Ah…hello there. I am Flinty, yah? Please do not make fun of accent, or your ass will get a kicking.

I am supposed to be guarding something big…6 Machine. Da thing that Captain Blue uses, yah? But he's not gonna get to it because he's got no v-watch, ha ha. But dat kid, Nick…he got one. So he's a threat, yah?

And threats…gotta be taken care of. Yah? And who better to do it than me, Flinty! Yah…aah. I'm tired…Sleepy time again…

ZZZ…


Nick sat down on his hospital bed, and listened calmly to the worried (and in Joe's case, awed) voices of those around him.

"You could have been killed!"

"You were in no condition-"

"Sweet moves, man! You're a'ight."

"What the heck were you thinking, Nick?"

"Young man, you are-"

Nick nodded, and "uh-huhed" and smiled politely, all the while thinking "When are they gonna LEAVE!". He had an awful headache, and he needed a nap. Luckily, Captain Blue sensed Nick's predicament.

"I think we should all give Nick some time to rest. He needs some time to recover after that fight. Please, everyone leave." He ushered and shooed people away, and then only he, Joe and Sylvia were left. "You're tired, huh?" Joe asked. Nick nodded, he was already lying down, head on the pillow. "Well we'll let you sleep. You did great, Nick." "Yes. He gave me THIS scar…but that one was deep. All you've got is that nasty cut on your chest, and that'll heal up in a few days. My eye won't grow back." It was true, Captain Blue's right eye had been slashed, and a terrible scar was left where his eye should be, trailing down his cheek and slightly up his forehead. He no longer had vision in that eye, but his left eye was still fine.

Nick simply nodded, and then muttered "Goodnight." Then he dropped off into sleep. The others looked at each other. "Man…he'sbitching, Blue!" "He does have great skills…but he needs more training." "Yeah, he hasn't used ZOOM yet, and I wonder if he's gotten any other powers…" "We'll need to send him out on a training mission. One that will be SAFE. No JAGOW powers involved." "Right. Why not send him out to the desert region? He can practice there, on the buttes and among the tumbleweed and stuff. How about that?" "Hmm…I don't see why not. And he can learn how to summon 6 Machine there." "That's right! He hasn't summoned 6 Machine yet!" "But how's he gonna summon 6 Machine? You said to me that the summon words were different for every person who needed it!"

This was true. For Captain Blue, he simply uttered the phrase "Let's go, 6 Machine!" Joe yelled "Come on, Six Machine", Sylvia shouted "Let's do it! Ready, 6 Machine?" and even Alastor had a call phrase: "Let's fly, 6 Machine, you old rustbucket!" What would Nick use?

Nick was too deeply asleep to hear all of this. He was visualizing being hugged by his family, grateful for a dramatic rescue. And what was this? Bloody Rachel was striding forward, and she looked very sexy…she had her lips spread, and his were being spread too…

Oooooh…

Nick sighed happily…

About 5 hours later, he woke up, and was surprised to find that Joe and the others had left a note: "Meet us outside the hospital on the main intersection." Nick shrugged, and got out of bed.

Half an hour later he was at the intersection, where the others were waiting. "We've decided you need some time to train and hone your powers Nick. You haven't even used ZOOM yet, and who knows what other moves you've got. So that's why you're to head off into the Desert Region. You'll train for a few days there, then head back by calling Six Machine." "Okay…I'll need supplies for three da-"

Joe held up a backpack. "All set, buddy." Sylvia spoke up too. "I also packed some special tent capsules. You know how those work? (Nick shrugged.) Ever seen DBZ? (Nick nodded.) The capsules will create a tent 5 seconds after pressing the release button. Then you'll be set for the night. And the road to the desert's to the west of the city, so just follow the main route out." "Thanks, Sylvia, Joe." "When 3 days have passed, and when you think you've mastered your skills enough, call 6 Machine. If you're really a well-trained hero, you should be able to call him easily. Use your own little call phrase though…don't copy ours." "Okay. That's some kind of heroic rule or something?" "Yes. It's in 6 Machine's programming." "All right…wish me luck!" He walked off, waving, and the others waved back, saying their good-byes.

By sunset, he was already on the desert road, the city miles behind. He couldn't see it's twinkling brilliance anymore, and that slightly depressed him. So far from civilization…

From Joe and the others…

From TV…

From electronics…

From decent food…

From ANYTHING, really.

Well, mostly everything. Cacti, tumbleweed and big rock formations were everywhere. He decided he'd better set up camp. He put his backpack down, shuffling through it's littlest pocket to find…small white capsules. Just like from DBZ.

Movieland ROCKED.

He pressed one of the capsule's tops, and then tossed it into an area that had no rocks or tumbleweed rolling around in it. In a poof of smoke and in a flash of light, a fairly good-sized sleeping tent had been propped up. Nick grinned broadly, this was so cool. He unzipped the entrance, and then zipped it back up as he went inside. A big sleeping bag was inside, a nice shade of green. It looked comfy and inviting, and Nick immediately unzipped it, and was soon lying inside it. After zipping it up, he fluffed the pillow the tent had a bit, the put it under his head, and relaxed.

Soon sleep found him, and he drifted off. The sky twinkled with many stars, and the moon shone brightly on the desert.

Not that far away lay snowy mountains of tremendous size. One of these mountains had a large cave entrance, and a little "Home sweet Home" sign was nailed up to the left of the entrance. However, the sign was written in Israeli, and a small translation lay beneath the sign. Inside the cave, a gigantic statue was snoozing like Nick was, and in his dreams he remembered what Alastor had said:

"Remember, the kid's getting better. He needs to be taken care of. You can do it, Flinty. He'll probably end up near the mountains you live around in a few days…so keep your eyes out. Don't ask me how I know, I just do…I've got secret sources."

Flinty had nodded. "Yah, I will do away with pesky teenager."

"Good. If you don't, the leader will kill you, Flinty. The leader's not happy about Charles, Big John or Hulk. If you go down, he'll blow a fuse!"

"I shall not fail."

Would he? Nonsense. A boy, that's all Nick was. A boy playing around with toys he barely understood, just some kid who liked playing with the same thing over and over. He didn't stand a chance against someone with the great strength of Flinty!

But what about Hulk? He and Hulk had been equal in physical strength, hadn't they?

Bah. He was worrying too much. He forgot about Alastor's words and went back to dreaming about blizzards and hot cocoa.

The next day, Nick woke up, with the sun already brightly shining. It was time for breakfast! He walked outside, taking the backpack with him. He opened it up, and rummaged around. Finally he found a pack of chocolate chip muffins, with juice containers and a few apples. This would be his breakfasts for the time he was out in the desert. He ate and drank one of each, and then put the food and backpack back in the tent.

He stretched, giving out loud yawns as he did so.

"Time for some training, then. I guess I'll start with SLOW. But first…" he took his pose. "TIME TO ROCK! HENSHIN!"

The transformation swept over him, and he grinned. His cape fluttered lightly in the breeze, and he looked up into the cloudless sky.

"Let's see…what to practice SLOW on?" Nick looked around. There were quite a few rocks and tumbleweed around. That big chunk of boulder would do. He walked up to it, and then used the SLOW technique. All of the world slowed down, the breeze became non-existent, and a flying bird suddenly went from going 20 MPH to less than 1. Nick suddenly stopped, then halted the SLOW a second later.

"Wait! If I'm gonna train…I need heroic music to do it too!" He looked at his v-watch. There was a little display on it, and a few buttons. He noticed that one button said "SELECT" and two others said "UP" and "DOWN". He pressed select on the watch's "Music" option, and scrolled down a bit. There!

He pressed "SELECT" again, and music started up. He smiled, and looked down at the rock.

BGM: Joe the Hero

Activating SLOW again, he arched his foot back, and then kicked the rock. A small shockwave seemed to emenate from the rock as it was hit, and then it burst into little pieces, which went flying through the air at a…well…slow…rate. He himself wasn't slowed down as much as everything else, but it still affected him a small bit. Then he flicked one of the pieces in midair, and it went soaring across the desert, falling down next to a big boulder. Ah ha!

Nick ended SLOW and positioned himself. The boulder was HUGE…but he could jump it…with MACH SPEED. He ran towards it, activating the ability. Everything speeded up! He was going…he didn't know… 60 mph, probably! He leapt over the boulder with a mighty jump, soaring into the air. He did about a dozen quick flips, several fancy turns, and a few poses, and then landed swiftly and expertly on the desert ground. He grinned and the MACH SPEED ended a second later.

Now…he should test out ZOOM. He hadn't tried ZOOM before. He walked over to the boulder and looked it up and down. Hmm…okay then. ZOOM!

Suddenly he felt as if all eyes were on him…he began to see the boulder…no, all things within 3 feet of him seemed so sharp and clear. He could see something…his visor now focused on a point on the lower left region of the boulder, a point that was marked by a flashing dot. STRIKE THERE might as well have been written on the boulder. His fist slammed into the marked point on the boulder, and…

BAM! The rock split apart into a dozen or so pieces. It was now rubble. Nick jumped up and down. He was mastering the techniques!

He continued to practice, (Stopping for lunch at noon) till the sky began to turn red and dark purple. The sun was setting beautifully behind him. He cleaned out the old tent (Which was now covered with dust and was sagging slightly) and kicked it over. In a moment it reverted to a black capsule, used up. He set up a new tent, and this one was identical to the first. After eating dinner, he went to sleep, and had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

(Stop the music)

The next day, after scarfing down breakfast, he got back to practicing. Stopping again for lunch at noon, (Ham and American cheese sandwich, with cranberry-grape juice and an apple) he practiced diligently all day. He'd take rests every two hours, because his body became exhausted after using so many VFX powers for so long.

Sunset would be coming in an hour, so he decided to do a little exploring of his surroundings. With MACH SPEED, it was easy. He ran down the road, looking all around him. Nothing interesting, really. Even the big rock formations were dull…

Then he noticed something down the road…a GIGANTIC mountain range, with lots of snow-capped peaks and big caves. One cave caught his attention…it had something next to it, a sign. He ran right up to it, and came to a screeching halt…

He hadn't noticed that it had gotten colder as he'd gotten closer to the mountains. It was snowing lightly, but a chilly wind was blowing. Yikes, it was cold! He looked at the sign, which was in…Israeli? It had a translation below: "Home sweet home". Cute. He decided a look inside wouldn't hurt.

Wrong. Again.

Nick wandered into the cave, looking at the large stalagmites and stalactites. The cave was pretty warm, and there were ancient drawings on the wall. Mayan, perhaps? Or maybe the drawings were Incan.

"Ancient Olmec drawings? Indian? Aborigine writings? No, it's gotta be Aztec. These are Aztec drawings, I'm sure!" "You are right in thinking so."

A deep, heavily accented Jewish voice had spoken from his left. He looked…and then jumped back.

It was a large, freakish statue. He recognized it from the games…Flinty Stone, the Ancient God Statue! He was the Ancient Guardian general of GEDOW…and now worked for JAGOW.

He was large, and painted bronze. Flinty had big red eyes made of rubies, with large hands that were always palms open. His feet were bulky, and he had a strange headdress on top of his cranium. He had a white beard that trailed down from his chin, and sharp looking ivory teeth. His big head was kind of long, and almost reptilian. He had what looked like tusks in the front of his mouth, and was wearing a strange…well…skirt. It was made of green and red gems, and Flinty had various necklaces made of precious stones laced around his neck.

Nick was cold and not too happy, but he took a fighting stance. "I didn't mean to come in here, but if you wanna fight, then let's rock!"

"I am not interested in fighting, okay kid? I am, how you say, cool with you being here, yah?" (A little accent goes a long way. Imagine Flinty speaking with a very heavy Jewish accent whenever he talks.)

"Whaaa?" "Really, I am. I'm a good host, and since the weather, she is cold, I will allow you to stay the night. I've got a few spare beds." "Why?" "Just in case Alastor or Rachel calls, for example. They are very close friends." "Oh? I don't suppose you'd tell me where my family is?" Flinty shook his head. "No, but I will offer you bed and dinner. There is food in cupboard, bread and cheese. I also have some coke." "You need to eat?" "I drink the coke, but I need no food. That stuff is just for my pets." "You have pets who eat-oh. Mice?" "Yes, in glass case over there."

Flinty pointed with his large right hand, and Nick turned to look. Sure enough, a few white mice were running around in a glass case, amongst little playthings and such. One was squeaking, and the other two were…OH!

"Look's like Stuart Little's getting lucky tonight!" Nick started laughing, and Flinty gasped. He ran over, making large clomping noises as he did so. He gently pushed them aside. "NO. NO! No humping, Flinty Junior. No doing so to Anna. And Kris, stop sneaking your sister's food!" "Nice names."

Flinty nodded, and pointed at the cupboard. "Go ahead. Do not worry, food not poisoned. I am good host, you see." "Okay…I'll trust you."

"I am supposed to be guarding Six Machine…but it just vanished into thin air…do not know why. Do not really care, since you're here…but anyway…eat! Eat! Good stuff, yeah?"

The food WASN'T poisoned, and actually tasted very good. The bread was French, the cheese was cheddar, and there were even a few cookies in the fridge. Nick gave some crumbs to the mice, and Flinty beamed a little.

After dinner, Nick said "Well…goodnight…" and walked over to a plain blue and white bed that was just BARELY long enough to fit him. He plopped down in it, and turned over a little. He waited…and waited…

No blow, no battle-cry, no attack came. He waited for about an hour, then sleep got the better of him. He dozed off, into a dreamless sleep.

Flinty simply smiled a bit, and then went to sleep, standing up of course. That was how a statue like him slept. He snored very loudly.

The next day, Nick woke up, and looked instantly over at where Flinty had been last night…he wasn't there. Hmm…

Suddenly a shadow fell over him and the bed he was on. He whipped around, gasping…

Flinty was holding up a tray with bread and scrambled eggs. He'd even put a cup of guava juice on the tray. "Breakfast?" "I…I don't know what to say…thanks, I guess."

Nick hopped out of bed, and took the tray. He sat down at a table in the cave, and began scarfing it down. Flinty simply drank guava juice, making large slurps.

Suddenly Nick felt pressure rising up in his chest…had he eaten too much?

Nope. He simply let out a large BRAAAPP and turned a little red from shame. "Sorry."

Flinty couldn't really show emotion, but Nick had a feeling that the gigantic statue was grinning, because FLINTY burped next, and it was even louder! Feeling challenged, Nick summoned up all the gas he had left in his stomach, and…

BBUUUUOOORRRRAAAAPPPP!

The burp almost shook the cave, it was so loud and long. Flinty stared right at Nick, then laughed loudly and heartily. "Ah, good! Good! Feel free in releasing your winds! Is good feeling, yeah?"

"Yes…I guess it is." "Anyhow…you are done with breakfast? Then we should probably get to the fighting, while it is not that cold outside." "You wanna take it outside? So that the cave won't get messed up?" "Yes. Last time I had a fight in here, everything got wrecked." "How about the mice?" "Those are not the orignial Flinty Juniors, Annas and Krises." "Ouch! Who the heck did you fight?" "I fought with Charles the Third…he was a psycho! You see, he ate my mice, that vershnickina…"

"Woah! Hold on! No need to swear. Hey…how come you're not all tired like you usually are?" "My mind, when it cannot focus on something, it gets tired, as does body. If I can't concentrate on something, I feel sleepy." "And one can't concentrate on answering two questions at the same time, right?" "Too much strain on my brain. But I am focused now, yeah? So let's go outside and fight then."

The two walked outside, and stood in the snow that had been left from last night's blizzard. Nick was freezing his ass off, so he decided to immediately transform.

"TIME TO ROCK! HENSHIN!" Transformed once more into his heroic clothing, his whole body became a lot warmer! Flinty nodded, and took a battle pose. "Let us go, yeah?"

"What about your theme song?" "Oh! Holding on!" Flinty waddled over to the cave, and pressed a button hidden in a crevice. A wooden stereo popped out of the ground, and Flinty pressed a button on it. The theme music of Flinty started up.

BGM: Ancient Guardian (Ancient God Statue Flinty Stone's Theme)

Flinty made the first move, stomping over at Nick, and throwing a punch right at him. Nick simply yawned, and activated SLOW. He sidestepped Flinty, and then aimed a punch right at the gigantic statue. CRUNCH.

"YOOOOOWWW!" both statue and teenager screamed. Nick jumped up and down, shaking his hand wildly and going "Ow-ow-ow-ow!" while Flinty grabbed his side and went "OOOOH! THAT HUUURTS!"

This could be harder than he thought. Nick jumped up, and delivered a SLOW kick to Flinty's face.

Five seconds later, Nick was yelling "CRAP-CRAP-CRAP! THAT HURTS, MAN!" Flinty was rubbing his sore jaw, moaning softly. Nick stood up after some serious rubbing of his sore foot, and looked at Flinty. So SLOW didn't work. Maybe…

"MACH SPEED!" Nick shouted, and ran right behind the gigantic statue, slamming his fists into the ancient guardian's back over and over and over again, letting out karate cries.

Soon NICK was crying on the ground, holding his hand. "Oww..oh oowwwww…."

Flinty himself was sore too, he couldn't reach his back. He simply rolled on the ground and in the snow, groaning terribly.

"Ohh…my back…my poor back…"

"Let's try ZOOM!" Nick leapt towards Flinty, who stared up, surprised. Nick thrust both his feet down, and slammed mightily onto the helpless Flinty, both feet hitting hard, making a loud THUD, followed by small cracking noises. ZOOM powers rocked!

Flinty however, knocked Nick across the snow with a backswipe of his gigantic hand. Nick went flying through the air, landing hard on the ground. He looked up just in time to get kicked by Flinty's large left foot, and he went flying through the air AGAIN. Then the god statue jumped up when Nick got close enough to the ground, and with a double-hand strike, Nick was knocked to the ground with great force, uttering out a "GOOG!" sound as he hit hard, icy snow.

He looked up. "Z…ZOOM!" He jumped up, spinning around and around in an Emerald tornado, striking Flinty right underneath the statue's chin. Flinty's head snapped back, uttering a sickening crack…but Flinty wasn't human, so he didn't die. Nick however, had an idea. He was gonna try something he'd done often in the video games. He landed back on the ground and when Flinty tried to backhand him he ducked, and after jumping up a bit Nick delivered a set of might punches and strikes to Flinty's face…the technique known as the Red Hot One Hundred, or RHOH!

Flinty reeled back hard from the incredible power of Nick's RHOH…but the Red Hot One Hundred had done more damage than Flinty thought it had. Nick didn't know it, but he had one more talent lying dormant inside him…a talent that was about to be used.

Flinty suddenly roared, and transformed! His body split up into chunks, which formed together to create a long-bodied dragonlike creature. The skirt suddenly attached to Flinty's head, and became a sort of strange frill, which whirled around the head like a buzzsaw. The dragon-Flinty sped towards Nick, and Nick cringed. He began running for his life, but the dragon-Flinty kept getting closer and closer…

"I need to hit him only a few more times…but where do I hit him? And HOW? Come on, think…think, Nick! Or you're screwed, and so is your family and all of Movieland!"

He kept running and running, and thinking all the while…what to do…what to do.

Maybe he could…no way! He didn't have THAT power. Did he?

No time like the present to find out. He whirled around, and leapt up at the dragon-flinty's head, yelling out "REPLAY!" all of a suddenly he could see a little red dot in the upper-right hand corner of his visor. YES! He kicked the head of the statue with all his might, and…

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! It sounded like someone took a picture three times when the kick connected. Flinty suddenly stopped in midair…and Nick could hear cracking…then he looked at the face of Flinty…it was cracking. ALL of Flinty was.

The pieces slowly put themselves together back into statue form, but they were becoming filled with more and more cracks. Flinty looked down at Nick, and scratched his head. "How…how did you do that? I thought only that girl, Sylvia could do it…" "I didn't know I could do it either, Flinty." "You're tough…I like that, you know. I do."

(The theme song ended.)

"What's the plan? What does JAGOW want with my family and with Matt? Tell me!" "They are sacrifices, so that leader…can…become physical. He can leave the land of the spirits and become solid again. He can rule over both worlds with enough power gained from sacrifices…your family will be the most important, the one that will…allow him to terrorize Movieland, looking for more prey to feast upon." "What? He's gonna EAT them? To become physical again? As in he's a spirit, and not really REAL?" "Yes…I feel tired now…that is plan…I must rest…" "Wait! Flinty! I didn't…I'm sorry I repaid your hospitality with…with this." "It's all right. I understand, we are enemies, are we not? But…aaaaahhh…"

Flinty yawned deeply. "Now is sleepy time. Your family…if you want to find them…must cross ocean first…to other continent. Wild continent…"

Flinty's ruby eyes suddenly lost their light, and he let out a long yawn before he finally fell to pieces. Nick picked up the eye of Flinty and held it in his hands. The wind silently blew over the mountains, and many pieces blew across the snow. Nick simply held the ruby in his hand, and then sighed. "I think I should keep this." He put it in his pocket, and made his way back to the desert using Mach Speed, the heavy weight of the ruby reminding him of Flinty's hospitality the whole way through.

Upon returning to the desert, Nick looked at his V-watch. He'd been away for almost three days…he had to last one more night. Then he could return in the morning. But that's not what bothered him. What about Flinty's pets? Who would take care of them?

He'd bring them back! Blue and the others could take care of them, right? But he'd need 6 Machine's help. He couldn't rely on Mach Speed forever, and besides, the mice might get blown away in his hand if he tried carrying them at super speed. Nick had, a few times before, during training, tried to call for 6 Machine, but every time he thought up a catch phrase, it just…got away from him. He felt as if something had been keeping him from calling up the heroic jet, a mental block of some kind, perhaps.

But now, he didn't feel restricted at all, and Nick was SURE that a call would work.

Hmm. Blue said that he needed a special call phrase. What could he use? It had to be unique, something that, when said, broadcasted to the whole world that "This phrase is MINE and mine alone". But what could he use?

How about, let's go-no. Used. Come on…no. He thought and thought, looking for a good call phrase…

Then something clicked in the back of his head. He remembered, he had the Viewtiful Joe Soundtrack…and nobody used this call.

He whistled, and uttered the call: "LET'S RIDE, SIX MACHINE!"

Nothing happened…at least, not for the first five seconds. But then, a little cage in Flinty's cave suddenly got BLASTED apart, and a red blur streamed out of the cave with a great wooshing sound.

A second later, Nick suddenly heard a large ROARING sound, and he saw 6 Machine speed towards him, soaring through the sky. The red jet was small and compact, and seated one person only. It was trimmed with white armor, but it's mostly red armor shone brilliantly. It's wings were graceful and strong, and it's gigantic jet engine was impressive indeed. A blue visor to protect the driver from bugs and dust and stuff was there, above the controls, and slanted slightly. Nice touch!

Nick jumped right in, and looked down at the controls. Cool…

"Hello! I am Six Machine. Thank you for calling me, new hero. I am happy to help you." "Great! I'm Nick Grey, your new driver! Uh…could you tell me what does what?" "Of course, but please drive me with care." Nick saluted. "Will do!"

BGM: Let's ride, Six Machine! (Six Machine's Theme)

Nick was walked through, step by step, on how to drive the Six Machine. He learned what all the buttons did, what all the levers did, what the switches were for, what to do if a missile was coming, and he learned how Six Machine could be used in tune with his VFX powers. Cool!

Nick spent the rest of the day flying through the air, weaving around buttes, ducking underneath large arches and soaring through the clouds, dissipating them with a single fly-through. All the while, Six Machine's theme song played, a nice little number that was quite peaceful and enjoyable.

Eventually he headed back to Flinty's Cave, and picked up the cage where the mice where kept. He and Six Machine flew back to the campsite, and in ten minutes driver and jet were heading into the city, with Nick whooping and hollering like a cowboy.

"YEEEHAAAA!"

Blue, Sylvia and Joe were currently a rooftop where they were watching stars. Blue was staring through a large and very clear telescope, and now looked in the direction of the call. There he was, the new hero. He'd learned how to master Six Machine. Blue grinned, and motioned for the other two to take a peek. When they did, Sylvia squealed in delight, and Joe grinned. "Kid's got skills, guys! What did I tell you?"

Nick landed Six Machine on the roof, and thanked the jet. "You can go now, Six Machine." "Thank you." The jet took off, and Nick looked at Blue…holding out Flinty's mice.

(Stop the music!)

"Congratulations…you're taking care of Flinty's mice now. Oh, and I found out I have your REPLAY power, Sylvia. Cool huh?" He then placed the mice's cage down on the ground, and walked over to the telescope, looking up at the moon. "Wow…preeetty!"

Joe and Blue stared with mouths wide open at the mice. "What the?" "Best not to ask." Sylvia picked the cage up, and smiled. "Aww…how cute-Oh!" "Ha ha ha! Hey Blue, stuff like this I usually see on the Discovery Channel, but nothing compares to seeing it in real life!" "Is his name "Randy", Nick?" "No, That's Kris. The mouse he's giving the time to is named Anna, and the one who ain't getting any is Flinty Junior." "I think they wanna make a Kris Junior." "You better stop him…we don't want THREE horny male mice to take care of."

They all laughed, and Sylvia pushed Kris off of Anna, scolding him.

Deep below the sea, a dark form was absentmindedly picking his nose with great gusto…bored beyond belief.

The red gloves the form wore made squeaking noises as he "dug for gold".

"Hey, "treasure hunter!" a video screen turned on behind him. "Drain your place of water for a while! We need to talk." "Oh…Alastor. G'day, mate. You know I can't uh…really do that from here…just…just put on the air mask I left in the airlock for just such a…a…a time."

"Fine." A few moments later, Alastor swam up to the form, an oxygen mask on. His voice was SLIGHTLY altered, but the tone of mixed irritation and suppressed anger was there nonetheless. "Listen Brucie, Flinty got…crushed. He fell apart, literally. Now the kid is headed across the continent, and he figured out the plan!"

Alastor was secretly furious. Nobody had told HIM the plan. They'd left all of the specifics out, saying only that the leader needed a sacrifice. Nobody had told him why, or how, or where. He'd only found out the whole plan when he'd spied on the kid during the fight. "Why didn't you tell ME the plan, Gran Bruce? Why didn't ANYONE?" "You did fight against evil once, Alastor and…uh…we weren't sure if…well…ah…we could…trust you, yeah, that's it."

"You sound kinda…dumb. Did you take your intelligence enhancement pills?" "I won't touch that…uh…those thingies, they smell bad, and besides, I'm fine the way I…ooh!" Gran Bruce had been picking his nose the whole time, and now pulled out a large boogie…which he flicked across the water in the "throne". Alastor let out a disgusted groan. "Just make sure the kid doesn't cross the continent." "Sure, Alastor. Back to the picking! Hmm, hmm…"

Alastor swam out, muttering curses, and Gran Bruce continued to pick his nose with great force.

Elsewhere, in a laboratory…

"Let me go…"

"I think not my dear…my little creation needs to be tested. You are a perfect subject."

A girl struggled vainly on an operating table, tied up, and cruel eyes attached to a squiddy face glared coldly at her. He threw a switch, and a barred gate swung open on the other side. The girl waited…but nothing came out. Then her metallic bonds suddenly let her loose! She ran towards the exit, eager to escape.

Then something slimy wrapped around her neck…but she couldn't see it, only feel it. She tried to pull it off, but to no avail. Then it slowly revealed itself, at first a unidentifiable pink mass…but then it cleared out, to become a long, pinkish tongue. She looked behind her…

A chameleon with a large mouth had wrapped its tongue around her, and it's yellow eyes made her gasp. She lost her footing, and the tongue dragged her, kicking and screaming towards the open maw of the beast. It's jaws opened wider…wider…she let out a final scream, and then the tongue pulled her all the way into it's mouth. The jaws closed around her head, and then she was gulped down in a few moments by the large chameleon. The chameleon grinned, patting his belly, which now had a slight bulge to it. Suddenly the chameleon burped, and the girl's shoe flew out of his mouth.

"Tasty, master." "I thought so…you will do the same to our little traitor, won't you my pet?" "Of course, Dr. Cranken." "My wonderful creation…with the upgrades I gave you, your freaky personality is subdued, your size and intelligence increased…in short, you are far more powerful than you once were! You will consume both traitor…and teenager! Glory to JAGOW!"

"Glory to JAGOW!" the chameleon bowed, and then slowly faded away…vanishing. The doctor continued to laugh and laugh in the empty, dark laboratory.

Brief Author's Note:

Don't forget to review after you've checked out my fanfic! I appreciate the feedback, honest.