I AM SO SO SORRY! But, between school, work, community service and everything else in between, I had completely forgotten about writing (I'm still alive and kicking). Thank you for bringing me back. Because I'm so sorry, this chapter is longer than normal.

Chibi Isaac: Yeah, plus she finally gets into more plot in the second half! My grownup self actually meets someone!

Shhh! You'll spoil everything!

CI: Sorry! (Psst! You'll find out something about the Djinn, too!)

glares threateningly

CI: Yipe!

Chapter 4

"Where am I going to get all of these things? Pensyls? Calkulater? What are these things?" I was looking at my 'supply list.' Over half of the things I had never heard of before, but that was to be expected.

"Don't worry about a thing!" piped a voice seemingly inside my head. "Once we reach the store where we'll find all this stuff, I'll explain it all to ya!"

"That sounds…sooo…reassuring." I was already freaked out because I was on a machine called a 'subway.' Don't look at me; it was Bane's idea. There were just TOO MANY PEOPLE! I was standing up, stuck between 5 other people, at least two of which I could tell haven't bathed recently, and there were about a hundred of us stuck in this little compartment. And, I was really hot. Needless to say, I didn't like it at all. Why couldn't we just Teleport?

We--Flint, Bane, a few other assorted djinn in my belt pack and I—were almost at our stop when the subway slowed down to a stop. A few other people looked around curiously, as we obviously weren't at a station. Another group of people panicked. They were all calmed two minutes later by a seemingly omniscient voice that claimed to be the captain. It was, of course, my turn to panic…Don't tell anyone…I will seriously hurt you. How was I supposed to know about an "intercom system?"

"Attention, passengers. I do realize that we have stopped in between stations. There is nothing wrong with the train. I'm sure most of you heard on the morning news that the president of the United States of Angara, Hito Daiji, wished to have a countrywide moment of silence respecting the 10000+ office workers civilians, and overall victims of the Contigo Earthquake that happened at this time yesterday." Wait for it…wait for it…

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' I continued to let out a mental scream that was so powerful; I could feel the djinn in my belt pouch wretch and kick me through the pouch. I'm surprised that everyone on this 'subway' isn't deaf by now, but then I remembered that they were "normal" people and couldn't hear me. But, continuing on the topic at hand, how would YOU react if you learned you inadvertently killed over 10000 people!

"So, please join the crew and I in a whole minute of silence before we pull into South 6th Street station. Thank you." No one moved. No one said anything. It was a statue zone. Although, mentally, I felt like Garet after an "anger management session" with Jenna. Completely and utterly messed up. My mind was continually focused on one thing…I killed people…I am a murderer…I killed a lot of people…Of course, then comes the evil voice in the back of your head that never goes away, but seems to be right…But, you wanted them dead. You were mad. They killed your people and friends. You're the only one left…the only one left…only one left…only one left…

"STOP IT! GO AWAY!" I was clutching my head tightly as I said this. I then felt the presence of two hundred eyes glaring at me. I said that out loud didn't I? Kuso…

I was saved from having to make an explanation by a sudden jerking motion. Let me say that I will never, ever question the duration of a minute ever again…

What is it with these people nowadays? No manners whatsoever. Four times I've been whacked in the shoulder by random people. Anyways, I'm now standing in front of a place called "Ang-Mart." (Short for Angara) Simply put, it's huge. I've never seen a shop this big. I take a deep breath and step inside. "Wait! Get a cart, first!"

"A cart? Are we really getting so much stuff that I have to have a horse pull it all? Why do I need so much stuff?"

"No, silly, not that kind of cart! Those blue things with wheels over there!"

OOOOOHHHHHH! I did not know that! I take one of the so-called "carts" and

proceed to push it down the "aisles," admiring all the stuff I had never seen before until Vine told me to stop. Though, the overwhelming smell of flowers and expensive looking bottles and boxes made me think that this wasn't exactly the place to find "erasures."

"Um, hello, young man! Are you here to pick up some perfume for your girlfriend?" Perfume? I'm in the PERFUME SECTION! Why me…?

"Psst! We promised to pick up some Chanel #6 for Cannon while we're here. She won't even leave her tree without it and she's getting dangerously low."

A djinni needing perfume? Now I've heard everything…Anyway I quickly relayed this to the man who gave me a bottle that was on the right. "You're really lucky. You got the last one. Blonde or brunette?"

"Ummm…actually the person getting this is red…"

"Oh, well, I'm really partial to brunettes myself, but whatever. You must see a lot of action. Have fun! I hope she enjoys it!" Was it just me, or did that man want to discuss his fetishes with me? I don't get this world at all…

I finally found the school supplies after making a few detours to get such things as "batteries" and "light bulbs." Of course, one wonders how djinn could get half this stuff in the first place. I mean, not many people would sell stuff to a foot-tall creature not recorded in any record whatsoever. And where did they get the money? Something tells me that I don't even want to know…

I finally make it to the "cashier." I noticed how everyone was placing his or her items on a moving belt. Then the "cashier" takes a weird, beige …thing and points it at the items. Then, the name of the item appears on a little screen. That's just so amazing…how did the thing know what was what?

It's my turn, now. I give the items to the man. He's pretty big, and has a big moustache. He probably would have been better off building houses. I watch as the magic beige thing points at my stuff and the name appears in the screen. This is so cool! "Okay, sir, your total comes to ninety-five dollars and fifty-three cents."

Wait, wait, wait…"Dollars? Cents? What?"

The man sighed. I heard a few slaps coming from my bag. Someone isn't telling me something… "Yes, sir, dollars. And cents. You know those green paper things and those little metal coins."

"Coins? Oh, I have those." I reach into my magic stretching bag and pull out a hundred-pack of gold coins. (In this fic, coins are bound together at important numbers like 100, 1000, 10.000, etc.) "This should cover it, right?"

The man suddenly started gaping at me like I was an alien from another planet. He took the coins and started inspecting them, feeling them, even, to my disgust, biting them. Then, he got this really big grin and nodded at me. "Yes, sir!" he said in an unusually cheerful voice. "This will more than cover it!"

Wow. I got all that stuff for a measly hundred coins? Usually the perfume alone would cost a hundred times that…What a rip off!

'Jeez! I get paid in GOLD for a bunch of measly stuff? What a RIP OFF! I'm leaving now and heading for the bank! Forget anything bad I have ever said about lunatics!' Lunatic? I'm not a lunatic! I'll show him lunatic…

'NO! Not in public! You'll make a scene! You already made front page news yesterday!' So, unwillingly, I follow the advice of my djinn and leave. And, I notice, the cashier follows suit three seconds later. Hmmm…he must have been really poor.

"Okay, about those forms…you see, my parents died a long time ago, and…everyone thought that I was old enough to live out on my own, so I did and I don't have any parents or someone looking after me…okay that sounds stupid." Normally, this would've been a very good excuse not to go to school at all but the djinn insisted. Why are they so stubborn? I can't take this…

'Make up an excuse! Forge a signature and address! Just, get in school!' I have a feeling something's up if they're being so persistent. Oh well, here we are. Time to see if I can bend the truth enough. I'd rather be fighting the Doom Dragon again, but I can't…

"Oh, there you are! You're the new kid, right? Isaac Mikage? Here's your schedule!"

"Huh?" I took the paper from her hand. "But, my papers…didn't you say that I had to turn them in?"

"But you already did, sweetie! Your guardian turned them in earlier this morning! In fact, I have them right here!" If anything was to cement my suspicions, it was that. The djinn know something that I don't. That's glaringly obvious at this point. I look at the forms. A certain W. O. Tetra signed them all. W. O. Tetra? Who's that?

"That is your guardian, right?"

"Uhh, yeah he is." If I ever learned something over my journey, it's that you should never question a good thing, no matter how suspicious.

"Here's a map of the school. Your first class is on the second floor in the main building. There are stairs right outside this office. Have a good day! If you have any problems with your schedule, come and see me and we can change it, okay? Oh, and happy birthday!" Oh yeah, it was my birthday. 2,138 years old…Yay. I don't feel that old. But, I was asleep for the vast majority of that period. Hey…how did this W. O. Tetra know that today was my birthday? Maybe it was the djinn…but I don't remember ever telling them that today was my birthday. Let's see, who do I know that has the initials W. O.? My mind is drawing a blank right now…

Well, this is classroom number 426, my first period. It's…World History. Yes! Maybe I'll learn exactly what happened! Of course, I could also see how wrong their info is, like everything else I've heard so far. I slowly open the door and step inside. All the students were talking amongst themselves; they probably did not notice that I came in. There were a lot of maps on the wall. Some were about the world 'today.' Others documented lost cities. Hey, there was even one about Lemuria! Though, it was unnaturally hot in the classroom, like it has been recently.

"Excuse me, young man. May I help you?" The person I assumed to be the teacher was sitting at his desk and looking right at me. He had gray hair that was slightly red in some places. He had a large nose and glasses. He must be an old guy, but, technically, I'm older…In case you were wondering, I'm trying to drill that into my head as many times as I can, so I'll actually start believing it.

"Um, yeah. I'm…new here…"

"Oh, are you the new student that I was supposed to be getting, today?"

"I guess I am."

"Geez, did you know that you're the second one in a week? My class must be popular…"

"Second one?"

"Yeah. Class! OKAY, CLASS!" The students stopped talking and instead started staring at me. "Class, I'm happy to announce that we have another exchange student with us. Please, tell us about yourself."

"Umm…hi. I'm Isaac. I…er...used to live near here, but then due to certain circumstances I moved to Lalivero, and then I had to move back here."

"Yes, yes that's nice. Now, please head to the sat beside Michael…no, no, that's Mr. Ravenhail's seat. I keep forgetting since he's never here. Let's see…let's see…ah, yes please take the seat behind Samantha. Samantha, please raise your hand." A blonde girl with pigtails put up her hand and smiled seductively at me. I tried to give enough hints, some not exactly subtle, that I wasn't interested, but we both know how wonderfully people these days can take a hint. Let's just say she was all over me the whole period.

Which, by the way, was boring. I could positively care less about the economics of five hundred years after I was born, though the changing from gold to paper caught my attention. If only for two minutes. I was probably sweating the whole time, too. Yet, everyone else was wearing sweaters. They must really be steamy.

I trudged along through the mass of humanity that was their excuse of a hallway. I headed into the 700 hallway, which was the English hallway. I walked inside the classroom, and immediately I could tell that I was going to be in trouble. Sitting there with her hands neatly folded and her hair in a tight bun was an elderly woman. The blackboard told me that her name was Mrs. Miki.

The class quieted down by itself this time. She stood up, and spoke in a clear, German accent. "It appears zat we 'ave yet another new student. Hopeflully, zis one will decide to join us more than one day a year, eh, Mr. Mekaaj?"

"Uh, Mrs. Miki, it's Mikage, not Mekaaj."

"EXCUSE ME! I know my Angaran well enough, thank you, and you always have g sound like a j before e, i and y! UNDERSTAND?" I nodded, and she continued on as if nothing ever happened. "Now, today, we will 'ave a written essay test over Jenna's Diary. I'm sure you all have studied well and hard because this test is worth 20 od your grade. Now, no talking since the test papers are out."

Ah, finally. Maybe now that I'll get Jenna's Diary, I can maybe figure out why I'm here. Some progress at least. The Djinn aren't talking for some reason. "Ah, Ms. Miki?"

"I said no talking!"

"Well, yes, but I'm new and I don't have the book. So, I'll need a copy. And, could you turn down the heat? It's so hot in here."

She looked extremely baffled after I asked my questions but eventually replied in an even voice. "Well, unfortunately for you, Mr. Mekaaj, you can't get out of this test. You see, I happen to know for a fact that all the teachers in the USA are teaching this book right now, and are having the same exact test. So, your attempt failed."

"Attempt?"

"To get out of the test because you didn't study. Here. Write. Be quiet. Oh, and for your information, the AC is cranked down to 55. Live with it, the rest of us are freezing." Tch. Maybe not. Oh, well, let's see. Maybe it isn't that bad.

Discuss in your own terms why Jenna would be so attached to her friend that she would search the world for him.

Explain how the ending would be different if her best friend, Cannon, had not come with her.

Define the psychological diagnosis for a person like Jenna that believes she has magical powers, when they cannot scientifically exist.

What are the implications of the story? What is the moral?

What is THIS? Why can't people just read the story and be done with it? I am flattered that she would search the world for me, but why? Because she is my friend! They think Cannon is a human? I'll have to tell her that. She'll probably crack up. She DID have powers. She wasn't mental. Okay, she had anger issues but that's beside the point. Why do you want implications? The story doesn't imply anything! It's the story of her life! This is silly.

Lunch came all too quickly for me. I ended up turning in a blank sheet of paper as my test. Kraden would so be down my throat right now…She wouldn't even give me a book. Though, surprisingly, I was about to make more progress in my situation during lunch than I had so far during my time here.

I really did not know where to sit. So, I just decided to walk around inconspicuously. That didn't do so well. I managed to get more stares than I ever wanted in my life. Probably, either because I'm new, or I'm wearing a scarf. In case you didn't know, I don't like to be looked at. I jumped into the bathroom and did the one thing I really wanted to do at that moment. "Cloak."

Exiting the bathroom was easier because now, no one could see me! I followed the shadows along the wall to a hallway. Not much else to do, really. I came across a group of three girls chatting about something. I would have continued on if I hadn't heard that they were talking about "another new kid." I stopped. I might as well listen in. I mean I could always read their minds…but this is more fun!

"So, Sarah, I heard that there's another new kid in your class, right?"

"Yeah. He's really, really cute, but not as hunky as the one that came last week."

"Oh, yeah, with that lovely long blue hair! sigh What was his name again?"

"Alex…" I froze. ALEX…is HERE? Yay! I'm not alone in the world! Wait…it's Alex. That no good, backstabbing idiot that used us to get the Golden Sun! What in the world is he doing here? As a homely school kid? One would think that after getting infinite power, he would have gone on to rule the world. I have to find him.

"Yes. That is his name. Isn't he lucky, though? He gets to skip all his morning classes. He only comes for PE…"

"Yeah! His parents must be really rich if he can get away with that. Ms. Miki was horrified, remember?" Or maybe, he threatened them with serious bodily harm…?

"Why are all the good-looking guys in your class?"

"It's just luck I guess. RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG Oh, great, now I have to go to PE and get all sweaty. "

"Oh well, at least you have tons of guys to look at."

"Yeah, well, see ya!" I followed the girl who said that she had PE with…him…next. When she turned around the corner, and no one else was looking, I uncloaked myself. I also looked down at my schedule. I…had PE next, too! I could finally meet someone I know! Wait, wait, wait…why do I keep thinking that? Alex is EEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIILLLLLL! Instead of meeting him, I get to punch his lights out! YAY!

I managed to change into my uniform all right, though I didn't see my blue-haired target….great. Now I sound like a stalker. I followed the rest of the class into the gym and sat against the wall like everyone else. The coach explained that we were going to play a game called "basketball." From what I could see, all we had to do was throw a weird orange and black striped ball into a net. Not that difficult. I always did have a bad throwing-arm, but no one said I could use a little Psynergy to cheat, right?

There were three courts, and I was assigned to the court on the right, and we started to play. All in all, it wasn't that bad. I could dodge the opponents pretty well; that came from tons of training against monsters. And, I had a perfect shooting record due to my modified version of "Carry," but of course, nobody knew that. Everyone was impressed, even the coach.

It was during our third game when I saw him. I was looking to pass the ball to someone when I saw him on the next court over. Flowing blue hair like crashing waves, azure eyes that carried the very essence of water, and a taunting voice that I knew so well from our unfortunately frequent encounters; it was Alex. I am 100 sure, now.

The boys I was playing with were yelling at me to throw the ball, but I paid them no mind. I was looking for a way to somehow injure and/or maim a certain Mercury Adept. It was at that moment that I realized a very important thing. This "basketball" in my hand was actually very hard. If I throw this at someone really hardly, I could probably hurt him or her…I had to get the timing just right.

Five seconds later and I found my opening. Just as he was spinning around to give some of his incessant bragging, I whispered "carry"…

WHAM! "AH!" CRASH!

I slinked toward the back of the crowd gathered around him. I, of course, had enough sense to quickly make it to the door and get out of there before I started laughing my head off. What? You want to know what happened after I left? Fine, be that way.

"Alex, are you okay? What happened?" The entire class was gathered around the blue-haired kid. His face was all red from the impact. That, and he was understandably angry.

"Some kid hit me in the face with a basketball."

"Oh no! That must hurt!"

"Yes, especially since it wasn't an accident."

"What?" That was the coach. He was the kind of coach that did not like violence of any kind during sport matches. Purposefully throwing a basketball at the coach's new favorite student would most likely result in serious punishment for the one responsible. "Alright, who threw it?" Nobody made a sound.

The coach sighed. "Does anyone know who threw it?" A few hands shot into the air. "Yes, Jameson?"

"It was that new kid. I don't remember his name, though."

"New kid? Oh, you mean that blonde kid that was pretty good at basketball? Why would he want to injure Alex?"

"Well, we were in the middle of a game. The new kid was looking to pass it to someone when he saw Alex. He then got this weird grin on his face before he threw the ball. I guess he probably knows you."

This got Alex's attention. New kid? Blonde hair? Knows me and would want to injure me…Well, a lot of the people I know would want to injure me…But, then why would they be here, 2000 years later. Of course! It had to be…"Isaac. I should have known."

"Yeah, that's his name! Isaac." There was murmured agreement among other students who had classes with him earlier in the day. Of course, by the time they looked around for me, I had already left. That didn't stop Alex from making a dramatic exit from the room. Few people expected me to be in school tomorrow. Even fewer expected me to be in one piece by the end of the day.

I couldn't go back to school after that, for obvious reasons. It's not good to have a person with infinite power after you. I mean, he did get the power of the Golden Sun, right? Anyway, I just teleported home. I didn't really feel like doing anything else. The Djinn were excited that I was home, since they were bored all day without anything to do. So, we played a board game called "Monopoly." I actually learned about paper money and it's relative worth to gold coins. In case you were wondering, the djinn were playing teams. It was myself vs. Venus djinn vs. Mars djinn vs. Mercury Djinn vs. Jupiter Djinn. I made sure that no one cheated.

We had almost finished the game when all of a sudden I got a very unsettling feeling in my stomach. The Djinn felt it, too, though they all had these weird smirks. "Um, what's going on?"

"Someone's in the forest. I'm surprised you can sense it. Come on, Isaac! You can play 'Torture the Trespassers' with us!" Torture the Trespassers? Wow, who knew the djinn had sadistic sides?

"Torture the Trespassers?"

"Of course! This forest has a notorious reputation for being haunted! We can't let that slip, now can we?" Well…I guess not. So, I grabbed anything that might have been handy for scaring people, including my Sol Blade, and followed the Djinn out. There were only four: Vine, Gale, Cannon and Breeze. We continued along the river for a little bit before we heard voices. I guess they were the trespassers. I recognized the voices from some people in my classes. We hid behind some bushes, and I cloaked us for good measure. After two minutes, three shapes emerged, though I couldn't tell who they were.

"You aren't scared are you?"

"Yeah, this forest is supposedly haunted. No one's built anything here, and whenever anybody tries, something bad happens to them!"

"Tch, stop being so dramatic. What do you want me to do?" I recognized that voice! It was Alex! What's he doing here?

"Fine, fine. Look, there's a house somewhere in this forest. No one's been in it for years. You have to sleep there the whole night. And, we'll know if you don't."

"Yeah, we have video cameras watching the place!" WHAT? Why those little…

"Whatever. It can't be that bad, can it? Just remember, I still have to make a visit to an old friend." I assumed that he meant me. After that, he continued walking, though in a completely different direction than my house. The other guys stayed where they were, though they were seriously thinking about leaving. The Djinn and I stepped back a little bit and then started to whisper about our plan of action.

"I want to handle Alex. You guys can take care of the other two, though I want to watch." The Djinn started fidgeting for a bit before Granite, Breeze and Cannon slowly nodded. Then, probably the strangest thing to happen that day happened. There was a bright light, then the three of them turned into, well, drop-dead gorgeous chicks! Nice…

They all wore clothing that was a mixture of skimpy and ethereal. Vine had long, forest green hair that was partially braided with equally vivid, green eyes. Two long bangs were clipped just above her ears with what were probably leaves. Cannon had fiery red hair tied in a high ponytail with a flame-shaped ruby barrette and amber eyes. Breeze had soft, lavender hair that was completely let down, though it was all glittery. She had sky-blue eyes.

It was awhile before I picked up my lower jaw off the floor and found my voice. "W-w-wow! I never knew you could do that!"

"Well, we couldn't before. But, it was boring, and no one was treating us with respect! You saw! They all think that we are human-like spirits! So, all of us bit the bullet and learned how to become human. Plus, it helped fight the HUGE boredom problem we had." Well, that would explain a lot…but…

"Um, Fizz, why didn't you transform?"

"W-well, I came because it was my turn to help ward off trespassers, b-but…when I transform, I look just like Mia…"

"Oh." Seeing someone I know to be dead, even if it was another person, would make me a bit unsettled, now that she mentioned it. I don't really think I could take it, but…I know someone else that wouldn't take it well, either. And now, since no one's around, that person isn't going to get off as easy as a basketball in the face. "Well, why don't you come with me, and we'll handle Alex together, OK? Vine, Cannon, Gale, could you take care of those two?"

"Of course! Come on, ladies!" The three of them stepped out of the bushes. I stayed where I was for a moment, but then I started to hear some noises I shouldn't have, and decided it would be polite and proper to leave. I don't think that they're exactly "Torturing the Trespassers." Whatever. After all, it's now time to get my blue-haired, blue-eyed victim! Muahahahaha!

Surprisingly, I was able to Teleport right to where Alex is. That must be a new feature, or just part of this weird Isaac becoming all-powerful deal. Moving right along, I saw that Alex was sitting on the shore of a lake that was about halfway between Old Vale and New Vale. I crouched behind some bushes with Fizz right beside. I motioned for her to transform. I…I…She was right. Fizz looked exactly like Mia. No flaws whatsoever. The only difference is that she was wearing a white, silk nightgown. I have never seen Mia wear one before. I'm not exactly sure, but something from the back of my mind was telling me that the picture didn't look right. I wonder…

Alex POV

I know where I am. The ruins of Vale must be somewhere in this forest. I bet that's why the whole world thinks it's haunted. Seriously. I have been mind reading a lot of people around the area ever since I was dumped here in this era, and everyone agrees. I guess that's a side effect of having a part of the Golden Sun. I now can perform basic and more advanced spells from all four elements, though I've found out that I'm exceptionally gifted in Jupiter magic in addition to my native Mercury spells.

I'm glad I'm not alone, though, if the Isaac from earlier is the Isaac I know. It would make sense, since if what the baka rock told me is true, then he would have the other part of the Golden Sun, and the most likely person to be alive at this time. It'll be nice to see him, again. After all, Scarf Boy is my favorite verbal torture victim…Hehe. I don't even know why I'm here getting hopelessly lost in this forest, instead of looking for him.

I'm getting nowhere fast in this forest. I could just warp myself to the house, but I can't risk it if those two blabbering idiots are following me. I don't want the entirety of this evil, racist place to know I'm an adept. Wait…what's wrong with me? Why do I care if they know? I am vastly superior to them all! I could easily conquer the entire world using half of my power. So, why do I care if they know about my powers? That rock must have done something to me…

I've been walking for about a half an hour through these god-cursed woods and there has been no sign whatsoever of any house. I'm known for my patience, but I should at least have had a sign by now! That's it! This was all just a trick or some practical joke! I'll get even with them! Hold on…I see a light ahead! Maybe they weren't lying after all. But still, I want to thank them for leading me on this wild goose chase. Maybe as a favor, I'll introduce them to my friend Mr. Flare Storm. Maybe. If they behave themselves.

Well, as it would turn out, the light was just the moon reflecting off this small lake. Maybe I should have Mr. Spark Plasma pay them a visit instead. Many humans nowadays are scared of lightning for some strange reason. But, I'm digressing from the point: I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. Might as well stay by the lake. It seems peaceful enough, and it beats having to spend the energy to teleport myself to Mercury Lighthouse. Though, I'm really cold…

It's been barely ten minutes and I can't get to sleep. No matter how hard I try, I'm still wide-awake. I've had this problem in this time. Not even casting Sleep on myself fifty times helps. Though, it never seems to work on Mercury adepts for some reason. I don't think this blatant lack of rest is doing me good, either. I've been pretty sick ever since I came into the future, and Ply isn't helping. I always seem to be cold, too. I'm even having hallucinations that Mia is sitting on the lakeshore about five meters from me. Though, I know it isn't Mia. She always told me that she wouldn't be caught dead in a silk nightgown. Even though, it looks exactly like her. No difference from what I can tell. But, if it is my imagination, then I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway.

The hallucination Mia lifted herself very Mia-like from the ground and started walking into the forest. Maybe my mind is telling me to walk into the forest. sigh Here we go again…

I don't know how, exactly, but "Mia" seems to know exactly where she is going. After about twenty minutes, we reached a river. And on the other side of the river was…the house. How did my mind know exactly where it was? Well, if you have part of infinite power, it'll do that to you. Strangely enough, "Mia" used Psynergy to freeze the water and create a bridge across. But, if Mia is part of my mind…then why didn't I feel the drain? Either something's up or I've gotten so powerful that it doesn't matter. As much as I'd like to say the latter, if I did actually use Psynergy, I'd at least feel it.

I cautiously step across the ice bridge. It's frozen all the way down to the bank, which is extremely unusual, and would have cost a lot of a person's Psynergy. I skate across on my sneakers and reach the far shore. Mia disappears. However, the lights in the house are on. I have a feeling that I know exactly who's home, though. The same person who thought it would be funny to throw a basketball in my face. My head still hurts.

Isaac POV

This isn't good. While it is perfect that Alex fell for Fizz's impression, I seem to have picked up a huge headache. And, CURE ISN'T HELPING! What a lovely time to get a migraine…And I'm STILL HOT! Maybe I have a fever or something.

I quickly leave the house through the window before Alex reached my door, stifling certain words that I have learned from some not too moral people. My head HURTS! I was too busy with my own problem to see that Alex was having the same problem. Though, he, being who he is, was handling it much better than I was. Then, of all times, I just had to cough. I've been doing that a lot lately.

Alex quickly turned around and grabbed me by the collar from the bushes. It's strange, but the moment his hand touched me, I felt…a sort of tingling sensation that spread all over. Then, this sounds really weird, but I went all…floaty…and I wasn't hot anymore…

From the shocked expression on his face, I could tell he felt the same thing. He quickly let go of me. "Hello, Scarf Boy! I knew you would be hiding out here."

Grrrrr…I hate that nickname! "Alex, what an unpleasant surprise. What would the likes of you be doing with a humble adept as me?"

"Humble? Isaac, come on. You know that you're the most powerful Venus Adept in the world, today."

"Yea, maybe because I'M THE ONLY ONE!"

"Well yes, that's true, but I was referring to way back when. I know you won't admit it, but even I could tell you were better than Felix. He relied too much on his sword, which didn't exactly enhance his attunement with the Earth."

Alex was complementing me? This is too good to be true. "Who knew that Alex could actually have a nice side? I can't believe you're being nice to me."

"Of course, Scarf Boy! I'm not above such things. Though, you could have found something better than a basketball to hit me with. Not that I'm complaining."

I knew it! "Like meteors, large nails, swords, anything pointy or sharp…Not that it would have mattered." I gritted through my teeth.

"Oh really? I'm flattered you think I'm strong enough to be impervious to such things, but even I would get at least a scratch."

"Huh?" Now I'm really confused. Didn't he get the power of the Golden Sun? Doesn't he have infinite power? "But, don't you have immortality? I mean, last time I checked, you did have the power of the Golden Sun."

He turned and looked at me sharply before his eyes got an evil glint. You know, the "I know something you don't, and I'm not going to tell you" glint. "Oh?" He said in that purring, catlike voice that I hate with a VERY strong passion. "Is it true that the baka rock did not tell his favorite hero what he did to him? My, my, this might be simpler than I imagined…" He started coming closer to me with that evil look that he does very well. I started fearing for my sanity…and well being.

"Well, let's just say that you have something of mine, and I want it back." He was still coming closer to me, eventually backing me up against a tree. We were touching again, and I felt all tingly and floaty…which didn't help the situation. I'm not supposed to feel this! Especially from him!

He started doing something. It looked like he was going to cast Drain, but different. My head started hurting again. It was burning, now…on fire…burning…please, stop…my head…please…"STOP!" And suddenly it stopped. But that's because there was an explosion.

Alex and I were knocked back several feet. The impact snapped the tree in half, and I landed against a branch. Alex smashed against my house. But that wasn't what I was looking at. A large, purple vortex complete with lightning had formed where Alex and I were two seconds ago. It was pulling us in, but by the time I realized that, there was nothing left to hold on to. It felt like I was being shattered into a million pieces…all I could do was open my mouth and let out a gigantic scream…

"Dangnabit! I HATE THESE STUPID PINEAPPLES!"

Farmer David Brown of Apojii Islands was angry. Everyone in his family was hitting it big with tourism and luxury resorts while he was doomed to watch over the family pineapple orchard. Now he had a big problem. Someone or something was taking all his pineapples. Just when he bent down to the ground to look for clues, he heard a cry for help. It was a scream, a cry of pain. There was someone out there who was in trouble. Listening closely, he tried to hear the sound again, but to no avail. Thinking the Coast Guard would get it, he shrugged and continued to tend to his plants.