Last time Bloom accused Julie of being the one she caught Sky with. Julie denied the accusations, but Bloom was unyielding in her convictions. Fay revealed that she and Julie were together when Bloom caught Sky. Violet then proved without a doubt that it wasn't Julie in the first place. Convinced that there's more going on here than meets the eye, several of our heroes left for Eraklyon to drag Sky back. On with the show!

Chapter 4: Royal Kidnapping

"I think I'm gonna be sick!!" exclaimed Shawn as he, Michael, Steve and Virgil endured their first hyperspace journey. Riven, Brandon, Musa, Layla and Tatewaki were taking the trip in stride, not bothered by the turbulence.

"This is nuts!" said Michael, who looked two shades green, "If this is how my world is going to travel in space, then I'm voting to stay put on solid ground."

"Relax," said Brandon, "You'll get used to it."

"When?" asked Virgil who looked three shades green.

"The first hyperspace trip is always the worst," said Lucinda as she made a slight course correction, causing The Night Rider to shudder to the right, "The return trip should be better."

"The first time I went through hyperspace," said Tatewaki, "Was not an enjoyable experience. Yet, I persevered and now my constitution doth be of the highest level."

"He's just boasting," said Layla, "But it's true."

"So what's the plan when we get to Eraklyon?" asked Musa.

"If I had my way," said Riven, "We'd grab Sky, bash is brains in, cook him and eat him. He'd deserve it all for what he did."

"Dude!" said Brandon, "We're not cannibals. And we're not really sure what happened between Sky and Bloom. That's why we're going to his home and get him back to Magicx." He then looked to Michael and his fellow Ramblers, "Just to be safe, we're not going to hurt the guy."

"We're not going to hurt him," said Michael, "just tie him up and throw him into the cargo hold, that's my plan."

"Be glad that Fay didn't come with us," said Shawn, "She'd slice Sky up like that! (insert finger snapping sound)"

"You know what she'd say to that," said Steve, "She'd say, 'who said anything about slicing him up? I just want to carve a little Z into his forehead.'"

"That girl scares me a bit," said Musa, "I mean, I remember what she did when we all fought the Death Eaters last year, she was just plain nuts!"

"She took on Stormy all by herself," said Riven, "And wound up with her hands broken."

"That's right," said Steve, "Then Laura got so mad, she made a Thinny. That Stormy chick and her sister Darcy got pulled in. I remember that Icy abandoned them."

"But Icy later on that she rescued her sisters," said Virgil, "What happened to those three anyway?"

"It is a long story," said Tatewaki, "One filled with adventure, angst, romance and blood, a large amount of blood. In summary, I killed Stormy Trix with my own sword."

"Carmen later killed Icy," said Layla, "While Darcy got away."

"I thought Bloom would be the one to kill Icy," said Virgil, "Those two hated each other."

"True," said Riven, "But Carmen's hatred of Icy went much deeper than Bloom's."

"I hate to interrupt your talking about good times," said Beauregard, "But we're almost at Eraklyon."

"That was quick," said Shawn.

"You can thank Tecna, Timmy and Elise," said Amanda, "They helped upgrade the hyperdrive more than once."

Two minutes later The Night Rider exited hyperspace and entered orbit around the many-mooned world of Eraklyon. They soon landed at the royal spaceport where they explained the situation to the palace officials. Apparently Sky had locked himself in his room once he returned from Magicx and hasn't come out since.

Brandon decided the first thing to do was the direct approach. He banged his fist against Sky's door, "Dude! Open up! It's me!"

"Go away, Brandon," said Sky from the other side of the door, "I want to be alone."

"Well we're not just going to go away, man," said Riven, "We're going to get this mess cleaned up, so just come out!"

"What's there to clean up," said Sky in a dull, depressed tone, "I cheated on the one I loved; I cheated on Bloom."

"We don't know that for sure," said Layla, "So come back with us to Magicx, and we'll get it all sorted out."

"What's there to sort out?" asked Sky, "I cheated on Bloom, end of story. So, just leave me alone."

"Enough of this sh$t!" said Steve, "Stand back, I'll get him out of there." Just like that, (insert finger snapping sound) he kicked the door open. That's the understatement of the year; he completely destroyed the door, leaving nothing but splinters.

"Rise and shine, hound dog!!" said Steve as he and the others entered Sky's room. He apparently had been sitting in the corner, thinking and moping, when Steve destroyed his door. Sky got up and was about to yell at Brandon, when he recognized Steve. "What the hell are you doing here!?!" His rage mixed with surprise.

"Oh, nothing much," said Steve in an innocent tone, "Just kidnapping you." He then produced from his pocked a pair of handcuffs while Michael had a long length of rope, "Now hold still."

Naturally, Sky wasn't the person who would allow himself to be captured so easily. Reacting swiftly, his training from Red Fountain kicking in, Sky rushed towards his desk, grabbed his favorite energy saber and activated it. "If you think I'm going to be kidnapped without a fight," said Sky as he took up a defensive posture, "You're horribly mistaken."

"You just made your second mistake," said Steve as he activated his power pole, "Underestimating a Meta-Human." Moving at near impossible speeds, Steve closed the distance between himself and Sky and with one flick of his wrist, disarmed Sky. "And your first mistake," he then grabbed Sky in a full-nelson hold, "Was cheating on Bloom, who loves you very much. You ought to be hanged out to dry for screwing around with another girl."

Thirty seconds later Sky was handcuffed, tied up, gagged, ear-plugged, thrown into a canvas bag and dragged through the palace, thrashing like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh don't be such a baby," said Shawn, "This is for your own good."

"You deserve it for what you did to Bloom," said Michael, "Even though I've never met you or Bloom until today, you still deserve it."

"We're not positive what Sky did," said Layla, "So don't be too hasty to judge him."

"Whatever!" said Michael, "We got him, that's all that matters."

"Well we should feel lucky that Sky's parents are on vacation," said Musa, "We'd be in so much trouble if they caught us doing this."

"His parents may be away," said Tatewaki, "But trouble doth be ahead of us." True enough, trouble just approached the 'kidnappers,' trouble with a capital D.

"What in the name of all that is posh and trendy is going on here!?!!" demanded Diaspro.

"This doesn't concern you, Diaspro," said Riven, "So just be on your way."

"Yeah," said Musa, "You just go back to your private palace, with your tacky clothes, and your hair bleach, 'cause we all know that you do that!"

"How dare you!!" snapped Diaspro, "My hair is all natural, unlike some peoples, whom shall rename nameless."

"Just let it go," Riven said to Musa, who was on the verge of knocking out Diaspro's front teeth, "She's not worth it, she's too cheap."

"Give my regards to Bloom," said Diaspro, "Maybe now she'll think twice on her choice of men, and to stay away from other peoples property."

Layla then made to knock out all of Diaspro's teeth, but Tatewaki stopped her. "Don't! It is like what Sir Riven doth said, the harlot isn't worth it."

"That's right, I'm not worth it!" said Diaspro, "I mean, I am worth it, wait, I'm… F#ck you!!" with that she left.

"Who or what was that piece of work?" asked Michael.

"That," said Brandon as they hauled Sky out towards the spaceport and The Night Rider, "Was Sky's fiancée, before he dumped her fell in love with Bloom."

"She must have heard what happened between them," said Musa, "Word tends to travel fast among royalty."

"Well that sucks," said Steve, "And I'll bet she sucks also, know what I mean?"

"Just ignore the whore," said Tatewaki, "She doth be harmless, despite her contemptible tongue."

"I don't know about her being harmless," said Shawn, "I picked up some sinister vibes from her."

"You were probably sensing how much she hates us," said Brandon, "Nothing to worry about."

"Ah," said Beauregard as Riven and Michael tossed Sky into the cargo hold, "I see all went according to plan."

"You bet," said Steve, "Textbook kidnapping." Everyone then looked at him like he was crazy or something, "Not that I've read a book in kidnapping."

"I'm amazed you've ever read anything," teased Virgil.

"Don't start with me, man!" exclaimed Steve, "I'm as anxious as you are, so let's just get this over with."

"Right," said Musa, "Back to Magicx."

As The Night Rider took off, Diaspro watched from a palace balcony. She giggled quietly to herself as the ship left the atmosphere. She then pulled out a cell phone and dialed a secure number, "It's me. Phase One is complete… Yes, everything proceeded as I said it would, with a few unpredicted additions… No, those Earthlings who were with Brandon and the others won't affect the outcome. Proceed with Phase Two."

With that she hung up, "You think you're suffering now, Sky? Well guess again. You and your little Earth fairy are going to experience torment that will be legendary, even in Hell."

The end of chapter 4. Next chapter our heroes attempt to get to the bottom of this mess. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!