NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Spin-off thread from here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=549818

IC:

So, the bounties have been posted all over the Holonet. Well, I would be remiss if I didn't get chased all over the galaxy by the Bounty Hunter's Guild. Not to mention I like to show off to the chagrin of the Empress. It also didn't help that I decided to take my son Travis along on some one-on-one training and to speed him away from those problems on Issus with time-travelling robots and demons.

"If you two get killed, I'll find a necromancer to bring you back and kill you again!" Katrina Masaki shouted as we left. "My Territorial Oaks and Struttin' Mushrooms need new fertilizer!"

Ouch. Why I married her in the first place, I'll never know. Well, it was probably something to do with love, or perhaps Kami just wanted a laugh. Either way, I digress.

So, the two of us were currently in the midst of a random urban location, perfect battleground for the likes of us. Today's lesson for Travis? How to use speed effectively in battle. The kid's quick, but he could definitely use with some additional speed.

"Speed?" Travis asked as we were walking down an alleyway.

"Yeah, speed. You're quick, but really, anyone Knight-rank or better can outblitz you. The only reason you can beat someone like that is because you're like Naruto: you have oodles of stamina and the guts to get up after everyone else is KOed." I explained. "Still, that doesn't help when you get pounded by a powerful first blow. Today's lesson is a lesson on the most useful skill in the Jedi Shinobi's arsenal: Shunshin, also known to some folks as Shunpo or simply, Flash-step."

Travis nodded, but he had a thought. "Sounds cool. Though, I don't see many Jedi using that skill."

"Yeah. I'd like to change that. Unfortunately, Master Blayden's rather traditionalist on the issue. Plus, Force Speed doesn't really have the same effect and isn't as fast. Hopefully, if Iruka-sensei gets the Headmaster's job...but that's another discussion and not pertinent to today's lesson."

"Ok. So...when are you going to show it to me?" Travis asked.

"Ah...as soon as some random idiot decides to collect the bounty on us." I chuckled. Actually, I wasn't really sure about that. Still, it shouldn't be long.

"But that could take ages!" Travis grumbled loudly. "When are you going to show me...owww!"

"Patience." I grinned even as I bonked the kid on the head with my fist. "A target shall appear. I can sense it..."

((I call first shot!))

It had been years since Al and Nagi had ever traveled. The last time was on a trip to see the ilKhan, and that ended up turning into a bodyguard job because the Jade Falcon Clan had decided to wage a Trial of Position. If hadn't been for them, Clan Wolf would've lost their title as ruling clan. Now, they were traveling through what they considered the unknown. They were traveling through the territory of the Core Worlds with fake ID cards to get them around, and were, coincidentally, in the same general area as Daniel and Travis.

"Seriously, Al, I can't believe you talked me into goin' on this trip," Nagi complained, holding his hands behind his head as he walked alongside his partner.

"Oh, come now, Nagi," Al retorted. "You know full well as I that you needed this trip. You've done nothing but stress over the whole Caligula incident. It's about time you relaxed and gotten to know about the Core Worlds culture."

"Chyeah right," Nagi said. As he said that, he would then bump into Travis as they walked by, which would probably knock the poor kid over. Nagi's response? "Hey, watch where the fuck you're goin', kid! I'm walkin' here!"

And all Al could do was stop, shaking his head as he knew what was coming...

Travis was knocked down on his ass. "Oy! Watch it, old man!"

I groaned and facepalmed my face. The kid needs a lesson in manners. Just hope that it doesn't require bashing his face in.

Als face contorted into a snicker as he watched Nagi flip out at being called old. "Listen, you little punk!" Nagi would then lean over, grasp Travis by the collar of his shirt, and hoist him up with one hand without so much as straining. Nagi's six-foot form would hold Travis about two feet over the ground, and his other hand would begin to glow as he concentrated some of his magic into it. He would then reel back and deliver a strike towards Travis' stomach. If the punch landed, it would send Travis sailing about fifteen feet backwards, and Nagi would continue to talk.

"Respect your fuckin' elders, you little shit! You shoulda gotten outta my way! Now I'm gonna make sure you learn why you don't fuck with people on the street!"

"Nagi-!"

"Shut up, Al!"

"But Nagi-"

"I said shut up!"

"Alright, but it's your funeral..."

Al glanced over at Daniel, giving him a quaint nod, as if to say, "Go ahead. Kick his ass, if you can..."

Travis was hoisted up by the scruff of his shirt, and was about to get his stomach pounded in by a glowing (glowing? interesting...) fist when he disappeared in a poof of smoke, 'replacing' himself with an ordinary log that took the brunt of the attack.

"Now, now, my friend. Don't let your anger cloud your judgement." I reasoned, trying to avoid a fight. Here, any fight would cause lots of damage. "Besides, if anyone is to discipline my son, it's me. And he surely will need a lesson soon!"

Travis gulped from somewhere else as I said that last bit loudly.

"Fine then," Nagi said, cracking his knuckles while focusing his attention on Daniel now. "You can pass this along!"

Suddenly, Nagi was right on top of Daniel, his knee striking out towards Daniel's sternum. At the same time, he then began to conjure seven lightning arrows in his mind, and as he did, each one would pop into existence, crackling with energy as they begain to float in a circle behind Nagi.

He's pretty fast! I thought as I blocked the knee strike, and returned a chop to the neck. Well, I guess I have no choice but to end this...

I noted the lightning crackling behind Nagi and mused that this was an interesting person. I sensed something emanating from it, but it wasn't the Force. Chakra, perhaps?

Whatever it was, I began rubbing the air around me as well, building up a charge. It seems that there are two lightning users around here, but as they all say, There Can be Only One!

Hmph, was Nagis only thought as he brought up his left arm to counter the strike, and he stepped into Daniel's strike with his right leg, going for a leg hook to try and knock Daniel off-balance. At the same time, he would double-palm strike towards Daniels chest, the lightning arrows swirling around his arms to lash out at the same time his palm strikes would.

Hmph, was Nagis only thought as he brought up his left arm to counter the strike, and he stepped into Daniel's strike with his right leg, going for a leg hook to try and knock Daniel off-balance. At the same time, he would double-palm strike towards Daniels chest, the lightning arrows swirling around his arms to lash out at the same time his palm strikes would.
As Nagi moved in for a leg hook, I held firm, not allowing myself to get hoodwinked, so to speak and as he moved for a palm strike, I countered by putting up a wall of force to take the physical blow, and as for the Lightning attack? Well, that's when I planted my feet and let myself slide with the blow. It shoved me backwards, but I turned that into a flip and landed feet first. It hurt, but not as much as it would if I wasn't a Lightning Master and thus highly resistant to such attacks.

OOC: I call seconds to continue further RP's of Cassandra. However, I gotta finnish that RP with ND...

OOC: I call Daniel Masaki.

Why? Because I'm betting I can bring him down.

In the meanwhile, the Allaneans continued their work – Kaznsky made the announcement that he would bring higher bounties to anybody who brought the sought-after personnel to him, alive, rather than to the Empire, dead. ACIA personnel were already working to post the news on this all over the Holonet, and many Allaneans found their way into the Empire.

Officially, they were all bounty hunters. And most of them were – but some, of course, were in fact ACIA agents. Their tiny ships – SSUV personal travel craft, modified X-wings or FTL-capable shuttles – spread across the various planets.

And the toughest, fastest, and most experienced among these men was Simon Keats. He wore a Liberty City Stallions cap, a large photographer's vest with way too many pockets, and under that vest he wore multiple Hellpistols in a brace.

In the past, he had hunted down 125 men, or at least that's what the official CV on his website said. And right now, he felt like he deserved to retire in peace – and if he got even one of the hunted men, he would be able to do so.

The time for Keats' final hunt had come.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/bat-smg/thumb/9/92/Burt_Gummer.jpg/240px-Burt_Gummer.jpg

OOC: I won't be going after anyobdy until I talk to Coreworlds and we talk plotlines.

Nagi's stance then automatically switched to what looked like a defensive stance. His left foot was planted directly in front of him, his toes pointing towards Daniel's right. His left arm was bent at ninety degrees, placed just in front of him in a perpendicular-across fashion to his body. His right arm was bent in the same fashion, but instead of guarding, his fist was clenched and facing forward. Several more arrows had been conjured by now, but this time of the fire persuasion. There were eleven of them, each hovering in silence, their flames not even uttering a sound. And there he would stand, waiting for Daniel to make a move.

Meanwhile, Al had walked into a nearby coffee store to purchase himself a warm cup of coffee. Once he had paid the cashier, he would then make his way back to where Daniel and Nagi were bouting.

For my next trick, I shall produce a hurricane of epic proportions! A half-finished building became a large hail of dangerous debris as it exploded outward and rained towards Nagi.

=====

Meanwhile, Al had walked into a nearby coffee store to purchase himself a warm cup of coffee. Once he had paid the cashier, he would then make his way back to where Daniel and Nagi were bouting.
"So...um...who are you guys?" Travis asked, standing upside down on a tree branch next to Al.

Nagi's reaction was quick as he delayed the spell he had created, disguising it as a failed attempt to keep the spell on reserve. As the rain of dangerous objects came down upon him, he would jump into the air, planting his foot on the most solid, and the largest, of the pieces of debris, and using shunpo, began to bounce rapidly between each piece of large debris, smacking and bashing away any other piece of debris that made its way into his path. On the last shunpo, he burst through a large piece of debris, protecting his face to prevent damage. Upon landing, he would be to the left of Daniel, and would be facing him yet again. Meanwhile, he would keep the first set of eleven fire arrows on reserve, and cast eleven earth arrows, their floating forms resembling large chunks of rock.

Al had now turned his attention to Travis. "In order to learn an individual's origin, one must observe how they fight," he said. Taking a sip of coffee, he added, "And I do apologize about my friend. His temper is quite...apocalyptic at the moment..."

Nagi's reaction was quick as he delayed the spell he had created, disguising it as a failed attempt to keep the spell on reserve. As the rain of dangerous objects came down upon him, he would jump into the air, planting his foot on the most solid, and the largest, of the pieces of debris, and using shunpo, began to bounce rapidly between each piece of large debris, smacking and bashing away any other piece of debris that made its way into his path. On the last shunpo, he burst through a large piece of debris, protecting his face to prevent damage. Upon landing, he would be to the left of Daniel, and would be facing him yet again. Meanwhile, he would keep the first set of eleven fire arrows on reserve, and cast eleven earth arrows, their floating forms resembling large chunks of rock.
"Not bad. Not bad at all." I muttered with a grin. Then, a meter-thick bolt of Lightning then erupted from my closed forefingers, aiming straight for Nagi as he landed to the left of me. I didn't even need to turn to cast said technique.

Al had now turned his attention to Travis. "In order to learn an individual's origin, one must observe how they fight," he said. Taking a sip of coffee, he added, "And I do apologize about my friend. His temper is quite...apocalyptic at the moment..."
"I see. I guess I'll just watch this battle. Your friend's pretty cool, though." Travis said as he released his hold on the branch and flipped to the ground.

The lightning attack took Nagi by surprise, somewhat, and as it struck forth towards him, he barely managed to converge the eleven earth arrows into one large arrow. It had barely gotten more then a meter from him when it impacted the lightning bolt, sending a shockwave that shoved Nagi backwards a couple feet, his feet sliding along the concrete as he kept his balance.

"A lightning master, huh?" Nagi chuckled, smirking. "Bah. You don't stand a chance."

Nagi then planted his feet apart from each other, his stance changing to an offensive fighting stance. "Now, show me what you've got."

"Yes, but he also has a hot head, and he rarely thinks before acting," Al replied to Travis, sipping his coffee. He had taken a seat upon one of the pieces of debris that had made its way in their direction. His hood was flipped back, revealing him to be a rather androgynous individual.

The lightning attack took Nagi by surprise, somewhat, and as it struck forth towards him, he barely managed to converge the eleven earth arrows into one large arrow. It had barely gotten more then a meter from him when it impacted the lightning bolt, sending a shockwave that shoved Nagi backwards a couple feet, his feet sliding along the concrete as he kept his balance.

"A lightning master, huh?" Nagi chuckled, smirking. "Bah. You don't stand a chance."

Nagi then planted his feet apart from each other, his stance changing to an offensive fighting stance. "Now, show me what you've got."
"That was nothing but sparks." I smirked the patented Masaki Smirk as I speedily produced several seals. "Try this! Lightning Style: Roar of the Seven Thunders!"

Immediately after my execution of the technique, the sky darkened as thick clouds rolled in like they were checking out a new home. Flickers of light and a bit of rumbling occurred, before seven devastating lightning bolts rained down in tandem from the sky, each one as powerful as the first one I unleashed. As they aimed for Nagi, each one was accompanied by a loud thunderclap that could disorient the enemy because of the way the sound waves pounds through the body.

"Geez! Dad's awesome!" Travis squeaked in excitement.

"Yes, but he also has a hot head, and he rarely thinks before acting," Al replied to Travis, sipping his coffee. He had taken a seat upon one of the pieces of debris that had made its way in their direction. His hood was flipped back, revealing him to be a rather androgynous individual.
"Ack!" Travis was surprised that the 'man' was androgynous. Then again, hoods like to hide features. "Are you a guy or a girl?! I can't tell the difference!"

This wasn't the life he'd been promised. The Jedi had spoken of great deeds and honor and a whole bunch of other cool stuff when he'd been snatched away from his homeworld and taken to Dantooine to undergo his training as a Jedi. He'd reached Knighthood as quickly as most, and had distinguished himself in the Mandalorian Wars through his excellent lightsaber talents, at one time he'd been considered one of the best duelists in the Order.

That had all changed after the so-called Jedi Civil War. He'd left the Jedi in disgust, left their hippocritical ways behind and started anew. If he walked any path nowadays, it was that of the Gray Jedi, those who tread the middle-ground and bore no affiliation to either side of that annoying thing they called the 'Force'. Jazack Zeevaan was a powerfully-built Argonian, basically a lizard-man with aquatic angles to his physique and a short tail, along with a fin-ear on either side of his head. Argonians were built for speed in the water, but were quite at home on dry land as well.

Jazz, as he was more commonly known, since no specie he'd ever met, not counting his own, had been able to pronounce it correctly. The little nickname was easier than punching every single idiot that said it wrong in the face repeatedly until by the grace of whatever god they prayed to they got it right, or lost conciousness...

"It better be fixed by the time I come back this time. I'm tired of sitting on your planet..."

His ship, the 'Riptide', had broken down again, and he didn't have the needed tools to make the repairs this time. He didn't have the credits either, but the mechanic didn't know that. While he was reluctant to use the Force under any circumstances, Argonians were well-known for their ability to absorb or deflect energy without a lightsaber. They didn't, however, have much facility in the telekinetic aspects of their Force talents, like pushing and pulling. If he absorbed enough energy, however, Jazz was more than capable of crushing someone alive while holding them in mid-air or fatally smashing them through a permacrete wall. It was a useful, if somewhat painful, talent. He still had his lightsabers, too, but they always stayed on his belt and let his heavily-modified Zabrak heavy blasters do the talking and dispute resolution. With the Zabrack reputation for destructiveness, it usually got the point across without him having to leave a smoking crater in someone's chest. There was one on either thigh in a quick-draw holster, while his seldom-used lightsabers sat parallel at the small of his back.

When he spoke the word 'tired', Jazz gripped the handle of the right-side blaster, adding a bit of weight to his words that the human mechanic seemed to understand. Jazz had things to do, and once they were done, he wanted to leave this Sith-forsaken planet. Among his tasks for the day, he needed to collect on a bounty or two so he could get his ship back without having to break any of the mechanic's limbs. At the top of his list was the name of 'Masaki', followed by at least three first names: Daniel, Travis, and Jesse.

The name sounded familiar, and at last he remembered that he'd met a pair of Masaki boys on his last visit to Dantooine. While too ingrained with the Jedi teachings for him to feel anything but distaste for them, they'd never wronged him. Credits were credits, however, and he needed credits. Jazz wasn't one for emotions or really any feelings at all for that matter...

"Halt! By order of Imperial Law, I demand that you hand over your weapons!"

Dammit, he'd forgotten that the Empire ran this planet, and with that came their white-armored cronies. Jazz knew his heavy blasters were illegal in every corner of Imperial space, like most Zabrak hardware, and to hand them over would get him a lengthy prison sentence. Nobody took a weapon from Jazz, however, and he kept walking.

The stormtrooper stepped in his way, and Jazz grabbed him by the upper lip of his chest plate and yanked him forward, slamming his own forehead into that of the helmet, causing a few hairline cracks and leaving the trooper limp in his grip. Jazz tossed him aside without even stopping his stride, kicking the fallen E-11 blaster rifle out of his way with a Republic standard-issue boot he'd kept after the Mandalorian Wars and exiting the space-port to see some sort of scuffle in the distance...

"They're making this too easy..."

The gray Jedi robes swirled about him as he continued walking towards the flashes of lightning in the distance. He'd collect this bounty quickly and move onto the next...

Nagi was practically blown away from the first strike, sent flying into the air by the shockwave rather than the bolt of lightning itself. He quickly recovered in mid-air, however, concentrating his magic and his ki enough to...fly?! Yup. That's exactly what he was doing. As each of the following lightning bolts made their attempts to strike him, Nagi would quickly, and mentally, recite counter-spells to protect himself, using his sagitta magica to deflect each of the incoming bolts while dodging. On the final one, he would flip backwards to completely dodge it, planting his feet on the wall of a building.

It seemed like quite a long time that Nagi was there, but in actuality, it was only a fraction of a second as he quickly concentrated his ki into his feet, and, releasing it with an explosive force, used the ultimate form of shunpo available to any master of the technique. The side of the building would be torn asunder by the explosive release of the ki, leaving a decent-sized crater in it, as well as cracking it, causing it to fall apart ever so slowly. In the split second it would take to reach Daniel, Nagi would mentally think the word, "Emmitam." This key word would release his delayed fire arrows, which would only be visible behind him for another split second before they converged into a single point around his fist, which was out-stretched to strike Daniel square in the forehead.

"I'm a man, thank you," Al replied with a sarcastic tone to his voice. He then sipped his coffee once more before speaking again. "Seems Nagi's pulling out all the stops. I hope your dad's ready to have his dignity handed to him."

Nagi was practically blown away from the first strike, sent flying into the air by the shockwave rather than the bolt of lightning itself. He quickly recovered in mid-air, however, concentrating his magic and his ki enough to...fly?! Yup. That's exactly what he was doing. As each of the following lightning bolts made their attempts to strike him, Nagi would quickly, and mentally, recite counter-spells to protect himself, using his sagitta magica to deflect each of the incoming bolts while dodging. On the final one, he would flip backwards to completely dodge it, planting his feet on the wall of a building.

It seemed like quite a long time that Nagi was there, but in actuality, it was only a fraction of a second as he quickly concentrated his ki into his feet, and, releasing it with an explosive force, used the ultimate form of shunpo available to any master of the technique. The side of the building would be torn asunder by the explosive release of the ki, leaving a decent-sized crater in it, as well as cracking it, causing it to fall apart ever so slowly. In the split second it would take to reach Daniel, Nagi would mentally think the word, "Emmitam." This key word would release his delayed fire arrows, which would only be visible behind him for another split second before they converged into a single point around his fist, which was out-stretched to strike Daniel square in the forehead.
I smirked at Nagi as he headed straight at me, fist obviously charged with fire energy, charging with great speed and power as observed by the ruined apartment. Unfortunately for him, my perception of time slowed down as I gathered my powers and he began appearing like he was some kind of "Chariots of Fire" reject. Pinning chakra to my feet, I moved out of the way of his attack. To Travis, observing this battle, I was here one moment, then suddenly was behind my foe in a moment of flickering. No teleport necessary, just pure speed. This, my son, was Shunpo.

Grinning, I raised my hand and shoved. The telekinetic assault actually buckled the ground with the sheer force of it...

"I'm a man, thank you," Al replied with a sarcastic tone to his voice. He then sipped his coffee once more before speaking again. "Seems Nagi's pulling out all the stops. I hope your dad's ready to have his dignity handed to him."
"Not yet. A Masaki's never down until he's out." Travis grinned, watching his dad pull out all the stops. He's never seen his father go all-out, and it was quite a lesson to learn. Whoa. So that's Shunpo, and that other guy knows it too...Cool!

Nagi was surprised. Another Shunpo user? Impressive. He didn't think that it existed outside of the Maho Caste. He allowed his converged fire magic to instantly dissipate, and as Daniel made his move with his telekinetic shove, Nagi flipped over, planting his hand on the ground with just his fingers, and in mid-flip, concentrated his ki into his hand and used shunpo once more. He would then appear on the side of a light pole of some type, causing quite the large dent in it, and used shunpo once more, using his feet this time. He would then think to himself quickly, and in the instant he had traveled from the light pole to within a meter of Daniel, he had visibly conjured two hundred ninety nine fire arrows, which floated in a massive, seemingly uncontrolable swarm, their movement patterns seeming to be erratic, and their very existence seeming to phase in and out. In actuality, Nagi was flexing his magical power, rapidly increasing and decreasing the amount of power within each arrow, as well as moving them around, to make it seem as if he was having a hard time controling the amount of arrows he had conjured.

For now, however, not only would he continue to fight, but he would increase his pace to seem as though he were becoming frantic. To start it off, he would, after having landed from his second shunpo, charge towards Daniel, throwing a series of wild punches at him.

I noted that my opponent was beginning to pick up the pace and wasn't fooled by the seemingly wild swings as I figured he was trying to catch me in a feint. Well, if that's the case...

It was time to fight fire with fire. While lightning was my signature element, it wasn't the only element I knew as I shunpo'ed out of the path of Nagi's wild swings. Running quickly through slightly less familiar seals, I started off with the classic Grand Fireball spewing from my mouth to immolate him, incidently melting a localized section of street in the process.

OOC: I'm going to move on tomorrow...

Nagi did not bother to shunpo this time. Instead, he countered the fireball with his own, holding onto the fire arrows while casting Flagrantia Rubicans. This second spell was easily of equivalent power to Daniel's own attack. Meanwhile, he decided to abort the feint, and as soon as he had gotten the Flagrantia Rubicans off, he used the brief explosion as a chance to mask his next attack. He would then super-charge the fire arrows, and in a final display of power, fired them off in series form rather than the converged form, effectively creating a field of fire that wouldn't be too easy to dodge. Meanwhile, Nagi would conduct their direction, moving them as Daniel would move to evade them.

Well, he's good...time to end this. I thought as I swiftly dodged the fire arrows using an impressive series of acrobats and rolls, and even used a classic Wind technique to blow out the last flames like candles. But mere fire, lightning and wind were nothing compared to what I could unleash.

Wind swirled around me as I began gathering chakra and Force reserves for the penultimate technique in my arsenal. The skies grew even darker and had all the appearance of a tornadic supercell, the most dangerous storm short of hurricanes. Even Travis found himself fighting gusts at times as his father built up immense power. He wondered if he would become that powerful one day.

"Is this...Dad's power?" He asked in wonder.

"This is it, friend." I smirked at Nagi as I finished my seals and ended with the Dragon seal. "My second most powerful technique! I commend you for viewing it, for it's not every day that I use it! Raiton: Rairyuudan no Jutsu! (Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon Blast Technique!)"

A blinding flash lit the area as a giant bolt of lightning in the form of a long-bodied dragon roared like thunder in challenge and burst out of the clouds aiming for Nagi, mouth open as if to eat him...

Yet as Daniel made to prepare his technique, Nagi was quickly reciting his own spell. Originally, he had intended to use it as the final blow to deliver directly at Daniel. But now it seemed that he had to redirect it.

"Veniant Spīritūs Āeriālēs Fulgurientēs! Cum Fulgurātiōne Flet Tempestās Austrīna! Jovis Tempestās Fulguriēns!"

Upon the final words, Nagi released the spell directly at the electric dragon falling upon him. The blast manifested as a torrent of wind, lightning, and pure light energy. The light and lightning energy would manifest in the center, whilst the scything wind would manifest itself in a visible vortex. However, unlike his son's version of this spell, Nagi's was by far more powerful and visibly so. The centralized beam of light and lightning energy was easily of equivalent size to the dragon itself. With the surrounding vortex enveloping it, to those who had no idea what was going on, it would seem as if an upside-down class three tornado were trying to shove its way into the dragon's mouth.

And as the two opposing energies met, a white light would soon begin to blind those around it...

"Uh oh..." Travis blinked as he sensed a massive buildup. "Take cover!"

Suddenly, it was as if the universe divided by zero and all I could manage was "Oh, shi-!"

A massive explosion tore through the battleground and glass shattered up to five miles away, with an EMP spewing out electronic-killing power as far away as 20 miles away. An ominously classic mushroom cloud rose over the battleground and emergency services almost immediately began rolling in. Luckily, people have already evacuated when news of Daniel Masaki fighting an unknown supernatural user (was it a Sith? was the main speculation) so injuries were minimal. Except for the fact that three, probably four people were involved at ground zero.

I was thrown into a building and blacked out. What happened to the others, I wouldn't know until I returned to consciousness...

Nagi as practically buried in rubble as a building came down on him. Thankfully, he had managed to use his remaining energy to erect an anti-material barrier, and at this point, he was just trying to hold it up. He grit his teeth because of the strain, but still he held it.

In the meantime, little seemed to have happened in regards to Al. He still sat at the same place, still sipping the same coffee had had bought before hand. Behind him was the cowering form of Travis, whom he casually ignored. Throughout the entire face-off, he had kept a nearly unnoticeable anti-material shield up around his person, not to mention increased the gravity in a five-foot radius of himself to nearly two hundred times normal, effectively preventing any flying objects from making their way towards him.

When I came to, I was buried in a pile of sheetrock and duracrete, and I had a bunch of painful scars all over my body. Not to mention that I feel like I'm going to be limping for a while. For a moment, though, I didn't know what happened to get me into this predicament. Then I remembered. One of those colliding beam attack situations have occurred. Who knew it would happen to me?

Groaning, I struggled to remove the pile of dead building material off me with TK and managed it, barely. Then, with effort worthy of the Emperor of All the Coreworlds (I'm really the Field Marshal of the Starfighter Corps, but people refuse to acknowledge my resignation for some reason) I limped out of the broken building and into a street full of wailing cop cars, fire trucks and ambuluances.

"Lord Masaki!" Captain Strong of the Yorkshire Police Department growled as he realized who I was under all that dirt. "I knew you would be involved! How are you going to pay for all this damage?!"

I groaned even as medics clucked over me like hens. I'm in deep poodoo now!

Meanwhile, Travis stopped cowering when he realized that he wasn't dead. "Huh? Wow...I'm so lucky..."

Al seemed to think that it was all a minor incident, which, combined with the powerful shield he erected over the two of them, made Travis think that he was in the same league as that other guy, and certainly out of his league!

But now it was time to go to Dad and help him heal up.

Jazz simply shook his head at the display...

"Idiots..."

Masaki had just made himself an easy target and this was an opportunity he wasn't going to waste. Jazz grabbed hold of an exposed electrical conduit, feeling the hot surge of energy smash into his nervous system. His energy-absorbtion talents held, however, and he was able to lauch himself into the air through a massive telekinetic shove, using what little energy remained to control his descent, allowing him to land soft enough that he didn't have to roll to bleed of any deadly airspeed.

With a casual stroll he approached the unfolding chaos, right hand resting on his right blaster in a lazy manner...

"The bad news, Captain, is that he won't be paying for any of it. The good news is that I'm collecting his bounty, if that's any consolation..."

The gleam in his eyes sent any medical personnel staggering back a few steps...

"Mr. Masaki, you're coming with me. It seems someone wants to talk to you, and they're paying an awful lot to arrange the meeting..."

Jazz was already in a foul mood and was about one remark away from simply cratering the man's chest with a blaster-shot and hauling his corpse back to his ship, where he'd crater the face of the incompetent mechanic and return the body for the reduced fee, provided the deceased mechanic had fully repaired the 'Riptide'...

OOC: What's your MSN, Wandering Argonians?

And no sooner had Jazz spoken when the twelve feet thick rubble containing Nagi's form suddenly blew out. The rubble was reduced to smaller chunks has Nagi stepped out, his head bleeding just over his left eye, and most of his clothes were now tattered and torn. However, it didn't seem like he was hurt in any other way except on his head. Once freed, he looked about, searching for Daniel. Once his eyes laid upon Daniel, he bee-lined straight for him, not even looking to Jazz whatsoever. Anyone who tried to stop Nagi from moving towards Daniel would either be dragged along, or would be brushed by completely. Stopping just short of a meter away from Daniel, Nagi smiled.

"I gotta admit, that was some pretty awesome moves you pulled off," he said. "What's your name?"

As if on cue, a ton of ANBU that arrived via teleportation gave Jazz the Glare of Doom, and even the local cops looked like they wanted to drill some holes into him, some of them rather heavily armed. I smiled to Jazz. "If you think you can take me, you'll have to go through the best of the best, the guys who eat Sith up for breakfast. If you wish to die where you stand, be my guest."

I turned to Nagi. "Field Marshal Daniel Masaki, Lightning Master of the Jedi Order and Patriarch of the Masaki Clan, at your service. You've done pretty well, too. What's your name?"

Cue Travis Masaki, grinning like...well, a kid. "That was awesome! I wish I used one of those camera comms so I can put that battle over the Holonet!"

I grinned at the compliment, but my eye twitched slightly at the thought of this duel being plastered all over the net. If Travis didn't do it, then somebody surely has. "And this is my son and heir, Travis Masaki."

"I feel like I should press charges or something..." Captain Strong grumbled. "I'll just send you two chat-em-ups the bill!"

Jazz wasn't able to smile, more of a flaw of Argonian anatomy than anything. He had survived worse odds, and the sum of credits he was being offered made backing down an impossibility...

"I've asked nicely, which is more than most of my targets get. I hadn't placed you as a coward, but calling in help through teleportation is a bit much for someone supposedly as skilled as yourself. Either you come quietly, or we leave a larger mess than you've already created and a lot more people die..."

The energy absorbtion would keep him alive through most of the energy weapon fire, but he might need to pull his trump card this time. Jazz usually kept a small shield generator hidden on his belt, which meant he didn't have to resort to his lightsabers, but the generator only had so much of a charge in it. Jazz casually crossed his arms, keeping his hands away from the grips of his over-powered blaster pistols. Something told him this wasn't going to be easy, but nothing ever was. The cold gleam in his reptillian eyes spoke of a resolve in his words and a willingness to turn then into action without any hesitation...

"I leave the choice up to you..."

He wasn't surprised that the arrogant man had no idea who he was, few did and Jazz preferred it that way. Then again, there weren't too many Argonian ex-Jedi. Most stayed in the Order til they died, and a few had met their fate by his own two hands...

OOC: I don't have one. Just use the telegram system, as dated as it is.

"The name's Nagi Springfield, the Thousand Master and leader of the Maho Caste of the Clans. It's an honour to meet the famed Daniel Masaki at last." Nagi was going to out-stretch his hand in a handshake, but the reptilian man seemed to be acting in quite a hostile manner, so he kept his right hand out of sight, a small lightning bolt forming at the end of his fingers that was completely unnoticeable. For now, it was a waiting game.

I raised an eyebrow. "The leader of the Maho Caste of the Clans? Your reputation precedes you. I'd offer you a drink at the cafe, but..." I glanced at Jazz. "Captain?"

Captain Strong nodded and on cue, the local police began evacuating the area once more. The ANBU stood alert, waiting for my signal to descend upon Jazz and take him out.

"You're braver than I thought. Most would quail at the sight of the ANBU, many of whom I trained myself." I spoke conversationally, addressing Jazz. "But...no. I won't come with you. I have more important things to do than meet your 'benefactors'. I shall give you this chance to back down and go away in peace."

"Actually, let me take up that offer to treat you to a cafe." I turned back to Nagi, and began walking away with him. "I know this really good one in the northern district of the city..."

Geez. Dad's acting like nothing ever happened. Maybe this is another meaning within the meaning lesson for me... Travis thought. He was more nervous about the second brewing fight than his father was, which belied his inexperience.

Jazz emitted a sigh, then whipped one of his blasters from its holster...

"You're not leaving me with many options here, Masaki. I am not a terribly wealthy sentient, nor am I very good at anything but fighting and that leaves my career options rather limited. Bounty hunting and mercenary work are about the extent of my choices, and you have a very large bounty on your head..."

Jazz leveled the large-framed weapon at the back of Masaki's skull, taking aim at the all-important brain-stem. DNA indentification was a wonderful thing, it meant that you didn't need someone's face to collect their bounty...

"You're worth a lot more alive than dead, however, and I am not unreasonable. You can either pay me twice what I'm getting to bring you to this mysterious individual, or you can pay me half of what they're giving me and I help you escape once you learn who this person is, and why they wish to talk to you so badly..."

Jazz paused for a moment to let his words find a place in his target's ears. The path of the gray Jedi was one of balance, lest he slip into the darkness he'd fought so hard to escape from last time. Masaki radiated enough light-side nonsense to make Jazz find him distasteful as it was, but that was a personal choice...

"It's been a while since I've done anything good for the galaxy at large, but the third option is that I shoot you in the back of the head where you stand and hope your son comes a little more quietly than you're doing. I'm not returning to my employer empty-handed..."

Jazz's tail twitched slightly, an aftereffect of the massive amount of raw electrical power he'd absorbed to launch himself as far as he did. The scent of ozone coming from Nagi's hand hinted at the presence of more energy about to be thrown his way, the reason he'd only drawn one blaster and left his left hand free to catch anything thrown his way without having to absorb it more painfully through his torso. While the damage that would have been caused by whatever energy impacting his frame would be negated, the pain was much more intense and he didn't need anything interrupting his concentration right now...

Yet before anyone could take a single action, Al would quietly step up behind Jazz, and in a solid voice, he made his presence known to the threatening Argonian.

"Perhaps I can mediate," he said, procuring a small pocket book. He also procured a pen, and then flipped open the pocket book, a check book within. "I am quite sure my net worth is much more than your benefactor's, sir. Perhaps I can quintuple whatever the offer you have been offered for Masaki-san's person? I am quite sure that it would suffice whatever your needs are for you and the next twelve generations of your line."

And while Al simply wrote the check, Nagi turned, his mouth agape. He stared upon his friend with sheer amazement and complete questioning. Never, in his entire friendship with Al, had he ever heard of him offering to pay someone off just to make them go away. Now the question was, would this bounty hunter actually believe Al?

Father and son both gaped. "Quintuple?!"

The bounty was 200 billion. Five times that...1 trillion credits!? Even the Ruling Clan didn't have that much in their coffers! How the hell did this guy have so much cash on hand?

Jazz was thinking much the same. He didn't turn around, but instead brought his second blaster up, leveling it with Al's head...

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take a step backwards first, if you step on my tail I'm going to shoot you. Second, you can't possibly have four times what I'm being offered to bring Masaki in, much less five. That's nothing short of ridiculous..."

Jazz remained respectful, as much as he disliked dealing with humans. The general public wasn't his target, and putting a bolt of highly destructive energy in someone that wasn't his registered target was sure to get him un-needed and annoying attention from the local peace-keepers...

As the chit-chat occurred, a small figure with blond hair came roof-hopping down to the area. He looked like a kid about ten, but his Force signature told us otherwise. Meet Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or "Hunny", for short, one of Coredia's best masters of the Ataru lightsaber style. They say he got in a duel with an evil Sith once and had a never-aging spell put on him. I don't really know, he never talks about it, but the girls sure love his cuteness.

"Master Masaki, Travis, and assorted people." He bowed. "There's a situation. Can I borrow Travis?"

"All right." I said, looking at Travis.

"I'm bored here." Travis grumbled. "I'll be fine."

"Great!" Hunny grinned and hopped onto a roof. "Let's go!"

Travis followed, grinning as hopefully something interesting happened.

Al looked down, and could see that he was stradling the Argonians tail. "Oh, I do apologize," he said, stepping to the side, and then walked within sight of Jazz, turning to face him. "However, even if you don't believe me, I'm quite sure that this check will not bounce. This is more to do with the fact that I am a collector of rare gem stones and high-value minerals, more as a hobby than for material wealth. My net worth is more than the nation I represent, by far. I would kindly like to insist that you take me up on my offer of payment, as I highly doubt that confrontation is what you're looking for."

"Al, why're you-" Nagi was about to step forward, but Al quickly snapped at him.

"Nagi, your temper got us into this situation," Al barked. "I would suggest you stand where you are and not get involved."

BTW, if anyone's wondering, we're on Kyoto, another Coredian planet.

"So Hunny-sempai? What's going on?" Travis asked the Short Cute One.

"Hmm...I forgot!" Hunny grinned, almost making Travis lose his footing as they roof-jumped across the city. "Just kidding! Well, remember all that bruhula about the Great Corusca Diamond that was stolen last week?"

"Yeah. It was supposed to be tightly secure, but someone broke in the museum at Kyoto City and stole it away. They said a Dark Jedi may have been involved."

Hunny nodded. "Pretty much. Well, I got some pretty good leads on the subject, and I figured that I'd gather a couple of friends and take care of this stuff. Well, here we are..."

They landed in a quiet part of the suburbs and headed into a particular restaurant. In the corner sat a wimpy-looking teenager slightly older than Travis with black hair reading a manga. He wore a short-sleeved white hoodie and underneath was a blue long sleeved shirt with the words 'Never Run Away. Never Turn Back.' on the front and dark khakis.

"Shinji?" Travis asked, surprised to see him here. "What's up?"

The teenager looked up. "Oh, hey, Travis! Glad to see you."

"Yeah, you too." Travis grinned. "Been a while."

"Yeah." Shinji put his book away.

Hunny smiled. "We're all here? Good! Listen up." He began unfurling a map that's so big it looks like he's able to stand in it and get lost in the buildings. He pointed to an industrial zone just north of Kagashima, the city that was ruined by the fight between Daniel and Nagi. "Our first lead is this industrial area here. The Dark Jedi was last seen heading there. However, for some weird reason, the industrial area's become full of mechanical monstrosities, so we're going to have to be careful."

"All right." Travis nodded.

"Guess we shouldn't waste time then." Shinji replied.

"But first!" Hunny pulled out a cake from nowhere and beamed as happy flowers danced around him. Clearly, he was about to eat it. "Cake!"

Travis and Shinji shared glances, sighed and dragged Hunny out of the restaurant before he could dig in, replying: "The Cake is a Lie, Hunny-sempai!"

Unsurprisingly, Hunny produced a temper tantrum that lasted all the way to the industrial zone...

Now it's time for some old-school VG music! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LYB7iLZNWE)

"Here we are!" Travis said, looking out over the industrial zone.

"Let's go, then. And watch out for bad guys!" Hunny grinned.

Of course, less than a minute passed before enemies started popping up. Mostly reprogrammed security droids at this point, so it was no problem turning them into scrap metal. The only issue was there was a lot of droids, more than should be at a simple industrial area.

After the hundredth squad was destroyed, Shinji spoke what everyone was thinking. "You guys get the feeling someone's trying to slow us down?"

"Now that I think about it, there's more droids than should be necessary around here, and they're all gunning for us." Travis mentioned as he Force-pushed another couple of droids.

"Yeah. I think we're about to get something big for a present soon..." Hunny replied, swiftly deflecting the laser bolts back at the enemy.

"Don't jinx us!" Travis grumbled.

Unfortunately for Travis, the three boys noticed that they were encountering increasingly difficult enemies as they ran through the industrial center. Rocket droids, machine droids, even light spider droids, as well as the classic machinery obstacles. But with Hunny's blazing speed and agility, Shinji's defensive and support powers, and Travis' stamina and firepower, they became little more than the scrap metal that littered the industrial zone.

Of course, when little enemies start decreasing in intensity near the end of the industrial zone, Hunny's prediction came true when a giant mechanical monstrosity that looked like a construction droid with tentacles blocked their way out. With a gaping maw that could swallow all three kids whole, it surely wasn't here to play chess with them!

Of course, what boss battle would be without awesome music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rS0HZBQ5tE)?

After a few seconds of dodging the tentacles and random thrown objects, Hunny got an idea. "I'll distract the thing! You two try aiming stuff down that droid's gullet!"

"Right!" "Got it!"

Then Hunny flickered. Travis and Shinji found him on the ceiling upside down. "Wha...so fast!" "I didn't even see him move!" A thick tentacle slammed down on them and the boys barely rolled out of the way.

"Oy! Mechano-munchie! Don't be messing with my friends! That's a no-no!" Hunny yelled and tossed a giant tank the monster's way. It exploded, but the monster's outer skin protected it. Still, tentacles reached up to grab him, but he already started speedblitzing away.

"Haha! Too slow!" Hunny laughed and stuck out his tongue while standing on one of the steel rafters. Tentacles followed him as he blazed a trail through said rafters.

Travis saw what Hunny was doing. He's tying up the tentacles so that Travis could get a shot in with his Psybolt and Shinji could throw some grenades for added destruction. "Great plan!"

"I know! I made it all up! Hey!" Suddenly a lucky tentacle grabbed Hunny's leg and tossed him into the air. "Yaaaaaah!"

"Hunny!" Travis yelled, and then began charging up a Psybolt. "Psybolt...BETA!"

"Take this!" Shinji threw a plasma grenade such that the Psybolt pushed it at the monster.

A multicolored blast of psychokinetic energy lashed out for the monster's gullet. Luckily the jaws were open and the monster ate it all up. A big explosion erupted from the inside and the monster died with a bang. Literally.

As for Hunny, he managed to land with a flourish after cutting the tentacle off with his lightsaber. "Whew! That was close! Hunny-chan shouldn't be so cocky! He could get hurt!"

"Looks like it's over! There's the exit!" Travis pointed at a door and headed over there. But before they could exit, a hologram of a sneering shadowy figure appeared before them.

"So, you've destroyed your first obstacle? Hah! Chump change compared to what's going to come up against you brats soon! You won't have a ghost of a chance! Ta-ta for now!" The figure cackled and the hologram disappeared.

"Oooh! That bastard makes me mad!" Travis growled. "Let's get out of this dump and take him out, guys!"

"Yeah!" The others cheered and they all sped out of the industrial zone...

Time passed and our young heroes continued on their trek to find the Dark Jedi who stole the Great Corusca Diamond. It was getting dark, so our heroes will need to find shelter for the night. Of course, the closest shelter for miles around this current stretch of grassland and ramblin' evil mushrooms is a creepy-looking mansion in the distance.

"You know, I get the feeling our enemy is a video game fanatic. First that platform industrial zone thingy and now a creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere." Travis mused as they got closer and closer to the building. "It's just getting weirder and weirder."

On cue, thunder rumbled in the sky and it started to rain.

"Yep. Right on the mark." Travis grumbled.

"And it's gonna be wet, too!" Hunny yelled, and the three young heroes ran for the mansion.

Of course, once they entered the mansion, the door shut by itself, and all appeared in shadows.

"Quite creepy in here." Shinji said as he dried himself off.

"Yeah. My lightsaber doesn't help much either." Travis said. He's right. While the golden lightsaber illuminated the path, as the darkness deepened, even its light seemed to be swallowed by the shadows. Then, as all creepy mansions are wont to do, creepy noises started up. A board creaked here. A squeak came from the corner there. A moan! Was it the wind?

Then, a faint cackling sped into their ears. Whisperings of shadows. Of beings that straddle the worlds of the living and the dead. Through the Force, the boys could sense that the shadows weren't pleasant. Not at all.

"What was that!" Travis whirled around, as a *thonk* sounded somewhere in the corner.

"Eek!" Hunny yelped as something brushed against his bare arms.

"Yuck!" For some reason, Shinji smelled something foul and waved his hand in his face.

Suddenly, mad cackling could be heard and the three youngsters were back to back as shadows and foggy things swirled around them. Even clutching their lightsabers, it was as if they were impotent against the spirit beings that attacked. Then a shadowy figure that looked incredibly demonic with the horns and the gnashing teeth rushed at them.

"YAAAAAAH!" All three screamed and nearly jumped out of their skins as they tried running, only to 'bump' into something that looked ominously like a Grim Reaper face and scream again. More and more grotesque figures appeared and they backed up out of fright as the figures advanced on them...only to encounter a wall.

"We're trapped!" Travis yelled.

"We'regonnadie! We'regonnadie! We'regonnadie!" Shinji stammered.

"I'm too cute to die and I haven't even gotten my daily sugar intake!" Hunny wailed.

The ghostly demons attacked, the kids screamed and pressed back...and the wall gave way leading to a slide.

"Waaaah!" The kids yelled as they slid quite a long way down. Of course, all rides must end and this one was no different. "Oof! Oof! Oof!"

When they got up and dusted themselves off, they found themselves in a damp, surprisingly warm dungeon. It was as if the ghosts drove them into a stomach of some kind, a feeling that didn't bode well for them. The corridor led them to a central portion, right underneath the mansion's largest room.

"Hello?" Travis bravely, but shakily asked. All he got was his echo. Hello...hello...

"Nobody here..." Hunny shrugged and then he suddenly stepped on something. Then rumbling occurred and the entrance to the central dungeon slammed shut.

"Hunny-sempai! What did you do?!" Shinji shouted.

"I don't know! I didn't mean to!" Hunny cried. Then, the cackling began again. "Oh no! They're coming again! Don't let them eat me!"

As Hunny and Shinji panicked, Travis' lightsaber began to pulse. A strange calm began to come over him as he ignited his lightsaber. "If they wanna take me down, then I'm not going to let it be easy for them!"

Travis' sudden courage ended his friends' panicking quickly as said courage bouyed them. Hunny and Shinji then nodded. Hunny turned cute again and grinned, something that actually spooked the spookers. "Let's do it!"

Hunny suddenly leaped, twirling in midair. His lightsaber flashed, demonic spirits screamed as the blazing yellow light was too much for them to take and they disappeared. Shinji's green lightsaber blazed with fervor, destroying more incoming spirits. And Travis...Well, Travis' blade caused horrible, painful screams wherever he touched them. It seems that Travis' blade was more than just a lightsaber, but cut all the way into the soul. Evil souls like these spirits were destroyed outright, vanquished by the holiness of the blade.

The evil spirits, once cackling with glee at the fresh meal that walked into their mansion, now shrieked in fear, anger and pain as the young Jedi turned the tables on them. But it wasn't over yet...not for the spirits.

"Raikurai!" Travis shouted, unleashing a torrent of lightning, destroying more spirits.

"Katon!" Hunny yelled, blowing out a stream of fire that burned them up.

"FLASH!" Shinji shouted, sending a blinding flash that sizzled the spirits into oblivion.

When the battle was finished, the whole mansion appeared to brighten, although it was just the impromptu exorcism ending the spirits' reign of terror and forcing the survivors to flee, never to return.

"Heh. That did them in." Travis grinned. "We ain't afraid of no ghost!"

"Yeah!" The others cheered.

Then a second hologram appeared before them. "Tch! So you made it past the Spirits of Highview Mansion! Hah! That's still nothing! Perhaps you'll have better luck when I desert you!"

"Damn you! We'll find you and get that diamond back!" Travis yelled.

"Hah. In your dreams, young Masaki!" The figure laughed and disappeared.

Then, the top of the dungeon they were in opened up and a sudden breeze wafted through the area. The wind quickly grew stronger and they found themselves dragged towards the shaft, like it was a giant vacuum cleaner.

"I don't like the looks of that! I think we better hold on to something!" Shinji yelled.

Much as they tried to hold onto the pipes in the basement of the mansion, the three young boys lost their grip against the wind and were sucked into the shaft. After another long, screaming ride like that of the slide, only going up, they found themselves in a giant cannon on the roof of the mansion.

"I have a bad feeling about this!" Travis grumbled.

3...2...1...BOOOM!

The explosion hurtled them screaming into the air and they disappeared as a twinkle in the night sky. As a certain infamous trio would say...

"We're blasting off agaaaaaain!" *Ding!*

Dusty Dunes Desert

Travis Masaki woke up, noticing that he was in a desert of some kind, and started spitting up sand. "Pttu! Pttu!"

Next to him, his friends were still unconscious from falling from a great height onto the sandy dunes of the Dusty Dunes Desert. Well, he remembered the name from his geography class, that is.

"Hey, guys! Wake up!" Travis shook his friends. With a groan and a moan, they awoke, also finding it hard to eat sand and spat it out.

"Uhhhh...where are we?" Shinji asked, shaking more sand out of his hair.

"We must be in the Dusty Dunes Desert." Hunny replied, looking around. "I know Kyoto has one major desert, and this is it."

"Well, I dunno what we're gonna do here. I guess we'll start walking. You know if there are any desert towns anywhere?"

"I dunno." Hunny shrugged and checked his compass. "One can't be too far..."

"All right. Guess we'd better move out, then..." Travis said, wiping sweat from his brow as the sun began to beat down on them...

Desert Music for Desert Travel! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0iDk_SRKcU)

Rollin rollin rollin
Rollin rollin rollin
Rollin rollin rollin
Rollin rollin rollin
Rawhide!

They walked for miles, sweating away under the punishing sun and drinking a lot out of their canteens.

Rollin rollin rollin
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them doggies rolling
Rawhide
Rain and wind and weather
Hell bent for leather
Wishing my girl was by my side
All the things Im missin
Good victuals, love and kissin
Are waiting at the end of my ride

They fought many creatures of the deserts that for some strange reason seemed to target them. Scorpions, snakes, even a rare desert wolf were all ravenous for their blood. Fortunately, the battles were short and they moved on.

Move em on (head em up)
Head em up (move em up)
Move em on (head em up)
Rawhide
Cut em out (ride em in)
Ride em in (cut em out)
Cut em out (ride em in)
Rawhide

Hunny was the first of them to get sunstroke, but Travis' power over Life was able to cure it quickly, utilizing a power simply called Healing.

Keep movin movin movin
Though their disapprovin
Keep them doggies moving
Rawhide
Dont try to understand them
Just rope, throw and brand them
Soon well be living high and wide
My hearts calculating
My true love will be waiting
Be waiting at the end of my ride

Even with Travis' powers, it was only a matter of time before they collapsed. Even so, they had to move on. Then one hour as the sun began to wane, Shinji noticed something in the distance. Perhaps it was shelter? Or a mirage? Whatever it was, it was desperate hope that spurred them on like roadrunners.

Move em up (head em up)
Head em up (move em on)
Move em on (head em up)
Rawhide
Cut em out (ride em in)
Ride em in (cut em out)
Cut em out (ride em in)
Rawhide
Yah!
Move em on (head em up)
Head em up (move em on)
Move em on (head em up)
Rawhide
Cut em out (ride em in)
Ride em in (cut em out)
Cut em out (ride em in)
Rawhide
Yah!
Rollin rollin rollin
Rollin rollin rollin
Yah!
Rollin rollin rollin
Rollin rollin rollin
Yah!
Rawhide
Yah! rawhide!

Yes! It was a little desert frontier town, like something out of the American Wild West. Glad to get out of the punishing sun, they ran for the nearest saloon to get refreshed from the helpful people there.

"Aah! That's better!" Travis sighed in relief as he and his friends drank their fill. "This is great water!"

"Hehe! Thanks, kid!" The bartender chuckled. "So what brings you three kids out into the desert? It's not every day that we get customers from outside our humble town, you know!"

"Well, we're looking for an outlaw who stole a diamond. He's kinda tall, wears glasses and sports Dark Jedi robes." Travis said.

"Hmm. Can't say I have seen anyone like that...however..." The bartender looked around before lowering his head and voice. The kids leaned forward to listen better. "I hear there's something going on in the mountainous regions to the northwest. No one knows what's going on there, but it can't hurt to check it out."

"Sounds like a lead." Hunny smiled.

"Perhaps. It's not much, I know." The bartender shrugged. "Though I recommend you moving quickly. There's been some trouble--"

SLAM! Suddenly the bartender's words were cut off when a trio of tough-looking men entered the saloon and stormed towards their spot in a corner.

The bartender whispered. "Members of the Ryuzaki Gang. Outlaws. You'll do well to steer clear of them, lads."

"Oy! Bartender! Give us some stiff ones and make it snappy!" The thin, bucktoothed member yelled.

"Alright! Alright! In a minute!" The bartender quickly prepared three beers and gave the guys their drinks.

Travis, Shinji and Hunny did their best to stay low and out of sight, but when men of greed and evil get intoxicated, they knew that things will soon take a turn for the worse...

Frontier Town - Yes, that's the actual name

The three hooligans soon noticed that there were newcomers on the bar and much as the kids tried to look invisible, they failed.

"'ey, we got some friggin' brats! Haven't seen 'em around here!" One chuckled and sauntered over to the bar. Travis winced at the foul breath from the guy.

Hunny was about to dig in a cake he ordered when the second guy came up on him. "Cake? Why...thank you!"

And to Hunny's great shock, the second guy snatched the cake before the fork got in and then one...two...three chomps and a gulp killed it. Tears welled up in Hunny's eyes and he threatened to cry.

"Aww...did I eat your cake? Crybaby!" The second guy laughed and the others chuckled.

"Look, we don't want any trouble..." Shinji started.

"Hah! Trouble? We've got the death sentence in three systems!" The third one boasted. Then suddenly, he grabbed Shinji by the collar. "But trouble is coming to you. See, we run this joint, this town, and there's a toll to pay."

"Yeah. Gotta pay the price!" The first one chuckled.

"A thousand credits from each one of ya, and make it snappy!" The second one yelled.

*POW!* Suddenly, a small fist transferred kinetic energy into the man's face. He reeled back and crashed into a table. Patrons suddenly started leaving. Hunny stood on his stool, his tiny frame shaking with rage. "You killed my cake! You bastards!"

"Why you--oof!" The first guy barely got his words out before Travis delivered a kick to his stomach.

"No way! How'd--" The third guy also got socked as an elbow rammed into his solar plexus, courtesy of Shinji Ikari.

A short fight erupted, but the boys were skilled enough to send the would-be extortionists packing. They fled with their tails between their legs, not to be seen for a while.

"Young sirs, you do realize they will come back with the gang." The bartender began picking up the broken equipment in a manner that made it clear that he was used to such things.

"Don't you have a sheriff or something?" Travis asked, deciding to help for the 'tender's trouble.

"Our good Sheriff Wright was killed trying to drive them off." The 'tender sniffed a bit. "We have no one to defend us from the hooligans. And thank you for helping me."

"No problem." Travis replied and the three kids helped with the cleanup. When they finished, Travis spoke again. "Friend, if you can get the town to rise up against the gang, they'll never bother you again."

"But how? How should I do it when the townsfolk are scared to death?" The bartender asked.

"Just tell them there's a new sheriff's in town, and they're Jedi Knights!" Travis pulled his cap backwards in style, grinned and headed outside with his two friends to prepare for the Ryuzaki Gang's arrival.

As they waited, the sun began to wane. Tumbleweeds passed by as a cooling breeze blew through. Then, in the distance, they spotted smoke. Immediately, the townspeople began boarding up their houses and stores, turning it into a ghost town...

"They're coming!" Travis pointed. "Get ready!"

The smoke turned out to be speeder bikes driven by angry Ryuzaki gang members that were obviously unhappy with a couple of brats that messed up their daily toll-taking. There were about ten speeders in all, some of them carrying two or three gangmembers apiece. It was a terrifying sight for three teenagers not yet old enough to shave.

But they weren't ordinary teenagers. Not by a long shot.

The speeders roared through the gates of the town and soon stopped before the teenagers. The lead guy was in a classic dark-clothing outlaw getup, including a black hat. "Oy! You the brats who have been stopping our toll collection?"

"What's it to you?" Travis yelled back.

"We need cash! Boss Ryuzaki's not happy! And besides..." He grinned. "I know you have a bounty on your head, Masaki brat! He'll be pleased when we capture you!"

Travis merely smiled under waving blue hair. "I see. I'll tell you what! If we win, you first tell us what's going on in the mountains to the northeast, and then you leave this town alone and never come back!"

"And if you lose?" The gunman asked.

"You get us." Travis smiled. "No tricks, 'cause a man's gotta stand by his word, even in the outlaw lands!"

His friends nodded as well, supporting him. They were, of course, confident of their ability to defeat these gangsters.

The gunman cocked his head aside, appearing to think about this cocky kid who's balls haven't even dropped yet. "Very well...deal."

Of course, battle music is required! :p (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L7XiZlalvs)

Travis and the gunman's eyes met and it became a standoff. An eternity passed before an invisible signal seemed to blow...and all hell broke loose.

The kids and the gunmen immedately began exchanging blaster fire as they dove for cover. The lead gunman then ordered his men to flank the kids and flush them out. Of course, the kids weren't about to allow them to flank them and they began moving through the town, and it became a running gunfight as they deflected blaster bolts from civilian windows and walls and shot back with their pistols, earning a few cries of pain. It was a fast-paced, knuckle-down, dragged-out brawl that left both kids and gunmen with little doubt that this was a battle to the bitter end.

Hunny used his small frame and high agility to bounce all over the place like a rabbit on crack, a swirling dervish of blond hair and yellow lightsaber. The gunmen found it extremely hard to pin him down, because even when they thought they had him, he would just bounce off a wall and then launch himself at them, kicking, punching, throwing and using his lightsaber more than once. Talk about David vs Goliath!

Shinji was not as fast, but he was highly defensive, a mini-user of Soresu and defensive techniques like Shield, Flash and Paralysis. Shield ensured that the hits that did pass through dissipated away. Flash was used in conjunction with Paralysis to blind and lock the gunmen into place for arrest by the townspeople. That sure wasn't good for the enemy!

Then we come to Travis! He was somewhere in between his friends on the assist and agility front, but he utilized a lot more offensive power than either of them. With him, everything and anything within reach became a weapon, showering the gunmen with a hail of telekinetic assaults by random objects. Mixed in with that was a lot of wind and fire assaults, and not a few lightning strikes and water sprays were involved too.

In the end, the townspeople saw the bravery of the three young people saving their town from a gang of thieves and joined the battle, firing old-style blaster rifles at them. Stray bolts managed to torch the speeder bikes so they couldn't escape and in the end, young Travis found the gunslinger and pummeled him with a host of clones until he gave up.

"Ok! Ok! I give up!" The gunman cried out as he wheezed from broken ribs and knocked-out teeth. "I'll tell you everything!"

"All right! Spill the beans!" Travis demanded, grabbing him by the collar.

"My boss...he's doing something in the mountains, I don't know what. But I did see a big diamond being packed up on a ship somewhere. But...hehe...even if you can get there in time...you can't beat the boss!" The guy chuckled and got knocked out for his trouble.

"Well, there's a big lead." Travis grinned.

"Yep!" Hunny grinned back. "We can get the diamond now!"

The townspeople then began cheering, now that the outlaws were defeated and danced in the street. A few men took up the mantle of volunteer Sheriff and escorted the survivor gunmen to jail, to be extradicted to a courtroom somewhere down the road. Through the night, they gave the young heroes a victory dinner and dance theme and allowed them to stay for the night to recuperate.

=====

In the morning, the kids set out with replenished supplies, but there was just one problem: the speeder bikes were all destroyed during the battle!

"Sheesh! We couldn't have saved a bike for the trip?" Shinji grumbled.

Travis grinned. "Well, not to worry, guys! I know what to do! Kuchiyose!"

Three awesome-looking hoverboards appeared in a poof of smoke.

"Wait...you couldn't have done that when we landed in the desert?" Hunny asked.

"Gee...I guess I forgot!" Travis rubbed his head and chuckled, earning a facefault from his friends. "Well, let's go!"

As the dawn broke, three kids sped out for the mountains, finally getting close to the diamond they needed to find...or so they thought...

Running all day is fun! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaOyJhZTjE&feature=related)

Speeding across the desert sands, the three kids, Hunny, Travis and Shinji, had an amazing time as they approached the mountains, racing each other on the hoverboards that was Travis' favorite pastime. Of course, all good things must come to an end, but at least they had a good time together.

Soon, they reached the mountain itself. The hoverboards soon disappeared, and the kids were left alone to stake out the ins and out of the mountains. They didn't have to wait long, for a speeder rumbled up to one of the sides of the mountain. The guy in the speeder pressed something on the dashboard and slowly, large doors opened slowly. The speeder drove inside and then the doors began to close just as slowly.

"Hurry! They're gonna close!" Travis yelled and they ran for it, jumping into the cave just in time as the doors slammed shut behind them.

"Onwards, I guess." Shinji said.

They descended into the depths of the mountain, the tunnels lit only sporadically. It wasn't long before they found the center. It was a small, bustling space port.

"Sheesh...don't tell me they're smuggling stuff! Hunny said to the others.

"Yeah...wait, there's the diamond!" Indeed, Travis pointed to a shiny gem that was being loaded onto one of the light freighters.

"I wonder where's it going to go." Shinji said.

"Only one way to find out..." Travis said, then sensed someone looming over them. "Uh oh..."

"What are you kids doing here?" A big burly guard asked angrily.

"Uh...we're lost?" Hunny grinned sheepishly

The guard looked at his flowers, then growled, killing said flowers and attacked them. "WRONG!"

Alarms suddenly rang out as the fight broke out and the people noticed them and began yelling for the freighters to get out of there. The spaceport doors began opening.

"Crap! We gotta get that diamond!" Shinji yelled.

"This guy's tough!" Travis grumbled as the three of them kicked and punched the guy, but he was like a solid mass of muscle. "Get out of our way! Psybolt!"

Psychokinesis manifested itself in a multicolored blast that took the guy out by slamming him into the wall. That allowed them to head for that particular freighter, but it already began taking off.

"Damn it!" Travis yelled as the Ryuzaki Gang tried to slow them down. "Which one of you has a tracking device? I didn't bring mine!"

"I got one!" Hunny shouted and took out a device, then threw it such that it stuck to the freighter's hull. It soon disappeared into space, but unbeknownst to the occupants, it was already being tracked. Hunny took out his tracker. "Ok, I got it. It's heading into hyperspace now. We should be able to track whereever it goes from now on."

"Problem is...we need a ride." Travis said, then pulled out his comlink. "I'm calling Dad. He needs to know anyway."

"Yeah." Shinji nodded. "We'll finish off the bastards."

Before any of the three could make a move on the gang members, the gang members suddenly dropped without a word. However, no sooner had they hit the ground, the sound of their groaning could be heard somewhat inaudibly as they just layed there.

"I believe they're effectively taken care of," a voice said behind the trio. His voice was rather soft, but it was somewhat eery, as none of them would've heard a sound coming from behind them in any fashion.

At the sound of the man's voice, the trio turned around, hoping he wasn't an enemy. Then Travis recognized the guy. "Hey, you're the bishonen who was with my dad and that Nagi guy! What are you doing here?"

Seconds after the guy came in, black-robed ANBU entered the cave as well, arresting each and every gang member they saw.

Before he answered Travis' question, Travis would suddenly feel like he was being crushed by a five-ton civilian land speeder as the gravity around him suddenly increased without warning.

"One should respect their elders," Al said. "And to answer your question, we managed to handle the Argonian with a hefty payment, and he went about his business. Your father, remembering that you had gone off with Master Hunny here, began to...I guess you can say, worry about what you two were up to. Nagi then sent me off to join you two, and thus, here I am. Also, it appears that the locals were the ones to call in the authorities."

To prove his point, Al extracted his hand from the over-sized robes and pointed, with one finger, to a building not too far away with a very concerned-looking citizen poking their head through the curtains.

"And thus, I am here."

"Waah!" Travis made a kid-shaped hole as he was slammed to the floor by a five-ton weight, to his friends' amusement. "Ow...me and my big mouth..."

"I see Daniel-sama's as punctual as usual." Shinji noted the ANBU processing the gangmembers in something that looks oddly like a food processor. "They'll certainly wish they've rethought their lives."

"Hey, um...guys? That ship that just left? It's heading in the general direction of Dornalian space!" Hunny exclaimed, waving his tracker.

"New Dornalia?" Travis frowned. "Why there?"

"I don't know. Only one way to find out." Shinji said, looking at the spaceport doors. "We gotta follow that freighter."

"Yep!" Hunny grinned.

Al looked at Hunny. "Care if I join you? I figure my assistance may be necessary in the coming events." By now, Al had retracted his finger back into his robes, and he had flipped his hood off now, showing himself to be rather androgynous, in respects to other men his age. However, his hair was still concealed beneath his robes, so it was hard to tell how long it was, other than it was tied back.

"That wasn't the Force wasn't it?" Hunny asked. "But sure, the more the merrier!"

"No, it was not the Force," Al replied. However, he didn't elaborate any further. Rather, he lifted the gravity well off the poor Masaki and continued the conversation. "So, I shall be your direct rear-line support, then. I am quite sure that my abilities will be more than satisfactory for retrieving whatever it is we've been sent to find."