The cold return...

[Night Fire]

Originaly Posted by Kaven October 13, 2000 03:24 PM



"B-but you can't!" studdered the foul decietful tortoise shivering on his feet before the large black cloaked figure.

It was in the hall of the motionless. Where time does not move, and where nothing has yet existed. It was here that the villian, Devan Shell, began growing cowardly after his failure to conquor Carrotus through it's past. Through an odd gateway appearing in his hideout where Devan Shell stumbled apon this place. Falling through he would see the same tall darkly cloaked human standing in front of him with a frown.



"I will..." answered the voice as it echoed silently "Because of your constant stupidity. This is the second time you have failed me."

"B-but I can explain!" pointed out Devan with a last hope.

"Explain?" said the voice "Explain?! How can you explain your repeatedly constant failure to conquore the very planet that had been the cause of my death? You can't explain because you have no excuse."

"But..." began Devan "It was--"

"Jazz Jackrabbit?" interrupted the voice. The cloaked figure lifted his arms in the air and circled around. Grasping the back of his head, he was becoming more fustrated.



"Jazz, Spaz, Lori -- Those three pathetic forest rodents got in your way?!" he shouted "For such an event to occure, it makes you a greater failure. Observe--"



The cloaked figure pointed a finger from his boney hand towards an image in the dark cloudy sky. Lightning struck causing Devan's hope crumbling instantly.



"As far as I can see-" he said as the image changed to flashback of the past "You lost your entire Shellion army to a exhiled rabbit by the name of Jazz Jackrabbit where even your clone of him could not succeed. You formed a secret hideout on Carrotus attempting to find a way to go back in time and change history. STILL, you failed by letting Jazz and his younger brother Spaz through your time-warp. You also failed when your damaged time machine sent them both, including their sister, Lori, scattered throughout an endless field of time travel. Finally, in the end when you leapt to the future to conquor Carrotus while Jazz wasen't around, The three appeared soon after to save Jazz's children and restore the future to normal. With success, they were finally returned to the present. And you, the pathetic excuse for a shellion, was sent here to my lair where your fate awaits."



Devan gulps loudly stepping backwards with fright. The shadow lowers his head and stares at him with evil eyes.



"Well..." said the voice in an evil tone "Let's hear this 'EXPLANATION' of yours."



--------------------------------------------



<strong><u>Episode One: The Cold Return</u></strong>



<u>Chapter One</u>

The Replacement...





Far off on a planet of oil and fire was the abandoned Tavern of turts, lizards, and other reptiles. Some of Devan's goons had fled here to escape Jazz's rule over Carrotus. Some returned to Shellion, some remained hidden on Carrotus, others were lost, and the last few saught shelter on this dead planet. An ocean of Oil covering the entire world, all but one Tavern stood in a small junk heap.



Many were drunk, even the bartender. Everyone had awaken to the sound of dark footsteps nearby. Someone had entered the tavern. Such an evil presence caused the customers to shiver in fear.



http://www.wpwagner.com/JonH/lizard2.jpg



He was tall and wore a cape, but was not a Shellion. He was a Lizard of some kind, with a long tail. He had one arm, another which was of machine as a replacement for one that was lost. His hair was white and messy atop his head where his eyes were wide but evil. His red armor was shining off the light inside the tavern. He frowned and obviously wasen't very friendly.



"I'm looking for a few lost shellions." he said out loud "Some who once worked with a shellion by the name of Devan Shell."



Everyone was silent. To hear that cursed name again, they couldn't say anything. Devan Shell was the very turtle that lead them all to defeat.



"If one of you are they, stand now." He continued.



Everyone ignored the Lizard at this point and went back to their drinks and games. The noise of the large crowd began to grow but the Lizard did not allow it.



Furious, he grabbed one of the Turtles and lunged them towards another. Striking his fist into the snout of one of them, using swift kicks on the others. Eventually, the crowd grew angry and flung themselves towards their enemy. In the end, every shellion was on the ground. Some unconcious, some injured, and some were just hiding in fear. The Lizard pulled out his sword and circled around pointing it towards the crowd.



"Now..." he began "As I was saying..."



The Shellions were stumped. They had no choice but to follow their new commander.



<center>* * * * *</center>



Devan Shell kept watching the image of the Lizard leaving the Tavern. Devan frowned with discust. He looked around facing the laughing Mage behind him.



"What?!" exclaimed Devan "THAT is my replacement?"

"Why not?" laughed the wizard "He gets the job done. Focusing on the task at hand rather than his own emotions. He can even fight without the use of those pieces of scrap that you use to arm your troops."

"EMOTIONS?!?!" shouted Devan with his fear gone completely "Since when do I have emotions, oh great once-king Regan?"



The wizard frowned and sent a ball of flame towards Devan. Devan dodged and hid behind a pillar frightened by the wizard's magic.



"Do not DARE to say my name again, maggot!" he shouted "I am merciful to let you live. Of course you have emotions. Everyone does. But keeping them hidden is the big issue here. And my minion might not properly replace you because of one minor problem."

"Problem?" studdered Devan.

"Yes..." he said "Not that green rodent, Jazz Jackrabbit. But a friend of his by the name of Admael. Her magic interferes with my operations."

"So what?" said Devan recovering more bravery as he stepped out from behind the pillar "She doesn't do anything. I haven't even seen her."

"Oh you haven't seen anything, you blundering fool." said the wizard turning around forming another image in the air of Admael "Admael is a powerful magic user, more powerful than she thinks. If she detects my magic, she will surely act and try to stop me."

"Oh well..." said Devan sarcasticly "Looks like this means you fail to do better than I can."



Regan looked down at the turtle calmly.



"So you think." he continued "Just a few days ago, poor Admael was unconcious due to an unfortunate accident that occured near a place called Carrot Canyon*, She was brought back by a stranger who left the planet soon after. She failed to detect my magic at that time and I successfully lured your replacement into searching for your lost army of idiot reptiles."



The imaged faded and the wizard walked down the steps. A chair magicly appeared in front of him and he sat down holding his staff beside him.



"No animal could possibly have the power of magic." he said "But somehow, she does."



---------------------------------------------

*From my previous story 'The Final Crisis'



Okay, I had to edit this continuation because I left it in a hurry when class ended. As I said, I only have access to the internet at school now which slows things down.



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Two</u>

Admael's magic lesson



It was almost dawn when the dark blue sky began to brighten, but still keeping a sign of night. Resting peacefully inside the walls of Carrot Castle was Jazz and Eva, not knowing the dangers that await then. Jazz couldn't sleep and got up and walked down to the castle's kitchen.



After searching the fridge, cupboards, and the storage of foods, Jazz realized he wasen't hungry at all. He sat down and noticed the maid entering the kitchen.



"Oh," she said "I'm sorry, your majesty. I did not know you were here."

"Ah, forget about it." said Jazz leaning back on his chair and sighing "I just can't sleep."

"Is almost morning." she continued "But if you want to sleep in, perhaps the mage in the castle tower should help."

"Huh?" muttered Jazz raising an eyebrow.

"Admael was her name, I think." she said.

"Oh..." said Jazz "Yah, her... I dunno though. Last time I drank one of her sleeping potions, I got sick when I woke up."

"Well," said the maid as she began to leave the kitchen "It was just a suggestion."



Jazz nodded as she left the room. He thought about carrots for a while for no apparent reason, then shrugged and left the kitchen. He continued up the stairs to the top of Admael's tower. It was dark throughout the stairs with a cold wind rushing upwards from below. The few torches on the walls allowed Jazz to see his way to the top. Entering the room, he noticed the door was different this time.



Inside was a room with many decorations. Most of which Jazz knew about from his previous visit. Ahead of him was a table where Admael's books and potions covered it completely. The walls were covered with several paintings. Further throughout the room were chests and other artifacts. Admael was no where to be seen so he shrugged and began to leave. But before he did, he heard a voice sounding like Admael.



"Wait..." she said "Is that you, Jazz?"

Jazz stopped and looked around. There was no one there.

"Uh..." he began "If your busy, I can--"

"No." she said "Your just in time. Could you do me a favor?"

"Uh... sure." he said.

"You see that candle over there?" said the voice. Jazz looked around to see many candles scattered throughout the room. One was on her desk.

"That one?" Jazz pointed at the desk.

"Yes." she said "Could you put it out for me? I'd really appreciate it."

"Uh... Okay."



Jazz walked over to the desk. He was confused to what was going on but shrugged and did what he was asked. He blew the candle out in a single puff. At that same moment, Admael magicly appeared in the air and fell to the ground bluntly. She got up and dusted herself off.



"Thank you." she said "Sorry about that. I was toying with this new spell I discovered."

"Uh... right." said Jazz "Y'know, if your still busy, I can leave you alone if you want."

"No." she said "That's okay. I need to tell you something anyway."

"You do?" asked Jazz.

"Yes." she said as her magic lifted books and potions from the table and placed them in safe spots around the room. She sat down behind the table and pulled out a pouch from her cloak. Jazz sat down and listened. She began pulling cards out from the pouch and placing them onto the desk. Several of them had pictures of various charactors.

"During my sleep, I noticed something behind my dreams." she said "It was a tall human with a staff and cloak and was dressed like a mage. But deep inside him I could see evil, hate, and revenge."

"Sounds like someone who ate a bad carrot." said Jazz.

"Jazz." began Admael "I'm afraid of what this person might do. He's no ordinary mage. He's much stronger and much greater than any magic-user can ever be. But unfortunately, he doesn't exist."

"Huh?" asked Jazz.

"Ever since I was concious again, I've been studying, trying to find out who this person was." she continued "And what I discovered was his name was Regan Arcurus who was once a king on this planet a long long time ago. He was killed by a rabbit like us during a great war during his time."

"So what?" said Jazz "He's dead. Why does he bother you now."

"He may be dead." said Admael "But he may also be cursed. In that case, he's been trapped in a strange zone of some sort and can't get out. Somehow, he's using his magic for something horrible, but I don't know what it could be."

"So," began Jazz "Where do I come in."

"Jazz." began Admael "You have to stop this person from whatever he's trying to do. If possible, defeat him for good. I know your tired after finally returning to the present, but Devan Shell also has something to do with this as well."

"Well," began Jazz "If Devan Shell is involved, so am I. I'm not gonna let that geek get away with another evil act. But if this involves magic, I'm gonna need some help."

"I've already informed your cousin, Bluez, and he's on his way." said Admael "Lori might be able to help as well. Other than that, you'll have to find other allies."

"Well I can always count on Spaz to help me out." said Jazz "The rest I'll have to see who can help."



Admael looked down at the cards then back at Jazz.



"Then take these with you." said Admael.

"What?" began Jazz "Why?"

"These are magic cards." said Admael "They can help give you information and identification. Some of them have magic in them which can help you."



Admael handed Jazz five cards and he looked at them with curiousity. They all looked very familiar.



"Hey." said Jazz "I recognize a few of these."

"There are alot more in the world." said Admael "That first one is Kaven Chronos. He symbolizes time. The other ones are Tika - Magic of Hate, Kiro - Magic of Love, Duke - Magic of Destruction, and Bluez - Magic of Luck."

"Uh huh." said Jazz "I won't bother asking WHY I need these, but still, is there a reason why?"

"Because as long as you have those cards," began Admael "You'll be safe from Regan's magic. The other cards you can find are scattered throughout galaxy by now."

"Well..." began Jazz "Looks like I'm ready. I'll take these cards just in case, but I think my gun and speed will take care of everything."

"Be careful, Jazz." said Admael "Regan doesn't consider you a threat and will probably be a lot stronger than Devan."

"Don't say that." said Jazz "Because he doesn't know who he's dealing with..."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Three</u>

The journey ahead



Jazz walked out of the castle with his equipment packed. Eva stood behind him as news reporters appeared out of no where and surrounded him completely.



"Jazz, is it true your planning on leaving Carrotus again after saying you've decided to retire?"

"Is there any word of Devan Shell involved in this?"

"What about the baby?"

"Do you have anything to say about this particular event?"



Jazz scratched his head and stood confused. Answering everyone's questions at once was impossible, so he stood couragously and announced one statement.



"I make a new stand today to ensure the protection of every rabbit on this planet. To make the fuzziest of cute and the cutest of the fuzziest to forever be safe from the wrath of Shellions. To be your leader and king as I proudly set out to accomplish this task, which will free you from the threat of evil and making sure that carrots are still pentiful on our home, Carrotus."



Eva fluttered her eyelashes at Jazz.



"Jazz..." she said "That was beutiful. When did you write that?"

"Actually," began Jazz "I don't even know what I said."



A shout could be heard from inside the castle. The sounds of frying pans and dishes crashing around inside the castle.



"AAAAACK!" screamed a familiar voice "Please! I only wanted a little snack before I--"

"EEEEEK!" shreeked a voice "Get out, Get out, GET OUT! you... you... pervert!"

"It wasen't my fault you--"

"GET OUT!!!!!!!"



Suddenly, Spaz could be seen running out of the castle. He tripped by accidentally standing on his own ear sending him crashing to the ground in front of Jazz. Spaz looked up and smiled innocently.



"Hehe..." he said "Uh... Hi, Bro."

Jazz sighed and shook his head. Spaz jumped up and jumped around. His tounge bounced around.



"Hey, Bro!" said Spaz "I got all our stuff ready. We've got Potato Chips, Carrot Soda, Sandwiches, Ice cream, Chocholate bars, Carrots..."

"Spaz..." interupted Jazz "We can't carry very much. My ship hasen't been used for a long time. I'm not even sure it can carry all this stuff."

"Oh... right." said Spaz "But, This isn't very much."

"But my ship is a very old model." said Jazz "left for me by our great great great great great great great great grandpa."

"Uh..." said Spaz scratching his head cluelessly "That's uh... 4, no... 5 plus... uh... 7, round the 8... minus 4... no, 3... carry the zero... uh..."

"Nevermind." said Jazz "The point is, we need to travel more lightly."

"Okay bro." said Spaz.



Suddenly the ship slowly began hovering nearby. Dust floated about as it began to lower to the ground. Everyone covered their eyes to shield themselves from the dirt. There was a sudden thud sound from underneith.



The cockpit opened and inside was a bird wearing a helmet. He jumped out and flapped his wings till he reached the ground. He removed his helmet and that's when everyone recognized him.



"Chuck?!" asked Jazz "I thought you were going to stay on diamondus in bird land."

"Well..." began Chuck "I was going to. But I kept feeling guilty for leaving you to fight Devan last time."

"Look, Chuck." began Jazz "You don't half to help if you don't--"

"No." said Chuck "I'm going to help. This time I'm not going to run away every time I see danger. Besides, Flip helped me fix my gun so now it shoots various types of ammo. Much like your weapon's ammo system. It can even support upgrades."

"Thanks Chuck." said Jazz "It's a good thing you still know how to fly the Jazz-01. I've practicly forgotten."

"No sweat." said Chuck "I'll fly you where you need to go anytime."



Admael had finally arrived. Her staff was differen this time. It had a much more strange design at the tip of it.



"Room for one more?" asked Admael.

"Addie?" asked Jazz "Sure. But what about..."

"Whoever this human mage thinks he is, he's not going to get away with any evil. With my help, I can probably counter his magic if he ever tries to stop you."



Chuck squaked and signalled everyone that the ship was ready. The reporters attempted to get a bit more info out of Jazz before he leaves but it was too late. Jazz and the others jumped into the ship closing the cargo door shut.



"Where we heading?" asked Chuck.

"A good start would be Devan's old lab on the southern islands of Carrotus." said Admael "Maybe there we can find a clue."

"Next stop..." began Chuck "Devan's Lab."



The ship's engines grew louder and it streamed accross the skies out of view. Eva, still standing at the castle gates, waved as it left.



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Four</u>

Devan's Remains



"Uh... sir?" studdered a smaller turtle "We've got a problem."



The Lizard leader in red armor had taken control of Devan's lost army, fortifying his position in one of the abandoned castles on Medivo. The turts discovered his name shortly after his arrival and wispered 'Sir Mark Renegade' to everyone. He read the reports given to him by the rehired generals of Devan's army. But something went wrong and the report had just reached him.



"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Well..." began the turt "We've got w-word that a few of our *gulp* troops have abandoned our army."

"How many?" asked the lizard.



The turt was silent clutching the paper with shivering hands.



"Well?" asked Mark again "HOW MANY?!?!"



Impatient, Mark snatched the paper from the turts hands and began reading it. Furious, he tore the paper in half and grabbed the turt by the throat.



"You know why I'm here." said Mark squeezing the turts neck tighter "Devan failed his mission five times. I'm here to replace that twit and if no one realizes that, then it's pointless to even have you alive."

"I'll get them back, sir." squeeked the turt "I promise."

"I'm giving you one more chance." said Mark "And your only chance. You fail, and I'll make sure you never leave Medivo alive."

"Yes sir." squeeked the turt "No problem sir. Everything is under control, sir."



Mark threw the small turt across the floor and watched as he scurried out of the throneroom. Mark sat down on the throne again to relax and see what other business was left to deal with.



---------------------------------------------



The ship was nearing Devan's lab quickly. It wasen't long until the ship had landed outside it's remains. The time-jump mixed up alot of things and exploded the entire lab completely. The wreckage was off-limits to everyone on Carrotus, but for Jazz, it required investigating. The ship began to lower to a halt above the ground. Chuck activated the brake but left the ship running for when they return.



"Mind if I come along, Jazz?" asked Chuck.

"No." said Jazz "You keep an eye on the ship and be ready for when we leave."

"Okay then." said Chuck.



Jazz, Spaz, and Admael all left the passenger cargo. They looked around to see the wreckage ahead and continued towards it.



It was a long search. There were a few remains of Devan's hostile robots, but they were not a problem for the Jackrabbits. Admael investigated some of the machines lying around. Most of them were video games and other scraps of junk for nerds and geeks like Devan. Eventually, Admael soon stumbled apon something hidden under a broken computer console.



It was a grate to the lower level. Admael was about to tell Jazz and Spaz, but they were too busying playing with the junk elsewhere. Admael entered by herself.



In the mean time, Jazz and Spaz were playing catch with an orb demonstrating an atom. Jazz rushed backwards to catch it but tripped over a heavy pipe. Kicking it out of the way and rubbing his foot, Spaz noticed something glowing underneith.



"Huh?" said Spaz "What's this?"

"It's a pipe is what it is." said Jazz rubbing his foot "And it hurt!"

"No, bro." said Spaz "That little glowing thing there. It looks like a piece of paper or something."

"Huh?" said Jazz "Lemme see that."



Jazz got up and looked at the ground where the pipe once was. Lying there on the ground was a small card with a picture of Shwartzenguard on it.



"Hey!" said Jazz "Ain't this the guy we beat back a long time ago when we got caught in this time-travel mess?"

"Oh yah!" said Spaz "Lookie, it's got words on the bottom of it."

"Hm..." said Jazz deep in thought "They're in some wierd language. Hey look. They keep changing."

"That's strange." said Spaz "How can you read words that keep changing like that?"

"Does it matter to you?" asked Jazz "You can't even read."

"Bleach!" spitted Spaz "Who needs to know how to read anyway? I've got creat-uh... creatav-- uh... whatever that word is."

"Riiiight." said Jazz "And the word is creativity and that's something you don't have anyway."

"Whatever." said Spaz "Hey. Maybe Admael can read it."



Jazz and Spaz both got up and called out Admael's name. There was no sign of her anywhere. Stumbling over the garbage all around, they began to search for Admael.



Meanwhile, Admael had reached an underground area of the lab. It was dark, but Admael used a light spell which allowed her to navigate around. There was still electricity running underneith. For some reason, Admael began feeling a strange magicical power luring her deeper into the cave. Computers all around making annoying noises and such gave Admael and headache and disrupted her concentration. The light spell wore off.



Admael tried again but it was no use. It was too dark to see anything. Suddenly, a red light appeared and a tall shadowed figure began walking closer and closer to Admael. She began to back away concentrating her magic in an attempt to see who it was. Suddenly...



"OUCH!" shouted the voice "OoooOOoooOOH! My achin' head."



The cloaked figure bonked his head off the roof and fell back on the floor. All the lights went back on and Admael could clearly see who it was. It was the human Wizard she saw in her thoughts, and Devan Shell standing behind him.



"Devan, you blundering fool!" said the wizard "What idiot builds his lab this small?"

"Um... uh... Sir." studdered Devan "Ahem..."



The wizard looked up and noticed the lights were on and Admael could see him. He got up keeping aware of the roof as he dusted himself off.



"Ah... um..." he muttered "Excuse me, but could we try that again? Y'know, that big dark scenery and suspence stuff?"

"You?!" exclaimed Admael "Your the one I saw in my nightmare."

"Yes..." laughed the wizard "I am also the one who will kill you as soon as I free myself from this ridiculous curse."

"So..." began Admael "You really are trapped in a curse."

"Beware, Admael." he said as a dark mist began to grow around them both "I am a pure magical human being. With ten times the strength of a rodent such as you, and ten times as powerful. My magic is only the beginning and with you out of the way, Carrotus will fall and my curse will be broken!"

"What do you mean?" asked Admael "What are you talking about?"

"Oh dear." gasped the wizard "Um... Forget everything I said. I didn't say anything, okay?"

"Wait a moment." said Admael "Of course, Because a rabbit killed you years ago, you can't be revived until the castle of rabbits is destroyed."

"NO!" yelled the wizard "I mean.... yes... Er... no. That's wrong. Um... uh..."



The wizard began the mutter silently to himself. His expression changed to a more hopeless one.



"Oh fine then." said the wizard "So you found out THAT secret. But you don't know about the army of turts on Medivo."

"There's an army of turtles on Medivo?" asked Admael.

"DOH!" shouted the wizard "Gah! Devan, you idiot. DO SOMETHING?!?!?!"

"Why me?" asked Devan.

"Because your alive." said the wizard "And I'm not so I can't do anything."

"Uh..." began Devan "Okay."



Devan ran over to his computer and began pressing buttons. The wizard grinned at Admael and almost laughed.



"I believe there is something you and I will have in common." said the wizard.

"And what would that be?" asked Admael smiling "I could easily block whatever Devan is about to do."

"Oh so you think." Said the wizard while Devan continued typing "But that would be hard without your magic."

"Huh?" stated Admael finally noticing she was standing right below a laser weapon above her.



Devan pressed the button and an electronic beam shot down into Admael's head. Admael fell to the floor breathing heavily. She began screaming out loud in pain.



"Hah!" laughed the wizard "No one can hear you. We're 3 floors below the lab and there's not even that pathetic little squirt Jazz can save you now."

"I can't believe it." Grinned Devan "I'm actually winning for once. No interferances. No malfunctions. And best of all, NO JAZZ!"



Suddenly, the ground above broke through. Jazz and Spaz came crashing down on top of Devan Shell beside the computer. The hard shell of Devan's injured the both of them.



"Augh!" said Jazz stumbling up "Ouch. That was harder than a rock."



Spaz was swaying back and forth after getting up. Even shaking his head didn't help him recover from his dizziness.



"Admael!" shouted Jazz "What's happening?"

"No... time..." shouted Admael "Quick... Pull that lever over there."



The wizard jumped in front of Jazz and held his staff up high.



"No!" shouted the wizard "The process is not yet complete!"

"Look, Bro!" said Spaz "He's transpaint-- uh... truspurent-- uh... no.. um..."

"I think what you mean to say is Transparent." said Jazz "Which means this guy's a ghost."



Jazz began to walk through the wizard and towards the lever.



"No!" shouted the Wizard jumping around "Don't! You can't!"



Jazz ignored the wizard and grabbed ahold of the lever in front of him. He pulled it down quickly, causing the electric lazer to shut down. Admael remained lying on the ground trying to recover from the blast.



"**** you!" shouted the wizard "Well... All's not lost, for at least your friend is still zapped of her powers and she cannot help you anymore. Which means, I STILL WIN. Bwahahahahaha!"



The wizard turned aroudn and opened a dimensional hole. Entering it, Devan noticed it was beginning to close.



"Wait!" shouted Devan "Don't leave me here! WAIT!!!"



Devan dived into the hole just before it closed. Jazz and Spaz looked at eachother in confusion, trying to figure out what they just saw.



"Wait a sec..." said Jazz "Didn't we have trouble with ghosts after getting caught in that haunted house while trying to get back to our own time?"

"Yah," said Spaz "I remember. Lori took care of it though. But how did she do it?"



"It doesn't matter." Said Admael finally recovered. She began to stand up dusting off her cloak. He picked up her staff. The orb on the end stopped glowing.



"This isn't an ordinary ghost." said Admael "This guy is the wizard I was talking about."

"What?!" exclaimed Jazz "No way!"

"Yes, way." said Admael "This device Devan built have released me of my magic. I can't use any of my abilities anymore."

"What?" asked Spaz "But, that fancy light-show and everything you used to do around the castle was cool. You can't let it go now!"

"Sorry, Addie." said Jazz "We came as soon as we heard the scream."

"Actually," said Spaz "We accidentally came here. Jazz tried to climb up to the top to see if he could see you from there. Then he came falling down landing on me and through the ground here."

"Thank you." Said Admael "But what do I do now?"

"How long till you get them back?" asked Jazz.

"A month," said Admael "Maybe longer."

"Well, we don't have a month." said Jazz "So we're just gonna have to go without your magic."

"But what good am I now?" said Admael.

"What about that card we found?" asked Spaz.

"Yah, Addie." said Jazz "Maybe these cards will help you get your magic back."

"Thanks." said Admael "But they won't help much. Even I don't know much about the magic in those cards."

"Well," began Jazz "You can still try at least. Even if you've lost your magic, we'll find a way to get it back."

"If we're going to continue our journey then..." began Admael "We'll have to go to Medivo."

"Why Medivo?" asked Jazz.

"Because that's where Devan's remaining army stands." said Admael "I'll explain on the way."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Five</u>

Ready to ride



"Sir, our ship is prepared." said the turtle.



The final report was brought to Mark's attention soon after he recovered his lost troops. Seeing that he could not wait any longer, he set the task to preparing his large battleship: The Nightmare.



With the battleship repaired and refuled, departure was scheduled soon after. With a few minutes to spare, Mark had seen the oportunity to raise the moral of his army of turts. He walked carefully up to the stage and looked at the large crowd. They were all eager to hear what he had to say.



"I will let you all know again," said Mark "I am not Devan Shell, and I will not fail. Devan had smarts, scientific knowledge, but lacked one thing... Strength. With my military experience and my strength alone, you can all trust me."



Everyone remained silent. They didn't care who they trusted. They just didn't want to go to Carrotus again.



"Your still angry?" asked Mark.



Someone had the courage to speak up.



"What about that green bunny?" shouted out a tuff turt.

"Yah!" shouted another "What about Jazz?"



Mark was surprised to hear that name. He heard stories about a fast-moving sharpshooting hare on Carrotus, but never believed them. For one single rabbit to defeat an entire army of turts was unbelievable.



"Jazz Jackrabbit?" said Mark with his anger slowly increasing "That pathetic little wimp?! He doesn't scare me! That weapon of his... What is it? The *LFG-2000? It's only a big blue stick that shoots."

"Then that's one powerful stick." said a turt.

"NO, YOU IDIOT!" shouted Mark "What I mean is that it's not even a threat. I know what that weapon is like. I've seen the scematics and everything on it. An upgradable weapon supporting up to **eight different types of ammunition. Well, let me show you my arm..."



Mark slowly removed the glove from his left hand. The robotic design of his rebuilt hand was different and had a weapon built into the wrist. Mark grinned and aimed it at the ground in a clearing of turts. The weapon fired and there was an explosion at the target. The turts backed away from it.



"My arm..." began Mark holding up his hand to show everyone "Is a Class 5 light-weight Matter Disrupter Cannon (MDC-5). It's the state of the art in weaponry featuring over 3 different abilities such as decoding, scanning, and mathematics. It handles 16 different types of ammunition, even the ***Second Class Bullets. It's 89% more accurate than a hand-held weapon and even more portable as well."



Mark slips the glove back on.



"Now don't you see the difference?" said Mark "I'm ten times better than that green goose, and if none of you believe that, your all pathetic!"



What was an eerie silence turned into a single clapping of one turt. Then it slowly began to rise to even more clapping and cheering. Mark grinned and began to walk off the stage towards his ship. Everyone was cheering as they prepared themselves for the battle against Carrotus.



But hidden behind a destroyed wall of ruin was a shadowed creature with long ears. His nose twitched as he identified the scent. The mysterious person vanished in haste.



<center>* * * * *</center>



Meanwhile on the Jazz-01, both Jazz and Spaz conversed with Admael. They began to talk about the cards again.



"That's odd." said Jazz "Usually, ghosts have SOME kind of force to them."

"Usually..." said Admael "But this is no ordinary ghost. He stood in your way because he thought he could stop you."

"But how come bro could just walk thru 'im?" asked Spaz.



Admael took the Cards Jazz had in his hands and showed it to them. Each card was dull and still just like any ordinary card.



"You have 6 cards." said Admael "When they near magic, they defend themselves. That's why they glow."

"Uh huh..." said Jazz "The point, please?"

"This new card you have is Schwartzenguard." said Admael "Although you may have defeated him, his card still exists."

"So your saying that there's a card of everyone?" asked Jazz.

"No." said Admael "Only a card of the strongest."

"Then Schwartzenguard is a bad example." said Spaz.

"Schwartzenguard was an example of brutal strength." said Admael "Althought he failed when you defeated him, he still remained one of the strongest."

"So what magic is in that card?" asked Jazz.

"Unfortunately, not much." said Admael "This is one of the poorest magic-cards existing. Devan must have stumbled apon it since Schwartzenguard was working for him. However, this card still holds some magic strength and helped when you were able to walk through a ghost."

"So the more cards we have...." began Spaz.

"The less he can do to stop us?" finished Jazz.

"Yes." said Admael "He can even be harmed by the cards if you have enough."

"Wow." said Jazz "Then I guess we're gonna have to find more cards then."

"Y'know." said Chuck from the cockpit up front "I've seen one of those cards before."

"You have?" asked Jazz.

"Yes." squaked Chuck "Flip has one. Maybe we could stop by diamondus and get it while we're on our way to medivo."

"That's not a bad idea." said Admael "The more cards we have, the better."

"Then let's head to diamondus, Chuck." said Jazz "We've got a card to pick up."



---------------------------------------------



*LFG-2000 - I'm only ASSUMING that's the name of Jazz's weapon. I can't remember what it was exactly.

**Eight different types of ammunition - It's true. Jazz can only use eight different types of ammo with his gun. He can't SHOOT dynamite, only drop it.

***Second Class Bullets - Weapon powerups like the blue bullet bouncer powerup in the game.



---------------------

[Night Fire]

<u>Chapter Six</u>

Card start



"Cards?!" said flip removing his glasses "W-why yes of course."



Jazz, Spaz, Chuck, and Admael had finally reached Diamondus. Landing their ship and securing it in the secret valley known as Birdland, they hastily reach flip as fast as they can, knowing that there is still an army preparing to attack Carrotus. Admael had explained to Flip the very details of the kind of card they were looking for. Flip and his well-known memory recalled seeing the type of card and lead the bunch into his labratory.



Birdland was a peaceful valley far from the technoligies of space and galactic designs. They prefered a more common lifestyle, managing their nests, raising their young, harvesting fruits and crops to feed them all. Some however, were curious in advanced things, such as Flip was.



Flip continued to flap his wings leading Jazz and his friends deeper into a cave filled with gadgets and gizmos. Flip and his brother Chuck were highly interested in some of the remains of Devan's machines ever since they first met Jazz.



"Gee," said Spaz "Lots of BIGGER birds around here."

"Spaz..." began Jazz pulling Spaz away from a nest "SPAZ! NO! THOSE BIRDS ARE NOT FOR EATING!"



"Admael had visited us once before you know." said Flip "She was here before we ever knew you, Jazz. Which is why we are most friendly with your species."

"Uh huh..." said Jazz "But how did Admael ever get here? I thought she disliked space-travel."

"She probably still does." said Flip "We found her here teaching us many things. Told us stories when we were mere chicks in our nests. She's very kind."



Jazz and Flip were far ahead of Admael and the rest. Admael could still here the silent chat between them though. Some of her magic still seemed to exist.



When they all reached the bottom of the cave, Flip flew over to a chest and tried to open it.



"UNGH!" he groaned "It's stuck!"



No matter how hard Flip pecked at it, it wouldn't open. He looked around as if searching for something.



"That's what I forgot." said Flip "There's a special kind of key that opens this chest. I've been studying it all night but it's soooo small, I can't seem to keep track of it."



Flip constantly flew around the room in search of the key. Jazz and the others helped, but all failed to succeed. Chuck however, managed to stumble apon it while playing with one of Flips machines.



"There it is!" said Flip as he picked it up after it fell out "Where did you find it?"

"Oh..." said Chuck "Well, I just pressed this here button and... hey look. There's another one."

"Oh dear." said Flip "Now you've gone and activated it."



Several duplicates of the key continued to fall one by one out of the machine. Flip pointed his finger at Flip and began shouting at him. Jazz and the others watched.



"It's always the same thing!" shouted Flip "Everytime your here, I can never concentrate because THIS keeps happening?"

"Um..." began Chuck fidding with his feathers "Aw shucks. I'm sorry, Flip. I was only trying to help."

"WELL, DON'T!" shouted Flip "Just go stand over there for now until I find this card, AND DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"



Everyone was silent. Chuck's expression fell to a sad state. He began to walk away whimpering.



"Hey," said Jazz "He was just--"

"Just forget it." said Flip "He does this all the time. Now, let's go see this card your talking about."



Flip flapped his wings and flew over to the chest again. Holding the key near it, an invisible lock began to shine clear. It appeared in a slow fade. Flip inserted the key and unlocked the chest. It opened by itself.



"I've got two of them." said Flip "or at least, two that match your description. Along with it was a bunch of other stuff in this chest."



Flip pulled out two cards and Jazz took them. He stared at them for a while trying to identify them. Giving up, he handed them to Admael.



"This older-looking one is Roaster." said Admael "He's another 'luck' card, much like Bluez. Except this one is more on the 'lucky' side rather than a common soldier's luck."

"And the other?" asked Jazz.

"This one is..." began Admael "This one is of a blue rabbit named Paladin. There a story behind this one, would you like to hear it?"

"Count me out, Addie." said Flip "I'm not a child anymore."

"I can see inside that your interested." said Admael "But it's your choice. In fact, I think it would be nice if Chuck could listen as well."

"Oh, all right." said Flip "Chuck, get over here. Just don't touch anything."



Everyone sat down somewhere in the lab and listened closely to Admael.



"Paladin was a strong and noble warrior." began Admael "Learning ancient writings that tought him about honor. He even stumbled apon an ancient place that no one in this period of time has ever seen since centuries ago. Learning much from the ancient writings in the place, he realized the meaning of honor, and stood by it at all costs. Unfortunately, he remained very lonely since he was to go where he was needed most. Eventually, during his travels he met Kiro. A magical being that held a source of magic. Kiro fell in love with Paladin and she taught him how to read the rest of the ancient writings he found. In the end, Paladin traveled with Kiro and promised to protect her from any harm. And even thought they no longer exist today, he still does."



Chuck began crying on Flip's shoulder. Flip handed him a tissue to blow his nose in.



"T-that was..." Chuck sniffed and snorted "T-that was the best story I ever heard."

"Oh grow up!" grunted Flip "Your not a little baby anymore. Act your age."

"What?!" said Chuck "You can't tell me that you never felt anything inside when you heard that story."



"Actually," began Jazz "I did feel something inside. I felt we were wasting a valuable amount of precious time here."

"Yah!" said Spaz "We gotta go stop that turtle army on Medivo!"

"Addie!" said Chuck "Tell us another one... Pleeeease!"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Flip "I can't stand anymore! Do you KNOW how annoying you really are! GO AWAY!"



Chuck backed away from Flip.



"Excuse me, Flip." said a voice from the stairs leading up. A bunch of birds were standing at the bottom, "Some stranger just broke into our valley. He's going nuts out there!"

"Who?" asked Admael.

"We dunno." said the bird "Definitely not one of us. He's all black and stuff and wears a funny-looking costume. Looks alot like you, Chuck."

"He's got black feathers?" asked Spaz "Is he small, because I can get rid of him."

"Black feathers?" asked Admael "*Could it be...?"



Admael was silent. She looked up and began running up the stairway to the surface. Jazz and the others followed.



"Huh?" asked Jazz "Hey, Addie! Where are you going?!"



---------------------------------------------

*Black Feathers, wears funny-looking cloathing, resembles a raven -- It's not who you think it is.

---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Seven</u>

Quote the Raven



Rushing up the steps, Admael had finally reached the exit out of the labratory. Walking out into the beutiful valley again with the bright blue sky lighting it up, Admael could see only the colorful birds of birdland. She looked around, searching for what the messanger described. Jazz and the others soon arrived.



"Addie!" asked Jazz "What was the big hurry for?"



Admael turned around and faced messanger bird. The bird pointed towards one of the trees where a nest-house was located. It was a chief's nest. The chief would constantly keep track of all entering and leaving of Birdland. Since that was the only important thing that bothers her, she rarely worried about it, until now.



Admael began to walk towards the tree and started climbing.



Meanwhile, inside the hut was a black raven rummaging around for tools.



"I told you." said the chief "There are no 'parts' here for your 'space-ship'"

"I believe you, mite." said the raven in an australian accent "But when you see a ship landing approximately 3 miles from this valley, there's definitely someone here who knows about it."

"That ship belongs to a friend of a great mage." said the chief "And if you don't leave here immediately before scaring my children, she will fry your wings."

"Fry my wings?!" exclaimed the raven "Look, sister! I've seen strangeness of the like, but there's only one mage I've ever heard of and she's a no-good lying cheat."

"Well our Admael is not a cheat!" shouted the chief.



Suddenly, the raven dropped everything and gulped loudly. His eyes were wide with astonishment and fear. He turned around and looked at the chief straight in the eye.



"E-excuse me..." began the Raven "But... D-did you just say--"



Suddenly the door bursted open and there was Admael and the others standing outside behind her.



"AAAAAAAACK!" squaked the raven as he began flapping his wings dropping dozens of diamonds into the twigs of the nest below.

"Rick?!" exclaimed Admael.



The raven began to shiver, but then started flapping his wings wildly attempting to fly out of the opening in the roof. He was very clumsey crashing into the sides of the wall and into twigs sticking out. When he finally got out, he smashed his head hard on a branch just above the roof.



After falling back in the nest, he lay concious rubbing his head.



"OooOOOooOOOh..." he moaned "My h-head..."



Admael frowned.



"A lying cheat huh?" she said.



Rick, who had finally recovered from his dizziness, stood up and pointed his wing at her.



"Yah!" he stated "That's right! You are a lying cheat. Ruining my life at the same time."



Admael's mouth was wide open. She was almost tempted to zap Rick with a spell but couldn't because of her magic gone. She looked away but noticed the diamonds that had fell from Rick's pouch.



"So you were stealing diamonds from here, weren't you?"

"Huh?" said Rick just noticing his pouch was empty "Oh my god! MY GEMS!!!"



Rick began reaching down between the twigs and sticks that had assembled the nest for his gems. He managed to grab 3 to 5 of them.



"So you lied to me as well." said Admael.

"So what if I did?!" shouted Rick "These diamonds are rare on any other planet. And what's wrong with snatching a few for myself?"

"Diamondus is own by the birds on this planet!" said Admael "And you shouldn't steal from them."

"Yah," said Rick sarcasticly "Well at least I don't PRETEND to be in love with someone. Last time I trust a rabbit like you again, you rotten back-stabbing ol'--"

"Please, Rick." interrupted the Chief standing around the little chicks "Be polite around the children."

"Bah!" shouted Rick "Anyway, I got what I came for. This uh... wrench will do just nicely."



Admael covered her mouth to hide her laughter.



"That's just a twig, Rick." said Admael.

"Close enough!" stated Rick "At least it uh... helps with the... uh... loose bolts for my generator."



Rick frowned and went back to his stubborn mood.



"Well, I'm going now." he said taking a step forward readying to fly out of the roof again.

"Pfft." stated Admael "Fine."

"yah, Fine." said Rick.

"Bye." stated Admael.

"Yah, Bye." said Rick rudely.

"Well...?" asked Admael.

"What?" asked Rick still standing uncertainly.

"Aren't you leaving?" asked Admael.



Rick stood still looking up. He looked behind him to noticed his empty backpack was still lying in the corner. He walked over to it looking for an excuse to stay.



"Oh... uh..." he began "Forgot my pack."

"Uh huh..." said Admael facing away from Rick.

"Okay then." began Rick "Off I go."

"Uh huh." said Admael.



Rick stayed still. He looked up to noticed the branch was still there above him.



"On second thought!" said Rick "I'll just go out the front door."

"Fine." said Admael.

"Right," said Rick "Fine."

"Goodbye." said Admael.

"yah," said Rick walking out the door "Bye."



Rick immediately slammed the door shut loudly and walked past Jazz and Spaz. He looked at them and replied rudely.



"What are you staring at, mite?" he asked "Haven't ya seen a raven before?"



Rick jumped up on the branch and began flapping his wings for takeoff. He flew up into the sky and out of the valley in a hurry. Jazz and Spaz entered the chief's hut to look around.



"Addie..." began Jazz "Who was THAT?"

"No one..." she replied "At least no one we should worry about. He's just a stubborn raven. Just like all the others."

"He looked pretty angry." said Spaz "Can I eat him?"

"Better not." said Admael laughing inside "You might be infected with the same kind of stubbornness."



<center>* * * * *</center>



"Uh..." began Devan standing before the great wizard "Um... Sir, what are you thinking?"



It was back in the wizard's prison lair again as he began thinking and focusing his concentration on Admael. The cards disrupted his connection to see what was going on, but he could see one thing. A black bird flying towards his ship and taking off.



"Ah..." said the wizard opening his eyes and standing up "She's on Diamondus."

"So?" asked Devan "What now?"

"I see an old friend of hers." said the wizard "He goes by the name 'Rick' and he's quite a skilled pilot. He's sly and very tricky, stealing 'gems' from various sources."

"How does that help us?" askd Devan.

"Don't you see?!" shouted the wizard creating another image in the sky "This so-called 'Rick' is angry and irritated. If I could get his attention and draw him to join me, he could become a valuable asset to defeating that pathetic little band of rodents who are trying to stop me. I can convince him that Jazz is his real enemy. And after Jazz is defeated when he will be of no more use to me... he will 'DIE'."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Eight</u>

The previous replacement



Dawn arrived with the sun glaring through the windows of the dark battleship of which was piloted by Mark. He awoke to hear the sounds of fighting in the corridors. He hurried to the hanger as the sound lead him there. He stood shocked to see several turts lunged around the room by a huge half-robotic turtle with a flail. He looked at Mark with devilish eyes and pointed at him.



"You!" said the large turtle "You are who they call Mark?"

"Yes." said Mark standing bravely and walking towards the huge turtle "I am, and who are you?"

"I am Devan's strongest warrior." He said raising his robotic fists "I am Schwartzenguard!"

"Had you not heard." said Mark "I am Devan's Replacement, and I'm here to put an end to Carrotus."

"Turts don't want fight." he said stupidly "Turts want peace!"

"Well," said Mark taking the glove off from his robotic hand "They don't have a choice."

"They will have choice." said Schwartzenguard "After I pound you little head to bits!!!"



Schwartzenguard suddenly lunged towards Mark readying his fist for a deadly blow. As ready, Mark dodged and dived out of the strike. The fist left a huge dent in the hanger floor.



Mark laughed and taunted the huge turt. Angered with even more rage, he lunged again uncontrollably sending his fist slamming into a crate full of explosives as Mark dodged again. His eyes were hurt due to the brightning light, but he was still not scratched.



"If your really wanted peace." said Mark "Your doing a dirty job by toasting all these other turts."

"They don't listen." said Schwartzenguard "They just do dirty work from you."



Mark took the oportunity to fire his weapon. Several Blue-bullet-bouncers took off out of his weapon and exploded when they hit the huge turtle. Schwartzenguard stood still practicly untouched. Taking his turn, he picked up a small shuttle inside the ship and threw it at Mark. It hit.



Mark flew back from the blow and struck the wall of the hanger. Shook his head to regain more conciousness. He noticed again the Schwartzen was carrying his flail again and swinging it around and around to prepare his attack. Mark took the opportunity to dive out of the way and take cover behind a crate filled with rations.



"Your pretty tough." said Mark "You'd make a valuable addition to my army if you were to join."

"Schwartzen don't want fight." he said stupidly "Schwartzen just want kill."

"Have it your way, then." said Mark jumping up on the crate.



Mark took action and fired his weapon again. A special type of ammunition fired this time. A lazer of some sort bolted out of his weapon and created a huge electic-style explosion as it hit Schwartzenguard, sending him flying backwards and into the hanger wall. In the end, smoke was rising from Mark's weapon. Schwartzenguard remained injured badly against the wall.



"Schwartzen hurt bad." said Schwartzenguard "Schwartzen need help."

"Too bad." said Mark reloading his gun "I gave you a chance to make your decision and you rejected it. Finish what you started right to the very end."



Mark aimed his arm at Schwartzenguard again. As it began to powerup for another blast, his grin changed into a chaotic mad laughter. Schwartzenguard shivered in fear watching as his fate was soon near. And at the last second...



<center>* * * * *</center>



"Addie." said Jazz "What's wrong?"



Back on the Jazz-01, Admael was lying back against the wall daydreaming. She was thinking about Rick during all that time. Jazz was concerned and distracted her, bringing her out from deep in thought.



"Oh." said Admael waking up "It's nothing."

"Why won't you explain who that raven was?" asked Jazz.

"Because..." began Admael "He's just trying to distract us from our primary mission. Just don't worry about it."

"Admael's got a point guys." said Chuck from up front "Take a look! We've got more important things to worry about."



Jazz looked out the front windshield of the cockpit. There he could see a huge largely built battleship much like Devan's when he first kidnapped Eva. He could tell that this was the army Admael was talking about.



"WOAH!" exclaimed Jazz "That's a big one!"

"I'm scanning." said Chuck "We have about 6 minutes before they realize we're here."

"What is it?" asked Admael.

"Magus 12." said Chuck "Armed with over fourty missile launchers and I approximately one-hundred gun-turrets, probably more. The shielding is stable, but not strong. The hull would take years to penetrate with our ship. There is some recent internal damage though."



Jazz loaded his weapon and pointed at the ship.



"Bring us in, closer!" he said "I'm gonna try and hijack it."

"Are you crazy?" asked Chuck "We can't even get within a kilometer of it."

"Well..." began Spaz "What do we do?"

"They're course is set towards Tubelectric." said Chuck "We can get there before them with our speed then get on their ship when they orbit it."

"If only we had Admael's magic." said Jazz "We'd have no trouble getting on that giant oversized weapon."

"I'm sorry." said Admael.

"Don't be." said Jazz "It's not your fault."

"Yah." said Spaz "We'll just get on when they reach Tubelectric."

"We're gonna be found any moment now." said Chuck "I suggest we leave now."

"Okay, Chuck." said Jazz "Head for Tubelectric. Full speed!"

"Yessir!" said Chuck cranking up the speed of the Jazz-01.



<center>* * * * *</center>



"Huh?" said one of the turts piloting the battleship "Did you just see that on the radar?"

"It's probably nothing." said the other turt.

"But we're suppose to report everything to Mark." said the pilot.

"Don't worry about it." said the other pilot "What he doesn't know can't hurt him."

"What?!" exclaimed Mark.



The two pilots looked back to realize Mark was standing behind them. They studdered and shivered in fear knowing that Mark knew what they said.



"Um... uh..." began the first pilot "It was nothing sir. Really."

"Yah." said the other "We were just scanning space-dust."

"I'd hate to be both of you if you were lying." said Mark grinning "Because what happened to Schwartzenguard, might just happen to you both as well."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Nine</u>

Electic jump



Tubelectric. The planet of pipes assorted around generating large amounds of electricity. This very planet was a giant battery. The electricity in this planet had the ability to power an entire galaxy of lights.



Jazz, Spaz, Chuck, and Admael had landed their ship saftely on an abandoned docking platform on the planet surface. Gravity was still weak outside but once they entered one of the entrances into the planet, gravity grew strong enough to hold them down. An elevator activated and began bringing them down.



"Okay, Chuck." said Jazz "What must we do to reach that battleship when it comes into orbit."

"Well, an airboard is out of the question." said Chuck "It can fly that high, but it's not fast enough to get you inside the ship while it moves."

"Then how do I get in?" asked Jazz.

"Deep inside the planet is a fan that cools off some of the superheating electronic systems around the tubes. That fan blows straight upwards through several 'charge' tubes. These tubes will amplify the speed of anything, thus slowing down outside the planet."

"What's this called again?" asked Jazz.

"I call it," said Chuck "The electric jump. If you let go of the fan at the right time, you'll be shot straight through three tubes which sends you faster and faster towards the surface. When you reach the top, you'll be shot out towards the ship and if strong enough, you can break through the hull."

"Uh..." began Jazz "More like the hull with break through me."

"That's why I'm going with you." said chuck "With my wings, I can manouver you outside the planet and into the refueling pipes of the battleship. Once inside, I can fly you up towards the main control room without any trouble."

"You won't abandon me if I get hurt, will you?" asked Jazz.

"Hey," said Chuck "I said I wouldn't, didn't I?"



The elevator came to a stop. Jazz and chuck walked out on top of one of the red pipes. They looked back at the others.



"Spaz, Addie." said Jazz "You take care of the Jazz-01. Be ready to pick us up once we've cleaned out that band of shells.



"Okay, Jazz." said Admael.

"Yah," said Spaz "You can count on us, bro!"



The elevator began moving upwards with Spaz and Admael on it. Jazz continued down the corridor with Chuck following close behind.



As they continued walking, Jazz could feel a slight breeze blowing against him. Obviously they were near the fan that Chuck was talking about. Chuck strapped the small gun on his beak and held on tight to the rails beside him.



"My wings slow me down." said Chuck "We better do this quickly. I can't hold on very long."



Jazz and Chuck had finally reached the fan. The wind was really strong now. Jazz looked down to see a grate covering the spinning blades below. The current was flowing strongly upwards. Chuck was grasping onto the metal polls as tight as he can. Jazz had to as well, since the current was even too strong for him.



"Hurry, Jazz!" shouted Chuck "Grab ahold of the railing and stand in the center of the grate."

"Okay," said Jazz doing exactly as Chuck said "When do I jump."

"Not yet." said Chuck "Wait until my radar picks up the signal."



Chuck pulled out a hand-held radar scanner and looked at it. The current was so strong it stole it out of his hand and flew upward out of sight. Chuck almost let go but quickly jumped back and latched himself onto the railing. He looked at his hand to notice the radar was gone.



"What was that?" asked Jazz uncertainly.

"Um..." studdered Chuck grasping for an excuse "N-nothing. That was just... a rock. Anyway, that's besides the point."

"Can I jump now?" asked Jazz.



Chuck began thinking. Without the radar, everything depended on a guess.



"Okay!" said Chuck "Jump now!"



Immediately, Jazz let go of the railing, and as Chuck described, Jazz began flying at an alarming speed upwards throughout the tube. The first smaller tube was in sight. If he went through it before Chuck had reached him, he will be sent straight into the hull of the battleship. Luckily, Chuck was nearby behind and held onto Jazz's pack.



"Get in!" said Jazz. Chuck couldn't hear since the sound was too slow and was trailing miles behind them. Chuck still knew what to do and jumped inside the blue back and kept his wings in.



The first tube sent them even faster through the electronic caves. Sparks could be seen firing off of Jazz's feet. Jazz covered his eyes but attempted to look forward again. The second smaller tube was in sight, but they were going off from it. Chuck quickly opened his wings and turned left towards their target. Again, the second tube sent them racing even faster. A blue stream of electicity was flowing from Jazz's forehead to his feet.



Jazz closed his eyes. The speed was so strong he couldn't see where he was going. There was no heat but only cold air. It was as thought Jazz was freezing from so much speed. Thus, he felt himself moving faster and could only guess it was the third tube they reached. Moving faster and realizing it was harder to breath, Jazz guessed he was near outer space.



Suddenly, Chuck's wings opened fully and began to fly manouverably about. Jazz looked up to see endless tunnels of intertwined tubes all around the main tunnel they were flying through. Stars could be seen at the end of the tunnel.



"Chuck?" said Jazz as he could hear his voice again "What's happening?"

"We're moving so fast that everything is normalizing at our rate." said Chuck "This is awsome though. I feel as though the air is helping me fly better."

"Look!" said Jazz pointing straight ahead.



The stars were more correctly seen as lights from a space-craft. It was the battleship and Chuck began taking action. He manouvered and had aimed directly towards the loading pipe connected to the ship.



"Alright." said Chuck "Now the REAL ride begins."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Ten</u>

Facing your opponent



After the long flight through the pipes of the refueling tank, Jazz had to dodge many other obstacles. Diving over boiling tanks of oil, running accross chains on the roof, and defeating Mark's minions of who Jazz was unaware of still. He continued to climb ladders, open doors and avoid dangers that stood in his path. With Chuck's weapon firmly attached to his beak, he helped Jazz by offering additional firepower. Soon, the exit was there, and Jazz was on his way up the elevator towards the mystery of who was behind all of this. Finally reaching the top, the door slid open and into the control room they went.



It was empty. Several consoles were scattered around the walls of the room. The main screen in front of them displayed space outside with the Jazz-01 still flying about. Jazz examined the console to see how to hinder the battleship in some way.



"Comon!" said Jazz out loud "There's gotta be a self-destruct button here. Every space-station, ship, even planet has one."



Jazz randomly pressed buttons, as did Chuck. However, all of them seemed to be inactive and inoperable. Jazz couldn't understand, yet he still kept trying. Soon, he could sense something was wrong by the light strands of fur standing up on the back of his neck. He looked around quickly to see a bolt of some sort heading straight for him. Diving for cover, he successfully dodge the chaos.



Jazz looked up and Chuck stood still beside him. Standing before them was a shadowed figure.



"So..." he said "Your the rodent who defeated Devan Shell no doubt..."

"Who are you?" asked Jazz.

"It won't matter." said Mark stepping out of the shadows "You won't be alive to hear it."



Mark sent another shot from his arm directly at Jazz. As by instinct, Jazz dived for cover again. Getting up, he pulled his blue weapon out and started firing quickly and accurately. Mark took a few hits, but managed to stay on his feet. He aimed and fired several blue-bullet-bouncers bouncing towards Jazz.



In reaction, Jazz jumped up and began running on top of the controls around the room. Fustrated, Mark unleashed flame from his arm. Jazz was unable to keep running at this point and decided to take action again. Setting his gun to heat-seekers, Jazz fired several missiles towards Mark. Dodged again, Mark backed up and they both waited.



"Your very good." said Mark "Looks like my weapons match yours in such situations."

"Just wait and see." said Jazz "I've got more packed into this 'ere gun!"



Jazz aimed and fired RF-missiles towards Mark. The two missiles missed completely as Mark jumped between them and fired another type of ammo. A strange glob of slime hit Jazz and he was stuck to the ground. The slime was burning Jazz's skin.



"Interesting, is it not?" asked Mark "I call it Slime, Weapon #12. Much like the ice-cannon except this slows your opponent down, AND injures him at the same time."

"Chuck!" shouted out Jazz "Help! AUGH! It's like acid or something."

"Hang on!" shouted Chuck as he raced towards Jazz. Digging his beak into the strands of guu stuck onto Jazz, he managed to free Jazz completely.



"Get lost, Parrot!"



Mark reset his weapon to something powerful and fired the deadly lazer projectile towards Chuck. The explosion not only sent Chuck flying backwards towards the screen, but it also completely dissolved the slime.



"That's it!" said Jazz "Slime's weakness!"

"Die!" shouted Mark.



Mark aimed his gun again, but Jazz took a more tactical measure Jumping out of the way of blast, Jazz used the explosion from behind him to send him at rapid speed towards Mark. His fist aiming straight ahead, it was a deadly hit that sent Mark crashing into the boxes behind him.



"Augh!" shouted Mark "That's impossible."



Jazz stood standing above Mark as he lay on the ground. Mark grinned and jumped up shoving Jazz out of the way.



"I'm not finished yet." shouted Mark "Just watch as I finish you off with an even better weapon."



Mark fired another strange type of weapon. Scattering mini-missiles shot out and spread randomly around and heading straight towards Jazz. Jazz dived out of danger but Mark continued firing. The weapon was scattering so randomly that Jazz couldn't tell where to move. Finally stuck in a corner, Mark's weapon stopped firing. It had seemed to be out of that type of ammunition. Mark continued to grin as he set his weapon to something else.



Again, the beam shot out from his gun and an explosion hit the target. Jazz was struck hard but still barely alive. He climbed up from the crater in the corner and coughed.



"What?!" exclaimed Mark "Your still alive I see."



Jazz stood up bravely and put his gun away. Running relentlessly towards Mark he dived and sent a kick streaming towards him. Mark couldn't dodge but instead he counterattacked by grabbing Jazz's leg and swinging him into a wall.



"Ouch!" said Jazz.

"Hang on, Jazz!" crowed Chuck diving downwards towards Mark. Mark was caught off-guard and Chuck's sharp beak struck him down. Jazz pulled out his gun and stood over Mark aiming his gun down at him. Mark stood still.

"Very well faught." said Mark.

"Who are you?" asked Jazz.

"I am the 2nd General of Shellion, sent here by the Emporer himself." said Mark.



Jazz backed away and scratched his head.

"Emporer?" asked Jazz "I thought he wasen't responsible for Devan's attack and he wanted nothing to do with Carrotus."



Mark took this opportunity to attack. He sent Chuck crasing into the console and kicked Jazz back away into the wall. The computer voice began speaking.



"Warning." said Mark "Now approaching Medivo..."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Mark "Who changed our course!"

"Probably me!" laughed Jazz "I was toying with your controls while you weren't here."



Mark grabbed Jazz by the neck and faced him.



"You idiot!" shouted Mark "Those controls are fake! Who else is on board?! TELL ME!"



Chuck sent several blue-bullet-bouncers toward Mark and was a successful hit. Mark let go of Jazz and looked back at Chuck. Jazz took this chance to fired his default weapon at him, sending Mark crashing into the console.



"Warning!" said the computer voice "Impact immanent."



Jazz looked around noticing the ship was tilting. Gravity became strong and sent jazz sliding into the wall.



"NO!" shouted Mark grabbing ahold of a communication device in his hand "All troops, report to Shell-fighters now. We'll continue our journey to Carrotus through there."



Mark stumbled over to the elevator door and entered it. He looked out at Jazz who was trying to climb up to it.



"Sorry." said Mark "But I'm going up... And aparently, your going DOWN!"



The doors slid closed and Jazz didn't know what to do. He was falling back into the fake controls and smashing his head hard against objects with no meaning. He looked out at the main screen to notice the surface of medivo getting closer and closer.



"Warning..." said the computer "Impact estimated 15 seconds."



Jazz climbed with all his might to the emergancy ladder beside the elevator.



"Warning..." said the computer again "10 seconds till impact."



Jazz quickly began Climbing. Chuck took cover in his pack during the time to avoid hurts.



"8... 7... 6..."



Jazz climbing became harder as the ship continued to shake. Holding on with all his might he saw debris falling down from above.



"5... 4... 3..."



Looking up, the timer could be seen on a screen. The computer's voice became more lower in pitch.



"2..."



Jazz closed his eyes and held onto the ladder. Grasping with all his might, he knew what was about to happen.



"1..."



---------------------------------------------

[Night Fire]

<u>Chapter Eleven</u>

Medivo times



Climbing out of the wreckage, Jazz crawled to saftey knowing the ship would soon explode. It had been a few minutes he's been stuck within the crashed battleship, traveling through the destroyed passages inside. His vision was blurry due to his head struck against something hard during the impact. Jazz had soon completely recovered and could clearly see he was alright. Dusting himself off he stood up to see where he was. It was medivo alright. A baron part of it in a clearing. Destroyed dark-age castles were standing tall over the horizon.



It was a horrible sight. The entire ship completely demolished. Scrap was all it was now. Jazz called out for signs of Chuck anywhere.



"Chuck!" he shouted "CHUCK! Are you alright?!"



Immediately, Chuck had jumped out of Jazz's pack and began flapping his wings holding himself in the air.



"Alright, already!" said Chuck "No need to shout!"

"Whew!" said Jazz relieved "I thought you were gone with the ship."

"Nah!" said Chuck "With my wings, I can protect myself from the sudden shakes in the ship anyway."



Jazz looked around and noticed a light shining out between Chuck's feathers. Jazz snatched it quickly.



"Hey!" replied Chuck "What was that for?"



It was another magicly glowing card stuck in Chuck's wing. Jazz assumed it must've got caught on him during the crash.



"It's a picture of Gizmo." said Jazz "Gizmo is an orange cat I once know. He lived in the castle for a while before it was attacked by some shape-shifter guy, named Mimic."

"Mimic?" asked Chuck "Where do I remember that name from?"

"Doesn't matter." said Jazz putting the card in his pack "We've got another one of the cards. Now all that's left is to find..."



Jazz looked around to see another bight light and a large noise in the distance. It was a sound of a rocket turbine of some sort. Jazz quickly turned around completely and ran towards the sound. It was in a deserted castle not far off that he found where it was coming from. Entering through the front doors, he found a large ship in the midst of repairs. The cargo door poped open and out came a blue bunny all covered in dust and oil.



"Gotta get around to buying a better ship." said Bluez closing his eyes and taking off his glasses. He cleaned them with a clean cloth of some sort then put them back on. He was surprised to see Jazz.



"Bluez?!" exclaimed Jazz.

"Hey, Jazz." said Bluez "What are you doing here?"

"So you were the one who crashed that ship?" said Jazz.

"Yah." said Bluez "I knew you'd have a way out, so I thought you wouldn't mind."

"Well, I kinda did." said Jazz "But Mark took off at the last minute."

"Yah." said Bluez "That's the classic villian escape theme. They always have some sort of escape pod or something to get them out."

"Well, his whole army are in Shell-fighters and they are heading towards Carrotus at this very minute." said Jazz "We've got to stop him."

"We?!" said Bluez holding up a necklace with a blue diamond on the end of it "I only wanted the treasure one of his turts stole from me. I have no intent of saving Carrotus. That's your job."

"But..." said Jazz "Why not?"

"Because," said Bluez "I've been around for quite a while, and when you see a great hero die, you begin to avoid the opportunities that come your way."



Jazz was confused. He wasen't sure what Bluez was referring to.



"You wouldn't understand." said Bluez.

"But," began Jazz "You can't just take off! I had the choice at first to help Carrotus or leave it to die when Devan first came to take it over. I decided to help."

"Yah," said Bluez "But you knew there was a reward for it."

"Well... yes." said Jazz "I suppose Ten million dollars had some effect on my decision, but AFTER I decided to be hero, that's when I discovered saving Carrotus was well worth it."

"Only because Eva fell in love with you." said Bluez going back to his repairs.

"Well..." began Jazz "Okay, THAT also had effect on my decision as well, but what about the REAL reward afterwards."

"What real reward?" asked Bluez.

"The feeling of being a hero." said Jazz "Of actually doing a good deed."



Bluez began to look into the sky deep in thought, thinking about what Jazz was saying.



"Nah." said Bluez "I don't think that matches the price of this gem."



Bluez shrugged and went back to his repairs. Jazz began thinking of what to do and looked at the ship. It would take a good day or so until it was finally finished. Jazz figured this was the amount of time it would take to convince Bluez into changing his mind.



<center>* * * * *</center>



Meanwhile, Spaz and Admael were being chased relentlessly by Shellfighters belonging to Mark's troops. In haste, they took cover flying over the surface of Tubelectric.



"Careful, Spaz." said Admael "If you go too fast, you'll create a static bolt of lightning from the surface to our ship."

"Don't worry, Addie!" said Spaz "I've done this before."



Spaz manouvered the ship out of the firing lazers from the Shellfighters behind. Carefully not going to close to the surface, Spaz took dangerous manouvers flying between pipes and tubes in an attempt to lose them all. Successfully, only 3 followed.



"Spaz," said Admael "Look over there."

"Yah?" asked Spaz "What about it."



Admael was pointing at a small tunnel that enters inside Tubelectric.



"The electricity there isn't that powerful." said Admael "If you go through it, we can lose them better."

"What about gravity?" asked Spaz "The closer we get to the center, the more changes they are to the gravitic pull on our ship."

"Try anyway." said Admael "It's better than nothing."



Spaz did so. Entering the tunnel, he had to be much more careful with the ship. Carefully flying it up and around the pipes sticking out accross through the tunnel. Keeping his eyes opened, he made quick adjustments to the gravity. Noticing he made a mistake lowering the ship's downward speed to avoid critical damage, he quickly checked it again at the cost of not noticing the large pipe heading straight for them.



"SPAZ!" shouted Admael "LOOK OUT!!!"



Spaz looked up but not soon enough. He pulled on the controls sending them crashing into the side of the tunnel. Taking critical damage, the ship was sent falling at an unstoppable pace towards debris crashing towards them. They finally stopped when the ship had struck against a ledge sticking out of the tunnel.



When both recovered conciousness, Spaz got out to see the damage. The Jazz-01 had lost everything. Wings, cargo, practicly everything. Admael had got out and dusted herself off. Picking up her cloak, she wore it to keep herself warm from the cold wings rushing upwards. Spaz looked over the edge to see nothing but a dark fade downward through the tunnel. He also looked up to see how far the Shellfighters have gotten.



"They didn't even follow us." said Admael.

"Why not?" asked Spaz.

"I don't know." said Admael "But I don't like it."

"Well..." began Spaz "If we stuck here, we might as well take a break until we know what to do."

"We must be very close to the center of the planet." said Admael "The winds are stronger near the center to cool off most of the very hot engines."

"I heard stories about a powerful electric generator at the center of Tubelectric." said Spaz "It creates what some would call Deadly Electricity that can never be obtained or controlled."

"Actually." said Admael "That's true. In fact, I have seen it. That is where I found the Tika card."

"Wow." Said Spaz "Really?"

"Yes." said Admael "There were two more cards but I couldn't get them. Perhaps we might have a second chance."

"I hope so." said Spaz "I've always wanted to see the center of a planet."



---------------------------------------------



font color=yellow><u>Chapter Twelve</u>

What Bluez Forgot



Bluez had refused to set up camp for the night. He forced himself to continue repairs on the ship. Jazz continued to convince him until Chuck began falling asleep.



"Just forget it, Jazz." said Chuck "He's not going to listen."

"Please, Bluez." said Jazz "At least reconsider."

"I have a thousand times, already." said Bluez looking through his tools and pulling out a wrench "The answer is still the same. Look, if I get involved in another one of these little ADVENTURES, Evil Bluez is gonna take over again and I know that won't help you much."



Bluez turned around and went back to repairing the engines. Wires were loose and out of control, but Bluez payed no attention. Jazz remembered the cards in his pack and pulled them out. He held them up and tried to get Bluez to look at them.



"What about these, Bluez?" asked Jazz "Addie said they were magical. Maybe they can help keep Evil Bluez still locked away."



Bluez turned around and looked closely at the cards. He snatched a few from Jazz's hands and examined them carefully.



"Ha!" laughed Bluez "I've seen these. I've got two of them in my ship somewhere."

"You do?" asked Jazz.

"Yep." said Bluez "Had em for months. I personally think it was a waste of time to get em, but since they were glowing, I figured they'd be worth quite a bit of money."

"You were gonna sell them?" asked Jazz.

"I was..." said Bluez "When I was browsing through the markets of the Stone City of Junglous, some old man came in shouting some stuff and nobody wanted to buy anything from me."



Bluez handed the cards back to Jazz.



"I heard stuff about 'sacred cards of magic', but I didn't care." said Bluez "All I know is that I can't sell those things now."

"Bluez." said Jazz "Those cards ARE magical. Addie said they can be used to defeat Regan."

"Regan?" asked Bluez "Where have I heard that name, before?"

"Regan is a human wizard who's responsible for all this." said Jazz "He sent Mark to attack Carrotus."

"Uh huh." said Bluez "Well, I didn't hear anything about a 'Regan' guy among those turtle losers on this planet, but I did hear about someone by the name 'Regan'."

"You do?" asked Jazz.

"Yah." said Bluez "He was a ghost though. He tried to convince me into joining him and recieving great treasures in the future. He must've thought I was Evil Bluez at the time."

"Yah." said Jazz "So will you help stop this guy?"



Bluez began to think again, but in the end, he declined once more. Picking up the last few parts and installing them, he finally finished repairs.



"Whew." said Bluez "That took less time than I expected."

"So there's nothing that will change your mind." said Jazz "Nothing at all?"



Bluez turned around and patted Jazz on the shoulder.



"Look, I know how critical this mission means to you." said Bluez "But I just can't help. I've got too many things to do."

"Okay fine." said Jazz "I'll give you one Twelvth of Castle Carrot's treasury."

"Jazz," said Bluez seriously "I'm sorry, but I gave up this rescue planet business a long time ago."

"Okay then, One Eighth." said Jazz again.

"And I'm not feeling well." said Bluez "Look at this. My arm's gone numb again."

"One fourth." said Jazz.

"Uhm..." began Bluez hesitating "Er... uh... Well that's quite... um... alot. Er... But still. I just can't."

"Oh comon, Bluez." said Jazz "Since when have I ever let you down?"



Bluez frowned.



"Okay," said Jazz shrugging "So maybe I left you hanging over a deadly pit of poisonous snakes, and maybe I might have been responsible for that little false-navigation sending you accross the galaxy..."

"Those things are hard to forget, Jazz." said Bluez.

"But don't forget." said Jazz "I fixed all those things and if it wasen't for me, you'd be dead right now."



Bluez was uncertain, but in conclusion, Jazz was right. Bluez sighed and gave up.



"Alright." he said "I'll help ya. But does HE have to come along?"



Bluez pointed at Chuck who was snoring loudly. What was suppose to be a snore was more like a whistle. He lay against a rock sleeping heavily.



"Well um..." began Jazz "He's not as annoying as he was before. And it's only until we find the others."

"And where would they be?" asked Bluez.

"Last I told them to be ready to help me out at Tubelectric." said Jazz "They might still be there."

"My long-range scanners picked up Shellfighters in that area." said Bluez looking at the console of his ship "They're no match for my newly improved spacecraft."



Bluez and Jazz strapped themselves into the ship. Bluez kept the cockpit window open just in case the engines burn out again. Activating the ship, it began to rumble loudly and began hovering. Noticing the cooling was high enough, Bluez prepared to close the window. At that moment, Chuck woke up startled and flapped to get inside as fast as he could.



"What in blazes?!" exclaimed Chuck "What was that for?!?!"



Bluez's ship took off and was near orbit of the planet. Calculating the last few navigations, he plugged in the coords for Tubelectric.



"I thought Admael sent you to stop Mark in the first place?" asked Jazz.

"She did." said Bluez "But nobody said anything about enhanced-trained Shellions. Those turts were tougher than before."

"What happened?" asked Jazz.

"Well, I went to investigate what Addie said at first." said Bluez "Then I was shot down, I hid in the shadows for a while and noticed Mark establishing advanced training. I tried to lure a few troops away, but it didn't last. Mark has just gotta be some sort of General."

"Wow." said Jazz "But Planet Shellion is not at war with Carrotus. The emporer had made one-hundred percent certain they will never attack ever since Devan was discovered to be a renegade."

"That's strange." said Bluez "Mark said the emporer sent him."

"Then somethings wrong." said Jazz "We'll worry about it later. Let's just get the others first."



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Thirteen</u>

Enemy becomes an enemy



"What?!" exclaimed Addmael waking up "Where am I?"



Admael was shocked to find herself in a completely different place. There were not walls and no roof of the place she was in. Only skies scorching close in the air. Darkness fogged the distance and aparently, this was not the real world. Admael was panicing searching for a way out and bumped into the large human wizard, Regan.



"Relax, Admael." said Regan "This is just a dream."

"Your..." began Admael "Your entering my dreams?"

"That's right." Said the wizard with a grin.

"How?" said Admael "I'm protected by--"

"Magic?!" exclaimed the wizard sticking his face in front of hers "Why of course you were. But you forget, your magic has been halved."

"But the cards." said Admael.

"Poor Admael." said Regan "Left the cards with that pathetic green furball and your no where near him now."

"No!" shouted Admael "Get out of my head!"



Regan sat back and enjoyed watching Admael harm herself in order to break free of the spell. Devan was hiding behind him peeking out to watch as well. After much fustration, Admael stopped and knelt to the ground.



"It's no use, Admael." said Regan "So the only less painful thing to do is to listen to what I have to say."

"When did I go to sleep?" asked Admael.

"You'll know soon enough when you awake." said Regan "Now LISTEN."



Admael felt something strange inside her as if a cold wind was rushing quickly past her. Her ears were wide open as if she was magicly forced to listen to Regan.



"I can't afford to be stopped." said Regan "The very wars that I faught, The curses I have placed, and my powerful reign over your now-known Carrotus HAS BEEN LOST. I must reclaim what is rightfully mine. You understand... don't you?"

"Shut up!" screamed Admael.

"NO!" shouted Regan "You are forced to hear my words because I know what you really are. It's simple as seen. No animal could possess magic ever since it's been proven by the history of my kind. Never has an animal such as you used magic, therefore, YOU WERE CLONED!!!"

"Your wrong." said Admael "There are many like me who can use magic."

"LIES!!!" shouted Regan.



Regan stood up and waved his staff about and then pointed it at Admael. She closed her eyes in fear thinking she would be struck by a magic blast. Regan pulled the wand back instead and sighed calmly.



"Very well then..." said Regan "You will explain to me why this is so?"

"There is a song written in a book." said Admael "written in magic writing. It takes centuries to read the whole thing by translation, but only one rhyme can teach any rabbit how to use magic."

"And what rhyme would this be?" asked Regan.



Admael stayed quiet. Regan would know how to understand the magic words. Admael cleared her mind in hopes of not letting Regan know, but she couldn't hold onto it tight enough. She let go of her mind.



"What?!" spoke Regan trailing in laughter "What is this?! Ha ha! This is too funny to be true! To think something this stupid could give a rabbit MAGIC?!?!?!"



Admael remained silent. Regan continued to laugh not believing what he had read in Admael's mind.



"Okay okay." said Regan "Enough already. I'll leave you be to your thoughts."



Regan was about to leave but turned around and faced Admael again.



"But there is one more thing." said Regan.

"What?" asked Admael.

"Rick is quite the pirate isn't he?" he said "It'll be interesting on how much damage he can really do."



<center>* * * * *</center>



"Addie!" shouted Spaz "ADDIE! WAKE UP!!"



Admael woke up startled. She found herself leaning against a seat hanging out of the Jazz-01.



"Huh?" moaned Admael in confusion "Where am I?"

"You were having a bad dream, Admael!" said Spaz "Bad dream! Almost as bad as being chased by walking coconuts and purple dinosaurs."

"Spaz?" asked Admael "Where have you been?"

"Well," said Spaz "I've been looking for a safe way down, and there's a ladder just right over here."

"Huh?" asked Admael "A ladder?"

"Yah." said Spaz "We could climb down the ladder and make it to the center of Tubelectric. Then we can find those other two cards you talked about."

"Well... uh..." began Admael still concerned about her dream "O-okay then. Let's go."



Admael and Spaz decended down the ladder. It was a long climb, but still a safe one. The wind was rushing upwards so powerfully, that Admael's cloak had almost fell off. Reaching a platform below, Spaz immediately noticed an extremely bright light below.



"Woah!" said Spaz.

"That's the center, Spaz." said Admael "The most electrical spot in the entire universe."

"That's awsome." said Spaz "Is it dangerous?"

"Well DUH!" said Admael "Does it look safe?"



The center had powerful electric currents running through it. Static bolts can be seen shooting out accross into the tubes. The waves were so powerful, Spaz and Admael could feel the heat from each burst from where they were.



"Spaz." said Admael "I've got an idea. Hand me your weapon."

"My weapon?" asked Spaz "What for?"

"I want to try something. My magic might just be strong enough to do this successfully."

"Uh... Um..." said Spaz pulling out his gun "Okay."



Admael used her magic to gently levitate Spaz's gun. It began to lower slowly towards the center and into the powerful glow. Admael closed her eyes for a second to correctly concentrate. After a few minutes, the weapon began floating back up towards her and into her hands.



The weapon was different. It was no longer a dark green, but a brighter limesh color instead. It was glowing brightly and was much larger. Attached to it was slick design and much more accurate as well.



"Spaz." said Admael "This is your new weapon. The Electricannon."

"Woah!" exclaimed Spaz "That's awsome!"

"It can support more types of ammunition too. And powerups can be stored for future use."

"Wow!" exclaimed Spaz "I gotta try it out."

"Not yet." said Admael "Use it in here, and we've got nuclear explosion on our hands."



Admael continued forward. There was a bridge extending out to a platform just above the center. Gravity felt strange but was still pulling on them both. When Admael had reached the platform, she was shocked to see a familiar face.



Rick had turned around studdering in uncertainty.



"Addie!" exclaimed Rick "What are you doing here?"

"ME?!" exclaimed Admael "What are YOU doing here?"

"I'm... uh... um..." began Rick.

"You heard the chief." said Devan sticking his head out from behind Rick "Burn the cards, NOW!"

"But he never said anything about Admael." said Rick.



Admael was furious. She began walking towards Rick and pointing at him.



"Rick!" shouted Admael "I can't believe you'd do this. I can believe the fact your a complete backstabbing troublemaking thief, but THIS?!"

"Addie." said Rick "I don't want you to get involved."



Admael began walking relentlessly towards Rick ready to grab his neck. Rick reacted by walking closer to the ledge and holding the cards out ready to drop them.



"Please, Admael." said Rick "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"You traitor!" shouted Admael holding back "Why do this? Is it because of what I said? Because I merely did something to help Kaven and his friends."

"WHAT ABOUT ME!" shouted Rick "Your all caring and stuff for others. Why didn't you care about me? Whether I would be hurt or not, huh?!"



Devan continued whispering words into Ricks ear, but Rick shuved him away. Rick was too angry to care about anything.



"Why should I care for villians." said Admael "Your just like this geeky tortoise right here!"

"HEY!" shouted Devan as his glasses jumbled off his snout "I'm no geek."

"Well, you should care." said Rick frowning "I'm no villian, but I'm the one in control here."

"Rick." said Admael sighing "Please. Just don't do this."

"NO!" shouted Rick "I told secrets of mine, gave away things special to me, and even dragged you all the way back to Carrot Castle, all to realize that you just wanted to use me and my ship to get somewhere you wanted to go."

"That was you who brought me back?" asked Admael.

"Yah!" said Rick "I saved your life, and the worst of it is, I don't even know why I did!"

"Rick." said Admael "I thought you left me at Carrot Canyon to die."

"Yah sure." said Rick "I'm not going to buy that 'trust me' crap! This time I'm doing this for myself!"



With that, Rick let go of the cards. Admael cried out jumping towards the edge in attempt to grab them, but failed. She managed to snag one by her fingertips. The other one was gliding downwards. When the card was out of sight, there was a sudden rumble in the ground.



"Huh!" stated Rick "What was that?"



Suddenly, Regan appeared out of no where. Devan took cover and hid behind him as soon as he saw him. Regan walked over towards Rick.



"Very good job, Rick." said Regan "It's so nice to know that you were relentless to the very end."

"Yah." said Rick "But you said nothing about her. Still... what's going on and when do I get payed?"

"Oh," said Regan "I forgot."



Regan handed Rick a gem that was clearly transparent but still shining. The edges of shine seemed to be the only visible part of the gem.



"Now," said Regan "Getting out of here will be your problem."

"What?!" exclaimed Rick "But..."



The ground shook again.



"It was nice that you managed to get the job done." said Regan "And I thank you for it. But now your useless to me. So enjoy your last few minutes together. I'm sure you'll probably work out this little argument of yours for the remaining time left."



Regan disappeared with Devan as well. Rick turned around to see Admael standing up and staring at him.



"One card." said Admael holding up the small picture of Rick "The card of coin."



---------------------------------------------



Yep. That's right. You read it correctly. Rick is the card of treasures.



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Fourteen</u>

Timed Escape



Admael, ignoring Rick, rushed nonstop accross the bridge. Rick followed shortly behind with Spaz following last. The ground constantly shook from time to time, and little metal scraps and dust fell from the above.



"Admael!" shouted Rick "What's going on?!"



Admael ignored Rick and continued up the ladder. The wind rushing up had stopped and it was getting hot really fast. Rick still chasing after Admael relentlessly began climbing as well. Admael continued to act more serious than ever and when finally reaching the top she waited. Rick who had finally reached the top just dodged the fist swinging at him.



"Addie!" he shouted out "W-wait! Please--"



The next swing didn't miss. Rick took a shot to the forehead and fell back. Admael turned around and examined the inside of the Jazz-01. Spaz had been confused of the situation when he arrived.



Rick kept his mouth shut. He could tell that saying something again would just make Admael angrier.



Spaz had assisted with the repairs of the communication device on the ship. They had to work quickly because the ground was shaking even faster. Admael tried to test it several time.



"Anyone!" she shouted "Anyone within close range of Tubelectric, please respond."



There was no response, but the communication was working. Hopelessly, Admael sat down.



"Addie!" said Rick trying to speak to her again.

"Shutup!" she shouted.

"But ad--"

"NO!" shouted Admael "For the last few seconds down there, you could've saved our lives. But because of the card, this whole planet's gonna blow up."

"But, Admael. I've got--"

"Shutup!" shouted Admael "And second of all, we lose a card completely. Destroying a magic card could create disasterous effects to the whole universe."

"I'VE GOT A SHIP, THOUGH!" Rick blurted out.



Admael almost didn't realize what he said until she stopped to think that moment. She looked at Rick for a second with an angry expression.



"I don't care if you forgive me or anything." said Rick "I admit I made a mistake, and I feel rotten for it. But if you want to use my ship to get out of here, you can."



Admael began thinking for a moment. Staying where she was would surely kill her since the shaking of the ground got more powerful each second. But Rick's ship could get them out at the cost of having to put up with Rick.



Admael nodded. They all continued down the ladder again and towards the bridge. Rick had noticed he wasen't sweating anymore but ignored it and focused on where his ship was.



They had continued along a dangerous edge close to a wall. They had to be careful because one mistake and they were history. The bright light below was brighter than ever now, glowing warmer than anything seen. There was a passage through the wall that apparently lead to Rick's ship no doubt. The walls of the tunnel were red and still glowing warmly, still there was no strong heat.



"Is it just me?" said Spaz "Or is this place getting cooler."

"Why would you say that?" asked Admael "It's not cool to stay in a place like this. In fact, it's not even cool to hang around with this guy."

"Addie!" responded Rick "The mite's right. This place isn't as warm as it used to be."



Admael shrugged and continued on through the brightly glowing tunnel. At the end, there was the sound of engines. Rick had entered the room ahead what appeared to be a huge tube upwards. The rumbles were beginning to lessen more now. Admael was curious but walked over to Rick's ship to examine it.



"Now go on!" said Rick.

"What?!" exclaimed Admael.

"You heard me." said Rick again "Get out of here, as fast as you can."

"What about you?" asked Spaz.

"Yah..." said Rick "What about me, aye?"



Rick shook his head and walked back through the tunnel.



"RICK!" shouted Admael "What are you doing?! You'll be killed!"



Rick was no where in sight, but instead completely gone through the shadows. Admael forced herself to chase him, but stopped to realize what she was doing. She didn't care about Rick. She had hoped he would die from the start.



"Who cares." said Admael.

"Who cares?!?!" exclaimed Spaz "That bird's gonna die!"

"Yah..." said Admael "Probably what he deserves. He's just a common villian anyway."

"AURGH!" shouted Spaz "That's it! No more! You and him apologize. NOW!!!"

"Spaz?!" asked Admael.



Spaz frowned and pointed at the tunnel.



"No." said Admael "As soon as I apologize, he's just going to act the same way again."

"URG!" shouted Spaz "WHO CARES?! You can't just leave someone to die here! It's wrong! Even if he was a bad guy."

"Oh alright." said Admael "We'll go get him, but I am NOT apologizing."



Spaz shrugged as him and Admael ran through the tunnel after Rick. The tunnel wasen't as bright as it was before. It was getting much darker every moment. The ground had stopped shaking which was when Admael stopped Spaz from continuing.



"Spaz." said Admael "Why isn't the ground shaking?"

"I dunno." said Spaz touching the ground with his hand "Actually, it is. You can feel the vewy light vibrating on the ground."

"Gah!" shouted Admael "I know that. But it's gotten less nutty than before."



Admael looked up can could see a bird-like figure in the shadows in the distance. Assuming it was Rick she hurried over to him.



"Rick." said Admael "We're not leaving without you."

"Your not?" asked Rick looking up from sitting on the edge.

"Actually." said Admael "If it were just me, I would. But it was Spaz's idea."

"Oh..." said Rick "Nah. Forget it."

"RICK!" shouted Admael "AURGH! How can you be so stubborn! Haven't you ever even apologized before?!?!"

"Sorry." said Rick looking down at the now-faint glow of the center "And I'm also sorry for--"



Suddenly, water began dripping from above. The drops had landed on Rick's head stopping him from his serious and emotional moment.



"Er..." said Rick looking up and rubbing his head "Sorry for--"



Another drop fell and landed on Rick's eye. And another had feel on his beak. Irritated he wiped is face from the drench and got up. He scratched his head deep in thought.



"What the--?" he said "You'd think any water would evaporate from the heat in here."

"yah..." said Admael "It would."

"And speaking of which--" said Rick "It's not even hot. It's freezing in here."

"Yah." said Admael "What's going on with the power generator over there?"

"What?!?!" exclaimed Rick in surprise "It's turning... Blue."

"Actually..." said Spaz "It's um... turning into more of a teal looking color. Y'know the kinda color used on cars?"

"Shh!" hushed Admael "Something strange happened with that card."



Suddenly, a coat of ice could be seen frozen on the roof of the tunnel.



"What the--?!" exclaimed Spaz "That ain't right. This is... well... SUPPOSE to be the warmest spot in tubelectric."

"What's going on?!" asked Admael.



Suddenly, the entire light of the center began growing smaller and smaller. Immediately, it compressed into nothing and a giant breeze of frost spread around the entire generator dome. Ice was growing onto the walls and creating sharp edges. Eventually, the entire center light of the tubelectric disappeared and all the tubes and tunnels had frozen inside. creating an icey world inside.



"Wow!" Said Spaz in surprise "That's... that's awsome!"

"Tubelectric will never be the same." said Rick.

"I'll say." said Admael "Hey! Look down there."



A bright glow could be seen at the bottom of the newly frozen ground at the bottom. Admael, Spaz, and Rick followed down a slide of ice towards the center of the area. When they reached the bottom, Spaz was excited to find himself sliding farther than everyone else, only to crash into the wall at the end. Admael had reached the bright glowed and picked it up.



"Clever..." said Admael "Hank - Card of Lightning."

"Hank?!" exclaimed Spaz "No way! Hank can't be a card."

"Well..." said Admael "He is. But this is a strange version of Hank I've seen. He's more machine twisted than anything else."

"Does this little story have anything to do with that time-warp screwup thing a long time ago."

"Yes." said Admael "Hank got involved in it as well and helped Kaven Chronos after his dead self was turned into machine."

"I remember that story." said Spaz "But is Hank still alive or still trapped in that Time-thingy?"

"I dunno." said Admael "Remember, I was unconcious during this whole time."

"Yah..." said Rick "Um... I guess that was my fault for that."



Rick began to walk away up the icey path again. He stumbled and sliped but managed to keep going due to his claw-like feet.



"Well... um..." said Admael "I guess this whole planet blowing up was a false alarm."

"Yah." said Spaz "I guess we can all relax now and get outta this planet."

"Do you hear something?" asked Admael.



Admael quickly dived for cover as the Jazz-01 came speeding down the ice dome and steaming into Spaz. Spaz, stuck to the side, was crushed between the ship and the wall.



"SPAZ!" shouted Admael "Spaz?! Are you alright?!?!?!"



The vehical had tumbled over and slid slowly away from the wall. Spaz was flattened into the wall completely beat up and sore all over.



"Oooooooooh." said Spaz spitting out teeth "O-oh, high mommy. No really, I'm just fine. Just playing with my toy rocketship."



---------------------------------------------



I've got a sketch of Spaz's new weapon somewhere. It's not much different, just a little bit bigger and stuff.



---------------------------------------------



<u>Chapter Fifteen</u>

Disasterous discovery



"Blast!" shouted the wizard "How could that be?! The power of the cards are yet that strong?"



Regan had returned to his home deep within his lair. The skies had turned red but still dark with his anger. Devan had crept away to avoid his rath, only to be snatched back to his spot.



"Not so fast, Devan." said Regan "As you know, I may still have a use for you."

"HA!" laughed Devan "YOU need ME?!"

"Shutup you dolt!" said Regan "As you know, if I wasen't dead, Jazz would be nothing to me."

"Uh huh..." said Devan "Suuuure."

"No." said Regan innocently "Really, honest. If I were alive, I'd smite him where he stands. I'd even kill every rodent on the face of that vegetable planet and--"



Suddenly, Regan's face turned delightful with a smile. As if an idea had popped in his head.



"That's it!" said Regan "If I was alive..."

"What?!" asked Devan "It's bad enough your already dead. But alive?"

"Oh be quite, you blundering baffle of lizard skin." said Regan "With the help of Admael's magic, I could bring myself back and do everything myself."

"Um..." said Devan hurrying around and moving Regan's Chair close behind him "M-maybe you should get some rest. Some say too much thinking isn't good for you."



Regan sat down and rubbed his head. He was laughing and cheerful at the idea, changing to a grin and back again from time to time with every thought.



"Oh yes." said the wizard "I'll connect to her dreams again, make her feel even more guilty. Convince her to join my side and see the benefits of it."

"But how?!" asked Devan "See? See? You can't because she's against you."

"Oh," said the Wizard "But you don't understand, do you? You can only imagine the power of a dream. Or what some would call... A NIGHTMARE."



<center>* * * * *</center>



Spaz, Admael and Rick had returned to the ship to prepare their departure. Packing away the two cards that they found, they also carried some supplies in their Jazz-01. When near Rick's ship, a communication was coming through. Rick was the only one there at the time.



"Hello?" said the voice "Addie?! You there?"

"Huh?" said Rick "Who's there? This is SH-12, who is this?"

"Uh..." said the voice "I guess I've got the wrong number. I thought I got a message from Admael."

"No wait!" said Rick "Admael's here. But who is this?"

"Who is this?" asked the voice.

"AUGH!" said Rick in fustration "Okay okay. I'm Rick Raven diamond hunting expert. Now will you tell me who you are?"

"Oh..." said Jazz "It's you. Um... uh... Admael wouldn't happen to be there at the moment would she?"

"Yes." said Admael as she just arrived "What's up, Jazz? Where are you?"

"I'm just in Tubelectric's orbit." said Jazz "Well... I think. I can't tell if this is Holidayous or Santa Land."

"It's tubelectric." said Admael "It's just... um... undergoing change."

"Oh..." said Jazz "Well... um... I've found Bluez."

"That's great." said Admael "Go after Mark, we'll catch up in a bit."

"Um..." said Jazz "Mark is uh... not even near Carrotus."

"What?!" exclaimed Admael "He's not even going towards Carrotus. I dunno why."

"Where is he then?" asked Admael.

"He headed towards Junglen" said Jazz "Y'know, that planet with all the trees and stuff."

"Uh... yah." said Admael "Why there?"

"I dunno." said Jazz "But we'll go after them as soon as you get up here."

"Um..." said Spaz also just arriving "About the Jazz-01... it's uh..."

"Gone?" asked Jazz.

"Yep..." said Spaz "It's dead. So we're using Rick's ship."

"That's okay." said Jazz "We'll link communications fully now once your up here."



After the supplies were finished, Rick guided the ship successfully out of tubelectric. Oddly, sparks and other baddies that used to torment Jazz on his previous adventures, were no longer active. Safely getting out, Rick followed Jazz's ship ahead.



During the time, Admael fell fast asleep. She was extremely tired after the long difficult trouble in tubelectric. She had also caught a cold.



During this time, Jazz had decided to look around in Bluez's supplies to find the other two cards he was talking about.



"Hey." said Jazz "Just look at this! This is a picture of Devan Shell!"

"Yah." said Bluez "That one I hate the most."

"Hm..." said Jazz "And... WOW! This one is a picture of Chuck."



Chuck awoke to hear Jazz's chatter.



"What?!" he asked.

"Chuck!" said Jazz "Take a look at this, there's a card of you."

"Let me see!" said Chuck taking a look at the card "Wow! It really is me."

"We should show these to Admael." said Jazz "She'd know what they do."



<center>* * * * *</center>



Again, Admael had woke up in the strange place again. The wizard, Regan, had also been there to welcome her. She was much more relentless at escaping than ever, but still, in the end she calmed down and was forced to listen.



"My dear, Admael..." said the Wizard grinning as he stared at in the images in the skies "Do you know what torments me each and every day being here."

"Your..." began Admael "Your the one who tricked Rick into dropping those cards."

"Yes..." said Regan turning around and looking down at Admael "YES! I did. And only because I wanted to answer his wish."

"How can you interfere with my dreams when I have cards with me?" asked Admael.

"Oh..." said Regan "Yes... The cards. I forgot to mention to you that the cards are weak when they are less in number."

"They..." said Admael "They should still harm you some how."

"Indeed." said Regan "Which is why I don't have time for little chit chat. I'm giving you a chance to rescue your friends, Addie."

"What?!" exclaimed Admael looking up.

"Yes..." said Regan "Are you aware of the trap placed in Junglen?"

"A... trap?!" exclaimed Admael.

"Uh huh..." said Regan "The very trap that will kill your friends instantly."

"NO!" shouted Admael "I'll warn them."

"How?!" asked Regan "Even this nightmare won't wake you up. You'll be too fast asleep to do anything."

"No!" cried Admael "Stop this!"



Regan knelt down and grabed Admael by the neck.



"Do you understand the torcher of this place?" asked Regan "Of being here suffering as only a ghost? Of being NOTHING?!"

"You were cursed." said Admael "You deserved it."

"I DESERVED NOTHING!" shouted Regan "I deserved freedom. And yet, my magic is of darkness and bound within this void. But your magic combined with mine..."

"No!" replied Admael "I won't help you ever."



Regan let go of Admael and stood up.



"Admael." said Regan "Your friends are not that far from death."

"You can't predict the future." said Admael.

"Oh yes I can." said Regan "You forgot, this is a void frozen in time. With my magic, I can open points in time seeing all that will happen."

"Only what has passed though." said Admael "Not what is about to happen."

"Oh yes..." said Regan "Seeing the past can give the wisdom I need for prediction. First Bluez will die, right off the start. Spaz will try to save him but then fall into a pit of spikes, Chuck will fly to help him but will be shot down by lazer turrets. Then Jazz will drown in deadly quicksand. And Rick will attempt to protect you while your sleeping, but will be killed by a field of remote mines that are triggered at the right time. Then you will awake all alone to realize what could have been avoided."

"NO!" screamed Admael "That won't happen."

"WHY?!" exclaimed Regan "What proof do you have? If anything, you can see it as well."

"No..." said Admael.

"Yes." said Regan "But you still have a chance. Chant your revive spell with me while your still here and I will return to rule Carrotus and show everyone my power and protection."

"You just want revenge." said Admael "You just want to kill every Rabbit on Carrotus because one of them killed you. Can't you realize that just because one rabbit killed you, doesn't meant that every animal has to suffer?"



Regan was silent. The dream had faded with Admael noticing Regan's headache before he left. Aparently, he was cornered in the argument, but Admael had a feeling he'd return to haunt her again.



---------------------------------------------



Night Fire's Note : Due to the High Content, I'm spitting the story into separate Topics.



To be Continued in "The cold return...(Page 2)"

[Coppertop]

YaY

[Tanpopo Kiku]

Um, you can also find the story @ LoriCentral, just to let you know.

[Kaven]

Interesting... It's too bad some of you might not get to see Episode 2: Last Remaining Wish. Besides the fact it might not be allowed to be posted here, I'm also unsure of completing it. The story contains some violence and a military based setting. The climax is especially frightning, and the ending is really wierd.



However, I might put it on my website.

[Cobra]

I'd like to see you post it :P

[Grath AR]

POST IT OR I WILL NOT (btw what lies below is j/k)

MAKE A KAVEN FAN SITE

[*BlackSheep]

Wooh, spiffy http://jazz2.nagcentral.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif



*Black

[Kaven]

Make "KAVEN" a fan site? LOL! I'll only dream about it for now. There isn't even a Noogy or Spring fan site yet. LOL!



I really don't think I can post it here, because like I said, there is some violence in it. In fact, "Episode 4: Our Chaos Destiny" (the last one) has even MORE violence in it. The entire population of the universe is practically exterminated, and the last remaining Factions of war still fight. It's not pretty.



Also, most of it isn't even Jazz Jackrabbit related. Lori is in the 2nd and 4th episodes yah, but most of it doesn't have the Jazz Jackrabbit universe with it.

[Tanpopo Kiku]

Well, at least people think you're good.



Strange thing, though...a lot of people in my stories get killed too...so don't worry about violence.

[Cobra]

I've heard about his stories, and it's too violent for this board, Kiku. Much too violent.

[Action Hank]

Oldies but Goldies

http://jazz2.nagcentral.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Coppertop]

Wot he said.

[Kaven]

Well, for "Last Remaining Wish", A few villians are much more violent, however, there are still some of the traditional "Silly" characters, such as a gecko who is one of the Cardmasters (Cardmaster A). A character by the name of Packet, who takes a pretty big role in the story ends up dying. And in the end, the entire crew dies except DrJones (well, they sorta die).



I would probably call it a "Lori" story, but it's mostly centered around mysteries and space-travel, Factions and Alliances. But there are a few secrets describing what each episode is leading to. But overall the story is very little related to Jazz2. Sorry it turned out that way. http://jazz2.nagcentral.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[DrJones]

That story, should appear sooner or later on LC, once it's back up :)