Mia's waist), Jenna zoomed past them, yelling, "Wait, Garet! I love yoooouuuuu!!!"
Isaac and Mia glanced at each other, sweatdropping, as Garet's desperate screams and yells for help faded into the distance. Mia suddenly grabbed Isaac's wrist, and dragged him to the clothing section - in particular the dresses.
"Er... what are we doing here?" Isaac asked awkwardly, eyeing the other people nervously. Mia looked up at him, surprised.
"I thought it didn't matter where we went together," she said, continuing to look at him using her true, tried and tested powers of seduction. Isaac wavered under this mysterious power, and nodded obligingly.
"Yeah, I guess," he said, and immediately Mia darted between the displays. Isaac wouldn't have minded so much, because there was a Psynergy demonstration nearby. He slipped between the other shoppers to get to the demonstration as Mia gave a squeal of delight.
@
Felix gaped at Sheba, mouth open like the clown games at fun fairs. Sheba stared back plainly, unaffected by Felix's reaction.
"What's the problem?" she asked. Felix continued to gape, but he finally recovered and picked up his jaw.
"You can't be serious!" he objected.
"Times, and circumstances, have changed," Sheba replied plainly. "As such, conditions have been altered to adapt to the circumstances."
"Yeah, but -"
"Are you chickening out?"
"No! I... fine."
Felix threw his arms up in defeat, which was pleasure to Sheba's eyes to see Felix out for the count. She got up and walked back to down, and Felix, after a small pause, followed her.
'This is too much trouble than it's worth,' he thought bitterly to himself, as Vale came into view.
@
"And now, I shall attempt to make the earth shake beneath me!"
The crowd watched in awe as the man closed his eyes, and for a few seconds the stage beneath him shook gently. Although Psynergy wasn't an oddity in the town of Vale, everyone clapped the demonstration enthusiastically, except for Isaac. On the contrary, he seemed highly unimpressed and snorted loudly, causing everyone to spin around and look at him. He looked back at them without any change of expression.
"That was nothing," he said. "This is how it's done..."
He closed his eyes and once again the ground began to shake. However, the effect grew greater. Instead of cups simply rattling on the benches, they fell over and spilt the tea and coffee they contained. People struggled to stay on their feet, and somewhere a young female voice screamed shrilly. Immediately, Isaac ceased the show and sweatdropped.
"... I'm in trouble."
@
Ivan was still standing at the exact same spot as half an hour ago. Passers-by glanced briefly at him, and children pointed and said, "Look at the statue, Mummy!" However, he remained motionless until Sheba spotted him on her way to Isaac's house.
"Excellent, time for payback," she said, remembering the babysitting misadventures and Ivan's nasty trick. She quietly snuck up on to him, and when close enough she mouthed, "Spark Plasma!" At once, lightning shot straight at Ivan, and he shot up in shock and pain as it dinged his behind. Sheba smirked to herself, but she forgot an important law in life: What comes up, must come down.
3... 2... 1...
"OOF!"
"ARGH!"
Ivan expected his landing to be hard and painful, but to his surprise it was soft... and fleshy, he thought to himself.
Below him, Sheba recovered from being used as a mattress, and she shot another plasma straight up at Ivan, who yelped again and fell onto the cold, hard nature.
"What was that for?!" he demanded at Sheba, rubbing his thoroughly burnt butt {"Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Fire burns, not lightning." Explain how trees are zapped and burnt down, hmm? 'Nuff said."}. Sheba grew yet another smirk.
"The first one was a wake-up call," she replied coolly, then added, "and the second one was for payback."
"Right..." Ivan gingerly got up. "Geez, you're not very gentle, are you?"
"All's far in love in war," Sheba said. "Especially war." She smirked more broadly, but when Ivan opened up his mouth to comment, a red flash crashed into him.
"WHOA!"
Crash.
"Gaaaaa - oh!"
Jenna, who was still persistent in her pursuit, stopped immediately when she saw the tangled mess.
"Whoa, what happened?"
Garet and Ivan groaned with despair, then Garet shouted, "What are you doing just standing there?! Help us!"
Jenna and Sheba looked at each other, shrugged, then started untangling the red porcupine and blonde mop.
^
Ten minutes later, through lots of grunting, yelping, cursing and a lot of accidental hair-pulling (as Sheba claimed), Garet and Ivan were free of their predicament. They dusted themselves off and looked relatively relieved, but they kept glaring at each other out of the corner of their eye.
"What the heck were you running for?" Sheba asked, turning to Jenna and having chosen to ignore the other two's non-verbal bickering. Jenna turned to Sheba, and a sly smirk crept across her face.
"Oh, just having some much-needed exercise before our wedding." She turned on her cute-as-a-button face. "Isn't that right, dear?"
She glanced pointedly at Garet, who took a few seconds to notice this and stuttered meekly.
"I told you... I don't wanna get married."
Jenna chose not to believe this. "Oh, you're just saying that because you don't wanna admit it in public." To Sheba and Ivan's amusement, she suddenly half-squeezed Garet to death in a tightening hug, and he struggled desperately to get loose. "You can't wait, can you?" she said in her strawberry voice. Garet cringed - or he would've, if he hadn't been struggling for air.
It was quite an amusing sight to see, Jenna continuing to tighten around Garet like a serpent. Sheba and Ivan looked sideways at each other, and sneaky grins spread across their faces.
"Say, Jenna," Sheba said to her as she continued to strangle Garet in the hug, "can I help you with your wedding plans?"
Somewhat surprised, Jenna released Garet from her death grip, and he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and out of breath. No one seemed to show any sympathy for him.
"That was a prank, remember?" Jenna whispered to Sheba, but they noticed Ivan watching them curiously. "What do you want?!" Jenna barked, and Ivan shook his head hurriedly and stared at Garet's unconscious form.
"I know," Sheba whispered, making sure that Ivan was preoccupied. "But I wanna help you keep Garet freaked out."
Jenna thought this over, then looked at Ivan, who was trying to poke Garet awake. She turned back to Sheba, an evil smirk on her face for the 268th time that day.
@
Isaac started to fret as Mia barged her way through the stunned crowds toward the stage. As she approached, he panicked and used Sand (which he learned from Felix) to melt under the ground. He just managed to conceal himself when Mia finally arrived.
"Okay, who was it?!" she demanded at the bewildered crowd. They looked at each other, then spun in all directions to try and look for Isaac. Since he was virtually underneath them, he remained hidden, and everyone turned back to Mia.
"Well?" she asked. When no one said anything, she made her way to the stage. She was halfway there when she heard a yelp of pain. Confused, she stomped on the spot.
"Oww!"
"I recognise that voice," Mia pondered. "Isaac, show yourself!"
At once, Isaac's form arose from the ground, sporting a limp He winced for a second, but when Mia gave him a cold stare, his face turned into a look of terror.
"H... Hello, Mia," Isaac said meekly.
"Look at this!" Mia shrieked, holding up some ripped rags. Isaac peered at them apprehensively, but not close enough for Mia to rip his head off.
"Er... a bit wrecked, aren't they?" he commented stupidly. An anger vein on Mia's forehead bulged, and Isaac suddenly shrank.
"A little wrecked?" she said slowly, then she erupted. "A little wrecked?! This is the result of your showing off! These won't magically sew themselves back together!"
"Well... they could, y'know..." Isaac started quietly. "I mean, perhaps there's a, um... an, um... a 'sewing' Psynergy we don't know abou - OWW!"
Isaac hushed immediately when Mia grabbed him by the ear. As she pulled him away, he was thankful that he hasn't proposed to her yet, or she might've taken it back.
@
Jenna and Sheba were huddled together and talking of more revenge as Ivan continued to try and poke Garet awake.
"No... I'm not eating a dead gorilla!" he mumbled in his sleep. Ivan sweatdropped and pokes him again. "I told you, I won't eat it!" Poke. "No!"
Suddenly, he started to glow, and Ivan stepped back in alarm. Jenna and Sheba stopped their discussion in time to see Garet's eyes pop open - furious red.
"I'll teach you to question my appetite! Fireball!"
Balls of fire erupted from his hands (while he was still lying down, mind you), and were sent skywards.
"I hope they won't mind if I stop by for a visit," Piers said to himself, as his boat floated idly over Vale. Suddenly, balls of flame headed straight for him. "What the-"
BOOM
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
The boat fell towards Vale in a cloud of smoke, and collided onto the roof of the Great Healer.
@
"... wow," Sheba said. "And I thought Garet would eat anything."
"... what... who... where..." Garet was conscious once more, and he sat up, shaking his head. He suddenly noticed the fading cloud of smoke from Piers' boat, then his eyes followed it to the smouldered hull of Piers boat (the only section of the boat not wedged completely into the roof), then to Piers, who had been thrown onto the roof of a porter potty. Everyone smothered their laughter as a man walked out of the porter potty to find a stranger unconscious right above him. Eyes bugged out, he suddenly turned his head to the teenage Adepts, and they looked away quickly, some coughing to hide their true intentions. The man shook his head and walked away, and that's when Ivan burst out laughing.
"Did you see the look on his face when he saw Piers?" he breathed, and that's when Piers finally woke up. He seemed rather discombobulated {"Confused for you little kiddies.").
"... uh... where am I?" He looked at where he was. "... How did I get up here?!"
He looked at the others, confused, as their collapsed on the ground with uncontrollable laughter.
@
Isaac's face was stuck in a wince as Mia dragged him by his ear back to his house. Little kids passing by sniggered rudely, but Isaac ignored them and asked timidly, "Where are we going?"
Mia glowered at him, causing him to fall silent again.
"We're gonna take a withdrawal out of your wallet, because you're paying for that dress, wrecked or not. Capishe?"
She finally let go of him, and Isaac nodded silently, rubbing his throbbing ear. They'd arrived at his house by then, so Isaac didn't have to ask why he'd regained his freedom.
"Wallet. Now," Mia demanded. "And don't try to run off."
Isaac nodded again and entered the house. Within two minutes, he'd returned with his (still) bulging wallet. Mia looked at it and her eyes widened.
"How did -" she started, but Isaac placed a finger on her lips and handed her the coins from his other hand. However, a small box fell out of a pocket of the wallet, and Mia grabbed it curiously. "What's this?" she asked.
Isaac looked at the box then sweatdropped. "Oh, it's... it's nothing," he said all too quickly.
Mia gave him a raised eyebrow and a mischievous smile, then noticed a name tag attached to the box. "Oh yeah? This tag reads 'Mia'."
Isaac hung his head in defeat. "Yeah, it was my second surprise for you. Go ahead, there's no point in hiding it from you any longer."
Mia looked at him hesitantly, but he nodded encouragingly and she glowed and opened the box. Inside was the ring Isaac had bought, and when she saw it, Mia's face lit up like a neon sign.
"This is beautiful!" she cried, hugging Isaac in a Jenna-like tight embrace.
"Oh, but there's something I want to ask you, now that you have the ring," Isaac said, and Mia withdrew, looking at him curiously. He bent down on one knee, and for a second Mia thought he had a cramp. "Mia, will you do the honour of marrying me and being my wife?"
Mia froze like a statue, and Isaac thought he'd blown it again, but he was wrong. Instead, she suddenly burst into tears of joy, but Isaac couldn't tell the difference between Ivan talking properly and using sarcasm and apologised hurriedly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... it was a bad idea, I shouldn't have..."
Mia shook her head and kissed Isaac on the lips again {"For the sake of ending the repetition of saying that, I'll just call it smooching... ergh... makes me feel dirty"}, silencing him once again. When they released (about 2 minutes later... geez...), she had a smile like the sunshine on her face.
"Of course!" she cried, and Isaac's face became a look of relief and joy instead of horror and shock, then he pulled her closer and they shared another long, passionate, vomit-inducing kiss {"Gee, don't I sound like a hypocrite saying that..."}.
@
"So, what brings you here?" Sheba asked, after everyone had calmed down.
"I was thinking of coming down for a visit," Piers explained slowly, "but someone's fireballs made that decision for me."
Although he had no idea whose they were, eyes were on Garet, who sweatdropped, rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly and said, "Eheh... whoopsy."
Jenna shook her head exasperatedly. "Oh well, you're here now. What'll you do until the boat can be wedged off the roof?"
Piers thought for a moment, then looked at his wrecked vessel and sighed. "Well, while I'm here I might as well get a job."
"Job?" Garet piped up. "What job?"
"I dunno," Piers said. "Whatever I can find."
"Heh, good luck," Sheba said. "In the meantime, Ivan and I have some other business to attend to. Let's go."
Ivan nodded, and the two Jupiter Adepts departed.
"I didn't know you might be looking for a job," Jenna said to Piers after Ivan and Sheba had gone.
"Oh, you know," he said casually, "I'm sure a Lemurian's knowledge of the seas could come in handy."
"Speaking of Lemuria," Jenna said, a devious smile creeping onto her mouth, "I'm sure Garet would love to know your real age, right, Garet? I mean, it's not really 24, is it?"
The Mars Adept in question, who was trying to sneak away, froze on the spot. He spun around to find Jenna waiting and tapping her foot impatiently, and sighed heavily. Looking at Piers, he nodded, but even if Garet hadn't been acting on Jenna's orders, Piers wasn't amused.
"It's none of your business how old I am!" I explained that to you when we left Lemuria, and you're not gonna change my mind on that! Now, if you excuse me I also have business to attend to."
With that, he stomped off grumpily, leaving too confused Mars Adepts (no mean feat for Garet) watching after them. After the initial confusion though, Garet finally managed to slip away from Jenna, which infuriated her greatly.
"I'm not finished making him sorry," she muttered. "I have lots more planned for him..."
=
Lord Cynic: "HELP!!! MUDPIES AND FLAMESHIPPERS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!!!"
Mini Sheba: "... Really?"
Lord Cynic: "Yes, yes! Lemme in!!!"
Mini Mia opens the door, granting Cynic protection.
Mini Ivan: "Mia!"
Mini Isaac: *Creates a Ragnarok.* "Got a problem with Mia letting him in?"
Mini Ivan: (grumbling) "No."
Mini Isaac: "Good."
Lord Cynic: "... Phew... they don't let up..."
Mini Sheba: "... 3..."
Cynic: "?"
Mini Ivan: "... 2..."
Cynic: "!"
Mini Sheba/Mini Ivan: "1!!!"
They teleport him outside again, and lock the door.
Cynic: "Oh no!!!"
=
Lord Cynic: "Don't ask how I've escaped for now, but just wanna explain why it's taken so long, even if I'd already written the chapter 2 months ago."
Crowd: "WHAT?!"
Lord Cynic: "Don't kill me! Anyway... I've also written poetry. Nothing fanfiction-type, but original poetry in FictionPress. I'm not a self-promoter, don't get me wrong, but just wanna explain my case. Besides, some poems I've written will be used in future fanfics, I guarantee that. Oh, and I've decided the next episode in the series: "This Gift". Inspired by the 98 Degrees song (Favourite band... I know, really bad music taste.), it'll be in Isaac's POV. Joy..."
=
Chapter 3: "Vale's Angels combine with the Sprites" (You'll find out who they are...)
PROLOGUE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mini Ivan: "I bet I can go faster than you!"
Mini Garet: "You're on!"
Both put the pedal to the metal and zoom into the distance, leaving a large cloud of smoke which distracts Cynic from his business - whatever it is.
Lord Cynic: *Cough cough* "What the... HEY!"
Mini Jenna: (yawning) "What?"
Lord Cynic: "They took my Volkswagon... and my Volvo!"
Mini Jenna: "Your what?!"
Lord Cynic: "My cars! Get back here!" *Aimlessly runs after them.*
The other remaining Minis are woken from their slumber as Lord Cynic pelts after Mini Ivan and Mini Garet.
Mini Mia: "Do you think we should tell him?"
Mini Jenna/Mini Sheba: "... nah."
=
Mini Isaac: "Golden Sun doesn't belong to Lord Cynic. If it did... no, I don't wanna think about it..."
=
Chapter 3 - Immature Proposals, Secret Meetings, and Portable Potties
Garet and Co. strolled through town, Garet as the lead. He was still ghostly white after his experience, and the other two sniggered behind him.
"Its not funny!" Garet said, rounding on his friends. However, he had lost his respect due to Jenna's revenge, and instead of being intimidated, Ivan and Felix started to laugh. "Stop laughing!"
However, they continued to laugh, and Garet through his arms up in disgust and stomped on, huffing irritably. As he walked away, Felix and Ivan started chortling to themselves.
"To be fair, it was pretty nasty," Ivan admitted reasonably. Felix snorted.
"If you ask me, he deserved it." Ivan looked at him accusingly. "What?"
"_He_ deserved it?" Ivan said with a note of disbelief. "You had a hand in his little hoax too, remember?"
"Yeah, well, I -" Suddenly, Felix pager beeped inside his pocket (Don't ask me why they have those things...). Ivan looked at it curiously.
"What's that?" he asked, continuing to peer at the small blinking contraption.
"Er... some kind of electronic message thingy," Felix added slowly. "Kraden gave it to me," he added quickly, when Ivan gave him the raised eyebrow. "Anyway," he said, looking at the pager, "I'll be off. Important business to attend to."
And with that he sped off, leaving Ivan slightly confused, and highly suspicious.
@
Felix stopped in the forest, and immediately his eyes searched left and right, as if he was looking for something, or someone. Soon he started to tap his foot impatiently.
"She'd better not be leaving me here to be bored to death," he muttered to himself, but he bit his tongue in the process. "Oww!"
Suddenly, he heard a snigger in the bushes. Raising an eyebrow, he strolled over to them only to be zapped unexpectedly. He fell onto the ground, twitching, and the culprit revealed herself.
"Well, well," she said, observing the results, "I didn't expect such a puny bolt to have this sort of effect." She thought for a second. "Oh yeah, he's a Venus Adept... oh, oopsy," she added sarcastically as Felix got up, his face still twitching involuntarily.
"To be honest, that's a good look for you," Sheba said, still smirking. When he had at last regained control of his facial muscles, Felix glared at her.
"There are more subtle ways of saying hello," he muttered, to which Sheba simply shrugged dismissively.
"You have your way, I have mine."
She sat down on a tree stump as Felix stood against a tree, arms crossed.
"What kind of business is this, anyway?" he asked, frowning.
"Oh, just details on our little bet," Sheba said coolly, fidgeting with a twig in her hands. Felix looked at her strangely.
"What details?"
"I'm afraid there have been certain events that have taken place. You know what I mean. Anyway, these events have significantly affected the bet we made initially."
"What do you mean, "significantly affected the bet"?"
"Shh!" Sheba hissed, and she looked around apprehensively. "C'mere, we can't let anyone hear..."
Felix crouched to Sheba's level (quite painfully), and together they discussed the details of their bet.
@
Garet entered the markets as the colour returned to his face. Unfortunately for him, Jenna was staring as an armoury display just a few metres away (why, I have no idea). Garet spotted her immediately, and started to backtrack, but Jenna looked up and spotted him as well.
"Oh, Gaaaaareeeeeet!" she sang, and dashed after him. Garet spun around and sped off, screaming desperately. As Isaac and Mia strolled into the markets together (Isaac with an arm around Mia's waist), Jenna zoomed past them, yelling, "Wait, Garet! I love yoooouuuuu!!!"
Isaac and Mia glanced at each other, sweatdropping, as Garet's desperate screams and yells for help faded into the distance. Mia suddenly grabbed Isaac's wrist, and dragged him to the clothing section - in particular the dresses.
"Er... what are we doing here?" Isaac asked awkwardly, eyeing the other people nervously. Mia looked up at him, surprised.
"I thought it didn't matter where we went together," she said, continuing to look at him using her true, tried and tested powers of seduction. Isaac wavered under this mysterious power, and nodded obligingly.
"Yeah, I guess," he said, and immediately Mia darted between the displays. Isaac wouldn't have minded so much, because there was a Psynergy demonstration nearby. He slipped between the other shoppers to get to the demonstration as Mia gave a squeal of delight.
@
Felix gaped at Sheba, mouth open like the clown games at fun fairs. Sheba stared back plainly, unaffected by Felix's reaction.
"What's the problem?" she asked. Felix continued to gape, but he finally recovered and picked up his jaw.
"You can't be serious!" he objected.
"Times, and circumstances, have changed," Sheba replied plainly. "As such, conditions have been altered to adapt to the circumstances."
"Yeah, but -"
"Are you chickening out?"
"No! I... fine."
Felix threw his arms up in defeat, which was pleasure to Sheba's eyes to see Felix out for the count. She got up and walked back to down, and Felix, after a small pause, followed her.
'This is too much trouble than it's worth,' he thought bitterly to himself, as Vale came into view.
@
"And now, I shall attempt to make the earth shake beneath me!"
The crowd watched in awe as the man closed his eyes, and for a few seconds the stage beneath him shook gently. Although Psynergy wasn't an oddity in the town of Vale, everyone clapped the demonstration enthusiastically, except for Isaac. On the contrary, he seemed highly unimpressed and snorted loudly, causing everyone to spin around and look at him. He looked back at them without any change of expression.
"That was nothing," he said. "This is how it's done..."
He closed his eyes and once again the ground began to shake. However, the effect grew greater. Instead of cups simply rattling on the benches, they fell over and spilt the tea and coffee they contained. People struggled to stay on their feet, and somewhere a young female voice screamed shrilly. Immediately, Isaac ceased the show and sweatdropped.
"... I'm in trouble."
@
Ivan was still standing at the exact same spot as half an hour ago. Passers-by glanced briefly at him, and children pointed and said, "Look at the statue, Mummy!" However, he remained motionless until Sheba spotted him on her way to Isaac's house.
"Excellent, time for payback," she said, remembering the babysitting misadventures and Ivan's nasty trick. She quietly snuck up on to him, and when close enough she mouthed, "Spark Plasma!" At once, lightning shot straight at Ivan, and he shot up in shock and pain as it dinged his behind. Sheba smirked to herself, but she forgot an important law in life: What comes up, must come down.
3... 2... 1...
"OOF!"
"ARGH!"
Ivan expected his landing to be hard and painful, but to his surprise it was soft... and fleshy, he thought to himself.
Below him, Sheba recovered from being used as a mattress, and she shot another plasma straight up at Ivan, who yelped again and fell onto the cold, hard nature.
"What was that for?!" he demanded at Sheba, rubbing his thoroughly burnt butt {"Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Fire burns, not lightning." Explain how trees are zapped and burnt down, hmm? 'Nuff said."}. Sheba grew yet another smirk.
"The first one was a wake-up call," she replied coolly, then added, "and the second one was for payback."
"Right..." Ivan gingerly got up. "Geez, you're not very gentle, are you?"
"All's far in love in war," Sheba said. "Especially war." She smirked more broadly, but when Ivan opened up his mouth to comment, a red flash crashed into him.
"WHOA!"
Crash.
"Gaaaaa - oh!"
Jenna, who was still persistent in her pursuit, stopped immediately when she saw the tangled mess.
"Whoa, what happened?"
Garet and Ivan groaned with despair, then Garet shouted, "What are you doing just standing there?! Help us!"
Jenna and Sheba looked at each other, shrugged, then started untangling the red porcupine and blonde mop.
^
Ten minutes later, through lots of grunting, yelping, cursing and a lot of accidental hair-pulling (as Sheba claimed), Garet and Ivan were free of their predicament. They dusted themselves off and looked relatively relieved, but they kept glaring at each other out of the corner of their eye.
"What the heck were you running for?" Sheba asked, turning to Jenna and having chosen to ignore the other two's non-verbal bickering. Jenna turned to Sheba, and a sly smirk crept across her face.
"Oh, just having some much-needed exercise before our wedding." She turned on her cute-as-a-button face. "Isn't that right, dear?"
She glanced pointedly at Garet, who took a few seconds to notice this and stuttered meekly.
"I told you... I don't wanna get married."
Jenna chose not to believe this. "Oh, you're just saying that because you don't wanna admit it in public." To Sheba and Ivan's amusement, she suddenly half-squeezed Garet to death in a tightening hug, and he struggled desperately to get loose. "You can't wait, can you?" she said in her strawberry voice. Garet cringed - or he would've, if he hadn't been struggling for air.
It was quite an amusing sight to see, Jenna continuing to tighten around Garet like a serpent. Sheba and Ivan looked sideways at each other, and sneaky grins spread across their faces.
"Say, Jenna," Sheba said to her as she continued to strangle Garet in the hug, "can I help you with your wedding plans?"
Somewhat surprised, Jenna released Garet from her death grip, and he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and out of breath. No one seemed to show any sympathy for him.
"That was a prank, remember?" Jenna whispered to Sheba, but they noticed Ivan watching them curiously. "What do you want?!" Jenna barked, and Ivan shook his head hurriedly and stared at Garet's unconscious form.
"I know," Sheba whispered, making sure that Ivan was preoccupied. "But I wanna help you keep Garet freaked out."
Jenna thought this over, then looked at Ivan, who was trying to poke Garet awake. She turned back to Sheba, an evil smirk on her face for the 268th time that day.
@
Isaac started to fret as Mia barged her way through the stunned crowds toward the stage. As she approached, he panicked and used Sand (which he learned from Felix) to melt under the ground. He just managed to conceal himself when Mia finally arrived.
"Okay, who was it?!" she demanded at the bewildered crowd. They looked at each other, then spun in all directions to try and look for Isaac. Since he was virtually underneath them, he remained hidden, and everyone turned back to Mia.
"Well?" she asked. When no one said anything, she made her way to the stage. She was halfway there when she heard a yelp of pain. Confused, she stomped on the spot.
"Oww!"
"I recognise that voice," Mia pondered. "Isaac, show yourself!"
At once, Isaac's form arose from the ground, sporting a limp He winced for a second, but when Mia gave him a cold stare, his face turned into a look of terror.
"H... Hello, Mia," Isaac said meekly.
"Look at this!" Mia shrieked, holding up some ripped rags. Isaac peered at them apprehensively, but not close enough for Mia to rip his head off.
"Er... a bit wrecked, aren't they?" he commented stupidly. An anger vein on Mia's forehead bulged, and Isaac suddenly shrank.
"A little wrecked?" she said slowly, then she erupted. "A little wrecked?! This is the result of your showing off! These won't magically sew themselves back together!"
"Well... they could, y'know..." Isaac started quietly. "I mean, perhaps there's a, um... an, um... a 'sewing' Psynergy we don't know abou - OWW!"
Isaac hushed immediately when Mia grabbed him by the ear. As she pulled him away, he was thankful that he hasn't proposed to her yet, or she might've taken it back.
@
Jenna and Sheba were huddled together and talking of more revenge as Ivan continued to try and poke Garet awake.
"No... I'm not eating a dead gorilla!" he mumbled in his sleep. Ivan sweatdropped and pokes him again. "I told you, I won't eat it!" Poke. "No!"
Suddenly, he started to glow, and Ivan stepped back in alarm. Jenna and Sheba stopped their discussion in time to see Garet's eyes pop open - furious red.
"I'll teach you to question my appetite! Fireball!"
Balls of fire erupted from his hands (while he was still lying down, mind you), and were sent skywards.
"I hope they won't mind if I stop by for a visit," Piers said to himself, as his boat floated idly over Vale. Suddenly, balls of flame headed straight for him. "What the-"
BOOM
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
The boat fell towards Vale in a cloud of smoke, and collided onto the roof of the Great Healer.
@
"... wow," Sheba said. "And I thought Garet would eat anything."
"... what... who... where..." Garet was conscious once more, and he sat up, shaking his head. He suddenly noticed the fading cloud of smoke from Piers' boat, then his eyes followed it to the smouldered hull of Piers boat (the only section of the boat not wedged completely into the roof), then to Piers, who had been thrown onto the roof of a porter potty. Everyone smothered their laughter as a man walked out of the porter potty to find a stranger unconscious right above him. Eyes bugged out, he suddenly turned his head to the teenage Adepts, and they looked away quickly, some coughing to hide their true intentions. The man shook his head and walked away, and that's when Ivan burst out laughing.
"Did you see the look on his face when he saw Piers?" he breathed, and that's when Piers finally woke up. He seemed rather discombobulated {"Confused for you little kiddies.").
"... uh... where am I?" He looked at where he was. "... How did I get up here?!"
He looked at the others, confused, as their collapsed on the ground with uncontrollable laughter.
@
Isaac's face was stuck in a wince as Mia dragged him by his ear back to his house. Little kids passing by sniggered rudely, but Isaac ignored them and asked timidly, "Where are we going?"
Mia glowered at him, causing him to fall silent again.
"We're gonna take a withdrawal out of your wallet, because you're paying for that dress, wrecked or not. Capishe?"
She finally let go of him, and Isaac nodded silently, rubbing his throbbing ear. They'd arrived at his house by then, so Isaac didn't have to ask why he'd regained his freedom.
"Wallet. Now," Mia demanded. "And don't try to run off."
Isaac nodded again and entered the house. Within two minutes, he'd returned with his (still) bulging wallet. Mia looked at it and her eyes widened.
"How did -" she started, but Isaac placed a finger on her lips and handed her the coins from his other hand. However, a small box fell out of a pocket of the wallet, and Mia grabbed it curiously. "What's this?" she asked.
Isaac looked at the box then sweatdropped. "Oh, it's... it's nothing," he said all too quickly.
Mia gave him a raised eyebrow and a mischievous smile, then noticed a name tag attached to the box. "Oh yeah? This tag reads 'Mia'."
Isaac hung his head in defeat. "Yeah, it was my second surprise for you. Go ahead, there's no point in hiding it from you any longer."
Mia looked at him hesitantly, but he nodded encouragingly and she glowed and opened the box. Inside was the ring Isaac had bought, and when she saw it, Mia's face lit up like a neon sign.
"This is beautiful!" she cried, hugging Isaac in a Jenna-like tight embrace.
"Oh, but there's something I want to ask you, now that you have the ring," Isaac said, and Mia withdrew, looking at him curiously. He bent down on one knee, and for a second Mia thought he had a cramp. "Mia, will you do the honour of marrying me and being my wife?"
Mia froze like a statue, and Isaac thought he'd blown it again, but he was wrong. Instead, she suddenly burst into tears of joy, but Isaac couldn't tell the difference between Ivan talking properly and using sarcasm and apologised hurriedly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... it was a bad idea, I shouldn't have..."
Mia shook her head and kissed Isaac on the lips again {"For the sake of ending the repetition of saying that, I'll just call it smooching... ergh... makes me feel dirty"}, silencing him once again. When they released (about 2 minutes later... geez...), she had a smile like the sunshine on her face.
"Of course!" she cried, and Isaac's face became a look of relief and joy instead of horror and shock, then he pulled her closer and they shared another long, passionate, vomit-inducing kiss {"Gee, don't I sound like a hypocrite saying that..."}.
@
"So, what brings you here?" Sheba asked, after everyone had calmed down.
"I was thinking of coming down for a visit," Piers explained slowly, "but someone's fireballs made that decision for me."
Although he had no idea whose they were, eyes were on Garet, who sweatdropped, rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly and said, "Eheh... whoopsy."
Jenna shook her head exasperatedly. "Oh well, you're here now. What'll you do until the boat can be wedged off the roof?"
Piers thought for a moment, then looked at his wrecked vessel and sighed. "Well, while I'm here I might as well get a job."
"Job?" Garet piped up. "What job?"
"I dunno," Piers said. "Whatever I can find."
"Heh, good luck," Sheba said. "In the meantime, Ivan and I have some other business to attend to. Let's go."
Ivan nodded, and the two Jupiter Adepts departed.
"I didn't know you might be looking for a job," Jenna said to Piers after Ivan and Sheba had gone.
"Oh, you know," he said casually, "I'm sure a Lemurian's knowledge of the seas could come in handy."
"Speaking of Lemuria," Jenna said, a devious smile creeping onto her mouth, "I'm sure Garet would love to know your real age, right, Garet? I mean, it's not really 24, is it?"
The Mars Adept in question, who was trying to sneak away, froze on the spot. He spun around to find Jenna waiting and tapping her foot impatiently, and sighed heavily. Looking at Piers, he nodded, but even if Garet hadn't been acting on Jenna's orders, Piers wasn't amused.
"It's none of your business how old I am!" I explained that to you when we left Lemuria, and you're not gonna change my mind on that! Now, if you excuse me I also have business to attend to."
With that, he stomped off grumpily, leaving too confused Mars Adepts (no mean feat for Garet) watching after them. After the initial confusion though, Garet finally managed to slip away from Jenna, which infuriated her greatly.
"I'm not finished making him sorry," she muttered. "I have lots more planned for him..."
=
Lord Cynic: "HELP!!! MUDPIES AND FLAMESHIPPERS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!!!"
Mini Sheba: "... Really?"
Lord Cynic: "Yes, yes! Lemme in!!!"
Mini Mia opens the door, granting Cynic protection.
Mini Ivan: "Mia!"
Mini Isaac: *Creates a Ragnarok.* "Got a problem with Mia letting him in?"
Mini Ivan: (grumbling) "No."
Mini Isaac: "Good."
Lord Cynic: "... Phew... they don't let up..."
Mini Sheba: "... 3..."
Cynic: "?"
Mini Ivan: "... 2..."
Cynic: "!"
Mini Sheba/Mini Ivan: "1!!!"
They teleport him outside again, and lock the door.
Cynic: "Oh no!!!"
=
Lord Cynic: "Don't ask how I've escaped for now, but just wanna explain why it's taken so long, even if I'd already written the chapter 2 months ago."
Crowd: "WHAT?!"
Lord Cynic: "Don't kill me! Anyway... I've also written poetry. Nothing fanfiction-type, but original poetry in FictionPress. I'm not a self-promoter, don't get me wrong, but just wanna explain my case. Besides, some poems I've written will be used in future fanfics, I guarantee that. Oh, and I've decided the next episode in the series: "This Gift". Inspired by the 98 Degrees song (Favourite band... I know, really bad music taste.), it'll be in Isaac's POV. Joy..."
=
Chapter 3: "Vale's Angels combine with the Sprites" (You'll find out who they are...)
