Disclaimer: My back itches.

Now that that's settled, I finally present to you the next part of this story. To be perfectly honest, I was hopelessly stuck on the plot for a while and I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do upon Max's return. Again, I must apologise for both extreme lateness...and the insane last chapter. I was on way too much caffeine that day... TT And blotch out that last chapter preview, I've changed my mind on what I wanted to do...heh. :P

Also, I have a little announcement, one that isn't too interesting, really. I just remembered that I made a movie on Max the Robot about half a year ago on youtube, and since it's kind of like a trailer for this story, I thought it was something worth pointing out. If you type "Max the Robot" in the search bar, it SHOULD be the first thing that pops up, and my username on there is rocketcanine, so just check it out to make sure. Bad quality video, but it sets a feel for the story...a little. XD

Anyway...Chapter 4. Be sure to help me decide on the story's villain by voting on the poll! Thankies. B)

...

Ash Ketchum and his friends...well, they were finally on their way to court, just like they wanted. Ash seemed particularly happy, though no one knew why, especially since Brock made him give him his shoe back, thus turning it back into a normal...uh, shoe. Anyway, the boy was nevertheless glad. It was probably because of the simple three reasons; that he wasn't going to have to do community service, that Brock was going to buy him his My Little Pony action figure, and because he wasn't currently getting hurt and/or drowning like in previous episodes and movies.

"Ash, how in the name of Arceus can you be so happy at a time like this?" asked Misty. "I mean...May's brother--who is a robot--exploded all over town today and the only thing you can probably think about at the moment is what's for dinner."

Ash grinned even wider. "Actually, I was thinking about what was for breakfast tomorrow, and I was also wondering why Brock doesn't have any eyes."

Brock started sweating nervously, like he always does when someone mentions his lack of eyes. "Um...eh...HEY, THAT CLOUD OVER THERE LOOKS LIKE A COTTON SWAB!"

"What the--really? Where is it?! LEMME SEE!" demanded James, trying to break free of the fierce grip holding him back.

Jessie sweatdropped, crossing her arms. "Look twerp, it's glaringly obvious that you're just using that as a mental distraction so that everyones' attentions will drift away from your little conversation, thus saving you from a buttload of humiliation and embarrassment in which you would normally get from answering the question that you do not indeed, have eyes."

Brock blinked. (Brock can blink?) "Um...no?"

"Come on, just tell us, twoip. We won't let secret get out..." Meowth shifted his eyes first to the left and then to the right.

"Yeah, Brock! Tellustellustellustelluuuuuuuuus..." Ash pleaded.

Brock grunted. "I said later, OK Ash? We're a little busy right now." He searched around for a sudden subject change before adding, "Besides, we might have to go quickly. You never know who could be watching us..."

"Come on twerp," Jessie said, interrupting him. "The only people who would waste their time watching you...well, they seriously need to get a life!" Everyone stopped to look at Jessie, and realising the meaning of what she just said, she coughed. "I mean...um...Pikachu Watching doesn't count! That's different!"

"Pi..." said pikachu, lifting his head to the sound of his name, then, when registered it was nothing too important, falling back asleep on Ash's shoulder.

Meowth just sighed, seemingly giving up on his struggle. "Dis is all so stupid. If yer talkin' about more of dis Max the Robot nonsense, count us out." He replied to Brock from being held captive in May's arms.

"Yeah! Leave us alone!" agreed James.

If Misty had a hand available to smack herself on the forehead, she would've. "And you're the ones to talk."

"Just...nevermind." Brock said with a shake of his head. "Forget everything I said. We're almost to our destination anyway and after that, we'll be done. Nothing can happen in that matter of time."

Right after he said that, Ash jumped back in surprise. His eyes widened and he pointed with terror behind the squinty eyed boy, and everyone else for that matter. "Oh no! Guys! It's...it's HIM! MAX THE ROBOT! SEEK REFUGE!"

Everyone in confusion and panic, began looking around frantically for the sighting.

"HOLY MILTANK! There he goes again!" Ash screamed, pointing once more. Everyone looked around again, but found nothing...nothing that is, but a couple sniggering noises from behind them. They turned to the source of the noise--a laughing child.

"Hehehehehe! Wow, I can't believe you guys fell for that one! Even Team Rocket did! OH MAN! Jessie, you should have seen your face! And Brock...AHAHAHAHA!" He fell onto the ground, laughing and kicking and rolling all in one big heap of hyena.

Everyone narrowed their eyes.

"Hey, that wasn't funny, Ash." Misty retorted. "That little prank you just pulled was almost enough to give me a heart-attack!"

"Yeah, and what's that insult you said about my face, HM?" fumed Jessie, getting right up close to him until their noses were barely touching.

Ash wiped away a tear. "Ahaha...sorry guys. But...but it just had to be done! I mean, it was just a joke! A joke is no harm, right? Admit it, we'll all look back to this day and be laughing about it later!"

Jessie stood back up, and she and everybody else pondered what he said before figuring he must be right. It was just one of Ash's little tidbits of humor poking into the current situation. No harm really, except for the point of almost giving Misty a heart-attack.

"OK, you know what? Fine. Fine. But no more jokes, alright Ketchum?" ordered Misty.

All Ash did was chuckle. He thought it was funny when Misty called him by his surname. Misty shook her head and they continued walking. May took out her iPod and started listening to it because she was bored. Brock looked down at his sneaker with suspicion, hoping it wouldn't suddenly come alive again. And Pikachu snored on Ash's shoulder.

So, they walked some more. Walk, walk, walk. La de-dah de zipadee doo-dah day.

Everything was just all good and dandy (and...-cough-...boring) until Ash started acting weird again. He held his face in his hands and his jaw dropped to an unusual length. "Ohmahgawd..."

Misty rolled her eyes. "What is it now, Ash?" she asked in annoyance.

"I...I...I...I..."

James laughed. "Silly twerp, everyone knows K comes after I in the alphabet!"

Jessie looked at him. "...really?" she quired sarcastically.

"Oh, I mean L. Same diff!" James replied, quickly correcting himself.

Ash, however, did not seem very interested in the alphabet at the moment. There seemed to be something else on the boy's mind...something more intriguing, something more spine-tingling...something perhaps a little more horrifying? Thus, he continued stammering. "I...I...I..."

"Ash, come to your senses!" Misty ordered, waving her hand in front of the hypnotised face.

Brock began to look worried. "There must be something wrong!" he concluded.

"I...I...I...I...I..."

Meowth cocked his head. "Maybe he's constipated or sumthin'?" he guessed.

Ash would not stop. He was like a clock, ticking and ticking away at every second to the point of no end. Everyone, even Team Rocket were interested in what was driving the twerp so wild. Well, everyone except May. She was too busy listening on her iPod to segments of Beethoven's 376th symphony and quite enjoying it as she hummed along merrily.

"I...I...I..."

"For crying out loud, tell us boy!" shouted Brock, grabbing Ash's shoulders and shaking them. Pikachu grumbled at being awoken from his slumber. "Bigga..." he warned, charging up a thunderbolt.

"That's it Pikachu! Why don't you give Ash a little shock to bring him back to us?" Misty offered.

"Pika..." said Pikachu, too disturbed at having his rest interrupted to even listen to reason. Without a thought to spare, the electric mouse loosed a thunder attack, hitting not only Ash...but everybody else. The electrical current was so strong, it made May's iPod stop working, and she sat down in dismay, trying to make it work again.

Everyone groaned upon getting up.

"You know, I'm actually surprised an electrical current strong enough to break the twerpette's iPod wasn't strong enough to make us blast off." Jessie brought up when the logic started to catch up to her.

"I guess our bodies are getting more and more used to it and are making us more resistant to it every time we get shocked!" James gasped as he came to the sudden realisation. Almost instantly, all three Rockets ran up to Pikachu and demanded him to thunderbolt them even more, hoping they would get stronger because of James's intellectual theory. Unfortunately for them, they had not come to notice that they had become free from the grasp of the twerps and could easily steal him while the others were transfixed on helping Ash...oh well. Maybe next time.

On the bright side, the electric shock did seem to help Ash with his stammering problem and he started talking normally once again. "Guys! Guys! You just won't believe what I just saw!" he yelled, holding a hand to his heart as if he couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

"What? WHAT WAS IT, ASH?!" asked Brock, determined to know the answer.

"Yeah Ash, you can tell us anything." Misty reminded him in a comforting tone whilst placing her hand on his shoulder. "What did you see?"

"It...it was him again! MAX THE ROBOT!" Ash's eyes darted to something behind everyone, and all of a sudden widened due to something in his vision. "Speaking of which...AAAAAAAAH! THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS!" He began pointing frantically and everyone once again got riled up and entered panic mode as they searched for the disaster.

Pikachu screamed and pulled at his ears in fright. "PIKA PIKA PI!(WHERE, WHERE, WHERE?!)" the little mouse cried.

"Someone...call the police!" shouted Brock, his slits becoming so wide that they, at one point, looked like they were on the verge of becoming eyes!

All of a sudden, Ash's face scrunched up and a huge smile spread across his face, ear-to-ear before bursting out, "HAHAHAHA! YOU FELL FOR IT AGAIN! It was priceless I tell ya, priceless! AHAHAHA!" He slapped his knee.

Everyone sweatdropped. Two scares in a row can really get on somebody's nerves, plus it is totally unnecessary to say the least.

Meowth growled. "Hey kid, dat aint funny! Now cut da crap, or I'll give ya a little fury swipes attack or a pie in da face...if I had a pie...but don't try anyting stupid 'cos I aint kiddin'!"

Ash blew in a tissue, his nose runny from the laughing. "Sorry guys, sorry...sorry, sorry..." he kept repeating, blowing into the tissue. "It's just...ahahaha...I...I couldn't resist...ehehe..."

"ASH, YOU..." started Misty, grabbing a mallet from her back pocket. She was about to strike it upon Ash's head when she sighed and decided not to, putting it back where she mysteriously found it before. "You're lucky you're so cute..." she mumbled, soft enough so no one else could hear it.

Brock sighed. "You know Ash, you're really going to have to stop doing that. The first time was funny but here it just marks the line. This is a serious situation which should only be handled with care and sensitivity."

Ash wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Ehehe...sorry guys. I'll stop, I promise."

Satisfied with his apology, the group of children, adults, talking cat and electric mouse continued down the road once again. May was still trying to fix her iPod without much success. Misty was still a little upset over Ash's inappropriate outbursts. Team Rocket still followed the twerps. And Ash of course, was still begging Brock to tell him why he didn't have any eyes, much to the spikey-haired teenager's dismay.

It's safe to say they were walking for a good five minutes when everybody heard a scream, and it sounded a little bit like this, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" It didn't take long to figure out where that scream had indeed come from.

Brock rubbed his sore brain from Ash's horrid scream. "Ash, remember what we told you before? No more tricks."

"But...b-but..."

"Yeah Ash, we're sick of it. What is this now, the boy who cried robot?" asked Misty.

"Well..." said Ash, as he began twiddling his fingers. "I mean...ACK!" He jumped in front of everybody, waving his arms in the air. "Guys, listen to me! It's Max the Robot! It really is him this time!" His forehead began to sweat.

"Ash, ash, ash..." Misty shook her head. "When will you ever learn? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that saying a joke over and over again starts to become a little old after a while?"

"No, but...IT'S NOT A JOKE! I swear it isn't!" he yelled frantically.

"Haha...yeah." laughed Jessie in a sarcastic manner. "And lemme guess, he's standing right behind us, waiting to bag our souls, now isn't he?"

"Um...well, I don't know about the soul part, but...but yeah, HE IS TOTALLY BEHIND YOU!" Ash cried in fright.

"Mm-hm, and even though your pikachu broke my iPod--which was my most prized possession I ever held dear to myself--I'm not about to let you fool me for more than two times in a row on this whole robot thing!" May added cleverly. (yeah, I don't think it makes sense either...)

"Guuuuuuuuuuuuuys..." Ash sobbed, defeated, stepping back and putting his arms over his head like a bomb was about to go off.

Brock chuckled. "Alright Ash, we appreciate the time and effort you put forth into this little show, but we should really probably stop fooling around and get back to business. There are things to get done, and the only way to get these things done is to try to get them done! Okey?"

Ash just cried in his sleeve.

James scratched his head. "What are we getting done, anyway?--wait, what are we even doing here? Why are we following the twerps?" he asked his teammates.

"Oh, well dat's easy. Da reason we're followin' dem is so dat we can steal dere pikachu along with all dere odda pokemon usin' some technology Jessie's hidin' behind dem bushes dat we could easily summon all with da click of dis shiny red button." explained Meowth, taking out a small device with a big red (and not to mention shiny) button on it. He held it up in the air in triumph.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM THAT!" yelled Jessie, bashing the two of them in the head with a saucepan.

"Team Rocket! I knew we couldn't trust you guys!" shouted Brock, more out of habit than anything else.

"Mwahahahaha! But now there is nothing you can do about that!" James countered, getting up from the painful beating. He looked down at the feline at their feet. "Meowth, activate the TwerpBlaster2000!"

"Right-o!" replied the cat, about to strike the red button of shininess. That is, until a hand reached out and grabbed it, disabling the new attack plan.

"Hoih? Hey, what da?" asked Meowth, staring at his now empty paw.

Everyone looked down to see who or what had taken the device from Meowth. The figure was short, only a couple inches taller than the pokemon himself. His hair was black and sloppy, and he had a large optical instrument (glasses, as we earthlings call it). The shirt plastered over his stomach was an icky shade of green and he had large brown shorts that stopped right below his kneecaps. And to top everything off, he had kiddie sneakers on his feet and a yellowish backpack slinging over his shoulders. His black eyes began to turn red as he glared down evilly at the mechanism in his hand.

"Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma..." stammered May.

"Max. Max the Robot." Brock finished for her, clenching his teeth.

"Told ya so." squeaked Ash. Pikachu sweatdropped from on top of his trainer, wondering how in the pokemon world they always seemed to get themselves into trouble like this all the time.

With one swift movement, Max the Robot squeezed the device in his palm, shattering it to millions of pieces on the ground. Meowth growled. "Dat's da twoip who stole our glory! Our fame! Our money and hard woik!"

Jessie agreed, equally as angry. "No one gets in the way of Team Rocket and...gets away with it!" she added, taking a pokeball from her belt and tossing it into the air. "Go, Seviper! Teach this twerp a lesson he won't soon forget!" The black snake came out, hissing in joy as it landed onto the ground, ready for battle. Jessie turned to her partner. "James, a little help, if you don't mind?"

"OH, right!" exclaimed the distracted man, before taking out his own pokeball and calling out the cactus. "Go, Cac-" he started before falling on the ground with the thing on his face.

"Hey guys, I wouldn't battle him if I were you!" warned Brock, standing in front of Ash, May and Misty as if to protect them. "It only makes him stronger!"

James got up, holding the grass type as Jessie just laughed manically aloud. "Hahaha! How cute of you, trying to make us believe that false talk! Only too bad for you, we weren't fooled for a second!" She pointed off to the little robot. "Now, Seviper, time to destroy this ragged machine and put those twerps back in their place! Poison tail!"

James, guessing they weren't taking the advice, ordered his pokemon as well. "Cacnea, use needle arm!" Both snake and cactus flew towards the Max impersonator. Instead of being frightened, the child smiled, showing a set of white robotic teeth all in a row. He let out a sinister laugh.

"Bwahahahahahahahaha..."

"Uh, you guyses?" Meowth gulped nervously. "I don't like da way he's laughin' at us...and lookin' at us, with dat big ol' smile of his..."

"Haha, don't be stupid Meowth." laughed Jessie. "We got this twerp right where we want him. I mean, Max the Robot? What a pathetic excuse to catch us off guard! He's no match for my gorgeous seviper! Hahahaha!"

Right after saying this, the robo-boy grabbed the snake around its neck as it approached him. "Viper!" it hissed, flinging around its body to free itself, unfortunately it seemed to be stuck and there was no way it could escape. Seviper's eyes grew wide as it realised this, terrified as it tried to squirm its way out of Max's grasp, but to no avail.

"Seviper, what are you doing?!" Jessie asked in astonishment.

"Viiiiiipeeer..." breathed the suffocating snake from in between Max's hand. Not a moment later, cacnea also appeared next to the robot and punched him in the face with needle arm. Which did...nothing. Max just smiled even bigger and grabbed cacnea's punching arm with his other hand and started swinging it around like he was in the rodeo. "Cacneaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" screamed the spiky green pokemon dizzily as it swung around in circles.

"OH NO! CACNEA!" cried James in total fear.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Max the Robot. He tossed both pokemon right at the Rockets themselves. Jessie, James and Meowth fell down with seviper and cacnea on top of them, the pokemons' eyes in swirlies, indicating their fainted condition. Max lifted his robotic head in victory. "Name--Max, Age--8, Objective--DESTROY THE WORLD!" he bellowed darkly. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I don't understand." said James, pushing the dead-looking cacnea off his face.

Jessie got up weakly and grunted. "Those twerps sure can be tricky, but I'm not letting myself get beat. Not now and not ever. I am putting an end to this madness." She began to slowly get nearer to the robot.

"AAAAH! Jess, don't do it! Dat ting's dangerous!" warned Meowth.

"Meowth's right!" called Brock from behind the three of them, who was still shielding his friends as they watched Max the Robot with horror in their eyes. "He did the same thing to us before. Please, listen to me. That robot will destroy you!"

Jessie just turned to him and laughed. "Us? Listen to you twerps? Ha, what a laugh!" she teased. "What's he gonna do anyway, chase us around with chainsaws?"

Max the Robot smirked. If it was chainsaws she wanted, it was chainsaws she would get. He lifted his two stubby arms into the air and--much to Team Rocket's amazement--two chainsaws did indeed extend from out of them. Both of them shone with the sun's reflection on their sharp, pointed surfaces. The robot snickered and got closer.

"Maybe you shouldn't have asked!" suggested James, he and Meowth backing away from the treacherous death tool. Jessie also began to sense the real danger they were in, and blinked awkwardly before running and screaming right back to where her partners were.

Ash also screamed, hiding even more behind his squinty-eyed supervisor as the robot came closer to them as well as Team Rocket.

"It's just like what happened last time!" cried May, equally as scared, clutching onto Brock's arm.

Brock gritted his teeth. Max the Robot is back..., he thought with malice. He tried to brainstorm what would be the best thing to do. The only thing he's weak against is water...but the nearest lake must be miles away, and we're already in trouble from exploding the last one. And if I try to use mudkip or lombre, he'll just use his robotic psychic abilities to disable them altogether like he did before. And I can't call the police either--he'll simply do the same with my phone!

"Brock, what do we do?" whimpered Ash, sounding like a wounded animal.

Brock just stayed silent, still thinking of what to do. "For once...I don't know, Ash. Unless we find another weakness...another weakness other than water...then maybe..."

Team Rocket's screaming cut in through his thoughts. By the looks of it, Max the Robot had grown wheels underneath his shoes and was zooming after them, chasing them with his chainsaws. Missles shot from underneath his shirt like before and small bombs bounced outside from his mouth. The different exploding objects barely missed hitting the members of the troublesome trio and they danced around, dodging them and shouting in a panicked manner before heading with the others and using Brock as a shelter themselves.

"MAKE ROOM, MAKE ROOM!" the Rockets screamed in fright, butting the kids out of the way before they too, got up and held onto Brock for dear life.

"DOMINATE! DESTROY! DESTROY! WORLD DOMINATION!" shouted the rampaging boy, coming towards everyone.

"Now what do we do, Brock?" asked Misty, once the robot was only within inches of destroying all the life in front of him.

Brock opened his mouth. "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" he yelled. He ran away, leaving everybody else exposed to the danger. After noticing what happened, they all just screamed and ran after Brock. Team Rocket took a little while to catch their breath before continuing to run, leaving them dangerously behind. It was a one man for himself world at this point in time, and every single person was trying to save their own skin from the evilness that was Max the Robot.

Max the Robot's tires screeched as he made a turn. He twisted a notch right above his left ankle and all of a sudden, he began going a lot faster than he was before, gaining on the running people and pokemon with rapid speed.

"Oh no! He's catching up!" observed Ash, looking over his shoulder.

Pikachu sweatdropped as he ran alongside his trainer's feet. OK, this is really something he did not plan on doing today.

"Maybe..." Brock panted, in front of the group but within earshot. "If we make it back to that lake, we can explode him like we...pant...did before!"

Misty gasped, a little bit behind him. "But Brock!" she exclaimed. "It's against the law! If we do it two times in a row, they'll send us to jail for sure!"

Brock grunted. "I know. But it's the only way!"

Max the Robot continued getting closer, closer, CLOSER.

"AAAAAAAAH!" James screamed. The robot was right on their tails. "WHAT DO WE DO, JESSIE?!"

"RUN, NOT TALK, YOU DINGBAT!" she screamed back. A missle shot at the two of them and they dodged. Five to six more came at them, those of which were also dodged.

"WE'RE ALL DONNA DIE!" shouted Meowth, his arms in the air as if surrendering. Just then, Max the Robot stopped for a second, the top of his head opening like a lid, causing a huge jet pack to come out, hurdling straight towards his targets. Hearing the sound of something quickly approaching them, Team Rocket turned around only to see the jet pack about collide right into them. Jessie and James grabbed each other in their infamous death embrace and Meowth just grabbed onto their legs, squinting his big eyes shut and yowling in terror.

From farther away, the twerps (er...children) saw an uber explosion. The three members of Team Rocket shot out of it and into the sky, screaming, "Looks like Team Rocket exploded off again!" before turning into a -ping- in the sky.

"I think we're next!" shouted Misty in horror, trying to quicken her pace along with Ash, Brock and May. The robot, having finished off his first job, then went to face the more important victims. Starting his engine up again, he went full-force right towards the screaming children.

The robot chased for a good five minutes before Brock, Ash, Misty and May all started getting weary and tired. Ash stopped right in the middle of their chase.

"ASH!" shouted May. "What are you doing?!"

"I can't...go on!" he replied, falling down on his knees.

"AAAAAAASH!" cried Misty, stopping and running back to her fallen boyfriend. "Please, come on Ash! The robot's gonna kill us! We have to go!" She sobbed, trying to pull him up with her.

"I'm sorry Misty but I...must..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

By now, Brock and May had also stopped. "Come on, guys!" demanded Brock. "We must get out of here! The lake is very close, we can't be far now!"

"It's Ash..." trailed Misty.

"...oh no." Brock said this, not only because Ash wouldn't get up, but they had a much bigger problem now. Max the Robot had finally caught up to them, and stood right next to them. The lowered his chainsaw to Ash. "Time to get rid of you all...for good. BWAHAHAHA!" he roared.

"NO! Please, kill me first! But not Ash, I'm begging you! Please!" Misty begged, standing over Ash in a protective stance.

"OK, you first." laughed Max's deep voice. "I always have room to switch my schedule around." His hand became a gun-looking thing as he lowered a finger down to Misty's forehead. "SAY GOODBYE!" he cackled, just about to let go a bullet that may just kill the orange-haired girl. But right before that could happen...

"Max, my dear slave...what do you think you're doing?" came a strangely familiar voice.

Max looked on in confusion. "But Master, I thought I was supposed to kill them?"

The voice laughed. "Not yet, my robot servant. They might come in handy sooner or later. Remember, these kids are quite talented. They may have the skill and wit to help us with our domination plan."

Max sighed and put down his finger. "OK, Master..." he replied obediently.

"How dare you ask us to help you with your plan!" snarled Brock. "Why do you think we'd help anyone so heartless?!"

The voice continued to laugh. "Ohohoho. You may not have a choice, Squinty." it said. All of a sudden, a cage fell out of nowhere, trapping Brock, Ash, Misty, May and Pikachu.

"Captured!" gasped May in shock.

The voice snickered. "That's right, little girl. I have you now, and that means Step One of our plan is nearly complete. Thank you, Max the Robot."

Max the Robot bowed. "You're welcome...Master..."

Ash got up. Apparently, he had heard the whole thing and he wasn't about ready to let anybody take control of him or his friends. "What have you done to Max? What are you going to do to us? Why do you want to dominate the world?" he asked, spilling out the questions. "And most importantly...who are you anyway?!" he growled.

"Why, you may find out soon enough. But for now..." A snap of fingers was heard. "Max, please be a dear and transport these children to my evil fortress. And then..." The voice paused, only to laugh for maybe the twentyith time. "It will be time for Step Two..."

...

YAY! I got it done, I got it done, I got it done! I know, this chapter was just full of suspense! I think I should probably change the genre to maybe or horror or mystery. And maybe the rating? I don't know, we'll just have to see. And no, TR didn't die, they just blasted off because they're lucky enough to escape from their troubles that way. XD But what about Ash and his friends? What will they have in store for them? What's this Step Two in the plan? And most importantly...who is this criminal mastermind who has their eyes set on world domination? Vote on the poll to give your opinion, but as for the other questions...it looks like you'll have to wait for the next exciting installment. MWAHAHAHA! -vanishes-