Chapter Eleven

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.



* * * * *



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>Chapter Twelve

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."



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



Chapter Thirteen

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."



* * * * *



"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.



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



Chapter Fourteen

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.



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Chapter Fifteen

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."



* * * * *



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."



* * * * *



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.



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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)"