The next morning, Amelia and Zelgadis sat at the breakfast table and waited for Lina to show up. After the previous night's events, they weren't sure what to expect from the normally temperamental redhead.
"O-HAY-O!" Lina's voice suddenly thundered throughout Amelia's bedroom.
From their places under the table, Amelia and Zelgadis considered the situation.
"Maybe it's a copy?" Amelia suggested.
"Not likely," Zelgadis replied.
They resettled into their seats at the table as Lina took hers.
The servant girl poked her head around the door, saw Lina, and asked, "Are you hungrier this morning, Lady Inverse?"
"Bring it on!" Lina gleefully shouted.
The servant girl smiled, then turned her head to nod to someone outside the door. When she came in, she was followed by several other attendants carrying trays of waffles, pancakes, bacon, steaks, and the like, all of which was somehow set upon the table.
"No need for plates!" Lina exclaimed as she grabbed a waffle. Noticing the syrup, she amended, "Well, maybe I should…"
Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged hesitant smiles before helping themselves to the meal.
Zelgadis gave Amelia a cautious glance before speaking. "You seem…better this morning."
"I feel great! Breakfast is delicious, there are still bandits to punish, treasure to collect, and a present to buy! That, and breakfast is delicious!"
As Lina continued to rave over the meal, Amelia motioned to Zelgadis, who leaned over slightly. "Do you think she even remembers last night?"
Zelgadis shrugged a shoulder. "How should I know? She could be in denial, or worse." He straightened and began working on a pancake.
Amelia's forehead worried itself. Lina-san…
"Thanks for having me stay another night!" Lina waved to her friends at the northern gate to Seyruun. Closing one eye, she then waved an index finger at them. "And behave yourselves, especially you, Amelia!"
Amelia balled her fists under her chin. "What do you mean Lina-san?" She turned to Zelgadis to ask him, only to find him in Full Blush Mode. Realization hit her. "Oh, ha, I will, don't worry," she called after Lina's diminishing form.
Lina kept the smile on her face until she was sure she was out of sight of the city. Then she ran behind a tree at the side of the road and relieved her distressed stomach.
After cleaning herself up, she returned to the road and headed further away from Seyruun. Upon arriving at an intersection, she turned and started heading east. She had heard about a bandit gang hideout within Seyruun's borders, and she figured she could relieve some tension while gaining some valuables, by blowing said bandits to kingdom come.
The fight was absurdly one-sided, causing Lina to wonder about the 'quality of bandits these days'.
As she collected the treasure, she felt a strange emptiness. She checked the bag. No, the bag's full. Some rare coins, some gems, and Wow! a really nice sword that Gourry could…she froze.
Lina Inverse, Dragon Spooker, Enemy of All Who Live, and slayer of countless monsters, dropped to her knees in the middle of the flaming wreckage of the bandits' hideout, her insides feeling suddenly cold. The bag containing her 'earnings' fell to the ground, spilling its precious contents. Lina didn't even notice.
Somehow, treasure didn't matter as much anymore.
Several minutes later, a heavy-hearted and very confused sorceress stood up, regarded the bag lying next to her, took a few coins from the pile, and left the rest.
Behind her, a single hand poked through the rubble…
You know, when I traveled through here before, I never even thought to stop and enjoy the beauty of it all. Of course, I was busy saving the world at the time.
The sorceress had indeed been blessed with a beautiful scene. Not a cloud marred the blue sky, with the sun a golden orb, bestowing its light upon everything, from the snow-capped mountains in the distance to the yellow petals of the flower Lina picked and gently placed in her hair, to the gleaming silver blade of the sword suddenly shoved in her face.
"Huh?"
"We finally caught up with you, Lina Inverse!" A big, burly man (man? beast? The jury was still out on that one) had seemingly come out of nowhere, along with a group of about fifteen other ruffians. "Think you can toast our friends and get away with it, eh?" He stroked his stubbled chin in thought for a moment. "Tell ya what. Just return everything you stole from us, and maybe we'll go easy on you. Otherwise…" He raised his sword in a menacing fashion.
A voice from the back sounded, "But, boss…"
The boss turned toward the voice. "What?!"
"She only took a couple of the coins. Everything else is still back at camp, in a bag."
"Erk-" the brigand stammered for a moment. He then whirled on Lina. "What's the matter with you? You come in, blow half my men up, and then you don't even take our treasure? What's the matter with you?" Shocked realization washed over his face. "Waitaminute, what am I saying?"
"I'm not real sure, buddy," began Lina with a smirk, "but I do know that if you don't get out of my way, you'll end up in the same condition as your friends at the camp!"
"Why you little…get her, guys!"
The bandits charged forward as one, each eager to relieve the young sorceress of her life as well as her possessions. Lina's smirk held as she charged up a fireball. Finally, a real fight!
She was about to release fiery death on the bandits, when an authoritative voice suddenly shouted, "Hold it right there!" causing all of them, including Lina, to stop short.
The bandit leader took one look at the newcomer and exclaimed, "What the hell…"
Lina turned toward the voice, half expecting to see Gourry. The man that stood before her definitely was not Gourry.
He stood a good head taller than most everyone present, tall but very slender. The first thing Lina noticed was a strange light flashing above him, somehow sitting on the gray hat perched neatly atop his head. Short black hair poked somewhat messily from underneath, framing an unusually tall head. A long gray jacket hung to just below his knees and the collar ran high at the back of his neck. Large white buttons held the garment closed, and a thin blue necktie snaked into the inside of the jacket. His blue pants were of a smooth material she wasn't familiar with. The shoes on his feet were obviously made of leather, but she knew of no one who could style leather in the manner she saw before her.
At the end of an extended arm a hand held the top of an opened wallet. His mannerism suggested that he was presenting something important to the group, perhaps the small medallion that adorned the lower half of the wallet.
Lina wanted that medallion.
The man spoke again, this time addressing the bandits. "You're all under arrest! Come quietly, and there will be no trouble!"
The bandit leader looked at the flashing man, back at his men, then back to the flashing man. Then he started laughing hysterically. "What are ya gonna do?! Hit me with your wallet?!" he howled.
Even Lina had to snicker. What's with this guy? He's like Amelia or something.
The newcomer was unimpressed. He put the wallet back in his jacket as the light disappeared, crouched slightly, then announced, "I gave you fair warning! Go-go Gadget arms!"
Lina watched dumfounded as the man's arms suddenly extended to several times their original length, reaching toward the group of bandits. The arms started to circle the group and constrict, squeezing the bandits together.
Unfortunately, Lina was caught in the middle of the group at the time, and found herself in the newcomer's lethal embrace. "Hey!" she shouted, only her head visible within the mass of bodies. "I'm the victim here! Get me out!"
The newcomer realized what he had done. "Wowsers! Sorry miss, I'll get you out of there! Go-go Gadget necktie!"
Lina dreaded what would happen next, but was still surprised to see the man suddenly fall on his backside. The resulting increase in pressure on the group popped Lina out of it like a cork from a bottle, landing face-first near the fallen man. She pushed herself to her elbows just in time to see a set of wheels disappear into the bottoms of his shoes.
"Thanks, mister, now it's my turn! FIRE-BALL!" She launched a fireball toward the ensnared bandit group.
"Yikes!" the long-limbed man cried, pulling his arms back into his body.
"Yikes!" the bandit leader cried, just before being burned to a crisp.
As the well-done bandits headed for the hills, Lina turned to her 'savior'. I could have handled that myself, but I suppose I should thank him. Lina twitched with an odd feeling of déjà vu. "Uh, thanks for saving me!"
"My pleasure, young lady," the man said, "but now you're under arrest for assault!" A chain with a silver bracelet suddenly appeared from his wrist and fastened itself to her own.
Lina pulled at the chain as her unrestrained hand found her head. "Assault?! What are you talking about?"
"They may have been criminals, but they still have rights until they're proven guilty!"
"RIGHTS? WHAT ARE YOU-!" Lina stopped herself and took another close look at the man. "You aren't from around here, are you?" she asked, her voice more even this time.
He looked around, at the trees, the mountain, the dirt road, finally meeting Lina's eyes once more. He extended an index finger. "No, I'm not. To be honest, I'm quite lost." He withdrew the bracelet.
"Well, I've got nothing else to do, let's see if we can help you get back home," Lina sighed. Not quite the adventure I was hoping for, but it'll do. "By the way, what's your name?"
The stranger proudly drew himself to full height. "My name is Inspector Gadget."