Author's Notes: Some of you might recognize the content of this chapter and the next from a whole different story. I had them published as one separate story at one point, but after some thought, I decided that it would be best to simply make them an addition to the previous story.
Thanks and Dedications: I would like to thank Teschio for suggesting the premise for this addition, and for SirKibble, GSAlex, and some others on GameFAQs for reading over this for me.I'd also like to dedicate this to Joker's Specter for his birthday.
Disclaimer: Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot. I do not claim ownership of their property.
The last thing Isaac expected at two in the morning was for Alex to Warp into his bedroom and jump onto his bed.
"Ah hah! I have you right where I want you, Isaac!" Alex crowed, leaning over the blond boy.
"No! I don't swing that way!" Isaac yelled, pulling the covers over his head.
"What? Oh, no!" Alex said, jumping back off the bed. "Oh, Sol, no. Not that." Alex regained his composure and grinned evilly. "No, I have you right where I want you to get the rest of the power of the Golden Sun."
"You'll have to fight me first!" Isaac threw off the covers, leapt from his bed and grabbed his sword from where it leaned at the head of his bed.
"You're going to fight me while wearing that?" Alex said disdainfully, gesturing at Isaac's pajamas.
"What's wrong with my P.J.s?" Isaac asked, looking down at his night wear.
"Hah!" Alex cried, darting forward and holding a shard of ice to Isaac's chest. "Now, give me the power of the Golden Sun or I will kill you!"
"Uh..." Isaac had to think fast. He looked over Alex's shoulder. "Hey, Mia, help me!"
"Mia?" Alex cried. "Where?"
"Take this!" Isaac punched Alex in the stomach. The blunet doubled over, gasping. Isaac brought his sword up and was about to slay the dastard when something leapt onto his face. "Agh!" He screamed, dropping his sword. "Oh, Sol, my face! Yargh!" He tried to pull the fur-covered object off his head.
"Snowflake, down," Alex said. Though Isaac couldn't see his nemesis, it was apparent from merely his tone of voice that he was smirking. Isaac wanted nothing more than to punch Alex. Again. Snowflake disengaged her claws from Isaac's face and jumped down, walking over to Alex and rubbing against his legs.
"S- Snowflake!" Isaac exclaimed, looking at the kitten. His knees went weak, and Isaac had to sit down quickly on his bed.
"Scared, Isaac?" Alex said with a laugh. "You should be."
"I- I'm not afraid of you, Alex!" Isaac said, forcing himself to stand.
"Maybe not, but you're terrified of Snowflake," Alex said. The cat prowled up to Isaac, who yelped in terror and jumped up on his bed. "Oh yes, Isaac," Alex continued. "Snowflake told me all about your fear. So if you don't want her to attack you, I think you'd better do as I say."
"I won't give in," Isaac said with as much bravado as he could muster. The effect was somewhat spoiled, however, by the way he was cowering on his bed while wearing his pajamas.
"I was afraid you'd say that," Alex sighed. He tossed his hair. "Ice Prison!" He glowed with Psynergy, and tendrils of ice surrounded Isaac before he could move. "C'mon, Snowflake, let's Warp," Alex said, and he Warped himself, the cat, and their prisoner far away.
The next morning, Garet walked over to Isaac's house, a stack of comics in his arms. He and Isaac had planned a Ninja Adventure Squad marathon for that afternoon, and Garet couldn't wait. Dora had promised to make some of her brownies, too, and Garet was practically drooling at the thought.
Reaching Isaac's house, Garet shifted the stack of comic books to one arm and braced them against his chest, then used his free arm to knock on the door.
"Good morning, Garet," Dora said, answering the door moments later. "Come in to the kitchen. Isaac's not up yet. Would you like something to eat in the mean time?"
"That sounds good," Garet said. "You, uh, wouldn't need anyone to test brownies, would you?"
"I believe I have a batch ready just now," she said. "Let me get you one."
As Dora was doing so, Mia came downstairs. "Good morning, Dora. Good morning, Garet." She looked around. "Where's Isaac?"
"I think he's still asleep," Dora answered, taking a pan of brownies out of the oven.
"No, his door was open when I passed by, and his bed was empty," Mia said.
"That's weird," Garet said. He stood behind Dora as she cut the brownies in the pan, practically breathing down her neck. As soon as she put a brownie on a plate for him, Garet shoved the whole piece in his mouth. He gave Mia a chocolate-y grin and continued speaking through a mouthful of brownie. "Isaac knew we were going to be reading comics today. I don't know why he wouldn't be here."
"You don't think anything happened to him, do you?" Mia asked.
Garet shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe we should check his room, see if he left a note or something."
"I'll stay here and wait for him to come back," Dora said, sitting at the kitchen table at such an angle that she could look out the window for her wayward son.
Garet and Mia went upstairs to Isaac's room. "Let's see," Garet said. He walked over to Isaac's desk. "There's no note, and he's definitely not here. The bedcovers are a mess, and," he crossed to Isaac's laundry hamper, "no, I don't see any pajamas, which means he's still wearing them."
"Look," Mia said, "There's some puddles on the floor."
"The plot thickens," Garet muttered as he bent down to examine the floor.
Mia gave him an odd look, but something else caught her eye."Garet, look. Cat hairs..." Mia stared intently at the bits of fur that lay on the floor near Isaac's bed. "It can't be," she whispered. "Snowflake?"
It took Garet less than a half hour to gather the rest of his friends to meet at Isaac's house. Although Mia didn't know it, Garet, Isaac, and the rest of their friends had, six months ago, conspired to dispose of Mia's demonic pet cat, Snowflake. In the end, they had foisted the kitten off on their nemesis Alex, and they had not heard from him since.
From seeing the puddles of water and Snowflake's fur, Garet had come up with a theory that Alex was behind Isaac's disappearance. Of course, he hadn't wanted to worry Dora, so when he left to get his friends, Garet told her that he was simply checking to see if Isaac was at any of their houses.
As he had suspected, Isaac was nowhere to be found, so Garet asked the others to meet with him, Dora, and Mia to discuss things. Soon, the seven Adepts and Dora were seated in the kitchen of Isaac's house.
"So, Isaac's missing," Felix said. "And you think you know where he is, Garet?"
"Sort of," Garet said. "I'd bet that he's with Alex. We found cat hairs and some puddles of water in Isaac's room, and Mia felt that the cat hairs were Snowflakes. Since we gave, er, Alex kidnapped Snowflake, I think we can assume that Alex and Snowflake are behind this."
"Poor Isaac," Sheba said. "I'm gonna miss him."
"What do you mean, Sheba?" Dora asked. "You all are going to rescue him, right?" Dora looked so sad that Sheba squirmed guiltily in her seat.
"Well, yeah, we would, but he's with Snowflake, Ma'am."
"What do you mean, Sheba?" Mia asked. "I was hoping we could rescue Snowflake as well as Isaac."
The other six Adepts looked quite uncomfortable. No one said anything until Piers, taking his life in his hands, spoke up."I don't think we can do that, Mia," Piers said. "Snowflake... Well, you see, Snowflake is evil."
"What?"
"It's true," Piers said. "She threatened our very lives. In the end, we had to dispose of Snowflake by giving her to Alex."
"What!" Mia shrieked. "You gave away my kitten to that traitor!"
"Mia, Snowflake was a terror." Jenna jumped into the conversation. "Besides, I bet Alex is taking care of her. She used to be your kitten, after all, and you know how Alex is obsessed with you."
"You were all involved in this?" Mia asked. They nodded. Mia glared at them each in turn. "I can't believe this. Not only did you conspire to get rid of my kitten, but you lied to me. You all went behind my back without even talking to me."
"You wouldn't have listened," Jenna said. "You didn't say anything when Snowflake attacked Piers."
"That cat nearly emasculated me, and all you did was fuss over whether it was okay!" Ivan said.
"You're all overreacting, and I want nothing more to do with this," Mia said, eyes blazing. "I'm going for a walk; the rest of you can do what you wish." She stood and left the house, slamming the door behind her.
"That could have gone better," Piers remarked.
"Uh... We'll deal with that one later," Jenna said. "What's important is that we rescue Isaac."
"We don't know where he is, though," Felix said. "Ivan, Sheba, could either of you locate him with your minds?"
"I'll try," Sheba said, and Ivan nodded. They both closed their eyes, appearing deep in concentration. After several minutes, both Jupiter Adepts opened their eyes again. "I saw him," Sheba said. "Isaac, Alex and," she shuddered, "Snowflake are somewhere underground."
"There's lots of stone walls and torches," added Ivan. "The whole place is a wreck, though, like it's collapsed."
"It's Mt. Aleph," Felix said, snapping his fingers. "Has to be."
"Yeah, that's the last place anyone saw Alex before it collapsed," Garet said. "He must have made it his base."
"Well, that's settled, then," Jenna said, then turned to Dora. "Don't worry, Ma'am. We'll rescue Isaac in no time."
"Thank you, Jenna," Dora said. "I know you kids can do this."
"Let's go," Garet said. "Everyone, get your weapons. Let's meet at the path leading to Mt. Aleph in fifteen minutes."
"What about Mia?" Piers asked. "Shall we inform her about our plans?"
"You can try," Sheba said with a shrug. "She seemed pretty angry but, hey, who knows?"
"I shall do that," Piers said, then left.
"Okay, guys, fifteen minutes," Garet said again, and then they all dispersed.
Fifteen minutes later, five of the Adepts were waiting at the foot of the path to Mt. Aleph.
"What's keeping Piers?" Garet grumbled, tapping his foot impatiently.
"I think that's him now," Felix said. Sure enough, Piers came into view, limping up the path towards them.
"Uh, Piers, what's with the limp?" Jenna asked.
The Mercury Adept shook his head. "Hell hath no fury like a Mia scorned. I went looking for her and found her sitting in a tree. I had barely opened my mouth to speak before she was raining Ice Missiles down on me." He bent down and cast Ply on his leg. "I do not think she will be accompanying us."
"I guess we'll just have to go without her," Ivan said. "We can't waste any more time. Who knows what Alex is doing to Isaac even as we speak?"
The Adepts paused in thought to consider the possibilities. "Kinky," Sheba muttered to herself.
Jenna gave her friend a strange look. "Uh, what are you thinking?"
"Nothing," said Sheba. "Nothing at all. Let's go rescue Isaac!"
"Yeah!" they all shouted, then charged up the path to Mt. Aleph.
"You won't get away with this, Alex," Isaac proclaimed defiantly. He was bound to the wall by ropes of un-melting ice which were sustained by Alex's Psynergy.
"You've told me that at least twenty times in the past half hour," Alex snapped. "I liked it better when all you could say was 'Yes' and 'No'." He adjusted the tiny blue cape that Snowflake was wearing. Snowflake made a disapproving noise. "Yes, I know you don't like it," Alex told the kitten, "But we have to look good when we defeat our arch-nemesis and gain ultimate power." Alex tugged at his own costume. "In retrospect, I suppose that spandex wasn't such a good idea."
"Look, my friends are going to come and kick your butt any minute," Isaac said. "Why don't you let me go and save yourself a beating?"
"Shut up," Alex said. "I've worked too hard to stop now."
"Why's everything going into italics?" Isaac asked.
"It's a flashback," Alex said. "Now be quiet." He switched over to first-person.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was cold and alone, trapped in the mountain. I had failed in my quest to obtain the ultimate power of the Golden Sun. The only thought that kept me alive was the thought that I could still obtain this power.
Slowly, I worked my way out of the ruins of Mt. Aleph. My going was made easier when I stumbled onto the network of corridors that ran throughout the mountain. Although the collapse destroyed many parts, some still existed, and I used them as my base of operations. I had gained some of the Golden Sun's power, so I used that to improve my base until it became what you see before you now.
"This is getting boring," Isaac interjected. "Get to the point."
Fine. Let's move along to when I got Snowflake. At first we didn't get along, but we learned to trust each other after a time. I taught her many things, like how to catch a stick, how to play dead, and where a human's vulnerable points are. She, in turn, taught me, too. I learned how to love.
"Well, bully for you," Isaac said sarcastically.
"Will you shut up?" Alex growled, reverting to third-person in his anger. "I'm almost done." He sighed. "You know, most prisoners have the sense to keep quiet while the villain is monologuing."
"Well, I'm not most prisoners," Isaac said.
"No, you're not," Alex agreed, then socked him in the nose. "Now shut up."
"Ow!" Isaac howled. "Cure!" He paused, waiting for the Psynergy to take effect. "Hey, nothing's happening," he said after a moment.
Alex smirked. "I blocked your Psynergy. Duh." At his heels, Snowflake meowed impatiently. "Oh, that's right. We do need to get on with extracting the last quarter of the Golden Sun from Isaac."
"Is this going to hurt?" Isaac asked.
"I dunno," Alex said. "Don't worry, though. If it doesn't hurt, I can always have Snowflake maul you later."
Isaac whimpered and began straining at the ice that held him. Snowflake sauntered close and looked up at him, her gaze taunting him. Isaac narrowed his eyes and kicked Snowflake.
"Mrow!" the cat screeched as it went flying.
"Snowflake!" Alex cried. He dove after the cat and managed to catch her before she hit the wall. Alex turned and glared at Isaac, and in his arms Snowflake did the same. Alex carefully set the kitten down and healed her.
"You'll pay for this, Isaac," Alex said. "No more delays." Alex stepped close to Isaac, although out of kicking range, raised his arms, and said, "Psy Drain!"
"Argh!" Isaac cried as Alex's attack hit him. Isaac felt his Psynergy being drained away at a prodigious rate, which left him feeling weak and dizzy.
"Hah, yes!" Alex said in triumph. "I can feel the power."
"Well, you won't be feeling it for long!"
"Huh?" Alex asked, stopping his attack and turning to face the speaker.
"We're here to rescue Isaac," Garet said. He and the others were standing in the doorway of Alex's lair.
"How did you find me?" Alex asked.
Ivan stepped forward. "A little thing I like to call Jupiter powers." He smirked.
"Make this easy on yourself and let Isaac go, Alex," Jenna said.
"Never!" Alex proclaimed. He struck a pose. "I am so close to having ultimate power! I will not give up!"
"Then you leave us no choice but to stop you with force," said Piers.
"I'd like to see you try," Alex laughed.
"Liquefier!" Garet yelled, sending a beams of fire towards Alex. The others chimed in, using their most powerful attacks.
"Diamond Berg!" Alex was hit with a chunk of ice, then by Piers's sword.
"Odyssey!" Psynergetic swords struck him.
"Destruct Ray!" Two simultaneous lightning storms struck the Mercury Adept. Alex fell to his knees.
"Dragon Fume!" A plume of fire in the shape of a dragon howled through the air, striking Alex head-on. It bowled him over, and he lay still.
"Oh yeah, we're good," Garet said.
"We did save Weyard," Sheba said. "It would figure that no one can beat us."
"Come on, let's get Isaac," Jenna said. "He doesn't look so good." Isaac was hanging limply in his icy bonds.
Jenna stepped forward to go to Isaac but was sent back by a blast of water. She and the others were knocked down.
"What was that?" Ivan spluttered.
"I guess we didn't defeat Alex after all," Felix said, scrambling to his feet and wringing out his ponytail.
"I have almost all of the Golden Sun's power," Alex said. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"
"We'll certainly try," Piers said.
"Heh, well you won't even get the chance," Alex said. "I have to finish taking the power of Mars from Isaac." Alex whistled and Snowflake trotted over. She'd shed her little cape. "Snowflake, be a good girl and stop these intruders, please."
Snowflake mrowed in assent and stood facing the Adepts. Her back was arched and she hissed at them. They all swallowed hard. Alex laughed. "Well, I'll just get back to draining the life from your friend. Try and stop me... If you can get past Snowflake, that is." He laughed and turned to Isaac, casting Psy Drain again.