"Absolutely not!" Mr. Hiroshi said. "I barely know you kids, and if what you told me is true, then you're just going to get in trouble and put Helena in danger!"

"She's going to be in danger if we leave her here," Matt said. "Geese was after her Essence. He's dead, but people will take his place, until Magister gets what he wants. If she's with us, then she's got a better chance of surviving."

"I want to go anyway," Helena said.

Mr. Hiroshi paled. "Wh-what?"

"Dad, if I stay here, I'll just put you in danger whenever I turn into a dragon again," Helena said. "If I'm with them, I can learn to control it without any risk."

"Helena-"

She stood. "Don't try and stop me, Dad! I'm going, no matter what!"

Matt peered over his glasses. Huh. Helena never was this straight-foward before.

Mr. Hiroshi sighed. "...if I can't stop you, then I won't try. You're old enough to decide for yourself."

"Well, now that that's decided, you'll need to get whatever you need, money, clothing, whatever. We don't know if the worlds we'll end up at will have civilization, so you'll need to be prepared," R.D. said. He held up his satchel. "Don't worry about what you can or can't carry, this'll hold it so long as you can get it into this."

Matt grasped his chin. "Hmmm. We're gonna need a good-sized wardrobe until you can learn to control your dragon powers. Maybe we should've bought some more clothes."

"I'll take her," Mr. Hiroshi said, standing up.

"Really?" Helena asked.

"Let's do it quickly. How many outfits do you think she needs?"

Matt made a face. He was uncomfortable asking Mr. Hiroshi to spende his money like this. "Ten?"

Mr. Hiroshi didn't react. "Okay."

"We'll buy her more with our own money later," Matt said.

"Can you kids make money?"

"We'll figure something out," Hugo said.

"Try to be quick about it," R.D. said. "The sooner we leave, the better."

They spent the day preparing-buying clothes and food, scavenging for essentials and a few comfort items Helena wanted to bring along, which they were able to salvage from the ruined mansion. At the end of the day, Matt decreed it would be better if they slept and got up early the next morning to head out.

"Helena, are you retiling the floor in there?" Matt remarked, standing at the bathroom door.

"Hold on!" she called. Then she turned her attention back to her hands. They were warm, nearly scalding.

A small flame burst into life between her palms and held for a few seconds before petering out. She smiled.

R.D. was sitting down on the bed in his room, back propped up against the headboard. In his right hand, he was holding a TV remote, and flipping through channels on the television. Beside him, Ileyna was also sitting down, watching him go through the different channels.

"You know," he started off-handedly, "I can't remember watching TV at all."

"Really?" the girl said, looking at him and causing her beret to slip on her head.

"Yeah," he replied, switching from a cooking program to some movie. "I can't even tell if any of these shows are different from what's back on our world."

"I think I recognized a few of them," she said, turning her attention back to the TV while pushing her beret back up into place on her head.

Early was early-like, five, considering Matt's old sleeping habits that he never shook off. As he opened the door, Helena was awoken by the noise, and told to get her things together. Matt walked next door and rapped on it to get R.D.'s attention.

"Almost done in here," R.D.'s voice came through. He too never shook off the old sleeping habits, though not by choice. After a few moments, the occupants of his room had exited.

"There any nearby alleys we could use?" R.D. asked. "We don't need to let the public see what the Scale does."

"Let's ramble back to the one we used before," Matt said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. "If I can remember where it is..."

With that, they all piled into the Firebird and pulled away from their hotel and retraced their steps. It wasn't nearly as disasterous as expected-soon they found themselves back at the alleyway, nice and out of sight as before.

"All right, do this quick," Hugo said to R.D.. "I don't want to draw any more attention than a Firebird of people pulling into an alleyway already has."

"Here we go," R.D. said, hanging out of the passenger window with the crimson scale held in his gloved hand. Aiming it at the back wall, the scale began to glow red, and soon it fired the crimson beam, which stopped and spiraled the emerald-colored gateway into existence just before it would strike the wall.

With that accomplished, R.D. pulled himself back into the car, stowing the scale away in his satchel. "Let's go... hopefully you won't land on your face with you in the car this time, Matt."

Behind them, Ileyna giggled.

"Eh heh heh shut up."

Helena looked up at the portal, taking it all in until she turned to face her father.

"Be brave," he said, before she could speak. "If this is your choice, you can't back down."

"I'm not going to."

They embraced. "Make sure to come back to me," Mr. Hiroshi said.

"I will."

Matt stood before the portal, hearing but keeping his eyes away. He'd do everything in his power to make sure she came home this time.

Looking back at Mr. Hiroshi, R.D. really had only one thing to say.

"Hey... sorry about destroying your house. Really didn't mean to."

"You were only trying to protect us," Mr. Hiroshi said. "I forgive you."

"Right!" Matt rested his fists on his hips. "Let's rock and roll, boys and girls!"

Hugo strode into the portal. "Best thing you've said all day."

"Well, time to go, kid," R.D. said, taking Ileyna by the hand.

"'kay," she said, looking at the portal as they walked into it. He said one last thing before the two of them entered the swirling green vortex.

"Make sure you pull Matt out of the dirt on the other side, Helena."

"Shaddup!" Matt said, shaking a fist.

Helena looked up at it, then at Matt. "This is safe, right?"

"Well, sure. You may fall flat on your face, but other than that, you're good to go."

"All right." One last glance at her father. "I'll be back. I promise." Then she walked in.

"Can you get a ride home?" Matt asked Mr. Hiroshi.

"I guess."

"Good, cause I need this." He folded the Firebird back into a square and shoved it in his pocket, much to Mr. Hiroshi's stunned surprise. "See ya around."

Before Matt could enter the portal, Mr. Hiroshi said, "Thank you for helping me get my daughter back...and please take care of her."

Matt saluted. "That was definitely the plan." Then he entered, and Mr. Hiroshi found himself alone in the alleyway.

As R.D. and Ileyna stepped to the side of the portal upon exiting, they looked around in what appeared to be a large city, made up of plenty of different-colored buildings--though these buildings were radically different from what they saw in Southtown. Sleek and futuristic, they featured glowing signs and tall, large metal doors, almost abstract designs (though granted, nearly everything was alien to R.D.).

"Wow," Ileyna breathed, looking around. One sign she spotted looked to be an advertisement for a company called Slither, Inc.

Quite suddenly, R.D. noticed the people, who were staring at them and the blazing green portal behind them. All of them wore black jumpsuits beneath their strange clothing, clothing radically different from their own, and all of them had their ears covered by strange devices. Some of them had a strange red triangle emblazoned on their foreheads.

"Oh, this could be bad," he muttered.

Matt followed suit and, amazingly, landed on his feet. "Wow," he remarked, dusting off his jeans. "I'm surprised that went better than it should have."

"Um, Matt?" Helena asked. "We're supposed to stay out of sight when jumping across worlds, right?"

"Well, of course, why wouldn't we-" Matt stood up and noticed the crowd. "...oh." He stepped to the front and spread his arms. "Greetings, from the WORLD OF TOMORROW!"

"Stop making it worse!" Hugo shouted.

A car sped by--at least, R.D. thought it was a car, though it had no wheels and hovered nearly a foot off of the ground. Yeah, this world was definitely one of the stranger ones they've come to.

People were talking amongst each other, though too quietly for them to hear. "So, Matt," R.D. said, looking over his shoulder. "Got any idea on how we get out of here, since we've already blown our cover?"

Before a response could be heard, Ileyna reached over and tugged on the end of shirt, pulling his attention away. "Look!" she said, pointing off in a direction. R.D. looked, and swore. Marching towards them at a brisk pace were eight armored figures, covered in metallic purple and black armor, a black faceplate with a glowing red light behind it covering their faces. They walked four in a line side-by-side, and they cradled what looked like arm cannons on their left arms.

"Oh, crud."

Hugo whipped out his pickaxe and the chamber hit home.

"Wait a minute, Hugo!" Matt said. "Let's not get too hasty, here."

"I'm not in the mood to get shot," the Mettaur remarked.

"I'll take care of this." Matt held up his hands. "Look! We are unarmed! We mean you no harm!"

Helena stepped behind R.D. "They don't look human, Matt!"

"I'm sure they can understand me. Just stay cool. And I mean it."

Helena scoffed. "You're not the one who turns into a dragon."

As they approached, the eight armored figures raised their weapons, and the other people began to vacate the area, and quickly.

In a tinny monotone voice, the lead figure stated, "Mavericks located! Elimination in progress!"

"Shit!" R.D. yelled. Instantly blue particles swarmed around his body to form the Dragon King Armor. "Hugo, shoot!"

The armored men began firing rapidly, spraying the air full of small yellow plasma bullets. R.D. raised up his shield and stood in front of Ileyna, who yelped at the sudden commotion. Several of the bullet smashed into the shield, causing it to jolt on his arm.

"Dammit!" Hugo's pickaxe roared, firing bursts of energy at a far quicker pace than normal, like a machine gun.

"Guys!" Matt shouted. "This is not how diplomacy works!" He ran in front of Helena. "Stay back, Helena!"

Eyes wide, Helena ran toward the nearest gap between buildings to hide.

Seven of Hugo's shots tore into the nearest of their assailants, and it stumbled back, revealing circuitry and other mechanics in its body from the holes his shots created. Suddenly, the whole thing erupted in a violent explosion.

"Robots!" R.D. exclaimed, arming his right-mounted arm cannon. Lowering his shield, he fired two quick rounds, and the lasers punched through another robot with ease. "Ileyna, go with Helena!"

Startled, the girl ran for cover, just as R.D. raised his shield back up, defending from more shots. "These guys seem kinda weak, Matt!"

"Well, there goes any chance of a peaceful resolution!" The same armor as before rematerialized about Matt's arm as he leapt into the fray. Avoiding the enemy shots, he seized a robot and chucked it into the other. With a roar, he threw up his arm, and thick vines erupted from the ground to ensnare the enemies about him.

As the two robots collided from Matt's throw, their weak armor gave way, and the robots detonated like the other two before them. R.D. quickly drew both Phase Blades and activated them as the remaining robots ceased firing and reoriented themselves towards Matt.

He began running towards them as the vines lashed up from cracks in the ground and wrapped around their limbs, restricting their movement. Activating his thrusters, R.D. dashed up into the air and landed amongst them, blades flashing about as he slashed repeatedly at them. Once he stopped, the robots were not moving, until they began to collapse and fall apart. The minute vibrations from the crystalline blades left the edges of their armor where they cut through superheated and glowing red-hot. After a second, their remains exploded simultaneously, and only R.D.'s armor protected him from the flames.

Once the smoke cleared, R.D. dismissed his armor and returned the weapons to their sheathes. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Hugo! Round 'em up!" Matt shot a look up and down the street, peering for any more guards.

The Mettaur dashed over to the alleyway Ileyna and Helena had ducked into. "Let's ROLL!"

"Is this normal?" Helena shouted, a bit panicked.

"You'll get used to it! Come on!"

Edited by The Helldragon on November 13, 2008 at 22:40:40.

The visor had slammed down shut over R.D.'s face as he activated its scanner, looking for a way out. It seemed that there was a forest off to the west--and there were more robots coming up at them from the east.

"Okay, forest is that way," he said, pointing in the proper direction. "Let's go, we've got more company heading our way."

"This is all your fault, you know that?" Matt said, digging in his pocket.

"It was their fault for shooting first!" Hugo shouted.

"No matter! Let's go!" Matt threw up the folded Firebird and it unwound, landing on the street with an audible thud that made Matt wince. He leapt into the driver's seat.

"So the first thing you do when you go to a new world is get in trouble and blow things up?" Helena said. "What's wrong with you, anyway?"

"Not my problem," Matt said. "Blame Shooty McKillstein over there!"

"Oh, both of you, just shut up," R.D. said, seeing the robots crest the street behind them. As they opened fire, R.D. returned fire with his own arm cannon, firing sizzling green beams of energy at them. "Just go! I'll catch up!"

As he shouted, he looked back and fired again, catching one of the robots in the head and decapitating it. After a short spark, the robot exploded, and R.D. used the time to get the Thunder King out. Pressing a button on its side, he tossed the cube onto the ground to let the bike transform while he shot at the other robots.

As Helena, seizing Hugo, and Ileyna scrambled into the back seat, Matt smashed down on the pedal, and they roared off.

"What're we gonna do?" Helena shouted.

"Hang tight, I'll get us out of this!" Matt said. "Just watch behind us, will ya?"

Hugo tore a hole in the backseat with his pickaxe to lift himself up with a well-placed jump. "R.D.'s holding them off, but I see more coming this way! You see anything, Helena?" The Mettaur glanced back at the other girl as her claws tore into the back of the passenger seat. "MAAAAATT!"

"WHAT?" Matt shot a glance behind him. "Aw, FUCK!" He hit the brakes, and the Firebird skidded about in a circle. "Ileyna, get out of the car, NOW!"

Seeing Helena begin transforming inside the car itself was more than enough incentive for Ileyna to vacate it. Taking one look at her, the girl yelped and scrambled for the door, fumbling to release the latch. As the car stopped, she leaped out and ran for the nearest alleyway.

There was a roaring sound of a motorcycle engine tearing through the air, and the Thunder King ramped off of the rise in the street. It landed hard behind and to the side of the Firebird, and R.D. gunned its engine and peeled out, tearing forward into the incoming ranks of enemy robots, crushing them under wheel as he swung the back end around to a stop near the car.

He swore as he saw Helena begin her transformation within the car itself. "Aw, shit!" More gunfire erupted behind him, smashing into his armored shoulder, knocking him forward. Swinging his arm cannon back behind him, he began firing wildly at the purple-armored enforcers.